001At 5.11, there was no action taken in closed session. Presentations. Henderson Elementary. Hi, my name is Johnny. I'm a second grade student at Henderson. This is Henderson here and dance team. They are third and fourth grade. They perform at county events. They share at City Basketball. In May, they will perform at a minor baseball game. Tonight, they will show you one of their dances. Then you can watch a video about our school. Thank you, Ms. Reyna, for making the video. My mom, Ms. Dominguez, for coaching Cheers, and Ms. Miller for being a great principal. Henderson mean to you? It's a full and responsible and safe. I mean, what's your favorite part about school? Miss Macintyres. Lawrence, what's your favorite part about school? Playing on iPads. On iPads. Right now, what's your favorite thing to do
002at school? Read a book. Zy, what's your favorite part about school? That I get to put my head down and Travis A. Finn. What's your favorite part about school? Math. What's your favorite part about school? Writing. Mikey, what's your favorite part about school? What's your favorite memory of Henderson this year? My favorite memory of Henderson this year is... When I met my first friend. Aww. Bruce, this is a math science medal. What is your favorite part about school this year? I know. I mean, I'm not really a school kid. What's your favorite thing though? Um, probably... Doing the fun things like science fair. Yesenia, what's your favorite part about school? You. What's your favorite part about school? That Ms. Carter teaches me good things that I haven't learned yet. Aww. Gladys, what's your favorite part
003about school? Going to lunch. Cody, what's your favorite part about school? Here we are live in the office of Henderson with our Certificated and Classified Employees of the Year. Mr. Baca, being the Certificated Employee of the Year, do we have any special words about Henderson? I would just like to say that Henderson is a special place because of the people who work here. Nice, nice. Thank you so much. And Ms. Brenda, being Classified Employee of the Year, do we have any special words about Henderson? I want to double what Mr. Baca said. We have amazing people here and they make Henderson a place where you want to come to work every day. Nice. Thank you so much, guys. All right. And one more important question. Who is a true spirit stick winner of the 25-26
004school year? Oh, obviously. In my opinion. Henderson. Henderson. Henderson. Back to you, Ms. Miller. Thank you. I just can't get them to calm down. All right, I'm going to squeeze in this way. Oh, my God. And face that way. And get close, like you love each other. Excellent. Thank you very much. Oh, oh, oh. Sorry. Oh, yeah. All right. Next, we have EIS. Are you voting for the presentation or should I just come up to show you guys? You can bring it up here and leave it up here. We can move that nameplate back because they need to see these. I just saw these. These are super cool. These ones are the ones that the adults made. The rest are all the ones that the students painted and you guys can pass them around. Can
005we handle them? Yeah, you can handle them. They built and painted them. So this is for the Warhammer Alliance Club that we're doing at the school. It's a... It's a board game mixed with a little bit of modeling hobby on the side as well. The kids have been learning a lot of team building with it, especially the ones who've been doing the white and gold ones. They've been working together as a unit trying to come up with that color scheme themselves. The game that goes along with it also encourages a lot of math building. There's a lot of adding, subtracting that has to happen with the dice rolling. And then my favorite part about it is the cool story writing element that's in it. There's a story that you come up with with the models
006that you build and paint. And then you have to play through that kind of like a little bit like Dungeons and Dragons, if you've ever heard of that. So it's like that, but a whole board game scale instead of just a few things. And the kids have really been loving it. In fact, we were able to get some of them to paint a little bit today. In fact, that's one of the fresh ones that was painted today as well. And actually, that one in particular is being painted by her. It's not completely done. She's come up with the color scheme. And then he's with the team, right? He's with a team of four young men that are coming and getting color schemes and everything. There is a curriculum that... You can adapt to it. There's
007language arts where they write. There's math where they abstract measures. So there's a lot that can be embedded into. And several creating writing assignments as well. So it's really exciting. We're excited to be doing it. We hope that eventually other campuses can start doing it as well because it is a really fun way to get the kids learning and being creative with themselves and being more confident in their artistic expressions as well. And they're open for questions if you have any. I was just curious with, you said with like building them, do you guys, do they come in pieces or is it like 3D printed or how does that whole process work? They come in like pieces because they're like certain packs that come like expensive. There's some cheap, like on the MSI, they're cheaper,
008but they come in pieces. Okay. Some are snap-on. You put a bottle together, all those little pieces. Yeah, I know. That's what it was. And in the pictures also, you can see some of the I want to say that some of the kids are putting them together. These we spray paint for them. They do not spray paint. They do not superglue. We keep that too for obvious reasons. But they're given palettes and they're given a small amount of paint. A little bit goes a long way. They go at it all on their own. And that packet that was on that table with them, that's part of the curriculum. There's a whole lesson plan that goes with it. It's not just do whatever you want. There's a whole structured system. Do they make up their own
009game? Is there already a format? There is already a formatted game, but they're able to come up with their own scenarios for the game, their own stories to go along with them. And you say that you can build curriculum around that. Yes. I actually have the binder in my car right now. If you guys want to see it. So you said the game is like Dungeons and Dragons and you and the students. make the story of the pictures that they make. If they want, they can even name them. I encourage that. To name their characters that they paint. The actual game is you're building an army to fight against someone else's army. So it's kind of like chess with Dungeons and Dragons with some dice thrown in. The ultimate goal is to tell a story
010with them and encourage creativity with the kids. And they've really been loving it. They threw themselves into it much more than I thought they would. Impressive. Anytime you can make it fun, that's a good thing. Exactly. It keeps them away from their phones. Yes. That's what we've been working on, and hopefully other campuses would like to partake in that. That would be a cool project to intermingle with the other campuses with, if it ever got that far. And we have a great support system with Ruth Maldon. She came up with the idea, and we've just rolled with it. And we have right now rostered in a 45 minute VAPA class, 45 students. No, 47. Yeah. How far would you guys say would be like a grade range for the material? In the paintings? Or as
011far as like with the lesson plans or like with doing this project, like which you could have kind of adapted either up or down, like, you know. Like fifth grade, sixth grade, actually can go fifth all the way through high school. And I know the high school because my daughter was and my son were in a similar type of club. They have Warhammer games and Magic the Gathering as well. Yes. And we're embedding Magic the Gathering into it as well. And that right there is language arts because they have to read the cards when they're battling against each other. They have to add, subtract, multiply, divide. It's all. It has a lot of curriculum-based material. And 45 minutes out of the day, it's a brain break for them. It helps out a lot. The coolest
012thing, I think, is that it's called Warhammer Alliance. It's the name of the club that gives you the curriculum. The coolest thing is that... It comes in a 16-week program, so that's, I think, one semester at a time they do it. And it gives you a whole curriculum for that one, and then after you finish that one, then they give you more advanced stuff to keep teaching, so it's not just stagnant. Yeah. And they supply you a lot for free. Like, all those models in there came mostly for free. A lot of the ones, the little ones, came for free. The other ones, not so much. But we're willing to sacrifice for the kids. Really nice. Impressive. I just wanted to say thank you guys. And thank you, Ms. Malden. That's investment, right? Because our
