001So good morning everyone. We're getting ready to begin. Okay. Welcome. The time is now 10.02 a.m. on February 17th, 2026. Welcome to this meeting of the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education. I am going to take roll. Ms. Newbill. Present. That's a present. Dr. Rivas. Present. Mr. Melvin. Here. Ms. Griego. Ms. Gones. Ms. Ortiz-Franklin. Present. Board President Schmurlson. Present. And Student Board Member Yang. Present. All right. We'll go directly into the Pledge of Allegiance, which I think is queued up. There's a brief introduction, and then I think we'll go for it. And after that, the land acknowledgement. Thank you. Welcome to Clover, the award-winning 2025 Blue Ribbon School. I'm going to lead you in the Pledge of Allegiance. Place your right hand over your heart. Ready, begin. I pledge allegiance to the flag
002of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. And now we'll cue up the land acknowledgement. We acknowledge that the Los Angeles Unified School District operates on land originally and still inhabited and cared for by the Gavirleño and Fernandeño Tataviam peoples who have stewarded this land for generations. We recognize these Indigenous communities' ongoing presence and contributions and honor their connection to this region. We recognize Gabrieleno people as the original stewards of Los Angeles basin and the nearby coastal lands and the Fernandinho-Taviam as protectors of the northern valleys. These lands have and continue to hold deep cultural and spiritual significance to their people and have shaped the community we live in today. We pay our respects to the
003Anukvetan, ancestors, Ahiheron, elders, and Eyo Hinkan. our relatives and relations, past, present, and emerging, and commit to supporting Indigenous communities through education, ensuring their voices are heard and their legacies are respected. We commit to deepening our understanding of the histories and cultures of the Native peoples of this land. This acknowledgement demonstrates our ongoing efforts to build and sustain relationships with indigenous communities and contribute to healing and reconciliation. Again, good morning everyone at this time. I would love to present this Black History Month presentation and, uh, Charlotte Newbill, would you be my person? Yes, I'd be your person. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning. Yes, I definitely am excited today just to be able to bring about 2026 theme in 100 years of Black History Celebration. And as... We mentioned today Black History Celebration. We also
004may mention that today is also Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, and as Avery writes, I definitely remember those days being in New Orleans. And also today is Lunar New Year, a year of the horse. And so as you can see, celebration is abound. And that means that it is always a reason to pause and experience joy, even in the midst of tough times. And so today we have a special treat. We're going to open up today's meeting by showcasing some of the talent of our students. Our students are going to make the ones that are making big academic gains and excelling in performing arts as well. We have two schools today in Board District 1 who are here to perform. And first we want to open up with our marching band by none other than the
005Obama Middle School. Fantastic. Can we give another round of applause for Obama Middle School doing amazing work over there under Principal Hoback and Mr. McAllister as the band director who is also a LAUSD alum. So thank you again. Now we're going to welcome Baldwin Hills who is going to share two performances with us today. And I think once we can clear the doorway there. It is just an honor to be able to showcase the talent that we have in Board District 1. And this talent is not only showcased here, but throughout the city. And what you're going to see from Baldwin has been showcased throughout the world because they've been on social media in other spaces other than here. And so it's just amazing to be able to witness it here up close and personal.
006under the direct leadership of yet another LA alum. And I have to add that she went to Dorsey High School. Melinda Jackson. So we gotta give it up for Baldwin Hills as they come forth. And first we're gonna hear a poem which was written by none other than our Stacey Joy who is, I'm just gonna be biased, that's one of my favorite fifth grade teachers. because she holds one of my precious jewels in that class. So it is very special to me today to be able to see them here. And we're going to see and hear just the talent of not only the students, but also the educator of that class. Thank you again, Miss Joy and the fifth grade joy team. And now we set ourselves up for a special treat. As I mentioned
007before, Baldwin is no stranger to this board building because they've been here before, but they're no stranger to many across. Like I said, they have been. re-shared and shared again and Melinda Jackson has done an excellent job. She is a third grade teacher. However, she does this passion and love for many years and have developed students that have come back and to continue to do the work. And so with any more further ado, here comes Ms. Jackson and her team. I say thank you to Baldwin and just sharing their joy with us through dance and poetry and to the teachers and Ms. Principal Harris over there as well that continue to do the work that you do with the staff and also alum of the school, Mr. Francis. I have to give a shout out
008to Mr. Francis because he is one that also choreographs pieces for these young folks as well. So, and additionally, I want to, and I'm excited to introduce our winners for our board, District 1, our third annual Black History Month essay contest. We've put forth an opportunity. They're going to be on the Zoom. There's only one. Okay, so we got one that's here. I got all three on Zoom, I think, so far. Okay, so we got all three on Zoom. We want to share that we received over 80 submissions from students across BD1 and it was tough, very challenging to select the winners. In addition to being recognized here today, each of these students of their grade level winners have also had their essays published in the February 10th edition of the Los Angeles Sentinel. So
009if you can, get you a copy. I got one extra. on the February 10th edition of the Los Angeles Central, giving our students their very first byline. Already, this year's winners, and I'm not sure if it's in this order that they're going to appear, but we have Iyamor Washington, which is a fourth grader from Wilshire Park Elementary, and Ms. Robinson is the principal there. Sarah Bradley, eighth grade, and she's from Audubon Middle School. Miss Deanna Hardiman is the principal there. Aiden Halock, 11th grader from Hamilton High School. With Miss Jennifer Baxter as the principal there. So again, we want to thank the students, their teachers, their principals, for their families for this opportunity here, and we're going to hear from each of them now. So it looks like Miss Sarah Bradley, you're all ready to
010go. We've got you up on the monitor. Just you need to unmute and then we should be ready to hear your words. Thank you. Good morning. All right. I'm going to read my essay now. A Hundred Years of Black History by Sarah Bradley. At Audubon Middle School, the Black History Month celebration I appreciate the most is the weekly announcements during homeroom. The announcements are a fitting commemoration of Black History because of how they integrate Black History into our routine and allow us to be part of the commemoration and are parallel to the origins of Black History Month. During the announcements, students read about Black History, whether it be people, events, or places. During the announcements, they will explain the contributions or significance of the day's reading to Black History. I think these announcements are meaningful
011because they incorporate Black History into our daily routine of morning announcements. We also get to participate in the announcements, helping us learn and be a part of Black History Month. Additionally, I find interesting the parallels between our announcements and the origin of Black History Month, all the way back in 1926. Black History Month started when Carter G. Woodson began sharing stories and exhibits of Black success, just like our announcements do. These announcements help us learn from the past because they keep us informed of all 100 years of Black History Month and even before that. From Claudette Colvin to Justice Jackson, Juneteenth's The I Have a Dream speech, we learn from and about Black history. These announcements help us build for the future because they show us how far the Black community has come and how
012far it can continue to go, inspiring future generations. Thank you. All right, Aya, whenever you're ready. Aya Mori, Washington, fourth grade. Make sure you're unmuted and we look forward to hearing your words. I'm in fourth grade. I'm so sorry to interrupt you. We just need you to speak up a little bit louder and start all over. We really want to hear what you're saying. So you might have to step closer to the device. Let's do a quick test before you begin. I don't want to interrupt you twice. I am Maury Washington. I'm in fourth grade in Wilshire Crest Elementary School. That's so perfect. Keep going, kiddo. Mike Jamison will touch the stars by I Am Maury Washington. May Carol Jemison was born on October 17, 1956, in Decatur, Alabama. She loved science and dreamed of
013going to space. When she was little, she enjoyed the show Star Trek and saw a female black character, which made her want to go to space also. When she was just 16, she enrolled at Stanford University. and earned a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering in nineteen seventy seven after getting her medical degree from cornell medical college in nineteen eighty one she worked as a general before leaving to work for the peace corps in liberia and sierra leone as a medical officer when she returned home she decided to follow her childhood dreams of going to space and accomplished many firsts she applied to nasa's astronaut training program in nineteen eighty seven and was accepted she became the first african-american female astronaut may's dream finally came true on september twelfth nineteen ninety two when she
014traveled to space on the on the space shuttle endeavor mission s t s for seven it was then that may officially became the first african-american woman in space she inspired me to reach for the stars and pave the path have for black girls everywhere may jemisin became a very important black figure and hero she became my idol and hero by not listening to anyone's negative ideas she just chased after her dreams and once she did that not even space was the limit she even made a guest appearance on star trek in nineteen ninety three she made me look up and want to touch a star dr may jemisin is one of the many feel many black female figures who are very important to the country. Thank you very much. Okay, Miss Caden Hadlock? Haylock? My
015apologies. Good morning. Um, okay. There's a popular African proverb saying, cross the river in a crowd and the crocodile won't eat you. In the 100-year legacy of black history, this proverb can be seen through generations of African-American protests that paved the way for movements today. Through these periods of collective hardship, a sense of community was formed amongst African Americans that remains vital in society today. One of the most important things when fighting oppression is community. In the past, African Americans have formed a community based on shared struggle. From resistance on plantations to civil rights protests, African Americans have repeatedly united through shared struggle. This united front has allowed meaningful progress amongst the African American community. The Black Panther Party is a prime example of the legacy of this community. The Black Panther Party, founded in
0161966, was an organization that protested police brutality while also supporting the Black community. It had more than 2,000 members dedicated to speaking out against oppression in cities all across the country. The party also founded a Free Breakfast for Children program, supporting not only Black families, but all families in need across the U.S. This program raised government attention to national need-inspiring future aid programs like WIC, a program my mother used while raising me. Despite these achievements, African Americans still face challenges with oppression in the United States. The deaths of Trayvon Martin, George Floyd, and countless others sparked nationwide protests under the Black Lives Matter movement. These protests played a key role in raising public awareness and pushing for change. The fight against oppression among the black community has been one that has spanned for far longer
017than 100 years. During periods of struggle, it's essential to reflect on past movements that highlight the power of community. Community is the strongest weapon when fighting against oppression as it allows one voice to be amplified through many. Thank you. Again, congratulations to the three of you for being able to be selected as winners to our essay contest. Last, I wanted to share, as we close out. on this Black History opportunity to share and celebrate. As you were speaking, Ms. Halock, I was just thinking of Trailblazers, of some of the programs that you mentioned, as we have lost in our community today with Jesse Jackson. And today I will adjourn in his honor. But just the thing that stuck out to me as we celebrate Black History, and you said community. as we share in the
018struggle and as we continue to share in the struggle as we continue to rise as well. I just want to say thank you to all the board members for being able to share in this opportunity as we share the talents and the gifts of our students in this board district as we highlight our students of African American culture as well. I just want to say thank you and appreciate just the opportunity to showcase, to share and as well share in the struggle. Thank you. Thank you so much, Sherlette. First of all, the fantastic band, the poetry, the dance, and the inspiring words of those students. You made our day today, and I thank you so much for doing that. Thank you. And now it's my honor to introduce some labor partners who wish to speak
019to us. I'd like to start with Max Arias of SEIU. Come on up, Max. All right, good morning, board members, Superintendent Carvalho. Reflecting upon what we just saw, history is not passive. It is active. Every day we make history through our actions and our interactions. And seeing all of the, just a reflection of all of the struggles for all of the injustices committed on black people, brown people, Native Americans, natives of this continent, right? It just reminds us, that gives us hope. that there was a struggle, but hope is not passive. Hope has to be active. And our active hope is that we're organized, we have each other's back, and our fight is due to love, love for our students and love for each other. And we will not stop our fight. And I just
020wanted to share that reflection as we are celebrating Black History Month. We seem to be fighting the same things. And to reach equality, we need to do it through equity. Many of you here espouse equity, but you're not showing it. This district is not broke. Absolutely, it's not broke. You manipulate, you have the figures, you create the figures, you create the accounting, you can make it say what you want, but you're sitting on $5 billion, $5,000 million. And because our members, they demand better. Because they dare say we are tired of seeing our peers go homeless. One in five of our employees has been or is homeless. We are tired of seeing our peers go hungry. One in three of our members have expressed that they go hungry. Because we dare say we're tired and
021we know that you can do better. You retaliate on us. Because we dare demand a better wage. We dare demand more hours to serve the students that we love. because we dare demand more days of work, because we dare demand more staffing to keep the schools clean, safe, and well-supported, because we do that, what do we get from you? Retaliation. I know we filed more than a dozen unfair practice charges. Why? Because we have there spoken out and you have come back, forced our members to cut their hours to self-demote, have told them as they participate in union activities they will be written up or disciplined, etc., etc. At the table, we've been bargaining for two years before you claimed that you are broke even though you're not. For two years you've held us there.
022Well, we've had enough. We are organized and we have hope. And because we dare do this, now you threaten with layoffs. You threaten with layoffs to save $30 million. For the 292 people in our unit that you're threatening layoffs to, it means a lot. It's their life. For the district budget, it's $30 million. Out of billions and billions of dollars, that is your budget. It's negligible to your budget, but it's absolutely important to the people doing it and to the school sites doing it. 220-some IT support, that's more than half of the unit. That's more than half. Students need support. Schools need support. What are you going to do? Subcontract? Because that's the only thing left. The work needs to get done. That is completely unacceptable. Similarly with gardeners. Just because there's less students doesn't
023mean the grass is going to stop growing in all those buildings. 23 gardeners out of the already, what are you going to do? probably subcontract. We're not going to allow that. You're creating crisis in other places that we've mentioned. Air conditioning tax. You barely have any. You barely have any. You subcontract. You can do what's right. You know you can do what's right, but you choose not to. You choose to be beholden to Wall Street because you have a great bond rating. What is it? Are you broke? Are you doing okay? Because it can't be both. The bond market thinks you're doing wonderful. Why? Because you always have surplus. In 23, our members are forced to sacrifice and go on strike and strike you for the same reason, because you're retaliating on them for daring
024to demand better. And teachers joined us in that strike. And it was a strike to demand better. You were sitting with a lesser surplus. I believe about half of the surplus you have now. I know you say the surplus is restricted. You make those choices. You decide what's restricted. You can decide what's not restricted. You can decide to be brave and lead the state by example and show what a fully functioning school system is. Because at the end of the day, all our fight is so that those students that were here today can keep doing that and more students can keep doing that. What they dream, what they love. And that is what we're demanding. And we're not going to back down. We're not going to back down, and we're not going to back down.
025Our members are not ready to keep living. Students mentioned, listen to them. They mentioned oppression and exploitation. That is exactly what you're doing to the workers of Local 99. You're exploiting them to run the school district. You choose to cut. Minutes, 15 minutes of thousands of workers so that they won't have healthcare. And then you walk around saying everybody has healthcare? That's what you do. You walk around saying everybody has, but you don't. Right? So what is it then? You obviously don't care because if you do, if you did, you would show some leadership. You would tell Superintendent Carvalho to do what's right. Reclaim your power board. Do what's right. And. If you believe in equity and you think in the third year out, we might have a deficit, maybe it's time for you to
026challenge that system. Because at the end of the day, if somebody's telling me to hurt somebody else, I'm going to challenge that, even though it's supposed to be the law. Just like we're demanding that cops don't beat up and kill black, brown people, right? We're demanding they do it. Similar, we're demanding you stop doing what you're doing because all you're doing is hurting people, hurting students, and hurting yourselves. Because when we fight, we win. Thank you. You're going, me? Great. Cecily Mayer Cruz, president of United Teachers Los Angeles, and we still have Local 99 here with us. I think what Brother Max said and what the folks are feeling. There's a lot of our frustration. As this board deliberates today on what will happen to the families of LAUSD employees targeted for RIFs, it does
027so in the context of a PR narrative ginned up by this district leadership that pits workers against each other and against the fiscal health of our schools. I'm going to say that we stand together. We stand together. This framing is not an honest engagement around budget priorities. It is a tactic used to scare workers and scare our school communities. So let's look at what is not on the chopping block today. the full context for the district's budget decisions must include the massive increase in new contracts with for-profit corporations. These contracts come with multi-year commitments that have major structural impacts on the budget, yet the terms and conditions remain unpublished. The result is a budget that hides from public eyes that between 2022 and the start of 2025, LAUSD inked in, signed in 1,295 new agreements
028with $6.7 billion in commitments spanning an average term of four years. In 2022, new contracts jumped to $2.3 billion in new multi-year commitments, an increase of over 84% over 2021. New commitments continued at this level and were over $2 billion per year in both 2023 and 2024. Tech companies made up at least $1.6 billion of these new multi-year commitments since 2022. The budget should not be balanced on the backs of its workers so that tech companies can make record profits off of public education. As fiduciaries overseeing one of the largest public budgets in the country, it should concern this board that while all of our labor contracts are public, none of these procurement contracts receive the same level of transparency or scrutiny. I wonder why that is. Makes you go, hmm. The rifts that you're
029voting on today were kept secret until Friday night. And we have been bargaining for months and months and months. And not once has someone said there will be rifts. We are still lacking in detail about what positions and bargaining units could potentially be impacted. We already know it is Local 99. Withholding information and forcing the shortest possible public dialogue about these cuts is how narratives are controlled. And I know at least one person sitting up here likes to control the show. And how fear and uncertainty and doubt is spread. We see the tactics for what it is. It will not divide UTLA from Local 99. It will not divide us from Allah. It will not divide us as workers. This is unacceptable. It is shameful. And we will not be deterred. People promise all kinds
030of things. But you are promising the bond-raiding companies. You're promising the tech bros all this money. And we know that you will outsource. When you cut people's jobs, you will outsource. So why don't you just keep the people in their jobs? Good afternoon, board members, superintendent, and colleagues. I'm Maria Nichols, a la Teamsters Local 2010 president. And I'm standing here today with my labor partners working in coalition with SEIU and UTLA. SEIU, very dear to my heart, they are the backbone workers of this district, the people that do it all. And I know firsthand because I was a principal and a director for 20-some years, as you all know my story, and I rely on these folks. And it's also, they are also the lowest paying folks in our districts. And that... Presses my heart
031because my mother came to this country and she was a house cleaner many of you don't know that story and So when we do not respect the folks that do the hardest work Which is SCI you? Then we are showing That they don't matter that they are dispensable and they are not they are the cornerstone of what we rely on at schools to get it done as administrators So from all my administrators, I thank you from the bottom of my heart because I relied on you to be a successful leader at my site for 11 years. So please give SEIU a big round of applause because they deserve it. They deserve better. And I stand here with my partners of UTLA because for 18 years I was in the classroom and as a principal and
032director, I respect teachers greatly. They are the ones who shape the dreams of our students in the classrooms. They are the ones that get the work done. Yes, the principals are the visionary. We set the tone. We set the instructional arena. We set the vision and mission. We set structures for collaboration and systems for building our schools in effective and operational ways. But at the end of the day, it is the teachers. that are in those classrooms six hours a day, 30 hours a week with our students. And so I have great respect for teachers. And let me remind our administrators, many of them were teachers. We start, we all start as teachers, and we can never lose that. That is the work that we do for kids. When we move on and become administrators,
033we are still teaching, except now we're teaching adults and leaders to be better. So I wanted to start with that. Now I stand here before you today not simply to criticize because I don't want to criticize I think the boys and girls that morning did such a fabulous job in setting a positive tone I want to come at this from a positive light But I want to call for a realignment between our values and our messaging and the strategy We ask for revenue transparency and strategy. We were told in June that the district held a positive certification. Today we are hearing about fiscal cliffs, structural imbalances. What's changed? Where are the December and January tax revenue updates in this presentation or in this report? Why are they not discussed? California has seen strong market performance,
034particularly in AI and tech growth. That affects state revenue and ultimately Proposition 98 funding. We also see no plan to aggressively pursue the $5.3 billion Prop 98 holdback at the state level. Have we mobilized labor partners to go to Sacramento? Have we built a coalition? Have we pushed for solutions rather than pushing for layouts? We have such an over-reliance on ribs. A year and a half ago, my Allah. membership lost 400 assistant principals remember that 400 at that time there was no voice well guess what we have a voice now with all the teamsters and standing united with utla and sei you that will never ever happen again because that is the reason why we have such an impact on our workload and our work hours 400 disseminated just like that Routine layoffs demoralize our
035troops. They destabilize schools. They erode institutional knowledge. And they send the message that the workforce reduction is the first solution, not the last. So, special education. APIS reductions over the past two years are exposing the district to litigation and harming families with special needs. The governor has signed an additional $500 million for special education statewide. If we truly care about students with disabilities, we should be campaigning right now to increase the number before the May revision. And let me be clear, federal child find requirements obligate us to identify and serve two to three year olds with disabilities. Our enrollment numbers at these ages are far too low. That is not just a fiscal issue, this is a compliance issue and most importantly, it's a moral issue. Enrollment. Bus benches and ads on the back of
036buses are not a serious enrollment strategy. Where are we in the parks? Where are we at the weekend markets? Where are we at the pediatric offices? Folks, you need to get your boots on the ground, and this is a work that you need to do in person, one family at a time. You can count on your labor partners to support you with that because we understand that enrollment matters. We understand that we have to get more kids in to be fiscally better sounded. Outsourcing and overruns. My labor partners discussed this. We continue to see outsourcing in IT and facilities with major project, excuse me, I lost my place here. And we ask that this stop because this affects and takes our jobs away. And this is happening across units and across our system. In closing,
037the district is not poor. It is not incapable. It is not without options. We need to shift the strategy. Revenue advocacy before rifts. Enrollment expansions before contradictions. Partnerships before fear. Shared sacrifices before workforce cuts. We stand ready to work with you. but we will also stand firm in protecting the professionals who keep this district running every single day. That is SEIU. That is your UTLA and that is all a Teamsters Local 2010. Work with us, partner with us, and let's find solutions, not just rips that have become very common in this district of disposing the people that do the work for the students and for the communities. Thank you. Maria, before you go, Maria, we have one more labor partner, one more labor partner on Zoom. So let's get all of you together. Go ahead,
038Ms. Parrish from CSCA. Franny, can you please unmute yourself? Ms. Franny Parrish, I see you put your hand up. Press star six to unmute yourself. Good morning. Can you hear me? Absolutely. Please go ahead. Oh, wonderful. Good morning. I'm sorry that I could not be there in person. I have children to see here at school this morning, and Miss Fox is winging her way to San Jose. She does know the way. uh bring a little levity i'm sorry this morning i can't be there with my labor partners thank you so much i had to tear up my speech because they've said everything i was going to say thank you so much sdiu my wonderful labor partners uh utla allah thank you want for all of the wonderful things you've said because it all fits in
039with what we have to feel and say as well. But meanwhile, strap yourselves in because it is going to be a long and bumpy ride today as we listen to the obfuscation of information stretching of the truth, peers and the occasional shuffle off the buffalo rather than directly answer your questions, board members. Because when you look at the numbers of people being laid off or ripped, the first thought might be in some instances not so bad until you realize how many people are left behind. In our instance, or in our unit, assignment technicians, you know, well, 11 leaves only 57, maybe only four customer service reps left. Half of the mail clerk division will be gone. Well now that gives a new meaning to snail mail when you realize that only four people would left
040to sort the entire mail for all of LAUSD. I hope you really like snail mail because we're talking it's going to be really slow. IT customer reps. I believe you all received something from one of the IT guys that's only done it completely decimating the whole department, half of the department. that we all depend on in the entire district from the students all the way down to the staff and the parents for all of that wonderful it's not just i.t that we're talking about we're talking about enrollment we're talking about transportation half of that department and you want all the students to be on computers constantly they lose their ids they're suddenly they can't get onto their computers They spend 12 to 20 minutes or longer per call, taking 40 to 50 calls per day.
041And sometimes that phone rings at five minutes to five. And they're expected to stay there past five o'clock. But take care of that person who has called. And you're expecting to cut that department in half? And you want more stuff on IT? Off the ticks, 91. It's already a ghost town down there in Boehner. It has been since the last layoff many years ago. And where do you think they're going to go? And who do you think they're going to bump out of their jobs at school sites? And where are those people going to be going? Where are they all going to go? Parent education support systems. You know, they will only leave three in the entire district. You know, you look at those numbers and you think, well, there's only this many. But when
042you get... Right down to it, there's only going to be three left in the entire district. Student and Family Resource Navigators. 19 translates to 38 schools without support for the students and families who depend on them. There is money through grants to pay for them, but you are making schools pay for them. They shouldn't have been paying for them. The schools shouldn't have been paying for that. This is a vital service. You shouldn't be making schools pay for that service. Shame on you guys. Come on now. Come on. Translators. Oh, here we go again. Translators. You've been contracting that out. I believe Maria was talking about that. Ms. Cruz was talking about that. Contracting out again. There are only 16 in the whole district. That's what's left. And the bilingual differential cannot pay for them
043to do the work of a translator. They cannot pay for that. Even though you've raised the rate, that's not the job of a differential. It's not what that's for. And no matter what you may call it, a RIF is a layoff. It is a reduction in pay. And if you really want to get right down to it, why don't all of you take the same reduction and model the same behavior for those you are throwing onto the bonfire? I've watched new people come in. And I'm looking at some of these new people in the finance department and I'm going, wait a minute. Wait a minute. The person who left was making $201,000 and the person who's replacing them is coming in and they're making $231,000. How did that happen? I made a mistake when I
044left the music business. Boy, I should have gotten into the education business sooner. Changed my whole approach to this. Come on, guys. Ah, and the bell has rung here at the school. I guess that means my time is up. I'm not going to stay on here any longer. You guys got a hard job ahead of you. I've got a hard job ahead of me. We're not happy. You've already heard my labor partners giving you your marching orders. And in the name of Jesse Jackson, let's just say Jesse Jackson was right. Have a good day. Thank you. Thank you, Franny. Thank you. Also, thank you to Max Arias, to Cecily Mayard-Cruz, and to Maria Nichols. Right now, I'd like to talk about our Sharing Brings Hope charitable campaign. And I'd like to introduce Mr. Victor Cruz.
