001Okay, good evening everybody. I called the meeting to order at 6 p.m. I would like to call up the students from Evergreen and Oceanview. I'm right up here. She'll lead us in the flag salute. Do you all want to say your names? Tell us what school you're from, your name, and what school you go to. I'm from Evergreen, and my name is Isabella Sosa. My name's Mary Jane Garcia, and I'm from Evergreen. My name is Jackson Vasquez, and I am from Motion View Elementary. Press the button. Hi, my name is Rodrigo Costa, and I'm in fifth grade, and I'm in Ocean View Elementary. Hi, my name is Isaac Mendoza, and I'm from Ocean View Elementary School. You're the oldest, right? Go for it. Go for it, yeah. Go for it. Oh, we had practice here.
002Hoods, mats. Dr. Hetz. Please stand. Please stand. 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. Okay, would you kids like to tell us who brought you here tonight? Introduce your families or whoever brought you here. Okay. Go ahead. My dad and my sister brought me here. Where are they? Back here? Oh, okay, that's okay, that's okay. That's all right. My mom, dad, and sister brought me here. And my mom's right there. My mom, dad, and brother brought me, and they're in the back. My mom and dad brought me here. My mom, dad, and brother brought me here. My dad brought me here. Thank you very much. Great job. Thank you. Okay, on to employee recognition. Evergreen. Hi. Good
003evening. Today I have the honor of recognizing someone who truly embodies the heart of Evergreen, our beloved kinder teacher, Ms. Ada Nunez. Ada isn't just part of our school, she is evergreen. She walked these halls as a student, I might be giving an award away, and now she fills them with joy, purpose, and transformative learning every single day. Her classroom is a vibrant hub of excitement and engagement. Her students arrive eager, her attendance is the highest in the entire school, and her families trust her deeply, evident in the incredible parent involvement she inspires. Ada doesn't just teach, she builds bridges between homes and schools that empower families to be active partners in their child's education. She's a leader in every sense of the word. She serves on ILT, PBIS, our school site council, and also
004our leader in me, which is our student council. She supports new teachers and is a BITSA coach and serves as an executive member of our PTA. She helps shape our school-wide vision with clarity and heart. And Ada is a team player, a mentor, and a model of what it means to lead with heart and excellence. It is my honor to work alongside her, but it's Evergreen's true blessing to have such a knowledgeable, radiant soul shaping the future of education, one joyful, intentional moment at a time. Congratulations. Thank you. Are we talking? There's so many people. I thought I would get away with it. There's so many people here. I do want to thank my family, my husband, and my kids. You know, as teachers, we can't do this without them, so thank you. And of
005course, our Evergreen family, the staff that's here, thank you. It's such a privilege to work with people that love and support the kids and the community that we serve. So it is just a joy and a privilege to go to work with you guys every day. And I feel very lucky. So thank you. I love you guys. Okay, next up, we have Miss Soto. Come on over. She loves the spotlight. Come on. All right. Well, this is our Classified Employee of the Year, Ms. Elizabeth Soto. Elizabeth has been a dedicated member of Evergreen for almost two decades, serving as an instructional assistant in our star room, known as our intervention space. She's also supported us as a bilingual aide as well. Her impact spans across grade levels, supporting students from kindergarten through fifth grade in
006both ELA and math. She's eager, dependable, and always ready to step in wherever she's needed. She's a true team player, never hesitating to lend a hand, offer a solution, which is really important, or simply be present for our students and staff. Beyond her daily work, she leads our after-school book club, creating a space where students can practice their reading, access books, and deepen their love for literacy. Whether a student needs extra time or is reading beyond grade level, Ms. Soto makes every child feel seen, supported, and challenged. No student is too hard for her, and no student is unteachable. She finds the good in every child and makes a difference, one student at a time. Her grace and patience and her unwavering belief in our students, especially those who need us most, are a gift
007to our school community. We are so fortunate to have Ms. Soto's support, her love for our students, and her commitment to Evergreen. She's quite a force of compassion and excellence, and today we celebrate her with deep gratitude and pride. Congratulations. First and foremost I want to thank everyone here all the parents that send their kids to school and trust us To take care of them every single day I want to thank the evergreen staff for always being To cheer us on every single day and just to my family and for Always being there for us, and thank you to everyone at East Whittier for making this a place to call home We're going to roar. Roar pledge. Hold on. We're getting situated. We have children who are going to do our roar pledge for you.
008Come on, kids. Come on. This way. Make your way. There you go. Okay, go on up. Go on up. There we go. So while they're getting set up, this is our roar pledge that we say every single day at school, and our student council is going to lead you in it. Okay. Go ahead. Good job. You guys can come back. Come on. Good job. You guys did awesome. Thank you. All right. So a little bit about our theme. So first off, I am Kelly Morrow. I am the principal over at Evergreen. And as you can see on our slide, our theme this year is race to excellence and speeding to success. But when most people hear this word race, they picture the race cards flying around the track. Their engines roaring, tires screeching, the checkered
009flag. Fun fact, my mom is a huge NASCAR fan, so I've actually been to some races. But when I think of the race, I don't see the driver, I see the pit crew. And that's what I want to highlight with our theme this year, is the ones working behind the scenes, checking our engines, changing tires, fueling up the car, keeping everything running perfectly. It's the reason the driver has the victory. So as the new principal at Evergreen, I see our school the same way, and I have an incredible pit crew around me. Our Board of Education, Dr. Patterson, our Executive Cabinet, you keep us fueled and focused and help to make sure that we have what we need to stay in the race. Our district team is always checking in. They're checking our engines, giving
010us guidance, and making sure that we're ready for every lap. and my amazing staff. They're the heartbeat of the race. They're the ones making sure our students have their safety gear, their seat belts, their tuned-up engines, and the confidence to push forward full speed ahead. So at Evergreen, we're not just coasting along. We're driven by purpose, teamwork, and a shared commitment to excellence because our kids and our families and our community deserve nothing less. And speaking of the pit crew, you do have some spare tires on your desk. They might be donuts too, but as a thank you for being part of our pit crew. And not just for me, but for our entire Evergreen family. Because at every great race, while the spotlight might shine on the driver, it's the pit crew that makes
011that victory possible. So thank you so much for your dedication and support. And thank you to our amazing students and families at Evergreen, because we are not just racing to excellence, we're speeding towards success. So thank you. Good evening. I just want to say great job to Kelly for her very first board meeting. I love it. She did a great job. My name is Kim Songer. I'm the very proud principal at Ocean View Elementary School, and it's been a great honor to be here tonight and to celebrate our kids and our staff and our employees. So the first person I want to call up is a friend and a colleague, Cecilia, or Miss Ceci, as we call her, Yerena. Come on up. Miss Sessi, I could talk for hours, but it's such an honor to
012recognize her as our Employee of the Month. She is our incredible school social worker. Sessi has a heart for kids like no one else. She leads with compassion, integrity, and an unwavering commitment to doing what's right, always, for students. Whether it's helping a child in crisis, like she did this morning at the gate, supporting a family in need. or just being a calm and steady presence for sometimes the kids and often for me. Ceci shows up every single day to make a difference. There are so many days when Ceci and I are the last ones on the campus calling parents, working with DCFS, or finding support for our students who struggle the most. She never gives up on kids, and she never leaves until she knows they're cared for. While I what I love most
013about sessy is her positivity no matter how tough the situation and let me tell you some of them are very tough She brings calm she brings hope and she brings a genuine kindness our staff completely trusts her because she's earned it They know when CESI is involved, students will be supported with empathy, respect, and follow through. CESI, you make Oceanview a stronger, kinder, and more connected school community, and it's an absolute pleasure and privilege to work alongside you. Congratulations. I prepared a little speech. So good evening, everyone. I am so honored to be standing here tonight receiving this award and representing OV along with Ms. Angela. It's the best place to be. And this is my fifth year in the district, and my consistent home throughout this time has been at Ocean View with Mrs.
