001Good evening everyone. Good evening fellow trustees. I'd like to call this WJUSD Board of Trustees open session to order at 5.02 and just to let everybody know that Trustee Fowler will be late. She'll be joining us a little later in the day. Hopefully for closed session. Okay, we'll move on to item B, approval of board agenda. Are there any changes to the board agenda? Any questions? No, okay. Can I get a motion to approve the board agenda? So moved. Motion made by Trustee Villagrana. Second. Seconded by Trustee Brubaker. Any discussion? None. Okay, we'll do a roll call. We'll start with Trustee Garcia. How do you vote? Yes. Yes. Trustee Brubaker? Yes. Trustee Rodriguez? Yes. Trustee Villagrana? No, not just kidding. Yes. Yes trustee. Oh, there's mojica. Yes. Yes Oh and trustee Richardson Fowler is absent.
002We approve the board agenda with six yeses Zero knows no abstentions and one absent Very good. We'll move on to item C any public comment for a closed session and item C Okay, we have no public comment for closed session. We'll move on to item D, and we will convene in closed session and return to open session at 6 p.m., perhaps a little later, depending on the length of closed session. Thank you, everyone. Okay, good evening, everybody. We'll reconvene in open session at 6.15, and we will start with the Pledge of Allegiance. Thank you. We'll move on to E2. Our land acknowledgement statement will be read by Trustee Villagrana. We should take a moment to acknowledge the land on which we are gathered. For thousands of years, this land has been the home of the
003Putwin people. Today, there are three federally recognized Putwin tribes. Ketso de Hewinton Nation and Yocha de Hewinton Nation. The Putwin people have remained committed to the stewardship of this land over many centuries. It has been cherished and protected as elders have instructed the young through generations. We are honored and grateful to be here today on their traditional lands. Thank you, Trustee Villagrana. Our equity statement will be read by Trustee Brubaker. All students deserve excellent schools which are culturally responsive and set high expectations, a high-quality learning environment, and equitable resources to ensure that they are reaching their full potential. WJUSD will be purposeful about providing equitable access to all essential educational opportunities for all WJUSD students, especially diverse and disadvantaged students who have historically been underserved by educational institutions. Thank you trustee breaker and our Board
004of Trustee agreements will be read by trustee Garcia. Yes Checking remember our large purpose boundaries Remember that individual decisions are not personal open and aspire to finding common ground having empathy being respectful assume business intentions Thank You trustee Garcia move on to item E five announcement of any action taken closed session we have two The Board of Trustees took action in closed session by vote of all trustees present to accept the settlement agreement for special education case 25 6-0 for the action passed with a motion by Trustee Rodriguez Mojica and a second by Trustee Brubaker The vote was as follows trustee Rodriguez. Yes, trustee Brubaker. Yes, trustee Garcia. Yes, trustee Richardson Fowler absent trustee Rodriguez Mojica. Yes, trustee Villagrana. Yes And that is 25 slash 26 dash 04. The board also, trustees also took action
005in closed session by a vote of all trustees present to accept the settlement agreement of special education case 25 slash 26 dash 03. The action passed with a motion by Trustee Rodriguez-Mohica and a second by Trustee Garcia. The vote was as follows. Trustee Rodriguez yes. Trustee Brubaker yes. Trustee Garcia yes. Trustee Richardson-Fowler absent. Trustee Rodriguez-Mohica yes. Trustee Villagrana yes. And those were the actions taken in closed session. Move on to item E6. And E6 requires board action. They are board action on student expulsion related items. I will read student number 2603. This vote is to approve expulsion case 26-03. Do I have a motion? Or can I get a motion to approve? So moved. Second. Motion by Trustee Villagrana and seconded by Trustee Garcia. We'll call a roll call vote. Trustee Rodriguez, how do you
006vote? Yes. Trustee Brubaker? Yes. Trustee Garcia? Yes. Trustee Richardson-Fowler. Abstain. Abstain. Trustee Rodriguez-Mohica. Yes. Trustee Villagrana. Yes. The expulsion is approved with five yeses, one abstention, and no one absent. We will go on to the next vote, and this vote is to approve expulsion case number 26-4. Can I get a motion to approve? So moved. Moved by Trustee Villagrana. Can I get a second? SECOND. TRUSTEE RODRIGUEZ. SECOND. AND WE'LL TAKE A ROLL CALL VOTE. TRUSTEE RODRIGUEZ, YES. TRUSTEE BRUBEKER. YES. TRUSTEE GARCIA. YES. TRUSTEE RICHESON-FOWLER. ABSTAIN. TRUSTEE RODRIGUEZ-MOJICA. YES. TRUSTEE VILLAGRANA. YES. VERY WELL. EXPULSION 26-04 IS APPROVED WITH FIVE YESES AND ONE ABSTENTION. Thank You trustees we'll move on to item F public comment for sections G consent agenda and H community engagement Do we have any public comment? No public comment very well. We
007will now move on to item G consent agenda Is there are there any items that need to be pulled from consent agenda? No seeing none Can I get a motion to approve the consent agenda? So moved MOTION BY TRUSTEE BRUBEKER AND SECONDED BY TRUSTEE VILLAGRANA. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE. ALL OPPOSED? ANY ABSTENTIONS? CONSENT AGENDA IS APPROVED BY UNANIMOUS APPROVAL. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. WE GO ON TO COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT. FIRST PRESENTATION IS RESOLUTION 39-26, WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH. I believe our provost is here. Provost Lee, if you'd meet me up at the podium, and we'll take it from there. So it's truly an honor to have Vice Provost Melissa Lee with us. um miss lee joined uc davis as a vice provost of enrollment management in november 2022 her previous role include leading the admissions
008recruitment outreach overseeing the registrar veteran success center for financial aid scholarships for the federal trio programs cal soap and other aspects of enrollment management so a wide breadth of experience and it was my honor to hear her speak at last week's EAOP's Women Conference. I think... I was a alumni in 89 to 91 at UC Davis and very involved on campus and one of the things that we were pushing for as students at that time were to get more representation and diversity, women of color in our administrative positions. And so it gives me great pride to be able to stand here with you today knowing that we're doing well with you for sure. So I'd like to read a little bit of the resolution. Women's History Month. Whereas women of every race, class, religious, and
009ethnic background have made significant contributions to the growth and strength of this nation of opportunity, and whereas women have and will continue to play critical roles in the economic, cultural, and social fabric of our society despite disparities and institutional hurdles. to represent a significant but dwindling portion of the paid labor force in addition to a considerable portion of the volunteer and non-paid labor force. And whereas in February 1980, President Carter issued the first presidential proclamation, declaring the week of March 8th as National Women's History Week, in 1987, the Congress of the United States proclaimed March as National Women's History Month. And whereas the role of women in history have been overlooked and undervalued in the body of American and world history in the standard course of study. Studying and honoring the achievements of women challenges
010stereotypes and upends social assumptions about who women are and what women can accomplish today. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Woodland Joint Unified School District Board of Trustees designates the month of March as Women's History Month. The Board of Trustees calls upon each of the schools in the district to observe this month with appropriate educational programs and activities. And it's an honor to hand this over to you, Vice Provost. I just have some brief remarks I wanted to share. There is a picture on the board. Thank you, President Rodriguez. It's truly an honor to be here to accept this resolution in honor of Women's History Month. I'm really just deeply humbled to be here with you all. I wanted to share a picture to help represent my background. The picture on your left is
011actually a picture of my family before they were leaving the refugee camp in Thailand. family is from Laos. I'm Hmong American and so after the Vietnam War my family fled Laos into Thailand. So they sat, they were in the refugee camp for a number of years before they were actually given the ability to come to America. And this picture is a picture of, right in the center is a picture of my grandmother holding my brother, my oldest brother. The picture on the right is of my grandmother when my parents boarded the bus. And I share this picture with you because it really is a symbol of Women's History Month for me in terms of this symbol that my grandmother held for me. She worked extremely hard for my entire family. She took care of all
012her kids while my grandfather was at war. And after the war, when my family fled Thailand, she stayed back behind in the refugee camp with my grandfather and ultimately fled to France, resettled in France. She is my symbol of hope. perseverance and freedom and I share this with you because she has always been my backbone. She has been the inspiration for my life's work. It's because of her that I actually had the ability to dream in my family and it's because of her I went to college. It's because of her ultimately went and pursued my PhD at the University of Michigan and it's because of her that I have dedicated my career to actually helping more students go to college and pursue their dreams and I share this that is that it's a deep commitment
013of mine for access, equity, and opportunity. And I have been privileged to be able to work across multiple institutions across several states. And I'm just so grateful to be here with you today. So I'm the Vice Provost of Enrollment Management at UC Davis. It is admission season. So you either love us or hate us right now. But that has been my career is really helping more students achieve their dreams. And I thank you all for having me here today. Thank you very much, Vice Provost. It really is an honor to have you here with us and to represent this resolution on Women's History Month. So I'd like to invite all trustees to come up and we'll take a picture with you over here. Thank you so much. I'm going to move ahead and not hobble
014back to my seat and back. So if I can have the mariachi students and teachers come forward, please. Do we have mariachi students? Come on up. So I have the great honor of presenting the Arts Education Month resolution this year, and we have a pretty significant milestone here in WJOSD. We have seniors who have participated in the mariachi program who were part of the original class of mariachi students when we first started the program. And so in lieu of reading this, I would love to give any of you the opportunity to share if you would like to. So please come forward. Experience-wise or just... Well, first of all, being here as a senior after six years is really surreal. I really did not imagine me being standing here right now having seen and experienced and
015played as much as I have. And I really... I'm so grateful that I got to do it. And I'm so grateful that I had these amazing musicians with me, our graduating class, of course, and also many, many more that have joined over the past couple years, few years. And I can't really describe in words the... insanity, the chaoticness, the fun, the adventure, the teamwork, the team building that I have experienced being a part of this program. And I'm truly so grateful that we got the opportunity to do it. We went, we've gone to multiple conferences, we've done multiple community events. I see the gratefulness, the joy from our community members. whenever we go out and play and you know whenever we go out and play I can tell you from experience that it's a little
016nerve-wracking but of course you know we always have fun um and yeah it's incredible and I am so hopeful for the future of the Mediachi program. I know we are leaving it in very good hands. We have so many more talented young musicians coming very soon who have had an interest in it and to them I say enjoy it, work hard. It's really a blend of both music and culture. You learn so much. You get integrated into the traditions and everything. And thank you, Board of Trustees, Superintendent, for supporting us all along our journey. It's been incredible having your support as we... you know, continue our musical journey. And I ask that you continue to keep an open mind for any new music programs that will arise in the future and continue to support our
017band, our choir, our jazz, our orchestra, because really all of these kids are so, so talented. And it's incredible from the student perspective to see everything that we are capable of. So thank you so much. Hi everyone, my name is Mr. Acosta. I've had the privilege of working with most of these students throughout the years and I just want to say I'm very, very proud of you guys and I'm very proud of everyone in the community that has stepped up and supported us one way or the other, whether it's, you know, an applause or whether you've showed up to one of the million fundraisers we've had, whether it's been on the sidelines. and even the administrative part of it. I know it's not easy to start a program from scratch and I'm just very honored
018to be in this position and continue to see the growth in our youth and to see the value that music has in our community, the impact that it's had on the parents as well. I love to see that it's just beyond me. I'm also very hopeful, as Alexa mentioned, of the future and I know it's kind of... It's hard to imagine what comes next but what I've seen I've seen the program go from you know seven or eight kids on Zoom to you know full fledged classes of all our secondary sites. And so thank you for giving us opportunity and for being able to plant the seed and to have music in our hearts and it's something that I hope that they carry with them for the rest of their lives. So thank you for
019having us. Thank you. I've been playing music for about nine years, like ever since I was in fourth grade, and it's been very life-changing. I've got to learn new skills and new genres to play and different instruments. And joining Mariachi in freshman year, it's been very life changing. I got to learn more about the music of my culture and I was able to play with my violin and it's been teaching me lots of new skills and I've met people along the way and I've been to many events such as concerts and conferences and I want to motivate people and I think it has inspired me to keep continue playing music and I hope other people are inspired especially people who are going to begin music soon. I hope that people will enjoy playing music and
020will want to learn more. Thank you students. Thank you. Master Rocco stuff for being here tonight. Thank you while the students are Gathering to take a picture. I also want to thank the parents who are here I know that you had to some of them started at the beginning and some of you had to like force them To start, some of them were not too happy about doing mariachi, but you also were a huge part. The parents, it's a big commitment from our parents as well, of all the practices and traveling and being patient with us as we were learning, because we were all new at this. At the beginning of the mariachi, we were all learning. all learning together about how to make this work. And it's been a pleasure to see these students
021grow, to see their skills improve, the singing talents that have continued to blossom, and then to see new talents because your students have inspired other students. So I just wanted to say that it cannot be done without a partnership and without our parents as well. And they're all receiving a pin, a district pin. Once again, thank you very much, students. Thank you, teacher Acosta for being here this evening. Moving on to item H 3 recognition gifts to the district. We have quite a few to mention tonight. That's great news We'll start with the woodland Kiwanis foundation donation of $300 for the monetary for the ASB Key Club at Woodland High School. Thank you Donors name is Faye properties value $1,000 in contributions to site tech charter school And then there is a thank you to
022reading for education for a contribution of $439.21 to SciTech Charter. We also want to thank the United Way California Capital Region for a contribution of $29.49 to SciTech Charter School. And once again, another contribution from the United Way California Capital Region for $29.50 to SciTech Charter School. and we'd like to thank the Woodland Kiwanis Foundation for their $300 donation to Pioneer High School, and that's to ASB Key Club. And we want to thank Yolo County Fair Heritage Foundation for the donation of $692.16 to the ASB Art Club at Pioneer High School. And last, I want to thank Nugget Markets for their $50 contribution to AAPAC Senior Celebration. Thank you very much. This total amount of donations for this period is $2,840.36 and we are deeply appreciative of it. A round of applause for all our
023donors. Thank you. Okay, we move on to item I1, report from high school student representatives. We have the Cache Creek representative come up first. Come on up, Jesse. Jesse Lombrana Soto. Thank you for being here tonight. Thank you very much. You have to push a button. Is it on? Yeah, it's on. Yep, you're good. Good evening, Board President Rodriguez and Trustees, Superintendent Ortega-Lambkin, Executive Cabinet, and community. My name is Jessie Lombregna-Soto. I am a senior representing Cache Creek High School. My report tonight is the following. Students are continuing to complete their credits, and we are up to 29 graduates this year. Next week we have two orientation sessions scheduled to welcome new students who will begin at Cache Creek for quarter four. On February 25th, Cache Creek hosted its first career fair. Ten professionals from
