EWCSD Board of Education Meeting - Monday, February 2nd, 2026

001Check check check Our meeting to order today at 6 p.m. At this time the Board of Education would like to invite Emma Witten and Elise Corrales our wonderful student reps from Ceres Elementary and Michaela Bautista our student rep from Hillview to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Are you here? Yes And did your parents join you this evening? You want to introduce them? Did your parents join you this evening? Okay, great. Thank you so much. We are excited to begin our meeting with recognition of amazing employees who have throughout our year done some amazing things at their schools. Tonight we will be celebrating the classified and certificate employees of the year from Ceres Elementary. So at this time I would like to invite Dr. Gabriela Aldana. And she is the principal of CERES, and

002she's going to do tonight's presentation of her employees. Welcome. Thank you. Good evening, board. Today I have the honor of celebrating Elizabeth Gamboa. I'm going to ask her to come up. Elizabeth Gamboa, lovingly known as Liz, is exceptionally deserving of the Certificated Staff of the Year Award for her extraordinary dedication to the students and the staff of Ceres Elementary School. She approaches every situation, no matter how complex or unfamiliar, with positivity, professionalism, and an unrelenting focus on student success. Known affectionately as our Data Queen, Elizabeth uses data with position and purpose to drive instruction, identify student needs, and ensure meaningful academic growth. Students both love and respect her, a testament to the trust she builds and the care she shows in every interaction. Behind the scenes, Elizabeth ensures that student events and school-wide initiatives run

003smoothly, often without recognition. Yet her impact is felt in every successful moment. This year she designed and implemented systems to identify our most struggling students and put targeted supports in place to close achievement gaps. As a result families and teachers alike are seeing tangible progress and lasting results. Not only does LIS make a great impact on our Seagulls, but she is also a wonderful and supportive mother to Bella, a high school senior who will be attending her dream university in the fall. Congratulations to both. As mentioned today, Elizabeth's generosity, passion, and tireless dedication exemplify excellence in education and make her profoundly deserving of this recognition. Good evening, members of the board, administrators, colleagues, families, and students. I am incredibly honored and deeply touched to be recognized as Certificated Person of the Year. To be chosen

004by the teachers I work alongside every day means more to me than words can fully express. This work is not easy and it is never done alone. As an intervention specialist, I have the privilege of walking alongside teachers as we support students who need us most. Thank you for trusting me with your students, for opening your classrooms, for having honest conversations about challenges, and for never giving up on our kids, even on the hard days. Your belief in this work and in me is something I carry with me every single day. To our instructional aid, support staff, and Dr. Aldana, thank you for your constant collaboration, encouragement, and belief in what intervention can do. And to our students, you are the heart of this work. Your resilience, courage, and growth remind me why I chose

005this profession and why I continue to show up with hope and purpose. This recognition is not just for me. It belongs to all of us who believe that every student deserves to be seen, supported, and celebrated. Thank you for this honor, for this community, and for allowing me to do work that truly matters. Lastly, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to Mr. Urtiaga for his dedicated service and commitment to our students, families, and staff. Your leadership, thoughtful decision-making, and your genuine care for this community have made a lasting impact on our schools. Thank you so much for your leadership. And next, our classified. Honoree, Miss Vanessa Guillen, come on up. And we'll have to change the name on her recognition. Here we go. She changed her maiden name. So here you go. Congratulations.

006Okay. Vanessa Guillen is deeply deserving of the Classified of the Year Award. For the joy, dedication, and positivity she brings to Ceres Elementary School each and every day. She arrives with to work with the bright smile a positive spirit and a sense of style that instantly improves the mood of our campus Vanessa treats every staff member with kindness and her genuine love for students is evident in all that she does Vanessa is a vital member of our school community serving in multiple roles with care and excellence she supports our youngest learners by helping our baby kindergartners learn their letters and numbers. She serves as a PE aide who promotes healthy and active lifestyles and ensures student safety and connection as a lunch supervising assistant. She consistently steps up when we're short staffed. She works extra

007hours and willingly takes on different roles whenever needed. With her bright outfits and signature neon glasses, she's not wearing today. Vanessa not only supports our students but also keeps spirits high across campus. Her flexibility, her warmth, and consistent support make her truly deserving of this recognition. Congratulations. Good evening everybody. I just want to thank you so much for this honor. I want to thank my co-workers and my family for their continual support on campus and at home. It is a genuine privilege to work with children. Their energy and growth inspire me every day. They are truly the best part of the job. Looking ahead, I am so excited to see all of the amazing things our students will achieve and to continue growing alongside this wonderful team at Ceres. Thank you again so much. This

008year, our school community has embraced the theme of setting sail to success, as you can see by the little ships in front of you. It's a celebration of the journey we take together every day. Our students, the seagulls of Ceres Elementary, have been soaring toward new horizons, guided by our teachers and staff, the captains of our school ship. supported by families who serve as steady anchors offering encouragement and care along the way. This year we celebrate our fifth grade dual language immersion program students who will carry their bilingual skills and cultural knowledge forward to their continue to continue their journey at Hillview Middle School. The Ceres community The CIRES community is a unified crew that celebrates growth and ensures that every Seagull is empowered to sail confidently towards success. And now I would like to

009introduce our CIRES student council who will perform our CIRES soar song. Take it away. Well, that is a very tough act to follow. Ms. Barrios, I hope you're ready for a cheer. I'm going to bring her over. Meanwhile, good evening, esteemed board members, Superintendent Patterson, cabinet and guests. Tonight, we have the absolute pleasure of celebrating a teacher who brings joy, energy, and heart to absolutely everything that she does. Our teacher of the year is someone who doesn't just show up for our students. She shows up with a smile. She's always enthusiastic and she has a genuine love for what she does. She's a dedicated member of our PBIS team, helping create that positive school environment, welcoming students every morning. She leads our cheer squad, building school spirit and pride while forming strong, meaningful relationships with

010students who are naturally drawn to her warmth and positivity. This teacher eagerly takes on new learning and embraces it with enthusiasm, always adding her own personal touch, often with a fun Disney theme, to make learning engaging, memorable, and joyful. Her classroom and presence are places where students feel connected, supported, and excited to be, constantly asking them not to go there to lunch. She's always smiling, always willing to help, and always putting students first. Her impact reaches far beyond the classroom, and our school is such a better place because of her. It is with great pride and excitement that I introduce our Teacher of the Year, Miss Sydney Farias. And please join me in celebrating her incredible dedication and joy she brings. Good evening, everyone. I just want to say I'm so honored to be... I'm

011also an emotional person, so let me start off with that. I'm so honored to be recognized for Teacher of the Year. Honestly, Hillview has been my second home. Everyone is so supportive and encouraging. So I just love that environment. I definitely needed that environment. So I'm so thankful to have my friends and colleagues. always there to support me. I'm also very honored and privileged to work with so many amazing students. They're just always so happy and always bring such a fun mood to the classroom and outside on the play. They don't really have a playground, but the blacktop. And they're just always just so welcoming and always ask me how my day's going. So it just definitely is a mood boost. So thank you again for this recognition. I truly appreciate it. So I'm going

012to bring up Catherine Steele. And this is my first time meeting Catherine. What a wonderful meeting. Congratulations. So today, I proudly help recognize you as an exceptional instructional assistant who dedicated 42 years of your life to East Whittier School District. Throughout your career, you supported students with special needs across many classrooms, always leading with compassion and commitment. You spent 10 years of your time at the STEP program, adapting to a changing population and helping a very special group of students become who they needed to be. You continued your career in our classrooms at Hillview. with strong work ethic, flexibility, and experience that made a tremendous difference with one of our most beautiful and challenging student populations. You're caring, strong, reliable, intelligent, and a true team player who generally cared about your students and coworkers. Your

013presence has been deeply missed. and we hope that you are enjoying your well-deserved retirement. We thank you for your 42 years of service, and I am so happy that I got an opportunity to meet you. It's nice to meet you, too. Please welcome you. They didn't tell me I had to speak, so, but... I've actually worked for the district for 46 years. I started when I was 18 and subbed during the summers and my mother was a teacher for the district. I just came in and started subbing and worked with the special ed, and she was a special ed teacher too. So I just loved every minute. I loved the STEP program, and I loved, well, I've been in many classes. I've been at... Granada twice and Leffingwell for like nine years and just all

014over the place. Orcharddale for 16 years. So I've been everywhere and just loved the kids and loved the staff and loved just the school district. And I've raised two of my girls in the district. So thank you for everything. Thank you. So this here at Hillview, we settled on the theme of powered by the pack. When you think of Huskies, they travel in packs, but that's the beauty of it, right? They are there together to really support each other and be there for one another when needed. This really reflects both who we are and how we align with our daily work to our district priorities of strengthening our Tier 1 instruction, as well as making every connection matter. Huskies thrive through teamwork and collaboration in the same way strong Tier 1 instruction is built through

