EWCSD Board of Education Meeting - Monday, March 9th, 2026

001Thank you to our YouTube community that is with us. My name is Lisa Michelle Dabbs. I am the president of the board, and I'm calling our board meeting to order at 6 PM this evening. I do have a report from closed session. In closed session, the Board of Education took action to release and non-reelect second year probationary certificate of employee identified as employee number EX1246621. pursuant to Education Code section 44929.21b, effective at the end of the 2025-2026 school year, and directed the superintendent or designee to send out appropriate legal notices. The resolution passed by a vote of 4-0, correct? All right. Now, we are excited to announce that the Board of Education also approved in closed session the following administrator assignments for the 26-27 school year. We want to announce that Justin Mayernich will serve

002as the director of technology and information services and Marian Stewart will serve as a director of human resources. Are either one of them here with us? All right, so congratulations to them. All right Thank you. Thank you. We are now going to begin with the flag salute and we'd like to recognize Riley Padilla, Annabel Cruz, Elena Gomez, students from Orcharddale Elementary School and STEP K-8 school to lead the flag salute. Welcome, welcome. To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. I believe in myself. I will respect others and care about my friends. I will work hard and learn all that I can learn. I am intelligent. I am wonderful. I am special. And now I'm

003glad to be here. Can you come back for a second? Please introduce yourselves and let us know if any family members are here with you. I just want to say that I attended the play Alice in Wonderland on Friday. And I tell you, Mrs. Barber, you did a great job. And here is Alice. I lose Alice in Wonderland. You were the queen, right? I would never know because the makeup was so good. But it was amazing. And you all should have gone. It was so much fun. But I just want to give them recognition because they did such a good job. Yeah, and thank you, Mrs. Barber. All right, thank you so much. So our next order of business is very, very special. Before assuming their office duties after provisional appointment, board members shall take

004the oath of office required by law. The oath of office to be administered will be administered by our superintendent, Dr. Patterson. Dr. Patterson may I say a little something about the process? Is that okay? I just want to share for the majority of you that were not in our Special board meeting that we held at 3 p.m. It was an amazing opportunity to meet some very courageous Folks who decided to come to our board and to put their names up to be selected for appointment To the trustee for district 4 That's a really tough thing to do Mr. Barrett was one of the amazing candidates. They were all great, but we had to ultimately make a decision to choose one. And so I want our community to know that even though we had some very

005public deliberation, that we are very excited to welcome Mr. Barrett to our board. It is extremely difficult to sit here and speak to a board and not have any idea of what it is exactly you're going to enter into. I shared with our candidates that when I ran for school board in 2018 I thought I could do all this but I discovered I can only do this the role of a school board member is very specific in terms of making policy upholding policy and making sure that that policy impacts the number one thing which are the students in our district so I just want to say that we are very proud to have selected Thomas Baird to take this seat with us now. And we know that he will represent our district very, very well.

006And we hope that you will all get to know him better as he continues to serve with us. But know that we really are pleased with our decision and very grateful to all of the other candidates that came forward who applied for trustee in District 4. So thank you so much to all of them as well. Thank you. All right, we're going to start with some wonderful recognitions. Site Employees of the Year, the Board of Education would like to recognize Mrs. Renee McKay, Principal of Orchardale Elementary School, to present Employees of the Year. Welcome. I'll take that. All right, thank you. I like that warm welcome. All right, first up is Sheila Carrasco-Madanado. Would you please come up here, please? I know you hate being... This is one of my shyest teachers ever, but we

007got a picture. I know. Which was a feat. All right, so you are one of the most beloved teachers at our school. When I said it was going to be Mrs. Maldonado, they were all like, yeah, yeah, yeah. 30 years she has been with us at Orcharddale, and she is... Pretty much, like, she just brings so much joy and dedication to our littlest wildcats in TK. So for many of our students, she's their very first school experience, and she creates a classroom where children feel safe, valued, and excited to learn. Her patience, creativity, and love for her students set the foundation for a lifelong love of school. But she's more than that. She goes way beyond the classroom. She's a leader for her team and for the entire school community. She serves on our school

008site council and our leadership team. She helps guide important decisions that support our student success. And she also leads our Kids Heart Challenge, which we have been doing at Orchardale for many, many years. We call it Jump Rope for Heart. Now it's Kids Heart Challenge. Bringing our school together around health and service and giving back to others. Sheila is the kind of educator every school hopes to have, someone who lifts up her colleagues, supports her students wholeheartedly, and contributes to the greater good of the school community. At Orchardale, we are proud to celebrate Sheila, not only for the incredible teacher she is, but for the leader and role model she continues to be. I just want to say it's an honor to be up here, and thank you so much. It's been a wonderful 30

009years, and I wanted to thank my fabulous, amazing fellow teachers and also the other staff members. I couldn't do it without you. It takes a whole community to do that. And I want to thank my family for their support. I also would like to especially thank my students, because without you, I would not be here. And you challenge me and you teach me just as much as I teach you. And I love you dearly. So and thank you so much. And next is my beautiful, wonderful, not shy, Ms. Nina Marquez. As you see, I had a hard time finding a picture. So today I have the incredible honor of recognizing someone who truly embodies the heart and soul of Orchardale, our Classified Employee of the Year, Nina Marquez. For the past 11 years, Nina has

010been the glue that holds our school together. As our school officer coordinator, she is the first friendly face you see when you walk through our doors and the steady, caring presence that keeps everything running smoothly behind the scenes. No matter how busy the day gets, whether she's answering phones, helping a student, assisting families, or supporting staff, Nina does it all with a smile. She is constantly being pulled in a million directions, yet she never hesitates to lend a hand, offer encouragement, or find a solution to any challenge. Her dedication goes beyond just getting the job done. She makes everyone feel welcome, appreciated, and supported. She has a way of making our school feel like home, whether it's by helping a worried parent, calming a nervous student, or making sure her colleagues have what they need

011to succeed. You know I love you so much. Your kindness and your hard work and your unwavering commitment to Orchardale do not go unnoticed. You are the heart of our school, and today we celebrate you. Thank you for everything. She likes sunflowers. Good evening. Thank you so much for this incredible honor. I'm truly grateful to be recognized as Orcharddale's Classified Employee of the Year. Working in the school office means being at the center of everything that happens each day. From greeting students and families to helping teachers, answering phone calls, solving unexpected problems, and doing whatever is needed to keep the school running smoothly. It can be busy and unpredictable. but it is also very, very rewarding. I'm lucky to work with such dedicated team of teachers, administrator, and staff who care deeply about our students.

012I also want to thank the students and families who brighten the office every day. Being able to help them in even small ways and interact with the students on a daily basis is one of the best parts of my job. I am thankful for my family. For always being supportive and listening to my wild stories of the day I'm proud to be a part of the Orchard L school community And I'm grateful for the support kindness and teamwork that makes this such a special place to work Thank you again, and I would like to take a quick moment to thank my son who is serving overseas he is also a proud proud of Used to be student of East Whittier City School District, so thank you my love He was supposed to watch it live

013stream, so I hope he was able to I'm so proud of you, and I love you I Pray for you, and I pray that you come home safe. Thank you everyone. Thank you so much Yes, Mrs.. Marquez. We just want I Talked to you at the when I was at the plate her son is currently in the Air Force serving in I believe you said Germany Yes, so please keep him in your prayers, so he'll return it safe Okay. Right now, hello. Hi, everybody. I didn't get to say hi to you before. I'm sorry. I should be more, you know, good at that. Good evening, board president, board members, and Dr. Patterson. I want to tell you a little bit about my beautiful school. I love my school. My school is just so much heart,

014and I adore it. So it's truly an honor to be here tonight and to share a little bit about the very special place we call Orcharddale. This year, our theme has been roaring since 1953, honoring our roots and inspiring our future, because Orchardale has been a place where generations of families have learned and grown and returned to give back. And we've seen so many of our staff members that are like, I went to Orchardale, I went to Orchardale. So it makes me very happy that they want to come back and they want to give back to our community. We're proud that over the last year we received our California Distinguished School, an honor that reflects the hard work of our dedicated teachers, our staff, our students, couldn't get there without you, right? And our families

015who help us strive every day for academic excellence and growth. We're honored to have received also the PBIS gold recognition, which highlights our commitment to creating a positive, safe, and supportive school environment. But what truly makes Orchardale special is our connected community. And I put up here because the theme for the district was every interaction matters. And that is something I feel like at Orchardale has always been something that we've always strived for. Ms. Squeak stands there with me every morning at the gate, and we greet every single student. We make sure that they are feeling warm and cared about and loved. And when they come in a little sad, we take care of them. If they come in a little grumpy, we take care of them. Because the most important thing is for them

016to see that smile on your face when you walk in, and that's their first, what they're going to take with them throughout the day. So our school is built on our roar. What's our roar? A successful wildcat is? Respect, always safe, and responsible. I won't make you roar. They're not just words on a poster. They're the foundation of how we treat one another and how we support our students and how we build a culture where every child feels seen and valued and capable of success. We believe very deeply that students feel connected and supported and inspired. They're going to thrive. So we want to make sure that they always feel that way each and every single day. So thank you for all for supporting Orcharddale. Thank you for coming to see the show. Thank you

017for, you know, all of you for coming. Some of our assistant superintendents also came as well. Dr. Seves, Dr. Vargas, and Dr. Gonzalez all came to see our show. And they saw what I see every single day, just the beauty of our students, our teachers. So many teachers and staff members volunteered their time for that. And it's just what you see. It's that whole community coming together. And I hope you all enjoyed that. All right. Thank you. Thank you so much. We now are going to recognize Mr. Paul White, principal of Step K-8 school, to present his Employees of the Year. Welcome. Hi, guys. Welcome, everybody. Welcome, board. Thank you very much. Welcome, sir. So the first person who I want to talk about as our Certificate of Employee of the Year, Ms. Nicole Fivecoat.

018Nikki, could you come over here? Would you mind? Nikki is our speech pathologist. Got a couple words to say about her, and I'll try to stick to the script if I possibly can. I'm very proud to present Ms. Nikki Fivecoat as our Certificate of Employer of the Year for the 25-26 school year. It's difficult for me to put into words the impact Nikki has on our little school. Nikki brings a level of professionalism that can't easily be matched and likely never will be exceeded. She's our go-to person with when she and what we can't do she's a go-to person with what we can and can't do during the IEP process Her paperwork is in her progress notes or full training assessments is always the gold standard With this said it is also very important to

019point out that Nikki is likely the most positively happy and good-spirited member of our Incredibly happy good-spirited school and that's kind of where built on it step because you really try to do this happy thing and I think she's the happiest. Okay, I went off script. When Nikki arrives on campus, we were just a little bit happier. Okay, I think that's the last time I write happy. Nikki truly represents everything we strive to teach our students regarding an effective student, friendly, and positive intensive behavior support school. Little bit more. Nikki started her adventure at our school in the 2009-2010 school year, and I will never forget her grand entrance to our little school during a lighthearted staff meeting that she joined. That's all I'll go. From the beginning, Nikki has shown kindness and interest in

020the betterment of our often troubled students. I have never met another speech pathologist who knows her business as well as she does. On a personal note, I especially like how she has helped me with my own pragmatics issues. Thank you. Nikki has always been very capable of building positive relationships with a difficult student population. Her ability to positively communicate during moments of crisis models kind the kind of behavior we strive to teach at STEP. I can say with all honesty that our school is a safer, happier, and better place with Ms. Fivecoat on our campus. Each day she goes above and beyond the call of duty to help our young otters who are otters. To become better in so many ways. Thank you Nikki. You are truly the best And I'll give you the mic

