EWCSD Board of Education Meeting - Monday, September 15th, 2025

001Symbol for water. Very good. Stand up. What's your name? Mia. Dexter. Oh, good. Okay. There you go. Do you have a last name? Perrine. Okay. Good job. Sorry, that was only an East Whittier. It's okay. Is there money from Dr. Mason? He's already gone. Okay, I'd like to call the meeting to order at 6 p.m. and welcome everybody here. And I'd like to call up Laurel students Jody Lynn Cortez, is that right, Cortez? And Kylie Ojeda. With your right hand over your heart, ready, begin. 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. You may be seated. My name is Kylie Ojeda. I'm from Laurel Elementary, and I'm in fifth grade. I'm Jody

002Lynn Cortez, and I came from Laurel Elementary, and I came here with Kylie O'Hara. Are your parents here? You can introduce your parents as well. My parent is Maria Cortez. I came here today with my parents, Robert Ojeda and Ruby Alvarez. Okay, thank you very much, girls. Appreciate it. Okay. On to Employee of the Year recognition. This is Rivas. This is interesting. Isaac, come on up. It is my great honor to recognize our Classified Employee of the Year, Isaac Medrano. He goes above and beyond in his role, and as this year's honoree, he truly gives his heart to our school and community. Isaac serves as a lunch supervision aid ensuring our students are safe, cared for, and supported each day. He doesn't just supervise, he connects with students, guiding them with kindness and fairness, while

003modeling respect and responsibility. Students look up to him and staff know they can always count on him. In addition, Isaac also plays a key role as a PE aid, always willing to support and share ideas that make our school stronger. His dedication also extends beyond the school day as well, where he's helped us out the last few years at our after school Laurel Running Club. What stands out most is the heart Isaac brings in everything he does. He is dependable, hardworking, and a role model for all. His positive attitude and commitment remind us that it takes a whole team to make a school thrive, and we are lucky to have him on ours. Please join me in congratulating our Classified Employee of the Year, Isaac Medrano. Thank you foremost for... What is it having me

004as the employee of the year for Laurel? It's Truly means a lot. I mean I've been here. This is my fifth year now Working here four years has been like one of the best moments of my life There's a reason why I've stayed for so long It's I've made I've grown so many connections with the students with my staff members with my co-workers That it's very hard to leave and it's like I enjoy it so much and I'm very happy to stay here to continue working here and I'm I'm glad to make these connections with everyone here. I appreciate all the help I've received over the years. I wouldn't be here without the help of former coworkers and current coworkers as well as with the teachers. A lot of them have aided me through the

005years, especially with the PE. There's a lot of stuff that I didn't know in my first year, like the sports, and it's like my second year, I was like, oh, I had to jump in and I have to be the one making these drills. But it was also with the help of my... Again, my friends, my coworkers, like Nerissa, Vanessa, a lot of the teachers I was, like Logis, Tribe, and all the other third, fourth, fifth grade teachers, a lot of them aided me through the years, and I wouldn't be here without their help. I would like to congratulate all the staff members. Like Reba said, it is a group, it is a team. Everybody plays a part in the school and without somebody there it would be completely different. So everybody there is great.

006They make a big role in every student's lives and I appreciate everyone being there. I know a piece of Laura will always be with me when I do eventually leave because I do eventually have to leave so I could go back to unfortunately because I do have to go back to school myself. I do want to become a teacher. That is one of my goals and I do need to go back to educate myself in order to do that. Maybe in the future I could go back to Laura when I do get that teacher's credential. And again, thank you. Thank you, everyone, who voted and for having me as your employee of the year. I appreciate that. Thank you very much. And at the end of the day, I mean, I stay here because I

007do it for the students. I love them to death. Again, I love growing these connections with them. I give a little kindergartner a high five every time because she always comes up for one. Give the students a hug whenever they ask for one. The little things like that just makes me appreciate every day that I work there. So thank you. Come on up, Angela. It is my honor to recognize our Certificate in Employee of the Year, Angela Perrine. She is one of our Learning Center teachers and runs an amazing tight ship. Angela not only excels in the classroom, but goes above and beyond to make sure every student feels valued, supported, and inspired. This year's honoree is truly an amazing teacher. In her classroom, students know they are cared for, challenged, and given the tools

008they need to succeed. She creates an environment where learning is exciting and where every child knows they belong. In addition to her work as a teacher, she serves as one of our student council advisors. Through this role, she gives students a voice, teaches them leadership skills, and ensures they take pride in their school. From organizing events to creating memorable experiences, she helps make school a place students look forward to each and every single day. What makes her truly stand out is the way she goes above and beyond. She doesn't teach lessons. She creates opportunities, builds relationships, and shines her light on everyone she encounters. She is a role model, a leader, and a source of positivity for both students and staff. We are so fortunate to have her as part of our Lyon family. She

009embodies what it means to be an outstanding educator, and her impact is felt in every corner of our school. Please join me in congratulating our Certificate Employee of the Year, Angela Perrine. Good evening, everyone, my family, fellow teachers, parents, students, and members of the board. I'm truly honored to be standing here this evening. I am not a fan of public speaking or being in the spotlight, but here we are. First and foremost, I would like to thank God for guiding me on this journey and my family for joining me on this wild ride. Growing up, I always knew I wanted to be a teacher. My cousins and I would play school, and we would always argue on who would be the teacher. I think mainly because we just wanted to tell each other what to

010do. Then college came with new possibilities and I tried different career options. None of them stuck. Then one day, after working in a sales job that was extremely stressful, my husband's aunt approached me with an opportunity to work at a preschool. And my love for teaching was renewed and I taught in a pre-K classroom for 13 years. I was pretty young at the time and had a lot to learn and the women I worked with mentored me and without them I wouldn't be the teacher that I am today. During my time there, I had my twin girls, Lily and Mia, and I was lucky enough to have them on the same campus with me every day. But when they were nearing their kindergarten year, I had the itch to want to do more, to better

011myself and keep excelling. So with the support of my husband, I went back to school to get my teaching credential. I originally began working on my multi-subject credential for Gen Ed, but when I attended my first class, the professor introduced me to special education. And to be honest, I didn't really know much about it. And when he described the population of students I would potentially be working with, I knew that SPED was for me. What he failed to share was the enormous amount of paperwork it would entail. If I thought that sales job was stressful, I had another thing coming. My SPED life began here in the East Whittier School District. I was a student teacher at Murphy Ranch, which led me to a long-term sub-position at East Whittier Middle School. And from there, I

012became a full-time special education teacher at Laurel. Five years later, and here I am. I could not have been blessed with a better school than Laurel. Laurel truly is a family. From the moment I stepped foot on this campus, I felt like I belonged. Not to mention that I taught some of the teachers' kids in preschool, which helped to have some familiar faces on board. I want to thank Roxy for being an amazing principal. She has been nothing but supportive. Anytime I walk into her office to bug her, the first thing out of her mouth is always, what can I do for you? How can I support you? She's always helping out and she's even ready to get those steps in if and when I have a runner. My Laurel teachers, you make my job

013easy. Collaboration makes such a difference when figuring out the best way to help our students. Thank you for being so approachable and always willing to do what is best for our shared kiddos. We have such an amazing opportunity getting to witness small victories, which for some of our students are actually huge. Thank you to my aides. My learning center would not run without you. It wouldn't be as smooth as it is now. You seriously are the backbone of the Learning Center. Our SPED team has grown throughout the years and I am thankful for each of them. Everyone is always willing to help wherever needed. My OG team, I know you are, you keep me sane no matter how tough the day we somehow manage to decompress by finding some way to laugh about it. That

014and finding any reason to celebrate with a Bundt cake. My Laurel family, I truly appreciate you all. Thank you again to my husband and my daughters, Lily and Mia. You encourage me every day to be a better version of myself. When I think about teaching in my classroom, I always think about my girls. What kind of impact would I want a teacher to have on them? I would want them to have a teacher who is firm, but kind and patient, a teacher who instills in them a love for learning, a teacher who helps them find their strengths, values them, and helps them find value themselves. I'd like to think that I embody those characteristics and can only hope that I'm making a positive impact on their lives. Thank you for trusting me to keep doing

015what I am doing. I'll leave you with a quote I read by Rita Pearson. Every child deserves a champion, an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection and insists that they become the best they can possibly be. Thank you. Before the next thing, Ms. Melanzola, I want you to know that all board members are present, including our student board member. Okay? I forgot to tell you. Okay, go ahead. All right, good evening, board members, Superintendent Patterson, cabinet, and the East Whittier community. This year, our theme is Our Pride, Our Lions, Our School. Well, what does that mean? Well, first, our pride. Pride is more than just a word. It represents the values and character that make us who we are. Pride means being prepared, showing respect, inspiring kindness,