014Songer. Being able to serve the Ocean View community has been incredibly special to me. I've loved building relationships, celebrating accomplishments, and being there to provide support during the tough times. I've also loved working alongside our amazing teachers, aides in and out of the classroom, and of course, our principal, Mrs. Unger. It has truly been a gift, and without all of you, I wouldn't be able to serve our Dolphins the way that I have the past five years. I also want to recognize my wellness team at Student Services and my wonderful colleagues who support me every day. And to my parents, family, boyfriend, and friends, thank you for your constant love and encouragement through all of the long days. I truly love my job as a school social worker, and I'm so grateful for this honor.
015Thank you. Now she's going to make me cry. All right. Classified Employee of the Month, Angela Martinez, get up here. Come on up. It's my absolute pleasure to recognize our Classified Employee of the Month, Angela Martinez. Angela is the kind of person every school dreams of having. She's dependable, she's hardworking, and she's full of heart. She takes her role as supervising assistant to another level, leading with confidence and care. She is making sure at all times that the other supervisors are supported, that they're informed, they're working together. And she does all this with such positivity and professionalism. We can always count on her to make sure things run smoothly. But what really makes Angela shine is her heart for kids, especially those who need a little extra patience, a little more understanding, a lot more
016TLC. She has this amazing ability to connect with students who are having really tough days, offering love and support while also holding them accountable and helping them grow. Angela strikes that perfect balance between structure and kindness. She's a little sassy and spicy too. And the kids feel it. She makes school a fun and safe place to be full of joy, not just for our students, but for all the adults too. Angela, you are the heartbeat at Oceanview. It truly wouldn't be the same without you. I love working with you and thank you for your leadership, your laughter, and your love of our school community. Congratulations. I just want to say thank you to everyone. Thank you to all the Oceanview staff. But I want to thank my husband and my son and my daughter, who's
017away at college, who I miss dearly. But I love what I do. I love my kids. I love building the relationships that I build with them. I don't know. I enjoy going to work every day. I love my crew. I love my crew. We're tight. And they make it enjoyable to come to work every day along with the kids and the teachers. And Mrs. Songer, it's always fun when we, you know, it's just a fun place to be. And then I add a little spice to it. So I just want to thank you. Thank you, everyone. Thank you. And tonight I have another honor to introduce our PTA president and have her come on up because come on up, Nicole. This year our PTA was given a distinguished award and they are now a national
018PTA school of excellence. Let's give her a round of applause. A little bit about this award. The path to becoming a school of excellence began with the PTA and the school leaders to strengthen family and school relationships. There were only 330 PTAs in schools nationwide to be recognized with this designation and Oceanview PTA was one of those schools. Congratulations. Nicole was president last year. She's completing her second term this year. Like all of you amazing PTA people, you live at school. She actually works at school and lives at school, it feels like. This was her challenge to take this on and to do all the back work and along with her amazing board that you can see in the picture. We cannot do school without PTA, and I can see all of the volunteering faces
019in this room. Just thank you so much, and we're so proud of our National School of Excellence PTA, Ocean View. Well done. Oh, well, good thing I'm prepared. Thank you to all the Ocean View parents and to Mrs. Songer and to my board. Yeah, in the back, that's hiding. And yeah, it wouldn't be the same without all the help of the parents that make up Ocean View as a unique place in the community that it is. So thank you guys. We texted yesterday. I said, buckle up. This is a busy week. We have the board meeting. We have a PTA meeting tomorrow, and our fall festival is Thursday. And so that's what I mean about how often people are on campus together, and we're a big family. Well, our school theme this year is to
020learning and beyond. And of course, we understand that learning happens at schools. That's given. But the beyond part is Ocean View. The beyond part is sitting over here in these rows, the teachers and some people over here at Ocean View. I want to give you guys a round of applause. Our teachers go above and beyond. The beyond are the kids that go above and beyond. More than just teaching these days, we're teaching kids to have character. We're teaching kids to be good citizens, and we couldn't be prouder of our Ocean View kids. So we're going to bring them in. We have a school theme song every year. My distinguished board, you have the lyrics in front of you and our executive cabinet over there. We'd love for you to sing along. The kids' voices that
021you hear in this song are actually our fifth grade chorus kids that are dubbed in singing this song. The lyrics kind of say it all. what it means to go to learning and beyond. These are our third grade junior council and our fourth and fifth grade student council kids. You guys going to join them? I think our future is bright because these are the kids that are going to be taking care of us. Let's have one more round of applause for these guys. Okay. Dr. Vargas? Dr. Vargas, before you go, anybody who's receiving an award tonight, we would like you to stay during the break so we can take pictures with the board. Good evening, everyone. I am Lilia Vargas, and I am the proud assistant superintendent of human resources, and I'm excited to continue
022the celebrations for two amazing schools, our Evergreen and our Ocean View community. We have a couple of awards and recognitions we want to give out today, and we will start off with our tenure award. We are very excited to be presenting and honoring Ms. Hannah Klobik. for getting tenure, which means that, let's give her a big round of applause. So when we hire our teachers, they are hired on a probationary contract. And that means that they have two years to demonstrate the competencies and the excellence that we expect of all of our teachers. And so at the end of the second year of service, they are either recommended for tenure, and that is what we're celebrating today. So congratulations. And just a couple of words from the Ocean View community. They wanted to make sure
023that everybody knew that Hannah is an amazing SLP. This is her third year at Ocean View. She is well loved and respected by all. And students say that speech is the favorite part of their day, which is amazing. So let's give her a big round of applause. Congratulations, Hannah. We will be calling you up for pictures. Thank you. Next up, we are... Excited to present our employees and honor them. for their service to our school district. So a couple years back, we started looking at just the longevity of our employees and we were so impressed to see that we have employees who have been here their entire careers and we thought it was an amazing idea to recognize them for their commitment and their loyalty to our district and for really making a difference in
024the lives of our students and our communities every single day. So today we do have some very distinguished recognitions and I am going to start off with our very own Ocean View Principal, Mrs. Songer, who is celebrating 35 years of service. I was 10 when I started. So Mrs. Songer gets to wear her 35th year of service longevity pin along with the other milestones, but we are so grateful to you, Ms. Songer, and we appreciate your impact that you have on our community day in and day out. So thank you so much. Next up, let's give a big round of applause to Ms. Patricia Trujillo. And Miss Patricia is celebrating 30 years of service, so let's give her a big round of applause. Congratulations. And she was also 10. Yes, they were very young when
025they started with us. Next up from Evergreen Elementary, let's welcome Miss Luz Maria Sanchez. And Ms. Luz Maria Sanchez is celebrating 30 years of service. She was also 10 when she started with us. So congratulations. Thank you so much. Thank you. She has her liner with her, so she's going to add the pins there. So thank you so much. From Ocean View, we want to welcome Ms. Sandra Vasquez. Let's give her a big round of applause. Thank you. And Ms. Sandra Vasquez is celebrating her 20th year of service with East Whittier City School District. So congratulations and thank you so much for coming. We also want to celebrate our other employees that are meeting other milestones. So let's give it up to our Evergreen and Ocean View employees who are celebrating 10, 25, and 30
026years. So let's give them a big round of applause. We will make sure that they get their pins at a later time. So in our journey to celebrating our employees for their years of service, we were going out to the sites last year just because we had a lot of catching up to do. And we kept hearing over and over again from our employees that they were not only our employees and had been here for all of those years, but they were also homegrown. And that was pretty amazing because as we kept on doing our little show on the road, there were a lot of homegrown employees. And that really just speaks volumes of the type of community that East Whittier City School District is. We not only have committed employees, but we have members
027of our community. And, you know, they are products of our district. And we were so proud. And so. Dr. Patterson did send out a very fun little Google form, kind of like fun facts about everyone. So we want to make sure that today we honor them with a very special homegrown pin. This is a big one. And we want to call up our recipients. And then they have shared a fun fact with us, and it's always fun to share. Also, we have a gorgeous... Tree with all of our homegrown employees in our main hallway in our district office with their picture. It's beautiful So I invite any of you guys to visit when you guys come so as of now can I please welcome Susanna Calzada to the podium come on over And I'm going
028to read her fun fact. She says, my kids also attend school in EWCSD, all four of them. She attended Laurel and East Whittier, kinder through eighth grade. So thank you so much for giving back to your own community. All right, let's give it up for our next employee. And I want to welcome Sarah Grunbaum from Ocean View Elementary School. Fun fact. I worked with one of my former teachers, Mr. Pappas, and many of my teachers are still teachers in the district. I also have another fun fact. While in kindergarten at Laurel, the students were challenged to read a thousand plus books and our principal would kiss a pig. She kissed my pet pig, Susie. It's actually amazing that you had a pet pig. Was that your own or was that? Oh my God, that's amazing.