021Good evening everyone. I would like to start by thanking my family for always supporting me Thank you to my team at step for this incredible honor. Our site is truly a unique and special place This award really means a lot but the recognition belongs to the teams. I have the privilege to work with My colleagues at STEP and the entire EWCSD speech team are some of the most dedicated, compassionate people I know. So at this time, I would like to take this opportunity to recognize this profession and the people who represent it so well. Will my fellow speech-language pathologists and speech-language pathology assistants please stand so we can acknowledge you? I am very proud to be part of this group. A lot of people think that as a speech-language pathologist, we spend our days correcting

022those pesky R's that come out sounding like W's. And yes, we do. What we really are working on is communication in all of its forms. We help people understand language, express their thoughts, and navigate social interactions. We also work with voice disorders, fluency, hearing impairments, and oh, so much more. Sometimes communication happens through spoken words. Sometimes it happens through AAC. Sometimes it happens through gestures or even a multimodal approach. We evaluate, analyze, treat, educate, collaborate, advocate, and again, so much more. One of the things I love most about this field are the many areas we treat and the range of people we get to work with. As a speech-language pathologist, I have had... The honor to work with people less than a year old and over a hundred People sometimes ask why I chose to

023work in schools Especially since I enjoy the medical aspect of the field and the answer is actually pretty simple in schools We get something really special we get time We get to watch our students grow we get to see the small steps that eventually turn into big ones We get to see those skills carry over into classrooms friendships and everyday life And that kind of continuity is incredibly meaningful. When people ask why I chose a profession in the first place, I often think about my mom. She calls me her spirit. And she taught me very early on how important my voice is. She taught me the importance in advocacy for yourself and for others. She always reminded me that your words do matter. So I'll leave you with this thought. Think about the last time

024you told somebody you were frustrated, not feeling well. asked for help, laughed with a friend, or just told somebody that you love them. Now imagine not being able to do that. For many of the students and individuals that we work with, learning to communicate, even in small ways, can change everything. It opens doors to connection, independence, and the ability to share who they are with the world. After more than 15 years in this field, I am still incredibly grateful to be part of a profession built on patience, compassion, and humanity. Because communication is more than words. It's connection, it's independence, and it's dignity. And every time someone gains the ability to communicate, even just a little bit, the world opens up, not just for them, but for all of us. So thank you very much.

025Okay, so Ms. McKay had said that she had difficulty trying to find the pictures of one of her staff. Not you, Nina, but I know Sheila. So I had to hunt for Nikki's picture for about a week and a half. She didn't want any part of it. And our other person, Ms. Fernandez, it's been years. We were finally able to snap a picture. I think, Claudia, I think you got it from her. And she couldn't make it tonight. She was so nervous about this. She loved, she respected the idea that she was the Employer of the Year, but I couldn't get her to come. But I did say, I'm going to talk about you, Ms. Fernandez. And she goes, absolutely, go ahead. I just don't want to be there. So we are recognizing Ms. Fernandez,

026and she's been with us at the STEP program since, well, I think she's been since year two, but she's amazing. So let me go ahead and read some of the words I have about Linda. Since first joining our little school back in 2008, our second year, Linda has been a consistent, reliable, and hardworking employee who clearly goes above and beyond the expectations connected to her job. Linda has always dedicated herself to the development of happy and self-confident students and leads by example. Her work exemplifies our school's philosophy of building positive relationships with the student population. Linda exemplifies our school model of developing success through educational perseverance. In case you want to know what step means, success through educational perseverance. Linda is a very hard worker. It's understandably difficult to not only supervise, but also engage

027and interact with her often difficult student population. Linda is the one who never seems to tire, however, and I can always count on her talking with and otherwise engaging with students during free time activities. Should have seen her today playing basketball with some kids. It's amazing. She has a knack of connecting with our more difficult young otters, which is an invaluable skill and one which we greatly appreciate. Linda's creative in her work and has a positive effect on our school community. She's always an active collaborator with her co-workers. I've had many conversations over the years with Linda, whom I believe is very adept at addressing her co-workers' needs. I can always count on Linda to make a staff meeting rich with important topics. I am proud to have Linda with us at the STEP program,

028and I feel she's an excellent candidate for the Honor of Employee of the Month. Linda's amazing, guys. I wish she was here. She is very shy, but she's not so shy with the kids. But amazing, amazing lady. And Linda, I appreciate you. If you're watching this. Thank you, guys. I know, I got it, I got it. I got it. I'm on it. Okay, so. This summer at our administrative retreat, and all the principals got together. It was Monday morning of our retreat, and Dr. Gonzalez announces what our school, what our district theme is going to be this year. And I almost fell out of my seat. I absolutely love it. Every interaction matters. And that's really what our school from day one, from 2007, the first time we got this thing going, that's what it's

029all been about. It's the students knowing that they're cared for, knowing that they're loved, and knowing that every one of the interactions that they've had before they came to us, and all the ones that they have now, and the ones hopefully are going to happen in the future, they do matter. We're very, very... careful about what we say, how we say with them, because we want to always make our little otters feel wanted. We always want our little otters to feel like they are important. They may have had some difficult times where they had been in the past and it may not have been a real good fit. There's nothing wrong with our kids, nothing wrong with the other school. It wasn't always a good fit. And we've tried to be that fit. I'll read

030it for you guys. At the Step School, we believe that teacher-to-student relationships are the bedrock of learning. Without a foundation of trust, even the best teaching methods can fail to engage a student. We can't make it work if we can't build relationships, if we don't understand that every interaction matters. Dr. Gonzalez, I don't know if you came up with that one. It's an amazing theme, and we borrowed it from you. Sorry. Whoever it was. Thank you very much, board. Thank you very much, families. Thank you. Thank you so much, Mr. White. We're now going to acknowledge and recognize Dr. Lilia Vargas. She's our assistant superintendent of human resources, and she's going to present the employee recognitions for Orcharddale Elementary School. Thank you. Good evening, everyone. Welcome. So I have the privilege of continuing the celebrations

031tonight. We have some very special recognitions that we're going to be doing. And the first one has to do with a milestone for all of our certificated employees. And that is when we. start our profession. We have two years of probation. And so when we meet all of the competencies and we have, you know, satisfactory evaluations and we're able to demonstrate that we know what we're doing, we all know that feeling, we get there and we reach permanent status. And that's a big deal for our teachers. And so tonight, I am super excited to be recognizing Mr. Justin Hilt. So if I can please have him come up. Our next award has to do with one of the very special things that makes East Whittier City School District a destination district. And that is that

032our teachers love our district. They start their careers here and they end their careers here. But what we have really been so impressed is just we have. families after families, generations who have worked for our districts. And so we really wanted to make sure that we honored the years of service because we know longevity leads to consistency. We build relationships not only with students, but with families. And so we wanted to honor that. So I'm going to start off with a couple of very special longevity awards. And I'm going to start off with the big one. I am going to call Dale Squeak Gettner. of service. So squeak. Well, we are so honored to have you and thank you so much for your 45 years of service with us. Thank you. And now with 25

033years of service, let's welcome Miss Jane Brown. With 20 years of service, let's welcome Miss Chantel Ainsworth. With also 20 years of service, let's welcome Miss Arlene Salazar. With 10 years of service, let's welcome Ms. Brianna Jors. With also 10 years of service, let's welcome Ms. Melissa Reese. And she's not here, but we're going to make sure she gets this. And we also want to celebrate some past achievements. So congratulations to Ms. Susan Baer with 25 years of service and Ms. Diana Tindall with 20 years of service, as well as Ms. Linda Fernandez. Let's give them a big round of applause. So as we were doing our study on longevity, we were just as impressed to learn that not only do we have employees who start our career and end their career with us, but

034they were also our students. And so they came back to give service. So we did develop the homegrown special pin. designed with all of them in mind. And we definitely felt this was a really special recognition just because how special is that? That they go through our schools and they felt so happy here that they decided to give back service to our community. So I am very happy to honor the following employees. So we have Christy Lawson who attended Orchardale and Hillview kinder through eighth grade. Is Ms. Christy here tonight? Okay, well, we're going to make sure she gets this. Next up, I am very happy to call up Ms. Amanda Manley. Let's give her a big round of applause. So Amanda is not here today. but I'll go ahead and read her special fun

035fact. So my fifth grade teacher still teaches at Ocean View. I played in band all three years at East Whittier. I played the clarinet. Our recording in eighth grade is what allowed following years band to play at Carnegie Hall. I played the violin for one year too. In eighth grade, we went on the Lewis and Clark trip with Mr. Brock. So let's give her a big round of applause. Next up, I would like to welcome Ms. Sheila Carrasco-Maldonado. I'm going to read your fun fact story. So her fun fact story. Looking back on my time at Mar Vista Elementary, Mr. Nielsen stands out not just as my favorite teacher, but as a guiding force that shaped my career. He had a rare ability to bring subjects to life, and witnessing the profound care he poured

036into every student left a permanent mark on me. That strong foundation of support and confidence carried me into East Whittier Middle School, where I embraced school spirit and became a cheerleader. Even as I navigated those new experiences and stages of growing up, the inspiration I first found in Mr. Nielsen's classroom never faded, ultimately driving my decision to step to the front of the room and become a teacher myself. That is so special. That is so special. And now I would like to welcome Ms. Courtney Brown. Is she here tonight? Okay, so we'll go ahead and read her fun fact. My fifth grade teacher still teaches at Ocean View. I played in band all three years at East Whittier. I played the clarinet. Is this? I am so sorry. Is this the same one? Oh, different

037one. And allowed following years band to play at Carnegie Hall. I played the violin for one year, too. In eighth grade, went on the Lewis and Clark trip with Mr. Brock. All right, let's give her a big round of applause. And now we're going to move on to another very special award. So we know that we have an amazing staff. We have amazing students. We have amazing parents. But one thing that also makes us stand out is that we do have the best volunteers ever. So here at East Whittier, we make sure that every school site has the opportunity to nominate and celebrate a special volunteer once a year. And what they do is they compete to be our representative. as our East Whittier volunteer. And we go to a breakfast with the Whittier Area

038School Administrators Organization, which is basically 10 of our organizations in K-8, also Whittier College and Rio Hondo. And we celebrate our community volunteer. And so I am very proud to be recognizing Orchardale Elementary. So I'm going to call Ms. McKay to come back up. And she's going to tell us a little bit about their special volunteer. All right. Rocio, will you please come? Rocio is dedication, kindness, and passion for supporting families and has made an absolute impact on everyone that she touches. She is the vice president of our PTA. She has a gift for bringing people together. She helps create moments that make our school feel like one big family. Whether it's organizing our dinner nights out or making sure our students are celebrated for their achievements or pouring her heart into events like AR

039parties, fall festival, winter wonderland. I know. Buying ribbons for your pretty little gifts that you guys got. She's always the first to arrive and the last to leave and somehow still finds the time to make everyone feel special in between. She is also our parent facilitator at Orcharddale, and she has completely transformed our ELAC. She's inspired all of our families to start actively participating, and not just at the school, but even at the district. They're at all the ELAC meetings as well. Through her leadership, our English learner families are now having a strong voice and a presence in our community. Rocio also goes above and beyond to ensure that our families have access to vital resources, including clothing, food, and programs to support their health and well-being. Her dedication ensures that no family feels alone

040or without support, strengthening our entire school community. I'm just so grateful to work alongside Rocio. She is an amazing woman. I'm incredibly humbled, you know, and honored to receive this. I am so happy to be a part of this Orchardale community. It started with my daughter. She's a fifth grader, so this is her last year at Orchardale. She's not here today. She's feeling under the weather. And I just want to say she's heading to Hillview, so be there next year. I want to say thank you to my husband for being so supportive. Sorry about those. No dinner nights. I want to thank my village, my ladies. Most of them are here. Thank you, because this is all you guys make me look good. And Jay. Jay? I know you're here. I can hear you. So