013kids today, the attention span is different. So when we can be creative and think outside the box and get them to invest in themselves, it's always amazing. So I'm just happy to see it. Thank you so much. Yeah. I know it would make me want to come back to class. Does it make you want to come back to class? No. My class. He's like, my class, yes. The other class, not so much. This one for sure. Yes. Do you have any questions for them? Thank you. Thank you. Can we get a picture with the board, please? Ms. Malden, too. Hold the box up. Yeah. You hold the box. Not about me. Ready? One, two, three. Got it. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Approval of
014minutes. Regular board meeting September 2025. September 9, 2025. Do I have a motion? No move. Do I have a second? Second. All in favor? Aye. Okay. Business from the floor. The board meeting is a 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 the time for citizens to present problems and questions they feel the board should discuss. Individuals are encouraged to address the full board, not individual board members. The law prohibits from taking action on 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 Trustees. The Board
015has a policy of limiting the speakers to not more than three minutes. The Board limits the total time for public input on each item or topic to 15 minutes or five individual requests to speak. The President may review the submitted requests. Request to speak and take a poll of the speakers for or against a particular issue and may ask that additional persons only speak if they have something new to add. Citizens. who have comments on or against a particular issue may be asked to provide written statements for the record or to sign an agreement with the written statements of another citizen. All names will be memorialized in minutes. 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
016be heard. For the record, state your name. We have one, and it is to discuss issues with the SRO, critical staffing shortage, and follow-up with Tier 3 students. Mr. Brian Willey. All right. So today I come before you guys to talk about an issue with the SRO. Right now, we've known that the number of SROs available on duty has reduced from three to one. The SRO's end of shift is at three o'clock, but BIS leaves at 415. So at least an hour and 15 minute window in which we don't have the staff that we need to deal with the issues we have at dismissal when we know that they're going to happen. This is a contract issue, right? They are a vendor. We pay them to provide services. So we need to look at when
017that contract is up to renegotiate the times in which they appear. If we're paying $200,000, we need to get $200,000 worth of that service. And right now, the time that we really need them, they're not there. We know that this need for extension is real and documented. We've documented parents chasing other parents and students through the parking lot. We've documented parents driving radically and dangerously through the parking lot while students are walking home from school. We know that parents are going after other students due to cultural norms, whether it be they're dissatisfied with how we have handled the situation or they feel that they will handle it because that is how things get handled. We know that students are being jumped and fighting is resulting in injury. Last Thursday, we had a fight that took
018place. two blocks away, which shows that our systems are working, but yet we had video evidence of adults getting involved, of one of our students getting stabbed twice, and bobbing stitches, and then not having SRO or any sort of PD come because there was no one on duty. When PD did arrive, it was after the fact, and they can't unstab someone. So calls go unanswered or have 20-minute response times. The incident involving the parents chasing a third through our parking lot, there was not a response time in those 20 minutes later. We have these two instances where we've had to have amnesties called because students are getting jumped and then drugged back onto our property because that's what all the adults think to do. And then we're having to deal with it after the fact.
019We don't have resources. That is not really our issue because it happened off property. Next is the critical shortage of staff. We are at the edge of what our site can compensate through splitting classes. Right now, we are actively down six through means our needs that are kind of related. We have to deal with that. But we also had another six out on sickness, which last Friday left us critically short. We are one away from having to discuss other options outside of warehousing the students because there's no one else to watch them. Right now. Tonight, we have no one at our school as a janitor because we just don't have the staff. So we have other people volunteering to hop in, but that is only going to last so long. Staff shortages undermine the PBIS
020as the systems can't work if there's no one there to work it. We can't talk about how this is a systems tier one issue when we don't have the bodies to actually carry out the system. Even tonight, classes range from 33 to 36 students routinely because they're getting four to six students split from another class when they have to do this. This undermines your goal of having a fairly equitable and safe learning environment. for our students. So I understand that it's hard to get new staff. I'm reiterating the need to get more staff secure because even our sub took longer than expected because of paperwork issues. Thank you. No staff reports, superintendents report. Thank you. Good afternoon, board members, staff, and guests. Congratulations to Mr. Jorge Gutierrez. Mr. Gutierrez was chosen by the Board of
021Trustees and a panel of distinguished guests to be the interim superintendent for Barstow Unified School District. His career with BUSD began in 2003 as a classroom teacher. In 2017, Mr. Gutierrez was promoted to principal at Barstow Junior High School. While principal at Barstow Junior High School, he led professional development and training to support the three pillars of MTSS, academics, behavior, and social-emotional learning. He led improvements to the school culture with a reduction in suspension rates and disproportionality. He paved the way for all BJHS students to develop emotional intelligence, EQ, self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. Mr. Kempis was promoted to assistant superintendent of personnel services in 2021. the position he currently holds. As interim superintendent, Mr. Gutierrez intends to continue the district's focus on academic achievement, specifically the work on TK-3 literacy
022and the district's collaboration with the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence, CCEE. And it's not on here, but Mr. Gutierrez's contract will be brought back to the board on March 24 for approval with a begin date of July 1. Congratulations. Thank you. I'd like to give a huge shout out to our STEM Academy boys and girls basketball teams. Both teams played in the High Desert Athletic League's Small Schools Championship. The boys took on Desert Middle School from Edwards Air Force Base. The girls competed with Fort Irwin Middle School. The games were played at Barstow High School on Friday night. Both STEM teams won their games and claimed the championship. Mr. Heldreth, I give you my deepest sympathy as you were torn between cheering for BUSD's Young Academy Girls team or Fort Irwin Middle School, where your
023wife is the principal. I'm so sorry. Give our condolences to your wife, please. But we are happy to hear that our girls won the championship. Thank you to Dr. Jessica Swain-Bradway of Northwest PBIS Network and Lorraine Ortega with the California Department of Education for walking three of our school sites with me on Monday, March 2nd, 2026. The primary focus of this group walk was to observe active teaching practices at Barstow High School, Barstow Junior High School, and Barstow Intermediate School, along with each school principal, Mr. Navarro, Dr. McDonald, and Ms. Carrie Malden. Others in attendance were Mr. Scott Godfrey, Dr. Vinnie Williams, Dr. Heather Reed, Mrs. Jamie Fisher, and Coach Shanda Varela. The group walks provided all in attendance with the observable LIPOL moments related to the direct in-person evidence of the system-level supports being
024implemented at these three BUSD schools. That's my report. Thank you. Board reports. Ms. Givitz. Hi. Thank you. I want to give a shout out to the Huskies. They did amazing. It was just so cute to see them. I love their performance. I did want to say that I would like for us to talk about or discuss or research ways that our teams can work in civic engagement in a healthy way that doesn't conflict with. you know, school hours and things that need to be done. It's a large landscape of what you can learn in civic engagement, especially if you can, you know, be heard, but also not violate any policy or procedures. And to Mr. Woolley, I used to do security at Crestline and he used to work there and he has committed you guys.