024careers ranging from attorneys to medical social workers came to campus to share their experiences and backgrounds and encourage us to explore their career fields. A couple of the guests were former Cash Creek students who are now working for FEMA as an attorney. We also hosted YOLO Fire, YOLO Library, Woodland Public Library, YOLO County Sheriff's, and Empower YOLO. We are so grateful to our community for supporting us and encouraging us. And to Courtney Anderson and Brandon Killian. for putting this event together for us. On February 26th, the Colordane class visited WCC to tour their new facilities and samples their recipes. For many of us, it was our first time eating Indian food. The facilities are beautiful and the staff and students were amazing hosts. On March 2nd, Mr. Cornell's art class visited the Mondavi Center to
025watch Cirque flip Blizzard. This show was fantastic, and for many of us, it was our first time watching a professional theater performance that we attended. Overall, things are great at Art Creek. Thank you, and this concludes my report. Thank you very much, Ms. Soto. Great job. If we could get WHS representative Izzy Tafoya to come up next. No rush. It's okay. Good evening, Board President Rodriguez, trustees, Superintendent Ortega-Lampkin, and Executive Cabinet and our community. My name is Izzy Tafoya, and I'm here to represent Woodland High, and my report tonight is the following. We had a successful FFA week at the end of February with various interactive activities at lunch, a spirit week, and tractors on campus. The Winter Sports Banquet was held on March 10th, and Spring Sports are now in full swing. The Mecha
026Dance is coming up on March 20th, and there is a women's exhibit on immigration rights and other social justice issues by women artists this Saturday, March 14th in Sacramento, and two of our students, Lola Leach and Justin Wurzel, will be recognized for their designs in immigrant rights art competition. And that concludes my report. Thank you very much, Ms. DeFoya. Great job. Next, the Pioneer High School representative, Nicole Pimentel. Good evening Board President Rodriguez, Trustees, Superintendent Ortega-Lampkin, Executive Cabinet, and our community. My name is Nicole and I'm representing Pioneer High School. Today my report is on the following. Pioneer is having a spirit week this week for our upcoming Blacklight Rally tomorrow. Monday was monochrome, Tuesday was tie-dye, Wednesday was work vest slash neon attire, today was throwback Thursday, and tomorrow is whiteout Friday for the
027rally so everyone can glow in the dark. This rally is also extra special as it is the last rally of the school year, thus being the very last rally for the senior class. The varsity boys soccer team had their second round of playoffs against Watsonville last week. Though they did not advance onto the third round, we are still incredibly proud of the team for their dedication and hard work. To add on, they also won the Sacramento-Joaquin section championships for Division III. Congratulations to them! ASB and Lean Crew have also wrapped up their interviews for the following 26-27 school year. I was a member of the ASB interview panel and I had a blast getting to know new people and creating the new roster for ASB Advisor. Today, two spring sports have games. Baseball is going
028against Rodriguez and boys volleyball is going against Lincoln. Good luck to both teams. Pioneer's Class of 2027 is also hosting their very first annual Pioneer High School Spring Festival. It takes place on March 28th at 12.30pm on Pioneer's Blacktop. The event is free entry and it has all sorts of vendors attending. Vendor Day is also taking place next Friday. Lots of clubs have been submitting fundraiser forms to ASB so they can make profit with other vendors. And lastly, SDC prom is taking place this Saturday at 6 p.m. The theme is neon. Thank you, and that concludes my report. Thank you, Ms. Pimentel. Great job. All right. We'll move on to Item J, public comment for items on the agenda. Do we have any public comment? We do not. Very well. Okay, then. We'll move on
029to Item K, reports. Superintendent report. Good evening. I'm going to give you a report on some of the activities that have happened since the last time we met and that align to our priorities in the district. First of all, we had a geography bee held at Pioneer High School. A lot of our elementary students came out and showed off their geography skills. Here are a picture of the winners, and thank you for the staff and the parents who came to support our students in this event. We also have a new partnership. Well, we've always had this partnership, but a new type of partnership with the Yolo Banks. They are helping deliver foods to families. We have about 60 families who are receiving a box of food that they're going to be giving away, and this
030is going to be happening in our community schools program. So they've identified families in need, and that's going to be happening on a monthly basis. So thank you to the food bank. Also, the Empower Her conference was held on March 3rd. I want to thank the EALP and the UC Davis staff for putting this together. We had some of our trustees that were there, and we had several of our students who participated on learning the power within themselves as young women and an opportunity to interact with peers and see other role models. So thank you for providing that opportunity. Career Dare, Cache Creek. You heard comments earlier of one of our students. It was amazing experience with their students. There was people from different... people that came out to speak to our students about their
031career. It was very engaging. The students were very captivated by the presenters. The presenters were very down to earth, really connected with our students. And we had two of the presenters that were actually a Cache Creek graduate. So that also made it extra special. So thank you to the staff who put this together. And thank you for Lori Carrillo for all the work that she's doing at Cache Creek. Just yesterday I met with the superintendent advisory council here in this room updated them but we went over the agenda they one of our students that I think one of you know very well suggested they wanted to know get updates on what is happening on board agenda so the first thing that we did in the meeting is go over your agenda tonight and discussed what
032was you're going to be discussing and have them opportunity to ask any questions. I also updated them on the decision that was made by the board on on not moving forward with a reduction of seventh period. And so just updated them on that and encourage them to watch the board meeting tonight. So if any of you are watching tonight, hello, in case you're watching. Also, well, before I go on that, I just wanted to also point out to them that the uniqueness of today's agenda. that it's really focused on youth development. Tonight you're going to be spending a lot of time talking about what is happening with youth development. You're going to be considering some additional programs. You're going to be discussing how we move forward with the student board member. And I just want
033to share with you that I told our students the truth that that is very unique. and that they have a board who really cares about them and trying to move forward on doing things for them. So I just wanted to point that out because that was a discussion I had with them and I wanted to share that with you too. We also, our HR department, we're constantly hiring student teachers. And so I just wanted to show a little sampling of how we help onboard our student teachers. So I want to thank our HR department for constantly working on continuing to hire substitute teachers and helping them feel welcomed and integrate them into our school system. And then you also heard mention about our boys soccer team. They did win the San Joaquin section championship. So
034let's congratulate our boys. They did an amazing job. We're very, very proud of them. And we'll be trying to see what we could do to recognize them at a future board meeting. They went on to the divisions that didn't quite make it, but that's okay. It's always next year. It was already a huge accomplishment for them to win the section. So congratulations to our Pioneer High School soccer team. And that concludes my report tonight. Thank you very much. We will be moving on to K2, report from California School Employees Association. Good evening, Superintendent Ortega-Lampkin, members of the board, cabinet, and community. My name is Rebecca Rossiter, and I am the library technician at Douglas Middle School and proudly serve as president of Chapter 118 of the California School Employees Association. Our negotiation team has completed
035our initial proposal for the 26-27 re-opener. It's been approved by our chapter. We have submitted it to HR for placement on the March 26th board agenda. We look forward to setting up meeting dates and coming to an agreement in a timely manner so that we can try not to impact our payroll department with retroactive payments. I wrote that earlier this week based on a conversation that I had with HR. Today we received an email that said our proposal most likely will not be placed until the April 23rd board meeting because the district's initial proposal will not be ready by March 26th. WEA's initial proposal is on tonight's agenda without the districts, but I've been told that they are expecting the district's proposal to be on the March 26th board agenda. If our IPs are not
036approved until April 23rd, we have six weeks to negotiate until everyone in our unit, not everyone, but most of us, go home for the summer. That's not a lot of time. But just it frustrates us I do also want to reiterate I've mentioned this before in my board Reports that work routinely done performed by CSCA bargaining unit members Cannot be reassigned outside of the unit Nor can duties simply just be transferred arbitrarily or absorbed into other positions without going through a process Currently, we know that duties are being done by confidential employees and by contract employees. Thank you. And this concludes my report. Thank you very much. We'll move on to item K-3, report from the Woodland Education Association. Good evening, President Rodriguez, trustees, superintendent, and members of our community. My name is Becca Bernard.
037I'm the president of the Woodland Education Association. and I've taught seventh grade science at Douglas Middle School for nearly a decade. Today, March 12th, is also my dad's birthday. He is a firefighter paramedic in Los Angeles and one of the most important influences in my life. He is why I carry on that same deep commitment to my community. One of the greatest lessons he has taught me is that our role in this world is to take care of those around us. That lesson is a big part of why I teach. Teachers will usually roll their eyes in a PD when they are told to remember their why, because all too often this profession weaponizes our compassion for students. But the truth is, we really do this because we love the students. We see their potential,
038we see their struggles, we see the weight that so many of them carry, and we show up anyway because we believe they matter. Teaching is just as noble and fulfilling as it is hard, humbling, and imperfect work. And that is exactly why it is so painful to watch it become more and more unsustainable. I talk to teachers every day who are exhausted, burning out, and being asked to absorb more and more while running on fumes. I talk to teachers who cannot afford to comfortably live in the communities they serve and who are questioning whether they can realistically stay in this profession long term. These are people who care deeply about students but are reaching the point where caring is no longer enough to overcome the conditions they're working in. And that should concern all of
039us. This week I've had the opportunity to stand on picket lines in solidarity with educators in Sacramento fighting for better conditions. It recharged my batteries and reminded me that we are not alone in this fight. And today seeing photos from the Joint Strike Rally between Twin Rivers and Natomas on the Tower Bridge was deeply inspiring. Thousands of teachers, parents, and students and community members filled that bridge, marching in solidarity, chanting, we can't wait. And they're right. We can't wait. We cannot keep waiting for someone else to fix our schools. Across this region, educators are sending the same message. Compensation is not competitive, benefits are not sustainable, and working conditions are wearing people down. That is not random. It is not coincidence. That is a warning light. And Woodland should pay attention. Culture, trust, and morale
040matter. Even when intentions are good, if the lived experience of employees is discouragement, delay, and feeling undervalued, the culture suffers. Perception becomes reality, and reality affects retention. That is why the retro payment issue landed so hard with our members. After more than a year of waiting, fighting, organizing, and ultimately reaching an agreement, employees are still being asked to wait possibly till next school year for compensation they've already earned. I do want to clarify that I genuinely appreciate the transparency and communication I've received from Associate Superintendent of HR Rebecca Toto. On this issue, I am so grateful that she's been willing to have really tough, honest conversations and is working hard to determine what can be done as quickly as possible with her team. Thank you, Rebecca. But this year should serve as a wake-up call.
041WEA came dangerously close to going much further down the impasse process than most of us should be comfortable with. We were fortunate to reach an agreement through state mediation, but no one should mistake that outcome for evidence that things were fine. They were not. Member frustration was deep, and support for standing together was overwhelming, with over 80% of our members ready to do whatever it took. I say that not as a threat, but as a warning sign. When that many educators are feeling unheard and undervalued, leadership should look in the mirror. Woodland cannot afford to continue falling behind. We are already struggling to fill and keep positions. The number of teachers who were non-reelected nearly doubled this year. Educators the district hired to fill vacancies, but did not feel confident inviting back for next year.
042That should raise serious questions about why we're struggling to attract and retain highly qualified teachers, especially when critical positions across SPED are still being covered by long-term subs and virtual case managers. So the question for Woodland is simple. Are we going to be proactive or are we going to wait until the problem gets worse? Teachers are not asking for luxury across the state. They're asking for a district where they can survive, stay, and do their jobs well. A district that treats them like human beings instead of line items on a budget. They are asking for leadership that listens before morale erodes further. Later tonight, you will receive WEA's Sunshine Letter identifying the articles we intend to reopen for 26-27, in addition to salary and benefits. Those priorities reflect the real experiences and concerns of the
043people working directly with students every day. I hope this next round of bargaining is an opportunity to rebuild trust and make Woodland a more sustainable place to work and learn. Because I still believe there is hope here. I have to. In the words of the Lorax, unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not. So let this be the moment where we stop waiting. Let this be the moment where we care enough to act with urgency, invest in the people who serve students every day, and build the kind of schools our community deserves. Our members are paying attention, our community is paying attention, and we are ready to come back to the table in April to do the hard work of moving this district forward. Thank you,
044and this concludes my report. Thank you. Moving on to K4, report from board members. Do we have any board members that'd like to give a report? Anyone, Trustee Richardson-Fowler. This weekend, this past weekend, I had the privilege of going to Napa to see four of our students from Woodland Joint Unified graduate from the student leadership program with our congressman and our assembly member. and it was lovely. My takeaway, I was able to ask some questions about next steps for leaderships for students because not everybody is going to be an assembly member or a congressman. These kids were just so impressive. I walked away with two quotes that I just have to share because they were just so impactful and spot on. The first quote that the congressman shared with us was from Abraham Lincoln. In
045this age, in this country, public sentiment is everything. With it, nothing can fail. Against it, nothing can succeed. Whoever molds public sentiment goes deeper than he who enacts statutes or pronounces judicial decisions. And I find it completely relevant for today. Also, the second quote was from Dwight Eisenhower, and that is, politics ought to be the part-time profession of every citizen who would protect the rights and privilege of free people and who would preserve what is good and fruitful in our national heritage. So I'll just leave you with those two quotes. Thank you, Trustee Richardson-Fowler. Who's next me trustee Garcia? Yes last weekend last week. I attend the cab a convention in San Francisco So I would like to share that every time I go to cave is refers my why? The presentation but the former
046US Secretary of Education dr. Miguel Cardona was very spark inspiring He churned his story about child as a child of immigrants. He spoke with so much prayer about the sealed and he told us how proud he was that his own daughter earned this seal. For him, it was a gift of culture and success. This reminds me of the education system in Aruba. In Aruba, they have very strong multilingual policy. It started in kindergarten. Children are prepared for a global war. By grade one, students have been reading and writing in Papi Mento. But it doesn't stop there. The curriculum also includes Dutch, English, and Spanish. They see knowing for language not as a burden, but as necessary. They want the children to be ready for the world by the time they finish basic education. As Dr.