029So she attended Laurel, Leffingwell, and East Whittier, Kinder through eighth grade. So thank you so much. That was wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing that with us. Next, I would like to welcome from Ocean View, Tiffany Hadden. Okay, so fun fact I am currently teaching first grade in my first grade classroom at Ocean View. That is pretty special. So congratulations again, and thank you so much for your service. Attendant Ocean View and East Whittier kindred through eighth grade. Next we have from Ocean View Miss Ashley Kateoka. Fun fact. It says, one fun fact is that when enrolling for elementary school, my permit was denied at Ocean View. But 20 years later, I am finally an OV Dolphin. Another one could be that as a student, I always wanted to be a dolphin trainer at
030SeaWorld. Although I am not at SeaWorld, I do get the privilege of teaching some awesome dolphins at OV. Okay, next I am honored to welcome Miss Laura Sullivan from Ocean View Elementary. Come on up. Congratulations. So fun fact, I had Ms. Carnahan as a teacher at East Whittier. When I started teaching at Ocean View, both secretaries and the custodian were the same as when I was a student. Again, affirming that East Whittier City School District employees never leave. They really don't. They love it here. So congratulations and thank you. And we're going to have a repeat here. Ms. Ada Nunez from Evergreen, please come up. It's a great night for her. She was just honored as Employee of the Year. Come on up. Okay, fun fact. When I started working as a teacher at Evergreen,
031my colleagues were my former teachers, and my principal was the same principal that was there when I was a student. My parents still live in the same house I grew up in around the corner from Evergreen where I work. That is so special. Thank you for sharing. We have another homegrown employee. Let's give it up for Ms. Dawn McCaffer from Evergreen. So fun fact, one of my proudest moments was when I was leading a training for the district and my former first grade teacher was in my training. I was in the first fifth grade graduating class when Leffingwell reopened. That's amazing. So attend to Leffingwell, Murphy Ranch, and Granada, kindred to eighth grade. Okay, next I want to welcome, bless you, I want to welcome Nayeli Plata from Evergreen. Okay, well I'll read her fun
032fact. My favorite memory will always be elementary school. At Evergreen we had fun day and that was my favorite. Our parents would be able to come and join us for a picnic and we had so many activities and sports we would play together. I love seeing my mom and dad come eat lunch with me whenever they could and enjoy a fun day together. So let's give her a big round of applause and we'll make sure that Nayeli gets her. We have, is this Monica Rodriguez here tonight? Perfect. So I do want to welcome Ms. Monica Rodriguez. Come on up. So she didn't have a fun fact. Did you want to share one? I guess, you know, a lot like with Ava, because we started around the same time, I taught with my kindergarten teacher in
033the same kindergarten classroom. Oh my gosh, that's amazing. Well, congratulations. give them all a big round of applause. Congratulations to our longevity award winners and our homegrown. Now we're going to transition to a very special award. Just as others mentioned, you know what makes us really special is not only our employees but just our community in general. We have amazing parents, we have amazing volunteers, amazing community partners that really do help us achieve everything we do for our kids on a daily basis. So every year each school site has the opportunity to nominate a volunteer who has just shown exemplary support and has met who has really made a difference to the school site. They are part of the Whittier Area School Administrators Volunteer Awards recognition and today I am happy to be recognizing, I'll
034start off with Ocean View so if I could have our lovely principal Ms. Unger come up. Can I have the Herrera Bautistas come on up? I think there's going to be two of them for those. Vivian. They didn't tell me they were going to both do two. We couldn't just do one of these guys. We had to do them as a couple. You waited this whole time for this. I love it. I do. So we couldn't just do one of the two of these. These guys travel everywhere together and often with their other granny as part of them. So let me just say, Vivian and Frank Herrera embody the spirit of service and commitment to children, family, and community. Long before their son Frankie, wave Frankie, came along. They cared for and supported Vivian's younger
035brothers, providing stability, love, and financial support. Their passion for creating meaningful childhood experiences has touched countless children, from organizing family camping trips to ensuring that every child in their circle experiences the joy of beach and campfires and lasting memories. Vivian serves as an options child care supervisor and is an active member of St. Mary's Catholic Church and the Catholic Daughters. She plays a key role in fundraising efforts that support parish initiatives, Boy Scouts, youth soccer, and the local school community. Frank, who works for Kroger and begins his day at 3 a.m., still prioritizes community involvement, modeling the importance of giving back, even with a full workload. Together, they have supported the many events at Ocean View, from a scouting recruiting booth at many events to DJing at our festivals and volunteering wherever they are needed.
