Central Union High School District Board Meeting: 3/11/25

001I call this meeting to order. It is 515 and today is Tuesday, March 11th. At this time, the Board of Trustees will hear public comments, presentations, or requests on matters listed on the closed session agenda. The Board will not respond to any public comments directly. Speakers are requested to give their name and address. Time limit for speakers is three minutes. The Board shall limit the total time for input. Public input on each item to 20 minutes the board reserves the right to limit presentation this meeting is being recorded Do we have anybody for open session? Closed session. I'm sorry. We will go to closed session. Thank you Usually when we have some of that we're honoring we like to have them lead us in the pledge Martin Thank you. Don't go too far. Communication and

002recognition. We have recognition of Mr. Martin Barajas, Transportation Supervisor. as young people in our district. Next month, we are going to have the board meeting at Central's multipurpose room because we're going to have an over-the-top amount of students being recognized for the recent successes we've had throughout our district. So hopefully you'll have time next month, April 7th, I believe it is, for... for a really awesome board meeting to recognize many different student programs and athletics. I'm gonna pass this incredible award with one of our fantastic leaders and Martin's been with us for many years. So he's been a real staple in our district as far as leadership and getting our kids to and from school safe, to and from field trips and athletic events safe. I'm gonna pass this on to our assistant superintendent, Marcy

003Mendoza. Thank you. So I'd like to give a little brief description on the Bob Austin Award, and this is actually given to one of two recipients who they're recognized of the legacy excellence in their school transportation. And as Dr. Farkas mentioned before. Martin goes above and beyond just alone this weekend I know it's his weekend he gives me a call gives me an update on everything he's truly worried and concerned and make sure that our students are safe and get to and from events so I think this is a well-deserved award and thank you Martin for all your hard work I knew a lot about Martine's efforts and all the things that we do, even weekend work, but I learned a little bit more when I was watching our central champion Spartan boys soccer team

004get on the charter bus and Martine's responsibility takes it very seriously to check the charter bus. I want to tell you right now, that's the guy you want to inspect on the bus because everybody waited patiently and he checked every single inch of that bus to make sure the students were safe, even on a charter bus. So thanks for going the extra mile. Thank you very much. He was in the Department of Education for quite a bit of time there. Started out as a driver, supervisor, went to the Department of Education, became a consultant there to train instructors to become instructors to teach drivers how to drive. safely out there. So that's our main goal to teach everybody or the drivers that are coming in to transport a kid safe. Thank you. That's great. Thank

005you. That's cool background knowledge, yeah. You know, we were driving back from that game in Long Beach. I mean, we were going to the beach and the weather was really bad. And so I thought, what is the snow level? Because we had to go through the mountains and we had two buses trying to get through that. And I was in San Diego and I called B. I said, V, can you get a hold of Martin to make sure that the bus is safe and coming through? Because there were some flurries coming down. He said, I don't worry about it. The snow level is not that low. But it was nice that we could, he answered the call. He was ready right there to make sure that both those buses, the charter and the central bus,

006arrived safe and sound. So thank you for that. What was constant in communication with CHP, they would call the... sending your area ctp making sure that everything was open from from alcohol or actually from alpine all the way to imperial county just to make sure that uh that we were going to be able to come down and say i didn't want to get caught like that one time i don't know if you guys knew we got caught up in a storm on the way up it was it wasn't bad but on the way back it just got very bad when we had a pull over in jatumba and we thought it was going to open soon. Well, it didn't open soon. It didn't open until the next day around 8 o'clock in the morning or

0079 o'clock. But we were able to call one of my drivers to meet us in Ocotillo. And me and Ruben, Ruben's not here, but me and Ruben got two of our district vehicles in part because we couldn't take vans. It had to be our sedans because of the wind. It was too strong. So me and him, we were shuttling kids down to the place. It took us about two hours. There was about 25 kids. That was a boys volleyball team going from San Diego. And by the time we got done, we got them down here to El Centro. It was 6 o'clock in the morning. Wow. Where they should have gotten back here about 10 o'clock at night on the previous day. Thank you so much. Thank you, Martha. Okay, item number two, we have

008Southwest High School showcase with Mr. Derma. Mr. Spanels, I'm sorry. You didn't know you had to change your hats there. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen of the board. Well, ladies of the board. And to all who are in attendance tonight, thank you for lending an ear. I stand before you, a proud Southwest Eagle. And there are a lot of reasons to be proud in Eagle Country. Serving as the ASB director, as well as the SAVAPA coordinator, I have a few things I want to share with you tonight. And while SAVAPA will be our showcase, which is our Visual and Performing Arts Academy, I first just want to say something. because there's much to share in April over at Central about success and student achievement. But I'm here to tell you ladies, this district, we're in

009some rare air right now. I've been at Southwest High School for 23 years, and there has not been one person, I don't think, that has been able to say this ever, or at least. Not in the last 22 years. Now, while it's not a school-related event, out there at the fair, it's a big deal, right? Fair time's a big deal. High school madness is a big deal. And it just so happens that your Southwest Eagles are champions. We haven't been champions. since 2003, my first year. And I look back, I don't even know if we've ever placed. It's very subjective. We don't got to get into it. There's been a couple years I'm like, how did Imperial do that over us? And I believe they won first place once another time in 01. But the

010rare error is this. You should be very proud, Dr. Farkas. Because the Southwest Eagles were one and the Central Spartans were two. First and second place. And I don't know that that can ever have been said before. And those kids, Sarah and I, the ASB director at Central, we had a little meeting. She sent the kids over on a bus. The ASB kids talked it out. We had pizza. And then it just clapped a little. 800 purple and gold is way better than 500 garnet. Right? It's how we thought, and we're just going to be powerful together. And guess what? It worked. So to my ASV who's here, and the director is very proud. All right? Now, with that said, the survival coordinator. Wow. He's a super proud guy too. And I brought some of

011my team here. Mrs. Jessica Brooks is our dance instructor. She's here tonight. Mr. Steve Fattaro is our music instructor. He's here tonight. Not represented is Deidre DuBose. She's our animation teacher. And Jackie Plates is our art instructor. She's out on maternity leave right now. That makes up our component of art teachers. I brought some of our student leadership team and I'm going to let them take over and let the students voices tell what Savapa is all about. Ladies and gentlemen, no better person to introduce Savapa than our Vice President, Alyssa Bullock. Good evening board members, parents, and community members. My name is Alyssa Bullock and I am the Savapa General Vice President. I'm really excited to talk to you today about the Savapa Academy. This academy is full of creativity and talent where the arts

012are not just taught but celebrated. In SAVAPA we offer lots of components like dance, theater, animation, art, and music. Each of these areas is super important in helping our students become well-rounded artists. What really makes SAVAPA special is how all these different areas come together to create a supportive community. Our students get the chance to work together across different disciplines, make new friends, and learn from each other. This teamwork not only improves their artistic skills, but also keeps them motivated to do well in academics and attendance. We're really lucky to have the guidance of an Academy Award-winning director, Mr. Marinoff. He's currently helping us with our upcoming production of Mamma Mia!, which will be on March 28th, 29th, and 30th. This show is a perfect example of how all the parts of our Academy come

013together. Our dancers, actors, animators, artists, and musicians are all working together to make this show amazing. SAVAPA isn't just a place to learn, it's a place to grow and thrive. For students who want to pursue a career in arts, this academy serves as a strong starting point. The skills, experiences, and connections made here are unlike any other. It's a comforting and inspiring environment that prepares students for their future careers. Thank you for your time, and I'd like to now welcome Izzy, representing our Savapa Visual Arts. Hi, so my name is Isayelin Aro, and I am representing Savapa Art. And I have only been here for two years, and I still have one more to go. But it has so far been an amazing experience, and I hope others can experience this as well. South Park

014Art is a program where we learn to draw, paint, and create anything that comes to our minds. It is a class that is full of creative students and a positive environment. But not only is it a place for us to learn our artistic skills and expand our abilities, but also our social skills. It helps us make friends with other students. And we are constantly encouraged to analyze, interpret, and communicate our ideas. We share our thoughts and give feedback to others. In this class, we are provided with a safe environment where we are able to express ourselves and our emotions. This class improves our self-esteem. It has personally helped me improve my self-esteem and has given... students a reason to come to school like it has to me. This is my reason to come to school

015and it helps me, it gives me a motive to do well academically. We have participated in many contests such as the Red Ribbon Poster Contest, Autumn in the Arts, Festival by ICOE, Congressional Art Competition, but we have also done collaborations with businesses such as Dillard's, Garland's, Choose from the Heart. and youth creating change. Of course we have done collaborations in our school with other teachers and classes. We have done collaborations with Spanish and theater tech for the event of the Day of the Dead with music and culinary arts. We collaborate with all sorts of different programs and classes. These collaborations allow us to expand our abilities and allow us to experiment and learn. Savapa Art has also prepared students for college building and helps us build a strong portfolio for future jobs and our local

016artists. It is overall an amazing experience that I recommend. I have not experienced an environment such as this one, and I hope that others can also experience the amazing events that I have experienced. Thank you for your time, but I also would like to bring up Carlos Gutierrez from the Savapa Dance component. Good evening everyone. My name is Carlos Gutierrez and I am the elected president of both Savapa Dance and Savapa General. This would be my third and final year in the Savapa program. Throughout my time in this program, I've had the pleasure to participate in the arts and form connections with many peers over the years. Every year has felt like the formation of a new family and I'm beyond thankful for all the people that I've gotten to meet through this program. In

