001Testing. Testing microphone. One, two, three. Testing. Test. Testing. Testing. President, the time is 5.30 p.m. Okay, good afternoon. We have a full house. I'm here. I was all prepared, and I wasn't. This is the regular board meeting of the Adelanto Elementary School District. It is Tuesday, May 6, 2025. Okay, at this time, so that was 1.0002, our call to order. 1.03, roll call and quorum establishment. Trustee Soto? Soto present. Trustee Krause? Krause present. Trustee Webster? Webster present. Trustee LaFrench? LaFrench present. Trustee Stewart? Stewart present. Okay, going on to 1.004 is the pledge, and I have some helpers from Brad Braddock. who will come up to the podium. I have Emily Carlos, Mayate Rocha, Aiden Martinez, and Zane Cunningham. Please come up. Press the little man thing. Is theirs on? Okay. Please stand for the Pledge
002of Allegiance. Remove your hats and hoodies. Place your right hand over your heart. Ready, begin. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Hey, you guys did great. Thank you. Thank you. All right, going on to two, adoption of the agenda. 2.01, proposed additions, deletions, and adjustments in the order of business. Madam president we do we're going to be pulling item 13.01 business services approval of the representation letter to ID Bailey LLP for average daily attendance this item will return back in a future meeting all right think thank you all right go going on to 2.0 to adoption of the agenda trustees I need a motion to adopt the agenda Trustee Webster,
003I motion to adopt the agenda with the exclusion of 13.01. Okay, I need a second. LaFrench, I second. Okay, please call for the vote. Trustee Soto? Soto, aye. Trustee Krause? Krause, aye. Trustee Webster? Webster, aye. Trustee LaFrench? LaFrench, aye. Trustee Stewart? Stewart, aye. Motion passes 5-0. All right, going on to three staff reports and presentations. 3.01, academic services, school showcase, Eagle Ranch Elementary, West Creek Elementary, and Donald F. Braddock Elementary. Sorry. Dr. Walker. Thank you, President Stewart. I appreciate you. At this time, I'm super excited to have our very own Dr. Dwizon share and have presentations by the three schools mentioned by the President. Thank you, Dr. Walker. Good evening, everyone. This evening, we are proud to present three of our schools, and I've seen the students already. They look very, very happy to be
004here, so we're excited to see them. So we do have school showcases this evening from Eagle Ranch, West Creek, and followed by Donald Braddock. So at this time, we'd like to welcome up Eagle Ranch Elementary proud principal, Mr. Jonathan Wilson. Board if we could please go to the front. Thank you. My apologies Good evening trustees executive cabinet and everyone in attendance. My name is Jonathan Wilson. I'm the proud principal of Eagle Ranch Elementary School We have a great musical performance tonight from a few of our students Before we get into that. I do want to give a huge shout out to our wonderful music teacher Mrs. Perry for providing our students with great music instruction She is truly invaluable to our campus and our campus really thrives while she is there teaching music to our
005students. So we'd like to showcase some of that at this time. So at this time, I'd like to welcome Mrs. Perry to introduce our students. Okay, our first performance is from Omar and he's going to be playing Simple Gifts and Spring. Next, we have Jade playing Old MacDonald and Auralie. Next is Helena playing Bingo and Yankee Doodle. Back with one last song is Omar. with Ode to Joy. Thank you all so much. One more big round of applause for our students up here. Have a good evening, everyone. That was amazing. So thank you, Eagle Ranch, Mr. Wilson, Mrs. Perry. Thank you so much. And students, that was just beautiful. At this time, I would like to welcome up our proud principal of West Creek Elementary, Mr. Howard Carrera. Testing, testing. Yeah. Good evening Board of
006Trustees, Cabinet members, and Atalanta School District community. I'm Angel Rodriguez, a fifth grade student and PBIS member of the PBIS team. I am here with my family, Liliana Rodriguez, my mom. Arturo Rodriguez my grandpa mr. Carrera principal miss Hanson vice principal the rest Creek family now I will turn it over to miss Hanson we'll share more about West Creek news crew thank you Good evening cabinet and our executive our executive cabinet and trustees, excuse me I'm excited to announce something. We've started at West Creek is called the news crew It was started by our second grade teacher miss Lugo shout out to you miss Lugo and our news crew. Yes Our news crew has been an excellent way to engage students and build community, spread positivity, and more importantly, take an active role in their
007educational environment. So here, next slide please. All right, there on the left is a picture, a photo of the news crew team, and here is a video of our news crew in action. To the right. Oh, can you? Good morning, Worshiping Priests. I am Yuri Amaya. And I'm Bernard Atkins. Here to deliver your morning announcements. Today is Thursday, May 1st, 2025. We stand for the Fourth President of the Regents. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The West Creek Powders are a community of gardeners who are respectful of self and others, responsible for our behavior and academic achievement, and safe at all times. Today's lunch will be chicken sandwich, tater tots,
008shredded romaine, pickled strawberries. Please remember to switch your alugnate wrapped food in the red box bin. Rules review all snacks must be eaten before the end of the day. No food is allowed in play areas or the buses. No hot fries, chips or energy drink. All the present students need a pass to come to the office, t-shirts and posters. Need to send a student with a pass. Exhortations for being a good pirate are the following. Always keep your hand to yourself. Treat others with kindness. Be helpful and love where you're on campus. Teachers, attend the fortnightly please. No cell phones are allowed. Cell phones must be off and in backpack until you're off campus. Today's special events. Teachers, time shall have been. Pulse Pulse for main light. This will give our kiddos more time to
009get rid of. With the big teachers check your boxes for create for creativity worksheets. Repeat the worksheet by tomorrow the most pretty one per grade level. Win a treat from the news crews. Make sure to dink outside of the box and always cover in detail or must. Time for shout outs. My name is Emily. My name is Emily. I am from Ms. Velasquez's class and I'm shouting out for Naomi. My name is Nelaine and I'm from Ms. Velasquez's class and I'm giving a shout out to Mr. Carrera. For what? Keeping the school a happy place. My name is Yvonne and... I shout out to Ms. Hansen for keeping us safe outside. Shout out to Ms. Rena and the Crofters for keeping us safe on the playground. I shout out to Ms. Crystal because she is
