Board of Education Meeting | September 10, 2025

001Good. Good afternoon. It is >> September 10th, >> September >> and the translator needs to get switched to the translation channel. And we are a little short of quorum. We'll be back in three minutes to start the meeting. Thank you very much. Afternoon everybody. Welcome to the regular and special meeting of the West Contraosta Unified School District School Board. It is September 10th. I am calling the meetings to order at 5:04. We have both a regular and a special meeting at the same date and time. and we're going to take up the agenda items on the special board meeting agenda and the regular board meeting agenda simultaneously and I will identify which agenda item we will be taking up. To access translation and Zoom, please click on the globe icon at the bottom of the

002screen. If you are here in Dejon, you may pick up a headset for translation in the back corner of the auditorium. The board is about to go into close session, but before we do, we're here to listen to public comment on closed session items. Individuals wishing to speak on the closed session items listed. If you're here in the auditorium and you haven't already done so, please submit a WCC public comment card, which you can find on the entryway table, or if you are participating via Zoom, individuals will need to raise their Zoom hand in the Zoom app. If you're 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 shall not be transferred from one person to another. There

003is also no substitution of speakers. We alternate between a Zoom comment and an in-person comment. The public comment period is a safe space where diverse viewpoints may be expressed civily without interruption or intimidation. Please listen attentively to each speaker's comment and respect the time as if it were your own. Do please be open to a different point 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. So, the items on the close session agendas are as follows. for the special board meeting. Close session is public employee performance evaluation superintendent on the regular board of education meeting. The items for close session are liability claims. Claimment name is withheld. Claim number 6600052. Agency

004claimed against is West Contraosta Unified School District. Number two, we have conference with labor negotiators. And then we will be back for close session at 6:30. Is there any public comment on close session items? >> We have no public comment. >> Thank you. The board is going to recess to close session. We'll be back at 6:30. Thank you. Okay, good evening everyone. Welcome to the open session of the special and regular meetings of September 10, 2025. The board is returning from close session at 7:02 p.m. Thank you everybody for your patience this evening. to access translation in Zoom, please click on the glo globe icon at the bottom of the screen. If you are here in the auditorium and need translation, you may pick up a headset in the back corner of the auditorium. In

005a few minutes, we're going to begin public comment agenda item. Member of the public are invited to speak to the board on any matter that is not otherwise on the agenda, but is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the West Contraosta Unified School District. Please prepare now for public comment. And if you're here in the auditorium and you'd like to make public comment, please fill out and submit a WCCUSD public comment card and you can find them on the table in the entryway. If you are participating via Zoom, please raise your hand in the Zoom app prior to the beginning of this item on the agenda. And if you're participating by phone, press star 9. After your comment card has been turned in, the cards are placed in the order received and we can call

006on the speakers one at a time alternating between public comment here in Dejon and one on Zoom. Public comment generally lasts for 1 hour. The time allotted to each speaker is 2 minutes. In the meantime, we're going to move on with the rest of our opening procedures. Moving now to B2, Pledge of Allegiance. If you are willing or able, please rise. 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. Moving on to B3, land, labor, and body acknowledgement. We recognize that we are presently on the lands of the Chuchcheno, Mokma, Karkin, Aloney peoples and acknowledge them as the first inhabitants of the land we currently occupy. Labor and body recognition acknowledgement. I acknowledge

007that the burden of environmental exploitation and systemic injustice falls upon the labor of black black and brown bodies in the building of this country and its institutions. I remember that black and brown people 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 century to today of all immigrant labor including voluntary, involuntary, trafficked, forced, and undocumented peoples in the building of what we refer to as the United States. Author Dr. Relle Rogers Art B4 West Contraosta Unified School District Board anti-racism statement. The West Contracasta School District Board of Education is committed to the work of anti-racism. The conscious and active effort to identify, challenge, and correct racial inequities in the systems and institutions within our schools and community. Racism, explicit

008or implicit, stands in direct conflict to the fundamental principles of WCCUSD education. To carry WCC 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 inequity they produce have shaped us, our schools, and our society. We strive to uncover unconscious biases and practice anti-racism as individuals and as board members. We challenge ourselves to persist through the discomfort necessary for growing and learning, to deepen our listening and our examination of racism and oppression, and to develop a strong understanding of how our personal experiences and feelings fit into the larger picture of continual oppression. Each member of our school board individually and collectively is responsible for creating and nurturing an anti-racist learning environment where

009each student, staff member, and community partner is a respected and valued member of the WCCUSD community. We are uniquely positioned and it is our responsibility to identify and 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. We commit to holding each board member accountable towards these goals and moving the work of anti-racism forward. We also commit to holding West Contraosta Unified School District, staff, students, and community to living these standards of anti-racism in our schools. Board approved March 20th, 2024. Up to number five. Roll call. Superintendent Cotton, would you please take role? >> Trustee Gonzalez Hoy. >> Good evening. Present. >> Trustee Smith Folds. >> Good evening everyone present.

010>> Clerka. >> Good evening everyone present. >> Acknowledging trustee Hernandez is absent. Board President Lesie Reckler. >> Good evening everyone. I'm present. Roll call is completed. Moving on to report ratification of close session. So tonight we have a regular and a special meeting. First we'll go to the regular uh report of close session. Superintendent. Is there a report out of close session for regular? Regarding agenda item A21, the board voted to reject claim number 6600052 related to alleged personal injury. The members voted as follows. Trustee Smith Fos moved. Trustee Gonzalez Hoy seconded. Clerk Inana was a yes. Trustee Gonzalez Hoy, yes. Trustee Smith Folds, yes. Board President Reckler, yes. Trustee Hernandez, absent. And for the special meeting close session agenda, we have no report out. That concludes item six. We are now up to number

011seven, which is WCCUSD public comment. Members of the public are invited to speak to the board about any matter that is not otherwise on the agenda and is related to issues affecting the public education in the West Contraosta Unified School District. Public comment will last approximately 60 minutes. The time allotted for each speaker is 2 minutes. Individuals wishing to speak must submit a WCCUSD public comment card form. And if you're participating via Zoom, individuals will need to raise their hand in the Zoom app. 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. There is no substitution of speakers. Is there any public comment tonight? >> Yes, we do. Our first public comment is Don Gosley. >> Good

012evening. You know, the district loves diversity, but when I look around this room, what I'm seeing is the lack of very many people who might remember the latter part of 1963 when the Beach Boys were shocking, rocking the radio waves with their big hit, Be True to Your School. It was, but it wasn't but a very short time afterwards that the new Richmond and Kennedy high schools opened up. As I look at the board and the row of senior staffers here, not only do I see a bunch of relatively young people, but I see that most of them never grew up here. They have little ties to the community. And why is this important? Because they have no real allegiance to Kennedy High or Richmond High. Not like some of us that attended there. Okay.

013But those of us who have strong ties to these schools will forever be true to our schools. There are a number of alums from both schools that are working to preserve the legacy of their schools so future generations might share in the history of these great schools. For instance, how many of you can tell us about the history of the Richmond High Rock? It was placed there in 1928. Were you aware that at the first campus of Richmond High, there were only 36 students, 13 boys and 26 girls? There were only three teachers. And of the 10 types of classes they offered, classes like synography, Latin, and physics were the main ones. And did you know that the mascot is the Oilers because even before Richmond was incorporated as a city, the standard oil refinery

014was built. And to a large extent, the majority of the jobs in Richmond were at the refinery. As a matter of fact, they used to have classes teaching young men how to work in the refinery. and the ladies were taught to work in Standard Oil's Steno pool. These alumni groups have been working to archive the history of these schools, but what the community needs is a buyin from the board to allow that to happen. This needs to be agendaized so it can be discussed and action taken and then codified so staff will work with the community to find proper locations throughout both campuses where these archives can be displayed and accessed by students and the community. We're working to catalog the archives that have not yet been destroyed or lost. But this will be wasted

015efforts if we can get can't get our elected representatives to stand with us to make it happen. Won't you please help us to be? Our next public comment is Marie Anan. I'm back to tell you Lydia's horror story from last week. again. First all had poor communication and lack safety. They didn't even know a subd driver picked up my child from school. They failed, I mean big time failed to inform the mistakes like you have a playground. He has an appropriate play structure to regulate. You think kids don't disturb and deserve new material, new structures for you know what my daughter's there. You know what this is called? rimination and it's repeated and it's wrong and now the promotion can't we talk of it for Please don't do this. Our next public comment is Christine

016Hatcher. Good evening, President Reckler, board trustees, Superintendent Cotton, and cabinet members. My name is Christine Gant Hatcher, and I'm the president of the West Contraosta Administrators Association, WCCAA, here in West Contracasta Unified School District. I'm here this evening to speak to something that has become increasingly evident both locally and nationally. The decline of civility in our public discourse. Recent events, including the current political climate and safety incidents across our district highlight the challenges we face. Historically, education and educators have been charged with holding the line of a of a civilized society. Our collective purpose as educators is to serve and guide our students, ensuring their growth, safety, and success. This doesn't mean that we all must agree, but it does mean that at the very least, we need to approach each other with a spirit

017of collegiality rather than adversarial intent. As we work together in the service of children, our students must remain at the center of every decision, every debate, and every plan. Titles and positions may differ, but our shared commitment to students should stay constant and guide our actions. In order to achieve the equitable outcomes that we say we want for our children, we must approach one another with respect, focus on collaboration, and persevere in doing good. As we are reminded, let us not become weary in doing good. And keeping our students at the forefront allows us to navigate challenges with integrity and unity even in difficult times. Thank you for your time this evening. Our last public comment is Kim. Our last public comment is Kim Chamberlain. Hello, Kimberly Chamberlain local 21 SSA chapter president. I am