047Miguel say, Bilingual is a superpower. I'm going to say this in Spanish as well. La presentación del exsecretario de Educación, Miquel Cardona, fue muy inspiradora, ya que yo soy un fan de él. He started some things that were very impactful for me, like how he shared his story as a son of a migrant. And he spoke with a lot of pride of the bilingual stamp. And how proud he was that his daughter had obtained it, and that this was a gift from his culture, and a success for her, as a gift. This reminds me, I went on vacation to Aruba. And in Yeruba, they have a policy that all their inhabitants are multilingual. They start in kindergarten, they prepare them so that they are ready for this global world. In the first year, they are
048writing pavement, but it's not just that. They also include other three languages, English, Spanish, and Dutch. Thank you, Trustee Garcia. Who would like to go next? Trustee Brubaker. So I excuse me. I am getting over being sick. I had a busy time as you saw in the superintendent slideshow. I went to the empower her summit, which is my second year going. I always leave feeling so proud of our community and the strong female leadership we have. And as you heard from the Women's History Month resolution, we have some amazing community members. And I'm so excited that our students got to benefit from that. I also went to the Cache Creek career day. One of the sessions I sat in on was from a, I don't think he was a Cache Creek student, but he was
049one of our former students and owns a local business and just is a go-getter and really amazing. And so I was so excited that our students got to not only hear from someone who graduated from our schools not that long ago, but had a unconventional career path. But my goodness, the determination that he set as a model for our students was truly amazing. I also attended the League of Women Voters luncheon, which I mentioned because they also have or they have a Design contest going right now that I want to make sure our students are aware of it ends March 27th And I'm just gonna read a little bit of this so I make sure I get everything correct Create a unique unique poster bumper sticker or sticker design that will be used to support
050and encourage voter registration and voter activities There are several prizes of looks like monetary value you can Use various themes like your vote vote your voice your power Democracy works when you do future when you do future voter So there are several others which you can find on their social media or websites. There are several locations where you can drop off submissions, including the Yolo County Library branches. And you can visit the League of Women Voters of Yolo County website to learn more. And then I also attend in the Special Education Parent Advisory Committee. This one was kind of special because it was the first meeting we had that was both in-person and hybrid, which is a great milestone, I think, in the life of this committee. We had quite a few participants online, and
051that is how that is going forward. I believe we send out emails to our families about that, so make sure to check out. Our next meeting will be May 4th. I also want to mention as I said, I'm getting I am getting over being sick So if I step out to not cough loudly during the meeting, it's not disrespect to anybody speaking at that moment I'm trying not to disrupt disrupt the proceedings. That's it for me Thank You trustee Brubaker Any other trustees like to know trustee be done? Not a report more of a comment. We all received an email where we requested that to immediately take action I'll take all available steps to issue that retracted payments And then I want to, you know, said in order to mitigate further legal and financial exposure,
052to me I took that as we already have financial and legal exposure. So in order to reduce the likelihood in the future, you know, that we put ourselves in this situation. and I guess in a sense to mitigate future legal and financial exposure. I will be advocating that when we negotiate in the future that we no longer do retro pay like that. If things are out of our control, it won't impact us financially or legally. That we start the compensation from effective date of when the agreement is approved. Again, that would definitely mitigate any future legal or financial exposures if we don't. do that in the future. So thank you. Thank you, Trustee Villagrana. Trustee Rodriguez-Mohica? Yes, thank you. I wanted to share out, I also attended the League of Women Voters State of the
053Community Luncheon. It was a really great event. And while I was unable to attend CABE this year, I was there the day before CABE started for a convening on multilingual education for all hosted by, I believe CABE was a co-host and also Californians Together. And it is an invitation only event. So it was kind of wearing my professor hat. But I wanted to share that our superintendent was among the folks that were invited and I believe might have been the only superintendent if not one of very few in the room. And. I remembered it as Trustee Garcia was sharing the focus on multilingualism. So I wanted to share that that Woodland School District has a voice at the table in thinking about multilingualism across the state. And I thought it was really amazing that our
054own superintendent invitation only so received an invitation to be able to attend and share some of the great things that we are doing here in Woodland and some of our hopes and dreams for that as well. I also. attended the Women Leadership Speaker Series that I believe was the first time it was offered, hosted by Yolo County Office of Education. And the first speaker was Judge Sonia Cortes. And it was truly inspiring to hear her speak and to share her stories and hear. A lot of folks in the audience asking her to share her stories more and share them with our youth with our students because she has an incredible journey and has done some fantastic things for our community. I also attended this last Saturday the Yolo Pride Q and Brew fundraiser and that
055was a really great event. My first time attending but hopefully not the last. That is it. Thank you. Very good. OK. I think it's my turn. Yes. In my report, I just want to talk about the fact that I also attended the League of Women Voters. event that they put on. Senator Cabaldon was guest speaker. I think just one of the general takeaways that I took from his speech was that something that I have mentioned and we have talked about before here on the dais was how much of the health of our financial status in California is tied into AI and the ability for AI to continue to make large sums of money. end up showing up at the cap-up. So that's something interesting that keeps being reiterated no matter who's talking about it, whether
056it's the state analysts of budget affairs or whether it's our state senator. I also was able to attend the career fair at Cache Creek. I was able to sit in on a presentation by individuals that worked at the that worked at the Woodland Memorial Hospital and talked about all the different array of jobs that were available there. It was a great event. You could go in and pick from a variety of choices and then later on outside were tables where students could visit while having lunch. a great event. Congratulations, Cache Creek. I also attended the Woodland High School Career Fair and there attended a workshop on imaging and taking x-rays and they presented really great about explaining to our students all the different pathways and the costs. So just our students getting really great information.
057I was also able to attend a career fair at SciTech. And what was great about that experience was that many of the parents of the children of SciTech were actually talking about their careers. And it was just a great way to get buy-in with our students. So I got this sense that we're working really hard to be able to prepare our students and give them information, expose them to knowledge that will help them think about their careers and their pathways. I also was able to stop by at Beamer and had a discussion with the principal. And we talked about literacy, we talked about parent engagement, just kind of generally got caught up about what's happening at Beamer School. So thank you to all staff that have worked so hard to put on these programs. I
058also attended the Empower Her conference, and I have to say I was really, really impressed by the the amount of students that we had students from every school in the county and the what was the number of students that attended. About 130? About 130. And they got a chance to be able to hear a guest speaker. And I was sitting in the back and I could see how they were reacting to, you know, different parts of the presentation. And just as an alumni of UC Davis, when I look at that, you know. back in 89 when I was there trying to make sure these kinds of programs happened and I had a really great sense of pride that that that these programs are doing very well that our fellow trustee trustee via Grana is made
059sure that this program is happening made it a priority in his work to make to continue this I also want to give a shout out to some of the original folks that worked to create this conference, which was Melissa Moreno over at Woodland Community College, our very own trustees Candace Richardson Fowler, Deborah Bautista Zavala, Jackie Wong, who's a trustee over at West Sac, and of course, Trustee Villadrana. Just really... SENSE OF PRIDE AND NOT JUST OF THE WORK THAT WAS SHOWN THAT DAY, BUT ALSO TO KNOW THAT A LOT OF THAT CAME FROM HERE, CAME FROM THIS DIAS, RIGHT? THE PUSH NOT ONLY TO BE ABLE TO GIVE OUR STUDENTS THAT KIND OF PROGRAMMING, BUT STUDENTS ACROSS THE COUNTY. NOT THE FIRST TIME THAT THAT IMPETUS AND THAT ABILITY TO empower not just us but
060students across the county has come from this dais so i just wanted to say congratulations to everybody involved it was a beautiful event and i just had a lot of pride being there okay so we will go on to information board committee updates does anybody have a committee update they'd like to give no one uh trustee brubaker want to give it a shot i will um give a short update on the um Coalition for Woodland Youth. Sorry. I forgot the name of it for a minute. I guess I more want to share some of the events that and opportunities that were discussed there on May 2nd. The new pool is going to have a mural dedication. I went to the ribbon cutting for the pool and they had a a mock-up of the mural. It's
061absolutely beautiful. So they're going to do a dedication for that on May 2nd. Also on April 7th, Woodland Community College, they're going to have a ribbon cutting for their new soccer field. And then I also wanted to share that the city is doing a civic fellowship program. This is open to high school graduates, but I believe that our graduating seniors can apply for this. Is that correct, Superintendent? I'm getting nauseous. So I just wanted to double check before I continue. You must be eligible to work in the U.S., demonstrate a desire to pursue a career in the public sector, have knowledge of woodland, and some departments may require further... qualifications. The program timeline is that April 10th applications close, May 7th interviews and then the program starts. June 22nd. If you want to apply, you
062can go to www.calops.org slash city hyphen of hyphen woodland. I imagine you can also find this on the City of Woodland's website and social media. It's a really amazing opportunity. They were sharing that sometimes they end up hiring permanently and various things in the city. Some of the alumni of this program. So it's a good opportunity. Thank you Trustee Brubaker. All right. Let's move on to item L teaching and learning. Oh I'm sorry Trustee Villagran I didn't see you. OK. I attended the Yolo County School Board Association. It's called the executive board and we received an update on the roadmap. Also discuss maybe creating opportunities to share best practices amongst the districts, creating spaces for that. And so just start of the conversation, what it looks like is to be determined. Also conversation on... Like
063law enforcement policies so well back there was a like a forum that was held and all the chiefs from the county were invited just talk about how they were going to be responding to the requests from agencies and Some thought to me it was time for another another conversation on that and then they're looking at organizing a Fall coat drive sometime in October And I just communicated to them that we would be open to it if some of those codes obviously came to our families. Right. Because if not then we could run our own code drive because being spearheaded by the Children's Alliance and West Sac and the pickup location are all in West Sac and to me again for our families to drive to West Sac like I just don't see that happening. Right.
064So I had spoken to the superintendent about this and spoke to staff and we're in support. But again if if our families are also going to because we're not going to collect them then. We have so many families that are in need here, right? And then the other part was on the excellence education event that's held every year. They asked for what districts could provide, and every district kind of shared where something, you know, for example, the culinary program making the food, the viticulture program making the arrangements or decorations, and then the different districts have different sort of music performances that they volunteer to. to do and so we did music and student intern photographers for the event as well. That's what we committed to to being able to do so. That's that's how I'm
065going to report it. We'd be happy to take any questions. No questions just a comment if you please keep us updated on the law enforcement forum and kind of what the parameters are there and. I THINK WE WOULD BE PRETTY INTERESTED IN KNOWING WHAT'S GOING ON AND ATTENDING ANYTHING. JUST TO LEARN THE BEGINNING STAGES. THERE'S NOTHING CONCRETE. IT'S MORE OF A CONVERSATION ABOUT WHETHER WE SHOULD DO IT OR NOT. OKAY. VERY GOOD. OKAY. ARE WE ALL DONE? YEP. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU. NOW WE'LL MOVE ON TO L1. L1 IS INFORMATION AND ACTION ITEM, REVISED BOARD POLICY, 5141.5, MENTAL HEALTH. This is a board policy that you've already passed previously. We wanted to pass it to meet a deadline, but at the time the board wanted to have opportunities to have revision. So our director of
066student services offered several times to meet to get input, and so we're bringing it back. So the policy that you have in front of you now reflects the revisions based on the input that you have, so we're asking for your approval tonight. In case you have any questions, Dr. Wilson is there and we shall just wait until unless you're ready to take action. Do we have any questions? Any trustee have any questions? Trustee Garcia, do you have a question? I have a question. Yes. If the student has a problem, what is the specific person they should to talk about on the campus or in the site or at district level? A problem, let me clarify, is it somebody to talk to for a mental health concern? Yes. Okay. So currently the process is we have
067counselors at all of our school sites. We also have adults at all of our school sites. So if a student has a trusted adult on campus, that trusted adult can connect them with the counselor if they're not comfortable with that. Or if they are comfortable with counseling, they can, you know, directly, get to the counselor. Currently we also have clinical support at our school sites. It's a next level up. That was with our partnership with Northern Valley Indian Health and that's a referral process. So once the counselor has that conversation or meets with the student depending upon the level of need then a referral may be made to go upward. At all of our school sites, we have counselors, and any trusted adult on campus does know those counselors and how to connect with them,
068and then connect with the student, and if need be, the parent, and go from there. Each situation's a little bit different depending on the need. Those counselors are how many days? No days, right? Correct Some of our schools have counselors our elementary schools have counselors every day and then some of our schools have counselors Halftime it just depends on the size of the school and the need and the parents receive this information about the ability and the and the process So parents are notified of students who are participating in small group sessions So if there was a referral for instance a grief group on campus and so if a student is experiencing grief in some way shape or form and we know that Something's going on with the student that referral can be made to
069the counselor to be a part of a group once that referral is made or that connection is made, the parent is communicated with, hey, we're offering this, we're going to be having your student in a group, and that kind of connection. And then we do those small groups all the way through our secondary level. And so that's how that part is handled. My question is about the information is about for all the community, all the parents. If they see, they... know where they need to go or where is the resource or how to access? Yeah, if all the parents have this information. Currently, we're not as organized about that. And in the proposed or in the board policy that you had approved and in also the one that's proposed to separate the BP and the
070AR, it outlines specific steps on how to communicate and make aware our community and our students and our families on how to be aware of what's offered, how to access that offering and such. both sections whichever one we look at both of them really outline step-by-step how to do that from students creating posters to having those around to communications to families at least twice yearly we do off we do have this on our web page we do currently so if parents have to go seek that information but this will be more of available and kind of in front of you information that will be coming forward oh it started with this Policy we're gonna start to see in more information. That's correct. Yes and and more than one language, correct It's more organized and specific
071as to what type of communication will be offering love it. Okay, so don't have my question Okay, does anybody have any comments based on her questions trustee? You have your own particular question. Okay, let me go the trustee were breaker. Do you I do not trust to be a runner Trustee Rodriguez-Mohica. Not a question just a comment. Just thank you for going back and making the updates that we requested both in the meeting and then also requesting for any additional edits or revisions or requests that we had via email. I see that they're all reflected on there so I just wanted to express my gratitude. Thank you. Thank you. Very good. Any any more comments. Trustee Villarreal. Yeah I have a question. Just want to echo what was just shared right now. I know that
072it took a long time. kind of deciphering and moving things over to the spaces where they belong instead of where they didn't. And again, just echoing the fact that you all made a huge effort to get as much feedback and input from everyone as possible. So thank you for that. Thank you. Okay, any more comments? Looks like there is no more comments. Can I get a second motion to approve revised board policy 51 41.5 mental health motion was made by trustee Villagrana and seconded by trustee Garcia any discussion No, we'll go to a vote. We'll start with Trustee Brubaker. How do you vote? Yes. Yes trustee Rodriguez. Yes trustee Villagrana. Yes trustee Rodriguez Mojica Trustee Richardson-Fowler? Yes. Trustee Garcia? Yes. Very well. The board policy 5141.5 is approved unanimously with six yeses. Thank you. Thank
073you. We will move on to item L2, which is the information item, youth development program update. I'm going to write Brandon Killian up to the podium, and he does have two students. You're going to call him up later? Yes. Okay. He's going to be providing a youth development update. That is a huge focus on our goal number four, the LCAP goal. So he's going to give us an update on just a refresher on the framework that we're using, the call to action that we committed to with collaboration with the city, and just give you some updates on some of the things that we're doing to move forward in the implementation of the call to action. Thank you. Good evening board president Rodriguez Board of Trustees and superintendent Lydia Ortega Lampkin I'm giving an update on
074our programs as which just said I wanted to look at the LCAP goals. The goal that we're focusing on in this presentation is goal four, engagement and leadership opportunities for youth. I started to highlight keywords or phrases from this and then I found I was highlighting almost the entire thing. But the gist is that we really are providing meaningful engagement opportunities for youth and then to directly and significantly shape each student's education and school community. So with that said, what we're going to talk about tonight is our community vision, the guiding framework, the current initiatives that we have in action, and then kind of the impact of those steps and what we're doing, what we would like to do next to continue the work. So kind of giving some context for this, this work began
075in largely in 2022 where the City of Woodland and our school district as well as other community organizations developed the Woodland Community Call to Action. There were around 12 community partners that worked together to make this a reality. talked to students, we talked to, we looked at community resources, there were lots of things that, lots of work that was done that school year. And kind of the culminating takeaway from that was this document called the Woodland Community Call to Action. And it's a historic first for our school district and for many organizations in our city as a whole because the Board of Trustees from our school district and the City of Woodland had a joint resolution passed at a joint meeting that they held to kind of discuss this and publish this publication. And it
076creates kind of a shared vision of what it looks like to support our young people in developing them to be successful adults. The call to action wasn't necessarily a program in and of itself, but rather a vision of what we could do to help our young people and a commitment made by the entire community to align our efforts. And so with that, it was a guide for our action. And then the question became, how do we as a school district operationalize this call to action within our own context, working with students? And from that, I just want to talk about our guiding framework. So youth engagement is built on a framework of research that has spanned the last 70 years or so. And what researchers have done is they've looked at what are the key
077skills and components that a successful adult has, and then they kind of backwards mapped from there. So they created this list of supports and opportunities that young people need in order to gain the skills that they need. should have to be successful as an adult. And that's built on safety. That's both physical, cultural, emotional safety, relationship building, both. peer-to-peer, student-to-student, as well as an adult with a student having that relationship formed. And then youth participation just means opportunities for youth to do something meaningful, to lead a project, to take part in an activity that is meaningful to them. Community involvement is basically interacting with a community that can be the community at their school, in their classroom, as small as like a classroom, as large as the city or county. or even broader. And then
078skill building is at the top, and that's kind of traditionally what us as teachers look for in our lens as educators. We really want to hone those skills, but these are building blocks, and it kind of works up towards the idea of building skills, specific skills for students. So with that in mind, I want to talk about our current initiatives. And you'll see on each of these slides for the current initiatives in action, I kept that supports and opportunities image. One thing I missed. I want to back up a little bit. You'll notice on our LCAP goals, there's a symbol next to each of our goals. And next to goal four is that symbol, the pyramid of supports and opportunities for our young people. So that's kind of an anchor for our district. Going on.