041thank you, Jay. And Mrs. McKay, your guidance, your kind heart, your support, and always listening to when Christina and I come to you. So how about if we can do this? Thank you for always listening and letting us try new things. Thank you. And just a reminder, we will be taking pictures of all of our employees who are being recognized tonight at the break. So please don't leave until you take your picture. Thank you so much. Have a great evening. Okay. Thank you so much. To Orchard Dale and to STEP for their amazing employees. And we're going to definitely talk about them when we get that moment to do so. But now at this time, the Board of Education would like to recognize Board Member Mrs. Christine Chucklin-Kennedy to present the Board Member Key to

042the District. Okay, I'm going to make her come up here because she is so deserving. Shannon Hammer, come on up. Okay, I have to read this. Shannon Hemmers, the CEO of the Whittier Area Chamber of Commerce. Shannon was raised in Whittier and is proud to call this community her home. After graduating from Lucerna High School, she went on to earn a bachelor's degree in psychology and social behavior with a minor in education from the University of California, Irvine. Shannon's roots in Whittier run deep. and the values of service, connection, and community have shaped both her personal and professional journey. For the past 23 years, Shannon has been the owner of Shannon G's Flowers, where she built a successful small business grounded in relationships, trust, and service. As a local business owner, Shannon has experienced firsthand

043the importance of a strong, connected business community, an experience that naturally led her to become involved with the Whittier Area Chamber of Commerce. Shannon's passion for volunteering has always been at the heart of everything she does. Over the years, Shannon has had the privilege of serving on several local boards, including the Whittier Area Chamber of Commerce, the Boys and Girls Club of Whittier Board, serving as PTA president, and volunteering on the Whittier Community Foundation Board. That's a lot. Shannon has held numerous executive board positions, including serving twice as chair of the board for the chamber and three times as chair for the Boys and Girls Club. Impressive. Shannon states, and I'm quoting her, this is Shannon's words, I'm especially honored to have been selected as a recipient of the key to the district, a recognition

044that means so much to me because it reflects service to the very community that shaped who I am. I'm also honored to serve alongside Dr. Mark Patterson on the Chamber Board and value his leadership and commitment to our local schools and community. Shannon is a strong supporter of youth programs and deeply values time she spends volunteering with the Boys and Girls Club. Investing in young people and helping provide them with the opportunities to thrive has been one of the most rewarding aspects of her service. Volunteering in her own community is especially meaningful to Shannon because Whittier is not only where she works, it is where she was raised and where she is raising her family. It is where her heart is. Shannon is married, has two children, and they proudly live in Whittier. Giving back

045alongside her family and setting an example of community involvement for her children is something that she truly does cherish. Today, as CEO of the Whittier Area Chamber of Commerce, Shannon has the honor of supporting our local business community for fostering networking opportunities, building strong relationships, and creating partnerships that help businesses thrive. Shannon has particularly enjoyed working with the East Whittier City School District, and she looks forward to the continued partnership we share. We look forward to that as well. Serving the Whittier community has been both her passion and her purpose, and Shannon is grateful for the opportunity to continue making a positive impact in the city she proudly calls home. I couldn't think of a better, more deserving, true Whittierite than Shannon Hammer, and it is my great honor to award her the East Whittier

046City School District Key to the District. I have to tell you one more thing. I was talking to Dr. Patterson, are we going to get flowers? And he's like, you know, we're kind of leery of getting a florist flowers. But, you know, I think we did get her a plant. But he was asking her, well, what could we get you? And she's like, well, you know, I want a puppy, our dog. So he couldn't get a real puppy, so we came up with the next best thing. There's your puppy. Again, let's give a round of applause to the most deserving person for this, and I just want to read this. It's 2026 Key to the District, presented to Shannon Hammer for her unwavering dedication and commitment to the students, staff, and community of the East

047Whittier City School District. Put this little guy up there. He listens really well. Even looked up what a burner doodle was. Oh, Belinda. Okay, Belinda listens really well. I said, I'm like, I'm not sure if I actually brought a real puppy home, what that was going to be like. Thank you so much. I want to start by thanking board member Christine Chacon-Kennedy and the East Witter City School District for this recognition. It truly means a lot to be acknowledged by a district that does so much for our students, families, and local businesses. Our chamber is incredibly fortunate to have such wonderful involvement from Christine, Superintendent Mark Patterson, and the entire district. And everyone at the chamber does call him the legend. Thank you to the legend over there. Your partnership with the chamber goes far

048beyond words. You continuously sponsor community events, show genuine engagement at the board level, and you've helped lead the way on important initiatives like the job fair that connects our students and community members with real opportunities. That kind of leadership and collaboration makes a real difference in our community. It's also a real honor to be recognized here tonight in front of the board and in front of my family Having their support always means everything to me. I've never volunteered because of the awards or recognition I do it because it's something I truly care about Serving our community has always been a passion of mine and now having the opportunity to work at the chamber and continue that work every day Has it been incredibly rewarding? Thank you again to Christine Chacon-Kennedy and Superintendent Mark Patterson and

049the East Wheeler City School District for your partnership, your leadership, and for believing in the importance of strong community connections. Thank you so much. I do have family here. My little one, Sienna, is right here in the front. My mom, Maxine, my dad, Mike, my older one, Reagan, and my husband, Gerald. Thank you. We want to congratulate you, Shannon, and we're going to speak a little bit more about you. But because we've had so many wonderful presentations this morning, we are now going to take a quick break for photos. If you've had an award this evening, please don't leave quite yet. Come back and stay with us to take a photo, and then we'll reconvene in about five to seven minutes. Thank you. The meeting back to order at 7.03 p.m. Thank you so much.

050Thank you to everybody that came to celebrate all our amazing employees. We're going to speak a little bit about that in just a second. But our first order of business is item H, which is the approval. Is it G? No, it's H, no? Sorry, I mean, I'm correct item H Approval of the board minutes. This is an action item. Can I get a recommendation? I'm with the recommendation at the Board of Education approve the Board of Education meeting minutes for February 17 2026 Thank you. Can I get a second second? Thank you. It's been moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? All right, mr. Bonne's well up. Will you please call the vote? Mr. Thomas Baird I? No. Abstain, abstain, the minutes. This is the one I'm abstaining. See, I failed already. All right, abstain.

051Yeah. Abstain. Ms. Chacon-Kennedy? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Mrs. Dabbs? Yes. Mr. Oliver-Baird? Yes. Mrs. Carrera? Yes. Motion passes. Thank you. All right. We are now in the area for board member reports and comments. And I'm going to ask if Mrs. Carrera would like to be the first to comment. Sure. I just want to say congratulations to everybody. I'm freezing. Sorry. I, you know, I want fat heads like that. Make you guys have for Nikki. Those are so cool. I don't know if you guys got them, but I think they're really cool. Shows a lot of support there. Shannon isn't here any longer, but I just want to say the events that I have been to, she is the one person that always brings a smile to somebody's face. And I hope to continue to attend

052events. where she is present. I also want to congratulate, you know, Elena and Riley. I know everyone is gone already, but everyone who received all the awards, congratulations to all of you. Elena and Riley who set the pledge. Keep moving forward. You know, sky's the limit and just rise, rise above all, all, you know, learn to have grit right now that you're young. What can I say to our newly elected Thomas Barrett? What can I say? Other than I'm a piece of work. We will have fun. I look forward to working with you. And hopefully we can give Mark a little bit of headache. No, I'm kidding. Joking. I'm totally joking. But I do look forward to working with you. And congratulations on your appointment. And hopefully November will be promising for you. And on

053that note, what I will be doing this week is I'll be attending East Twitter Middle School's AVID showcase. And now that they're a Title I school, I'll be attending their informational meeting. I think it's tomorrow. And that is my board comments for today. All right. Thank you, Mrs. Carrera. Mr. Aparicio? Yeah, good evening everyone. Welcome. So very, very similar to Ms. Carrera. Just want to say thank you to Riley and Elena for leading us in the pledge. Congratulations to Mr. Baird. Just definitely looking forward to working with you. So they said a lot of great things about you. So, you know, and the family as well, too. So just, you know, just looking forward to working with you. So thank you for that. Just kind of gratitude to everybody else too, Mrs. Maldonado, Mrs. Marquez,

054Ms. Fivecoat, Ms. Fernandez, and everybody who received service here, pins, homegrown award, the community service. There's a lot of awards to go around today. So, and just every meeting as well too, like I said, that's one of the best parts of the meeting, just kind of hearing all the wonderful awards that everybody's receiving, all the good things that the teachers are doing, the staff members, the WASA award recipients, just everybody at the school that's doing great things. So just thank you for everything. And lastly, congrats to Shannon as well, too, for receiving the key to the district. Very similar whenever I go to those events. She's just awesome. She runs the golf tournaments, two other events throughout the city, and she does a very, very good job in just kind of working with everybody, just

055putting a smile on everybody's face. So just very well deserved. So Ms. Christine, thank you very much for honoring her with that award. And that's it. Thank you, Mr. Aparicio. Mr. Conk Kennedy? Yes, thank you. Again, I'll let go of what they said. Congratulations to everybody. And I do also want to congratulate and welcome Mr. Baird, the other Mr. Baird, not that Mr. Baird. Yeah, and you know whenever I read the paper or stuff I'll either shoot an email or a text to Mark or to Mrs. Dabbs and I did send some disturbing ones that I was reading and I'm sure you probably all read about it where a little girl was hit in the head with a thing like this out of metal and she died. You know, so it's really important. I mean,

056we take bullying seriously, but this was something where she was trying to help her sister, and then somebody came in and hit her. She did go to the emergency room, but then she later died. But, you know, the person who hit her is now going to have to live with that. And so I really think we need to... be aware of that. It was just such a sad art. I think I shared it with some, I don't know who else I shared it with, but it was just really awful because, you know, sometimes you don't really think about it. You think, oh, it's just a, it's just this, or it's just a, you know, a whatever, you know, a sandwich or something, but it could get really dangerous for something as heavy as something like

057this made out of metal. And then the other thing that was really disturbing, I sent it to Mrs. Dabbs, and I don't know if I sent it to Dr. Patterson. on AI how this young man was, I think he got arrested because he was using AI inappropriately with girls. And so that's another thing that I think we need to take a real big stance on because it's really dangerous. I mean, you can use it in good ways, but we really have to be careful because somebody could get in there and it could do damage that's really hard to... you know, to erase. So you really, we really have to be aware of that. So I'll be looking forward to maybe something where we can work with AI and getting it under control as much as

058we can. I know we can't all the way, but it would sure be nice if we did, because it's pretty dangerous. But, and then, like I said before, I went to the, I did go to Murphy Ranch to the Dr. Seuss, Seussical, whatever you say. Yeah, there you go. And that was really cute as well. I really enjoyed it. And then also to Alice in Wonderland. And there was one quote in there that, like, I think had to be my age to understand it. Oh, yeah, the one where they sit something and it says, Alice, do you live here? And she goes, well, everybody knows Alice doesn't live here anymore. And I was like, hey. I mean, it was just so darn cute. You did such a great job. I just really admire all your

059dedication and your hard work, but thank you. Thanks. Thank you, Mr. Kennedy. Mr. Thomas Baird, this is going to be your first opportunity for board member comments. Are you ready? All right. I am. All right. Wow. Today, it's a whirlwind. I came here at 2 p.m. for a job interview, and now I'm sitting at my first board meeting. And then I was asked to say, I think I said I. It wasn't even yay or nay, and then I wasn't even supposed to be saying either of those anyway. So I'm off to a great start. I'm really grateful. Thank you. This is really exciting. Thank you for your trust. Thank you for your trust. I'm very excited to be here, excited to work with all of you. It's going to be great. Yes, it is very