015collective effort. Our teachers and all of our staff work together to plan high-quality engaging lessons that meet the needs of all learners. Through collaboration, shared strategies, and consistent instructional practices, we are strengthening the core instruction every student receives, ensuring that high expectations and effective teaching are present in every classroom, every day. Being powered by the pack also means recognizing that every interaction matters. Whether it is a moment of feedback in the classroom, a conversation in the hallway with students and or colleagues, or a connection built through PBIS practices, we're intentional about how we engage with students. These interactions build trust, they foster belonging, and create environments where students feel supported, challenged, and ready to learn. The theme reinforces our belief in a shared responsibility. No single person works in isolation. Instructional growth, student success, and

016positive school culture are the result of adults working together, communicating, reflecting, and supporting one another with a common purpose. Powered by the pack is more than just a theme. It represents our commitment to that strong tier one instruction, our meaningful relationships and collaborative practices that ensure that every student has that access to the high quality learning. Together we're building a school community where every interaction counts and every student has the opportunity to thrive. Before I conclude, I'd like to take a moment to recognize Mr. Utiaga. as this will be his last board meeting with East Whittier. As both a board member and a parent, your dedication, advocacy, and commitment to students and families have made a long-lasting impact on our school community. We are grateful for your service, your leadership and support, and we wish

017you continued success in your next chapter. Thank you again for all the continued support you gave our Husky community. Thank you. I want to thank Ms. Salibi, and I also want to thank Dr. Aldana for sharing their wonderful Employees of the Year. And now we are going to invite Dr. Lilia Vargas, who's going to continue with presentations of tenure recognition, homegrown recognition, and community service award. Thank you for joining us. Thank you, and good morning. I'm sorry, good evening, Board of Education. I know that threw me off for the loop. So good evening, community members. Our cabinet and our board of education. I am Lilia Vargas and I am the proud assistant superintendent of human resources. And today I am very happy to continue the celebration. We have some wonderful employees to recognize tonight. And

018I'm going to start off with a very special milestone for all of our certificated employees. So every time we have a new certificated employee, they go through a probationary period. And during the two-year probationary period, they have to demonstrate that they possess. the skills and competencies that we want to see in every single certificated employee. When they do reach that milestone, we do recognize them with a certificate of tenure, which makes them permanent, which is a big deal in our line of work. And tonight, I'm so excited because we have a couple of employees from both schools. And we're going to start off by first recognizing This is Riley, Alejandra Riley. So I'm going to call Dr. Aldana to come up here. This is a joint award that we are giving. Congratulations. And we are

019very grateful for your service and the two years that you have put in and becoming permanent. So congratulations. Thank you. And here's your certificate. And now I'm going to call up Mrs. Celebi, our principal of Hillview Middle School, to come up and join me in this award. And our first awardee is going to be Mr. Peter Ayala. Let's give him a big round of applause. Congratulations. Next, I would like to call Ms. Danielle Flores. Congratulations. And now I would like to call Ms. Veronica Garza. And now we are going to move on to our longevity presentation. And one of the things that makes us unique here at East Whittier City School District is the fact that many of our employees actually shared their first job with us many, many years ago, and they have stayed

020throughout many, many years. years and even decades. So a couple years back, we really recognized the importance of having consistency in all of our schools and really the power of consistency and building community and really building a sense of belonging. We have many families and students that return year after year to visit their teachers and their principals. And so it's just a testament to everybody's service and what it does for our community. So today I am very excited to be presenting some longevity milestones and we're going to start off with Hillview Middle School Miss Marina Guzman with 25 years of service. Next I would like to call up Miss Erica Contreras with 20 years of service. Now we would like to call Miss Janelle Pearson with 15 years of service. And we also have Ms.

021Ann Barreto, who met a milestone before this year, and that was she celebrated 20 years of service. So let's give her a big round of applause as well. We also would like to recognize Claudia Montes Dominguez for 25 years and Ms. Veronica Alvarez for 15 years as well. And in our journey to really celebrate our employees who have built longevity with us, we also realized that we have a lot of employees who not only started the first job here at East Whittier, but actually attended our schools. So how special is that? So we did want to recognize them with a very special homegrown pin. And tonight we have a couple of employees who are homegrown, and they've all shared a fun fact for us to share. So I'm going to start off with Ms. Gemma

022Guerrero-Lopez. So Ms. Hema Guerrero-Lopez attended Laurel and East Witter Middle School, first grade through eighth grade, and her fun fact story was my fifth grade teacher is still at Laurel. I know she feels really good about that. Next, I would like to recognize Ms. Lauren Foote. Ms. Foote. attended Laurel and East Whittier Middle School, third grade through eighth grade. And her fun fact story is the picture of me is with my fourth grade teacher, Miss Reese. And now I'd like to call back Miss Erica Contreras, who attended eighth grade at Hillview Middle School. Her fun fact story is I was 18 years old when I got my first job at Hillview, and I'm still here. No other place I'd rather be. Next up, I would like to welcome Ms. Sydney Barrios. She attended Ocean View

023and East Winter Middle School, kinder through eighth grade. And fun fact story, I find it funny seeing my past teachers like Chris Mendoza, who taught me science as a kid, and so many others. Congratulations. Next up, I would like to welcome Ms. Crystal Rebultava Torres. She attended Mulberry and East Whittier Middle School. And fun fact story, my brother and two cousins also attend Mulberry and East Whittier, then went off to La Cerna. Congratulations. Next, I want to welcome back Ms. Janelle Pearson. She attended Ocean View and East Witter Middle School. Fun fact story, Larry Box was my principal at Ocean View Elementary and also hired me straight out of Biola when I was 22 years old. Congratulations. And now let's welcome Miss Yvonne Harris. She attended La Colima, Hillview, and Valley View kinder through eighth

024grade. Fun fact story, I was part of the team that brought the first girls basketball trophy to Hillview. Yes. And coached a girls basketball team that went undefeated for three years. All three of my children, Alexandra, Drew, and Gabrielle, were Huskies and each one played sports for Hillview. Aww. Let's give them all a big round of applause. And our final recognition really pays tribute to our amazing community members who volunteer at our schools and make all of the wonderful things that happen in our school possible. Every year, every school has the opportunity to nominate a community service award recipient. And so we have the opportunity to recognize them here at a board meeting, but they also compete to represent East Whittier City School District at the Whittier Area School Administrators Community Service Award Breakfast. And

025so tonight we are excited to be recognizing our Hillview Middle School awardee. I'm going to call up Ms. Celebi again up here to join in this award. And so I would like to call up Ms. Adrienne Hermida. Just a few words to share. I'm really honored to recommend Ms. Armila for this Community Service Award. When I called her, she just was speechless. She was quiet for a while, and I thought, is she still there? And she said, I'm just so surprised. She really is consistently demonstrating such extraordinary dedication to our school community. As soon as I stepped on campus, I think you were one of the first parents that I met asking me, Ms. Selebi, we've got to come together. We've got to start building our PTSA. There's so many events. We want to come

026together. She's always on campus when we need her. She volunteers her time with school site council. She serves as a board member on our PTSA. She's contributing. to our eighth grade fundraising committee. Beyond all those roles, whenever we need her, she is there at our events. If I ask her we need cleanup in an area, she's on it. She's organizing things. She is really there supporting us with fundraising efforts and making sure that students are getting what they need, all with quiet enthusiasm, reliability, and such a positive attitude. You really do embody such a spirit of community service. You're so invaluable to our Husky family. Your commitment, generosity, and willingness to volunteer make you truly deserving of this recognition. Like she said, I was speechless when she called because I had just got a call

027from Orchard Hill earlier. And then I'm like, okay, now Hillview's calling. So my son needs his inhaler. And then she says, congratulations. And I'm like, oh, good, Chloe, what did she do? And then she was congratulating me. So, yes, I was speechless. But I really couldn't do it without. Like first off miss levy miss Eldivar for welcoming us in At Orchard Ale like fourth grade teachers were like yeah, we don't need you anymore. Go help somewhere else no They don't need help in the class anymore. So I was always there with my kids and Just so many parents always willing to help Even now that I have kids in three schools, one parent helps pick up my high schooler when I have to stay for school site council. Dad has to go run and pick