016demonstrating integrity, and making sure everyone is safe. It means celebrating not just our own successes, but also the success of those around us. Pride is how we carry ourselves, how we treat others, and how we represent our school. Next, our Lions. We are all part of the Lion family. Just like Lions in the wild, we are stronger together. Lions are courageous, they protect one another, and they never give up. As Lions, we lift each other up, support our classmates, and face challenges with bravery. When one succeeds, we all succeed. Finally, our school. Laurel is more than just a building. It's a community. It's a place where friendships are built, where curiosity grows, and where dreams take shape. This is our school, and together we make it a place where everyone belongs, feels safe, and has

017the opportunity to learn and thrive. Together we are strong. Together we are unstoppable. Together we are Laurel. Our pride, our lion, our school. And go Lions! Good evening. My name is Lilia Vargas and I'm the proud assistant superintendent of human resources and tonight is a night of celebration. We do have some very special employees that we're going to be honoring tonight and we're going to start off with our longevity pin presentation. And these pins are given to employees just to show our appreciation for their number of years of service, loyalty, and commitment to our schools. And tonight, we have some employees who have been here for quite a bit of time. So let's go ahead and get started and call our employees up here to give them their pin. And we want to start off

018with the big one, 35 years of service, Kimberly Humphrey. I'll make sure I give you the right one. 35 years. Congratulations. Thank you. Do you want to say a couple of words? I didn't know I was supposed to have a speech. You don't. You don't. This is just. Well, thank you all very much. It's been a really long road. I'm thinking back, oh my goodness, when I first started at Mulberry, my first two years were there. I taught third grade and just was all new and fresh. And then I transferred over to Laurel and I've been at Laurel ever since. I knew that was my place I wanted to stay. Like everyone was saying before me, it's such a community at Laurel. Everybody is there to support you, and they love you, and it's just

019family. It's just family. Thank you so much. We're so appreciative. On behalf of the Board of Education, we honor you with a pen to add to your lanyard. Thank you. Thank you. And next up, we have Miss Rebecca Cosio with 25 years. Thank you. There's my picture. It's a wild ride, but I'm having a great time. So thank you. Thank you so much. And we continue to honor our other milestones. We're honoring our 10th year, and we're also doing every five years. So I'm probably going to butcher this name. So is it Gazaleh Levasani? Okay, thank you. Next up, we want to honor our employees who not only are providing service to our schools as professionals, but also went through our schools as students. So last year, as we embarked on this journey of returning

020back to giving our service pins, we would go out to the sites to honor them there, and then they would let us know, well, not only am I an employee, but I also went through the schools. So we did develop this homegrown recognition. And actually, if you visit our main hallway in our district office, you will see a beautiful tree that resembles the one that's up here. And every homegrown employee has their face and their name. And it's just a wonderful. symbolism of just how amazing our schools are, that people have such a wonderful experience that they want to come back when they get their teaching credential or they decide to enter the workforce and give back to the community. So we have a couple today that I want to recognize. Yes, I know, and

021I see the baby. So I'm going to call Ms. Emma Sakuda up here. Let's give her a big round of applause. So, Emma, thank you so much for just, you know, sticking with us at East Winter City School District. We're so glad that you are here. And with a new addition, say hi. What's the baby's name? Aiko. Aiko. Welcome, Iko, and welcome, Emma. We do have a fun fact that Emma shared with us. I'm going to go ahead and read that. And it says, I had Jenny Skrow as my teacher at Ocean View, Mr. Vogelman and Mrs. Carnahan at East Witter Middle School. My brother and two cousins also went to Ocean View and East Witter Middle School. So it's a family affair. We're Nepo babies. Yes, Nepo babies, and we are definitely known for

022that. So, again, thank you so much, and we're so happy. to honor you with our homegrown pin. Hi, she looks like a little doll. She's precious. So thank you so much. All righty, next up, Miss Kelly Baldwin. Homegrown pin for you. And let's see, fun fact. My favorite EWCSD memory was when we performed Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in eighth grade at East Whittier Middle School. I got to play one of Joseph's brothers. It really is where my love for theater began. That is amazing. Thank you so much. So on behalf of the Board of Education, we do appreciate your service, your commitment, and all of the wonderful things that you continue to bring to our community. Now, our next recognition for tonight is our Whittier Area School Administrators Community Service Award. So this

023is an award that every school site gets to recognize. the school site level and once they are recognized at the school site level they also are entered into the district kind of competition or process and then out of those community service members we select one to represent East Whittier City School District at the Whittier Area School Administrators Community Service Award Breakfast and it really is to honor just the amazing time and effort and contributions that our community members make to our schools we know that they're is so much that happens at our school sites. Being a school principal, like the one we have here, we know that we rely heavily on our volunteers. And so it's always nice to recognize volunteers from the school sites. So today, we want to welcome, and I'll call Ms.

024Rivas up here to help me honor. We have Ms. Cynthia Alvarez. So as she's coming up, I do want to read a couple of words in her nomination form. It is with great pride and gratitude that we nominate Cynthia Alvarez for the Wausau Community Service Award. She exemplifies what it means to serve with heart, dedication, and unwavering support for our school community. Cynthia played a pivotal role in helping to establish our new PTA. Bringing together family, staff, and the community with a shared vision of collaboration and student success. Her leadership and initiative laid the foundation for an organization that now thrives as a vital part of our school. Whether it's setting up for family nights, organizing fundraisers, supporting staff appreciation events, or simply lending a hand wherever needed, Cynthia is always ready to go the

025extra mile. Cynthia does everything with a smile. a positive attitude, and with the best interests of students and staff in mind. We are deeply thankful for the countless hours and heartfelt dedication she has given to make our school community the very best it can. Congratulations and thank you so much. So let's give all of our recognitions a big round of applause. And during the break, we are going to be taking pictures, so please don't leave before we take pictures of you guys. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. Okay. I'm going to give the key to the district award. Rudy, come on up. Yeah. Yeah. I know. I think there should have been music while I was walking up here. Yeah. Okay. So I'm going to give you a little bit of information about

026Rudy. So Rudy was born in Austin, Texas and raised in Denver, Colorado. The oldest of three brothers, he grew up with a talent and passion for sports with a strong connection to his community. After being involved in a serious auto accident at the age of 16, Rudy was led to dance as part of his recovery. What began as a form of physical therapy later became a lifelong passion and purpose. He is the founder of RMH Dance, built on the mantra, educate, entertain, and excite. For more than 30 years, Rudy Hernandez of RMH Dance and Productions has been inspiring dancers in the Whittier community with his passion, creativity, and dedication to the art of movement, making a lasting impact on students. His career has taken him around the world, performing on international stages and competing at

027the highest levels. But his greatest joy has always been sharing those experiences with others. Whether teaching a beginner their very first steps or mentoring seasoned dancers toward their goals, Rudy creates an encouraging and supportive space where every student can grow. Despite his expensive, extensive travels and accomplishments, it's probably as expensive, he has always remained devoted to his local community, believing that dance has the power to connect people and strengthen bonds. Committed to giving back, Rudy has built a thriving program that continues to expand throughout the city and across multiple school districts, ensuring that dance is accessible to young people and families in every community. Known for his patience, humor, and ability to bring out the best in his students, Rudy is more than just a teacher. He is a mentor, a role model, and a

028friend. His mission is simple. to spread the joy of dance while giving back to the community that has supported him throughout his journey. So the Whittier Chamber of Commerce has this on their website, and I just thought that would be kind of me to read. It says on that, okay. Are you rhythmically impaired? Do you suffer from two left feet? Do you stand out at parties but for the wrong reasons? Don't be embarrassed. We can help. We specialize in partner dancing, both social and competitive dancers, ballroom, Latin, and swing dances. Are you getting ready for a special event? Do you want to impress that special someone? Give us a call, and we'll make sure to have you dancing like a star before that big day. I thought that was pretty cool. So Rudy and his

029wife Maria are involved in fundraising, and they train choreographed dance routines, including the waltz, swing, jitterbug, foxtrot, disco, salsa, cha-cha, jive, quickstep, tango, and the samba to those competing in Dancing with the Whittier Stars. And there is a post on Instagram about... They're starting another class and it's open to all the students in the district right I had it on my phone But I don't have it anyway if you see it's on Instagram, so I just want to tell you that But you see him everywhere, and it's just so wonderful to be able to give this award to Rudy So it's my honor and joy to award this key to the district to a deserving recipient Rudy Hernandez Before I let him talk, I want you to know it says, presented to Rudy Hernandez for

030his dedication and commitment to the students, staff, and community of the East Whittier City School District. Thank you. All right. Wow. Okay. Now I understand why I'm here tonight, because of Laurel. All right. I was like... So, yes, we've been teaching dance in Whittier. I've been teaching dance in Whittier for many years. And my wife and I have been a two-person operation for 25 plus years. And in her own words, it's been a long journey. It's been a long journey. And it's one of those... You're thankful for those that have supported you, and you're grateful for those that have continued to support you. I have brought two of our students here tonight, and one of them is the reason that I'm actually in Whittier. And the other one is the reason that I'm married to