045Would you come up, Victor, please? You are the director from United Latinx Fund, and you're here to speak about the charitable campaign. So, Mr. Cruz, would you come up, please? I have just got an email about three minutes ago from Mr. Cruz saying that he's going to be late, so maybe we can come back to this later. Absolutely, not a problem, not a problem. Okay, we'll come back to Mr. Cruz. Mr. Carballo. Thank you very much, Mr. President, and good morning, everyone. Certainly, Board Report 13 will come in later in the day, but we just heard from our labor partners. regarding a topic of great importance and concern to all of us and I feel it's appropriate for my report today to focus solely on that topic and then as a board report 13 is
046introduced later on staff will make some additional comments alongside a presentation. Whether it's here in Los Angeles or any other district across the country fiscal crisis once met recognized need to be addressed. Unfortunately, in some instances, the crisis is not a crisis that happened overnight, like a firestorm or a hurricane. Sometimes these crises develop over time. They mature into a condition that becomes untenable, particularly as was discussed earlier, particularly within the context of legal requirements in the state of California. We agree that having to budget for three years in a row when in reality we only get appropriations annually does not make sense. Relying on a funding system across the state that focuses more on capital gains than more stable revenues does not make sense. Understanding that $5.6 billion of Prop 98 funding that could
047stabilize districts across the state, but they're being held in reserve, That does not make sense. None of those elements make sense, and none of those elements are of our creation. The second point I'd like to make is no reasonable human being would opt for the road that most districts across the state have taken, should there be an easier option, an easier choice. San Diego, Sacramento. San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland, Contra Costa, Alameda, large and small districts, all facing the same set of conditions. Los Angeles Unified is no different. What sets LAUSD in a slightly different position, one, as I said, every other district across the state is facing, a tsunami of fiscal conditions compounded by the elimination of one-time monies. Everybody's feeling it equally. What puts us in a slightly different position is actually a combination
048of two points. Number one, we have seen declining enrollment trends that exceed those of the state, and that declining enrollment trend accelerated from last year to this year. Enrollment's been declining for the better part of two and a half decades. It declined more aggressively during the pandemic years, and then from last year to this year, a double of the expected, the projected decline as a result of targeted federal immigration actions. But that is not the only reason why we find ourselves where we are today. During the pandemic, over 6,000 workforce members were hired. Those individuals were hired with one-time money, meaning when those funds ended, those positions continued to exist. and people attached to them through no fault of their own. At some point, we reach the breaking point. We are there. Now, some may
049not necessarily agree with our interpretation or analysis of the fiscal condition we face. That is why entities like FCMAT come in, analyze, legitimize, and provide an opinion, and that opinion is consistent with the district's opinion. That is why independent auditors come in and analyze our budget and provide an unmodified, unqualified opinion. And that opinion is consistent with the district's opinion. But we should not stop there. I listen to the powerful voices of people who mean well, really do. And my offer continues to be the same offer. I don't see how we reach an agreement. or a plan unless we recognize honestly, transparently, objectively the condition we face. And the only way to do that is to bring in experts, a panel of independent financial experts to actually analyze the budget condition and determine if in
050fact we are where we are. We have floated that idea. Let these fact checkers, these analysts real time analyze our fiscal condition. and determine whether or not what we're saying is true. Today, our district is advancing a plan. A plan that is the last option. One plan that no one wants to advance, but a plan that this district over years has brought to boards time and time again. The difference is that today's plan and board report prioritizes reductions. in central office operations and centrally funded accounts in order to protect school sites and classroom services to the greatest extent possible. Does it do it at 100%? No. But this approach reflects the deliberate effort to shield students and frontline educators and support staff from the most severe impacts of this fiscal downturn. The district is accepting
051additional measured risk, fiscal risk. We are. Some may ask, you know, considering the thousands of potential layoffs that were contemplated just a few months ago, how do we come to a potential RIF of 657 individuals plus the typical 2,600 certificated personnel RIF, which we do every year? How did that number improve? Because we are embracing additional risk. for the sake of protecting people, positions, workforce members. This sends a message to Sacramento, as we heard before, that those revenues of Prop 98 that are being kept in reserve should be released. That would dramatically change the outlook for our district and across the state. The decision we made by embracing greater risk reflects a values-based decision to balance financial stewardship, which we cannot abandon. with compassion for the workforce that serves our students every single day. I'd
052like to mention also that the fiscal challenges that we face as a school district are not unique. They are part of a statewide financial contraction affecting nearly all school systems. However, however, compared to many districts implementing substantially larger proportional workforce reductions, Our district's approach seeks to manage the crisis while preserving as many jobs and programs as fiscally possible. That is why the 4%, 6%, 7%, 10% reduction of personnel in other districts is no greater than around 1% for Los Angeles Unified. We will still have a workforce that is larger than when the district had 40% more students than we have today. I want to be very honest. Delaying action would not eliminate reductions. Actually, one thing you'll hear later on is that we wish we could wait until we get greater clarity from the state
053sometime in May or June. However, the law is not on our side. RIF notifications, preliminary RIF notifications. which does not mean that the RIF will actually take place. It is a placeholder. Preliminary RIF notifications need to be published and go out no later than March 15th, well in advance of that greater financial clarity that maybe we'll get sometime in May or June. Delaying actions would not solve the problem. In fact, kicking the can down the road would not eliminate reductions. Kicking the can down the road will actually magnify them. I'd like to promise you that enrollment will grow from now until next year. It will not. There isn't a single projection study that will predict so. And as I said, our workforce is still 40% larger than what it was at the apex, at the
054highest point of enrollment in the district. Vailing to take action will actually condemn more people than what is proposed in this item. Acting within statutory timelines allows attrition, allows reassignment, allows people who will organically retire, move away from positions, and evolving revenues will actually soften the final outcome. But if you don't take a first step, you're really hurting the future generation of workforce, not in a distant future. but going to next year, postponement would likely result in deeper and much more sudden layoffs. We've seen this happen. So I close by saying that the authorization that we're seeking later on in today's meeting, and again, I decided to make my preliminary and introductory comments because they naturally follow what we heard from the community. It is appropriate. It's part of the same conversation. This authorization represents
055a preliminary sort of actions. not a final outcome. The district will continue to closely monitor state fiscal conditions, enrollment trends, operational efficiencies, and funding developments with the express goal of ultimately reducing or rescinding impacts wherever possible and sustainable. That is our commitment. This is laid out in the board report. Once again, the reason why we're doing what we're doing is because there is a March 15th deadline to set up a process that would allow for reductions should they be necessary when we know that more conclusive financial evidence from the state will not be made available until May or June. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Superintendent. Mr. McLean. Okay, now we move on to the consent calendar. As you may recall, the consent calendar is a procedural mechanism that the board uses to work through
056multiple items at once in order to not have to vote on every single item on the calendar. They take them all at once. So I read through the list of items that are available for consent. The Board will say out loud, consent, discussion, or question. If it's a discussion or question, it will come off the consent calendar and will be reviewed individually. If it's all consent, it will go onto the consent calendar and join the group of items to be voted on all at once. So under Tab 1, approval of routine personnel actions. Consent. Consent. Tab 2 cannot be on consent. Tab 3, approval of the renewal petition for ICEF View Park Preparatory High. Consent. Consent. Tab 4 was withdrawn. Tab 5, denial of the renewal petition for teach prep will not be on consent
057because it's a denial. And same with Tab 6, will not be on consent because it is also denial. Tabs 7 and 8 are for initial announcement only. What that means is that the text of the resolutions appear in the order of business and online for review until the next meeting at which the Board will discuss and take action on. Tab 8, I mean, I'm sorry, Tab 9, report of correspondence. Consent. Consent. Let's see, Tab 10, charter petitions for public hearings. I believe we have speakers to that. It's not really for action, but so it's not going on consent. First tab 11 and 12 are not for action, but we do have a public comment on them So we'll take that when we take the individual items and I also have a question on 11. Okay
058So we can discuss that separately and tab 13 set the tab 13 staffing and resource alignment Discussion I'm going to read through this relatively short list and then we will begin taking public comment on the items that are listed as consent Tab 1 is consent tab 3 is consent Sorry, tab 2, not on consent. Tabs 5 and 6, not on consent. Tabs 7 and 8 are for initial announcement. Tab 9, consent. Tab 10, not on consent. Tab 11, there is a question. Tab 12, also not for consent, but there is public comment, which we'll take during the non-consent items. And tab 13 is for discussion. Does that sound right to everyone? Yes. One moment. Okay, that's all 13 items. I'm going to read a statement for tabs 3, 5, and 6 before we get to
059them, just to make sure I don't miss it. So a statement to be read prior to charter renewal petitions. Before taking action on the following board reports, a public hearing must be held. This constitutes a public hearing on ICEF, View Park Prep High, Teacher Preparatory Mildred S. Cunningham and Edith H. Morris Elementary, and California Creative Learning Academy Middle. A maximum of 15 individuals who wish to address the board on each item will be heard. Those who wish to speak should sign up online. Speakers will be called on by name. Okay. So speakers for tab one. Five speakers. Raquel Zamora. We have Ophelia. Ophelia, not here. Norma Sanchez, also for tab one, not here. Carla Galdamez-Dirriquez. Come on up. Make sure your microphone is on, please. Okay, it's on. Please go ahead. You have two minutes
060to speak. Why don't you begin? Good morning, board members and Superintendent Carvalho. My name is Carla Galdamez-Tirriques. I am the community school coordinator at Jefferson High School. I stand here today to urge you to reconsider the proposed reductions in force for our classified personnel. Our classified personnel are the backbone of our district and school communities. Classified personnel are frequently the alumni of the schools and the districts where they work. They possess an institutional and cultural connection to our students that cannot be replaced. Without them, a district or a school does not function. As a certificated coordinator, I work hand in hand with these members every single day. They are role models, trusted adults, and essential. We must also acknowledge that these are often our lowest paid workers. In a city as expensive as Los Angeles,
061where the cost of living continues to rise, they have been hit the hardest by the current economic situation. While these layoffs may be intended for the central level, Make no mistake. There is no such thing as a cut that does not bleed into the classroom. Eliminating classified staff creates a ripple effect that will be felt by every family and every child in the district. When the support structure crumbles, it is our students who feel the negative impact. Please do not balance the budget on the backs of those who can afford it the least. Consider the devastation this will cause to their families and our daily operations before finalizing these layoffs. Thank you. Thank you for your time. All right, and before we move on, Board Member Carla Griego, I believe you're appearing remotely under just
062cause. Will you please announce that you're here and turn your camera on? Thank you. There you are. I'm here. Thank you so much. All right, Vernon Nickerson, I see you're online. Please press star six to unmute yourself, and you'll have two minutes to speak once you begin. Vernon Nickerson. I see you're with us, sir. Please press star six to unmute yourself, and you'll have two minutes to speak once you begin. I am unmuted. You are unmuted. The current plan. Yes, please go ahead. Please go ahead. The current plan, particularly the elimination of any IT technicians and or instructional staff, is cruel and inhumane for students in LAUSD schools. Here are questions that need to be answered and a timeline that unfortunately was not implemented. How will layoffs impact student performance? How will the chaos and
063or ill will resulting from proposed staff layoffs eliminate the need for a new school safety plan in response to ongoing and still unmasked and unidentifiable warrant optional ICE raids across LA City and LA County? Would concurrent reassignment of paraprofessionals and certificated staff combined with school closures reduce layoffs by 70% and or eliminate layoffs? What combination of school closures and concurrent reassignment of paraprofessionals and certificated staff would provide smaller class sizes and maintain extra support in reading literacy, math, science, and critical thinking skills across the curriculum? Should any child family served by LAUSD be negatively impacted by school closures and staff furloughs? Why should any child family served by LAUSD be negatively impacted by school closures and staff furloughs? Why does it appear that children and families served by LAUSD will be negatively impacted by school
064closures and staff furloughs? November 8, 2024 was the first day that the superintendent and board knew they needed to begin to answer these questions because 77% of eligible voters in the United States who had always wanted to abolish the United States Department of Education and our nation's public schools now had the power to do what they always wanted. January 8th, all answers made available to the public and LAUSD staff. November 8th, 2025, final plan released to the community. January 8th, 2026, begin plan implementation. Thank you for your time and attention. Thank you for your time. That concludes the speakers for tab one. And we do now have the presenter for the board president report that wasn't here earlier. Yes, yes. Again, I'd like to introduce Victor Cruz, the executive director from United Latinx Fund, who
065is here to speak about our charitable campaign, Sharing Brings Hope. Mr. Cruz, come on up. Thank you. Good morning esteemed members of the Board of Education and Superintendent Carvalho and esteemed audience members. My name is Victor Cruz Jr., Executive Director of United Latinx Fund. It's a pleasure to be here today. I stand here as a community partner. I stand here as an alumnus of the district as well. And I'm here just to bring awareness to our Sharing Brings Hope campaign. This is our 34th year and we want to say thank you for the board who has been historically supportive of this campaign. This campaign was established... 34 years ago. You can go to the next slide, please. It is a consortium of 10 notable Los Angeles nonprofits, United Latinx Fund being one of them, Asian
066Pacific Community Fund, Brotherhood Crusade, EarthShare, the Katherine Kirka Children's Health Fund, the LAUSD Employee Sponsored Scholarship Fund. the LAUSD Education Foundation, United Latinx Fund, who I represent, United Negro College Fund, the United Teachers Educational Fund, and United Way of Greater Los Angeles. Next slide, please. There's a little button just to your right. Is there? With the arrow. Perfect. Thank you. It's my first time here. So for those of you who are familiar community members I also participated in this campaign when I was a student myself The sharing brings hope campaign exists in order to address inequities within the school district Our mission is to provide funding for programs that assist in meeting the health social cultural environmental and educational needs of the communities that LAUSD serves since 92 The district has vetted 10 of the
067most noteworthy organizations here in Los Angeles who have demonstrable impact in the communities that LAUSD serves. All 10 of our agencies are licensed and fiscally responsible organizations who report our 990 tax forms to the district for vetting to demonstrate our impact in the community. Collectively, we represent over 400 individual charities that have a footprint within Los Angeles County. Our programs, the funding that we get from this campaign, serves programs that provide housing relief in culturally responsible ways, provide health benefits to students that currently face difficulty with accessing medical devices, and everything else that's needed to ensure the well-being of our students inside the classroom and outside the classroom as well. Since 2003, our campaign has successfully fundraised in partnership with the district $15.5 million. And those donations come in the form of cash, check, credit
068card, mobile app donations that are new this year, and payroll deductions. We are currently in the middle of our campaign. Thank you for the board members who attended our kickoff on January 29th and shared comments of support as well. Currently within the different regions that your board districts represent, we have our coordinator trainings that are ongoing. Our region west training was just this morning where I'm coming from right now, so apologies for my delay. We have our Region East training taking place tomorrow, in addition to a Bulgey training that's happening tomorrow, and a Region North training happening on the 19th. Our campaign window for this campaign is February through April. It has been such since the commencement of this campaign, and we conduct our accounting for this campaign in the months of May and June,
069according to the regulations denoted by the Office of General Counsel underneath the supervision of ACPA. Strategic goals and the reason why we're here. is to ask the board to support this campaign. We have a goal of fundraising $400,000 for this year's campaign. Last year we fundraised $260,000, $116,000 in the forms of cash donations. The remainder was in payroll deduction. This is the LAUSD's only authorized payroll deduction campaign in which LAUSD employees can contribute to this fundraising campaign directly through earnings made. This campaign is open to the public as well to support. Given the comments that are happening today, we understand the stratification in our community is only more entrenched. The needs that our nonprofits are facing are more stark. And the funding has decreased significantly for a number of reasons. And so this campaign really
070is a lifeline to the work that we do in the community. Regardless of the diminishing funds that we are raising, we still ensure... quality services for all community members who are in need from the youngest to the oldest and we do provide programming for all LAUSD stakeholders from the youngest student to the oldest adults and the community members that they serve. Going back to our goal, we have a goal of $400,000 we're trying to fundraise, breaking it down 20% school participation. The current participation in this campaign is at 18% represented from all four districts. We are trying to have every school participate as every school does receive materials to participate in this campaign. But we are trying to get our number up to 20%. We had 283 schools last year and we're trying to get
071to 307. We are trying to ask employees to participate in payroll deduction by having a goal of 30 new signups per region and the Beaudry Central Office. And the suggested employee gift is $5 per pay period. We would never ask somebody to contribute to this campaign that does not have the opportunity or the capacity. However, $5 per pay period really is for going a coffee that we get outside or maybe a delivery fee from a service that we order. For the board, our ask for you all is that we are working with the superintendent's office to circulate a campaign letter of support and we'd also like the board to circulate that letter of support as well. We ask that you can also join and encourage employees and campus participation. Again, 100% of all campuses from
072primary, from early education centers all the way to the adult schools to receive materials to participate in this campaign. We're asking the board to help. uplift our ask to participate in this campaign. Again, this campaign does not go to our individual organizations, but it goes right back into the school district. And then ask you all within your board districts to establish fundraisers within your team, if that's possible. Or just to establish fundraisers within your district in general. Historically, we have had board members... conduct fundraisers in the past and we're asking for a collective effort within your individual offices to help uplift this campaign. Many of you know the impact of our organizations in the community. We truly are there helping folks navigate housing crisis, food insecurity, access to education, especially higher education, and we do
073so day in, day out, outside of normal business hours and this campaign really is a lifeline to our organizations and the support we have within Los Angeles. So with that being said, I just wanted to say thank you for the time. for allowing me to be here. This is our contact information. This is also available for you members in the public as well. If you'd like to reach out to any of our organizations and understand the services that we do provide for the public, specifically for LAUSD students, this is our contact information that also goes for the board as well. We are here to answer any questions that we may have. And again, we are just trying to uplift this campaign so we can continue to give back to our communities that give us so
074much. Thank you so much for your time. And we look forward to strengthening our relationships together. Thank you, Mr. Cruz. And well done. Thank you so much. Thank you. Okay, we'll return to public comment. It looks like Ophelia, Sophie Ryan has now arrived online for us for tab one. Ms. Ryan, please press star six to unmute yourself and you have two minutes to speak once you begin. Tab one, approval of routine personnel actions. Thank you. Honorable board members, we are facing a growing child welfare and attendance crisis and it's hitting our immigrant students the hardest. On September 16, you approved a resolution to expand PSA services to support immigrant families. Since then, the need has only grown. More families are impacted. More students are at risk of dropping out. The urgency is real. These students
075are navigating fear, housing instability, language barriers, and they need trusted adults who can step in. at school and at home. PSA counselors are trained to do that. We keep students connected. We remove barriers. We prevent chronic absenteeism before it comes to academic failure. Our students cannot wait. We need PSA counselors providing services now to this population. At the same time, we are hearing about potential reduction in forced notices. In the middle of this child welfare crisis, calling staff who work directly with the students is the wrong direction. If we believe in students first, our budget must reflect that. Direct services must be protected and prioritized. Our immigrant students and all students deserve nothing less. Thank you for letting me speak. Have a nice day. Thank you for your time. All right moving on to tab
0763 approval of the renewal petition for I see EF view Park Prep Academy also on consent We have speakers here in person and then I will call on folks who are speaking remotely Rebecca Velasco Rebecca Rebecca Velasco Good morning. Our speakers are waiving their right to speak this morning. Okay, great. So I'm just, for the record, I read them out loud because there might be some people who don't have the same view. So I'll read the name, and if it's someone who you know, we'll trust and believe that that person is going to waive their time. Rebecca Velasco, waiving? Yes. Judd Fish? Waive. Waive. Sharon Evans? Owens. Owens. Waive. David Tokofsky, I see you're here. Come on down. How about you hold on? I'll read through the list so you don't have to walk back
077and forth. So David is here. Monica Murillo. Sarah Brown. Angelina Misillo. Nicolay Stamps. Nabil Rojas. Donovan Brandon. Roderick Abdul. Carla Chavarin. Ms. Wave. Chair Greg Musil. And then Shelby Peeler. Ms. Yes, wave. Chair Greg Musil. And DeCorey Dickerson. Wave. Okay. And I have a couple names who aren't going to wave, so they'll come on up. Ms. Thank you. Chair Greg Musil. Thank you for your time. We appreciate your time. Ms. Thank you. Chair Greg Musil. David Tokofsky, come on down. You'll have two minutes to speak once you begin. Thank you very much. This charter school has been very aggressive with respect to getting its special ed monies. Take a look at some of your charters and learn from them. Some of them have been very aggressive on the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative, like
078KIPP charters. Some of them have been on the traditional old system of LEA BOP and MA. You need to learn from them as you renew them. Lessons learned with respect to revenue, not just the curriculum, which is the... underlying piece. Let me just say it's good that you've been prudent about posting this. I assume it wasn't a violation of the Brown Act because Mr. McLean is on top of it. And you were being prudent about the number of rifts. And so I applaud you for being prudent and reducing them. But it was a late posting. It was a lack of communication. It was a lack of communication to the public. It was a lack of communication to the partners, labor partners, lack of communication to the board members. That is not good practice. It is
079not good teamwork as we fight to increase the enrollment. There are ways for increasing enrollment, Mr. Superintendent. There are massive ways of increasing enrollment. For example, you will be talking about your LCAP on affiliated charters. If you made the whole district affiliated, you'd probably grow by 30 or 40,000 kids. If you just made your continuation schools affiliated, you would grow by thousands. opened up your virtual school, which has very poor ratings, 6,000 kids in very bad academic situations. If you opened it up to the entire state, you'd probably get kids from Oregon to Mexico signing up for your virtual academy. There are ways of increasing enrollment. Show your actions. Don't be negligent. Don't peddle fear. Action and hope are far better. And lastly, I know we forgot to say... Good New Year to the Lunar
080New Year. I know there's a glass ceiling for Asian Americans in this district, but it would be good to at least acknowledge that, as well as the holy month of Ramadan. Thank you very much. Thank you for your time. And the last speaker is Maria Daisy Ortiz. I see you're speaking remotely. I don't have you called in. Maria Daisy Ortiz. Okay, so that concludes speakers for tab three. We'll move on to tab nine, report of correspondence. There's no speakers for that item. And then so that's all that we have for consent. Can I have a move and a second for the consent calendar? Move it. Second. New bill second. We'll look at that. We have three board members here and one board member online. Ms. Gregoire, are you still with us online? We have to
081make sure that we have a quorum. There you are. I am. Okay, great. So I'm going to take this vote and then collect the votes. Mr. Melvoin is here now. So on the consent calendar, Ms. Newbill? Yes. Dr. Rivas? Yes. Mr. Melvoin? Yes. Ms. Griego? Yes. Ms. Gones? Ms. Ortiz-Franklin? Yes. Here comes Ms. Ortiz-Franklin as a yes on the consent vote. Yes. That's a yes. Board President Schmarrelsen? Yes. And we can come back to Student Board Member Yang. So consent calendar passes. We'll now move on to the items that are not on consent. Let's see. We have tab 2, not on consent resolution, the Board of Education of LAUSD approving and authorizing issuance of additional judgment obligation notes. It cannot be on consent by statute. But let's move it and bring it to the table.
082A move by Mr. Melvoin. And a second by Dr. Rivas. Okay. Is there any discussion on tab two from folks? Yes, Ms. Griego. Unmute. Yes. Let me just find my tab because I can't seem to find it. One sec. This is two, right? That's correct for the judgment obligation bonds. Tab two. Okay, great. So, yeah, I just have two questions on this. If somebody is somebody coming up. All right. All right. Thank you. Yeah, I'm just wondering, I know we're getting this to. Can you explain why are we getting these judgment obligation bonds? Board Member Grieg, I'll take the question. The reason why we're seeking this authorization for judgment obligation bonds, actually expansion of the current ceiling capacity that we have, is because we are exhausting funds available to us to satisfy sex and molestation
083cases that have been brought against the district. in many instances, reflecting cases that go back decades that the district is not willing, not able to successfully defend. So these multi, multi-million dollar judgments against the district need to be satisfied, and without the judgment obligation bonds, we would have to use general fund as cash to satisfy them. All right. Thank you. And I understand that there was some work done by not just school districts, but other governmental entities who are in the same position as we are in pursuing any some remedy from the state regarding support either in paying this off or something along these lines. So I want to know, are we doing anything? And if so, what exactly are we doing? to get some remedy for this? So we do continue to advocate for
084remedies. We're not alone. Many districts are facing similar levels of claims and costs. So there have been a number of ideas. proposed and we continue to advocate for those whether it's a state level fund to help cover some of the costs being incurred by by school districts across the state as well as other potential legislative changes that might provide much needed relief. Is this part of our legislative priorities right now in this coming year or when are we doing this? This is an area that our Office of Government Relations is definitely involved in. It has been one of the areas of priority for us in working with the South Coalition at the state level. There are a number of legislators that have introduced legislation this year that look at addressing this issue, and there's also
085been a recent report that was issued by... FICMAT that looks specifically at how to address the long-term liabilities associated with AB 218. One of them is a citizen's compensation model that looks at you know, how to offset the impact of the victims that are compensated through settlements throughout the state. But they're still at the conversation level and legislative level. There has yet to be a clear solution that would help address some of the long-term liabilities of the district. All right. And then do we anticipate more of these judgment bond obligation notes and bonds? Beyond what you're asking for right now. It is possible Right now we're asking the board to authorize what we think is necessary today for the claims that that we're we're aware of Of those that are sure to come But it
086is certainly possible that that additional authorization may be necessary in the future And we'll know as cases come in and we have to settle or how will we know? Yeah, based on how much of the existing authorization is this proposed authorization today is ultimately used and how quickly, then we'll have a better sense of whether an additional authorization is necessary. All right. Thank you so much. Any further questions? Okay. Having been moved and seconded, we'll take the vote on tab two. Ms. Newbill. Yes. Dr. Rivas? Yes. Mr. Melvoin? Yes. Ms. Griego? Yes. Ms. Gones? Yes. Ms. Ortiz-Franklin? Yes. Board President Schmarolzen? Yes. And we can come back to Student Board Member Yang. Ms. Gones, can I collect your vote, please, for the consent calendar? Yes. That's a yes on the consent calendar. Okay, that was
087Tab 2. Moving on to Tab 5, denial of the renewal petition for Teach Preparatory, Mildred S. Cunningham, and Edith H. Morris Elementary. I believe we have presentations on this. Would the presenters for TEACH like to come down? Are you here? Yeah, please come on down. So for everyone, there's no slide deck, correct? Okay, good. I mean, not good. I just was afraid that maybe I had received it. So there's no necessary presentation for this one. Thank you for your time. You'll have two minutes. Please go ahead. Thank you. Good morning, board members. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. My name is Matt Brown. I'm the executive director of Teach, Inc. I'm speaking on behalf of Teach Preparatory Elementary School. The renewal process before you raised two critical issues that I think deserve your
088attention. One is the process that got us here today, and the other is the analytical standard that was applied for the recommendation before you today. First, let me start with the process. When this renewal began in October, based on the school's 2024 data, Teach Prep was classified as a low-performing school. Since that time, the school implemented significant instructional changes, and those changes produced results, and in 2025, the data improved. District staff acknowledged that improvement as significant progress to overcoming the presumptive denial associated with a low-performing designation, and we were informed on December 2nd that staff was going to recommend this school as a low-performing school for approval for renewal. We worked collaboratively with district staff during the month of December preparing materials for Teach Prep's renewal at your January board meeting. Then on January 8th,
089the state released updated performance classifications. Based on the documented academic performance, Teach Prep moved from the lowest performing to a middle performing school. That reclassification matters. Under middle performing standard, the renewal is the default outcome unless the authorizer can make specific findings that the school has failed to make sufficient progress and that closure is in the best interest of the pupils. District staff requested additional time to conduct an analysis under the new middle performing framework. We agreed in good faith. After that, no additional concerns were raised. No change in position was communicated. We actually learned through the LASD website that the recommendation had shifted from renewal to denial. I'll concede. Two more minutes. There's 15 spots allowed for the public comment. You've done that your spot is the is the is the representative of the
090school so we can we can Put you in on the public comment portion and give you the additional two minutes, but after that that I can't do anymore Okay, thank you. So please go ahead you how you can do take your two minutes now. You might as well So the sequence is different difficult to reconcile the same academic progress that was acknowledged as sufficient To justify a renewal as a low-performing school is now characterized as insufficient under the middle school framework. The statutory standard is higher for a low-performing school than for a middle-performing school. So if the school's performance didn't change, it should get renewed. Teach Prep now faces non-renewal not for following academic decline, but because of academic improvement that elevated it into a higher statutory category. Now let's turn to the analysis. Under
091Education Code Section 4760.2, once a school is classified as middle performing, the legal standard changes. The authorizer must demonstrate that the school has failed to meet or make sufficient progress towards meeting the standard to provide benefit to the pupils. The data here aren't in dispute. The same data that justified the school's middle performance designation show mathematics growth classified by the state dashboard as exceptional, English language arts growth as accelerated, and math performance exceeding the state, district, and the surrounding resident schools. Yet the staff report recites these data and concludes without articulating how exceptional and accelerated growth constitute insufficient progress that the standard somehow was not met. For a middle performing school the statute requires more than a presentation of comparative metrics. It requires a reasoned finding that progress is insufficient and that closure is in
092the best interest of pupils. That analytical bridge is not present in the report before you. Teach prep serves a high needs community. It's fiscally sound it's operationally stable and implementing instructional strategies that are producing measurable academic growth To deny renewal under these circumstances would effectively collapse the distinction the legislator created between low performing and middle performing schools under a B 1505 Thank you. Thank you Okay, we've got three publics. Oh, what's your name? Sharon Rhee. Okay, I'm going to add you to the list. I see you here in front of me, so please go ahead. You have two minutes to speak once you begin. Board member, president, thank you for the opportunity for letting me speak. My name is Sharon Rhee. I am the principal at Teach Preparatory Elementary School. I want to focus on
093academic performance, specifically what the state's own dashboard says about Teach Preparatory today. In 2024-2025, the California school dashboard classifies our mathematic growth as exceptional. It classifies our English language arts growth as accelerated. Those are not our labels. Those are the state's accountability designations. In mathematics, our students' distance from standard increased more than 50 points year over year. The state identifies that change as exceptional growth. Our students exceeded the state average and exceeded local resident schools across student groups, including African-American students, Latino students, English learners, and socioeconomically disadvantaged students. That level of growth reflects meaningful academic progress. In English language arts, multiple student groups demonstrated accelerated year-over-year improvement. Students moved closer to standard, gaps narrowed. These results reflected deliberated instructional work, structured mathematic intervention blocks, weekly data analysis cycles, targeted small group instruction. priority standard reteaching,
094focused professional development aligned with two student needs. Our teachers are monitoring growth continuously, not just annually. The dashboard is external accountability system. When it identifies mathematics growth as exceptional and English language arts growth as accelerated, it is recognizing measurable academic benefit to pupils. This is a school focused on instruction. This is a school producing significant academic growth, and this is where students are moving forward. Our work continues, but the most recent academic data reflects progress that deserves substantial weight. Thank you. Thank you for your time. Okay, what's your name? And I'll put you on the public comment list. Luis Ramirez. Go ahead. Good morning board members. Thank you for allowing me to speak today. My name is Luis Ramirez and I serve as a parent coordinator for Teach Preparatory Elementary School. Every day I work
095directly with our families, helping them enroll, supporting attendance, coordinating communication and making sure students are able to get to school safely and consistently. I want to talk about something that isn't always visible in performance reports, access and demand. Teach prep continues to have strong enrollment demand. Families choose our school intentionally. Many of our students travel from communities like Compton and Watts to attend teach prep. That choice is possible because we provide daily a.m. and p.m. transportation. For many of our families, transportation is not a convenience. It is the only way their child can attend a school outside of their immediate neighborhood. Most elementary schools in surrounding areas do not provide transportation. Without it, options are limited. Our buses make sure make school choice real for families who otherwise would not have it. We serve families
096who are working multiple jobs, we serve grandparents raising grandchildren, we serve parents who depend on structured support and consistent communication. When families come to enroll they often tell us the same thing, we choose this school because we know our children can get here safely every day. If Teach Prep closes, those families lose more than a school. They lose transportation. They lose stability. They lose an option that was intentionally designed to serve them. When we talk about what is in the best interest of pupils, we have to talk about access. We have to talk about whether families actually have comparable elementary options that provide transportation and structured support. For many of our students, they do not. Teach prep is not just the building. It is a system of access, transportation and support that allows families from
097high-need communities to choose a school that works for them. I respectfully ask that you consider the real impact on these families before making your decision. Thank you very much. Thank you for your time. Okay, the remaining public commenters will now come on. Let's see, Mr. David Tokofsky, I see you're down there. Come on down. You have two minutes to speak once you begin. David Tchaikovsky, former school board member there at the beginning of the charter movement in this district and across the state with schools like Fenton that you'll be seeing later and Bond Street and some of the other starters. I am here to oppose the denial, but for different reasons. I'm sort of a counter-reformation guy. I'm sort of a fan of Erasmus. The revolution had happened, but now it's time for the district
098to exercise. incorporation. There is no planning. You have something called SEPO, the strategic enrollment. Find out if there's been any strategic enrollment about closing the school, 300 kids, and then just dispersing them into the wind. There's no planning. What you ought to do is offer them an affiliated status for five years, bring in, or three years, so that they can be monitored more closely and they can see that the district isn't an evil place, that it has good things, and if they still feel after two or three years or five years as an affiliated charter that they have to be independent, they can apply and go back out again. But you're doing nothing to increase enrollment. You're doing nothing, and especially the point that... they have made, which is they went from a low performing
099to a middle performing. No good deed goes unpunished, I guess. That's the rule of things that we sometimes see in our classrooms in our schools. This is a school that has made progress, but more importantly, they've made progress and we haven't done anything on strategic enrollment and we haven't done anything about growing affiliated charters, which is enrollment, which is revenue, which is what is driving the challenges of RIFs and the budget. If you don't grow your enrollment and just say, oh, I can't grow in it, there's no more kids. There are kids that would love to go to LA Unified. A lot of them do it unorthodox ways. Open your schools, support what you do, and develop programs. This SIPO ought to be a RIF right there. Thank you very much. Thank you for your
100time. David Richardson, are you here in the audience? David Richardson? Not here? Okay. Maria Daisy Ortiz, I see you're online. Maria Daisy Ortiz, please press star six to unmute yourself. Ms. Ortiz is going to speak in Spanish, so if you'd like to hear what she's saying in English, please put your hands up and we'll get you these translation headsets. Momento, por favor, Senora Ortiz. Disculpe, momento, por favor. Okay. Okay, listos, gracias. Good morning, everybody. Can you hear me? Yes. My name is Maria Daisy Ortiz. And in truth, this charter movement has been coming to take money from the budgets in the schools. They've robbed from the talents of our students and the movements that have other agendas that many parents are being manipulated. I've seen and worked for charter schools so that they be closed
101due to the... malpractices since they don't have qualified people and they move funds around and do things inappropriate. I've even had the experience in Highland Park where people have been taken out of the schools because they don't progress education. They're saying they're for education but they're there for other reasons and they see it as a business. So this is why I am in agreement with the previous speaker for the district to open schools and have better promotional situations so that our talents and brains don't go elsewhere because the charter schools should bring our kids back and not have this ping pong situation. So when you reach So you should see how many kids come from the charter schools. And this is a very dirty movement. It's a cult. And I can say this because many
102of the schools in Highland Park, a lot of them are guilty of bad investments and funds. You need to really see what charter schools you will be approving, not just for academic improvements, but more so other things. Beyond that these are students communities. You can't do dirty businesses in our communities Instead of good education, so I hope all the board members consider this because there's a lot of Board members that have a secret agenda too, and you know who you are your Act actions Show your true motives, so thank you and have a good afternoon All right, so for tab five, can I have a motion to bring it to the table and vote and discuss? Move it. Moved by Board President Schmurlson. I'll second. Seconded by Ms. Gones. Is there discussion? If I may.