028up brother. So just a lot. But thank you to all the parent volunteers who have helped out through the years because I couldn't do it without them. And also like being. Vice President now, I'm constantly calling people like Birdie, hey, I can't be there, but can you get there to meet the Dipping Dots guy? Or just something. Yes, people like Amy Jo always helping with stuff because Amy Jo knows everything about PTA. But just thank you to everybody. Thank you to the staff for allowing us to be on campus. And obviously we love to help, but also we love to see our kids too. my last year, my eighth graders last year, but then next year my son starts there. So I still have more time. So thank you. And now we are excited to

029recognize our WASA Community Service Award recognition to Mr. Ernesto Moreno from Ceres Elementary School. Welcome, Mr. Moreno. Is he? Ernesto, do you want to come up with mom, with dad? Yeah. Does he want to come up? No? Okay, he'll stay with mom. Okay, this is very exciting. Mr. Moreno was surprised by his wife, Cindy. Thank you so much for making this happen. He was very sick. You can't tell in this picture, but... So deserving and we're so appreciative of all you do Your babies, thank you for sharing them with us. We adore them. We adore your family For the past five years Ernesto Moreno has been a constant and generous presence at Ceres Elementary School He doesn't simply volunteer he shows up fully year after year offering his time Creativity and talents to support students

030staff and families from filming and editing our Dia del Nino celebrations, to helping decorate the front office and district office bulletin, to reflect our school-wide themes. Mr. Moreno has consistently found meaningful ways to strengthen our campus and bring our community together. He is an active PTA board member, serving as historian, and a dedicated leader on our family engagement committee, Nosotros Para Ellos. He has inspired students across multiple grade levels by leading career day assemblies focused on animation and illustration. He's very talented. expanding it from the classroom to school-wide presentations. He has facilitated many art nights, supported PBIS events, helped with the birthday cart, volunteered at community gatherings such as Donuts with Grownups, Bingo Night recently. Most recently, he helped launch the series podcast, interviewing staff and community members to amplify voices across our school. I'm

031going to share those with you one day. What truly sets Mr. Moreno apart is his consistency and genuine spirit of service. His dedication has elevated our dual language program, strengthened family engagement, and modeled what true partnership looks like. Mr. Moreno's presence has made Ceres a more connected and vibrant community. Thank you, Mr. Moreno, for all you do. I didn't know I was supposed to talk. First and foremost, I want to say thank you so much to the staff at Ceres, the teachers, and my PTA, because honestly, the reason I do all this and the reason I dedicate so much time is because Ceres is such a wonderful place, and they make it so easy for you to come on board and volunteer with whatever talents that you have. Truly, it's one of the best schools

032that I've ever been lucky to be a part of. And my kids, just to see them grow in series has been truly wonderful. And it feels like it's my duty to give back because they're doing so much for my children. But, yes. Again, I thank all the staff and especially the PTA because they're so, so welcoming of any help that I give. So thank you again. Let's give all of our awardees a big round of applause. And just want to make a note that we are going to be taking photos at the break, so please don't leave until we take photos with the Board of Education. And on that note, since I'm up here in the microphone, I personally do want to thank Mr. Utiaga for his service and his leadership all these years here

033with us, and we really do wish you the best of luck in your next endeavor. So thank you so much. Good evening, everybody. As the president of the board, it is my privilege to be able to lead the presentation that we are going to give this evening to Mr. Urtiaga. So good evening, members of the board, district leadership, staff, families, and members of our community. Tonight's meeting includes a moment that is both meaningful and bittersweet for us here at the East Wheeler City School District. We are here to recognize a colleague whose decades of service, leadership, dedication to public education have left a lasting impact on our schools and on this very community. This evening, we have the honor of acknowledging that service in a very special way. Tonight, we recognize and honor Mr. Armando

034Urtiaga. Okay. We honor him for more than two decades of dedicated service to the East Winter City School District. Throughout his tenure as a board member, educational leader, and advocate for students, Mr. Urtiaga consistently demonstrated a deep commitment to student achievement, thoughtful governance, and the long-term success of all of our schools. Under his leadership here on the board, the district reached important milestones, including statewide and national school recognitions, the successful passage of bond measures that modernized our district facilities, and the strengthening of partnerships that support student learning and student well-being. Beyond these accomplishments, Mr. Urtiaga's service has been defined by integrity, consistency, and a genuine care for students and families. His leadership style reflected respect. I'm going to miss him a lot. Collaboration and a steady focus on what is best for children, which is

035why we all serve here on this board. While we will miss his presence on this board, we are proud to see him continue his service to public education. As he transitions to the Whittier Union High School District Board of Education, his experience and dedication will continue to benefit students beyond our district. As tonight marks the conclusion of Mr. Urtiaga's service on our board, it does not mark the end of his impact on our district. The school's programs and partnerships that he helped shape will continue to serve students and families for years to come. Mr. Urtiaga, Armando, you leave this district stronger because of your service and you do so with our gratitude on the board and of the district and our respect and appreciation. Armando, it has been a privilege to serve alongside you and

036to witness firsthand your steady leadership and deep commitment to the students of this district. I am proud to know that you will now continue your leadership and service to students and families by taking your place on the board of the Winter Union High School District. And now it is with a great honor that I present you with the key to the district. Okay, I'm gonna read what it says on the plaque. 2026 Key to the District presented to Armando Urtiaga for his exemplary service to the East Winter City School District community for the past 20 years as a board member by the East Winter City School District governance team, February 2nd, 2026. And I wanna share a fun fact. Mr. Urtiaga actually brought the idea of this beautiful award to our district. So I know

037he's going to want to share a few words with you, but then I want to open it up to our Board of Education that might want to share a few things as well, as his beautiful wife, Lupe. So, Mr. Jack. Well, first of all, I have a lot of things to say. I'm going to hold them for my board comments because I want to be able to keep the motions in. But I really appreciate and thank you to the district for this honor. And I have a lot of great things to say about the district and my last comments in a bit. But thank you very much. And I really appreciate the district for presenting me with this honor. So thank you. Mrs. Ortega, would you like to share something now at this time? Or

038do you want to wait? Okay. Board members, anybody want to share something special? You'd rather do it in the comment time? Yeah? Okay. All right. We are going to miss him, but we know, as I share, that he's going to carry forward everything that he's done here. everything that he's brought to our district and the fact that he has such amazing background knowledge I just want to share. He has been a principal, he has been a director, and for much of the time that we spent together on the board, one of the things that was very helpful for me was I also spent 15 years as a school principal before being able to come here and serve on this board. So it has been just a pleasure and an honor to serve with him. So

039I just want to give him one more round of applause. Thank you so much. So we're going to deviate just a little bit from the agenda, and we're going to keep the energy going, and we're going to have board member comments continue, and then we will move to the approval of the board meeting, and then we will take a quick break. So on my board, who would like to go first? Anybody who wants a special first time? Mr. Aparicio? Sure. I just want to say thank you for everyone for joining us tonight. It's really nice having a packed house. We usually don't get this, so this is definitely nice. So, Mr. Otago, probably for you, so thank you for that. You know, just so I want to say thank you to, you know, to the

040students who led us in the flag salute. So thank you for your leadership, not just now, but at school and hopefully beyond that as well, too. Congrats to all the staff members who received the award tonight. So just thank you very much. We definitely appreciate all your hard work and dedication. And then just, of course, you know, with Mr. Taga leaving us to another district, but. But I said we are definitely deeply grateful for all your commitment, time served here. I know definitely I'm going to miss some, especially our conference trips that we go to. And every time walking into his hotel room and seeing like a candy store when I walk into it, you know, and as you could tell, all that stuff behind us, that's thanks to Mr. Arteaga. So, but just, you

041know, just overall, I'm going to miss him. And I think everybody on the board is as well, too. Just his leadership, just his knowledge of education, just his love for education, love for kids, just, you know, wanted to make everybody happy. And, you know, at the same time, you know, but he was put. Mr. Patterson through a lot as well, too, asking those tough questions, which we definitely needed as well, though, too. That's what we're here for as a board, to ask those tough questions as well, too. So, Mondo, I just want to say thank you for your leadership. And just on my end, like I said, I gained not just a colleague, but a friend. Also, just a fun fact, I know Mr. Taga, 18 years ago, he's the one that kind of got

042me to run for the board. So, 18 years later, here I am, and now he's leaving me. So, but like I said, I've truly enjoyed not just being a part of the board, but having Mr. Ortega alongside with me too. And like I said, I know he's not going far, so we'll still be able to catch up and see each other. And then just along that end, you know, I was able just with Mr. Ortega, but also I gained some other friends as well too, his family that's here, Lupe and all the brothers. And I don't know, that's a good thing with the brothers, but they're here representing them. But, you know, Mondo's mom raised him. raised a great kid great you know brothers and everyone so just you know thank you to mrs urtia