017Savapu Dance, we have the opportunity as students to freely express ourselves through choreography, whether it's student-taught, from guest choreographers, or from our director, Ms. Brooks. As students, we all like to push each other to constantly improve our skills, and I think that it is a blessing because it forms an extremely supporting and caring environment within the classroom. Outside of the classroom, we've also had many great opportunities to perform at local events like High School Madness, parades, and soon enough, we will be performing and learning on our trip to Hawaii. Even though this trip may sound like a vacation, we have the blessing of being able to learn and grow as dancers in our trip and show what our small town has to offer all the way in Hawaii. I would say that this program truly

018offers young, inspiring artists the opportunity to develop their skills and their said components and not only express themselves as people, but as artists. Thank you, and I would now like to welcome Savapa Theatre's President Riley. Not that I would need it. Good evening. My name is Riley Northam. I am a second year Savapa senior and the current theater president. It is an honor not only to be a member of this academy, but to be here today on behalf of my troop. Savapa Theater performs one production every quarter of the school year. This year, however, we added a fifth production to our repertoire. On February 25th, we visited Lincoln Elementary School to bring to them a specialized variety show. I personally sincerely hope that it becomes a tradition. One of the great joys of performance is

019seeing your effect on the audience. And few types of performances offer this opportunity more than school shows because it lets us see firsthand how we can spark a passion for the arts in the children of the valley. I truly believe that art is the soul of society and to perform is to embody the very essence of art. It has been a great privilege these past two years to be able to collaborate with the truly immense well of talent within Southwest. There's a particular delight in participating in the theatrical arts. We are not just reciting a story. We are breathing life into characters and their surroundings. We spend weeks bouncing ideas off of each other, and each of those leads to another, and every one of us has the chance to leave our distinct creative signature

020on the work. And the pride in seeing the product of our labor is like no other. There's a delight in working with like minds and sharing the passion of your heart, not only with your audience, but with each other. I have seen great growth in my classmates' confidence and speaking skills. inside and outside of the theater. The great thing about being an artist is that there is no ceiling. It's a skill of constant progression. We are always learning together and teaching each other. There is always something new to find out. Theater feeds not only the mind, but the heart. And we should all be incredibly proud to call our school the host for such a program. Thank you. I'd now like to bring up our music component. Hello, everybody. My name is Alejandro Saldivar, but

021you may know me as Alex in future reference. And I am Sabapa Music's administrator and the treasurer for Sabapa General. I want to start off by saying that this is my second and final year in Sabapa, but I truly wish I had joined since my sophomore year instead of my junior year, as I have had the greatest time of my life while being as part of this team. I have seen myself grow in so many areas and I've seen everyone else in my component grow in so many areas. Specifically, we learned so much about obviously music and theory and how to sing, how to get our voices to work for what we want to do when we perform. Life in general, working with professionals and with each other, even other components as we have done

022throughout the years. Honestly, just learning more about ourselves while we're on stage. When it comes to music, I can't thank anybody but Mr. Spataro for helping us out in everything that we do. A lot of us have learned how to raise our voices to heights that we never even thought were possible, myself included. We have learned so much about theory that some of us have started creating our own productions in terms of music, and we have honestly just learned so much that I cannot put it into words in such a small amount of time. I've learned so much about life, professional life, my own life, balancing time, everything that we have done, working with our theater tech, working with professionals such as Mr. Miranoff with the production of Mamma Mia, and working with people over

023at Disney when we go on trips for their workshops. And on a more personal note, I feel like I really began to live my life ever since I stepped foot into the classroom, since every time I'm on stage. This is a sentiment that I feel is shared by everybody of my class, every single one of my classmates. I truly feel like I am letting myself out there into the world, and I am learning more about myself in every production that we do, whether it's a vampire or winter show that helped bring smiles to a lot of kids, and our spring production that was just... an amazing ride last year. I really can't say anything but thank you to every single one of the Sabapa directors for giving me and all of these students the opportunity

024to be a part of your academy. Thank you. And just to give you guys a little taste of what we can do, I'd like to bring up our president for Sabapa music. Hi, good afternoon. My name is Danica and I'm just going to sing a little piece of our upcoming musical. It's Mamma Mia. It'll be March 28th to the 30th. The judges will decide the likes of me by spectators of the show. The game is a big thing. I understand you've come to shake my hand. I apologize if it makes you feel sad. Seeing me so tense, no self-confidence. But you see, the winner takes it home. The winner, a big thing. The winner. Superintendent, do you want to go to the show? We got tickets for you. We have VIP gala tickets for Friday

025night. You're going to come at 5.30. We're going to collaborate with Culinary Arts. We have a special decorator. You're going to get to meet the cast. You're going to get preferential treating. You, as our CUHSD dignitaries, will be our guests at Mamma Mia on March 28th, Friday night. Now listen, if you're going to use them, email me. I know people who want those tickets. Okay? But please, we hope to see you there. How about our girl, Danica? Okay, so ladies and gentlemen, ladies of the board, Dr. Farkas, and to all, 100%. Thank you for your time. I appreciate it. Everybody come up for a picture. Yes, ma'am. Absolutely. Yeah, yeah, 100%. I'd be doing it a disservice if I didn't shout out Dr. Matt Bussey, our orchestra director. He will be a live conductor. We're

026doing this show to a live orchestra in the pit. No one does that in the Valley. Very few in San Diego. So when you come see our show, it's live music. Live performance. The real deal. Thank you. Thank you for Mr. Anderson's technical crew. Unsurpassed. I want to shout out my guy Rodney, too. His crew, phenomenal. Goosebumps, you know. I mean, it was just a beautiful voice. I'm looking forward to the 28th. Maybe go to all three performances. Yeah, it's good stuff. Okay. Whew. Item number three, CUHSD student club reports. Do we have anybody from the club that would like to give a report for tonight? We have President Isabella Gira from the Girl Up Club. Okay. Good evening, everyone. My name is Isabelle Aguirre, and I am a student at Southwest High School. I

027apologize for my appearance. I just came back from track practice. Before I begin, I would like to thank Ms. Espinosa for giving me the opportunity to present and report on my club. This club is a brand new club here established at Southwest High School, and I have the opportunity to found and also be the president for this club. So to begin with, I'm going to explain what is Girl Up. Girl Up is a girl-centered leadership development initiative focusing on equity for girls and women in spaces where they are unheard or underrepresented. It's a nonprofit organization that is entirely youth-centered and allows students to engage in passionate actions and supports all global communities. Girl Up chapters slash clubs can be found in nearly 152 countries and all 50 U.S. states with more than 6,300 clubs registered.

028And this organization touches on issues such as gender justice, climate, gender-based violence, education, STEM fair social good, sexual and reproductive health, rights, justice, and sports. So a little bit more talking about the club. So we all get the opportunity to organize, storytell, and advocate. And Girl Up members have the opportunity to hone leadership skills needed to transform themselves and make a positive difference in the life of girls everywhere. It teaches youth to find their voice, use it, and leave meaningful impact, not just in the Imperial Valley, but also beyond. We introduce endless possibilities for young girls to learn transformational leadership skills for a social good. And we started in September 2024 and met by leak. bi-weekly and towards 2025 we started to meet once or twice a month typically on Wednesdays. Going into our events

029the first event I'm going to introduce is one of our guest speaker events. We had Seroptimist President Yvonne Sotomayor, Elizabeth Espinosa a CUHSD board member and Mia Hernandez a Linthian Advancement representative. Our next one we had Olivia Zhang who is a Harvard University student and social impact youth leader who is recognized worldwide. And girls had the opportunity to connect with her virtually and also ask questions about Harvard College. And our third was a global virtual panel event with collaboration with Harvard College Girl Up because they have a club at Harvard. And again, members had the opportunity to ask questions about the college and also connect with them about the club there in Boston. Some more events, we held a voter registration drive during election season at the Imperial Valley Mall. We helped register youth and

030adults and also pre-registered people who are under 18. We also helped out at the ASB Southwest Purple and Gold Festival, and we handed out women in STEM worksheets to young girls. And we also participated in a social media for social justice campaign online virtually, and we got to work with Kamala HQ, the headquarters for Kamala Harris. Some more events. We got to attend the Seroptimist Conference. They provided us with an invitation for the whole club for your cost. And we also were mentioned on the Imperial Valley Press for our work and also the Calexico Chronicle for attending the conference. Some more events. Our most recent event, we held a period palooza, and this event is where people come together to package period products for those in need. We decorated pouches with empowering messages and packaged

031them with about 10 to 12 sustainable pads, and we sent these off to the downtown Women's Center to support those impacted by the Los Angeles fires. This concludes. Thank you so much. a little gift from so often and for keeping that youth-centered, women-centered focus. So thank you. Before we have the CT presentation, we have Ms. Poggeris, Adriana Hernandez, Chantel Horado. I think he needs to pull up my presentation. Yes. Okay, good evening board members and attendees. My name is Liz Cardenas. I am the CTE coordinator for our district. And tonight I'm excited to share the impact of our CTE programs and how it equips students with the skills and experiences necessary to prepare for both college and career. Next slide please. So to begin, I want to take a moment to highlight the heart of