031Maria. So Stella Cabral made the effort to go and find me because I came to do a substitute class for a friend. And she said, hey, I want you to come back to Whittier. I was like, I don't know anything about Whittier. I didn't really care for it. And she goes, I'll get you some students. Don't worry. I'll get you some students. You just come back and I'll make it happen. I said, OK. So I gave her one day a week. And then I gave her two days a week. And then eventually, I moved to Whittier. And then I met Denise, and Denise was a student. And Denise Elise says, you know, hey, you know, I like dancing. I want to learn how to do some of this stuff. At the same time, Maria was

032a teacher at Clayley's Dance Academy when they used to be on Bright. And I went as a guest artist to go teach partner dancing. And she goes, hey, I want to learn how to dance with a partner. And I was like, yeah, come on over. And she was like, oh, no, just I wanted to dance with you. I don't want to do anything else with you, right? And finally Denise kind of told her, you know, hey, I think he likes you. You might want to try it out. She's like, I don't think so. But two and a half years later, she said yes to a date, and there you go. So it only took two and a half years. But for so many years, it was just her and I doing after school programming and

033getting the word out about what we do. With East Whittier in particular and the way you guys set up your program and with Rebecca. Thank you so much, Rebecca It gave us an opportunity to open it up to the district into everybody that was involved in dance and This year starting tomorrow actually starting tomorrow. We have class at Laurel So you had three right and it's gonna be it's gonna be fun because From what I understand the numbers are huge this year. So I can't thank you guys enough. Board, thank you so much for letting us be a part of this. This is the first time that our business is now we actually have employees. And so we have a staff of 15 teachers. And so we are in all the districts locally, and we're

034growing. So thank you to the parents. Thank you to the staff. Thank you to the board. Thank you so much. So I was talking about the post on Instagram. So it does say free dance classes starting September 16th through October 30th at Laurel and on Mondays and Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at Orcharddale. And it's from 2.45 to 3.30 and Thursdays from 2.45 to 3.45. But it's just really great for the kids. And, you know, there's boys, girls. I mean, it's just so nice. And then there's always an end of the. The year kind of thing I know Rebecca has invited me before and it's so cute to see y'all should go see it anyway congratulations Rudy We'll go on to approval of the minutes I'm the recommendation at the Board of Education approved the August

03525 2025 Board of Education meeting minutes second Okay, I have a first and a second there any changes Nothing no corrections. Okay. I'll call for the question. Mr. Aparicio. Yes. Mr. Baird. Yes. Ms. Carrera. Yes. Mr. Tiaga. Yes. Mrs. Dabbs. I abstain as I was out that day. Okay. Thank you. And I say yes. Okay. Okay. Now we're going to go on to board member reports and comments. Mr. Baird. I think it's kind of nice that we have people that have been in the. Cool for as long as they happen so I going to like congratulate Kimberly Humphries for 35 years of service and Rebecca goes here for 25 years of service also Isaac and Angela it is amazing that you guys were picked as the voice of the air because I think you guys

036totally deserve it for what you are doing Thank you. Mr. Aparicio. Yes. Good evening everyone I just want to say thank you to Jody Lynn and Kylie for leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance and for being good leaders at your school and hopefully continue on middle school and high school and beyond that. So just thank you for leading us in the pledge today. Also congrats to Isaac and Angela for being Employees of the Year at your school. Thank you for everything you guys do. Just definitely kind words for both of you guys from your principal and thank you for everything that you guys set up there as well too. So thank you to both of you. Also congrats to all our longevity recipients and our homegrown recipients. Like I said, just thank you for

037the time you put into our district and for our students and community. So just thank you for all of that. And lastly, I just wanna say thank you to Rudy for everything that you do. Now you have a key to Mark's office. You could go in at any time you want, right? So just thank you for everything you do for our students. I know they truly, truly enjoy it. And I know we truly enjoy watching our students do what they do. So thank you very much for that. Okay, thank you. Ms. Carrera? Yeah, so thank you for being here celebrate everybody congratulations to everyone who was acknowledged Rudy what can I what can I say? I can't wait to a camera chunk. La you know, I hope that one day one day I can do

038it a poor translation in English would be Somebody help me You know, I you know kind of light the dance floor on fire kind of thing, right? Not quite there yet. But yeah, so congratulations on that And yeah, I hope you do rate Mark's office. I agree with Mr. Aparicio. I did attend the city council meeting where Orchardale was acknowledged. And there were some topics there that kind of stayed with me. And I wanted to bring them up as just above one of my comments. I understand that there's there's you know we have protocols in place for ice raids and and and things that or if there should be any type of notification or any system around where the student may be or their students may be in a potential situation where ice can come

039in I have two questions. The first one is, and I got this from being at that city council meeting. I was wondering if we had or if we're thinking of having some type of parent notification because I do understand that some of our parents would fit the stereotype that... immigration officer would maybe look into I'm not sure if there's if there's a protocol for parents maybe who are waiting for their for their children out outside The other one is, the part two to this is, I did notice that there was a resolution passed at the high school affirming support for immigrant students and families making a call to action regarding the current immigration situation. And I was also curious if it's something that our district is perhaps going to be looking into. I'm not sure

040if this is something that we are going to toy with or not. That's what I took from my visit at City Hall. I also wanted to ask, I'm full of questions today, I'm sorry. But I wanted to ask, I know there's a new adoption, a new math adoption book that we're undergoing. With that, will we consider a math intervention specialist in the future? I think the principal couldn't have said it better, that every child deserves a champion. I think that in the times that we're in right now, especially aside from the political realm, there's also other things that we look at. Just so you know, I don't know if any of you are aware, but this month is very symbolic for many, many things. And one of them is youth suicide awareness. There will be

041a walk on September 27th. If any of you guys like to go, it'll be at Liberty Plaza from 9 to 12. I also have one last thing. We had a conversation once regarding GPAs and report cards. And I was curious to know if the GPAs were only going to be the second part or if they were going to be every quarter. Because I just received. No, I know. I just want to know maybe you can just in the future. Yeah. Not a problem. I just wanted to make sure so everyone knows that these are things that we do discuss behind closed doors, and it's not just something that kind of gets overlooked. But again, congratulations to everybody. I don't mean to sound like a Debbie Downer because that's not what I want to do here.

042What I want to do here is, like I said, every child deserves a champion, and that is what I plan to do. Thank you, and I seize my comments. Thank you, Ms. Kennedy. Mr. Tiago? Thank you very much, and I want to welcome again our Laurel family, and congratulations to all the people being recognized and celebrated tonight. It's nice to be able to see a full crowd, and I've seen the progress of Laurel over the years and really doing some great things, and Ms. Rivas has done a great job as principal there, and we're excited to... We're excited to hear all the great things happening and looking forward to many other great things happening at Laurel so congratulations the Lions I still miss that tree out in the front that with the face out there

043But it was nice to have that there, but I know it had to go for a variety of reasons But congratulations, I do want to bring up the Laurel logo up there You know being an Angels fan and seeing the LA on there my you know I might have to report you guys for a logo stealing I'm just kidding. But way to integrate in there. You can put an A with the halo. Put a halo on that. But congratulations. And of course, to Isaac, being... Giving your service to us working with us and then also want to outreach and become a teacher There will be a spot for you. You know we have plenty of spots so come back I'm pretty sure we can find a spot for you in a teaching position There's always

044a need to have those homegrown people to come back and people who've been with the district so do that I'm sure we can find it maybe at Laurel, but if not you get your foot in the door and then eventually transition there at some point. So looking forward to it. And Angelic, Angela, congratulations again for you. I have my own children that go to the Learning Center, so I know how special it is to have a great teacher in there. So thank you for your service and great things. And thank you for sharing her with us here at the district. And just last a couple things key to the district you know it's always nice to recognize that what we are outreach to the community and beyond to and recognize someone like Rudy and your

045wife and Maria is a big part of this and the service that you provide and yeah sometimes we need to have those alternative activities that really is expanding and you brought that to us even though I'm not. dancer if you can get someone like dr. Patterson to move and groove and the dancing with the stars I know you tried you're not a miracle worker, but you tried But at least he had the guts to go out there and try it and we always always thank him for that to represent us doing that because He has more guts than I would to do that so I always Thank him for that But thank you for the service that you've done not only to the weeder community to our district and continue Blessings a good luck and

046looking forward to great things from your program. So thank you for that And then lastly, just want to say this is National Hispanic Heritage Month, so I'm looking forward to all the celebrations and things that we have, not only for our community, but in our schools to really recognize that. So have a great rest of the evening, and hopefully we continue success for not even Laurel, but our East Whittier School District community. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Attorney. Mrs. Debs? Thank you, I want to say good evening to everyone and thank you even those folks that are joining us on YouTube I also wanted to share that I Have been under the weather with that thing that circulated in 2019. It's the first time I've ever gotten it So please take care. It's very very