043and that's it thank you mr aparicio mrs chakan kennedy i'm sorry would you like to Yes, I also want to thank everybody for coming tonight and congratulate everybody who received an award. Now on to the important thing about Mr. Utiaga. So I've served with him. I remember when he came on board. And I just want to say, Armando, congratulations on your appointment. I have to read it, otherwise I get brain freeze. Congratulations on your appointment to the Woodard Union High School. District Board of Trustees, you have served the citizens and the students of this district with dignity and grace. You have served as a role model for all our students. Through good times or bad times, you continue to grow and show true leadership. I wish you well and know we can expect many more

044great things from you. I'll miss you. Mr. Baird? As everyone has already said, Mr. Tiago, I haven't known you for as long as everyone else has. I've only known you for around six months, but it is still sad to see you go. Apparently, from what everyone else has said, you've made a very lasting impact on the district and everything. It's nice to see that you at least get to go into a new board with your union. I see a bunch of friendly faces since I go to Hillview, and I see all the series staff. It's nice to see sort of... I congratulate the certificated employee of the year and the classified employee of the year for both Ceres and Hillview. I do know most of the Hillview staff here, if not all the Covey staff

045here, but it's nice to see both Hillview and Ceres both getting their awards. I don't really know what else much to say, but it's nice to see, you know, everyone here and Mr. Tiago, it's sad to see you go, but it's nice to know that you are going to the Winner Union Board instead. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Barrett. Mrs. Carrera? All right, so I'm losing my voice. I'm going to try my best. I'll start off by thanking Michaela Elise. I'm sorry if I mispronounced your name, yeah. And Emma for leading us in the pledge. Congratulations to all of our award recipients. Liz, Vanessa, Heather and Sydney, to our 10 year homegrown and our WASA recipients, thank you very much. I know how much it takes. I was a PTA mom, trust me. I know

046how much it takes. What can I say? I'll give you a quick report on where I've been. I did attend the CSBA Master in Governance course, which is not good because I'm only gonna make life worse for the board. I'm kidding. That's a joke. That's haha. Okay. I'm joking. So behind every strong mom, they say there's a strong son or great sons in this case. Armando. Armandito. Okay. Armandito is a term of endearment for those who don't know. As you step away, I want you to know how deeply grateful I am for your mentorship. your short friendship, but most importantly, for being there for me at my most difficult time. You and I will always share that angel sign. And you know what I'm talking about at the Angel Stadium. I will mix the, hey,

047how's it going? How are you holding up text? And you didn't have to do that as a board member. Thank you for rolling the dice on me. That was also something that was admirable. You knew nothing of me. And then you probably say, why did I roll the dice on her? But I do want to commend you because you really, truly showed me that leadership begins with humanity and then it scales down. My final note, I am bummed that I never got to share the dais with you. Maybe I will one day. I don't know. Crazy me, right? Maybe you'll roll the dice on me again. I don't know. I do want to congratulate you. Witter Union is getting somebody very good. I don't believe in goodbyes. I never have. Not even in death. I

048think that it's more cheers to a new era. My mom always said in Spanish, El que es gallo canta en cualquier gallinero. That means the one who is a rooster sings in any coop, and that is who Armando Urtiaga is. Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Carrera. I think you've all heard quite a bit from me, but I also want to start by saying thank you to everybody who came this evening. Thank you for all of those who have dedicated so much time and energy and service to their schools to be recipients of awards tonight, and I congratulate you for that. I just also want to thank our young people who came to lead the flag salute. And it's not easy to come back. hear and do that in front of a very

049large crowd, but they did it with grace and they did such a wonderful job. I just want to lastly share that Armando and I have shared some very interesting conversations over coffee and interesting conversations on the phone. And I will always be grateful to him for his initial guidance for me as I joined the board in 2018 and spilling over into 2019. He gave me such great guidance, such great support. Help me to see ways to go. Help me to see when I might be a little too much because I was used to being a school principal. And that's one of the things you have to be very careful about when you join a board that you are not micromanaging or doing anything that would appear to be so. And so he really gave me

050some great guidance from time to time and helped me to see where I could continuously look to improve. And even to this day, I'm really grateful to him for that. Again, I will miss him, but I think we will probably head over to Whittier Union High School District and cause some good trouble, as they say, when he starts over there and make sure that he knows that he won't be too far away from us. He's just a hop, skip, and a jump. And when we want to go over there and let him know what's going on here. and make sure that our students that leave here and go there continue to have him as an advocate for facilitating that transfer, facilitating that time between our middle schools and going to the high schools. And so

051I think that's just going to be absolutely amazing. And I also want to reiterate something that I think is very funny. About 18 years ago, maybe 16 years ago, the first Urtiaga I met... was his brother, Dr. Urtiaga. I had had a rear-end collision on the street and I saw his little banner on Painter and I said, I need to see a chiropractor. And he was so amazing and he actually literally healed me. It was quite amazing. My son and my husband came to that appointment. And I was always grateful for his kindness. And I see that that runs in the Urtiaga family. So grateful for that. So thank you. Thank you so much, Armando, for your care and your concern and your dedication to our district. And I think that your beautiful wife wants

052to continue to share something special with you. Thank you. Thank you. It's a very special and emotional day for my family, as this is Armando's last final meeting. after serving on the school board for 20 years. When Armando first began serving, we didn't have any children, and we had so much free time. But oh boy, that changed. Over the years, we built a beautiful family. We welcomed three energetic boys. And we have been navigating our busy life, but throughout it all, Armando's commitment to the school district has never changed. He has always balanced his career. His responsibilities as a board member and his role as a husband and a wonderful father with so much dedication and heart. And I can honestly say he has always led with integrity. He has always tried to do the

053best for the students, the parents, and the community. I also want to take a moment to thank the board members and Superintendent Dr. Patterson. During some very difficult times for our family, especially when our son Isaiah was undergoing all of his surgeries. You didn't just support Armando as a member. You supported us as a family. The calls, the messages, the visit to the hospital, the unexpected superhero toys that were delivered to my son's hospital room meant so much more to us that I could ever express. Armando, I am so proud of you. Our boys are extremely proud of you. They have grown up watching what it means. to work hard and to serve with integrity, compassion, and heart. Thank you for all the years of service to our community. Thank you for always being there

054for us. And thank you for being an amazing husband and a father. We love you so much, and we're so proud of you. Hello, my name is Erin Urtiaga. Dad, I am so proud of you for everything you have done for us. For me, Isaiah and Adam. I'm going to miss you so much being a board member in my district. Dad, thank you so much for everything you have done for us. I love you with all my heart. So funny story, when I told Aaron about the transition, he said, I'm going to miss seeing my dad's picture on my school's office. And I'm going to miss, and I'm really going to miss him saving front row parking spot for us when we go to school activities. I just thought that was funny. My turn? Wow.

055Lots to say to try to cram into a five minute. I think I earned five minutes for 20 years, so you give me five minutes speech here. I try to think about all the things to say because I've met such wonderful people here in the district and knowing in our role as a board member, we represent the community and we represent you parents that are sitting here. But we also... our support for the students and the staff of the district as well. And so we, us board members don't take that responsibility lightly. And I know that many, many great things that are going to continue to happen and we want them to, you know, really highlight, but I'm going to read my speech right here because I got a lot to say and I don't

056want to miss some important points because it took a long time to put this together. It's a lot, but you know, there's, there's a lot going on. So. I'm going to try to go through it too without tearing up. So it's been an honor and a privilege to serve the students, staff, and community of the East Whittier City School District for the past 20 years. During this time, our district remained committed to diversity, equality, and inclusion, and to make meaningful progress in improving student achievement. to strengthening our schools and to students earning recognition that makes East Whittier one of the strongest districts in the region and we're very proud of that. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to have been part of this journey and have served alongside all my colleague board members, superintendents,

057five of them, I worked with five superintendents while I've been on the board. District administrators, principals, our classified staff, teachers, and many other staff members, and a lot of you are here tonight. I want to thank the community of East Whittier for electing me to serve you on the board for five election cycles, 20 years. I've always took my experience as an educator and parent to make the best decisions that would positively affect our district. Representing the parents, students, and community members of the district was an honor. And you can continue to support in our district because approximately 60% of the new district I'll be going into is the East Whittier City School District. So I will still continue to be a part of this community, serving in the high school district. I'm still hoping

058to earn that trust that I can make a great representative for you as I serve on the district. And in November, so putting that out there in November, my name will be on the ballot for the high school district again. And I'm hoping that you give me the privilege to continue serving the Whittier community. Thank you to my board colleagues, past and present, who have worked with me, even though at times it wasn't always willingly. but I've held my ground on a decision or so because of a perspective that I felt was the best thing to do. Board Member Aparicio, I want to thank you for always being a positive presence and advocate for our district. Thank you for being one of my oldest friends and conference partners, as you have mentioned, and all the

