Board of Education Meeting | May 13, 2026

001Three, four testing. One, two. I will call to the board meeting and board meeting at the same time. and they can identify session. Before we leave, we are here to listen to any comment on the public comment card which you can find at the entryway table where if you are participating via Zoom, individuals will need to raise their hand in the Zoom app. If you are accessing the meeting by phone, press star 9. The time allotted to each speaker is two minutes. The total time allotted is one hour. Speaking time should not be transferred from one person to another. There is also no substitution of speakers. We alternate between Zoom comment and in-person comment. The public comment period is a safe space where diverse viewpoints may be expressed civily without interruption of intimidation. Please listen

002attentively to each speaker's comment and respect their time as if were your own. Be open to other points of view if one is offered. Due to the Brown Act, board members cannot discuss items that are not on the agenda and do not usually respond to items presented in public comment. The items listed on close session for the special board meeting tonight are public employee appointment director of classified personnel human resources, director of education technology, and assistant superintendent of human resources. Items um listed for close session for the regular board meeting of tonight are public employee performance evaluation, public employee discipline dismissal, release complaint, um conference with legal negotiators, public employee appointment, conference with legal counsel, existing litigation, government code section 54956.9, liability claims, and then we will adjourn um back and reconvene open session. question.

003Is there any public comment? >> There is no public comment. >> There is one that's on. She needs to announce herself. >> There's one board member that is on Zoom. She needs to announce herself and let [clears throat] the public know that she is on Zoom. Okay. >> Hi, my [clears throat] name is Trusty Jamila Smith Foes. I'm on Zoom. Superintendent Cotton, were you able to hear me? >> I can hear her. >> I'm sorry. Were you able to hear me? >> No, we were not able to hear you. >> This is Trusty Jamila Smith Falls. I'm on Zoom. Are you able to hear that? >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> So, with no public comment, we will now adjourn at f at 4:11 um into close session and we will reconvene open session at

0046:30 6:30. Thank you. of May 13, 2026 for our regularly scheduled board meeting as well as our special meeting. I bring this meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. Um, to access translation and Zoom, please click on the globe icon at the bottom of the screen. If you are here at Deson and need a headset for translation, you may pick one up on the back corner of the auditorium. You may please prepare now for p for public comment. If you are here in the auto term and you like to make a public comment card, please fill out and submit a WCCU public comment card. You can find them on the table in the entry hallway. If you are participating via Zoom, please raise your hand in a Zoom app prior to the beginning of this item

005on the agenda. Once the item has been called, no more public comment cards will be accepted tonight. After a comment card has been turned in, the cards are placed in the order received and we will call on speakers one at a time, alternating between public comment here at Dejon and one on Zoom. Public comment generally lasts 1 hour. The time allotted to each speaker is 2 minutes. In the meantime, we are moving on to the rest of our opening procedures. Um, the pledge of alleg pledge of allegiance. I I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. B3 land, labor, and body acknowledgement. Another amendment. Okay, we are now moving on to B3,

006land, labor, and body acknowledgement. We recognize that we are presently on the lands of the Cheno, Milwaukee, McCarkin, Aloney peoples, and acknowledge them as the first inhabitants of the land we currently occupy. Labor and body acknowledgement. I acknowledge that the burden of environmental exploitation and systematic injustice falls upon the labor of black and brown bodies in the building of this country and its institutions. I remember that black and brown bodies were born and died working this land against their will for generations. I also acknowledge the continued contribution of the labor of survivors over the centuries of today of all immigrant labor including voluntary, involuntary, forced and undocumented peoples in the building of what we refer to as the United States. Author Dr. Rochelle Rogers Ard West Country School District board anti-racism statement. The governing board

007is committed to the work of anti-racism, the conscious and addictive effort to identify, challenge, correct racial inequities in the systems and institutions within our schools and community. Racism, explicit or implicit, stands in direct conflict to the fundamental principles of district education to carry district education into the future. We recognize that we must continually renew and reflect on the roots of racism and develop new ideas to meet the times. Unjust ideas and policies and the racial inequities that they produce have shaped us, our schools and society. The board strives to uncover unconscious biases and practice anti-racism as individuals and as a board members. We challenge ourselves to persist through the discomfort necessary for growth and learning to deepen our listening and our examination of racism and oppression and develop a strong understanding of how our personal

008experience and feelings fit into a larger picture of continual oppression. Each member of our governing board individually and collectively is responsible for creating a nurturing and anti-racism learning environment where each student, staff member, and community partner is respected and valued member of the district community. The governing board is uniquely positioned at is our responsibility to identify, dismantle racist ideas and inequitable policies in ourselves and across the district. Therefore, we commit to supporting anti-racist policies, programs, and practices for our children's education and well-being while building strong and inclusive school communities. The board commits to holding each board member accountable towards these goals and moving the work of anti-racism forward. We also commit to holding West Coast Unified School District staff, students, and community to living these standards of anti-racism in our schools. Board approved March 20,

0092024th. Um, can I get a roll call? Superintendent Cart Trusty Reckler. Good evening. Present trustee Smith FS. >> Sorry. Trusty Smith fo present on this call. >> Thank you. Trustee Hernandez. Good evening, president. >> Clerk Gonzalez Hoy. >> Good evening, President >> and board president. >> Good evening everyone. Wen toos. Um, we are now moving on to reports ratification of close session and we will do a report out on our special board meeting. Do we have anything to report out for our special board meeting? For our special board meeting, the board voted to approve the appointment of Sylvia Greenwood as assistant superintendent of human resources. The vote was as follows. Uh moved by Gonzalez Hoy, seconded by Hernandez. Inana was yes. Gonzalez Hoy yes. Hernandez yes. Reckler no. Smith folds. Yes. And then we have

010our remaining close session. Would you like me to report out on our close session items? We well we will not close out and adjourn close um close session and rec and reconvene open session for our regularly scheduled board meeting and do our um and we could continue on with the report verification of close session. Thank you. Um, regarding item A24, the board voted to approve the appointment of Kimberly Chamberlain as director of classified personnel HR. The vote was as follows. Moved by Gonzalez Hoy, seconded by Hernandez, and Jana was yes. Gonzalez Hoy, yes. Hernandez, yes. Reckler, yes. Smith Folds, yes. In addition, the board voted to approve the appointment of Lauri Wong Roberts as director of education technology. The vote was as follows. Uh actually the vote was unanimous. The board voted unanimously for that

011appointment. Uh for agenda item A25, there is no report out. For agenda item A26, the v the board voted to reject claim number related to alleged personal injury. The vote was as follows. It was the board voted unanimously. I apologize. The board voted to reject claim number related to alleged personal injury. The board voted unanimously. The board voted to reject claim number 671-594 related to alleged personal injury. The board voted unanimously. and the board voted to reject claim number 670 855 related to alleged personal injury. The board voted unanimously. >> Thank you, Superintendent Cotton. We [clears throat] now be continuing with the agenda. I will be moving item B10 to before public comment tonight. Um, could we continue on with item B10? Yes, thank you for that. We were um very happy to celebrate and

012glad to see folks here celebrating um principal appreciation week on principal appreciation day on May 1st and all of last week was teacher appreciation week. And so we wanted to lift up some amazing work that is going on in our school sites and we've asked Karen Zapata uh to join us along with uh staff members from Washington along with Travis Bristol. Dr. Travis Bristol um is a uh university partner from UN for from the University of California at Berkeley to speak to us a little bit about national board certification. He serves as the president of that organization, a national organization, and we are very lucky to have him here with us today. But first, I pass the mic to uh Principal Zapata. >> Thank you. Buenos notes. Good evening. My name is Karen Zapata. I'm

013the principal of Washington Elementary School, a proud dual language Spanish English school here in West Contraosta. I was a classroom teacher for 26 years before entering the world of school administration and I'm proud to say that I'm a UC Berkeley PLI alumni and I know PLI runs deep here in West Contraosta. The next couple of minutes of presentation exemplifies partnership and possibility. And I hope you see those of us before you as a rich network ready to partner for this district's amazing students and their families. First, I'm going to introduce Ariselli Vasquez, a second grade bilingual teacher from Washington. Adriseli is just finishing PLI right now and her inquirybased work getting her master's degree led her to propose and be awarded a $30,000 grant for our school. The grant is specifically designed to support English

014learner or multilingual students. I'd like to have Ariselli share a bit more about the grant. She is bo joined by our colleague Lisa Weaver who is also part of the grant committee. Good evening, Buonardes. My name is Arisel Vasquez. Like Miss Apata said, I'm a second grade teacher at Washington Elementary School, a proud DLI school. Um, this project started with my PLI assignments looking at data and analyzing how we could better support our English learners. Uh, we have held professional learning communities at Washington for the very first time. This is a time where a group of educators, Miss Weaver and uh other five educators came together to analyze student work and think of strategies that could better help our English learners as well as we engage in peer observation cycles. We went around and observed

015our fellow colleagues teach EL and engaged in very powerful debrief, reflective debrief and how we could help our English learners. All of this momentum has led to teacher ownership. It was because of this PLC group and collaboration that we applied for the lights awards grant. It's a $30,000 grant for the next two years. And our goal is to work collaboratively, develop curriculum and ongoing progress monitoring. We want to strengthen our strategies and leadership and make sure there's coherence throughout our school. As as an aspiring leader, I have learned that we cannot wait for perfect systems to be in place. We must start early, trust our teachers as experts, and build the relational trust that serves as a vehicle for all school improvement. I want to thank my colleagues for helping me out with my school

016assignments and engaging in this very important work. I want to thank Principal Sapata for her support and giving teachers autonomy and my professor Dr. Bristol who introduced me to the grant and encouraged me to apply. We are asking the support of the district and to to continue this work and to support bilingual programs. Thank you very much. [applause] Thank you. The other person I have the honor of introducing is Dr. Travis Bristol. In short, Dr. Bristol was Oriselian my professor in PLI and someone who has inspired us both to push our edges of equity based school leadership. The accolades I'm many and I know our time is tight but Dr. Bristol is the leader of the national board certification program and he's going to join us to share a bit about his work. Uh [applause]

017uh so good evening uh members of the school board and superintendent Cotton. Uh it's a joy as a professor to be here with my two former students. Um Karen I taught uh I was going to say but I was going to say KZ but it's it's uh Miss Karen Zapata uh in 2022 uh in the PLI course and then I taught um last fall I taught um Miss Ariselli Vasquez in the course and it was a very interesting moment when I said uh in class um that teachers should that principles should um work on small gains and then Araeli said oh my principal is actually doing that And then I said, "Well, who's your principal?" And she said, "Well, Karen Zapata." And so one of the things that I did once I learned that there

018was this connection, I went and I visited uh their school, Washington. In fact, there are actually four other teachers um here in the district who are who are um currently in PLI. Now, Miss Zapata mentioned that I'm the board chair. I just want to make sure I I don't run the organization. I'm the board chair for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Uh National Board was established 37 years ago. and national board it is the gold standard for teacher certification. So across the country every every state a teacher will get a teacher uh will get a state license and then after three years after hard work that teacher can then go on and earn national board certification. Now, I'm not here in the role as board chair, but I I am here in the

019role as a professor at UC Berkeley. And one of the things that I was so taken by as I as I spoke to teachers across the country was about how pursuing National Board Certification improved their practice. In National Board Certification, teachers videotape their classrooms, they reflect on their practice and and and if you speak to any teacher, they will say that National Board Certification was one of the most impactful professional learning opportunities. In 2021, Governor Nuome invested $250 million. I'll say it again for maybe the folks in the back. Governor Nuome invested $250 million in a statewide national board incentive program. When teachers achieve national board certification, every year that teacher gets $5,000 not from the the district but from the state. And so one of the things that I did three years ago uh

020partnering with Oakland Unified and I believe I gave Superintendent Cotton there was a press release um from Oakland Unified yesterday. There's a lot happening in Oakland and one of the things that we're really proud of and Superintendent um Saddler is proud of in Oakland is the work that we've been doing at Berkeley to work with uh teachers in Oakland. To date we we've engaged 128 teachers in the district. Um, we've seen a 700% increase in teachers pres and teachers achieving national board certification. And again, in in Oakland, teachers get 5,000 from the state and then 1,000 from the district. That's $6,000 annually. And so the hope is clearly given that I have two students here in the district is that we might work our way uh up north and find a way to partner with

021the district to increase uh uh teacher professional learning and also to pay teachers a little bit more because teachers deserve to be paid and well compensated. So hoping that we can uh partner together. Thank you for your time. [applause] >> [applause] >> Can I ask um Principal Zapata, Dr. Bristol, uh Lisa Arselli, if you guys can come down front, we're going to do a picture with you. Okay, thank you everyone. Um, we'll now be continuing on to the regularly agenda. Um, item B7, WCC US public comment. Members of the public are invited to speak to the board on any matter within the subject matter jurisdiction of the West Contracasta Unified School District, but not on tonight's agenda. Public comment will last approximately 1 hour, the time allowed to each speaker is 2 minutes. Should additional

022speakers remain at the conclusion of one hour, public comment may be extended. This time allowed per speaker after the first hour is generally one minute. Individuals wishing to speak, please submit a WCCUSD public comment card now or if participating via Zoom. Individuals will need to raise your hand in the Zoom app prior to the beginning of this item on the agenda. If you are calling in by phone, press star 9. Speaking should not be transferred from one person to another and there is no substitution of speakers. Speakers can also make public comment again for a discussion and action item on the agenda after staff presentation. The public will have 10 minutes per item and one minute per speaker. The same protocols recited above apply. The public comment period is a safe space where diverse viewpoints

023may be expressed in a civil matter without interruption or intimidation. Please listen attentively to each speaker's comment and respect their time on the podium as if it were your own. be open to a different point of view if one is offered. Due to the Brown Act, members cannot discuss items that are not on the agenda and do not usually respond to items presented in public comment. So, please turn in your public comment cards and please raise your hand on Zoom because this item will now be um closing. Do we have any public comment? >> Yes, we have public comment. Keem Chimberling. I touched it nicely. I didn't make it. Hi, I'm Kimberly Chamberlain, IFPTTE, local 21 SSA chapter president for a little bit longer. I would like to very much thank you for the opportunity.

024Yes, I'm emotional because it's been a very big dream for me. Um, I have fought very hard for the classified people in this district. I can only say that I hope I continue to serve them in the new position as well as I did in my union position because I won't just be fighting for the 147 people that I've represented. I will be fighting for the entire district to keep them in good standing and making sure that they're serving our students correctly, which goes right in line with congratulations to all classified. You are phenomenal. Next week we are celebrating you. You are the best at what you do. You make the kids come out and I'd like to recognize you all. It is phenomenal how much students want to come to school just to see

025you. My grandson, for instance, doesn't always like to go to school. We told him, "But your teacher's aid is going to be in there and she wants to see you today." Oh, all right. I'll get out of the car. And then he goes into school for the day. How many other kids do that just because they have that one person that we tell them want to see them and then that person is there with a smile? Thank you so much for doing that for my grandson and all the other kids in our district. I truly appreciate it. Thank you to all the custodians for making sure that we have water running so that our schools will run too. Thank you for making sure that the garbages are emptied. Thank you for that. >> [applause] >>

026Next public comment is Heather. >> Please unmute [laughter] yourself. [clears throat] >> Yes. Um I'm Heather. Um >> Oh, look what you've done. youth. Excuse me. >> Excuse me. So sorry. >> Yeah, >> we called for someone on Zoom. I apologize. >> Sorry. >> Instead, >> hopefully you can give us another rendition in a minute. >> Thank you. [applause] Heather. >> Yes. >> Can you hear me? >> Yes. >> My name is Heather Harvey McNav and I'm the parent of two amazing Vista students, one third and one seventh grader. I'm also a Vista High School graduate as well as a WCCUSD employee. I chose to transfer my children to Vista Virtual after CO because I didn't feel I could keep my children safe even with them attending the very school I work at. the job

027I started so I could be with them. The climate on our on campuses I would call less than favorable. The negative behaviors, classroom distractions led to lead to loss of learning. The teething and bullying, fighting, lack of staff and teachers, as well as lack of supplies and funding for programs left me with no other choice but to put my children at Vista Virtual so I could ensure they would receive the best education possible while ensuring their safety. Learning doesn't happen the same for every student. Vista provides high-quality education for students and families seeking an alternative to the traditional public school. We choose Vista because they provide outstanding teachers, personalized learning, in-person enrichment opportunities, and outstanding student support systems to help students achieve their educational goals and prepare each student to succeed in a rapidly changing

028world. Focusing on helping them thrive academically, emotionally, and socially. It's all about the students, their learning, their experiences, and making them lifelong learners. There are many reasons families choose Vista. Maybe traditional school just didn't work. Their child was bullied, threatened, assaulted at school. Maybe there are health reasons, medically compromised family members, housing or transportation challenges. The need for greater support or wanting their child to be safe. The mental health of our children is extremely important. And in a current world filled by hate, it is essential that we take these concerns seriously. what being a Vista student means to my children. It means that they are excited about learning and want to go to school every day even if they are sick because they don't want to miss out. They have become independent and confident. They

029are becoming leaders and are thriving. The program is truly unique and absolutely irreplaceable just like our teachers. Please reconsider the cuts to Vista. Our children's future is in your hands. Seiya Johnson. [applause] >> Come on. Come on. Come on. Stand up here. My name is Seven. I am in kindergarten at Nishm. I love field trips because >> speak up. >> Get closer. >> I like to go in water. They are so >> fun. fun because I like to be outside. We should have more field trips because they are so fun and creative >> field trips. [applause] [cheering] Good job. Jean Kher, please unmute yourself. >> Well, that's an act to follow. My name is Jean Kincher and I'm a teacher at Verie. My community receives programs through the Richmond Outdoor Coalition, including a snow trip

030led by the Headwater Science Institute, classroom instruction and field trips led by Kids for the Bay, and a family camp led by Yes nature to nature to neighborhoods. I'm here I'm here today to share the impact that I've witnessed on the youth that I work with. Their excitement and wonder to learn about the creek and their environment is amazing. that special magical moment when it starts to snow on their snow trip and they have never experienced snow before. The excitement and fun that shocks students and families when they're having fun camping, but they're unplugged from technology. The joy and tranquility that Nia Dance provides for my students, my students, students at our school and students in our community deserve these experiences. and many, many more. And as you heard the very smart gentlemen that went

031before me, field trips, things that make these kids excited. Please make sure they continue, Mel Pierce. [applause] Good evening. Uh, thank you everyone for your time. My name is Maril Pierce. I work with the science department. Um, I'm here speaking on behalf of the Richmond Outdoors Coalition and really to just share some light on the benefit of field trips and how important field trips are for youth. Um, I could go on and on, but we have a small coalition here and it's really, really special. um the beautiful moments that kids have when they're outside. So, we would like to share that with you. And we are here to continue advocating for outdoor education on behalf of the Richmond Outdoors Coalition and to get kids outside because they have a lot of fun and that's what

032it's all about. And thank you for your time. Thank you all for everything that you do. We appreciate you and we want to continue working together to get kids outside. So, thank you so much. [applause] >> Chris, please unmute yourself. >> Can you hear me? >> Yes. Hey. Hi. I'm Chris McClean and I teach at Dover Elementary. And I just wanted to congratulate the band students who performed last week at Richmond High. The violin, the orchestra students, and the band students cuz if you heard them, they were phenomenal. Um, I've been teaching for 10 years and I see my my students grow from elementary to middle to high school and I just see the the vast improvement and just how beautiful they play. And I think that elementary band programs are so important for these

033kids to be able to have an outlet to express themselves and to be able to to express themselves. Like I said, I also wanted to speak about the the talks that's been going around about computers. Now, I understand perhaps in the lower grades about students not being able to take their computers home, but I think especially in sixth grade, even though it's still elementary school, the rigor and the demands academically are much higher and we're writing five paragraph essays, we're doing research projects, we're I think it's very important for them to have access to computers and for it to be one-on-one in my opinion, not four uh four students for one computer. And lastly, I think that ethnic studies in Kennedy High School is super important because ethnic studies, in my opinion, is just as

034important as learning about English or math or science because it really gives you tools to understand how the world works, how this country works. So, please reconsider all these cuts and all these changes that you're thinking about making. Thank you. Isabel Hil Garcia. Good evening board. My name is Isabel Hil Garcia and I'm a teacher at Richmond High School. My purpose here tonight is twofold. First, I'd like to speak on the positive impact that the Richmond Outdoors Coalition has had on our larger Richmond community. I had the opportunity this year to step outside my classroom and attend the second annual Richmond High School snows trip this past year. This was a life-changing experience for a variety of reasons. Not only did it allow me to connect with my students in a different way, but it