047prevalent in our community and beef up your immune system so you don't you don't catch it and I want to thank you to send a thank you to all the kind well wishes that I received and apologies for not being able to attend back to school nights but I'm no longer contagious but I was contagious when that was going on so I wasn't able to attend I also want to thank you, thank you to our Laurel students Jodalyn Cortez and Kylie Ojeda for leading our flag salute and of course big congratulations to Laurel Employees of the Year Isaac Medrano and I echo Mr. Urtiaga's comments with please come back and show us your stuff and when you're certificated and you're ready to go that would be amazing and Angela thank you so much for all

048the work that you're doing in the capacity of supporting our Students with special needs it's so so important right now I also want to congratulate our longevity recipients from Laurel Kimberly Humphreys Rebecca Castillo and Gisela Ivasani thank you so much for your time your dedication and All of the years of service that you've given Here in our community and particularly at Laurel and I just want to congratulate our homegrown staff members From Laurel Emma Sakuda and Kelly Baldwin. I think it's amazing that we're now doing a homegrown Recognition. I was a longtime teacher in another district. That's a past the 605 freeway, but I was a homegrown teacher at that time. And when you leave that homegrown space, it's a real big culture shock because now you're in a new place, a new time with

049a new community. But thank you to those of you that have stayed this whole time. You could say I ran unified this time. It's okay. It was Montebello Unified. We said Whittier City. Okay, okay, Montebello, okay. Montebello Unified. I also want to thank our president for recognizing Rudy Hernandez for the key to the district. And I want to also remind everybody and thank Mr. Tiago. Mr. Tiago years ago brought the key to the district idea to our board. Our board really fell in love with it, and so we embraced it. And I just want to thank you so much for everything that you've done, Rudy. I remember meeting you and Maria a few years ago, and we actually, Randy and I actually took... a couple of classes with you and then we didn't but there's

050still time but thank you so much because you know my commitment to music and dance. And I was a Placurico dancer and a Flamenco dancer for 17 years. And so the idea that you're bringing dance to our students for me is so important. I also taught dance when I was 18. I did it for four years as a instructional aid, classified employee in LA Unified. And it just brought so much joy to the students. And I know you're bringing that joy to our students now. So thank you so much for that. I also want to take a minute to recognize Darren Meyer. So I know he's not here, but I actually took the time to go through our calendar that Dr. Patterson is so kind to give us every week. And in that calendar, Darren

051Meyer puts in a weekly tech talk. And I was very impressed with all of the weekly tech talks that he's done. I went all the way back, the furthest I could go. And it was amazing to see the information that he's sharing. and having attended a conference this last week for National School Board Association, their annual CUBE conference, I went to two AI sessions and Darren Meyer had top of the line, his finger on the pulse of things that are really happening right now in the area of AI. And it was extraordinary for me to see that. And not only that, to see districts across the country, what they're doing with AI, artificial intelligence. And so I look forward to the time when we can develop our own policy here in East Vader Middle School

052around artificial intelligence. We are kind of waiting on our California School Board Association to give us a little more guidance. It was really extraordinary to see what Darren is doing, and it was great to see what's happening across the country. I also want to share that when our district gives us opportunities as a board to attend conferences, we are able to go, listen, and then bring back things not only to our board, but to our superintendent who can then share if it's appropriate with our schools. And I was able to actually meet... Colin Kaepernick. He was there giving a keynote speech and for those of you who remember him as a former 49er, he now actually has many nonprofits, one of them being Lumi AI. And with Lumi AI, he is able to go into

053schools and support students and teachers to use artificial intelligence in a really unique way. So it was really great to see him and hear him speak with that passion. I really didn't know that he was such a great speaker. So it was... really extraordinary. Thank you again to everyone and thank you also to our teachers, our classified staff, our administrators and parents for everything you've done to support our students as we start this 25-26 school year. Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Dabbs. Okay, mine will be quick. I just want to congratulate and thank everybody that got an award and let you know that I did attend Orchardale Murphy Ranch Series and Evergreen Back to School Night. So it's always nice to go to Back to School Night to see everything that's going on and the

054things I learned after all these years that I still learn something when I go to them. Hope you don't mind mrs. Baldwin, but a little bit of trivia here. We her her nephew is my grandson And yeah, and I did go to the ways soccer opening this past Saturday There were so many so many kids there I think I heard that there were over 1,200 kids that were there and then all their families So I mean it was just a huge event which was really good to see and I'm glad that we're able to you know Have a hill view hosted there I also on Saturday Friday. I'm sorry Friday. I went to see the play Matilda I got in I got an email from Emily Iden from Laurel and she said you know you

055really need to come because there's a lot of kids former East Whittier students and some present, and both her daughters were in it, and I was just amazed. It was outstanding. I can't even tell you how wonderful it was. My husband and I were like, oh my gosh, we cannot believe, I mean, I can barely remember my name, and these lines that they're remembering, I mean, I was like, I couldn't believe it. It was amazing, but it was really good, and if it's still going on, I urge you to go see it. It's really well worth it. And aside from that, I'm getting ready for my yearly 100-mile ride for multiple sclerosis. I've been doing it for 15 years. This will be my 15th year. And I don't use an e-bike. I have a regular

056bike. And it's a two-day. And, you know, there's still room. There's still room on our team. If you want to raise $400, you can ride with our team. But, you know, it's not so much about riding. It's about the money that we raise. to help the disease. And so, you know, just think of me on the 18th of October when I'm out there pedaling my bike for two days. So now we're going to take a short 10-minute break. Anybody that got an award, we're going to take pictures, okay? Back to order. Okay, we'll go on to CSEA comments. Good evening, members of the board. I am Joe Riley. I work in the IT department, and I am vice president for our CSEA chapter. Congratulations to Mr. Isaacs. He's still here. Great story. I remember when

057we did his interview for the Classified Employee of the Year. He told me this real cool story about how he teaches the kids to open their milk cartons and it's like a butterfly. I don't remember all the details, but he's a super awesome guy. And then congrats to Angela. I know working in SPED is tough. Folks, they do the Lord's work for sure. So I just have one member I'd like to just one issue I'd like to discuss with the board tonight. This is a tough issue for our folks that we've been actively working with the HR department on and this issue is payroll. So with the transition to our new system this year over the course of the summer a lot of our members so in the aftermath of all the work done over

058the summer a lot of our members did not get the time spent. for trainings, for completing the Kenan videos over the summer, for attending Under the Oaks, a lot of extra work request items like that were not paid on time with the 910 paycheck. Now the district is working on it. They did issue a supplemental check on 912 that covered a lot of those issues. But I think the thing that we're concerned with is that it was a lot of folks involved. you know, from all those things, plus folks who were subbed for extra folks, like the folks who worked multiple shifts, like as a supervising assistant on this paycheck, a lot of them saw that they were getting their contract hours. But I know there's one gentleman who subs for like four shifts at

059Eastwood here. So really right out of the box, he's only getting his contract hours and not those extra hours as owed to him on the shift. Now there's like a multiple, there's multiple reasons for this. Don't really want to get super deep into it. It involves around the transition from digital schools to frontline. And I will say we did meet with our HR folks and they are diligently working on the problem. But you know. This issue is super impactful because it hits the folks who work in classified who make the least amount of money. So for a lot of those folks coming back and not having their full paycheck is a big deal. And I think the thing that I'm just specifically concerned with is I know that not all the issues from this month

060have been rectified, and there's a lot of different causes. So please, if you can, help us out with this. Thank you. Thank you. Can I ask a question? Okay, on to EWEA. Can I ask a quick question, Madam President? I'm sorry, can I ask just a quick question? Okay. Are life checks still inexistent? Thank you. Okay, go ahead. Good evening, everybody. I don't buy any conspiracy theories, but after you guys had an NFL referee here at the last month's board meeting, You seriously probably get the schedule for the NFL before they actually release it. And we have a Raider game tonight. And I got to be here making comments for the union. And then the Raiders have one more Monday night game. And you have another board meeting then. They're beating Cal High then. Anyway,

061thank you for having me guys. Just want to say congratulations to the students from Laurel for doing the flag salute, Jody Lynn and Kylie. Congratulations to Isaac Medrano and Angela Perrine. Angela is on our bargaining team, so she's very involved with the union, but I'm sure she's out enjoying a great dinner for winning Employer of the Year. Emma Sekuda, congratulations to her, former student, great student, and I can only say she's probably a fantastic teacher as well. You guys are making jokes about me being old, seeing a student up here. It's when her kid is in my class, that's when I'm old. And also congratulations to Cynthia Alvarez and Rudy Hernandez. Big thing tonight is the contract is being up for you guys to ratify. We came to a tentative agreement and our membership voted

062for it. And thank you, membership, for showing up today. We really appreciate it. So we hope we can ratify our contract and move on to the next contract coming very, very soon. A couple issues we had. Last Monday, the tech was down for about four hours. That's a big deal, especially when you have one-to-one technology and our lessons are made based on that one-to-one technology. But it's also a big safety issue because the phones were down as well. So if something happens, we don't really have any lines to communicate. I would say maybe a solution to that would be making sure we have just standby walkie-talkies on hand for us. But the phones being down was a big, big deal. Now, I know you've got some hotspots coming. I don't know the status of that.