060neat to look across the table and see Oliver over there. And so I know this is rare and certainly something that... special and so means a lot to me but more so I'm just very excited to be here on the board and excited about this district. Big congrats to Shannon, Ms. Fivecoat, I actually wanted to comment, I wrote a note as a social worker, speech pathologists are near and dear. to me and to what I do. And I work in a variety of fields, but I've worked in disability services quite a bit and worked with children and older adults and the work that speech pathologists do is amazing work. And I really, really liked how she took that time to shine a light on all the work that they do and how truly meaningful it

061is. So thank you for that. That was wonderful. And congrats to Ms. Fivecoat, Ms. Fernandez, Ms. Marquez, Ms. Carrasco-Maldonado. Yeah, just one thing I did say during my... was that I've loved coming to the meetings this year because I see just a passionate celebration of each school each month. And this was no different. It was lovely to get a glimpse at what these schools are doing. So thank you. Thank you so much. Well done for your first time. Mr. Oliver Baird. Well, today has also been a whirlwind for me because I got back from school at like 1.30, got ready because I have a bet with my teacher to not wear pants and said wear shorts for the next year and a half. But I came home, had like 20, 30 minutes, got ready. Then

062I went over to the interview process with him. That was fun because we were like, ooh, who's going to get it? And then next thing you know, he's sitting at the table across from me, and that's pretty cool. But congratulations to Ms. Fernandez, Five Coat, Marquez, and Maldonado. It's always great seeing all the people so excited to see the Teachers of the Year and classified and certificated Teachers of the Year for both of the schools that worked today. It was very cool. But it's kind of nice to see all the board members back again. Now we have five people instead of the four that we had last time. The interview was really great. All the candidates did really well, and I think all had an equal chance at getting it. It's kind of nice to

063see all the people. I had my own little notepad because I forgot my Chromebook, so I couldn't actually bring it, but I had little positives and negatives. Most people got only positives, and it was very nice to see, but that's all I really have to say today. Congratulations to the people who got awards today. Oh, wait, one more thing. Shannon, I forgot to mention her. She does great work from what I've heard in Orcharddale, but that's all I have to say today. Thank you so much, Mr. Oliver Baird. I do want to echo the comments of all our board members, and I don't want to keep you here too much longer with our comments, but I do want to congratulate all our amazing staff at Orcharddale, at Step K-8, and our WASO recipients, and I

064especially want to also thank Ms. Jacqueline Kennedy for awarding to Shannon Hammer. I met Shannon probably 18 years ago when I walked into her little flower shop, and she told me the whole story about how her grandma was a florist and how she inherited the... the shop and it was just a beautiful story and my husband used to go and buy flowers from her pretty regularly but i think she's relocated now she's not at that little plaza that she used to be but she's just a very bright light a shining light in our community and i think that it's really wonderful when our board can award a community member the key to the district and i really want to thank in honorarium even though he's still alive and kicking mr chiaga was the one that

065brought the board member a key to the district award if you recall i mentioned that and it's really been a a lovely thing for us to be able to keep that going. It was done in his district and he thought it might be a good thing to do here. And I really will always remember him for that. And I'm so grateful to him for that. But I also want to let you all know that. I want to echo what Mr. Oliver Baird said. There were amazing candidates. Once again, I really want you to know that the folks that stepped up from Trustee District 4 really came prepared. They shared some amazing things. They spoke from the heart. They spoke intellectually. They come with amazing backgrounds. And it was really, really a difficult decision. But I

066want you to know that... Mr. Baird comes with some very unique qualities that I think will bring a great strength, not just to our board, but to our district. And he had some amazing things to say that were really important to the kind of work that we do here as board members. So I'm really excited to have Mr. Baird join us. I know he's going to make a huge fill in that gap. that huge gap that Mr. Urtiaga has left for us, but I'm just so excited to have him with us. And one more quick thing I want to say. I apologize, I've missed a few events. I've been taking care of a family member, but I promised Mr. Rudy Silva that I would talk about this. It is Music in Our Schools Week. And

067yay! Okay. You know my commitment. I come from an arts background, singing, dancing, operatically trained, so music is my life. My son is going to EDM school to become a full-pledge EDM artist. And so I really want to share with all of you the importance of music in our schools. If you scan, not scan, if you look at the research about music and what it does for a child, especially in the elementary grades, and how... much more prepared young people are when they enter high school and go on to college if they do that or even an amazing trade school if they've had the opportunity to be in a music program. It does something magical to the brain and Mozart knew this and that has not stopped. That carries on to this day. And so

068please take a moment to check out the kinds of things that are going on in our district this week because I know not all of our elementary schools. have a music program, but I know that our middle schools do. And some of them are doing some amazing things this week in honor of Music in Our Schools Week. I know Mr. Silva shared some events. So Music in Our Schools this week, see what you can do to maybe pop in and see something or watch for it on our Instagram because it's really important. And I look forward to hopefully, as I asked Dr. Patterson, to bring... In the upcoming months, one of our groups from each of the middle schools to do a brief little performance for us, just really brief. I was very impressed at

069the Windier Union High School District when Mr. Tiaga took his oath of office. They had one of their jazz groups there, and it was so beautiful to have the music there. and have the people that were in the audience and even our board really so uplifted by the music that they brought. So hopefully we will be able to do that. We're trying to work out the particulars, but I want to thank all of you so very much for being here with us tonight. And having said that, we are going to continue with our CSEA comments. Do we have anyone representing CSEA tonight that would like to share? Okay, come on up. Good evening, board members and Dr. Patterson. With my time tonight, I would like to take a moment to acknowledge the loss of one

070of our former chapter members and district colleagues. Like everyone else in the district, I was shocked and saddened to learn of Aaron's sudden passing on Friday, and I would like to share a few words about him that I was able to gather from his colleagues in the M&O department. Aaron DeAnda has been a fixture at our school district for over 20 years. He worked his way up the career ladder as a maintenance worker, maintenance specialist, and maintenance lead before leaving CSCA to become the maintenance supervisor. He had a wealth of knowledge and he could solve problems better than most. He had a vast background that covered almost all trades. He dabbled in locksmithing, plumbing, irrigation, HVAC, carpentry, auto repairs, electrical, and some painting, although he liked that one the least. There wasn't anything Aaron was

071afraid to take on and fix. Every person that had the opportunity to work side by side with Aaron was affected in a positive way. The few times I did, what really stood out to me was his kindness and sense of humor. Aaron's sudden passing is going to leave a huge hole in the district that will be hard to fill. Our hearts go out to his family, friends, and the many co-workers whose lives were touched by him. Losing someone from our district family is never easy, and during this difficult time, We keep everyone who knew and loved him in our thoughts and prayers. Thank you. Thank you so much. We share that loss with you. Now we have opportunity for e-week comments. Do we have Mr. Vogelman? Good evening everyone. I just want to echo Joe's

072sentiments and send our condolences to Aaron and his family and friends I know he's a maintenance supervisor From my perspective. I mean I had several of his kids come through my classroom So I've had parent conferences with him whenever there was some big project that would happen in the district Maintenance wise he would be there so just shows you How important he was to the district and just to his family and friends so he'll be missed I want to congratulate the Orchardale-certificated Sheila Carrasco-Maldonado and the STEP-certificated Nicole Fivecoat on their Teacher of the Year awards. Congratulations. Same thing with Orchardale-classified Nina Marquez and STEP-classified Linda Fernandez. Once again, congratulations on Teacher of the Year. The most important thing to Iwi tonight is discussion item number four that is tentative agreement that is up for approval

073We give two thumbs up to that and we hope you can give two more thumbs up for a total of four so We think it helps us now and it helps this district in the future It's really good for lifetime earnings for teachers that are not even employed by this district yet if they stay with us for a long time and that's a lot of what the adjustment to the steps and columns we're doing is to try to attract the most highly qualified teachers. I did my site visit at Mulberry today. They have BCOS time on Mondays. And it's not rescheduled. Now the problem with having the BCOS time on Mondays is they're missing seven planning days because of holidays. So Labor Day, Memorial Day, all of the two holidays in February and whatnot. So

074that's seven less planning days that they're getting compared to the other schools. And when I was talking to them, I'm all, well, there's 180 days. There's 10 elementary schools. That's 18 days. If you do a half day each, that's 36. So I did the math really quick. So there just needs to be some adjustments. So they're getting the same amount of planning time as the other. elementary schools in the district. There's questions if this rotates yearly. So it just means that another school will get the short end of the stick in regards to planning time next year. So if we can make some adjustments for that school that has Monday BCOS time to get that time reallocated somewhere else, they're getting the same amount of time as everybody. Because elementary school teachers value their planning

075time, and that is losing those seven planning days. It adds up. At the last board meeting, you guys were showing proficiency percentages across the district in math and language arts. And my question that really came to my head when I saw this is why are we not meeting with the other schools? So I think Granada had a really high language arts scores because that's what I was most interested in as a language arts teacher at East Whittier. Why are we not meeting with the Granada teachers to ask them what they're doing to get their scores so high? This is something we used to do in the past, and at one point it went away. What we're getting instead is like consultants, and maybe those consultants are talking to Granada, and they're trying to spread those

076ideas to us, but it gets lost in translation because they don't have the lived experience of getting those scores and teaching those kids to perform the ways that they do. It's something that pretty much is a theme for my comments from the beginning of the school year is let us collaborate We don't need all the outside consultants. Let us do it We are highly qualified educators and if we're brought together we can come up with some great things I remember in the past we met all the middle schools seventh grade team from each middle school and we were told make a lesson about a standard that the kids are need some boosting in. And so we sat down and we, on a full day, came up with a lesson. We were released another day where

077one of us taught that lesson. Then we met afterwards and said, okay, what worked? What didn't? What can we do? And then we adopted that lesson into our curriculum. And that's just teachers. We didn't need outside consultants. And I think that is, all you have to pay is for a few subs in the day, which is a lot cheaper. So let us come together. Let us build our curriculum. we have something that fits the culture of our school district. And finally, I just want to say congratulations, Mr. Baird, on your appointment. I was in the audience today taking notes on all of the candidates, and one of the things that you said is you've been to a lot of the meetings lately and that you want to build culture and celebrate it. And because you

078see that at the meetings, well, that's happening. And so from my perspective, I think that culture starts from the bottom. It starts with us teachers and it builds up because over my career of 23, 24 years, whatever it is, I've had five superintendents. I've had five principals, but I've had a lot of teachers that I still work with and we're the ones that build that culture. And so what I. do is I have a site visit with each site, 13 sites. I'm 12 out of 13. I got one more left, left in Will. I'm coming soon. So what I do is I'm breaking bread with everybody and you're hearing people's concerns. I was talking to a colleague last week and that colleague asked me a really good question that took me a while to answer.