059other activities we've done in the evening time during the conferences. Board related. Get your mind out of the gutter. But thank you. Thank you for all the great things. And you and Gina definitely are advocates for students. And who knows, maybe one day there will be a board member, Gina Aparicio, on the board and really drive Mr. Patterson up the walls there. I know. I want to thank Board Member Kennedy. When I first met her, she was Chacon-Sovin many moons ago. And I'm going to switch. Let me borrow that. There we go remember Kennedy who served on the on the board There we go served on the board a little bit longer than I have she's been one of the true advocates representing our parents Representing our communities and it has brought an aspect to

060our board that is important to Remember as we make decisions I know at times we may have bumped heads for the right reasons, but at the end we were always professional for the district I want to thank you for speaking your mind, advocating for the right thing, and being a team player. Thank you very much. Board member Debs, an education advocate, thank you for your service to the district, using all your experiences. And jokingly, like you said, there were a lot of experiences you had. I think you're part Jamaican with all those positions, but you have shared and used them to make the decisions that have really impacted our district. Thank you very much for our conversations, and I want to thank you very much for continuing to do the right things and continue to

061hold people accountable, but make sure to slow down. Board Member Carrera, you brought a spunk and energy to our board and always an advocate for kids, especially the ones who need it the most. Thank you for your support and help recently. That is always going to be appreciated. I'm glad your health is stable and I look forward to you being 100%. Thank you very much. Superintendent Patterson, you came to the district 200 miles an hour, brought some great ideas, but you had to make changes and the only way you make changes is being creative like you did. Any true leader goes through some rough edges at the beginning, but you had a vision in mind knowing what you wanted for our district. and you felt that perspectives is always important to have, but you got

062to have a clear vision. And I always appreciated that you had made a decision. And even if it wasn't something that. Maybe the board wasn't always on board with you were adamant about making it go through because you have the right vision and You know there was times. I know mr. Apparicio mentioned that I put you through hell no I didn't purchase through hell I didn't do that I think that you definitely Had a vision for our district and I thank you for being the superintendent that we need to continue the great things that we're doing And I'm glad to have been a partner with you Hopefully I wasn't too much of a pain in the neck with you on you But I think not only are you've done a great job superintendent, but as

063a colleague too and a friend So thank you very much for everything you've done for me and I look forward to continuing our friendship and any guidance that I could help provide for you and Meet you to me I want Mr. Barrett, I know our time has been short and I want to thank you. You are, you know, one of our board members that represents our students and not many of our middle schools or elementary students have districts have board members. And so you have done a great job so far. You got your colleagues here in Hillfield continue to advocate, continue to be representative of the board and doing some great things. So thank you for. everything that you have shared with us over the last six months that I've known you. Lastly, and most

064importantly, I want to thank my family for allowing me to take time away from them to serve the community. Thank you to my wife, Lupe. my sons Aaron, Isaiah, and Adam, and as well as my mom Lydia who's sitting here. And I also want to thank my brothers Ricky, Manuel, and Michael, and Robert, and my sister-in-law who are here tonight to celebrate in this. And I want to thank them for always being part of everyone's recognitions in the family. It just shows that we really want to... Support each other and that's kind of what we do here at the board We don't always agree, but we always know what the end goal is and that's important for us my wife did mention that When I first got elected we were we were Just married with

065no kids and at that time in 2005 my perspective my lens was a different my focus was different I was focusing more on instruction and policies and processes But in 2012, my perspective changed when kids come. And a lot of you who are parents understand your perspective changes and what's important and your values have changed. And that definitely had an impact on me and the decisions as a board member. I realized that the decisions that we made as a board had a big impact on families. And I took to the role of being a community member. not as a board member, but I was representing the community who had needs out there and There was needs big needs at the time and for us going through that Really helped me understand the trials and tribulations

066of parents who are struggling Parents of special needs students parents of Yale students parents that have really hard path in front of them and I really looked at it in that lens and I really reshaped that especially as I mentioned our families with special needs students at ELs and many of the other high subgroups not that I didn't before but it was just a different lens but not that my advocacy is over I just will be doing it in the in our sister district here in Whittier Union High School District So I hope your understanding and patience with me, Lupe, is to be there as I continue to support because serving at any elected official can tell you this, it takes time away from your family. And you do it because you want to make

067change. So I thank you for being here, your kind words, and my brothers and family that are here tonight to support. I thank you very much. But as I begin my next chapter in life. I am honored to share that I have been selected by the Board of Trustees to serve on the Witter Union High School Board of Trustees. And this continues to allow me to serve the community and support our students at the next level of their educational journey. So officially, February 3rd tomorrow, I do hereby resign from my position as a member of the East Witter Board of Education. representing Area 4, in order to serve as a board trustee in the Whittier Union High School District. I wish East Whittier continued success in selecting a board member that will make a replacement,

068and I want to express my gratitude for the trust, collaboration, and support you have shown me over the years. East Whittier will always hold a special place in my family and my heart. Thank you very much. So in addition to the amazing plaque that Mr. Tiago received for his board member key to the district, you know, the cabinet and the board. wanted to kind of conceptualize the essence of Armando Urtiaga. So we worked with Lupe to be able to come up with treats that would really send him off well. So back here for the family, we have cream. This is a modicum of health. We have cream-filled donuts, lemon meringue pie, Martinelli cider, and bean and cheese burritos. But as Mr. Aparicio and Mr. Urtiaga mentioned, any time they go to a conference, it is

069literally like trying to herd middle school kids at recess. This is a snack in honor of all of the 13-year-old boy snacks that he always comes back with. I do want to thank you very much for the food, putting that together. It is nice to be able to have that comfort food and share it out there. I tried a little bit of it, so thank you very much for that. Thank you so much, Mr.. Tiago and everybody for sharing such wonderful things about him And we do need to continue with our meeting going forward, but I'm wondering do your brothers have anything they want to share I Don't know if you want to give them my okay Okay, so brothers are passing All right. Bear with us. One more short thing, and then we're going

070to take our break. And I hope that our awardees are still here so they can take photos. And Armando's family, don't go anywhere. We want to take photos, too. So, board, we're going to switch really quickly to item E, which is the approval of the January 12th minutes. This is an action item. Can I get a motion to approve? I move the recommendation that the Board of Education approve the January 12th, 2026 Board of Education meeting minutes. Thank you. Can I get a second? Second. Great. It's been moved and seconded. Are there any questions or corrections that we need to make? I submitted a Google form to Dr. Patterson and to you, Madam President. Just minor corrections that were suggested on the minutes along with the board poll. It was mostly, Mrs. Carrera, was it

071mostly grammatical error? It was mostly grammatical errors, yes. All right. Thank you so much. Any other questions? Okay. Tonight, Mr. Patterson is going to assist me with taking the roll for the vote. So, Dr. Patterson, would you call for the roll? Yeah. Will you be making the changes? Yes. Yes. Then yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Motion passes. All right. Thank you so much. We now are going to take a quick break and we're going to take some photos. So come on up if you're an awardee. We would love to make sure that we get photos with you. Thank you everyone so much for your attentiveness and for your patience as we had a great break. But we are going to restart our meeting once more and we're going to go on to comments

072from CSEA. Do we have anybody that wants to come and comment? Okay, great. Good evening, members of the board, Dr. Patterson, and everyone here tonight. My name is Joseph Riley. I work in the IT department, and I am the president of our local CSEA chapter. So lots of good stuff tonight. First off, I want to give a shout-out to our employees of the year, Liz, Vanessa, Sydney, and a special shout-out to Catherine Steele for doing 46 years of hard work and spend. That's like 46 years. That's a long time. It's a long time and a lot of hard work, so that's pretty amazing. Up next, Mr. Urtiaga, CSA would like to thank you for the 20 years of your life that you've given to helping out the district, and we wish you nothing but good

073luck at Whittier Union. So unfortunately now we have to move on to discussion item number two on the agenda, right? Classified layoffs. So obviously layoffs are, it's never good, it's never great, you know. Classified staff are the backbone of our district, right? These are the folks that are in the trenches with the teachers, you know, providing service directly to our students. So all the positions included in tonight's layoff resolution provide services directly to our students and the community. The instructional assistant two bilingual class provides critical support to the DLI program. And along with the IA2 intervention folks work alongside our teachers to give students the extra attention and help they need to get back on track. The IA assistant three step and opportunity rooms, those folks work over and obviously in step. And they do