025Like he is really genuinely here, you know, so I just want to let you know, like, I hear you. And thank you for sharing. And I hope that we can some kind of way discuss what you talked about. But that's really it. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Bray. I'd also like to give a shout out to Henderson Elementary. I went to fourth grade there a few years back. It was a great experience for me. I also am sympathetic towards your... your situation and I hope that we can do something to clear that up. My sincere congratulations to Mr. Gutierrez. He did a fine job and I think he's going to do a great job for the district. And I look forward to seeing him get rolling and doing, making some waves, so to speak. Also
026to to Dr. Williams, who did a fine job in the interview. And it was a tough decision. And I look forward to seeing you rise up. And I think someday you'll be a great superintendent, if not here, somewhere else. But I think you're... You did a fantastic job, man. I'm really proud of you. We've come a long way since ASB at Barstow College, right? Yes, sir. And so I know you'll continue to do a good job. That's all I have. Thank you, sir. Yes, sir. Thank you for bringing up your concerns, too. And I'm hard of hearing, but I heard just everything you said. We'll see what we can do. And I'm only one, but I'll, you know, we're definitely going to look in a few of those situations that I think can be solved,
027you know, with just treating somebody fair, firm and consistent, you know, and listening to people. And I heard you loud and clear. Thank you for bringing it up. You know, that's what we're here for, you know. And for the Henderson, I hope I get this right, Dance and Share Club. I've seen them perform their routine, and I got that right, at the Barchester College about two weeks ago. They're everywhere. The principal's with them. They're sponsors. teachers like Mr. Baca and stuff. It's a well-run middle school. I really enjoy going there. And the toughest part of elementary school sometimes is lunchtime and you just don't want to go in that cafeteria. Over there, it's run awesome. You know what I mean? It really is awesome to go there and visit that school. And to Denny. You
028know, I know it's hard to say, but, you know, your time will come, you know, hang in there. I know it's hard to, you know, easy for me to say and all that kind of stuff. I've been on a couple of interviews where I come up short and, well, they're going to, you know, but, you know, it worked out for me. You know, I was patient and just plugged along. And to Mr. Gutierrez, George, congratulations. You know, for myself, I'm behind you 100%. You're a good person. I've seen you go up the ranks here at the Washington Unified School District from Crestline to the junior high, up here to the district office. I've seen the way you work. I've seen your PR with the parents, the staff, and that goes a long ways, you know,
029being a leader. And I know you're going to lead by example. I think we made a good choice. And as for myself, I'll be behind you 100%. And, you know, let's rock and roll, man. Let's get it on, all right? Thank you for putting in for the job. Thank you. Mr. Helder. Man. I guess I'll echo a lot of the sentiments that everyone else has already said. We do welcome all public comments and everything that does come in that the board truly does listen to everything that everyone says. So we definitely take everything under advisement, even though, as you all know, we can't say anything directly in response back. But we do hear everything that is said and do take it into account. As far as both. Dr. Williams and Mr. Gutierrez. I told both
030of them this, that I sincerely mean this from working with both of you. I appreciate everything you guys have both done for the district up to this point are currently doing and everything you guys will both do in the future. I do really mean that and thank both of you. You know, we can't pick both of you, unfortunately, but I do thank both of you for your service and congratulate you, Mr. Gutierrez. Thank you, sir. As far as the other end with the STEM situation and the basketball game, it was definitely a fun time. The ironic part is it kind of got the most heated was actually right in the middle of the game that no one knew, but all the cheerleaders. So normally the cheer teams don't show up for away games. Normally they're
031only there for home games, for the different middle school games. I've went to the majority since my daughter does cheer for STEM, so I'm at almost all the games. We'll be in the championship games. The other schools brought their cheerleaders. This is actually really funny watching Vince, Mr. Williams was in between the two sides of the cheerleaders. So at halftime, our cheerleaders. unbeknownst to anybody, not any of the coaches or anybody else, just got up and then just. beeline straight over to the other cheerleaders. And all of us were like, oh, what's, you know, what's going to happen? There was nothing bad at all. They just went over to ask them to come out onto the floor, you know, to watch them whenever they're in their cheerleading performance. But I think all the parents and
032coaches kind of had a mini heart attack whenever they were watching all of the girls walking across the gym. So it was a little bit of a funny moment, but it was actually good spirits seeing them out there. And also congratulations to both of. you know, the boys and girls teams for STEM winning. Wanted to say thank you to Mr. Godfrey and to Ms. McDonald. I was able to go on a walkthrough last Thursday just to kind of, you know, see kind of how everything was going at the school. Got a little bit of insight from both of them. So thank you both for that, for allowing me that experience. and also on the presentations. Great job from Henderson for the cheer and dance team. And it's nice to see at the end of the
033video that the employees are engaged as far as the spirit stick and the competition. That's kind of what we were hoping for with some friendly competition. So I did enjoy that part. And also it was nice seeing... with BIS, with their presentation. I really like, a lot of people don't know this, but I also did do all my teaching credential program and stuff. So I don't really talk about it a lot, but it is nice to see parts where people are doing things, you know, integrating standards into things, cross-connecting different subject matter in a fun way. It is nice to see. So that was, that was a great job. So just wanted to highlight that. Good. Thank you. Well, yeah. cheerleading team. They're so cute. It's fun to watch them. Great start. BIS, Bapple, their
034team, I love the creativity incorporated into their, what they do. Really amazing. If you really could have gotten up and seen it, the way they put those together. I'm really, really impressed. I love the creativity there. Make schools like make school exciting for the kids and that's what we want to try to make make it very exciting I met this Saturday They're trying to do a youth council they want to put together And you know I was invited to sit in on that That's going to be something coming up. It's going to be ran by the city, but of course all the students are going to be ours anyway. And I think it's going to come through the high school and junior high school in a pretty good mixture. So we'll see what happens with