035showed me how a genuine learning doesn't only happen inside the classroom. Seeing students outdoors, learning about climate science through play, being in nature, and challenging themselves to try new things was an experience that I will carry with me. An experience that all students in Richmond deserve. Building on the positive impact that extracurricular programs have on student outcomes, I would like to request the board reconsider the termination of Richmond High's theater manager Sam Taylor's position. Sam is an essential part of our community, doing so much behind the scenes to make student productions come to life. Without Sam, performing arts at Richmond High School will be severely impacted. Having worked alongside Sam in a theater production, I can attest to the dedication that Sam has to ensuring our students have highquality productions. I personally witnessed Sam build

036us a two-story set with a non-existent budget and truly made magic happen. Sam and I had plans to bring another theater production to Richmond High School next year, which cannot happen if their position is terminated. Richmond High has still not recovered from the loss of our scale Lolita last year and ripping another long-term community member from our community will continue to have disastrous impacts. Which brings me to my very last point. It is abundantly obvious to me that the board is not acting in the interest of students with this late latest round of budget cuts. I understand that our district is in a financially vulnerable time, but I cannot take the board seriously when we continue to spend exorbitant amounts on consultants and highle positions that have little impact to the lives of students. performing

037arts, meaningful field trips, ethnic studies. These are the things that make students look forward to coming to school that provide them with a holistic education. I urge the board to stop this latest round of bud. [applause] Mariana Calvario, please unmute yourself. >> Hey, hello. Good afternoon. My name is Marian Calvario. If you don't know me by now, I'm the girl who cussed you out last time. Um, I'm a Kennedy alumni who is currently studying at UC Davis for political science and CHO studies. As this will be probably the last time I'm going to be speaking about ethnic studies. I just wanted to let you guys know how incredibly selfish you guys are. If you guys couldn't like read the room or whatever, um, you're not only taking away ethnic studies, you're taking away children going

038outside. You know how crazy that sounds. Um, I would like to make it. Yeah, obviously I just said that. Um, you're taking hundreds of students education just because you don't value them. It is disgusting. Although you guys seem to not value education because it's not that hard to get your job. You guys didn't pursue higher education. Um, I'd like to remind you that many of us do care about it because it it is our only way out. Um, I have not been present for the past board meetings, but that doesn't automatically eliminate my care for ethnic studies. In fact, I've been I've talked to the senator of San Jose State San Jose, sorry. Um, so he could vote to extend the budget of ethnic studies across all high schools in California. It took him one

039meeting to agree while all of these people standing behind you in front of you have been pleading for 2 years for ethnic cities for um not cutting off special ed. It took him literally, I'd like to say 30 minutes while you guys while these children have been pleading. A a kindergarter was literally speaking on the podium. Um, I just wanted to let you guys know it's racist, too. Um, if you continue with the elimination of ethnic studies and Spanish speakers because Spanish 3 is not enough. Point blank, period. Um, you guys aren't creating these policies, but you're encouraging them, which is worse. Thank you. Marie Anam [applause] The district district's maintenance staff has been working very hard. I see what you're doing around the district. Thank you for returning to STE and Dejon to continue

040beautifying the campuses. We appreciate your swiftness in that urgent matter. We received the stools to help the little ones access the high sink safely. Thank you for making our temp campus more accessible to TK and K. Thanks to the maintenance crew that came out to Cameron. The project took a lot of time to plan, but it's now complete. Although school was in session, the crew was very professional and they finished it in one day. We thank you. The bench looks awesome. Speaking of Cameron, I want to warmly invite all of our leadership to please come to our Cookies with Cameron open house next Wednesday, May the 20th at 4:30. Come meet the early intervention staff and see where the youngest students in this campus. They are ages 0 to 5 years. This is where they

041start receiving their special education services. Um, we're going to have lots of sweets, so get ready to eat. We've um today my students had a new subbus driver. I want to say the experience was very very positive. The driver was prepared, had a list of names, and knew the drop off route. It was great to see an informed and confident driver. As I always say, please consider adding the cameras and GPS on the buses soon. There is an app that us parents can use to live track the buses just the same as we live track our food and Amazon deliveries and whatever package that's coming to your house. Remember these students are the most precious package ever being delivered to and from school. This is my 17th speech. Please remember students and safety always comes

042first. Thank you. >> [applause] >> caring community, please unmute yourself. Good evening board. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. I want to make a databack case that Vista K12 virtual academy is one of this district's most underdeveloped revenue opportunities. California public school enrollment has declined every year since the pandemic. Families are leaving to tarters, to private school, to neighboring districts. And they're not leaving because they're abandoning public education. They're leaving because they found flexible, highquality options that fit their lives. Look at what larger districts have done in response. LUSD now operates six dedicated virtual academy schools for grades TK through 12 built around family demand for flexible schedules, health accommodations, and personalized learning. They saw the demand and invested in it. Private virtual schools like ICL Academy are charging families tuition to serve young

043athletes, performers, and students with medical or scheduling needs. The exact families Vista could be serving for free. Unlike traditional schools, Vista measures progress through work completion, meaning a student's day is defined by what they learn and produce, not just where they sit. That flexibility is exactly what modern families are paying private schools to provide. Vista already does this. Uh what this program do credits, credentials, teachers, rigorous curriculum, individualized instruction, the program exists, the demand exists. What's missing is the investment and the promotion. Every student reenroll in Vista instead of losing to a charter or private option, represent thousands of dollars in ADA revenue that stays in this district. I urge this board to direct the superintendent to treat Vista as a growth investments, resource it, staff it at grade level, and promote it with the

044same energy we bring to our best programs. Thank you very much, [snorts] Franklin Cruz Good. He has something important to say. I think we should let him go first. Good evening. My name is Franklin. I'm a student at Richmond High School and I'm here to speak about my experience with the Richmond Outdoor Coalition. I have participated in both field trips and inschool activities which were led by the coalition. Through this program, I have learned a multitude of different lessons from simple concepts of knowing that some plants are not to be messed with to [clears throat and cough] sorry my to the mastery of skills which I know I will be bringing with me far into the future. both uh equally val valuable things to know in my opinion. Regardless, the Richmond Outdoor Coalition is a

045great program that has taught me a lot of valuable lessons. Thank you for your time. [applause] Savannah, please unmute yourself. Good evening. My name My name is Savannah Harvey McD and I am a student at Vista Virtual Academy. I chose to go to go to Vista because it's a safe place for students to go. Being a student at Vista means so much to me because I have made so many friends and relationships with my teachers. Vista has helped me grow as a learner, a student, and a person. It what does it say here? It has also helped me succeed in being more independent. All of my teachers have been an impact on me. But Miss Link, my teacher now, has been with me for two years and has boosted my confidence, has built a relationship

046with me, has made has made me a strong leader, and has made me more independent. Taking away these qualified teachers also takes away our ed our right our rights to education. Thank you. Alisa Clark. [applause] Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Alyssa Clark. I've been with the WCCUSD since December as a substitute, spending a majority of my time in one extraordinary fifth grade classroom at the Verde K through8 school. I'm here to speak about my experience with the Richmond Outdoors Coalition. It benefits the community in a variety of ways. In fact, I just went on a field trip yesterday to Mir Beach with 14 of my rock stars. We took a hike around the area while learning about the importance of nature and the various aspects of the environment. I've been assigned to this specific

047class since March, and this group absolutely thrived yesterday. The students were able to create lifelong memories with the classmates, and seeing firsthand the impact ROC provided made me so proud to be a part of it. The most memorable moment was during the bus ride back to campus. My students asked if we can go to Six Flags Water Park for the last day of school. I told them that I would look into it, but no promises. Bottom line though, they were incredibly thankful for this experience. The RSC reminds me of my most fond memories as a fifth grader. I've lived in various parts across Northern California like Valo, Stockton, Antioch, in all nine schools from my K through 12 experience. My best memories came from each district with field trips with all my new classmates that

048I had to warm up to. We went to the movie theaters, cherrypicking aquariums and zoos. I remember all of it very fondly. It showed me at 10 years old that the community was encompassing inclusion, connection, engagement, and empowerment. The Richmond Outdoors Coalition impacts this community greatly and must be embraced. Please remember the ROC will continue to grow with your support. Thank you. [applause] >> Sloan, please unmute yourself. Good evening board, Superintendent Cotton, and WCCCUSD community. From preschool through sixth grade, I want to take this opportunity to shout out our students at Chavez and celebrate the incredible work happening across our school that is making a difference. Our commitment to high expectations and to supporting all students is evident across ELA, math, and our school climate. In ELA, we use culturally rich and rigorous text for

049all students. I want to thank Superintendent Cotton for joining us at Chavez on our ELA walkthrough last week. Thank you so much for your support. Also, a huge shout out to Miss Filin, our reading teacher leader at Chavez, for supporting the structures of foundational literacy skills across our campus. In math, our math teacher leader, Miss Buster, leads the implementation of Eureka Squared curriculum. She leads Chavez's math collaboration and planning with teachers each month. Her deliberate focus on lesson planning serves to reinforce positive planning habits and helps all teachers with internalization of the curriculum. Finally, our commitment to having a positive and supportive learning environment is stronger than ever through our alignment with the PBIS framework. Our vice principal, Joseph Pickering, leads Chavez's climate leadership team where teachers work to embed restorative practices into our daily

050routines. At Chavez, we place students first and we balance systemic change with supporting positive school structures in order to maximize student impact and learning. Through our teacher leadership teams and as a community school, we strive to include the voices of students, families, and staff. We are working constantly to build a community where all students feel safe, respected, and ready to learn. I also want to take this time to appreciate many of the nearly 100 members of WCCA that have supported us at Chavez, both directly and indirectly behind the scenes. From central office administrators to principles and IS's at other school sites, WCCA members work together every day to collaborate, calibrate, and implement innovative ideas, all in service of students and families. Thank you for your time this evening and for all you do for our

051students. Go Chavez. Good. Marlin Contras. Marlin Contas. >> Oh, go go go. >> Um, hello everyone. Good evening. Uh, my name is Maria Alvarado. Uh, I'm speaking in earlier because I mean you guys started late so and I have to go but it's really important if I speak right now. Um, I am a Kennedy Kennedy alumni who graduated in 2023 as a junior. Uh, unfortunately being from South Richmond, a lowincome community in a community of color, our schools are always given fewer opportunities compared to Elsa Bronte Penol or any other city you'd love to think about. Something I am positive about and I can assure you all tonight is that our schools need more and not less. And if I may, I'm going to put my major to use tonight. So, get ready to hear

052some of criminal justice in this little speech. Um, being from this city, we see our youth involved in crimes or getting lost in substance abuse. And from what I have learned in my years in college, part of it is because of the lack of compassion and support we tend to receive from our schools. And this doesn't necessarily reflect our teachers because something I can assure you all is that every single teacher at the K fights for all of their students and today is proof of that. But when the when they're when these classes are considered for cuts, when there's barely anything giving to us, it sends our it sends our community and us are the message that we're not worth investing in or not worth fighting for. These classes might not seem important to you

053all, but they definitely are. These classes may be might be the reason why students show up to school. And if I'm being honest, they were for me. They made me feel connected to our community and my culture. And if we and if we truly want and aspire for our youth to thrive in success and create safer communities, then I believe these classes should be kept and focused on expanding opportunities instead of taking them away. Thank you all. Andrew Wilkkey, please unmute yourself. >> Hey, can you hear me? >> Yes. >> Hi, good evening everybody. Uh, it's Mr. Wilkkey from Richmond High School. Um, just speak on a couple things. I want to thank Demetrio for whatever the committee is that he put together looking into these contracts that can be cut to generate this 1.7

054million. Um, and I think that if we can use that money for what is what is planned for, that'd be amazing. Um, I just want to as music is apparently transitioning our elementary teachers to prep elementary prep for upper grade elementary school kids can work, but um it takes tons of planning and um training and I don't see how any of that would happen and when it doesn't work, it really doesn't work and it's a nightmare for a lot of different reasons. Um, so I really hope you guys reconsider this plan of still having these same individuals, still only teaching a portion of the district music classes because it would be inequitable. Many of our schools would not get those prep teachers cuz there's not enough of them um to serve the whole district, right?

055So, you would already be serving not everybody, but then the kids who actually want to pursue this, who are into it, um, really aren't getting served anyway. There's ways to do what we've been doing better, but conversations and talking has to happen. And there's people who are willing to talk to you. I am one of them. Sort of my secondary colleagues at Richmond High. Man, if you guys could figure out a way to save Sam's position, that would be amazing. We used to do everything at Richmond High. And over the past six years, I've watched so much go everything keeps getting stripped away. Um, you've taken hell people from us the past couple years. Sam would be I would be the last vestage of any performing arts at a school that was putting on studentr

056run musicals only a handful of years ago. Full student band, full theater, full tech program, all this stuff. Sam Sam is Sam does more than just theater. She supports all sorts of different things. It would be foolish to leave such let such an overqualified human being go. Um, yeah. So, I hope you guys are able to come up to that and, um, I hope that we can figure out the seven period day. If we're saving periods for for other schools, it should be equitable across the city. [applause] >> Evan Evangelene Ortiz. um we were here since 5:00 pm and none of our um community members have been called up and there's no way and no shade to nobody, right? But there's no way that all these um different community members signed up before us. >>

057So this is not okay. >> All our students who are here to speak have not spoken. >> A lot of people >> and a lot of them have an AP exam tomorrow morning. >> Where are they coming? 12 hours, my dudes. Excellent management. >> Do you know Do you know how clocks work? I know math is hard for you. >> Well, we I understand, but we're taking them in the order that we're that they were handed up to us. >> Um, and with that being said, we're alternating also with the online um calls. Okay, we Okay. Well, we we'll be continuing with public comment and I'll have trustee um clerk Gonzalez go down and talk to you guys. Bill Hutches, please unmute yourself. >> Thank you. Can you hear me? >> Yes. >> Thank you

058so much. And I apologize to all of the folks who were who were here. Um, I definitely am on this call uh later than they were, but I do appreciate my opportunity to speak tonight. Um, but I do want to shout out that it it gatekeeping seems to be very real. Good evening members of the board and all who attended this evening. I appreciate the opportunity to speak to you. It is crucial that the school board funds and maintains crucial programs within the arts and music. The proposed cuts of music and arts, arts teachers, ethnic studies, the Richmond Outdoor Coalition, and all the other cuts are a mistake. Music and the arts are a crucial part of fostering critical thinking skills and provide an opportunity for students to learn, to be creative, and to appreciate

059these areas of study. Field trips are simply fun and educational. I consider these shortsighted decisions. These are all important beneficial incentives for learning. Additionally, in the news today, it was announced that the state of California is considering billions billions with a B in new funding for public schools. For all of these reasons, I truly hope the board shows its trust and support for teachers and their students by maintaining, if not increasing, the funding for the arts, the music, and these other programs. Save these jobs. Thank you for your time. Asel Montano, Leon Ortiz. Mas, please unmute yourself. Hi, good evening. My name is Denise MSAS. I'm a proud parent of a student at Vista Virtual Academy. First off, I want to thank the teachers and staff at Vista, thanking them for opening doors for us

060that once were closed by this district. My daughter has felt heard and supported at Vista and is thriving amazingly. Thank you to Miss Maresy, Miss Link, Miss Anna, Mr. Bernetti, Miss Foster, and our amazing principal, Miss McCormick, and many more. They gave us hope. Today, I come to beg that you please protect and support our teachers at Vista. They're the reason for our children's growth. With their specialized knowledge to teach and support our teachers can, our children can have a better future and create a better society. Education is vital to our society. It drives economic prosperity, fuels innovation, reduces poverty, lowers crime, and much more. Teachers can change the future for our children. It's because of them everyone can thrive. If we didn't have them, there wouldn't be any doctors, artists, or world leaders. You

061wouldn't be sitting here today in that position if it wasn't because of a teacher. So, the least that we can do is support them. Vista is a different way of learning, but an amazing way of succeeding. They deserve the same supported educational opportunities as in-person classes. So find cuts elsewhere. Stop teacher cuts and support them because they support our children. I welcome you to become part of the Vista family because that's what we are at Vista, a family. Thank you. Lupita Marin. I'm here to talk about Kennedy cuz apparently you guys ignore us. Apparently that's you guys' favorite thing to do apparently according to tonight since it's been 30 minutes and it took you guys apparently it seems you guys want do what you guys want to do. Now you guys need to do apparently.

062You guys hear what you guys want to hear, not what you need to hear. >> You guys hear yourselves. You don't hear students. You don't hear the voices that you guys promise you're going to hear. You guys say, "Oh, we're going to hear every single person here." No, you don't. You hear who you want to hear, not what you need to hear. You guys need to get your priorities straight around here. Yeah. >> Teachers who work hard, hard harder than you guys >> know what to do. What's up with that? Shouldn't it be the other way around that teachers put in most of the work and just don't get listened to and you guys put in minimal work and you guys are like, "Oh, I have all the power." Make that make sense to me.

063Make that make sense. Make sense that you guys are cutting a teacher who the whole entire school Kennedy loves. The whole school loves Miss Aendo. PEOPLE WANT TO GO TO HER. PEOPLE love everybody. We love Miss Aendo. We love Miss Huerta, Miss Blanco. And you guys want to cut other positions. What's wrong with y'all? What's wrong with y'all? It's like you guys are on crack. [cheering] Ethan, please unmute yourself. Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. My name is Ethan Sorcerer and I teach fifth grade at Montalban. I also serve as the math teacher leader at Montalban on the math district implementation team. I was on the curriculum adoption committee that recommended Eureka Math squared. Many of the proposals that you will be asked to consider tonight by the contract review committee are sound

064fiscal strategy with minimal negative and perhaps even positive impact to students. I respectfully ask that you consider keeping the contract for instruction partners. Instruction partners has been instrumental to my personal development as a national board certified teacher and our rapid growth in math achievement at Montalban from 17% after the return to in-person learning to 28% last year exceeding the district average. Unlike other consultants, the work that they do is not something that can be easily replicated by district personnel. Although grouped together with other cuts to contracts proposed tonight, instruction partners' cost is relatively small, especially considering the force multiplier this contract provides to the quality of teaching and learning in our district's math classrooms. If you want to see improvement in the quality of math instruction in our district, to see our students becoming capable

065mathematicians and viewing themselves as math people in ways that I and maybe you did not view ourselves growing up, I encourage you to keep this contract. Later tonight, you will also vote to cut Chromebooks at elementary schools, at least in part because you are justifiably unhappy with their ineffective and inconsistent use across the district. We spent a great deal of time and money adopting a highquality math curriculum. If you want teachers to use it effectively to shift their own mindsets around what students are capable of and what math instruction should be, please do not repeat the same mistake. Please invest not only in the materials, but also in the training teachers, teacher leaders, and district personnel need so that we can deliver on the promise of highquality, equitable, student- centered instruction our communities deserve and

066vote to keep the instruction partners contract tonight. Thank you. Gian Maldonado. [screaming] [cheering] >> Uh, hello school board. Hello Superintendent Cotton. Hello cabinet. And most of all, hello Kennedy community. I've always believed Kennedy students deserve way better. The Kennedy student government, because it recognizes Kennedy students deserve better, has had multiple meetings with our administration, with board trustees, with the superintendent, with district personnel, and we've always questioned why the reductions in staff, why the reductions in courses, why the reduction in programs. And the answer is Kennedy's decreased enrollment. As you all know, Kennedy is going through a complete renovation, but for now, we're in portables. Of course, portables aren't attractive at all. Of course, on our enrollment is down. No one wanted no one wants portables. We question why strategies weren't put in place before the

067renovations with the district knowing our enrollment would inevitably decrease. Why weren't these preventions placed before? Why is it taking until now for the district to try and save Kennedy program? Emphasis on the try. Kennedy students deserve way better and we all know it. We deserve an onampus administration who actually cares about students. Where has my principal been for the last week? No one has any idea. [clears throat] An administration who recognizes the needs of educators and the stability of student needs. We deserve an administration, a school board, and a district who actually have student needs placed in every decision. WCCUSD save Kennedy and thank you everyone. >> Angela Phillips, please unmute yourself. >> Good evening. Can you hear me? Yes. Uh, good evening. [clears throat] My name is Angela Phillips and I am a proud

068parent of the Vista uh high school student. My husband and I have been very happy with not only the amazing leadership of the principal, Miss Edith McCormack, but also the wonderful teachers at the virtual academy from the middle school and high school. We have had the experience of being part of the Vista community since uh about a little over four years ago. It was soon after COVID. Um, our oldest child needed uh more academic support, not because she was struggling. It in fact, she was actually doing extremely well. And unfortunately, the district did not have um all of the resources that we would like. And um her experience at Vista has been very well received. Um she enjoys going to the classes. She enjoys her instructors. they are all uh very concerned about their students.