063We've got a couple of emails talking about those. We are curious if those hotspots are just going to be for our tech as teachers or the office tech, or if it's going to be for everybody, including students. That would be pretty valuable for us to know. One of you brought up Waze at Hillview and it's great that the kids are getting a chance to play soccer and show their athletic abilities. But one of the issues is the trash cans are unbelievably full when they're done and what happens over the course of the weekend is the crows get to it and they spread that trash across the Hillview campus. So if we could maybe find a way to either have extra trash cans or take care of that so it's not an issue that's making the

064campus. And finally, there is a TTD on October 10th, if I am not mistaken. I know what it's about. Can we share that with everybody at one point? Either in the bulletin or an email, just letting everybody know what that TTD is. I don't want to, I was told in confidentialness. So please, if you could share that, because people are just curious about it. So thank you. Thank you. Okay, on to superintendent comments. I just wanted to highlight a couple of fun things that we have going on right now. We do have our In-N-Out contest. As you know, the requirements for reporting our unduplicated count has changed, so we did want to put another contest out there to be able to incentivize our schools, and that last day to submit those... Data confirmation forms and

065the things that substantiate that is October 1st. If you have not if you do not follow dr Vargas Please make sure that you follow dr. Vargas is Instagram account so you can see all of the amazing human sunshine awards that are being Distributed across the district. There are really great stories to read We also mr. Tiago had a suggestion since we no longer have a communications coordinator to take advantage of the talents that we have across our district So we put out a request for student photographers. We had anticipated that the response was going to be somewhat similar to the response that we had for our truck design, but as of today, we have 74 applicants. All 13 schools are represented. So we are going to look to be able to have a student photographer

066at minimum of one per school. We already have several schools that have like a resident photographer that have a club, but we're going to try to leverage that and find ways to include as many students as we can to be able to capture the great events at the school. And then we'll have a small cadre of students who go around to large larger district events like the speech contest, the spelling bee, Engage East Whittier, the Stars Award Assembly and things along that line. And then the final thing is we are going to wrap one more of our nutrition services trucks. We currently have two of the four that are wrapped. That contest ends on October 1st. And once again, we will, you know, parse that down of all of the entries. And then just like

067we did last year, we will have our nutrition services team make the selection of what they feel represents the work that they do in their department and place that on the truck. And then in 26-27, we'll finalize that. process by wrapping our fourth truck. But we wanted to be able to spread that out over the next couple of years to be able to give new students opportunities. Thank you, Dr. Patterson. On to citizen communication? Yeah. Okay, none. Seeing none, we will go on. Discussion items. There you are. Okay. Good evening. It's wonderful to be here tonight and share with you a couple of presentations on behalf of the business team. Our first presentation tonight is the work of the summer of our wonderful M&O team and our tech team, some of our facility improvements that

068we did throughout the summer, and then also our planning for our Measure C projects. And I do want to take a minute just to recognize our M&O team who worked tirelessly all summer long, our tech team who worked hard all summer long to be sure that our facilities. our supplies, all the things are ready for our students and our buildings are sparkling and clean and fixed and ready to go for our first day of school. You know, when most of us are enjoying some lazier days perhaps or some vacation time, that's really when the work of those teams really kick into high gear. So I do want to thank them because it was a busy summer. You can see here we installed our TK restrooms or the restrooms that support our early childhood programs at

069our two schools, Scott Avenue. in Ocean View. We are waiting for further DSA approval for Mulberry and Laurel. We anticipate those projects to start later in the fall. Orcharddale, we're also waiting for DSA approval. We know that has to wait until the summer because of the location of where those will be. It will be too disruptive to the school to have the construction happening during the school year, but we plan to have that happen in the summer. And we also have a temporary building there to be able to support them. Yes, thank you for saying that I appreciate that We also began our cabling and wiring projects to improve our infrastructure so that we can have more reliable and stable internet access for all of our school sites. We have finished, at this time, East

070Whittier Middle School, Hillview Middle School. We're working on Granada Middle School, and all of our elementary schools will come next. And just since it was brought up, if you want to be able to kind of highlight the concern that Mr. Goldman had. We do have hot spots now at every single one of our schools and in our district departments. It is for the office right now to be able to make sure that there are safety concerns. that are addressed with teachers being able to, I mean, office staff being able to check areas, answer phone calls, and things along that line. We have run into a snag with our Crown Castle, which was supposed to be our secondary backup internet line, because what happened on Monday was a byproduct of being connected to LACO. So it

071was a LACO issue. It was not a district issue. However, we do have... timeline that we are trying to finalize to be able to have that instantaneous connection reestablished through a Crown Castle line that should prevent this situation from occurring in the future. So when LACO goes down, we would be able to pretty much instantaneously use the Crown Castle backup line to be able to support classrooms and the office, not just the office environment. We are working out a couple of things that should be resolved at the end of my no later than the end of it. Thank you We sealed and striped our parking lots at all of our elementary schools except for series So you can see the the front of those buildings and those areas got a nice facelift and new painting

072this summer We also did the interior concrete and asphalt work at Granada so then the inside of the the concrete and the walkways the sidewalks are all nice and redone and replenished and and up to safety as well for at that site This year the projects that will take place throughout the year Will are listed here. We're going to do our pour in place playground projects at Orcharddale, Evergreen, and Mulberry, where we put the squishy material underneath the playground so it's safe. There aren't wood chips. There aren't things that perhaps could potentially hurt students or scatter those who are excited about that. We're going to do the replacement of portable ramps that are falling apart a little bit, a little bit rotting in some places. So we'll be working on that. We're in the process

073of planning front of building landscape design projects just to spruce up the front of our buildings, perhaps do some planting, maybe taking out of older plants perhaps that need to be replaced, maybe looking at some more. Drought tolerant solutions as well in the front of our buildings We're going to be painting the doors the classroom doors and the building doors at ocean view Mulberry Laka Lima and Murphy Ranch this year And then we'll be working with outside and outside contractor to paint the entire building including the aficionado the windows frames the doors and and the exterior building at Granada this year as well So all of our schools as fast as possible working through all of our facility projects, trying to give our schools, the outside of our schools and perhaps the facelift that they

074need. Wait, wait, Alicia, sorry. I was in kind of la-la land when you were talking about the front of the building landscape design. So we've been working, I've been working with the grounds crew, with Mr. Lopez, with the principal when they're available. Patterson when he's available as well to really look at needs of the front of the building if there are needs for planting if there aren't then we won't necessarily there are some of our schools who don't need a lot of front of the building landscaping but just making sure that if they need to be spruced up throughout the year perhaps they need some new planters or tree replacement we're going to do some of that work in the front of our buildings. Okay I think that if the The lawns are mowed and

075some of them do have planters. If there's weeds in there, get those out. It makes it look a lot nicer, especially when the lawn is mowed. Because, I mean, as you know, I've gone by some of the schools and I know there was a problem. But when the grass is this high, it doesn't look good. We agree. Yes. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Absolutely. We are excited to be in the next phase of the Emma Wicker renovation project. We had complete DSA approval late in the summer, so we have now, the contractor bids have now been closed. We'll be bringing, hopefully bringing forward to you the contract for the contractor at our next board meeting, looking to start the work in mid-November at this point. And that really puts us at about a July 1

076estimate. Estimated of course and we know that things can come up as when we would come the completion of the Emma wicker renovation project We know that that will be we shouldn't be too disruptive to our East Whittier community Mr. Moore and I have been working together With mr. Lopez to be sure that we're communicating with the community that we're communicating with the staff that there's any disruptions potentially at the campus I do have to say that if you've been in an auditorium lately and you look beyond what's there, it really will be amazing what's going to happen. We're really excited, too. That leads into the Emma Wicker Capital Campaign. We know that we have a wonderful community who's very invested in our schools, who also want to have the opportunity potentially to donate to

077the renovation project. We have a couple of suggested... opportunities for our community for you to consider along with Dr. Patterson to think about that how we collect those donations or what kind of donations we collect. We love the idea of having a donor wall. We know that was something that was brought up and discussed before. It would look perfect right outside there. You can see in the Emma Wicker auditorium there. We could have a variety of levels. We really look to LPA, our architect that we are working with on this project to really look at some samples that they have as well. This was one of the samples they sent over. It's likeness. It doesn't have to look exactly like this, but really having four different donor levels and maybe there are some donor levels