035that. But I was happy to be invited to it. Last Wednesday, I've been avoiding it for the last three years, but they finally caught me and made me do a ride-along with the police department. on a Wednesday night at 7 o'clock. It was four hours long. That was a lot. But he did show me how to use the M4 case. I'm like, okay. But it was really interesting to watch how they work. And we went from everything from a lost dog to gunshots, you know, and everything in between. So it was really, really interesting to see how our Barstow Police Department worked. So that was really exciting. It kind of worked like this. It's really weird. That very strong person, a very nice person. It was really amazing just watching them. But it was cold
036that night, so I pretty much stayed in the car a lot of times. But it was fun. And I appreciate them asking me to do it. I was invited to sit on a subcommittee for Vibrant Village for the youth in the community. So I'm looking forward to that. I think it's this week, maybe Thursday. I got to look at my calendar again. But to represent the youth here in the city of Barstow, so I'm excited to do that. I'm very hard on Vibrant Village, but they are trying to do some really good things for this community. I attended the last day of the teen dating violence. We did a pop-up at Desert Sanctuary on their campus. Turned out very, very well. We had a number of parents and teens come in. So that was really
037exciting. Also, we were invited. I was invited to by the SRO and the dean out at, um, Barstow junior high school, along with Ms. Norman and, um, uh, coach stone, very rewarding. Um, we sat there, we listened to the kids and it was amazing. As soon as we stood up and talked, they were quiet. They listened to actually clap. I don't know why, but that was fantastic. Really exciting thing to do, to talk to these young kids and help them try to keep on the straight and narrow. And, you know, I can't wait till they invite me again. Really, really exciting. And of course, they do a lot of other things, but I'm not going to get into that. So we'll move right along. But thank you. Do we have a student representative? All right.
038How's your guys day going so far? Oh, well. I'm Savannah Francisco. I'm the ASB vice president. I'm Jacob Lopez. Right now I'm the junior class president, but I'm going to be the senior class president. All right. All right. We have three topics we want to bring up. SEL, as many may know, is social emotional learning. It's a class that tries to teach students about compassion, emotional regulation, and more. And it's an idea that sounds great on paper, but sometimes results don't come the way as intended. Don't get me wrong, I believe it can help some students who are struggling in those emotional aspects, such as those who are getting into fights or just need emotional support. But it is forceful in the fact that you have to talk about your feelings rather than voluntarily opening
039up about them. No one wants to be forced to talk about how they feel. It is superficial in the fact that it's being used to try and help students, but to most feels like an extra workload because it is being graded. This would likely result in receiving answers that are not honest due to the fact it's a grade. It should be meant for students who are genuinely looking for that support or those who are suffering from mental and behavioral issues. It should be a resource that is offered, not a grade. Like the new wellness resource officer, Ms. Lopez. She's there to help our students along with our counselors. It feels a little elementary, and if the school is trying to teach us to be adults, then you should treat students as such and let us
040have that choice or option. Teachers are also being forced to implement and teach SEL rather than the curriculum they worked hard to learn and teach. Some don't even have the credentials to teach SEL. It's a waste of time and money for those who are being forced to do it and don't want to, students and staff included. The California Department of Education states, these guidance tools developed for voluntary use aim to build on and respond to call from California's diverse stakeholders to embed equity-focused, transformative, social, and emotional learning in every learning and teaching context across the education system. meaning it is not state mandated. It can still be offered as a course option here for students who genuinely want to learn about it and as a guidance tool for teachers, but not as an, but not
041an as enforced program. If reaching and connecting to your students is the issue, a suggestion that I have is asking if the students would like to reach out for help on an anonymous survey and have them make that decision by revealing themselves for that support. The estimate that this district is spending on Navigate 360 is about $25,000 to $33,000 for a total of 36 months. That funding being spent on a program no one wants is a waste, and should go towards what the school community really wants. The student body wants more financial support regarding sports, programs, and clubs. If given the opportunity with that funding, everyone could do so much. As based on example, we are a self-made organization and had no help from the district whatsoever, even when we had asked for support. Even
042though we have made things work, it is a financial burden on our students. Prom tickets are $200 due to the fact busing costs $16,000, venues costing $22,000, and still more expenses even after that. We try to give our students the best we can, but we have to charge them these high prices in order to do so. Had we not, the program itself would fall apart as it would not be sustainable. If we were given financial relief, we'd be able to lower these costs and give more students the opportunity to go. As sometimes that extra $20 means a lot to struggling families. ASME is not the only program that would benefit from financial support from the district. So I'm speaking on behalf of my peers. Cheer, band, baseball, robotics, drama, and so many other programs could
043use that funding that is being spent on SEL. The district could do more to help the school community with the money you are earning. Another concern I'd like to address is 7 period being removed for SEL. I believe it is too late in the year to make the decision as most upcoming seniors, juniors, and sophomores have already picked out their future classes. We were not told in advance that it would be a mandated class. It's not fair due to the fact it was decision made after we had already made ours, so we'd have to change our schedules to work around yours. Me as an example, even though I will be a senior, I will have a full schedule due to the fact I'm trying to work hard to get into a good nursing program. If
044you take that period away, you're also taking away the opportunity for other students like me, or even those who are trying to complete a class for credits who didn't have room for it in their scheduled prior years. I hope as board members, you'll listen to the voice of your students and staff and reconsider the mandate of SEL and club sports and program funding. Thank you. All right. So now my opinion on SEO and all that stuff. So on SEO, as a student, I deal with a lot of things myself. I do multiple sports. I'm in all sorts of clubs. I'm a joint at UCD Council. And I have the burdens that I deal with just myself. And I'm in a club that I talk about it out of my own self. But when I heard