079And that question that he asked was, from meeting all these people, all these teachers at the different sites, what have I learned the most from talking to our people? And I thought about it. I had to think about it for a little bit. And I finally came back with an answer. And I said, they're talking to the wrong person. And when I say that, I'm not the wrong person, but there's other people that they should be talking to, whether that's their colleagues, whether that's their administrator. whether that's board members, whether that's cabinet. And so part of my thought process with that is it's getting people to go and talk to these people so we can come up with the best solutions for the things that happen in our districts so we have the best outcomes

080for our students. So I invite all the board members, break bread with our members, our teachers, our SLPs, our counselors, our psychologists, and listen to what they have to say. Let's make things better because of that. Thank you. Thank you so much. We're now going to move into superintendent comments. Dr. Patterson? I was only planning on making one comment. So Mr. Vogelman and Mr. Riley, thank you for your words about Mr. DeAnda. That's pretty much what we were going to talk about today and thank him for his service and express the profound loss we have as a district and as well as his family. Okay. Thank you so much. All right. Dr. Patterson, you're now going to lead us in communications. Yes, we have six public comments. Just a reminder, you have three minutes to

081address the board during the public comments. I'm going to ask, and please introduce yourself and then speak in this order. I'm going to ask the first three to come up. Christine Wan, Virginia Ponce, and Tracy Ross. Good evening, board members and Dr. Patterson. My name is Christine Wan. I work in the business department, and I am the current CSCA chapter treasurer. I live in our district. My entire family attended our schools. I want to start by acknowledging what a difficult last few days it has been for our district and for those who had the opportunity to know Aaron DeAnda. Our hearts go out to all that loved him. Tonight I would like to speak about the salary increases before the board, some of which are in excess of 9%. As classified employees, we have been

082offered a salary increase of 2.75% for the 26-27 school year. While this is much appreciated, it is not in line with an increase of 9% or more. I want to be clear that I'm not here to argue that anyone in this district does not deserve fair compensation. Every role in the district contributes to the success of our students and schools. What I'm asking is the board consider how these decisions are felt across the entire workforce. When significant increases are proposed for the highest paid positions while layoffs are occurring among some of our lowest paid classifications, it has a real impact on staff morale. Many of the employees who keep our schools running day to day are struggling with the message that their work is somehow less valued. Our members care deeply about this district, our

083students, and the work we do every day. We simply ask that when compensation decisions are made, the value of all employees is recognized and reflected in those decisions. Thank you guys for your time and consideration. Good evening, board members. Dr. Patterson, thank you for this opportunity. My name is Virginia Bonson. I work at Mulberry School. I would like to express my concerns regarding the proposed 9% on-schedule salary increase for the district confidential and management secretaries. While I respect the important work they do, it is difficult to understand why one group is receiving such a significant increase when the rest of the classified are only receiving a 2.5 one-time bonus. All classified employees contribute daily to the success of the schools in support of our students, teachers, administrators. When increases vary this widely, it raises serious

084concerns about fairness and equity among employees who all play an important role in this district. It is also particularly troubling given that the district is currently facing layoffs. Many employees are worried about losing their jobs and supporting their families. Yet at the same time, 9% on schedule increases being proposed for one group. I respectfully ask the board to help the community understand how this increase was justified, how was the 9% determined, what data or compensation comparisons were used to arrive to this number, and why is it differ greatly from the 2.5 one-time bonus being provided to the other classified employees. Compensation decisions send a powerful message and I hope the board will consider whether this decision reflects the fairness and equity that all district employees deserve, especially those facing layoffs or receiving far less. Thank

085you for the opportunity. Good evening. I'm Tracy Ross, Learning Center teacher, room 13, La Clema if you want to come by. I'm here to speak about the employee morale and how very low it is. The reasons, in my opinion, why they're so low is that if a teacher's input is solicited, oftentimes it's discarded, such as we want teacher training days conducted by teachers. Another reason it's low is there's a high turnover rate among classified personnel. ESN classes are often understaffed and when we do get those positions filled they quit within three months because they're not supported and our we've got we're letting go of five ESN teachers some of those reasons why is that they haven't met with their intern I mean with their their mentors they're not supported another reason We're bringing outsiders in

086for admin positions instead of hiring from within, moving up within our district. We're pushing out or letting go of good, talented, teacher of the year type staff, and you know who they are. We're letting them go, laying them off. Another one is, two others. There are bullying and intimidation tactics from our admins. Those are directed towards people who speak up or speak share letters emails with you. They're being bullied another one is in the last finally is extending contracts and awarding large compensations to our superintendents Despite the ten years of Test scores that haven't moved and that's according to you on the 20th. It's not all your responsibility one man cannot change test scores but why are we extending a contract and 15% here 10% there when there's been no change a teacher feels confident

087in Their job when a teacher feels confident in their job feels adequately prepared and valued can only have positive impact on students. That's the importance of morale. And then if I could have our final three speakers, Robin Blythe, Angela Martinez, and Jackie Santana, please come over to the podium, please. Good evening, board members and Dr. Patterson. My name is Robin Blythe. I'm a third grade teacher in our district. I'm here tonight, not with statistics or spreadsheets, but with the faces of my students and from my mind and my heart. Right now I'm working on class placements for next year's fourth grade. I'm being asked to build classes of 37 students. 37 nine and ten year olds in one room. And as I sort through names, I'm not just balancing personalities. I'm balancing behavior plans, IEPs,

088504 accommodations, reading intervention groups, math intervention groups, counseling services, and students who simply need more support than a crowded classroom can realistically provide. When class sizes grow, individual attention shrinks. Children with IEPs and 504s require specific accommodations by law. They need small group instruction, movement breaks, modified assignments, check-ins. In a class of 37, those supports compete for time with 36 other children who also deserve instruction, feedback, and connection. Students with behavior challenges don't need larger audiences. They need structure, consistency, and proactive support. When too many high needs students are placed together in an oversized classroom, the environment becomes reactive instead of restorative. Learning time is lost. Stress rises for students and teachers. Academically, smaller class sizes means more feedback, more guided reading groups, more math conferences, more chances to catch misconceptions early. In third grade,

089we fight very hard to close those gaps. And then in fourth grade, we see those gaps widen quickly if students don't get targeted instruction. One teacher simply cannot provide meaningful differentiation to 37 learners at once without something giving. Socially and emotionally, children need to feel seen. They need trusted adults who know when they are struggling quietly. In a smaller class, a teacher notices the subtle changes, the withdrawn child, the anxious child, the one who hasn't spoken all day. In a room of 37, those signals are easier to be missed. And for teachers, this isn't about convenience. It's about sustainability. Larger class sizes can increase burnout, reduce effectiveness, and make it nearly impossible to do the job that we are trained to do, the way that children deserve. We all want students to be successful, confident,

090and prepared. Smaller class sizes are not a luxury. They are a foundational support of academic growth, behavior management, and emotional well-being. When we build classrooms that are too large, we are not just filling seats, we are limiting potential. I urge you to consider the long-term impact of these decisions on our students, our teachers, and the quality of education in our district. Thank you for your time. Good evening, board members and Dr. Patterson. My name is Angela Martinez, and I am currently a supervising assistant at Ocean View. I started working at Ocean View in 2015 as a sub, and shortly after became permanent. I'm here today just not for myself, but for my OV crew of eight and all supervising assistants in the district. Let's face it, supervising assistants are a huge part of every school.

091Not only do they watch the students and make sure they are safe, they build relationships and connect with students in ways that most can't. I truly love my job and I love the people I work with. The way I see my girls connect with students makes me super proud to be their coworker. We we at Ovi are what I like to say a wild oil machine So when one of my co-workers wants to apply for other jobs for more hours just to get paid more makes me sad So now when it was brought to my attention that the higher ups at B are standing firm on giving all classified a 2.75% raise, but yet want the board to approve tonight, between 10 and 13% for just your confidential is a slap in the face. You

092say that some raises are based on the class and comp study, but yet the supervising assistants among other classifications are also being underpaid based on that very same study. I don't feel the same urgency is being placed on making sure that all classified positions are being fairly compensated. As I ask that you please consider giving all supervising assistants the same consideration and fair compensation. Thank you. Good evening. I'm going to adjust the mic because we have really tall people in the room. Good evening. My name is Jackie Santana, and I am a parent at Murphy Ranch. I heard that our classrooms would be going into fourth grade, into 36, 37 students. I wanted to share a couple things. I saw everyone had their phones, and they had these written pieces for you all today. I

093don't. I came here today as a parent who just really wanted to say and share the concern that I have. The concern kind of comes from 36, 37 students we heard from. Robin Bled, who shared with us what that's going to do. So here we are listening to this, oh, okay, well, they have IEPs, and we'll figure it out as we go. We can't. I just got off the phone this morning with a very dear friend who also has a third grader who just started her IEP. and she doesn't know where to go from here, where she's like, we're spending two and a half hours at night. We're two years behind. We're in third grade, and we're two years behind, and now what you guys are saying is, oh, let's just add more kids. It'll

094just be easier. It'll help these children learn. It's not. These children need direct, very specific. education, training, and people who are skilled. Unfortunately, that's not what's going to happen as we go into fourth grade. My ask is that you really consider this on a couple fronts. One, what it's doing to the impact to our children, and number two, and this is something that is very true for us, what you're doing to the residents and to the people who purchase into these areas. When we purchased... Seven years ago into Friendly Hills, we purchased with a specific intent in mind, where we would be sending our kids and why. I pay taxes that are very nice in L.A. County, and it is with the intention of it going back to the school district and that they would

095be used for the purposes of our students. Unfortunately, I'm not seeing that come back when I'm hearing that our class sizes are going to get larger. The purpose I bought into the idea of living in this area was exactly the opposite. Smaller classrooms. Teachers who would have more dedicated time to spend with the students who need it or otherwise, right? We're creating really great learning lesson plans, which they do. Murphy Ranch, I've been so lucky to have such impressive teachers. But when we're spreading them so thinly, I don't know that we're going to have that educational programming going next year. And so with that, my ask is that you really reconsider what fourth grade and what this next season looks like for the kids. Thank you. Thank you so much to everyone that came and

096spoke. And I just want to make sure that you know, it is our policy not to respond to our folks that come up and make public comments, but we are listening, we are taking notes, and oftentimes later on we will have discussions with Dr. Patterson that are very thoughtful and important. So I just want to make sure that you know that. We are gonna welcome Dr. Alicia Ceves, our Assistant Superintendent of Business Services, and she's gonna make a presentation to us about the second interim. Welcome. I got a motion to write. So I move the recommendation that the Board of Education approve the second interim report for fiscal year 2526. I wasn't sure. Can we approve it prior to the presentation? A second. Okay, all right. Then we have a second. All right. It's been

097moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, Mrs. Valenzuela, will you call for the vote? Oh, I'm sorry. Okay, forgive me. Well, good evening. It's a pleasure to be here this evening to present to you our second interim budget report. I also want to welcome Mr. Baird. Congratulations. The second interim report is an important part of our annual budget cycle as it provides a clear picture of our budget activity at this time in the school year. Our last presentation in December was the first interim report, and this is the first time we have presented a budget update, a report since that time, and also since the release of the January budget, governor's budget. Second interim is based on financial information and spending through January 31st, includes any changes in revenue or expenses since the

098first interim report. provides an updated budget projections for multi-year projections and it's and it is required to be presented to you and approved by you by March 15th. I also want to give our director of fiscal services Carlos Pena and our entire fiscal team our accounting team our payroll team for their work. up to this point in the school year and throughout the school year. They're an excellent team and we're so fortunate to have their diligence and being sure that our records and accounting is kept very accurate. This slide highlights the different certifications a district's budget can receive. East Whittier continues to maintain a positive budget certification. This is a visual we have shared in the past. This is the kind of revenue the district receives, highlighting our largest source of revenue, 72.4% of our

099revenue is LCFF, or our state funding. We also have our federal revenue, which are categorical programs, for example, Title I, Title II, Title III, Title IV. Our state revenue, which includes ELOP. nutrition services programs, restricted lottery, and our local revenue, which also includes developer fees, local bond revenue, and grants. This graph represents how East Whittier spends those revenues or our expenses. Of course, we spend the largest percentage on our staff costs. 81% of our total expenditures are spent on our staffing. As the second interim report was prepared, these are assumptions that are used to develop our budget report. First, this budget is built on the assumption that we will fully implement our fiscal stabilization plan that we have presented to our board in the past. Next, it's also built on our attendance projections that have