078that will be more accessible to our community and families and some to maybe others as well. So we want to propose that as a suggested opportunity to collect donations and fundraise for our auditorium. So this really is we might yeah, but we have to plan on what we have seen so far And we've been talking to our state friends and our city friends for over two years now And we've not received any money so are the purpose of this in the next slide is to talk about the reality is this is going to be a district funded with additional things that could support that along Are we is it having any type of like brick work done like a walkway because I know that they have the donor bricks are a little bit more affordable

079for some families On the wall, okay Another suggestion that has come up is that we know that these chairs at our Emma Wicker Auditorium are very vintage. I think they're the OG chairs, right? So they have a lot of character. The tricky thing with those chairs is they are hard to separate. So what we thought we could originally have single chair potentially that people could purchase single chairs, but unfortunately they share legs and they share... Armrests, sorry, I lost the word. So they're really, they're not possible to separate. When I worked with our team, our M&O team, they were able to go and look and see how they could potentially be separated. We have a lot of sets of five. We have 31 sets of five that we think that maybe somebody might be interested

080in purchasing. And then we have two sets of three. that maybe people might be interested in purchasing. We also are going to have new chairs in the Emma Wicker, so we thought we might consider proposing purchasing a nameplate, perhaps, on the new chair, as well for a suggested donation. So we're going to move on to Measure C, so Measure C planning. We do want to take a moment to thank our community again for their support of our schools, of Measure C, not just for now, but really the future of our facilities and our buildings and the environments that we're able to provide our students. So we do want to start by thanking our community for their continued support. As we plan out our projects, it's important to know when we will receive our bond allocations.

081We've already received Series A, so you are aware. You'll see that in my next presentation where that is in our budget. You can see the timeline from when those next bond allocations come. The next one will come in 2027, 2029, and then the last allocation will come in 2031. So that is really how we kind of... timed out some of our projects knowing or most of our projects knowing that that was going to be what we when we will receive the funds to to to fund the projects um we do want to remind all of our our community how much work we have been able to accomplish at all of our schools, across all of our schools. You can see a really long list of different projects that we were able to accomplish using Measure

082C. Over the last several years, we've been able to update HVAC. We've been able to update all the tracks. We have new furniture, technology, STEM labs, maker spaces. You can see that's just a... to name a few on the list of those projects that we were able to accomplish. As we thought about our needs, we wanted to be sure we reminded ourselves and our community and our staffs and the site-based community what the projects we were able to accomplish using Measures R&C. And then, of course, we were able to fully modernize Ceres and Leffingwell. So a lot of what we'll talk about with Measure C won't necessarily, we won't need to touch Ceres and Leffingwell as much, of course. So when we looked at the we looked at all of the projects we looked what

083we still needed to accomplish We wanted to look carefully at the at the different allocations of the bond when they're coming And really thought about how can we make the most impact on all of our schools? We've been able to meet with our architects. We've been able to really do some planning and some designs And we really thought about these areas as the opportunity for us to get the most out of our all of those for allocations of the bond. We want all of our schools to have exterior painting, new exterior painting. We want to make sure that as areas, as we are renovating, when areas need to be brought up to current ADA requirements, that we can do that. Where appropriate, we want to have restroom renovations. We want to replace our windows. and

084that we want the interior of our classrooms to be renovated. New flooring, windows, cabinetry, and technology if needed. So as we look at Series A, if you remember, we've already received that allocation of funding, that first allocation of the bond. We're looking ahead to start working on the East Whittier Middle School modernization, and the modernization, again, includes the classroom windows, the walls, the floors, the painting, and the walls, floors. I'm sorry. Yeah, just like yeah, oh, it's right there, sorry Yes The new front entrance to that which was the original front entrance back into full money But even just at some point a cutout the East Weider has that grass or cut out for cars apart kind of like what you have in front of Emma wicker Something like that being parked in the front,

085but I know the front that was expensive and then just thought Are the ceilings going to be? Are the ceilings going to be? That's all going to be part of what we look at because we did LED lighting and we did the technology infrastructure. So that most likely won't be anything that's done unless there are tile replacements that need to take place. Yeah, there are some in the cafeteria. You'll look at it. Yeah, okay. We also want to, as I mentioned before, continue with our district-wide landscaping projects and paint the exterior paint at Granada. Proposed series B projects would be Mulberry. It would focus on Mulberry and Ocean View, continuing with the modernization, looking at the windows, the interior classrooms, exterior painting. As we plan those projects, we'll also be looking at some of the

086other things, restrooms perhaps, or other things that can be updated or renovated as part of that modernization for those buildings. After that, we'll be looking to Hillview, La Colima, and Laurel as Series C. And Series D will include the rest of our schools there. Along the way, we are obviously always actively pursuing matching funds. We will keep you updated on the status of those. Unfortunately, there's not a lot available left of the last proposition, but we are in line whenever there is a new proposition that is passed. Dr. Sebbins, I just have a quick question. We all know the big T word is out there, tariffs, and the impact of tariffs on products such as steel and lumber and drywall and concrete is huge. It's just huge. So in terms of our projects, have we

087done any kind of projection to see how that could impact us, or are we still looking pretty good at this point in terms of the budget and the projects and so on? When we work with our architects they do there are very clear that every year it there are significant cost increases, you know Looking at the different materials perhaps with every different project We do work closely with them to be sure that we're estimating appropriately that we are thinking about total cost of every project But they do they are pretty honest with us upfront that that those that the cost of materials goes up significantly every year or the projects. And around 7.9, 8.1. And that was even done a year and a half ago when we first met as a committee. That number did

088not significantly change. That number didn't even come close to the 6% that Dr. Seves has read. Basically what our architects tell us is for every year, plan a 6% escalation of costs. Luckily for the work in the scope that we have with Emma wicker even with the bid out It didn't come into even more anywhere near close to that six percent escalation for now. Oh question, so I'm glad to see that we're including the exterior because we've done a lot of work over the years that you know the of all our schools and the painting and it's kind of been And Dr. Pastor knows this, the painting of the schools. It does make a big difference. And of course, it doesn't need to be, sometimes it's not even the whole school. It's just the striping,

089the doors. I know those types of things make it pop. So I'm glad to see that there's a, that's on there. But it also doesn't take away that if there's emergencies or things that happen, we still have that cost to do it. But I know this is part of here. So I'm excited to see that being on there because it does make a big difference to our community and the way the schools look. And some people might not think, well, what's to worry about in the classroom? That's important too, but also the outside. So I'm glad we are taking that initiative and making sure that's a part of what we're doing. Yeah, kudos for working on all the schools, not just some. That's it. That's it. OK, thank you very much. For this presentation. OK.

090OK, on to item two. I move the recommendation that the Board of Education approve the unaudited actual financial statement for the 24-25 fiscal year. I need a second. A second. Okay. Received a first and a second. Any discussion? We actually have a short presentation. Okay. We are trying to take the ESS out of Dr. Asante. We have a short presentation. Okay. We again I want to thank the work of our entire fiscal team and preparing our for our unaudited actuals just again as you know school closes down our accounting team our whole fiscal team works really hard to to account for every transaction that happens everything that comes in and everything goes out it's a tremendous amount of work so I want to thank Carlos Pina and him for his team and his leadership and

091his team for their work and closing our books this year and to bring you the most accurate figures that we that that we feel very confident about. You know the purpose of tonight's presentation is to share with you after all that we've closed the books where we stand where our budget stands and compare to what we presented to you as our estimated actuals when we when you approved our 25-26 budget back in June. So there's just some general information for you. When we're talking about general fund, you can see all of the resources for our general fund. You can see that our LCFF revenues, our state LCFF revenues, take up about almost three quarters of our budget. It's the largest source of revenue for our school district. And our total budget this year was about

092$133 million. This slide just shows how we break down, how we actually spend our money, and the majority of what we spend our money on, of course, about 81% of our budget is on our amazing employees, classified, certificated, and their benefits along with that. And then you can see the other ways in which we spend our resources here in East Whittier. So this is a breakdown of all of both our revenues and our expenditures for the 24-25 school year. Remember, we're only talking about last year. You can see what is on the right is what actually what is actually being reported now that we closed our books and then you can compare to what we presented to you back in June when we presented to you our budget for 25-26. You can see the difference

093between the combined revenues the total revenues what what was projected or what was estimated versus what was actual. The reason for that, one reason is that we received additional ELOP funding, which is restricted funding, state funding. We received an extra $1.4 million in ELOP, and that was because the state reallocated unspent ELOP from across the state, so we benefited from that. So we received more money than we anticipated. And then on top of that, too, there is this kind of weird accounting. Entry that we have to make we have to report This what the state is going to contribute to our stirs that what the state's contribution is to our stirs. We never get that money We never get to spend that money, but we have to, for our auditors, account for that money in