045that I'm going to have to be expressing my feelings to a teacher who might not know exactly how to understand situations like that, I kind of got scared. Because if I have a teacher like... a history teacher. I'm like, yeah, blah, blah, blah. And he doesn't know how to handle the situation. I'm not going to know how to get out the information as he would like it or as you guys would like it. Also, again, with that removal of the sentence period, it does make it hard for us ourselves to figure out what we want to do because I have a lot, I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do. I have no idea of my plans in the future. And I was hoping that my senior year, I'd take maybe welding
046or a different type of course of class. Like, what do we have? We have like a nursing class, right? And just take a look at that, see if I'd like it. But having just six periods could limit that, what I could become in the future. That's my worries about that. And then our funding is, it's like... Upcoming the senior year, I want to help make changes to the school. I want to help bring back our student section. I want students to have a lot of fun at school. Right now, ASB, right now, we struggle with a lot of things like course funding for this. I'm not going to go because I can't pay for 200 bucks tickets. I have a job, but I also have other things that I have to help with at home.
047So it's hard for me and myself just to help and join into school things all because of we have to have them so high. Thank you. Thank you. So much. Representatives report. Good evening. I'm standing before you tonight on behalf of Harshal Education Association to acknowledge a significant and difficult task the board faced selecting our interim superintendent. We recognize the weight of that decision and the care you took in navigating the future of our district. BEA feels our district was truly blessed to have two amazing candidates for this position. The superior quality of leadership available to us speaks volumes about the potential of Harshal Unified. We're excited to begin to work with Mr. Gutierrez. We look forward to moving this district forward in a positive direction with the full support of the school board. We
048believe that with open communication and shared goals, there is no limit to what we can achieve for our students. Furthermore, we're ready and eager to collaborate with Mr. Godfrey with his leadership and educational services and the newly adopted math curriculum. We look forward to advancing our district in a powerful, positive academic movement. We're committed to working alongside him to ensure our instructional practices meet the highest standards and that every student has the tools to succeed. We also look forward to working closely with Dr. Vinnie Williams. Our shared focus on community outreach and continually creating a positive school climate is exactly what our staff and families need to feel connected and supported. So really, in conclusion, we truly feel that this administration team now is a place in the district office we have a dream team.
049That's how BEA feels, that we have a dream team with these three gentlemen. Their professionalism is awesome. By working together, teachers, staff, and administration, we will be moving forward in a direction that will truly be unstoppable. BEA is ready to work all together. Thank you. CSEA. Thank you, everybody. On behalf of CSCA, we would like to congratulate Mr. Gutierrez on his selection as interim superintendent. We recognize the responsibility that comes with stepping into this role, and we wish him success as he leads our district during this transition. We look forward to continuing to work collaboratively with district leadership to support our students, staff, and school community. As an update, CSEA and the district are currently working through the final remaining articles in negotiations. We have... three three negotiation dates um scheduled and we remain hopeful
050that through continued dialogue and collaboration we will reach outcomes that are mutually beneficial for our members and for the district and we are excited to see uh you know how how our how we're going to move forward and we really do look forward to continuing to work with you because we already do um but we You know, we're hopeful that we can move our district into the right direction and continuing to work on getting out of our DTA. I do enjoy being a part of the team and working with, you know, many members that are here and teachers, principals. And I know that. The board made a tough decision on who they wanted on who, you know, they wanted to choose. They have, you know, you guys have your own vision as well. But I
051truly believe that to mirror a little bit what BEA feels, you know, we, we, we really see good things coming. And we're hopeful. We're excited to be a part of it because we know that, you know, teachers and classified district administration, we all work hand in hand with the board and we're excited to see what happens. Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you. Personnel Commission. Good evening, board members, staff and guests. This is the report from the Personnel Commission. We currently have five interviews in process. We have zero recruitments that are testing and two appointments that we currently open for applications. We have 388 classified employees, 164 eight-hour full-time, 135 benefited part-time, and 89 non-benefited part-time. As always, we have 18 classified employees. On the classifications. On security, we have no vacancies. Safety, we have the vacancies
052at the high school. Those are being moved to interview. And let me find you the date here. I believe they're interviewing next. Here it is, March 17th. They're interviewing March 17th already to fill those. For custodial, we went through two rounds of interviews and selections already. So we're down two rounds and we still have one more round to do the backfills. There's three transfers that we still need to fill. They're going to transfer them out. So we have to wait the 15 days. And as soon as that clears, then we'll have another round do the same thing. and see if there's any other transfers. So we just keep chasing that until we get to zero. We're also currently working on making offers to all those individuals that were screened and onboarding them if they're outsiders
053or outside candidates. We're going to be doing lots of onboarding this coming Thursday, March 12th in the morning. So a lot of our outside candidates are coming in that day. And other interviews that we're working on are NSW 1 and 3 interviews are scheduled for March 13th and 17th. The health assistant interviews, they want to wait a little bit longer because they just had a vacancy. So they're going to go April 2nd. So that's when we're going to screen them. And then library media tech at Sky, that's going to be selected on Monday, March 16th. Once we get through the custodial round, we can focus on the paras. So we have the paras and then the para general ed. We need to pivot, so we need to focus on that, get them onboarded, and then
054we go to para paras and probably group interviews again. Let's see what else we have for you. We continue to review some of these recruitments for minimum qualifications. And as always, we try to schedule group interviews because that's just more practical and efficient. We also continue to hire and onboard substitutes. And as a reminder, we have our CSPCA conference, which is our annual professional conference that we attend. That is starting on Sunday, March 15th, and it ends on Tuesday, March 17th. So our office will be closed Monday and Tuesday of next week so that the whole staff can go to training. Our next PC meeting will be this coming Thursday, February 12th in this room. However, we're starting a half an hour early, so we'll be starting at 4 p.m. Everybody's welcome, so please come