069They make sure that they receive the support and that they need especially for children who are um high achieving and need additional um resources. But also I want to thank uh the community and please uh do not uh provide cuts to the Vista community at this time. But I also want to encourage that you don't reduce uh the cuts to the um music and uh arts education. It is definitely something that supports uh not only children that we our younger children but children throughout the district and um it is something that provides a well-rounded education that improves their ability in all of their subjects whether it's reading, math, or just creativity. Um, by cutting these things, you are definitely cutting some of the best things of our district. Thank you very much, [applause] >> Melanie

070Hernandez. Melanie Ernnandez. >> [cheering and applause] >> Good evening. My name is Melanie Hernandez and I'm a freshman at Kennedy High School. Like many of you, I came to school today with dreams, goals, and a future I'm working toward. But the proposal to cut classes like ethnic studies, Spanish for Spanish speakers, the health pathway, even down upon the removal of the leadership position is threatening not just my ambitions, but those of a majority of students. Ethnic studies brought me pride and gave me a chance to clear my head from the haze that was attempting to fabricate the losses in humanity as victorious. Spanish for Spanish speakers not only strengthened my Spanish but shined a light on Central America and the importance of each region in that area. Leadership isn't just a job. It fosters strength

071and creativity amongst us students offering us abilities to become resilient who make resilient people who make a difference in our communities. The health pathway is so much more than a class. In a world where health care is constantly in the news, cutting this pathway removes a chance for students to learn skills that will serve them long after graduation. I urge you to think about what these cuts mean for students like me. We deserve classes that inspire us and prepare us for the future. You have the power to protect our futures. Please use it. Thank you. Jesse Pogy, please unmute yourself. Hi. Um, good evening, superintendent and school board members. I am speaking tonight as a concerned parent and educator on behalf of the elementary band program. This program is an integral part of our school's

072weekly instruction. My son has participated since the fourth grade. He will attend Koramatsu in the fall. His elective band. During his three years participating in elementary band, Mr. Monzanna has supported his musical growth and knowledge, his sense of confidence, his ability to work collaboratively, and his commitment to long-term goals. Musical education supports students intellectually, emotionally, and creatively. Learning to read sheet music is tantamount to learning a new language. At a time when arts education in the public school space is under fire and uncensored, underregulated exposure to and use of technology is on the rise. We need, our kids need musical education more than ever. Studies show that schools with music programs have significantly higher attendance rates, graduation rates, and student test scores. Clearly, this is not lost on our neighboring districts. Both Albany and Berkeley

073Unified School Districts have strong school music and band programs open and accessible to all students during the school day. In fact, both districts have recently increased their investment in music and band. Defunding this program will send families to other schools and other districts. I urge you to safeguard this incredible program and guarantee that our kids can continue to learn and play music together at school. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Alisa Bell. Alisa Bell. [cheering] [applause] Um, I'm here to speak on the removal of ethnic studies because I heard you guys are trying to take it off and I don't approve of that. I don't because I thought ethnic studies would be so boring, but I actually love the class now. And I feel like since we actually we actually had a petition where 400 and

074I think 400 >> 400 how much >> and 52 students from King Elementary from about to be a freshman freshman who signed the petition and said that they enjoy ethnic studies. And if you guys are the school board and you want to like listen to the kids, I feel like you guys should listen to them and keep ethnic studies because if 400 kids are taking time out of their day to sign a petition, I mean that says something. I mean, and if you see all these students are here and like to show that they care about the classes, I feel like you guys should look at that instead of a choice sheet cuz kids are going to like if they're going to pick on the choice sheet. with all of these kids here, that's more

075than like 36 to fill the class. That's more than enough to fill a class. And I feel like if you guys are the school board and you care about the kids, you should listen to them. And I'm like, y'all do, right? Y'all care about the kids. Y'all don't look so enthusiastic. Thank you. [cheering] [applause] >> Gi Montes Montanes, please unmute yourself. >> Hi, can you hear me? >> Yes. >> Hi. Um, good evening school board and Superintendent Cotton. My name is Gail Montany Susana. I'm a speech language pathologist for WCCUSD since 2003. As we recognize better speech and hearing month, I want to take a moment to speak about a group of professionals whose work is essential to our schools, yet too often goes unseen and underappreciated. Speech language pathologists or SLPs. SLPs are not

076an extra service in education. We are a vital part of the school community. Every single day, we help students find their voices, sometimes literally. We support communication, language, literacy, social interaction, fluency, articulation, executive functioning, and access to learning itself. Without communication, a child cannot fully access education, advocate for themselves, or build meaningful relationships. And when concerns first arise about the child struggling in school, SLPs are often among the first responders in special education. We are frequently the first professionals to identify developmental differences, language disorders, autism related communication needs, learning challenges, and social communication difficulties. We collaborate with teachers, psychologists, administrators, OT's, and families to help students succeed. Yet, despite the critical role we play, our district has failed to adequately honor or recognize the contribution of SLPs during better speech and hearing month, which is

077this month. A man, a month intended to celebrate advocacy, communication, and the professionals who support it has passed with little acknowledgement of the work being done every day on campuses across the district. Recognition matters not because we seek applause, but because valuing professionals means valuing the students they serve. When SLPs are overlooked, the message sent is that communication support is secondary when in reality it is foundational. Tonight, I ask the district to do better, to recognize, support, and invest in the SLPs who continue to show up for students every single day because every child deserves a voice and every voice deserves to be heard. Thank you, Sitali Gomez. >> [applause] >> I'm not Sali. Uh, but my name is Leas Aalos. I am the senior class president at senior class president at Kenny High School.

078And about a year ago, I stood here before you um advocating for my Spanish literature and culture class. And today I, you know, I obviously aced the AP exam today. You know, we're definitely getting at five. But it was because I came here and I advocated and you listened to my voice that you allowed for that class to be restored. It is because you allowed me the opportunity that I was able to excel, to prosper. And here I am again asking you to do the same thing. We as Kennedy, we're not asking you to add on class just to preserve the classes that we have now. We don't want to end up a soulless uh proprietary corporate school, right? We don't want to be boring. our our our programs, our classes, our teachers, they make

079Kennedy the best school in this district because they allow our community to grow. They allow our community be to be intertwined, connected, and that's why we're so cool, right, guys? >> We're so cool. We're so cool. [cheering] That's why I'm so cool because I go to Kennedy. Kennedy makes people so cool. And I'm asking you here I'm ask I'm here today to protect Kennedy, please. Like, please protect Kennedy. Protect our students. Allow them to grow. allow them to be cool. Um, let's see what else can I Oh, yeah. Save the band. I've been in band since fourth grade. I've been in band since fourth grade. I'm an awesome musician. I played a tener saxophone. It is because we are allowed access to these programs to these to these classes to our teachers that we become

080amazing human beings that we are allowed to grow into a tree. All right? So be the water that, you know, goes over our seeds and allows us to spread our roots, to spread our branches, right? Allow us to spread our wings. Thank you, Pro Kennedy. >> Canelo, please unmute yourself. Joel Enamo. [cheering] [applause] >> Um, you said my name wrong, but it's okay. Um, I'm just going to share a brief personal experience that I've seen at Kennedy cuz I know the rest of my fellow peers are going to show with their words what they've experienced at Kennedy. But hi, my name is Joseena Morado. I'm a junior at John F. Kennedy High School and the junior class president. I'm asking the board to look into Kennedy's programs because these programs are more than just activities.

081They're opportunities, safe place, and commu communities that help students grow. They give students leadership, support, confidence, and many reason to stay involved in school. Taking these programs away, meaning taking away opportunities for students who truly rely on them. next year or I am currently in ASB leadership and the position for ASB or for the ASB teacher has been unfulfilled for next year. I think it is truthfully disrespectful to the leadership teacher that she is being asked to go away. But I also believe that the leadership position should be a full-time rather than a part-time. Teachers deserve a full-time position so they can continue building their programs. Asking a teacher to be a part-time teacher is just unacceptable. These students deserve more and I know they're going to get more hopefully, but I'm asking the board

082to look into these matters whether it's from student government and so on. We deserve more and we deserve our voices to be heard. So, please invest in our future and not reduce anything. Thank you so much. Katie, please unmute yourself. >> Hi everyone, Katie Maresy here. Um, I'm going to read you a poem that I wrote called Who Speaks for Students. At Vista, Dear Vista, where learnings your way, students come searching for hope every day. Some care came from bullying, cruel words, and pain. Some faced racism again and again. Some needed teachers prepared there to guide. Some carried struggles they buried inside. Some battled anxiety, fear, or poor health and needed compassion much more than help. So, who speaks for students? Who stands by their side? Does the district speak for them? Budgets, some side.

083Does the union speak for them? Teachers, they say. Then who speaks for students who need school a new way? We do, cries Vista. We see and we care. We help students heal when the world hasn't been fair. These teachers aren't numbers or spots to replace. They're trusted adults. A safe, calm, caring place. Though families still call us, still pleading for all. Don't take what is working. Don't dim this bright light. Invest in our students. Protect their safe sight. You promised investment. You promise to care. So prove it through action. Keep all of Vista still there. Invest in the children. Invest in this place. Invest in the teachers who lead with such grace. And somewhere a student once silent with fear now walks into Vista and whispers, "I'm safe here." Thank you. Mari Alvarado. [applause] My

084name is Namaru. My name is Hector Perez. I am a senior at Kennedy High School. And frankly, I'm tired. I've been doing this for the past year. uh well since last year and so far not much has changed. If anything, things have been getting worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and it's only getting worse from there. And honestly, I've always wanted to blame someone since freshman year of like why do I feel this way? Why do I feel like my classes don't feel this way? And always I blame myself or sometimes I would blame my teachers and such. And now I learned um y'all are to blame frankly because even though y'all were terrible and such, the only thing that kept me going and the only

085thing that kept me speaking now and will keep on speaking because I don't think this is going to be the last time you're going to see me if you keep doing what you're doing. And frankly, what was I going to say? I was going to say that [gasps] >> Got it. >> Yeah. Sorry. feeling a little emotional. So without my teachers, without the community here at Kennedy, I wouldn't be here right now just trying to get child's attentions because I know no intention gets put into Kennedy notice. It's always, oh, we want to hear student voices. Miss Cotton, oh my god. Uh, Miss Cotton has said this in the UCBY plan and the the district breakfast. We want to hear student voices. We care about student voices. Yeah, here we are. You give smiles to

086those that like appreciate you, but you don't give smile to those that need help from you because frankly you don't want to help them. You just want to be appreciated and put your face on the big flat screen of Miss Cheryl Cotton, the best superintendent. And this time that isn't happening. That's why there's no smile going on. There's just frowning and sadness. Please change our minds of you being a good superintendent cuz we're tired. [cheering] >> Our last person on Zoom, Salon Harrison, please unmute yourself. >> Hello. Can you hear me? >> Yes. Okay. Thank you. Good evening, board and superintendent. I am really concerned about our students not being able to have any support around the use of the n-word. We have I know you guys have done some things, but parents don't have

087anything they can do. The administrators are not responding. They are some school sites are suspending kids. I've had complaints from a lot of schools in in um in our district and I want the district to give parents something to do because just suspending that's moving one but there's groups of kids calling our kids the n-word and this has to be addressed because if our kids if parents are doing things and finding their own solutions it may not be communal. We want this to be a community solution. There is a solution and we would like to do this in partnership with you all. Stop leaving us out of the room. You guys are not the experts to everything. You guys do went to school and did some things and you the board, y'all know some things,

088but there is no thing, nothing in writing for parents to do to address if their child is getting called the n-word and other things that other parents would legally address. So we want something to do. We want something to support our kids in feeling safe and feeling welcomed into the environments like the other children are getting. We want our children to get that too. And we are not happy right now about what the lack of the action from the board of doing something about our children getting called the nword. There needs to be a district policy including parents that we can address this in a way that makes it effective for our kids and all kids in the district to come to school in a good environment. I'm completely [applause] >> Kissa Blondon. [applause] Um,

089just wanted to let you guys know there's two more people on the Zoom. It's Andrea and Jackie. Make sure to look at that. Thank you. Okay. And then could you reset my time? I was just letting you guys know. Is that okay or no? Thank you. Okay. Good evening, board members. My name is Julisa Vandon. I am an alumni from Kennedy High School, and I'm here to talk to you about Kennedy. In all my years at Kennedy, I had one question asked to me constantly. What makes Kennedy special and I'm here to tell you why. My teachers have poured their entire hearts into each class every year. My teachers not only build the foundation of my education, but the person I have become. I used to be shy and to myself. I used to think

090that education didn't mean anything and that it wasn't for me. But then I obviously learned that that wasn't true. I am pursuing higher education. I'm pursuing ethnic studies. I am a first year in college right now. [cheering] They showed me that my education education wasn't just a privilege but my voice. Classes like Spanish for Spanish speakers and ethnic studies helped me as a high school student. I felt none out of the other classes really catered to me or made me feel genuinely interested to learn until I learned about what ethnic studies is and what Spanish for Spanish speakers was and that met who taught it with the little things you got you guys have gave them. They work miracles in those classrooms with the little funds you feel all the love that nobody showed us

091in those in those classrooms. They teach us not just about history or Spanish. They care about their kids to this day. They are the closest thing to me. They are my family. I am here because you are threatening my family's livelihood. They shouldn't have to worry about being able to have a position, the right pay, the means to live, just to do what they love, what they studied for, and staying in their school with the students that love them back. I ask of you to please look at these students here. Do not diminish their voices, and do not disregard our teachers positions. You've heard them speak. You've heard me speak. What other words must we say to reach you? We are done asking nicely. We are done watching you not do what you are paid

092to do. If you don't have the money to do it, you better go and find it. We want these classes. We want our teachers. Since we are talking about ethnic studies, I want to remind you to open up a history book in once in a >> Thank you for your public comment. Thank you. We have we have now hit our 1 hour mark and we will be moving on to one minute per speaker for the remainder speakers. Alberto Aedano people. Um, hello board and community members. My name is Alerta Bendo and I work at the Rise Center. We have built strong relationships with Kenny students who make up a huge chunk of our members. I'm here speaking in support of the contract review committee's uh recommendations. Specifically, I would like to emphasize the importance of

093maintaining ethnic studies, Spanish for Spanish speakers, and career pathways at Kennedy. About an ethnic studies speak at Kennedy is a direct threat to students, community members, and Kennedy's future. Ethnic studies provides the foundation for young people to develop to develop their political consciousness, strengthen their critical thinking skills, and understand their community's conditions. This not only leads to students to be agents of social and economic change in their communities but also helps students be engaged in school and improves graduation and attend rates attendance rates according to research studies conducted at Stanford and UPEN. Lastly, Kennedy would be losing Mrs. Aendano amongst other amazing teachers. A giant who has been an integral part of the can of Kennedy the moment she stepped in. Losing her would Ash ash abot Ashamb. Oh, [screaming] look what you've done. Defunded

094ethnic studies and now no more journalism. School won't be no fun without leadership or APS for anyone. Oh, please fund our school. We're going to keep on fighting, Jess. Please fund our schools. We're going to keep on fighting. OH, JUST PLEASE FUND OUR SCHOOLS. We're going to keep on fighting just to please fund our schools. Don't be so cruel. So, I want you to think a little bit about how awesome it IS THAT THESE STUDENTS ARE COMMUNITY ORGANIZING. I WONDER WHAT CLASS HELPS STUDENTS COMMUNITY ORGANIZE. >> THAT'S RIGHT, EVERYBODY. IT'S ethic studies. We need students to feel alive and powerful and excited. I am so happy that I get to work with these people and get to hear from the students. Listen to them. Jackie Abado. Jackie Abadano. [screaming] [applause] >> Good afternoon. My name

095is Jackie Aendano and I'm a fifth year ethnic studies teacher at Kennedy. Thank you to the 452 students and community members who signed the petition to defend ethnic studies at Kennedy. And thank you to our beautiful Kennedy community present today. I can't put to words how heartbreaking it was to announce to my nth grade students that I accepted an ethnic studies position at Richmond High for next year. They were silent. Some had tears in their eyes. and many came up to me one by one to give me a hug. Some shouted, "Is there anything we can do? This is not fair. I'm transferring to Richmond High," amongst many other comments. Their response is a reflection of the value and power of ethnic studies in South Richmond. The discipline of ethnic studies was designed and fought

096for by the same communities a part of Kennedy, African-American, black, latinex, chica, AAPI, indigenous, and yes, our white students who stand in solidarity. So protect the class. Vote to protect ethnic studies. [applause] Sack Porter. >> All right. So the situation as I see it right now is is management still claiming it has to cut staff at Kennedy because it's the most feasible way to balance the budget. And you've backed this up again and again by pointing to projected enrollment drops and uh student interest in student certain classes um dropping based on choice sheets. Um even if we accept your reasoning um the evidence is incredibly flimsy at best and misleading at worse. Um, we know the demographers who um projected enrollment didn't account for the fact that we're in the middle of a rebuild. Um,

097it's a glaring emission and the choice sheets we've shown over and over again those results are invalid. Um, and you've already acknowledged this. Uh, we hope you will vote to save Kennedy's programs. Whatever the outcome tonight, no concession carries weight if a full-time ethnic studies position at Kennedy is not secured. Um, and I just want to say too that um, the way that you've condescended to our leadership students and and dismissed them is just um, it's just really not cool. And they've they've spoken to you in good faith and come to you in good faith and I and I need you to do better. [applause] Patricia Blanco. Good evening everyone. Patricia Blanco, a Spanish teacher, Kennedy High. I'm here to um to tell you to protect our programs. Please save any studies, save leadership, save

098Spanish for Spanish speakers. Our community needs them. There are good programs. Please um have on July check on results and IP. There will be awesome. I'm talking about my class and Miss Warta's class. I feel proud to be part of Kennedy. Thank you to my co-workers. They are awesome. Thank you for all the students that are here. Thank you for the alumnist and the community that support us. Listen to us. Protect Kennedy. Protect the programs. We need them. Not just words. We need facts actions. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Christina Werta. [applause] Christina Werta, Spanish teacher at Kennedy High School. I have been there 14 years and it is so upsetting to think that so many of my co-workers are being told that there is not a full-time position for them at Kennedy High. We

099are finally getting some stability. We are finally seeing the community come together and have a greater Kennedy. We're all excited about the rebuild. We're all excited about our programs. And we are so proud of the students and the alumni that Kennedy produces. Like Luis, hey Louis, ITA helped you get there and ITA is in danger and that's not okay. Our classes need to be protected. Our students deserve every single opportunity. And if any of you could figure out how to respond to an email and like check in with Mr. DeLeon or, you know, somebody else cuz we need answers. We're willing to figure things out together. That's how Kennedy works as a community. Aihara, >> good evening board. My name is Kumana Anihara. I'm a fifth year science teacher at Kennedy. Um, and I just

100want to ask, is it not like embarrassing for y'all at this point as adults who are supposed to find education? We have kids out here literally like begging for classes like ethnic studies, Spanish for Spanish speakers, coding classes. They're not asking for things like unlimited like PE or like less instructional minutes. Then they want to learn things. I I just really it's just embarrassing for y'all at this point to not respect the wishes of students who actually want to be educated and learn and grow. And yeah, like that's embarrassing. THANKS, Kaylee Kevkin. [applause] >> I'm a current junior at Kennedy High. And instead of studying for my AP classes today, I'm here because I might not get to take any next year. I'm also here because I wouldn't be willing to stand here before you.