103Yeah, I mean, I'll just raise or echo some of the process concerns that the school brought. I plan to support the staff's recommendation on this one. But it does seem, one, if the way schools are finding out about denials is through the website and not communication from our team, that's unacceptable. So I hope that's not the case or that changes. But I also, there is something around the perverse incentives of doing better and moving to... middle performing not only with the analysis but also with the term time. If they were still low performing, we could have said, well, maybe they just need a few more years. They've had some improvement. That's obviously why they moved tiers. We could do a two-year term. But because of the law, now that they're middle, we can't. We're locked
104in at five. And so I wonder, either one of you, if there's some talk, if you can explain in response to what the school was saying around that performance. kind of the the bumming up the tier and also if there's been any talk in the last few years since the law changed or advocacy around flexibility because those those bubble ones like like teach Prep could benefit from maybe another couple years before we decide to close the school, but we don't have that discretion I'm wondering that's a conversation in Sacramento or should be Good morning, Board Member. I'll start off and then turn to Marla if we need to. First of all, this is a unique case where the school, as noted, was low performing in the fall, and then the state published the latest data
105and was middle performing. And so pursuant to board policy, the staff considered the latest information. A couple process points, just to be clear. At a time when a charter petitioner receives a petition, so previously as Mr. Brown noted, that's an indication per policy if you're going through a revision process, more than likely you're going for potentially a recommendation for renewal, but it's not done until it's finally posted. At the time when the new data came out, the team discussed an extension with the charter school to assess the school's performance based on middle performing criteria, because low performing is a different standard for two years. Middle performing is a different standard for five years or denial. So there is a difference. The petitioner first verbalized to the team, no, I will not give an extension, but
106then later communicated an extension to allow for that further consideration. So I would just note that there was an awareness that the team would have to evaluate it under the middle performing criteria. We take the feedback in terms of notification. We'll discuss with the staff in that process. And so what you see before is our charge to analyze the data and each charter renewal consistently and fairly. based on the data and the law. And that's what we bring before you humbly, understanding there are some challenges given that this was low performing. They have made some improvements, but not enough to meet the middle performing standard as we have applied it. Lastly, to your point, sir, in terms of any legislative pieces, we'll have to take that back in terms of further discussions down the line.
107right now don't have information on that yeah maybe worth a conversation i just worried about some of the perverse incentives if a school is on the cusp and is going to say well if we stay low performing we are under this different criteria we can be renewed for two years and you know as opposed to it could disincentivize that improvement that then take you know they're kind of a victim of their own success in that regard even though there's a lot of work for them to do and that's why there's the denial recommendation i also think you know when we've had a few school denials and closures over the last year or so um the conversation and the point raised by mr tsikovsky around affiliates i do think it's worth thinking through uh longer term
108planning about whether some of these schools would convert to affiliated status or think through what that bridge is between just the okay they're coming up we're denying dispersing those kids i know we were you know It was unfortunate this year too when we had Crete followed by Learning by Designs or whatever that one was. But like around two schools where some went from a closed school to another. So I hope in this case too that that continues. But those creative conversations about, you know, you are showing some improvement. How might we help? What options are there to come back into the fold are worth having? And I know... I'm a broken record on that, as is Mr. Tchaikovsky, but I hope that there's some work that CEPO and the team will do, especially as we're
109doing this broader landscape analysis. That's it for me. Thank you. Charlotte? Thank you for bringing up that point, and wanted to just, for clarification, when a school is going through this process and their annual oversight visit, Does the charter school division have insight whether the school will be able to submit a successful renewal petition as mentioned here today? Is there like periods within that year that you check back in or how does that work from period of oversight visit until the petition is presented? Well, I would say the, thank you for that question. When we do the oversight visit, we do kind of, we call it the road to renewal because the academic assessment is based on the renewal criteria. I will say at this particular school, at the time of the oversight visit, they
110were low performing. And so their oversight score was given based on the low performance, but there still is a, every single oversight visit, there's a discussion of their data, where they are compared to the state across all the indicators. And then we ask questions of the charter school, whether it's demonstrated areas of low performance, what they're doing about it, what their plan is moving forward. Then as part of the classroom observations, we utilize that time to look at, oh, they say they're doing X, let's see if we see X and that's part of that important conversation that we have at every single oversight visit. So yeah, there's a discussion of their data at every single oversight visit. Got it. And then obviously with this being recommended for denial, how is the district prepared to offer
111support for the families who need transition options for other school options if this is approved this way? First and respectfully, we know these are difficult conversations. We want to deal with it respectfully, but obviously responsibly to provide families with options. So part of our plan is we work. with various offices to provide direct outreach to families, especially those in LE Unified boundaries to make sure parents know of their options. Especially during this timeframe, we would want, should the board act, there will be direct communication with the families to let them know of their options. Also that the school, should they be denied by the board, has appeal rights so the parents are aware of that and they can also communicate with the school. We will also work with the regions and the charter school to
112the extent they're willing to work with us to provide additional direct supports to families who are interested in exploring other options. Again, it's a balancing act. We want to respect their due process rights should the board deny today, but also want to make sure that families have information about the options in LA Unified School District since we are the district of residence. And then thirdly we will assess based on how the process unfolds what additional supports are needed based on the circumstances at hand Can you give us just one example of what that support system looks like for a family what they could anticipate if? Sure, they will receive correspondence from the district first to establish that communication. They will also have a contact with specific personnel to provide support. For example, counselors that are
113in the regions, in the Strategic Enrollment Planning Program Office, that could then provide direct support so that parents know of their options, how to access those options, answer questions they may have. Nick brought up a point about Crete and Learn by Design, which many of us knew. Some of those students left one charter into another charter, which ended up in this board meeting again for decision. Would information like that be provided for them for a charter that may be in their location that if they choose to go to charter, how do they get that information to know what trajectory that school is on, or is that even an option? Thank you for that that question that can be provided based on objective information I think we'll have to do some work for the circumstances to
114assess that but we'll take that back in terms of parents understanding They also may be exploring a charter school and if they have questions about those they can certainly ask the charter school and also our District for objective information based on oversight Thank you. Thank you anyone else Kelly Yes, just one quick follow-up appreciate the clarification on the timing and it seems like a peculiar peculiar case where within that window where we're reviewing there there was a change in the the tearing of the school from the state level which probably doesn't usually happen, but I just wanted to understand in terms of the like what appears to be differing accountability thresholds for low performing versus middle performing, does that emanate from the statute directly or is that LUSD specific policy? Yeah, I'll answer a non-legal
115part and Dvorak can address anything statutory, but in short and based on policy, the law does, the statute does dictate, you know, those pathways, if you will. So for low performing. It's very clear, you know, it is a presumptive denial. You need to consider before verified data sunsetted, you would consider that, you would consider their plans for up to two year, for a two year renewal, sorry, or a denial. Then middle performing, you have the process that we have laid out in terms of comparison with the state. Now, some of that is where the local policy of the board. develops and fleshes out how the district is going to conduct that analysis. That is not always prescribed every single step for middle performing in the law. So for example, when we look at best interest
116of pupils, closures in the best interest of pupils, that analysis goes to then the comparison to resident schools on a variety of indicators. While not the... There could be a variety of factors, but that's our policy direction to assess that. And so you would see that in the materials where compared to the state, then at this point since verified data has been removed from the law, you'd go to then the comparison to the resident schools all the way down to even CASP, LTEL, et cetera, as noted in policy. So the framework is provided in the law, but the particular analyses or tool that we're utilizing to measure an item is more relevant to local policy. Right. Okay. That's helpful. Thank you. Go ahead, Tanya. Thanks, I'm sorry this is less about teach, but we did
117meet recently on this issue And I sort of remember hearing and so maybe just for the public we can share is there some state-wide revisions that are going on with the challenges that are coming up between the middle tier and the lower tier or is there an opportunity for us to plug in to say in Actuality here's how it's been a challenge You know we'd like to lift up to the state some clear some ways to tweak it or improve it so that we're not coming up against these in the future Are you referring specifically to this the the timing of low performing and middle performing? Yeah We'll have to check if there are active conversations. I know our team. I believe, I recall when the data came out, the timing, it was a bit
118unexpected. There were some preliminary conversations, but we'll have to take that back in terms of any other legislative activity. We know the governor may have some other aspects to a trailer bill, but not necessarily about this piece and the timing. So that's something we'll have to take back and assess with our government relations team. Okay, so there's not anything active right now, but if there is, I think there is interest in this board and using what we've learned to lift up to the state. We probably have more approvals and denials than many other districts. across the state so I think we can really use our lessons learned here to help others and to help us in the future honestly so I'd love to plug into that thank you thank you okay we can vote Mr.
119McLean all right moved and seconded on tab five Ms. Newbill yes Dr. Rivas yes Mr. Melvin yes Ms. Griego yes Ms. Gones yes Ms. Ortiz-Franklin yes Board President Schmorlson yes and Student Board Member Yang yes Moving on to Tab 6. Let's see. First, let me read my public statement following public speakers for Tabs 3 and 5. The Board will be taking action on these reports. Petitions denied may be submitted directly to the Los Angeles County Office of Education or directly to the state. for action. So tab six, denial of the renewal petition for California Creative Learning Academy Middle. Can I have a move and a second while we're here? Move it. Second. Moved by Ms. Gones, seconded by Board President Schmurlson. And we have a PowerPoint and a presentation. Dr. Lee, I believe you're going
120to make the presentation. Are you here, Dr. Lee? Oh, and I'll pass those out if you want me to, if you just leave them there. So, Dr. Lee, you're going to make the presentation, and then you also requested to have your public speaking time added to that. Yes, please. So that's okay. And then we have lots of folks signed up after. So I'll come up and collect those, and you're going to have two plus two to make your presentation. Thank you. And there's a little dial right next to there. I should move the slides back and forward if you like. Okay. Good afternoon, board members, superintendent, and community members. My name is Dr. Linda Lee. I am the executive director and principal of California Creative Learning Academy Middle School. I'm here to ask for your
121support of a two-year renewal. Our mission and vision is before you, and we focus on transforming the world and ourselves through inquiry, innovation, and interconnectedness. These are our core values by which we hold our decisions. And as a progressive educational program, these are our critical components. We are arts integrated, constructivist, project based, focused on social-emotional learning, restorative justice, inclusivity, and whole person learning. Moreover, and importantly, is we lean into these 21st century skills. As we know for students, the future is quickly evolving, and these are essential for them to persevere. These are representatives of partnerships that we have that bring learning opportunities to our students and adults alike. And we're very proud to say that as environmental stewards, we've been able to divert over 85,000 pounds of organic waste and over 60,000 pounds of food
122redistribution with our partnership with Climate Action Corps. This is an example of where we draw from. It is a wide variety of neighborhoods across Los Angeles. And a little history. We started really small with 32 students, and then the pandemic hit. We absolutely faced challenges post-pandemic. We had high teacher turnover in a small school with vacancies filled by long-term substitutes. We also had two middle school leadership changes. Ultimately, it was hard to find people that fit in those years. We have started to turn it around from 2024. We added strong, experienced, well-aligned teachers. I am now in charge of the teacher teams and the academic program, and I will discuss the data points more in depth in slides upcoming. One thing to note is there's unseen data in these reports. We are very high in
123our special education percentage. Last year we were 23. This year we're 27%, but they are still not considered a significant subgroup because our school is small. In addition, our low incidence percentages are also higher than average, as you can see from these charts. And here for last year from fall to spring, we made one year's growth and more as seen through the conditional growth index for reading and one year more growth in math as well. Our current year progress trajectory is even stronger and we have our fall to winter data to share with you. All students in reading is 65 percentile in growth and 67 percentile in achievement. For Hispanic, it's 67 percentile in growth, 54 for achievement. For socioeconomically disadvantaged, it's 68 percentile in growth and 46 in achievement. In math, we continue to
124turn this tide as well with 59 percentile in growth with 51 percentile for achievement, 57 and 29th for Hispanic, and 54th and 36 for socioeconomically disadvantaged. I do want to respond to findings of fact in your report from the charter schools division. We believe that the actions we took and the strategy we put in place are proving to show change. Our action plan is focused on training for teachers in mathematics and working with students with disabilities, in addition to developing an onboarding program to make sure that teacher effectiveness is ensured and retention. We want to clarify that our middle school teachers are not new to our organization. They've been there from three to 16 years. In addition, our implementation committee for our action plan is going to measure CAST DFS scores, and we will continue
125to use MAP NWA as formative data. We have remedied our notices, with the exception of enrollment being pointed out, and as Superintendent Carvalho said, this is a shared challenge. Thank you for your consideration of a two-year renewal. Thank you for your time. Now we'll go through this. In fact, you might want a particular order, but I'll leave. I'll just read what's here. So how about you just say your name? My name is Elise Malouk. Perfect. You're number two in line. Thank you so much. You have two minutes to speak once you begin. My name is Elise Malouk, and my husband and I are the parents of two students at California Creative Learning Academy. I'm here to speak in strong support of the charter renewal for California Creative Learning Academy Middle School. Our children learn very
126differently. Our eldest is autistic and has ADHD. Our youngest daughter is a neurotypical learner. Cal Creative is the only school we have experienced where both children are fully included, held to meaningful expectations, and supported in reaching their academic and creative potential within the same school community. For our daughter, this has meant being academically challenged while developing collaboration skills, empathy, and a sense of civic responsibility. For our son, it has meant access to learning that meets him where he is without removing him from the community. Before Cal Creative, our son struggled significantly in classroom settings. Behavioral outbursts, especially around non-preferred tasks, often disrupted his learning and that of his peers. What has made the difference here is not lowered expectations, but a consistent school-wide approach that combines accountability with support. When our son crosses a social
127or physical boundary, the school responds with a clear, restorative process focused on safety, responsibility, and repair. That process allows him to take accountability and return successfully to learning, rather than being excluded. Academically, as a non-linear thinker, he is encouraged to approach all subjects, even those he resists, through his interests and to demonstrate mastery in multiple ways. As a result, he is engaged, participating, and learning. As parents of elementary students, our support for the middle school renewal reflects our confidence in this model and our intention to continue our children's education within this community. For families like ours, Cal Creative provides a learning environment where diverse learners succeed together. I strongly urge the board to approve the charter renewal. Thank you for your time. Thank you for your time. Alice Butcher, are you here? Alice B., come
128on up. You have two minutes to speak. Why don't you begin? Hello, so I have mild, sorry. I am one of the resource specialists at Cal Creative. I have mild CP, mild cerebral palsy, which... Sorry. Look at me. Deep. You got this. I'm sorry. I have LCP, which I teach. I chose... Calgative because it's such a vibrant community. I spent my first year working with the sixth and eighth graders, helping them in class and pulling them out to work on their academics. I saw how comfortable my students were with... being themselves at Cal Creative. The students who have disabilities and the learning challenges whom we circle in other academic subjects are able to flourish in their artistic talents whether it be in music, art, drama, or dance. When I see what my students are capable
129of in these areas of the arts. I am so proud of what they can achieve and I encourage them to feel the same way. I come from a very small town. When I transitioned from a tiny elementary school Where I was known, but my disability was, and my disability was known to middle school that was seven times bigger, I felt unseen, unheard, and uncomfortable. I wouldn't have given anything to go to Cal State. Thank you for your time. Bill Manil Phil M come on up you have two minutes speak once you begin Phil Manley I want to thank the esteemed board for the reconsideration of Cal creatives middle school charter renewal I want to start by emphasizing what makes Cal creative unique and it's a focus on another type of diversity you just saw it
130this is a type of diversity that's often overlooked and underserved and I'm talking about neurodiversity I'm talking about dyslexia, autism, kids with social emotional challenges. Cal Creative's methodology under the leadership of Dr. Lee makes a space for these kids. This is critical of importance to these kids. And this is not just an academic exercise for me. I have two kids both at Cal Creative that are neurodiverse. My eldest has dyslexia. My youngest has autism. We were at another school and my son was failing. Our choices as parents were to go back a grade and potentially crush his confidence or just let him proceed to fail. Well, we chose a third route. We chose Cal Creative and he's now at grade level. Because of this because of this school because of their community their integrated approach
131the way they support these kids These people are part of our community. They are not they should not be othered Okay, but here's the thing in the metrics. They are othered. It's not counted All the work and the extra time and effort that these students, that this staff puts into these students, it doesn't count in the framework that goes towards the renewal of the charter, okay? IEP level in LAUSD on average, 13 to 15%, according to my research. At Cal Creative, it's 27%, okay? This is not counted. This needs to be taken into account when the consideration for the charter renewal is considered, okay? We're asking you, we're begging you, okay? Real quick. Dyslexia rates in prison, 40%. The frustration is real. We need to invest in these people. We need to take this into
132account. Thank you. Thank you for your time. Stephanie Bonnet. Stephanie Bonnet. Come on up. You have two minutes to speak. Why don't you begin? Hi, my name is Stephanie and I am a parent to two children at Cal Creative. I am also a fellow with the California Climate Action Corps. I am on my second term as a fellow and I've spent both my terms at Cal Creative. I am one of a team of six fellows at this school. Together we ensure that every student in the school receives education on waste diversion, gardening, and additional environmental studies. During this school year alone, we have successfully planted almost 300 native plants, converted over 500 square feet of urban area into green area, and diverted more than 10,000 pounds of food waste from landfills. In all of this
133work, the students are at the forefront. Our middle school students joyfully and excitedly get their hands dirty in the gardens. They facilitate and engage in vibrant conversation regarding their impact on the earth and the ways in which they can strive to be better stewards. They utilize their studies from science, math, social studies, and more to create garden spaces bursting with ingenuity and curiosity. Recently, in one of my sixth and seventh grade classes, the students and I participated in an activity and discussion regarding the effects of AI data centers on our environment. I witnessed as students passionately shared their opinions on why everyone their age should care about this problem. They learned the facts around the data centers and formed plans to try and mitigate the problems associated with them. I looked at these 12-year-olds with
134pride to know that they are the ones we are handing our world to. I take pride in knowing that my team is such a celebrated part of the Cal Creative community. The work that we do is important and impactful, and to watch the Cal Creative middle school students carry the work with such importance and pride is what gives me the confidence that these students are going to continue to thrive. I speak for my team of six in saying that we strongly support the Cal Creative middle school renewal to ensure this impactful learning continues. Thank you. Thank you for your time. Jessica Freystand? Ferristand? Thank you. Come on up. You have two minutes to speak once you begin. My name is Jessica Firstand. I have a sixth grader at Cal Creative Middle. It is an amazing
135thing what happened from when we transferred from our public school, which is a Burbank Unified School, to Cal Creative. He began to actually take part in class. He has ADHD and anxiety, and this school... gave him the ability to communicate what he was learning, to be supported by his teacher who is here today, and it allowed him to understand the kind of student he could be. This school did it. Charter schools were created for a reason. This is the reason. This school has given him the ability to connect with peers. actually access his education and show me that he can. I took forever to find this school and I'm so glad we did because it's the only place that he belongs. Sorry. Cody belongs to Cal Creative and it needs to be there for him.
136These people here, they care about the students. They care about the parents and... I am so happy that we found Cal Creative. If we didn't have Cal Creative, I don't know what we would do. This is our option right now. It's a public school. We have access to it. And I'm so thankful we do. Thank you for your time. Evelyn Serrano, Evelyn S., come on up. Good afternoon, President and members of the board. I'm here today to ask you to renew our middle school charter, not simply to keep a school open, but to preserve a nationally recognized model of arts integration that is transforming how students learn. Arts integration is an approach to teaching in which students construct and demonstrate understanding through an art form, engaging in a creative process that connects an art form
137with another subject area and meets evolving objectives in both. In other words, the arts are not an add-on at our school. They are a pathway to rigorous academic learning. For 20 years, CalCreative has been a leader in this work. We host free Catalyst conferences that convene educators, school leaders, and artists committed to inspiring accessible and democratic learning through the arts. We open our doors for Catalyst Educator Days, welcoming hundreds of educators to see our classroom in action and share best practices. From this work, we have built a Catalyst Network, more than 700 practitioners dedicated to expanding high-quality arts integration across our region. But what matters most is what happens with our students. Our students design digital and 3D models of real-world water-wise solutions and present them to city engineers, apply math, science, and civic engagement
138in authentic contexts. They collaboratively write and stage original plays inspired by Greek mythology, mastering literacy and history standards while building confidence and ensemble skills. Students envision and launch their own radio station to connect social studies learning to their lived experiences. They're researching and surveying community members to create a 140-foot legacy mural on interconnectedness, an act of scholarship, collaboration, and public art. This is what arts integration does. It cultivates creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and self-agency. It strengthens social-emotional development. It builds belonging. It develops a genuine love of learning. Thank you. Your time. Libby Richter, come on up. You have two minutes to speak once you begin. Hi everyone, thank you. My name is Libby Richter and I am an alumni parent and I am an educator at California Creative Learning Academy Middle School. In 2010,
139I chose California Creative for my child because it was different. It honors the whole child. Its social-emotional approach isn't an add-on. It is foundational. Arts integration isn't enrichment. It is how students make meaning. Constructivism isn't a buzzword. It is alive in every classroom. And the open concept isn't just architectural. It reflects a philosophy of transparency, collaboration, and trust. Two years later, I didn't just choose it as a parent. I chose it as my professional home. I served as a lower elementary multi-age teacher and then later as an instructional coach supporting both the elementary and middle schools. In that work, I saw something extraordinary happening in the middle grades. I saw students in the most transformative years of their lives changing physically, emotionally, socially, navigating peer relationships, identity, and self-worth. Middle school is not easy. It
140is tender, it is powerful, and it is formative. And what I realize is this. beneath the awkwardness and uncertainty are such lovely human beings who need love, care, structure, and community more than ever, and they deserve it. And our school provides that. I was so inspired by our students that I became a middle school teacher myself so I could bring inclusion, constructivism, love, and community directly to them. This year I have watched their confidence grow. I watched them become leaders. I watched them take academic risks because they feel safe. I watched them support one another with kindness and courage. As a mother, I'm proud to say that both my children graduated from Cal Creative and are now thriving in college, not just academically, but as compassionate, capable young adults. As an educator of 27 years,
141I have devoted 14 of those years to this school because I believe in it deeply. Renew the charter, protect this community, allow us to continue our work. Thank you. Thank you for your time. Next speaker is Paola Escobar. There you are. Good morning, and thank you for the opportunity to speak. My name is Paola Escobar. I work at Cal Creative, and I'm also the parent of a graduate. Several years ago, my family was going through an extremely difficult period. My son was struggling emotionally in ways that deeply affected his ability to function in a traditional school setting. In his previous school, the focus was understandably on academic performance and meeting deadlines. However, when a child is emotionally overwhelmed, constant academic pressure can intensify distress. In our case, that dynamic contributed to a serious crisis in
142his life. When he came to this school something changed. He was met first with understanding. Skilled counselors helped him untangle emotions he did not yet have the language for. He began to understand the pain and instability he had experienced were not his fault. That shift from self-blame to self-awareness was the beginning of healing. My son did not arrive as a model student. He struggled. But instead of being excluded, he was gently redirected. Teachers consistently reminded him of expectations while giving him emotional room to make better choices when he was ready. The patience, the steady guidance, and the refusal to give up on him made all the difference. Today he has moved beyond that dark period. He's thriving. And this school played a meaningful role in that transformation. For some students, a traditional model works beautifully.
143For others, especially those carrying emotional distress of trauma, they need something different. They need structure with compassion, accountability with humanity, and more than anything, they need a community that's our community. This is the place I respectfully ask you to consider the lives behind this decision. Certification is not just a procedural matter. For my family and families like mine, it represents continued access to safe, healing environment for children who might otherwise fall through the cracks. Thank you. Thank you for your time. Rogelio Cabral, come on up. You have two minutes to speak once you begin. Thank you, excellent pronunciation. I appreciate that. I'm here as a Cal Creative middle school parent and an advocate. In my professional life, I think a lot about culture, about what helps people feel seen, understood, and valued. And I can
144tell you that that kind of environment doesn't happen by accident. Our child is thriving at Cal Creative because the culture there is intentional, as you've heard so many stories. They feel seen, they feel understood, they feel safe. Cal Creative's focus on social-emotional learning and creativity is more than an add-on. It is 100% a structural element to the education. In our home, emotional quotient matters just as much as intellectual quotient. Our child has a prominent birthmark. As parents, we know differences can sometimes invite cruelty in traditional settings. At Cal Creative, though, that has not been our experience. Instead, we've seen empathy, inclusion, and belonging. While I'm here to speak from the heart, it's also my understanding that the academic data shows the school is turning a corner. Beyond the numbers, what I see daily is confidence
145growing, curiosity growing, I see voice growing. Cal Creative has faced challenges many schools have. but it is stable, it's aligned, and it's moving forward. For our family and for many others, this school is not just working, it's essential. I respectfully urge you to renew CalCreative for the students who are thriving today and the ones who still need a school like this. Thank you. Thank you for your time. Let's see, Johanna Voutenou? Good afternoon LAUSD board members. My name is Joanna Budunu. I'm the parent of two Cal Creative middle school alumni. Both my daughters grew up at Cal Creative and honestly I grew up there too as a parent and as an educator. During our time at Cal Creative, I learned that the best learning happens when we meet students where they are. Looking at students
146as individuals who see the world through their own lens, life experiences, and learning styles. When I started middle school, I thought I was bad at math. It was because I had a hard time memorizing formulas and timetables. I also could not see how math would be applicable to my life. I remember getting goosebumps when I witnessed my first math talk at Cal Creative. Students gathered in conversation about how they solved the math problem, no right or wrong answer to get there, then watching them integrate their learning into art projects, using their math skills to measure wood to build furniture in a workshop class. It was truly inspiring. During our nine years at Cal Creative, we have watched the school grow and respond to the changing needs of its students, its community, and our city. I've
147seen classrooms become places of healing and courage where students learn math, science, reading, writing, but also how to care for the earth by creating water-efficient gardens, how to reduce waste through food recovery programs, and how to connect to the LA River and the indigenous stewards of this land through meaningful partnerships. Incredible teachers have also taught my daughters how to navigate conflict, listen with compassion, and seek solutions. And as a mother of teenagers, that's been a really big, helpful part. I watched Cal Creative support students, families, and staff through political unrest, wildfire displacement, cyber bullying, the fentanyl pandemic, and a global pandemic. This school was our anchor in many of those tough moments. My daughters graduated from Cal Creative and went on to LAUSD high schools. My oldest is now a senior at Ramon C. Cortines
148High School. Dr. Rivas, you saw her perform as Connie Wong in a chorus line. And she is thriving. And that is because of what Cal Creative gave her. Collaboration, leadership, and strong academics. But above all, compassion. Thank you for your time. Right Kylie Cochran. Are you here? Good morning. My name is Kylie Cochran and I have had four children attend Cal creative over the past 15 years I drive a distance to bring them there specifically I currently have two students enrolled and my son Quinn is a sixth grader in the middle school program And I'm here to ask you for a two-year renewal Quinn is much smaller and younger looking than other kids his age I mean a lot and I worry about what a large middle school could mean for him socially and emotionally
149when students feel unsafe and targeted for their differences. Learning is secondary to survival. At our school, Quinn's not defined by his size or his appearance. A number of our parents' children are not. They're respected for their differences. They are supported by one another. He feels secure enough to participate in class, to speak up, to take academic risks. Our school recognizes that students come in all sizes, backgrounds, abilities, and identities. His voice matters and he's truly known by his classmates and his teachers. He's developing confidence and leadership. He's part of the Climate Action Committee. He has had the same teachers, including Ms. Serrano, since kindergarten who care about him and support him. And Ms. Richter, who he had in second grade, is now his sixth grade advisor. And that continuity of care is very important, especially
150for kids who feel... smaller or marginalized or different. When my oldest child finished elementary school here, the middle school program did not exist. And she had to transfer to a middle school where she struggled with bullying and social shame. And that experience makes it very important why this school and seeing Quinn thrive here is so important for him and students like him. Please renew. our charter so that a number of students who would otherwise feel different are felt whole and like each other. Thank you. Thank you for your time. Kristen Terry? All right. My name is Kristen Terry and I am a proud Cal Creative parent. My daughter is in sixth grade at Cal Creative Middle School. My son is a freshman in high school and a proud graduate of Cal Creative. Both of my
151children have attended Cal Creative since kindergarten. However, I'm not just here as a Cal Creative parent today. I'm also here as a parent who is trying to raise smart, thoughtful, caring children in a world that frequently feels purposely ignorant, thoughtless, and cruel. Since we became a part of the Cal Creative community 10 years ago. I felt supported in my endeavors to raise children who are critical thinkers and kind human beings. We originally joined the school because of its emphasis on integrated arts education, but we stayed for more than that. CalCreative's collaborative and project-based learning not only educates children during their school years, it prepares them for life. Because as we all know as adults, life is a group project. Cal Creative also supports and encourages different ways of learning, understanding that in order to effectively
152teach children, you need to consider how their brain works, their lived experience, and their varied interests. Cal Creative's philosophy of social-emotional learning has helped my children learn how to manage their emotions, how to show empathy for friends and classmates when they're struggling, and given them a safe environment in which to learn and grow. Similarly, Cal Creative's inclusion of restorative justice practices has supported our efforts to raise compassionate, empathetic children. Many of you are parents yourselves, and I'm sure you'll understand when I say that even though they are growing up in the same house with the same parents, my children are quite different from one another. Despite that, Cal Creative has met them where they are, giving them both an excellent educational experience. I have seen my daughter work through academic difficulties and interpersonal conflicts with
153the help of her Cal Creative teachers. I have seen my son thrive in high school, making the principal's list for his GPA and receiving an Artist Scholar Award because of the foundation Cal Creative helped him build. Because of all this and more, I beg you to renew the California Creative Learning Academy Middle School Charter. Thank you. Right and Tara de Pino. Yes Hi, my name is Tara DiPino, and I have two children that go to Cal Creative. My daughter is in fourth grade, and my son is in seventh grade, and this is his first year at Cal Creative. Before coming here, my son was struggling at other schools. He felt disconnected and had a hard time finding his place. Since coming here, he has truly flourished. He made friends. He's building confidence. He feels seen
154and supported by teachers and staff in a way that he's never experienced before. He feels, okay, yeah, I found it. The changes in him have been incredibly positive academically, socially, and emotionally. I'm here today because I truly believe our school should keep our middle school program. Middle school, as you know, is one of the most vulnerable and formative times in a child's life. It's when kids are figuring things out and... We're and also finding out where they belong and how they see themselves in the world during that time community and safety or everything and It's not just the students who benefit. It's the parents. We are supported to parenting can be so isolating at times Which I know me and my husband felt many times And we don't we don't no longer feel like we
155have to navigate this journey alone anymore. And I can say we honestly feel like we have find the right fit for our kids. Keeping this middle school means protecting a space where kids can safely grow into themselves during one of the most important stages of their lives, especially with all of that is happening in the world around us today. I asked my son Jack today what he would want me to say about his first year at going to Cal Creative. And he said that this has been the best. year of his life. Thank you. Thank you for your time. We have one more speaker, David Tokofsky. You're out there. Come on down. You have two minutes to speak once you begin. Thank you very much for the opportunity. I am here to speak against the
156denial. This is a no-brainer. This school should be granted probably three years, but the law doesn't let you have three years. You need two years. Does the school have challenges? Certainly. But if you've been there... You'll understand that LA Unified closed all its alternative schools a few years back. And everywhere we closed an alternative school, two or three creative charter schools. So we did things to ourselves in this district by closing the alternative schools. And I taught at Marshall High, so I know the neighborhood. I know some of my most brilliant kids would have been at this school or they were at the Arroyo Seco, which was part of the alternative before. And now you have a creative place here. This place is so creative that I've taken Chinese diplomats and government officials to see
157it. And they walk in and they kind of get scared because it's such an alternative place. And I look at them because they're all sort of, no, I shouldn't say, they're old government people. And I say, this is Tiananmen Square. This is creativity. This is learning. And they don't quite get it because of the way the building was built and the space that's happening there. If you think they should go to Ivanhoe or Franklin nearby or King Middle School, you're mistaken. This is a different class and clientele. And I know the board member. Actually, this school is in every board member's area. OK, if you look at it. And so we shouldn't go to the old. Oh, let's see what the board member says. But I look to her leadership. Because the school physically is
158there and let's make sure we give them an opportunity again missing the opportunity of creating an affiliated charter Three years ago give them the chance to participate like it's almost our alternative school. We lose the enrollment We lose the souls and the hearts of people like this and so I say to you Keep the rigor these other schools that close they're not coming to the district Crete Crete is the one you asked a moment ago That's now a private school okay it's a private school come on figure out how to support the clientele of la unified the taxpayers of the area and thank you for considering a motion to give them two years or more thank you for your time okay the board is now going to discuss questions from board members carla sorry i
159didn't see you up there go ahead it's all right thank you um i have some questions for the charter school division Yep, I'm here. All right, thank you. So can you clarify why they could not submit unverified data? I know that sometimes schools are allowed to submit some unverified data. Well, they're fighting. Yeah, thank you for that for low-performing charter schools. It expired June 30th 2025 so there's no consideration of verified data for a low-performing charter school All right, and home how many times has Calcrete have been? Low-performing is it their first year? They've been low-performing three consecutive years okay, and Do we compare them to other schools in the neighborhood as well or no? As part of the low-performing renewal consideration, it's a submission of a plan that they're taking meaningful steps. And so
160that's what the assessment is based on. That is based on law. And so it's not the best interest analysis as we have for the middle-performing charter schools. So it's a submitted plan taking meaningful steps. All right. So can you speak to that plan as the presenters shared that they believe that their plan is meeting the standards to be able to be renewed? But can you share why we feel the way that we do as a district in the areas of performance? Their governance or just a future future solvency. Can you speak to that please? Well, yes, I will do that I do first want to say though that making a recommendation for a denial of a charter school is not an easy decision and So one of the things we I want to discuss is
161in reviewing their plan and we do talk about this in the findings that They did not identify certain areas as taking that, so basically what the law states is that it is a presumptive denial and may only be renewed about making written factual findings that the charter school is taking meaningful steps to address the underlying cause of cause or causes of low performance and these steps are reflected or will be reflected in a written plan adopted by the governing board of the charter school. That's straight. from the law. And so they did submit an action plan as part of their renewal submission. And we do identify in our findings some of the areas where we found they were not meaningful steps or did not consider certain issues to their low performance. For example, chronic absenteeism.
