001Do not have a president vice president clerk so I am going to open this meeting and I'd like to start off by welcoming our amazing students from the Scott Avenue Student Council to come up and lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance, please If you could start by introducing yourself before we go on with the pledge I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. They're gonna come back up. We're almost there. I just gotta elect the board first, okay. So it might be about five, 10 minutes, so you can feel free to hang out there or if you wanna stand. I know you've been on your feet all day, okay. So at
002this point in time, I would like to call for the election of our board president for the 2026 school year. May I have a motion? Yes, I move that Mrs. Dabbs be elected president of the Board of Education and move that nominations be closed. Have a second second any discussion okay, mrs. Valenzuela. Can you call for the vote please? Yes Yes Miss career is not yet present Yes Yes Oh, I'm sorry, mr. Mayor yes Thank you so much and thank you to the board for their trust in me and being an effective president This time around it. It's always interesting when we haven't been in a role like this for like four or five years And then we step into it so I asked for you to bear with me today in case I miss
003a few things and I have my sturdy Dr.. Patterson to help me along and mr.. Tiago as well, so the next thing on the agenda is to nominate the nominations that are open for the election of Board Vice President for 2026. I move that Mr. Tiago be elected as Vice President of the Board of Education and move that nominations be closed. I second. Mrs. Valenzuela, will you please call for the vote? Mr. Tiago? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Ms. Kennedy? Yes. Ms. Dobbs? Yes. Mr. Bayard? Yes. Motion carries. Motion passes. Thank you. Thank you. The next item on the agenda, it is an action item. Nominations are now open for the election of the board clerk for 2026. Do I have a motion? I move that Mr. Aparicio be elected as the clerk of the Board
004of Education and move that nominations be closed. Do I have a second? I'll second. It's been moved and seconded. Mrs. Balenzuela, can you call for the vote? Mr. Tiago? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Yes, miss Kennedy yes, it's Dobbs yes, mr. Baird yes motion passes Next item on our agenda. It is an action item nominations are now open to select a representative for electing members to the County Committee for school District organization. Can you let us know a little bit more mark remind us what that is all about? are still on the books for the county, just like Wasta coming up. Wasta hasn't met in a couple of years, but it is still one of those things that has not officially been dissolved. So this is a prime one to get your name on the docket,
005but have absolutely no responsibility. I vote for you. Okay. So I move that Mrs. Kennedy be elected as a representative for elected members of the county committee for a school district organization, and move that nominations be closed. Second. Do I have a second? It's been moved and seconded. Mrs. Valenzuela, can you please call for the vote? Mr. Tiaga? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Ms. Kennedy? Yes. Ms. Dabbs? Yes. Mr. Bayer? Yes. Motion passes. Okay, we move on to the next. The next is an action item. Nominations are now open to select a voting delegate for the Los Angeles County School Trustee Association, also known as LAXTA. Do I have a nomination? I move that Mr. Ortega be elected as the voting delegate and board member representative for the Los Angeles County School Trustee Association. I move
006that nominations be closed. Do I have a second? It's been moved and seconded. Mrs. Valenzuela, would you please call for the vote? Mr. Ortega? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Ms. Kennedy? Yes. Ms. Dabbs? Yes. Mr. Beyer? Yes. Motion passes. Thank you. Next item on the agenda is also an action item. Nominations are now open to select a representative to the Whittier Area School Trustee Association, also known as WASTA. Do I have a nomination? I move that Mrs. Davis be elected as a representative to the Whittier Area School Trustee Association and move that nominations be closed. Second. Thank you. It's been moved and seconded. Mrs. Valenzuela, we appease call for the vote. Mr. Tiaga? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Mrs. Kennedy? Yes. Ms. Dabbs? Yes. Mr. Bayard? Yes. Motion passes. Thank you. The next item is an action
007item. Nominations are now open to elect the Joint Powers Board representative for 2026. And Dr. Patterson, can you share a little bit about that too? I see that you are a representative. The Joint Powers Board is made up of the superintendents from the seven surrounding... All right, so do we move for your nomination in that case? We do? Okay, may I have a nomination, please? I move that Dr. Patterson be representative to the Joint Powers Board. I second the Powers Board. It's like a muscle, like a super team there. It's been moved and seconded. Mrs. Valenzuela, would you please call for the vote? Mr. Tiaga? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Mrs. Kennedy? Yes. Ms. Dabb? Yes. Mr. Bayard? Yes. Motion passes. Thank you. Next item on the agenda is the nomination. It's an action item. Nomination
008to open and elect a designee for California School Board Association, also known as CSBA. Do I have a nomination? I move that Mrs. Carrera be elected as a legislative designee to CSBA and move that nominations be closed. Do I have a second? Second. It's been moved and seconded. Mrs. Valenzuela, can you call for the vote? Mr. Tiaga? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Ms. Kennedy? Yes. Mrs. Dabbs? Yes. And Mr. Bayard? Yes. Motion passes. Thank you. Next item is also an action item. Call for nomination to appoint Dr. Patterson as the Secretary to the Board of Education for 2026. I move that Dr. Patterson be appointed Secretary of the Board of Education. Do I have a second? I'll second it. It's been moved and seconded. Mrs. Valenzuela, will you call for the vote, please? Mr. Tiaga? Yes.
009Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Ms. Kennedy? Yes. Ms. Dabbs? Yes. And Mr. Beard? Yes. Motion passes. Thank you. The next item is an informational item. It's the annual review of Exhibit 9320, Annual Calendar for Topics for 2026. Dr. Patterson, can you give us a little insight onto this portion, please? Yes, this is one of the few items that we bring every year during the reorganizational meeting, just kind of giving the board and the community an idea of when the typical agenda items come up through the year. We do give this, obviously, with the caveat of sometimes the shift throughout the year. But you can pretty much assume that these are the times in which these items are brought to the board. Any discussion, board? Okay. Next item is the certification of signatures, personal authorization to sign warrants,
010et cetera. Do I have a motion? I move the recommendation that the Board of Education approve the attached certification of signature estimated. Do I have a second? Second. It's been moved and seconded. Mrs. Valenzuela, will you call for the vote, please, unless there's a discussion? Go ahead. Mr. Tiago? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Ms. Kennedy? Yes. Ms. Dabbs? Yes. Mr. Bayard? Yes. Motion passes. Thank you. Next item is also an action item. It is the recommendation that the Board of Education approve the organizational chart as submitted. Do I have a motion? I move the recommendation that the Board of Education approve the organizational chart as submitted. I have a second. Second. It's been moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? This is one swell would you call for the boat? Mr. Tiago? Yes, mr. Patricio. Yes
011Miss Kennedy. Yes. This is dabs. Yes. Mr. Baird. Yes ocean passes Thank you. Our next item is a recognition now of Scott Avenue Elementary School and their principal is here to share with us And she's going to share the Employee of the Year recognition. Thank you so much. Good evening. Good evening, Board of Education and members of Cabinet and East Whittier community. I'm Kelly Rickey. I am very proud to be the principal of Scott Avenue Elementary School. And tonight, we are honoring our first staff member. We're honoring is our Certificated Employee of the Year, Melissa Hooey. Melissa, I'm going to have you just stand right here. I know you're going to hate me for this. But while I share these words. So today, tonight, it is my honor to recognize our Certificate in Employee of
012the Year chosen by her peers, Melissa Hui. Mrs. Hui is a dedicated and hardworking third grade teacher who consistently puts others first. In her classroom, she creates a structured, supportive environment where students feel safe, challenged, and encouraged to grow. She thinks outside the box to meet the needs of her students, and her impact on the learning and the confidence is evident every day. Beyond the classroom, Mrs. Hui goes above and beyond to support our entire school community, especially through her work with our PBIS team. She spends many hours collecting and reporting data, planning meaningful and fun events, and supporting positive student behavior across our campus. Much of this important work happens behind the scenes and often goes unnoticed, but its impact is felt by our students and staff. Her colleagues recognize that Mrs. Hui does
013so much for our school and our students, not for recognition, but because she genuinely cares. I personally have also felt Mrs. Hui's comfort, encouragement, and care throughout the years that's gone by. Today we get to pause and say thank you for the dedication, time, and heart she brings to our community. Mrs. Hui, we are incredibly grateful for you and proud to celebrate you as our Certificated Employee of the Year. I apologize, I have the December cold that most teachers get, so I'm sorry that I sound very congested, but thank you so much. I am incredibly honored to receive this award. I am supported by an amazing community, my teachers, staff members, an amazing administrator, who all work together to make our school a place where students feel safe, valued, and excited to learn. I'm grateful
014to work alongside people who inspire me, challenge me. I'd also like to thank my husband and my family to support me, encourage me, and cheer me along the way. Teaching is one of the most powerful things we can do to shape the future, and to be trusted with that responsibility is a privilege I don't take lightly. Thank you for recognizing the work we all do every day to make a difference in the lives of children. Thank you. All right, up next, I would like to recognize our Classified Employee of the Year, Olivia Dennis. Olivia, come on down. Where are you? Well, Mrs. Dennis is truly the heart of Scott Avenue as our school office coordinator, as many school principals would say. Those office coordinators are everything to us. Olivia is on the front line, supporting
015students and staff, answering questions, solving problems, and often serving as the first point of contact for parents. She handles difficult situations with patience, professionalism, and kindness, even when faced with frustration or uncertainty. On top of that, she somehow managed to stay on top of the changes in systems and procedures that get thrown our way, making sense of them and helping the rest of us navigate them with clarity and calmness, especially me. Mrs. Dennis is dedicated, caring, thoughtful, and has an incredible work ethic that keeps our school running day in and day out. Simply put, this place would not function without her the way it does. Mrs. Dennis consistently goes above and beyond to make sure everyone in our community is taken care of. She does all of this quietly without seeking recognition, but her impact
016is felt by every single person who comes through our doors. Today, we are honored to recognize Mrs. Dennis for the dedication, compassion, and heart she brings to Scott Avenue. I'm honored to work alongside her, and I'm thankful for the many ways she has supported me personally and professionally. Congratulations, Mrs. Dennis, and thank you for all you do. Okay, good evening. I'll keep this short. Thank you, Mrs. Rickey, and thank you to our staff over at Scott Avenue School. I am very grateful, honored, and humbled to receive this award. Thank you for choosing me as Classified Employee of the Year, and I just feel very blessed to work with such an amazing staff at Scott Avenue School. So thank you. All right, well up next, we would like to share a little bit about our school
017theme. This year, our school theme is Be Curious, Be Unique, as you see it spelled there, Be a Scotty. And this theme was inspired by the book Be You by Peter H. Reynolds, which we are excited to gift all of you this evening, board and cabinet. And as we thought about tonight, the best way to share what our theme means to our Scott Avenue community, it felt only fitting to hear directly from the students. So, Spark Squad members, I would like to invite you to come on up and share your – come on over to the microphone, guys, so we can hear you a little bit better. Being a Scotty to me means – being a Scotty to me means to never give up. As Thomas Edison said, I have not failed. I have just
018found 10,000 ways that won't work. Be curious no matter what you do or what path you take because you will end up with a path that you enjoy and is made by decisions you make. Being a Scotty means to treat others how you would want to be treated. being a Scotty is being unique. Being unique means no matter how differently you feel from your friend, you can definitely still be friends. Don't be afraid to have your own great ideas. Don't try to have the same ideas as others when you can have great ones of your own. Be the best version of you. To me, being unique means to be yourself and to express your feelings and also to be honest about yourself. Don't let anyone rob you from your imagination, your creativity, or your curiosity.