036They have also led fundraising that benefits the entire... troops and teams and just not their child. Their dedication demonstrates a rare selflessness. Their volunteer work consistently focuses on the good of all children, not just Frankie. And behind them stands a network of loving grandmothers and nanas who further amplify their family's impact. Vivian and Frank are true examples of servant leaders pouring their energy, time, and hearts into children and families across the whole Whittier area. Their contributions make a lasting difference, strengthening both the school and the wider community, and I'm honored to nominate them for Ocean View's Whittier Area School Administrators Volunteer Award. Next, we're going to go ahead and do a recognition for our evergreen WASA recipient who was not able to make it today, but I am going to read what we have for
037them. And that goes to... She was at school today. She was not feeling well, so she went home a little early. But DJ Martinez from Evergreen, and it says, an appreciation for the dedication and support of the students of our community. Thank you for making a difference in the lives of our children. And DJ embodies the heart of Evergreen, inclusive, generous, and relentlessly student-centered. I am proud to nominate her for the WASA Award. Her impact is woven into the fabric of our school, and her love and action approach continues to make Evergreen a better, brighter place for all. So let's give her a big round of applause, and we'll make sure that she does get this award. That concludes our celebrations for today. We are going to take a break. Yes, we're going to take
038a five to seven minute break. And we're going to ask all of our recognitions, our employees to come up. We're going to go ahead and take pictures at this time. Thank you so much. Okay, CNN, I'll call for the question. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Mrs. Dabbs? Yes. Mr. Baird? Yes. Ms. Carrera? Yes. And I vote yes. Okay on to board member reports and comments. Mr. Aparicio would you like to go first? I'll have Mr. Baird go first. Okay. I went to watch this play Matilda and it was She talked about it last week, last meeting, and it was great. It was worth going. It's sad that you can't go anymore if you didn't get to see it. But I'm also excited for the seasonal events that Whittier has, like other things that go on in Uptown,
039like the Spook Tag Cure 5K run that goes on. My family typically does it and other events that go on later in the year. Yeah. Is that it? Thank you. Mr. Aparicio. Yeah, I just want to say thank you to all the students from Evergreen and Ocean View. I know they're gone right now, but just thank you for leading us in the pledge. Congrats to Ms. Nunez and Ms. Soto on being Employees of the Year at Evergreen. Congrats to Ms. Humreno and Ms. Martinez on being Employees of the Year at Ocean View. And also just some congrats, especially to all the homegrown recipients. I think that's just great to be able to go to the school and then work at the school where you're from. And like I said, just thank you for Dr. Patterson
040and the cabinet for thinking of that award. I think that's a great award to come up with. I know we definitely love giving awards here, and I think that's a very special one. So thank you for that. Congrats to the WASA award recipients. And I want to thank you for all your hours of service, dedication. Like you say, you know, they're volunteers, so they spend a lot of time, like a lot of the principals mentioned, that they just spend a lot of hours there and they dedicate a lot of time, taking time away from their family to be there at the schools. And I just think that's great. So I just, you know, kudos to everybody, not just the two that received it here, but the ones that are going to receive it as well,
041too. So thank you very much for all your hours and service and dedication to our students. in our community. And just last, I just wanna say, I attended the Witter Union State of the District. So that was last week. So I thought it was a great event. So I know, thank you to, once again, Dr. Patterson and our staff, because I think they kind of copied us in a lot of stuff they did. But I think it's great to also hear what's going on in that district. So just, it was a great event to visit with along our other colleagues as well too. Okay, thank you. Ms. Carrera? All right, so as promised, and I know you're watching. Logan, I'll begin by saying thank you to all the Skivity Sigma Rizzlers. If you guys don't
042know what that means, it means thank you to all the beautiful, nice people that are joining us tonight. I attended the Whittier Union High School State of the District as well. That was quite the event. I also attended the 50th Annual Disability Rights. It was something that was, how can I say this in words without me shedding a tear? It was impacting for me because I am new to this. So I had to build the courage and attend because. We have students with disabilities. Some of us have family members with disabilities. And I wanted to see the legalities behind everything and all the support and advocacy that goes into that. I had the privilege and honor to meet RJ Mitt. If you guys don't know who he is, he's the Breaking Bad. He's a Breaking
043Bad. Yeah, that was, yeah. So he was honored. He was honored. I do want to say thank you to everyone, you know, to everyone who's here tonight. I know why you're here. I want to take just a really quick minute. And I know that, that I'm always. I go off on tangents and I'm the one board member that probably over speaks. I'm relatable with the checkered flag. I do believe that it does take a good pit. I'm a Formula One race car fan. I like that. And I also believe in showing respect, working hard, caring, and making good choices and decisions. So for all of you who are sitting here tonight, I know why you're here. And I am reading, I am listening, and I think that goes for the entire board. I thank you
044for all of the service that you provide to all of our students. And I mean that with all of my heart. And I attended, I also attended the middle school, East Whittier Middle School Parent Conference, which was something, it was quite the experience. I've never experienced anything like it. I think it was a great event. I'm not saying it wasn't. It was open. You can go in anytime between 8.30 and 12 and then come back between 1 and 2.30 and you can just have this conversation with the teacher. And it was so personal other than having to go, you know, you have your appointment at this time and you have to get this out and go. It wasn't like that. And I just want to thank for any Eastwood. teachers that are here, East Twitter
045Middle School teachers that are here. Thank you. And I'll end with just remember, East Twitter City School District, we recognize everyone for their greatness. Every single one of you that is here is great. Don't ever underestimate the power that you have. Thank you. Thank you. Mrs. Dabbs? Thank you. I want to also wish a good evening to everybody that's here and, of course, our YouTube group that joins us as well. I want to thank all our students that led the flag salute, whether it's the flag salute or singing a song. It really shows leadership on the part of our students, and they'll remember that as they get older and as they carry that into middle school and high school. Trust me, because that's how I started my leadership journey, was singing songs at the elementary
046school level and then eventually going into high school. being the senior class secretary and junior class secretary and freshman class secretary, and it means a lot. And so our young people that are growing and doing these things as they're very young are going to remember these experiences and really take those forward with them, which is really, really important. And so I think they're just amazing. I do want to also congratulate our employees. Elizabeth Soto, Ada Nunez, Angela Martinez, and Ceci Ureña for everything that you've done at your schools, Evergreen and Ocean View, the support you've given, the care you've given, the time you've given. You know that it's not something that you give in vain. You know that it's so welcome, so important, and so appreciated by the students and your colleagues and even our
047parents in the community. So thank you, thank you so very much. And as I normally usually say... I love the themes. Congrats on the themes, Ocean View and Evergreen. They're fun, they're creative, and they motivate our children to want to be a part of a group and to feel that they're together, that they're in a team, they're not alone, and they're not isolated. And I think that's really, really important. I also want to just say, I won't say all the names, but congratulations to our longevity recipients. Congratulations to our homegrown recipients. I think it's amazing that we're doing that now. And I really want to, I know they're not here anymore, but I was amazed at our OV WASA and our Evergreen WASA folks, DJ that couldn't be with us. But our OV WASA team,
048it's amazing to me, how do they even have time for their regular lives? I mean, they're doing so much for their school communities. And I just wanted to say, I think that's absolutely incredible. I also want to share something that was fun for me. I, in the past, a month ago or so, I was able to go to... a conference, National School Board Associating Conference. And at the conference, I think I had shared before, if not, I'm going to share today, that I met with Colin Kaepernick, who used to be the quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers. And it's incredible, I need to restate this, that this young man has come from a time of defeat, a time of embarrassment, a time of pain, and he's risen up to become a very, very... a hardworking,
049incredibly vibrant CEO of his own company called Lumi. I think he's a CEO of a couple of companies. But when he presented at Cube, we were asked to fill out a form if we wanted to be contacted by the team at Lumi. So I filled out the form because Lumi is a program. that comes into schools and not only works with staff and students, but works with families to use and teach how we can use AI to better improve the lives of our children. So I filled it out. And then I just kind of forgot about it. Well, two weeks later, I get an email. And the email is from Colin Kaepernick. and he says he would like to meet with me over Zoom. And I'm thinking, oh, it's probably a part of his team.