074the hard work with our most demanding students to give them the extra support and opportunity they need. I mean, the work that those folks do to keep the folks that need the extra work out of our core classrooms, like, it's kind of hard to understand where some of these kids are going to go without the opportunity. Lastly, LVNs provide crucial medical care to our students and support to our students. So I understand the need for our district to be fiscally healthy, and so do our chapter members, but it's hard for us to see the necessity of these cuts to our staff and reduction to our services to the students and community in the same year that some management positions have gotten large raises. I hear it from my chapter members every day. It's real hard

075for us to kind of see the necessity. of the folks who are being forced out of the district and the services that we're no longer gonna provide, while we'll start handing out raises to other folks. So please vote no on discussion item number two, protect the critical services of our members, that our members provide to the students in the community. Thank you. Thank you. Next, comments from Iwi? Good evening, everybody. President Volkman, President Ewe. I want to congratulate the people being recognized. Elizabeth Gamboa and Vanessa Guillen from Ceres and Sydney Barrios and Catherine Steele from Hillview. Well done on their part. Congratulations, Mr. Urtiak. I really like the blue suit. I'm a sucker for a blue suit. I did see you, though, in the Angel jerseys. And as a fellow Angel fan, I'm sorry. Maybe

076one day Moreno will sell the team. But what I appreciated about your service with our district is you had a critical voice. You looked at things, you asked questions about things to get a deeper clarification. So I hope you bring that to the high schools and best of luck. Appreciate it. Just like Joe had brought up, just one of the discussion items is J3 and J4 is the layoffs that are happening. There are 13 temporary teachers, four first-year probationary teachers, and 12 second-year probationary teachers for a total of 29 teachers being laid off. They're listed as only two letters and seven numbers, but they're actually people. That is 25 people with knowledge to offer. That is 29 people with families to care for. And on top of that, that's 29 people with bills to pay.

077Those 29 people... going to talk after being laid off. The district has a healthy reserve as Joe said. We hope you vote no on those layoffs that are happening. I think we can figure out something else. One big thing that has come to me as the president with my site visits and rep council meetings is the new copy limits and publications. I appreciate Dr. Aceves for talking and having a discussion and trying to figure out ways to make this work. It sounds like publications is back to stay, and we want to thank Classified for that and relaying that information. was not probably done in the most ideal way. We would just hope that you would talk to us before rolling something out, which was only really announced in the bulletin. So when people found out

078that publications was available, it was sort of a shock, and all of a sudden we had this copy limit of 2,004 middle school teachers and 1,500 for elementary school teachers. Was that just a SPED leadership meeting today? And they have to print out IEPs, 504s, anything that relates to... special ed and that could be loads of paperwork and part of our copy limit in the copy machine are scans that doesn't cost ink that doesn't cost paper so anything you scan goes towards a copy limit so we're hoping that maybe that can at least be taken off that will help the burden of having to only have so many copies we understand that publications will make as many copies as possible but really what I'm asking is and I pretty much ask this every time is

079Talk with us first. We are on the ground. We are in the trenches with the kids. We are the people that are with them every day. We would love to have input on our TTDs. We would love to have input on some of the consultants we have. We'd love to have input on the big changes. That way we can figure out what some of the problems are. Not all of them. We're not mind readers. We can't predict the future. But we can maybe predict some of the issues that we're going to see before they actually happen so we're not having to be in this reactive approach to things. What I saw with the Hillview mantra is the strength of the Husky is the pack and the strength of the pack is the Husky. We're not

080all Huskies, but we're all East Whittier people. And I think each one of our all of our input is valuable. So I'm hoping that when we make the types of changes that we've been making, that you come to us first and we talk about it and just figure out the way to best roll that out. So if we knew that publications would come in, we could have gotten that message out, and it wouldn't have been such a shock to the system of all our teachers. I appreciate you guys listening. Have a good night. Thank you. Next on our agenda are comments from Dr. Patterson. I'll turn it over to you. I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Urtiaga. You know, the gift basket from us was kind of our joking way because,

081you know, you have a great sense of humor and bring that sense of humor to your leadership style. But personally, I just want to thank you. Like you said, the first two years, we had a lot of conversations and I enjoyed 57% of them. But that percentage grew as time passed. But one of the things that we really do value is trying to have a strong relationship with Whittier Union and be able to make sure, and we talk about this all the time, it's difficult being in a preschool to eighth grade district when we don't get to see the fruition of all of the hard work that our teachers, classified staff, and our principals do. So having you as a voice and understanding intimately what we do as a district would just be a huge

082asset to Whittier Union. and the relationship that we have. So on a personal and professional note, thank you for everything that you've done, mostly. Thank you. That's our role to keep you on. All right. Next we have citizen communication to the board, and that is led by Dr. Patterson. So do we have any communication tonight? Yes. And if we could have Evo Wheeler, Biz Risser, and Jen Tribe come up to the board. You each have three minutes to speak. Good evening board. Good evening. Dr. Patterson. Good evening colleagues and community members I would like to respectfully express my concerns regarding the district's limit on the number of monthly copies a lot a lot of teachers and the impact this policy has on daily instruction planning and staff morale While I understand the importance of managing

083resources responsibly, the current system has created added stress and inefficiencies. Teachers often do not know how many copies remain available at any given time, making it difficult to plan lessons with confidence. In addition, the slow turnaround time for publication limits our ability to respond quickly to instructional needs. This policy also requires significantly more time for planning and organizing, as teachers must carefully track usage and prepare far in advance. It reduces our ability to be flexible or spontaneous when students need additional practice, intervention, or enrichment. We are unable to easily provide independent practice materials or adjust lessons in real time based on students' understanding. Many educators feel this policy negatively affects morale and sends the message that we are not trusted as professionals to make sound instructional decisions for our classrooms. It can also make it

084seem as though using paper is inherently negative, even though we're intentionally working to reduce students' screen time and provide developmentally appropriate learning experiences. Overall, the added restrictions create extra stress for teachers and limit our ability to plan ahead. prepare effectively, and meet the diverse needs of our students. We want to be trusted as professionals to plan and prepare for the needs of our classes, whether materials are supplemental or part of the curriculum. I respectfully ask the board to reconsider. The district policy to explore more flexible solutions that allow teachers to meet instructional demands while maintaining fiscal responsibility. Our shared goal is to support high quality teaching and learning and access to necessary instructional materials plays an important role in achieving that goal. Thank you for your time and consideration and continued support of our schools.

085Hi, my name is Elizabeth Rister and I'm here on behalf of Robert Padilla, fifth grade teacher at Laurel Elementary School. He wanted the board to know that currently right now he has 35 students in his classroom and I know that we're planning for next year and trying to figure out how many students in a classroom, how many teachers, how many at what grade level. He has five ELs, five IEP students. one with a 504 and one with a BIP, which is Behavior Intervention Plan. And he said at times there could be up to 38 to 39 bodies in his classroom at a time, which makes it very difficult to at times to be teaching when you have... lot of movement and stuff going on in there and then as I was driving here I started

086thinking about third grade that's Ryan that and how we're gonna have to next year because currently there are 70 third grade students at Laurel and we're gonna have two fourth grade classrooms so that will be 35 students in each fourth grade classroom, and there are 12 IEPs currently at third grade. So that would be almost six IEPs. So 35 students, six IEPs for next year. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Jen Tribe. I'm a teacher at Laurel Elementary, and this year I teach fourth grade. And I'm here to talk about class size and reducing and cutting teachers. This year I have 32 students and many, many needs in my classroom. I have six students that are on an IEP and receive Learning Center support. I have seven students that receive support from the intervention

087specialist. because they are two or more years below grade level in reading. I have four students that regularly see our behavior specialist. I have one student that is on a check-in, check-out system for PBIS for his behavior. I have four ELL students that are at levels two and three. I have four students on an IEP and receive speech services. And I have three GATE students, gifted and talented. So I am, as you can see, there are very diverse needs. I am very, very grateful for all of you. Class sizes will not support or meet the needs of a classroom like mine. Thank you. Thank you. That concludes our citizen communication. Thank you so much. Our next item on discussion item is a process to fill trustee area four. This is an action item. Can I

088get a motion to approve? I move the recommendation of the Board of Education approve either option one, option two, or option three for the process to fill trustee area four. Thank you. Can I get a second? I'll second. Great. It's been moved and seconded. Dr. Patterson, before we go into discussion, is there anything you would like to share? Just the fact that the three options are pretty self-explanatory, as you see written here. The first two options would cost a considerable amount of money to be able to do that, but those would be two options. The option that staff prefers is option number three, which would be a provisional appointment process, similar to what Mr. Urtiaga had experienced over at Whittier Union. where we would interview candidates who fit the very specific parameters for selection in

