March 24, 2026 Regular School Board Meeting Tech Test

001Call to order at 4-0-2. Please rise and sit to the right. After me. 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. So blue is white. Oh, not that one. This one. It's green. Yeah, that's not that one. Roll call. We have Ms. Gibbons, Mr. Ferreira, Mr. Eastless, Mr. Heldreth, and myself all present. Business from the floor. The board meeting is the business meeting of the board held in public forum to comply with the Brown Act. It is not a town hall meeting with the board. This is time for citizens to present problems or questions they feel the board should discuss. Individuals are encouraged to address the full board, not individual board meetings.

002The law prohibits the board from taking action on items not on the agenda. Requests to speak cards should be filled out in advance and presented to the superintendent's executive assistant. Instruction for submitting remote public comment can be found on website busdk12.com under the Board of Trustees tab. The Board has a policy of limiting speakers to not more than three minutes. The Board limits the total time for public input on each item or topic to 15 minutes of five individual requests to speak. The president may review the submitted request to speak or take a poll of the speakers for or against a particular issue and may ask for additional person speak only if there is something new to add. Citizens who have comments on or against a particular issue may be asked to provide a written

003statement for the record. or to sign an agreement with the written comment of another citizen. All names will be memorialized a minute. With the board consent, the president may increase or decrease the time allowed for public presentation depending on the topic and the number of persons wishing to be heard. For the record, please state your name. We will adjourn to closed session at 4.04. Can we have an attorney on the call right now? It's waiting for us to get it. That's 512. Report of action from earlier closed session. In closed session, the board took action to reject the claims of damage for claims number 3188029, 3123632, and 3121745. The board voted unanimous to reject the claims of damages. For claims number 3188029, 3123632. I just wrote that. And 3121745. All right. Presentations. Recognition of the

004High Desert Athletes Small School Division Boys and Girls STEM Basketball Team. Are we doing the girls first? Yeah. So we're doing the STEM girls first. So if we could have the STEM girls basketball team come up, come on up as well as the coaches. Come on up to the front. It's the first one that coach was supposed to be. I don't know if you kept them. Caesar? Yes. All right. Okay, thanks. So certificate of recognition. The certificate is presented to Cesar Vasquez, Barstow STEM Academy girls basketball team head coach. In honor of your outstanding athletic performance and dedication during the 2025-2026 season, we officially recognize your achievement as the High Desert Athletic League Champions Small Schools Division. Congratulations. We're all together at that. Okay. And you are? Allison Weaves. Let's see. I've got Cleo Miller

005is being recognized tonight. So Cleo Miller. Alani Skeet. Yeah, she's not here. Alani's not here. We'll go ahead and read all the names so everyone can get recognized at least. Ray Nang Kashalea. Did I say that right? Yeah. Aurea Chavez. Elena Perez, Riley Flores, Amaya Tahase, Allison Reeves. Certificate of recognition. This certificate is presented to Allison Reeves, Barstow STEM Academy girls basketball team, in honor of your outstanding athletic performance and dedication during the 2025-2026 season. We officially recognize your achievement as the High Desert Athletic League Champions Small Schools Division. Congratulations. We'll hold that as well, and we'll get a picture here in a moment, but let me finish reading the rest of the names. Analia Velas. Dental Lawson. Danica Gordon. Mariah Perez. Azariah Stevens. Malia Holloway. Last but not least, Evita Machuca. Do we get

006all the girls though? Yes. Yes. All right. All right. We're going to get a picture. One, two, three. Thank you. And then if we get Dr. McDonald, oh wait, I'm sorry. Is Mr. Zavala here? We've got STEM up here right now. Mr. Zavala, if you want to come on up. Oh my God. There's the teacher. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Congratulations. And I think we've got the boys stem basketball team if I'm correct. We do so can we have the boys stem basketball team? So the first coach I have is Melvin Sisk. The certificate is presented to Melvin Sisk, Forster STEM Academy boys basketball team head coach. In honor of your outstanding athletic performance and dedication during the 2025-2026 season, we recognize your achievement as the High Desert Athletic League Champions Small Schools Division.

007Yay! This certificate is presented to Keith Pack, Forster STEM Academy Boys Basketball Team Coach. In honor of your outstanding athletic performance and dedication during the 2025-2026 season, we officially recognize your achievement as the High Desert Athletic League Champions Small Schools Division. Back over there. Ronald Russell. Hey, presented to Ronald Russell, Barstow STEM Academy boys basketball team coach. In honor of your outstanding athletic performance and dedication during the 2025-2026 season, we officially recognize your achievement as the High Desert Athletic League Champions Small Schools Division. And only two of your players are here tonight. Okay, so I'm going to read through all the names, and then when I get to you, let me know. Josiah Tate. Not here. Okay, so I'm gonna well, you know what I'll leave this to get some answers. Azilar Diaz. Azilar, am

008I saying that right? Siler? Correct me if I'm wrong. We have another one. Have I called his name yet? Jerome Russell. In recognition, the certificate is presented to Jerome Russell, Barstow STEM Academy boys basketball team. In honor of your outstanding athletic performance and dedication during the 2025-2026 season, we officially recognize your achievement as the High Desert Athletic League Champions Small Schools Division. Joseph Jarvis, Stephen Garcia, Jonathan Tafoya Jr., Milo Gregg, It's like, you know, when you pick the cups. Isaac Perez. Ian Laura. Ian Laura, Barstow STEM Academy boys basketball team, in honor of your outstanding athletic performance and dedication during the 2025-2026 season, we officially recognize your achievement as the High Desert Athletic League Champions Small Schools Division. Mason Maestas. Dominic Davis. Julian Tolosa Jr. Amari Taase. Ahmed Al-Hattari. Brody Stevens DeWitty. Recognition this certificate

009is presented to Brody DeWitty, Forrester STEM Academy boys basketball team in honor of your outstanding athletic performance and dedication during the 2025-2026 season. We officially recognize your achievement as the High Desert Athletic League Champions Small Schools Division. Yeah, come on up. Are we good? One, two, three. Thank you. And I think we're on to the next junior high, which is the junior high. We're going to honor and recognize the Barstow Junior High School basketball team. Boys basketball team. So can we have the Barstow Junior High School boys basketball team and their coach up front? Good job. Okay, so coach is here, Mr. Lee Williams, certificate of recognition. This certificate is presented to Lee Williams, Barstow Junior High School boys basketball team head coach. In honor of your outstanding athletic performance and dedication during the 2025-2026

010season, we officially recognize your achievement as the High Desert Athletic League's Champions Big Schools Division. Congratulations. All right, so I'm going to call them off. Kamari Evans. This certificate is presented to Kamari Evans for her senior high school boys basketball team in honor of your outstanding athletic performance and dedication during the 2025-2026 season. We officially recognize your achievement as the High Desert Athletic League Champions Big Schools Division. Congratulations. Andrew Gonzalez. Adonis Eaton. A certificate of recognition. This certificate is presented to Adonis Eaton, Barstow Junior High School boys basketball team in honor of your outstanding athletic performance and dedication during the 2025-2026 season. We officially recognize your achievement as the High Desert Athletic League Champions Big Schools Division. Congratulations. Trayvon Steele. All one. Recognition the certificate is presented to Trayvon Steele, Forestry Junior High School boys

011basketball team in honor of your outstanding athletic performance and dedication during the 2025-2026 season. We officially recognize your achievement as the High Desert Athletic League Champions Big Schools Division. In recognition, this certificate is presented to Kenji McCray, Forrest Union High School Boys Basketball Team. In honor of your outstanding athletic performance and dedication during the 2025-2026 season, we officially recognize your achievement as the High Desert Athletic League Champions Big Schools Division. Keon Williams. I'd like to extend this certificate as presented to Deon Williams, Barstow Junior High School boys basketball team in honor of your outstanding athletic performance and dedication during the 2025-2026 season. We officially recognize your achievement as the High Desert Athletic League Champions Big Schools Division. Congratulations. This certificate is presented to JVM Brown, Barstow Junior High School boys basketball team. In honor of

012your outstanding athletic performance and dedication during the 2025-2026 season, we officially recognize your achievement as the High Desert Athletic League Champions Big Schools Division. Congratulations. At the commission, the certificate is presented to Keon Williams, Barstow Junior High School boys basketball team. In honor of your outstanding athletic performance and dedication during the 2025-2026 season, we officially recognize your achievement as the High Desert Athletic League Champions Big Schools Division. Hopefully this is yours. Jeremiah Wade. It is presented to Jeremiah Waig, North Virginia High School boys basketball team, in honor of outstanding athletic performance and dedication. 2025-2026 season, we officially recognize your achievement as the High Desert Athletic League Champions Big Schools Division. Congratulations. Less high in front, but they're all like... I can get everybody in, we're good. Okay, so we're good at the squeeze. Yep, you

013guys are good. One, two, three. Certificates out of your face, please. Thank you. One, two, three. Thank you. I did just want to say thank you on behalf of the junior high. I don't know if you remember, but you guys approved the purchase of the updating of our uniforms. They proudly wear them to every game. They display our PBIS attributes and we get compliments everywhere we go. Thank you very much for that. We're going to give about three minutes. We have more recognition to do, but I want to give time if any of the basketball team players, Barstow Junior High or STEM wanted to go ahead and exit stage left, you're welcome to do so, or you're very welcome to stay as well. But we're going to do another presentation of employees. So three minutes