019Mae Jemison inspires me to always stay curious. That's what it means to be curious. Be a friend, act responsibly, respect all, keep safe. That's the ultimate Scotty. So in conclusion, we are proud to be Scotties, and I hope you enjoy the book and enjoy reading that and share it with your family that you have as well. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Rickey, and for all your beautiful students that shared with us. So, so heartfelt and so beautiful. Next, I want to invite... Dr. Vargas is going to share something special with regard to our employee recognitions, particularly for Scott Avenue. Welcome. Yes, good evening and welcome Scott Avenue and the rest of the community cabinet and board members. I am Dr. Vargas, and I am the proud assistant superintendent of human resources.
020And I get the fun part of all of our board meetings. I get to recognize the amazing staff that we have. And today, we're going to start off with our tenure recognition. So when... we have employees that become teachers, they have a two-year probationary period, and during those two years, they have the opportunity to really demonstrate their skills, and we want to make sure that they have all the professional competencies to become permanent. And so it is a big deal for teachers to become permanent, and today we are really excited to recognize Ms. Callie Clark for becoming a permanent member of EWCSD. Next up, we will be recognizing our employees for their years of service to EWCSD. So a couple years back, we really wanted to bring back this tradition of giving service pins and
021their longevity pins because we do know that what builds a community is longevity, consistency, and really having people who are invested not only in the service, in their classrooms but also in the community. So we are very proud EWCSD does have a tradition of longevity and today we're going to be recognizing employees for their years of service. So first of all we would like to welcome with 25 years of service Miss Diana Denham. With 20 years of service we would like to recognize Miss Sandy Ferreira. And Miss Ferreira couldn't be here tonight, but we're going to make sure she does get her longevity pin. Next up, with 15 years of service, let's recognize Miss Christy Whalen. With 10 years of service, let's recognize Miss Deborah Martinez Gomez. And also celebrating 10 years, this is a
022milestone, I want to recognize Miss Jennifer Mancilla. Let's give her a big round of applause. So just like we have a tradition of longevity, we were very pleasantly surprised a couple years back when we started doing the longevity presentations that not only do we have employees who have been here a very long time, a lot of them, they started here year one and they're still here after decades. We also realized that we have our homegrown employees who also attended our schools, went to college. or went somewhere else and then came back to provide service to our community. So we did develop this special award and we have a specially designed pin for them to also have as bragging rights. So I do want to recognize a couple of our homegrown employees today. So I am
023going to start off with... So Mr. Chris Grubbs attended Scott Avenue and Granada kindred through eighth grade. And one of the fun facts or story that he shared with us was he was the first student body president at Scott Avenue in 1980, also along with his mom, Kathy, who started teaching here in 1963. They have 62 continuous years of having a Grubbs in EWCSD. Well, thank you so much to the Grubbs family. for all of their service to our community. Next up, we have Melissa Huey, who attended. Scott Avenue and Granada, kindred through eighth grade. Fun fact and story. Sorry, I went to Orchardale and Hillview. Oh, I'm so sorry. Orchardale and Hillview. Okay, well, sorry about that. She was in our schools. Became a teacher because of her sixth grade teacher at Hillview, Ms.
024Peggy Richardson. Congratulations. Thank you. Next up, our homegrown pin goes to Ms. Gina Compass. Let's give her a big round of applause. attended Mulberry, Orcharddale, and Hillview kindred through eighth grade. Fun fact or story, I started working for the district because of my kids. I was only supposed to be temporary. Both of my kids attended Scott Avenue, where I work, and Granada. I've held the same position for almost 20 years. And that is how we bring people in. Temporary, just one favor, and they stay with us. So let's give her a big round of applause. Next up, we would like to recognize Ms. Michelle Lewetzky. Give her a big round of applause. She attended Ceres and Hillview kindred through eighth grade. Fun fact and story, my mom also attended school in EWCSD. So generations. And
025next up. we will recognize another special award. So every year, every school has the opportunity to recognize a stellar. community member who has given volunteer service and dedication to their school campus and as a community we also have a breakfast and recognition that the Whittier Area School administrators holds for all of the districts in Whittier and this year we are proud to welcome our volunteer community service award recipient Mr. Raul Ramirez and I'm gonna let Miss Ricky be a little bit All right, real quickly, Mr. Ramirez is being honored for his exceptional dedication, positive spirit, and commitment to our school community. As a reliable and consistent parent volunteer, he is someone we can always count on to show up, step in, and support whenever needed. Whether assisting in the classroom, supporting classroom activities, or lending
026a helping hand during school-wide events, Mr. Ramirez approaches every task with enthusiasm and a genuine desire to make a difference. His cheerful attitude is felt by everyone around him, including students, staff, and families alike. And he brings warmth, kindness, and encouragement wherever he goes. In addition to his volunteer work, Mr. Ramirez proudly serves as Scotty Dog's VIP partner. Some people know what that means. He brings energy fun and school spirit to his role helping strengthen our school culture and create memorable experiences for our students Through his generosity of time willingness to help with anything from small daily tasks to large community events He is uplifting attitude. Mr. Ramirez truly exemplifies what it means to serve with heart He has become an invaluable part of our school and we are deeply grateful for the many ways
027he supports our community every day. So it is with great appreciation that we recognize Mr. Ramirez as this year's Community Service Award recipient. Let's give all of our award recipients a big round of applause. We will be taking photos at the break time, so please don't leave until you get your photo taken. Thank you so much. Thank you, Dr.. Vargas, and thank you so much I know our board is going to want to congratulate in their own way a little bit, but thank you so much This is Ricky and to all your wonderful employees for all their great Success and everything they do to support our children here in East weeder school district. Thank you so much now We're going to recognize Dr.. Asevis who's going to present the truck wrap contest winner. Thank you.