079Oh, so we have the the supports and opportunities there I also want to wanted to list or call out how each of these projects aligns to the Woodland community call to action So that's listed on all of these slides as well the images I put there's a lot of there's a lot going on I wanted to make a visually aesthetic but also include a lot. There's some images that relate to the the activities Discussed so this first one is staff development We have as a district locally hosted the youth Development Institute five times now. We have a sixth planned for this June. And this year, for the first time, we're training our own staff to facilitate those. So we're investing in our own staff to lead those series of staff development days. And during the
080series, our sites attend with a team from their schools. During that, they create a plan to implement at their own school. With the learning that they're developing through the series, we take time out of each day in the agenda for them to meet with their school. site to talk about what they've learned and how they can apply that to something at their school they end up kind of creating a plan a total plan that's presented at the end of the series the overall gist is that it's encouraging it's motivating and what we hear from staff is that it really re-energizes them to work with young people again they kind of remember the why their why from this experience And then the last two bullets there, we've been offering some youth engagement workshops and civic engagement
081institutes. Civic engagement is critical, as we all know, and so we're helping our staff to bolster this in the classroom. The next thing that I'll talk about is the Superintendent's Youth Advisory Council. So you are all familiar with them. They meet regularly to advise the superintendent on different issues that pertain to them. They also facilitate a youth-led project. They created kind of this grant process where other student groups in the district can apply and receive funding for an idea that they have that would improve the lives of students on campus. So it really does elevate that student voice. It provides leadership experience for our students in the Superintendent's Youth Advisory, as well as the students who are receiving those grant monies. And then it helps with transparency communication between the district office level and the
082student level. And with that, we do have a student, Martin Navarro Gomez, who's going to come up here and speak about his experience being a part of the Superintendent's Youth Advisory Council. First, I'd like to say hi, Superintendent. Lampkin and the rest of the student or the board members. First I want to introduce myself. I'm Martin Navarro. I'm a junior in Woodland High School and I've been in the Superintendent Youth Council for this year. The Superintendent Youth Council has allowed me and other students to have like an opportunity to interact with our superintendent and be able to learn more and more about our district and how everything is facilitated and how decisions are being made. A positive for me about being in the Superintendent Youth Council is that I have been able to have a
083deeper understanding in how decisions are made. For example, yesterday our superintendent visited us during our meeting and we got to have a one-on-one conversation with her. regarding how funds are being allocated between the district and everyone inside the district. So we got to be able to understand how budget cuts are made and how everything is organized. One way that we have helped other students is when we approve grants. Last meeting, we were speaking about all the grants and our main focus was having student-led projects. So we were able to grant money to all of these projects. One example was the Mecha Dance at Woodland High. We gave them a full grant and with that money they're able to have their yearly Mecha Dance. Another example of this is a student from also from Woodland High.
084He is making a donation box for the elders. And we were able to also grant him funds so he could be able to continue with this project and eventually be able to get his civil engagement seal. Thank you all for hearing me and for listening and for also allowing us to have groups like this. I'm also part of other groups and I greatly appreciate all of your commitment and everything you guys have done for students, staff, and everyone a part of this. Thank you. Great job. Felicidades. I told them that you might have questions for them, so they're sticking around just thinking. Are there any questions? Trustee Villarreal. If you or one of your colleagues, what's your favorite part about being in the advisory council? I would say being able to have a, feel like
085I have a voice. The superintendent came in speaking to us about the removal of the seventh period, and... Myself and many other students were very much against it and we were able to communicate our feelings to her and I'm glad to see that we were able to make a difference That's the end of your questions just weird. Okay. Well go to your right Just a release movie. No trustee Richardson Fowler So this is your first year on the superintendent's advisory committee. Can you tell us a little bit of your leadership resume, what you have done in the past, what led you to get to this position, and what are some of your plans for the future? I am also a part of my school's youth advisory council. I'm a part of Link Crew, and I
086recently went to a Sable conference, and my plans for the future are hopefully to continue making a difference in my district. And I mean, eventually go to college and become a physical therapist in the future. Also keep your eye out for the congressman's student advisory committee. They're always accepting new applications. And that might be something to put a feather in your cap as well. Thank you. I appreciate that. I want to say I'm very impressed with Martin. Thank you, Brian. I know Martin since kindergarten, and he's like my boy best friend, and I'm very impressed. Congratulations, Martin. Felicidades a ti, a tu familia. You also do sports and do good grades. So congratulations. I think your future is bright, and thank you to make us proud. Felicidades a toda tu familia, mijo. Thank you so
087much. Can we get the other student to answer those questions? I see you. Sure, you want to come on up? She's going to come and speak, too. I'd like to introduce Mads Dodd-Wall to the podium. Hello. Do I just answer questions first? I think she wants you to answer the same question. Some roles I have held at my school and outside of my school is that I am currently in the Student Advisory Council. I have also played a role in the Student Psych Council. And for one year I did LCAP representative and I feel like all those roles just helped me learn more about our campus and our district. And I feel like having all those roles is... All those roles just encourage me to do better for our students. And you're also an athlete,
088right? Yes, I'm an athlete. I'm a softball player. Congratulations. Thank you. Keep doing. Thank you, Brian. Very good. Any other questions? Trustee Brubaker? Not so much a question. I just want to acknowledge the leadership that we have in our district and that our students are showing and that our staff are fostering, and I want to show appreciation to all of those. Yeah. So Mads is actually up next with the next slide. So she's going to speak about her experience with the site-based youth advisory council. These are groups that meet at their school site to meet with the principal. They meet regularly to talk about how they can improve. the student experience at their own school sites. And the group should represent, the group as a whole should represent the diversity of students at their school
089from different backgrounds, different identifiers. And so it's kind of a neat variety of students that get together regularly to talk. So Mads is going to share her experience in that group at Pioneer. Hello again. My name is Minari Dotto. I'm currently a junior at Pioneer High School. And today I'll be talking about the Student Advisory Council at Pioneer High School. I served this committee for four years and have learned a lot about our school as a whole. The purpose of this committee is to provide feedback from students and amplify the student voice and create a change on our campuses. Our goal as a com- committee is to help everyone feel welcome and help everyone's voice and their concerns or suggestions be heard. This school year of 2025 to 2026, we as a committee have collected
090students concerns about safety. One way we have done this is by overlooking the results of the safety survey that we let out at our school. and we helped develop a plan to eliminate the concerns of students. Some implements that were put in place were that we helped close the gaps in between the stalls of the bathroom by placing covers over them. We also helped better our safety drills at school by providing feedback for our faculty and examples on things we as students can do to make the drills go more smoothly. These changes have helped many students have a safer environment. By creating a safer environment for our students at Pioneer High School, we reduce anxiety, stress, help improve our students' mental health, and moreover, our SYAC group has helped pick the snack break focus of
091that month. This helps our students know what category students will be acknowledged on, and this helps... Teachers pick certain students that fit the categories. At our last meeting, we also discussed how to spend our budget to improve our library at Pioneer High School. We came up with several ideas on how to spend our budget, like we chose... to buy more games, anime books, and create an activity center. By doing this, we could help create a safer environment for many students to be able to come spend time with friends and get work done or cool off after a big exam. This improvement would help transform the library into a sanctuary of students by directly impacting their emotional health, academic performance, and recharge. Personally, this group has impacted my school life in a very positive way. This
092committee has helped me meet new people, create new friendships, and helped me learn more about myself and our school. This committee not only has taught me how to see things in a different perspective, but helped me see other ways to solve problems. Moreover, this committee at Pioneer High School has helped me improve my life. leadership skills and has helped me improve my community's wellness. Thank you for your time and have a nice day. Thank you. Thank you. We have great students in our district that as Trustee Brubaker said they have a lot of capacity and it's great to see them speak about their experience and how it's impacted them. The next area is Relatedly, student-led leadership opportunities. So there's a variety of things listed here. We have a group of student leadership camp facilitators. So
093we've trained these students to create the agendas, create the activities for our leadership camp. So they meet, they've met many times to work on that. The center bottom photo is kind of a photo of them working on some things. Our peer inclusivity trainings, that is kind of, I know the pictures are small, sorry. Bottom left is our peer inclusivity. So this is a group of juniors and seniors from all three high schools. High schools are represented in that group. They worked to deliver inclusivity presentations to our ninth graders, which is now complete. And then in the next two weeks, they will be presenting to all of our seventh grade classrooms. And then student grant recipients, as I mentioned earlier, those are just various groups from elementary through high school groups that applied to do a
094project that would improve their school. And the superintendent's youth advisory students reviewed those applications and granted them. But those students at their own school get to have that student-led opportunity. For the first year this year, we sent some students to the Sable Conference that was mentioned. Martine was one of those students. They learned about how the legislative process works and they actually worked as a student group to propose legislative change related to education. And then lastly, the seal of civic engagement is a student-led opportunity. Students get to choose a project that is meaningful to them, that would impact their own community and make a change or attempt to make a change in their community. And that is on the next slide as well because that's such a big... focus for our district. It's a statewide
095recognition as you know for 11th and 12th grade students, but they can begin working on it sooner. This is our first year of rollout. We have nearly 70 students who have expressed their intent to get the seal this year and it's a great way for them to implement their own voice and leadership skills. And then one of the last ones, yes, impact and next steps. So one of the largest impacts in our youth development program or capacity is that our student voice has expanded. So students are advising the district or advising their schools, school leadership. Youth input is informing our decisions as we plan things and make decisions. And then there's increased opportunities for students to share their perspective, whether that's a school-wide survey or in focus group, smaller group sizes. They have more opportunities
096to share their perspective and make a change or see a change take place in their school. Leadership opportunities are increased as a result. So we have those students serving as facilitators. We have peer trainers. We have project leaders in different capacities around the district. And that's a neat photo of some elementary school students last year who made a change at Woodland Prairie Elementary. the growth of student-led initiatives, we have civic engagement experiences for them, and leadership pathways that extend beyond our traditional programming. And then we have stronger systems and partnership, so we have staff that are trained in research-based youth development practices, we have a shared framework that's guiding us, and we have expanded collaboration with our community partners to help make this a reality. So our next steps would be to continue expanding access,
097so more increased opportunities across more schools for our students to step into leadership roles and opportunities, ensure diverse student participation, and then growing that pathway from just participating in something to actually leading something. We'll deepen implementation, continuing that staff development, continuing the programming that we have now, and then lastly, strengthen our community connections. So expanding our partnerships to support civic and leadership opportunities and connect student leadership to the broader community. Our goal is to ensure that every student has opportunities to belong, to lead, and contribute to their school and the broader community. So thank you for this opportunity to speak with you about the ways that we are developing young people in our district in order for them to become successful adults. And I am here if you have any questions. Okay trustees. Trustee Villarreal.