162You can see in their data it's a high area of need because their most recent data, they had overall increases and they were higher than the state and they were red. for all students in all numerically significant student groups. And they did not identify it as an area in their plan that they needed to address. Also, we found... that their new strategies are generic and lack specificity. And then they talk about a root cause of needing stable and effective teachers and administrators. They did identify some strategy, but we did look at their most recent teaching assignments, and three or four of them are new to their class assignments. We recognize they're not new to the organization because that was mentioned, but they are new to their class assignments. And then we didn't feel was an
163effective measure method to how the measure how they were going to implement the plan and measure the plan I do want to note that the school has demonstrated some increases But if you look at the data from 22 23 to 22 2025 look at ELA school-wide They are lower in the most recent data school-wide in 2025 and they were in 2023 in both ELA and math I want to say as part of oversight, we discuss their data. We ask for information and plans, and we review those. And so that's discussed at every single oversight visit. So that is a sense why we don't feel like this is meaningful steps to address the underlying cause in consideration also, as we already stated, three years of consecutive low performance. And what about any concerns around their fiscal,
164their financial status? Oh, so I will note we do have concerns about their overall low enrollment. It is on page 539. You can see they went from 183 students in 21-22 down to 103 students in 25-26, and we're concerned if this consists that they will end up having their funds depleted. I read something about... that they received some funding through the IRS and they have to pay it back or there were concerns that if they did not have this funding, they would have not been solvent that year. Can you speak to that? Yeah, let me get to that section. That is a concern. So essentially, it's on page 506 of the materials, and that's where we talk about the low student enrollment concerns. They did get, they had some losses, but they were mitigated by,
165they did receive $394,000 in employee retention credit. That was from the Internal Revenue Service for payroll sustained during 2020 and 2021. Our understanding that there was a pause on that. monies from the IRS for a period of time. That's why they got the money in 2025 for those years. But if it was not for that, then we would have significant concerns with them, the financial viability, because their enrollment continues to decrease. That's it for questions for me right now. I'll make a comment after. Thank you, Carla. Go ahead, Kelly. Yes, thank you. I wanted to inquire about the population of students with disabilities at the school. Based on the testimonials from the school community, it sounds like they are servicing a higher than usual population of students with disabilities, including more students with low incident
166disabilities. Just wondering if, but that's not necessarily because of the overall. smallness that that's not necessarily accounted for in the state data. Just wondering if you could provide some more context in response. Yeah, we do have there all the students with disability data on page 497 and then their overall kind of demographics as compared to LAUSD on page 495. So they do have higher the most recent students with disability was 23.5 as compared to the district 15.6% and 14.2% so they do have a higher percentage of students with disabilities and then you can see on that page 497 it talks about the category so they're broken down in the most recent data Approximately 70% is highest incidence and 30% low incidence. High incidence means it occurs more frequently and that would include your students with
167learning disabilities, students with speech and language impairment. So they have a higher percentage of the high incidence, but about 30% of the low incidence. But you're correct, because of the low number of students, they do not turn up. You have to have 30 or more tested in order to be in the- Doesn't meet the end size requirements. Got it. And in terms of like evaluating their plan for how the school might continue to improve, was the uniqueness of the student population taken into account as far as how we reviewed that plan? It was taken into account, but overall, as we said, that wasn't a numerically significant student group that overall didn't put them in the low performance. Overall, what put them in the low performance was their school-wide and their numerically significant student groups. And
168so we assessed on what really puts them in the low performance. But they did touch on that piece, but that was not what the data that put them in their low performing category. And then just to follow up on board member Griego's question, we did not do a comparison to the resident schools or similar schools when it came to... As part of the renewal analysis for a low performing school, we don't do a comparison to the resident school and that's because that criteria under law is the best, the closures in the best interest, that's for a middle performing school, which we operationalize by the comparison to the resident schools. And so it's not part of the renewal criteria for a low performing school, it's only the submission of the plan and the meaningful steps. Gotcha.
169I mean, that might be an area that we want to take a look at. I think it's important for the board to have as much context as possible when we're considering these decisions, which obviously have a significant impact on students and families that are served by the school. I wanted to also ask if you could provide a little more information on the August 2025 notice of alleged violation, declining enrollment. like on its face is fairly obvious, but the failure to approve the 2025-26 Elkhaven budget. Let me take a look. It says it's been remedied, but I was just curious if you could share more about. What the violation was. Oh, okay. Yeah, so when they submitted their LCAP, so essentially they submit their LCAP to LACO as districts do, but they also submit it to
170the authorizer. And we review all of those LCAPs, every single one of the LCAPs for every single one of the independent charters. We review for completeness. We're not assessing the content, but we're making sure it's complete. All the areas are covered. And basically, in that review, they were missing, they failed to approve it on time. And that's one of the things we looked at, too. They didn't approve the LCAP and the budget on time as they were supposed to do. And from the perspective of staff as authorizers, Correct me if this is not correct, but that demonstrates to us like a lack of capacity around being able to meet statutorily required deadlines. Is that? Exactly. Overall, all of these areas and these notices is demonstrating a lack of capacity. I will tell you in reviewing
171these LCAPs, I don't think we had any other one that received a notice to this particular thing of not submitting it during the board meeting and the agenda and submitting it on time. Okay, because one could you know one notes in the data at least I do in reviewing it that there has been progress on the academic measures and they're not Obviously they're in the low performing tier. They're not where we would like them to be But it on the governance fiscal and operation side That's what I'm trying to understand. So it seems like staff is concerned about capacity and Ability to successfully run the school in the long term. That's correct. In the findings, we also had the capacity findings as noted and the enrollment findings as noted. Thank you, Kelly. Tanya. Thank you.
172My only question is for the school, actually. I appreciate all the work that you all did and the testimony of your families and staff. I was curious about the curriculum choices you all have made. I appreciate the arts integration, but green... your math curriculum open up is greenlit from Ed Reports. We don't use it, but I've heard good things. But the ELA, Readers, Writers, Workshop seems to be what you all are using. And I know units of study was sort of dissolved from Teachers College a while back. So curious about your choice to continue with that. And then science, the TCI is also, it doesn't meet the greenlit requirements for Ed Reports. It's red on the dashboard. So just curious about your ELA and science curriculum, why you chose that. And part of the plan
173is confidence that your students are going to grow. And so I would love to hear if you feel like your curriculum is helping your students to meet what they need to know for their next grade levels. Thank you for that. Definitely for Readers and Writers Workshop, we maintain it because of the ability to differentiate. So we have students who are in middle school who may be reading several grade levels below and also students who are reading grade levels above. So the methodology, we are standards-based. We do not necessarily follow the exact pacing and scripting of a program. The teachers create opportunities for students to read at their level in conference with students reading at their level, reading and pulling small groups. And that type of differentiation is needed with especially the level of accommodations that
174we have in our program. With respect to TCI, History Alive and Science Alive, that is a foundational resource. However, we still maintain that we are standards-based as we construct curriculum. So as you may have heard, currently one of the projects that's happening is students creating studying ancient civilizations but they're also creating a radio station and that is tied in with music but TCI is an information source for them. We chose TCI years ago because it was more open-ended and project-based than a textbook would be. For mathematics open up resources we've had a math committee we've gone to NCTM to evaluate different programs When we chose Open Up, it was the most constructivist because part of the Open Up program, as you look at the warm-ups and the ability to have students engage in thinking first
175before looking at solving problems, that has been the best fit we've had so far. We continue to push on cognitively guided instruction, and that is the work we are doing with UCLA Center X right now. I think we had also used Center X and CGI for a while, so I wasn't as concerned about the math choice. You know, I think the data is concerning, and so wanting to make sure that you have confidence that your staff has the tools that they need in what they're teaching and then also how they're teaching it. So, you know, to the extent that you go to the next level, depending on what this board decides today, we just encourage you to continue to be reflective and critical on not only your students meeting the standards with your arts integration,
176but also making sure the resources you have. or meeting the needs to get them ready to their next grade level. Yes, and to add, we have PLC meetings every week with every grade level, and we base it solely on data. And so it's not just the curriculum that we're using. We're looking at how the teachers are looking at differentiating what they have. Thank you. All right, thank you. Thank you. Tanya, anyone? Nick? Thank you. I'll just echo my colleagues one to the parents and advocates who spoke really appreciate your testimony and the vulnerability to speak about your experiences and Just much it's appreciated and heard by the board two questions for this charter schools division just clear clarifying a few things that both miss Gones and miss Griego had asked about Marla on the best
177interest the best interest analysis that looks at resident school comparison. You were saying it's in our policy for middle performing but not low performing. But are we prohibited by law or is that local policy? Like if the board wanted to amend a policy to going forward have as another option school comparison for all tiers, is that possible or is it, are we statutorily prohibited? I would defer to council as to that question. We'll have to look into that and in the future should the board wish to amend its policy to consider best interest Yeah, it just seems like when closure at any tier I mean I had assumed this board and we have limited discretion about closing high performing schools, but when we were considering closure of a lower middle performing tier the Comparison of
178where those students would end up where the school to actually close seems relevant in some cases more so for low I guess. But so okay, but so the answer from our council is we're not sure. But you'll get back to us on whether that's something the board can amend into its policy. And then secondly Marla you had mentioned that the law no longer, I think you said the law, you said verified data is no longer in the law. But this is a question I've asked about. Is it... that it is not required for us to look at analyzed data or we're not allowed to. I would defer to counsel on that one. So effective June of 2025 verified data has been removed statutorily from the law. In the absence of conflicting statutory language, one could...
179argue that the board may have discretion in considering verified data since there's no conflicting statutory authority. However, to do so, there should be established metrics that should be applied consistently throughout all of charter schools. Yeah, that makes sense. I appreciate that, Devorah, because I guess the... Again, I think on the schools that are on the cusp, and I'm not saying this one necessarily is, maybe it's more relevant for middle performing ones that we're gonna consider closure because they're by law or by definition performing better, but we should have all tools at our disposal to make the analysis. And I know that the law doesn't require verified data, but to the extent that there's discretion for us to use it, it is just another data point. And I'm also hearing in conversations in Sacramento that they
180may put it back in legislation. And so what's weird is that the timing for these schools that have come in now or that we don't have verified data has something that we're looking at, but were they to come a few months ago or a few months in the future, that would be a tool at our disposal. So that just seems like an unfortunate matter of timing and I'd be curious for us to consider that going forward. So I just had those two. Clarifying questions given that they've come up in a few charter conversations Just one brief note on the last one our team because there's been a lot of back and forth on verified data You mentioned the trailer bill language the team has shared prior concerns related to the timing of when the verified
181data was going to lapse in the law so I just want to note that that that has been something that the team has also shared even with colleagues at the state certainly as conversations go forward we will continue to work with our government relations team on that but I just wanted to note that I appreciate that Jose and I'll say too and I'm not saying in this situation in part because it's it's proving a counterfactual we don't have it in front of us I'm not saying that verified data or school comparison would have changed the outcome from staff but it just seems like when you know it's a incredibly tough decision and weighty one as it should be to close the school or to vote for its denial and so the more tools that we
182have to look at those To make that analysis, I think the better. Okay, thank you, Nick. Anyone else? Go ahead, Rocio. Cal Creative, they do have an elementary school, right? And that's showing growth and they're doing well, at least for their, I know we're here to discuss their middle school, but in terms of their elementary school, is there any issue in terms of any demonstrated lack of capacity at their elementary school? Is it just for their middle school? I would have to defer to the staff to get that and maybe follow up with you on that to make sure to look at their full, you know, their oversight reports, their data, most recent data. So we can follow up with that. And this school has struggled, right, since the beginning in terms of teachers and
183leadership as well. Can you touch on that a little bit? Well, they themselves identify that they've had a series of leaders that came in and out, and then also they had a hard time recruiting and keeping teachers. So it has been an ongoing struggle for them to get that consistency of instruction, both leadership and teachers, as they identified themselves in their plan. And could that struggle that they've been facing have... influence on their academics because, you know, they were struggling? I would say so. I think that you will see schools that have inconsistent leadership and teachers, inconsistent teachers that will definitely have an impact on the academic program. And how are they now? Have they made some stability since then? Have they made any changes in terms of leadership and their teachers? They did get
184a new, they have gotten a new leader, I believe, who's been there since yesterday. But as we noted, though, in their most recent teacher grid, I'll call it, they are not new to the school, that's true, but they are new to their assignment. And so they have new teachers assigned to their, not new to the organization, new to their assignment. So I believe in our findings we identified basically... in the most 25-26 teacher assignments, three of the four teachers were new to their class assignments. So that called into question their implementation of their meaningful steps to help with this problem, as most recently they still have teachers new to their class assignments. Based on you know the parents that were here before us. I mean I am concerned about the displacement of some of the
185students with special needs and them fortunately being if the school would be closing the shuffling of students. I know that they're They serve about, you mentioned 22.5% of their students are students with special needs or neurodivergent. So that is a concern of mine. So knowing the special, and that this is a school that is very unique, you know, with a constructivist ideology or perspective in teaching instructions and also integration of the art so this is a school that you know that you would say is differs from other from other of the schools that you've that you've seen of that you have oversight over how special are they can in comparison to other charters Well, I will say with, I mean, I am a special education teacher by trade, and so I will say for the
186students with special education, they will have IEPs that they enroll into a public school. They'll have to meet the requirements of those IEPs. So that's an important one. That is a real driving force for how a student with disabilities program needs to be met and their IEP goals and such. I would say it is a small, I mean, they are different, they are small, they're around 100 students, so that is a different part of the program, you know, and they do have a constructivist approach, but ultimately the recommendation of denial is based on the low-performing status for three years, the submission of a plan, and the concern that if you look at their 2023 data and their 2025 data, they're gone down. And so it just calls into the question them being able to get
187their academics up to where it needs to be. I'll also add in terms of some of the prior question and answer related to the consideration of the full picture with the enrollment, the governance, and the like, that those are also part of the considerations when we looked at their plan and the ability then to take that to the next level. And certainly considering three years consecutive low performance. in addition to what Ms. Wilmot has said, has rounded out. This is a challenging, all of them are challenging, but certainly we hear the voices of the students and families. But because of that whole picture and trying to apply it as consistently as we can, because we've also heard from various schools, different but also stories regarding their uniqueness, et cetera, and trying to assess the full
188picture. For example, also I wanna underscore, not addressing chronic absenteeism, for example. Even today I did not hear commentary related to that when it has increased. Certainly we know how critical that is to student success. That has to be part of the plan. And so those considering the whole picture as difficult as it is, we do respectfully present the recommendation, certainly understanding the board has the final determination. Thank you. Anyone else? I have my hand up. Go ahead, Carla. Thank you. Yeah, so thank you for answering those questions. I really just want to make a comment because I went to visit Cal Creative and I was certainly very impressed by their facility, their school. They have a beautiful dance studio with a dance teacher teaching dance throughout the year. They do integrative. arts curriculum and
189teachers in the elementary school co-plan and throughout the year. And so I saw really wonderful things. I think it was Dr. Lee who spoke about, you know, PBLRJ, social emotional learning, looking and doing education through the whole, you know, through the lens of the whole child at the same time. working on critical thinking skills, 21st century skills. So I want to commend the school and the staff for taking on this project of doing education in a way that is not that is not typical of public schools. And also that it obviously does center students and it sees students holistically. And I say this obviously because from parent testimony today. And so I really appreciate you all coming out and speaking and sharing your stories and in the staff that I met as well for doing
190the work that you're doing. And I did share when I met with you all that ultimately I would look at the full report. And so as much as it really... It does make me sad that I will be voting no voting yes on the recommendation to not renew because of all of the findings in the report and. And I also want to say that I really do hope that when you come up for your elementary school, that you are able to, we do find that you are recommended to renew, because I do think that what you're doing is. is great. And it seems hearing from parents and the students that it really benefits them a lot. And I wish that we could have some schools that actually did progressive education that did have, you know,
191reading buddies and that had PBL as a way of assessing students and that more and more our schools feel more inclusive and welcoming for all of our students. So again, I want to thank you for inviting me to your school, sharing your story, sharing all the things that you're doing. And I want to thank the parents for showing up today as well. And I hope And I know that this is challenging right now, and I want to acknowledge how hard this is as a parent. But I hope that we can find, if not at another charter of your choice, if we can find you a place in our schools. And we, as always, we strive to be that inclusive place for all students. Thank you. Okay. Thank you, Carla. I believe we're ready to vote.
192Is that correct? All right. Somebody had a question? Oh. I understand there's some side discussions going on, but I will just say I think there's a bit of a challenge. One, I was really moved by the parent testimonials, and I, too, am. Like I think constructivist education and hands-on learning is so important for our students as well as arts and integration to nature I think it it is I want to highlight something that the parents spoke to is just there is a challenge with how school quality is measured in California and whether or not it is really aligned to those ways of teaching and I personally believe that education and schools provide much more than just reading and math and academics. It is about the community and about belonging and connectedness for students. When it
193comes to how we review the performance of charter schools in particular, there is a heavy emphasis on the academic performance. That is what's called for in the law. And it is also true that... and in exchange for that we need to see that outcomes are there for students. So, and I understand the DOS schools, I was thinking about whether the DOS. and Marla maybe you can help me remember what the acronym stands for. It's the alternative schools that are charters as well. Yeah, it's a dashboard alternative school status, I believe. Yeah, which is mostly based on serving more higher need, like a very heavy proportion of higher need students. It seems like there isn't yet really a place or a way to measure quality for schools that have an alternative model. teaching which is which
194is really what I think this school kind of represents and feels like a gap in the state of California that we we don't yet have a systematized approach to be able to look at that because I do think we want to encourage innovation and creativity but if the metrics that we utilize are very standard then they kind of work at cross purposes so I hope that we can continue looking at that from the state level as well. Got it thank you. Okay, I have another question. I was curious if you could speak to the financial status of the school. Of course, one of the things we always want to take into account is whether or not the school could remain open. Is that stability to be guaranteed for students and families? We have seen in
195recent years that independent charters have closed because of low enrollment. And given the fluctuations in enrollment of this school, going from 183 a few years ago down to... 103 I believe this year that that is a real concern and we want to ensure that students can count on this school remaining open for their for their families can you speak Marla to the longer term financial trajectory and also what what that looks like you know moving forward as part of their budget Yeah, I will. I will note, too, this has been a concern for us for a couple years. As noted in their oversight reports, the last two years in fiscal operations, they did get a 2, which is developing. That's on our staff report when we go look at the oversight scores. And that was
196due to the weak and deteriorating financial condition and the low declining student enrollment, which were both reoccurring issues. So this has been noted as part of their oversight report for the last... couple years. As was stated in the findings, we are concerned about the low student enrollment and the school staying fiscally viable. It was not, they did get that, you know, that $394,000, that one-time ERC funding that did help them. But if not for that, they would have reported negative net assets. And they would have been reliant on what's called inter-organizational lending, basically between their schools in order to keep them afloat, essentially. And so we are concerned that if this trend continues, that they will have a risk of fiscal insolvency. And that is noted in our reports. Thank you. Okay, Mr. McLean. Having
197been moved and seconded, taking the vote on tab six, denial of the renewal petition for California Creative Learning Academy Middle. Ms. Newbell. Yes. Dr. Rivas. I'm going to abstain because this is, as Ms. Ghosn has mentioned, this is a very unique school, and unfortunately the way standards and regulations don't enable schools like Cal Creative to succeed. And I wish you all the best. But I will abstain. Okay. Abstention from Dr. Rivas. Mr. Melvin. Yes. Ms. Griego. Yes. Ms. Gones. I'll abstain as well. Ms. Ortiz-Franklin. Yes. Board President Shmurlson. Yes. And Student Board Member Yang. Abstain. Okay. So that's one, two, three, four, five yeses to deny and two abstentions. Petition is denied. Okay. Moving to tab 10. charter petitions for public hearing. Before we get to that, I'll read the following public speakers. The board
198will take action on these reports. Petitions denied may be submitted directly to the Los Angeles County Office of Education or directly to the state for action. Okay, so this is tab 10. We're now on petitions for public hearing. Let me pull up my list of speakers. I have 15 speakers. I'll do my best to call on the folks who are with Fenton. And then folks who are obviously not with Fenton, I'll try and call you separately so that no one has to shuffle back and forth. All right, David Milton Riddick. Okay, well good afternoon Superintendent Carvalho and board members. My name is Dr. David Riddick. I'm the Chief Executive Officer for the Fenton Charter Public Schools. Fenton has been a pillar in the community. We have been climbing new heights since 1993. We're one of
199the first charter schools in the state of California and within LA Unified. And we come before you on, you can't help but feel the heaviness in the room after two denials and after the challenges our labor partners are facing as well as the district in general. Fenton Launchpad is intended to lift us up out of that despair. It's Fenton's approach to continue to climb new heights and take us into a new direction. It is a non-classroom based. charter petition. So it doesn't say that in the documents that you have, I believe, but it is a non-classroom based. This is intended for us to serve families that are having difficult times in the classroom, just going to school amidst fear of immigration raids. So you see before behind me here, we have a community of instructional.
200staff as well as community representatives and families and Milagro is just gonna say a few words as well if you'd like to. You may need the headphones. Some of our parents will be speaking in Spanish. Just let's pause the timer real fast. So are you giving her the remaining 45 seconds? Okay, so let's pause the timer so we don't lose those seconds. Miss Milagro is gonna speak in Spanish so if you'd like to hear what she's saying in English please put on these translation headsets. And as soon as we get them passed out. Okay listos gracias. We're ready. Gracias. Buenas tardes. Thank you. Good afternoon Members of the board. My name is Milagro Martinez. I support the new lounge pad Academy my daughters attend the primary school in Santa Monica they have a medical condition
201that requires a lot of medical visits in several occasions they've been hospitalized and This type of school would help so that they can have the educational foundation while they also receive medical attention. Please approve Fenton Lounge Academy. Thank you. Thank you for your time. You got 12 seconds left. Thank you for your time. Lisa Vallejo. Good afternoon. I'd like to yield my time to one of our parents, Ms. Patti. All right, please go ahead. Good afternoon respectable members of the board. My name is Patty Varas. I am a mother and an active member of our community at Santa Monica Boulevard Community Charter School. I'm here to support Fenton Launchpad Academy. I want to highlight some of our Charter School's positive impacts on our community. The quality of services offered to our students begins with the
202active participation of parents, volunteers, and community members in our family center. facility. We offer a full schedule of classes and activities that prepare our parents and guardians to help students succeed academically and be active members of their school environment. So the addition of this new and innovative program as the Fenton Launchpad Academy is a step in the right direction to provide our student community with extra education of quality no matter what. The educational services offered at the Fenton schools are focused on improving students, parents, and guardians skills so that they have tools to help children with schoolwork and life challenges. Fenton Public Schools uses every resource available to continue building bridges where students and families can surely have a solid foundation to thrive for a better future. So the Fenton Launchpad Academy is a great
203element to continue with such great work in our community. Our passion to achieve this begins every morning at the school entry gates, when parents trust us with their kids to learn in a safe environment. Our school personnel from the schoolyard to each classroom have activities where students can engage at their own level to transform each day into a positive learning experience to keep in the books of their lives. Our school emphasizes not only technology, arts, social, emotional development, math, and English, but it focuses on our families and community partners that help us to serve our students to be future active members in society. The passion of our school staff and the strong community spirit are formed by a team that works tirelessly to ensure every student feels seen, valued, and supported. The sense of community
204here is transparent, and it's a place where families and staff work together to ensure students' success. Board members. I am here today. Not only as a parent Thank you. Thank you for your time. I appreciate your time. Okay. Thank you Jennifer Miller Come on up. You have two minutes to speak once you begin Well, good afternoon board members superintendent Carvalho. My name is Jennifer Miller I serve as the director of instruction for Fenton charter public schools. I know this is a really heavy day It's a tough day. So I'm going to be very brief I'm here today in support of Fenton Launchpad Academy, a charter that will provide a hybrid model for students who require a more flexible learning path. This charter will be part of the Fenton Charter Public Schools Network. We've been an
205educational partner with LAUSD for over 30 years. We have a proven track record of academic excellence, fiscal responsibility, and collaboration. I ask you, I encourage you to please review our petition, which will come before you in April for your support. We've enjoyed 30 years working together, and I know we have many more ahead of us. Thank you for your time. Thank you for your time. Jason Gonzalez. Good afternoon, Superintendent and board members. My name is Jason Gonzalez, and I have the honor to serve as the Chief Operating Officer of Fenton Charter Public Schools. I come before you to express my full support for the petition of Fenton Launchpad Academy. This proposal is deeply personal to me. I grew up in the community that our schools serve in the Northeast San Fernando Valley. In fact, I
206went to LA Unified schools myself growing up. I was raised here and I understand firsthand the strengths of our families, but also the challenges they face. Fenton Launchpad Academy is a direct response to the needs of our community. Over the past years, we've listened carefully to parents. We have heard from families whose children would benefit from a non-traditional classroom setting. Some families struggle with reliable transportation and wildly varying work schedules that change from one day to the next. Some students are navigating social-emotional challenges, while others are experiencing fear tied to immigration enforcement. Fenton Launchpad Academy is designed as a thoughtful hybrid model. It preserves structure, accountability, and academic rigor while offering flexibility. The campus will serve as a hub, a place where students can connect face-to-face with teachers and peers, participate in enrichment, and build
207relationships. It will also be a place where parents can receive support and access to community resources. This petition is not about replacing traditional schools, but about expanding opportunity. Our community deserves options that reflect its lived experience. Fenton Launchpad Academy is our commitment to meeting families where they are while maintaining the high standards that define Fenton Charter Public Schools. Thank you for your time and consideration. Thank you for your time. Richard Baran. Good afternoon and thank you LAUSD Superintendent and board members. My name is Richard Parr and I serve as the Community Schools Director for Fenton Charter Public Schools. In my role, I work closely with families, parents, guardians, and community members to identify and remove barriers to learning for all students. Our goal is to provide every child the opportunity to succeed academically while closely
208monitoring their well-being and community. It is through that lens that I am proud to have contributed to the development of this proposed Fenton Launchpad Academy. My team, the community school coordinators, and the family centers discuss students and families who are struggling to balance real-life challenges such as transportation, health concerns, family transition, housing, and immigration authority, even for our Latin US citizens. While traditional school models work well for many students, they do not always meet the needs of every learner. Launchpad Academy represents an innovative and responsive solution designed to meet students and families where they are. We see the need and we're trying to address it. Thank you for your time, your service, and your commitment to our communities and thoughtful consideration for Launchpad Academy. Thank you. Thank you for your time. The next speaker is
209Anna Wolfer. Anna W., come on up. You have two minutes to speak once you begin. Good afternoon, board members. I would like to yield my time to one of our parents. Okay, great. Please lower the microphone. Thank you. Good afternoon, board members. My name is Maria De La Rosa. I'm a parent at Santa Monica Boulevard Community Charter Phantom School. I fully support the new Phantom Launchpad Academy to... to the eyes going on our communities. This would help families. Thank you. Thank you for your time. Evelyn Martinez. Good afternoon, board members, board president, and superintendent. My name is Evelyn Martinez, and after 28 years as an educator with Fenton Charter Public Schools and currently serving as one of their instructional coaches, I am here to strongly support the newly proposed Fenton Launchpad Academy. Fenton Launchpad is
210designed to meet the evolving needs of today's students and families through an innovative hybrid learning model. At the heart of this school is a commitment to individualized learning. Every student will have a personalized learning plan built around their strengths, interests, and goals, allowing instruction to be responsive rather than one-size-fits-all. For students, this model provides flexibility, agency, and access, allowing them to learn at their own pace with targeted support. For those who need flexibility, struggle in traditional settings, or seek enrichment, Fenton Launchpad will open new pathways to success. For communities, Fenton Launchpad will maintain our already strong partnerships and also expand access to high-quality public education for students near and far. Opportunity should never depend on zip code or income, and this model helps remove those obstacles. As an instructional coach, I see firsthand how powerful
211personalized, well-supported learning can be. Fenton Launchpad represents an opportunity to extend that impact, innovate responsibly, and ensure that more students are known, supported, and prepared for their futures. I respectfully urge you to support the approval of Fenton Launchpad Academy. Thank you for your time and consideration. Thank you for your time. I should have read this at the outset, the public hearing statement. So I'm going to read it now, right in the middle of all this. This constitutes a public hearing on Chatsworth Charter High and Fenton Launchpad Academy. The maximum of 15 individuals who wish to address the board on the item will be heard. Those who wish to speak should sign up online. Speakers will be called on by name. And now back to Laura Vasquez. Good morning, board members and Superintendent Cavallo. I would
212like to yield my time to one of our parents. Please go ahead. Good afternoon board members. My name is Brianna Jones and I am the proud mother of two students at Fenton Primary Center. I am here today in strong support of Fenton Launchpad Academy. My son Amir is on the autism spectrum and is still nonverbal, but he is starting to find his voice. As a parent, there is nothing more vulnerable than wondering if your child would be understood, supported, and given the opportunity to grow. At Fenton, Amir has made meaningful academic progress. He is beginning to engage with more children and walks into school with pride. Those changes may seem small to some, but to our family, they are everything. My daughter, Amilah, who is high functioning on the spectrum, has also blossomed. She has
213found her confidence, built friendships, and is thriving academically. She feels seen, she feels capable, she feels supported. This growth is not by chance, it is because of the teachers, the principal, and the school staff who create a caring and understanding and nurturing environment every day. Their dedication, patience, and expertise have made all the difference for my children and our family. As a parent, I have learned that everyone's struggle is different, especially when your child has a disability. What families need is access, access to support, access to understanding, access to an environment where their child is encouraged to thrive. Fenton Launchpad Academy will provide that access to more families and ensures that no child is left behind and that more students, regardless of their challenges, have the opportunity to succeed. Thank you. Thank you for your
214time Tony Pena Tony P. Hi good afternoon board members. My name is Tony Pena I'm the community schools coordinator for Fenton Avenue charter school. I have been with the organization for almost 34 years So that means that I was part of that group that came and requested the charter status for Fenton Avenue charter school over 30 years ago They later came back and requested the charter status for Fenton Primary Center, Santa Monica Community Charter School, Fenton Leadership Academy, and Fenton STEM Academy. All those schools have serviced the San Fernando Valley and the Northeast LA area. And over the years, we have always had great reviews by the district and by our community who has always had our or have we have always had their support. And so I know that now with this new academy
215that's going to serve as those parents that are able to bring their kids to school will be greatly benefit. a good part of our community. So I'm here to ask that you please support our Fenton Lodgepad Academy. Thank you so much. Thank you for your time. Christine Katchian. Good afternoon. My name is Christine Katchian, and I serve as the Director of Special Education. Special Education for Fenton Charter Public Schools. I'm here to express my strong support for the proposed Fenton Launchpad Academy. In my role, I work closely with students whose access to education is impacted by medical conditions, mental health needs, family transitions, and circumstances. That can make consistent in-person attendance difficult. For some students, particularly those with disabilities, a traditional school setting may not always be the most appropriate placement at a given time.