028Good evening everyone I am Alicia service. I am the proud assistant superintendent of business services And we, I just want to say we have the most talented students in East Whittier for sure. And it is my pleasure tonight to recognize our Nutrition Services Truck Wrap Contest winner, Irene Xiong, a third grade student from Leffingwell. Come on up, Irene. As you can see from her winning artwork, which is also displayed on the side of the truck outside, Irene is an incredibly talented student. Irene is new to Leffingwell this year, and we are so glad she is a leopard. She has, as she has demonstrated, that she's an outstanding student, talented artist, and an all-around very special young lady. And now, her impressive and truly remarkable artwork will be enjoyed by all of Whittier as our nutrition
029services trucks travel through all of our streets on a daily basis. We are so proud of you, Irene. Congratulations. Irene is here with her parents tonight. Thank you for bringing her and sharing with her with us this evening. Thank you, Dr. Aceves. And I know our board is going to want to say congratulations too, but we are so honored to have her beautiful artwork on another one of our nutrition trucks. Thank you. Thank you so very much. We're so grateful. Well, that's right. The truck is outside in the parking lot, right? In case anybody wants to stop by I know in the past when it was summertime we were able to take photos But it's a little dark now, but thank you. Thank you so much such an honor to have her art on our
030nutrition trucks our next item is an action item and it is the We're gonna move forward with the approval of the minutes from October 13th before we have discussion may have a motion to approve I'm with the recommendation at the Board of Education approve the October 13 2025 Board of Education meeting minutes. I have a second second It's been moved by Mr. Aparicio, seconded by Mr. Tiago. Any discussion? Board? Okay, great. Mrs. Valenzuela, can you please call for the vote? Yes. Yes. Yes. Ms. Dabbs? Yes. And Mr. Bayard? Yes. Motion passes. Just a clarification, Mr. Akagi, this was the meeting you were in. Okay, the short one, okay. So I abstain. This is an abstain. Okay, thank you. Thank you, okay. We have a second need to approve minutes also of the November 17th meeting
031before we have any discussion. May I have a motion to approve? I move the recommendation that the Board of Education approve the November 17, 2025 Board of Education meeting minutes. Second. It's been moved by Mr. Aparicio, seconded by Mr. Tiaga. Any discussion, board? Anything else, Dr. Patterson? We don't want to miss. Okay, great. Ms. Valenzuela, would you call for the vote? Mr. Tiaga? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Ms. Kennedy? Yes. Is dabs yes, mr. Baird yes motion passes Thank you now before anybody leaves us. We're gonna take a quick break We want to take some photos with our Scott Avenue Award winners, and we want to take a photo with our truck rep winner also, and we'll be back hopefully in about five minutes Students but our adults for all the wonderful things that you're doing
032at Scott Avenue and Mrs. Rickey as the principal we're so grateful but we're going to bring our meeting back to order we thank you so very much and we're going to continue with board member reports and comments. Mr. Aparicio would you like to go first? Sure. So I say good evening everyone. Thank you for joining us on our meeting today. I just want to say thank you to all the students from Scott Avenue today for leading us in the pledge. Also congrats to Melissa and Olivia for being the employees of the year. Congrats to all the other employees from Scott Avenue who received awards tonight as well, too So thank you to everyone the staff that that came here to join us So just thank you very much for everything that's going on at Scott
033Avenue Congrats to Irene and thank you for the amazing drawing. I know she left already, but it's gonna be pretty cool I know I'm on third grade and I see my truck, you know, not my truck, but my drawing on a truck Running around the streets, I think that would be just awesome. That's pretty sure something that she's going to be able to tell all of her friends whenever they do see that truck. That's her drawing. So I think that's something just great to be able to say, especially as a third grader. So thank you for that drawing that she did. And just want to say, you know, we have about a week left or less than a week now. Just want to say, you know, wishing everybody a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year's, and
034just happy holidays all the way around. So enjoy your vacation. Thank you, Mr. Aparicio. We're going to continue with Mr. Baird. It's around Christmas time, and so, you know, we have one more week, and then we get to go on break. So it's a bit antsy for almost everyone, like that's at least a student, because, you know, you're just like, come on, a few more days, then I just get to go on break. There's a few things that happened in the past weeks. I went to a conference in Sacramento called CSBA. It was very cool that we were the only district to have a middle school student board member. And so they're all high schoolers. There was around 300 of them. And they were talking about all the deeper things that go on in districts,
035like LCAP funding and just like also rates of schools. We could go look it up on the California dashboard. Very cool things. But it's just like. Nice to see that everyone's coming around for the last meeting of the year and then we get a go and break. Especially congratulations to Melissa, Olivia, and everyone else that got their awards during Scott Avenue. So have a good Christmas. Thank you, Mr.. Beard mrs.. Chacon Kennedy. Yes, thank you While she's still here. I would like Kathy grubs to stand up She was served a district as an assistant superintendent yet. Yes for many many years So I just want to say I'm so happy theory here, and I'm so happy that Chris is still in our district your son Mm-hmm Yes, we've been around a long time. Yes, yes.
036Thank you. And I also wanted to say, I know they're probably gone, but Ms. Hui, her mom, Tina LaCara was here, and I want to say she's, I think she retired from Orcharddale. And then Robin Lwetski, who is, her daughter was also, I can't remember her daughter's name. But anyway, Robin Lwetski. I've known them since like last century. So that's a long time. Just same with Kathy. But anyway, yes, thank you for coming. I've had kind of a busy month, so I did attend with our superintendent, Wake Up Whittier, which is always good to go to because we really network a lot with all the businesses in Whittier. I did attend the CSPA conference. I was there a little early because I'm on delegate assembly, and that was really, I just have to tell you,
037we go through a lot of legislative stuff. One really important bill that they were talking about was AB 218 which is the one with the you know the sexual abuse it can go back a hundred years and So we're they're really trying to push for like if you're gonna do that You need to have some kind of funding or something because school districts can go broke really fast with that So that is one thing and then AB 1390, which is the one for, I think, school board members to, or schools, to be able to get more money based on their, well, I'm not even sure what it's based on, but it's for more, there's a whole bunch of things that are involved in there. But there was a whole bunch of legislative updates, what's still
038pending, what's dead, what's, oh, they say nothing's ever really dead, but, you know, what's out there. But it was really interesting to see that. And we really, at Delegate Assembly, we really advocate for that, all for the students, of course. attended some really good sessions at the CSBA conference. And two of them were on policies. And I wanted to give these to our superintendent. It was on updating your board policies. So I don't know if we have that. Maybe you could let us know, Dr. Patterson. Excited to see this. Yeah. Oh, yeah, we already subscribed to a policy that gives us updates whenever federal or state legislation changes. We get suggested language. So about every three to four months, we receive an update. And then I look at it to see if any of those
039things are applicable to our district. And then if we do, we bring them to a first read and then a second read. Okay, so we do have something that keeps us currently. Current. They send us constantly, like three to four times a year, we get an updated suggestions for some of our board policies. So that we're in compliance. Correct. All of our board policies as of now are in compliance. Okay. All right. Some really, really good sessions. And it's too bad we don't have more time because I think we're only like maybe six sessions total that we could attend. But they were all really worthwhile. I also attended, let's see here. Oh, I went to Hillview for their Christmas performance, the band performance, and again, outstanding. Ms. Stample did a great job, and it was
040really good. I really like the... Oh, right here. Oh, yeah. Well, congratulations. You did a great job. Yeah. It was really outstanding. I really like the steel drums, too. I really love the steel drums. So nice to hear those. So I went there, and then right after that, I went over across to Orcharddale to the Cookies with Santa. And Santa and Mrs. Claus were just so nice. But, you know, he wanted me to sit on his lap. I go, I haven't sat on Santa's lap since I was 10 years old. Are you sure you want to try this? But it was really, it was a... Really nice thing to see all the students there. I also, the next day, went to the Laurel Christmas performance to see all the kids doing that, and that was
041also really, really good. So let's see here. What else do I want to do? Oh, thank you to Scott Avenue for the book. Love the book. And other than that, with all the madness in my life right now, my daughter's getting married on Saturday, so I'm in la-la land most of the time. So, yeah, you can imagine what's going on there. So I'm going to try and get to as many performances as I can this week, but I might not because of everything that's going on. But other than that, I wish everybody happy holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, all that good stuff. Okay, thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Kennedy. Mr. Tiago? I just want to continue the congratulations to the staff at Scott Elementary and Ms. Rickey and the great job that they're doing
042there at Scott Avenue. Congratulations, Ms. Hui, Ms. Dennis for Employee of the Year. Congratulations, obviously, to our longevity people who we like to recognize. Putting a lot of time with our district and we're very happy to celebrate that with them I want to give a special shout out to my fellow oil Montebello oiler grad we graduated very close I'm a little bit older, but it's nice to have a fellow oiler over here from Zdena 25 years so congratulations to her and the rest of the staff there and then mr. Mr.. Ramirez. I know he's he's not here, but it's always nice to recognize those volunteer service people because they do it because they want to support help they don't get paid they put in long hours and we really have great programs and great school
043programs that work along and a lot of that depends on our volunteer service so thank you to him and all our volunteers here in the district irene we're going to see that truck going around i know she may not be here but that truck going around and seeing that artwork and really congratulations to her and i saw it when i When I pulled up, the truck got there, so don't forget on your way out, even though it's a little dark, go out there and see the truck, but you'll see it roaming around the district. So thank you for that. Like Ms. Kennedy mentioned, I was also part of the CSBA delegation that went down there to learn, to connect with fellow board members and learn about a lot of new things. So I want to
044thank the district for allowing us to attend the CSBA conference. What do we think about the new photographers? You guys see them roaming around. It's like professional how they're getting every angle. So I want to welcome our student photographers. They're trying. They're getting those angles. And we're very excited to see all the work that they're doing and being able to highlight the great things that we're doing. And a lot of the pictures that they're taking, you guys will, I'm sure at some point, we'll be able to see them. So thank you to our students. And they're learning their curve here. And maybe future Hollywood photographers are. Hopefully not TMZ, but maybe, you know, something, you know, we provide an avenue and access for students. So thank you for Dr. Patterson and the rest of the
045staff for allowing the students to have access and participating in that. And then again, I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Holidays, have a safe winter break. And we will see you after today. I'll see you next year in January, the next board meeting. Thank you, Mr. Gritiaga. I also want to echo the sentiments and the comments of our board. I want to especially thank Mrs. Rickey and all the wonderful people, again, at Scott Avenue, the children who led the flag salute. And in particular, I also want to... Just say a quick word about the theme and and before I do that I want to make sure that I'm welcoming everyone who's here this evening I normally do that all the time so I just want to make sure that