101Neither would most of my classmates if it weren't for what we learned in our ethnic studies classes freshman year. My journalism class has taught me that I should write the stories of my community for people to hear and write about the things that are important to me that matter to me so that other people know what is going on when they have ignorance. My leadership class has taught me that I need to stand up for my classmates and help foster a community among them. My health pathway inspired me to try and learn more about mental health so I can support myself when I'm having issues as well as my classmates when I see them having issues. Music has been a part of my life since I was in third or fourth grade. I had to

102take a break because of my mental health. However, that does not mean it mean it matters any less to me and I am excited to be able to take it next year. So, it is insulting that you would take it away. Support our programs, PLEASE. >> [applause] >> Naelli Ernnandez. [applause] [cheering] >> Good evening everybody. It's already May and there is still so much uncertainty hanging over the students and dedicated staff at Kennedy. Tonight I am once again asking you to to protect the future of our beloved Kennedy High School. We continue to hear about declining enrollment as the reason for more cuts. But I ask you, when do we start talking about real solutions instead of more reductions? How can we expect to attract families and students to Kennedy if we continue to take

103away the very programs that make our school meaningful, supportive, and inspiring? Our students should be focusing on preparing for AP exams, pursuing their goals, and enjoying their high school experience. not sitting in board meetings every other week, organizing meetings with administrators, or worrying about whether the programs they depend on will disappear. I urge you to make decisions based on facts, compassion, and a full understanding of the impact these cuts will have, not only on current students, but on future generations of Kennedy students as well. Thank you, Elias Avalos. >> [snorts] >> Elas. [cheering] >> Hi, my name is Emiliano and I'm 9 years old. But even though I am only 9 years old, my voice is still powerful. To talk about Kennedy one day, I hope I go to Kennedy High School. Every time I

104go to the commu to community events at Kennedy, the students are always kind and welcoming to me. They make me feel like I belong there already. And those and those experiences make me excited to go there when I'm older. Kennedy feels like a place where I where students care about each other. Where >> you got it? where everyone >> where everyone can feel included. I hope that when I go there one day, I could still enjoy the same classes that the students are enjoying now. >> [applause] >> Iet Chinia, Iet Chinia, Sua Valdez, Kevin Perdomo, >> [applause] >> My name is Kevin Permo and I work for the organization Growing Together Projects which is funded by the Richmond Outdoor Coalition. Last year we organized a field trip to Toaden Little Farm which has an environmental

105education center. I noticed a few students observing a mushroom exhibit showcasing some of the native species of fungi in our region. I asked why they were so interested. They explained that it reminded them of a mushroom from their home country. A student asked, "Is this edible? We harvest mushrooms just like this where I grew up. Is it native to this area?" I answered, "Yes, these are native and edible." She explained that she was from Guatemala, that she arrived here not long ago, and that her indigenous community would forge for these mushrooms for nourishment. My family is also from Guatemala, although I was born and raised here in California. It was an emotional moment, not only because I learned something new about my cultural heritage, but because I could see how meaningful it was for this

106student to know that a piece of her heritage exists here, too. Building these relationships to nature, to our bio region, [applause] Sarah Kley. Hi, I'm Sarah Kley. I've been working here since 1992, but I was teaching since ' 89, if you can believe that. Anyways, first of all, I just want to say Kennedy, you inspire me. I never went to Kennedy. I didn't. My kids didn't go, but man, please let them keep their classes for God's sake. I mean, wow. Just wow. Please listen to them. Please. You are inspiring every one of you. I'm really inspired. I'm here to support elementary music. I teach my second graders you can do hard things. But when my daughter was in fourth grade, who did not like to do hard things at Hannah Ranch, she did something hard.

107She learned how to play the violin. Learning how to play an instrument is actually putting doing hard things into action. We tell our kids, you can do hard things. If you're playing in instruments, you are. And when you have years of experience playing, it's amazing what they do. There were some kids here from Hannah and they left because it got late. But their music had Joan Hadesi. >> [applause] >> Hello, I am uh the elementary music teacher in the Hercules area. I have 225 students across just fourth and fifth grade in three mu uh elementary schools. Um, it has been the most excruciating experience the last four months teaching these beautiful kids because I see 121 fourth graders who I will not be able to teach next year and countless third graders come up to

108me and ask how they sign up for music next year. This stinks. I have kids that only come to school because they want to be in my class. I um have more students than I can really handle, but I try to be there for all of them. Uh I hope I can continue doing this hard job and not have to come up with some stupid curriculum for prep because that is going to stink. Thank you very much, Lee Steins. Liz Deans. [applause] Good evening, Board and Superintendent Cotton. I am Liz Deans, parent of a lively fourth grader at Mirror Vista. Please put your full support behind reinstating elementary music and the band program. We need to protect, nurture, and boost all arts programs in our schools. We have a wellestablished, well-run music program with competent,

109highly skilled, dedicated teachers. um we need to maintain that. If you're unmoved by the academic, social, emotional, and personal growth benefits, then just think of what ele uh what Elsito High did recently by winning the the the prizes and the cudos that they got. Without a feeder program, that would not happen. Turning to other matters briefly, as Mira Vista experiences yet another change in leadership with the departure of their principal, Mr. wailing after only two years. I want to lend my voice to the campaign for strong and stable leadership that we need to address Mirror Vista's myriad of issues, particularly site safety, security, staffing, and appropriate levels of support for the students that need it most. Pleased to see some progress in there, but we need more board support for that. Thank you, [applause] >>

110Nicholas Bin. Nicholas Bin. [snorts] [applause] Hello, I'm Nicholas Burin. I'm the middle school music teacher in Hercules. I'm here to talk about the elementary music program. Uh, it works in Hercules. We have a high school that just had over 70 students sign up for band for next year. We're having class sizes in the middle school where we are maxed out where I think next year we might be turning students away from band and orchestra because they just I can't teach more than 180 students even though after school clubs and stuff I'm teaching over 200 generally. Uh Miss Day's teaching somehow over 200 students. I don't know how she does it but she's amazing. Um she's texting me at 1:00 a.m. asking like not about all music but she's like hey this one student might have

111signed up for the wrong class for music in sixth grade. Can you check on that and make sure they get there? It works in Hercules. We really, really need it. The community wants it. The parents want it. The students want it. Hercules Education Foundation, Hercules Music Boosters Association. Everybody in Hercules, all the three PTO's from the elementary schools are on board with music in in Hercules. Please, please keep Hercules music going. Keep all music going. Thank [applause] >> Adisha Green. >> My name is Arisha Green. I teach fashion design 1 and two in choir at Richmond High School. I ask you to consider reconsider the elimination of the theater manager position at Richmond High and the subsequent transfer of our theater manager Sam Taylor to Panol. Sam designs and builds sets and lighting that brings

112our students biggest creative visions to life. Sam also teaches those skills to our students. Sam works professionally in this field outside of Richmond High. And so she brings contemporary, inspiring, real world arts industry experience back to our students. Those experiences directly support many of our school's largest events, including multicultural night, band and choir performances, theater productions, and our annual CTE fashion show where students showcase full collections they've designed and constructed themselves. Balancing microphones and sound for choirs is a specialized skill and differs greatly from standard sound equalization. As our choir program has grown, Sam pursued additional training support so that she could help our students perform at a higher level. After hearing their voices amplified with excellent sound quality, I've watched students transform because someone took the time to make their work look and sound

113professional. Elias Abalos. Ani Ruiz. [applause] No. Ameliano. Sarah Menanix. [applause] Hi again. My name is Sarah. I'm here to advocate for basic safety and equity at Fairmont Elementary. Um, first, cutting our yard supervision in half will create a safety crisis at Fairmont. Our campus is uniquely complex with multiple buildings, portables, blind spots, and we serve an incredibly diverse population with a wide range of student needs. At current staffing levels, we already have behavioral incidents and school climate issues. Half of those staffing levels is insufficient and puts our students in physical and emotional danger, and it would close our green space, our only yard space for the students for the year. Please prioritize student safety and find funding to restore Fairmont's yard supervision to its current levels. Second, the district is pushing the cost of translation

114services for SST meetings and parent teacher conferences onto individual school sites while simultaneously cutting the site allocations. This disappro disproportionately burdens high ELELLL schools with high linguistic diversity. That's inequitable. Fairmont has 38 languages spoken by our families. Please do not penalize the diversity of this community. Jen Douglas, also a Fairmont parent. We are highly concerned about the safety of our children with the cuts that are being made for schoolyard supervision. We currently cannot cover the yard. I told my daughter why I was coming here and she was absolutely devastated because our children will not have access to grass. They will not be able to play. So, not only have we received really negative data this year concerning data about homophobia, racist comments, etc. that will be further disregulated if we do not have the supervision.

115But we also are taking a school that does a beautiful job integrating kids who struggle with behavioral problems and we're removing their ability to get outside and exercise. The lack of safety and lack of ability to get their energy out is going to make school an unpleasant place and make learning harder. Additionally, the lack of translation services is a lack of civil rights for our majority of our families which do have language diversity. Please do not make these cuts. Nissa Bremer. Hello. Thank you. I'm Nissa Bramer. parent of a fifth grader at uh Fairmont Elementary. Um I'm here to talk just about what Sarah and Jen have talked about right before me. Um my 10-year-old tells me that abbleist, racist, homophobic language is common on our yard. Cutting our yard supervisors in half not only

116makes it physically unsafe, it also puts our kids in the environment where this language goes unchallenged, unressed when it actually matters in the moment. Our schools already operate with the bare minimum. It's very simple. If you cut our sight supervisors further, it'll make our yard less safe. Children who do not feel safe don't thrive. Families do not believe their children are safe. Don't send their children to school. We all want our kids at school and thriving. Correct. Yes. Please do not cut the site supervisors on their translation services. Requiring school sites to fund their own language while cutting the site budgets is not neutral. It's a choice that places heavier financial burden on the communities that are more diverse. It's not an it's not a convenience. It's how our families engage. We want our families

117engaged in our children at school. Correct. Please do not cut the >> Lucas Menenix. >> Good evening board trustees and district staff. Uh also Fairmont parent here. Um your own LCAP commits to providing safe student centered learning environments and tracks school climate as a key metric. Cutting our site supervisors in half moves us backwards from being able to achieve that goal. As my uh fellow parents have already talked about, we're a really unique campus. We have lots of different buildings. We have blind spots and we only have one green space for our kids to be able to play on. Cutting that supervision in half really is going to harm our our children. The uh second thing is the translation services. The LCAP explicitly has goals around parent engagement and reducing disproportionate outcomes for English learner

118families. By pushing this uh funding um request onto the sites onto the sites, that really hinders our ability to to engage with our English learning population and ensure that they have better outcomes. You continue year after year cutting site budgets and it makes it harder and harder for us to be able to uh get our children to achieve as a level Liliana Garcia. [sighs] I had a whole speech, but unfortunately my daughter is out again. She is 16 and um doesn't listen to anybody. Both of my kids are at Vista. And Vista has impacted not only me personally in a microscopic level but in a macro level as well. My kids depend on Vista. I depend on Vista. A lot of parents depend on their teachers not only to babysit their kids but to at

119least say hi. How was your day? What are you interested about? instead of really piling up the oh, we don't have time. We don't have the budget. I don't have time. I want I I want to be gone every single day. Every single day, I want to be gone. And the only thing holding me up is Vista and that whole team, especially Truman. I know everyone knows him. That's it. [applause] Avedigor Goldman. Goldman. [cheering] [applause] Hi, I'm a Vdor Goldman. I'm here to speak on behalf of the elementary music program. Cutting the program is taking instruments out of students hands and putting them in locked classrooms. the the instruments are just going to sit there at a time when we're talking about how much time our kids are spending on iPads. I'm sure y'all are

120complaining about screen time for the kids. We're taking their musical instruments away from them. That is shameful. It I don't know what to say about it, honestly. Please don't do that. Please, for the sake of our children, they need instruments. A lot of the kids won't have access to instruments if you take them away from them. And that's they're 10 years old. They're still here. They're here with me. It's 9 9:04. We still got to go home. And we're here fighting for our kids music program not to be cut. Please do not. Thank you. >> Jean Shamry. >> Hello. I'm Gina Shambari. I'm following my fellow Fairmont parents. Um, just want to let you know I'm a fourth grade parent at Fairmont Elementary. I'm here because I'm very worried about the proposal of cutting our

121yard supervision in half and what is going to mean for kids like mine at Fairmont. Cutting yard supervision means the field will be closed all year as we saw in previous years. This means no green space at recess and our little soccer stars won't get to play. I want you to know that the kids who play soccer on the field consists primarily of our minority student body. For most of them, this is their only exposure to soccer. Safety has always been a concern at Fairmont. Safety is the primary reason students leave Fairmont. There have been lots of instances of physical violence, uses of racial s uh slurs, bullying. My son tends to act like the security at at Fairmont. I told him, you know, get in a a grown-up, but there are none, and you

122want to take more away. I hope you reconsider the proposal. Sandy Davis. [applause and cheering] Sandy Davis. Hello. I'm Sandy Davis and I'm another Fairmont Paramount. Fairmont parent asking you to fight with us for be better funding for our schools and not pass along draconian cuts that fail to provide for our most basic needs like so many others are asking you tonight at Fairmont Elementary. This means prioritizing safety by retaining our current 2025 26 level of yard supervision funding. Our current yard supervision staffing is the bare minimum to safely run our recess and lunch programs. Cutting our yard supervision budget in half will make it impossible for adults to intervene and support students through conflict. And we'll require our field to close for the year, taking away green spaces. Others have mentioned, we are also

123asking you to prioritize equity by centrally funding all translation services in the district so that no school is penalized for the diversity of its community. The new budget passes along all but IEP translation services to school sites, even though federal law requires that parents have access to all essential district and school related information in a language they can understand. For a school like Fairmont with more than 38 language languages spoken, we will need to use 25% of our already slim sight budget to hire outside transl. >> Good evening. Uh I'm Steve Chowick. I'm a parent at Fairmont Elementary and I'm addressing the cuts to supervisors and translation services funding. Uh at Fairmont Elementary, we are operating at the bare minimum of staff hours and have pleaded for parents uh volunteers because of the low levels

124of funded supervision at this uh point in time. Basic student safety simply cannot rely on volunteer bailouts. U families already don't feel safe with the current support levels and are leaving the district due to years of turning a blind eye to these fundamental safety issues. These cuts further put our children's safety at risk. So please, you must restore uh yard supervision. Second, pushing SST and parent teacher conference uh translation costs onto individual school sites is a glaring equity issue. U these are essential services necessary for teachers and staff to communicate u with vulnerable families but are being defunded. The schools serving the most linguistically diverse communities are being penalized the most. Thank you very much. Natalia Goldman. Natalia Goatman. [cheering] [applause] bring back um elementary music because I learned music there and like half of

125my class did too. And also the younger kids want to learn music. And yeah, >> Eric Marsh, Eric Marsh. Good evening. My name is Eric Marsh. I'm a parent of a first and fourth grader at Mira Vista Elementary School. I'm here to urge the board to vote to Vian State Elementary School Music Program. California Education Code section 51210 requires the course of study for grades 1 through six to include visual and performing arts, including music. The word shall in California law law means must. It is not optional and not subject to budget conditions. The state had made clear that music education is a legal requirement for every elementary school student in California. California Education Code section 51050 places the duty to enforce that requirement directly on this board on each of you personally. A vote

126against reinstatement is not a budget decision is a vote to violate state law and breach your individual legal obligation as board members. Thank you. >> Selda Ryan. Selda Ryan. >> [applause] >> Hi, my name is Alana Lopez and I want to save elementary music because I love coming to school every day because of music. Music is an amazing thing to do and it's so fun for me. Every day when I come out of class to go to music with Mr. Adishi, it makes me happy. And taking music away from all the kids at Hannah Ranch makes every single kid sad. So please don't take away music for all the kids. It makes them happy to do music for everyone. Thank you. >> Sam Claire Sam Claire Eduardo Kaufman. >> Sorry. speaking on an agenda item,

127but I can speak now. Uh, good evening. As a third grade teacher at STE, um, Perez's students from Kennedy came to do a project with my students. Collaborating with these high school role models from across the street gave us the most impactful and meaningful day I may have ever had with students. Students looked forward to seeing these high schoolers for months. These high schoolers watched them grow up, and some were family members. I could tell that they saw themselves in the elementary school students and felt pride for who they had become throughout the years. They wanted to share their achievements and learnings so that the elementary school students could experience the same successes and opportunities. After Perez's students left, my students couldn't wait to go to high school. These students are now going into high

128school, and as of now, they won't get to take Perez's class. If you strip more and more opportunities from these students, what will they look forward to? you you're taking away trusted, loving adults in classes that these students have been excited for ever since they were in third grade. Thank you. Eduardo Kuffman, Dylan Law. [applause] >> Hi. Uh, good evening. My name is Dylan Law. I am the PTA president at Mirror Vista and a parent of a fourth and sixth grader. Uh really what I'm here to talk about is Miss Magged, Jane Magged. Um Miss Magged in the band program at uh Mira Vista has been incredible for both of my children. Um my daughter u as one of our my fellow uh parents mentioned earlier, we're getting ready to actually welcome uh our fourth

129principal. And my time at Mirror Vista, we have a lot of chaos. Uh there was a pandemic. Uh my daughter had to go home uh during her kindergarten year and have distance learning. Uh there's been a lot of turnover and chaos at our school. Uh and she's dealt with bullying and and other issues as well. Um it's been hard to find hope uh at school. That is not something she's found found easy. Uh Miss Maggot has provided hope um and and provided a purpose. Um, you guys should be trying to continue things that bring hope to our students rather than trying to take it away. So, thank you Yolanda Ortega, Diana Wed Diana. >> [applause] >> Hello board members. My name is Diana Whited and I am a tiger mom of Vista High School, Vista

130Virtual Academy and Vista family of schools. Education is a right. Education teaches us to listen, to learn, to act. When we are educated, we can take a stand. We can defend our right to learn to be in a safe environment. To have educators that care, to have educators that are highly trained and well compensated. Cuts hurt. Cuts take away our rights, our benefits. To our to cut our education is to cut our children. Vista High School and Vista Virtual Academy provide a safe and fully functioning learning environment. Our family chose Vista because it's the best middle school in West Contracasta. Best teacher to student ratio, allowing needs to be met and goals to be achieved. A small campus and student body that yields familiarity and close relationships. Ruthie Ruthie Whiteed. [cheering] [applause] I'd like to

131start this by saying that Vista is a refuge and all its students are refugees. Whether we fled from bullying or just wanted an alternative to the social experiment gone wrong that regular middle and high school is, we are all part of a community of odds and ends that is held together with the love and passion that our educators provide. To steal from refugees, refugee children, and deprive them of the quality education they've chosen and deserve is to rob them of their futures. We all start off as seeds before you can become trees. How can we grow without water? What's the point of lungs if we don't know how to breathe? Think of it like chess. The more drastically you move pieces, the more pieces you lose. So don't steal our sanctuary. It's where we belong.