014to exit if you'd like to, and then we're going to do the next awards. Congratulations, guys. Bye, you guys. Bye. Oh. I know. I know what the words are now. They mean more. And then I practice them. Let's get together. We're bringing back your. She is doing pretty good. Thank you. I'm not talking three stars, five stars. Okay, next on the agenda is the employees of the month for the month of February. And the 1st employee that we are going to recognize is Gabriella Martinez. Congratulations. Employee of the Month, this is to certify that Gabriela Nunez Martinez, in recognition of your extraordinary dedication and service to the staff and students of Varsity Unified School District, we are proud to honor you as the Elementary Classified Staff Member Employee of the Month for the month of

015February 2026. We have your certificate, your binder, your desk plaque, and your $25 Schools First. um gift card 25 dollars am i congratulations she's gonna want oh she's wanting us to move over okay one two three yeah thank you do you have family here that you'd like to have a picture with anybody want to come up of course they do and who's your principal I'm sorry, Mr. Norman. He's not here. One, two, three. Thank you. Thank you. You have a gift card? Yes. Yep. Thank you. Okay. Next employee of the month is Amanda Sadlet. Employee of the Month, this is to certify that Amanda Sadlett, in recognition of your extraordinary dedication and service to the staff and students of our student-indified school district, we are proud to honor you as the Elementary Certificate of Staff

016Member Employee of the Month for February 2026. We have your certificate, your binder, your desk plaque, and your $25 school's first gift card. Congratulations. I know I saw Mr. Leslie here. And Sarah. Oh, and Mr. Boss. one two three nothing wrong with me Okay, our next employee is Brianna Simonitis. Employee of the month, this is to certify that Brianna Simonitis, in recognition of your extraordinary dedication and service to the staff and students at Barstow Unified School District, we are proud to honor you as the secondary classified staff member employee of the month for February 2026. We have your certificate, your binder, your desk plaque, and your $25 school's first gift card. All right, Brian. Thank you. Thank you. Next employee is Margarita Maggie Pena Atir. So she will get her certificate, which says the same

017thing, her binder, her desk plaque, and her $25 gift card. We'll make sure she gets them. In fact, that's Jamie's. Yeah, we're here. Next employee is Rachel Hamm. Employee of the month, this is to certify that Rachel Hamm in recognition of your extraordinary dedication and service to the staff and students of Barstown Unified School District. We are proud to honor you as the secondary certificate staff member employee of the month, February 2026. We have your certificate, your binder, your desk plaque, and your $25 gift card from school district. Congratulations. Thank you. I think Mr. Navarro is here. He's hiding back there. I'm going to have you hold that for her. If we could shift back this way again. Thank you. Thank you. Next employee of the month is Jariana Stone. Employee of the Month, this

018is to certify that Dariana Stone, in recognition of your extraordinary dedication and service to the staff and students of Barstow Unified School District, we are proud to honor you as the Classified Substitute Staff Member Employee of the Month for February 2026. We have your certificate, your binder, we have a desk plaque for you, and a $25 Schools First gift card. Thank you so much. Do you have any family with you? No. Do you want a picture to stay in? No. Thanks. Thanks. We've done a little bit. Might be like each other. One, two, three. Thank you. Mr. Van Norman was here. You were all the way in the back at NCU when we had Brianna here. You're like Mr. Williams hiding back there. Next employee is Uta Harrell. Congratulations. Congratulations. You're welcome. Employee of the

019Month. This is to certify that Uta Harrell, in recognition of your extraordinary dedication and service to the staff and students of Barstown Unified School District, we are proud to honor you as the Certificate of Substitute Staff Member Employee of the Month for February 2026. You have your certificate, your BUSD binder, your desk plaque, and a $25 school source gift card. Congratulations. A family here. Want to bring them up? Roland, get up here, man. Mama fight. Then I want the gift card. That's right. One, two, three. Thank you very much. All right. Next employee is Michael Prado. Employee of the Month, this is to certify that Michael Prado, in recognition of your extraordinary dedication and service to the staff and students of Barstain Unified School District, we are proud to honor you as the Management Team

020Staff Member Employee of the Month for February 2026. We have your certificate, your binder, your desk plaque, and your $25 school's first gift card. Great, thank you. And Mr. Glenn, Mr. Banks is here. Well, let's go, bye. You should have. I know. One, two, three. Thank you very much. And then our last employee of the month that will be recognized tonight is always a special one because it is the superintendent's choice. And the only people who know who this is, is the employee who's being recognized, myself, who chose her, my assistant, and then her or his principal, depending on if they actually work at a school site. So the employee of the month being recognized as a superintendent's choice is Jeanette Dominguez. Congratulations. Employee of the Month. This is to certify that. Jeanette Dominguez, in

021recognition of your extraordinary dedication and service to the staff and students of our state-unified school district, we are proud to honor you as the Superintendent's Choice Staff Member Employee of the Month for February 2026. You have your certificate, your binder, your desk plaque, and your $25 school service gift card. Congratulations. I saw your cute kiddos back there. And I know Miss Miller is here. And your kiddos. Come here, children. And then two steps to the right again. Okay. You keep going that way. Lie down from your face. There you go. One, two, three. Very good. Thank you. We have a couple more things, but not recognition. So I think we've got central. So we have Central High School. For those of you that don't know me, I am Mr. Kyle Schoenberger. I'm the English teacher

022and leadership coordinator. I'm going to call them up one by one. First, we have Aaliyah. This is Emily. Franklin. Matthew. Take it away. Hello, Barstool School Board. We're going to have you guys slide down that way so you're in the middle. There you go. There you go. And you'll be addressing these five lovely people right here in front of you. Hello, Barstool School Board. We're a Central High School and we'd like to show you some of the many exciting things we've done this school year. One of Central's goals was to increase student engagement through field trips. We've had many different trips this year. Our first trip was to Big Bear Alpine Zoo, where we went on a guided tour and learned about a lot of different animals, including exotic animals who were rescued, as well

023as animals who are native to our desert. We also had two trips to Barstow Community College, a trip to Cal State University Fullerton, which was Central's first ever field trip to a university, and a trip to Knott's Berry Farm last Friday, where we learned about physics in motion. We have one final field trip coming up in May to Universal Studios. We have celebrated and demonstrated our school spirit throughout the school year through our spirit days. We always take the chance to celebrate and make school fun whenever we can, including dressing up for Halloween, dressing to impress, matching for Twin Day, and wearing pink on Wednesdays. We hosted a trunk or treat for the community where we had over a hundred and... Guys, make sure you go off the slides, okay? Central hosts an award ceremony

024at the end of each quarter to celebrate student behavior and achievement. Students are recognized for being courteous, hardworking, and successful throughout the quarter, and awards are given for monthly perfect attendance as well. Parents and family are also invited to help celebrate our student success. Central participated in the Barstow Mardi Gras parade last October. where we saluted our armed forces and the entire school came together in the span of two months to create four stars, four giant stars. Two of the stars saluted each of the branches of our military, while two of the stars saluted the country with an American flag. Central's ASB dressed up in military attire and attended the parade in full spirit. We were accompanied by one of the first appointed female master chiefs, and the U.S. Navy. This is the third year

025in a row Central has participated in the parade and quickly become one of the school's most treasured and fulfilling experiences. We have celebrated and demonstrated our school spirit throughout the school year through our spirit days. We always take the chance to celebrate and make school fun whenever we can, including dressing up for Halloween, dressing to impress, matching for Twin Day, and wearing pink on Wednesdays. We hosted a trunk retreat for the community where we had over 150 trick-or-treaters, and on April 3rd, we will be hosting a spring festival and egg hunt for the community. And we're hoping to see a lot of community members there. And finally, we of course had to celebrate our parents up at Barstow High School and their football team. We made signs and cheered them on as they went to

026win their championship. Central High School has had two blood drives this year, and we have the third one scheduled for April 17th on Friday, where we have also... had about 50 pints of blood donated so far. And Red Cross's regional has recognized us to have the most students to donation ratio in the Hall of the High Desert, where we have the amount of blood that we've donated is equivalent to 150 adults saved or 400 babies. Awesome. We are also having a Sciencepalooza this Friday at the high school where this video will just about show you what happens. So what you'll take this represents what is water? What is water molecules? That's water molecules, the representation of water. And the bottle is, you add air pressure to a small condensed area, it shrinks the what is

027in it down and then you release the air, it expands again. Put that through the bottom and you put your other molecule. And that is a representation of H2O. You go like that. See? Hydrogen. One oxygen. You know, I got a green piece. All right. So, see, you got your water molecules, right? Now, how this works next, you will take, you might hold it in this tube. When you add a little bit of water to a can like this. Water to a can. You put it against it. Heat it up What starts to happen right is you start heating it and it turns that water into what? Vapor you'll see what happens once it turns into vapor you can stop You don't have the second part, but essentially after it turns into vapor, what will