055on by. Do we have any questions? You say February 12th? I'm sorry. March 12th. Yeah. February and March have the same days. Yeah, the same days. I had a quick just kind of procedural question as far as with it. It was in regards to the janitorial position, but it's the same question. Just, you know, you could fill in any position. But so we have like, say, a position open. Let's say that janitorial position. Let's just say that that job is open at school C. And then our classified can transfer. So let's say somebody's transferring over from, say, school B that wants to wants that position. Right. So then that would then vacate a position. It said school B. You know what I mean? So then say somebody from school A would then maybe want that
056position, et cetera. And you can kind of map that out for as many different schools or transfers or anything like that as possible. I would imagine that all of this is all set up and already arranged through contract. language and all of that kind of stuff through negotiations, right? Like how that whole process works and the timeline and all of that kind of thing. If it's not contractual, it's in the PC rules, but yes. So let's say somebody accepts. it's going to transfer. So a transfer is accepted. Then they have 10 days for the old site to release them. So they give them 10 days. So that's the first timeline that is in the contract. So sometimes they're released early. So the previous principal might say, it's okay, they can go today if they want,
057or no, I'm going to keep them. So that's the first timeline. And then we have to anticipate the transfer demote list once we know that that... Position is going to be vacant, then we have to post it. That has to post for 15 days. So that's the next timeline. With these custodians, as a matter of fact, because we do have those three that are going to be going somewhere around the 19th and the 20th is those days is when they're going to be transferring. We have sent an email out, a call out to the custodians for substitutes, right? So if people want to work overtime or cover that gap. for the transfers, right? The position that they're leaving vacant so that it gives us some time for those 15 days to clear for the interviews
058to happen, another selection to happen. And we'll keep going through that same process, you know, until we reach zero, right? Okay. I'm just asking. I in no way want to eliminate employee rights or nothing like that. I'm just looking at it as far as timeline, as far as getting people in there if there is something. So I wasn't sure on PC side if it was PC side rules and or contract language. And then that's something that's possible, I guess, to be changed if everybody wanted to, to potentially just be able to get people faster. That's all. Yes, it's both. So it's both. And sometimes if we make a change, that affects the other side because it's subject to bargaining because of a change in working conditions. So, yeah, we have to be sensitive. Yeah. Anything
059else? Thank you very much. All right. Adoption of agenda. We have a corrected copy on K6A4 extra duty summer admin. It has been corrected in the agenda. I have a motion with the correct to copy. So move. Do I have a second? Second. All in favor? Aye. Thank you. Consent calendar. Would any member like to pull any item for discussion on the consent calendar? Do I have a motion to approve the consent calendar? So move. I have a second. Second. All in favor? Aye. All right. Lima 1, 1, Barstow Unified School District academic calendar year. Recommending the Board of Trustees approve the Barstow Unified School District academic calendar year, 26-27 school year as presented. Yes. So here it is. Here's 2026-2027. The calendar did go through the process of the calendar committee made up of
060administrators, principals, certificated and classified employees and bargaining unit representatives. They met in January and they have come up with this calendar for the 2026-2027 school year. It has passed approval through all the bargaining units and it's presented to the board tonight for approval. Any questions? Not a question, but a comment. I'd just like to say, I know there's always moving parts with these calendars, but the one thing as a parent I can say that I thoroughly enjoy is that we're not getting off right before Christmas. So it will be nice to have a little bit of time in the holidays before Christmas that we go on break. Did enjoy that part. Duly noted. In addition, we do have the 28, 27, 28, 28, 20, 20, 20, 20, 29 calendars being worked on later on this
061year. So we'll make sure to when they work on those to bring that back to the calendar committee. Do I have a motion? So moved. I have a second. Second. All in favor? Aye. Lima 1-2 resolution number 19-2526. recognition of Women's History Month. Recommend the Board of Trustees approve Resolution 19, number 19, 2526, recognition of Women's History Month during the month of March 2026. Yes, thank you. Resolution number 19, 2025, 2026 reads as, whereas women of every race and ethnic background have contributed and continue to contribute to our country's triumphs and accomplishments in countless ways, and whereas women have played and continue to play critical roles in the economic, cultural, and social spheres of our nation's life by... constituting a significant portion of the labor force working in and outside the home. And whereas women
062have played a unique role throughout our history by providing the majority of the nation's volunteer labor force and have been particularly important in the establishment of early charitable, philanthropic, and cultural institutions in the country. And whereas women of diverse backgrounds have served as leaders in the forefront of progressive social change, not only to secure their own right of suffrage and equal opportunity, but also to abolish slavery. promote fairness, equality, and safety in the workplace, and advance the modern civil rights movement. And whereas the role of women in history has been overlooked and undervalued in the past, though its significance is now emerging and assuming its rightful place as an important part of the body of American and world history. And whereas California Education Code Section 51204.5 specifically calls for instruction in the social sciences to
063include the study of the role of contributions of both men and women to the economic, political, and social development of California and the nation with particular emphasis on portraying the role of men and women in contemporary society. And whereas the history, social science framework for California public schools kindergarten through grade 12 states that the history of history, curriculum of community, state, region, nation, and world might reflect the experiences of men and women and of different racial, religious, and ethnic groups and must be integrated at every level. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Forestry Unified School District Board of Trustees proclaims March 2026. as women's history month and encourages all educational communities to commemorate this occasion and appropriate and appropriate instructional activities adopted this 10th day of march 2026 by the bar state by school