094our budget. So it literally goes in and goes out. So that's why you'll see that in our expenditures, too, there is about a $5.3 million swing there, and that's really because that's just showing that. that STRS benefit or that STRS contribution from the state that we are required to account for in our budget, even though it's never money we actually get. Can you go back question so on our so looking at the actuals and then at the estimates we came under our We actually actuals are under the estimates from what you asked that I know dr. Patterson likes to move the slides really quickly But I'm really glad that you asked that because it didn't give me a chance I'm not I was gonna speed along to but I we actually came we actually It

095was If you can see, I'm sorry, I'm going to turn my head. You can see that our projected, we are still deficit spending when you look at the bottom line there. We are still deficit spending at $13 million. But we're deficit spending one point. Once we close the books, because of that additional funding, because of other additional funding we were either to be able to receive or that we saved in expenditures as well as we closed the books, we actually came in deficit. spending $1.5 million less than we expected to. So it was a positive thing. Thank you for asking that. This is actually shows the, when we look at our fund balance, you can see the actual effect that deficit spending has on our fund balance overall here. You can see what's important to

096note in what we shared with you when we Presented to you back in June was that we are able to meet that minimum reserve which is the requirement there Which is the important thing for us to be sure that we have a qualified budget We are doing that and making sure that we are reserving for economic uncertainties These are our other funds so I wanted to we wanted to share with you what what how our other funds fell or the resulting balances of all of our other funds. The big ones here are our nutrition services funds and our bond funds that are there. We wanted to share this with you as well because it is important. We have to spend, we have to set aside 3% of our general fund expenditures every year towards restricted

097maintenance. So that's something that we're required to do. So every year we have to set that money aside to be sure that we can pay for the work of our M&O team and maintain our facilities. That's a requirement of the state. Here we just wanted to share again our special education contribution. We work really hard with our programs. We work really hard with our ESS team, our special education team. We still see an increase in special education contributions. Although we did have a little bit of savings in this area, when I say a little bit, I mean we still are spending at a higher rate than we would like to in this area. So our next steps are really to come back to you. Our team will be preparing for budget adjustments and revisions that

098we will present to you in October. In preparation, too, then we will eventually get to first interim later on after that in December. And then we do want to come forward to you as well with an updated fiscal stabilization plan based on our unaudited actuals, our budget adjustments, and then, of course, leading into first interim. Could you share at the end of last year, what was the percent of reserve we had left and what was that dollar amount? Let me go back to that. So this here shows, and Carlos, I might need you to help me a little bit. This here shows that when we look at our ending fund balances, when we look at, if we look at the overall combined balance, there's that $30 million that's in there. However, when we look at

099all of those set-asides that we need to have, the $4 million that we need to have, the $9.6 million that we have and are unrestricted, you can see that that chips away there, that $30 million that we have there, we really have not a lot left over. What percent is that? Yeah, what percent of at the end of last year for using these actuals? What was the ending reserve percentage? We're close to about 15% and that's about 16 million Are you done? Thank you any questions anybody Okay, go ahead did we receive our federal funding after all Yes, okay, great. Thank you anybody else. Thank you very much. Thank you Okay, this was an action item so I need Nobody has any further questions. I'll call for the question. Mr. Baird Yes, miss Carrera. Yes.

100This is dabs. Yes. Mr. Aparicio. Yes. Mr. Tiago. Yes, and I vote yes, so that passes On to item three. I move the recommendation that the Board of Education adopt resolution number 5-25-26, again, limit calculations 24-25, appropriations limit recalculation 20-25-26, estimated appropriations limit calculation. I need a second. Second. It's been moved by Mr. Aparicio, seconded by Mr. Ortega. Any discussion? This is just to carry over the money so we eventually have to pay back. Kind of alone. Anybody have any questions? Anything else? Okay, I'll call for it. Go ahead. You guys know that I'm a stickler for this, and I've mentioned it before. When it comes to writing resolutions, is it possible for us to follow? the proper parliamentary procedures of just having the whereas capitalized and the resolved capitalized, it denotes resolution. There's reasons

101why they need to be capitalized. It's not just me being a copy editor. We can definitely have that conversation as a board. Like I explained to you before, we get a lot of resolutions from the county. We get a lot of resolutions from different places and we don't typically copy edit that. But if that's something that you're passionate about, maybe you could send an email to myself and Mrs. Chacon-Kennedy so that we can figure out a way to get the board to weigh in on that. Sure. And I'll be more than happy to supply you as well with. The proper problem. We've looked at it from your yeah, I just would like for you to formally put that with mrs. Chacon Kennedy if you wouldn't mind. Yeah, we'll do. Thank you. It would be helpful

102for you to give us whatever documentation you'd like us to look at too. Sure, not a problem. Thank you. Anything else anybody? Okay, I'll call for the question. Mrs. Dabbs? Yes. Mr. Baird? Yes. Scarrera? Yes. Mr. Tiaga? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. And I vote yes. And that passes as well. On to item four. Oh, is this on? Oh, this is not. If you get the discussion, I'll give some clarity. What's that? It's not an action. I don't know. Okay. So anybody want? So we can pop this up. So basically, one of the requirements is for us to kind of give you an update as to our plan with ELOP. We've had really no substantial changes with our program and our plan. We continue to refine the things that we do with ELOP in order to

103be able to make sure that we really are hitting, I'm sorry, Prop 28, make sure that we're hitting art, music, and STEM. That's been the basis of our program and just looking to see if there are different ways that we can refine those. It's also sometimes problematic when we're looking at pulling kids out with BCOS. and violin and the things like that. So we're continually trying to refine what that looks like. We are also seeing an impact at our middle school elective programs where some of our elective classes are at 10. 15, 20. And those are not sustainable numbers for our budget. So the state does allow for a waiver to be asked for in order to be able to make sure that we can use those funds in other ways that do support the

104overarching ideas of Prop 28. We just wanted to put that in front of you because as you can see, we continue to hire a number of people out of our ELOP. I mean, out of our Prop 28 plan. But some of these will be discussions that we have as we move forward and bring the fiscal stabilization plan to the board in December. There are no substantive changes to our plan. Okay. Anybody else have any questions? Okay. We'll go on to item five. Thank you. I move the recommendation that the Board of Education approve the comprehensive school safety plan submitted for all elementary and middle schools in the East Winter City School District. Need a second second. Okay. It's been moved by mr. Aparicio seconded by mr. Tiago any discussion on this. I just wanted to

105reiterate, you know, this is now the third year that we've kind of made sure that we are all in alignment with our safety plans. We're working on making sure that the templates are all adequately, you know, completed. Dr. Aceves has a safety committee that now requires every school to be a participant so that we have everybody's input and we're continuing to look. In addition to the school safety plan, we're looking to create the flip chart to be able to give a real-time opportunity for our staff because when you're in the moment and there's like a lockdown, what is that process? And we have a flip chart to be able to go to for our teams. This is also how we came up with the replenishment of our safety bins, our safety backpacks, and things along

106this line. So this is just the annual plan that we bring to the board. It is also somewhat of a generic plan too because we don't want potential misusers to have, you know, intel on the ways in which we respond to certain things. So this is more of an overarching safety plan that we bring to the board for approval. Is the expectation that you guys have once these are created that the site principles are... sharing this information or kind of go into it with their staffs or is there a plan that once it's approved there now? So this goes through the school site council and it is supposed to be shared as part of just the ongoing onboarding piece with our staffs each year. And with the changes in principle, who would... What principal would

107be the one? Because I see some of them had the former principals on there. Because these plans were approved by the school site council last year. All right. And then the second question I had was series, for example. It says that the plan was adopted back in 2020. But if I look at East Whittier and Evergreen, the first page says 2019-2025. So I'm a little bit, I wasn't sure if. That plan was like a rollover? All of these plans, we will look and make sure that those plans, they've all been approved by the school site councils as of the 24-25 school year. That is an error in our paperwork, but I can't answer that. Would you like us to go through each one of those? Or you're concerned just that they're updated? No, I was

108just wondering because we're approving something and it has an incorrect date. I'm approving something that says it was done in 2020, we're in 2025. So I was just wondering, like, is that something that... That it just rolled over or it was just like an overlook? We can go through and make sure that when we fill out these templates that, you know, for instance, like our board policies. Correct. The board policies will say it was first adopted on, it was revised on, it was last reviewed. So looking at this, the plans, like I said, this has been multiple years in the making now. So this plan was originally adopted on 2-13-20. It was approved by the school site council on 3-1-20. So then we should have updated that where it says for administrative use only to