046I do that I also want to welcome our 10 or 12 or 9 folks that are watching us on YouTube It's so something that our community does once in a while for us And so we just want to make sure that they know that we we see them and thank you so much for joining us But I want to go back to Scott Avenue, and I really want to just comment on the theme. I really loved the theme about being curious and as two students commented one be curious no matter what path you take in life And then secondly, don't be afraid to have your own great ideas. And I think that's such a powerful statement coming from a student, coming from a very young student. That's something that you might not think about until
047maybe you're in middle school or high school or even college. But that just made really a profound touch in my heart when he said it was just amazing. So Mr. Urtiaga is updating me. There's actually 53. viewers on YouTube tonight. So thank you. Thank you so much. I also want to thank my colleagues for attending CSBA. I wasn't able to do that, but I am going to be attending the National School Board Association in April. And I want our community to know that the conferences that we attend are to bring back supportive policies, directions, ideas, strategies, as you heard everyone share. And it's the way that we build and we strengthen our district. for our students and for our staff that's here. So that part is really, really important. I also want to congratulate Irene
048again because I love the arts. My board knows and they know that I comment on this over and over, but it's a huge part of my life. I was raised in a musical family. My father was the director of the Garfield Marching Band for 13 years. I sat in the stands as a little girl surrounded by band members. and it made such a profound impact on my life. I started singing at three and dancing at five, so the arts are really my life. My son has come back from Fort Lauderdale to pursue a career in electronic dance music, EDM for short, and so music is just a huge part of our lives, and having said that... I want to recognize the two concerts that I was able to attend, one with East Whittier Middle School
049and the other with Granada Middle School. They were both absolutely extraordinary. And if you ever have the time to hopscotch from your school to another school or your middle school to another school to hear what's going on in the arts, you will be profoundly impacted. Our orchestras, our instrumental band, folks, young men and women, they sound like high school kids. They're doing extraordinary jobs. And this is not only to comment on their gifts and talents, but also on the directors that we have of each of these schools. And I didn't get a chance to go to Hillview, but it's the same happening at Hillview. And it's a powerful thing. And I just want to add something that I talked about with Dr. Patterson years ago. that students who are early engaged in the arts, if
050they choose to go to college, the data is clear that they excel above their colleagues, their classmates that never had that opportunity in the early years. Now, yes, you can start in high school, but the early years make a huge difference. So I just want to congratulate Hillview Granada and East Whittier Middle School for their tremendous focus as they're doing in our music program. I also want to say a big thank you to Mrs. Chacon-Kennedy, who led us last year. She does an amazing job of leading our board and reaching out to us and making sure that we feel that we're heard and that we're a part of everything that happens in the board. So I just want to thank you for her leadership last year. And I also want to just say thank you
051so much to all of you that are here with us this evening. I also want to say a little early, but I want to wish you a very happy holiday, very happy plans for whatever your season of time of year that this is for you. And we thank you so much for being here. And thank you so much for listening to our comments this evening. We're going to continue now with hearing a report from our CSEA rep. Please join us at the podium. Thank you. Good evening, members of the board. Merry Christmas. Happy December. I want to start out by giving a shout out to the folks from Scott, Ms. Huey, and Olivia. You guys are doing great. So fun fact, I know that everybody here probably knows that Olivia, she's our main lady in
052the office. And I just want to say that every time I go through Scott to take out an IT ticket or give some support over there, it's always crazy over there. So it's awesome that she's being recognized. There's a lot going on in the office. And I also want to thank the district for their cooperations on the MOUs that we've signed with you that are items two through four. These are good agreements that greatly benefit CSCA and the district. Items two and three will allow us to even out the workflow in the IT department while fairly compensating our members. So that's always awesome. And then item four especially, item four is all around compensation for the folks in our school district that help the... the students with the most need, and this is a great
053step in recognizing their hard work and contributions to the district. It's also in that spirit of cooperation that I urge our board members to take a critical look at the fiscal stabilization, the updated fiscal stabilization plan being presented tonight. We all understand the need for a responsible fiscal stewardship of our district, but it is my hope that you can work to minimize the impact on my fellow classified employees. the critical services they provide for our students in the community. Thank you. Thank you so much. Our next agenda item is to welcome our EV representative to the podium. Good evening everybody. members of the board audience cabinet Missy would come up here last year because she's retiring and go like 105 student days left I'm just gonna say four days till winter break so looking forward
054to that one congratulations to our certificated employee of the year from Scott Melissa the classified Olivia Kelly Clark on her tenure launch activity for Diane Sandy Christy Deborah and Jennifer and homegrown Chris, Melissa again, Gina, and Michelle. Congratulations on those honors. Last time I spoke at Granada Middle School was a rainy night. We had a really good turnout of people to come speak and just come experience the board meeting. I read an email that I had written to my administration about the behavior of a student in my class that was a little over the line. Well... About three days later, the Friday before Thanksgiving break, this same student broke a window in the hallway at East Weter Middle School because she had no rewards day. And rewards day is where the kids are rewarded for
055their grades and their good behavior. She broke a window. I don't know if she punched it. I don't know if that student threw something at it. But what I wonder is when will a teacher be the next target? She was not suspended for that. She was just sent on break. And that window sill sits with a garbage bag over it to block it. It hasn't been repaired yet. I was at Ceres today, and I learned late last week that the dual immersion aides are being let go at the school year's end. That's five people total. They are not our people. They aren't with EWI. But they do affect our people. It's going to weaken a successful program that's been so successful that we are expanding it into middle school next year. Not only are students
056from CREs represented, there's students from around the district that go into the DLI program. With those aides being taken off the duty schedule, it's already going to affect an overwhelming duty schedule for the CREs staff. My question is, did we sit down with the DLI teachers beforehand to try and understand the impact of such a cut? How are we cutting the positions for cost when raises for district personnel for like certificated non-management have happened have happened? We talked about a fiscal stabilization plan But what are your cities in the same thing and they just gave their employees a two and a half percent on schedule rates? So the fiscal stabilization plan yes, I understand the responsibility behind it But there's room with looking at the budget to help everybody out including keeping these aids at
057series I keep harping when I come up here on being equal partners because there seems to be a lot of unilateral decisions that are made without talking to us and seeing the effects that they're going to have on us. And what happens is when some of these decisions are made, they come back on the union. They come to us and they bring it up. And what I want to do is share it. I would just hope that when we're cutting positions like dual immersion aids in a program that has been very successful, that we would just sit down and talk about it before that cut were actually to happen. Another thing I want to bring up is PBIS in this district. We found out at a rep council meeting that it's a little like the
058Wild West across the district their protocols and reporting systems They differ from site to site and there's no consistency some might use the PBIS app some might use a spreadsheet Some might send slips to the office. I think it would behoove us to have a more universal system across the district So if there's no questions about how a minor is reported or how a major is reported I think this affects us, at least in the middle school area, if the students were to go to discipline hearing and you have other site administrators making a ruling, if they have different protocols than the school that that student was coming from, then I don't see how we can be consistent in the rulings that are made in those disciplinary hearings. And that affects the teachers at the
059site where that student might be having serious issues. So what we're really just asking for is just a more consistent approach. I am on the PBIS team at my middle school. We meet with the middle schools, I think it's three times a year. I think it'd be valuable if each middle school met with the feeder elementary schools. So then we can see what their expectations are coming into middle school. And we can say what our expectations are and meet in the middle and have some universal things that work together. And that means bringing us together to do that. Something else I found out was literacy partners, and I'm just going to be honest with you here. It is not popular amongst a number of teachers. The most common sentiment that's said is it's just something
060else on our plate. It's just one more thing that we have to do. And something that I found out was a former teacher in this district who only had temporary status and was a sub for a very, very short time and is actually pretty young in the profession. He now works for literacy partners, so he would be somebody who's consulting with us and telling the types of things that we need to be doing in our classroom, and I don't think the experience warrants that. So the thing that I value about literacy partners is that we get time to work together, and I don't mean with literacy partners. I mean with my team and people from around our school. I think it'd be even better if we got to meet with the other teachers from the
061district. And we don't need literacy partners to do that. I can say the number of things that I've gotten from Janelle Pearson at Hillview and Kelly Granada at Granada, Kelly Sonata at Granada. would be, it's a lot of different stuff. Just for example, when Almeda was here, Kelly and Almeda told me about the Anne Frank unit that they did, and they were talking about the website that they go to that gives an actual virtual tour and the assignments and the projects they would have of this little virtual tour of the Annex for Anne Frank. And I use that still to this day, probably for the last five or six years. And that was just meeting them. somewhere outside of the district. So I think if we could bring our teachers together, we don't need a
062third party to help us. I think we could focus together as a district, as personnel in this district, and do a great job. So let us have the time to come together. And that's really what my point is. Let the teachers come together. Let the teachers use their institutional knowledge to make the best decisions that we can for this district. We're some of the most highly educated people that have the professionals out there. Pretty much most teachers that I know have a master's degree, and there's not a lot of professions that have something like that. So let us have input on what our TTDs are. Let us have input on what the curriculum is. Let us have input on what the supports for our classrooms are as well. And I just want to leave with