216Fenton Launchpad Academy provides a thoughtful alternative that maintains educational continuity while addressing these realities. The program structured yet flexible model allows for both remote and in-person instruction based on each student's individualized learning plan. This flexibility enables students to remain engaged in grade level instruction while accommodating their unique needs. From a special education perspective, Fenton Launchpad Academy supports the compliant delivery of services aligned with students' individualized education programs. Services can be provided virtually, in person, or through a blended model. The emphasis on individualized planning and collaboration with families further strengthens the program. Students remain connected to their school community while accessing a model designed to meet them where they are. Benton Launchpad Academy represents a proactive, student-centered approach to expanding access to high-quality public education while maintaining high expectations and accountability. Thank you. Thank you for
217your time. Johanna Juarez? Good afternoon, board members. My name is Joanna Juarez, and I'm a mother and a member of this community, but I also work with Fenton. I've been here with this organization for more than 30 years, and it is a pleasure to say that everything that is done at Fenton, it really gives back to the community, especially to our children. And now in this chaotic situation that we're living with immigration, security, and all the things, we need something that launched Pat Academy at Fenton. We want to serve all the children, no matter what. Sometimes transportation, parents have lost their jobs, rent, everything is hard, but they want to continue coming to Fenton because Fenton gives education to our children and cares about the community. So please help us with that new Fenton Launchpad
218Academy. Say yes. Thank you. Thank you for your time. Virginia Palma. And everyone, I'm going to yield my time to Evangeline Pro. Go ahead. I just made this speech. I never done a speech before. But because of the Phantom, they give me a privilege to speak something. So good afternoon, board members. I am Ms. Evangeline Pro. I'm a volunteer parent supporting the Phantom Family Charter School located in Sun Valley. I've been a volunteer for almost two years. I'm a student, too, and I believe that learning is part and never stop learning, just like my son. So I trust and believe the proposal provides students flexible learning. Options essential needs every students and combined with virtual learning. Yes, I came from traditional learning so I want to improve my child to do that. And every student's
219combined virtual learning, independent study, and optional personal support supporting also for students with disability. And as parents also they provide parents program and I agree with that because we need connections with the parents too. As a parent I saw my development of my child progress academically, social emotional development, build self-confidence, leadership and exploring his skills. I'm also grateful to the teachers and assistant teachers, administrator and building management to keep every student safe, supportive and loving environment. That's all I can say. Thank you. Thank you for your time. We have Jennifer Pimentel. Hi, good afternoon. I'd like to yield my time to one of our parents. Go ahead. support the creation of the new Fenton Launchpad Academy because my daughter is also at the Santa Monica school she is one of the Fenton schools thank you
220thank you for your time Mr. David Tokofsky I think I saw you out there David Tokofsky come on down you have two minutes to speak once you begin and after Mr. Tokofsky is Maria Daisy Ortiz To be with Fenton, one of our first charters in the shot that Democrats Gary Hart and Tom Hayden, Senators, proposed the legislation for charter schools and it was started by two of our most dynamic principals in LA Unified. Joe Lucente and Irene Sumida and continues to be, as Board Member Kelly Gones knows, as I represented the area for eight years, a dynamic school that is connected to its community, has always seen itself as ways to improve, thoughtful. It's disconcerting, on the other hand, that your charter office team is no longer in the audience listening to their presentation. Secondly,
221it's disconcerting that our Chatsworth High is not even here. It tells you that the politics of affiliated charters has been weakened and has no presence like this presence here. Chatsworth High, I believe, is pretty close to a Metrolink stop. I'm not really sure. I know our former government relations person is the head of government affairs for Metrolink. And, of course, that means that students from Lancaster and Palmdale and the Antelope Valley who sit in schools, Mr. Superintendent, that are... much lower performing than Cleveland and Chatsworth and much of our ballet schools could be on a dedicated car with any creativity and any IT brilliance. I know we lost our IT director, but you could easily make... a path for kids from Pomona on MetroLink and from Lancaster and Palmdale and grow the enrollment of the
222school and folks would want to leave those other districts by choice. But I know your staff is saying, oh, we're going to get some superintendent upset in another district. Well, if our schools do have performance, and I think you represent a lot of dynamic schools from this one to others, let's bring kids into our district. Unless legal counsel or somebody is telling you you can't do that. Use some creativity. Grow your enrollment. Grow your budget. Thank you. Thank you for your time. And let's see. Maria Daisy Ortiz is listed as a call-in. I do not have her on the line in front of me. So that concludes public comment for Tab 10. The Board will be taking action on these charter petitions at a subsequent meeting. No action is taking place today. Just as a
223reminder to folks. And now we have some public comment on Tabs 11 and 12 along with... Mr. Ortiz Franklin. These are not for action. Since they're matters of public interest, there is some public comment on them. Let's see. Ankur Patel, are you here? Come on up. You'll have two minutes to speak to tab 11, receipt of the mid-year annual update of the 2526 local district control and accountability plan. Thank you. Shinyan Kweli. Ramadan Mubarak. Har Har Mahadev. My name is Ankur Patel. It is always an honor and a privilege to speak from this people's podium where many languages are spoken. The most diverse public is represented where parents, teachers, and students come to voice their opinions and their experiences to the board. A few key points about this mid-year LCAP report. There is no clear
224section for special education. For such a major responsibility and expenditure, that omission speaks volumes about transparency and priorities. I have my own experiences with special education. I don't have time to share those. And while the news is focused on the $800 million structural deficit, We're paying that with the beginning balance, which is still over $3 billion. This mid-year report, instead of clarifying our financial situation in terms of LCAP, it continues to miss the big picture and the urgency while pushing fear. Why are administrators getting RIF notices seven years in a row? That kind of stress and fear. is not appropriate. During COVID, we hired a lot of extra people, right? Aids, out-of-classroom specialists, with the $8.5 billion in funds given to us from the federal government. But that was temporary money, and we didn't do
225anything about those employees, and that has created this deficit. And now how are we going to address this deficit? With, again, this fear-mongering, the way that the rifts have been distributed, all this talk that is going on, it seems like the school sites, the staff at the school sites, are the ones who are going to suffer the most. That's so sad. It's so disappointing. Thank you for your time. And the bottom line is, we want honesty. We want transparency. Thank you for your time. Thank you. We have Noe Sesmas calling in, but I don't have you online in front of me. And I believe, Mr. Ortiz-Franklin, you had a comment on this item? Mr. Ortiz-Franklin? Okay, we'll come back to you. Tab 12, we have some comment. Again, this is not for action. This is
226Mr. David Tokofsky. Come on down. You'll have two minutes to speak once you begin. I want to comment about FCMAT and affiliated charters. FCMAT was born with AB1200. It's a government creation that is now charging school districts astronomical amounts of money to justify things. In fact, when the head of FCMAT was here at your committee, the whole, I asked him, are you going to tell the Board of Ed about the governor holding back $2 billion? And he said, no, no, no. Didn't want to discuss that. Didn't want to talk about money. He wanted to talk about cliffs. structural imbalances. He didn't want to talk about revenue. So now we have a $5.6 billion. We've got the governor returning the $2 billion of Prop 98 legally entitled money. If you are aggressive, I have not seen
227a letter from this board or other boards or other superintendents to the governor encouraging him on the $5.3 billion or to enlarge the special ed allotment. Any of you who have Schwab accounts know that your Schwab account in January just shot out the roof. The amount of revenue coming in is $6 billion more in January than even the governor's numbers over the legislative analysts. So FCMAT is part of this wariness of AB 1200, which is... Talk about three years of expenses when you only get one year revenue, and you get one year revenue in a way that the superintendent has described is an inappropriate amount of money in the way they distribute it. So you need to start advocating as you become prudent with respect to your budgets and RIFs, but you need to advocate
228for the money. The May revision is going to be soon. And if you can't do that and you continue to do that, I suggest that you go to the supermarket and buy yourself some cliff bars because all I hear from you is a cliff, cliff, cliff. They're not very healthy. It's much better to go get revenue. There's a whole bunch of other nutritional bars that will help this district. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Tarkovsky. That concludes public comment on that item, but I believe Board Member Ortiz-Franklin had something to say about Tab 11. Thanks and apologies. Well, I just wanted to lift up that we had heard a lot of public comment about the LCAP over the last several months, and this seemed like a good opportunity to check back in on that.
229So I did want to thank the team for providing the infographic. I know some folks would have preferred a bit deeper of a dive, but I know we have some more agenda items to get to. I just wanted to ask generally, given where we are at this point in the year, and it's kind of hard to sift through the entire infographic and the mid-year update, but are we on track, off track in our overall vision? of what we hope to achieve in the LCAP this year? Eric Elwood, LCAP administrator. We're on track. So in terms of the overall expenditures for this year, we're within the kind of the ballpark where we've been traditionally on a year-to-year basis. So the spend is on track to what we've traditionally spent. In terms of the goal actions as
230well, we're on track to completing the goal actions and implementing them as indicated in the LCAP. And so... In four months, we'll be coming back to the board and providing more information around the implementation of those goal actions. Great, and this might be a good point to lift up. I see Carolyn back there. You know, we are also embarking on a strategic plan for next year. The board just recently had a retreat, and it has been lifted up a couple of times, the opportunity to align the LCAP with our strategic plan. We spent a lot more time, I think, on the strategic plan as a board, and it seems to me that, you know, as we move forward, maybe there are some moments where we can time things up a little bit more to make
231those connections. And I don't know if you want to say anything about that, but that was an idea that had been lifted up. Yes. Yes. So thank you, Board Member Ortiz-Franklin. We are for the first time this year merging the two. So in June, you will see the presentation on both LCAP and the strategic plan and how it ties to the budget. So the first time it will all be tied together. Love it. I am so excited for that. And I hope maybe some of that will also connect to our budget transparency resolution from last year. We had a resolve in there about how the budget items, the investments are helping us to achieve the goals and student achievement outcomes. And so I'm imagining there will be a little bit more syncing up of that
232come this June. I'm seeing some head nods. Yes, that is correct. We have a mock-up now, and we're working with ITS actively to get it to go live. So we are almost there. Great. Great, great, great. And then just my last comment, because we've heard so much from the parent groups here, when will we hear from the parents on the LCAB this year? I think typically we don't hear until June, and maybe there's not always a chance to get feedback back to them or comments. So maybe can you just share a little bit about where we are with the parents giving their input? Yeah, we're working with our PAC and DLAC and getting comments in April this year. So that way there's additional time to be able to provide the responses back. And so we
233have those, not as last year, but have those earlier this year. Good news all around. All right. Thanks so much. Go ahead, Kelly. Since we're discussing it and I appreciate board member Ortiz Franklin bringing it up because obviously LCFF is a significant source of revenue for the district So it's important to talk about the plan and how we're implementing it I noted that the infographic has the successes and the areas for growth listed within each of the different LCAP goal areas Can you just help explain sort of? What was the plan around the areas of growth? We note the areas of growth in the mid-year review. Is that something that we would expect to see considerable progress on from now until June? How do we tackle that process-wise? In terms of developing successes and areas
234of growth, well, kind of just taking a step back, I mean, the statute itself is meant to supplement the LCAP that happens in June of 2025. So it's meant to update the LCFF revenues, right, which are assumptions as we get into June 2025. Those are understood as we get into August. So that's kind of one piece is to update the revenues. Also to be able to update the sort of the lag data. So the student performance data that we're not going to see traditionally in an LCAP due to the California school dashboard being made public until later in the fall. So it's going to have that piece. So the areas of growth are going to center on areas within the dashboard where we're looking to meet greater success. So for example, in LCAP Goal 1.
235You'll see areas of growth around continuing A through G supports to continue our A through G increased rate. Within goal two, you're going to see areas of growth around chronic asthmatism, making sure that students are getting to school. So really the areas of growth are meant to supplement those areas of focus for the school district in the student performance areas, whether they be chronic asthmatism or Smarter Balanced assessments. Kind of the outside of what the state's looking to do around revenues and also around dashboard data is really provide information as like a snapshot to the implementation in the current year. And that's what the successes and areas of growth are meant to do, is snapshot into the implementation that's occurring within the LCAP, knowing that we'll be back to the board when we get. get
236into June. Gotcha, that's helpful. And certainly, you know, something like the high school graduation rates or the annual state test data, we know that that doesn't come out until the fall. So it makes sense that we would need to provide those updates. I'm just, I guess my question is more, you know, for example, in the areas of growth, there was something around providing more targeted supports for English learners in link learning pathways. So is that something we would reasonably expect is like now being undertaken now that we've identified it as an area of growth? It's being implemented right now. So those areas, yeah, exactly. Okay. Thank you. Sure. Anyone else? Any comments? Okay. There's no vote on either of these items. So it's just a discussion for the public certification and for the board members.
237We are moving on to tab 13, staffing and resource alignment. There's a presentation with this tab. So we're going to bring up the presentation first, then take public comment, then board discussion. So let's have a move in a second before I forget and then move it. Moved by Board President Schmurlson. Seconded by? I'll second. Ms. Franklin. Okay. Good afternoon. Today we're going to talk about the board report in tab 13, staffing and resource alignment. This refers to central office and centrally funded position closures and the authorization to issue reduction in force notices. So before we go through a summary of the reduction in force, the proposed reduction in force, we want to kind of pick up where we left off with the background of why this authorization is necessary. So back at first interim, we
238described several actions that were being taken by the board to address the fiscal outlook that we and the majority of districts in the state are facing. So first, there were $634 million of funds that had been previously set aside to be contributed into the OPEB Irrevocable Trust, and instead they have been freed up and are released into our unassigned ending balances. Second, every penny of Fund 17 has been transferred back into the general fund. And then third, there was the updated fiscal stabilization plan. So the board approved the fiscal stabilization plan back in June, and I'm going to provide a little bit more information about that in a moment. The updated amount were savings of $1.4 billion. Finally, given those combined strategies and their impact on our unassigned ending balances, there was $796 million that
239were assigned for use to pay for the costs of upcoming labor agreements. And so those were called workforce stabilization funds. So again at first interim we provided a summary of the updated fiscal stabilization plan we were required by the county by LACO to provide an updated FSP and in summary it was about 200 million dollars less than the FSP that had been approved back in June and so you see the details there and what you see in some of these different items those that have an impact on the number of positions at the district and therefore that are necessitating an authorization for reduction in force. So item number two, the carryover for both CENI and the General Fund School Program at 0% was very likely to result in fewer positions being budgeted at schools. Item
240number three, the reduction in the CENI allocation from $700 million to $601 million for next school year was also very likely to result in fewer positions being budgeted at schools. Item number four those unfunded positions those were the positions that were restored from last year into this year of about 60 million dollars those also would necessitate a reduction in force and then finally and most importantly for today's authorization or the about 150 million dollars of central office reductions Like schools central office budgets are primarily positions or school district and they're primarily positions that serve our students in our schools and So that item number nine also necessitates a riff So maybe it's self-evident, but without these initial notices being approved, without the reduction in force before you today being approved, we would not realize these
241savings in the fiscal stabilization plan in full. As I mentioned, the updated FSP was already $200 million less than the June amount of $1.6 billion. And for those savings to be fully realized, it did assume at first interim that RIFs would be authorized. So this, too, is information that was provided back in January at the Committee of the Whole in January. And what it shows is a progression of our multi-year projection, or more specifically, our projected unassigned, unappropriated ending balances. So you'll see the light blue on the far left is where we were back in June when the budget was adopted for the current school year. And you'll see that... At that time, we were projecting negative ending unassigned balances at the end of the 27-28 school year of about $1.6 billion. And that's why
242the FSP was for $1.6 billion. It was to address that negative ending balance. The next bar graphs, the lighter green, you'll see that's where we were at first interim, assuming the full $1.4 billion of savings from the fiscal stabilization plan. And you'll see that that led us to be projecting a positive $10 million at the end of the 27-28 school year. But importantly, there was still that $796 million of workforce stabilization funds. The next in the brighter blue, that is when we take into account, as of the January cow, as of the January cow, when we take into account the cost of compensation that had been offered to our labor partners as of that point in time, and the full use of that $796 million of workforce stabilization funds. So you'll see that. When accounting
243for those costs, and since January, those costs have gone up. Additional offers have been made to our labor partners. But at that time, we were projecting a negative $400 million negative balance at the end of the 27-28 school year. So what that meant was that beyond the FSP, which again relies on the authorization of a reduction in force, we would still have more work to do. to balance our ending balances by the end of 27-28. And this is before June, where we must include the 28-29 school year for the first time. Now, the final graph there, the final bar graph there is the darker green, which shows the impact now when we add on the expected revenue from the January proposed budget for the estimates of revenues that we were able to do with the
244information provided. And so you'll see that there was about $200 million of expected good news from that January proposed budget. It does make the $400 million better. to negative $191 million. But again, importantly, on the one hand, it doesn't include any projection for any hypothetical good news that we may get from the state moving forward. But importantly, it also doesn't include the cost of not only offers that we've made to our labor partners since the January committee of the whole meeting. nor what we might end up offering to reach a final agreement. And so what this demonstrates is not only do we need all of the savings from the updated fiscal stabilization plan, but we will need to identify more. And that will happen as soon as June, where we will likely be required to
245submit an updated fiscal stabilization plan that will go beyond. the fiscal stabilization plan that we updated the board on in December. So next I'll hand it over to Kristen. Thank you. So there have been questions about what is it that's causing the need for reduction in force or notices to be issued today. So these are closures of positions that are not funded. They are filled positions that are not funded for the next year, and they may have been closed by the central offices, by the region offices, or by schools. And so when that happens, we are required to notice our employees. Similarly, if there is going to be a reduction in hours or basis of a continuing position, we are also required to notice our employees. There are two sections of the education code that
246require us to do this. For our certificated employees, education code 44955 is... the governing rule that requires these notices and for classified, which is new, just in the last three years, it's Education Code 45117. So they require that the Board of Education vote to authorize the district to close the unfunded positions that may cause a loss of employment or a change in hours and to provide notices to the employees impacted by the closures. Who's going to be affected? Who is affected by these reductions? So as Simone mentioned, we have focused on central office for this year's reductions. So classified central office and centrally funded employees who have the least seniority within their classification will be impacted. And then certificated administrators who are in non-school positions, who are in the central or region offices. school-based administrators
247who are in the impacted classifications with the least district-wide seniority, and then teachers in non-classroom or non-school positions. Those are the positions that are being closed. So if we are closing some positions that teachers are in, why are we not issuing notices to teachers? So the total number of teaching positions that are needed in LA Unified is decreasing next year for a variety of reasons. Declining enrollment, fewer purchases at the school sites, closure of some of the out-of-classroom positions, both at school sites and at the district offices. So we expect to need approximately 350 fewer elementary teachers and approximately 400 fewer secondary teachers to teach all of our students next year. We are not increasing class size. We are remaining committed to the class size numbers in our collective bargaining agreements. So this is just
248really due to declining enrollment and closure of non-classroom positions, which puts additional people back into the classroom. Now we also have current labor proposals out there to our labor partners that offer to lower class size in 11th and 12th grade and that will require additional teachers should we reach agreement on that. So we are counting on the fact that we will likely reach agreement to lower 11th and 12th grade class size and we may require additional secondary teachers. And then based on the projected retirements, annual retirements, resignations, separations, the district will be having a strict hiring freeze between now and the time that we are able to place all of our teachers based on their credential requirements. So while we may have... projected decline in need of 350 teachers in the elementary schools, we have
249approximately 13,000 positions district-wide and we are counting on our attrition rates to be able to place those teachers in assignments at other schools. So what will happen to the school-based employees? Well, the reductions that you're considering for today, for 26-27, again, are focused on the central office positions. And we are using the attrition I mentioned to account for teacher-level and school-based positions. So teachers who are displaced from their school sites every year based on their norm enrollment schools are allocated a certain number of teaching positions administrator positions different positions, so There will still be that will still be in place for this year If someone is displaced from their school site due to declining enrollment, they will be placed in a vacancy at another school site Now classified employees whose positions are either reduced or
250eliminated through school site budgets because we did have a large number of those where the positions were reduced or eliminated, those positions are going to be restored. for those employees and they will be placed in new assignments as vacancies occur throughout the year. So we're going to take a little bit longer to realize those savings of the positions that were closed at schools through school the school budget process. And this is a calculated risk that the district is taking on in order to maintain the stability at the schools throughout the spring semester and keep the focus on instruction and safety and operations at school sites, working with our Personnel Commission and Human Resources Division to place people in vacancies as they become open to attrition. How many positions are you voting on today that we're
251asking for you to vote on today through the attrition? The net position closures for the vote today are 657. And the net positions with hours or reduction to hours or basis are 74 positions. So the figures on the previous slide represent about 1% of LAUSD's workforce. What you see here are major risks at other districts last year. Okay, so this was 12 months ago. And so you'll see that there were substantial reduction in forces authorized by districts across the state. These are just some of the major ones and the percentage of their total workforce that it represents. So as we've mentioned repeatedly, we are not alone in facing the financial outlook. that we are. And in fact, other districts were facing it. earlier, sooner than we were, and we're in a position where they move
252forward with reductions in force, substantial reductions in force last year. Right now, because all districts are subject to the same statutory deadlines for March 15th notices, we do expect that districts will again, as they did last year, be moving forward with reductions in force as we are today. So the budget context is, as I mentioned before, even with today's proposed reduction in force and the calculated risk that we're taking, further reductions in 2027-28 are already needed based on that multi-year projection that I showed before. The fiscal stabilization plan from June already included reductions for the 27-28 school year. And once all of the information from the state budget, but more importantly for our finances, the final agreements with our labor partners, we will need to identify reductions beyond the existing fiscal stabilization plan. Available reserves
253are already being fully utilized. So I mentioned before the full transfer of Fund 17 into the general fund, the release of those over $600 million that were previously set aside for OBIP contributions back in June. And there are also some additional assigned balances that are being released as part of the fiscal stabilization plan. Biggest example being the school carryover. Also, unlike those other districts that I showed on the previous slide, LAUSD did not authorize a RIF last year. So what would happen if a RIF is not authorized? So first and foremost, it would result in an increase in the district's projected expenditures. So in first interim, we assumed, as we were required to by LACO, that the updated $1.4 billion of savings would be realized. And so those financial figures where we were able to,
254because of the fiscal stabilization plan, certify positive, at least at that point in time. So if the RIF is not authorized, our projected expenditures and corresponding deficits will go up next year and beyond. It may impact the district's ability to meet our financial obligations and could even lead to financial insolvency and state oversight. It would significantly reduce the district's options, and those options, those reduced options, would need to be implemented in a shorter time frame. So next year's RIF, just to make up for a RIF not being authorized today, would need to be double the size. The updated fiscal stabilization plan, which I already mentioned, is likely going to be necessary anyways. We need to identify specific actions the district will take to address the shortfall, just like we did back in June. That could
255include deeper reductions to programs like CENI. And next year, the retirements and attrition that we're taking a bet on right now, as we mentioned this calculated risk. That attrition would not be sufficient to mitigate the impact on individual employees. It would result in significant layoffs of employees. So let me just explain that last one a little bit. Right now, we are taking a calculated risk that there will be sufficient attrition, meaning people retiring, people leaving the district for other reasons, that will free up vacancies in positions that were not reduced during budget development. and that the people whose positions were closed during budget development, which is a much larger number than what you see in attachment A of your board report, a much larger number. But we are taking a bet that the attrition will
256be able to absorb the folks whose positions have been closed, and they will be able to go into the positions that become available through attrition. But given the size of the riff next year, if action isn't taken today, we would not be able to have that level of confidence. So what are the next steps? Today, February 17th, the board will vote on issuing notices to our administrators and to the positions that are identified in the board report. By March 15th, those initial notices will be sent out to the impacted employees through U.S. Uncertified Mail. Remember, those are the initial notices that go out. But during May and June, as we are able to better see the attrition and we are able to further identify vacant positions and place employees in those positions for the upcoming
257school year, rescissions may be sent out to employees. We'll also have additional information about the budget, and we may be able to rescind some of those notices. So the board will not take final action on the notices that, if they're authorized today, those are initial notices, and the board will not vote to take final action on those notices until May or June. Now, for any employee who does receive a notice, June 30th will be their last day in their assignment. So it is not that an employee gets a notice on March 15th and their new assignment or their move out of the district is immediate. That happens on June 30th, so the new assignment would be effective July 1st. In the meantime, between now and June, we will be engaged in multiple strategies to mitigate
258the impact and to reduce the number of final notices that the board would need to act on. One is continued advocacy for sustainable funding. And I know the superintendent has led a group of other urban superintendents in California to ask the governor to release the $5.6 billion in Prop 98 funds that are currently being held. We are continuing to review the general fund expenditures that the district has in their budget, in our budget. Continued evaluation of outside contracts, which you also heard the superintendent mention earlier today. Evaluation of non-classroom expenditures. Identification of future vacancies through attrition, whether those are through changes in budget or whether those are through additional resignations and retirements that we receive. Right now, we are counting on a... what is an average number of resignations, retirements, and separations that we've experienced
259over the last four years, but until we actually receive notice from the employees that they're going to retire, we are unable to count those fully. Now, as the employees retire, vacancies are going to be identified and will be filled in order of seniority within the classifications and the credential areas. So we will be able to ensure that folks have assignments. There, as I mentioned, will be a hiring freeze, which is a pause on all new hires pending analysis of available LAUSD staff. So before we bring in anyone for the remainder of the year in an assignment where there may be A notice that is issued to an employee for this year. Even if a vacancy comes up this year We will not be filling that assignment until we have evaluated whether or not there is
260an existing district staff Who would be able to fill that assignment and reduce the number of final notices? Now, we are going to make every effort to ensure that everyone has found a position by June 30th. However, for anyone who has not, we have not been able to identify a vacancy and a new position for them by June 30th, those employees will go on a re-employment list for 39 months. So should any vacancy open up in a position that they have held, in a position that they are qualified for and have rights to, they would be offered those positions in order of seniority. So the district can't issue these notices and then hire new people if vacancies come up. We will continue to bring back our valued employees who have received the notices as soon
261as we have vacancies. Now I know there will be a lot of questions not only here at the board but also after the board meeting has concluded and so we will be posting an FAQ and resources for employees on our website after after the meeting and after the vote Mr. McLean I'd just like to make a statement about the tab 13 before we go into questions so This is a challenging item and I assure you as you well know that no one in the board is happy to vote on something like this, just so you know. But over the years we have seen improvements in student achievement, investments in staff and after-school programs, and the expansion of arts and sciences. And we had more students complete the A to G requirement last year than ever
262before. And all through this, LAUSD was praised during the governor's speech at the State of the State Address in January. So now we are at risk of losing all that progress. And the issue of RIFs is not specific to LA Unified, and we are not a special case. You have shown us San Francisco, San Diego, Santa Ana, Pasadena, Fresno, and many others. And the collapse of the educational system in California is due to the state's reliance on outdated... funding models. And today we're talking about RIFs because many of the positions that the district acquired were made possible only by one-time funding. And according to the Legislative Analyst's Office in Sacramento, the state of California is facing an $18 billion deficit and may grow to $35 billion by fiscal year 27-28. And according to the Public
263Policy Institute of California, the state currently spends more per pupil than the national average on education, yet we only rank 16th nationwide. And we cannot continue down this road. If the state wants us to make necessary investments in academic achievement and mental health programs, the funding must be recurring, not a one-time allocation. And every person in our LAUSD community contributed to the academic gains last year. So whether these rifts are approved or not, we will continue to fight until the very last minute for funding. and we have been in constant communication with local, state, and federal officials. And I also request that our LAUSD community get involved. Please reach out to your state and federal officials. Education is bipartisan, and it's a winning issue. And when enough of us speak out, they will have no
264choice but to expand our budget, implement the necessary reforms, and improve our funding models. And I thank you for letting me make that statement. Mr. McLean. All right, we'll move to public comment on the item. There are 10 folks signed up for public comment. We'll take the folks who are here in person first, and then we'll go to the remote callers. And then following that will be board discussion. So we have Sarah. Someone simply identified as Sarah for Tab 13. Wesley. Wesley, are you here? Leo. JC. Crystal. Let's see. Eloisa Galindo, are you here? Eloisa Galindo. And then we have folks who are listed as calling in. So I'll see who's here from the call in. Carlos Montes is here online. Carlos Montes, please press star six to unmute yourself. And you have two minutes
265to speak once you begin. Carlos Montes. Carlos Montes, I see you're with us. Please press star six to unmute yourself. Yes, yes. Okay, sorry. I was at Kaiser getting my pharmacy stuff here. Thank you very much. My name is Carlos Montes. I'm a member of Centro CSO. community service organization and many of our members believe it or not are allies usd employees we have a bus driver a maintenance worker several teachers teacher assistants so i'm here to urge you to vote no on this proposal i think that excuse me your staff needs to do their homework and like they said, look for additional funding sources, raise some money somewhere else. And I always believe you should chop from the top. I didn't hear any layoffs or any bridge that they considered at the very top,
266but I heard it mostly out in the field. I just wanna point out that I am a grad of Miramonte Elementary, Hollombath and Garfield High School, even though I did go to Roswell for a minute, right? And I also worked during the summer in the janitor's program. And yeah, I got a chance to meet a lot of great employees. So I'm urging you to please vote no. Rifts and reduction, of course, should be the last resort. I just heard about this like over the weekend, you know, Friday night. I know that the Brown Act allows you three days, but that's not sufficient time really to do a thorough analysis. cost analysis of what other areas you could save money and what other areas you could raise money. So please vote no. Thank you very much.