132Let us keep our teachers at Vis will bear its teeth and unchath its claws and roar until you see until you see that. Thank you for your time. [cheering] Brooke Miles. [cheering] [applause] Hi, my name is Brooke Miles. I'm a sophomore of Vista High School and play sports at Elsto High, but you guys already know me because I was a fall board student trustee. Here's a little about me. I have a 4.35 GPA, a three-year all student congress member, and head of leadership at Vista, as well as a student council board member and has spoke at the state level for students with disability. But I'm not here to glaze myself anymore. [laughter] The district the district has not helped any of my past achievements. Vista has Vista has helped me go from an F student

133to an A+ student. I've tried comprehensive schools. They don't work for me and they don't work for normal kids. Most of the students at Vista, if not had Vista, they'll transfer out of the school district or go to a charter school, losing the district more money. I know, I know how this stuff works, and I get you're in a tight place, but this is not the community to be playing with. When I was at school today, I heard a sixth grader talking about how they didn't want to move schools. No sixth grader should be worrying about this. I've been fighting for Vista for 5 years, and I'm sick and tired of it. Save Vista. Thank you, [cheering] >> Amy Miles. Ame miles. [applause] So for the past four years, trustee Brooke Miles has thrived at

134Vista Virtual and and many of you know this because you've either talked to me about it or I've been here. Several of you have emailed me back. I know one of you actually went to Vista, right? It's an alternative school where learning happens your way and it's a place where universal design learning or UDL one of the you know big words right now is not title five jargon but a daily reality. The thing is you only understand programs like Vista Virtual if you need a program like virtual Vista Virtual. Um, if you witness school avoidance that I witnessed, that my family witnessed, my daughter who just up here, I mean, she came up here and she told you what was up with very specific concrete details when she was in sixth grade and in third

135grade, she could not get to school. And what I mean by that is she was and she told me, I could say this, kicking and screaming and could not move. And this is my daughter. This is what Vista allows kids and it changes families and it can Screed pledge. [applause] Squid pletcher. [applause] Hello, my name is Squid Pletcher and I graduated from Elserto High School in 2024 and I currently am a rising junior at Wamtt University and I'm studying music and psychology. Um, but before all of that, I was a fourth grader at Harding Elementary School who was forced to learn an instrument by my parents and that changed my life and that I'm now studying music. Um, I have played the clarinet for over 10 years, most of my life, and the music program

136in elementary schools is an invaluable resource to all of our students. Uh, it allows for connection between peers. U, my younger brother is currently a, uh, sophomore in high school and he's a twotime California jazz champion and this is what we connect over is music. This is the only thing I can talk to my younger brother about. Um if you >> Thank you for your comment. >> Savala Nolan. Savala Nolan. [applause] >> Hi. Thank you for the chance to speak with you. I'm a parent of a Mira Vista student and I'm here to support band. I'm willing to bet that almost all of you listen to music today and that's because music matters. Well, where do you think music comes from? Comes from musicians, most of whom start playing when they're very young. Life is

137incomplete without music. And school and public education are incomplete without music, too. Band is literally why my daughter loves to go to school. It is the reason she's excited to go to school. It's also the reason she's excited to go to high school and college because she knows she can play music there. She can imagine herself playing music in that environment. It fills her with hope. It's shameful to diminish a child's excitement for their future. And you know it. Please vote your conscience. fund band. Thank you. M Matias Cavalene Matias Erin Kalentine. [applause] >> Hi everyone. I know many of you. I've worked with many of you. So many alums from my schools here getting paid so much money to not work with kids anymore. Um, the reason that all the Vista kids are here

138is because you're trying to cut three of their teachers. That spots for 70 children next year. You heard what we need from our from our amazing students. Some of them who are your co-workers and your colleagues up here. It's not what everybody needs. It is desperately what a bunch of them need. And what I need everybody to understand is that when you cut our program, you are cutting opportunities for some of our amazing students whose schools were not made for. I am a 20-year special educator. Eight years at Kennedy first. It almost broke me. I got to a different spot. I got somewhere where things were tailored to students in a way that Kennedy kids deserve but don't get. Please have nightmares about what you're doing. Karen Jerel Karen Karen Jerel Shannet Gonzalez Hector Perez

139miss me? Okay, just one last thing. This I'm trying to talk behalf of Mitsy Perez Kado. Uh, one of my favorite teachers and the best teacher I've ever met. Um, she currently is being given a part-time job at Kennedy High even though she's worked there for a very long time now. And frankly, it would suck to see her go away because she's inspired me. She's seemingly inspired others. And honestly, I don't want to see her. I mean, yeah, she can go and go beyond Kennedy, but at the same time, she loves Kennedy. I love Kennedy. I love her as my teacher. She is amazing, and I'm hoping she can teach more and more via her journalism class and ITA classes. Just please look back, check her out, and see everything she's able to do. And

140please give her a full-time job at Kennedy. That's all I'm asking for. Thank you. Beth Castler. That concludes public comment. Thank you everyone that gave public comment tonight. Uh we'll now move on to item eight, standing reports. Okay. So, we have two people signed up for studying reports. We have UTR and ASAT. They on Are they on Zoom? Oh. Oh, Francisco. We can't hear you. We can't hear you. >> I know. What happens if you're skipped in Zoom? >> She had her hand raised on Zoom. Yeah, we um we actually double checked and once the item started, we put off all the hand raising on Zoom, right? wasting time. >> Yeah, we are not taking any more um public comment tonight. We are now on to we are now on to agenda I mean standing

141reports. Can we have Francisco Ortiz come out with UTR? [applause] >> Good evening board, Superintendent Cotton, cabinet, educators, families, students, [snorts] and community. Tonight, Utr comes before you with both urgency and hope. For years, our communities in this district have been told to brace for cuts, brace for instability, brace for reductions, brace for another round of hard decisions. And for years, UTR has consistently warned this district's leadership that its financial projections repeatedly underestimate revenue while overestimating expenditures. We have said over and over again that a scarcity narrative has been driving decisions that hurt students, destabilize our schools, and erode public trust. And now, once again, the numbers are proving that concern valid. According to the recent state reporting, California schools could receive nearly 10 billion more in Proposition 98 funding through the governor's May revision

142that is going to be released tomorrow. This comes after months of districts across the state warning communities about fiscal cliffs and preparing for austerity. Yet, suddenly, billions more are projected for public education. That matters deeply because every reduction proposed in this district has real human consequences. It means students losing trusted educators. It means larger class sizes. It means fewer supports. It means less stability for children who desperately need consistency and connection. And tonight, Utr urging this board to reject that path. Vote no on the reductions. Vote no on the layoffs. Reinstate elementary, band, and elementary music with the staffing and supports necessary for those programs to thrive because music is not an extra. Arts are not optional. For many students, music is the reason they come to school. And you heard that today. It is

143where confidence is built. It is where students find identity, belonging, discipline, creativity, and joy. In a time when student disengagement and mental health challenges continue to rise, removing programs that keep students connected makes absolutely no sense. And speaking of connection and belonging, the fight happening right now at Kennedy High School over ethnic studies should concern every single person in this district. The proposal to dilute ethnic studies into a world history course fundamentally undermines the purpose and spirit of ethnic studies in it in itself. Ethnic studies was never meant to be treated like an add-on. It was created to center the history, struggles, resistance, and contributions of communities that have been historically erased from traditional curriculum. You cannot simply embed fragments into another course and pretend that that that preserves the integrity of ethnic studies. That

144is not preservation. That is dilution and that is eraser. And the implications extend far beyond Kennedy's uh school site because what happens at Kennedy becomes precedent. At a time when communities across this country are banning books, censoring curriculum, attacking immigrant communities, targeting LGBTQ students, and attempting to erase the lived experience of black, Latino, Asian, indigenous, Arab, and marginalized communities. West Contraosta should be strengthening ethnic studies, not weakening it. Our students deserve to see themselves reflected in the curriculum fully and unapologetically. And while we talk about equity, we also need to talk about our conditions. UTR recently commissioned an independent indoor air quality assessment in West Contraosta after educators and students reported um excessive heat in our classrooms. What the findings revealed should deeply concern this board and our community. During a March 2026 heatwave, classroom

145temperatures reached 86 degrees with heat indexes conditions approaching 87 degrees. This report cited UCLA research showing that heat exposure significantly impairs attention, memory, and learning, particularly for black, Latino, and lowincome students who already experienced disproportionate educational inequities. The report also found that HVAC filters have appeared not to have been replaced in over 15 months, restricting air flow in classrooms when they need to be replaced quarterly. And importantly, the report also concluded that relatively affordable cooling solutions are already used elsewhere in Richmond schools are both feasible and cost-effective. These aren't luxuries. Safe learning conditions are not luxuries. Music is not a luxury. Ethnic studies is not a luxury. And stable staffing is not a luxury. These are conditions students need to thrive. And this is where many educators and families continue to struggle. There is still

146too much that isn't clear. There still does not appear to be a coherent, clearly articulated vision for where the district is heading together. People want to believe in this district again. Educators want to believe in this district again. And families want to believe in this district again. But trust is built through decisions. And this board now has an opportunity to choose a different direction. a direction rooted not in fear but in possibility because the resources exist and we will continue making decisions if public education is something to shrink or will we finally act like our students are worth investing in. We believe that our students deserve fully staffed schools, vibrant curriculum and stability. Thank you. [applause] Y'all ready for me? >> Yes. >> Okay. Hey, good evening board. My name is Alain Harrison and I

147am the chair of the African-American parentite advisory team. Still, I want to thank um trustee uh Demetrio Gonzalez Hood for stepping up and being our laz that we really appreciate that. Um don't understand why others felt not the need to support our the parents of our most neediest students in our district that are performing below our special ed students. So, thank you for that. Trustee um Gonzalez Hoy. Also um I would like to to address the way the district is going to support our children's academics. Our children are still scoring very low and we haven't heard any mention of how our resolution is going to be funded. The board instructed the district to have that resolution fully funded in five years. And you guys can look back at the minutes from the date of that

148meeting, which is January 15th, 2020. And that was what the district was instructed to do. However, we've seen $9,000 given to our students for their graduation, their honor roles. This is disgusting, you guys. It makes us feel like you guys are treating us like this country erasing us. This is unacceptable. These students need these activities. Our population of black students is dwindling because parents are not satisfied with the way you're treating our children and us. For us to increase our population of black students wanting to attend our district, we cannot reduce activities that engage them in learning. And it's you that's just disgusting that you would think $9,000 for all of our kids and think it's okay. Hey, that's what they we're going to make it happen. No, you No, no, no, no, no. And

149we want parents to be more involved. Parents have resources. The district's deficit has always been on our back since I've been in this district for 10 years. So, don't put you guys don't have no money. You never have any money. And it's always never have money when it comes to our children. And we don't Apac and Apac parents, we want to be involved in solutions to support our children in having a educational outcome that is you. We want we want the best like every other parent wants for their kids. So our educational outcomes need to improve. Our children need to be reading and we want resources that can get our children up to grade level and graduating and they're culturally relevant to what we need. We have tonight a parent that's in the room that

150attempted to speak and I want to give her an opportunity to share some of her concerns and I did already share the concerns about the use of the n-word and things that our parents are experiencing on campus. We we need to find a solution that works and we can work in partnership with you all to do that. We want to make sure that things in our AP pack we haven't been able to do our elections. That's it. It's [clears throat] just things like this are causing barriers from parents wanting to be involved and staying involved. Parents are asking what happened. Things have got started twice. We haven't been able to do our walkthroughs. There's always barriers. Oh, we need to talk to these people that the union the labor. Come on, ladies and gentlemen. We've

151been asking to do this for a long time. Three years we've been asking to do our walk through since uh Nia Rashid Rasheed left. Can we get this started and quit asking to do things that we have a right to be involved in our children's education and it's not complicated. So, I'm asking the board to allow the parent to come up. I'm going to give her the last minute. She's an Apac parent. She wanted to share something with the board and you guys can stop the clock after the one minute. Hancock, our daughter is Melody Thomas. She is a student at Washington Elementary where our black children are under um they're dealing with acts of terrorism. Our black students are having their rights under California ed code and 234 violated consistently by bullying, racism, threats,

152physical attacks, emotional neglect, and disregard of their rights to be protected by their teachers and their principal, Mrs. Zapata. This is heartbreaking and it's not fair. We have observed racial hostility where children are being threatened to be killed today in on the yard. One of the students, Hispanic students, um threatened a black child and asked a group, "Who should we kill? This black child or another child? Which one of them should die?" This was on the yard. Um we've experienced intimidation, threats of violence. We've experienced our children physical aggression. We had one child that had an item tossed down his throat and he began to choke in class and So, we'll move we'll be moving on to item nine, agenda review and adoption. Um, we will be moving some items on tonight's agenda. Um, moving

153up action items 2, five, and six. um adding the resolutions to the end of our board meeting and then continuing with the um agenda as is. Yeah. And um can I get a motion to extend the meeting as well? President, I'll move that we extend the meeting till 11:30 with the items as described. >> Can I get a second? >> Reckler will second. >> Okay, so we have a motion on the table to extend to 11:30. Um second by Gonzalez Hoy, second by Trusty Regler. Um we'll now go to the roll call. Trusty Whitten. >> No. >> Trusty regular. >> Reckler. Yes. >> Trusty Smith folds. >> Smith folds. No. >> Trusty Gonzalez Hoy. >> Yes. >> Trusty Hernandez. >> Yes. >> And Trusty Anyana say yes. Motion passes. So now we'll be moving on

154to action item two. Final decision of contract review committee findings and that is Gonzalez Hoy. >> Thank you, President. >> Thought we were going to move it. We're >> we're doing action items, the three action items first, then consent. Yeah. Thank you so much. Uh could we pull up the presentation, please? that one. Yeah. Is it working? Okay. Uh thank you. Good evening everyone. Uh tonight I'll presenting the work of the WCCD contract review committee. Uh on behalf of the full committee uh I at the end I will pass it to the superintendent and the president if they would like to add some comments as well. Um, we met publicly over the last two months to review district contracts, identifying potential savings, increasing transparency, and discussing long-term operations and financial stability for our district. We

155can go to the next slide. Thank you. So, why was the committee created? um this month for the public, but as most people know, we've been facing difficult financial realities and we've been having difficult discussions around reductions that would directly impact students and programs. Uh over the last two years, we have made cuts on people and programs and this year we have had to do more. On February 25th, 2026, the board voted to reconvene uh the contract review committee. One of the board goals is bringing back this committee to bringing back this committee was to increase transparency around district expenditures, particularly contracts within the our what's called four and the 5,000 object codes, which is everything outside of staffing except for our bond funding. We also specifically asked the committee to identify potential savings that

156could help preserve our elementary music program. More importantly, this process was meant to bring labor partners, administration, board leadership, and the community into the same room to openly discuss how district dollars are being used. Next slide. One thing I am especially proud of is how broad our collaboration of this process became. This committee included uh board leadership, the pres uh president Jana and I, the superintendent, our cabinet, our labor organizations including United States of Richmond Teams 856 uh IFPT local 21 SA chapter uh and uh the West Country Costa administrators association as well as staff from various departments across the district. Uh we had discussions involving special education, educational services, title 9, college and career safety, IT, community engagement, human resources, nutrition services, athletics, positive school climate, academics, the superintendent office, and many others. And

157it's important to point out that these meetings were public. Community members were welcomed into the process uh throughout and we got many emails and comments in the last two months with questions about specific programs and services being reviewed. All of our meetings are recorded and are on our YouTube page. Next slide. A little bit about the structure. This was actually the third time our district has used this committee structure since 2021 uh where we have faced cuts in the past. And the format was similar to what we've done before. At each meeting, district staff presented contracts, explained their purpose, funding source, and operational need. And then labor representatives and board members had the opportunity to ask questions, challenge assumptions, and discuss whether contracts should be maintained, reduced, modified, or eliminated. What made this process valuable

158was that it wasn't simply about numbers on the spreadsheet. It became a real conversation about district priorities, staffing realities, operational gaps, and how we want to move forward as a school district. Next slide. So, I will be giving a very short summary of each one of our eight meetings to give you context. Uh, but they're all, as I mentioned, they're all recorded. Um, and we also have minutes for people to refer to. Uh, our first meeting focused heavily on positive school climate, business services, and particularly we spent time on charter oversight, legal services, and district operations. Very early in the process, a major theme emerged in the conversations. Our district has developed a heavy reliance on outside contractors and consultants. What we've been hearing for months was honestly honestly very true. We had diffic we

159had difficult but important conversations about legal spending, operational oversight, and the long-term consequences of losing internal expertise and institutional knowledge. Several contracts were tabled for further review and we began discussing how we could eventually reduce dependency on outside contractors and consultants while rebuilding internal district capacity. Next slide. For the second meeting, we focus on college and career, the Title 9 office, nutrition services, positive school climate, and and TK12 operations. We reviewed systems tied directly to graduation tracking, student intervention supports, college readiness, and scholarship and internship opportunities. One thing that became clear during this meeting is that every contract is is necessary spending. Some contracts are directly supporting students and helping us meet LCAP goals and intervention targets. As a result, there were uh fewer proposed reductions during this meeting, but there was strong discussion conversation

160around continuing to evaluate the effectiveness and ensuring accountability of our consultants and contractors. Next slide. The third meeting was focused on safety, student services, athletics, expanded learning, and community engagement. One of the biggest conversations centered around contracted services, security services on night and weekends and whether uh position portions of these services could eventually be brought inhouse. We discuss accountability, training, responsiveness and the value of having security personnel who are more directly connected to our district and school communities. We will discuss this a little bit further later because one of the current recommendations this became one of the uh committee's strongest examples of trying to balance operational needs with long-term district capacity building but not necessarily savings. We can go to the next slide. The fourth meeting focused heavily on transportation attendance interventions. Attendance interventions, human

161resources and IT. One of the strongest themes during this meeting was transportation equity and how transportation barriers directly impact attendance for many of our students. We discussed pilot programs aimed at supporting chronically absent students and exploring how transportation access can sometimes be one of the biggest obstacles in preventing students from fully engaging in school or attending. At the same time, the committee emphasized the importance of measuring effectiveness and ensuring interventions are producing meaningful results. Next slide. Our fifth meeting focused on community engagement and special education contracts. The meeting the meeting included significant conversations around research contracts, community school support and data collection collection systems. One of the committee's recommendations was reducing the clarity social research group contract due to under utilization. But more broadly, this meeting highlighted something we saw repeatedly through the process. In

162many cases, contrast exists because the district no longer has enough internal staffing or expertise to complete the work ourselves. This is due to various factors including reliance on the outside vendors, layoffs of key staff with expertise that cannot be replicated in house over the years or lack of recruitment. Next slide. The sixth meeting focused on heavily on special education again and educational service contracts. We discussed speech therapy services, paraprofessional services, transportation for students with disabilities, staffing shortages, and the ongoing challenge of recruiting specialized staff. And major discussions center around moving away from long-term reliance on contracted providers uh whenever possible and instead investing more directly in permanent staff positions. This became another recurring theme throughout the committee work. Whenever possible, we should be investing in the people inside our district rather than relying on um

163identifying outside contracts. Next slide. The seventh meeting focused on educational services and the superintendent office particularly liter literacy intervention systems TK support professional development and parent engagement efforts. We discussed the importance of literacy supports, instruction, instructional coaching, and engagement strategies for families, especially African-American families who have felt disenfranchised in our system over time. At the same time, the committee continued discussing how to ensure consulting and coaching contracts remain accountable, measurable, and sustainable long term. Next slide. Okay. Our final meeting uh focused on rem on the remaining educational services, IT, positive school climate and special education contracts. We review technology systems, website needs, compliance requirements, and legal services tied to special education. One important discussion during the meeting involved concerns around our district's website contract and whether changes may eventually require reconsideration or renegotiation of that

164agreement. Next slide. Okay. Um, so across all eight meetings, several themes consistently emerge that, uh, we want to focus on. Uh, some I have already mentioned. First, as as I you heard over and over in the previous slides, our district has developed heavy heavy reliance on contractors due to staffing shortage, layoffs, turnover, and loss of experience. Second, there was repeated discussion around rebuilding internal district capacity and investing more directly in our own employees. Third, we discussed accountability and making sure contracts are measurable, transparent, and tied to clear outcomes. And finally, we repeatedly discussed the importance of shifting resources away from the excessive reliance on the four and the 5,000 object codes, which is contracts or outsourcing of the work, and shifting it towards investing in what we call the 2,000 object codes or salaries and

165benefits for our current staff uh and future employees. Practically shifting that investment to internal hiring and work. Next slide. uh some uh changes that are worth noting that did not lead to savings, but we did want to highlight uh and they're part of recommendations. One major recommendation was moving nighttime and weekend security services inhouse as mentioned before instead of continuing to rely on American global security. The goal here is greater accountability, supervision, training, and stronger site support. After some internal discussion, this can occur next year for the same cost and will allow us to actually have more staff monitoring our sites to a greater degree. Mr. Booker is working with teamsters and internal staff including our chief business officer uh right now on this and will be implementing a plan over the summer with the

166superintendent support. We also discussed eventually bringing charter oversight work more in-house over time which will lead to greater accountability of the work we're supposed to be doing. And in special education, which was uh a very long discussion over various meetings, we discussed shifting significant portion of our prep par profofessional contracted services into permanent districts staffing positions due to improvements in compensation packages and recruitment efforts. This is going to be a risk, but it also shows our focus and intention to our staff and community. This recommendation alone could impact nearly 900 900 $19 million in contracts. Next slide. Three more uh additional changes. Um uh another important reality the committee encounter repeatedly. many contracts exist because the district simply no longer has the staffing capacity internally to perform the work ourselves. We discussed examples such as

167grant writing, data gathering, community school support and per and professional development services uh as well as coaching. We also discussed increasing accountability around legal services including new quarterly reports regarding how outside counsel is being utilized that will go directly to the school board. Next slide, please. This slide summarizes the total contract reductions and savings recommended through the committee process. Uh in total, the committee identified approximately $1.79 million in proposed contract reductions across both unrestricted and restricted funds. It's important to note that these figures do not include recommendations to shift spending uh from contracted services into staffing allocations since those are not technically savings but rather operational restructuring. It is also important to uh point out the two column the two uh horizontal lines that have a yellow and a red those don't do not signify

168cuts uh they just signify movement of those funding to potential internal staffing. Uh, and I believe Mr. Carter might touch on this as well uh, in a minute. Even though our total is 1.79 million, about 1.3 million is an unrestricted funding and close to 500,000 were in restricted funds. On the left side, you will see what specific contracts are being proposed to be cut and on the right, you can see the resource number as well as amount being reduced. Next slide. This final recommendation slide is probably the most important part of tonight's presentation because this committee was not just about finding cuts. It was about identifying ways to reinvest savings back into students programs and long-term district stability. First, we are recommending retaining seven elementary school uh music teachers who currently support approximately 2,000 students