109indicate that whatever the date was of the school site council meeting reflects the date of in the 24-25 for the 25-26 school year. Okay. So then this one's incorrect then? Just that date is incorrect. The date. Okay. All right. Thank you. Okay, anything else? No, I mean, I'm well aware how hard and how to put this together. There's a lot of things going involved, so having a plan and now making sure everyone knows about it, so thank you. Yeah, that's a lot of reading, too. Yes, I also wanted to echo that, and Dr. Patterson, this also includes last year's active shooter trainings that we provided? I don't think we had active shooter training last year. Was it the year before then? The year before that, yes. Okay, and that includes, that's in the plans? In

110the safety plan, is it incorporated in there? Under... Right, okay. Okay. Okay. Because I see, like, bomb threat, but I don't see, like, active shooter. Is that in there somewhere? I think we have lockdown in there. Okay, so that would be the umbrella for... Yes, yes. The lockdown would cover that. Okay. And I also want to thank you that you're doing a flip chart, Dr. P, because in the event that this doesn't work, having the good old-fashioned flip chart is really important. So thank you. Okay. Anything else? No. Okay. I'll call for the question. Mr. Baird? Yes. Ms. Carrera? Yes, with the corrections. Okay, Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Mr. Urteaga? Yes. Mrs. Dabbs? Yes. And I vote yes. Okay, on to item six. I move the recommendation that the Board of Education adopt resolution number 6-25-26,

111declaring October 20, 2025, through October 24, 2025, as week of school administrator. Second. Okay, it's been moved by Mr. Aparicio. Seconded by Mr. Urteaga. Any discussion? Okay. Call for the question. Mrs. Dabbs? Yes. Mr. Baird? Yes. Ms. Carrera? Yes. Mr. Tiaga? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. And I vote yes. So that passes. We're on to number seven. Public hearing. We'll call this to order at 7.51. Is there anybody here wishing to speak to this? Item we were very excited that we did have Williams visits for both Orchard Dale and Evergreen and they passed with flying colors So just kudos to the ed services department as well as our M&O team and the schools for Anybody have any questions in discussion, okay, I'll call for the question now. We're moving sorry So you says okay, we'll close

112this hearing at 7 52 okay on to item 8 I'm with the recommendation of the Board of Education dot resolution number 7 dash 25 slash 26 efficiency of instructional materials Provided in the East Ritter City School District in the East Ritter City School District Second second. Okay. It's been moved by mr. Aparicio seconded by mrs. Dabbs and discussion on this But you have any questions no it's what the books be ready and all of the supplies be ready the first day of school Or will they be or they'll be like delays again? You're talking about the laughing well issue not only that thing what I was at this school. Oh, we're all I mean I don't know of any other school than laughing well, and that was something that was addressed so my answer would

113be yes. Yes Thank you Anything else anybody? Okay, I'll call for the question. Ms. Carrera? Yes. Mr. Baird? Yes. Mrs. Dabbs? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Mr. Tiaga? Yes. And I vote yes. So that passes on to item nine. I move the recommendation that the Board of Education adopt resolution number 8-25-26, proclaiming the week of October 23 through 31, 2025 as Red Ribbon Week. Second okay, so moved by mr. Rupp, but he's a seconded by mr. Tiago okay any discussion on this Just like our other resolution with administrators. I'm glad we recognize this as well anybody else Okay, I'll call for the question. Mrs. Dabbs? Yes. Mr. Tiaga? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Mr. Baird? Yes. Ms. Carrera? Yes. And I vote yes. That passes on to item 10. I move the recommendation that the Board of

114Education ratify the 2023 through 2026 negotiated agreement between the East Winter City School District and the East Winter Educators Association. I'll second. I move by Mr. Aparicio, this time seconded by Ms. Carrera. Any discussion? I don't know. I don't know. I mean, I got to fight. Can we take another year? This might be premature. I'm glad we were able to come to an agreement. Very nice. Anything else? Anybody? I'll call for the question. Mr. Aparicio. Yes. Mrs. Dabbs. Yes. Mr. Tiaga. Yes. Mr. Baird. Yes. Ms. Carrera. Yes. And I vote yes. Passes. Okay, on to item 11. I move the recommendation that the Board of Education approve BYR 25-19 Concrete Asphalt Replacement Project as complete and authorize staff to final to file the notice of completion for Eagle Paving LLC. Second. Okay, it's approved by

115Mr. Aparicio, seconded by Ms. Carrera. Any discussion? Okay, I'll call for the question. Mr. Baird? Yes. Ms. Carrera? Yes. Mrs. Dabbs? Yes. Mr. Tiaga? Yes. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. And I vote yes. On to item 12. I move the recommendation of the Board of Education approve the change order number one for YR25-26, E-rate IC, single-mode fiber, and CAT 6A project estimated by X-ACT Technology Solutions. Second. It's moved by Mr. Ruppity, so seconded by Mr. Tiaga. Discussion? So I did want Dr. Aceves to kind of give just a little bit of background over these next two items, because we know that the board and we as staff are always concerned when we have change orders, because we want to make sure that we're being as financially responsible as possible with our bond dollars. So Dr. Aceves, could

116you just kind of give an update about these next two items? Sure, absolutely. So we have two. Two change orders that took place this summer with our wiring and cabling project that we talked about a little bit earlier I have met with the contractors to be sure that we are planning to stay in in the with an accordance with the bid that they're doing the work and in in with Fulfilling their agreement when with their bid that they put forward to us last year Mr. Harper and I are working very closely together to be sure that we We're supervising the work that we are walking. The start, we're going to do job walks with our own staff, our M&O staff, our electrician, to be sure that we know the scope of the work, that everyone

117is in agreement of what needs to be done, and that in the event that there are challenges that are going to take place, we can anticipate those, and I can report those to you. We do think that we have a positive outlook on the rest of the project. There were just a couple of unforeseen hiccups that happened. this summer, with East Whittier being a very old building that was really difficult for them to complete in the scope that they had originally proposed, and then also Hillview, that campus was really spread out, and going all the way out to Step was unintended, not planned properly for that project. That's why you see such a disparity on the 4,000 versus the 16,000, 17,000 was because of the distance. of having to go from the main campus out

118to step. We had not included it. So we're still on 12, though. Okay. Thank you. Item 12. Anybody else have any questions on that? Okay, I'll call for the question. Mr. Aparicio? Yes. Mr. Tiaga? Yes. Mrs. Dabbs? Yes. Mr. Baird? Yes. Ms. Carrera? Yes. And I vote yes on to item 13. I so move. I'll second. It's moved by Mr. Aparicio, seconded by Ms. Carrera. Discussion? So this is what we were just talking about, not in this. Right. Okay. Anybody have any questions? No. I'll call for the question. Mrs. Dabbs? Yes. Mr. Baird? Yes. Ms. Carrera? Yes. Mr. Amparicio? Yes. Mr. Urtiaga? Yes. And I vote yes. Is there anybody that wants to remove anything from the consent agenda? Anything? Okay. I move the recommendation of the superintendent, the Board of Education, approve the consent

119agenda items K-3 through K-11. I second. Okay, it's been moved by Mr. Aparicio, seconded by Mrs. Dabbs. Any questions, discussion? No, just want to make sure that our CSEA members will be getting paid for the extra time that they work. Yes. Is that something on here? On any of these? It's on this. It's not on, okay. No, it just says because approval of extra work requisitions. That's why I brought it up. Oh, okay. All right. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Any other questions or discussion? Okay. I'll call for the question. Mr. Baird. Yes. Ms. Carrera. Yes. Mrs. Dapps. Yes. Mr. Tiaga. Yes. Mr. Aparicio. Yes. And I vote yes. Okay. We're on to adjournment. I so move to adjourn this meeting at 7.59. It's moved by Mr. Aparicio, seconded by Ms. Carrera. Okay, anybody have any closing

120statements? I was just wanting to add, I know I was going to bring it up during the Emma Wecker thing, but is it appropriate or are we allowed to ask for like... Sponsors? Corporate sponsors? One of the things we had talked about was potentially naming opportunities to like Janice Hahn or the Bob Archulet, things along those lines that would be more big ticket items kinds of things. We didn't feel like we had those connections to be able to do that and to be able to have that happen. We don't have like a famous alumni. We've also had conversations with our nonprofits and how they go about this. And what we're proposing is kind of in alignment with what our nonprofits do with fundraising opportunities. But that's always a different thing we could talk about. The

121crypto center. Do we have anybody who was a East Whittier graduate that is in the entertainment business? I don't know if that's... We might. For a later discussion, but yeah. Yeah, there are. So it's okay to mention the seats and all of that already or not yet? It's okay to mention the seats and the donor wall and all that? Yes, it is? All right. Thank you. Perfect. Thank you. That's great. Okay. Anybody have anything else? Nobody else? My final comments are just remember to ride your bike and save water. So I'll call for the question. Mr. Aparicio. Yes. Mr. Tiaga. Yes. Mrs. Dabbs. Yes. Mr. Baird. Yes. Ms. Carrera. Yes. And I vote yes. The meeting is adjourned at 8.01. Thank you all for coming. Thank you.