063an important message from the East Whittier teachers. I'm going to open it for you guys. Oh, that rip came on the microphone really good. We got stickers for you guys. So happy holidays, guys, and happy New Year. Thank you, and thank you to both of our reps for sharing their comments with us our next item is a comments from dr. Patterson our superintendent. I just have three things I just wanted to recognize. I'm hopefully you've seen on Instagram the amazing ELOP pop-up that we had Mr. Chacon Kennedy has been talking for a very long time about recognizing all of the amazing skilled craftsmen that we have across our district. So we actually were able to have a workshop where Mr. Haddon, one of our carpenters, along with his daughter, Miss Haddon, did a little pop-up
064of decorating. things for the holidays that was also teamed up by our nutrition services team who taught them how to bake some different things. So that's just another way to really take the knowledge that our classified staff has and marry it with some unique opportunities with the funding that we have for ELOP. Mr. Baird didn't mention it, but he was one of the students that was on our Christmas. holiday parade up in Uptown Whittier. So that's always a wonderful opportunity to be able to showcase our district and the things that we do. And like Mr. Tiaga said, it was his idea to bring in the student photographers. And, you know, we are still trying to work it out, but it is one of those unique things to be able to see these meetings from the
065student's perspective as well. So we expect some riveting pictures from Dr. Aceves' first interim report. would be exciting. Thank you, Dr. Patterson. The next item on our agenda is one that Dr. Patterson will facilitate, and that is citizen communications. Madam President, before we start, I just have one. Can I just say one thing? I always get on Dr. Patterson. You know, I definitely do use plastic, but as... As much as I try not to, I brought this back from Europe. It's a wooden fork. They use all that. They don't have plastic. And it's just so wonderful to see because, you know, because you can't get rid of all your plastic, that's for sure. But this was so cool to see because they have everything, the spoon, the knife, the fork. And, I mean, it's not
066very pliable, but still it works, you know. So it would be really nice. I know it's probably far-fetched, but I just want to let you know. I think it's a great idea. We will have Mr. Haddon start whittling all of those spoons. So, yes. Yes. So we do have 10 public comments. We do have one of our amazing students from Hillview who will be speaking, and she will be allotted three minutes. But we do have nine comments on the instructional aid position. Based upon our board bylaw, I recommend that we allow every single member to speak, which would limit their speaking time to two minutes. Okay. So we will have our first five speakers come over to the podium. And please, if you could, speak in this order. Madeline Arroyo, Guadalupe Headey, Grace Figueroa, Shelly
067Honeywell, and Michelle Ortiz. So actually, Madeline, you get three minutes. Hello and good evening. My name is Madeline Arroyo. I'm an eighth grader from Hillby Middle School. I'm here to bring a concern of mine and many others from my school to your attention. As you may know, I'm... we'll call it a gravel-like substance, if you will, was installed in our school quad about a year and a half ago. This substance has caused many issues to students, aides, and teachers, really just anyone who goes in our quad frequently. Our main concern is it produces dust when it's being kicked, and kids clearly are going to breathe it in because they're running around in the quad. This can lead to lung issues. And yes, the students are kicking it, but still, it's a concern. It really happens
068during every day, either nutrition, lunch, or when kids are just passing through to go their next period from PE. Another issue is it stains clothes, shoes, and backpacks. I provided a photo of the dust that I'm pretty sure all of you were given, of the dust in the early morning that was taken by a teacher. I was informed at the end of last week that turf is being added to our school quad. But I'm here to show these issues from a student's perspective and to make sure that all of, if you will, this gravel-like substance is removed in the process to better help use campus for our incoming Huskies. Thank you for your time and attention. So Mrs. Dabbs, if I may take the liberty, Dr. Aceves is going to speak with Madeline outside to
069let her know what the plans are. But we do have a consultant who has been working with us for a couple of months now to be able to come up with a remedy to that. We're very proud of the redesign of that quad area. It looks amazing in comparison to what it was. But we have recognized the fact that not only is it the dust, but the gravel goes onto the sidewalks that makes it just... not very becoming. So Dr. Aceves, if you wouldn't mind, Madeline, would you mind going out and having a conversation with Dr. Aceves? Thank you. Ms. Gutierrez, you're next. Or whatever order I called you in, I'm sorry. Who's next? Yes, thank you. Yeah, that's fine. Hi, my name is Guadalupe Heidi and I am currently an instructional assistant at Ceres
070with their dual immersion program. I am here today to speak about the upcoming changes to our program. I am I get to see firsthand the importance that our position has with the children in our schools. I am not here to speak for myself or for my position. I am here to speak for the students. I believe without our assistance in the classroom, it would not, it will only be that much harder for teachers to help students meet academic standards. We are here to help students to be heard, to be seen in a crowd of their peers. We not only assist the teachers with providing support, but we are one-on-one with the students that are struggling within the classroom. We provide this assistance so that then the teacher can provide instructionals to the students without having
071to stop the classroom and stop the learning. I believe that without our support the students would not benefit from the daily disruptions with behavior issues. And these changes truly do make me sad, make my peers sad, and it's disheartening because at the end of the day, it's going to be our students that are going to be affected. Thank you for your time. My name is Grace Basulto-Figueroa. I have two children in the dual immersion program. I have a fifth grader and a kindergartner. I'm here to share my concerns regarding the elimination of the DLI instructional aids. They are extremely important and essential component of the program, both for the students as well as the teachers and the staff. My son, Steven Figueroa, started the DLI program in 2020 when we had the wonderful distance learning
072year. He started the program the same year that the program was established and began here in this district. It has now been five great years of this program that I truly believe in and fully support. My daughter, Lorelei Figueroa, is now part of the program as well. She's in kindergarten. And I want her to have the same great support and education that my son has had all these years. It being the fifth year of this amazing program, it really saddens me and concerns me that the aides are being eliminated. Eliminating this necessary support to the students will only increase the burden on the teachers and highly risk compromising the quality and integrity of the program altogether. A successful dual immersion program, as it has been for the past five years, requires adequate staffing, resources, and
073instructional aids to continue achieving these goals for more years to come. I want the DLI program to continue to succeed and grow here in the EWCSD, and eliminating instructional aids is, in my opinion, not going in the right direction. This program has brought in students from other schools and even other districts, which is a great thing to see, I think, in any district. So I respectfully urge you to please reconsider this decision to eliminate the instructional aids. They are an irreplaceable and extremely valuable asset to the great program we have. Investing in this program is an investment in student achievement, our community, and overall long-term strength of the district. Good evening, everyone. My name is Shelly Honeywell. I'm a parent and special education teacher. I have two students, Parker and Claire. Parker in fourth grade
074and Claire in first grade. And as a longtime educator in Whittier and now a resident of East Whittier, when we bought our home, it was top priority for Parker to continue in the DLI program and have Claire join him once she was ready. I have great concern with concerns with the district's proposal to remove the instructional aids from the DLI program for the kindergarten to second grades for two reasons. I'm concerned that without the aid support in the classroom, younger students with summer birthdays will struggle more than kids that are born right after the cutoff, making them much older. My daughter has a late summer birthday and was born just months before the start of the COVID pandemic. She was an exceptionally shy student when she started kindergarten last year. Her social skills and confidence
075has grown tremendously at Ceres. She has an IEP and qualifies under SLI and is already receiving additional services with Ms. Monica and Ms. Cervantes to help her catch up with academic skills that her peers have already mastered. Of course, we are working with her at home. I am concerned that if instructional aid supports are removed from classrooms next year as she'll be a second grader, this could increase, limit her progress, increase frustration, and could change how she feels about school. Secondly, I'm concerned about the kindergarten students now who are also COVID babies. And if the instructional aids are removed from the primary gates, I'm concerned that students with IEPs, this could limit their access to DLI programs because there are not instructional aids to meet their unique needs if they don't require one-on-one support. Finally,
076with having limited access to peer models that are native speakers in their classes, children will have difficulty acquiring the new language and it will create additional stress for the DLA teachers as they will have to work harder to make sure they can meet the needs of all their students. Thank you for your time. Hello, my name is Michelle Ortiz. I've been to many of these meetings and spoke many times, but you know I like to reiterate everything they have said, but I also like to ask that the board members actually go to the school and in the classroom and see firsthand how important these positions are. Not only these positions, but at the last meeting they were talking about the special education. These Teachers are put through the wringer and I really think that, like
077they said, the students are the ones that are affected by it. A lot of the behaviors right now have increased and taking away these positions only affects the other students in the classroom. more time away from learning and more time redirecting the students. So I encourage you to please visit the classrooms first hand, not one time, not two times, but a couple of times so that you can see first hand what the behaviors are like now. in the classroom. It's not the same as it was in the past. Also, I'd like to speak on behalf of Ceres. The student population has increased. It's 560 right now. And I think we need to catch up with accommodations all around. I don't think that was considered. And I've been there for 14 years as a parent. to
078see it go from 200 to 560 is a big jump and the accommodations were not considered all around the campus. Trash, lunch, you know, it's a big difference. So, thank you. Our next five will be Yadira Gutierrez, Lisa Fragoso, Jessica Tapia, Cynthia Moreno, and Hema Guerrero-Lopez. You all have two minutes. Start now. Hi, my name is Celina Gutierrez and I'm the dual immersion kindergarten teacher at series elementary And I'm here to speak about the plans cuts for bilingual instructional aids that will take effect next school year And I want to be very clear about what this means not just for me as a teacher before our students For the past five years that have been as serious I have watched how the children are more confident than two languages because they are supported every single
079day and that just didn't happen it by chance. It's because it happened because the students had access to bilingual instructional aids who could meet them where they are, the language that they understand at the moment that they need the support in. So next year that the support will be gone and when And that happens, the students are going to feel, especially the little ones, students who are still acquiring language, still learning how the school works, still building the foundation for everything that comes next. And research is clear that early language appropriate support reduces the need for long-term academic intervention. So students who receive targeted support in the early grades are significantly less likely to need costly interventions in the future. So yet in our district, there's no intervention available in Spanish for any grade level.