010awesome. My name is Ethan Martinez and I shout out to Timothy for being the best basketball player. The news group will be out in the morning recording shoutouts. If you want to make one, make sure to let them know. And now it's time for Geek About It Thursday. Read me this. I go around mountains and through cities, but I never move. What am I? The first class to email Ms. Lugo with the correct answer will get a small tree. We are looking for some positive, personable, creative, and outgoing students. Must be able to follow directions, have great behavior, and be a team player. The winners from last week's creativity contest are Penelope from Ms. Lugo, Andre from Ordenola, And Zaniya from Miss Phipps. Congratulations to all this week's winners. Next week, upper grade winners will
011be announced. All right, thank you. And at this time, I'm going to hand it over to Mr. Carrera, who is going to introduce our AYH team. Thank you, Ms. Hanson. Good evening, everyone. My name is Mr. Carrera, proud principal here at West Creek. So our next slide, Mr. Austin, please. And our final slide is going to present our cheerleaders. I want to do a special shout-out to staff members that really, really helped us put this together. Ms. Sylvia Anderson. She's here. Thank you for putting our talent show together. Ms. Monica Reyes, also another classified staff member with the help of two teachers, Ms. Kabaki and Ms. Velasquez, who helped put our talent show together, which is May 9th. So everyone is welcome to come May 9th, this Friday. And this is just a little snippet
012of our presentations that we're going to have, our talent show, and our cheerleaders are going to perform. So we have the music, Mr. Austin. Thank you very much. Thank you, ladies. Thank you very much. Special shout out. Special, special shout out also to AYA and Ms. Cardona for putting this together. Thank you. And they're also part of our talent show. So they'll be performing on Friday. So everyone is welcome. Thank you. Pictures, please. Pictures. Good to see you. That was amazing. One more round of applause for West Creek. Right before we introduce our last school, I do want to draw your attention. We have a display in the very back side of the room. This student's display went, we had students go to the State History Day competition last week. Ophelia Skalsky, seventh grade, Melvin
013Davis, she made it all the way to the finals. So her is on display. So at this time, I do want to welcome proud principal of Braddock Elementary, Mrs. Christina Valenzuela. Good evening, Board President Stewart, Board of Trustees, Executive Cabinet, Dr. Walker, AESD staff, families, and community members. I am Christina Valenzuela. I'm the proud principal of Braddock Elementary School, and I'm excited to be here tonight along with my amazing students to discuss the great things that are happening at our site. As always, we would like to begin with a quote. Remember, no one is born a changemaker. It is something you become when you see a problem, then dare to become a part of the solution. This year, more than any year before, we dare to dream big, to overcome the desire to stay satisfied
014and to push for something more dynamic. We are small, but mighty. Destined not only to reinforce our promise to prepare our learners for the future, but to create leaders and changemakers that will address the challenges of our time. In caring for our community, our commitment remains clear, which is to strengthen and create programs, experiences, and resources for all members of our community so that they're able to thrive in every dimension of their lives. Tonight, we just don't want to talk about what we're doing. We want to show you what we're doing. It begins with our core encompassing our community school commitment in extending to such programs as PBIS, CTE, and AVID. Without further ado, I would like to introduce Zane Cunningham, also known as the future mayor of Adelanto, to begin our dive into Braddock's
015present and our future. As Ms. V said, I am Zane. I'm a fifth grade student. I'm a soccer player and I also skate in my free time. I am also interested in helping people, which is why I'm excited to be a Safe School Ambassador. And that's why I'm also excited about our new Wellness Center. Having a Wellness Center on campus will give us a chance to help others like my mom, who is a nurse. We are excited about all the partnerships we have developed, especially the local high schools and their medical CTE pathways. With local businesses partners, such as Old Grove Farm and Arts After Dark. and with the SBCSS and their Master Gardens who came to our site two weeks ago to help us train our teachers in how to take care of our
016garden. Our community school is the foundation to our alignment and directly contacted to our PBIS expectations. Now I would like to introduce Emily. Good evening. My name is Emily Carlos. I'm a fifth grader, a gymnast, and a future leader. and I'm here to talk about PBIS. Our PBIS expectations have changed our school. We really work hard every day to be safe, respectful, and responsible because we know it has improved our school culture. We also participated in different programs. This year, different grade levels came together to show our commitment to being kind, and because of it, we were identified as a 2025 kindness certified school. This led us to look for other programs that would help our school transform into a changemaker space. Mayta is up next. Good evening, I'm Maite. I'm a fifth grade student
017from Braddock. I like to draw and be creative. I also like to help people. Tonight, I've been asked to talk about our future career and technical education ideas. We are interested in not only developing an elementary CTE program, but we plan to do it in two ways. First, through our community garden, and second, through a graphic design program. Our community garden will be up and running soon, but our graphic design program is in full effect. This time, we would like to share some of the items we have produced. We believe that exposure to early career exploration will help us develop future leaders and problem solvers. Finally, I would like to introduce Aiden. My name is Aiden. I'm the final fifth grade representative from Braddock. I also like to play soccer, sketch, and I like to
018stay organized. The last piece of the Braddock puzzle that I would like to share is AVID. AVID is changing the way we are learning by helping us develop specific skills for success. We are developing organization, time management, and critical thinking skills. Our teachers are not only helping us grow, but are helping us take ownership of our education. The great things that are happening in our classroom inspired our admin and staff to visit an AVID demonstration school to not only bring back new ideas, but to also begin the process of becoming AVID demonstration school. Stay tuned. These five pieces have allowed us to develop our Braddock crest and will also become building blocks that will define our next chapters. Thank you for taking your time to listen to our story. We appreciate you. Have a great