028happen is you take it and you bring it to cold water, ice water, and the pressure of our atmosphere, once it touches the water, it crushes the game. A liquid. What happens when you freeze a liquid like water? Solid. What's that solid? Ice. Yes, exactly. Now, when you melt that, when you add heat, what does it then turn back into? Paper. No, no, no. You have a solid, and when you add heat, it turns back into a liquid. There you go. And then when you add more heat to that water, it turns into a cake. There you go. So, our water... has now turned into vapor and when you take that and add it to cold water what happens is pressure the pressure crushes the cancer EXP industry. Industry coaching helps young people gain experience,

029unlock doors, and build confidence we need to succeed in school, career, and life. Ms. Patty Negrete brings professionals from the city of Barstow like detectives, CSI officers, firefighters, and BUSD staff members to coach us during the school year. We also get a chance to do a summer internship. I learned how to make a resume and went to real job interviews. I got selected to be an intern with the fire department team. I never really considered being a firefighter before, but the experience made me realize there are a lot of jobs I might actually like if I actually give them a chance. Finally, we love to talk about the fun stuff, but we want to brag a little about our academics too. For the 2024-25 school year, for the entire second semester, students earned a total

030of 430 credits. This year, in just one quarter, we earned 1,165 credits, and then we topped ourselves by earning 1,620 credits in the second quarter. We've earned over 2,000 credits in two quarters, which is five times that of last year. In addition, We had eight of our students achieve their goal to recover enough credits to return to the high school for the second semester, which is another modern record for CHS. We have been working hard to find balance of fun, meaningful experiences, as well as academic success. And we appreciate you giving us the time to demonstrate how we've been working towards that goal. Thank you. Do we have an administration mentorship program? We do. Mr. Williams, if you scoot a little bit this way, you'll be right between them. There you go. Perfect. Central. Aaron,

031you're hiding. I know. They're too tall. Sit on his lap. You come over on this side and you come over on this side. That would be perfect. Oh, yeah. There we go. Elizabeth, if you go just a hair that way. No, no, you're fine. There you go. Perfect. One, two, three. Thank you very much. Perfect. I'm proud of you. Good job. Thank you. Good job, man. Great job. Thank you. You guys have a good one. Hey, Ed. Administrative mentorship presentation. Mr. Leslie speaking first, and then I think Mr. Dominguez, and then wrapped up with Dr. Lance. Good evening, everybody. Thank you for having us tonight to share a little bit about a mentorship program. Give you a little bit of history about four years ago. Kerry Molden and myself, who were the longest tenured principals

032at the time, had discussed some ways to be able to support principals. What you find out immediately when you become a principal is it's a lot of work, right? So we have a lot of... there's a lot in our plate that we have to do. And over the years of working together with her a lot, we came up with some ways, some strategies to be able to try to help some of the new principals. And at that time, we had a lot of new principals who had moved into BUSD, also had moved into Barstow. And so we kind of used that opportunity to see how we can use some of our experiences in 20 plus years in teaching and education to be able to support. So the main purpose behind the program was to help

033grow our administrators to be able to offer the supports in different ways. And I think over the four years, it has changed a little bit, has adapted as time has moved on. We have a lot of principals who are now have been in the position for multiple years now. So we've kind of adapted and changed as things go by. It started off. doing a lot of sharing of documents and going over to school sites and helping do walkthroughs and giving advice and suggestions. A lot of that was put in place. Helping with school site councils and ELACs. Being able to share some of the documents that we've used over the years to help make things easier, to help keep principals with the deadlines because we learn right away as a principal every month there's something

034due. And as a new principal, a lot of times you don't know that, you don't realize that, and you don't realize the amount of effort and work you have to put into doing that. So that was a lot of it was to go over the heavy workload that as a principal you have to. So we did a lot of weekly check-ins, either email, phone, or going to school campuses to do it. We also try to help support. There's a lot of union issues you have to deal with, making sure principals know what the contract is. So if they have questions, they can reach out to any of us. So that has been a big support. that we've tried to do. Helping with discipline. We have staff members who have some issues how to write focus

035plans or you have to be able to write employees up. This is part of the job that we have to do. So it's a learning process to be able to know how to do that. And it takes a lot of experience and time and effort to write it in a way that you can back up what you're saying. focus plans as well. When you have students, we have employees that are needing some extra supports to be able to write those. And again, you have to write them in a certain way in order to be able to offer all the supports. And so that is something that we've been able to put forward and to help over the years. Over the last couple years under Ms. Swearingen, we've kind of adapted a little bit. We added

036in Mr. Dominguez and Dr. Williams will share a little bit of their part of it as far as doing the assistant principal academy and also this past year, the SAMS academy. So they'll kind of share a little bit. So we've kind of developed it. This past year, Ms. Swearingen asked me to kind of be like the lead mentor as far as overseeing things and also to be able to have any principals be able to reach out. some of the things that I've tried to help out with some of our administrators again sharing different documents they had or sharing on different ways that things that have worked for us at our school helping with CRPBIS helping with MTSS again school site councils title one staff meetings a lot of times just needing that extra person to

037talk to just to say hey am I doing this the right is this the right track am I doing this the right way so a lot of a lot of A lot of support with that. One of the big things over the recent times is our investigations, right? It's very detailed and doing us. We've had a lot of principals reach out and give some suggestions on how to do some of the investigations, providing them feedback on some of the forms that they're writing up. And also writing, helping with parent letters when we have to. do some of those those difficult things when we working with parents and everything so again it's been an honor to be able to support our administrators hopefully that they feel like it has been a good support system for them

038and it's been a privilege for myself to be able to do it so thank you very much thank you thank you all right good evening um i was asked by uh mr malan to help out with the principles academy the principal's mentorship And then after our first year, we saw a need to help support our assistant principals that were there. And working with Ms. Fisher, I started developing the assistant principals, and then we brought in the deans. And we also had some teachers that were going through their credentialing program to provide support for them. So I wanted to talk to you a little bit about what I do as the assistant principals and dean mentor, because that's a two-pronged approach. So go ahead and next slide, please. So a little bit about myself is going

039through my... leadership skills that I brought. I don't know if people really realize what I brought to the table. So I want to talk a little bit about that. Also a little bit about what we do on the support of the mentorship and then also providing professional development and supporting our assistant principals and our deans with skills that they're going to lead. into the next, getting that next chair, getting their principalship themselves. Because not every principal develops their assistant principals in the same direct manner as some others might do. Because we do have a lot of newer principals in the leadership roles at our schools, and they're not familiar with every aspect of a principal has to do with different aspects of the school, like Mr. Leslie or Ms. Malden was providing that support. So

040as a mentor role, go to the next slide, please. So as a mentor role, supporting is developing the administrators as they build their leadership capacity. So my leadership background is I have over 20 years of experience in public education, 16 years of school leadership. I'm a graduate of the National Institute of School Leadership, their executive development program, which in itself is a doctorate level program to train their people to be executives, to handle how to take a school and provide it. support sustainable systems and improve those systems to develop and improve our school systems. And then my expertise is in instructional leadership and being a transformational leader. So I'm trying to instill that in our assistant principals and our deans on how to drive that and increase their capacity as they have those skills to

041move into the principalship. The mentorship It's like we provided with our principals is being there to listen to have provide them the support that they need to answer their questions if they're not Going to their principals. I'm not there to replace their principals I always tell them start with your principals first But if you have questions or that that you need me to answer I'm there as a phone call or send me an email So I'm also developing for their new administrators instructional leadership staff supervision and then instructional leadership in the MTSS systems For our focus of the mentorship. We talked about executive effective leadership styles, talk about what leadership means, and then also collaboration and improving student outcomes and improving school cultures. Go to the next slide, please. Key areas of the professional development

042work that we did, we talked about the PLCs at work. We talked about school public funding and the first documentation and coaching model. And then we just finished up with parent engagement. And then in May, we're going to talk about their planning future. I always end it each year with how to get. to the next level, what they need to build a resume, talking about what skills that they need to go into an interview. And then this year, we're going to be talking about planning for future and then how to plan for retirement because we don't provide that kind of support for some of our employees, how to plan for retirement. And that's one of the skills I wish I had when I was a new teacher because I would be already retired by now.