169across WCCSD under the current music program and model. We've heard issues from staff about our current model and this does not mean we cannot change it, but we want to take next year to dig deeper into what we're offering and change it if needed to serve more students and have more accessibility for our highest need schools. Now, I want to point out this was a specific request from the full board to the committee. The next recommendations uh were developed through conversation between the president and I and staff as well. Second, we are recommending restoring additional staffing at Kennedy High School to support equity, program stability, and educators retention while the district continues investing in brand new in a brand new campus. We're recommending that we restore the 1.4 FTE, which would give Kennedy a total

170of 2.4 FTE back since staff was uh going to be recommending to giving one FTE uh to the site already. So, it's a total of 2.4 FTE. This will make the teachers whole so that there are no 6 or 0.8s. Classes will be determined by the need uh by need by the students. Uh but this will allow for more offerings and electives that we've heard uh in public comment. Third, we are recommending retaining the theater manager position that supports theater programs across WCCSD high schools. Uh this gap would create huge need at our high schools. So it's important that for the future of our theater programs. Finally, we are making a recommendation to begin the process of restoring fund 17 and fund 71 as a commitment to the long-term fiscal health of our district. This

171would be a matching this would be matching funds and we would be committing what we found in restricted funding which is approximately $500,000 through the committee work and matching this with new funding coming to us next year. This would deplete what we were able to cut through our work in the last two months, but in my opinion, it will be money well spent for what it will give to our students and staff. I also want to acknowledge and thank district staff and the leadership of Diana High School for working collaboratively with um with us to preserve the ROC program uh for students as part of this broader effort. And that is why we don't see them on our list of cuts tonight. Next slide, please. In closing and before I pass it to our superintendent

172and then to our board president for any last thoughts and to um I want to thank everybody who participated in this process, our labor partners, district staff, cabinet, our superintendent, administration, community members and my colleague, President Nana. I will say that this was not an this was not easy work and it required real commitment and sacrifice for us to meet so much. Many of us had to take many days off from our family and from our work uh which is important to our district. So I want to thank everybody for taking this very seriously. Uh this committee was not perfect and these conversations were not easy to have. But I generally believe this process increased transparency, strengthened collaboration and gave the public a better understanding of both our financial realities and the operational challenges the

173district faces. Ultimately, our responsibility is not just to balance a budget, but to align our budget with our values as a school district. Thank you. And now I'll move on to give uh the superintendent a chance to say a few words and then of course back to you, President. >> Thank you. I know it's getting late. I just want to say um for the contracts committees, thank you for being able to help lift up um some of our district priorities, our community priorities, our board priorities um around building internal capacity. Um I think that was a very key point um that was raised across the board. Um appreciate that and um Oh, it's late. [gasps and sighs] Um, again, appreciate the opportunity for us to sit in a room together. It was it was solutions,

174which is what we've been looking for. Solutions for those who are unaware is is an opportunity for our labor partners along with our board and our district staff to sit down and come to agreements about kind of the work that we're doing together. And I appreciate that we had this opportunity to hopefully bring back this partnership um and this collaboration. Um I think that is key for all of us to really hear each other and be able to support each other. So again, thank you for um great work, excellent job to um cabinet me members and district staff um for helping to bring that information very clearly to the board um and to our labor partners and to the public. Um appreciate that work. Thank you. >> And I want to say thank you for

175the presentation. Um thank you everyone who participated um for the hard work. Um it was really hard I think going through this process but we you know we finished it. [laughter] We finished it. Um so now I'll go on to board questions. Uh trusty regular thank you. Thank you for all the work. really appreciate it and for everybody who participated. I'd like to just get some uh to really understand the financial summary. So, if I may, the Amazon strike POS and HR legal uh amounting to $556,000 that is all strike related. And are you asking staff to cut 550? I mean, I don't know what the legal bill was, but is is is it all additional because of the strike and it will come back down or is it below our current level? That's a

176great question. I'll let um Mr. Carter answer the question about the Amazon uh Amazon PO. Uh but the HR legal conversation was actually a very lengthy conversation around how much we're currently spending um and and you know obviously investigations and talking to legal. We heard constantly from labor that we are outsourcing too much of investigations and work that potentially should be done in house. Um also we are seeing an increase in legal services this year specifically. Uh and we're going to see an increase actually coming to us at the next board meeting specifically because of the strike uh and the work shortages and the um uh the rifts. Um so all that was actually a huge increase to our legal services. I will say that it's not all I don't want to be disingenuous and

177say like yeah it was just because of that. No I mean staff is anxious about our reduction of legal services for HR. Uh but we did talk about um refocusing our efforts instead of outsourcing uh a lot of our questions to legal that we actually try to develop our own staff's uh understanding of certain things so that we're not always relying so that next year they would have less of a focus on contacting legal. I hope that helps. Uh and I uh Mr. Carter maybe can add a little bit more. Yeah, for the Amazon strike POS that was um an increase just this year for the strike specifically um reducing those dollars for next year and ongoing. Okay, thank you. Next, if we could address I Ready and Educ. Educ that does, but I Ready

178is the main testing and assessment platform for the district. So if I ready were to go away and you can tell me about educ I think that's data storage rather than you know I think it like stores student whatever but for I Ready what will assessments look like if that goes away certainly um good evening so I'll start with Edclimr um educr is a platform that the district utilizes to be able to bring together multiple sets of data data to support school leaders and school educators to be able to for example study a students needs taking into account both attendance, academics, um social emotional need and so it really brings together a lot of data that oftentimes lives in different places. Um we are currently working with the county to try to uh get a

179very similar platform to do the same. And so, uh, as a district that is on an operational, um, impact that's going to, um, get in the way of education, we have a plan to, um, make that right. For I Ready, it is, you are correct, our one comprehensive assessment districtwide for ELA and for mathematics. What hasn't changed is that we value deeply the importance of using data to drive instruction and using data to inform our practices. And so this is going to force us to really think about what it is that our educators and our principles need to be able to measure progress and growth. And so some initial conversations that we're having, for example, for mathematics is leaning on the use of our curriculum embedded assessments. We just invested a lot of funding into

180Eureka Squared and Desmos and our plan would be to utilize those assessments, end of module assessments to really continue to inform instruction and that would provide us a more common um tool districtwide for elementary Eureka squared for secondary Desmos. We're still in conversations about what that's going to look like, but just to give you a picture, that's what we're thinking right now. And what happens with uh literacy testing? Thank you. >> And for all is it all common across all schools? We'll have we'll have common data. >> Mhm. >> Certainly. So what isn't going to change is that we do have an adopted literacy screener that you all adopted this um year, this past year. MClass Dibbles and Lectura. And so that's going to be a screener that provides common data, kindergarten through 2 grade

181for every school. This is new news. So our team is putting together their heads and collaborating with the county to see how it is that we can better gather data to really support us not just on those foundational literacy skills, but also our standards um that span all grade levels beyond second grade. And so we haven't figured that out yet, but we plan on partnering both with our central office team, our county, and our educators to find what is not only best for our students, but also something that our teachers and principles really have buy in into. >> Just to add to that, we are working with the county office. Um there is a data platform system that they have put in place um that we are very seriously looking at. Um there are assessment

182components to what they're offering as well although that may come as a cost. I'm learning now. Um but we're trying to figure out what will be the best way to move forward with progress monitoring. Again, as Katherine stated, with our math, we have our curriculum embedded assessments that we could use for progress monitoring possibly. Um, for literacy, we're looking closer at that. And so, this was a a decision that was made, you know, fairly recently. Um, and so trying to figure out what is it that we can do to ensure that we are progress monitoring and have a consistent system across our district. So, it's not going to be a clean savings of 344, 345K. There's going to be some amount of cost that goes out. >> Not sure yet. We will keep the board

183posted and keep the community aware of what's going on, but we're having initial conversations with the county office right now. >> Okay. So, then elevation, curriculum associates, instructional partners, great minds, that would all go to restricted funding, right? >> Yeah. Anything uh in a resource over 2,000 is restricted dollars. Um elevation is on title three and the curriculum associated instructional partners great minds are on educator effectiveness. >> But that's that's not the funding that would go towards uh the fund 71 and fund 17. We we talked about for example for elevation uh the concern is that we're outsourcing a lot of our professional development and coaching. Uh so we had conversations about moving that funding in house to hire our own coaching. Um so for both these areas, correct me if I'm wrong, Mr. Carter,

184um it's we're not eliminating it's just transferring this money to another funding source because some of this work is going to be moving in in house. >> Yeah. Yeah, I think I I think I got that. >> Oh, okay. I'm sorry. >> Um remind me what Clarity Research does. Nobody. Nobody knows. [laughter] Cut it. >> No, I think Mr. Carter is looking it up right now. Again, these are these are all very new developments, so he's pulling up that information. >> Hold hold, please. >> Okay, you can come back to that. That's only 78K. Let's move on to SPG therapy. So, this is a sped contract. Is is this 400K transferring to um staffing potentially? There are a number of of um contracts that again we talked about that building capacity piece. There were a

185number of contracts that the committee decided to move forward or move over to staffing. In the event we're unable to staff those positions, we do have that flexibility to go back to um contracted positions for vacancies that we have to fill in order to serve our students. But we are initiating instead of relying solely on our contracted services, we're moving those funds into um into certificated or into certificated or classified positions so that we can try to fill those positions before relying upon those contractors. But will this 400k is that in any way in danger or in jeopardy in the event that you are not able to hire? because it's it's an it's a state statewide nationwide shortage. It is a shortage. You know, it's not just us. >> Yeah. If we are not able

186to hire, that does shift. We still maintain um our relationships with those contracted um groups. And if there is a need in order to meet the needs of our students, we would shift those funds back over. So, it's not a savings necessarily. It's just a reallocation of our funding. >> Okay. Okay. Thank you. I'll stop now and see if anybody else has questions, but I do have some questions on Kennedy's U master schedule. >> And uh President uh Re, excuse me, Trusty Reckler, um uh you wanted more information about clarity, correct? >> Yeah. Yeah. Just remind me what they do. >> Yeah. So, for that one, um the reason it's being reduced because, uh we didn't utilize the whole amount. So, it's actually a contract for 156. Um, so, uh, staff mentioned that, um, they

187will only use about half. So, then that's why we're actually cutting it in half. But the contract itself is, um, uh, I know it's a kind of a data gathering, uh, for sites around community schools. So, they do work with our community schools directors. >> Yeah. And they provide support around qualitative data for community schools specifically. >> Thank you. Oh, Trusty Regler, I mean Trusty Smith folds, >> could you tell me, we don't have a specific cost because it fluctuates, but could you give me an average cost about fire abatement? Yeah, the fire watch on average somewhere between 70 and 90,000 a year >> depending on number >> that is because we cut the contract that goes with fire abatement security contract the the at night security contract had fire abatement baked in. Is that

188correct? >> Uh the 450,000 was board approved for AGS specifically for security. Um the entire amount wasn't used and a portion of it went to Firewatch. uh firewatch would be an additional cost on top of the AGS 450. Yes. >> So the 450 that is now shifted over to say let's find in-house staffing to do that. That's one total fund. 450 is one total fund. We are going to have to come up with 90 on average high-end 90,000 just for fire abatement. Is that accurate? >> Uh that is accurate. I don't know if Mr. Booker wants to speak to if the in-house security will uh overlap a little bit with Firewatch with their new schedule. >> Thank you for the question. Uh the plan is that the in-house uh security will have the ability to

189do Firewatch. Uh so it would cut some some of that cost. um don't know how much it would cut, but that would be part of their uh duties uh if it were to come up. I think this is the the first year where we've had this many fire watches and a lot of it is due to construction and the incident uh that had occurred at Elserto High School where the generator went out. uh that was a a large amount of that cost um because we had to have a fire watch uh based on what the fire marshall said. >> So when you're hiring for these positions, these nighttime positions, you're hiring for someone who also has that specialized skill to do or the ability to be trained in fire abatement and firewatch as well. Yes,

190it's it's a service that any security company uh low-level security company would uh have for their their folks. Uh so the intent is is that once we get in-house folks in they would be provided that basic training. >> Thank you very much. And then I have a question about um when are we I I thought it was tonight in consent but maybe it's not. We have to come back. You're coming back to the board for more money for legal. Is that accurate? >> Uh yeah. Tonight in consent, there is uh one law firm's legal increase. Um we would need to bring back a different law firm's increase at the next board meeting. >> So there's going to be two. We have one tonight and then you have one coming up again. >> Correct. Our legal

191fees don't seem to be all the time trending down but they are going down but that depends on what's happening. Correct. >> Uh we have been trending down the last three years actually. Um this year is is an outlier due to the strike and the layoffs um and and a high reliance on on legal this year. Um but the trend has been going down the last three years. Do you think that cutting the legal fees gave enough cushion? >> Gave gave enough cushion. So >> gave enough cushion for So we know that we've been trending down, but we also know that we come back to the board quite often because of our legal fees. So when you cut when you cut it in you go from 500 to 250, right? But you know that every

192year we go over 250. So if we know we go over 250, cutting it down to 250 is not really a savings because you got to come back and ask for more money because there's no cushion there. Is that accurate? >> That's accurate. Small numbers. >> That's accurate. And that would be a risk. Uh it would need to be a concertive effort from HR and staff to reduce their legal usage and reliance. >> Okay. And then I have a question about when when there was conversation about the theater manager and I believe I saw on that slide something about uh you fees and m or utility facility fees. That money that's created from renting the theaters. That's what I'm assuming that's for. Right. That money that's uh created. What is that money typically or supposed

193to be used for? >> Uh typically we use those funds to replace the wear and tear on the facilities that get rented out through uh those facilities uses >> and according to this slide would that money still be used for that or would it be used to go to a salary? >> Uh part of those uh facilities use revenues would go towards paying the salary to bring back the theater manager. >> And then what happens? Where do you get the money to then upkeep the theaters? >> Um, so the the plan for 2627 would be to uh look at increasing the facilities use rates, rental fees, um, and reducing overtime by bringing back a fourth uh, theater manager >> dedicated to a particular school or roving. >> Ro the the plan would be to have

194them rove to multiple schools uh, and oversee u more schools than being just assigned to one currently as they are. That's a discussion with uh labor. >> So the the tenative idea is to have a theater manager or a couple of theater managers that rove throughout the the schools that have >> Theaters. That's all schools that have theaters. >> Uh no, but there are schools that still have uh theater manager needs. um and and it would bring down a reliance on overtime from other staff having to go when the theater manager at their current site. >> So when you talk about a theater and managers, I'm going to give you an example of Hercules. So Hercules has a small theater that we all know. We has a small theater, but inside that theater, those uh

195people who operate the lights, the soundboard, the props, they are all students, right? The students operate that. The person that's in charge is a teacher, right? We have not uh we have a teacher that takes on the responsibilities of doing the theater. Uh he creates the plays, he does a class, he does that. So Hercules would not get a data manager. Is that accurate? Uh we haven't worked out what the schedule would be, but the idea would be that all six high schools had a roving theater manager at least partially throughout the week be able to support those school sites, Hercules included >> during the week. >> Yes. >> Okay. So that manager would then talk about a theater class, not the theater program because most for us the theater meets after school, right? Like

196when you do theater, you meet it's after school. So that would be something that you're in discussion with. How does the schedule look? >> Yes, we're looking at the schedule, but they also shift their schedules because a lot of events happen after school. >> After school, right? So it's it it's interesting trying to figure out how a couple of people are going to be in six places, right, at one time, even if they do it once a week or however that's going to look. >> Um I want to go to when we're talking about fund 17 and fund 71. Um Mr. Carter, we spend about 500 million annually to run the district. Is that right? Give or take. >> Give or take. Yeah. Around 530. Yeah. >> Okay. And then when we So when we

197are looking to put back about a million, right? We're looking to put back a million according to the according to the slide. Okay. >> Correct. >> We're looking to put back a million. What does that million help do? What would it do? Um >> because you have two, let me be a little bit clear. You have two funds. You have fund 17, you have fund 71, right? If you're looking back to put back a million, where are you looking to put? Are you looking to put the entire million in one? Are you looking to split it up to put some in fund 17, fund in fund 71? What does that look like? And how much are we already depleted out of both of those funds? >> Okay, so um that could be at the board

198direction. Um once if this was to pass as is, we would need a resolution to commit those funds at the board at the board adoption. Um that would uh that resolution could be defined as what percentage goes to fund 17 and what goes to fund 71. Um this would be new revenue for 2627 that would be committed. Um the amount we've spent, uh we used to have $38 million in fund 17. Uh we're down to around 27 this year. We'll spend about 19 of it and we'll have somewhere around uh 8 million left. Uh so adding a million or half a million to that fund uh would just extend the life of fund 17 in order for us to um offset our structural deficit. Um fund 71 has plans to spend about 15 million down

199per year for the next 3 years. um putting a mill putting a million or half a million back into fund 71 would uh just slow the burn of the fund balance of fund 71 slightly. >> So some could describe it as kind of budget dust because it's less than to make a a real impact on where we are and what we need. Trusty Smith, I think I can answer this because this recommendation came from the superintendent and I I think that part of it is that um we want to make the symbolic gesture to the community that eventually we're going to have to come up with a plan to uh replenish these two funds, right, as we are looking at our deficit. Um hopefully with the new funding coming from the state, if it does

200come as positive as it looks like it will, we can talk about how to do this in a bigger way. Um, but if the board does not want to do this at this point, uh, I mean, we could talk about where to utilize the restricted funds, but the problem is that is just restricted funds, right? So, it'd be hard for us to save a position because it might not fit the criteria for these restricted funds. Uh but our idea and you're welcome to share anything you'd like to ask to to to add Superintendent Con was that uh it is important I think that we show that uh we are utilizing these funds for a reason and we should eventually try to come up with ways to uh fill it and even though this is maybe

201budget dust for some uh it's it's a million dollars right that for a lot of people who are losing positions is probably a huge number. Um, and for me, um, out of the 1.7 million, we didn't find that much money. 1.7 million compared to 500 million in our budget is not very much, but I think close to a million of of, you know, that we would invest in our own reserves. To me, I think it's important to show to show that. Superintendent Con, I don't know if you wanted to add anything else. So, Superintendent Conor, before you do that, if I'm just talking about the 350 million that we spend, not the five, let's go, not 500 because we have the 150 that we do with bonds and etc. If we just go through the

202350 million that we have that we spend, a million is onethird of 1%. Is that accurate? >> Roughly one third of 1%. Okay. Um, I'm sorry to interrupt, Superintendent Cotton. I um I do want to hear what you have to say about this, but I do want to get one more question out. Um when we are talking about the music program and we're talking about the music program is 1.1 million give or take. >> Uh the program itself is 10.2. It's about 1.5 million. >> So about 1.5. So to retain the music program as it was prior to the negotiated agreements that we made, it'll be about 1.5 million. Is that accurate? >> Correct. At 10.2. Yeah. >> All right. So it's 1.5 out of the 10.2. 1.5. And because 1.5 was found this in

203this cycle, what we're doing now, that's onetime funding, correct? Would it not have to have 1.5 found again next year? uh the unrestricted reductions in the case of I Ready and HR legal and Amazon strike POS would be ongoing savings if we keep them off the books. >> So if you keep everything off the book, the 1.5 goes year over year over year over year to save music. I'm talking specifically about music. >> It it could Yeah. >> But okay, let me just see if I have this. I'm trying to figure out this this very clearly. We have you found the money in contracts of 1.5 1.3 to restore the music program as it was prior. Is that accurate? >> Uh no. The we're only restoring seven of the 10.2 and so it would be

204just over a million. >> So you're saving seven positions out of the 10.2 positions. Okay. >> Yeah. So it would change it a little bit. >> So it's going to change a little bit. So with that change that you have now seven instead of 10.2 seven people instead of 10.2 people or seven positions instead of 10.2 positions tell me what it looks like next year. Is it already banked into the budget? We have it now but is it banked into the budget for not the 20 not the 26 27 year but the 2728 year? Is it already in the budget or do further cuts have to be made to ensure or further adjustments have to be made to ensure that you maintain that seven positions? Uh the funding would be ongoing. We could continue to

205fund those seven. We still would need additional reductions in 2728 regardless of this plan at all. We still have 14 million in the fiscal solveny plan of reductions that need to be made in 2728. So we will still need a fiscal solveny plan. We will still need reductions and we will still need to identify about 14 million in that third year. It it could come from the teachers. But the the funding that was saved is ongoing funding >> as long as it's not put back. >> As long as it doesn't come back. >> But in the 27 the 2627 year, you're still going to have to reduce by 14 million. Is that accurate? >> Correct. That would be in in March of 27 for the 2728 school year. >> And then one of the reduction