019night. One last thing. Finally, in closing, our steps continue to support our vision of developing our community with implementation of a wellness center, community garden, a farmer's market, engagement opportunities such as art nights provided by Umbrella Arts, One Book, One School, and our new PBIS store and countless professional development opportunities. We are confident that these will continue to empower our entire staff. Thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to share and for your continued support. Have a great evening. Yes, I get lost every time I want to say thank you for the students and the parents to come out. Moving on to four closed session declarations. We will be taking items 4.02 to 4.03. Oh, I'm sorry, five public testimony before closed session. Mrs. Love, do we have any speakers? Are you going
020to read them? Yes. Trustee Love French, do you have the thing? Thank you. the public comment period is administrated by state law and is the point in the meeting set aside for members of the public to share their opinions with the board open meeting laws do not permit the board to engage in dialogue dialogue or answer questions any person who wishes to address the governing board on closed session agenda items only must complete and submit an aesd speaker request four and five minutes before the meeting is called to order Public comments will only be taken on agenda items during the discussion of those items. The Board values public comments and although the Board of Trustees cannot take action or discuss items not on the agenda, the Board of Trustees listens carefully and appreciates input from
021the public. Additionally, a public speaker can be cut off for exceeding the allotted time or for willfully causing an actual disruption to the meeting. Before cutting a person off or removing someone, the board will give at least one clear warning. If you were cut off or warned last time, please consider that your warning. Individual speakers are allowed three minutes to address the board on each closed session agenda item. The board limits the total time for public input on each item to 20 minutes. With board consent, the president may increase or decrease the time allowed for public presentations depending on the topic and the number of persons wishing to be heard. The president may take a poll of speakers for or against a particular issue and may ask that additional persons speak only if they have
022something new to add. Thank you. Thank you. All right, Mrs. LaVey, the board calls on Jennifer Rader. Oh, yes, we're, I need a, wow, I'm sorry, it's the end of the school year. My brains are scrambled. We need a representative from ADTA. Okay, okay, do we want to do CSEA until she comes back? All right, so Ms. Diane Lynn. Look how big, I had it right, so I didn't have to wear my glasses. Good evening, Madam President. Steward, Trustees, Dr. Walker, our Superintendent, Classified staff, Certificated staff, and all others present and on YouTube. The topic of the evening is our health insurance. Don't get me wrong. We all understand that the insurance companies have raised their prices. However, for classified staff, we have many single parents trying to make ends meet with the rising costs
023of food, gas, utilities, and have children to raise. I heard one of our six-hour paras say, oh my God, the premiums are almost half of my salary. monthly. I've also heard with my own ears that three members have applications in our surrounding school districts. Why? Because the insurance is fully paid. Is this really what we need to do to survive? It doesn't matter how much each of us makes, but once we are accustomed to a salary, it's very difficult to change our lifestyle when we make less. It's impossible when we have children that truly depend on us. I'm here tonight to remind you that we have dedicated employees here who do not want to leave AESD. We are hoping that you would consider raising the cap for us. Classified negotiations is this Friday, May 9th.
024I'm hoping your decisions will benefit our dedicated staff. Thank you for allowing me to speak. Thank you. A-A-D-T-T-A. Jennifer Raider. Weren't those kids adorable? They're the reason we're here. It was really fun to watch. Good evening members of the school board, superintendent, administrators, teachers, and community members. I come before you tonight with deep respect for the work we all do in support of our children and with a message rooted in both urgency and hope. Over the past week, I've had the privilege of meeting with teachers and principals across our district. I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to those school leaders and educators who welcomed me into their buildings, shared their stories, and spoke candidly about the challenges they face. Your honesty, your resilience, and your unwavering commitment to your students inspire me every day.
025What I heard, again and again, was clear. Our classrooms need more human resources. Teachers need support in the form of paraprofessionals, counselors, interventionists, and behavioral specialists. They need time and space to build meaningful relationships with students, differentiate instruction, and do the job we were trained to do. At the same time, we are being asked to implement more programs than ever before and often rolled out without the necessary training or follow-through. It's not that our teachers don't embrace innovation. It's that they're overwhelmed. When everything is a priority, nothing truly is. The solution isn't more programs, it's more people. It's fewer directives and more collaboration. It's not about doing more, it's about doing what matters most and doing it well. We have a shared responsibility to create an environment where our educators can thrive so our students
026can succeed. That starts with listening to those closest to the work and acting on what they tell us they need. More than anything, our teachers need to be assured of continued quality health care support. Fully funded health care for teachers is not just a benefit, it's a necessity. Educators dedicate their lives to supporting the mental, emotional, and academic well-being of our students, often at great personal cost. Yet too many of us are burdened by rising premiums, out-of-pocket expenses, and inadequate coverage that leaves us choosing between our health and our paycheck. When teachers are healthy and secure, we are better able to show up for our students, our colleagues, and our communities. Fully funding health care is a powerful statement of respect and investment in the people who make our schools work every day. An apple
027a day may keep the doctor away, but it really won't. It takes quality, affordable health care and fewer stressful demands on our workday. Again, I thank the board for your time and service, and I thank the educators, teachers, principals, and staff who continue to give their all every single day. You, the board, have the power to prove with action the appreciation you speak about. As our former leader Hector Anderson used to ask, who's driving the bus? The answer to that question, you are. You the board you drive these decisions you tell our administration what your priorities are and when you direct them for the business at the bargaining table We all win Let's get back to what matters supporting our students by supporting the people in front of them. Thank you Okay, do do we