100been updated based on P1 reports, which includes attendance starting the first day of school through winter break. You can see a slight increase in ADA, which is great news, which represents the average number of students attending school on a daily basis. So the district is projecting 19 more students attending on average every day. This is an increase of what was projected at that first interim when we presented to you in December. So that's very good for us so far. Although attendance looks good too right now, that's very positive. our districts are funded on that P2 attendance. So that monitors daily attendance through the spring break. And we often see a little bit of a dip in our attendance as our cold and flu season kind of is, we suffer from cold and flu season in

101the winter months. But this still gives us a good point or good data to make those informed projections for P2. Now, Dr. Seves, could you just differentiate how that is from the 7,412 students that we have and how that affects the funding? So this is, our funding is based on how many students attend on a daily basis. So although we have 7,400 students, this is saying that we have 70, we have 7,079 students attending on average every day. So although we have 7,400 students enrolled, that's how many students are actually coming to school each day, which is what our funding is based on. So these are further assumptions. The governor's budget presented in January provided a reduced COLA rate than what we presented to you at first interim. This change was factored into second interim

102report as well as changes in expenditures and revenues since the first interim. It is important to note that although we do feel like we're experiencing strong attendance, any increase in that ADA This year will be offset by that decrease in COLA that expected decrease in COLA that you can see in the out years here and of course declining enrollment Which will be reported in greater detail when we come together for our June budget What when we present that to you in June continues to be a growing concern as we think about future revenues for our district? The budget included a decrease in expenditures due to a proration of salary and benefits as a result of vacant positions, and we have added additional instructional aid positions since that first interim report. So you can see those

103are also included in our budget on the next page. We also want to highlight that the budget on the next slide does not include settlements with our bargaining units, as those have not yet been approved by the Board of Education. So you can see here this the original budget column is the budget that was approved in June 25 26 Which is what is called which is that original budget all the way to the far left? The projected 25 26 budget is our second interim budget which we're presenting to you tonight since the adopted budget in June East Whittier experienced an increase in revenues as there was a significant increase in ELOP funding STIRS on behalf was recognized, the PD block grant was included, and increases to supplemental and concentration funding were recognized. Again, we want

104to point out that Our expenditures and the out years do not include settlement agreements at this time. However, as you can see, as a result of our collective efforts to identify cuts and reduce unrestricted spending, and if we remain committed to our planning, our multi-year projections continue to show at this time in our budget cycle that East Whittier will no longer be deficit spending in the 27-28 school year. All right. Thank you so much, Dr. Alceves. Are there any questions from the board, Mrs. Carrera, or anyone? I should say I just have a I think I remember something that there's some kind of a bill in Sacramento saying about the attendance because now you know if they don't come but something about that that might change so there is a there is a proposal out

105there to base funding on actual enrollment versus the average daily attendance, there is high likelihood that that will not be passed because of the enormous amount of money that would cost the state to fund everybody based upon our enrollment. So we continue to plug along with ADA as our focus. It does not look promising that that bill will pass. So that final number that 268 so after we include all the raises that are going to go into effect So are we gonna be deficit spending again then? Well, that will that will be something that we'll have to look at yes most But yes, we you will see that deficit in the out years after those are included you have an idea more or less just rough estimate on where we're going to go? We still

106have not made the full alignment of our staffing to our actual student enrollment. We've been making that work. That has been the focus of our work over the last three to four years when ESSER money and the rest of the COVID money did go away. You know, so that is going to be something that will be very visible when we bring our adopted budget, because that will give us the opportunity to shore up any governor and the state budgets when they are hopefully finalized in June. And then that's when that number will be there. Yes. Okay. Thank you. Any other questions for Dr. Smith? I did want to point out once again that this is like a collaborative effort between both associations, our HR team, our business services team, to try to identify ways to

107be able to support this. This is the first time in many years, many, many years, that we've actually projected a positive budget to where our actual revenue is a little bit... more than our expenditures. But like you said, Ms. Raparizio, those numbers will fluctuate, and then we'll make those adjustments moving forward. Any other questions? So we had a motion on the table. Now we go forward and vote? Okay, I'm just wondering, sure. No more questions? Okay, hearing none, Mrs. Valenzuela, would you please call for the vote? Mr. Thomas Baird? Abstain. Ms. Chacon-Kennedy? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Mrs. Dabbs? Yes. Mr. Oliver-Baird? Yes. Mrs. Carrera? Yes. Motion passes. Thank you. Thank you again, Dr. Severson, to your team for preparing that for us. We may have some more questions later, but thank you so much. Next

108item is an action item. Can I get a motion to approve? I move the recommendation that the Board of Education approve the East Raider City School District 2026-2027 Transportation Services Plan. Thank you. Can I get a second? I'll second. It's been moved and seconded. Board, is there any discussion regarding the transportation services plan? If I may, this is a plan that we bring every year just to kind of call out our transportation plan. Our primary service provider is the Whittier Union High School District. Just like with every group that we interact with, those costs continue to rise. Transportation is not anything different. At some point, we have been talking about the potential of going out for an RFP for an external service provider, such as a first student or something that's along those lines. Right

109now, we're not in the position to do so, but this is a significant cost to our district each year. Well, if it's a seat, I have a concern. I know one of us has erred before about the buses having seatbelts. So all of the buses that Whittier Union use, as well as all of the people that we use for field trips, meet all of the regulations that are required. So they have the seatbelts? No. They don't? Not all of them do, no. Yeah, because, I mean, if we're paying this much money, I really would prefer that they had... The ability to use a seatbelt. All of their buses are compliant with all of the regulations that need to be. And maybe could we ask for the ones with seatbelts? Well, we've had that conversation before

110with Whittier Union and Whittier Union Transportation. So we've identified the buses that do have seatbelts and the buses that do not. You remember they provide services to five other districts. We can't pick and choose. No, we cannot. We can pick and choose whether or not we use them. They did buy new buses. They did. So I don't see why. I mean, we've been working with them for a long time. I don't see why we couldn't pose that argument to have that safety feature for our students. Well, we do have, we potentially have a joint board meeting with Whittier Union, which that would be a completely appropriate topic for you guys to discuss with them. Good idea. Good idea. Board to board. Okay, not a problem. I have a question with number four. In the item?

111In the item. Okay. It says what the plan is. I am a little, the verbiage is a little ambiguous to me. If you can please explain what is the plan? In general, what is the plan? Yeah, the answer to the question. It says your plan must be developed in consultation with classified staff, teachers, school administrators, regional local transit authorities, local air pollution control districts, and air quality management districts, parents, pupils, and other stakeholders. Enter description of your plan consultation with those parties. And then it goes on to speak about the LCAP. And I would tell three times a year. and it involves, but what is the plan? Is the plan the LCAP? No, the plan is the transportation services that we provide to the district. So we use Whittier Union High School District in order

112to transport our special education students. as well as our middle school students. We do not have busing for elementary school students who are not in special education classrooms. The only other service that we provide other than field trips are for some students who are typically McKinney-Vento or some type of IEP that we have in place where we might use a service like Hop, Skip, Drive. Okay, so I hear your answer. However, it doesn't answer my question. I don't read a plan of what is going to happen. But if this is acceptable, then I guess this is acceptable if this is the common practice. Yes, it is. Thank you. Yeah, another on the I was reading about a number one turn number one about how if they live within three miles They're eligible for okay, so

113How do you know they live three miles who they go through an application? Oh, they do yes, okay? And so how do you know who's getting on the bus the wood your Union has the process and they have? Applications and bus passes so the kids get on the bus the bus driver knows that they should be able to pass. Oh they do Oh, they have a pass. Oh, I didn't know that. Oh, okay. Because I was going to say, who's to stop anybody from going and getting on the bus? No, there's a whole process. Is it an actual physical pass, Dr. Vargas? Dr. Seves, do you know? I can find out if it's a physical pass, but what we have is we have bus lists. So we know the bus drivers know the students who

114are eligible for that bus. And to be honest with you, we set those lists. in the summer, and then we provide that list to Whittier Union. I can find out about the, yeah, I can find out about the passes for sure. All right, thank you. Any other questions? Okay, hearing none, can you call for the vote? Mrs. Valenzuela, can you call for the vote? Mr. Thomas Baird? I've seen. Mrs. Chacon-Kennedy? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Mrs. Dabbs? Yes. Mr. Oliver Bayer? Yes. Mrs. Carrera? Yes. Motion passes. Thank you. We are now on item three, and there is a bit of a back story to this, but... We need to go back and revote board on this item and dr. Patterson tried to negotiate this for us, but it was unsuccessful So we have to go back

115and vote again for the candidates that you see there because two of our neighboring board members were taken off the list Okay, so can I get a motion to approve? I move the recommendation at the Board of Education vote for up to six candidates for the 2026 California School Boards Association Delegate Assembly. Thank you. Can I get a second? Ms. Carrera? It's been moved and seconded. Board, is there any discussion? You'll see that before we just decided to go forward with all six candidates, and so I want to make sure that everybody is comfortable with doing so this time as well. Any questions? I don't know why the two were removed, but there had to be a reason for it. So these six are now the ones. Okay. Great. Any other questions or any objections?

116All right. Hearing none, Ms. Valenzuela, would you call for the vote? Mr. Thomas Baird? Abstain. Mrs. Chacon-Kennedy? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Mrs. Dabbs? Yes. Mr. Oliver-Baird? Yes. And Mrs. Carrera? Yes. Motion passes. Thank you. All right. Item number four, this is an action item. Can I get a motion to approve? I move the recommendation the Board of Education approve the tentative agreement on salary for the 25, 26, and 26, 27 school years between East Whittier City School District and East Whittier Education Association. Thank you. Can I get a second? I'll second. All right, it's been moved by Mr. Aparicio, seconded by Mrs. Carrera. Board, is there any discussion on this item? Just to be clear, this is a two-year contract? Correct. Thank you. This is a two-year compensation. We are still negotiating language. Thank you.

117Any other questions for you? Hearing none, Mrs. Bonasola, would you please call for the vote? Mr. Thomas Baird? Yes. Mrs. Chacon-Kennedy? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Mrs. Dabbs? Yes. Mr. Oliver Baird? Yes. Mrs. Carrera? Yes. Motion passes. Thank you. We are now on item five, the proposed one-time off-schedule payment for 2025-2026 for program specialists. This is an action item. Can I get a motion to approve? I move the recommendation that the Board of Education approve the one-time off-schedule payment of 2.5% for the 2025-2026 for program specialists. Thank you. Can I get a second? Second. All right. It's been moved by Mr. Aparicio, seconded by Mrs. Carrera. Board, is there any discussion? All right, hearing none, Mrs. Valenzuela, would you please call for the vote? Mr. Thomas Baird? Yes. Mrs. Chacon-Kennedy? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Mrs. Dabbs?

118Yes. Mr. Oliver Baird? Yes. Mrs. Carrera? Yes. Motion passes. Thank you item number five proposed one time off schedule payment can I get a motion to approve I'm with the recommendation at the Board of Education approve the salary structure for the 26 27 school year for a program specialist Oh, I'm sorry apologies. I can I get a second? Okay, it's been moved by mr. Aparicio seconded by mrs. Carrera. Is there any discussion board on this item? This is the program specialist salary schedule. This was based on the compensation study. Yes There's a little bit more of a back story so dr. Vargas. Can you yes good evening so For this one so just to kind of give context to everybody we have we did go through a very thorough compensation classification study It's been about

119two years and we really have been working very collaboratively with all of our associations to make sure that we are identifying our priority based on the data, but also really looking at not only our districts surrounding us that are comparables, but also doing internal calibration. So one of the things that we noticed with our program specialist is the fact that it's been a long time since their salary schedule was restructured. And there was kind of outdated information on there. So for instance, the old salary schedule still had the EL authorization. So that no longer is in line with the program. So what we did do is we streamlined the salary schedule to go from four columns to two columns, making sure that there was internal calibration. So when it got to a certain point, because

120it had been so many years since this salary schedule had been looked at, is that a teacher working the same amount of days as a program specialist was making more than the program specialist. So there was a lot of inequities because it wasn't a square table. So this salary schedule is actually, it's a square table, which means that it has equal percentages going to the right and also going down. So based on that, we feel confident that now there will be internal calibration and we will also have competitive salaries when compared to districts that are comparable to us. Thank you. Are there any other questions? Anything else right hearing none mrs. Bonsuela, would you please call for the vote? Mr. Thomas Baird Yes, this is Chacon Kennedy. Yes. Mr. Aparicio. Yes. Mrs. Dabbs. Yes Mr.