080So this year, our DLI kindergarten teachers did not receive intervention in English or Spanish, not because there was no need, but because bilingual aids were already providing that inside the classroom. So removing aids does not remove the need. It just delays it and increases cost later. So without bilingual aids, I will be the only language model in the classroom. And one person can try, but in order for it to work, there's a lot of scaffolding that needs to happen, a lot of feedback. with two languages. And that is just not how dual language programs are successful. So I want to highlight that this district alone does not have a dual language specialist guiding the program. Their responsibility then falls on the teachers with curriculum alignment in order to sustain it. And we're called the experts,
081and that's great, but the dual language program requires intentional progression from elementary to now that it's going to go to middle school. And then the cuts are just increasing. So offering a stipend does not replace the instructional support. We appreciate it, but we definitely need somebody in the classroom. Thank you. Thank you. I'm Lisa Fragosto and I teach third grade for the East Whittier Dual Immersion Academy. I was shocked to find out that all the bilingual A's may be let go at the end of this year. Not just cut in hours, but completely eliminated, even in kindergarten. We don't get the same support as English only classes. This is a matter of equity. Our district coaches can't even demonstrate lessons in our class because they don't speak Spanish or even know about DLI strategies. Let
082me do a demonstration. Okay, I'm the teacher and you're the students. Well, you've just been immersed like a kindergartner in a language you likely didn't know. Most of our kindergartners start that way. The aides have provided essential tier one support to help students be successful, especially the intervention that was spoken of, because we get zero intervention in Spanish. Board members, have you been in the dual immersion classroom in the early first weeks of school? Followed up on what support is needed? Our students come from all your voting districts. Every elementary school has students in our program. You know, reasons have been given, budget cuts. Other districts don't have bilingual aides, but they do have those district DLI coaches. We don't. And then they've ensured there's equal representation of Spanish speakers and English speakers. We don't.
083Our website says it, but it's never been enforced, and it's on a first-come, first-served basis. It's essential. There's no hope for me in third grade to get an aide at this point, but for kindergarten and first grade, they need it. Our DLI program has different needs, and the pain of the aid should not come from our school budget. This is a district program. The cost for our five aides is much less than one of the coaches. Our aides have been an essential boost in supporting our students. Their positions feel like an abandonment and a sabotage. And that was Romanian. I asked you if you like dogs and to talk to your neighbor. Did it work? Hi, good evening. My name is Jessica Tapia, and I am the mother of Aisha Daulatse, who is a kindergartner
084at Ceres Elementary. Although we attend Ceres Elementary, our homeschool is actually Ocean View. So this is a district program. It's not just people living over there in Ceres in that unincorporated area. So as a parent... It's really important for me to have all those supports for my daughter, everything that I can get. I also have a three-year-old who I'm hoping will attend Ceres Elementary. As a parent, these programs are really important to me. In my job, I'm a lecturer in PSOL linguistics at the University of San Diego. Part of my job is teaching teachers about second language acquisition. And two major components of second language acquisition are having comprehensible input, which they get from their teachers, and having a lower affective filter. One of the benefits of having an aide in the classroom is if
085students are uncomfortable or shy or something like that, an aide can work with them one-on-one, and they're not put on the spot. And they're able to work out that language without that nervousness that shuts down second language learning. So I... Really, the theory and the science, the social science behind this indicates that you have to keep those dual language aids. Losing the aids would severely impact this program. So, I mean, I wish I could talk to you more, but I think this is it, right? Okay. Well, thank you very much. Good evening. My name is Cynthia Moreno. I am a parent of a dual immersion fourth grader at series elementary My son was his home school was evergreen but ever since East Whittier announced that they were gonna have a DLI I was constantly Checking
086up and refreshing that page to make sure that my son got the opportunity to attend this wonderful program You have a jewel But by eliminating these aids, you are destabilizing this program. Please think of our students. Please think of our teachers. This is a wonderful program. I urge you to please go to the classrooms. See what they're doing. You are setting up these students for a great future. And hopefully they will come back and they could be part of this educational board. I urge you, please reconsider this. We as parents know how important this is. And perhaps you just need to see. My son has grown so much, and I owe it so much to these instructional aides because they were able to give him one-on-one support that he really needed. Thank you so much.
087Good evening. My name is Gemma Guerrero-Lopez, and I am a dual-language teacher at Ceres Elementary and a proud former student from Moeller Elementary and East Whittier Middle School. Six years ago, I had the honor of becoming one of the founding dual language teachers with Julie Gonzalez and Gabby Tevidean when they launched the program. I was delighted to know that a school in the district that raised me would finally provide bilingual education to children like me and that I would be directly making it happen. With the support of our bilingual aides. We built strong classroom practices rooted in culturally relevant Pedagogy we provide students access to language of their culture the ability connect to connect with their grandparents and Meaningful can content in two languages our aides don't just assist they are central partners in delivering
088high quality culturally responsive Instruction to our students that they deserve Over the years, enrollment in our program has grown because families see the value of what we offer. Parents choose our dual language classrooms because they know their children will thrive academically. While honoring their culture and linguistic heritage, I am truly heartbroken to hear that our amazing bilingual aids will be removed from our dual language classrooms. Let me be clear, bilingual aids are tier one instruction in our MTSS framework that we are so proud of. Removing them doesn't just impact our program, it undermines the very foundation of equitable support we've worked to build. Our aids bridge language gaps, provide immediate intervention, and ensure every child has access to grade-level content in their home language. Without them, we risk turning our dual language program into something
089far less than what it's designed to be. I'm asking you to reconsider the decisions. Our students, our families, and our community deserve better. Mrs. Debs, that is the final comment, but I did want to elaborate on one piece that was not accurate. None of our district, none of our schools across the district receive district-funded instructional assistance to support the program, whether they're DLI or they are. in the general education EO classrooms. We are extremely proud of our DLI program, and I do want to point out that Ceres, in order to support the DLI program, receives over $200,000 extra to be able to support that program that is not given to our other schools. Dr. Aldana will be working with Dr. Gonzalez and our budget team to be able to talk about different options for title
090funding that other schools do use in order to support classroom instruction. Thank you, Dr. Patterson. I just want to thank all of our dedicated folks that came to comment. And I just want to comment that as someone who only spoke Spanish until I was in first grade, I care very deeply about these programs, as does our whole board of education. And so we really appreciate hearing your concerns. We do take them to heart, and we count on Dr. Patterson and our administrative team to lead us in our final decision making. But thank you again for sharing. this program because we've seen, all of us have seen the tremendous benefits that dual language immersion programs bring to our children and to our community. So thank you again so much. Next up we have Dr. Aceves who's
091going to share a presentation on first interim report and budget stabilization plan. Dr. Aceves? Thank you. Good evening. Tonight I am here to present on two important interrelated components of our district budget, our fiscal stabilization plan and the first interim report. The two are connected as we use the information from our fiscal stabilization plan to build our budget assumptions for the first interim report. I'm going to first present on the fiscal stabilization plan. Over the last several years, our entire district has worked collaboratively to address our structural deficit or deficit spending while maintaining excellent instructional programs for our students. Every June, when our district submits the adopted budget to LACO, we receive a letter outlining our strengths and areas for improvement. This is the section of the letter. from the June Lake O letter in
092which it states that our district continues to deficit spend and as such we must continue to develop a fiscal stabilization plan. Tonight I want to briefly review what we have discussed and shared with the community, our board and staff as identified cuts or savings we can realize to address our district's deficit spending. What I want to highlight are the changes we have made to maximize restricted funds to free up general fund dollars. You can see above that we moved 10 instructional specialists and 10 instructional aides to ELOP funding or restricted Funding to free up the general fund as a result of measured reductions that you can see up here We have been able to plan for additional instructional coaches to provide direct services to teachers in their classroom in the 26 27 school year This
093slide remains unchanged from the adopted budget presentation that was presented at previous board meetings and to our staff in our community Yes, absolutely This all leads up to our first interim report as we have used all of the assumptions outlined in the fiscal stabilization plan to project our expenses for the next three school years I also want to thank our director of fiscal services Carlos Pena and our entire fiscal team For their work up to this point in the school year They are an excellent team and we appreciate their diligence in making sure our budgeting accounting and payroll processes are highly accurate The first interim report is an important part of the budget cycle as it provides a clear picture of our budget activity at this time in the school year. First interim provides an
094updated budget, projected budget for the next three years, is based on financial information and spending through October 31st, includes any changes to revenue or expenses since the adopted budget was presented to you in June, and is required to be approved by you and submitted by LACO today. So we're right on time. This slide highlights the different certifications a budget can receive. East Whittier continues to maintain a positive certification or positive qualification. This is a visual that demonstrates the kind of revenue the district receives, highlighting that the largest source of revenue, 72.4% of our revenue, is from LCFF funding. This graph represents how EWCSD spends those revenues or our expenses. Of course, we spend the largest percentage on our staffing costs. 81% of our total expenditures are spent on our staff. As the first interim report