098Just so excited and thrilled that we're here in terms of youth development and we're like light years ahead of other districts other schools. It was because of definitely the current board to continue it, but also previous board members that support it, right? Previous city council members also supported the citywide. But us as a district, we're way beyond that as well. And so I just want to appreciate the staff that has made that happen. There's people from the past that contributed, and now you, Brandon, have continued that. And I know you have a dear passion. Just energy around it too, and you know I can see the young people around you They really appreciate you as well And and you truly value them and they you know they can tell you know when it's when it's
099not real when it's real So you know again, thank you for that and again just I look forward to you know what comes next because it's kind of limitless. We're only limited by funding and our imagination. Of course, the funds are a factor too. But there's a lot of things that can be done that don't necessarily involve funding additional than what we have already allocated. So again, I just want to say a tremendous thank you to everyone that's helped us to get us to where we're at today. Again, it didn't happen overnight. It was a lot of work, a lot of partnerships that had to be in place to get us here. But I'm excited and just, again, can't imagine what it'll look like in 10 years after all these seeds are planted, sprout and
100grow and even fruit and then more seeds. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you for all the work that you have put into this and your commitment and dedication. I also see, as Trustee Villagrana mentioned, how the students interact with you, right? So I think that's fantastic. I am curious because I feel like I remember other times when you shared, you've shared YPAR, Youth Participatory Action Research. And I wonder if we're still continuing some of those opportunities or maybe that's under some of the next steps. Yeah, I think we have some kind of implementation of that, and I think we're still developing in that area. I'm a part of a work group regarding the seal of civic engagement with the county, and that's been one of our ongoing conversations is how to improve or offer
101more professional development to our teachers regarding YPAR. So that's definitely a conversation still taking place. Thank you so much. I have some fantastic colleagues. If any of you want any resources or anything, feel free to email me and I'll pass along some information. Colleagues that do that work. I have fantastic colleagues in general, but colleagues that do that work. Trustee Herrera, I know you have a comment on... Just to piggyback, I was going to also again recommend, I'm assuming the Center for Regional Change at UC Davis or other colleagues? I was thinking other colleagues but I'm sure there's more. Yeah. So there's a matter of I mentioned but yeah they actually developed stepping stones on why part is very kind of outlined. There's a framework for it and they do trainings as well. So they
102provide training and technical support as well. I work with them before and they do quality work so I'll pass on the information to the superintendent as well. Thank you. Okay. Any other comments in regards to Trustee. Rodriguez-Muica's statement, no? Trustee Richardson-Fowler? I love seeing this. I get a lot of it from home because I have kids who engage with you and these leadership programs with their friends. Hey, Mads. That said... How do you help support them in their future goals of leadership? I know that when I've sat down with a couple of the panelists of students, I've given them resources about county boards that they could sit on and service students, reaching out to city council and those sorts of things. But you have... a lot on your plate. And I don't know if you
103are doing this, but how are we making sure that we continue their leadership by providing them opportunity, but also bring in new blood? Because a lot of the times it's the usual suspects. So yeah, I think that's something that we can continue to improve in. Definitely looking at like next steps after high school, continuing their leadership journey, as well as ways that we can get a diverse variety of new students participating in these opportunities in our district. Yeah. Are the kids like telling a friend and bringing a friend along or? I've seen some of that. I've also just seen some students who, I mean, when we have a, for example, on the super intense youth advisory, we advertise it to all students that this opportunity exists. And it's funny, we'll, you know, we'll get a
104lot of applications, but some of those will be friends of those who are currently in it. And some of, sometimes with like Martine, it was just, he was interested in this opportunity and he jumped in. So it's a little bit of both. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Trustee Garcia? Thank you, Brandon. Yeah. Okay. Trustee Brubaker? So thank you for the presentation. I feel like I see you all the time now going to various things that involve our students. So it's been so it's nice to have sort of an overview about how some of those things came to be. I also want to say the Woodland Community Call to Action was before my time. So this is the first time I sat down and read it. One of the things that I thought was really interesting
105is that at the time there was a lot of survey of our students and One of the sort of like data points that caught my attention was and I think let's see I think it says what year in 2021 one of the questions was about adult knowledge of youth and 71% of students said that they they viewed Adults as having low knowledge of youth. So I guess my question on that That may have changed since then, I don't know, is how much of what we do is based on student feedback. Like I know when we discussed the student board member in the past, there was really interesting data that was collected from student surveys and discussions with the superintendent advisory council. How much are we asking them what we can do to have leadership or
106whatever positions for them, but also maybe as my fellow trustee. was saying bring in new people who may not always be the ones that jump at positions like that. Yeah. I visit all of our schools, youth advisory councils, um, pretty regularly. Um, and it's, uh, that. question is sort of posed openly frequently where it's like what can we do to involve more students in these ideas and so I don't know that there's one right answer to that. Of course there's surveys, there's focus groups, there's you know we can do one-on-one outreach sometimes and we want to do things that are like student generated right that it's not just an adult creating this role for a student and so I don't know that we have the answer to that perfectly figured out but we're we've made
107a lot of growth at least in the last few years. That's great. Thank you so much. Okay. So we've seen a lot of each other lately. I just want to compliment you on your work, the way you go about doing your work, your connection that you've made with the students. Trustee Villagrana commented earlier, it's pretty apparent that we got the right person for the job, right? I think you're going down the right path. You're looking at all the different things that we could do. You talked about diversifying, keeping diversity in mind. You talked about expansion of programs. I think that's really key. Everything we're doing is really good stuff. We need to do it for more students, right? We need to do it for more students. And I think that part of the success of
108this program is going to be to find a way to do that and to make that happen. With a reasonable amount of time so I'm very focused on that. You know I also think that and that's really important to be able to You given the presentation today about all the things that the the youth plan that is part of the work that you're doing but we also need that THE BOARD POLICY ON EQUITY TO BE INTERWOVEN IN ALL THIS WORK. IT'S PART OF WHAT OUR BOARD POLICY MANDATES WHEN WE TALK ABOUT EQUITY. ALL WJUSD POLICIES AND PRACTICES WILL REFLECT IN ESSENCE THE BOARD POLICY. SO I WOULD LIKE TO SEE IF IF WE COULD DO THAT. NOT ONLY ALL THE THINGS WE TALKED ABOUT, RIGHT, THE BASE OF WHY YOU DO THE WORK, BUT ALSO
109BEING ABLE TO BRING IN THE BOARD POLICY ON EQUITY TO BE ABLE TO GUIDE YOUR WORK. A LOT OF THINGS IN THAT BOARD POLICY, BUT SPECIFICALLY WHAT INTERESTS ME IS SERVING HISTORICALLY UNDERSERVED YOUTH AND UNDERREPRESENTED POPULATIONS. THAT THAT MUST ALSO BE AN ENGINE THAT DRIVES THE WORK THAT WE DO. I don't know if I could get some commentary from my fellow trustees if they have any objection to them looking at our equity board policy and making sure that they bring the equity board policy into the work that they're doing now. Trustee Villarreal? If you could articulate what that looks like just to make sure I know what I'm saying yes to. Well there's an entire board policy right. That'd be a lot to have it here. I don't want to read it. But in essence
110one is historically serving making sure we're serving historically underserved and underrepresented populations. All WJUSD policies and practices will reflect the goal of reducing gaps in education opportunity to ensure all students achieve. academic proficiency college and career readiness. You know they can kind of come back and and tell us how how equity is being used where equity is showing up. But it's pretty clear from our board policy that equity needs to be a part of everything that we do. And I just want to make sure that that is just as clear as any of the other things that we talked about up here. Yes. I would argue that it is happening and I think it would be good for us to hear how it's happening. And at the same time, in order to do some of
111the things you mentioned, we'd have to hire more staff because Brandon can't do it all on his own. It's a heavy lift to increase impact. So I agree 100% with what you said, but we'd have to shift money somewhere, find more money to hire more staff to support that work. But yes, with that caveat, I would agree. Yeah, I wouldn't necessarily I mean I agree with you that that's that would that could be one impact but the impact them I'm more Wanting to see is to make sure that how we go about doing things and not necessarily to I mean Yes, I hear what you're saying trustee Viana, but my interest more is to make sure that how we approach things how we look at the students that we're working for how we do outreach
112those students how we take a look at who we've been able to serve over over the time that we're doing program fits into what our equity board policy really demands that we do trustee religious maker I wonder if maybe this could be a topic that the superintendent's advisory council can take up, right, in examining that policy and having that conversation amongst themselves to see how they think we're doing in these efforts. THERE'S NO DOUBT THAT COULD DEFINITELY BE PART OF TAKING A LOOK AT THIS ISSUE, BUT THE BOARD POLICY IN AND OF ITSELF DEFINITELY DEFINES THINGS THAT ALL PROGRAMS SHOULD HAVE. AND THEY DO. THEY DO INTERWEAVE. BUT I JUST WANT TO BE ABLE TO MAKE SURE WE IDENTIFY WHERE IT IS THAT WE'RE MEETING THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE EQUITY POLICY. And I suppose what
113I'm saying is that maybe the students could help us identify that right in examining that the work that they're engaging in they might have ideas to be able to help us understand it since they're the ones that are involved in it. Absolutely. I think both students and staff can do it because there's a perspective of how the students might understand the equity policy how we might explain what the equity policy is and then within the equity policy there are things that should be happening right because that's our own board policy. Do you have the support to be able to take a look at our equity policy and just make sure that it's happening within the program? And kind of identify where that's happening? Yes, no? Yes? Trustee Fowler? I'm going to reread the equity policy
114so I can determine. If you've got the votes, then move forward, but for me, I want to make sure my yes or no means something. Yeah, I'm just trying to get a show of hands, generally speaking. You can reread the equity policy if you want. It's pretty good stuff. And as a part, I mean, part of my concern is that there are things that actually should be doing right. We can talk about equity and what it means, but we have definitions of equity and what should be happening right in our in all in all WJS policies and practices will reflect the goal, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Right. So that we just make sure we're in alignment. with that as well. That's my concern. It's not anything to be created. It's just what we
115have already. Trustee Videran. And with that said, I guess to me the request should be, can we get an update on how it's being done? Okay. That's to me what it is. Not if, but how. Yes. Okay. So I could change my ask if we can get an update on how the board equity policy is being adhered to within the program. Is that better, Trustee Richardson-Fowler? What are you looking for is what I really want to know. Well, some of the things are, as I said before, To so part of what the board the equity policy states is in order to eliminate institutional bias of any kind and to eliminate disparities in education outcomes for students from historically underserved and underrepresented populations The district shall strive to identify class cultural biases Wells practice policy. That's
116that's one little snippet What I'm getting at is that leadership is actually a choice there are Not there are people who choose not to be leaders and when we're asking about equity it should be something that I think is universally accessed So when we're talking about equity in leadership opportunities Are we asking that we're making sure that these kids have an opportunity or that they engage? Well, probably both I mean, I guess you'd have to go back in and and read the way I look at it is if my population is 1.2 percent of the population and we've got about a hundred and fourteen African American students and you think about 20 percent of the population is what makes things move So out of that you've got probably 22 25 who are gonna want to
117be leaders. Are we gonna come up with some sort of arbitrary number? so we can reach this equity standard that's going to cause stress in people because they're being badgered with opportunities because we need equity numbers. I'm all for making sure there's transparency and everybody has an opportunity. But if we're talking about an execution we might look at other reasons why those are not. Opportunities people are seeking. Yeah, I think it kind of just comes down to what actually just to be a Donna kind of refocus me on is just how is our equity statement being upheld in this program, right and my only other point is that You know, you tell your states that all our policies and practices should have equity in them, right? So it's So for me it's if you go
118through the exercise of doing that and be able to come back and report how equity is being Is being is part of the program and obviously you can already in see where it interweaves But but there is a board policy on equity and so this should be in all programs and that's it Okay so Trustee Veerana is okay with that. Trustee Mojica-Rodriguez. Rodriguez-Mojica. I'm going to get that right one day. Yeah so this update would it be like in the form of another presentation or just like a Friday fact or. I think to me it could be a form of a Friday fact because I'm the one unless you know unless the board wants a different thing. Yeah I support that. Trustee Richardson-Fowler. Yeah you're good. Okay good good. Okay. All right, thank you very
119much. Appreciate it. I wasn't, not yet. I still had a question. Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know. Yeah, just a minute. No just following up on again the stem you made about you know more creating more Brandon how many staff work on this I am the only full-time staff member I We are able to seek staff that you know can support with either substitutes or extra duty pay But you're the only dedicated step right so so again I'm gonna reiterate if we're gonna increase the expectation we have to increase the staff to be able to sustain the expectation that we're creating I love it, I want it, but we have to also support it so that it happens. We can't just tell Brennan, hey, Brennan, do this, do more, more, more, because there's only so
120many hours that he works. That's all. So thank you. Yeah, just a comment on... What you stated I couldn't agree with you more. I think this you know the work that he's doing is really really important I think for in order for our students to to grasp why they're going to school What's important about going so to motivate them to learn? And so that's something we'll have to grapple with right if we want to see more You know that that's what Matt was my comment if the board wants to see more Then yeah, we're gonna have to find a way to invest in it Can I make a comment? So thank you. We will thank you, Brandon. Thank you, students. I'll see you soon. And you can go home now if you want. Thank you
121so much. You guys did an excellent job. As we're going through, there's so much that our staff is doing that it's almost impossible. for me to articulate all the awesomeness that's happening in our district. Everything that's happening, everything that's taken to get this to where we're at in many areas. With that said, there's also so much more need, overwhelming need as well. And we're going through some challenging times. So as we have all these things that we're doing and progress that we're making and we still have all these needs in front of us, And under the situation where we have limited funding, I want to remind you that when you're looking at anything new, we have to reprioritize because we could do anything you want. We just can't do everything you want. So we're going
122to have to reprioritize every time that you ask to add this. I'm going to say, well, then what else is going to be moved to the site? Because we can't do it all. And so, you know, we want to, but we have limitations. So I just wanted just to make that comment. Yeah, I couldn't agree with you more it'd be a issue of reprioritizing It's up the board needs to think about all right moving on to item l3 Does anybody have any more questions for l2? Sorry? You want a break? Yeah, okay. Take a five minute break. I'm good. Yeah, five minutes. We'll be back. Thank you Give you a one minute warning one minute warning. Okay, everybody. Welcome back. Welcome back as we get back to our agenda. And the next item on our
123agenda is item L3. It's an information item. It's discussion on African American Youth Leadership Initiative. This item was a request from Trustee Villagrana. He has something for the board to consider, an idea that he has on student, continuing on this theme of student leadership. So I'm gonna go ahead and pass it on to Trustee Villagrana. Thank you, I'm very excited as well to be here. It's been quite a while since I submitted this and You know the the document speaks for itself, but I just highlight again is just to to provide opportunities to engage this community and identifying Opportunities solutions to address Some of the things that exist you know sometimes systemic institutional from a long time before we even were here. But now we have the ability to do something about that. And so
124again, I want to make sure that the young people are at the center of this. They're the ones who are identifying the solutions and the strategies on how to move forward to better serve them or how better for our district to serve them. And that's the nexus of why I brought this initiative forward. And I'd be happy to answer any questions. Okay. Does anybody have any questions for Trustee Villagrana or comments? Trustee Rodriguez-Mohica? No questions, but just a thank you. This is a very, very thorough charge letter, and I think it's very clear in a lot of different ways. It outlines everything very well. I really appreciate the key deliverables and timeline as well to make sure that there's ongoing kind of communication and updates if we choose to move forward with this. So just
125thank you, Trustee Villagrana. And actually just thought of a question. right now. So could you share with us maybe the process that you went to in creating this charge letter, like some feedback that you received and incorporated? Yeah, so I had conversations with different individuals, different, I can't remember now all the groups now, but, you know, got some feedback in general about the concept itself. Spokes in young people as well. And then once I drafted, I went to two community members that I trust to give me feedback as well. And I made some changes around some of the items that they had included in there. So, but this is really just the creation of the initiative, what it looks like. Again, will be up to the young people and the staff, right? That they're gonna
126determine what it actually looks like, what life it takes. This is just the concept and then it will take life. when they put it together. So to me, I'm looking forward to, again, if my colleagues agree to what that looks like. Okay, so any comment on Trustee Rodriguez-Molica's statements? No, okay. Is there another question for Trustee Villagrana? Moving right, Trustee Richardson-Fowler? No. Trustee Garcia? Yes, I have a question. Trustee Villagran, can you share why did you select those two groups, and also can you share about what we speak earlier about the budget? Yeah, so I'll talk about this one because we're on this one only, and I can talk about the next one after that. But again, it applies to both answers to the same. Again, to me... These groups are there's indicators right that
127in the positive indicators are low and the negative indicators. They're high right and so to me We need to do something about that right and obviously what we've done for the past you know and say the number of years has not produced the changes that we wanted to or Or they have maybe I don't know but that that was like the the motivator to make a difference, make an impact, positive impact, right? Graduation rates, college going rates. To me as far as the the funding that we have funding right now and go for that, you know has not been fully spent so just a matter of Repurposing some of that funding so I'm nice to say an additional funding. It's just repurposing and again the superintendent, you know can work with staff to Reallocate that
128and make that happen. You know, this would be incorporated I'm assuming maybe into the the out cap again that that's up for step for staff to determine how to do that So does that answer your question? Thank you So any comment based on trustee Garcia's statements No, trustee Brubaker. Do you have? Questions or comments, excuse me So one of the bullet points in part one is build student leadership capacity cultural pride and ancient agency among African American youth Which I think is a very admirable goal, but also tying back to What was discussed at the previous topic? have have Is there data showing that this is something that that demographic of our population is asking for? I'm sure there's research that's been done. I didn't do any research. It's, you know, really more on my
129experience working with young people and, you know, having a degree in one of the ethnic studies as well that really... Really, I guess help me draft that specific language again when you're working with with young people from different backgrounds I mean, cultural pride is big. You know, seeing people like themselves, you know, we've heard that many times, is a big agency for any person, is a powerful thing. And, of course, leadership capacity, again, you know, we've seen endless outcomes when you provide individuals of all ages with leadership opportunities. So, really, it's more from my lived experience that drives that statement than any data. So I agree with all of that, I mean what I what I have the lived experience to agree with But I'm concerned about the agency part specifically And so I would
130I would like to see the first bullet point of scope or of number two scope data review and analysis of student outcomes and Comparison with other student groups to highlight gaps and identify trends and needs done before we consider the wider topic because as was mentioned, we do have limited capacity and limited funding and I wanna make sure we are aiming those things where there is the most need and that's it. Any comments on Trustee Brubaker's statements? No? Okay, I'll go next. Thank You trustee via Rana it's a document full of lots of information lots of referencing lots of passages back to the woodland community youth plan I Guess my one of my questions is I agree that some something should be done in terms of you know Empowering African American American students. That's not
131in question here But I think I think it's it seems it seems to me that there are a lot of groups That would be in similar need Latino students that you know far outweigh the number of african-american students And that again that's not saying the african-american students don't need these kind of services They they do and I'm in favor of them, but it seems like the proposal is far too narrow because I think that even in your own Woodland Community Youth Plan, they mention some priorities, students with disabilities is one. I think students with disabilities could fit here. And so I think that while what you wrote is, there are things that I can definitely agree with in terms of trying to find ways to support. the African-American community, I think we need to really
132take a larger perspective and look at all the different groups that need support. You know, again, students with disabilities, as referred to in the Woodland Community Youth Plan. I think the Woodland Community Youth Plan also refers to multilingual youth. and multicultural youth. Our own, we just talked about our equity policy. Equity policy talks about looking at other subgroups. And I think that we have to have a larger conversation about all the groups that might fit into this general description about why you want to do this. And so that's one issue for me. I think it's too narrow. The second is I think that, well, I want to acknowledge you did a lot of work, and a lot of this work, I think, will come into play at some point if we move forward with this.