064district board of trustees we will have this signed after we fix the typo that's on here we'll do that and then we'll all sign the page after that if approved so it is presented to the board for approval any questions comments Do I have a motion? So moved. I have a second. Second. All in favor? Aye. All right. Business Services. Second interim report. Yes, this is Mr. Beaton. Yes. The slide is coming. Good. Adrian, Board of Trustees, Superintendent Swearingen. I want to start by reassuring the Board that the Barstow Unified School District remains on a stable and responsible financial path. The second interim report is designed to give you a clear view of our revenues, expenditures, and overall fund balance, and to highlight any adjustments that friends since our first interim report. Our goal is
065not to just meet state reporting requirements, it is to provide the board with transparent, understandable information so you can confidently see the district is meeting its financial obligations today and is positioned to meet them over the next two fiscal years. Throughout this presentation, I'll point out both positive trends in areas we are monitoring. This ensures you have a complete picture of the district's financial health and can make informed decisions about the budget and future planning. In short, this report demonstrates that we are proactively managing resources, protecting reserves, and ensuring the district can continue to support our students and programs effectively. Overall, it reflects that the district continues to maintain a stable and responsible financial position. With that, we'll begin with the review of the financial certifications and key highlights for the 25-26 school year. At
066this point in the fiscal year, I'm pleased to report that the district remains financially strong. Based on our current projections, we are recommending that the board take the following actions. Approve a positive certification that the district will be able to meet its financial obligations for the current year and the two next fiscal years. Approve the budget revisions as outlined in this report. These steps will ensure we continue on a stable financial path with addressing the needs identified in our current budget. In addition, the district has met all state required fiscal criteria and standards. We are not projecting any cash flow concerns and there are no indicators of fiscal distress. Overall, this certification reflects that the district continues to maintain a stable and responsible financial position. I think you're a little, you should be on three.
067This slide highlights both the district restricted and unrestricted revenue resources. Total unrestricted revenue is projected at approximately $93.8 million. As is typical for California school districts, the vast majority of our funding comes from LCFF, which represents about 91% of total revenue. Our state revenue represents about 3%, while local revenue accounts for about 6%. Federal revenue in the unrestricted category is minimal. Overall, LCFF revenue remains stable, which is an important factor in maintaining financial stability for the district. This slide breaks down the components of the district's revenue. Our total LCFF funding is projected at $85.79 million. This also includes funding received through the Education Protection Account, property tax revenues, and community redevelopment funds. State represents about $22.67 million, which is 18%. Federal revenues are $8.65 million, which is 7% of the total revenue. And local revenues
068amount to $6.3 million, or 5% of the district revenue. At this time, we are not seeing significant changes in our ADA or enrollment projections compared to first interim, which helps maintain stability in our LCFF funding projections. Now moving to expenditures. Total expenditures are projected at approximately $162.23 million. When comparing the first interim certificate classified in benefits to the second interim, we can see that we've added positions. The district has increased services primarily in special ed and in full mine. In capital L.A., we decreased expenditures because a lot of the construction is going to be done in July, which will fall into the following year. So we'll be moving we'll be spending it in this fiscal year. So we have a lot of those summer projects. The overall decrease of total expenditures is 3.1 million for
069the second half. This slide provides a district detail on salary and benefit expenditures. Certificated salaries are projected at approximately 37.9 million. Classified salaries total about 20.7 million. Employee benefits total approximately 26.5 million. Compared to the first interim, these categories show very minimal variance, indicating staffing costs are largely in line with our earlier projections. The stability is an important indicator that our budget assumptions remain accurate and well-managed. On this slide, we have our beginning fund balance, so we started out the year with $72 million. Let's just say $72.3 million. Our revenues for the year are projected at $123.4 million. Our expenditures, 162.2. So with the budget deficit of 38.8 million and our Indian fund balance projected for this 25-26 school year will be $33,551,000. I'm showing the components of that fund balance, that $33 million. Revolving
070and stores will make up $400,000. Our restricted balance will be $15 million, $6,945. Our commitments, we have that $5.4 million from Fund 17. And then our assigned balance, $7.8 million. And then our reserve that we are obligated to keep, $4.8 million. So in order to make a multi-year projection and to show that we have a positive certification for the next three years, we have to have some assumptions. Our projected enrollment. As of seed beds day, that was 6,186. We're projecting that flat for the next two years. Our unduplicated pupil count, you can see, grows a little bit over the next two years. That percentage there is calculated by dividing those two numbers. Our estimated P2 ADA is 5,600. $146.28 with an estimated percentage of 90%. Our COLA for this year is 2.3. School services is
071projecting the COLAs to be a little higher in 27 and 28. But being conservative, I wanted to make sure that we were using lower estimates because the word on the street is they're going to be a little lower. You know they have to stay positive our lottery query ADA is 273 our step and column with our teachers and classified move Move over for certificate is 2% each year increase and then Classified is projected at 1% So with the multi-year projection state law requires districts are sized to maintain a minimum reserve of 3% A second enter on the district reserve for economic uncertainties is $4.87 million, which is above the required minimum. Additionally, the district is projected to maintain the required reserve not only this year, but also in the next two fiscal years. Maintaining this
072reserve helps ensure the district has the financial flexibility to manage unexpected expenses or economic changes. Based on current projections, the district continues to maintain a positive certification across the multi-year projection. However, as with all districts, we continue to monitor important factors such as enrollment trends, growth in special education costs, and upcoming labor negotiations. So we have our restricted balance detail of $15,006,945.13. These are the projected balances in our restricted programs. So when we reach June 30th, this is what we think our balances will be. You can see expanded learning was $5 million. Art and music, special education. We also have the LCFF equity multiplier. As you guys know, as Mr. Godfrey was explaining, that money comes in first. Then we spend last year's money. And so we'll always have a balance in equity multiplier as