206possibilities is to put music back on the table. >> That would be that would be another consideration that could be of that 14 million. Yeah. >> Okay. Thank you, >> Trusty Smiths. Part of the recommendation is that practically we give this one more year. We're not we're not prepared, especially after talking to the music teachers and staff. We're not prepared to make the change of putting the music teachers into prep. Uh there are a lot of things that teachers brought up that um we are not equipped. We don't have a plan yet for it. So we could be setting them to fail. The idea is to take next year meet with the music teachers. The superintendent is going to create a subgroup uh between staff the music teachers um I think some parents um to

207talk about what are the deficits. Deficit is a bad word right now. uh the deficits of the program and what's not working and how do we change it and make it more successful or how do we transition it to a more successful program potentially through prep. So that would happen next year. This allows us even though it's ongoing funding it allows us to have that conversation through the fall instead of in a couple weeks which we're not prepared to have. Um, and it would honestly require funding between materials, supplies, locations, um, and training, uh, because the, you know, music teachers talked about curriculum, uh, and and professional development specifically. So, uh, we were just not ready to make that transition so quickly. So, thankfully, we were able to find some money and, uh, because of

208the reduction from 10 to 7, um, there are a couple of music teachers who have already resigned or been or transferred. So then it also does it also allows us to not have to riff people even though we didn't but uh for them to lose their jobs. So it kind of happened organically um and and the superintendent is going to talk to staff about like what changes could we make to the program to make it more successful even already uh for next year. >> Yes. Um the other the other point I wanted to just lift up, we are drawing down from fund 17 and we are um using fund 71 to support our fiscal solveny plan. what I I I really pushed um as we started to talk about so then what happens with this

209$1.3 million that is is there um through the contract committee I said we need to maintain a commitment to putting back so putting back into fund 17 putting back into fund 71 it's not a huge amount I agree with you but I we need to kind of get that muscle of keeping keeping that fund 17 and fund 71 in mind and when we are when we do come into other funding when we do we need to keep that in mind and that we've got to continue to pay back into those reserves. >> Thank you for that. I do want to talk about SPG therapy for special education. Can you can you tell me a little bit about that contract? Thank you for the question. Uh, Trusty Smith Folultz. Um, SPG provides us um various services

210primarily speech uh is there is is their primary service that they do provide. Um, speech therapist has as has been mentioned um when we haven't been able to fill those internally um we those are legally mandated services. So we do have to find a way to uh provide the services. So that's that's the primary function of SPG. Um they do like most of the um staffing agencies they have the ability to um recruit and find other staff members as as we need. So we have uh hired some um I believe I don't have it in front of me but I believe we have some RBTs from them and and some um uh some other staff members. Um they also provide and historically they've provided some professional development u for our pair professionals. So speech therapy

211is required in some of our IEPs. >> That's correct. >> So when we have a lack of speech therapists from in-house, we have to contract out because it's part of a IEP and IEP are legally binding contracts. Everything inside that four corners of that contract we have to provide. Is that accurate? >> That's correct. knowing sometimes things can be predictable, right? So, if you have a student who has an IEP and they have their annual IEP goal and they haven't met their goal of hitting the the the marker of in their speech therapy, then you know they're going to continue to the next year. They haven't they haven't worked their way out of having that service. Is that accurate? >> That's correct. >> Do we have an idea if we're going to end up having

212to need based on the students that have IEPs now, not the new ones coming in, not with some of our students are graduating, based on the kids that we have right now with the IEP services, do we have enough speech language pathologists or speech therapists or the do we have enough to cover the students that we have now with IEPs? Uh, at the moment we do not. >> So, at the moment we do not. So, that means that we are going to have to contract out to get people in to cover those IEPs. Is that accurate? >> In all likelihood, we will need some level of contracted support for next year. >> And this is before the new IEPs come in because we know new IEPs come in throughout the year, right? So, we know

213that students get IEPs throughout the year. We know that students are reviewed throughout the year. So services can be suspended because a child had hit a marker or services can be increased even during an annual IEP. Is that accurate? >> That is correct. >> Okay. Thank you. And then Mr. Carter, with knowing that, where does that money then come from if we have to increase the contract for our students with IEPs? Because we don't have the in-house coverage to to ensure that. Where does that money come from? Uh it would come from the unrestricted budget to increase our special ed contribution. >> So then we would increase our deficit spending. >> That would be correct. >> Thank you. I'm complete for now. >> Do we have any further board questions? Seeing that uh Trusty Wler,

214>> thank you. I've just got a couple of things I want to follow up on music and then ask about Kennedy. So if I understand music um there will still be a reduction next year versus this year. Yes. What will it look like? What is being offered this year versus what will it look like next year? >> The reduction would be of uh 3.2 FTE. Um the very short discussion that we've had about this um is that um staff is going to look at what schools are the the have the smallest the shortest amount of students in enrolled potentially cutting those. Uh but I I do want to preface staff is going to review the current music teachers and decide where to place them next year as well. So uh where to place the music

215program. So there's still a lot of unknowns even within our current program because there is I think a need a want to change even what we have right now to make it more successful. Um so that I think that's hard to to answer. I don't know if the superintendent has had any additional conversations but because we just finished this work Monday just been very preliminary conversations about what will happen. >> Yeah, just just to reiterate that these are conversations that are are live time right now. So, as we um as we're able to work with staff and work through what are our plans, we'll be able to communicate that out to the board and be clear with the community about our next steps, >> right? But to be transparent and just hear people listening should

216know that it's not going to look like this year there will be at least some potential reductions. Probably maybe There may be some some shifts to the to the the program, but for the most part, our our music program will continue. And that I think that the community has really been >> concerned about that. And we want to make sure that folks understand that >> from uh 10 FTE to 7 FTE still allows a substantial amount of of the music program to remain intact this year. as we sit down and really think through what is our music what are the some of the challenges that we're facing what are the things that we want to lift up in our music program. How do we hold on to those things that have made a huge difference

217for kids and how do we address some of the challenges that make this the the music program and and some some feedback that I've received has not been um as as as productive helpful as possible for our students. So, and then it'll still be optin. It's expected to still be an opt-in program. >> At this moment, the program looks like it for next year will resemble what it looks like this year, but that is something that we need to discuss. I have not we have not had a chance to discuss that with staff. We haven't had a chance to discuss that with um students or with uh parents or with principles at this point. And so once we're able to really engage those conversations, we can talk about what what it may change. Um, I

218don't want to be hasty and take a a process away before we have a clear picture of where we're going. Okay. If I can switch to Kennedy now, if somebody can please clarify for me. I do not understand what's going on with ethnic studies. So, I believe that every correct me if I'm wrong. Every ninth grader in this district takes ethnic studies as their social science. I can speak to that. Um that's actually not correct. And so there is a um a requirement that our students have to have access to ethnic studies and that can happen in two ways. It can happen through taking the ethnic studies course or it could be through integrated world history. And so students have the option to select at Kennedy um to choose to take ethnic studies or they

219can take it through the integrated they can meet that state requirement through the integrated um platform. >> And so at Kennedy on their master schedule now there will be no straight pure ethnic studies. It will only be an integrated course. >> That's not correct. So, our choice sheets include ethnic studies and so students have the option. In fact, um today we redid the choice she sees with our incoming nth graders um from Dejon that are going to be at Kennedy and ethnic studies was on the list. >> So, would it be a correct statement to say that ethnic studies at Kennedy is solved? >> We have to look at the numbers. We haven't studied the choice sheets yet, but uh it is correct to say that students had the choice to be able to select

220ethnic studies if they wanted to take it. >> I think I'm more accurate. If we do add the FTE and students do say they want ethnic studies, it would allow them to have ethnic studies next year um with the added FTE um both the one and the 1.4. >> Okay. And then um explain again for the rest of the allocation for the FTE for Kennedy what will be made whole because the the point is to like take away these point8s and Right. >> Yeah. Yeah. I think the intention you're welcome to also add the intention is that no teachers part-time practically um because we don't want any of them to leave. uh they might not teach the same course they're teaching this year uh because it's going to be depending on student choice um in

221collaboration with the educators uh but every teacher will be made whole with this added FTE um they may have the same the same schedule but it all will depend on the new choice sheets which as uh Miss Costa Rasca said they the students retook so that in case there was any issues hopefully they'll be solved now. >> Okay. Thank you, >> board. I don't know if this is appropriate or not. I just want to be mindful of time and that you've extended the meeting. There are two items, this item, but there's also two other items that must go. We we need some direction from the board tonight. >> So, could we move on to public comment? Um >> uh President, before we move on, can I just ask two questions? They're very short questions. >>

222Two short questions. >> Two very short questions. One, can you tell me who once an FTE is assigned to a school, who then places that FTE in the master schedule? I don't like the word master schedule. Who places that FTE in the primary schedule? Is that done by an administrator? Is that done by a vice principal? Is that done? Because the primary schedule is held by the administrator. Is that accurate? >> That's accurate. So, it's typically a collaboration between the administrators um that work together on the master schedule. They consult with the instructional leadership team at the school site, but it is driven both by making sure that our students are set up to graduate A to G eligible as well as um their interest and their choice sheets which really drive the number of

223sections that are needed for any given course. So, it's a rather complex type of >> It most certainly is. And primary scheduling is something that's a very hard thing to do >> and it continues to adapt because as we study the schedule, we might notice that some students failed a course and in order to graduate, they need to have access to take that course and so it is complex and it is everchanging. >> Thank you. I'm complete. Okay. So, we'll move on to public comment. Christine Hatcher, please unmute yourself. Uh, good evening. This is I think I'm giving I've been given an opportunity just to kind of make the standing report for WCCA. Is that correct? I because I know it's going to be more than a moment a minute. So, if I could just

224get clarity before I start. Can you hold on to after this item and then we'll bring you back? >> Absolutely. Thank you so much. >> Yeah. >> Nicole Ripley, please unmute yourself. >> Hi, I'm the parent of a first grader urging you to protect the music program. I hear your incisive questions about year after year funding, but a solution has been found for where we are now. Do not cut this without a plan. With no alternative in place, this would be irresponsible and premature. The consequences would be long-term. Small shifts in FTE is far better than no music. Music is the first place many children feel successful in school. Where a quiet student finds their voice. A struggling student discovers confidence. Children learn they belong to something larger than themselves. rearch research consistently shows that

225arts education improves attendance, engagement, academic performance, and at a time when children are spending hours of classroom time on screens, schools should be a place that offers something different, hands-on experiential learning. It's also about the future of our district. Parents notice that there are fewer opportunities for kids. They are leaving. Arts enrollment is part of that. Enrollment's declining. Do not cut banan. It is really important for belonging, pride, and to the future of our district. Thank you for our time. Please do not take this away. Kim Moses, please unmute yourself. Can you hear me? >> Yes. >> Okay. Good evening, Superintendent Cotton, cabinet, and board trustees. It's been difficult to hear the community outcry this evening about the cuts required to keep the district fiscally solvent. Prior to December 2025, the board engaged in deep

226discussions about the poor fiscal position of WCCUSD and the impact of future financial investments. Cuts to education hurt everyone and they should only be made as a last resort. However, the board has set priorities that require these deep reductions. But reductions need a clear plan for implementation. WCCUSD's ability to provide continuous quality education for our students is in jeopardy. It is concerning that the identified reductions are proposed to be used for new expenses rather than addressing the current and future deficit. I am complete. Mity, please unmute yourself. Hello. Can you hear me? >> Yes. >> Uh, okay. Um, I find it a little unsettling that you are providing a $5,000 stipen for WCC alum new educators while you're pushing out lifelong Richmond residents that want to continue at Kennedy High and teaching there. Our students

227at Kennedy deserve programs that they are proud to be a part of. We at Kennedy are the only ones impacted this heavily. You're impacting our ethnic studies, Spanish for Spanish speakers, construction tech, health, information technology academy, and journalism classes. How can you ask Eagle Scholars to turn in turn to promote the school for students that choose to go elsewhere? You have to ensure that these programs are thriving, that teachers are supported, that students are given all the chances to be the best rising stars that they are. Some suggestions are to champion for the students by fully funding positions, providing more AP courses and invest. [applause] Sky Nelson, please unmute yourself. Hello board. Can you hear me? >> Yes. Uh >> I'd like to restate the concern that we can cut projections now, but we do

228have a regular pattern of requesting more in June or or May. Uh $143,000 for stepping stones last year at that time. That was unexpected. Uh but I'd like to speak more about Proare uh a company we use for PAR educators. Uh they are also bought out by Salant who was bought out by Olympus Partners who's a a private equity firm. In 2012 21 or 22 they paid out $10 million or $40 million in dividends to their investors while we were living off COVID funds. So when we talk about uh you know saving a million dollars and you look at the the amount of money that's being taken out of our our communities by companies like Proare who we spend $3.2 $2 million more on par educators than we would in-house. We also need to understand

229that the workers aren't available because they've gone and increased their workforce by from 4,000 to 10 to 14,000 over the last 5 years. Those workers aren't there because they work for Salions. >> Marie, please unmute yourself. >> Can you hear me? >> Yes. >> Oh, okay. Um, you know, I want to thank the board for holding these contract meetings. I wasn't able to attend because they are during the day. I'm glad they're videoed and I was able to watch them online. Um, I did see the first student contract part of the contract is not being followed. Uh, me and several other teachers have looked over the contract and there are some violations. For example, um in the contract it says that the district is supposed to provide pictures of every student who is riding the

230bus and then the bus driver is supposed to have a roster with the students name and picture which is very important for safety because as I've always said, I am a speech therapist. I work with the students who are communicatively delayed um nonverbal. Just this morning with the subd driver, you know, she's asking, "What's your name?" The student wasn't able to respond. We were there to say the student's name, but it would have been nice if the roster with the picture, it included the picture. Thank you, >> Francisco Ortiz. >> Hello again, board. I want to take a brief moment to appreciate board leadership trustee uh Gonzalez soy and presidentana for setting up the contract committee. We did what we were tasked to do. We found the 1.7 million which was more than the 1.1

231million to save elementary music and I appreciate the recommendations coming um from the committee. One other thing that I want to remind you all is that tomorrow the governor is going to release the May revise with $9.7 billion slated to come to California public schools. A conservative estimate would raise 40 to 50 million in excess revenue or uh unseen revenue for 2627. the 1.1 million to save the music teachers, to save Kennedy, and to save um the theater manager programs is a viable option for you all to take today knowing that we can expect a conservative amount of 40 to $50 million in the coming year. Thank you. >> Christina Werta, please unmute yourself. Thank you. Thank you, Lisa. Um, once again, Christina Werta, I just wanted to clarify um and address Trusty Reckler's questions

232about ethnic studies at Kennedy High School. The program we have built is for ethnic studies to be um a class that our ninth graders take as part of the social studies program. And so the reason we were given at Kennedy by side admin as to why the class was not going to be on the master schedule is because there was no student interest. But as we explained all the students currently enrolled at Kennedy have already taken the class and what we needed to check in where were where was with our incoming eighth graders and part of that work happened today. Um so that was to address your question. Some of these classes were not included in the selections for our students from the get-go back in like February. And then I am a member of

233ILT. My opinion was asked or our opinion was asked after the fact. We were not included into the conversation beforehand. So I just wanted to clear that up. Thank you. >> Last public comment for this item. Salon Harrison, please unmute yourself. Hello. I just want to say I'm I'm very concerned. I don't never see our kids no more. After our resolution in 2021, y'all just took us out and started phasing us out. And some of these people look like the children that are the lowest performing and the most neediest children in our district that just y'all just y'all just just made us disappear. Oh, no. We we that was that's over. They not in fat no more. Put our kids back in this budget. put our kids back. Part of what needs to happen by

234the so these children can have a quality of education. That is you guys responsibility and that's disgusting that you guys continue to take us out of things and act like we don't matter and we don't get to have a a a line item to address this data. This is a systemic problem. This isn't a problem that just happened yesterday. It's a that you guys need to do something about this and you can. So please do it. I'm complete. >> That concludes public comment for this item. >> Okay. So, we'll move on now to Do we have a motion on the table? >> Yeah. Just for speed sake, I'll make a first motion. I move that we accept the recommendations and accept and approve the recommendations as introduced by the contract committee. Oh, I second. Okay.

235So, >> we have a motion on the table by Gonzalez Hoy, seconded by um Ernnandez. Um and we have comments. Could we limit our comments to one minute because of time sake? >> Yeah, I just have a couple of things. So, again, thank you for the work very much. Um, and just very quickly, um, I'd like the district, I've said this before, but to look into a joint powers authority, JPA's for anything that we can combine across with other districts through the county office. I don't care if it's I ready, I don't care if it's garbage, sewer, I mean like whatever it is, there should be ways that we combine together and lower costs as joint unit. Um, so that's the first thing. The second is that I know that there's added expense, but I

236believe that it would also decrease expense. You have to look at your own legal team. The budget is big enough. I'm telling you, we're getting ripped off. I know we're getting ripped off. And if we had an attorney that could not only traffic, but could give us our own advice, the bill will come down. So, it' be an attorney, a parah, and a secretary. But you guys have got to look at that. You have got to look at that. And I think you might need to bid it out again. I mean, have you have we gone back to legal and been like, what can you do for us? So, that's uh another idea. I believe in a common assessment. I don't know what the assessment should be, and I don't know how much we should

237be testing. I feel like there's too much assessing, but I believe we should have a common one for all grade and all subject matter so that you can figure out across the entire district where the challenges are and what works. And um I also don't think you should be charging translation to schools. So I think that's a very valid concern that was raised. And those are my comments. Thank you. >> U Trusty Smith vult. >> Lack of sufficient information. There is a lack of sufficient information to make an informed decision. I've heard over and over it's a preliminary conversation. We hope we will get some money. We know that there are going to be increased expenses year over year over year. These actions of the board have to be more than performative. The definition of

238a band-aid is what we're doing. We need to have an actual plan, a plan that is sustainable, a plan that is year over year over year. If music is what we value, then music is what we need to value all the time. We have not talked about comprehensive schedules from 8 periods to six periods. We are so zipcoated and so reactionary instead of creating the conditions for success which means sustainability and actual ways that have implementation across the board. Because we have not set a vision as a board, we cannot articulate to our superintendent what we require for all of our schools. Lack of sufficient information requires an abstension as a vote. I am complete. >> Trusty Gonzalez Hoy. >> Thank you. I I just want to very quickly thank staff. We spent so many

239hours together the last month and a half to make this happen. Uh we spent so many hours discussing each reduction, the plan. I mean we spent every day last this week I think together. the the three of us. I think there is lack of information, but there's also lack of information on how the cuts are going to affect our schools. Uh let's be clear, how we are cutting Kennedy back is going to hurt students. All of our cuts are going to hurt students. So, these these recommendations are not gesture. They're important to a lot of people, to a lot of students. Um I don't agree with a lot of the cuts. Unfortunately, we have to make them. Side reductions got me really worried. The yard supervision got me really worried. I don't agree with the

240reduction of of the period schedules at the high schools. I think that's going to hurt English language learners and African-American students. But nonetheless, we're here. And to me, this is a win that we were able to get to this point to at least put a little bit back for our students. Thank you, >> Trusty Nandez. I want to thank everyone who participated in the contract review committee. Uh I appreciate the transparency, the collaboration, and the thoughtful discussions around balancing physical responsibility while continuing to keep students centered. Uh once again, I just want to thank everyone for uh being open to have these difficult conversations. >> I also just want to thank everyone. I think we put in a lot of hours and a lot of work and I think a lot of conversation um that

241led us to this point of the recommendations that we're now doing. I also want to say we are trying our best. We are trying to keep this is not a band-aid fix. This is more of a like let's get some time going in there so we can have deeper conversations into what the effects are going to be because I think we're making decisions that are potentially affecting our students because we don't have enough information because we are not taking into consideration decisions being made at the site levels. So, I truly believe that this buys us time to really think about what our next steps are to be able to then come back and say this is the direction that we're now heading. We cannot just do this drastically. And I think the whole point of

242having the contract committee was to find funding to be able to then reinvest back into our schools. I am. So, we'll move on to the vote now. Trusty Reckler. >> Reckler. else. Trusty Smith folds. >> As Smith Foss, I will not vote for a plan. I will not vote I will not vote for something that has not been planned out, something that is not implementable. Smith Fos abstains. >> Um, Trustee Gonzalez Hoy, >> yes. >> Trustee Hernandez, >> yes. >> Trustee, yes. Um, motion passes with one abstension. >> [applause] >> So we'll now be moving on to item E5 that is a resolution number 252680 reduction or discontinuence of oh I'm sorry we are supposed to be going back to um standing reports um could we bring our last standing report back up. >> Miss