133But it seems to me that the very first thing we should do, as noted in the Woodland Community Youth Plan, is to actually talk to youth directly. First about what their needs are where the gaps in support are how is the institution not meeting their needs and then we would You know depending on what subgroups we would decide to if we decided to broaden it brought him out and then Go directly to them and listen to what their feedback is And that would be in line with the woodland community youth plan and in that way then begin to think about this process. What could we do about it, right? Because I think staff would, we would need to hear what, you know, for the particular subgroups that we might choose to move forward with this
134kind of concept, we'd want to hear what's already being done for them. We want to hear the student's opinion about where the gaps are, how they could be supported. And then that would kind of give us some sort of guidance to how we might move forward. And I think that we would want staff to be able to help develop that. This could be like a guideline, but I think much of this kind of does some of the work that staff should be doing, talks about it, right? Even in talking about, I'm not sure if it's this one, both, or the other one, where we already talk about a budget, how much budget should go to a program like this. Those numbers, that kind of... I think it needs to be developed through staff and their
135ability to do it. To me, it kind of touches on going into the weeds a little bit, maybe in some places a lot more than a little bit. And I think that's not where we want to start. I think we want to start directly speaking to youth, broadening the youth that we're looking at. to be able to make a much more larger policy decision, right, around groups that need more support, whether it's because culturally or with the language that they speak, whether disabilities, et cetera. And I think that's a larger policy discussion and a better way to try and approach this issue than to try and pick two groups. that definitely could need this kind of support, but they're definitely not the only ones. And then we have to think about it strategically, and we
136have to think about all the policies that we already have in place and where our focus is supposed to be. So that's kind of how I feel about it generally. And so I'm interested in hearing what, when you said you were able to speak to groups, African American groups, parents did you speak to? And did you speak to African American students as well? Just in passing conversations, nothing formal. Okay, and so what did you hear specifically from those conversations? So again, I didn't go into detailed questions about it. It was more like the concept. So yeah, nothing specific. Okay. So that that's those are kind of my initial sentiments when I look at this it's too narrow in scope To begin to before we ever get to this kind of detail I think we need
137to hear directly from students about what their needs are to build off of them have them be the impetus for for this are there any comments on my trusty Vietan Everything you said actually, you know, it's in here already. Like it's intended for young people to be consulted and talked to. It's intentionally narrow, like it's by design. There's specific needs, right, to these populations that can, obviously we've done things and they have not worked, right? We've done broad things. As far as like the Latino needs, again, we're 70, almost 70% Latino. Anything we do in the district. benefits the Latino students already. Any leadership advisory committees that we've done, when you look at the breakdown of the committees, what's the majority, right? The vast majority of the students. So we're providing a lot of support
138for Latino students. And we could do more, no question about that. But again, it's a lot of things you say I agree with. This phrase, nothing about us without us, right? So it's engaging the young people specifically for this purpose, the African-American young people themselves, right? To do all those things that you said. It's not like about talking to them first and like, let's go ahead and talk to them and then for them to identify and develop everything you described. So I agree with you. I just want to get started now, not wait and have conversations with a bunch of people to get back to where we're at right now. It's a, in my opinion, it's a tiny investment, you know, out of $150 million budget. It's a tiny investment that we already have set
139aside. Let's see. Yeah, so those are my main responses. Thank you. Okay, any other comments on my statements? Trustee Rodriguez-Mohica. When you say that it's too narrow in scope, are you referring to the group of students or the activities or both? The amount of groups that we're addressing in regards to the issue that's being stated that wants to be addressed. So meaning that, I mean, right now we're talking about L3, right? So we're talking about the African American Youth Leadership Initiative. But you mean that there need to be more youth leadership initiatives, more groups up here, and not just those two? That we, as a policy-setting body, determine direction, right? And I'm saying that, agreed, African American students need more supports. but our very own equity statement kind of demands that we take a broader
140look at that to all the groups that need critical support. So I'll just take students with disabilities, right? That we should take into account all the groups that would need these similar types of supports, which there are many, right? And then we should have a discussion about not just how we... deliver those supports to one or two But basically, how do we just deliver the supports to to all of them that we might identify and they're planning to identify And that may require that we prioritize and that may require and that'll require funding as well, right? but I think that When we just look at these two groups in general That's it said that's incomplete look at the work that needs to be done as described Yeah, and I so so I understand that and
141I agree, right? I it would be amazing. And hopefully we are able to expand this to other groups as well. I guess I'm just trying to understand what the narrowing scope is what you would like to see in order to be supportive of this, like seven or eight different groups and talk about them all at once so that that so that's what you want to see. It's not that you're opposed to these two. It's just that you want more. of this is that correct there are more that kind of fit yes fit in the characterization of these two groups and i think that uh policy-wise that we we need to take a look at that right we need to take a look at that in the same vein in the same way that we're taking
142a look at these two particular uh subgroups there are more subgroups that we should bring into this process essentially. And what I'm saying is that the first step is not necessarily this, the work that Trustee Villarana has done, but the first work that should be done is to go back to the students and or maybe families in these particular subgroups to identify culturally, to identify whatever gaps there are. Take that information and then begin to have that discussion about. the needs of all these subgroups as we understand them. And when you talk about subgroups, it's not just the Woodland Community Youth Plan that also identifies subgroups. It's also our equity policy that identifies subgroups already. So we could take all of them. One way of looking at it is you could take all of them
143to be able to have this broader policy discussion. That's where I think this belongs first. Okay. I'm trying to understand what you're saying, and I think I do understand and I don't disagree. I do think that there is a greater need beyond these two. I suppose what's on my mind, though, is how long it takes for things to happen and to move, right? If I could ask, when was it that you put this in as a yellow sheet? I think almost a year ago, Superintendent, I think, right? It was I think it was more than that I think but in all fairness we've kind of waiting to you're ready as well So it's a combination. It wasn't just from our end. Yeah No, I just and how long it took for it to get here.
144Yes well as you can see every time there's yellow sheets turned in and Besides we have the governance hand, you know so and we have so many meetings and we can only have so many topics At this time of night it does take a while Not just with this topic, but any topic because of everything that we have on our plate. And my question wasn't to point fingers or to put any blame anywhere. It just takes a while, right, for things to come up because we're doing so much. So I guess what excited me, what excites me about this is at least getting something moving. I don't see anything on these two items. Well, first of all, there's no action item, right? They're both information. So we're not going to take action. But I saw
145it as a step forward and opportunity to be able to add more if that's what the board chooses. So I guess I just saw it as like starting to move on this, especially because the listening sessions and asking, you know, for information and everything, it's all in here under scope, right? And nothing in here says that it's only going to be an African American Youth Leadership Institute or initiative or the next item, Middle Eastern and South Asian youth leadership, right? So I understand what you're saying. But I also know how long things will take and I it's going to be years right before anything is able to move and if everyone's OK with that then obviously it's majority votes right. Does anybody have a comment on what Trustee Rodriguez-Mohica stated. I would I would say
146I'm sorry did you. I would say that it wouldn't take years right. But the reality is we move on things that are of highest priority to the board. So the flow of work is determined by us, determined by the agenda committee, right? So yes, it does take a while because there's so many, right? And if something wants to get heard quicker, then the board has to be able to, you know, to vote to let it be known that this now has priority, right? And that's just a functionality of how things happen. So yes, it will take a long time, a longer time. It wouldn't take years, I don't think. But every yellow sheet has its place, right? We cannot hear all the yellow sheets, as you know, right? Earlier this year, we talked about a
147topic we didn't think we were gonna be talking about, right? Seven to six, et cetera, that was not on the radar screen. Those things happen all the time, all the time. And that's what we have to mitigate. So that's what I'm saying is, for at least for me, I agree with the fact that we should look at these groups and to be able to see what supports are needed. I think there are more groups that we need to look at here. But fundamentally, we need to go back to our students because this is bathed in the Woodland Community Youth Plan. And that's a fundamental first, right? Before we, there's some assumptions you could make here. IN THE ENTIRE PLAN. WE NEED TO GO BACK TO THE YOUTH FIRST, ASK THEM, GET THAT INFORMATION, THEN COME
148BACK, THEN START TALKING ABOUT WHAT THAT WOULD LOOK LIKE. INCLUDED IN THAT WOULD BE FEEDBACK FROM STAFF AS WELL. DID YOU TALK TO STAFF MEMBERS ABOUT THIS PROPOSAL WHEN YOU CREATED IT? JUST TO THE SUPERINTENDENT AND HAD A CONVERSATION WITH BRANDON AS WELL. NOT IN DETAIL. JUST GENERAL. And so I know, I think, especially when we talk about the flow, which priority, what's going to move off of somebody's plate and not, that has to be something that's included at the beginning, right? What are the gaps? What did we find out from our students directly? Because that's important here. And then what... What is how does our staff believe that we can? Do about that and then have the larger discussion. I'm trying to explain myself as best as I can Are there any other comments?