018also the student information systems supervisor for our school district. I work in technology. I work with the technology group who will be recognized on September 16th. It is national IT professionals day. I think it is a wonderful program. It's something that we all should look at. We in that department and those professionals which are all of us if you really think about it in our lives because we look at data. We look at making sure there is networking verbal networking technology networking. There is abilities for people to view this online because we have technology professionals that make it possible. I also believe that we have the abil great team building skills in our department to make sure that we continue to bring those. It's dear to my heart. That's all I can say. And we

019try very hard to make sure that our students, staff, and anybody else in our community has the ability to learn through technology. But we also try to make them safe. We consider data privacy one of the most important things for our students. And this year has been very trying because we've had a lot of people complain that they aren't able to use the system. Well, we're being very cautious. We're making sure that everybody has the right skills and user access. But what I'm also making sure in our departments is that they also have the right abilities to why they're using the data. So please support us when we say take a break and let us make sure that you have those skills. Say thank you to your IT professionals. We have one more public comment

020online. Maisha Harris Gash, please unmute yourself. Good evening everybody. Happy Wednesday. And so one I want to shout out my students. Um we had a situation on our campus that put us on a lockdown. Um and my students were so good during that period of time. So I just I appreciate them following my lead. Um we know the cell phone policy. I'm not ashamed to say I tell my students, hey, let your people know this is where you are, that you are safe. You cannot talk on the phone, but you can text them because I remember a situation many, many years ago. Some people might remember it was a summer school and there was a report at Penolon Valley High School that a student had come with a firearm and my daughter happened to be

021on campus at that time across campus and I really appreciated that teacher allowing my child to contact me via text message that you know she was safe. I let her know that I was safe just to calm you know parents down. So I just want to give a shout out to my students for just following my lead on that day. Also, um, someone before me alluded to the history of Kennedy and Richmond High. As you know, I'm a Kennedy graduate. And so, I do kind of piggyback on what he was saying about the history and the legacy and maintaining that. Um, so it is not lost because Kennedy has a great great history and foundation in this community. And another person spoke about our discourse and how we speak to each other regardless of position

022and title. and that first and foremost it should be all about our students. Last board meeting I talked about the microaggressions within this district. I I will reiterate that again today and I hope that we are going to continue with the anti-racism work around prejudice and bias implicit or explicit because we are before our children each and every day for long periods of day and what are we modeling for our students. It is very very important work. God bless. And that concludes public comment. Thank you to everybody who gave comment. We're moving now to eight standing reports. Are there any standing reports this evening? >> Our first standing report is CBOC. You know, between the modernization of Kennedy and Richmond High Schools, the rebuilding of of Stee Elementary School, the completion of Lake Elementary School,

023and the new cafeteria at Shannon Elementary School, 700 plus million dollars of the comm community's tax dollars are being spent. This is pretty much the largest set of expenditures being spent at one time since the $2.4 billion bond program was first envisioned back in 1998. I mentioned this to help everyone realize that the need for the statutoily mandated citizens bond oversight committee is more important now than any time in the past. To accomplish this task, the CBOC has 10 community members right now with one stop spot still needing to be filled. We thought that we had that seat locked in, but the applicant didn't feel welcomed by the district. One of the problems with so many relatively new CBOCers is that they are often very green. They're not at all that well-versed in the history

024of the bond program, what our purpose is, and even what we do or how we do it. As a means of addressing this particular problem, we're working on a training manual and training videos that may help. We've had a number of people suggesting various books and guides for generic bond oversight, but none of this addresses our specific needs, the history of our bond program, or what this community demands. These training guides will attempt to bridge the gap between the generic aids being suggested and the very specific needs of this community. For those unaware, members of the CBOC are appointed representatives of the community, the more than 300,000 residents of West County. While pretty much everyone has good intentions, the CBOC frequently has roadblocks that pop up, making our efforts more difficult than we would like.

025There are personnel shortages that make it very difficult to get information that we need. The information shortage comes from a wide variet a wide array of district sources. Next week we have a joint meeting of the board of education and the CBOC, but we run into a timing issue. That is, we have so many items that we want to discuss, but there just isn't enough time. For instance, we may have we may only have 15 minutes allocated to each agenda item with five board members and 10 COCers. If each of them wants to speak, that would limit them be limited to significantly less than one minute each. And anyone that has stepped up to the dis will testify that you just can't say diddly squat in less than a minute. Rules and protocols in these

026meetings means that we can't really sit just sit down and talk with each other. At least in my opinion, as someone that has attended and participated in more joint meetings than anyone in this room, I can say that these joint meetings are not as productive as many of us would hope. If there is to be a collaborative effort between the board, staff, and the CBOC, we need to have real discussions where everyone's point of view and comments are valued. As the staff is reporting, STE no longer has anything on site other than open dirt. I have to say that when I photographed and videotaped the demolition of the Cypress entrance to siege and watched the excavator turn the 82-year-old siege sign into toothpicks, it broke my heart. Many of us hoped that the district would

027follow through and place that sign in a hallowed place in honor of honor in the lobby of the new stiege. The 450 foot long two-story front building at JFK is also just bare dirt. It was on March 15th that a farewell event was held where I was able to take a great photo of more than 100 guests on the grand staircase. But that staircase is now in a landfill in Vakavville. And just 13 days ago, there was a farewell party out front of Richmond High where the marching band played while the cheer squad did their stuff. There were plenty of vendors along the with the robotics team and showing off their mighty robot. On one of the boards, people could have fixed post-it notes under two columns. One listing things to keep and another not

028to keep. Under the keep column, five of the seven posters told them to keep the rock. Seems like a mandate to me. Next Monday, fences will be erected to be re-imagined Richmond High can be. Effective in October, the CBC will be meeting on the third Monday of the month. We hope this will allow staff more time to provide the CBOC with critically important financial reports. When we have our meetings, we try to be as informed as we can. We invite everyone to sit at the grown-ups table. We never have a countdown countdown clock staring speakers in the face, and our goal is to ensure that every voice is heard and as much as possible as they're allowed for staff to share as much information as they can get with us. Our main focus is to

029hear updates about the ongoing projects and review the financial reports. Using whatever time that is left, we'll address regular CBOC business. All this is the icing on the cake, while the project and financial reports is the cake. Our next meeting, the joint meeting will be at next Wednesday evening, the 18th of September at 6:30 p.m. at 1400 Marina Way South. The entrance is at the south end of the building. Spanish translation will be available. Our next regularly scheduled meeting will be on Monday, October 20th at 6:15 p.m. at the same location. Everyone is invited to attend. Since we still have one more seat available, we invite qualified applicants to submit an application which can be found in the lower lefth hand column of the CBOC pages of the district website. If anyone has questions or

030comments about the bond program or projects, I invite them to reach out to me at [email protected] and 5106852403. Thank you. Our next standing report is UTR. Francis Ortiz, please unmute yourself. Good evening, board president Reckler, trustees, superintendent Cotton, and community. United Teachers of Richmond is currently reviewing our strike readiness survey data from every school site. These surveys represent thousands of conversations with educators about the state of our schools and what it will take to win a fair and just contract for West County educators. We will be sharing those results with our full membership at our all member strike analysis meeting next Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. at Penol Middle School. Childcare and food will be provided because our fight is about the whole community. I also want to express both excitement and hope as four of

031our trustees prepare to attend the California Latino School Boards Association conference this weekend. This is an important opportunity to see what's possible when districts align their budgets with student needs. Take San Diego Unified as an example. They have built budgets that center students and the educators who support them. The results are clear. San Diego students consistently outperform WCCCUSD, not only academically, but also across equity measures. Their district provides fully paid family health care, a standard benefit across contrast county that WCCCUSD still refuses to meet. Our hope is that our trustees will return inspired by what is possible when you truly invest in students and bring that vision and advocacy home to West Contraosta. Finally, I must raise a serious concern. UTR has been forced to escalate our grievance over the teacher support and assistance program

032or TEAPP to level three which is binding arbitration. This is not where we wanted to be but WCCUSD has left us no choice. Over 140 brand new educators are depending on this program for mentoring, coaching and support in the 2526 year alone. Instead of honoring both our contract and the commitments laid out in the district's own LCAP, management is attempting to sideline TAP altogether. And let's be clear, ignoring educator support undermines student success. It's also important to recognize that our classified workers represented by the teamsters are an impass as well. We cannot be united in our district when the very workers who make our schools run, our classified and certificated colleagues are disregarded, disrespected, and devalued. Their struggle is our struggle. And for the record, UTR has prevailed in every arbitration against the district in

033the past three years. Rather than waste more public resources on expensive law firms fighting us in arbitration, WCCUSD should simply uphold its commitments. Commitments to educators, to students, and the community. Our message tonight is simple. West Contraosta can and must do better. Our educators are organizing, our members are united, and our community is watching. We urge the board to take inspiration from successful districts like San Diego to honor your own commitments and to act now to prioritize today's dollars for today's students. Thank you. That concludes standing reports. Thank you to everyone who gave a standing report tonight. We're moving on now to number nine, agenda review and adoption. for the regular agenda. Is there anything that um board members want to review? Would everybody be okay if we moved up the fiscal socy plan before