243Christine, please unmute yourself. >> Thank you. I appreciate the time. Um, good evening, President Inala, Superintendent Cotton, and members of the board, as well as the West Contraosta Unified School District community. Um, the West Contraosta ad, my name is Christine Hatcher, I'm sorry, and I am president of WCCAA, which is the administrative arm of um, our administrators here in West Contracasta Unified School District. Recently, we were invited to participate in the district's contract review committee alongside the district's labor partners. While each group represented the particular interests and perspectives of its membership, we were nevertheless able to find common ground in our shared commitment to making decisions in the best interest of students. Before the close of one of our meetings, clerk Gonzalez Hoy reflected on the productivity of the group and noted that the strength

244of the discussion was due in no small part to the diversity of perspectives present in the room. His comments echoed what Lonnie Guineer spoke of years ago that diverse thinking and inclusive problem solving produce stronger outcomes and create the possibility for genuine forward movement. It is in that spirit that I make the following statement this evening on behalf of WCCAA. I want to briefly address the tone and discourse that emerged during some of the public comments this evening. While disagreement is necessary is a necessary and healthy part of democratic engagement, language that calls into question the competency, intelligence, legitimacy, or professionalism of people of color is deeply concerning and stands in direct contradiction to the purpose and spirit of what was a hot topic this evening, ethnic studies. Ethnic studies challenges us to examine systems

245of power, privilege, marginalization, and voice. It asks us to reflect critically on how language has historically been used either to humanize or diminish others. When rhetoric becomes dismissive, belittling, or rooted in assumptions about the capability of educators and leaders of color, it does not move us toward understanding or collective progress. Instead, it reproduces the very dynamics of exclusion and oppression that ethnic studies seeks to examine and disrupt. As Paulo Fer wrote, "Washing one's hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral." Our words matter. The ways we speak to and about one another either contribute to greater humanity and understanding or reinforce division and harm. Privilege does not automatically accompany title or position. Nor does position replace lived experience. Each of us enters these

246conversations carrying experiences that shape how we understand schools, systems, opportunity, and inequity. That reality should invite humility, not hostility. Even in moments of sharp disagreement, we can retain the responsibility to engage one another with dignity. We can challenge ideas and policies without demeaning people. Our students are watching how we as the adults in the room navigate conflict, difference, and power. and we should model the kind of discourse that we hope they will carry into classrooms, community, and their futures. Thank you very much. I appreciate you allowing me the time this evening. Thank you. And that concludes our last report out. And now we'll move on to action item five which is the resolution number 2526-80 reduction or discontinuation of classified services for lack of work or lack of funds. That's Dr. Greenwood. >> Good evening

247board. On February 25th, 2026, the board of trustees of the West Contracasta Unified School District adopted resolution number 2526-57 and resolution dash 252661 to reduce and discontinue classified services due to the lack of work or lack of funds for the 2627 school year. Pursuant to education codes 45117 and 45308 resulting in the layoff of classified employees no later than the end of the school year of 2526 as described in this resolution 2526-80 and we're recommending approval. Okay. So we'll move on to board questions. Um two questions per board member. Um, and do we have any questions from the board? Okay, seeing no questions to the board, do we have any public comment on this item? Okay, >> Jeffrey Bean, please unmute yourself. >> Uh, good evening. Uh, thank you for taking my comment. I appreciate

248it. Um, I stayed up late. I work tomorrow. I teach elementary school and I stayed up late to speak on the previous item and I had my hand up from the beginning of the item until the end and I was not called on. I found this disappointing. Um, if you're going to honor Zoom comments, you should honor them instead of not calling on people to have their hands up. Um, if I want to encourage my community members to get involved in the board deliberations and I can't be satisfied that they will actually get called on if they are present in the meeting. That's unfortunate. Um, for this particular item, I am concerned about the possibility of yard supervisors being dismissed from schools. We already need more adults on campus, not fewer adults. Um, our in

249particular students will do well in school if they feel safe every. So, please do your best to minimize the impact this will have on our students. Thank you. >> Sky Nelson, please unmute yourself. Hi there. Thank you for taking my my comment. Um [clears throat] I think you're aware that we've been working on understanding the cross district issue with this uh availability of workers and raising contracts. And we went to Sacramento this week and delivered uh sheets personalized to every district showing that it's almost very little exaggeration to say that all of the districts in our state have an increased acceleration of costs from 2021 onward. So there's an there's a source of our uh cuts that is coming from beyond what we can control. Um, I think we need to be really cognizant of

250this when we are looking at cutting positions and as has been said before, look look at the money that's coming in from the state budget this year and understand that we can uh have some cushion to address this in the legislature this year. Uh, so please uh consider pausing on these cuts until we have more information from the summer session. Thank you. >> That concludes public comment for this item. Thank you. Do we have a motion? >> President, I move that we approve resolution 2526-80 with the exception of what was removed from the last item. >> Do we have a second? >> I second. >> So, we have a motion by Gonzalez Hoy, seconded by um Ernnandez. Going on to the roll call. Trusty regular. Oh, I'm sorry. Do we have any further comments on

251this item? Seeing none, trusty regular for the vote. >> It's B band. >> Oh, sorry. For this one is the uh theater manager for the next one is the music and um uh the FTS for Kennedy. >> Okay. So, this one is theater manager. Okay. Reckler. Yes. Jeff, is Jeff making a face? No. Okay. Recller. Yes. Smith folds. >> Yes. Because these are cuts that we already made. I thought we should have stuck with the cuts that we had in the beginning. Complete. >> Gonzalez. >> Yes. >> Hernandez. >> Yes. >> And say yes. We'll now move on to item six on resolution number 2526-81 eliminating or reducing particular kinds of services of certificated employees. On February 25th, 2026, the board of trustees of the West Contraosta Unified School District adopted respectively resolution 2526-56 and

252resolution number 256-60 to reduce and eliminate particular kinds of services resulting in the layoff of certificated employees by no later than the end of the 2526 school year as described and set forth in resolution number 2526-81. And the recommendation is for approval. >> Do we have any board questions? Do we have any public comment? >> No public comment. >> Do we have a motion? >> President, I move that we approve resolution number 2526-81 with the exception of what was removed with the contract committee vote. >> Do we have a second? >> I second. U moved by Gonzalez Hoy, second by Ernnandez. I'm moving on to Do we have any comments? Seeing none, moving on to the vote. Trusty Reckler >> Reckler. Yeah. Yes. >> Trusty Smith folds. >> Smith FS is a yes. With iteration,

253we have to have a plan complete. >> Uh, trusty Gonzalez Hoy. >> Yes. >> Trusty Hernandez. >> Yes. >> Trusty Jiannis. Yes. Now we'll move on to our um consent items. Do >> I have a point? I have a point of order. >> I have a point of order. I just want to say uh before we move on that I would be remiss not to say that we have one of the hardest working student trustees that I've ever seen. And I just want to say it out loud. This young man has goes above and beyond in everything he does at his high school, in his personal life, and on this board. And I just don't want to run out of time before I say that. So my point of order is I'm just taking a

254half a second to comment on he is a model student in WCCUSD. He is a model student trustee and he deserves all the respect that any student trustee or trustee or individual or human deserves. I'm complete. >> Okay. Now moving on to so any >> I move that we approve the consent calendar. >> Do we have a second >> item? Sorry. Consent items. >> I'm sorry. >> I second. >> Okay. Moved by Gonzalez Hoy. Seconded by Ernnandez. Moving on to the vote. Uh Trusty Regler. >> Yes. >> Trusty Smith votes. >> Smith votes. Yes. >> Trusty Gonzalez Hoy. >> Yes. >> Trusty Hernandez. >> Yes. Trusty Hana is a yes. Um, now we'll move on to superintendent communication. I'm willing to forego, but we can move to um if the the board is open to

255that to item E1. Is everyone okay with that? >> Moving on to item one. Okay. So, we'll move on to action item E1, curriculum adoption in geometry and algebra 2. >> Thank you so much. Um, I'm going to invite up Mark Labbakal, our coordinator of math to present his slides. [laughter] >> All right. Fantastic. Good evening, Superintendent Cotton, board of trustees, cabinet members. I'm Mark Labokco, math coordinator. I'm here to share some exciting times we're having mathematics in West. I heard it [clears throat] was a two to three minute presentation. >> You got it. I'm cutting it all down. Yeah. Um you guys adopted uh Eureka Math Squared for TK6. Uh Desmos for uh grade seven through algebra 1. Um we have uh we had a committee that actually looked at amplified Desmos to continue

256it on for ge geometry and algebra 2. We had uh selection criteria um set up pulled from ed reports um teacher supports assessment student supports intentional design. We added some additional district criteria um and uh next slide please. Desmos student centered. It's uh problem based curriculum meaning students are presented with a problem investigate together and share ideas. It's blended curriculum, meaning that most lessons use both print materials and the digital platform. Um, and teachers have access to some powerful online tools as well. Uh, next slide. Uh, Desmos aligns with the new California math framework. Um, in fact, they're setting up the next, uh, edition, California edition that aligns it even better with the framework. It's assetbased. Um we know students bring their knowledge to the classroom and this is what this program elicits. Uh they're

257engaged in pairs and groups to investigate uh and make connections and it also aligns with our math vision and miss and state mission statements. Uh next slide please. After training uh piloting and deliberation the geometry algebra 2 adoption team 10 uh uh teachers from high school uh reach consensus to recommend adop for adoption amplify desmos math. If the board approves, this would be a six-year adoption of both print materials and digital tools along with two and a half days of professional development starting this fall. Next slide. These next two slides um are the antibbias screener that we've been doing for a couple years now. Um here are a few indicators. Next slide. Uh note that 100% of respondents stated they had no concerns with the curriculum having bias, generalization, stereotypes or misrepresentations. Next slide. And

258some teacher testimonials around the rationale for the adoption. Advantage for English language learners. Great activities that help visualize difficult concepts and structure continuity for five years of secondary math learning. Next slide. Um we're excited uh to move high school math uh teaching and learning forward with this highquality tool to help us towards our district math vision of all learners know, use and enjoy mathematics. Thank you trustees. >> Thank you for that presentation. Do we have any questions? Trusty Reco, >> thank you for the abbreviated presentation. [laughter] Uh in my limited time though, can you address professional development because I see 2.5 days here, but what's the plan to uh educate everybody and make sure that they understand the curriculum? >> Thank you for that question. Um, so, uh, just like last year, uh, we have

259we we brought in a a representative from Amplify, and what we have is a one day before school starts, um, where we have three hours for the noviceses, brand newbies, and three hours for the veterans. So, it's kind of a differentiated um, professional development where teachers get what they need from go, which is nice. Um uh on top of that, I'm working with Amplify reps to figure out what we can do in October potentially during one of our um um smoke days, right? Uh to make something happen for us there as well. And then we also have like uh half a day of Zoom opportunities as well. >> Okay. And then just very briefly, are we buying all this curriculum at once and rolling it out at once? If it is my recollection with twig

260there was kind of like this phase in strategy but I think it was due to not having money. I don't think so like are we rolling it out all at once or is there some sort of staggered >> No, we're good to go. This is going to be geometry and algebra 2 are going to be their curriculum for next year straight up. >> Thank you. That's all I have. >> Yeah. >> Do we have any further questions? Seeing none, do we have any public comment on this item? No public comment. >> Okay. Do we have a motion? >> I'll move uh the adoption of uh Amplified Desmos Math California for geometry and algebra 2, including two days of on-site professional development and a half day of remote professional development to support effective implementation. >> I'll

261second. >> Good. So moved by regular, second by Gonzalez Hoy. Um, do we have any comments on this item? Um, Gonzalez, >> very quickly, I just want to thank you, the team, teachers. Um, I know there's a lot of work that goes into the adoption of a curriculum. So, thank you to the whole department, uh, cuz I know that even though we only heard it for two minutes, it's a whole year's worth of work. Um, and and it's not easy finding curriculum that works for us, right? So, thank you so much for the work. >> Okay, moving on to the vote. Trusty Reckler. >> Reckler. Yes. >> Trusty Smith FS. >> Smith Foss. Yes. >> Trusty Gonzalez Hoy. >> Yes. >> Trusty Arnandez. >> Yes. >> Trusty Januzi. Yes. Um so now we'll move on

262to E3 resolution number 2526-77 annual declaration of need to fully qualified educators. Dr. Greenman, you're up next. Declaration of Need and we'll see if we can get through uh E3 and E4 in the next 10 minutes and go. This is a uh what we send to the state every year for declaration of need for the number of uh waiverss that we have to submit. So we do a guesstimation every year um for this process and so we're asking for a recommendation for approval. Okay. Do we have um any questions? Seeing none, do we have public comment? >> No public comment. >> Okay. Do we have a motion? >> President, I move resolution number 2526-77. >> Do you have a second? Record will second. Okay. Okay, we have a motion on the table of Gonzalez Hoy,

263second by Trusty Regler. Um, we'll move. Do we have any comments? Okay, we'll move on to the vote. Trusty regular. >> Yes. >> Trusty Smith FS. >> Smith Falls, yes. >> Trusty Gonzalez Hoy, >> yes. >> Trusty Hernandez, >> yes. >> Trusty, yes. U, we'll now move on to item four, resolution number 2526-78, declaration to hire 30-day substitutes. Also, this is also a declaration we have to submit to the state um for the number of possible 30-day substitute permit to authorize those individuals that are coming into the district to serves as 30-day substitutes and we're asking for approval. >> Okay. Do we have any questions? Trusty Gonzalez. >> Thank you. Sorry, I do have a very quick question. Dr. Greenwood. I heard that in the governor's uh budget there might be actually something in there

264about extending this to longer than 30 days next year. Is there any truth to that? Cuz I haven't looked in that detail. >> I haven't seen anything new pop up just yet, but he did in the past. It was extended to 60 days, which was a great help to the district and then with us um being able to keep substitutes in the classroom longer and keep continuity with certain sites. So, I will look out for it. Thank you. That's it. >> Thank you. So, do we have any public comment on this item? >> No public comment. >> Do we have a motion? >> President, I move I move the resolution number 2526-78. >> Eight. Reckler seconds. Okay. So, we have we have Gonzalez Hoy second by Trusty Reckler. Do we have any further comments? Seeing

265none. Um, moving on to the vote. Trusty Reckler. >> Yes. >> Trusty Smith FS. >> Smith FS. Yes. >> Trusty Gonzalez Hoy. >> Yes. >> Trusty Ornaldes. >> Yes. >> And trustee Z. Yes. We'll move now on to resol. Yeah. No. We'll move on to do we want to do our superintendent report very quickly? >> I think we can go back to the resolutions and then we can close. >> Okay. So we we'll now go back to our resolution number 2526-82 recognizing National Principles Day. >> Good evening. Uh now therefore be it resolved that the board of education of the West Contraosta Unified School District hereby proclaims May 1st, 2026 as National Principal Day in the West Contraosta Unified School District. All right. Do we have any questions on this item? Seeing none, do we

266have any public comment? >> No public comment. >> Okay. Do we have a motion? President, I move resolution number 2526-82 in recognition of May 1st, 2026 National Principal's Day in the West Concross Unified School District. >> Do we have a second? Okay, I'll second item. I'll second that item. Um, >> I have a board comment. >> Uh, we're moving We're still moving on with the agenda. We're not at board comments yet. >> No. Um, I have a board comment on this item. >> Okay, go ahead. I want to say that there have been some amazing principles in WCCCUSD. A lot of them are sitting on cabinet. Our superintendent was an amazing principal. Dr. Moses was an amazing principal. We have a principal at Hercules High School that got the principal of the year award. We

267have um Renee Llama was an amazing principal. We have just so many that I would end up forgetting the names of them, but I just want to say thank you to all those amazing principles that invest in children and put them first. Um uh I am complete. >> Okay. We'll now move on to the vote. Trusty regular. >> Yes. >> Trusty Smith folds. >> Smith folds. Yes. >> Trusty Gonzalez Hoy. >> Yes. >> Trusty Hernandez. >> Yes. >> And Trusty Yaz. Yes. We now move on to resolution 2526-85 National Teachers Day 2026. Now therefore be it resolved that the board of education of the West Contraosta Unified School District proclaims May 5th, 2026 as Day of the Teacher in West Contraosta County. Do we have any questions on this item? >> Do we have any

268public comment? >> No public comment. >> Do we have a motion? Person resolution number 2526-85 National Teacher Day 2026. I second. >> Moved by Gonzalez Hoy, second by Ernandez. Um, moving on to Do we have any board comments on this item? Okay, seeing none, I'm moving on to the vote. Uh, Trusty Regler, >> yes. >> Trusty Smith votes. >> Smith votes yes. >> Trustee Gonzalez Hoy, >> yes. >> Trusty, >> yes. >> And trustee a yes. We'll now move on to resolution number 2526-8 A3, classified school employee week 2026. Now therefore, be it resolved that the board of education hereby declares May 17th through 23rd, 2026 as classified school employee week in the west conassa unified school district in recognition of and appreciation for all classified employees and their dedication to our students. Do we

269have any um questions on this item? Okay. Do we have any public comment? >> No public comment. >> Okay. Do we have a motion? >> I'll move this item around classified employees recognition. >> Do we have second? I'll >> second. Moved by Smith F, second by Gonzalez Hoy. Do we have any further comments on this item? See no comments. We're moving on to the vote. Trusty regular. >> Yes. >> Trusty Smith Folds. >> Uh thank a classified employee Smith Foss. Yes. >> Trusty Gonzalez Hoy. >> Yes. >> Trusty Anand. >> Yes. >> Trusty Anyana is a yes. Um we'll now move on to resolution number 2526-84, Jewish American Heritage Month. Um, >> now therefore be it resolved that the West Contracasta Unified School District Board of Education and WCCCUSD Superintendent proclaim the month of May

2702026 as Jewish American Heritage Month. Do we have any um questions on this item? >> Okay. Do we have any public comment on this item? >> No public comment. >> Do we have a motion on this item? I'll move it. >> Do we have a second? >> I'll second. U moved by regular, second by Galis. Do we have any comments on this item? >> Okay, seeing no comments on this item, we'll move on to the vote. Um, Trusty Regler, yes. Trusty Smith votes. >> Smith votes yes. >> Trusty Gonzalez Hoy, >> yes. >> Trusty Anand, >> yes. And trustee, yes. So now we'll move on to resolution 2526-87, Asian-American Pacific Islander Heritage Month 2026. Now therefore, be it resolved that the West Contraosta Unified School District Board of Education proclaims May 2026 as Asian-American Pacific

271Islander Heritage Month to inspire equity and celebrate diversity in our schools and communities throughout the district. Do we have any questions on this item? >> Do we have any public comment? >> No public comment. >> Do we have a motion? >> I'll move Asian uh AAPI Heritage Month resolution. >> Do we have a second? >> Second. >> Moved by uh Smith Fo, second by Gonzalez Hoy. Going on to the Do we have any comments? Seeing none, moving on to the vote. Trusty regular. >> Yes. >> Trusty Smith foss. >> Smith foss. Yes. Trusty Gonzalez Hoy, >> yes. >> Trusty Hernandez, >> yes. >> And trustee, yes. And I skipped one. Um, we'll move on to resolution number 2526-86, National School Nurse Day 2026. Now therefore, be it resolved that the West Contraosta Unified School District

272Board of Education celebrates and acknowledges the accomplishments of school nurses everywhere and their efforts towards meeting the needs of today's students by improving the delivery of health care in our schools and offers gratitude for the nation's school nurses and nurses in WCCUSD who contribute to our communities by helping students stay healthy in school and ready to learn and keeping parents parents and guardians at work, not just on this National School Nurse Day, but at every opportunity throughout the year. Do we have any questions? >> Do we have any public comment? >> No public comment. >> Do we have a motion? >> President, I move this resolution. >> Do we have a second? >> I second. >> U moved by Gonzalez Hoy, second by Nandez. Um, let's move on to the vote. Trusty Reckler, >> yes.

273Trusty Gonzalez Hoy. >> Yes. >> Smith folds. >> Trusty Anand. >> Yes. >> And Trusty Andana is a yes. And that concludes our meeting for today. We are adjourned at 11:31 um p.m. And our next regularly scheduled meeting will be May 27, 2026. Alana Dejan. Good night everyone.