121Oliver Baird. Yes Mrs. Carrera. Yes motion passes Thank you. We're in item number seven now, right? All right. Thank you. Apologies. We are now at item seven, the proposed one-time off-schedule payment for certificated management. I need a motion to it. Can I get a motion to approve? I move the recommendation that the Board of Education approve the one-time off-schedule payment of 2.5% for the 25-26 for certificated management. Thank you. Can I get a second? I'll second. Thank you. It's been moved by Mr. Aparicio, seconded by Mr. Kennedy. Any discussion board on this item? Any questions for Dr. Vargas or Dr. Patterson? No? All right, hearing none, Mrs. Valenzuela, would you please call for the vote? Mr. Thomas Baird? Yes. Mrs. Chacon-Kennedy? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Mrs. Dabbs? Yes. Mr. Oliver Baird? Yes. Mrs. Carrera? Yes.

122Motion passes. Thank you. We're now on item eight. Okay. Mine wasn't lighting up, so that's why I was getting off. I move the recommendation of the Board of Education to approve the salary structure for the 26-27 school year for certificate of management. Thank you. Can I get a second? I'll second. It's been moved by Mr. Aparicio, seconded by Mrs. Carrera. Any questions, board, on this item? Dr. Marcus, could you please give us just a rundown of the full compensation? Yeah, so we have been working really long and hard with both our associations. Really, again, the compensation classification. Classification study gave us a lot of information. There is a need to prioritize based on the study because we can't do it all in one sitting. So just like we prioritized the teacher salary schedule to go

123from 30 years to 20 years for the teachers and also focused on the speech pathologist salary schedule, as a group for certificate management, we also did look at the data to identify some changes that we needed to do based on the comprehensive study. study. So based on that, the total restructure for certificated management was a total of 0.4% investment, which basically supported a 2.35% on-schedule increase, resulting in a total compensation of a 2.75, similarly to EWE. Okay, thank you, Dr. Vargas. Any other questions? Yeah, will the, on range 13, will the director be added so we don't have to bring it back? Yeah, so thank you so much for pointing that out. So tonight we did approve Justin Mayernich as the director of technology. He is a certificated employee. So right now our position is

124actually on the classified side. So since he has been approved tonight, he will be banded together on a range. 13. 13 with the other directors. When we approve that we will make we will approve the salary schedule with the change of adding our director of technology to range 13 Since he's now certificated Great. Thank you. Any other questions. Mrs. Gunner anyone else? All right hearing none. Mrs. Bonasuela. Would you please call for the vote? Mr. Thomas Baird Yes Mrs. Chacon-Kennedy. Yes Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Mrs. Dabbs? Yes. Mr. Oliver Baird? Yes. Mrs. Carrera? Yes. Motion passes. Thank you. We are now on item nine, approval of tentative agreement for the re-opener. Can I get a motion to approve? I move the recommendation that the Board of Education approve the tentative agreement for the re-opener of the

12525-26 school year between East Winter City School District and California School Employees Association. Thank you. Can I get a second? I'll second. It's been moved by Mr. Aparicio, seconded by Mrs. Carrera. Board, is there any question or any questions for Dr. Patterson or Dr. Vargas? Actually... I'm not sure what happened, but there was a mix up in the order, so we did need to have the public hearing first. That's my error. I didn't catch that. We need to actually go to number 17. No, that's Ely. So in order to just kind of keep with the flow, I'm going to... I'm so sorry. Because it's for 25-26, there's no need for a public hearing. So when we actually do the 26-27, that's when we'll need a public hearing. That's why there's none present right now. I'm

126sorry, the word re-opener was... Yes, and that is the word that we... We tried to mirror CSEA's paperwork. We want to make sure that their process is successful, so we use the same word. But for this one, there's no need for a public hearing. So I didn't mess up. Okay, so I'm not all right, so we're on item 9. We've moved in seconded Is there any more questions from our board all right hearing none mrs. Bonas weta, but you please call for the vote mr. Thomas Baird Yes, this is Chacon Kennedy. Yes Mr. Alparicio? Yes. Mrs. Dabbs? Yes. Mr. Oliver-Baird? Yes. Mrs. Carrera? Yes. Motion passes. Thank you. We are now on item 10, proposed one-time off schedule for confidential employees. This is an action item. Can I get a motion to approve? I move

127the recommendation the Board of Education approve the one-time off schedule payment of 2.5% for the 25-26 for confidential employees. Thank you. Can I get a second? I'll second. Thank you. It's been moved by Mr. Aparicio, seconded by Mrs. Carrera. Is there any discussion board or anything you want to share with us, Dr. Patterson or Dr. Vargas? All right. Any questions? All right. Hearing none, Mrs. Valenzuela, would you please call for the vote? Mr. Thomas Baird? Yes. Mrs. Chacon-Kennedy? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Mrs. Dabbs? Yes. Mr. Oliver Baird? Yes. Mrs. Carrera? Yes. Motion passes. Thank you. We are now on item number 11, Dr. Patterson? Correct. All right. Proposed salary structure for the 2026-27 school year for confidential employees. This is an action item. Can I get a motion to approve? I move the recommendation that

128the Board of Education approve the salary restructure for the 2026-27 school year for confidential employees. Thank you. Can I get a second? I'll second. Thank you. It's been moved by Mr. Aparicio, seconded by Mrs. Jacón-Kennedy. Board, is there any discussion? Dr. Vargas, could you give a little background, especially in light of the public comments? Yes. So back in 2021. We actually did a big restructure for our classified salaries. We had four salary schedules at one point, and we restructured it to one, making sure that we had an equitable salary schedule at the time. It was also in the middle of COVID, so we were very busy negotiating our MOUs to make sure that we were able to provide education to our students. So we did not restructure the confidential salary at that time. At that

129time, when we had the four salary schedules, there was some pairing of positions with classified and our confidential. And past practice and traditionally, confidential employees made about 5% above the classified position that was. parallel to theirs. Because we did not restructure at that time, obviously, you know, throughout the beginning of the couple of years, it wasn't an issue until confidential employees got to certain steps. At that time, when they reached certain steps, they were really making less than their counterparts that are... that were in the same classification. Because of that, we really, when we met with EMS, who was the agency that did our classification compensation study, they did recommend that we redo basically the salary schedule, just like we had done for classified, because there was a lot of issues with it as far

130as equity across, you know, the years of service, but also in the steps. And so because of that, we did do a full restructure. It is now a squared table, which means that it's equitable moving from step to step and column to column. But really the big difference that you see right now is as a result that we did not restructure it back when we did the restructure for classified employees. So it's been since. 2021 so this is the way that we shore up and make sure that it's there's still a 5 percent differential and that also that there is a bilingual stipend for positions that require that as well thank you thank you for that clarification dr vargas any other questions board all right hearing none does this is this a nine percent increase

131it ranges from about nine to i believe about eleven thank you All right, any other questions for all right hearing none miss Vonsweiler, would you please call for the vote? Mr. Thomas Baird. Yes This is Chacon Kennedy. Yes, mr. Aparicio. No Sorry, I just want to make sure I get it. This is Dabbs. Yes Mr. Oliver Baird. Yes Mrs. Carrera no motion passes 3-2 Thank you. Item number 12, proposed one-time off schedule payment for classified management. Can I get a motion to approve? I move the recommendation that the Board of Education approve the one-time off schedule payment of 2.5% for the 25-26 for classified management. Thank you. Can I get a second? I'll second. Thank you. It's been moved by Mr. Aparicio, seconded by Mrs. Chacon-Kennedy. Board, is there any question on this particular item

132or anything that you want to share with us, Dr. Patterson? No? All right. No questions? All right, hearing none, Mrs. Valenzuela, would you please call for the vote? Mr. Thomas Baird? Yes. Mrs. Chacon-Kennedy? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Mrs. Dabbs? Yes. Mr. Oliver Baird? No, yes, actually. I was like thinking no, I was like, why do I say no? There's no reason. Mrs. Carrera? Yes. Motion passes. Okay, we're on item, thank you. All right, item number three. Lots of items for those of you that are on YouTube and also those of us that are here together. Thank you for your patience. This is an action item, proposed salary structure for classified management. This is an action item again, so I need a motion to approve. I move the recommendation that the Board of Education approve salary

133structure for the 26-27 school year for classified management. Thank you. Can I get a second? Second. It's been moved by Mr. Aparicio, seconded by Mrs. Carrera. Any questions, board? Could you? Yes. So similarly to... To our certificated management salary, this again, we are looking at the results of our classification compensation study. And what we're really trying to do is we move to banding similar positions with the same level of responsibility. And we also wanted to do internal calibration and making sure that if there was an increase of responsibilities, that there was also an increase in pay. So at this point, these were the highest priorities based on the data. And so... So we are banding, as you see here, the payroll benefits supervisor with the fiscal supervisor to ensure that comparable roles are aligned. But

134we also, in the compensation study, did realize that our IT director at that time was extremely high compared to the other surrounding districts. So because there was a vacancy, we did make that adjustment. So we did band the IT director with most of the director's ranges to maintain organizational consistency. So that was a total of 0.25% investment, which left a 2.5% on a scheduled salary increase to again for a total compensation of 2.75%. Thank you, Dr. Vargas. Any other questions, board? Thank you for that information. All right, hearing none, Mrs. Valenzuela, would you please call for the vote? Mr. Thomas Baird? Yes. Mrs. Chacon-Kennedy? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Mrs. Dabbs? Yes. Mr. Oliver-Baird? Yes. Mrs. Carrera? Yes. Motion passes. Thank you. This is the first reading of item number 14, first reading of board bylaw

1359250. Can I get a motion to approve? I move the recommendation of the Board of Education approved board bylaw 9-2-5-0, remunerization, reimbursement, and other benefits if there are no substantive changes made by the Board of Education. Thank you. Can I get a second? A second. It's been moved by Mr. Aparicio, seconded by Mrs. Carrera. Any questions, board? All right, hearing none, Mrs. Valenzuela, would you please call for the vote? Mr. Thomas Baird? Yes. Mrs. Chacon-Kennedy? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Mrs. Dabbs? Yes. Mrs. Carrera? Yes. And Mr. Oliver Baird? Yes. Motion passes. Thank you. Item number 15, first reading of board bylaw 9250. Is that correct? Yes. Okay. It sounds so similar. I so move. Can I get a second? I'll second. Okay, it's been moved by Mr. Aparicio and seconded by Mrs. Carrera. Any discussion,

136board? Hearing none, Ms. Valenzuela, would you call for the vote? Mr. Thomas Baird? Yes. Mrs. Chacon-Kennedy? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Mrs. Dabbs? Yes. Mr. Oliver Baird? Yes. Mrs. Carrera? Yes. Motion passes. Thank you. We're now at 16 minutes and two seconds. All right. Thank you again, everyone. This is the first reading of the board bylaw. It is an action item. Can I get a motion to approve? I so move. Can I get a second? I second. It's been moved by Mr. Aparicio, seconded by Mrs. Carrera. Any questions for it or any discussion? All right, hearing none, Mrs. Valenzuela, would you please call for the vote? Mr. Thomas Baird? Yes. Mrs. Chacon-Kennedy? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Mrs. Dabbs? Yes. Mr. Oliver Baird? Yes. Mrs. Carrera? Yes. Motion passes. Thank you. Item number 17, we are going