095was prepared, these are the budget assumptions used to develop the report. We assumed full implementation of the fiscal stabilization plan, as we outlined a few slides ago, changes to enrollment and attendance, which you can see up on this chart, and a slight unduplicated count increase. I want to thank our schools and our departments for their efforts to ensure that we have the most accurate student data available to submit to the state. All of our data confirmation and attendance incentives pay off. This positively impacts our three-year unduplicated average and our annual ADA. If you remember just three years ago, EWCSD had only a 58% unduplicated count. With all of these efforts, we now are at 65, almost 65%, or over 65%, which dramatically increases our budget every year or our revenues. When develop when developing the
096first interim report the predicted cola rates and changes in expenses and revenue since the Adopted budget were also assumed it is also important to note that negotiations remain unsettled So any future bargaining agreements that may take place are not factored into the multi-year projections So here is our multi-year projections. You can see the column that we're most highlighting tonight is actually the third column, the middle column here. As you can see, after all of our collaborative efforts to identify cuts and reduce unrestricted spending, If we remain committed to our planning and our fiscal stabilization plan, our multi-year projections show that East Whittier will no longer be deficit spending in the 27-28 school year. So this is a really big, a really big positive accomplishment for us. What this slide is showing is that since the
097adopted budget presented to you in June, there's been a slight increase in federal LCFF and local revenue, and there was also a slight decrease in expenditures. Because we have identified a very focused fiscal stabilization plan we see these positive results if we continue to follow the plan and Align staffing with enrollment it will yield positive results in the out years Thank you Board are there any questions for dr. Service? So the third year out of 2728 I want to my reading that our reserves will be 501 So that will be that will be the difference between revenue and expenditures So we will no longer be spending more than we're taking in so we'll actually be spending what that showing So we're spending five hundred thousand dollars less than what we take in what is what
098is our reserve at that point? Is it do you have that available? So the unrestricted reserve would be that unrestricted and unassigned unrestricted plus the reserve for economic uncertainties You know percent that is it um well right now. It's about the 12% So leading out it would be a little bit higher than that I'd like to go back again to that fiscal stabilization. You don't mind yes, absolutely Okay, you know I I just don't like the idea of getting real rid of the dual language aids I isn't there any way you can fix that somehow to you spend more money than we have. Well, but there's got to be something you can, I mean, it just seems like there's got to be another way without overspending that we could work with it. So Mr. Chukung,
099in response to many of the comments, you know, we did, we did provide additional supports to the series when we began our dual language immersion program. Originally, what we had assumed when we launched this over five years ago was the idea that it would also bring in students from other districts. There is not a district around that does not have a DLI program anymore. So it is really a series taking students from other schools within our district to be able to do that. So then in order with the way that the program works, and we have 25 plus students in our kindergarten classes. when those students get into third, fourth, and fifth grade, they have classes of about 21 in our EO classes, our classes that are only in English. So that does cost us
100about $150,000 to support that program. So it is, it is not, it is, and... despite what was mentioned earlier, we do not provide any intervention, any instructional aids to our classes out of district funding that calls comes from a title one funding. So that's what the conversation with the series staff needs to be. Just like we had the conversation with the IBSAs last year. Um, if this is something that is critical to the program, then, then we have to have a conversation with the title one funding ad series. Yeah. Well, I think it is critical because like, you know, all the comments, and I agree. The students are the ones that are going to be impacted. And that just really, that really kind of hits me right here because I don't want to see that.
101You know, it's a great program. I know they get more money than the other schools because they are DLI, but I just hate to mess with a good thing. And I wish there was something we could do to not have that on there. It just really gets me. The reduced portion of the staggered plan the three-year plan those are all the positions that we reduced that it will afford just that positive not to be Is there I mean we're looking at June so there's this Hopefully a chance that something can be looked at and there's no promises, but there's always a chance But I know we got to submit this for the county because I County so we get that point so Maybe something comes through for that. But I understand where we're at because
102we have to submit a positive report to the county. So even if we have to submit a positive report to the county, we can still work with it and change it? Correct. Okay. And it is your prerogative to tell us whatever it is that you want to do. We just provide you guidance and our opinions of what we believe is going on across all 14 schools in our district. That's what I'm saying. It's because today is the deadline date for the county However, however we will be bringing an item to the February board meeting that calls for all the layoff positions that will be across the district as we do every year That would be the point of no return. So Zoe is our way to find out without reducing those five or so, adding
103them to the budget and see how much in three years out will be. So let me be very clear. So even though we are now at, we would have a positive certification no matter what. that we're talking about a 90 to $100,000 swing. So it would just be that we would be returning ourselves to a potential negative deficit spending. But that is something that we could do. We could look at other offsets. We could look at a staggered approach and potentially looking at maybe only kinder and maybe making it a kinder level support. But I will say, we do not provide this support to any of our other schools. And when we talk about equity, equity would be that this is something that we need to look at because we are giving Ceres far more
104support than we give any of our other schools. This is not the time to speak. I know we give them more money, but I do think that what they're saying is valid. But I understand. Anything else because I want to comment also. Mr. Baird, anything you'd like to share? Dr. Sevis, I also think it's important. This is a very, very challenging situation. And I think it's also important for our community to know that, for example, when I started in the district in 2018, I believe there were 8,700 students? 8,600. 8,600. So declining enrollment has become a huge issue, not just in our district, but across Whittier, across Southern California, across the country. As student enrollment declines, so too goes our funding. When student enrollment is up, then there is more funding. Right now, we've had
105a massive amount of decline in student enrollment and students being in a seat, average daily attendance. It's not an excuse. It's just a statement of fact. And so as my heart also feels very strongly, as does I know our board, as well as Mr. Conkennedy sharing. The fact of the matter is that many districts around us, and probably some of you know, have closed schools in order to just basically stay afloat. And so as we have these conversations, they're very challenging for us as a board, and we know that they're challenging for you. But know that, again, we're being led by the information that is shared by Dr. Patterson. We're being led by our own expertise. We're being led by the county. lets us know is indicative and important for us to do and so
106Please know that we take these concerns very seriously But because of the kind of enrollment and because of the fact that we've made the commitment to do DLI at Ceres in the hopes that it would increase Enrollment dr. Patterson again. You've indicated in conversation that you and I have had that that did not Come to pass correct Well, yeah, at that point in time, not all of the surrounding districts had a DLI program. So specifically when we were looking at, but all of those districts now have DLI programs that would not bring students into our district. So that was our hope. But we will continue to look at this alongside each other and alongside you, Dr. Patterson, to see what we can do. Like I said, this is the proposal at the time. Right, of
107course. Anything else, Dr. Seves or board? Thank you very much. Thank you. Dr. Severs. Don't you're not off the hook yet. We have to approve this. So are we here? Okay. This is an action item. Is it? Yes. No, it doesn't say that. It just says. Okay. It is an action item. Oh, okay. So it was supposed to be an action. Okay. Any other discussion board then? Okay. Can I get a motion to. I so move. Can I get a second? Okay, so it's been moved and seconded and mrs. Vanasana. Would you please call for a vote? Mr. Tiago. Yes Yes, mr. Aparicio. Yes Mrs. Kennedy No, no, it's dad Sorry, mr. Sinead. Yes Mr. Mayor no Dr. Patterson, will you ensure that this item is corrected so that it shows that it's an action
108item and that it was voted on? Okay. Okay. Thank you Pass motion passes All right. This next item is an action item. It is the ratification of the 2025-2026 Maran of Understanding, MOU. Can I get a motion? I move the recommendation that the Board of Education ratify the 2025-2026 Memorandum of Understanding between East Radio City School District and California School Employee Association, number 87, regarding the modification of scope of duties and salary range for the information, services, technology aid job description. Thank you. Can I get a second? Second. It's been moved by Mr. Aparicio, seconded by Mr. Tiago. Is there any discussion board? I did want to provide some context for the next three items. Dr. Vargas and her team, along with both the representatives from EWE as well as CSCA, took a look at
109our compensation and classification study to be able to determine what the priorities were. We've already made some changes to our certified management side of the house with that compensation study. With this particular agreement with these three, if these three do pass, this is the first step in looking at that classification and compensation study and the priorities that the district and CSEA have. We are still working with EWE to determine what their... interests really are, and then we would be bringing items back potentially as a part of negotiations. But this is another step towards taking the data and the information that we receive from the classification and compensation study and providing changes to our job descriptions as well as our salary ranges. Thank you, Dr. Batterson. Any questions, board? Ms. Valenzuela, would you please call for
110the vote? Mr. Tiaga? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Ms. Kennedy? Yes. Ms. Dabbs? Yes. And Mr. Beyer? Yes. Motion passes. Thank you next item one item three correct. I just want to make sure okay I'm with the recommendation at the Board of Education ratify the 2025-2026 Memorandum of Understanding between East Winter City School District and California School Employees Association number 87 regarding the modification of salary range and duties for the information services technology aid slash Repo graphics operator job description. Thank you gonna get a second It's been moved by mr. Alpariz who seconded by mrs. Chacon Kennedy any Questions board hearing then mrs. Bellis weather would you please call for the vote sir Tiago? Yes, mr. Oparicio. Yes Mrs. Kennedy yes, mr. Dabbs. Yes Mr. Baird yes motion passes Thank you. We're now on item four.