028have odd audience members? We do madam president the board calls on Ruby Sandoval Good evening board members and executive cabinet. I'm Ruby Sandwell from Victoria-McGathen. I'm the fifth grade dual immersion teacher. Today we had a visit from Dr. Walker during our staff meeting. It was greatly appreciated to have her there because She made herself visible. She made herself available and approachable and that gives me hope. Board members, we really need to try to keep our superintendent around longer than what we have. She is doing a great job from what I see and this will definitely bring consistency and progress to everything that we are doing. and it includes our situation right now with our insurance. We need consistency and progress. Thank you. Thank you. Madam President, the board calls on Shelly Zilder. Good evening members
029of the board members of the cabinet fellow staff members and families in attendance My name is Shelly Zellner and I am a teacher at Atalanta Elementary School this evening I would like to extend my heartfelt appreciation to dr. Walker as the tick or teacher in charge at AES I want you to know how much I appreciate the change in management meetings with only one admin on campus I would be out of my classroom until lunch on those meeting days. There were many times that those meetings would run late and my admin would not return and I would have to return to my class and be admin and teacher simultaneously. Since you have taken over, my admin is only gone the last hour or so of the day. My class and I appreciate the time consideration
030and the consistency. It has definitely given me more time to attend to the needs of my students this year. Thank you for your time this evening. Thank you. Madam President, the board calls on Lauren Benson. Good evening, Madam President, Board, Cabinet, and those of you in the audience and at home. I would first like to say thank you to Dr. Walker and her team. It's so nice to know that there's finally a captain steering our ship. I haven't felt in a very long time that we had any sort of direction. Now I can feel it taking shape. Things are moving in the right direction. Things are starting to make sense, and we are gaining a bit of confidence back. I know that myself and many of my colleagues feel that Dr. Walker has a passion
031for learning and a passion for kids. It's evident in the time you spend with her on her watch and the way that you see her interact with students. The next thing I would like to mention is that so many people, what so many people are here for are negotiations. We know that our budget woes are not because of this current cabinet. There is one person to blame, and that is our former superintendent and business officer, Michael Krause. His gross mismanagement of district funds has taken money away from most importantly our students and next the people who teach and support them, our teachers and support staff. We know we can't find that money he mismanaged or undisappear it I guess. And that our district has to pay for his mistakes. But teachers deserve at the very
032least healthcare. If only to get through these trying times. and to keep ourselves healthy enough to do what we're here to do, and that's teach our students. Thank you. Thank you. Madam President, the board calls Lisa Martinelli. Good evening, everyone, and happy Teacher Appreciation Week. In three minutes, I want to inspire us to make our district the best it can be, a place where every child thrives, every voice is heard, and trust binds us together. We are educators, parents, students, and neighbors united by a shared dream to create a safe, supportive, and transformational learning system that lifts up every student and every stakeholder, especially our most vulnerable. I just wanted to take a moment. I noticed on our... our expense sheet that we have $50,000 for office furniture. And I just wanted to mention that
033at our school at Braddock, our students' chairs are older than our 28-year-old school. And we have screws that are falling out of the chairs, and they're getting pinched when they sit down. It's really hard for students to concentrate when they're getting pinched. Another thing I wanted to mention was that I just came across our 2003 contract. And I was so inspired by it because it was a two-year contract. It was 2003 to 2005. It had guaranteed COLA, 20 to 1 classrooms, and fully paid insurance. And we didn't even have a copay at that time. So we do face challenges. I understand that. We all deserve clear answers and clear communication about how decisions are made. I appreciate being invited up or being allowed up to speak about this. And I also appreciate the efforts that
034the cabinet has made to include in our programs, the Beyond the Bell program, which helps us to share our passions with our students. the summer camp program which is an excellent opportunity and i wanted to thank each and every one of you for that atalanta is resilient we've embraced great programs But we can do more. Let's livestream our meetings in a more available way so that parents can make comments if they're from afar. And let's create a feedback portal, more visible, so that every voice shapes our future. Let's partner with local agencies, and we are doing that, to safeguard our kids and counter misinformation with facts, keeping our focus on what matters, our children. Imagine an Atalanta where every student feels secure. Every family trusts our schools and every decision reflects our shared values. Let's
035make it real. Teachers share your dreams. Board members lead with openness. Together we'll strengthen oversight with regular audits, boost transparency with open forums, and ensure accountability by reporting our progress. We are Atalanta, diverse, determined, and devoted. Let's unite, act, and make our district a beacon of excellence. Our kids deserve nothing less. Thank you. Thank you. Madam President, the board calls Cynthia Rodriguez. Good evening. My name is Cynthia Rodriguez and I have been a paraprofessional for the Adelanto School District for the past 20 years. I would like to ask the board members, how well do you value your insurance, your health insurance? As a paraprofessional, my role is vital in supporting students with disabilities, ensuring they receive the care and education they need to thrive. That includes assisting with personal hygiene, dressing, diapering, feeding, and assisting
036students with mobility needs, including lifting and wheelchair support. Those of us who work closely with students often face unique risk including exposure to illnesses, accidents, work-related stress, which may require enhanced insurance protection. Therefore, I'm asking the district to increase our insurance cap. Does the district not realize that premiums are increasing faster than our salaries? The rise of health insurance costs will impact all classified employees without a higher cap Classified members may need to cover other medical expenses themselves leading them to a financial burden Others might have to opt out of insurance Members union members classified members are the backbone of education Without proper healthcare coverage, members may delay necessary medical care, leading to worsening health conditions that may affect their work performance. When members are financially secure and healthy, they can focus more on their