034action items? Yes. Yes. Yes. Okay. So, we will move F1 fiscal stabilization plan presentation after D superintendent communication. If I may ask now for the special agenda uh to approve B business item consent for the agend for the special item agenda. Are there any? It's the formation of a superintendent evaluation committee. Okay. So we'll add that and approve that. Thank you. Moving now to number 10. Approval of minutes June 4th, 2025, June 25th, 2025, July 16th, 2025. Does anybody have anything on the minutes from those meetings? Seeing none, the minutes will be approved as presented. Moving now to 11, resol resolution number 2526-18 supporting Constitution Day. Miss Vest, I believe. My apologies. Good evening board um and Superintendent Cotton, staff and community. >> Thanks for given us. Be it further resolved that the West Contraosta

035schools shall offer a seal of civic engagement commencing in the 20 26 27th school year to graduating students who have met the criteria of the seal and courses of study related to civics in education and participation and understanding of the United States constitution, the California Constitution and the Democratic system of government. >> Thank you. Are there any board questions on the item? Any public comment on the item? >> There's no public comment. >> Thank you. Are there any comments from the board? I' I'd like to make one which is in here national voting day and working with the Contraosta County Office of Elections on registering voters and teaching students to vote. I now have a child that lives out of state and he has told me how California is the model of excellence on learning

036how to vote. He said there is nothing in my state you get a big packet in the mail. We have KQED where we can listen to ballot propositions. We have Cal Matters. We have so many sources here in the state where you can find out what's on your ballot and form an opinion. And where I live now, I have to really search for information. And so he really appreciated growing up here and understanding everything that California has to offer. And so I feel strongly that if we really work with students here to understand what they have and if they go somewhere else, they'll know how good it is and what they can do to vote. So I'm very happy to see this and looking forward to registering many voters. So that's that's my comment on

037the item. Uh seeing nothing else, um I'll accept a motion. >> President, I move that we approve resolution number 2526. D-18 supporting constitution day. >> Is there is there a second on the item? >> Second. Smith seconds. >> Any further comments? >> I'm sorry. I do have a comment. Um, the right to vote is something that is essential in the United States, but black women didn't get the right to vote to 1965. So, I just want to put out there that the 60s may have been great for some people, but not all people. 1965, it might as well be 1970, 1975. So, again, we need to not take this for granted and not take it not take it for granted and not take that it's always going to be here. We have to fight for

038the rights that it took some of us a very long time to acquire and we're still fighting. So I think putting this in our schools and making sure that our students understand their responsibility around voting is something that we need to take very very seriously. I am complete. >> Any other comments and we'll go to the vote. Clerkana, >> yes. >> Trusty Gonzalezoy, >> yes. >> Trusty Smith fol. >> And I'm yes. Motion carries. Four yeses with Trusty Hernandez absent. >> Moving now to consent. Does anybody have anything from consent they'd like to pull? >> I'm sorry. Can you repeat that? >> We're up to consent. Is there anything that you'd like to pull from consent? I would like to not only pull item C7, curriculum associates I Ready PD, but I would like to

039table it until September 24th when we have the whole board available for that conversation. >> Okay. There is no debate usually when an item is asked to be tabled. So, we'll take that off and table it to September 24th. Is there anything else on consent? >> Not for me. >> Okay. Okay. So then we will accept those consent items with C7 pulled for September 24th when all board members are available. If I may flip now to the special agenda um consent item B1 formation of a board committee superintendent evaluation. Um does anybody have anything on this and this item can be accepted? Okay. So on the special item agenda that has passed unanimously. Moving now to D. Superintendent communication. Superintendent Cotton. This is your item. >> Good evening everyone. Is that item posted? Almost beginning

040of this the side deck. Thank you. Perfect. Um let's go ahead and start with our slide deck. So next slide, please. I want to um start our conversation tonight just acknowledging that today is World Suicide Prevention Day. Today uh it's a reminder of the importance of the awareness, compassion, and connection in preventing suicide. In WCCCUSD, students and families have access to critical supports, including school-based mental health clinicians, site wellness centers on secondary campuses, as well as district crisis response team. In addition, revised board policies emphasize suicide prevention education and early intervention to ensure the health and well-being of all of our students. We also encourage the use of 247 resources listed below. So, please see that. Next slide, please. Thank you to Miss Chamberlain for lifting up IT Professionals Day. We do want to we

041can give them another round of applause. Thank you for all of your work. Thank you acknowledging um Lauri Wong Roberts and her team in technology. Um we honor and thank you for your dedicated IT uh work and the crucial role in supporting our students and staff. Your dedication ensures that our district technology systems enable learning, teaching, and growth every single day. That's coming up on September 16th. Thank you. I just want to update the board on some of the progress towards our 100 day plan. I'll probably just keep bringing this up till we get to the end of the 100 days. Um, but we have Next slide, please. We've just about concluded our listening town halls. Um it has been amazing and I just want to thank we had over 150 or more um families

042participating, students participating um both in person and online. Uh this the series was called Can We Talk and we learned a lot from listening. Um, I want to also thank all of our district folks who were there to support um, all of cabinet was present as well as their teams to support just really important work facilitating conversations, engaging in discussions and capturing that information. And so we just again appreciate everyone's involvement in that listening session. it fell fell under my 100 days or 100 first 30 days but it was really to benefit all of us and I just appreciate this work. Um our next steps we are reviewing and synthesizing that information. We will be sharing a report with the board in the future as well as posting our findings on our website. So again

043thank you to all who participated. Next slide please. Also want to lift up one of the goals was around high visibility and listening sessions. Um had a chance some of the pictures that you're seeing in front of you. Had a chance to visit Zarleene Padus at Montelvin. Um who was one of our acknowledged uh school district teachers of the year. Uh was able to give her her flowers. That was awesome. Um also had a chance to visit sites um with our board members. We went to visit Highland Elementary School. Um, as Mr. Gosy mentioned, uh, Richmond High School had their, um, farewell event as their campus will be changing very soon, and we'll talk about that, but had a chance to be there. Actually ran into one of my former students, uh, Trasia down on

044the bottom left. She's a graduate now from, uh, West Contraosta. She graduated from Richmond High School. I was her principal uh at Madera many years before that and I just love to see that she is attending uh school at Contraosta College and just thriving and I'm I'm very proud of her and was wonderful to run into her. Um also acknowledging the amazing robotics program that's happening at Richmond High School. Um as well as meeting up with the cheerleaders that was a lot of fun. um at Highland, ran into a very familiar face from years ago um that we used to work together and also um ran into some new folks. Um a new counselor at Montalvin uh really excited to see um a recent college graduate working on her PhD and a brand new counselor

045in the district. Amazing. Um, also right in the middle. Yes, a hand clap. Right in the middle on the top, we have um I was able to attend um Kennedy High School. We had a listening session and I learned a lot and I just want to appreciate the students who were there to share with me. I've let them know that we will be circling back for more conversation. And so, thank you. We just want to let the board know and the community know that we are all out there. We are listening. We are engaging um and we are again changing changing the the view of what the district is but also really improving our communications and our transparency with our community. I do also want to lift up and acknowledge um our union and workforce

046relations within our first 30 days or first 100 days. I do want to let you know that UTR and Teamsters have both declared impass in our bargaining process. So when an impass is declared, state law provides a structured process for to continue negotiations. That doesn't mean negotiations have stopped. It means that we will continue with more structured support from the state. Um the next step in our process is mediation. That will be facilitated by a neutral stateappointed mediator. Please know that our shared commitment to students and their learning remains unchanged. I continue to meet with our unions to maintain communications and continue to work towards resolving issues while navigating our negotiations process together. I just want to keep reminding us we are one West Contraosta. Next slide, please. I'm just giving you a little taste.

047um a part of our 100 day plan. Um in the next 30 days, we will be talking about actually tonight we'll be talking about our fiscal stabilization plan. Um I've worked in partnership with Dr. Moses um from business services um to make sure that we have a very clear plan in place and steps moving forward to again communication, transparency, and trust to build all three of those things around our budgeting process with the community. We'll talk more about that after this item. Next slide, please. And so, since we last met, I know there was a lot leading up to this that since we last met, but really since we last met, um, we've had a whole host of other activities um that we have been involved in. Let's see. We've had I've had an opportunity

048to engage in some professional development. What you're looking at is a group of superintendent and administrators from across the state. Um, I was able to drop in for a little while, not too long, um, but be able to drop in for the California Association of of African-American Superintendent and Administrators. They hosted a roundup on Saturday. They also had a board retreat on Friday and I was able to drop by the Double Tree in Berkeley for a few minutes to learn a little bit as well. Um they had some amazing speakers um just within that session on Friday. Um and had a chance to learn more about the Genius Project that's happening across the state that we may want to consider. I want to run that by and talk to our office of African-American student achievement

049as possibly participating in this work. We also had a a presentation from the learning policy institute around diversifying the teacher workforce. Uh really focusing in on what strategies are working to both recruit and retain teachers of color. It was a worthwhile um use of time. I also want to acknowledge that we had some other I participated in some other professional development since our last meeting. One was the Contraosta County School Board Association. This group is actually led by trustee Gonzalez Hoy um and he is leading uh school board members from across the county. I was glad to be able to be there in partnership with um trustee Inana as well. So thank you for attending. This was again more professional development, more learning um as we learned about resources that are available through um AXA,

050the Association for California School Administrators that supports both um our school boards as well as administrators across the state. In addition to that, um I attended the Contraosta County uh office of education district support, I'm sorry, district superintendent monthly meeting that provided me with some networking with other superintendents really understanding what are the challenges and issues that we're facing in real time. It's very helpful to attend those and that was the first one I was able to but look forward to continuing to attend those meetings. Next slide, please. We had a time last week on September 4th. We celebrated two of our teachers of the year for West Contracasta, Zarlene Posadas. You saw the pictures meet with me earlier giving her flowers along with Trusty Smith Foss. Trusty Smith Boss, thank you for for providing