032our CTE programs, our incredible teachers. At Central, Southwest, and Desert Oasis high schools, our CTE teachers come from the industry and are dedicated to equipping students with hands-on skills, industry knowledge, and real-world experiences. And without their commitment and expertise, none of this would be possible. Next slide, please. So what is CTE today? CTE today is a program of study that involves a multi-year sequence of courses and integrates core academic knowledge with technical and occupational knowledge to ensure that students have a pathway to both post-secondary education and careers. Next slide. So there has been a shift within CTE. It used to be known as vocational education, whereas now it has transitioned to career technical education. It used to be for a few students and those only that were not pursuing a college degree, whereas now it's

033for all students and it prepares students for both college and careers. It has lifelong learning lessons and experiences and skills. It used to only range with between six to seven program areas, and now it leads up to 15 industry sectors and 58 pathways. So in California, we have 15 industry sectors, and any occupation that you can think of falls into one of the big bubbles, which are the sectors. Underneath each heading is bullet points, and those are the different pathways that schools can offer. Next slide, please. So a pathway may look like this. It may start with an introductory course, a concentrated course, and a capstone. But it's a sequence of courses that students take throughout high school. It doesn't necessarily have to be three courses. It can be two or just one, which can

034be the capstone. But it culminates to a 300-hour course. So at our district, we offer 11 out of the 15 industry sectors. 24 pathways out of the 58. And then we have 33 CTE courses that help meet A through G requirements, which are the minimum requirements for UC and CSU. Additionally, we have seven courses that help meet early college credit through articulation with Imperial Valley College. And then we have one dual enrollment pathway, which is our automotive pathway. Additionally, our CTE courses embed CTSOs, which are career technical student organizations, where students have the opportunity to enhance their leadership skills, compete, and provide volunteer hours to our community. Next slide, please. So let's take a look at the pathways we offer at our district. Next slide. We offer a wide variety of pathways. These are the

035pathways available at Central. And they range from starting from healthcare all the way to public service, right? So any of the bullets of the little circles with the letter, that means that it meets the A through G requirement. And any of the ones with the check mark, that means that that course is an articulation course where students have the opportunity to obtain that early college credit. And you can see they vary from like three courses to two and then even one. And these are the ones at Southwest and the courses at Desert Oasis. So CTE impacts our dashboard, our California dashboard. And next slide, please. What is the dashboard? So the college career measure shows how well schools prepare students for likely success after graduation. So students can be classified as prepared or approaching prepared,

036and this is after they graduate. And CTE is one of the ways that students can meet that prepared category. Next slide, please. So last year since this data is accumulated at the end of the year will present on last year's data 60% of the students that were classified as prepared met prepared through a CTE pathway and then 71% of the students that were classified as approaching prepared met that approaching prepared status through a CTE pathway So as part of CTE, teachers integrate work-based learning activities into their content. And what work-based learning is, it's that connection of real-world industry. So there has to be industry partners. So for example, our dental or biotech, they collaborate with our health industry partners to provide... industry tours, guest speakers, job shadowing. We're not really at the internship level, but

037that's where we want to be in the future. And so this is embedded into our CTE pathways. Next slide. We started tracking all of our work based learning data and the different types of activities that students do within our CTE and this is just first semester. We have 1658 activities under the awareness category. So there's different categories that fall under different under each component. If you look at the training we do have zero, but we are working on collaborating with our industry partners to provide students with opportunities such as internships and hopefully an apprenticeship. I know we only have a few apprenticeships here in the Valley, but we do want to provide students with that hands-on learning and real-world experience. Additionally, students have the opportunity to obtain industry-recognized certifications, and just this past first semester,

038there was 162 students who received an industry certification. So part of our work-based learning, we do have an advisory committee where teachers have the opportunity to collaborate with our industry partners. We have two a year. Next slide, please. We housed one at Southwest High School and one at Central. And our industry partners, who were our attendees, had the opportunity to tour our CTE pathways. And our students were our tour guides. Our CTE ambassadors were our tour guides. And then, next slide, please. Towards the end our partners had the opportunity to collaborate with our CTE teachers to really ensure that our curriculum is up to date with industry because we really want to make sure that our students are prepared for that future workforce ahead. First semester we had a total of 28 industry partners and

039then second semester we had a total of 27 industry partners who attended and on the right hand side you can see who our industry partners are. Additionally, we do have educational partners. We partner with ICOE through one of our grants. We write this grant as a consortium. And so all Imperial County high schools are part of this consortium. And ICOE provides services to enhance, expand, and support CTE pathways, including PD, counseling supports, and other supports. We partner with Imperial Valley College through dual enrollment and articulation to allow students to earn early college credit. And additionally, we partner with IVROP through an MOA where our district funds two career specialists and one developmental specialist to support our teachers. our students and our CTE department overall. So I'm going to turn it over to Chantel and she's

040going to give a little description on the support services that they have provided to our CTE department. Good evening members of the board, superintendent Dr. Farkas and attendees. My name is Chantel Gerardo. As Liz mentioned, I am the educational service program manager at IVROP that oversees these programs. First off, I want to thank you all for allowing me the opportunity to share on our partnership within your district, but more so through our memorandum of agreement. IVROP provides career specialists at school sites. specifically Southwest High School, Central Union High School, and this year we were also able to expand that support to Desert Oasis High School where our development specialist is able to go once a week through our district service agreement. You'll see here and before you have been provided our recent quarterly report that

041details our services that IBRP has provided through our various youth programs. This includes services through our Memorandum of Agreement, our District Service Agreement, through our Strong Workforce Program, and our federally funded program, Ready for Life. As of December, IBRP has delivered over 7,000 services. This is a duplicated count, meaning that students may have received multiple services. Of those 7,000 services, 4,871 have been specifically provided through our MOA. And you will see that we have also noted down that we have served 2,517 individual students across your district, focusing on employability skills, which includes career exploration, career awareness, communication skills, also including workshops on social-emotional learning, life skills. and we've also had our career specialists support students one-on-one to be able to build on their professional portfolio, which is resume building as well as interview preparation. Through

042our MOA, we aim to support your district's high-quality CTE services by, your CTE goals by organizing regional events that promote work-based learning opportunities for our students, leadership skills, and industry connections. Your district has already actively participated in our events such as public services skills event our CTE leadership training Our agricultural field day as well as our recent CTE showcase as well as Central's law mentorship program And this week actually our Desert Races students will be participating, showcasing their skills in the barber battle this Thursday at 4 where we extend our invitation for you all to attend and see our students in action. It will be at the List Center at 4 p.m. Additionally, we have other opportunities where our students are going to be able to engage in our culinary competition and a welding skills

043event. These large-scale regional events allow us to be able to create valuable networking opportunities for our students across the districts where they come together, where they can collaborate and connect with industry professionals, furthering their enhancement with their employability skills, skills that they can apply on the day-to-day, but more so enriching their career readiness experience. Next slide. You can see here, these are photos of our CTE ambassadors within your district. In 2016, with the support and partnership of Mrs. Jackie Valadez at Southwest High School, we were able to launch the CTE Ambassador Program there at Southwest High School. And since then, we were able to launch this program as well at Central Union High School. as well as now at Desert Oasis High School. And thanks to your district support and leadership, other high schools in

044our county have adopted and implemented CT ambassadors within their school site. And here at IVRP, we look forward to enhancing this program and efforts and exploring new ways to continue this initiative. Here at IVRP, again, our Educational Service Department is committed to empowering youth to achieve their personal, career, educational, and life goals through our various... services and programs and we would love to return at the end of this school year to provide you with a comprehensive overview of the services we've provided and provide you with a another highlight but once again I want to thank you for your time and for the continued partnership we have with you So really quickly, I am going to show our CTE funding sources. We do have a wide variety of grants and funding sources that, you know, provide

045our or fund our CTE programs district-wide. So you can go to the next slide. And so just, you know, if you see our students out there or if you see any industry partners who would like to join, you know, and collaborate with our teachers, please feel free to reach out. As you can see, CT is a crucial component of student success to ensure that students are prepared for both college and career. I do want to thank you for your time. And if you do have any questions, please feel free to email me or call. Thank you. were allowed, it was really great. They set up different, they give them a job, a career, put it on their phone, and then they go spend money at different sections. It was just a great activity for them

046to really get a taste of real life costs and expenses of that. That was at Central Union High School. That was a wonderful event. And then also got to see the Central. Two years presented last week at the... the El Centro City Council meeting recognized them. And then the Lunch on the Lawn at Desert Oasis was a great experience. Some of the students there have written poems, and they've been put in a booklet. And so one student read his poem, several poems, and then the students were awarded their attendance awards. And it was just a great time. It was a super windy day, but it didn't keep anybody from being there. So it was a great time, Lunch on the Lawn. Feel the energy so the fact that both second and third I mean first

047and second congratulations. That's awesome It's on February 25th. A few of us were joined at the El Centro Secondary Teachers Association dinner. I want to thank them all for that invitation. It was a really wonderful dinner. I got to learn more about Assembly Bill 65. I'm going to do some more research into it, but learning more that it's a policy that... would provide California public school employees with 14 weeks of fully paid leave for pregnancy related conditions, eliminating the need to exhaust sick leave. So I thought that was really interesting to learn about. So I encourage all of us to stay informed on this bill and just consider ways that we can either advocate or support policies around it. On March 10th, that's just yesterday, I attended the El Centro Education Foundation meeting. We got