037job duties, leading them to improve student engagement and academic performance. Competitive benefits help retain classified employees and also help retain experienced teachers reducing turnover and ensuring students continue to receive the education they deserve i'm asking the district to please increase the cap during the next negotiation meeting thank you thank you thank you madam president the board calls on kim smith Good evening, Superintendent, Dr. Walker and Cabinet, Board President Stewart, esteemed board members, fellow educators, students, and families. Most of you already know me on some level, whether from the classroom, the sidelines that attract me, or just from passing in the halls. So tonight, I just wanted to talk to you, instead of introducing myself again formally, to talk to you about something that's been on my mind and heart lately, consistency. In education, we hear
038that word a lot. As teachers, we are expected to be consistent with our expectations, our feedback, and most importantly, our care. Our students thrive when they know what to expect and feel safe in that structure. Principals are asked to be consistent, too, with their staff, in their leadership, and in how they support their teams. Parents, you know consistency is everything. Bedtimes, routines, discipline, even snack time. And let's not forget spouses. Consistency can be the difference between a disagreement and a disaster. And just like the rest of us, our superintendent and cabinet deserve the space and the time to build the consistency too. In fact, I like to think of it like a good pot of grits. Now, I don't know about you, but I don't like runny grits. I like them thick, rich, full-bodied, and
039able to hold their own. And just like grits, leadership needs time and the right ingredients to thicken up. Vision, communication, and trust. I do like sugar on my grits, though. Consistency is also like signing up for a race and then not finishing it because the course was rough. Then signing up for another race and doing the same thing. And again. And again. And then you complain that your race record is horrible. You blame the race directors, the weather, the other runners, when in reality, you chose not to finish the race. You chose not to learn from the terrain, not to build on the failures or celebrate the progress. And here's the thing. We cannot place the blame from past chaos on the current superintendent and cabinet. That's like moving into a house that was already
040falling apart. Then blaming the new tenants for the broken plumbing the leaking roof and the foundation cracks No, those problems were there before some board members fought for accountability and they deserve credit But others stood by and let the damage grow that behavior cannot continue Now is not the time to deny educators their cola because of a mess that they didn't create that is not just unfair It's destructive 30 seconds if we truly want progress We have to stop switching leaders mid-race, stop blaming new teams for old failures, and start building a system where people are allowed to grow, to lead, and to finish the work they started. So tonight, I ask all teachers, leaders, families to recommit to consistency in our roles and give each other the grace and time to grow. Because when
041consistency is present at every level, from the classroom to the boardroom, everyone wins, especially our students. Thank you. Madam President, the board calls on Julie Alleread. Good evening, Superintendent, Cabinet, and Trustees, and our fabulous audience staff. I would like to speak on behalf of Classified and our health care costs. I have been an employee of the Atalanta School District for almost 14 years. The last two years have been particularly disheartening. Not only has our health care costs gone up, our wages have not kept up with those rising costs. Let me remind you of the importance of Classified. Classified gets the students to school. Classified watches over the students in quad areas and the playground. Classified takes care of the students if they're sick or injured. Classified feeds the students. Classified cleans up after students at
042lunch and keeps our campuses clean. Classified assist students to find books that interest them. Classified instructs students in math, science, language arts, and history on a daily basis. As you can see, Classified take care of all students from the minute they get on the bus in the morning until the minute they get home. Classified are a vital part of Atalanta School District. Without us, there wouldn't be schools as they exist now. We need our medical cap raised. This past year, we earned less money than the year before. And next year, based on Kaiser and Anthem rates, we'll be further in the hole. Considering all of our roles within the district, at the least, we deserve a higher medical cap. The same as certificated and a raise to make up for those past lost wages. Employees
043have left the district to get higher compensation and health care coverage. More of us will follow. All of you need to start valuing classified employees because right now we're feeling expendable. The district gets money from the state every year. The leaders from our district choose to spend it on certain things. We as classified deserve to get a reasonable raise from that money. We don't want any more lip service. We want you to step up and do the right thing Please award classified a higher medical cap and a respectable living wage. This is a long Overdue and deserved. Thank you very much Good evening everybody. Thanks for coming by tonight It's no secret that the cost of living is continuing to increase outrageously. That is why I, among many teachers, am very disappointed that after a
044year's worth of reasonable bargaining sessions, the teachers of this district are being offered a measly 1% off schedule increase with no increase in health coverage. I am strongly opposed to this because I experienced an incredibly challenging school year. As a teacher, I have a great roster of students to work with, but quite a few of them are not where they should be academically and socially. This automatically translates to several additional obligations and duties for the teacher. As the teacher tries to academically bring up a student of this level, they inevitably will be faced with... differentiated instruction, counseling and individualized instruction as they encourage the student to continue moving forward with their studies, and encourage them to avoid getting into unnecessary disputes with their peers on a daily basis a lot of times, SST planning, data
045collection, paperwork and meetings, also the following and implementation of the IEP, as well as contributing to and updating the IEP for the next teacher to follow. We also have to work closely with the home support system. All of this is very time consuming and we have to do it in addition to what we already do. And that is teaching the curriculum for the students who are on grade level as they should be. I often feel like I work two or three times harder than I should be working. Today's teaching arena is very demanding and stressful. After doing all this work in addition. to teaching the regular curriculum. Again, I am highly disappointed that we are not being offered a fair increase in health coverage and a measly 1% off schedule increase that will end after