051those wonderful flowers, those beautiful flowers that were presented to Zarene. we were able to visit her classroom which was fun and those kids were a hoot. Um they they they were they were wiggly. It was a second grade group but they were ready to celebrate their teacher. They knew what was happening and just were excited to be with her. Um we have not been able to get over to um Miss March's class, but we will as soon as possible to provide her her flowers as well. Um but it was a beautiful night actually. Trustee uh Hernandez, board president Reckler, and Trustee Smith Fos all attended along with um our associate superintendent, Akas Prasquez were all there to celebrate um both Zarlene as well as Caitlyn. I'm very excited to announce that Caitlyn was actually selected

052of one of two county teachers of the year, which puts it Yes. Please give her a hand clap. I will be inviting her to come to hopefully our next board meeting to actually read her speech so that she can we can all join in in that and really understand her perspective and and understand why she won. Um this puts her in the running possibly for to be uh one of our California California's teacher of the year. So really exciting and exciting for this honor for both West Contracasta but and for Vista Virtual and for our teacher um Caitlyn Marzi. Next slide please. So what's coming up? Lots. One I just want to put out and remind folks about back to school nights. They're happening. Elementaryaries are happening tomorrow night. It is time already. Um we

053are working with our high schools. We've talked about possibly changing the date um and I think that schools are trying to find dates that make sense for them and their communities. And so those dates will vary. Please check in with your um parent square, check in with your principal or at your school site at for high schoolers. If you're not sure of the date for your back to school night, those dates are going to vary a bit. And then we also have our middle school um evening for back to school night will be on September 25th. Also coming up is Hispanic Heritage Month beginning on September 15th. We are excited excited about celebrating um and one way that we're celebrating if you can go to the next slide will be the fiestas spatrias uh the

054parade that is happening on Saturday. Please come out and join us. We will have multiple schools. Thank you to um uh Miss Sigler and her family engagement team for doing a reach out, making sure that we've got students participating in our parade. This is a chance to highlight um the amazing things that we're doing across our district and letting the community see the wonderful work of our students. We do have Richmond Highest Band that is also leading that parade. Um and a number of of um trustees will be in attendance as well. I know that Trustee Smith Fos will be there conference. Yes, actually. Yes. And thank you for that that reminder. Um, Trustee Inala will be at the uh California Latino School Board Association at that time. So, thank you for that and we

055look forward to what what what you've learned from those places to come on back and share it with us as well. So, awesome, awesome, awesome, awesome. Thank you. Next slide, please. I do want to remind you that fall sports are back. Um, we have the Elserto High School Gaos. Go Gaos. um won their first game of the season against Lel High School 62 to zero. Mhm. Go Gauchos. Um and so then next coming up we have um Friday football home openers. We have Hercules High School on Friday at 700 p.m. playing against Dhy Valley and Kennedy High School playing against Insenol. We also have flag football games. The Lady Titans um who are now three and 0 versus the Lady Dons who are also three and 0. Um and they are looking to remain undefeated.

056We've got games on September 10th tonight as well as September 13th. So fall sports are back in session. Next slide, please. I do also want to recognize that September 14th through September 20th is community schools coordinators appreciation week. And so all of our community schools folks out there who are helping bridge and make those connections between our schools and our communities, providing wraparound services, connecting our students and our families with resources and supports throughout the community. We appreciate you and so we will be celebrating you next week. Next slide, please. I also want to remind the group, do not miss it. We've got a couple of events coming up. One, STE Elementary School's community meeting will be happening on September 16th from 6:30 to 7:30 at the Booker T. Anderson Community Center. This is an

057opportunity to update the community on the status and also talk about some design ideas for Siege Elementary School for Richmond High School. Just a con construction update. Uh, groundbreaking will be happening on September 20th. We will have a groundbreaking ceremony or event beginning at 11:00. I do want to remind folks that things will start to look a little bit different at Richmond High on September 15th. Facilities will add fencing on 23rd Street in front of the building. The new welcome center will be open and the front doors of the campus will be closed. So, we're moving the front entrance or the entrance to the school to the north end of the campus. Next slide, please. Also want to remind the community and our board about our college and career night that will be happening on

058Thursday, October 9th. It's open to all K through 12 students from 5 to 7:00 at Denza High School. Please try to attend. And finally, for your awareness, um just another reminder, please remember to complete your emergency cards. Please sign up for parent square. Please update your powers school information. Those are vital information, bits of information that we will have to support families in the event of an emergency or crisis. So, please make sure that you are up to date on all of your information. I also want to remind um our community, remind our board that we are moving forward with our anti-slur and anti-racism policy. Had a chance to discuss both at principal meeting as well. So just looking forward to continuing to um teach and and help our students understand this important work. Um

059we also have our cell phone policy. Remember, cell phones are not to be in use from bell to bell, from the start of the day until the end of the day. We appreciate all of our students and families who are supporting this policy along with our school staff and administration. We also have a very clear immigration policy in place. That's another reason why I want families to make sure that emergency cards are updated, information is updated in the event that we need to contact family members. We have lots of folks that we can contact who you have have sanctioned for us to do so. In addition, we have our visitor signin policy. Our visitor signing policy, the verata system is in place to ensure that um student adults who should not be in buildings with

060students are not there. We want to make sure that we are keeping our students safe. That is our number one priority. Um, keeping them safe and educating them well. So, making sure that students are safe. Please follow the visitor policy or ricotta system. And then finally, don't forget to take care of your Chromebooks. Take care of those materials that are entrusted to our students and making sure that we are teaching them great habits of caring for their belongings. Next slide, please. Again, another Vicotta reminder. Please make sure that you're signing into the office. Have your um ID with you and ready to use. But please make sure that that is in place. This is not a a system that is solely used in West Contraosta. This is used widely across our state. And we just

061want to make sure again that our students are safe. I have used the system. It takes less than two minutes to sign in. a minute. Probably less time it takes than writing your name, your phone number, your time, and where you're going. Promise you that. But thank you for um following the Vicata system. And then finally, parents, please get involved. Next slide. Please get involved and stay involved. Get involved with school site council. Next slide, please. Thank you. Involved in school site council um in your African-American parent advisory committee. the African-American site advisory committee, our DLCAP, our MDAC, our CAC committees as well, um our dual language immersion parent advisory committees, our citizens bond oversight committee which will be meeting next on October 20th. Our parcel tax committee, that information will be coming soon, as

062well as attending our stage community meeting as we mentioned on September 16th. And we have an upcoming district budget engagement committee on September 30th. Does the board have any questions? Does anybody have any questions for Superintendent? Go ahead. >> Superintendent Cotton, can someone walk me through is the process the same if I'm signing up to go on a field trip? Do I go through the badging process through FIRCATA and then I get put on a different list, a field trip list or what's the process? We are moving to um and we want to train staff specifically on our volunteer process. So, probably won't be really kicking in until October as it stands. If you're interested in volunteering, you can go online and you can go through that process. that will go right now to our

063family engagement office and they will process volunteers in October. Um we are hoping to have shifted that work to our sites and so then our sites are able to see and approve folks who are signing up to volunteer. The difference is that we will be requesting tuberc TB tests or tubercul tuberculosis tests for families who are interested in volunteering. That is the shift. >> Not going on the field trip but volunteering in like around the students or for the field trip too. >> Same thing. Okay. >> Thank you. >> I'm complete. >> Thank you. >> Yes. >> So my question is to tap on to what um Smith Folds asked. So once we register to volunteer at schools, how much is how long is that good for or is there a system that you have

064to keep renewing if your child gets shifted from one site to another site since this is being you said it was kind of more sight based. >> So two in that I heard two questions. One is when does it have to be renewed? It's renewed every year. So annually you'd be putting that information back into the system again. um if your child through the middle of the year if they switch sites you would need to go through that process at the site. I do have to tell you once we're doing it at our school sites it is a really quick process. It it's the same amount of time that it takes to sign in as a visitor in addition to showing proof of tuberculosis test. >> Okay. Thank you. Yes, sorry. In when it switches

065to sites, let's say we're in November or December and now it's at a site and I come in as a parent at to one of our elementary schools and I go through the process. The process has builtin background checks. They can do it right there. >> The way that you have you have you tried this the system yet? You must have your California ID >> ID. Okay. >> Or driver's license with you. that goes into the system and that will alert folks and let us know if this person is on any list that that would say that there this adult should not be around children. So, it doesn't matter if they do that on site or downtown. It's the same system. So, long as you have your ID, present a California ID, whether that's your

066driver's license or a state ID, you present that, it runs through the system. The system then checks and see if you are able to be flagged to not be with students. Yes. and then that will let us know. Okay, thank you. >> If if someone is flagged or if there's a discrepancy, I know that there are some challenges around common names. Um those may be pulled aside um for further review. Um I don't know, Mr. Booker, if you have any other anything else as you're you're familiar with the with the signin side of the system, not the volunteer side of the system, but the sign-in side of the system, it's the same process. anything that we should know about that? >> Thank you for giving me this opportunity. So, as far as far as the

067visitor management system is in concerns is that you either have to have a California ID, a consulate card or a passport. Uh any of those IDs will work in the system. Um if there is some discrepancy, um it we would verify it either by the site. If we can't verify it through the site, they would contact the uh safety department or family engagement in the case of a volunteer and we would uh clear it from uh our site. So, it's a fairly quick system. It does check multiple databases. Um and if they're clear, then they would get a paper ID badge which has their their photo on the badge. Um, so what I'd like to do is when you're ready to go, we should have a presentation for the for the board and the public.