050But it doesn't matter to me. I want to know what Lumi is about, and I've yet to share it with Dr. Patterson, but I will because I think it's an incredible program. And Colin Kaepernick wants to meet with Dr. Patterson as well. But let me get back to my little story. So I get another email that says, Lisa, do you still want to meet? And I said, okay, I would like to meet. And again, I'm thinking I'm meeting with the team. So two Fridays ago, I go on expecting to meet with the Lumi team. I open my Zoom and there is Colin Kaepernick. And so it was an incredibly interesting and amazing opportunity for me to meet in person one-on-one with the former San Francisco 49er quarterback. And to be able to, because I'm a
051big football fan, so go Rams. But as a young person and even as a person of a certain age, I follow football, I love football, and I would always root for the 49ers when the Rams didn't win. So it was incredible to actually see that someone of his caliber, somebody that could be doing a million other things, like... hawking wares in the area of football gear and sports gear, he's really divested finances and interest into supporting children and teachers and parents and families to learn how to use AI to be able to be highly successful. And so to see him across Zoom with me and to be able to have the opportunity to speak to him. and to be able to see the kind of young man that he's grown into be, because I think
052he's about 36 or 37, and to see that he's made this transition from being an outstanding, amazing, multimillion-dollar football player. to a much more humble CEO of a tech company is something that was quite extraordinary for me. So I'm looking forward to speaking with Dr. Patterson because Dr. Patterson, again, I'll share, Colin Kaepernick would like to meet with you too, to talk about Lumi and the program. But I think it brings me back to our students. You never know when singing a little song. for a board meeting is going to take them to a place that they never dreamed possible. And so I needed to share that story about Colin Kaepernick because he had very humble beginnings. And so it's really extraordinary to see that. Lastly, I want to just take the time to wish
053two happy birthdays. The first one is a belated happy birthday to Mr. Aparicio. We didn't get to celebrate him because we just missed the board meeting. And then for those of you who... love and or maybe don't love Halloween, I wanted to just take a moment to wish happy birthday to my son Jason, who now lives with us because I told you the story that we're no longer empty nesters. That nest has been filled again. He's going to music school out in Los Angeles. And he was actually born on Halloween. So I just want to take the time to wish my son an upcoming happy birthday. And thank you again to all of you for everything you're doing. And I also lastly want to echo Mrs. Carreras. thoughts. You know, I know that it seems
054hard, but I need to tell you. Having been a principal in five different school districts, working with five different staffs, working through five different challenging times, from remodeling schools to lack of funds to having to go door to door and knocking as a principal to pass a bond, I know, and as our board does as well, how challenging it might feel. But know that all around us, we aren't the only ones. I have friends that are over the hill in another school district that shall remain nameless. and they are in a humongously challenging time, a time that having been a former principal there, I would have never dreamed that that would be happening in that district. So I want to just echo Mrs. Carrera's sentiments that we hear you as a board, I hear you,
055and I thank you so much for sharing your concerns with us. And we look to... be guided by our district teams and by dr patterson to make the decisions that we will be making so thank you okay thank you very much and my comments we just congratulations to everybody and thank you for coming and we will go on to the next item which is csea comments okay um good evening my name is ivan pastrano i'm the um Chapter president for our classified bargaining here bargaining unit here, and I'm also the lead maintenance worker in the maintenance department So like we like to do we like to keep the board informed of what's going on with CSE a kind of where we're at what we're doing so One of the things we're talking about and we've
056been talking about it for a while is the class and comp study that the district has been doing for the last I think two years now ish and so we did finally Kind of make some progress we met one time with the district about The classifications we started with the instructional assistant categories, and so we're working our way through through those It's was actually a really productive meeting and so we're we're We're excited about where we're headed with this because it's been a long process and so we are feeling good about, you know, we're feeling like something's getting accomplished now. There was a lot of background stuff, a lot of information gathering, a lot of work to be done before we could actually get to where we're at now. So we feel good about where
057we're starting to lead the process. Our next session is this Friday, so we're hopeful that we continue that progress, and I think that we will Although it's not going to be any time soon that we're going to be resolving some of these things You know it's going to be a long process we have quite a few Job descriptions to go through and some are easier to deal with than others some are more recently updated and some haven't been updated in Decades they were homegrown a long time ago with the school districts though. We're trying to work on those and then the other thing that we're talking about too is And we don't want to we don't want it to get off of the radar and we want to make sure that it's continuously on the
058radar is We always have issues with our special education program specifically our our staffing and our subs when we have instructional assistants that are working in a special ed program and There's supposed to be X number in a classroom, and there's not because we're having vacancies and the district is trying to fill them, but we're just really struggling with filling a lot of them. They're flying them, they're interviewing, and then we're hiring people, and then they're moving on to somewhere else or doing something that is taking them away from the district. So we're constantly trying to work on filling those positions, but it's... It's really a struggle. And so we want to make sure that the district or the board is aware that, you know, it is a constant struggle. And I don't know how
059we're going to get past it. I know that we were in a meeting with the director of human resources the other day, and she had a few good ideas. She was at another school district, I think dropping off her grandkids, and she saw some ideas that they were doing with advertising and how they were trying to promote. vacancies in their district so I'm hopeful that we can you know kind of do some out-of-the-box thinking and try and fill some of these positions and get some quality people not just you know warm bodies because a lot of times when we're talking about people that are being absent in a classroom and you really need somebody in that classroom instructional assistant to work with these students and We get a sub that is just really a warm
060body that doesn't want to do all the things that these instructional assistants do it really is not beneficial and so We're trying to we're trying to work away from just warm bodies and get some quality quality people in there that are subbing and then hopefully getting those quality people on to our staff too. So that's kind of one thing that we don't want to leave behind that we want to make sure that the board is aware that we're constantly trying to work and progress forward with getting some more quality employees in our school district. And then the only other thing I have is just go Dodgers. Right on, yeah. Thank you. EWEA? Good evening, everybody. I'm Brent Vogelman, president of East Witter Education Association. I want to say congratulations to Ada, Elizabeth, Cecilia, and Angela
061from Evergreen and Oceanview for their recognition for Employees of the Month or Employee of the Year at their school. And also the tenure people, congratulations to them. I'm not going to read all their names, but congratulations. I remember being tenured and it's sort of a big deal. So I'm glad we celebrate that now. I had my Granada site visit today, my first site visit as president, and I brought enough food. So I was happy about that. And it was good to have conversations with our people. So I'm looking forward to the other site visits that. I'll be doing throughout the course of the year. I have pretty much all of them scheduled. So a lot of them are going to take place in the next several weeks. So I get to talk to our people.
062They get to know me. I get to know them. On top of that, we just got a grant approved by CTA, which will afford us a sub, me and another sub to take with me. So I can have one-on-one conversations with all of our members because I think that's the best way to try to make this district better. is by talking to different people and listening to their ideas and trying to bring them together and work collectively to work for the greater good. You guys approved the CBA that we just ratified. You approved this in the board minutes last time. So there's some new language that we had put in there. The first was technology. It's Article 25, brand new article. There's two sections to it the first one says the district shall provide necessary
063technology and internet access to all employees to facilitate effective teaching and learning as Determined by the district this includes, but is not limited to computers peripherals software and internet connectivity That's number one number two says the district will make a reasonable efforts to ensure the reliability updating and maintenance of technology and internet services However the district cannot guarantee under uninterrupted access to these services due to factors beyond its control including but not limited to power outages, equipment failures, or internet service provider disruptions. We've had quite a few disruptions over the last two years. I'm really happy that I was able to talk with Alicia about some of the deficiencies we have, and I'm hoping to work together to get some of the issues that we're having with internet connectivity fixed. I remember Dr. Patterson talking