046one payment. What I am describing can be compared to a student who put their heart into completing a project. They researched it, decided on a topic, planned out the best way to complete and present it, collected data and documented it for presentation. constructed their project and wrote a verbal presentation. Then upon sharing it in class, the teacher gives them a grade of D minus or an F. This is highly unfair and unacceptable and the board really needs to rethink and do much better. Every day most of us go beyond what is expected of us as we serve our students and prepare them for the future. Please treat us accordingly because we indeed are worth it. Thank you Good afternoon everybody I'm gonna start by saying how can classify employees be expected to pay out-of-pocket for
047insurance when the cost of living is increasing We depend on our income to provide to our families if I was to depend on only one income We don't have the luxury to have free insurance. The ones who earn more money get paid benefits. We that make less have to pay for insurance. How does that make sense? Our health is compromised working with kids that the majority of the time are sick. Life and health is not promised. Today you're here, the next you're not. We can develop an illness that requires to be removed from work. Our kids can get sick and also develop autoimmune illnesses or even cancer. Unexpected phone calls that can change your aspect of work. Hospital stays, food, gas, everything is an expense at the cost of what? For the reason that I
048said, my daughter, Ariel, she's here. She developed an autoimmune disease last year. So it's very sensitive to me. So I actually received a phone call today at 3 telling me that my daughter, her calcium level went down. So I was probably not even going to make it today, but I didn't have to go to the hospital. So I'm happy for that. And things like that worry me. Thank you. help our workers they are essential thank you madam president that concludes tonight's speakers okay go going on to six re recess to close session session i need a motion i'm sorry i motioned a recess to close session i need a sec second love french i second okay please call for the vote tracy soto soto tracy kraus kraus eye tracy webster webster eye tracy lafrench left
049french eye tracy stewart stewart i motion motion pass passes the the time is now 6 35. thank you Thank you. Thank you. Good evening. Let's reconvene. to open session 7.01, call to order 7.002, roll call and quorum establishment. Ms. LaVey. Trustee Soto. Soto present. Trustee Krause. Krause present. Trustee Webster. Webster present. Tracey LaFrench? LaFrench present. Tracey Stewart? Stewart present. The time is now 7.37. Going on to eight, closed session re-report. There is nothing to re-report. On to nine, public testimony. Ms. Mrs. LaVey? Do we have any speakers? I do actually. I have one here for Mr. Krause. Okay. Trustee LaFrench, do you want to read the verb again? Or no? I think one time is good. We're good. Please put three minutes on the clock. members of the board I stand before you tonight as
050a private citizen not as a board member when I stepped off the dais I just wanted to come before you and and say that I do appreciate the passion our teachers presented to us this evening as a private citizen and being a former CTA member for 10 years a card-carrying member and a teacher I understand where they're coming from I appreciate their passion and our classified staff as well as a private citizen. I'm out in the community and I talk to a lot of them as a private citizen, but also as a board member when I'm on the dais in my capacity there. But again, this evening, I just wanted to let all of them know that I appreciated their coming tonight, the families that joined them as well, and that they are heard. As
051far as when I am a private citizen, I'm out there and I appreciate them coming to talk to me when they see me in a store, even though I'm as a board member up here. private citizen out there. I know it's hard to mesh both of those positions together, but I just wanted to let everyone out there know that anytime they have any concerns. When I'm out there and I'm not in the board capacity as a board member, please feel free to talk to me. I'm out there to listen. And I do appreciate, again, all of the passion that was brought to us this evening. So I just wanted to say that as a private citizen, because as a taxpayer as well, I appreciate the board's ensuring the fiscal health of our district, because that's
052one thing that we have to keep up with as taxpayers in general. We have students in the district or not. We all pay school. district taxes to the school district in atalanta and those of us who live in victorville because our district is kind of i live in victorville but it's in the atalanta elementary school district boundaries and so as a taxpayer i do appreciate the boards and the superintendent cabinets communications with our teams out here and also ensuring though that our district is kept fiscally healthy not only now but well into the future so I do appreciate I want to thank the board as well in the cabinet superintendent for ensuring those conversations continue with helping to keep our district fiscally healthy and with that I will step down as a private citizen and
053back on the board die so thank you very much all right go going on to 10 adoption of the mint minutes The trustees, I need a motion to approve as written and order filled regular board meeting minutes of Tuesday, April 22nd, 2025. Trustee Lefk, French I motion to approve as written. And I need a second. Soto, I'll second. Discussion? No. Okay. Ms. Love, please take the vote. Trustee Soto? Soto, aye. Trustee Krause? Krause, aye. Trustee Webster? Webster, aye. Trustee LaFrench? LaFrench, aye. Trustee Stewart? Stewart, aye. Motion passes 5-0. Move. Moving on to the consent agenda. We are taking items 11.02 through 11.24. Does any trustee want to pull an item? Yes, Madam President. Just one item this evening, 11.17, classified personnel, 11.17. That's all. Thank you. Any other trustee? I need a motion to approve
05411.02 to 11.24 minus item 11.17. Trustee Webster, I motion to approve the remaining of the consent agenda with the exclusion of the one agenda item. Thank you. And I need a second. LeFrench, I second. Please call for the vote. Trustee Soto? Soto, aye. Trustee Crouse? Crouse, aye. Trustee Webster? Webster, aye. Trustee LeFrench? LeFrench, aye. Trustee Stewart? Stewart, aye. Motion passes 5-0. Okay, on to 12 items removed from the consent agenda. I need a motion to approve 11.17. Crowd sign motion to approve 11.17. Webster, I second. We're open for discussion. Thank you, Madam President, members of the board. This evening, I pulled this item because I am sad. I am sad to see that Mr. Roland Kincaid is retiring. After 38 years of service to our district, I had the pleasure of working alongside of Mr.