068>> Absolutely. >> Okay. So, you said October. >> The goal is October. Um, we are working towards um getting a final approval from the unions around training and adding that to our classified training day. As we move that forward, then yes, the shift would be shifting from um as it stands online and centrally focused to a sitebased focus. >> Okay, I have notes on that. >> Yeah. Anything else? >> One last question. >> How are we doing around messaging especially with the current climate? um ensuring that our families know that they are safe at our sites, that the information that is getting to ready to go through these portals is going to be maintained safe for our families and is that something that we've looked into? We have actually we've been sending out quite a

069bit of messaging around safety um recently as things have been have been happening in our schools um specifically around verata um on the visitor side it's not I don't think new information I know that sites have been receiving information about Bcata and they are communicating with their parents um in terms of the volunteer system. I don't think we're quite ready yet to do a full push, but as soon as we are in agreement with our unions and we're ready to move forward, it will be a full push around our volunt our volunteer system as well. The shift and change that will be happening at that time. >> Sorry, I have one more question. When you do that shift and change, we'll inside that messaging state where the information is held like this. We're not taking

070people's information and giving it away or giving access to it when it runs through that system. Where is that information stored? Maybe is that a clear question or no? >> It's it's stored internally, but I think Mr. Booker can can respond to that. The information that we have is stored within our system. Uh that information is not shared with anybody. It's not shared with any agency uh meaning any public safety agency or any private entity. So uh and uh the information is um removed at given at a certain point in time. So uh the information is not shared outside of the the school district. Thank you for that clarity. Dr. Cotton, pass in questions. Would you believe that it would be prudent for us to make sure that that's shared among families so they know?

071>> What I'm hearing is I think a full presentation to the board is needed and we can definitely do that. I I know that there's been conversation previously in the spring with the board, but we absolutely can do um kind of a refresh for the board around the verata system. We'll bring that back. I made a note. >> Awesome. Thank you. Any other questions? If not, we'll move on back to you. Great president. >> Great. Thank you very much. >> All right. So, we're switching discussion and action items. So, we're moving now to F1 fiscal stabilization plan presentation. That's me again. Fiscal >> this the fiscal stabilization plan. >> I'm looking at doc I'm looking at Dr. Moses because fiscal and Dr. Moses go together. But we have the fiscal stabilization plan. >> I will

072explain why. I am I'm I'm gonna I'm gonna jump in and I would ask that Dr. Moses jumps in as needed. So our fiscal stabilization plan I want to this is our roadmap to achieve fiscal solveny together. This is actually part of my 100 day plan which is why I'm kind of taking the lead on this on this work. Um it is intended to address our budget challenges with our community. It keeps the community informed and engaged uh in our budget decision-making process. what this presentation is and what the plan is. It is not a numbers discussion tonight. We're not talking about numbers. The purpose of this presentation is to share the plan and the process to engage in future numbers discussions um that will occur over the next 90 days. And so this is

073a 90-day fiscal stabilization plan aligned with the 100-day plan. Um this is also not the district budget engagement committee. That is the district budget engagement committee will be coming together and making recommendations for um the district and for the board to consider. The fiscal stabilization plan is really about educating the community about where we stand, what are some of the challenges, and what is the decision-making process. That's the intent of this plan. Next slide, please. Sorry. A lot of slides. Um, our district faces a multi-million dollar structural deficit that must be addressed to maintain fiscal solveny. A structural deficit, just for clarity, is what happens when our revenue I'm sorry, when our expenditures exceed our revenue. And that is repeatedly happening for us over the years. So, we want to make sure that um I'm

074sorry, I'll get back to my slides. The purpose of this 90-day stabilization plan is to share the scope of collective work to be done with district staff, community members, and labor partners to in establish a multi-year fisc fiscal solveny plan for WCCCUSD. This plan will emphasize transparent communication, data analysis, and collaborative input. Next slide, please. So, why a fiscal stabilization plan? I want to share this story with you. In 1990, WCCCUSD was declared insolvent. We were the first California school district to declare bankruptcy. In 1991, we required a $20 million $29 million emergency loan from the state to meet our financial obligations, resulting in the appointment of a state trustee for fiscal oversight of district budget decisions. In June of 2020, I'm sorry, 2012, after 21 years of annual payments of $1.4 million plus interest,

075the loan was paid off. We must now address our current budget issues to prevent a future need of an emergency loan. There is urgency to this work. The fiscal stabilization plan will ensure financial stability, supports long-term planning, and retains local control of WCCUSD. Next slide, please. So, our key principles of the stabilization plan are accountability, sustainability, transparency, and efficiency. We must all support the efforts to stabilize our district's financial position. Shared responsibility and accountability will be the drivers for change. They will be the only drivers for change really. Next slide please. Our fiscal stabilization plan has five sessions built in. Um each of these sessions will be held with staff and community members to achieve our goal of planning together to improve our fiscal position. Through these sessions, we'll share transparent information and engage in

076dialogue to assess, analyze, and propose actionable goals and strategies for consideration. Those modules will include budget assessment, identifying root causes and analyzing potential impacts, actionable goals, actionable strategies, and then implementation and monitoring. We will continue and we commit after the 90 days to continue to provide community updates through the remainder of the school year. Next slide, please. Our 90-day road map to stabilization includes days 1 through 22 assessing the budget, and that's where we are now. Um, or that's where we're starting. We'll continue with our conversations with community. We've already had an initial conversation with our principles during our principal meeting. um yesterday. Um we'll continue same presentation and again engaging the community and gathering feedback um moving into days 1 through 22. And you see the different modules allowing time for those meetings as

077well to occur as we move through our road map, our stabilization plan. Next slide, please. We also have tools and resources that will support our stabilization plan as we move through this process. This is a very public process and very public information is shared. All these these materials are able to be accessed on our website and I just encourage folks to as we move through this process continue and get more comfortable with the resources that are available to us. Next slide. As you can see, we have a number of dates for our meetings. And let me explain. when you see it, it feels overwhelming, but really it makes sense. I believe there we're looking at our different modules. So, assessing the budget or assessing our financial outlook, then moving into examining budget impact, a focus

078on goals from goals to action, and then our community updates through the remainder of the year. getting started. We've already started with our monthly PLC is our principal professional learning communities. Those will be happening during our principal meetings, our monthly principles meetings. So coming up on the 15th is the first of our sessions. Each of these modules will be presented across the district at Hercules High in the library, at Richmond High in the library, and at Elserto High School in the library. So, we want to make sure that families have opportunities to be present in person. We'll also be offering these um sessions in a hybrid format online. So folks can log into Zoom for any one of these sessions or we'll have access to attend in person again across our district. We've tried to

079put them in places that regionally are accessible to all families. Next slide please. And thinking about our theme of we are one West Contracasta. We are one district and one budget. We have the resources that we have and we need to make collectively make great decisions about how we will move forward given our resources. So collectively we will address the structural deficit while maintaining essential programs and services. Together we will maintain local control of our district decisions and our district budget. That is our goal. Communication through this process is key. Transparency, efficiency, and accountability are all requirements of organizational change. Next slide, please. I want to thank the board for your support in moving this forward. Thank you to Dr. Moses for all of your support and for future support actually from all of our

080cabinet as we continue this conversation. Again, one district, one budget. We are working together must contrast. Are there any questions or public comment? I guess I have questions on the date slides. So I know it said um and Rosa if you could pull up those dates because I don't know I don't want to misquote. Um it said something about the dates. Oh, the draft dates. So, these dates are just drafts. They're not set any of these dates yet. Just for a heads up. >> These are the dates that we're moving forward with. >> Okay. My next question is on our school community updates. I see that all the community updates are set to happen at Deansza. >> The community updates in January, March, April, and May. >> Yeah. Yes. >> So all those will be

081happening at the ANZA. And one more for the from goals to actions. I see that on November 13th, we have ghosted actions both for Richmond High and Hercules High at the same time. >> Let me ask Dr. Moses at the same date. I apologize. That must be a typo. Let me recheck the sheet and give you the correct date. >> So, we'll keep draft on there until we finalize. So, thank you for catching that. >> And we've looked both have looked at it repeatedly. Thank you for catching that. >> Yeah. No, I was just questioning like I said cuz I seen that you only that the um meetings will be held at Richmond High also on Hercules, but then it seems like all the community updates will be given at the Anza only. Is there

082a reason for that? versus going back to the original sites and giving the community updates there. >> I don't think that's unreasonable, but let me ask Dr. Moses. >> So, so it's also the community the community updates would be we're not doing the five community updates. So, we could do a community update at Dansza in January, in March at um you know, Richmond High in April at Hercules or in May at Elserto. Those were intended to be one session for updates. Um, at that point, I'm not sure where we will be, but I'm hoping that it will lead to just monthly updates. It will have ended. The 90-day stabilization plan will have ended at that point and it will provide an opportunity for community to come out. It could rotate across the district or it

083could be at one site. It's monthly. >> Okay. Thank you. Yes, >> we're at questions, correct? >> Um, do you think that it would be a benefit when we put these flyers and infographs out that we have a map of the school with a drawing to where the library is at these schools because we're asking people to pull in from all over the district, right? And a lot of our families have not been to if you live in Hercules, you may not know where Richmond High's Library is, right? Or if you you live somewhere else. And I think that because we are one WCCCUSD, we want to make sure that when people come cross district that they can find the location of the meeting spots and be able to know where the parking is and