043So we want to make sure that that's there. Go ahead to the next slide, please. So. One of the things that I'm really good at is building relationships. So I brought relationships from people that I worked with in Hemet Unified School District. You guys know her. Dr. Watson is a good friend of mine. I invited her last year to provide support with how to interpret the data, looking at the dashboard, California dashboard, bringing her into those. This year I brought in Cal Health support. I also reached out to. these wonderful individuals you see around us to help support and bring their expertise into the AP Academy to support the learning that's going on and working closely with George talking about risk model. We did a great PD last year. We also talked about how to

044get that next job with kind of interview questions are asked. This year. I was able to bring in my PLC coach from Solution Tree. We sat down together and talked about what PLC models are different, different PLC models supporting that. We talked about the focus on student learning and not really what's best interest for teachers, but really what's in the best interest for students. We talked about what a collaborative team should be looking at, what the team should be looking at the data, and then how does that data translate into instruction. Okay, so that's with the PLC. Operational leadership, we talked about understanding funding. School funding is a headache in its own, right? So not everybody understands the different aspects of school funding. So we broke it down. We talked about the different aspects of

045school funding, categorical funds, especially with LCFF. We've been working with Scott on LCFF this year and developing that. So I wanted to make sure they started getting into the numbers, getting into what the restrictions are, the categorical fundings, especially with Proposition 98. And now the changes that possibly could be coming down with ADA. and funding of schools based not on attendance, but rather on enrollment, those changes and making sure that they knew where they could go to get information about school funding. And then we just ended up with Frisk model. We talked about what the Frisk model was. We reviewed that, but we approached it as a document or a way to provide coaching for our employees because yes, we have to provide that discipline. that Mr. Leslie talked about, but it's also a way

046for us to provide coaching and supporting them to coach them up. Our goal is to make sure that our employees are getting better because if we want students to do better in the classroom, we have to provide that coaching for our employees to make sure that they're doing their job to improve our student outcomes. And then really focusing on coaching above discipline, right? Discipline is the last action we really want to take. We want to provide that support through either the evaluation process, or walkthroughs that we've been doing with Scott and looking at our walkthrough data with all the information that we've been looking at that, but really looking at providing first documentation as a coaching first approach rather than a disciplinary approach. Next slide, please. One of the big things we have to work

047on in WSUNified is our family engagement. So we really brought in California Health. We reached out to the parent liaisons and brought them in to talk about how we can reach out. to our parents and provide that support for the APs and the deans, what their role can be to build those relationships with our parents and strengthen that parent-partner-family relationship, being outside, being visible, because as school leaders, whether you're an AP or dean or principal, you need to be out of that office. If you're hiding in the office, you're not doing the job right. And I really try to instill that in the APs, making sure that they understand that role, that you need to be visible, not just in the classrooms, but out in the parking lot, out the front gate. reading your students,

048meeting with the parents, making sure that you're visible, and providing opportunities for parents to come into the school, providing them with informational classes like PK or other programs that we provide through the parent liaisons or through Cal Health this year that I brought it to Montero. And make sure that we're using Title I funds to... include with parent compacts and we had Jamie come in to really drive that point home that that is part of Title I funding through the federal laws. It makes it very easy to understand how that's developed so they can have that conversation when they go to that interview. They're ready to go that they're armed and dangerous ready to have that conversation when they go to that interview. So they're more likely to grow and build that capacity from within

049instead of bringing somebody from without. And then our next one go back please. is the future leadership personal growth. So in May, we're going to be talking about career planning and advancements, balancing the career at home, because a lot of us spend too much time working. We want to make sure we balance that. And then retirement planning and in the future. So I'm trying to bring in a friend of mine that does retirement planning. Make sure he understands, keep the business at home, but talk about why it's important to plan, saving what you can and building your retirement portfolio so you can retirement. So you're not that 72 year old guy at the corner waving the sign because you didn't save enough. to retire from this profession and making sure that they understand they have

050to balance that. Next slide, please. So reflection and questions. So I really thank you so much for allowing me this opportunity to build the capacity of our future school leaders here in Barstow, because that's what I came back to Barstow to do is help improve Barstow Unified, the school district that I grew up in. It came back here to help and make sure that we have the best school district we can provide and the best leadership that we can provide for our schools. So thank you very much. Next slide, please. I think I'm done. Yep. All right. Thank you. Good evening, trustees. Thank you for this opportunity to kind of tell you a little bit about the role I play in the mentorship program now. I'm currently the mentor for our seven school administrative managers,

051SAMs, but I've been part of the program for the last few years, along with these gentlemen. I'm very proud that at the end of last year, we were able to finish the two-year mentorship program for Mr. Van Norman, Mr. Navarro, Mr. Rubio, and Mr. Zavala. It was... a wonderful experience to be able to be their mentor for the last two years and I really love seeing them at the meetings with their staff that's being recognized with their students who are being recognized and seeing all of them in either their third or fourth year as leaders in our district and continuing on that and so as they matriculated out of the mentorship program. We looked as a team along with Ms. Swearengen and said, you know, what are our next steps with this program? And our

052newest crop of managers is our school administrative manager, who at the time had been enrolled, pardon me, employed with our district for about five months. And so I'm going to talk a little bit about what we've done during this year. And so the SAMs came about in large part in direct response to the change in grade span. configuration here in Barstow Unified School District, the opening of Barstow Intermediate School and the movement of grades five and six over a two year period from their elementary schools to Barstow Intermediate School. Sixth grade was always in the hopper. If anyone wants to read my dissertation about sixth grade placement in California, I can get you a copy. But it's something that. Where does it fit in? Elementary school, middle school, intermediate school. And so here in Barstow,

053from both the growth of TK, the expansion of that at our schools, and space available, we ended up making the decision as a school district to create the 5-6 school, which impacted our ability to have assistant principals at our elementary schools, which was already impacted before the move. There was times in which every elementary school was large enough to accommodate an assistant principal. By the time we made the change to intermediate school, we were already down to three assistant principals. So we knew that that wasn't going to be the way to continue to have leadership at those campuses. So the SAM position was established. Next slide, please, sir. And so just kind of as a breakdown. The SAM is a way to have leadership on our campuses to support the principal. The principal is still

054the CEO, but now the school administrative manager is another path of leadership for many of our employees, not just. our teacher and instructional side of the house. And so they're on a 260-day schedule. And the focus of the SAMS is really to manage all non-instructional operations. A few examples there, safety drills, facilities, and at this point, classified staff supervision in any non-educational practices that are at the school. Again, the principal is still the CEO, but we knew that we needed to free up time for our principals to be the instructional leaders of the site and give them a partner. leadership for each of the schools. And so at the introduction of those positions last year, they were included in our assistant principal and dean academy. But as Mr. Dominguez pointed out, much of that is

055preparing people to become principal since our SAMs are... Most of the time not in line to be principals. We wanted to give them a lot of direct support. So on the next slide, I talked a little bit about how to create a new mentorship program because these are new jobs. We couldn't just kind of tell them some of the things that. We had learned because many, not many of us had been SAMs. It's something that some of our neighboring districts do have, some of our neighboring counties, so many schools that I visited do have. And so this year we spent a lot of time learning what people's understandings of SAMs were. When you do something new, people have preconceived notions. So we built a lot, gathered a lot of information about how the district saw

056SAMs within our. district. And then anytime you have data, you want to go do the lived experience. So I visited all of the SAMs multiple times, walked with them on campus, learned what they were doing. Each school is a little bit different. Each SAM is a little bit different. And so we really created that profile of each of our SAMs. And I wanted to support them individually, reaching out with phone calls, emails, things of that nature. And then also, we've started having time in which we get together. We bounce ideas off each other and create that feedback loop for our SAMs, not only in job alike, but how they operate with their employees, how they operate with the principal as leader of their campus, how they operate within the full ecosystem of our district. And

057so on the next slide, just kind of as we build that communication. kind of firming up what the rest of this year and year two of the mentorship program with SAMs would look like. And then also what we need to do, we need to continue learning from each other. We need to make sure our SAMs are part of the communication loop, not only from the district themselves, between them and their principal, but with each other, and then really work on that partnership between the principal and the assistant principal. I think if you listen to Mr. Dominguez, he talked a lot about that natural connection between principals and assistant principals. But because the SAM is new, how to build that relationship, not just from a personal standpoint, making sure that they're compatible, but that position to

058position. So even as there's turnover in those positions, how do we want these positions to look like, sound like, and be in our seven different areas? So that's just kind of an update on our newest and still evolving part of the mentorship program with our school administrative managers. So thank you. Thank you. No questions? Okay. All right. We have no minutes to approve. Business from the floor. A business meeting of the board is held in public, in a public forum to comply with the Brown Act. It is not a town hall meeting with the board. This is the time for citizens to be present to present problems and questions they feel the board should discuss. Individuals are encouraged to address the full board, not individual board meetings. The law prohibits the board from taking action

059on items not on the agenda. Requests to speak cards should be filled out in advance and presented to the superintendent executive assistant. Instruction for submitting remote public comment can be found on the website busdk12.com under the tab board of trustee. The board has a policies limiting the speakers to no more than three minutes. The board. limits the total time for public input on each item or topic to 15 minutes or five individuals request to speak. The president may review the submitted request to speak or take the poll of speakers for or against a particular issue and may ask that additional persons speak only if they have something new to add. Citizens who have comments on or against a particular issue may be asked to provide a written statement for the record or to sign an

060agreement with the written comment of another citizen. All names are memorialized and minted. With the Board consent, the President may increase or decrease the time allowed for public presentation depending on the topic and the number of persons wishing to be heard. For the record, please state your name. Okay, next we have staff reports. Enrollment report. Mr. Beaton. Here we go. So district enrollment for month seven stands at 6,024 students, reflecting an increase of four students compared to 6,020 students at this time last year. This increase is driven by elementary enrollment, which has grown by 38 students year over year, while high school enrollment has declined by 34 students. Overall enrollment trends reflect a stable operating environment with modest year over year growth. Continuous strength at the elementary level provides a reliable foundation for future secondary