048to approve some club requests for competition and participation. I believe it was the SkillsUSA and the FCCLA Culinary Arts team, so that will be really fun and exciting to hear from them. Scholarships is a conversation that's happening around that foundation. I don't know if it's fully, has it dispersed yet? I don't think so, but when it does, I think the due date's going to be April 18th. So we'll keep a lookout for that. If I need to change my dates on that, please let me know. I had that one on there. So I really want to share, I had a really cool opportunity this last month to meet with the California Community College's State Chancellor. Her name is Dr. Sonia Christensen. Got to hear a bit about their plans about the California Master Plan, so

049it relates to the career technical education. I think it's very fitting with what we're seeing here being presented with IVRP and with ICOE and with IVC on dual enrollment. So I thought that was all really interesting because it all connects from TK to 12 to higher education and workforce systems. So that's a direction they're going in for career education and getting that aligned. I think that's great. I think we all work together in that way. And I wanted to share, I know Isabel had just left, that part of the program that she attended was the Dream It, Be It program under Seroptimus. And part of that program, we'll be extending it to a... Four part series if I'm not mistaken. We're starting off the first series on April 5th at Southwest High School Library where

050those students will get to hear from Miranda Montenegro and she's going to talk about her career and career exploration opportunities for students interested in the film industry, media industry, media production. So I think it's a really great opportunity for students. We'll get that information out and I'll send that over to you all as soon as I have that. I don't think the flyer's been finalized yet. And lastly, I promise I'll stop talking. I had a really great opportunity to read at Harding Elementary School for Read Across America. That was probably one of the best times I had. It was really fun and interesting to hear them laugh at the tongue twisters we couldn't ourselves say, or I couldn't myself say. I got to do that joint reading with my brother. He's a captain out at

051county, so it was a cool family special moment we had. And I thank you all for listening and bearing with that. Thank you. I went to go check out some of the soccer games and we ended up winning on some of them. They played great, those kids, they gave it all. And I heard the high school madness, congratulations, the band also got first place. And been checking out the FFA program at the fair all week long. So I have allergies right now, so thank you for coming. Went to Southwest to watch the boys play soccer. They won. They went to CIF. And I think it was the next round or the next two rounds that we kind of came short. Central, it was a madness, soccer games. And we were there standing the whole game

052because sitting down, you can't show excitement when you're sitting down. Also the girls softball team at Central held their first scrimmage game. Which I know the next time I go to a game I need to wear a mask or something, right? It's nice, but it worries me a little bit that parents and community recognize us. And right away they walk up to you and they have a list. I'm learning. But I love it. I love the fact that I have gone to Central, to Southwest, to Adulten. We've been to Mount Signal, Desert Oasis. We're still missing transportation, but we're going to give them hell one of these days. And the only comments that I can tell you is that they welcome us and they make us feel really... welcome and I'm happy to be wherever

053you invite me to as long as you let me know not just the night or the day before but you know a little bit of time we're here for you and and and we're more than willing to to show up some of us sometimes there's two of us sometimes there's three of us and sometimes there's all five of us but and separate little we have visited the central campus We have visited the Southwest campus. Too big to walk at Southwest, but we visited. We went also to the CTA, which was a beautiful roundtable. And it's all a learning process. For me, I'm learning. about all the programs, I still would like to have the students invite us to their club meetings or you know so they can see that where the events are at. We

054need to be informed or invited and we'll be happy. Well, let me speak for myself. I'll be happy to be there. We'll be happy. I think the day that we have the soccer game It was a soccer game, it was freezing, and I forgot my jacket, but I still had to be somewhere around that, which was a girls' softball. And I was like, I know I need to get home before I turn into a lollipop here. But I love it. So that's why we retired. Thank you so much. First of all, I want to congratulate Southwest. I know you guys were the champions, but he may not have missed her. It took away a little bit of my thunder, but that's great. It's awesome. I wanted to go, but I was a little bit too

055old. They didn't give me a wristband, so I couldn't get in. But I really appreciated that. Thank you for the invitation for the CTA dinner. That was very nice to get together and sit down and have a nice meal and be able to sit and talk a little bit. So that was really, I appreciate that. And Ra will be in there as well. Sports, I'm going to touch just a little bit. Southwest soccer, I was there at their CIF championship match. And I can't remember the first time we had teams from both schools advance to the finals. And I know Marcy was there. And they didn't quite get there, but they played a great game and they worked hard. We had a lot of fans. I think we had more fans than the team that

056was from San Diego. So it's always that the valley travels well. And then when you get to postseason, it's the Valley. It's not Southwest. It's not just Central. So it was really nice. I'll go on to the Central program. They were successful as well. Making it to the state finals, that was something that I've never been in, seen that since I've been here. So they made a little bit of history, and that was nice. The game at Laguna Beach. You know, usually we take tarps for the sun. We had tarps for the rain because it was raining from 3 o'clock until 10 o'clock. And, like, we thank Martine for getting everybody back safe and sound. And I think, again, we had more fans than the team from Laguna Beach. And they were ranked pretty high.

057So taking it to the final, I had to kind of wear a different hat on Saturday, which was very difficult for me because. I'm a member of the CIF State Executive Committee and it's kind of our opportunity to hand out state awards. So, you know, I have to do that in Sacramento this weekend. So I was there and I had to be quiet on the sideline and I was kind of cheering on the side. But, you know, we got there just like Southwest got there and I think we're only going to build on the success of both those programs. They have a lot of freshmen on both squads. So looking forward to that. FFA at the fair. I looked for you, I'm sure you were running all over the place, but to see our kids

058show their animals and to see them and I don't know why they make them wear white. I've never understood that. I know, I don't, I never, my sisters had animals in FFA, but I never had the opportunity to do that. So really appreciated that. The CTE roundtable that we had at Southwest, and we met the ambassadors, the students, they do a great job with that. So it's been a busy month. Looking forward to Mamma Mia, and also on the 20, I think it's the 28th of March, it's that Saturday, they're having their first ever softball reunion. and people that have played in the past under the great direction of Emma Jones. And the coaches like Otto Lowe and I coached a little bit during that time. So we have a lot of people coming back.

059I think someone said she was class of 55. So we have a lot of young ladies coming back. And we might not be able to play a whole lot, but if you're not doing anything that night, it's at 6 o'clock. It's at Emma Jones Field. And we're definitely going to dedicate that game to her. because Emma's just not in the condition to fly out for that. So we are definitely going to dedicate the first ever Sapa reunion and alumni event for Miss Jones. So I know we got a busy weekend that weekend with Mama Mia, and Mama Mia Jones, we'll honor her as well. So that's all I have. And then now, the best part of the program, we get to hear from our board reps. Let's go ahead and start with Kaylani. and community

060members my name is Kealani Sasenya and I'm your 24-25 student board representative for Centering in High School. For ASB and club activities our mock trial team officially became IVL county champs and they will head on to SAIT. Our science fair team will also be heading to San Diego to compete in the San Diego science fair competition. And our robotics team will also be traveling to compete at their robotics competition this month. And I want to congratulate Dr. Tacky, who was selected as one of the three outstanding music educators for SoCal Beat Battle at the Spotify headquarters in Los Angeles. Our Spartan Wellness Club also continues to promote mindfulness and lift our Spartans up on Wellness Wednesdays. On February 24th, ASB and Spartan Wellness held a lunch activity for our Spartans to pop their problems away.

061Blood Drive sign-ups are happening Wednesdays through Fridays and Blood Drive Day is March 19th. On Wednesday, February 26th, we held a pep rally congratulating all our state wrestling qualifiers and semi-finalists. On February 27th, we had our honor roll assembly awarding our Spartan scholars for all their hard work. Our ASB also met up with Southwest leaders to combine our school and create one district, one team for high school madness. Following that, our ASB also held a Spartan Madness Spirit Week. March 4th, we held a pep rally to congratulate our boys soccer CIF champions who earned a spot in the state quarterfinals. March 3rd to the 7th was also school social worker appreciation week where A's B gave recognition and gratitude for our social workers always fostering a nurturing environment. And March 5th was also high school

062madness where Central placed second. For Central sports achievement, our Central seniors won cream puff against Southwest, the score being 27 to 7. Our boys soccer team held their senior night on February 14th, and on February 19th, our boys soccer team played against Francis Parker for CIF playoffs, and the score was 6-0. Our boys soccer team also advanced to the semifinals and won against Mission Bay Buccaneers 3-0, and made it to the CIF finals where they won 2-0 and became the CIF champs first in 36 years. Central held the regional state playoffs on Cal Jones Field. Tuesday marched forth against Dominguez High School. I will now take this time to thank all our board and community members who travel to support our boys soccer team. To our boys wrestling team for becoming CIF champions and CIF

063placers and moving on to masters. Where all of our wrestling team placed and is now moving on to state where they became the CIF runner-ups. Congratulations to Arbelo Rascón and Mian Gonzalez on being master runner-ups and CIF champions. And another congratulations to Gabriel Pacheco on his accomplishments. two-time CIF champion, two-time Masters runner-up, and two-time state qualifier. Our girls basketball team scored a victory against Point Loma for the first round D3CIF SD playoffs with a score of 64-14 and advanced to CIF quarterfinals against Valley Center. Following our girls basketball making it to the semifinals against Escondido Charter. With spring sports starting up, our girls softball team kicked off the season with a scrimmage against Brawley on February 21st. Our baseball team also participated at the Colorado River Baseball Tournament. Our cheer drill tall flags and majorette