055Kincaid and hearing him regale me with the stories of the history of our district. He is sort of a historian. He's collected many items over the years from George School as well as from the district that really have a great historical significance. And I really enjoyed his stories. And many of you that have had the pleasure of working with him know what I'm talking about. He was a great custodian. I wish him well in his retirement, and I hope that he will stick around and continue to engage with our district because, again, he was a great person. And you may not know, but the Kincaid name is also what half of Morgan Kincaid. It wasn't him, but I believe it was his father. Is there someone that might be able to clarify that, if it
056was his father that the Kincaid half came from? Yes, sir. It was okay great. So so there's been a long history of the Kincaid's in our district and again I appreciate the the board allowing me to pull aside him to recognize mr Kincaid because it's just outstanding 38 years of service to our district that is all madam president. Thank you Anything else? Okay, please call for for the vote trustee Soto So do I. Trustee Krause? Krause, aye. Trustee Webster? Webster, aye. Trustee LaFrench? LaFrench, aye. Trustee Stewart? Stewart, aye. Motion passes 5-0. Going on to new business, 13.02. Trustees, can I get a motion? Madam President, this item was pulled this evening. No, 0-2. Oh, you said two? Okay, I was looking at one. Thank you. Okay, as I was saying, trustees, can I get a
057motion for approval for the joint exercise of powers agreement with the regional employer-employee partnership for benefits? Krause, I motion to approve. I need a second. Webster, a second. We're open for discussion. Yes. Could I please ask Dr. Walker to say a little bit about this and explain it to our public? Thank you, Trustee Webster. I'm going to turn the mic over to our CBO, Ms. Gonzalez. Thank you, Trustee Webster. That's actually a really good question. Regional Employer Partnership for Benefits is the new health care provider that we will be moving. two in 2526. As you know for many many years we've been a part of the High Desert Trust which is disbanding and so moving forward we were looking for a new home for our benefits and we were lucky to find partnership with REAP
058also known as Regional Employer and Employee Partnership. And just to add a little bit more to that, this was also brought to CSEA and ADTA. Could you speak a little bit about that? Both of our labor partners for ADTA, Mr. Brian Hahn, as well as Frankie Silva for CSEA, were our partners on this team in reviewing all of... the information that we had put out. We had also went out to bid. And so they were a part of that team that reviewed all of the documentation. They were also the ones that helped solidify and ask questions to their membership on what they would like in their benefits, as well as talking to their membership about the ways in which they would move forward. Thank you. Okay. Can we get a vote? Trustee Soto? Soto aye.
059Trustee Krause? Krause aye. Trustee Webster? Webster aye. Trustee LaFrench? LaFrench aye. Trustee Stewart? Stewart aye. Motion passes 5-0. Going on to 14, Governing Board Members Reports and Announcements. Who wants to go first? Volunteers? La French. Okay. I just want to say. Happy Teacher Appreciation Week. As a teacher myself, I've always enjoyed Teacher Appreciation Week because I service children zero to five, and the things that they would make and bring to you was always so heartfelt, and they were excited to see that their teachers were getting things. I want to say that When I first became a teacher, I was thinking to myself that I was going to blink my eye and change so many things so quickly. Today, 20 some years, I won't say how long, but over 25 years later, I am still advocating
060for children and making a difference in their lives. I do want to say thank you to the teachers that every single day you get up inspired and come before children and teach with compassion and understanding. I hope that you take this time for this week to give hugs, smiles, greets in the morning. Give them hugs on their way out. You mean so much to them. One thing that I always say is that when I see a child and they're smiling, you know, their smile is contagious. My smile is contagious. Smile, it goes such a long way with children. They are such a burst of little bundles of energy. So I just want to say thank you. And I also wanted to give a special, you know, thank you to Dr. Walker for her commitment to
061our district and thank her for being here. That's it. Okay. Trustee Soto? Thank you, Madam President. I too want to begin to take a moment to recognize and appreciate our teachers, not just as educators, but as the backbone of our community. They are essential to our growth, stability, and long-term success of our youth and our city. So to every teacher in our district, happy Teacher Appreciation Week. Your impact goes far beyond the classroom. I see it. We see it and we thank you. This past month I had the opportunity to attend the National School Board Association School Board Academy, the budget session, and I found it incredibly insightful. We explored not just how to read and understand school budgets, but how budgets reflect what we truly value. One quote that stuck to me was, show
062me your budget. and I will show you your values. We also heard from former superintendents and current board members from across the country, sharing practical strategies and honest conversation about what works, what doesn't, and how to lead with both transparency and intention. It reminded me how important it is to always be learning and bringing back what I learned to better serve the district. Lastly, I want to share that my virtual office hours have expanded. I'm now available Thursdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. You can sign up for a time at www.officeoftrustysoto.com or feel free to call or text me directly, whatever is easiest for you. I'm here to listen, answer questions. and support our families in real time. That's my report. Thank you. Trustee
063Krause? Yes, thank you, Madam President. This evening I just wanted to start off by saying thank you to our schools that were here this evening to present West Creek Elementary Eagle Ranch Elementary and Donald Braddock. It's always great when our students have the courage to get up at the podium I know it's it's kind of nerve-wracking but I think they all did a great job and I appreciate every time our students have the opportunity to come to Our board meetings and present. So thank you to those three schools this evening for doing that I want to recognize that May is Mental Health Awareness Month and if you or a loved one or someone you know or students or anyone that you may suspect may need a little encouragement or talk to a counselor, please feel
064free to reach out and do so. But we shouldn't have a month just to do that. I think all year round we need to be there for each other and support and encourage each other. As we've heard earlier a second ago, It is Teacher Appreciation Week, and I believe that as a former teacher myself, we don't need just one week to appreciate our teachers. We need all year. They should be appreciated all year. And also coming up... May 18th through the 24th is a classified school employee appreciation week. And so again, I believe that we should appreciate them all year as well. And I appreciate, and now speaking as a board member, I appreciate all of the people that came out here tonight with their passion for what they believe in. I don't believe that
065they should be out there on the streets year after year advocating for a raise. I think, I hope we get to the point at some point where we're able to negotiate perhaps a multi-year contract or something that. does not have our teachers and our classified staff out there holding signs and having to take time out away from their families to do that. So I know our board and cabinet and superintendent are working vigorously on our numbers and hopefully we can come to an agreement before the end of this school year. So I want you to know that we are advocating for that or I am advocating as well. Well, for that, it was good to see the community schools moving forward at Braddock Elementary School. We heard a little bit about that tonight. Ted Vick