061enrollment, supporting long-term planning and staffing programming and resource allocation. Next we have... Monthly cash report. Mr. Beaton. Our cash position remains strong and continues to reflect sound financial management. As of March 16th, 2026, the district's cash balance in the county treasury report is $55,088,227.57. And in conclusion, the acceptance of the monthly cash report has no fiscal impact and it is presented to the board for information purposes only. Thank you. Next, we have the superintendent's report. Yes, thank you. Good afternoon, board members, staff, and guests. I'd like to extend my sincerest congratulations to the STEM Boys and Girls Basketball teams for their High Desert Athletic League Small Schools Division Championships. as well as to the Barser Junior High School boys basketball team for their High Desert Athletic League Championship. These titles are a testament to the

062tireless dedication of our student athletes, the expertise of our coaching staff, and the unwavering support of our parents and guardians. Winning at this level requires immense discipline and teamwork. Please, students, represent our district with excellence. As we look ahead to the coming weeks, I want to highlight our upcoming district closures for Good Friday on April 3rd, followed by spring break from April 6th to April 10th. To our incredible staff, you have worked hard to support our students this year. My hope is that you use this time to truly disconnect, silence the notifications, and focus on rest and relaxation with your families. Do our students enjoy this well-deserved break from the classroom? Explore, play, and come back to us refreshed. We want everyone to return with renewed energy toward finding those remaining light bulb moments and

063finishing the final stretch of the school year with a glow. Upon our return, we move into a critical window for state testing. We want our students to feel confident and prepared, but we also know that peak performance starts with the basics. I want to encourage our parents, guardians, and students to focus on three simple but powerful pillars during state testing. One, a solid night's rest. A rested mind is a sharp mind. Two, a healthy breakfast. Fueling the body is essential for sustained focus. And three, doing your best. We aren't asking for perfection. We are asking for you to do your best. We believe in our students and we want them to approach these assessments not with anxiety, but as an opportunity to show how much they've grown this year. Finally, I would like to inform

064our staff and guests that several members of the Board of Trustees, our interim superintendent, and I will be traveling to San Antonio, Texas from April 9th to April 13th. We will be attending the National School Boards Association NSBA conference. This is a valuable opportunity for our leadership team to engage with educational experts from across the country, bring back innovative strategies to our district, and ensure we are staying at the forefront of national educational standards. Board reports. Trustee Givens. Yes, thank you. Well, I just want to say kudos to all of our athletes. We had a room full. The jerseys were very impressive. It was nice to see them, you know, supporting them. And then shout out to Central High. I was really impressed. I liked the science experiment. Just seeing it was really cool. They

065also had numbers, though. Them getting so many credits and going on field trips. This is really, really impressive. I had no idea. So that was really impressive to see. And I also wanted to give a big shout out to the Fine Arts Academy. We were invited to their science fair. And it was amazing. It was a lot of really good projects. The organizer, I believe her name was Miss Wegner or Wenger. And she was really hospitable. Everyone was really kind. I got to meet a couple of the teachers there. So I wanted to make sure I said thank you to them for inviting us out. And to Dr. Vinny and the other principals that were here, that's amazing as well, too, to have that type of support. I think it's a really, really big deal.

066And people don't understand how much support is needed on every level. You can be a principal. You can be an assistant principal or a SAM and still need that extra support. So the fact that as a district, we created it and we're evolving it and making sure it exists. I just thank you all for doing that. That's amazing. That's all I have. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Faria. Well, I'd also like to extend my congratulations to the teams, the basketball team. They look like they had a healthy squad. They were falling big. And you can see how they won that championship. had the opportunity to also participate in a science fair. It was very well organized and the kids interacted very well. They responded to all the questions I had and it was difficult to

067score because they were so good. The projects were so good. I also had the opportunity, my wife and I, to go to performing arts and do a reading for my granddaughter's kindergarten class. We read Green Eggs and Ham, which was really difficult, I'm going to say. And the kids just had a great time, and so did we, interacting with them. The best part of it was that right after the reading, We all had some green eggs and ham, which was great, right about lunchtime. I also want to congratulate the mentorships and the programs that we heard about tonight. I think it's great that these people are supported and helped. It's pretty obvious. I know from my experience as being an administrator at one time, that the more help you can get, the better your job

068is going to be, better performance. So I really commend those people for putting that together and providing that kind of assistance to our administrators. It's greatly needed. And that's all. Employees of the Month, congratulations to them. It's great to see them come up. You know, we have so many employees, and rarely does anybody honor them. So when we have them come up and get the award and have their families here, that's special. That really is what this is all about. Let's hope we continue that. That's all I have. Thank you. Sarah? Ceaseless. Yes, sir. Yes, I'd like to congratulate everybody tonight. And as Ray said, that basketball team, they're very athletic-looking kids. There's an old saying us coaches say, you can't win the Kentucky Derby riding a hog, and he didn't have any hogs on

069there. So I'm sure he was pretty successful this year. Also, this Friday from 9.30 to 12 at the high school, we're going to have a couple of our employees have their droids from Star Wars there. They take them to the elementary schools, and the kids really respond to it really good, and I'd like to invite all my colleagues up here to go support them. They're supporting the kids, so we should support them. You know what I mean? I was in San Diego for the personnel commission, the little conference they had down there, you know, and the bottom line is help us so we can help you. You know what I mean? That's what it's all about down there. I learned a lot. I went in there and thought I knew I was going to go

070up there and do a little speaking myself, but I found out that there's a lot. There's a lot to it. A lot. It was right down my alley. I only think I yawned probably twice through the whole thing. It was really nice. It taught about the employees' rights. You know, they have the right to have representation when things aren't going very good for them, when they go inside an administrative meeting, when discipline is going to be coming their way. The administration doesn't have to tell you that you need to get a union representation. It's up to the member to do that, you know. Also, they cannot leave the membership. The employee cannot leave, but he doesn't have to participate in the meeting. You know, he can reschedule it for another day because they have rights.

071You know, even though they're a custodian, cafeteria worker, hall monitor, peer educator, they have their rights. Sometimes people try to get a little sneaky when it comes to that, but you cannot refuse a meeting, but you don't have to participate. I've known that a long time, and I was sure glad when I heard it again. I was like, oh, that's great. Other than that, it's starting to get kind of hot, and it's getting kind of late. Any parents out there have any kids that are seniors, please? Call your counselors if you think they're in trouble right now. Don't wait to the last minute and blame Barstow Unified School District for your kid not doing their homework or their work or the teacher. It's up to the student. And, you know, the parents should be involved

072also, you know. So get on the stick. You know, that's going to be a pretty sad day. You're sitting in the bleachers and your colleagues are down there getting their diplomas. So parents, if you think your kid's in trouble, the school will be bored and happy to talk to you about it. You know, and don't wait for the last minute. Thank you for letting me share. Sounded. Just seconding everything that has already been said, you know, great job for all the students, the athletes, the teams, the basketball teams, the students at STEM, the employees for, you know, employees of the month. for the mentorship program. Just a lot of good things going on and it's all good to see. And thank you to Ms. Lewis for inviting me to Cameron to do, I was there

073with Dr. Williams. We were judging engineering projects, which was very difficult. It was nice to see the ingenuity of the third and fourth graders of all the different ways they could come up with ideas was pretty nice to see. So yeah, that's it. Cool. And myself. Well, it's been a busy, busy time. I'm sure for all of us. I did do two science fairs. Very impressed with both of them. Whether it was Marcifine Arts. I almost said STEM. I don't know why I keep mixing them two. Marcifine Arts and Cameron. Trust me. You know, you hear a lot of people talk about, oh, these younger generation. I think we're pretty good. I think we're pretty good because these are some smart young kids. I was very impressed. They were able to answer every question I

074had. Really excited for them. The sports wise, our district has done an outstanding job across the board. You know, the basketball. I'm so proud of them. You know, it's tough. Just went to the football. Now we got, we did the basketball. So, hey, we are doing a really, really good job across the board on that. Got some busy times coming up, but I think we're all prepared for it and looking forward to it. And, you know, taking that break for all of us, spring break coming up. So that'd be a good thing. And I think that's pretty much all I have to say. I'm rambling at the moment. Do we have a student representative tonight? Nope. Okay. Who do we have next? BEA. Good evening. I will be speaking on behalf of BEA. We want

075to begin by saying that we are once again looking forward to working alongside our dream team of district staff as we continue to move forward our board's vision of our schools. We look forward to building strong, future-focused collaboration and remain committed to advancing the success of our students and community. At the same time, we feel it's important to share our concern. We are continuing to see a troubling number of students. number of teachers leaving a specific site and many of these departures appear to be connected to ongoing administrative challenges. This is something we cannot ignore as it is directly impacts our staff morale, student stability and long-term strength of our district. We are eager to partner with you to better understand these issues and find constructive solutions. Our goal is the same as yours, strong

076schools, supportive educators and a positive learning environment for our students. Thank you for your time, and we look forward to continuing this important work together. Thank you. Next, CSEA. Hello, guys. Kerry Thomas, Chief Communications Officer for CSEA. We're going to report on a few things. We do have a... Certain negotiations going on. We had a meeting last week. We have some more ongoing. We're kind of hitting the end of it. So we're hoping to wrap it up, hopefully by the end of April, seeing that we're going to be at the end of March. Next week, we do have our first job study committee, which is a new part of our contract in which there's a five-year rotation in which certain job classes will be studied, classified, and then reviewed for future goings on categorization of