064held their yearly tryout meeting on February 21st and our track team has also had their first meet at the 21st annual Elmer Rung invite where they placed third and we also held desert classic relays where our boys and girls both Both placed first. Additional important information can be found on Central's Athletics Instagram page at COHS Athletics. Future events include ending of third quarter this Friday, Blood Drive on March 19th, Spring Club Showcase on March 20th, Career Day March 21st, and ARC will be having a Rock Wall on March 22nd, our Spring Sports Assembly April 4th. Senior cap and gown pictures April 8th and Frosh Fest on April 17th. I thank you for your time tonight and remind everyone to follow Central's ASB on our social media accounts at COHS underscore updates on Instagram, Spartans for

065Life on YouTube, and at COHSpartans on TikTok. Thank you. My name is Benjamin Gonzalez and I'm Southwest High School school board representative. To start off my report, I have a couple of recognitions. First off, Mr. Velasquez, one of our CTE teachers for the month of February, was a recognized teacher. And Luis Gonzalez, a CTE student, was a recognized student for the month of February. The nurses at Southwest High School were recognized classified staff. And Leonardo Rivera was recognized as February's recognized artist. And into kind of the meat. of my report at Southwest High School last month, a lot of history was made. So our girls wrestlers, two of our girls wrestlers, were the first in Southwest history to ever make it to the CIF state competition, Patricia and Karen. Additionally, our boys soccer team also

066made history by making it to the CIF finals the first time in Southwest High School. Additionally, for the first time in a very long time, Southwest High School got first place for high school madness. But we'd also like to note that it couldn't have really been done without Central. We worked together as a district. We came together. We met up as Mr. Spanos stole my thunder and mentioned. We came together, we worked hard, and we essentially swept the competition. We got first and second place, so I think that's something to celebrate as a district, the fact that we were able to work together, not just within the campus, within campuses, but across the district as well. We celebrated CTE month by recognizing several students in the CTE program, and we... This Thursday, we're going to

067have a it's called Eagles assemble essentially It's a bunch of games where students from Southwest high school can go and participate in completely free The weather might not be totally nice, but we hope you guys can join us this Thursday Concerning sports coach Brooklyn was recognized as February's coach and Barbara Carrasco and Alyssa Bullock were recognized as February's recognized athletes. Moving on to HOSA, Cal HOSA State Leadership Conference participants are actively preparing for the upcoming state conference and community health worker students showed appreciation to nutrition services at Southwest High School in recognition of National School Breakfast Week. Dental assistant students provided oral health education and distributed oral hygiene kits to students at Washington Elementary during Reading Across America Week. In February, AVID hosted a successful Wicker Week in which lunch and advisory activities helped to

068support writing, inquiry, collaboration, organization, and reading. AVID also thanked the counselors during the National Counselor Appreciation Week with goodie bags, and AVID, alongside other school clubs, held several activities at Southwest High School in the library for Reading Across America Week from the 3rd to the 7th. FFA, on March 1st, they... Their chapter exhibitors showed rabbits and dogs. They did very well. They placed grand champion, reserve champion, and top 10 at the California Midwinter Fair and Fiesta. On February 14th, 14 members from the leadership class gave goodie bags and Valentine's Day cards to senior citizens at the Rose Crest, Heart and Hands, and Valley Convalescence. On February 10th, 22nd, they had their fair cleanup, which also served for Saturday school credits where they went into the fair and they cleaned up their animals' pens. On February

06920th, they had 10 people from the chapter become recipients of the California FFA state degree. And on February 12th, eight people went to the Southern Region Speaking Contest where all eight people placed in the top 10. On February 5th, 10 individuals went to Hopeville to compete in the speaking competition Creed and El Credo, which were two places, and moved on to regionals. And finally, as Mr. Spanos mentioned, SAVAPA will be having their Mamma Mia performance on March 28th and the 30th. We welcome all community members and the board to come and watch it. I think it'll be a lot of fun. That concludes my report. where Central showed up to one of Southwest games in Imperial to show support, then Southwest showed up to one of their games. That shows a lot, especially getting together

070for high school madness and everything. That's really nice. Thank you. They were both happy. I know. They were cheering each other on, and that was nice. And the cheerleaders were supporting them. Yeah, cheerleaders went on the bus. I took them some goodies. I went to Southwest and got them Gatorade and fruit snacks and stuff like that. I'm sure the bus driver probably didn't appreciate that. The sugar. Yeah, I really kept them going. So, yeah, we support it as best as we can. Desert Oasis representative isn't here this evening, so we'll go right over to the superintendent's report. Join us tonight for all the incredible celebrations. I'll keep mine short. I'm tempted to sing because I'm a little inspired, but I probably won't sing. But I wanted to, Benjamin was saying it, Trustee Tabarez was saying

071it, and it just kind of feeds into the whole feel, not only tonight, but just the way things are going lately. All my positions leading up to this current position, it's been my peeps, my team's been my teachers and my students. In this job, it's a little bit different because it's like you work in the adult world, sometimes too much, I feel like. And when you get out of a long day or just having a weird week, you say to yourself, at least I do, like... I'm a little down. It's like, why can't people be a little more respectful to each other? You have to try to be disrespectful. I don't get it. And then the next thing I know, I'm somewhere that's awesome, like the central soccer game in San Diego. And it's like

072all central, like there's no one else there. It's incredible the way the community went all the way to San Diego. Go onto our campuses and it's like. You just see from the very beginning when you walk on campus all the things going on, the energy of our campuses. And that's led by our young people. We see it tonight. It's hard to beat this board meeting. It's very hard to beat what we've seen over the last hour and a half with presentations and reports. But it is our young people working together, two schools that are supposed to hate each other. No, they're a community together. And it's just the role models from my very first year here. I mean, I've had good schools and good kids and everything, but it was a little different for me.

073It hit me right between the eyes. Like, these kids, this community is really awesome and amazing. And it stayed like that. It wasn't just a one-year, like, get settled in. And then you have these examples working together. Then we talk about sports and clubs and CTE pathways. But right now, our schools and our teachers. are working in advisory period to prep for what is also very important, our instruction that's leading towards our assessments, right, and our learning. We're going, I would say, we're going in the right direction when it comes to putting that time into those extra... spots where you can work with students to get them ready. Assessments aren't everything, but they do drive a lot of the metrics that goes into our strategic plan, and it is like we talked about earlier with

074the dashboard. I just want to say thank you to our staff, our students, our schools for showing every day how you can work together with the fun stuff and the winning, but also what you can do during your school day for preparing for and working together because... It's something adults sometimes need to look at too and it's a good place to start as this school I want to thank everybody for their work leading into this spring and I think we're going to finish real strong and we're going to have some incredible graduations to finish up our very good year, so thank you. Because our students need to go home because I know you got some tests coming up this week So and there are a couple of students still in the audience, so we'll take

075a five-minute break. We'll get back going at 730. Thank you again. Questions or requests on matters listed on this agenda? The board will not respond to any public comments directly. Speakers are requested to give their names and addresses. Time limit for speakers is three minutes. The board shall limit the total time for public input on each item to 20 minutes. The board reserves the right to limit presentations. This meeting is being recorded. Ms. Espinosa, do we have anybody for public comments on the agenda items? We do not have anyone for public comment for any item on the, oh, we do, okay. We have one comment for an item on the agenda. Okay. We don't have your paperwork. It's okay. Good evening, attendants and colleagues. My name is Gabino Dueñas. I'm the president of El Centro

076Secondary Teachers Association, the teachers union. My address, 264 West Mill, Vallarta, Imperial. My comments are on the board policy revisions that you guys are going to be taking a look at tonight. And it's only a comment based because, and I did have a brief conversation with Dr. Farkas about it. When you make board policy revisions, I just want you to be aware that you have to keep in consideration how that impacts the job duties of teachers, right? So... The point that I want to focus on is the language that's referring to short-term independent study. Short-term independent study is something that came about during the COVID era. And it's for students that are going to be home and will probably just need some help for a very minimal amount of time, maybe 10, 15 days, something

077like that. Well, short-term independent study is not... listed in our contract. And if you make a board revision, I just want you to keep that in mind and the implications that that would have on the job duties of teachers. Because if it's not listed, if it's not in our job duties, if it's not, who's going to do the job, right? So I just want you to keep that in mind as you consider the board revision policies. I mean, I'm not saying that there's no workaround. We can find a way to get it done. But I'm just saying that just keep that in mind as you adopt those policy changes. Thank you. Comment session for non-agenda items. At this time, the Board of Trustees will hear comments, presentations, or requests on matters not listed on this

078agenda or topics that are not on the agenda but are within the Board's jurisdiction. The Board will not respond to any public comments directly. Speakers are requested to give their name. addresses time limit for each speaker is three minutes the board shall limit the total time for public input on each item to ten minutes the board reserves the right to limit presentations this meeting is being recorded so trustee Espinosa do we have four items for non agenda items I'll give you the first one Michael Sullivan Okay, we can flip those. We just kind of put them together. So we have Nellie Sullivan. Good evening. My name is Nellie Sullivan. I have served. As a head coach for the Southwest High School girls basketball team for three years in assistant coach for two years I am