066had a movie night, Charlotte's Web. Any of you that read the book? So it was always great to see when they are hosting family events like that. I was excited to hear about electronic timesheets for our employees. I don't know. Has that, Dr. Walker, has that taken effect yet or is that going to be taking effect soon on the electronic timesheets? I was I was encouraged to hear about that. I'm not sure when exactly that will be implemented, but. Thank you for the question trustee Krause. Mr. Shifflett, can you provide an update? Oh, Ms. Gonzalez, lovely. Yes, so currently we've been testing it. We've been working with a couple of sites to pilot the program to work out any kinks. We found a couple of little things, but yes, it will be coming shortly. Great,
067I appreciate it. It's very exciting to hear that it's going to hopefully mainstream the process. Those of you that are looking to next year, our school bus applications are available online. So please be sure families out there to fill those out as soon as possible so that our staff over here can get an idea of how many buses and bus routes they may need to do. I want to appreciate our staff that supported state testing. We just finished with that. And I appreciate all of our students and their hard work and efforts and our teachers and classified staff to encourage them and teach them what they need to know to do that. Also, improving our multi-tiered systems of support for our foster youth. They are some of our most vulnerable students in our district, and
068I appreciate the increasing supports for our foster youth that have been happening in all of our school sites. Lastly, before the next board meeting, we will be having a Mother's Day, so I want to wish all of our mothers out there a very happy Mother's Day. And with that, Madam President, that concludes my comments. Thank you. Okay. Thank you, Trustee Webster. All righty. Good evening, AASD friends, family, and all. I want to start tonight by appreciating the students we've seen in the last few board meetings. They've came, they've joined us, they've brought smiles, joy, and so much passion into our boardroom. I want to thank parents for that support. Without you, we would never get the chance to see the amazing things that our teams are doing every day at each site. The last, I
069believe it was the last board meeting, we passed numerous resolutions and appreciation and dedication to multiple different... jobs throughout our district and if I sat here and appreciate everybody individually I think we'd be here until 9 30. So I just want to extend my deepest gratitude. You know far too often I think we lose sight in the fact that each employee plays such an essential role to our students from bus drivers being the face that they see first to proctors greeting them when they got off buses to CNS making sure their tummies are full and their minds are ready to learn to our teachers who get to inspire who get to motivate, to encourage each young mind that they can do anything they want in this world. And I think it's important to also look
070at our management. They lead our teams. They inspire more. And to stop and think that we up here are just a small piece to what makes AASD so phenomenal, so amazing. I want to say thank you for making this district really what it is. We have so many dedicated and passionate employees that it really does feel my passion to do better for you. So thank you to all who have spent numerous years this year, yesterday, and so many more days ahead of us catering and loving the things that define our future. Thank you and have a great night. First thing I do want to say, happy T- Teacher appreciation week. Never did I think that I would be a teacher. It was my fourth choice in career. I went down the laws, and I can
071tell you. I love my job. It's what I am. It's not what I do. The kids that come through my classroom, they amaze me so much. And this is what I am. And I love it to be able to help the kids, to let them see. what they can be become, to see the potential in every single student, in the ones that come here and do their things. It's like, I get chills every time, every time. And it is an honor when I have kids in my class. Sorry, my 8 a.m. But I just want to say. You know, it's a way way of life. It isn't a job And I do want to say that we do hear you and I know times are hard as a single single mom Yeah, I'm feel feel
072feeling it too, but I know that the cab cabinet is Work working earn earnestly and the board support ports them to hopefully find a way to, you know, where we can meet. And, you know, we're not trying to be chintzy, I promise. But we do have to be responsible. And the board, we did have, like, what can we do? What can we do? So, and that's... earnest so and I really don't have much to say that's it and we go on to 15 superintendent reports and announcements Thank you, President Stewart. Good evening, esteemed President Stewart, Board of Trustees, Executive Cabinet, AESD students, and community. As we continue our journey toward Thrive 2030 and bring our framework for the future to life, I want to pause and share a message of hope and appreciation. Across our
073district, we are moving forward big, bold, brave together. This visit... Vision isn't just a slogan. It is the spirit we see in our classrooms, on our campuses, and throughout our community every single day. I want to give a special shout out to the amazing students who traveled to Sacramento to participate in the history contest. You represented your schools, our district, and San Bernardino County with excellence and heart. You are all winners in our eyes and we are so proud of your achievement. A sincere thank you to the parents who supported this journey and to our site leaders, teachers, district staff who helped make it possible. And as we celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week, I want to take time to extend my heartfelt gratitude to our incredible teachers. Your dedication, creativity, and care shape the future of
074our students. You make learning come alive and your work does not go unnoticed. You truly embody what it means to lead big, bold, and brave together. Thank you all for everything that you do. Our future is bright because of you. In closing, this work is something I approach with confidence, commitment, and compassion. Knowing these values are essential to building a successful thriving district. Let us remain united in our shared goal, empowering students to achieve their fullest potential and contributing to the success of our community. Again, I will say big, bold, brave together. And with that, I have a short video. I love all my teachers because they make me. I learn really well and whenever I don't understand anything they always help me and I like that whenever I need help that they that they
075always come and make sure I get my help. Listen to your teachers and if they do something kind carry that forward to everyone who's having a bad day and make the day brighter. I appreciate you guys so much you guys have taught me how to taught me how to teach kindness to others and be kind to others and I've learned a lot from this school and I love this school so much. Going on to adjournment. Trustees, I need a motion to adjourn. Webster, I motion to adjourn. I need a second. Second. Love brunch, I second. Please call for the vote. Trustee Soto. Soto, aye. Trustee Krause. Krause, aye. Trustee Webster. What's right trustee the French love French I trustee Stewart Stewart I motion motion pass passes five zero zero the time is now eight Oh
076Six have a good good night board. Could we get a picture for our PIO?