064about Crown Castle last week, so I delved into a little bit on a roundtable. So it's good that we have a backup plan, and that should help keep the internet going for us and our kids. So we're just hoping for constant improvement and hoping to work together to make sure that the Internet's working fully and functionally. The other article that we added a little bit of language to was Article 11, safety. The district is committed to providing a work environment that is free of disruptive, threatening, or violent behavior involving a unit member. We think this is really important language, and we're glad we've got it in, because the kids are different post-COVID. They're very different kids than what they were pre-COVID, and that is how they respond to the way we used to do things,
065and so we have to change our tact with them. to be able to make sure that they're on their best behavior when they're at school. And last year at East Witter Middle School, we had several incidents involving violence towards teachers from kids. And this year so far, the kids are great. So we're hoping that having this language will help keep everybody safe. I sent an email to each board member individually today, which was the resignation of one of our staff members at East Witter Middle School. Some of the things that he brought up, just going to read. He talked about the lack of hot water, the sewage issues we've had, the rat droppings and the cockroaches. These are safety concerns. And it's been something that he has expressed over the years. And these things have
066not been fixed. We've never had hot water as long as I've been at East Winter Middle School. It was only in the nurse's office. And to add insult to injury, after he resigned, they finally sent somebody out to check on our hot water. It would behoove the district to have a more proactive approach to try to fix these things. One teacher at our school, I think they've killed 16 rats in our room this year. We need these things fixed. Another reason why my colleague, who I've had lunch with for years upon years upon years, resigned. Was the repeated choices of organizations like whack like dream city church that are affiliated with churches that have extreme views LGBTQ anti-views sexist views. And this is the Dream City Church was a venue that was chosen for last
067Friday for the KTK training. I sent an email after getting several emails from our members saying how distraught they were with such a choice after we made comments about the WAC church and got that separate location. But this is the second time. And it's not me researching this. It's our members researching this. And it's the second time we've had a church being used as a venue that has exclusionary views. We want inclusivity. We want to bring people together. That alienates people. It's going to alienate our teachers, our parents, our kids, basically the community. We need to be choosing things that are bringing people together rather than sectioning people off. Discussion item number two tonight is about the classified management salary schedule. We have been hearing a lot of preaching about the fiscal stabilization plan and
068deficit spending, yet three certificated management positions are receiving a raise of at close to 20%. There is a stipend for a car for $1,000 per month that was approved at a board meeting a few months ago. We have teachers that have taken a pay cut this year. Insurance rates have rose and because we've not raised the cap on what the district contributes to those insurance rates, whatever raise they got, step and column, gets eliminated because those benefits have gone up. So people have taken a pay cut this year. And when I was at Granada, I talked to a few people that are very upset about what their insurance is paying. We need to help our people out. And if we're calling deficit spending and we're saying there's a fiscal stabilization plan, we can't be giving
069these little raises here and there to the people that aren't touching the classroom like our teachers are. And finally, on Friday at 315, had a Zoom meeting with our intervention specialists. There is a reshaping, a downsizing of our intervention specialists and coach positions. It's come on very, very fast. And what we ask as a union is we just want to be equal partners. And when I say that, there's a disconnect because there's a lot of people thinking that the union agreed to this. We didn't agree to it because it's something we don't have the ability to agree to. You guys choose the positions. You guys are the ones that have the ability to make jobs, change jobs, do those things, the jobs. We just want to make sure the working conditions for everybody is tip
070top, best that we can do it. But what's been going around is that we were the ones that agreed to this. We did not. We were just told. So we're trying to inform and make the best of things. We want a united approach and how I look at in the perfect world is before you guys even made this decision and it got out there we would have liked to been talked to for a while just to go over it and really like explore the best ways to help our students out. And our intervention specialists, they are working with students, the Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3 levels. And it's really important. And from what I've garnered from the meeting we had with them is that data is being used against them, but data was never
071asked for from them. And also they seem to have at the elementary school, since there are no assistant principals, they take on assistant principal duties about 20% of the time. So if they're being cut at multiple locations, it's going to be really hard for administrators to be able to administrate because they are, because more got put on their plate. IEPs are taking place after school because administrators cannot be there and they have to do it after school. So I just think there needs to be more of a conversation with us because we represent the teachers to make sure that we have what we're doing is best for our kids and I think we can figure something out that helps all our intervention specialists. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, I'll do superintendent comments. We're going to
072be unveiling that at either the next board meeting or the one in December. We want to be able to make sure that the truck can be parked in the parking lot like it was last time. So it will depend upon what our company is that we use. And then as I had mentioned, one of our board members had come up with the idea, since we no longer have a PIO, to consider having student photographers. So originally when we sent out just the general interest, 75 students had responded that they would be interested. When we sent... further information to those 75 students about the commitment of time that would go into that as well as the training. We now have eight students who are going to be student board member representatives. Mrs. Carlson is actually going
073to be teaching these students some photography skills and if all goes well, digital editing, if we can fit that in as well. Yes, so we're really excited about those endeavors. Okay, thank you. On to citizen communication. We do have five members who would like to speak. I'm going to ask all five of you to go over to the podium. You will have three minutes. Once you begin, please introduce yourself. We have Esther Humble. I just had to say Ms. Yvonne Humble. Janina Hallemark, Lisa Fragoso, Natalie Morales, and Yvonne Harris. And who? Yvonne Harris. Oh, I was like, not Yvonne Humble. No, you're Esther. You had Yvonne, and then you were in the H category. Good evening, board members. My name is Yvonne Humble, also known as Esther, and I teach second grade at Murphy Ranch.
074I appreciate the opportunity to speak tonight about a serious concern regarding the district's proposed hybrid model for next year, which would drastically reduce the number of intervention specialists. At Murphy Ranch, our intervention specialist, Carol Sanford, has been a cornerstone of student success for over a decade. During that time, she has carefully collected and analyzed STAR reading and phonics survey data that clearly demonstrates the powerful impact of small group pullout interventions. Please ask her for her data. Example, last year, 16 of our second graders were identified as at-risk, or what we call at-promise students. Ten of them began second grade reading at a pre-primer level. These students participated in small, focused groups of three to five, receiving intensive instruction 30 minutes a day, four days a week, in phonics, fluency, and comprehension from Mrs. Sanford. By
075the end of the year, these students showed remarkable progress. On average, they made 1.7 years of growth on the STAR reading assessment. Please clap. 13 out of the 16 improved nearly 40 percentage points on the Phonics survey. These are real students making real gains. Of course, not every student's growth was immediate. Three showed limited progress, but because of our fantastic SST process, two are now receiving added support. One's being evaluated for special ed. That is exactly how a responsive MTSS system should function. Despite this success, the district now plans to eliminate seven, that's seven, of the ten intervention specialist roles next year, requiring current intervention specialists to reapply and vie for three positions. We're being told this is a move towards fiscal stability, but how is that possible when the plan adds new coaching roles,
076may require higher salaries, and will likely create additional administrative overhead? This does not save money. It costs more. We have seen no clear data showing that this new structure will better serve our students especially those that are the furthest behind What are the success metrics for this model? How will we know if it's working? What systems will be in place for tracking student progress across sites? And why haven't sites like Murphy Ranch been asked to submit their 10 years of data before dismantling a model that clearly works? We cannot we should not replace what's been proven with something that's untested, undefined, and more expensive, especially when the stakes are this high for our most vulnerable students. I urge the board to pause this plan, review the data, demand transparency around cost and implementation, and most
077importantly, ask for clearly defined metrics that show how this model will actually improve outcomes for the students who need it most. We have something that's working. Let's not throw it away without a better plan and the evidence to back it up. Thank you for your time and your leadership. Good evening, board members. My name is Janina Harlemert, and I also teach second grade at Murphy Ranch. And I'm also here to raise concerns about our district's proposed hybrid model. This plan would cut many intervention specialist positions and replace them with coaches. At Murphy Ranch, this means sharing one coach across multiple schools and losing our dedicated intervention specialists entirely. But coaching and intervention are very different. Coaching supports Tier 1 instruction for all students, while intervention gives urgent, talented help to kids who are already behind.