079here today to address the public the Defamation to my character that occur on February 11 2025 by mrs. Marta Diaz and James Gonzalez the two individuals are the parents of former players who made more than 18 allegations within the time they addressed the last board meeting. I wasn't able to attend meeting at the time because I had a basketball game that night. I have been approached by several members of the community after that video was out there and stream on social media. What is now public recorded event? I have suffered serious damage to my character my integrity my honesty as a result of this false Allegations because all this is false. I have proof I have evidence I have paperwork of everything that they decide to come and say I'm in front of this board

080I am here to tell you to tell those parents and anyone else who has participated in this defamation to stop immediately to this date. There have been emails to this board stated by both Mrs. Diaz and Mr. Gonzalez in the last board meeting in additional written documents and meeting with the district member. While I cannot answer each of the 18 allegations made against me within the three-minute time limit today, I have documents encounter leading to being defamed publicly. to include supporting evidence to show each of these allegations falsely made by Mrs. Diaz and Mr. Gonzalez in public forum. I will not stand for another instance of being degraded, debased, and... utterly shame in front of multiple three parties, I want to caution those people that have aid this two individuals in the furtherance of this

081false and negligent allegation immediately. Additionally, my children have suffered at the hands of the Diaz and Gonzalez family, where they have debased me, my son, who is a volunteer, all within earshot of my daughter in a public setting. And that, it's in a game. And yes, she documented... the words that Diaz family member use on all occasions. In the, yeah. Oh, sorry. Thank you. Okay, now we have Michael Sullivan. Yes, ma'am. Good evening, ladies. Good evening. My name is Michael Sullivan. I live with Nellie Sullivan, 2423 Stapleton Court, Imperial, California. On February 11th last month, Ms. Diaz and Mr. Gonzalez seated back there. took public stage on social media platform YouTube in an effort to defame, degrade, debase my wife publicly for reasons I do not understand to this date. But I assure you, I

082will find the answers. In fact, Mrs. Diaz's opening statement was, I am here for the same thing, not the same person. That should cause you serious concern for multiple reasons. First, she's saying she was here last year making allegations against then. the former boys basketball coach. While this may seem coincidental, you should note that while Ms. Diaz and Mr. Gonzalez were seating in the same row that I was sitting with my daughter, my daughter overheard a comment from Mrs. Diaz saying that the coach, I assume that she is referring to the former boys coach, did not like their son and did not put him on varsity. As my wife stated in her written comments, the 18 allegations said were publicly by Mr. Diaz and Mr. Gonzalez are completely false. They have failed to seek out

083complete information to support their allegations and have purposely left out critical context that would have ruled every single one of those allegations mute and invalid. My wife's character has been defamed to the point she had not only suffered emotionally and physically, but financially as well. This is wholly unacceptable and must stop immediately. Mrs. Diaz and another parent, Ms. Karina Cota, who happens to be an employee at Southwest High School, have been aggressive to the point with my wife where I have physically escorted her to practice to ensure that no other instances occur. All of these incidents were thoroughly documented and sent forward through the athletic director and the principal. Also of significant note, during a meeting with district staff members as early as last week, I noted that it did not appear that they have

084received all of the memorandum and the documentation that my wife and I have forwarded through the chain of command. What is most surprising is that one of these documents was regarding an employee's behavior. while on school property where the district staff would have clear oversight of that behavior. Nellie and I attempted to confirm on multiple occasions with the athletic director that the memorandums were forwarded to the district, to which he only replied, I forwarded it to the principal. Not once did he offer to confirm through his boss that the memos were forwarded for action and courses taken. I'm going to skip to the last. Three things as my wife stated earlier we can't answer all three of these allegations however what we can do is tell anyone perpetuating these allegations without authority to investigate remedy

085to stop the libel and defamation of character immediately Thank you, ma'am Okay, mr.. Sarah Flores Hello, good evening. My name is Lucero Flores, 352 V. Avenue, Central California. Thank you for the call. I received a call from one of you yesterday. I appreciate that, but I'm here more than anything to speak about Mr. Derma and the staff you have for the school district. This also includes Dr. Farkas and HR Moreno. They've been very prompt at times, and others, they give me the runaround. But right here, my main concern is that Mr. Derma has exhibited a... a behavior of animosity towards my persona and not only that but he has been trying to retaliate and I'm very concerned because as many people here might know he is the command sergeant major of the California Army National

086Guard and I believe that those types of behaviors that he's exhibiting are unacceptable. Now I brought it up several times to Mr. Farkas to HR trying to figure out what the proper chain of command is here and They haven't really resolved anything. Now, problems started in fall of 2022 with a teacher, a French teacher. And to be more prompt with this, you know, that escalated till today. Now, Mr. Dermott is trying to rise hell for me, and I will not allow that. He has had multiple problems with females. A staff member from the high school came up to me and confessed it. That person told me, you're not the only female that he has issues with. And I'm like, well, what can I do? The person told me, bring it up to the board. So

087that's why I am here. And I don't know why. this behavior of his is acceptable. I'm to the point where I'm feeling pushed that I have to move my kid schools, and I don't want to do that. This is my jurisdiction. This is my city. I was born and raised in it. And I think that he should not only be an example for the students or for somebody pursuing a career in the Army or in the military, but also for the staff out here, for the public. I would be holding him in... higher standards, but obviously it's not. So I mean, to the point where I feel like, okay, if we're going to have an appointment, I don't want him there. He's retaliating. He hates me. In other words, he's after me. The last thing

088that happened was that I wanted to be a chaperone for the cadets, the cadet corps, and he denied my signature while the teacher approved it three times. I spoke with Dr. Farkas and I... asked him to do the right thing and what did Mr. Derma state and Mr. Farkas stated that Derma asked for him to be on his side this time. So I said, well, I'm not going to ask you to be on my side, but I'm going to ask you to be on the right side on what is proper and ethical. And well, Mr. Farkas, for I don't know what reason, decided to succumb to Mr. Derma's wishes. And I do not appreciate that. You know, and there's less than a week for that trip. My kid is about to be 17, almost 18,

089and they're taking away time for my kid. Thank you, Irma Paz and I think she needs someone to translate. Okay, Miss Moreno. Irma Paz. Irma Paz, vive en el centro. Ella supo de esta juventud. Translate in English. Sorry. She came to this meeting. When she find out about this meeting, that's why she's here. She had a really bad experience today at Southwest. She had a meeting last week with a counselor and a teacher. Last week. At the welfare, they give her a paper so that school can sign that paper. Yo no tenia idea quien lo deberia de haber llenado. She didn't know who had to sign it. Como era una consejera, yo confia en ella y le mostre el papel y me dijo que ella lo iba a llenar. She took it to the consular

090and show it to her and she didn't know who had to sign it so she said she was going to fill it up. Le entrego el papel, se queda con el y me dice ahorita no tengo tiempo, yo le llamo para que venga por el. She left it there because she said I don't have time to fill it up right now. I'm gonna fill it up and I'll call you to come and pick it up when I'm done. Confié toda la semana en ella y yo tenía hasta hoy para entregar el papel a las 8 de la mañana y ella me llama a las 9. She left there all week. Today was the last time to have that paper done at 8 o'clock in the morning and she calls her today at 9 o'clock. Me

091lo entregó por la razón que yo ayer hablé con el director. The reason why she give it to her is because she went and talked to the principal yesterday. Secretaria. That she left the paper and she talked to Principal Derma and told them, you need to fix this because I really need that paper. I leave this problem in your hands. So by the next morning, that's what they gave her the paper. By the time she took the paper, her case is closed. So her son is not going to have medical because that person didn't sign that paper. Tengo que volver a hacer el papeleo. She has to do the whole process again. Y mi trabajo es muy humilde como para yo pagar $140 a la doctora Al Capur por una consulta. She cannot afford $140

092to pay for a doctor's appointment. When they handed me the paper, I found her at the exit. She greeted me and I asked, who are you? Because of the courage she had, I didn't recognize her. She saw her when she came out and she asked her, what's her name? Because she was so upset that she didn't recognize her. She told me who she was and I told her that I was upset, that I didn't want to hear anything. She said, a thousand apologies. I said, do you think that with a thousand apologies the matter will be resolved? No. She said that she apologized, but she said, do you think that with your, with their excuses, my problem is going to get fixed? She said that that wasn't her job to do that paper, but her

093answer was, if you knew that that wasn't what you were supposed to do, why didn't you tell me in that moment so I could take it to the person that was supposed to do that paperwork? She's really discouraged with the work that the secretary has been doing. Why don't they do their job? Why don't they communicate better? Hasta hoy a las 9 de la mañana pasaditas fue cuando me llamo para que fuera a recoger el papel. Her son called her many times and she never picked up the phone. Y era demasiado tarde cuando yo lo lleve a la oficina de welfare, mi casa ya estaba cerrado. Que vergüenza y que lastima. Y apenas esta empezando mi hijo ahí. Es su primer año en la Southwest. He just starting, it's his freshman year this year. Thank