089trustee area four. But ultimately, we would need the board to make a motion for either option one, two, or three. I move to approve option three, provisional appointment. Thank you. Do I have a second? I'll second it. Is there any discussion board on that? No? Okay, hearing none, Dr. Patterson, will you call for the vote? Yes. Mr. Cohn-Henry? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Mr. Tiaga? Abstain. Ms. Dapps? Yes. Mr. Baird? Yes. Ms. Rivera? Yes. Okay, motion passes. Great, thank you so much. Next item is an action item. Can I get a motion to approve? I move the recommendation that the Board of Education adopt resolution number 9-25-26 regarding reduction or elimination of classified personnel. Second. Thank you. It's been moved and seconded. Board, is there any discussion on this item regarding the process? I did want

090to clarify something. We are currently waiting for a finalization of an MOU with CSEA. If we do finalize that MOU, that would take off 12 positions from this particular piece. So we have to put these names on the table when we don't have a formal... agreement. Dr. Vargas, anything you wanted to add to that? There are the aides that would be supporting our intervention specialists next year. And the change is because we are changing the hours to the afternoon. However, we have not reached an agreement. So what we are presenting today, we have to list everybody who potentially will be laid off. And because we don't have an agreement, we have to put them up there just out of precautionary measures. And when is the final determination made? And that will be in May. So

091we are able to remove positions, but we're not able to add after we submit this resolution. So there's no way we can table this, right? No. Because you guys will not have an MOU until... We will not meet our deadline. Right. So the final decision is not made until May. Can we revisit this if you don't come to an agreement? So what the revisiting will take place when the final resolution takes place, which will be in May. So as soon as we reach an agreement, we already know that we will modify this resolution. And when it comes back in May, they will be off the list. In this case, this list can. Correct. Shorter, correct. Like you said, if in fact we were unable to reach an MOU and the board did not want to

092shift that significant amount of money to ELOP to support the intervention specialist, the board could remove those names from the list anyway. So. This list is not final is what I'm saying. But it does have to have everybody who potentially would be considered for layoff. So there are three options, Mrs. Carrera, when we get to May. I know. Okay. I know. It's a tough one, and I'm glad that you were able to clarify it because we did receive that community email from Ceres that said that the DLIs were going to be kept. Then I see some that are on here, but I understand that there's ELOP money that are going to fund a couple of them, correct? Right. In the community letter that was sent to Ceres, we indicated that there were additional funding sources

093that we were going to be able to put into place when we looked at the site. Correct. Yes. I read it. Yeah. But I'm also concerned about the other 10. Okay. So, Dr. Patterson, to be clear, voting tonight, when an MOU is signed, however, are we going to bring this back then to a secondary vote? There's two possibilities. If we reach an MOU, no matter what, this is coming back in May. Okay, it could come back with 12 names being removed. It can come back with with two being removed It can come back with everything being removed But no matter what on May 12th the board does have the discretion to say that they don't want you know if we were unable to reach an MOU Those intervention specialists would not be supporting the after-school

094program with the intervention specialists And then we would have to then figure out what that dollar amount is and then come back in and adjust our budgets accordingly. But to be clear, we have to vote one way or the other tonight. Tonight we are just voting to preliminarily approve this list. Is that clear to everybody? Any other questions? No? Okay. Dr. Patterson, can you call for the vote? Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Mrs. Chacon-Kennedy? Yes. Mr. Tiaga? Upstein, okay, this is dabs. Yes. Mr. Baird. Yes, this is correct. No It's for both passes 5-1 Thank you. Next item is an action item. Can I get a motion to approve? I move the recommendation at the Board of Education job resolution number 13 dash 25 slash 26 Regarding non reelection and release of temporary certificated employees Thank you.

095Can I get a second? I'll second Thank you. It's been moved and seconded. Dr. Patterson, any other discussion here? Dr. Vargas, could you give a little bit of an update on this one? So every year we have temporary contracts that meet the criteria. In essence, the only way that we can hire an employee on a temporary contract is if they're back billing for someone on a leave. So when we hire them, they are hired with the beginning and end date. And our practice has always been we bring them once and that is it. But because we want to make sure that we are transparent and that we do have a public record, we will now be bringing them to board and having the board. act upon the release, even though it is a temporary contract

096that has a beginning and end date. So these are our temporary contracts that when they were signed, they had a beginning and end date, and we're just bringing them forward to make sure that we're all clear that we are ending the temporary contract at the end. So the people knew the ending, the end date? Yeah, so a temporary contract is a year-to-year. So what we typically do is we will notify them that they are either continuing on a temporary contract because the leave that they are covering for has been extended. But we always need to make sure that we ended and then we would start again. Thank you. Did you mention non-reelect? I'm sorry. That's separate. Okay. That's separate. Okay. Yes. Is there still a possibility similar to the classified ones that we could find

097a way to kind of get some of these people back potentially? So we've been talking, you know, if you go back all the way to when we were talking about some of the significant on-salary raises we had talked about, we were able to cover a lot of these positions with ESSER money and additional funds that we had. We had LRBG money. But we did say when we gave the 10% raise and then the subsequent raises that we were going to need to be able to make sure that we aligned our staffing to our declining enrollment. just to give you a perspective of that, we had 8,600 students in 2017. We are down to just about over 7,400 students. So we have a 1,400 student decline, and we haven't had the alignment of the staffing to

098that same level. So this is unfortunately one of those pieces that is part of that puzzle. So that so this is one of those pieces also where some classes will have more students than other classes, right? Yes, okay, right Are there any other questions for? Hearing none. Dr. Patterson. Will you call for the vote? Mr. Cone Kennedy? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Mr. Urteaga? Yes. Mrs. Atavis? Yes. Mr. Baird? Yes. And Mrs. Carrillo? Yes. Motion passes 5-0. Thank you Just want to make sure I'm clear. This is on 14-25 right correct. Yes This is an action item can I get a motion to approve I move the recommendation at the Board of Education adopt resolution number 14-25 slash 26 regarding non reelection and release from employment of probationary certificate and employees Thank you. Can I get

099a second? Okay, it's been moved and seconded any other additional information dr. Vartan So as the district we do have the right that anytime during the period of a probationary for any certificate employee Which is usually the first two years. We do have the right to non reelect these employees for the following school year So we are exercising our right with these employees tonight. This is based on your recommendation, correct? That's correct. Thank you any discussion board These are not based solely on Numbers there's other reasons. Okay All right. Any further discussion? Hearing none, Dr. Patterson, would you call for the vote? Mr. Cohen-Kennedy? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Mr. Tiaga? Mrs. Dapps? Yes. Mr. Barrett? Yes. Mrs. Carrera? Yes. Motion passes. All right. Next item is also an action item. Can I get a motion

100to approve? I so move to delete board policy 5145.3, response to immigration enforcement. Second. It's been moved and seconded dr. Patterson anything you know basically there was such significant changes to the policies from a legal standpoint and from a CSP a standpoint that we are recommending deleting 51 45.13 and adopting a brand new policy for policy one four four five This action is to get rid of the old policy and then to consider bringing on the new policy one four four five Okay, any questions for? All right, dr. Patterson, would you call for the vote please? This is Carrera. Yes. Mr. Baird. Yes. Mrs. Dabbs. Yes. Mr. Tiago. Yes. Mr. Aparicio. Yes. Mr. Cohn-Kennedy. Yes. Motion passes. Great. Thank you. Next item is also an action item. Can I get a motion to approve? I

101move the recommendation of the Board of Education approve board policy 1445 response to immigration if there are no substantive changes made by the Board of Education. Thank you. Can I get a second? I'll second. Okay, it's been moved and seconded. Dr. Patterson, any other discussion on this? Yeah, I just wanted to thank Mrs. Carrera for taking a first glance at this document and providing some critical feedback from a board member perspective regarding this particular policy. We did make those recommendations that Mrs. Carrera submitted to us. We are looking at a different format with the first read since we do have board members looking at these and offering their suggestions on the front end. Previously, we have done first readings and second readings, but our particular board bylaw, 9310, says that if the board so chooses,

102they can waive the second reading if there is agreement with the changes that have been made. We can always just go ahead and bring this back for a second reading, but this is actually an action item this time. I submitted changes for this one and the other policy that were not implemented because you said that we're late. You guys had already moved out the agenda. Yeah, so I wasn't sure. Maybe the board can take a look at what I submitted and if you guys are okay with the changes. You want to point out where there's missing ones there is There's grammatical errors. Well, I mean I send you the Google Doc. There was no substantive change No, there's it there's grammatical errors. There's you know, and there's some of the hyperlinks are not are not