149Trustee Brubaker, so I guess my main concern Is moving forward with something that our African American students may not see the need for Foley and allocating resources towards that when we could be allocating them towards. something that includes them but other things. For example, I don't know all of the data points that this is stated as reaching to try to improve what that actually is. For example, what is the student leadership percentage of our African American students in proportion to our student body? Is it lower than our student body population in proportion? Is it higher? Is it the same? I have no idea. What about graduation rate? I don't know. I have noticed on some of our school site. reports that some sites have a disproportionate percentage of suspensions for African American students, but that's
150also the same for disabled students, more widespread from what I've seen. I just want to make sure we are making our resources. Spread the way where they need to and where they are wanted and I think that given the situation we are looking at being in financially that is the most responsible thing to do and yes It's not a large amount of money But it's still an amount of money that could be potentially used With more intention and data to back it up and I don't I don't have the data to know That that's what is needed at this point. Are there any comments on trustee Brubaker statements? Okay. Trustee Villagran, do you have a comment? No, just I'll make a motion when everyone's done with their comments. You'd make a motion when everyone's done
151with their comments. When everyone's done with their comments. Okay. Trustee Mojica-Roliz? I have a question. Well, I guess it's kind of related, but I'll wait for my turn. I think, yeah, it is your turn. Yeah, yeah. Sorry, I thought it was Trustee Brubaker and we were going around. No, she went around. I would have been next? No, he would have been. Oh. Yeah. But you're giving me. Yes. Okay. I went to trust you. Sure. I am curious. And this is a question to, to the board, but also to our superintendent. Whenever we. move forward with something and it doesn't work, right? There's no student interest. The money ends up going away or, you know, things happen to where we move forward with things and we face obstacles. What's usually the process? What do we do
152if our best laid plans do not end up going the way that we wanted and we're not able to move forward? What do we typically do? Is it just we don't do it? Well, actually we're going through that process right now and that services I know our associate superintendent Dr. Guerrero is actually going through with staff like okay here we are What was accomplished at this time of the year? What has not is there still need there's still time to read to readjust? Because we're playing the LCAP for next year So do we put it in for next year? Because depending, maybe it wasn't doable this year, but we think we will do it next year. Or you know what? It's not doable at all. So let's, you know, scratch it off. If it's not
153enough interest, it was too difficult to hire. Maybe the position didn't get filled. So we're going through that now as we're developing next year's plan. And then when you start implementing, you start looking again to see where we're at. So is that a similar process to like let's say the African-American community or students are just not into this and are not interested. Is that the same thing we would do or would it be different? It would be similar. Let me give you an example. The last couple of years we've been doing the student leadership science camp. And so this year after talking to Brandon and I actually had a conversation with Trustee Villagrana and said, you know, we've been struggling to get recruitment. We've been doing it for three years. And so we decided let's
154take a hold this year because of the budget situation and let's reassess and try again the following year. Just because of the challenges and the... Timing and some staffing internal staffing things that are happening that brand new house on its plate and some other things internally that are happening That in order for it to be successful. We didn't want to take the risk and so we would Do something similar so that's just an example of like one now. We're not ready to let it completely go But we thought, you know, maybe we need a little breather, a little break from that, and then we reassess and continue on the following year. And maybe we do it a little different. Maybe we do it here. We have a ropes course. We have a community college. You
155know, we can incorporate it here. And our student leaders who are already trained can facilitate here. And maybe we can do this district tours like I did with the other students because they love seeing behind the scenes. Believe me, they love it. So how can we look at it differently? So we're kind of reassessing that so that we do that all the time. We're constantly. Looking at how things are going how we can improve how can we adjust and think things look at things differently and also an additional layer now being more careful and mindful of the resources limited resources that we have. Thank you for that. So I ask given kind of the concerns that were raised right that maybe that we haven't talked to the community the African-American community families or staff or
156students to see if they want it. And given that response that our superintendent just shared should they not want it and be like no thank you. Right. The eighteen thousand dollars because that's the budget correct. Trustee Villagrana so it's eighteen thousand dollars that would be allocated there. Maybe it wouldn't be fully spent right. Maybe only a little bit at the beginning and then we realize they're not really into it. So not all of it would be gone. So I'm just curious given. What we typically do as a district when things don't pan out the way that we had hoped or if there's no interest. Do my colleagues on the board still feel like it's better to wait instead of just kind of change things up if there is no interest. It's not an all or
157nothing I guess is what I heard from our superintendent. It's not like if it doesn't move forward you know it's got closed and it will never come back again and we're not going to discuss this anymore. There's pivoting there's pauses there's reimagining. So I'm curious as to what folks on the board think about that. Trustee. Trustee Richardson-Fowler. You keep saying we're waiting but we're doing quite a bit. So what are we waiting to do? I don't know. Can you clarify when did I say we're waiting right now? Yeah, we're saying if we put this off and we don't do this initiative, we keep waiting. Are we waiting to get an initiative going? Because we're doing a ton of stuff where student leadership is concerned. Just because we don't have a race-based initiative doesn't mean we're
158not doing the work. No, you're right. I agree. So when I said waiting, I was referring to Trustee Rodriguez's interest in having more groups represented. I heard him say that it was too narrow, so there were more. So I wasn't saying that we weren't doing anything. I completely agree with you. We're doing... Quite a bit, but I was thinking about this this initiative waiting on the initiative. Okay Any comments on trustee? I do have a follow-up question though for a trustee Fowler Okay, is your sense based on what you just shared that what we're doing is enough and we don't need this No, I just don't like race-based initiatives We're not a monolith and too often we treat our demographics and I've said this several times when we come up with our scores and our
159metrics We're not a monolith. You probably do better doing it by social economics than by race that being said And I was gonna save this but since we're back we since 22 and this happened in 23. We have had the superintendent youth advisory council, which is district wide, and that has sparred more student leadership to do projects because they're reaching out to their community to see what they can fund. We have the youth advisory councils at school sites, which the superintendent, after starting her council, Encourage school site principals to start their own leadership council. They've got the student leadership camp that happens at Grizzly Creek Ranch for middle and high school students. We have freshman leadership academy. We have student council and leadership classes. We have peer leadership programs. We have leadership through expanded learning
160opportunities. We have program-based leadership pathways like Puente. CTE, SkillsUSA, we have quite a bit going on, over 20 plus actual leadership opportunities, eight that are district recognized leadership initiative types. So we're doing quite a bit. But the reason I can't support it is I don't have a baseline. The 18,000 feels arbitrary without definition of what we're going towards. Again, I think that the call to action only mentioned linguists, language, as well as special disability as communities of concern. But what it did note was stereotyping, what to look for. And I know that a big barrier to African-American leadership. is the pervasive use of the N-word at all school sites. There's no way that this is going to address that. And when you're constantly being told you're an N-word or hearing that word flippantly used in
161the community you don't feel supported. You're not going to seek out leadership opportunities. You're just waiting for the next time you have to hear an inflammatory word. So yeah that's why I can't support this. It doesn't look at what we're doing already. I know it looks to do that in the process. but if I'm going to allocate funds to something, I would at least like baseline information. Anybody else have a comment on Trustee Rodriguez-Mohica's statement? I have a comment. So we are doing something. This is what the process is, right? Being able to say that there needs to be more groups included, that the broader vision is doing something. To me, it's realigning. our ability to look at the very issues that are described here, right? The purpose of this initiative is to engage, empower
162African American students, broader school community to identify supports, opportunities, and strategies to better serve African American students, right? Dismantle systematic barriers that have resulted in desperate outcomes. Many groups have that issue. And so, again, I'm not, you know, to me, this is not stopping this. This is continuing the discussion, developing the discussion, which they will most definitely be a part of as we move forward. The speed at which it moves forward is up to us, right? It depends on how much we prioritize as a group. But I'm not stopping it, I'm trying to refine it. And I'm trying to be very true to the Woodland Community Youth Plan, which is to go to students first, go to that community first, and let's hear a little bit of what Trustee Richardson-Fowler just talked about, right? And
163then we'd have to say, oh, okay, yeah. That's an issue. How does that fit in all of this, right? There's a lot of things we can't assume, and that's why, to me, it's really important to identify, broaden these groups, talk to them directly, and then see what that feedback is, and then use that feedback to be able to figure out what we need to build. And then we'd have to figure out, is that a high enough priority for us? Right. And if we do that. Right. So just the issue of defining. It's also the issue of funding. Right. And so if we determine that the priorities are not just with these two groups, but these two groups plus. Right. And because we're trying to address these really difficult issues and we said it's a priority.
164OK, now we've got to fund it. And so now we've got the second the other second big question, where are we going to fund it? We said it's a priority. We're gonna find the funding. We're gonna make the hard decisions to find So to me, it's just part of the process. The thing that's difficult is that there's so many of these issues that are so important, right? And so to me, this is really just trying to work with the idea. That's why it's information only. Kind of try and figure out where everybody's at. I know Trustee Villagrana, you know, definitely would like to see what he brought up, kind of enacted, but at least for me, I think that there's still work to be done in terms of looking at the scope of who else
165this kind of... This kind of work would cover you know why it's important not just that again going back to our our equity Statement that defines many things. Okay Yeah, trust you, Brubaker. Yeah So I want to follow up on sort of what you were saying as well because we are doing a lot we have a I think This is the second year for our black student union at our schools. And we do an African-American graduation ceremony. We are doing things to do outreach to this demographic of our population. That does not mean we don't have more work to do. I just want to make sure we're being intentional with our limited resources when our staff is having to go through our budget line by line and nickel and dime to be able to meet
166our budgetary resources that we are allocating things. in the most sensible way. Okay. Does anybody have a comment on Trustee Brubaker's comment? Okay. Trustee Mujica Rodriguez? Mine's super quick. I just want to clarify, I did not say we're not doing anything or doing nothing. I understand that we are doing quite a bit, right? We had our presentation earlier. Trustee Fowler read off a list and I'm sure that's not even all of the things that we're doing already. So, and I read our board materials since I've been on the board. So, I want to clarify that I do not believe we're doing nothing. I think we can do more. And it's exactly what Trustee Brubaker said. So I just want to clarify that because it's come up a few times from our trustees. And I want
167to clarify, I do not mean that we are doing nothing. I just would like to see us do more. That's it. Thank you. Is there a comment on her statement? Don't forget the new BSU at Pioneer. They just formed. Okay. Is that a comment on Trustee Mojica's statement? No it was a comment on Trustee Brubaker's. Sorry. Got confused myself. Okay. All right. I don't have any comments. Trustee Villarreal? I'm waiting. You'll wait. Okay. Trustee Mojica Rodriguez? No. Trustee Richardson-Fowler? Trustee Garcia? Trustee Brubaker? I don't have any more comments to add other than. Even when we look at our Latino youth, which are sizable in numbers, gargantuan, compared to all the other population, we have programs that address first generation. English language learners, but there's a lot more in there. There's second generation third generation that
168required different type of Interventions need different types of support because they face different issues Similarities run through but different issues throughout the entire POPULATION. AND SO I WANT TO MAKE THAT CLEAR, VERY OFTEN WE'RE ONLY RELEGATED TO TALKING ABOUT EL ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS ARE FIRST GENERATION BUT THERE IS A BIG, BIG POPULATION THAT FACES OTHER ISSUES AS WELL. OKAY. THAT'S ALL I HAVE TO SAY. TRUSTEE VIERA. I WAS GOING TO MAKE A MOTION BUT I DON'T SEE THE SUPPORT TO MOVE FORWARD. I'm disappointed that we can't move forward and explore it. As it's been outlined here, again, it clearly states that young people would be engaged to get the input to determine what this is going to look like. It doesn't say what it looks like. It says it will be developed with them at
169the center, with them providing input, with them getting opportunities, with staff being trained to understand the community. But it is what it is. So I guess it ends here. Does anybody else have a comment on Trustee Villagon's statement? Well, I do. I'm not sure that it ends here because I'm very serious about what it is that I was saying. So I will probably explore deeper the reasons why. Why we're talking about these particular issues But as I said many many subgroups need this kind of support and I do think we need to take a larger look at that So I will probably still pursue this issue including Looking at the two subgroups that we're talking about today Okay, so we'll move on to L4, discussion on Middle Eastern South Asian Youth Leadership Initiative. Same. Same.
170Okay. Any other trustees? These two initiatives as they are and here, it will be some other iteration which is fine. Thank you. Okay. Any other trustees have comments on L4? Okay, thank you very much. We'll move on to item M1, human resources. We have a public hearing that we need to do. So I will open this public hearing to approve the initial proposal for the 26-27 school year. We open our negotiations from the Woodland Education Association for the collective bargaining agreement between the Woodland Joint Unified School District and WEA. Do we have... Speakers, yes. I am speaking on behalf of Vicki and Marjorie, our co-chairs, who had to go home because it's conference week. So I didn't put a card in because traditionally WA has like spoken first. Is that okay? Great. Do we have
171any other speakers? Okay. All right, good evening again. President Rodriguez, trustees, superintendent, and members of our community. I am acknowledging that our bargaining co-chairs, Vicki Fu and Marjorie Watkins, who unfortunately had to leave earlier this evening, they were here to speak on behalf of our sunshine. As you know, it's parent conference week, and like many educators across the district, they are balancing long days supporting students and families. We appreciate the many hours they dedicate to the work outside of their responsibilities as classroom teachers. Before you tonight is WEA's Sunshine Letter. identifying the contract articles we will reopen for the next round of negotiations. I want to take a moment to remind everyone how these priorities are developed. The proposals that will eventually be passed across the table are not created in isolation by union leadership.
172They are built directly from member input, from surveys, forums, site meetings, and ongoing conversations with educators across the district. In February, we distributed a bargaining survey that allowed teachers to identify the issues most impacting their ability to do their jobs well. Our team carefully analyzed those results, and the priorities reflected in our Sunshine Letter are a direct response to what our members told us matters most. And so, this comes from a note Marjorie passed me before she left, and this is a shout-out to your theater kids. Negotiations. Here we go again. My, my, how can I resist you? Bargaining is never simple, but it is an important part of ensuring our schools continue to improve for both students and educators. The first priority consistently identified by all educators in our surveys was Article 13, class
173size. Across grade levels, teachers shared that class size and workload conditions directly impact their ability to provide individualized support to students. As we move into negotiations, WEA will be looking at ways to address these concerns so educators have the capacity to provide the level of instruction and support our students deserve. The second priority coming from directly from our feedback is Article 16, Elementary Time Management and Time Release. Consistent elementary prep time. is a longstanding concern among our elementary educators. Currently, elementary teachers receive 125 minutes of prep time per week compared to secondary teachers who receive a full prep period each day and at the high school, two periods often, which typically equates to about 50 to 55 minutes per day. So for elementary, that's 20 minutes, 25 minutes per day after the instruction day for
174K- TK through three for the lower grade levels. Four through six gets that time integrated into their day. So just so you understand why that was such an important article, even our secondary teachers recognize and understand that's like really inequitable for our elementary teachers. That is why that was one of our priorities. Preparing lessons, communicating with families, coordinating with colleagues, planning field trips, building classroom community, and responding to student needs all require time, physical time, protected within the workday. So as we move into bargaining, WEA hopes to explore more ways to increase meaningful prep time for elementary educators so they can better support their students. Okay, and then before I close, I want to briefly clarify a comment that was made earlier this evening regarding retroactive pay. I realize that labor negotiations are not something
175that most people spend their life studying. Over the past six years of union leadership, I've learned quite a bit about how they work. Against my will but I had to I want to make sure we set the record straight Retroactive pay is not a bonus or a loophole it exists because without it an employer would have a financial incentive to delay reaching an agreement The longer negotiations take the less the employer ultimately would pay that is precisely why retroactive payments are standard in public sector collective bargaining agreements more importantly the issue we raised that the letter was referenced, are wages that we've already earned. So I just want to make sure that that is clarified before we open negotiations again. We'd love to come to an agreement before June, and that is obviously both of
176our priorities, but we recognize that it takes physical time to negotiate, and if we are talking about not providing retro payments, that's extremely dangerous. So thank you for your time, and we look forward to our next round of negotiations. Thank you very much. Okay. Are there any other speakers? No. Okay, so, you know the speakers I will close this hearing This is an action item. So we have to vote to approve Can I get a motion to approve the initial proposal for the 26 27 school year? We open our negotiations from the Woodland Education Association for the collective bargaining Agreement between the well-adjusted Unified School District and the VA did somebody make motion? Yes, so moved who was it second okay move by recent Fowler and seconded by by trustee Brubaker Okay, I will do