077those job classes. We are having our general meeting this Thursday, in which Ms. Swearengen will be our guest speaker, which we're glad to have her presence and her words. At that meeting, we'll also be choosing our delegations for the CSEA annual conference. It's actually our 100th conference. So that's 100 years of CSEA union activity. We do have one concern in which I'd like to bring up. We have tried to make several communications with the departments that are in charge of CPI training. We are trying to have a robust conversation with those departments in which to see if we can extend and find out what level of CPI, what members are included into it, what members we can start to include with it as our campuses are starting to see an increase of behavioral episodes and

078both our Inter-class and our inter-office staff would like to have more training and more operational ideas of how to handle and help keep those kids safe during those behavioral episodes. We've tried to communicate several times. We haven't got a word back. So we're hoping to get some kind of communications with those departments. And then we'd just like to tell everyone, have a good time. We'll see you guys after spring break and meet up with you guys again. Thank you. We have an adoption of agenda. We got. I'm so sorry. Personnel commission. I apologize. Give me time to get up here. Too slow. Yes, this is the personnel commission report for today. Good evening, board members, staff, and community members. Currently, we have four interviews in process, zero recruitments that are in the testing stage, and

079two recruitments that are open. We have 385 sort of classified employees, 167 eight-hour full-time, 132 benefited part-time employees, and 86 non-benefited part-time. On the classifications, we have no vacancies in the security classification. On the safety, there are three vacancies at the high school. There was one of the safety staff that accepted one of the custodial positions, so he's transferring over, and the other two are recently created positions. They will be ready for interview next week already, so they're working on that, on scheduling. On custodial, we're working on backfilling the four transfers that we have left and also onboarding some of the outside hires. So we have about four outside hires that we're going through the onboarding. Better get them set up. Most of those positions are already starting this week. So those that accepted for

080promotion and so on, they're already starting this week. For nutrition services, one in three, we conducted interviews and offers were made and those individuals are being onboarded. So we're working on onboarding for those positions. The health assistant interviews, they're scheduled for April 13th. So that is coming up. The next, I know you had asked last time about when we focus on paras, right? So the paraeducators, the SNs, and also the general ed full-time. Paris, so all the full time. We're going to conduct group interviews and we're scheduling April 20th as our target week. So depending on when all the principals and everybody, we can get most of them together. That's going to be the target on, again, group interviews to get those filled up. And after that, always we have to onboard and go through

081all that process. So that's a chunk of our vacancies, the biggest group. We also have another statistic that I've been sharing with staff and colleagues. Since July 1 of this year, we have filled 106 positions. So that includes the internals, some of the transfers, externals, and so on promotions. So that's all of those. What else do we have for you today? We attended our CSPCA conference. this past week in San Diego. We had a full delegation with all three of our commissioners, our staff, and also Trustee Islas joined us. We attended many topics, many workshops and several topics like recruitment and testing, best practices, some legislative updates, and employee discipline appeals. There was many topics and individuals could choose their own track. And everybody had a good, we had good feedback on the conference and

082the professional development that we were able to attain. So it was very positive. And finally, our next PC meeting is going to be Thursday, April 9th in this room at 4.30 p.m. That is all I have for this week. There are any questions for personnel commission? So we're hiring more pairs, right? So we've exhausted the whole list that we already had. We are going to probably burn through that list on the way. Yeah. So we're going to exhaust the one for para SN because the need is so great, but we're currently recruiting already. And that recruitment closes March 31st. So however we were able to get, I was out at that recruitment event in Apple Valley, trying to get individuals to sign up for our, our recruitment. We got a good response. So from there,

083we'll develop another list. We have to go through the testing and so on and so forth. There are enough individuals or bodies to fill the vacancies. We may be a rank or two short on how many ranks we need to fill the vacancies, but there should be enough bodies. If everybody shows up, we'll have a full menu to serve. Thanks. All right. On the adoption of the journey, we have two corrected copies. K44, the transportation plan, 2526. You just have to announce them as changes and then adopt the event. Yes. Changes were made to the financial implications and reflect the anticipated revenue reimbursement for the district. K486, resignation and retirement of certificated personnel. We have no communication. Is anyone wishing to pull any item? We still have to approve the agenda. Oh, wait a minute.

084Go back. Yeah. So, do I have a motion to adopt the agenda with the correct examples? No moves. Second. All in favor? Aye. I'm usually moving so fast. It's amazing. No communications. No communications. On a consent agenda, anyone wishing to pull any items? No. I would like to pull K-2-3, K-2-5, 6, K-4-2, 3, and 4, and 6. So we can adopt the... Do I have a consent move to. A motion to adopt the agenda minus the pulled item, the consent, the consent agenda minus the pulled items. So move, do I have a 2nd 2nd. All in favor. All right. Okay. You ready? 823. 3. 3. 3. So that is the junior high. No, 823, Mr. Godfrey. Oh, I'm sorry. As part of the 2122 California governor's budget, there were dollars earmarked towards learning recovery and

085educator effectiveness. Hence, the grant is called Educator Effectiveness Block Grant. The initial phase of planning, there were 11 categories that we could choose from to expend our dollars. We chose 11 of them. They include, one second. I think they're listed in each. They include coaching and mentoring, standards-aligned instruction, pupil re-engagement, pupil well-being, positive school climate, and professional learning networks. In the coaching and mentoring, we serviced 66 teachers and 14 administrators, along with seven other classified staff. Expending a grant total of $482,657.75 in the standards aligned criteria. That included 79 teachers, one administrator, and 80 personnel total for a grant total of $119,165. In the area of pupil re-engagement, we serviced one teacher, eight administrators, and one classified staff. where we expended $67,300. And finally, practices to promote positive school climate. We serviced seven teachers and

08642 administrators, 35 classified staff, which is a total of 84. We expended $176,509. All in all, up to this point, as part of the requirement for reporting these numbers, we've expended $523,000. $549 around the first two sections, $359,036 around the next two sections. And finally, for the final area, $382,152 for a grant total of $1.288,443. Within that, each year, the Areas of need, as you heard earlier with the CSEA comments around CPI training, that was one of the areas we focused on. In 2022, we sent a number of teachers to the CTA Good Teaching Conference. We sent a group of teachers from a couple of schools to the Innovative Schools Summit in Las Vegas. We sent the Montero School teacher team to the Solution Tree PLC training. We sent a group of teachers and staff

087to CPI training, and that is when the mentorship program was born. In 2023, continued CPI training, continued innovative school summit. The admin AXA academies were paid for out of that. We had a couple of our administrators attend the curriculum and instruction academy, and another one attend the CBO academy. The PLC work continued. The CTA Good Teaching Conference continued. Admin coaching continued. That was actually the year we brought on Breakthrough Coach, whereby every administrator at every school site, along with theirs. assistant, as well as each department at the district office level. We're trained in Breakthrough Coach, which is utilized today. In 2024, we started using money to build out our cabinet team building. Specifically in 24, we attended an escape room. We also used this money to deliver the management retreat in terms of supplies and

088lodging. CPI training was evident in 2024 as well. The coaching and mentoring for admin. This was the first year that we included AVID training. We added on two elementary sites, Lenwood and Henderson Elementary. Their training was paid for out of the EBG funds. And we also utilize these funds to develop our district level MTSS team, mostly supplies, some time card work there. And finally, for the 2025 expenditure, again, management retreat, admin coaching, CTA, good teacher training. We included Catapult Coaching in this year, which is a vendor that we utilize where they come in and they both train large groups of teachers around standards, classroom management, and other areas of need for teachers. And they do one-on-one individual coaching. So that's been a very robust program for us. Anywhere upwards of 45 teachers have gone through

089that program. And again, in 2025, we had more staff trained with CPI. Part of the reason to bring this to you today is part of the requirement of the grant that in 2023 and in 2026, we report expenditures to you. And also one of the required areas that we are needing to expend dollars is for our new school site administrators that have completed their tier one programs so that they are reimbursed for the monies they spent. to get those tier one programs it's part of the language of the bill and that concludes my report thank you i i because i pulled that because i wanted to be good good clarification on we have this money what are we actually using it for and we have a small list but thank you for expanding and telling

090us everything that has been used for so all kudos to miss janie fisher she's a great uh organizer of information so yeah thank you thank you thank you All right. Superintendent recommend approval. Read this first. Which one? Recommendation. Recommendation. Recommending that the Board of Trustees approve the Education Effectiveness Block Grant Plan. I need my glasses. It's starting to blur. Block Grant Plan as amended. to allow with allowable activities and expenditures for 2021-22 through 25-26 fiscal years, including the addition of Category 11, beginning teachers retention and introduction to support, ensure compliance with the statute, provide flexibility to address the local needs. during each fiscal year and expend funds in one or more of the allowable categories and authorize the superintendent or designee to sign and submit all necessary documents on behalf of the district. So do