078Next year families will receive a letter saying their child qualifies for intervention under the new state screening But what happens if there's no intervention specialist or a clear program to serve them? How our classroom teachers expected to deliver effective tier 1 to intervention when they are already managing a full class of diverse learners? including students with IEP English learners and students with behavioral needs all at the same time How can we ensure fidelity to MTSS when intervention specialists are being eliminated from 70% of our schools? Is there data showing that Tier 2 instruction delivered within the classroom without a pull-out specialist produces comparable outcomes for the at-risk readers? What is the long-term plan to monitor and evaluate student progress under this new model? Will we be able to pivot quickly into if it is not
079working? We're also we've also heard that intervention specialists must reapply for fewer jobs and many positions will be posted externally How is this saving us money? Are we losing proven teachers only to pay more for new hires and perhaps even added administrative staff? Will this plan hurt the district's ability to meet key LCAP goals around the around closing achievement gaps and supporting at-risk students? This board holds authority to seek clarity of these concerns. We respectfully ask that you pause this plan, request detailed data and clear metrics, and consider full carefully what the data is driving this change. Please ensure this approach truly serves the best interest for our students. That's why we are here Thank you for your time and careful consideration Hi, my name is Lisa Fragoso and I teach third grade dual immersion
080at CERES. I wanted to comment regarding the district's focus of every interaction matters because it's not always feeling that way. Starting with the TTD day we just had, you know, great strategies brought up by the presenter, but I couldn't help but feel like a backhanded compliment. Like, here are some great teaching strategies because you're not going to receive support next year. And so, you know, why? Lack of funding. No funding, so we're getting rid of the intervention specialist. At least that's what is expected at CERES. possibly, but across the district, lots of cuts. And, you know, we're cutting from the most vulnerable, those that need extra support. So it feels like that interaction is saying, like, well, students are a little bit behind. You don't matter. Teachers, thank you. Here's a salary increase. But us
081as district personnel are going to give ourselves an increase, too. And so it's like, you matter. but we matter more. And so I just found that out, that there's often an increase in district personnel when we get an increase. So it's just a little disheartening. Talking about the role of intervention specialists, they do so much and have been stretched so, so thin, doing all the jobs of lots of jobs that have been cut across the years. We have a combo class this year, and they used to support with that. Our combo teacher is trying to do her best to provide equitable education for both the fourth and fifth grade classes, but there's not. the support and when given the guise of support under like our schedule for broad course of study they're told like you
082know here's a wonderful time for you to work with each grade level individually but rather than it be that it's actually more work for them because now they were given this convoluted schedule where they have to write lesson plans for half the time for half their students while they meet with They're half a grade level, and then they flop and do again. Yes, it's very confusing. And so when asked for some consideration, revision in the schedule, they were told by someone who is not at their site, who makes the schedule, who's not a teacher, and who's not taking feedback, that that wouldn't be possible. So that interaction matters also. It's like... We don't value your time. Thank you for taking on a combo. And we're going to give you more work on top of everything
083you're doing. And the last interaction is really what caused me to come today, was an interaction that Superintendent Patterson had with our student council at the end of last year. You know, we're teaching our students to be leaders, to advocate for themselves, to question. And somebody questioned and asked, would it be possible to get bathrooms by the new fifth grade wing, which are portables way on the other side of campus? And he was told that, well. We weren't expecting the dual immersion program to be a success, so we didn't think they'd be needed, and it's not in the budget. Needless to say, that student probably is not going to come back and work at the district, but that interaction mattered so much. It told them that we thought you would fail. and you don't matter.
084So you know what? I guess it makes grit. It builds grit like our grandparents had long ago their stories of walking in the snow uphill to school. They'll have their own story of walking across campus in extreme heat, in the wind and rain, just to go to the bathroom. Thank you. Hi. My name is Natalie Morales, and I'm a first grade teacher at Murphy Ranch. Tonight I would like to speak towards... The value of our intervention specialist and the great deficit that our school will feel when we no longer have that resource. Currently, our intervention specialist, Carol Sanford, services 59 students across the five grade levels. Sixth grade levels. She does this on a daily basis. The students that she works with are the ones that do not qualify for IEPs, but have significant gaps
085in their foundational skills. They're the students who need... one-on-one or small group in a controlled setting in order to get closer to the success that they greatly desire and deserve. She is essential to the grade levels who have students who will not qualify for an IEP yet because they don't have the two-year gap that is needed in order to qualify. So She's also essential to the grade levels who have students who don't qualify for IEPs at all, but still have white gaps in their acquired skills. The district proposed a plan to provide us with a coach who will not live at our school and who we will share with two other schools. I think it's unfair to paint this as a good replacement for intervention with an intervention specialist who lives at our school and
086solely services our children. Coaches do not directly interact with students. Coaches do not see students on a regular basis. A coach's position is to tell us, the teachers, how to do the job in a different manner. I have a reading specialist credential. I know how to meet the needs of my students who are struggling readers. However, we are also experiencing a downsizing of the number of classes at each school site. So this means that now we have larger class sizes and every grade level will not have the help of intervention. So please know that because of this stage that is being set, our students will not be getting the quality of education that they greatly deserve. Please also know that telling your teachers that help will not be coming does not, in fact, emulate your
087motto of every interaction matters. Thank you. Good evening, Dr. Patterson, school board and cabinet, and fellow colleagues. My name is Yvonne Harris. I'm one of the PE teachers at Hillview Middle School. I'm the athletic director. And yes, I am back here again to talk about our fields. This is so important to me. My only grandson is at my house right now, and I've left him to come and talk about this. The fields have been watered for seven days up until about two months ago, and then it got cut down to five days a week. The Hillview PE department has not been able to go onto the fields for the last four weeks. When they designed and built the track, which it's not really a track, it's just a... kind of an oblong, that they did
088not change the sprinklers. So the sprinklers are going on the track creating mud because the track is made out of decomposed granite. So the water just puddles. So to get to the main part of the field, we have to send 100 kids over a slippery sliding mud slope. I actually had my kids run around the perimeter, which was fine. But other than that, we haven't been able to go on our fields. The grass gets watered on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. It doesn't get watered on Wednesday, so they can mow it on Thursday. Doesn't get watered on Friday, so the fields are great for who? Ways. Not for Hillview students. It's almost as if the fields are for Waze soccer as opposed to the Hillview students. I feel that it should be our fields and that Waze
089gets to use them. Our retired director of, I'm sorry, assistant superintendent of business services last year, Marianne Surrail, came out to speak to me. after I presented at a board meeting and at your behest, Dr. Patterson, and she told me that she felt that way soccer should be practicing at several other fields in the district and that it should just be used for games. So I really do take that under advisement when it came from somebody so learned and so much into the... business aspects of the district. Hillview is not for Huskies. It's for way soccer players. And I'm going to go see my grandson. Is that? Okay. All right. Thank you. Okay. On to discussion items. There were no Williams complaints reports filed. Okay. So on to item number two. That's how I've met
090him in the salary schedule. I move the recommendation at the Board of Education approved salary adjustments and banding structure for the select classified managing positions to ensure competitiveness and retention based on the findings of the classification and compensation study. Second. Have a first and a second we have some discussion. Let me just give a little context like mr. Pastrana had mentioned we have been engaged in a classification and compensation study for Probably a better part of two years With both associations we are discussing what those findings mean for their respective members so as mr. Persona mentioned we are you know attempting to find some solutions for what would meet the needs of the classified bargaining unit, as well as working with Mr. Volgoman and his negotiations team to see what they feel are some important
091pieces that came out of that study. This is, we don't have an administrator's union, so this one is a little bit more easy to be able to have those conversations. So this is the proposal to bring these positions into alignment based upon that classification study. Dr. Patterson, do we have, like, say, because, you know, we don't know what they were making beforehand. So, like, just say the top one, the informative services supervisor, I know it's $72,000, let's say. But do we have a list that shows how much they're making? Were they making, like, $70,000? Yeah, they're posted on our website. So all of our salary schedules are posted. So do you want me to, I can pull it up right now if you want to see what the current compensation is. While you're pulling that