094you for translating, Ms. Sullivan. Appreciate that. Okay. Unless there's anyone in the audience. Anybody else that would like to? There's someone in the audience. Yeah. One up, sir. Good evening board members and community. I apologize I did not know I had to turn in the the form but I do have a quick announcement my name is Christian Aranda and I'm here on behalf of the early academic outreach program with UC San Diego and the reason I'm here is because I do want to announce a event that we're having May 10th for a STEM fair at Central Union High School. I do want to thank Mr. Lyon and Ms. Apodaca for the opportunity to hold this event at Central Union High School in collaboration with the district. So I do want to make the formal invitation

095to this event. I do have a couple of flyers that I can share later on, but I just wanted to announce this through the National Science Foundation in partnership with the Qualcomm Institute at UC San Diego. And it's the first time I believe that this is going to be held in Imperial Valley. And we thought of Central Union High School as an opportunity to showcase the STEM building. We did have a few members from UC San Diego come down about a week ago and they were able to see the STEM building. They were fascinated with it. They were amazed that, you know, our community does have a state-of-the-art facility and they're more than happy to hold this event May 10th. I do know it is Mexican Mother's Day, so one of the reasons why we're

096doing it obviously that day is because we also want to involve the community. We've been in contact with the school. a few of the students mentioned Dr. Tacky. We want to work with him. We do know he has a good music group. And then also at Southwest High School through Mariachi, as we do want to include both campuses as a district, as a community, and showcasing this event. It is open to the public. So outside of the community members from the Central Union High School District, the Imperial Valley as a whole is invited to this community, to this event. And we do want to showcase what the Imperial Valley has to offer You know, we're a small district. We are a small community But you know There's a lot of growth a lot of potential

097and we do want to showcase that our students are more than capable and what better way to do it through UC San Diego and the and the partners that are we're going to be coming down Thank you for your time. And as I mentioned I do have a couple of flyers that I'll be more than happy to to share with you and You're welcome to attend as well. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate the time Anybody else for public comment? Okay, we'll go ahead and move on in the agenda. We are on item eight approval of the agenda So we've all looked it over. So can I have an motion to approve tonight's agenda? Okay, we have a motion in a second all in favor item nine consent agenda items. All items appearing on the consent

098agenda item are routine business matters and will be acted upon by one motion without discussion. Should any board member request an item to be considered separately, that item will be added to the end of the regular agenda. Before I ask for a motion on that, I just want to thank all the community members, families, businesses that have donated to the programs here. We've got, I mean, I made a list. all the people that that have you know we have dr. Aguilar we have several families that are donating to our our clubs and our sports and we all know how difficult it is to fundraise so I just want to I'd love to list them all maybe next time we can put them up there just thinking the community members that are reaching out to our

099students so okay we'll go ahead move the superintendent recommends approval of all consent agenda items as presented do I have a motion for approval all in favor Any opposed? Okay, let's move on to item 10, action information items. Approval of personnel report for March 2025. Do I have a motion to approve the March 2025 personnel report as presented? Motion to approve the March personnel report as presented. Okay, do I have a second? A second. Okay, all in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Number two under action items, adoption of board resolution 03-1125-20, authorizing reduction of positions in classified service. The superintendent recommends the board adopt resolution number 03-1125-20, authorizing the reduction of positions in classified service. to give the superintendent direction to provide services of reduction in hours of service and or termination of employment to affected

100classified employees okay do I have a motion okay do I have a second this is a roll call vote yes motion carries number three nomination to the California School Boards Association Delegate Assembly for sub region 18 B The superintendent recommends that the governing board of trustees nominate a delegate to serve in sub-region 18B for the California School Boards Association for a two-year term ending March 2027. Do we have somebody that would like to nominate an individual for that? Tony Sandoval. Oh, yeah. I would nominate Tony Sandoval. Okay. Do we have a second? Okay. All in favor? Aye. Mr. Sandoval? Aye. Aye. Motion passes. If I may make a comment? Yes. I just do hope that whenever there's an opportunity, another opening. in this delegation. I do hope us as a district look to fill that

101void. I think it would be great to have our district represented in that space. So hopefully we'll all keep our eyes out for that next opening, huh? We'll recommend one another. Yeah, well, my term is over next year. So when I'm on my way out, you can be on your way in. So we can remember that. And this meeting is being recorded, Ms. Espinosa. So you guys can have it. Sandy. Yeah. Okay, on to number four, resolution of item number 03-1125-19, declaring April 2nd as World Autism Awareness Day and April as World Autism Month. And I think we have Trustee Beemore that's going to read that resolution. and 1 in 45 adults in this complex condition that affects each person differently, resulting in unique strengths and challenges. And whereas autism can cause challenges with verbal

102and nonverbal communication, social interaction, and repetitive behavior, and can affect anyone regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, or socioeconomic background. And whereas autism is often accompanied by medical conditions that impacts quality of life, and whereas comprehensive, collaborative approach will help to advance research, providing a better understanding of the many forms of autism, strengthen advocacy efforts, and ensure access to services. and resources throughout the lifespan in a cross-aspective. And whereas early diagnosis and intervention tailored to individuals needs can have lifelong benefits. Transition to adulthood enforcing greater independence. And whereas each person and family affected by autism should have access to reliable information. support and whereas autistic people should have opportunities to reach their full potential and the whole in the whole society to benefit from this and whereas Central Union High School District is honored and take

103part of the annual observance of World Autism Month and World Autism Awareness Day to address the diverse needs of individuals with autism and their families. Now therefore we, the Board of Education, do hereby proclaim April 2025 is World Autism Month. And April 2nd, 2025 as World Autism Awareness Day to create a kinder, more inclusive world for people with autism spectrum disorder. So do I have a motion to accept Resolution Number 03-1125-19, declaring April 2nd as World Autism Awareness Day and April as World Autism Month? Okay, this is a roll call vote? Yes. Yes. Yes. Thank you. Okay, number five, first reading of proposed revision to board policy as presented. Anybody's going to present on that? It's first read. Item number six, board approval of Central Union High School District's 2425 second interim report. We have

104Ms. Marcy. I'd like to welcome James Gonzalez, our president of Autism Association, with us tonight to witness our proclamation. Thank you for coming. I'm happy that you are here today. So I hope you see that in the 17-year-old high school. 24-25 second interim budget report. The governor's budget and the economy, just to give you a little background on how the overall governor's budget is right now, inflation is up and is anticipated to remain. Mortgage and long-term rates remain high. Risks to the state budgets are delayed tax deadlines due to natural disasters, federal policy such as uncertainty of tariffs and immigration. And then also I just wanted to give you an update on the 24-25 COLA, which is at 1.07, and the anticipated 25-26 COLA is at a 2.43%. This next slide that you'll see is

105the Proposition 98. So this basically compares the overall state budget to what is actually allocated to Proposition 98. And as you can see, since 2015, it's approximately 55% of our budget. So with our governor trying to focus on making sure that our education, our school system is fully funded, this is where we're at now. of course of what the risks that I mentioned earlier. I'll move on to enrollment to ADA, enrollment to actual ADA comparison. So I went back to 2019-20. This is just an ongoing data that I'd like to present to you so you can see as far as enrollment versus actual funded ADA. For this current school year, our enrollment at the snapshot date, which is in October 2024, was 4,070 students. So it was an increase from prior year, but also take

106into consideration we did receive the special ed program transfer, so it is accounting for the students that we received from the Imperial County Office of Education. Now, on the other hand, our actual ADA is not. doing too well. We are at P1. These are actual numbers that our LCFF calculator is based on. We're at 3,897.79. So as you can see, it is a drop of 93.88. The next slide will show you what does this mean for Central Union High School District. So for 23-24 fiscal year, we were funded on the $16,098 and our ADA at that time. which is we do the three-year highest ADA, so we were funded on the average of the last three years, which is $3,990.44, which gives us a total revenue of $64,238,652. But now for 24-25 fiscal year, our

107ADA funding per ADA did go up to $16,233. But as you can see, our projected ADA at P1 is at $3,897.79, which brings down our LCFF revenue to $63,271,417. The difference is $967,235, which is equivalent to a 1.5% decrease. If you convert it into current year ADA, which is a 16,233, we have lost a total of $1.5 billion. That's what the 92.65 ADA equivalates. Again, these are projections. We are fully funded on P2. So if our ADA does go up, it goes off of the higher of the average or actual ADA that will be reported at P2. Now our next slide is just giving you an update of where we're at, 1.07 COLA. Our unduplicated count is 77.68, which gives us our total base funding of $63,271,417. And I apologize. I thought this was going

108to be a little bit bigger. But overall, this is our unrestricted funds. We had a total decrease of $506,000. with a decrease also in expenditures of $133,579, but we had to increase our contribution to $647,895, and the contribution went to special ed, migrant, and routine restricted maintenance program. We did have a shift of expenditures from salaries to capital outlay in order to expand fine arts. This was equipment that was purchased for our new classrooms at the Central Union High School campus. Again, this is the unrestricted budget. Now the restricted side is we had a decrease in revenues of $226,000, which is we also had a decrease in expenditures of... 3,000 but we had a increase in contribution of 648 so the negative you see from the unrestricted goes to the restricted side and again this

109is a contribution for the special ed program migrant and the restricted routine and maintenance now where we're at with our second interim report we have a fund a deficit spending of 19 million 214 $748,000. This is our ending balance at the projected ending balance for 24-25 at $12,528,869. And this is just letting you know what's the balance for the restricted side, which is a $2,108,797. And then we have the unrestricted of $10,308,751. And the next steps we have set up is to attend the governor's May revision workshop and start working on our 25-26. budget development report and that's where we are working together as a district to make sure that we are aligning our goals to what our budget is and in I know you have in your booklet as far as where we are