267Thank you for your time. Thank you. Carmel Levitan. Carmel Levitan. Please press star six to unmute yourself. And you'll have two minutes to speak once you begin. Carmel Levitan. Thank you for letting me speak. I'm an LAUSD alum. I'm the parent of two children in LAUSD schools. I'm in Carla's district. Thank you very much, Carla. I know you've been raising questions about budget, and thank you. I know some of the other members on the board have also been doing the same. As far as I can tell, though, you're not always getting answers to your questions. I'm here today because I've been going to the events, Carla. Again, Carl, I really appreciate the transparency. And many of us, many of us parents are saying exactly the same thing. Our kids and family, we need the people
268in our schools and in our district. And it's not just about the positions. Yes, I need a position. I need a PSW. I need a librarian. I need teachers. But it's the people in those spots that we have relationships with, that our kids do, that we do as families. And putting those people in limbo about their jobs is hugely stressful for those employees and for every single family who interacts with them. It makes a huge difference when we know each other and when there's a revolving door on who's on site or who's coming in to do the evaluations or all those other things that need to happen. It's hard. I'm really glad that you're emphasizing retaining teachers. I really truly hope that's real. But I know that moving all those other people around, there's always
269a cost. Will the staff at my site this year be the same next year or even next month? On the flip side, I saw Elizabeth point outside contracts. Lots of us are asking about these outside contracts and consultants. Thank you for talking about that, but please share more. How much are we spending? What's the order of magnitude? Is it roughly comparable? I can tell you for hours all the ways that my kids and their peers benefit from stable staffing, but some of the things we're sending out don't benefit our kids. And I believe some of the contracts, the EdTech ones, are actively harmful to how our kids learn. So we're sending money out. to companies like AI companies or other technology companies instead of keeping the people that actually help our kids learn math, help
270them concentrate, help them deal with socio-emotional things. And I really wonder how much would we save if we canceled some of those contracts? So at this point, I just don't have a lot of trust left in the choices LAUSD is making about budget. I need a lot more transparency, and we all do, about where the funds are going and how these decisions are being made. Thank you. Thank you for your time. All right, Nicole Pfefferman, I see you're on the line. Nicole Pfefferman, please press star six to unmute yourself. And you'll have two minutes to speak once you begin. Nicole Pfefferman. Good afternoon. My name is Nicole Pfefferman. I'm the co-founder of Parents Supporting Teachers, an online community of 30,000 Angelenos dedicated to conversation and activism supporting our LAUSD schools. They know that while there's
271so much good happening at our schools, there is still so much to be done. And we as parents feel the incredible sense of urgency since we are sending our children every day to learn and sharpen the skills they need to fully participate in their families, communities, and futures. When our schools are under-resourced, our children and families and communities suffer both in the short and long term. We have monitored conversations about the budget over these last two years, and what we have seen does not inspire confidence. We have witnessed board members Goner, Rivas, and Griego repeatedly ask for critical data from district staff. Why can't our elected officials get the information they need to make the best decisions possible? Why can't the board members and the public get critical information in a timely manner? Item 13
272is a symptom of a larger problem, lack of district transparency and public distrust of district decision making. Item 13 lists 650 positions that talks about the need for 2,600 RIFs. What are those other nearly 2,000? How will those RIFs impact our school sites? Item 13 does not address Governor Newsom's newly updated budget proposal in which, quote, unquote, there will be soaring state revenues collections to fund state education programs. Item 13 does not address the nearly $1 billion in cuts already being made at our school site. These are cuts that are essentially layoffs. Staff and families have reported their deep concerns about the impact of these cuts. Item 13 does not address the millions being spent on newly created district offices or the contracts made with ed tech companies like iReady. We ask all district staff
273to remember who you serve. You don't serve the CEO and shareholders of iReady. You don't serve highly paid consultants and coaches. You don't serve Wall Street investors and banks. You serve the students and families of LAUSD. Thank you. Thank you for your time. I'm going to read through the folks who were listed as being in person that weren't here the first time I called through. Sarah, Wesley, Leo, JC, Crystal. Vicky Martinez, you're signed up to speak remotely, Ms. Martinez, but I don't have you online. And then Elisa Galindo. I feel like I just saw Ms. Galindo. Okay. Ms. Galindo is going to speak in Spanish, so if you'd like to hear what she's saying in English, please put your headsets up. Hands up, and we'll get you headsets for translation. Momento por favor, Senora Galindo.
274Yeah, one on the stage right, I think. Thank you, sir. Okay. Gracias. Estamos listos. Good afternoon, my name is Eloisa Gailindo and I am a member of ACC organization that is all of the United States or in different states across the nation. Today I am here to ask the superintendent to stop the riff. that do not take away positions from people that you need. Especially, I am here because I have a daughter that needs your resources and your teachers. It needs to have a clean school. I have had the opportunity to walk with the students in the... the labor stoppage that they say because they know what it is to defend the rights of their teachers, the rights of their parents. And for many of their signs said what? We need resources. That's what they
275said. We need resources for schools and not deportations. And it's sad to see them walking in the cold and the rain, but they have that willingness to fight on for their public education. More than anything today, you should give the budget. Look for it. You know that there is money. Look for it because you are going through a difficult moment. Our children due to deportations and ICE, it is attacking us, all families. The fires happened. COVID happened. The students are have this in their minds and what happens in schools like in Garfield. They're asking for a hundred percent graduation What happens? Why a hundred percent? Graduation when you're taking away the resources the most important thing that they need is the teachers teachers in schools and they need to see the teachers how they're Spending
276their own money own money so that they are able to help the students do not take away from the education from students education and support 28th Street School. So Mr. Salcido, could you please clarify the difference between RIF and layoff? Because I want to make sure everybody understands the difference. Oh, I didn't see you, I'm sorry, I didn't see you. Go ahead, go ahead. The difference between RIF and layoff. I was really looking for you, but I didn't see you. Preliminary RIF, yeah. Certainly. So these notices today are a preliminary notice of a reduction in force. The notices that the board would vote on in May or June would be the notices that would lead to the actual layoff of employees or the reduction in hours or basis. So right now, these are a preliminary
277notice that it is a possibility. But I want to dig down further. RIF. Define what a RIF is. Does a RIF mean, if you get a RIF notice, does that mean you lost your job? No, it does not. So the initial RIF notice means a number of different things. So, for example, it may mean that you are being noticed ahead of time that you may lose your current position. But you may have rights to a different position in the district and that position would be indicated in It may also indicate that it's possible that you could Lose your position, but this March 15th notice is not a final notice. It also notifies you of your right to either accept a different position if you have retired return rights to that position or to request a
278hearing All right. Thank you So now it's appropriate for board discussion, having heard public comment. Go ahead, Rocio, you're first. I'll go first. I want to start with questions first before I move on later with my statement. So, you know, the media was reporting thousands of rifts. Our labor partners also were under the, you know, impression that we were going to, you know, lay off or provide rifts for thousands of folks. Our community members as well, we received so many emails, right, about that. What happened since then? Why was that narrative out there taking place and now you're coming here saying that it's not going to be thousands, it's 3,000 or so? Well, the district has closed many, many more positions than the 650 RIFT notices, 57 RIFT notices that the board is voting on
279today. So as we mentioned, one of the things that we are counting on on the certificated side, where we have a net closure of about 800 positions that have been closed during budget development. that we don't anticipate losing any of our existing staff except through attrition, except through retirement, resignation, other separations that allow us to reduce by 800 positions without issuing a notice, a layoff notice of any kind. On the classified side, we have now focused... all of the reductions on our central office. You recall that there was the $150 million of central office reductions that we were, as central office members, tasked with achieving. So those were some of our certificated members who will be returning to school sites because their central office positions are closed. And then on the classified side, Even that
280657 number takes into account a certain amount of expected attrition. So that is not the totality of the positions that are being closed. Those are the positions that we feel we must give an initial notice to. The positions at the school sites that were closed during budget development and there were hundreds of positions closed during budget development classified positions closed or reduced in hours those are the positions that the district is restoring at a cost of about 50 to 60 million dollars. We are restoring those positions with the hope that we will be able to find vacant positions at that same number of hours for those employees over time. And so that's why what was initially expected to be a much larger number, we have worked with every possible solution we can think of to
281reduce that number of initial notices and keep as many of our employees as possible. The attrition rate, what is the usual attrition rate? What numbers if you can give us for both certificated and also for classified? What is that number? So on the certificated side, for example, for elementary teachers, there's a typical attrition rate of around 700 or 750 teachers per year. On the secondary side, it's a little bit lower than that, but it depends on the classification. So, for example, we have a much lower attrition rate among counselors. We have far fewer secondary counselors, but our attrition rate is only about, I believe, about 50 per year in secondary counselors. We have few of them. So when you look at on the classified side, The positions that we are the 657 positions that are
282on the board report They have much lower attrition numbers because there are fewer of those positions So when you're talking about 26,000 classroom teachers that attrition rate is much higher or those attrition numbers are much higher than when you're looking at more specialized positions with far fewer employees in those positions. And for administrators, you mentioned teachers, what about? For administrators on the Certificated side, we typically hire approximately 65 to 70 principals during the course of the year. So again, with the positions from the central office administrators that are bumping back that have return rights to a principal position, we do not anticipate any sitting principals being bumped out because we typically have an attrition rate that requires us to bring in 65 to 70 new principals. My next question is probably for Saman. So it's
283two-part. So the governor's office and the Department of Finance and even our featured speakers from the capital advisors at a committee of the whole meeting all projected a stronger fiscal outlook weeks ago. And we did see then for two months the revenues for the state were $6.1 billion. Did staff ignore those cues in favor of projecting much deeper cuts? Or what specific fiscal assumptions require issuing these March 15 notices at this scale now rather than waiting for updated revenue projections or second interim adjustments? So, no, I mean, we don't ignore the updated forecasts from the state. What we rely on to... reflect in our first interim, second interim, or then the June adopted budget are the official proposals from the state. And so the January proposed budget is an example of that. And while it's
284still a proposed budget, meaning it's not enacted into law, that happens much later in June. We do get information about where the state is likely to end up with its budget. But even that's not final, as you point out. So there's a May revise that provides additional updates, and then finally the enacted budget in June. And so we always reflect the information from those official releases from the state. We don't make bets on... what additional revenues we may receive based on commentary from analysts outside of the Department of Finance or the governor's office and so while it's certainly possible that the final budget for the state will be More favorable even than the January proposed budget. I think in one of the slides that I showed was Showing the revenue impact of some of the
285new revenues that are in the governor's January proposed budget. It's certainly possible but though Even if we do get let's say substantially more revenue than we expect even just from January Those resources will be needed to address the projected shortfall that we have even after the current fiscal stabilization plan So we have a fiscal stabilization plan of 1.4 billion dollars that does rely on savings that that come from a reduction in force But then when we add on the cost of offers we have made just through January, we know that we have more reductions that we'll, as a district, need to make. As I mentioned before, in June, we'll have to include the 28-29 school year for the first time. And given the trajectory in that multi-year projection, that graph of our projected ending balances,
286our bank account, that 28-29 school year is going to be substantially more negative even than 27-28. So while we are continuing to strongly advocate for the full release of the $5.6 billion that the governor set aside, and for even more, then our share of that sum, it's not going to be enough. It's not going to be enough. Once we settle our labor agreements, we will still need to identify additional reductions. I'll ask one more question. I have more, but I'll ask one and then I'll let my colleagues, because I know everyone has a lot of questions. So maybe this one's for Kristen. What engagement has occurred with affected employees and our labor partners prior to bringing this forward for action? What was the communication with them about the potential RIVs here? So our labor partners
287were all... notified prior to the previously scheduled board meeting that this agenda this would be an agenda item and that we would provide them with the finalized lists of employees as soon as we received them as soon as we had determined what that finalized lists were as you know we have been as we shared we've been working to try to decrease that number as much as possible the timeline between budget development ending on January 30th and Where we are now was an extremely, extremely compressed timeline for us to look at all of the different positions that were no longer funded and figure out how we might be able to find a path to finding assignments for them. I had conversations with our labor partners on Friday prior to sending the notices out to them as
288well. They all received the list of their impacted unit members, the classifications prior to the public receiving those notices. And I'm sorry, tell me what the rest of your question was. I mean, yeah, that was it. What was the conversation? communication with them. So basically not until this past Friday were you able to at least give them a list of one of their members that were going to be facing some risks? Yes, it was not until Friday that we were able to give the specific lists. And is that usually the time that they're notified on any risks? Three days or less than we haven't had a rift like this for a number of years our typical notices are the notices the 2600 notices that we have annually to our Administrators, which are the notices letting
289them know that they may leave their central office assignment or their administrator assignment and move back to a former classification. So we don't typically have this number of RIFs. We haven't found ourselves in this situation for a number of years. Well, given that, as you mentioned, we've, you know, the district has not been in this situation before, a number of rifts, even some communication with them before you have the numbers and you're working, it's good just to communicate with them. It's like, this is a process we're going through. We don't have the final numbers, but just know that this is what we're doing right now. Just so they are sort of in the loop in some way or form, but just waiting to the very last minute to even. provide a communication with them with
290any numbers is I it's just is it isn't right I apologize if I misspoke prior to the previously scheduled meeting I did have conversations with all of our labor partners and send them notice that this was an upcoming item and that we would send them the list so that was previously it has also come up as a topic at the table when discussing that we are doing what we're doing to avoid, to try to avoid reductions. Can I just add, so even in the condensed timeline that Christian mentioned from the end of budget development to today, we used every hour between. to refine the RIF count before you today. I think we've mentioned this a couple times. The number of positions during budget development that were closed or not funded that had somebody in it
291was far, far greater than what you see in the table in that attachment A. And the idea is, even though there's some financial risk, I have to be honest about that, the financial risk is that Because we haven't riffed certain folks whose positions were closed during budget development if the attrition is not sufficient within the classifications where they have seniority rights Those positions will be what we call restored. And what restored means is that because they were not provided, they weren't part of the RIF, the district continues to employ those people. And while we will obviously make every effort as we did this year, we had unfunded restored positions from last year to this year, to place people into the vacancies as they become available, there is that risk. That period of time from the
292end of budget development to today was used in order to reduce the number of rifts that you see before you today, to minimize the impact on our valued employees, to minimize the disruption on schools. And the tradeoff is that there is this added financial risk, which was not reflected at first interim. First interim assumed every dollar from the reductions in the fiscal stabilization plan would be realized. I totally understand that and I get the process, but just communication is key and letting them understand what's taking place so they know what's coming. So that's all. Okay, we'll do a second round for you two. This side, anyone? Anyone? Go ahead, Tanya. Thank you. I appreciate you asking about the differences between RIF and layoff. Some people say pink slip. Can we talk about how many people
293we expect to receive the RIF notices and is that the same as a pink slip this March given you just shared the 2600 for administrators, the 657 for folks on the list, the folks with reduced hours at 74. Is that a total or can you give us a total amount? The last thing I would want is for you know, more people to receive a notice and then be talking amongst each other and say, I got one, you got one. Well, the math isn't adding up. So we just want to make sure, you know, how many people are actually getting a notice. So on the certificated side, the number is accurate. I believe it's like 2609 or something. That is the number that we are asking for you to authorize to send out. On the classified
294side, the 657 positions that are filled that have been identified for closure will lead to not only notices to those 657 people, but also to anybody who may be bumped because those employees have rights. So if... my position were closed and I had return rights to the position that Saman is in and he is the least senior, even though my position is the one that is closed, we would both receive a notice because he would receive a notice telling him what position he had rights to. So it's possible on the classified side that it could be over 1,000, maybe 1,500 who are receiving those notices. And so I just want to be clear about that because that's not the number we see here. I'm seeing folks nodding in the audience as well. Yes. That is
295correct, yes. Great. And I remember getting a pink slip. I hated it. Back in 2009, I got my March pink slip, and I was like, what's going to happen? Well, it got rescinded. Great. I got my job back in 2010. And we hope that will happen this year. Lots of people will get the notice, and it will be rescinded before the end of the year. At least that's what I think many of us are hoping for. I don't know if, Simon, you were going to jump in. Sorry. Yeah, I just want to say, As Kristen mentioned, the certificated, the RIF, approximately $2,600 is a routine action that the district has taken annually. What's new and what is directly related to the fiscal stabilization plan are the reduction of 657 positions, the closure of those positions
296that are the central office, related to the central office reductions. And the smaller number was about 74 combined reduction in hours or a reduction in basis. It's that latter action that is going to help the district is necessary and essential. for the district to realize the savings from the central office reductions within the fiscal stabilization plan. So that is the action of the board today that is not routine and doesn't happen every year, but that is directly tied to the fiscal stabilization plan savings that I mentioned a couple times are both necessary and insufficient to address the financial challenges the district is facing. Great, thanks. So if my school closed my position or reduced my hours, I heard you say the district is covering some of that. I guess, what can I expect? So I'm
297a part of school site council. I saw the budget. I realize my position is not in there or my hours are reduced. Come March 15th, will I get a RIF notice? May I get a RIF notice? If I don't get one, am I going to be placed somewhere else? Like, what do I expect? Because those hours are being restored by the district and we are not asking the board to vote on those positions today to take action to reduce the hours or eliminate the positions, if that person is going to have a change of assignment while keeping that same position and number of hours, that would not be a RIF notice. That would be a later assignment notice from the Personnel Commission. When would they get those? David? late April or early May Okay, and
298I do have some questions if we can pull up one of the slides and then I'll pass it back But on slide four where we have them will tell your projections if we can look at that I heard you say this doesn't include all of the offers that have been made post January So maybe if we can just clarify for each other and the board. I think they're still pulling it up. Thank you I think it's slide four with the multiyear projections. So, and this always comes up because things change and we're going to be getting, you know, additional information over the spring and we have to operate with the information that is available to us today. So this includes information from the governor's January budget. Yes. Does it include our negotiations with Teamsters and
299CSEA that have been agreed upon? No, because this only includes the offers that have been made as of the COW in January, the Committee of the Whole in January. And so there have been subsequent offers and agreements in some cases that went beyond the figures that are reflected here. Okay, so we have at least two labor unions contracts that have been settled and potentially it's higher than what has been offered here in terms of just the percentage for those labor unions. We have unions with larger number of members that are still in conversation. We haven't landed. And those are not at all contemplated in here because we haven't settled them. but the last offer we made that was public is included in here, right? As of the cow in January, yes. Preceding the cow in
300January. Okay, so what I'm getting at is... We haven't landed so there might take some more negotiations to get to a good place for everybody Potentially these numbers will change because we will offer maybe more to labor agreements that have not been settled In which case I guess I'm looking at like which numbers would change here. So best case scenario today I'm looking at the dark green with the estimated revenue. Is that accurate? That's the best case scenario today So far of what we know Yes, I mean, there will be, if to the extent that there is additional revenue beyond what was in the January proposed budget. I'm thinking not about revenue, but about cost. Yeah, but on the expenditure side, we've already made offers to labor partners that are beyond what's reflected here. Okay,
301so. The 191 million in the deficit is with what was offered in January. If we give more or we offer more and settle at more eventually, then the 191 will go even lower. Correct. And at what point would we know that? Like, will we get it updated every time we land an agreement with a partner or? Yeah, so by law, whenever. A contract is approved by labor partners and the district. The district is required to submit what's called an AB 1200. The AB 1200 will detail the impact of the agreement or the cost of the agreement and the impact that that has on our finances and specifically on our ending balances. And so it's as always, as with everything related to the district's finances, it's a matter of timing. So certain agreements, for example, that
302are entered into before second interim could be reflected at second interim. Those that are after second interim but before the June adopted budget. would be reflected in our official numbers, depending on whenever the next official checkpoint is in our financial calendar, where that can be done so. But regardless of when it happens, the AB 1200 is required. And that document does show, does, we're required to show not only impact that it's going to have on this year's finances, but also in the out years, what we call the out years. So right now the out years include 26, 27 and 27, 28. After June, those out years will include 28-29. And it's the second fiscal stabilization plan we will probably need. Okay, I'll pause there. Thanks. Okay. Thank you, Kelly. You wanted to go next? I
303didn't, but I will. Someone, or Mr. Bravo Creamy, apologies. I think one of the things that folks are struggling with is in the state of California, we have the governor proclaiming that we are at the highest ever expenditures for public education, and yet we here in Los Angeles Unified are confronting this financial situation. Can you help contextualize how can both of those things possibly be true at once? Sure. So every year could be a record year of funding in California. So even if it's half a percentage point higher than the prior year It would constitute it could constitute a record year so that that's one thing that where both things can be true it can be both a level of funding that is Historically low could still result in a record level of funding and
304what is particularly challenging for the majority of districts in California is that we went from a time period of historic levels of funding, not only because of the one-time COVID relief funds, but also state levels of funding were extraordinarily high during the pandemic. The economy was running really hot. And so the cost of living adjustments for COLAs that we were receiving were really high. In one year, it was over 8% during the pandemic years. And so now that we're reverting back to the annual increases that are more common before the pandemic, for example, this year, from last year to this year, about 1%, a little bit more than 1%. Right now, the projection from this year into next year is 2.4%. Those aren't historically low percentages, but they are so much lower than what we
305got during the pandemic that it still requires a very substantial adjustment on the part of districts throughout the state. The one-time money is gone. The COLAs are lower. And so it's that combined impact that is causing as much stress on the system as it is. And again, we're not alone in that. Yeah, I think it's important to conceptualize because the the headlines are correct that there is there is high levels of education funding and in some ways at the state level education has been spared from cuts when compared to other Essential programs that our families also rely upon Yet at the same time same time highest ever levels does not mean enough and it doesn't mean that it reflects the needs of our students and I think that is 100% the case. We appreciate increases
306but a 2.4% cost of living adjustment, anyone who's living in Los Angeles knows that prices have not gone up 2.4%. It's at least in the double digits. So the reality is if we are to continue to provide the level of services that our students required deserve it's going to take more investment from the state level and if it were the the case of only local decisions that were putting us in this position other districts would not also be facing financial distress and I did spend some time over the weekend digging into what other districts are facing and it is really sobering as a board member because when districts have waited to act, the consequences are more severe, like closing schools. Some of the examples are loss of jobs, quite broadly, for a number of employees.
307So as a board member, I believe we can't let it get to that place. So I appreciate the opportunity to talk about reductions. One of the things that I have been requesting and that was part of my June resolution around budgeting around equity and student need was around non-labor expenditures. So my resolution, and part of it was in response to, we've had a number of conversations about our finances. And I think it's disconcerting that the plain language of what the fiscal stabilization plan meant in terms of... reductions in staff were assumed to be part of that was not clear to the public. The language that was used, and this is not the same team that was here then, but the language that was used was vague. And it's unfair to stakeholders, the public, and to
308the board in general for us not to be discussing what those real impacts mean when it comes to students and families and employees, both in the central office regions and at our schools. So to get back to the resolution, so the resolution spoke about an equity impact analysis that would look at the ways in which the fiscal stabilization plan would impact our students, including our high-need students, different types of school programs, as well as our employees and how employees might be affected differently depending on whether they were classified or certificated employees. So I'll start with just that. What are we seeing in terms of the equity-based impacts of the fiscal stabilization plan thus far? Anything you can share? Yeah. So the fiscal stabilization plan strategies that had the biggest direct impact on school allocations were,
309of course, items two and three. So item two was the 0% carryover for Seney in the general fund school program. Item three was the reduction in the Seney allocation for next school year from $700 million to $601 million. But when we look at the impact year over year on school allocations, there's much more happening than just the impact of those two changes. So when we look at a school's budget, from this year to next year, there are also the things that happen every year. So the thing that had the biggest impact on school allocations from this year into next school year were actually changes in enrollment. So enrollment drives the largest portions of a school's allocation and budgets because of... the class sizes that are in our current agreement, in our current contract, as Kristen
310mentioned earlier. So the biggest bulk of school resources are actually the norm positions that we've talked about a lot. The classroom teachers, the clerical, the custodial, administrative, etc. These other allocations are very substantial but are a small percentage as compared to those norm positions, which is what you would expect. You know, the vast majority of the staffing and resources are part of the norm. And so when you look at the school level changes from this year to next year, the biggest driver is really changes in enrollment. And where we do see the largest changes in enrollment from this year into what's projected for next year, right? We don't yet know what next year's enrollment will be, but we have a projection for it. you do see a larger, as we have over time, larger enrollment
311decline in some of our highest need areas and schools. It's not new. It's something that we have experienced over time. It's not a new change. But that is the biggest factor that schools will see impacting their allocations from this school year into next school year. That's absolutely very consequential, and we also know it's not a surprise necessarily because those very same communities are being terrorized by ICE, and of course students are not enrolling or attending schools at the same levels as in communities where that threat is less present. So again, another area where I think in our advocacy to Sacramento, there may be a belief that because Sacramento looks at our attendance over a three-year window that we're not feeling the impacts of the ICE raids. when it comes to how much funds our students
312have, or our schools have to provide services to students. But what you described and what I know to be the reality from the schools that I serve in the East San Fernando Valley is that schools are feeling that pain right now when it comes to next school year's budget. They are seeing those cuts and those impacts and it's not happening equally across the board. Our schools that serve higher numbers of newcomer students and immigrant families are feeling that. more than others. So I think that that's an area that we should concentrate on when it comes to our advocacy in Sacramento. To get to the other part of the resolution, there was also a report back required around central office reductions, including looking at contracts and consultants. The resolution spoke to both those analyses being completed
313and made public in the fall. yet we haven't seen them. So I wonder, one, if you can speak to contracts, consultants, non-labor expenditures within the central office. What's the overall sum that we're spending on those types of expenditures? And what, if any, steps have we taken to reduce those first before we impact district employees? Sure. So it is... Absolutely true that during the pandemic, we saw a larger share of the district's budget being spent on non-labor expenses. This was very common across the country because of many districts spending a lot of money on, for example, COVID testing, vaccinations, different services that were provided with the use of one-time funds, and then again, record levels of state funding. And so we absolutely saw a huge increase in the percentage of the district's budget that was expended.
314I'm talking about actual spending during the pandemic years. So what we have seen, though, the most recent year where we have kind of final expenditure numbers are, of course, last school year. So last school year, the 24-25 school year, which is already over. The audit was presented back in January. And what we've seen is the beginning of a reversion back to a pre-pandemic. share of the budget being spent on non-labor. Still higher than pre-pandemic levels. There are still a lot of services and supports that were implemented during the pandemic that are still with us. But we are seeing a reversion from that high point of kind of right in the middle of the pandemic back to pre-pandemic levels. Now, while we don't have final expenditure figures for this year, or certainly not next year, which
315hasn't started yet, what we do have are budget figures. And of course, budget, the expenditures end up being a large percentage of what gets budgeted. And so when we look at the budget for, for example, starting with services and other operating expenditures, that is, when you look in the budget book, you'll see, you know, certificated salary, it's organized the way that we're required to report it by the state. There's certificated salaries, classified salaries, benefits. Then there's what's called books and supplies. It's a bit of a misnomer. It's basically kind of physical things that are not capital. And then there's a category of services and other operating expenditures. And so some people think of those as, contracts. There are things like licenses and utilities and insurance costs and agreements with special education providers as some examples.