111I move the recommendation of the Board of Education to ratify the 2025-2026 Memorandum of Understanding between East Winter City School District and California School Employees Association, number 87, regarding the increase in rate for instructional assistance for classifications. Thank you. Can I get a second? Second. It's been moved by Mr. Aparicio, seconded by Mr. Tiaga. Any discussion, board, on this item? Hearing none, Mrs. Valenzuela, would you please call for the vote? Mr. Tiaga? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Ms. Kennedy? Yes. Ms. Dabbs? Yes. Mr. Behr? Yes. Motion passes. Thank you. We are now on item five, is that correct? Correct. I move the recommendation that the Board of Education approve the award of bid BYR 25-26, Emma Wicker Auditorium Innovation Project to Builders United. Can I get a second? I'll second. It's been moved by Mr. Aparicio,
112seconded by Mrs. Chacon-Kennedy. Any discussion or anything, Dr. Patterson, that you want to add regarding this? We're just excited. Okay. Anything else? I know that there were some last-minute things that we... Change or just there was that there was a bid protest by one of the competing bidders I'm working with our legal counsel We have satisfied Those protests and are putting this forward to actually begin going out to construct the building or renovate the building Any other questions? No, it just always like The lowest bid. I mean, it just doesn't sound really good. But I understand it's the lowest bid with everything that has to be done. But I am excited about this. Thank you. Yes, I'm excited, too. Anything else, board? All right. Hearing none, Mrs. Bonansuela, would you please call for the vote?
113Mr. Tiaga? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Ms. Kennedy? Yes. Ms. Dabbs? Yes. And Mr. Bayer? Yes. Motion passes. Thank you. Our next item is our final item of the evening. Is there any member of the board who would like to pull an item from a consent agenda for a separate consideration? No? All right. Moving on then to item two. I move that the Board of Education approve the consent agenda items K-3 through K-11. Thank you. May I get a second? Second. It has been moved by Mr. Aparicio, seconded by Mr. Tiaga. Any discussion before we proceed with the vote? Anything? All right, Mrs. Bonasuela, would you please call for the vote? Mr. Tiaga? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Ms. Kennedy? Yes. Ms. Dabbs? Yes. Mr. Baird? Yes. Motion passes. Thank you. Before we close, I want to
114make sure that everyone that's here as well as our YouTube audience knows that this is our last meeting of 2025. And again, we thank you so much for being here. Our next Board of Education meeting will be held on Monday, January 13th. And before we... Missed abs real quick. I think that's Tuesday, right? The 13th? Oh. It's Tuesday. Oh, thanks for checking. Yeah. Yes. So it's either Monday the 12th or... Is it the 12th? Yeah. Are we doing the 12th or is there a reason for the 13th? It should be Monday the 12th. Monday the 12th. And according to the calendar, it's at... We're going to be at Mulberry? We're going to be at Mulberry. Okay, we'll be at Mulberry. Thank you, Mr. Apatissa, for that correction. So we will be at Mulberry Elementary School
115on Monday the 12th. Can I get a motion? I so move to adjourn this meeting. Can I get a second? Second. Thank you. Moved by Mr. Aparicio, seconded by Mr. Tiaga. Any comments, board, before we conclude? Yeah, I just wanted to say, like, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. You celebrate Christmas, of course, just for the, like, two and a half, three weeks that you get on break. So Merry Christmas. Thank you, Mr. Baird. Anybody else? I just want to add on, you know. Any types of cuts or changes that we do is always tough and you know our responsibility to the district and to the county because they have the regulations their timelines and what we're going to do at times sometimes are never Don't match you know there's a requirement that we have to
116submit a positive certification at this date So that's where we're at now and as mentioned earlier You know if there are things that we can bring back because of funding changes or there's the board Has the priorities or something that has come up there is some time There's no promises that that would happen But there's still some options to do that a lot of times we have to provide a positive certification So we have to make these projected reductions right now in December, but what next semester looks like or next next school year looks like or next calendar year looks like could be a little bit different and so We do understand that every position not just DLA But every position is important to our district and so we thank the speakers for coming in
117and yes We do understand the impact and we do care we do care but we have to be able to provide a certification to the county. And so I'm hoping you understand that it's not because we're insensitive, we don't respect the program or we don't think it's important. So we have to be able to do that, but we're always looking to provide the best services we can as possible and we will continue to do that. And so give us opportunities to look into that and see how we can continue to do that. But as we know, we're dropping ADA students. I'm not showing in the numbers that we wanted with our DLA program So there's a lot of things that have to be looked at too as well So it's a difficult position to be
118in we totally understand That's our role to we know how difficult that is and sometimes it's very hard to do that the to You cut programs or people and so we hope that you give us an opportunity to see what we can do and if that's something that can be looked at but at the end of the day we have to do Fiscally what's responsible to our district? So I'm hoping that everyone understands that That's something I second when mr. Tava has to say like I said We definitely will be looking into not just those positions but many more of the other positions that are are supposed to be reduced so like I said just to be able to put us as a positive. That was one of the main reasons, of course. I think
119everybody on the board just said yes, but we definitely will be looking at it way more closely now that we have more information regarding that. And just last, I just want to say thank you to Ms. Kennedy for leading us, you know, as being president this for the last year and definitely looking with Ms. Debs as president this year. Thank you. Just a few things, yeah. And I agree with everything that you said, but, you know, my responsibility is not to anybody but the kids. So that's what I'm concerned with, and I know we'll work this, even though I did vote no, I know we're going to work together and get this resolved. But, like I say, I hate to see, like everybody says, any cut hurts the kids. I don't care what kind of
120cut it is. But anyway, so I want everybody to have wonderful holidays. Rest, relax. get tanned or whatever so i've gone and don't forget to uh save water even though it's winter save water i ride your bike thank you thank you i also want to echo our board our board works very well together and even though sometimes we have disagreements we work very hard to do the things that mrs jackon kennedy mr chiaga and mr abadisu just spoke of and we will be revisiting things And we will be looking at some of the cuts that are going to have to be made and making sure that we have given it our utmost time and attention. This is something we always do, but again, we are living and breathing in very challenging financial times. And I
121know for a fact, I'm going to repeat this again, there are districts around us doing much, much worse. I have a girlfriend who teaches in a district that's over the hill, and it shall not be named, but very, very challenging things going on there. and that district used to be huge, it's now much smaller. And so as our attendance shrinks, so too must we make decisions regarding where our resources can go. And as Mrs. Chacon-Kennedy has stated, our number one primary function as a board is to the children of this district. And that's something when we all have made the commitment to be here that we know that that is. commitment and so we want to reassure all of you that that is something we'll be doing working alongside Dr. Patterson but again acknowledging that
122our county makes it incumbent upon us to be fiscally responsible so from my part also I want to wish you all that celebrate Christmas to have a great Christmas or a great Hanukkah or any other special celebration that you do at this time of year and we will be looking forward to seeing you at Mulberry on January. The 12th. Any more discussion, board? All right. Hearing none, Mrs. Valenzuela, will you please call for the vote? Mr. Tiaga? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Mrs. Kennedy? Yes. Ms. Dabbs? Yes. Mr. Barrett? Yes. Motion passes. Thank you. Have a good evening, everybody. See you in 2026. Did you happen?