073we go forward. So that's what you're seeing there. We have the Classified School Employee Summer Assistance Program, the Learning Recovery Emergency Block Grant, other restricted revenue, and our other restricted local. That brings you to the balance of $15 million. As for the assigned detail, that is the money that we assign minus the commitments. So that assigned detail is $7,826,895.55. We've assigned it in this fashion. We have $2 million for COP payments, $1 million for deferred maintenance, $500,000 for the state architect's ADA improvements that we're going to be doing this summer. Emergency infrastructure repairs, $350,000. Equipment replacement, extraordinary, $500,000. Retirement cost increases, $500,000. Our vacation payout, $650,000. And our uninsured claims, in this to the total, so we put $2,326,895.55 in that category. So, in conclusion, the second annual report indicates that Barstow Unified School District
074remains in a stable financial position. The district is recommending a positive certification, maintains reserves above the required minimum, and has no projected cash flow concerns. Overall, the district continues to demonstrate responsible financial management while supporting the educational needs of our students. At this time, the superintendent recommends that the board approve the second annual financial report and the budget revisions outlined in this report. I want to thank you, and I'm happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you. Any questions? Nope. Go ahead. I do, or at least maybe just a comment. If we could go back a few, back, back, back, right there. Next, one more, forward. I would just like to highlight, you know, just kind of a little bit of an area of concern, as I'm sure is already kind of been
075noted. But the direction that we're trending kind of at where we are, you know, whether you look at either beginning balance, you know, and also our ending fund balance. I know there are three year projections, but it is a clear indicator of a direction. Right? Yes. So I do look, I just want to say, look forward to seeing what exactly, you know, the changes are in store as far as that not continuing in the same direction. So I can tell you in our second, if we're looking at the second year, we're looking at a deficit in the general fund of about approximately $9 million. That needs to be shored up either through looking at services. We're buying too many contracted services. Also with our carryover, not knowing exactly how much we're spending and how much
076we're going to keep. So our encumbrances this year, when we do the UAs, we'll find out for sure with actuals, right? So these are always projections. And this is budgeted, so we'll have to see how much actually doesn't get spent in both areas, unrestricted and restricted. And then we'll be also looking to move as much as we can from the general fund into the restricted resources when allowable. It wouldn't. I mean, maybe not like a tonight question, but like a future question, just like you're saying, like on our actuals and then budgeted is what historically speaking, right? Like we've got giant pots, fuel repairs, et cetera, et cetera. Right. Do we have like at least a loose ballpark? as far as what we end with, you know, like not big capital projects, but I mean,
077just day-to-day operations, as far as like what our budgets, what we budget each year, and then what our actuals are at the end of it and roughly how much carryover that we have off of each of those. Again, that's not a tonight question. I just mean looking forward on those numbers, what percentage or historical thing say, hey, over the last whatever X amount of time, how much is there? I understand. We can play that either in Friday report or going forward too. We're keeping a close eye. Thank you. Anyone else? Can I get a motion? So moved. Do I have a second? Second. All in favor? Aye. All right. Classify. Establish a classified position. Three nutrition service workers. One. Yes. So moved. Veronica Calderon. Director of Nutrition Services is requesting the establishment of these positions.
078And the reason being because she's increasing the fresh produce options for students. There's also been a growth in some of the services of Barstow Fine Arts Academy, Henderson Elementary, and Skyline Elementary. There's additional meals that are being served. And there's also the supper program, which they're increasing. So they need additional staff to meet those needs, those service needs. This is being put forward to you for your consideration. I think you kind of halfway answered it already. As far as the supper program, I was just wondering if it was like over with the increase in meals, if just like added student. populations at the schools, like for like why at those particular schools, or was it mainly like program-based, like the SUFFER program and or like additional TK students or? You know, Ms. Veronica did not
079provide that information, that specific information. I would believe that they have an increase in services that need to be provided at these particular schools. How that breaks down, I don't have that information. It is for the Champions program. For the Champions. Okay. I figured it was probably program-based. Just checking. Thank you. Anything else? Nope. Don't have a motion. So moved. We'll have a second. Second. All in favor? Aye. All right, next we have CSEA MOU 2526-004, Utilization of Temporary Contract Service Regarding LVN Health Assistance and Special Education Paraeducators Between Barstow Unified School District and the California School of Employee Association. Recommend that more trustees approve the SES. CSEA Memorandum of Understanding MOU 2526-004 utilizing temporary contract services regarding the LVN health assistance and special education care educated between Boston Unified School District and California School
080Employees Association. Yes, thank you. So we actually started working on this MOU with CSCA back in September and it just cleared up. The 610 process is being brought to the board for approval. All the protections are in the MOU for our current members. We're not going to contract that if we have individuals performing those duties. But we do face sometimes situations where we don't have a health assistant. No one is qualified to actually provide those services. And those rare occasions, then we're going to continue to provide those services through an outside agency. And it's presented to the board approval. Any questions? No. Do I have a motion? So moved. Second? Second. All in favor? Aye. Okay. CSEA MOA 2526-001, Vacancy and Transfers Between Varsity Unified School District and California School Employees Association, Chapter 306. Recommending
081the Board approve CSEA Memorandum of Agreement. for vacancies and transfers between varsity and high school district and California School Employees Association. Thank you, Mr. Rangin. So this is brought to the district. This actually was a parable error. We actually negotiated this TA last year. And for whatever reason, it was left out of the... The 610 process and 10 agreement process that we negotiated last year. I guess we got too excited with the 11.25% raise and somehow we missed it. So as you can see, it's a memorandum of agreement, not understanding. So I learned that through this process. So that was fun. And it's brought to the district for approval. Any questions? Do I have a motion? I'll move. I'll have a second. SECOND. ALL IN FAVOR? ALL RIGHT. DO WE HAVE ANY ITEMS FOR FUTURE
082MEETINGS? NO. OKAY. LET'S SEE. DO I HAVE A MOTION TO ADJOURN? THERE IS NO CONTINUATION. WE DON'T NEED TO GO BACK INTO CLOSED SESSION. SO DO I HAVE A MOTION TO ADJOURN? SO MOVED. DO I HAVE A SECOND? SECOND. ALL IN FAVOR? ALL RIGHT. AND WE'RE ADJOURNED AT 637. I'm sorry.