092up, I think my question can be answered. Are these positions currently vacant? Is that why we want to be competitive? No, they're not vacant. No? So admin is not on a Me Too schedule? I'm sorry? Admin is not on a Me Too schedule? This has nothing to do with Me Too. The admin is on Me Too. Thank you. I mean, that's how we've operated in the past. There's nothing that requires admin to be on Me Too. That is what the district has done in past practice. So Mr. Aparicio, the first one, so you can see that part of the reason, if you look at custodial supervisor, that end salary schedule is $91,000. There's a $16,000 difference between the custodial supervisor and the maintenance supervisor. So this proposal is to bring those two jobs together in
093that band. If you look at the fiscal supervisor, the director of human resources, and the director of maintenance and operations, as we kind of had explained, those jobs are very similar in terms of the requirements and the people that they supervise and the scope of their work. So the proposal is to bring the fiscal supervisor, I'm sorry, the fiscal, the director of human resources, the director of budgeting, and the director of maintenance all together in one band. Dr. Patterson, how many are classified positions? Tell me how many of these are classified positions. These are all classified. They're all classified. Every single one of these is classified management. Okay. Go ahead. Dr. Patterson, I think it's important for us to look at the internal equity and market competitiveness. A question I always get asked, and I
094don't know if any of my other board does when we go to conferences, is you're not unified. We're like, no. We are six small school districts, K-8, surrounded by one large high school district. And the fact that we're not unified, frankly, causes a situation whereby we may, we may technically miss out on dollars if we were unified. In other words, there was not East Whittier and South Whittier and Los Nietos and Whittier's Union High School District. teachers, administrators, people that desire to be administrators, can go to these massive unified school districts like Santa Ana and others that can offer even higher salaries than we can offer because they are unified, because they are massive, because they are receiving millions more dollars than we ever will. So it's so important for us to be able to
095stay competitive. not only for administrators but for our teachers because We will lose people because of the fact that we are not a unified school district with multiple millions of dollars. So in this case, we're just looking at our classified, hardworking, classified management, and we want to retain our people. We want to retain good people. We don't want to lose them to a large district like, say, Santa Ana Unified. So I appreciate the wording that was listed there by Dr. Vargas because... That is something we should really have a laser focus on is the market competitiveness. And I know that it seems maybe shallow, but we do need to consider it because these folks work really, really hard at what they do. And we cannot always be certain that other good people will come. So
096I appreciate you sharing this with us and keeping us abreast of. the changing salaries that are happening, not just because, but because of the fact that we have to stay competitive. And we are looking at a similar banded approach with our CSEA unit members as well, but we're still in that process of that conversation. So thank you for that. The desire of EWI is a little bit different because of the way that their salary schedules work as well. Any other comments, board? Okay, so I just want to make this. So number nine. Let's just go with rain about what we have up on the border what we have in the night Yeah, I it's I have the same thing that you have on the board so number nine range nine would jump to To what
097range so custodial supervisor would be the same as the maintenance supervisor and and information to I'm I don't mean to interrupt you I just want to make sure I get this right because I'm calculating it 72,000 215 let's just pretend they're on row one They would move up to 84 837. It's not that simple, but that would be the salary schedule they move up to yes But what do you mean it's not that simple explain that to me range up there So I don't know you know the maintenance supervisor our custodial supervisor is going to be vacant after this week Okay, we'll be hiring So when we hire the new maintenance on the new custodial supervisor if the board approves the move to that band and based upon that person's years of service and experience
098they could start at 84 and they could start at 107 Our current custodial supervisor is on the seventh step. He's been here forever. Yeah, no, I just want to make this really simple so that I can understand when I'm voting. Number nine is going to go to number 10. Correct. In a hypothetical, just to make this very simple, row, okay, and column 9-1 goes to 10-1. That's a $12,619 increase. Am I correct? You are correct with what you just said. What I said, okay. But just with those two, right? So it would go nine to 10. Based upon what you just said. What I just said, that is a factual statement. Thank you. Anything else, anybody? No? Okay, I'll call for the question. Mr. Baird? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Mrs. Dabbs? Yes. Ms. Carrera? No.
099And I vote yes. Passes 3-1. On to item three. I move the recommendation that the Board of Education reject all bids for BYR 25-25, installation of portable restrooms at Lower Elementary, Mulberry Elementary, and Orchard Hill Elementary project. I'll have a second. I'll second. Okay. I have a first and a second. Any discussion? So just to give you some context on both of these next two items, this particular one, you know, sometimes it takes quite a while for things to move through the Department of State Architecture. And so when we submitted the first modernization for these restrooms, there was one set of code requirements. By the time DSA got around to approving it, those code requirements had changed, which is now requiring us to do some work with our fire alarm systems. The fire alarm systems
100were not part of the original bid scope, so we have to go back out to bid that project. But in order to do so, we need the board to reject the bids. Any discussion? I'll call for the question. Ms. Carrera? Yes. Mr. Baird? Yes. Mrs. Dabbs? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. And I vote yes. That passes. On to item four. I move the recommendation that the Board of Education reject all bids for BYR 25-26, Emma Wicker Auditorium Renovation Project. I'll second. Okay. Any discussion? So this Emma Wicker restoration project has been quite the endeavor. When we finally went out to bid and got a low bidder, responsive bidder, there were two protests that were filed by competitors above the lowest bidder. They challenged the... These subcontractors and the fact that they were not pre-qualified, when we
101did have conversations through Dr. Aceves and our legal counsel, we just decided that it was going to be cleaner and better to be able to redo our bid documents, to be able to make explicitly sure that all of our subcontractors have to be pre-qualified, just like we do with our regular contractors. So we are gonna jump right out into the same process and it's not gonna really delay the opening of Emma Wicker. It's just an unfortunate circumstance. So we are asking the board to reject this bid so we can get this project underway. Can I ask a question? Sure, of course. Dr. Patterson, so... Is this a new process that a subcontractor has to now be approved? I mean, normally, okay, we work as a contractor and we hire our subcontractors and that's that. But
102you're indicating that now there is a need to pre-qualify, like the contractor can't just say, oh, we've hired X, Y, and Z. They cannot just pick their, they have to actually delineate who their subcontractors are. Okay, got it. Thank you. Okay. Any other questions? Okay, I will. Call for the question. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Ms. Carrera? Yes. Mr. Baird? Yes. Mrs. Dabbs? Yes. And I vote yes. We are on to consent items. Is there anybody that wishes to remove anything from the consent agenda? Okay. I move the recommendation, Mr. Brunton, that the Board of Education approve the consent agenda items J3 through J16. Second. I'm gonna first second any discussion I just wanted to make it known that a board member did point out that San Antonio is not in California that San Antonio is in
103Texas So we are making that change, but that doesn't affect the the SDR It just affects the direction that the planes going to be going I thought it was that though It's right off the 16 Ontario Okay Okay, does anybody have anything to talk about on any or discuss anything? No, can I just get a little bit of clarification on the budget adjustment summary? Number eight? Yes, I think it's number eight. In general or did you have a specific? Just in general. Just in general, what is it? Just give me, just, yeah. For a question, I apologize as a result of our unaudited actuals that we brought forward to you last month Changes in revenue sources are projected expenditures this year We want to be sure that we're regularly providing you with updates to revisions
104that we recommend we make to our budget As just right as a regular part of our budget cycle. Yeah, okay. Thank you and then on number nine We're going back to 2025 with Christy White. Is this because it's Measure C? Yes. So this will be a contract for her to help us to audit our Measure C expenditures. The company never measured them back then in 2025? We did not have them on contract to do that. Thank you. Anybody else have any questions? Okay, none I will call for the question Mrs. Dabbs. Yes. I vote yes. Mr. Aparicio. Yes. Mr. Baird. Yes. Ms. Carrera. Yes. Okay, that passes. On to next item. Adjournment. All right, so I'll move to adjourn. I'm sorry. I, oh, okay. Go ahead, I'm sorry. Okay, do I have a second? I
105second. Okay, I have a first and a second. Before we say anything else, I want to say that our next board meeting will be at Granada Middle School on November 17th at 6 p.m. I look forward to that. That would be fun at Granada Middle School. Okay, anybody have anything to say before we vote? I'll just say thank you all for coming. Okay, I'll call for the question. Ms. Carrera? Yes. Mr. Baird? Yes. Mrs. Dabbs? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. And I vote yes. Okay, that does it. I adjourn the meeting at 7.50.