084all of that stuff >> as a level of reasonable hospitality. So again, as a question, do you think that's something that we would be able to pro provide in an infog infograph or other ways of publicizing that and on the campus when we have those meetings like meeting this way like an arrow and a piece of paper? >> Absolutely. Thank you so much. I'm complete. I'd like to ask where does the board get informed or where are the board touch points in this um in in the plan. >> We talked about that and I what I've appreciated is up until this point I know that our board members have been attending like our listening sessions. I would invite the board to join these conversations. We can also provide an update during um our board meetings

085or during our close session. My plan is to also include just a brief update on where we are within my um superintendent report so that allows folks to to learn where we are. Is there something else that you would like to see or another way that you'd like to be able to provide input um in those discussions? Um, I guess what I'm thinking about is looking out into the future as the board adopts a budget or, you know, where where in this is the board discussion around what community has, you know, like where's the the board rubber hits the road discussion I guess is what I'm asking based on all of this. >> So that may that may actually be happening more so with the district budget engagement committee and the work that they're doing

086around the recommendations that they're making to the board. These areformational sessions. >> Okay. So but they'reformational with >> with with >> news. >> Yeah. Yes. >> With news. So, I can definitely share that news out with the board. Again, we could have a discussion item or it could be shared out within our our superintendent report. >> Okay. Okay. Yeah, that sounds good. >> Which one? >> I don't know. We'll have to see. >> Okay. >> Let's go to a few and see what >> Let's check it out and see what what happens. I am I I like I like being open. I like being open. And again, this is not our norm. It's not something that we normally do. So, it is a little bit different. It is very involved and very intensive. Um, and

087I would encourage and pick pick a a session that you'd like to join. I think it would be important to have our board members present and and there. I I know that your presence um and engagement at um our listening sessions has been really powerful for our community as well. So being present I think would be great. >> I would like some way of having it come back to the board just my two cents for discussion because when we are at those meetings and there's three or four of us there and this is something that the budget is something that we are going to have to vote on I want to ensure that we are all staying above reproach. So we would not be able to have a discussion as freely there as we will

088here on the dis. So, I would love for it to come back in some form that we can have actual conversation like we're doing now. But I would agree that it's imperative for us to show up to those sessions because the more information you have and the more times you hear it, the more we're able to actually digest, understand, and articulate back out the budget. Schools budgets are one of the most most one of the most complicated budgets to understand. I need to phrase that in a question. Do you agree? >> I do agree. And so that actually may have helped in in our conversation we just had. So we'll be less less loose and a little bit more structured conversation around um what's happening and what's being presented. So yes, we can definitely factor

089that in. We'll try to align with board meeting dates in a way that makes sense. >> I just have a comment, not necessarily a question. Um, I would like to see I think a little bit more communication around this since we are going to start having those budget conversations which are something that's on everybody's radar especially right now that we can use our partnerships more. So that means like reach out to our you know maybe city councils and say we're having this because this has been a topic of conversation. So just so that they have this on their radar and you know other people because I think sometimes we hold the scope so close to like our families and parents right families and parents they go it goes out on parent square it goes out

090on our local things around schools but we have a greater community that's also invested that we don't necessarily reach every time we talk about budgets or just site information being filtered out to them. So just the way that how do we now get this to the greater community? I think that would be a show in understanding the budget especially at these moments. >> We can definitely share that with our city councils across our district. It's a great idea. Thank you. >> Is there any public comment on this item? >> Yes. Our first public comment is Alain Harrison. Please unmute yourself. >> Good evening. Can y'all hear me? Hello? >> Yes, we can. >> Okay. Um, another I just wanted to suggest this. Um, when you go out to the communities, it would be good if

091you kind of help uh parents understand like cuz they don't always have that knowledge. So just looking at different people um learning levels of rece because the book I I get a I understand a lot of that information but there's a lot of parents who don't understand it and I think it's very good information that they should know how that relates to their child that attends our district. I'm complete >> that completes comment. >> Thank you. Are there any other comments from the board? So, I just want to say that I'm I'm filled with gratitude for the number of meetings and the amount of community outreach. I mean, the a lot of people are going to be out of the house a lot of nights in addition to regular daytime jobs. So, I want to

092say ahead of time that I'm really grateful and I just want to thank you in advance for this outreach. Um, I'm also wondering about our parent advisory committees, DLCAPS, um, ASAT, uh, CAC. Are they going to get a is there specific outreach to them as well? Do they get little mini sessions on this or commercials to come and join this work maybe or just some ideas about uh some outreach to know um that they're happening and um you know uh I I think that's a really good point about city councils um and the broader community. Uh, and hopefully for the amount, you know, the amount of sessions that are out there, there's substantial time for somebody to get to something. Um, because there's they're certainly varied and they'll they'll all be on Zoom. They'll also

093they'll all So, you'll have the Okay, that's great. >> Similar to how we handled our um listening sessions that were both the hybrid model. >> Okay. Um, and good because I attended two of those online and the the sound quality and the I could hear everything. I could see pretty well. Um, so it was it was effective. So that's great. Okay. Um, so those are my only suggestions and anything else? Okay, then we will move to we'll close out F1 and we'll go back to our action items. First one, E1 evaluation. I'm sorry. Hold on one second. >> I am so so sorry. Can we please make sure that we have in whatever handout we give out the a list of acronyms, shared definitions, some of the things that are going to keep us all

094on the same page when it comes to school budgets. But again, because of the complexity in school budgets, we want to make sure that we're all coming at the same level of learning. So when we use Fitmap or whatever, we know what it means. So all of you have been teachers, Dr. Cotton, Dr. Moses. So the same thing that we would use to scaffold our students on new concepts and understandings, I think that we need to implement at this level because we're all learning. I am complete. >> Thank you. Okay. Moving now to E1, evaluation of contract vendors. Good evening. I think that's my item. Um, it is my pleasure to share with you more information this evening about the process for evaluating our in our vendors. Um, and these are the contractors that provide

095services to our schools and departments. Um, the very contracts that you approve. I would like to as we consider approving the two reports that are being brought forward to you tonight and are attached to the agenda. Um, one non-direct contract for the public ed funds climate coaches, another direct contract for familas uh that we take the opportunity to share in depth with you what those reports mean. Next slide. Um so tonight I'm going to cover just four quick topics just to explain the process and the report. I'm going to talk about how our vendors are evaluated. Our vendors are referred to in this pres presentation as our partners because that is the relationship that we seek with them. So you'll see the word vendor and partners. They are used inter interchangeably. We're also going to

096talk about the end-of-ear reporting timeline, the measures of evaluation for this report, and the importance of this report to our work moving forward in our contracts that we uh employ in our districts. Next slide. So, first I want to review with you how vendors are evaluated. We have two different types of vendors that we use for contracting in our district. We have non-direct vendors that are our partners who provide services that are not direct services for students or supervised facing student activities. And then we have direct service vendors which are our partners who provide direct services to students. Um so the way in which we evaluate our partners is during the contract development phase the expectations in the annual measurable outcomes are established and agreed upon by both the partner and the initiator of the

097contract which is usually a site leader or a department manager. Um the partners are supervised and observed and evaluated by those managers throughout the duration of their services uh within our district. And then at the conclusion of those services, both the partner and the manager must complete this evaluation that I'll be sharing with you tonight. The results of the evaluation then determines if the district will automatically review the vendor as an approved partner in the partnership booklet um which is our partnership booklet where we choose select our vendors to continue to contract with. Next slide. So this is an example of this past year's timeline for endofear reporting for our partners. Um on April 28th, the end of year reports were sent to every one of our contractors. Th those reports are sent uh via

098email through our informed K12 system by our business services contracts team. Um on May 16th, we ask that all of those vendors um complete those reports and send them back to the managers that initiated the contract. This is also through the automated process. And then we ask that our managers complete their portion of the the um end of year report and submit that to the business services contracts team for evaluation. Um this timeline is important in that it allows us to have these reports from our vendors in a timely manner so that beginning July 1st we can enter into new contracts with them. Um, so our goal is to get these back as timely as possible. And once we get them back, we prepare this report for you, the board, to share with you the

099evaluations of these vendors. Um, because as you can see tonight, we're bringing you two reports to approve. They don't all get done prior to the July one deadline, but we are continually checking those so that we can continue to partner with these vendors who may not have met that timeline or these departments that may not not have met this timeline. This is one of the areas of growth we're working on to hold people accountable to that timeline um for services for our schools and departments. So the um um it is a requirement that everyone complete this report and uh that both the agency and the citer department complete it in its entirety. Next slide. So what are the measures of evaluation? The sites and department managers review the program data. The data must be provided

100by the the the vendor or the partner and then they evaluate the annual measurable outcomes that were agreed initially upon with both the vendor and the manager. Um the partner completes a self assessment as a part of this report and then the manager completes an evaluation um in the form of a rating scale for the level of service provided by the vendor. That rating scale then issues a score which I'll talk about on the next slide and that'll determine whether they get an automatic uh renewal with our district in order to have an opportunity to continue to contract services with us. So there are several areas of evaluations that the vendors complete. They they have to um explain their program structure. They have to share highlights of their programs which includes the accomplishments and uh

101results from their work with us. they have to um discuss their program goals or share in writing their program goals and also we ask program challenges and areas of improvement so that we're not only asking for the results but if there were challenges how are we meeting those uh the managers then complete their evaluation areas in which they're looking at our agency standards what do we expect is this vendor meeting our expectations in terms of how they're delivering their services and then there is a narrative some qual quantitative data that we ask our managers to provide um to share with us their progress on goals and uh their overall service to our district. Next slide. So why is this important? Why is this report important? It's important because we need to ensure that the people