103there. I included them so that People who go into and look at the board policy can actually access a website listed other than the grammatical errors, is there? There was nothing else. No, nothing else that I gave you ahead of time. And we did have those. So is there any other recommendations in regard to content? Other than the one that I sent you second, no, I do not have anything else. Well, then this, we can take care of the grammatical pieces. So that's like with this, there's no substantive change to that other than the. Well, the website link is, I think the website, would the website thing be actually activating? Okay. All right. Just want to make sure. Okay, having heard this discussion board, are you comfortable with approving it now, or would you like

104to bring this back for a second reading? What are your thoughts? I'm good voting on it. Maybe just good medical stuff. Okay, mr. Kennedy. Are you it's fine. It was long And mrs. Cut it are you all right with us going forward without a second? Yeah, you saw you also saw a copy of the yeah, so if you feel that that's enough Yeah, I'm fine with that Okay. All right Having had our discussion and no further discussion is necessary. Dr. Patterson. Would you call for the boat, please? Yes Yes, this is dabs. Yes, mr. Tiago. Yes, mr. Aparicio. Yes, and mr. Kennedy. Yes All right. Thank you. Next one is also an action item. Can I get a motion to approve regarding independent study? I move the recommendation of the Board of Education to approve

105Board Policy 6158, independent study, if there are no substantive changes by the Board of Education. Thank you. Can I get a second? I'll second. Okay. It has been moved and seconded. Is there any discussion or anything you need to add? I just wanted to add, once again, thanks to Mrs. Carrera for looking over the board policy and asking questions. Also, this one does have a little bit of change of practice, whereas the other board policy really did not have a change of practice. We're already implementing those things. But right now, we basically offer independent study ranging from three days to 15 days. And typically, any student who is beyond that is either placed in the home hospital or home teaching. This board policy would allow us to offer independent study past day 15. However, once

106you offer independent study past day 15, you must offer two different things that we do not currently do with short-term independent study. One is to offer live interaction or live synchronous instruction. So we would have to develop a process that would be used to give live interaction, as well as we would have to have a re-engagement meeting, almost like what we do when students who go away for an extended amount of time for discipline or other things, we have a re-engagement meeting. This would bring back the opportunity to have those conversations with the parents and potentially the classroom teacher to be able to talk about concerns of how long. those periods would take. Obviously, we always try to have students go into home teaching if it's going to be an extensive amount of time, but

107this does provide greater flexibility. Okay, great. Any questions? I did have my questions answered because I did check with you on this as well as a lot of other things. But yeah, it just seems like, okay, so there's no end to how long they can be on independent city. Obviously, our principals would be engaged in an in-depth conversation with anybody exceeding 16 days. This was all kind of... as a result of AB 130 passing. You know, we felt, you know, if they're going to do that, they might as well be homeschooled. So, I mean, it was, but yeah. Okay. Roughly, like just on top of your head, do you even know how many students per year we get? Kind of go, that's our past of 15 days? Right now, we don't offer that past of

10815 days. All those students would be in homeschool. We have 37 students in homeschool? Is it about 37 students in homeschool? You know, off the top of your head? Okay. It's in the 30s, yeah. I thought I read somewhere in here that it can be up to a year. Yeah, that's right. But we would be advising against that particular piece. Okay. But this does give us greater flexibility to be able to offer options to our family. So Dr. Patterson, in other districts around LA County that have children that go into entertainment and such, we don't have a group of children that participate in that? Not for that particular piece, yes. Because those kids stay out six months, eight months. And there are people who are involved in, you know, National Junior Olympics who take advantage

109of that in other places. I don't, I don't, you know of anybody? I don't know of anybody. Okay board are you comfortable moving forward with this everybody okay? Yeah, just as long as That you know I have to I have to say it again the corrections that I sent in if they're gonna be Not a problem, thank you. I appreciate it. Okay. Thank you. Mrs. Canada all right hearing no more discussion dr. Patterson would you call for the vote? Hey, Mr. Cohn-Kennedy? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Mr. Tiaga? Yes. Mrs. Dabbs? Yes. Mr. Baird? Yes. And Ms. Guerrero? Yes. All right, motion passes. Thank you. All right, this is also an action item regarding federal mileage. Can I get a motion to approve? I move the recommendation that the Board of Education approve the 2026 federal

110mileage rate. Second. Thank you. It's been moved and seconded. Any questions, Board, on this increase of mileage? All right hearing none. Dr. Patterson. Would you call for the vote? Yes Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes All right motion passes, thank you. We're now at okay and consent items We come to the area where we're looking for removable items. This is an action item. Can I get a motion to? Approve if there or rather is there anyone who has an item that they would like to remove from the consent agenda? All right, hearing none, can I get a motion to approve? I move the recommendation that the Board of Education approve the consent agenda items K-3 through K-10. Thank you, can I get a second? Second. All right, it's been moved and seconded. Board, in the midst

111of all of these discussions, or these items, is there any discussion regarding any of the warrants or? I have a question on the SDRs on number eight. It's A0200 to 0201, I want to say. Is it the second one? The Breakthrough Coach, the foundation course. It's two people on each one. Same department. I just want, just for transparency purposes, why... the income source is different and why there's a discrepancy on the lodging and meals or on the total cost. So as you and I had discussed previously, when you asked that question ahead of time, thank you for that. I appreciate that. We're constantly trying to maximize funding sources. So sometimes, even though it's the same training, we try to take different funding just to be able to maximize that. And then secondly, as I had

112indicated earlier, there is a personnel reason why those dollar amounts are... different and one individual needs to It isn't if it's a personnel issue. It's that's not a problem. It's it's a personal issue that that that it's not doesn't need to be Expressed I respect I respect that I just want to make sure that everybody understands why there is a discrepancy on why you the funding sources are different That's all thank you Thank You. Mrs. Gunn and any other questions board. All right Hearing none dr. Patterson would you call for the vote? Yes Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, all right motion passes All right before we adjourn I just want to let the community know and I want to say good evening to our YouTube audience who is with us That and thank you

113for always joining us our next part of education meeting will be held on February the 17th Here in the boardroom and before we dismiss board is there any? comments I Just again. I want to thank everyone who had a part Not only tonight, but my journey here in East Whittier. And thank you very much for the recognition and the kind words from everyone, the food, especially. I got a week's worth of lunch for work. So thank you very much for that. And again, I said it multiple times. I want to thank our students, our staff, and most importantly, our community for allowing me to serve the district for as many years. And knowing that. you know and being on the inside of the board we always make the right dis or we choose to make

114the right decision for the best interest of the district and sometimes those decisions are hard sometimes we find ways to make them work at the end and so but we know that east weeder continues to be a great district and i look forward to continued partnership alongside in my next role and definitely will favorite east weeder over some of our other colleagues I know how to fill in a public comment card. There you go. But, you know, thank you very much. And some of you in here, I've had plenty of conversations, some only a little bit, but I appreciate the opportunity to share and work alongside with you. So thank you very much for everything. Thank you, Armando. Yes. Mr. Conkenity, any comment? No. Mr. Aparicio, Mrs. Gallego? I just want to say everybody who's

115out on any type of leave of absence, I'm sending you my best. I hope you feel better. And, you know, Armando, I have your number. So once my girl hits high school, expect some calls. Have a good evening, everyone. Mr. Barron, any goodbye wishes or any of that? No? Okay. All right. That's okay. All right, I just want to thank everyone for joining us and and I have to echo a Mr. Artiega's comments that when you have been a school principal and you see the in-depth processes that has to be gone through at the school site level Then you come to a position here on the board It's a very challenging position to be at because you know that what needs to be done You know what needs to be done for the best of

116our students and our staff and our teachers and our administrators But it's always a difficult decision to make so I want to make sure that you know that We all really look at every single item here very deeply and very conscientiously and we know that you might not realize that but I know that it is a terribly strong commitment on the part of our board to do that. So I would like to take a vote. I hate to interrupt you. Just really quick. Whoever decides to apply for Mr. Urteaga's position, you have huge shoes to fill. And remember, you need to be at least 18 years old. So you don't need a professional degree. You don't need these great... accolades or titles next to your name. What you need, what you really need is heart

117and you need someone like Mr. Urteaga and that is going to be tough. All right. So good luck to whoever applies and we are very open-minded on whoever those applicants are. Good luck to all of you. And you have a live in his district, so let's not forget that part. All right, yes, and then you're in your registered voter All right, can I get a motion to adjourn so with that I lastly do move that we adjourn tonight's meeting all right? Seconded can I get a vote? Yes, sorry yes, I'm a what I do I'm thinking about it. You know I'm doing well It might it might be you know yes, yes, yes Thank you the meeting is officially adjourned