316So we in this category in the budget side again so we can compare apples to apples from the past to as well as this year and next school year. For these services and other operating expenditures, the high point was definitely in the middle of the pandemic. The budgets in total general fund, unrestricted and restricted, school and non-school, the high point was almost $1.8 billion that were budgeted in this category. Can you give me the fiscal year that that? Yeah, so that was in the 21-22 fiscal year where the budget for those items was about $1.8 billion. This school year, the budget in that same category, basically all of these agreements and services that are other operating expenses, about $1.4 billion. And the budget now, as it stands, at the end of budget development, now, of
317course, things can change between now and June, $1.1 billion. And so just on the budget side, you'll see a very substantial reduction in what's been budgeted for services and other operating expenditures. And this trend is true not just in terms of the non-school or central budgets, but with schools as well. When we zoom in further, there's a within that broad category of services and other operating expenditures, there's a subcategory that is professional and consulting services. I think this is another category of spending that traditionally is also considered to be contracts. This sub, and this is a subset of the figures I just mentioned, that kind of high mark of 21-22 of about $1.8 billion to next school year $1.1 billion. When we look at the subcategory within that of professional consulting services, it also had
318the high point in the middle of the pandemic in the 21-22 school year of about a billion dollars. This year, total general fund, school and non-school, about $550 million, so almost half of that peak level. And right now, in what we see in the budget for next school year, is about $255 million. And just like I mentioned before, this is happening not just in terms of the budgets for central office or non-school, but also for the schools themselves. And on the school part of it, it makes sense. We saw schools during budget development prioritize maintaining staffing levels, positions, whether it was... class size reduction teachers, outside of the classroom instructional support, classified employees. We saw a lot of schools take money that they otherwise would have budgeted in non-labor, whether in contracts or other services
319or even materials and supplies, and prioritize positions. Now those funds that schools would typically budget in non-labor, whether in supplies or contracts, instructional materials, different non-labor categories, we did see historically in the aggregate substantial underspend, if you will, in those areas. And so there was money that most years was going unspent that schools could reallocate during budget development to prioritize the retention of personnel. I appreciate the comprehensive nature of your answer. I think it just is more evidence of like why we need that analysis to be part of the public conversation. It was in the resolution that the board passed. So I do think it's essential that we and the public be provided that information because it... It is another expense. This is about choices, right? So I think it's really important for us to
320be able to have the full context of what those choices are. I have more questions. Just one last one, and then I'll yield back for more questions later. I hear you in that there's been a reduction in this area, is what you've described. As the central office reductions were being contemplated, implemented after the fiscal stabilization plan passed, by this board in June, what, if any, guidance did we give folks to look at contracts rather than cutting employees? Was that guidance we provided? Did we look at what contracts might not be necessary moving forward? So broadly... Division heads, division leaders were asked to consider the impact on student services and supports first and foremost. And so the reductions put forward in the central office were with that in mind. What is going to have the least
321amount of impact on student supports and services? And it did result, as I described kind of broadly, in substantial reductions in non-labour because The central office is in support of schools and that support is primarily provided by employees. Now additional guidance that was provided was of course to look at entire org structures. So to ensure that we were really rethinking how we are providing supports to our schools and students. And so you'll see positions of all levels were reduced. So senior management, mid-level management, and then of course other employees. And so that is kind of the general guidance that was provided to division heads as they approached those central office reductions. Okay, on my right-hand side, Sherlette, go ahead, please. I'll get you, Carla. Okay. Go ahead, Charlotte. Yes. Thank you for clarifying, again, some
322of the questions that I think publicly getting a better understanding to when we define what was included in the FSP. And I appreciate it being documented here as far as RIF assumed because Not knowing how to look for something and knowing that it's there is two different things, right? So in the previous budget Riffs were already included in that amount correct when we approved our first interim Yes, it was already included. However It wasn't given a title like we see today because today it's elevated to the point now where it's kind of different but somewhat the same in the voice that, because I've heard here even when we discussed about our administrators receiving our pink slip, for lack of a better term, that's been ongoing. And so today we're seeing something that we hadn't seen
323in a few years. And it's been elevated, but it's always happened. Yeah. So the routine, yes, for the certificate administrators, you're absolutely right. It is routine. It has happened annually. Annually. Okay. And I'm saying that publicly because I think it has been seemed like. today is something very different than ever happened before. Like this is brand new, but it's not brand new. However, we're seeing the impacts now because of the numbers within classified that we're seeing that's elevating this concern as well. As the teachers, as mentioned, Tonya, appreciate you giving your experience for the audience to know that this hasn't been brand new. People have received it and it's been rescinded before if funding came available, correct? Okay. So the other question I have is what statutes do we have? I know there's been talk
324about this $5.6 billion that the state has. What statute do we have in order to add that to our budget prematurely? Can we do that? So we would have to wait for... apologies for getting a little bit into the weeds on this. There are aspects of the January proposed budget that I reflected here. The discretionary block grant was the biggest. It was about $185 million of revenue we were expecting to get and almost $70 million of additional learning emergency recovery block grant funds. They're included here, but even including them here is for illustrative purposes. At first interim, we will most likely not be allowed by LACO, and this is going to be true for most districts, to include those revenues because they're part of the governor's proposal. Now, we still think it's important for the
325public to be aware of them, of what it might mean for the district if it were to be enacted by the state. But generally speaking, when we submit official... financial documents to the county, whether it's first interim or even the June proposed budget, we are not able to include things that are hypothetical, even if it's in the governor's proposed budget. So even the things here that are detailed in the governor's January proposed budget, we are including them here just so that the public is aware of them. We have a pretty high level of confidence we're going to get those revenues, but there is a chance that it doesn't end up in the enacted budget. And that's why LACO would not allow for those. to be included in our official numbers until after the state enacts
326it. So if the things that are in the, there are things in the January proposed budget that we're not even going to be able to include in our official numbers until it's in the final state budget. So certainly we would not be able to include any estimates for an action that's not even in the January proposed budget. And the biggest example of that is the one that you mentioned, the $5.6 billion set aside. So if in the May revise, for example, The governor proposes, hypothetically, to allocate some or all of that and provide some level of detail on how it might be provided. We would certainly do, for the board and the public, like we did in the January cow, provide estimates to the extent that we have the information to provide them, but they
327would not be included in our official financial figures until it's in the enacted budget. Got it. Thank you. And you mentioned our central office reductions. That number changed from our proposed to our adopted? From June to the updated FSP. That's right. And how did that change? How do you come to that figure? So after the process played out, so the June figures were, as you pointed out, $200 million for 26-27 and then $125 million of ongoing savings thereafter. What you'll see in the updated FSP is basically $150 million ongoing. So the combined balances are only off by about $25 million. On the left, from June, $325 million. Back in December at first interim. $300 million. And so once the process played out, and as I mentioned, after the guidance was provided to division heads and
328budget holders, and we met with cabinet and the regions to ensure that everybody had an understanding of the impact that the reductions would have on student and school supports, then the final estimated reduction is that $150 million. And then you mentioned earlier about, I don't know if someone had mentioned that there's been an increase of 40%. Is that in our workforce across the board? We have an increase over years of 40%. Is that something that's annual or we're just seeing that now? The increase of what, sorry? Increase of workforce. Our workforce have increased. I think it was maybe. superintendent may have alluded to this about our workforce increasing however our student population is declining. Yes sorry so yes we did we have and this is not uncommon across the state or the country but we
329have seen substantial growth in positions in FTE, however you want to slice it, whether a full-time equivalent or positions, substantial growth, especially during the pandemic, as the superintendents pointed out a number of times. even though during that same period of time and even much longer back substantial decline in enrollment so over two decades of declining enrollment you know from over 700,000 students now to you know less than 400,000 but during that same period of time and especially recently a very substantial growth in the number of people employed by the district right and that's gonna how does that affect us even though we're still trying to support that That workforce how how can we do that with the budget that we have? So that's basically the the situation that we find ourselves in and that most
330districts find themselves in which is growth in personnel in spite of declining enrollment and a dramatic shift in funding levels from the federal and state government. And so because our districts, all districts, the vast majority of budgets and spending are on people. That is why this authorization is before you today, is to address, to realize the savings from the fiscal stabilization plan. As I mentioned before, the available reserves are already being fully utilized. All of those less painful strategies are being fully employed. And unfortunately, it's still not enough alone. And so again, because we have so much of our resources as they should be in employees and valued staff, that's why we are requesting an authorization. I think one of the key things that I wanted to hit on when you asked that question, Ms.
331Newbell, is when you look at just the district trend, if you go as far back to 2012, 2013 implementation of LCFF, We have upwards of 567,000 students that we were serving at that time with about 61,000 employees. Pre-pandemic, 2018-19, we were already at 489,000 students and at about 63,000 employees across the district. Today, we're at 389,000 students. And we have 72,000 plus employees. And so it begs the question, it's like, how do we sustain knowing that one of the key drivers of revenue, even at, you know, state investment and being at the all-time high, that our enrollment is not at a place where it can sustain that level of staff that... raises this question, how do we thoughtfully address that imbalance that exists in the district? This is one of the pathways forward is first
332dealing with kind of the central office reductions that ultimately have to be realized through this action. But it will present the question as part of the fiscal stabilization plan on how do we address this in the out years. And we're trying to do it thoughtfully through attrition, strategic placement of individuals so that it has the least impact on the folks that are serving our students every day. Thank you for that clarification. And I know this is not easy for any of us as we go through the questions, but for the public's point, I think a lot needs to be understood, and that's why I asked the question. With non-classroom expenditures, is that all contracts anything but people, or do people fall into non-classroom expenditures? Both. People do as well. People, employees that are still providing
333essential services to students, but they're not considered direct in the classroom supports would be not included in that calculation. So examples would be very important services like those provided by psychiatric social workers, attendance counselors, the majority of our classified staff. So those are the things that are not included. They're still, again, essential services for students, but not considered direct classroom expenditures. Got it. Thank you. And then I'll double back. Go ahead. Okay. Pedro took some of your time, but it's okay. It's okay. Go ahead, Carla. Thank you. Yeah, I do have some questions and also some comments. With the questions, just to clarify. So you said that there's 657 net positions, right, that are going to be laid off. I'm assuming that these are the potential real layoffs, right? These are, this is the maximum
334number of people. However, it may not be. necessary to actually vote on final notices for these employees. We are hoping to find assignments for as many as possible between now and then. But yes, this is the maximum number. Okay. And these positions are classified positions at Boldry and region offices? These are central office and centrally funded positions, yes. Centrally funded positions at school sites? Centrally funded positions that may be assigned to go out to a school site, yes. But for the most part, they are central positions here at Beaudry or at the region offices. Can you tell me what are some examples of those positions that are centrally funded and may go out to school sites? So the IT support techs are examples of people who are centrally funded but may be sent to a
335school to provide support, but they are not assigned to the school full-time. They are a central office position. Is that true for the resource navigators as well? That is my understanding. Okay. And who are the parent educators that are listed in there? They are assigned to the region offices. And what kind of work do they do? They, oh, I have. I'm happy to answer that question. Thank you. So they work within the regions to support with events that engage families within the region and the community. They may work with the parent reps at school sites, principals at school sites, but they primarily support the region in their engagement activities across that particular region. Okay. All right. And then thank you for that. And then, Saman, you were saying that these 657 net position closures will
336yield, did you say $40 to $50 million in savings? No. Plus the positions with reduction in hours and basis changes? No, that was in reference to the calculated risk that we're taking by the calculated risk that the district is taking by Going moving forward with a rift that is substantially smaller than the actual number of positions that were reduced during budget development so The number of positions that were reduced during budget development or had reduced hours or reduction in basis The value of those, the financial value of those positions was about $300 million. The positions that are on the RIF authorization is substantially less than that, given that calculated risk that I mentioned. And what is the, let me see, what is the savings with these net position closures? and the positions with reductions in
337hours and basis change. The savings are going to be realized based on the positions that were closed, the about $300 million worth of positions that were either closed or had a reduction in hours or basis. We'll realize those savings to the extent that the bet we're making that attrition is enough to absorb the folks who had a position closed but that end up being placed into a position that becomes vacant either through retirement. or other separation from the district. And so those are the savings is what's happened in budget development. We just might not realize them all before June 30th because of the potential need to restore certain positions where the attrition was not enough. So we don't- So the savings could be up to 300 million, but we don't know for sure yet. Yes,
338that's a good way of putting it. Okay, and then where is that? Because I'm looking. Fiscal stabilization plan. And I'm looking at the line to send in general fund school program that says RIF assumed. Then it's got sunny allocation reduction RIF assumed. Okay. Unfunded positions RIF assumed. And then the last one central office reductions RIF assumed. So are these positions that are in the attachment that we are voting on? The 657, are they part of line two, line three, line four, and line nine? And they all add up to that? They are line nine. So those that are in the RIF board report, that is... for your consideration today are those related to central office reductions. Okay. So then it says here 150 million. Yes. And then 150 million. So is that the 300 million
339you're talking about over two years? No. So let me take another crack at it. During budget development, there were a few things that impacted the number of positions that ultimately got budgeted, or put another way, positions that existed this year that were not funded for next year. First, the central office reductions, as we've mentioned several times, but also the reduced allocation to CENI as well as the 0% carryover, and then the item for the unfunded positions. So during budget development, after those changes have been implemented, Schools then make decisions based on the student needs, based on prioritization, about what positions they're going to fund. Now this is something that happens every year. So for example, last, for the current school year, there were about $60 million worth of positions that were restored because they were
340not funded, but they were not RIFed. There was no RIF. So that happens every year schools make difficult decisions about what's going to best meet the needs of their students based on the allocations They're provided so it's the combination of different changes that were part of the fiscal stabilization plan that resulted in fewer positions being budgeted at schools, but also at central offices. The RIF is basically taking a calculated risk and moving forward with only the reductions that are part of the central office, the central office reductions. With the risk being that we are going to have sufficient attrition in certificated and classified positions to absorb the people whose positions have been closed during that process, but that are not part of today's RIF authorization. Okay. They're not part of today's RIF authorization, right? It's
341only the central office ones. That's right. That are going, that are part of that. Correct. Okay. And that also includes some, what are some other positions? IT support. I heard they directly support the schools, right? And I, my understanding, I heard from a labor partner that 220, which is about a little over half, I believe, of the department is being reduced. And so. A follow-up question to that is in light of the fact that our students use technology, and I've heard a lot of our Chromebooks are outdated and folks rely on IT techs to come and put keys back in when they're broken, try to figure out the updates and all that stuff. Who is going to assume that work now when half of the department is going to be laid off? So just to
342take a step back, this classification, this job classification, IT support technician, is one of the examples of classifications or positions that grew very substantially during the pandemic with the use of those ESSER funds, those one-time COVID funds. There are many, many examples across the district, but this is a principal example of positions that were substantially, the number of them grew, the position. during the pandemic with the use of those COVID funds. And it makes sense. We were doing a lot of virtual learning, hybrid learning. There was a massive deployment of technology. And so that is part of why these positions are not funded is because there was a large growth in employment in this classification during the pandemic years. I understand that. I understand what you're saying about the reduction. And I understand, you know,
343you're giving me all these positions that, you know, are going to be reduced. But I want to step back a little bit and talk about how these positions actually do impact. the schools, right? And how, I think it was another person during public comment who talked about how Inevitably, central office reductions will impact the schools. Resource navigators, they support families with applying for Medi-Cal, getting shoes and clothing and food for our families who need that. They help people fill out paperwork. Our parent educators who are at the region office but also support our parent reps that support our school sites and our parents um so i just want to be clear that these are positions that though they may be housed at central office directly impact students as well and um the other thing i
344want to ask is that um You know, I just stated here what the impact, from my perspective, what the impacts are. But something that Kelly reminded me of when she was speaking was of her resolution. Which, frankly, I think her resolution has become very relevant in this moment and in this discussion. And some of the things she laid out some of the things that were in her resolution, but I want to. Go ahead and state them again, because to me, they are very important. Her resolution called for the district to publish. An equity impact analysis to assess impacts to high need student groups, including emergent bilingual students with disabilities, black students, unhoused students, LGBTQIA students and students in foster care. and school types, highest, high CENI, BSAP, community schools, priority schools, linked learning, CTE, and
345also to publish a department level review of consulting contracts, administrative overhead, and central office expenditures, and present options to the board for reprioritize, ah, can't say it, to reprioritize things. And it's really concerning. that some of these items were mentioned in the slide that looks to what will be done in the future. When this resolution called for this to be done by the fall, because we were foreseeing that budget discussions were going to happen. So to me, this is very critical and very important, especially as Kelly also brought up. The impacts of ice on our students. If anybody read the LAist report on the impact of ice rates, especially the impact on our students' mental health. you will know that nine out of the 10 zip codes that were mentioned are all within LAUSD boundaries.
346And in fact, six out of 10 are in BD5 schools, BD5 boundaries. Silver Lake, Echo Park, Bell, the whole Southeast LA community, including Southgate, Huntington Park, Maywood, and Westlake. And so more of a reason that this... These reports, these two reports seem very relevant to me because although I'm grateful and I'm glad that certificated staff at school sites are not going to get RIFT and that classified staff like supervision aides or school climate advocates are not going to get RIFT at school sites, at least that's my understanding right now. I'm glad that that's happening. Nevertheless, I know that some of the positions that are on this list are going to impact our students. And so I have those concerns. And I still have a couple of other questions. And the question is regarding these, let
347me see here. Oh my goodness. the positions that were in the original report, okay, that were going to be part of the rifts, right, that now are not getting rift. And we said that they're gonna be restored. So my question is, how are we restoring those positions? What funding are we using for that? And are they gonna go back to the schools? So say I'm a school that had to not fund two supervision aids or reduce my instructional assistant from, you know, five hours to three hours. And now we're restoring that. Are those positions going back to that particular school site? And what funding is going to be used? Is it going to be centrally funded? So if you can answer that question for me, please. So as far as what's going to happen to
348the positions, for the moment they will be restored in place, which means they will stay at their assignments. However, the Personnel Commission will be looking to find vacancies in other areas for in that same position and same number of hours to be able to move folks into a funded position. As far as the difference between... You know, again, what maybe would be in a budget report as far as which positions were unfunded, were not funded, and the positions that we brought to you in this report today. Again, that was the three weeks of work of trying to figure out how could we minimize impact on the schools. With certainly the caveat that there there is impact but we have done our very best to minimize that impact in implementing the central office reductions only for
349this year as far as how exactly those restored positions will be funded I defer to Saman but as we as we look at those people who have been restored we will be looking to find positions for them within the district, which may not be ultimately at the place where they were not funded. So briefly, to the extent that there are restored positions, which we frankly we do expect to be the case, that will reduce our ending balances. It'll reduce the ending balances dollar for dollar from what you saw in the multi-year projection slide. Okay. Carla, may I? Yes, exactly. Carla, may I pause and go to Nick for questions and come back to you for a second round? Is that okay? Yes. Okay. Go ahead, Nick. Thank you board members for Nelson and the benefit
350of going last at least for this first round as many of my questions were were asked And I think my colleagues did a good job of setting the context and the choices the context being a combination of factors ESSER which was discussed billions of dollars in one-time funding for a District where 90% of our budget are ongoing costs and I remember sitting around this day us with many folks here talking about We did have the means, at least in the short term, to hire things we needed. We've needed forever. Nurses, PSWs, PSAs, IT support for one-to-one devices, which I'll get back to. But understanding that that money was running out and how are we going to offload those to other funding sources, which is what we've been doing for a few years. Enrollment decline that
351has been exacerbated in some ways by ICE and immigration raids. And it would be great if our... advocacy partners helped us at the state level understanding that. I mean, I think that's one of the biggest contextual pieces that I always find frustrating. And when we got a letter a few weeks ago from members of the legislature advocating on behalf of our valuable label partners, and I think particularly 99 who's here, my response to them was great. fund our school, like you're 90% of our budget. Give us the budget to fund. You know, your cola this year is 1%. And so great, we offer a 1% raise. That's not satisfying anyone. So then give us the 13% raise, the 30% raise. I mean, that's what I think is quite frustrating is that in many of these
352instances, we are a pass-through. We get money from the state and then we make choices on how to fund it. And so if the state is going to tell us and legislators are going to tell us to give SDIU and folks 30%, which you deserve way more than 30%, let's be clear, then don't give us a 1% COLA. I mean, COLA is the cost of living increase. So that's part of that context, the open contracts and trying to make sure that we have money available to support our hardworking employees. And so, you know, In that context, we've made choices. I think it's important to note the choices we've made compared to other districts in the state with the same financial pressures. San Francisco was on strike last week in part to fund health care benefits
353for dependents. We, months ago, secured two years of fully funded health benefits for our employees, their dependents, and in some cases for life, while absorbing all the increased costs. No cost sharing on behalf of our employees. That's what they just struck for in San Francisco to get even a worse deal than that. Fifty percent. We have over the last few years given double-digit raises I think 26% over the last four years for UTLA and we have more on the table and we know we want to do more That that's a choice that we're making to invest in our workforce, which was so important we now what today's vote and Conversations about the consequences of those choices and there and they're bad choices and I say that I mean my career began When I got rift
354and unlike Miss Ortiz Franklin, it didn't get rescinded. I got laid off two years in a row. I had a school where 67% of our teachers got laid off, which was incredibly disruptive. It was inequitable. It hit our high-need communities and schools the most. And in so many ways, we have gone away from that. And I think it's unfortunate that this board report came out on Friday, but I will say that... It's because many of my colleagues and I have been working with you all for months to figure out how to minimize the impact of these of these rifts How do we you know look at attrition look at retirements get rid of the certificated side so that we don't have that Bumping and vacancies like we did that brought that led to the lawsuit
355that I helped bring read versus, California back in 2010 we looked at other things we can do in absorbing some risks And we also are looking at choices in an imperfect system. I'm very clearly on the record being opposed to seniority based layoffs, last in first out bumping. And I think it's come up a little bit in this conversation, but for, you know, I get asked by constituents a lot, close, cut the central office positions. And besides what Ms. Griego just said around those central office positions actually supporting schools. And I think a lot of the pain points that we feel frustrated by when schools reach out about leasing and risk management and insurance, those are centrally funded positions. But the problem is of the rules around bumping and everybody you cut from this building,
356not everybody, but most of them has a right to go back to a school and bump an employee that was selected by that school community. And that is not in the best interest of kids, full stop. And yet despite efforts both legislatively and litigiously to change that, I know I for one have been unsuccessful and so we're stuck with bad choices because it's not just that we can surgically say get rid of these folks. It has this cascading effect. And it's incredibly frustrating. And that's what we've been working on to really force the team to think about other savings. And so I will ask a few questions, and I know we'll do another round. But within that context and the FSP, and it's still up there, a lot of these, you know, we have asked
357you to look at other ways to reduce ongoing savings, and you have come down to you've articulated some of those. I guess can you? School budgeting ended and schools have budgeted for next year and can you talk about the relationship between what schools decided and this action because I think it's important that we make clear regardless of how the board votes that like schools have locked in their budgets for next year and this action does not affect that like this does not go back in and say nope you've made your decisions we're going to change it right so can you just explain like what's happening at the school sites. Yeah, I mean it's exactly as you described budget development for schools for the district is completed and so when schools made decisions based on The
358needs of their students based on feedback through engagement with their stakeholders based on the allocations that were provided In many cases that resulted in schools budgeting fewer positions or in some cases different positions Based on the needs of their students saying I want more PSW time and less of something else. So those decisions result in positions being not funded or closed that have a person in it. And that is ultimately what necessitates a RIF. And so you're absolutely right. This action today, in front of the board today, makes no changes whatsoever to decisions that schools have already made. And I want to stress something that Kristen mentioned earlier. Class sizes are unchanged. The ratios upon which the vast majority of school resources are allocated are unchanged. It is the same. And so a school, of
359course, with declining enrollment will see changes as they do every year. But those changes, the class sizes are the same, the ratios of what we're providing administrators and other out-of-classroom supports are the same. And can you say one of the one of the choices we've made and it's in the FSP that I'm hearing from some school sites about is around carryover. And so can you explain I mean just because the other thing too is that this is you know if the board decides not to opt for these riffs then we still it's not like the financial challenges go away are just our efforts are even more limited right and I'll get to that in the end because a lot of this is about preserving some of the flexibility for the district. to advocate and make
360choices and then the board comes back and decides yes or no and I think in some cases can even be more surgical about what's happening but you know if there are school communities who have reached out to say we rely on that carryover we want it back Can you just talk a little bit about the interplay between what's happening here and carryover and like how if if rifts aren't voted on or like it I mean what I'm trying to get at is it's the same pot of money the pot of money we have for raises for health care for carryover for rifts because those are positions are the same pot of money and we're just kind of trying to Decide how to allocate it. That's right, right And so when we say there's no carryover
361if we decide to put carryover back on the table Let's just say for our highest need schools. Then there is more cuts that have to be, or there are other areas that the budget has to be balanced. So yes, there's one pot of money. And if you do more of one thing, you have to do less of something else. That's true. I would say though that we've already reduced the RIF before the board today substantially below the number of actual positions that were closed. And that has a financial... impact in terms of positions likely being restored. And so that's not reflected at first interim. At first interim, we assumed that every dollar of the fiscal stabilization plan would be realized, everything, which includes the carryover. And so if we were to allocate some amount of
362the carryover, that would be an additional fiscal impact above and beyond the potential restoration of positions based on today's RIF. Right and I guess and I'm not advocating at this meeting from carryover what I'm saying is that when we think about those this world of bad choices I mean we got to make good choices the health care is a good choice the raises we want to give is a good choice you know investing the arts is a good choice when we think of the bad choices on that other side of the ledger when we limit our options like you know if the board doesn't go forward say we limit our options then some of those things that we're hearing about become more difficult. I guess you said this a little bit and Ms. Griego asked
363it well, but can you, we have $250 million in savings is what the board report as of Friday says. And yet 657 positions are closed does not equate that. So can you just, again, and I know we're asking you to, but I think it's confusing. How do we get to that savings with this number? So that value is the value of... the positions that have been closed during budget development. It's about between 250 to 300 million dollars of the financial value of the positions that were either closed and had an incumbent in them. This is net of vacancies within classifications or had hours reduced or a reduction in basis or change in basis. And so, That is the value of the changes that happen during budget development that are largely related to the fiscal stabilization
364plan. Now included in that sum is also the changes in norm positions. And I mentioned a couple times, those changes happen every year. Every year, based on projected enrollment being lower, schools have fewer of those norm-based positions. But a lot of the changes are based off of the central office reductions. And so that is kind of that large number. The value of what's before you today, as I've mentioned a few times already, is less than that sum. And can I ask that one of the things that we've discussed at the Cow and these board meetings is trying to figure out riffs now today these riff notices right the last when we that that line of demarcation that Rubicon is not until June but these are the notices that we need before the March 15 statutory
365deadline as we've looked at all other options we've looked at our fund 17 reserve which we've swept we've looked at OPEB which we've taken some but I note that we still have in the budget $135 or $140 million ongoing. And there's been times in the last few years where the district has gone down to 33 or 30. And so can you just explain for the public like why, you know, when we have to justify to our partners and our constituents, as we all do, like how we've exhausted all other options. And I know that fiscal stabilization plan, the RIFs are only a part of it. I mean, we still, you know, I... in there I think it says, yes, consolidate district footprint, which means school closures, which is not what we're talking about today, but
366in order to realize the savings, some of that's going to happen. But can you talk about OPEB specifically and why we're not pulling from these other sources to try to minimize the impact of this RIF even further than has already happened? So, and it's related to what you described before about if you do... more of something else you have to do less of something else and it's there are these trade-offs and we have made substantial commitments to our employees that upon retirement upon their eligibility that they will get health care for life before their medicare age eligible even after becoming enrolled in Medicare, they would continue to get benefits from the district for them and a dependent for life. That is a very substantial commitment and it's something that the district takes a lot of
367pride in, but it is not something that every district provides. And the share of our budget each year that goes towards the cost of just paying for the benefits for those that are already retired goes up every year. Understandable reasons. People are living longer. They're healthier. And so they're drawing those benefits for a longer period of time. The cost of health care goes up substantially every year by a lot more than the COLAs that you rightly pointed out were insufficient from the state. And so the district has put aside funds to cover those costs to pay for that promise we've made to our employees. Now, even if we were to hypothetically lower the contribution to OPEB and hypothetically there's substantial good news from the state above and beyond what was reflected in the January proposed
368budget, it still wouldn't change the fact that we need to implement the existing FSP and almost certainly identify additional reductions above and beyond what you see here on this slide as early as June. Can I also just make because that triggers a point for me which is that we have It's great. We have settled with some of our labor partner in addition to health care for all of our labor partners We've settled with CSEA and with Teamsters and working on others, but those open contracts like there's money that has been authorized an offer that was in one of the slides for the ending balances. But if the district and the board decides that in order to settle those contracts, in a world where of course we want to give employees way more than we're able,
369then that's gonna require additional cuts. So that is, then when we think about, oh we get, if our projections are off, they're a little too conservative in terms of estimated revenue, and we get even another $100 million from the state. those labor, the delta, just to kind of be candid here, the delta between what we're offering and what some of our labor partners are asking for is quite high. And so if we even meet in the middle, we're talking about that 191 number being like 500. And so that just, again, when we're thinking about choices, to preserve the flexibility to do that. My final question for this round, and it's really maybe more for... Dr. Estrada is just, and it was alluded to, but I think the IT thing is an interesting microcosm of some
370of the challenges here because during COVID, we go one-to-one, we get ESSER funding. It's one time. We go one-to-one almost overnight. We hire all these people with ESSER funds. We're very transparent about that. The funding runs out. School sites are now being told they're responsible for IT support. Schools don't budget for it because they have other priorities and limited budgets for all the reasons we've talked about. So they don't fund these people. We now are taking action today potentially to do notices for these people. And yet we are still a district that, as of today, has a one-to-one instructional. approach, which is something we're talking about and I have some ideas to maybe tweak that or work on that. But how can both things be true? How can we still say we're one to one
371and this is a key part of our instructional strategy and yet we're not gonna have any IT support? Because I've seen that happen at the school sites and it's challenging. I want to differentiate between the instructional approach and how we use technology to support our instruction. The one-to-one approach was, especially during the pandemic, because of the fact that students had to be able to access instruction digitally, that was a necessary step taken during the pandemic. Since then, though, the transition back into school has ensured that the focus is on that teacher-to-student interaction and making sure that that core instruction is happening every day. How digital tools are used for instruction is very clear in the guidance we provide. One, it is in small group instruction. We want to make sure when there is a need
372for personalized learning, we provide that additional support. but it is an assessment tool that we use, but it is not something that we use that is a day-to-day approach that is all day long. Very different approach. Technology is used as a resource, should not be used as a primary form of instruction. I guess my question though is if students are still, if every student is still expected to have a device, they're going to continue to break at about the same... I DID WANT TO CLARIFY HOW WE ARE USING TECHNOLOGY. WHEN WE BROUGHT THE AUGMENTATION TO GROW IT SUPPORT TECHNICIAN POSITIONS IN 22-23 AS PART OF THE ESSER INVESTMENTS, THE PROPOSAL HAD BEEN TO CREATE A RATIO OF ABOUT ONE TECHNICIAN FOR EVERY 2,000 STUDENTS. WITH THE ACKNOWLEDGMENT THAT WE WERE GOING TO A ONE-TO-ONE environment
373post-COVID. Prior to 2020, we had 198 technicians serving 486,000 students, which was about a ratio of 1 to 2,500 students. With the ESSER investments, we were able to actually come below 2,000 with school-level purchases plus centrally allocated funds through ESSER. With the budgets that have been submitted through schools and even with these planned reductions, we will be at a net ratio of 1 to 2,000 students. So 188 technicians to 389,000 students. And so that's what we have striven for from a IT policy standpoint. And so we've been very focused on making sure that, at the very least, we're better than we were in 2019. When you look at PSAs, PSWs as well, we're two to four times greater in terms of staffing than when we were in 2019. And we are sustaining that for the
374coming year. So I think when you look at just ongoing investments, yes, there's adjustments and reductions of staff, but there's also we're in a much better place today and tomorrow than we were pre-pandemic. And we're sustaining those levels of supports for our schools, acknowledging that we've had significant declining enrollment in the district. I have follow-ups, but I know Mr. Pelson. Let's do round two. Yeah, okay. I'm going to finish up with round one. So I guess everybody is happy to hear that news, Pedro. Everybody except the ITS people. Because I want to know if it's true that almost half of the cuts being made are on ITS. Can anybody, Frank or Mr. Greco or Mr. Cerrato, I don't know. I'm not putting you on the spot, but this is what I was told, that half
375of the cuts are ITS. So, no, that's... That's not true. I do not believe that's true. While there are a significant number of cuts in the ITS department, as we were each asked to... make reductions of 20% in our departments. They happen to have one of the largest departments, so there may be more cuts than in other areas. However, there are also significant cuts from the other divisions that are not IT related. So I know there are significant cuts in finance and in fiscal. There are significant cuts in human resources. There are cuts in the division of instruction. So there are cuts across. Well, I guess we could admit that ITS was hit hard. They were. Okay, they were hit hard, and they say that other departments were not cut at all. Were there any
376other departments that were not even cut at all? Is that a possibility? I don't want to start calling people's names out, but is it possible that some departments weren't cut at all? No. Okay. And is this the third round of cuts for ITS? They claim that this is their third round of cuts. I'm not sure. We've gone through annual reductions in central office over the last three years. Those are strategic budgeting process vacancy sweeps in prior years. It's not isolated to ITS. Okay. All our employees are very important. My B and G's, you know, gardeners, everybody's important, but I just wanted to speak for ITS too, because I don't think people. Think of them as much as we do as a building and grounds workers and our gardeners and things. Okay, round two, who's ready
377for round two? You started it, Rosalia, you wanna start with round two? Okay. Okay, I'll continue round two. Let me get to my questions here. Let's see. Well, sort of going on what Board President Shmuelsa mentioned about IT. So as has been mentioned the items or the classifieds that are showing potential rifts or we're gonna get a preliminary riff 657 central office and truth on the positions closures 220 IT anyone office technicians just to name a few so based on this what functional impact analysis was conducted before determining those classifications for example what is a projected change time and the IT response times Payroll processes capacity, student information system stability, family engagement services, as we mentioned, you know, the research navigators and our parent educators as well. What is the impact that this is going
378to have on the services for our schools? So generally, it will have an impact. While we always want to. target as much of the reductions as possible away from schools. It's still the case that everything that the district does is in support of students and schools. Even in departments that don't interact with students on a day-to-day basis, they're providing essential functions to the district. And so as part of the process of identifying the central office reductions, there were You know, divisions identified the impact on service levels, and sometimes, you know, at the level of specificity that you mentioned, like days or minutes of impact in terms of response times. But then also, more broadly, like what is the impact of these changes going to be on regions and schools? And so it was only after
379all of that impact was considered that the about $150 million of reductions were finalized. Okay, so I want to know a specific did you do an analysis that say okay, so if we're looking at 220 IT Support technicians. What is that? the analysis that goes into what is going to be the direct impact. I mean, because they're helping with Parent Portal, they're helping with Mises, they're helping with Schoology, they're actually connecting with schools, schools call them up, we need you, right? I mean, Boardman Grego mentioned that as well, right? Our schools are, the devices are, you know, are malfunctioning. They need somebody to fix them, right? They can't, they don't have the funds to purchase new ones, right? Because it comes out of their budget. So that impact, and that is, going to directly impact
380our schools right so that and then the payroll processing right employees want to get paid right if we're going to reduce the number of employees that are doing that have that job responsibility what is the impact there so i just want to understand what analysis did you go into to say okay this is and what is the contingency plan based on that so if this is going to affect our schools what do we have in place to address that So when we look at the general impact and you look at across the deployment of our IT support network, we're going to leverage our kind of internal customer service help desk as well as kind of triaging tickets. So many of our tickets actually come in from schools for support that. sometimes have quick solutions. And
381so what we've been able to do over the course of the last two years is develop a kind of knowledge management system where we receive inquiries and we don't sometimes need to go out to the school site to resolve an issue. It's kind of remote support for those school sites and being able to access the device that may need support. When we're talking about hands-on services, we will still have deployed staff at the region level. and at the school site to support school needs. There will be impacts in terms of key response. What would have been a daily response may be delayed a day or two. But those are the things that we are having to kind of balance as we're making these reductions is that in order to sustain a particular level of support,
382we know that we need to have A technological response, meaning one that is people-based and one that is a self-help desk where you can actually go in and troubleshoot issues. And we're developing many of those tools so that our schools are supported through that lens. Okay, I understand that. But I still feel, even with the capacity that we have now, there's still a lot of delays, a lot of tickets. So that, I think... I think this potential RIF or preliminary RIF is just going to exacerbate that. And my concern is also what was mentioned by our labor partners. If we don't have this capacity, it's going to be outsourced, right? And that is what is our concern as well, is we're going to lose this valuable employees, and then we're going to realize, oh, we
383need the services. We're going to have to outsource. So what plans are set that the district is not going to do that? And I know you mentioned there's going to be a 39-month. Well, were they going to be able to come back? But yeah. So no, we will not be outsourcing functions after we've made these reductions. We would not generate the savings that I've said several times we need if the employees were merely replaced with... contractors. So that would undermine the savings that we know are so essential. And so that will not be happening. And my next question is connected to that. The report notes that this represents less than 1% of the total workforce, but percentage of headcount is not the same as a percentage of operational infrastructure. So can you quantify, are you
384able to quantify the service level degradation risk that we're taking, that the district is taking? The percentage of service level degradation based on the central office reductions? Yeah, well, the central office and also are classified that all the positions that we're losing. So you haven't done that? I don't know if I can quantify the service level degradation, but I can say that with respect to the central office reductions, which are, that is what you see in the attachment of the board report. You know, depending on the department, it was about 15 to 20% reductions that were happening. Now, they were done in a way that should not have a 15 to 20% reduction on service levels. For example, the payroll function is one of the most vital. functions of any organization, especially a school district.