110with our reserves with our reserve percentages and so for the end of this school year a projected balance of ten point one seven percent For 25-26 school year, we are projected to be at a 6.34%. And then for the 26-27, we are projected to be at a 3.82%. We are working very closely with the administrative team and with, you know, assuring that. We meet our financial obligations and that we are able to stay above that 3% our goal as a district is we want to be at a 16.7% it will take some time. I know right now it's With the declining enrollment, the ADA, that's what's, you know, it is a big hit to our books, but we are closely monitoring that, and we're hoping that we can come up with a solution so we

111remain positive. So at least for the three years out right now, we are at a positive certification. Any questions? Is it going to cost us extra money with all the changes, or you're not sure yet? We are still right now waiting for DSA approval. As far as I know, when we presented to you at the special board meeting, that is where our goal is. I think once we get DSA approval, we'll know, okay, do we have to make modifications, but our goal is to stay within our budget. We want to make sure that those resources are allocated for that. I know there's Prop 2 money coming out as well, too, that we can apply for with the new classroom because the Aquatic Center will have a new classroom in there. Again, those monies don't, they

112take a while to come back, but we do have other projects that we are awaiting monies from. you know matching funds and that we would be able to but our goal is to stay within that budget that we presented to you at the special board meeting and i will bring further updates right now again we are waiting for dsa approval once we have that we'll be able to go out to bid and we'll have better projections better numbers for the phase one part of the aquatic center we did stay within a within the amount that we proposed on our budget. So that's a good sign. But I know right now there are, you know, I did attend a cash conference, whereas, you know, the cost of construction is going up, but we are closely monitoring

113it. And hopefully with once we get that DSA approval, we can go out to bed and we can have those concrete numbers for that aquatic center. Right now this at the end of this school year is a ten point one seven percent Yes, ten point one seven. It was January little bit trying to get the right consultant in to be able to get our ducks in line and we're we're still waiting to hear back from DSA whether what we've done so it's been a back and forth we're getting closer to the point where we're going to have to start pushing on other directions at DSA to try and get things going but we're confident that we'll get it done here very soon it's just that one little thing Okay, thank you. The 2024-25 second interim

114report with a positive certification as presented. I'll make a motion to approve the second interim report with a positive certification as presented. Do I have a second? Thank you. All in favor? Aye. Okay. Item 11, ECSTA and CSEA comments. We'll go back on that. On what? On the application of the board resolution 0311-25-20. I want to go back on that one and I'm going to change my vote. I don't think we can do that. Yeah, I don't think we can do that. We've already, it's been in. Then can we bring it back? It's a resolution. Which what number was it on the agenda? 25-20 I do wanna give props to Dr. Farkas for working collaboratively with other union, I mean, no, with other groups and entities within our community. Recently, I contacted him again to

115try to coordinate with the Seroptimus group and the Sabrina's Wish event that they put on where they're gonna be donating. clothing items to our students, right? Because they are collecting and recovering a variety of different dresses that girls can wear for prom. And this time they're coordinating with, I think, the Correctional Officers Union. And they're getting them to donate suits or at least the shirts and ties and things like that nature. And so with Dr. Farkas's help and I believe. a few other people that he enlisted. We're going to be having an event at Southwest on March 18th and the 19th. And then we're going to be housing that stuff here. And we're going to be moving stuff over to Central. And they'll have an event on the 20th of March and the 21st. And

116then we're going to ship everything over to Brawley so that they can have their events. But it's the coordination that's allowing these things to happen because there are groups within our community that really want to help our kids. And it takes the collaboration of many different people. So thank you, Dr. Farkas, for helping us and getting that done for the second year in a row. We did this last year. Last year was a little bit more chaotic because it was very last minute. But we were able to pull it off. And this year we're able to do it again. So thank you. I do want to thank the board members for going to the dinner that I invited you. I understand that you had a prior commitment, and, I mean, that's understandable. But I welcome

117that we continue having those conversations because I think that we can get to some common ground and get closer to this one district, one team, which seems to be a theme that we're pursuing and working towards. I also want to encourage you to once again collaborate with ECSTA as we are going to start to plan soon our retirement party. We've done this for many, many years, at least since I've been president. And it's been a good party and it's a good event. And it's a good way to honor those that are leaving our district. So once again. We're gonna start planning that I'll contact Carol and see if we can coordinate and get things done Once again like we've done in the past so that's coming up Now to what I wanted to do on

118the presentation I wanted to share with you a slide or it's a PowerPoint, it's still PowerPoint because it was done many, many years ago. So it's not a Google slide, it's a PowerPoint and it's posted on our union website, which is myecsta.org. The presentation is titled COLA and it's our May 2022 edition. And I'm... I know I'm going to be walking a tight rope here because we are enthralled right now in negotiations, but I do want to share with you one of the slides because it describes what's been happening with the budget and what that tells our members. So when our members take a look at a budget. or when our members are considering raises, they look at it in terms of how they would look at their budget at home. And when you take

119a look at your budget at home, that budget and how you allocate your funds, it basically represents your priorities. And so how you appropriate the funding at your household represents what you value, correct? And so the teachers see that as well as far as how the district is allocating their funds. It's been said in the past, not by Marcy, but it's been said in the past that this district's priorities... facilities and and I think I mentioned that the last board meeting that Renato Montano did not really take too kindly to those comments that were being made during negotiations and I understand that there's funding for for the pool we've been waiting for the pool for a very long time and I'm looking forward to the fact that the ground will be breaking very soon I'm

120not sure maybe it's already broken this week I'm not sure but it's all good things right But now I'm hearing that there's going to be another expense with this new, what was the word you used, Mr. Sturdivant? A new consultant. So consultants. Different consultant means more money. That's what I see. Okay, so. That's concerning, but I think it's all a part of what needs to be done to get the project done, right? So, I mean, it's one of those things where you sort of grimace at it. You sort of like, oh, my, but it's going to cost us more money, but at the same time, you realize, hey. It's something we have to do so so let's keep that in mind and that there's certain things That even though we may not want to spend

121the money on that we sort of sometimes have to write and so in the spirit of that I am the information that I wanted to share with you and I hope that you guys take a little bit of time to go and look at it again It's a PowerPoint on our district web on our union website called COLA. There's two versions of it. The one that I'm referring to is the May 2022 edition. And one of the slides that's on there refers to the last 10 years. Now, this is an old presentation, so it starts back in 2011, 2012. Now, I wanted to show that on you, but you guys are blocking my website. So in the 2011, 22, 2012 school year. Teachers' salaries comprised 52.1% of the district's budget. So 52% of the district

122budget representing the priorities of the district. So the teachers and all of our salaries, that includes all of our benefits, were 52% of the priority. In 2013, or ending the 2013 school year, that percentage went down to 51.9%. So it sort of started to go down. At the end of 2014, that percentage was 50.1%. At the end of 2015, 48%. At the end of 2016, 46.2%. 2017, 47.1%. 2018, 46.1%. 2019, 42.2%. 2020, 42%. 2021, 37%. Now mind you, Those are reflecting the priorities of the district, which just seems to be that the teacher salaries and all of their wages and all of these things are sort of less of a priority. There's a trend where this percentage continues to go down. Mind you that that and those percentages, those numbers included raises that were being

123negotiated throughout those years. It includes that. So even though, despite the fact that teachers were getting raises. And notice, well, let me just say this, that each time we were negotiating a raise that was just a little bit above COLA, right? But we need to consider that when the district gets a COLA, when they receive a COLA, they're getting a COLA based on the entire district budget, not just the budget increase on teacher salaries. So when we take percentages and look at the math and we say the percentage of the teacher salaries is decreasing, Yet the COLA stays the same. That means that this part of the budget, the other part that's not teacher salaries, that part's increasing. So even though we are looking at a deficit, even though we are looking at a deficit,

124how much is this going to impact where the teachers view themselves as a priority of the district? So I want you to keep that in mind as we continue to hear things in regards to the state of... the funding of our district because and i appreciate that marcy said that these are just projections because even though ada is a thing that is happening throughout all of our school districts ada seems to be going down there are things that we can do to increase that ada which is kind of like recover ada by having more saturday schools and things like that so i know that our district is working Towards those goals and so hopefully our ADA number will be higher and our numbers will be higher Therefore our deficit will not be as much But

125I do point again to this website. There's a lot of information Please read it because there's other slides that I won't discuss tonight But that does talk about excess revenue that does talk about raises the impact how teachers view So if you wanted to know the teachers perspective, it's on our website Okay, what year that was so I think three that'd be 12 years That concludes my comments. Thank you very much for your attention Around the time that we were he was talking about the percentage so that would have been about the time that he made reference to those percentage of Facilities versus salaries, but okay anybody from CSE a okay. We will return to closed session And then we will come out and make a comment about what took place in closed session. Have

126a good evening. Thank you. And I thought I heard a little bit of rain out there, so yeah. Stay dry. Yeah. Oh, is Carol still there? Administrators, that they may be reassigned to an alternate position authorized by their credential for the 25-26 school year pursuant to Ed Code section 49951. and the governing board provided direction to the superintendent. This meeting is adjourned. It is 10 o'clock.