177a roll call and we'll start with me trustee Rodriguez. Yes trustee via Grana absent trustee Rodriguez Mohica Yes. Trustee Richardson-Fowler? Yes. Trustee Garcia? Yes. Trustee Brubaker? Yes. Yes. Okay, very well. M1 is approved with five yeses, no opposition, no abstentions, and one absence. Okay, we are now on to M2. It's also an action item, approved resolution 4126, elimination and or reduction of classified employee services due to lack of work, lack of funds. So moved. Okay, does anybody, sorry, before I take that, does anybody have any questions on that or any comments? No? Okay, very well. L2 has been there's been a motion to approve resolution 4126 by trustee Richardson Fowler. Is there a second? Second. Second by trustee Brubaker. Any discussion? Seeing none we'll take a roll call. We'll start with trustee Villagrana. How do
178you vote? Yes. Yes. Trustee Rodriguez-Moyica how do you vote? Yes. Trustee Richardson Fowler. Yes. Trustee Garcia. Yes. Trustee Brubaker. Yes. Trustee Rodriguez. Yes. The M2 resolution 4126 passes unanimously with six yes votes. Okay. We are moving on to item N. N1 information action. Resolution 42-26 ordering an election to fill district area one vacancy for the Woodland Joint Unified School District. ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS? SEEING NONE, WE NEED APPROVAL HERE. SO CAN I ASK FOR SOMEONE TO MAKE THE MOTION? SO MOVED. SECOND. MOTION IS TRUSTEE RICHARDSON-FOWLER. SECOND, TRUSTEE VILLAGRANA. ANY DISCUSSION? SEEING NONE, WE WILL START WITH TRUSTEE BRUBEKER. HOW DO YOU VOTE? YES. TRUSTEE RODRIGUEZ. YES. Trustee Villarana? Yes. Trustee Rodriguez-Mohica? Yes. Trustee Richardson-Fowler? Yes. Trustee Garcia? Yes. Very good. M2, Resolution 4126 is approved with six yes votes, no opposition, and no
179abstentions. Thank you. Moving on to item N2, Information Action Discussion to Establish a Student Board Member. So this is just for clarification. The board has already... made a motion to have a board representative from each of our high schools. So that's already been board approved. In the motion, the board also voted on and approved that the students would be attending every meeting. I'm just asking for some clarification on the next step, because I need to come back with a resolution for you to vote on with what the direction was. And I just need clarification on the intent of having them here at every board meeting, whether the three would be sitting here at the dais and giving provisional votes, each three, or they'll be rotating, giving provisional votes, and the two still join the board
180meeting here. So I just wanted to clarify that because it has implications on the board policy and how I move forward so that I can bring that. So again, this is not to debate whether we have three. or whether they come every night. It's just how do they present and what role do they have so that I can bring back the board policy. I mean the board resolution. Any trustees like to start discussion trustee Richardson Fowler? So I believe I made the motion and my intent was to have the three sitting on the dais at all times with us thinking that with them being student leaders are probably engaged in other activities as well and We may not have them all consistently showing up all the time And so it just felt the best to
181have them all seated and have that opportunity rather than rotating. So that was my intention when I made the motion. Are there any comments on Trustee Richardson's Father's Statement? No, okay. Any other Trustee? Trustee Garcia, do you have a comment or question? Trustee Brubaker? I... Don't oppose What trustee Richardson Fowler is suggesting I would like to suggest instead of having One or three all up here at the same time. We have them Have a rotating rank sort of like we do in our Board of President vice president and clerk and two of them sit in the room And then if the person who's turned it is to be president isn't there and the vice president would step in just so that we don't end up clogging up the deliberation with an additional three voices. But
182everyone can and everyone can have a chance to sort of highlight their position on things. I am not married to that idea by any means, but it is sort of what my initial thought was when we originally discussed this. And so I just wanted to put it out there again. Any comments on trustee Richardson's earlier statement? No, okay. I think that I definitely think that during the discussion, there was the word rotation being talked about as something that was wanted, even though I know that the motion did not include rotation. But I think that... The way it could happen would be that essentially the three are elected individually from the different schools. One could sit up here, the other two could come. They would take the place of basically the representatives that come now. So
183all three would come because they all have to give their reports. The one that, much like the three do now there, but one would sit on the dais and give their report. But in addition to their duties as the student trustee, they don't really have a vote, right? It's an advisory vote. So to me, IN TALKING ABOUT THE CONCEPT OF ROTATION, IT ISN'T TRUE TO THAT CONCEPT BECAUSE TO ME, AGAIN, SOME OF THIS IS MAYBE GETTING IN THE WEEDS ABOUT HOW STAFF WOULD DO IT, BUT YOU WOULD ACTUALLY HAVE ALL THREE MEET AT A PREVIOUS TIME TO THE BOARD MEETING. THEY WOULD GET PREPPED. And then the person who is going to be on the dais, who's turned away to represent, they could give their opinion on the particular item. But if the other two,
184during their prep time, had a dissenting opinion or even agreed. with them, then the representative would also read the dissenting opinion or state that the other two high school representatives agreed. And that's how they would all actually be involved with the agenda, discussing the agenda, previous, and kind of try and develop that internal working between the three in their knowledge and what they would share with each other. the person on the dais they would give the official advisory opinion or advisory vote but they could also mention as i said you know who else agreed with that vote or who dissented and that's kind of how i i would see it working So I had the pleasure of talking to three student trustees throughout the state my kid went to the sable conference and as she
185was at the sable conference Kept handing my card out and having random kids from the state call Because you know, I was interested in this topic Amongst a couple of others so in talking to the students one of the things that was spotlighted last night in my conversation was the Student trustee position is meaningless if you're going to put filters on what they do. We already they already don't have a real vote on this board. So if we're going to dilute what they're going to do and say OK all three of you guys were representing voted elected to represent your schools but we're only going to let one of you have a say at a meeting because you guys all have to agree that just doesn't feel fair or. in line with the whole goal
186of having a student trustee and listening to their voice. It doesn't feel, I mean, also with the prepping, I think it should be kind of like our prepping. They get out of it what they put into it. So if they want to go to those meetings, they can. If they don't want to or they have a scheduling conflict, they don't have to go to those meetings. It just doesn't seem fair to get elected to a board position and not to negate anything from the student reps who come and talk about what's happening. But those are student reps and these are trustees. And if we're going to have a student trustee, they should be treated like a student trustee and not as a student rep. Oh, and then the other thing about getting clogged up, that's
187all about. And I'm not throwing any shade, but that's all about how you run the meeting. In all honesty, we don't have to go all around and make sure everybody's heard because sometimes that's too much pressure and people feel like they have to talk. Or there's a sort of a tone of, well, you didn't talk again, either here nor there. We don't have to go around and have everybody. We can go back to the hands. And sometimes a lot of us are silent. If I don't have anything or somebody else has said what I've said, I don't feel the need to talk about it. So, I mean, if we just gave parameters and we ran a tight meeting, having that additional voice, I don't think is going to take anything or distract from our meeting.
188But my opinion, my two cents. Yeah. Trustee Brubaker. I just want to state on the record, I immediately regretted the choice of clogged up as my adjective. That is all. Yeah, I think we can definitely talk about, you know, how the process. I think we would try and do that at a, carve that time out to be able to have that conversation. We haven't. I just continued the regular process that was here because we had some pretty meaty and un... and unexpected big issues that we were dealing with. And so I didn't want to change or to even open that box up at the beginning. But yeah, I definitely intend to be able to have that conversation. So my vision wasn't to limit them. I know it wouldn't be on here. That's why their opinion...
189whoever would be up here would read their opinion. And if they're on whatever the item was, right? So the person up here would read their advisory opinion, because they're the ones that are up here, but they would also read the advisory opinions of the other two. They would have advisory opinions, whether it's a dissenting or whether it's agreeing. So Cash Creek, being the Cache Creek representative, I disagree on item N-2 for these reasons. However, the student representative from Pioneer or from Woodland High actually does not agree with my position. This is their position. That's how I would see that they would continue. And of course, they would rotate it so they would all. have the opportunity to do that but the pre-meeting would be really important because they get to discuss the issues amongst themselves
190right so they they get to within the group better than just independently as one kind of come to some understanding from a student perspective if they were able to meet you know in caucus in that way together So superintendent, I'm not sure if any of this discussion has given you the clarity that you're seeking. And that's why I'm bringing it forward because I wasn't clear. And so I wanted to make sure you had the discussions to give me direction. Well, we could, did you want to, well, so you want direction as to how to make the three. How to bring back the resolution. Because when we once I know students who are going to want to be considered to be nominated or to run need to kind of know what their commitment is and what
191that is so that I can tell students I don't want to have them go through this and then they say oh I didn't realize you know we want to make sure the students that are interested and I can tell you there's students interested they're interested I've already been talking to some and They're waiting to see what's going to what it's going to be and so I just need direction from the board Can I offer that I think that even and I understand with all respect to What what you put out there Candace that night and in the motion which we should respect That that night our mission was to figure out did we want three representatives or one representative and One solution here perhaps might be to just let Elodia, let staff figure out how
192it's going to be done. We did the ability of saying, do we want three representatives or one? That was the main issue, right, that night. We chose three. And I think that we've definitely talked about our opinions, and I know how you worded your motion. I think maybe we just let Elodia decide and staff decide how that manifests itself. Maybe that's the best solution. They've already kind of heard what we all think. I don't know how you feel about that, Trustee Richardson-Feller. My visceral reaction is if you're gonna ask me a question, I'm gonna give you an answer. So I am I'm okay with that. I mean you asked me how I wanted it to do be done I gave you guys my answer we got back and forth We're gonna kick the can on
193over school Odie and the team and you guys make it work Can I suggest something? Why don't I ask on my superintendent advisory and then come back and bring to you the recommendation? That the students tell me I'm okay with that Okay, looks like you Got direction. Thank you. Thank you. Maybe they can give me direction We need them now Thank You trustees for for sharing. I know that we have Very distinct points of views. They're all valid and they ought to be respected. Thank you. All right moving on to and three information action replace SRS Chavez day resolution with national farm worker Awareness Week resolution. Yes, I'm bringing this forward I like for the board to consider replacing the Cesar Chavez resolution with the national farmworkers awareness week resolution due to the time of
194Things are happening right now nationally and the impact that our farm workers are having with immigration and because we're an AG community I'd like for the board to consider that we focus that on farm workers and the movement of course And the recognition of all the community leaders that supported the movement to support the farm workers So I'd like to suggest that we try it out for this year and then we can always we look back. Okay do any Trustees have any comments on this? Just to be a dinner. My comment is that I move for approval second Thank you. I just want to make sure any comments that need to be made I have we have a Motion by trustee Villagrana and a second by trustee Richardson Fowler. Is there any discussion? Yes So
195that that would be me. I just really wanted to State how how important and impactful it is for us to be able to talk about farm worker awareness and all of the history of what has led to, you know, what originally led us down the path of honoring leaders like Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta. I think that, you know, very often we see celebrations which are very nice. We have mariachis, we have dancers, but... in some speeches, but really the movement for farm workers is a civil rights movement. It is a movement that is based deeply on trying to remove racism, discrimination, essentially trying to fight against a system that is one step above slavery in that The amount of money that is paid for farm workers to work in the fields is extremely low, keeps
196farm workers in poverty. Over many decades, this fight has gone on. Myself, coming from a really small country town in the middle of the San Joaquin Valley. And my father was a farm worker. I worked in the fields, much like Trustee Villagrana worked in the fields. And when I was in the fields, I experienced discrimination along with my father. I experienced being berated by the landowner, where my father had to be silent. And I saw my father for one of the first times in that experience. My father... you know stood up for a lot of people but I saw him be silent because he was fearful to lose his ability to make income that impacted me as a young child now I'm trying to share these things because I want I want to try and
197express how important this issue is. It's not just about transferring the name of the celebration. It's what it has meant. It is the oppressive nature that was fought, the almost impossibility of the fight to be able to... to have dignity with real wages. And the exploitation that happened was incredible. When I had to walk home, I went to a little country school, I had to walk home about five minutes, ten minutes, I would regularly see immigration chasing people. I saw immigration lasso people, drag them through the streets like dogs. And the UFW, the movement, to give dignity to farm workers, to give dignity to individuals that worked in the fields. My home is in the middle of fields. You know, I would be scared when I saw it, but my mother explained to me that
198I was actually born here, so I didn't have to fear immigration. But I saw the despair of our immigration policies, legal or not. I was in a, I've seen my father have scars from the pesticides that were used. I've seen other people have scars. My father used to take me. I've walked in UFW marches. When I was in grammar school, the fields surrounded where we would play outside, and the planes would spray the crops with pesticides, and they would spray us with pesticides. And that never, nobody from the school ever stopped that. And so, you know, when we take up this issue, I'm trying to share with our trustees, our community, how heavy this is, how big it is to be able to continue the... traditions of making sure that our farm workers are honored,
199that more than our farm workers, it's the Latino community, the Mexican-American community, specifically in the history of California, are honored, and that the fight, what it took to overcome that was tremendous. Tremendous in ways that you cannot feel, especially if you weren't there. And so it just really resonates deeply with me. It's critically important to me that we do well by recognizing all of what it meant to fight for farm workers' rights and all that meant in terms of civil rights, et cetera. And thank you for hearing me out. Okay, does anyone else have any other comments? No, okay. So this is an action item. I think, before I made my comment, did somebody? Trustee Villagrana made the motion and then who seconded it? Candace. Seconded by Trustee Richardson-Fowler. Oh yeah, we were in discussion,
200sorry. And so, okay, so let's do a vote. We'll start with Trustee Garcia, how do you vote? Yes. Trustee Brubaker? Yes. Trustee Rodriguez, yes. Trustee Villagrana? Yes. Trustee Rodriguez-Mohica? Trustee Richardson-Fowler. Yes. Okay, thank you. The action passes unanimously with six yes votes to replace Cesar Salazar Chavez Day Resolution with National Farmworker Awareness Week Resolution. Thank you. We move on to item O, public comment for items not on the agenda. Do we have any public comments? We do not. Then we'll move on to item P, information request for future agenda items. Do you have a comment? Okay, Superintendent. Yes, I'd like to just share with the board that I've spoke that I've For the next four more me and I watch 26. We're going to be having a discussion on facilities I've we've had several trustees
201who have turned in yellow sheets related to facilities in one way or the other I've spoken to the three who submitted with trustee Rubecker trustee Mojica trustee Villagrana and they've all agreed for us to bundle all those things together so we can look at it the whole picture and so we're going to give an update on current facility projects and prioritizing future facility projects and needs and so I'm just going to just kind of really quickly just to be transparent with everyone about what That's going to all incorporate there was a request from Trustee Villagrana to consider carry over funds or reserves to construct the second gym at Pioneer High School and add visitor bleachers at Woodland High School football field. Another request was from Trustee Mojica information to discuss options for addressing safety and
202bullying in bathrooms that might need to be a two-part because we could deal we'll address the facility part of it. and we'll figure out how we do the next part of the there's a behavior part and it's a physical part um report on facility roof damage during the winter of the new year so we're going to talk about our what we have and what our needs are for roofs and update on where we are with facilities master plan so we're going to try to have a first shot at it they probably may While I'm sure it will be a second part to this but we're going to look at it all together so that we can have a comprehensive Comprehensive look at it on these these trustee requests, but also look at our facilities assessment
203Then look at what we are available funds that we have available because as you know We have over half a million dollars of facility needs and it's impossible what to us to address them all But we need to make some prioritize on how what we're going to start tackling and and then consider what? Some of the reserves and other funds that we have available to address more facilities. So we're gonna bundle it all together and so I just wanted to let you know that for the rest of the board and the public to know how we're going to address those yellow sheets for starters. Okay. Any comments. Trustee Verdon. Just to clarify did you say half a million or I misheard. 600 million right. 600 million. Thank you. Trustee Rilleas-Mike. It's not a comment on
204this. Okay. So you want. I have a yellow sheet request that I wanted to share but I don't know if there's any other comments. OK. Superintendents remarks. OK. Any other comments on the superintendent's statements. No. OK. Trustee Rodriguez-Mohica. Yes. I am or I submitted rather a yellow sheet to get a an update on our community schools. We got a presentation back in October and it'd be really helpful to understand kind of what we've done and what our next steps are. I submitted the yellow sheet request as a Friday fact however I'm hoping that that will help the staff be able to gather the information and we won't have to add it as an agenda item. That's it. OK very good. Any other comments. No seeing none move on to item Q information closing comments. Does
205anyone have any closing comments? Anyone okay. No seeing none. We'll move on to our date and time of next scheduled regular board meeting Thursday March 26th closed session at 5 and open session at 6 p.m We move on to adjournment. Thank you everyone for joining us. Thank you trustees for your work for your energy. Appreciate it