102that we are entering into contracts with are effective for our schools, departments, and our students. And so our managers issue their ratings of these partners in order to share with not only the board but also other sites and departments who might want to partner with these vendors as well their level of service. Um the rating scales uh go up to a point maximum of 50. If an agency scores between 35 and 50, uh, then per our agreement, they meet the agency standards, which means that they will be issued an extension um in our partnership booklet to continue services across our district. Now, this doesn't mean they're automatically um guaranteed future contracted work. It just means that should our sites or departments wish to continue to partner with them, their level of service is such that

103we'll allow that without them needing to start from uh step one of our contracting process. However, if a vendor score is below 35, it means that they did not meet our expectations as a school district and that we have to dig in deep with our managers as to why that is. The partner then needs to reapply if they'd like to continue um services with our district. And then in that case, they're required to address the areas of concern. And we do share that information um and determine whether or not they can be back in that partnership booklet depending upon the level of uh the area in which they need to grow. Next slide. Uh oh. Is that the final slide? Oh, apologies. I thought there was an ending slide. Our goal this evening was to

104share with you a little bit of how um we're working with our sites and our partners to evaluate their services to ensure that we are investing our um restricted dollars well, which cover most of our contracts, but also any funding source that we use. We want to make sure that it's money well spent and that our students are achieving positive results from the services of our vendors. Uh tonight, the only um action that we're asking for in addition to providing you this information is to approve the two contracts that are attached to the board agenda. And I'll take any questions you may have. >> Thank you very much. Are there any questions from the board on the item? Go right ahead. Trustee Smith Folultz. Um uh thank you so much for the presentation Dr. Moses.

105I really appreciate it. I really appreciate the work that your department has done around this. I've seen the growth in three years about what we how we started off with um having a buffet of sorts and to where we are now with the level of accountability. Along that same vein, would you think it would be appropriate to have some type of reflection to the students who are getting the services? Like um you remember in college when at the end of a class you could survey or talk about your professor and what you learned from the class or how you like the class. Do you believe that that's a additional step that could be added or one that we should add? Absolutely. I think that where it's direct student services, there absolutely needs to be student

106voice in the evaluation process and as a part of many of the reports that come from our vendors and partners. Uh they do frequently survey both students and parents and include that in their reports to the manager initiating the contract. But I agree that it could be more widespread and more of an expectation where student direct student services are um a part of the contract. Thank you. I have two more questions. Is there are there thoughts around um as a principal you remember progress reports that midway that uh was sent out to parents and sent out to students to know this is where you are at the halfway point. Are there thoughts around creating some type not now but creating some type of progress report for these vendors to say you may want to clean

107it up like you're not we're getting complaints or we don't see the product or whatever it is. So they'll have a point to where they know this is where we are and this is where we need to be. These are the behaviors or the process procedures protocols that we need to put in place to get us to the goal line. Absolutely. Um, we count on our managers and our principles and we think they do a really good job of making sure that our vendors are providing effective services for our students and our departments. Um, I do want to point out that with all of our master agreements, if there is a contract that we've entered into and it things are not going well and someone recognizes that and wants a change, we are able to

108with 30 days notice discontinue contracts. It is not the norm. It is not something that happens frequently because we don't want to disrupt service for students. Our interest is in ensuring that our managers are working with our partners. Uh but I just wanted to share that um should there be any concerns, there is an avenue to address that. Um but no, we don't have a written mid-year progress report. It's something we can talk about with Superintendent Cotton and see if she'd like to add that. And my final question, um when I was a kid and received a report card, A was satisfactory or A was above satisfactory, B was satisfactory, and C was average, right? and then D was below satisfactory and F was failing. With the number scale that we have, 35 out of

10950 is a C. Are there thoughts around upping that scale to where you only get an automatic renewal not if you're a C or not if you're 35 out of 50, but higher if you're a B or a B or an A? Looking at the numbers, have there have there been conversations around that? Do you think that where we are is okay to be 35? Not okay, but is this what are your thoughts around 35 out of 50? Um, it's difficult to quantify our rating scale in terms of grades. Um, partially because we're dealing with organizations, some of which are also growing. And as challenges come up um if the organization is experiencing challenges we work with them to fix it so as not to disrupt services for students. We want our managers and our

110site leaders to be transparent and open and honest. So we don't want to put them in a box because sometimes there's an organization that may have some areas of growth that they need to address but they're still a valued partner. And so we really do count on our principles and our department managers to not only use the rating scale but also um there's a box on that end of year report that says should we continue to partner with this vendor. Um and so we ask them to be thoughtful in how they evaluate challenges that they might be addressing and if the challenges are too great we expect that that box would not be checked. I really appreciate it and again, thank you so much for this work that's being done. I think it's valuable work

111and I think it's something that just helps us be a better version of oursel and get the results that we want from the dollars that we spend. So, I'm complete. Thank you. Any questions? My question goes around um partners who are working at different sites and having different outcomes at different sites. How would how do we do the evaluation on them and ensuring that it's consistent? >> That is a great question. Um, we have to enter into what's called a master agreement. When we have one program that's operating at multiple sites, most often the programs are similar, if not exactly the same frameworks that they're trying to follow. What we found is that in some cases it's the skill of the staff uh that the vendors have hired and if the results are not the

112same, we try and figure out a few things. Um we don't do this work directly with principles and site leaders, but we do hear of these issues and we offer um these suggestions that they should um truly evaluate if this is not an an effective service for their site. Just because it works at one school doesn't mean it's going to work at every school. We encourage them to find a different vendor that may better meet their needs. There isn't a requirement that schools or departments have to keep the vendors that we typically use. They actually um have a lot of autonomy in that area. So uh we in the business office we don't manage the vendors but we do make sure that we're having the conversations to ensure that if there is not effective results

113or um challenges that are great that our site leaders are encouraged to um look elsewhere if they aren't able to resolve those with the vendor for that answer I think Where my confusion comes in is if a vendor is doing a exceptional job somewhere and gets above that 35, but at another site it is below that to be able to be in our catalog per se that you're talking about. What are what are the two scores would we take? As long as they're doing great in one site, then that would be enough for them to stay within the catalog or h how does that process work? That is a very good question. In all of the reports that I review, I'm not finding variances that great. Um, so I'd have to do a little research

114to see if we've had that circumstance. Typically, if a vendor is not providing quality service, it's across the board. And so, I can dig deeper and dig further into reports to see if we've had that occurrence and what the result was because I'm not sure that we've come across that. >> Okay, that's it. Thank you. >> Is there any public comments on the item? Yes. Our first public comment is Amanda Eperson. Please unmute yourself. >> Hi. Um, my name is Amanda Eersonson and I am a community school manager uh with the face department and I was just wondering in terms of contracts if there is someone that has failed all of their end ofear reports but their scale is changed um so that they are passing. what would have >> started that or how would

115that have >> been possible? Um I I'm thinking of one particular entity who has failed all of their end ofear reports but then >> received a passing grade. >> Now I need to >> and that's it. I'm sorry that's my question. >> Our next public comment is Salon Harrison. Please unmute yourself. >> Good evening, boys. So, um, back in 2017, the parents brought a rubric for this reason right here. Why are we measuring and letting the staff measure theirelves? This can be based on personal relationships, friendships, like dislikes. We need to base it on data. Trace the child that's receiving the service. And we set the parents develop something. Children can develop something. We can get our kids to develop something to track the child that's receiving the service to the service provider. We've been

116asking for that. It's real simple. We have a lot of technology now that can do that. This is not being done for a reason. we can track the child that's receiving the service and look at the deliverables. These people are self-reporting and of course you're going to make yourself look good and they're not giving things that are based on data and we're spending money based on feelings and not facts because they're all hearsay. Let's spend money on facts. I'm complete. >> Thank you to everyone who gave public comment. Are there any Oh, there's another one. Oh, one more. Wow. All right. Our next public comment is Yolanda Vieiraa Allen. Please unmute yourself. >> Good evening board community superintendent. Uh Dr. Moses, thank you so much uh for doing this work. Parents have been asking for

117this for so many years. Um and really our kids deserve excellence. I really want to implore you to only automatically uh include someone who's getting an A. We want we want the best for our students to keep moving forward. I'm not saying don't hire the B's and C's um but don't make it automatic. Please um make sure we have the data. Um that's what we need. We need the data and we need our student voices at every point in this as well especially for direct service. If the students aren't uh no able to articulate and see the growth that they're experiencing as a result of the service then I think we have a problem. I'm complete. Thank you. >> More done. Okay. any comments from the board? So, I'm just sensing on this item that

118there's more discussion to be had. Um, so I'm hoping that on some of the public comments you'll follow up and um just kind of uh investigate that a little further. we can definitely look a little bit closer into um the rubric and how how those decisions are being made and actually have conversations with our principles as well as they are the the primary folks who are completing those documents. >> Yeah. And it ties into something I've been talking about for a long time, which is outcomesbased contracting, which I don't 100% understand how it works, but if you don't meet your goals, you don't get all your money. So, I think that that there's room somewhere to explore that um somewhere. So, um okay, those are those are my comments on that. Oops. So the motion

119is to approve the two contracts which I believe are WCC public education fund climate coaches and then the other contract is for Familia Zunidas. Is that correct? Okay. So that would be the motion to approve those contracts. I'll I'll move it since I just said it. And is there a second on those contracts? >> Smith F seconds. >> Okay. So it's moved by Reckler, second by uh Smith Folds, and we'll go to the vote. Clerkana, >> yes. >> Trusty Smith folds. >> Smith Falls, yes. >> And Reckler is yes. Motion passes with three and uh Hernandez and Gonzalez Hoy absent. Moving now to E2, Education Code 44258.3, variable term waiver. Good evening board. We are asking for approval for variable term waiverss which allows districts to either one grant applicants more time to complete credential

120requirements or two to provide the district with additional time to hire an appropriately credential individual and may also apply while awaiting fingerprint clearance. >> Thank you. Are there any board questions on the item? Is there public comment on the item? >> We have no public comment. >> Okay, I'll accept a motion. I'll move it uh to move education code 44258 variable term waiver forward. Uh is there a second on the item? >> Smith folds second. >> Okay, so it's moved by Reckler, second by Smith Folds. Are there any comments from the board? Seeing none, we'll go to the vote. Clerk inada. >> Yes. >> Trusty Smith folds. >> Smith folds. Yes. >> And Reckler is a yes. Motion passes with three votes. Two absent. Hernandez and Gonzalez Hoy. Moving now to E3, provisional internship permit.