091I have a motion? So moved. Do I have a second? Second. All in favor? Aye. Thank you. Next, we have K-2-5. Mr. Godfrey. As you heard earlier, we have the Science Palooza on Friday, and thank you for giving a shout-out and a plug for that. You are all invited. I think Stacia Lawhorn-Lewis sent you an email inviting you to the event. It's kind of a two-pronged event. Number one, it is a judging contest where teams like Central High School and every other elementary, junior high group of students. have engaged in Rube Goldberg activity, machine development, and they're going to be judged and they're going to be prize winners. Along with that, we are also inviting all of our third graders to Barshad High School. It's in line with what we used to do pre-pandemic, where

092we had a STEM Earth Day, where every third grader, fourth grader would enjoy. different activities led by groups of students as well as outside vendors. In this case, Wild Wonders has already been in our district. They were at Crestline Elementary a few weeks ago, I think it was, where they bring in live animals and various educational activities around learning about our environment and about animals, particularly not only in the desert, but also other regions of the world. So that is just one of, I think it's 10 or 12. different booths that the groups of students will rotate through. They won't get to go to all of them because they're not in time, but they will get a good experience with Sciencepalooza. If you go on to our website, you'll see the flyer for that. And

093we recommend this for your approval. Yeah, one of the reasons I... I asked to pull this because it's like, why are we paying a vendor? It usually vendors pay us. So that was the question I had. I'm like, I didn't understand, but thank you for explaining it. I appreciate it. I'm recommending the board of trustees approve the consultant agreement with Wild Wonders to present at Barstow High School on March 27, 2026 for Science Palooza. Do I have a motion? So moved. Do I have a second? Second. Take a vote. Aye. Aye. Thank you. Scott, is that going to be in the new gym? It'll be in the gym. It'll be outside in the quad as well. We'll be kind of everywhere. And it includes, actually, I think Wild Wonders is the only vendor. Everyone else,

094it's groups of high school students, junior high students. The East Techs will be there. So it'll be a pretty fun event. The next one. K-2-6, overnight field trip for Barstow High School. I recommend that the Board of Trustees approve the overnight field trips for two Barstow High School students to attend the California Foster Youth Education Summit in Sacramento, California on April 19th through the 21st of 2026. Mr. Guthrie. Yes, and I'll actually lean on my colleague to the end of the table over there to share some insight that he has since our outreach liaison works out of his office. The trip is in April 19th through 21. Dr. Williams, if you'd like to share some information. Just in summary, Ms. Sandoval, in her role as outreach liaison, supports many of our foster youth. And so

095for the last few years, in conjunction with San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools, we've sent a delegation to participate in this California Foster Youth Education Summit. And so we're asking the board to approve that overnight field trip for two students. usually Ms. Sandoval accompanies as well, and we either get some additional staff or some parents to go along with. Thank you. That's what I was worried about because it just said two students, and I'm like, they're just going to send two students sacramental by themselves. So that's what I wanted to understand. Thank you. Do I have a motion? Do I have a second? I already recommend. Do I have a second? Second. All in favor? Aye. Thank you. The next two is K-4-2 and K-4-3. K-4-2, you have to come on out of time. Okay,

096K-4-2. The recommendation. The recommendation, the Board of Trustees award a bid number 26-005, Central High School Roof Replacement Category 9. Roofing to FC and Sloan Roofing Company in the amount of $905,000 and that the superintendent or designee be authorized to sign the agreement on behalf of Barstow Unified School District. And I'll tell you why I pulled it because I didn't say when this was going to be done. Mr. Beaton. Yes, so the plan is our construction start will be June 8th, 2026, the construction completion. It was planned for July 24th, 2026. Any other further questions? That was what, yeah, because it didn't specify in here. I wasn't quite sure if this was for this year, next year, or when. Do I have a motion? So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Thank you. And K43,

097it's the same thing. But let me read the recommendation. I'm getting there. Recommend the Board of Trustees approve the award of bid 26006, Barstow Junior High School, Category 27, Landscaping, Artificial Turf Installation to No Limit Construction Contractor in the amount of $140,000 and that the superintendent or designee be authorized to sign all necessary... documents on behalf of the Barstow Unified School District. What it was, you know, you're putting down AstroTurf and like, where? You look at the junior high school and you're like, where are they? Quad? So I actually got a picture for you. Yes. So it's that, it's the round circle in between the cafeteria and the library. South of the administration building. They call it the quad? Yeah. That's what it is. Thanks for fact-checking me there. So that little round area that

098we've seen, it's $140,000? I know that. That's not cheap. Wow. So I provide a little report together for you so we can better understand. Sure. We're not going to have to water it and manure it and everything else. And it's kind of for safety also. I mean, you know, I mean, it's kind of rough area, right? It always has been since the school was built. You know what I mean? It's a lunch area where a lot of kids are running around. horse playing. I'll get to it. Okay. Yes, you're right. You're absolutely right. So the artificial turf installation was requested by Ms. Amy McDonald, principal of the Barstow Junior High School, to create a safe and functional outdoor space for the students. As part of the recent campus renovation, much of the outdoor area is

099now primarily concrete, and there's no irrigation source to support natural grass growing there. Leaving the space with desert landscaping consisting of rocks and gravel. In an effort to improve student access to the usable space, the principal has already had our facilities management operation team remove a portion of the desert landscaping. However, the remaining rocks have presented ongoing safety concerns as they are frequently picked up and thrown by students. It's also the winds blowing that into the cafeteria and into the corner there. It's constant. safety hazard there. So this project was replacing that area with artificial turf to provide a safer, more appropriate space for student activity. The kids actually love being able to use that area before they were constantly on their phones. And so Ms. McDonald has created that atmosphere so that we can

100get the kids playing before school starts. So we did it. I can tell you, I've been working on this for about a year now. I first got Dave Bank to give us a quote. His quote came in at $180,000, and I thought to myself, I could buy a house for $180,000. I'm going to lay artificial turf. I just can't see it, right? And then I asked Great Western Installation. They also did our... playground up at Skyline. He came in at 141, but I still wasn't satisfied. I thought maybe we could do, buy the material and do our, train our staff and take care of the labor in that instance. So once the landscape was pulled, I mean, it created that safety concern. I still have to come up with a way to solve that problem.

101So we went out to bid with our KUPCA. vendors. That was held on the 11th. We received four sealed bids, which were publicly owned on February 26th. The bid amounts ranged from $230,000 to $370,000 to $240,000. Actually, I had two vendors come in at the same exact price. Never seen that before. That is a testament that they're trying to get that project, so they're trying to give us the best price possible. So that is one good thing. So after review, the no-limit construction was determined to be the lowest responsible bidder meeting all requirements. The total project cost will be paid from the school facilities fund 35, so no direct consequence to fund one. our general operating fund. So this will be paid out of the construction fund. I also wanted to make sure that we

102knew exactly what that contract entails. So it's going to be site clearing, earthwork. They have to excavate, backfill, grading, importing, exporting, compaction preparation. There's going to be a sub-base course of four to six inches. So we're going to have three different layers, keeping the weight in the lump. We have to attach with staples, nails, or adhesive adhering to the manufacturing specifications. I've actually, when we specify that we want the best, so that we have... a good 10 to 15 years of turf. So we have to add infill, sand or rubber material according to manufacturer's specifications. It is estimated to be 81 square feet, 8,100 square feet. So it is a very, looking at the picture, it doesn't look very large, but it is a very, pretty good space. So why this differs from community pricing?

103You know, I would like to have some of my turf in my front yard too right now because instead of pulling up weeds. So because it's a public works project, you have prevailing wage requirements. We have to pay those union labor rates. Because of public works labor compliance, there's certified payroll reporting, worker protections, and labor compliance programs. This project doesn't necessarily have to have DSA oversight or construction management. We'll be doing that ourselves. School projects require higher grade materials, drainage systems, base preparation, and durability standards to withstand heavy student use. Plus we have insurance bonding and liability requirements. So that's all factored into that $140,000, which I get it right. It's still expensive. So that's it in a nutshell. But I do have also prepared some frequently asked questions and I have answers to them

104if you want. Well, no, I do appreciate it because when I read this, it just says 140,000. Didn't say, didn't figure out where it was going at the high school, at Virginia High School. And I'm like, are they doing the whole backfield? But, you know, understanding what it all entails, you know, I wouldn't have pulled it if I'd known that. That's the only reason I pulled it, because it didn't explain it to me. But thank you very much. I appreciate you pulling it. I got a couple questions. Yes, sir. So we're not going to plant any trees or anything. In that area. It's just going to be the artificial. Artificial turf. Good, good, good, good. And then say three years down the line, our little 115 degree sun starts beating up on that. Do we

105have any guarantees that they're going to come patch it up? It does come with a 10, I believe it's a 10 year guarantee. So if anything, if it were to manufacture defect, you know. discolor, anything like that, they'll replace it or patch it. Now, artificial turf retains a lot of heat, right? Yes, it does. So have you thought about what are we going to do? Because it's going to get hot. There's nothing covering that thing. There is going to be some maintenance with it. We're also going to, I've asked the company that's doing this to provide training to our... FNR maintenance and operations staff so they can see how it's installed, what it takes to install it. So if we go ahead further down the line, then it might be cheaper for us to be