137to have a public hearing now. All right. So I'm going to open the public hearing at 8.21. If there are any interested parties who wish to speak on this item, you can let us know and we can have you go to the podium. All right. Hearing none, I close this public hearing at 8.21 p.m. Moving on to item number 18. This is an action item. Can I get a motion to approve? I move the recommendation that the Board of Education is set for study the attached 26-27 Reopener proposal for the East Winter Education Association for article 16 class size. Thank you. Can I get a second? I'll second. Dr. Patterson, can you open it? I can't open mine. Please. Thank you. So it's been moved and seconded. We're moving to discussion now, Mrs. Carrera? Did

138you second this motion? Yeah, I did. All right, and you want to have discussion? I just couldn't, I couldn't see, I can't see the document, so I wasn't sure. Did you want to have any discussion on it? No. No? Okay, all right. Anyone else? All right, hearing none, Mrs. Bonasuela, would you please call for the vote? Mr. Thomas Baird? Yes. Mrs. Chacon-Kennedy? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Mrs. Dabbs? Yes. Mr. Oliver Baird? Yes. And Mrs. Carrera? Yes. Motion passes. Thank you. We are now on to number 19, the second public hearing. All right. I open up this public hearing for the East Peter City School District. I'm going to issue a proposal for the 2026-27 negotiations with the East Whittier Education Association on that article, evaluation procedures. It is open at 823. If any of the

139public wishes to speak, they may come to the podium. Sir Ross, are you stretching your laser coming into the podium? Okay. That was just really bad timing. I was waiting. Okay. Yes, I was waiting, too. I thought you were, too. Mosey on over. All right. That was the Missy struggle. Okay. All right. Okay. Is there no one wishing to speak? I close the public hearing at... 23. Next time you complain about your students, I'm gonna refer you to this meeting right here. All right. Item number 20, this is an action item. Can I get a motion to approve? I move the recommendation of the Board of Education, a step four study, the District 26-27, reopen a proposal for Article 18, evaluation procedures. Thank you, can I get a second? I'll second. It's been moved by

140Mr. Aparicio, seconded by Mrs. Chacon-Kennedy. Any questions on this item, board? Any discussion? that we need to have from Dr. Patterson or Dr. Vargas? Can I just get an understanding of what this is? Is this just a proposal on evaluation? This is our sunshine of the article that we wish to negotiate. So we would like to negotiate evaluation procedures. Okay. All right. Hearing none, Mrs. Valenzuela, would you please call for the vote? Mr. Thomas Baird? Yes. Mrs. Chacon-Kennedy? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Mrs. Dabbs? Yes. Mr. Oliver Baird? Yes. Mrs. Carrera? Yes. Motion passes. Thank you. We are now on item 21. This is an action item request to adopt resolution number 16-25. Can I get a motion to approve? I move the recommendation that the Board of Education adopt resolution number 16-25-26 proclaiming the month

141of April 2026 as Child Abuse Prevention Month. Thank you. Can I get a second? I'll second. It's been moved by Mr. Aparicio, seconded by Mrs. Carrera. Any discussion board or anything you want to add to this? We just wanted to share that the item that I have highlighted here is the steps that especially our student services team will take in order to be able to provide some information, some recognition and support as needed with this very sensitive month. Yes. And we'll have. Schools will be doing like the wear blue day and things I mean I mean they don't we don't yes They can if they would like and they know it's being supported by this. Okay. All right any other questions for it? All right hearing then mrs. Valenzuela. Would you please call for the

142vote? Mr. Thomas Baird Yes, mrs. Chacon Kennedy. Yes. Mr. Aparicio. Yes. Mrs. Dabbs. Yes Mr. Oliver Baird? Yes. Mrs. Carrera? Yes. Motion passes. All right, just as that was in April, this next item, number 22, is also being approved for April to approve the proclaiming of month of April 2026 as Public Schools Month. This is an action item. Can I get a motion to approve? I so move. Can I get a second? Second. It's been moved by Mr. Aparicio, seconded by Mrs. Carrera. Is there any discussion board or any... When we do this, go ahead. I just think every month should be public schools month. I agree. Anything else, Dr. Patterson? No. No? All right. Any other questions for him? All right. Hearing none, Mrs. Valenzuela, would you please call for the vote? Mr. Thomas

143Baird? Yes. Mrs. Chacon-Kennedy? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Mrs. Dabbs? Yes. Mr. Oliver Baird? Yes. Mrs. Carrera? Yes. Motion passes. Thank you item number 22 is also an action item request to adopt resolution number 17-25 I'm sorry 23 23 request to adopt a solution for the Substitution of subcontractors. This is an action item. Can I get a motion to approve? I so move Thank you. Can I get a second? All right, it's been moved by Mr. Aparicio, seconded by Mrs. Carrera. Anything you want to share with us, Dr. Patterson? This is the first time that we're actually asking this resolution to be approved by the board. As you know, in measures R and Z, we did not have to institute this type of a hearing. In measure C and the work that we're doing over at

144the Emma Wicker, we did have an issue with one of the subcontractors. So as part of that process, we need the board to delegate Dr. Aceves as the... authority for our board and district to hold hearings in the event that we need to do potential substitution of subcontractors. Will there be an amount that will be brought forward to the board or it's any amount? No, she's just holding the hearing to determine whether or not the processes were done. Anytime we have a settlement, we bring it to the board. I understand. Thank you. Okay. Any other questions, board? All right, hearing none, Mrs. Valenzuela, would you please call for the vote? Mr. Thomas Baird? Yes. Mrs. Chacon-Kennedy? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Mrs. Dabbs? Yes. Mr. Oliver Baird? Yes. Mrs. Carrera? Yes. Motion passes. Thank you. Item

145number 24, approval of the infant program calendar. This is an action item. Can I get a motion to approve? So moved. Thank you. Can I get a second? Second. Thank you. Moved by Mr. Aparicio, seconded by Mrs. Carrera. Any questions for it on this? Does this affect, this doesn't affect it, right? The Monday comment that was given? No, this is the infant? This is for infants, correct. Okay. Just wanted to make sure. Okay, hearing no discussion, Ms. Valenzuela, would you please call for the vote? Mr. Thomas Baird? Yes. Mrs. Chacon-Kennedy? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Mrs. Dabbs? Yes. Mr. Oliver Baird? Yes. Mrs. Carrera? Yes. Motion passes. Thank you. Item number 25, approval of the independent auditor's report. This is an action item. Can I get a motion to approve? I so move. Thank you. Can

146I get a second? Second. All right. It's been moved by Mr. Aparicio, seconded by Mrs. Carrera. Any questions, board, for Dr. Patterson? I just wanted to highlight the work of our business services team in having an audit with no findings. We got a good rating? Yay. Yes. Good news. All right. No further discussion? Okay, hearing none, Mrs. Valenzuela, would you please call for the vote? Mr. Thomas Baird? Yes. Mrs. Chacon-Kennedy? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Mrs. Dabbs? Yes. Mr. Oliver Baird? Yes. Mrs. Carrera? Yes. Motion passes. Thank you. Now we're on to item number 26, approval of the independent audit report for bond measures C, R, and Z. This is an action item. Can I get a motion to approve? I so move. Thank you. Can I get a second? Second. All right, approved by Mr.

147Aparicio, seconded by Mrs. Carrera. Any questions or any comments, Dr. Patterson? Once again, audit with no findings, so we're very proud of that. Okay, that's good news. Anything else, board? All right, hearing none, Mrs. Valenzuela, would you please call for the vote? Mr. Thomas Baird? Yes. Mrs. Chacon-Kennedy? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Mrs. Dabbs? Yes. Mr. Oliver Baird? Yes. Mrs. Carrera? Yes. Motion passes. Thank you. Item number 27. This is an action item. Can I get a motion to approve the certification of signatures? I so move. Thank you. Can I get a second? Second. It's been moved by Mr. Aparicio, seconded by Mrs. Carrera. Any question board on this item? Yeah, will Mr. Baird's name be written in? No, it will not. We will be bringing this item back in April again. Got you. Thank you.

148Okay. All right. Hearing none, Mrs. Valenzuela, would you please call for the vote? Mr. Thomas Baird? Yes. Mrs. Chacon-Kennedy? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Mrs. Dabbs? Yes. Mr. Oliver Baird? Yes. Mrs. Carrera? Motion passes. Thank you. All right, we now come to item N, consigned items. Is there any items, board, that you wish to remove for a separate discussion or vote? All right, hearing none, can I get a motion to approve item number two? I move the recommendation that the superintendent at the Board of Education approve the consent agenda items N3 through N13. Thank you, can I get a second? Second. All right, it's been moved by Mr. Aparicio, seconded by Mrs. Carrera. Are there questions more on any of these items? Any discussion? All right, anything? All right, hearing none, Mrs. Valenzuela, would you please

149call for the vote? Mr. Thomas Baird. Yes. Mrs. Chacon-Kennedy? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Mrs. Dabbs? Yes. Mr. Oliver-Baird? Yes. Mrs. Carrera? Yes. Motion passes. Thank you. We have now come to item O, our adjournment. But before we have a discussion, before we have comments, can I see, or rather, let me see if there's anybody that does want to make a comment before we adjourn our meeting. Our next meeting will be held on April 7th. And it is here, correct, Dr. Patterson? No, it's East Weter Middle School. Oh, I'm sorry. East Weter Middle School, everyone. We'll be at East Weter Middle School on April the 7th for our next meeting. Is there anyone who would like to do a... I just want to send my condolences to Aaron's family on behalf of... Can I speak on

150behalf of the board? Yes, for me. Send our deepest condolences on your great loss. Congratulations again. I know it's bittersweet, but congratulations again to Mr. Baird. And I will be breaking bread with teachers pretty soon. So I got you. Thank you, Ms. Carina. Anyone else? Yeah, just as always, I'm trying to, you know, tell you to please start. I know it's, I'm always saying you're right, you're right, save water, compost, even if you just, it seems overwhelming, but if you just take one small step and say, okay, you know, instead of throwing my... everything from my, you know, the fruits or the greens, everything, instead of throwing it down the garbage disposal, I'm going to put it in to compost. That's one little small step you can take. And it really makes a difference. Like

151I said, I know it seems overwhelming to, oh, I'm going to do all this. But if you just do one small thing at a time, it really will help. That's it. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Barrett, would you like to have any closing comments? No, just thanks again for your trust. And that's it. All right. Mr. Aparicio, anything? Mr. Oliver Baird? No. All right. All right. I also want to just thank everyone for being here this evening. Thank you for your patience in this very long meeting. And thank you so much for your warm welcome to Mr. Baird. We're excited to move forward as he joins our board. And don't forget that this is Music in Our Schools Week. Whether you're elementary or middle school, see what you can do to ignite that fire in

152a young person who would want to go forward with learning an instrument or doing something in terms of their singing voice. because music in our schools is very, very important. It's a week. Yeah, music in our school's week. All right. Can I move to adjourn? Thank you. Can I get a second? Okay, it's been moved by Mrs. Carrera, seconded by Mr. Aparicio. Any discussion for it? Mrs. Valenzuela, would you please call for the vote? Mr. Thomas Baird? Yes. Mrs. Chacon-Kennedy? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Mrs. Dabbs? Yes. Mr. Oliver Baird? No, I can't almost say her, no. I was gonna say that, see? Mrs. Carrera? He took it from me, yes. Motion passes. Thank you, and good night to our YouTube audience. Thank you for being with us in this very long but very productive meeting.

153Good night.