121Isn't that what we just did? Did we just do PIP? >> No, we did. >> We did Oh, we did variable term waiverss. Thank you, Dr. Greenwood. >> You're welcome. Sorry about that. We're good. >> So, we are requesting approval for provisional intern permits, better known as PIPS, which allows the district to hire individuals who have not yet met the subject matter competence requirements needed to enter into an internship program, provided the district has made diligent effort to recruit fully credentialed teachers and none were available. >> Thank you to the board of any questions on the item. Is there public comment on the item? >> We have no public comment. >> Okay, I'll go ahead and move it. I'll move the provisional internship permits for tonight, September 10th, 2025. Is there a second? >> Smith

122F seconds. >> Okay, so moved by Reckler, second by Smith Foss. Uh, is there any board comment on the item? Seeing none, we'll move to the vote. Clerk, >> yes. >> Trustee Smith Folds. >> Smith Foss, yes. >> Reckler is a yes. Three yeses, two absent. Hernandez and Gonzalez Hoy. Moving now to E4, teacher consent authorization. >> This one we're also asking for approval for teacher consent authorization for the specific school year of 2526. Uh this is essentially a compliance record showing that teachers have agreed to serve in assignments under the local assignment option which are exceptions allowing under uh California ed code when a teacher is appropriately credentialed but working outside of their usual assignment area. >> Thank you. Does the board have any questions on the item? Is there public comment on the

123item? We have no public comment. >> Okay. I'll go ahead and move teacher consent authorizations for this evening, September 10th, 2025. Is there a second on the item? >> Smith folds. Second. >> Okay. So, Reckler moves second folds. Um, is there any Did I call for public comment? I can't remember. I did. I did. Thank you. Uh, any further comments from the board? Seeing none, we'll go to the vote. Clerk Nana, >> yes. >> Smith Smith, >> Smith, yes. >> Reckler is a yes. Motion carries. Three, yes. Gonzalez, Hoy, and Hernandez absent. Moving now to E5, board policy 6020. LEA parent and family engagement policy update. Good evening, Superintendent Cotton and board. We bring to you tonight board policy 6020, parent and family engagement. This policy was developed with input from families. It has been

124reviewed by the governance committee. We bring it tonight for a second read and hope for your approval. Thank you. >> Thank you. Do any board members have questions on the final? >> Is there any public comment on the item? Yes, Salon Harrison, please unmute yourself. >> Yes, I just wanted to say that the governor's meeting that um had this on the agenda, this item on the agenda was held at 9:30 in the morning and we did not get parents that I know that were very invested in this work. Did not get communication like we normally have been getting. So, it made parents feel some trust was going on there and that y'all chose to do it at 9:30 in the morning when you know parents are taking their children to school or they're not available

125cuz they're working. I think that could have been done a little bit different with more communication cuz there was a lot of um uh parents involved and we may have had some input and questions that may have helped um shape the policy. I'm complete. Next public comment is Yolanda Vieiraa Allen. Please unmute yourself. Good evening, trustees. Uh I had the pleasure of being one of the parents who worked on the policy and that sounds like Summer's voice and I'm so excited to hear your voice and that you're back. Uh welcome back. Um, congratulations Anub. Um, this is so important and we I really hope that you pass this that you get this out um in a way that's big and splashy and do a multimedia campaign and make it be a thing that everybody wants

126to know what it's about. um not just this is a boring policy um and that it's there and you can read it if you want to, but to really make it be as important as it really is. Um I think too often we downplay the great things and great works that we have and are doing um and our community doesn't know about it until way after they needed it. Um so please uh lift this and make it be as wonderful as it is for our community. Thank you. Okay, great. Um, are there any comments? So, I just thought of a question if that's okay. So, my question is how will you disseminate this? How does how does this go out as being um you know Yeah. How do you disseminate it? My understanding with board

127policy is that um it is it's normally not widely shared. What's shared is the administrative regulation and the um oh goodness administrative regulation and our procedures that follow it. I think that this is an important document that should be shared out. We can definitely make it available for our packs as they are coming together. Also sharing it with our site leaders to make sure that um our parent advisory groups as well as any other parent groups that are coming together are aware of it so we can definitely build that up and get that information out. >> Okay, thank you for that. Um and then for comments, I want to thank everybody for their hard work on this. I want to thank the parents. This was a long time coming. this has been in the works

128for a really really long time. This is this is a proud moment. It really is. Um so I want to thank everybody uh for that and I I do think it does need to be disseminated and celebrated. Um and I I also want to um register that comment about the meeting in the morning and doing some additional outreach about about when that happens. Um and the next meeting is on Sep September 19th I think. and it's also in the morning. So, uh we should make sure that people know it it is in the morning meeting, but um I just wanted to say thank you uh for the work on on this cuz it's really I'm I'm glad to see this. Um Sure. Go ahead. >> I think that there's two things. One, I'm extremely proud

129of the district that we make all of our meetings hybrid. So there's a ability to zoom in to meetings. I think that is one of the ways that we remove barriers when we are dealing with uh transparency and what that looks like. So I really want us to continue that and I do want to just take a minute and pat us on the back that that is a good procedure that we do. Um yes ma'am. I I want to just acknowledge our um technology department for being able to provide that service so seamlessly and be so helpful in those processes. I just want to lift that up. I absolutely would ditto that statement. I think that it is absolutely a gold star that our technology department does that. Richard and you know Louise and Karen

130and everybody else including our translators that come out right and including our district staff that comes out to do these uh hybrid meetings even if they're not in the room they're online. So I like the fact that we are moving to a the district is moving in the on the journey of removing barriers at every step because that's important especially on the anti-racism journey looking through the lens of how do we remove barriers? How do we look from the perspective of all of our community and what they need? The second thing that I wanted to say is I would love for us to have the superintendent come to us and let us know what things what board policy should be disseminated out just looking through our our handbook and our board because we have a

131lot of board policies and we get more and more every time that we have a governance meeting. So what is the standard for what needs to be disseminated out and what is the standard for what we just keep in our policy manual? I'm complete. >> May I just do one response to that? I know that our parent student handbook does also include in the I think it's depending on the audience and who we really want to target and make sure is aware. Um, but there's multiple ways that we share out board policy throughout the year as well. >> Thank you so much for that response. I'm complete. Thank you so much. And we will now Anything else more? Okay, so we'll go to the vote. Um Oh, wait. Did we move it? No. Can we

132move board policy 620 LAa parent and family engagement update? I'll move it. Second >> Smith F seconds. >> So moved by Reckler, second by Smith Folds. And we'll go to the vote. Clerkana, >> yes. >> Trusty Smith Falls. >> Smith Falls, yes. >> Reckler, yes. Three, yes. With Gonzalez, Hoy, and Hernandez absent. Okay, that brings us to item G, comments from the board of education and future agenda items. Does anybody have any comments? I want to thank our teachers of the year. I want to congratulate our teachers of the year and I also want to thank um Principal Webb and Principal Jordan McCormack for coming out. And I just have to give a shout out to Principal Jordan McCormack. Everybody should have someone like her in your corner. This was the most excited. her excitement,

133her I mean it was just so beautiful to watch and so I appreciated that so much. There was there was I think she was happier than Kaitlyn that she won. So it was really beautiful uh to watch that and I I really appreciated that. Um if there isn't anything else, we'll move on to item H. The next >> Before you adjourn, excuse me, before you point of order. Before you adjourn, I would just like to say thank you to the can we talk meetings. I attended every last one of them and they just got better and better and better. I would urge the community, please come out when those events are happening. You saw today that we have the budget that's going to be happening. We have uh you know uh you have spoken immensely

134about having more of these outreach things that we're going to have. We are asking that we are asking again for the trust of the community and we I think the benefit and I think one of the things that you are doing very well is you're not ask you're not only asking for the trust but you're showing how you want to earn that trust. So I think that the understanding that we are one, we have to show it as much as we say it. And I think that the board has had a lot of conversation about taking away the zip codes and we may have been voted in by an area, but we take care of the entire district and board members have come to agreements around that. We are going to show up cross our

135boundaries and we are going to if you if you have an issue in one area you can reach out to any one of us because we are one and we will direct you to the superintendent's office and we will do all the things that we have agreed to do as members of the board. But I just want to appreciate the fact that you're not only saying something but you're walking it out. So thank you for that. and everybody. It's the fourth week of school and you know we can just get better and better every time. But we have to do it together. We literally have to do this together. There are rough times coming but we have to be as one. So we are one. I'm complete. Thank you. Moving on to H. The next

136scheduled board of education meeting is September 24th right here in Levan Deon Middle School. And now moving to number I adjournment. Adjourning at 9:10. Have a good night everyone. >> They took bets on when we were going to adjourn. >> Did you take a bet on when we would adjourn? Add the