106able to do it. And there is a license that you have to have to be able to install that. But if we could get that in-house, then we could save a good portion of that money of the labor costs. Because that's going to be hot during the summer. Yes, there's... Luckily, we're not in school during the summer. But thank you. Any other questions? We'll have a motion. I'll move. Second? Second. All in favor? Aye. Thank you. Next, we have 844 Transportation Plan 2526. Recommending the Board of Trustees approve the transportation plan. for the Barstow Unified School District for 25-26 school year and that the superintendent or designee be authorized to sign all necessary documents on behalf of the district. One of the questions I had, the reason I pulled it, one of the questions I

107had, I wasn't quite sure of because it talks about, on the last page, We get reimbursed two point some odd million, but we're paying for it. It just got confusing. I wasn't quite sure where that the funding was, how much money we're getting back or are we gaining or losing? So we the the reimbursement, this just came into place, like I think three years ago, as they were only going to to reimburse us for transportation costs by 60 percent. Right. And then we also get an add on. It's already in the LCFF, and that was put in place in 2012, I believe. So with the new education code just doing the $60,000 out, so we have to tell them, okay, we spent this much money in the year before, and they're going to reimburse us

10860% of that minus our LCFF add-on. So we're looking at getting reimbursed $1.6 million, I believe. I think we had to correct a copy, but I misplaced, I had the wrong number showing that. So we did have about $4 million of expenses for transportation. That includes field trips, anything that the transportation department does. So the rest of it does come out of the general fund. So it truly is an encroachment program now. So the reason for the plan is that the state wants the LEAs to make sure that we're prioritizing K-6, I'm sorry, TK-6 programs, but not that we're not offering services to all our students, but just that we're prioritizing to our students that need more. So we're going to be reimbursed $1. some odd million, but we're paying out for. Yes. Okay, there

109you go. That's, yeah. That's the full amount for transportation. They never have. This plan is audited by the auditor, and they're the ones that actually submit to the state for our reimbursement. It is a... suggested practice that we bring the plan to the board every year, but it's not required. And I just learned that doing this research. So I still want to plan to bring it so that the board is aware of, you know, how we're doing. Yeah, I just wanted to make sure because I wasn't sure if we were breaking even, but then we get $2 million back. And then I was like, I'm not understanding it. So, but thank you. Thank you for explaining it to us. All right. Do I have a motion? No, I'll take it. All in favor? Aye. Thank

110you. And the last one is K46. It's master agreement, Centos AED services. Recommended that the Board of Trustees approve a 60-month master agreement between the Marcell Unified School District and Centos for the leasing services of... 24 ZOL AEDs, three units, and the associated Life Ready 360 management program, effective April 2026, and that the superintendent or designee be authorized to sign all necessary documents. One of the questions I had with this, and I understand how the AED, I understand the safety of it, but it doesn't talk about, it didn't talk about training. Who's trained to use these? It didn't talk about primarily who and what is our training regimen for these. Yeah, I understand they connecting them all together and they can do all the maintenance and they can update and you can manage, monitor it

111on the phone and all that good stuff. But who's trained? I won't go through all that, but so who is trained? Two years ago, we had a, at our management retreat, we went through a CPR and AED training. So primarily that's district administrators, directors, principals, assistant principals, deans, school administrator, managers, psychologists, health assistants, special needs, paraeducators, campus safety monitors, and campus security monitors. We are also in the process of either going with an internal candidate that can help us with our CPR AAD training going forward, or this company also offers a training program too. So we're still working on who's going to do it going forward. But right now, currently, mostly administration. Safe security and health assistance. Yes. And that's good. I've had these. I've been a safety officer. I've had them. We had them

112scattered all over the place. And guess what? Not a single person was trained to use them. So, you know, when I read it, it didn't say who was trained to use it, what type of training we're doing. But I do appreciate that information. Thank you. Since you said that, I would love to say out loud, and Mrs. Crane knows this more than I do. These devices really, and I want to say it out loud so the community hears it and our staff hear it, these devices will truly walk anyone through the use. All you have to do is open the cabinet, pull it out, and open it. It will tell you what to do. So, yes, being trained on it is absolutely a great idea. And we're working on doing that for all staff. But

113you truly don't need to be officially trained in the use of an AED. All you got to do is open the cabinet, pull it out, turn it on, and it will walk you through the process. Because AEDs today, you can't even, the machine itself detects the heart rhythm. Correct. for a shockable rhythm. So it's not even like, hey, like the old school paddles and you clear and shock. It's impossible at that point to do harm, basically, because you can't override the system or shock someone who doesn't need it or anything like that. So I'm glad you bring it up so we can say it in this public forum that many of our staff, I mean, if they feel like someone's having a heart attack or in need of an AED, pull it out of the

114cabinet, turn it on. It'll tell you what to do. Yeah, it got the video. It tells you. It'll tell you exactly what to do. But I appreciate it. Thank you for that update. Do I have a motion? So moved. Second? Second. All in favor? Aye. Thank you. All right. We move on to discussion items. These are presented as information. We can kind of, yeah, we can read the. the recommendation and read out what each policy is. L11, information, revision of board policy and administrative regulations, and the 1000. Presented as information are the revisions of the following board policy, administrative regulation, and exhibits. BP1000, concepts and roles. BP slash AR 1114 district sponsor social media. This is just an information item tonight. Yes. We can continue on with the rest of them. You can just read

115the, he has a list of them over there. You can just read what policies and errors there are. Okay, read them all. Lima 1-2, information revision of board policy 21-20, superintendent recruitment and selection presented for information. Information and revision of board policy 2120, superintendent recruitment and selection. Lima 1.3, information revision of board policy and administrative regulations in the 3000. Presenting as information are the revisions for the following board policy and administrative regulation. AR 3311.3, design, build, design, build and contracts. BP 3470, Debt Issuance and Management. Lima 1-4, Information, Revision of Board Policy 4000, Concepts and Rules. Presented as information as the revision to the following Board Policy 4000, Concepts and Rules. Lima 1-5, Information Revision of Board Policy and Administrative Regulations. And the 5,000 presented for information are the revisions of the following board policy

116and administrative regulations. In the 5,000, BP 5,000, Concept and Roles, BP and AR 5020, Parents' Rights and Responsibility, BP AR 5117. And enter district attendance, BP 5138, conflict resolution and peer mediation. That's it? They were just informational. They'll be brought back. Next, we have educational services. Lama 2.1, new course outline for Link Crew Barstow High School. This is actually a current course at Borstal High School. It's a two semester course that we have 11th and 12th graders enrolled in. The work here is to bring the rigor up to allow for this course to be considered A through G compliant. The staff has done that. In the course, you combine high level critical thinking, writing and analytical skills with mentoring and entrepreneurial project experiences and implementation. Basically, the students that are enrolled in this course lead

117and design activities for our freshmen. It starts in July. It will start for the next school year in July of 26. And periodically throughout the year, they'll be meeting with groups of students with various activities. They do things during their lunch break as well as after school. It's a great way to increase school connectedness and improve school climate. And it's presented for your information. It's just information. It'll come back on April 21. Got it. Next, we have nothing in people services, business services, technology, personnel services, nothing certificated, classified. CSEA MOU 2526-005. Library Media Assistant Work Calendar Adjustment between Barstow Unified School District and the California School Employees Association. Recommending the Board of Trustees approve this CSEA Memorandum of Understanding 2526-005 Library Media Assistant Work Calendar Adjustment between the Barstow Unified School District and the California

118School Employees Association. Yes, thank you. So this MOU was negotiated in good faith, and basically what it does, it adjusts the work calendar for this specific position. The position we're discussing is CLCEL002, IRE Media Assistant from 215 workdays to 230 workdays. And this was approved through the 610 process, and the superintendent recommends approval. Have any questions? No? All right. Do I have a motion? So moved. Do I have a second? Second. All in favor? Aye. Anybody have any items for future board meeting? No? No? I do. I love the idea of the administrative, especially the dean and assistant principal mentor program. Do we have something for teachers? Mentoring new teachers. Have we thought about that? Have they brought it up? Well, we have different organizations. We have Catalyst. We have CTI. We have CTI, which

119is an induction program. So we are providing new teachers mentoring supports based upon whether they're in a credential program or whether they are working toward getting to the Crimson program. Okay. So, yeah, because... I took you to that time. Talk about, I'm going to, you know, I'm like, do you have a mentor at your school that you can go talk to, you know, in case something goes wrong and they want to get clear? And some of them say, well, no. Or some of them say, well, yeah, I do. But I'm like, why don't we talk to them? And grade level grade levels for when we support each other levels and it would be, it would be great to have a program similar to what the administrators have. For the teachers, and that's maybe something we

120can look at in the future and see if we're working, you know, work with. Uh, and the teachers to see if they can come up with something. Great idea so and. That's all I have. I do believe that everything up. Need to go back into closed session. It's 726. Return for closed session at 817. In closed session, the board took action to approve a suspended expulsion recommendation for student number 4379284574. The board voted. The vote was three A's, three I's, and two A's with board members Heldreth, Useless, and Peer. All right, Piera. Perea. Perea. God, Lord, have mercy. Voting aye. And Board Member Williams and Gibbons voting nay. And with that, I will take a motion to adjourn. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. We adjourn at 818. All right, everybody.