385We, I, would not have made any reductions within the payroll department if I thought it was going to have any negative impact on our ability to pay people on time. But we will have moving forward. Fewer employees and so there will be less operational need in certain classifications And so that is the analysis if you want to call it that that went into that and that's just giving you one example and so we the the process that was followed the thoughtful process that was followed was to make Substantial reductions in central office as we committed in June to the board that we would but not have a corresponding percentage impact on services and to not have that kind of degradation. But I would be lying if I said there's going to be no impact on
386the district or on schools. As I mentioned before, the vast majority of our resources are on people, and they're all doing something important. So I... That's kind of how the decisions were made, the process, and the expected impact. So, Rocio, with your permission. and the board's permission, I just realized that our audience out there has been waiting patiently for public comment. And they did hear a whole round, so they have a good idea of what we're just... One last is just a comment. Go ahead. Go ahead, and then we'll go to public comment. So, and Ms. Gomez was asking questions in regards to the contract, right, the contracts that are out. I'm glad that you finally were able to provide some numbers, right? I, for myself, I know I have been asking for this information
387for over a year. right, been dismissed, gaslighted about it, but I've been asking for this. And I'm glad you finally brought it, but I think this is information that needs to be put out in public and also disaggregated. What is school site? What is professional contracts? What, you know, disaggregate that information for us, and this is information that should be made public for also, you know, the public to understand. you know, where the funds are also going in different in contracts. And also would love to know if some of these contracts are being considered to be renegotiated to maybe, you know, bring down some of the cost of some of them now that we're we want to hopefully next year reduce even more number of potential risks and also want to know about Central Office
388program consolidations, more information on that and how we're you know, there's just discretionary spending reductions, the analysis of that. And also, you know, a board member, Gones, says equity analysis as well. All of that information that we need, and I just wish we had all the information prior to today. So that's it. Thank you. So thank you, Rocio, and thank you, board members. To our audience out there, you've been waiting patiently. We're going to go to public comment, okay? And then we'll continue with round two. Go ahead, Mr. McLean. Okay. Rest up. We still have four folks who were tied to this item. I think we should get to them because they showed up just a little bit late. Sarah, are you here now? Sarah? Individual listed just as Sarah to speak on this item.
389Wesley? Oh, is that Sarah? Sarah? Okay, come on up. You'll have two minutes to speak once you begin. Hello, my name is Sarah Hawk. I'm a student leader at Roybal Learning Center and with Student CISR. BSAP, Dream Centers, community schools, PSW, school climate advocates, and campus aides are all vital to our educational system because they foster safety and provide our communities with rigorous academic support. I myself have been able to achieve proper academic success from the help of my PSA counselors and campus aides. I've seen friends of mine being able to overcome personal, challenging experiences of their own while still having good grades from the help of these. programs. If these programs are cut, students will face greater challenges in self-regulation and support, which will likely lead to an overall decline in academic performances due
390to reduced access to essential resources. Moreover, low-income students and students of color are going to be up against more mistreatment from systematic barriers and a loss of inclusion from racism and sexism, which occurs daily in every single classroom, including mine. Having access as a student to these programs allows us to feel more protected and know what actions to take for our students. ourselves in order for a better future. It is vitally important that the budget cut of the school police must happen rather than the cut of programs in our schools that help students of every color and background because school police is no longer beneficial to our students. Federal data has revealed school police disproportionately target black and brown students, LGBTQ plus youth, and students with disabilities. According to ACLU of Southern California, students were
391far more vulnerable to arrests and referrals in police in schools. with assigned law enforcement than in schools without. This includes Latin students, black students, and students with disabilities with an average 6.5 times higher arrest rates and five times higher referral rates. It is evident that students are far more likely to be criminalized for school behavior when law enforcement officers are permanently assigned to their campus regardless of how small the issue is, meaning it could be handled by administrators instead of law enforcement. We deserve to feel safe and secure at school. However, that has been difficult due to LASPD coming for people of color. There is no need in our system for an enforcement that does not contribute to our safety, to foster true safety and academic success, particularly for students of color. The district must
392prioritize funding for BSAP mental health and community support programs over the harmful discriminatory presence of school police. which federal data proves criminalization. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you. All right, Wesley, are you here? Wesley? Wesley? I think there's a Wesley here. All right, and then after Wesley is Leo, L-I-O, Leo, and then JC, and then Crystal. So we have Wesley, Leo, and then JC. Come on up. You'll have two minutes to speak once you begin. Thank you so much. My name is Wesley. I'm a senior at Eagle Rock High School and an organizer working with Students Deserve. For years, students have been demanding the full defunding of the Los Angeles School Police Department, and for years we have been dismissed and patronized. Why have student voices been ignored again and again? Why
393is this meeting, which ends at 5 o'clock, being held on a school day? Clearly, students and teachers are not the priority, and it raises the question, who does LUSD serve? The LASPD claims that its mission is to create a safe and tranquil environment, yet turns a blind eye to ICE's atrocities against students, like the beating of Anthony Paredes. If LASPD is not permitted to protect students from the biggest threat to their safety, then what is it for? The publicly available information on the LASPD is so slim that there is no data that can be used to justify its very existence. On the LAUSD open data dashboard, there is one single month this school year with any data in any category pertaining to arrests on campus. On the open database, there are no data sets regarding
394the school police. The LASPD siphons tens of millions of dollars from LAUSD that could be spent on unarmed counselors who are trained to respond to crises, the majority of which are mental health related, according to a UCLA analysis. The money that is spent on police, as well as the superintendent's $440,000 salary, could be spent on dream centers, the BSAP, queer support, art programs, and other things. Then there's ICE, which does not operate in a vacuum. And it, along with LAPD and LASPD, are all law enforcement agencies. They function together and serve the same ends. At the student-led protests on February 4th, the simple presence of a police officer was enough to spark a stampede. As I watched students begin to run away from the officer who got just a little too close, I felt no
395shock. In fact, the reaction was almost predictable. The fear surrounding law enforcement contradicts the image of protection and safety that it attempts to convey. For how long will we allow the myth of the good cop to steer our funding decisions? To the board and to the superintendent, if you truly care about student forces, if your goal really is to provide a safe and secure educational environment, then you will begin the process of fully defunding the Los Angeles Police Department. Thank you. Leo, are you here? Leo? Come on down. And then after Leo is JC. Come on down. You'll have two minutes to speak once you begin. Hi, my name is Leo. I'm a sophomore at Eagle Rock High School. I'm here because my best friends can't be. I'm here because I'm frustrated, I'm angry, I'm
396paying attention, and nothing's being done. We need money for our teachers. We do not need money for school police. This is taking people off the streets left and right, and it's affecting everybody. We cannot have police in schools. We cannot have ICE anywhere near our schools. We cannot have kidnappers in school zones. We're not safe with ICE here. School is supposed to be a safe place to be, and we're the only ones that keep us safe. Thank you, LAUSD school board members, for passing the resolution on community-based safety. Thank you, Carly Grego. Thank you, Gones. Thank you, Rivas. Now, who decides what community safety is? We do. The students, the community. It will take a long time to implement, but it's possible. You said so when you passed it. So it must be done right.
397Community-based safety is a lot of things, but what it isn't is police. It includes zero law enforcement or border patrol or immigration and customs officers. You guys are in charge of so many students, and you need our help to create something that is for us. Let us help. We want to help create a community that is safe for us. But at the same time, we're scared. We're being targeted. It's not fair. We need you to take us seriously. We'll come back again and again and again. We need fully funded Dream Centers. Fully funded. Not half funded, understaffed, sort of working. Fully funded. And we need them in every single school. Not just the high schools. Not just the angry schools. Every single school. We need all police out of schools. We demand safe, ice-free school
398zones around every single school, warrant or not. We're taught to be smart and stand up for ourselves, and so we're doing that today. You have $1.5 billion in reserves. You have the money and resources to do this. I'm not asking too much. Thank you. Thank you for your time. JC, are you there? All right, come on down. You have two minutes to speak once you begin. And then after JC, it's Crystal. Hi, my name is JC Hizon and I am a senior at Eagle Rock High School. I come to you to express my demands regarding LAUSD's policies. I urge the board to not send RIFs to loyal employees as well as the insurance of essential programs such as BSAP, Dream Centers, and PSW workers have no funding cuts in the upcoming budget plans. the programs
399pivotal for supporting students, not the police systems that have criminalized and abused us, which continue to be funded. This past month, I have seen my peers across the nation rise against the totalitarian state America has found itself in. And through that, I have seen rage, passion, as well as endless solidarity among future leaders. On February 4th, I took part in a walkout to demonstrate to those impacted by immigration forces that the youth will always be fighting for their justice when authorities and the government refuse to give them the due process they deserve. As I walked out, of my school alongside friends and peers chanting for ice to get off our streets and schools I saw our staff look not with disdain, disgust, or anger at the act of disobedience but with pride and hope. Hope
400that despite the devastation and violence in the world the youth will time and time again show up. When talking to these staff the day after, they expressed their frustrations that due to district and nationwide policy, they must ignore their students in their fight against an institution that threatens to kidnap the kids in communities that make our cities. Why are the voices of our educators suppressed and forced to be neutral towards the violence against our students? Complacency is complicity. When this is the norm within institutions, our teachers and providers are forced to be compliant in upholding the power structures that inhibit our students from demanding justice for our students. futures and families. Ricardo Lopez at Synergy Quantum Academy was escorted out of campus after opening the gate for students to walk out from seeing them hurt
401themselves from jumping the fence. Why must they be punished when their job is to protect the fence and teach us? You say school is the safest place to be, but inevitably we will be sent back out those doors. Families will continue the routine of going to and from school in the fear that they will be the next to disappear or be kidnapped. There needs to be a better plan. I demand that you remember my words and evaluate the policies surrounding the suppression of our educators' voices and personal rights. You were once impassioned leaders and youth like us. How and why else would you have gone to this position? Thank you for your time. Thank you for your time. All right, Crystal, are you here? Crystal? Crystal? Yeah, she's not on the line. Vicky Martinez is
402also calling in. Are you here in person? Okay. Now we'll go on to general public comment. Thank you, everyone, for being so patient. We'll call on the folks who are listed as being here in person, and then we will go to those who listed themselves as calling in remotely. So the first speaker is Victoria Jimenez. And then after Victoria is Joseph Williams, and then Jayden Thomas. So please come on up, Victoria Jimenez, and you have two minutes to speak once you begin. Good afternoon, board members. My name is Victoria Jimenez, and I'm a psychiatric social worker in the South region. In my role, I've ridden in ambulances with students. I've completed safety plans for students with suicidal ideation. I've been hands-on support during and after lockdowns and fights. I've sat with parents while they cried
403and coached teachers through serious concerns about students they are worried about. I've translated and facilitated hard conversations for families who don't speak English, and I supported home visits when students disappeared from school. And I've also been there for the beautiful parts, such as watching students improve their attendance, grow in how they handle conflict, get excited about their dream college acceptances, graduate, and then come back once they're on college. Right now, many of our students and families are living with fear and uncertainty, and school is one of the only places where they feel and experience consistency. Students have told me, your room helps me calm down so I don't crash out, or a lot is going on at home. I wanted to be here. Another student has told me they don't want to get attached because
404they don't know if I'll be back next year, which impacts their ability to open up and engage successfully. Also, without a PSW, schools are forced to rely on staff who may not be trained to assess suicide risk, complete safety plans, or connect families to vital community support services. That's how students slip through the cracks. And when schools have constant turnover in support staff, students lose the stability and trusted adults that help keep them safe, regulated, and coming to school. Please protect PSW and school-based support staff positions in any budget decisions. When these roles are reduced, safety and attendance are impacted. Thank you. Thank you for your time. Joseph Williams. Hello, hello, board members and superintendent. My name is Joseph Williams. I'm with Students Deserve, supporting all the powerful young people that y'all have heard and
405more who will come up. First, I just want to say, is Local 99 in the house? Local 99 is in the house. Are UTLA members in the house? UTLA members are in the house. Are students in the house? Students are in the house. Are parents in the house? We've got a lot of folks who have come to y'all week after week, year after year, saying that you must listen to young people, you must listen to their parents and family members, you must listen to school staff who are the closest to the issues when you are making your budgets. We know that budgets are a moral document, right? They dictate and talk about what the morals of the district has. As we've heard young people talk about today, we have seen, not just this year, but
406a history. of police violence against young people in our communities. And our communities are not actually getting more violence except for the violence that we're seeing from state sanctioned officials. Last year, 2025, was the lowest year since 1967 for murders in the county of Los Angeles. A big part of the work that we are doing to end the criminalization of young people and instead invest in the resources and supports that young people need through BSAP. through restorative justice, through school climate advocates and other positions that young people have fought for, have advocated for, have demanded, they are absolutely having an impact in these young people's lives. They are absolutely having an impact in the outcomes that we're seeing in LAUSD, which has some of the highest achievement rates over the past couple of years that
407y'all have ever seen and highest improvements for black students and for English learners that y'all have ever seen. This is a direct result of the staff. that young people have fought for, of the programs that young people have fought for, and of the divestment from police that young people have fought for that has transformed their school climates. So we're telling y'all, we're demanding, we're supporting the voices of young people who are saying, continue to divest from policing. Absolutely no. Position should be cut that serves students while y'all are still spending education dollars on school police. Absolutely no counselor, school climate advocate, bus driver, teacher, PSW, PSA, or any position should be cut where y'all are still using education dollars for school police. Fund these positions and defund school police. Thank you for your time. Jaden
408Thomas? Jaden Thomas? Jaden Thomas? Hello everyone, I am Jane Thomas. I'm a sophomore at Narbonne High School, and I'm here for my public comment on PSWs. PSWs are important to the school because they provide early intervention and early mental health support for students and multiple other individuals. There are multiple sources that kids who have PSWs have lower absences and incidences of suspension. Students with PSWs demonstrate positive academic results such as high rates of graduation increase, these feelings of school connections and higher GPAs. My PSW is important to me because without her I wouldn't know where I would be right now. She's given me multiple ideas on how to get better grades for my classes, helped me reach a growth of mindset, and thanks for her mental health counseling. She has also given me motivation to
409speak out and go on what's on my mind. If schools didn't have any PSW services, I wouldn't know what to do and I would be more upset about it. She has given me a lot of support over the time. Having a PSW gone would really affect multiple students' mental health, leading to multiple behavior problems, lower grade levels, and really low rates of graduations. LAUSD should not approve any layoff of notices of staff, especially to not any current PSWs or to any close vacations positions for the next school year. This would have been a very significant detrimental effects on LAUSD schools, families, staff, and schools. Mental health and PSW services are a right, not a privilege for all LAUSD students and their families at all schools and programs for all educational levels from early childhood, education,
410elementary, middle school, high school, alternative education, and adult education. Thank you. Thank you for your time. LaKel? And then after LaKel is Ian Kirksey and then Christopher Covington. So we've got LaKel and then Ian Kirksey and then Christopher Covington. I'll be using my time to talk. Thank you. Please go ahead. You have two minutes to begin. Hello. My name is Dominic. I'm an MCLC student and the leader of Students Serve. I'm here today so y'all can commit to funding programs that actually support our communities to make sure no cuts affect BSAP, Dream Centers, and community schools and PSWs. If these programs are cut, students will lose the only sign that you're actually working to ensure an equitable education for us. And I just really wanted to talk about how I wish growing up that these
411programs were in place. Because I think about peers around me that resulted to... going into gang life or drug dealing and resorting to other activities like this that they would have resources in school because one of the main factors of them resorting to these sources of illegal activity was, oh, school doesn't believe in me. They don't care about me. And just having these resources growing up was really... keeps me up at night thinking, oh, maybe they would have been here at graduation. Maybe they wouldn't be at a juvenile detention center. Maybe if we invested in students, there would be less students in juvenile detention centers than walking the stage with me today. So I just really want to emphasize that these programs are necessary. to make the message clear to students that our education matters.
412Ask for more family and student input to ensure dream centers are actually put into use as actual centers of safety and resources. If budget is a matter of importance, then cut LA school police and invest in your students. Ask that during budget cuts in regards to staff members that we look at these decisions holistically and recognize these. people as people not just numbers but as people with families and duties that indirectly or directly help towards the function of our schools. Thank you for your time. Thank you for your time. Ian Kirksey come on up. Ian Kirksey. No Ian. We'll just keep going and come back to him. Christopher Covington. I yield to Esteban. Okay, great. Thank you. Come on up, Esteban. You'll have two minutes to speak once you begin. Hey, all. My name is
413Esteban. I'm from Venice High School, so I came a long way here. I'm exhausted. I know you're exhausted, so thank you for your undivided attention. Really appreciate you listening to every student here. In the streets of Los Angeles, loved ones are being abducted by federal forces. This isn't news to you that families are being torn apart. It's also not news to you that police are a conduit for violence, inflicting harm on community members who are actively resisting fascism. In the streets of Los Angeles, students are being violently assaulted by police. Just last week on Friday the 13th, I saw videos of LAPD not only being physically aggressive, but attempting to use weapons against students like me. These pigs have been showing up to peaceful student demonstrations with the intent to suppress dissent, quell resistance, and
414maintain the status quo. Despite what the media may portray, Students out there protesting are joyful and hopeful people. They're advocating for a future where they can exist without constant fear for the safety of their loved ones. This is why we need to defund school police. Police actively endanger students. LUSD cannot claim to support migrant families while continuing to fund an institution that actively harms the students that come from these migrant families. If LUSD wants to stand on business, then you need to completely remove policing forces from school campuses. By refusing to defund school police, you are remaining complicit with larger systems that oppress communities of color. I'm sure many students before me have reminded the board of the violent and racist origins of police. And yet, instead of cutting school police, you're considering cutting funding
415for BSAP, a program designed to address the systemic oppression experienced by the black community. If you begin to dismantle BSAP, your actions will echo for years to come. Right now we need to invest in student support more than ever. If you threaten BSAP, you set a dangerous precedent that students are disposable. So not only do we need to continue to uplift black students to address historic harm, but we also need to expand funding for dream centers and LGBTQ support. The choice is yours. Choose to keep school police and uphold systemic racism, or invest in student resources that are needed more than ever. Thank you. Thank you for your time. Amir? Amir? Earlier you shared that on Ian right are you gonna do that at the end or can we have I'll just come back again
416I'll come back again. Thank you. Appreciate it. I'm here Come back to a mirror Marche. Oh boy. I believe you Who is she yielding her time to come on up miss Parker? Come on up miss Parker. You'll have two minutes to speak once you begin Oh Barker with the B my apologies Good afternoon. My name is Paula Barker. May I just ask you to lower the mic? Thank you. Good afternoon. My name is Paula Barker, and I am a parent of a child at Audubon Middle School. I'm a member of Reclaim Our Schools Los Angeles, and here today as a parent concerned about the district's voting on cuts when you don't have a full financial... Pitcher, also here as a parent who supports our teachers and our school staff. We need to settle the contract
417with UTLA and SEIU Local 99 so that our students can have the quality education that they deserve. At Audubon, I also love the BSAP program, and I believe these children need as much mental health services. So I would love to see these programs stay, and I would hope that you would not cut them. Thank you for your time. Thank you for your time. All right, Selena McClurkin. Selena. Let's see, Allenson. And then after Allenson is Julian and then Mariah Williams. So Allenson, then Julian, then Mariah Williams. Please go ahead. You have two minutes to speak once you begin. Thank you. Hello. My name is Alenton Delgado. I'm a leader with Students to Serve and a senior at Roybal Learning Center. I'd like to start off by thanking you for passing the resolution on community-based safety
418introduced by board member Carla Gagel and co-sponsored by board members Rivas and Gones. Sorry if I mispronounced that. I'd also like to remind you all that community-based safety means real safety rooted in care, something that school police can't do. What police do have is a strong research-backed reputation for criminalizing student behavior, often contributing to a school-to-prison pipeline, which for those that don't know is the complete opposite of enriching a student's learning experience. So why try to insert them in our schools as a solution to keep them safe from ICE when they're both a danger to our students? These raids have created fear in our community so much it's becoming normalized. I call upon the district to publicly condemn ICE from entering our schools. I demand a clear and immediate communication with campus educators whenever ICE
419is near a school. And most importantly, I demand that this district fully funds community-based safety and safe passage programs, not expand policing. Real safety comes from programs and resources like the Black Student Achievement Plan, Dream Centers, LGBTQ Plus Support, Indigenous Education Resources, School Psychiatric Social Workers, and Standing with UTLA. Enough with the lies that there needs to be budget cuts, that there is no money for it because you said the same thing last year about BSAP, Dream Centers, and about LGBTQ Plus Support. Yet last summer, we had major wins with millions of dollars for funding all of these programs after enough demands. You are not lying to anyone here. We all know you have billions in reserve. So again, I demand that the district, I demand the district to use its billions in reserves for
420students and educators, not surveillance, not private contracts, not school police. A case that came to my attention was the 1776 Project Foundation versus LUZ lawsuit. The one that is a clear attempt to dismantle hard-fought wins towards equity in our schools. We urge the LUSD district to stand up against this nonsense. You can't fix racial inequality without acknowledging race. These programs exist to correct miserable disparities created by segregation, redlining, and decades of intentional underfunding. Thank you for your time. I'm not done. Schools serving black and brown communities. Thank you for your time. Next speaker is Julian. Julian. All right. And then Mariah. Come on down. You have two minutes to speak once you begin. Hello school board. My name is Mariah Williams and I'm a senior at San Pedro High School here with Students Deserve. I'm
421here today because students like me are tired of being asked to sacrifice the programs that actually support us while the district continues to invest in policing and harmful infrastructure that puts our health at risk. At schools, programs like BSAP and Dream Centers are not extras. They are literally lifelines. I've heard from plenty of students themselves. They create belonging. They create mentorship. and real support systems for students who have historically been pushed to the margins. Cutting those programs or laying off the staff who run them would be a decision to abandon the students who rely on them most. So I'm asking you, do not cut BSAP, do not lay off the staff who support our healing and success, and stop investing in systems that harm our communities while calling it safety. Real safety is not shown
422with layoffs. Real safety is shown with investment. Investment in mental health and PSWs, especially during a severe mental health crisis in our youth. Investment in culturally responsive programs. Investment in environments where students can feel safe, both physically and emotionally. If the district is serious about equity, then protect the programs that protect us and divest from systems that don't. And when you do invest in those programs, ensure that they are received and have clear expectations within all schools. I attend a school that has a lower black population, leading to BSAP being left behind and unnoticed. I don't get as much resources from BSAP as my peers from other schools do. Ensure that the funds that you invest are used for black students at all LAUSD schools, not just a select few of them. Thank you for
423your time. Thank you for your time. Julian? Coming back to Julian, not here. J-Lind. Maria Daisy Ortiz. I see you're out there. Maria Daisy Ortiz is going to speak in Spanish, so if you'd like to hear what she's saying in English, please put your hands up and we'll get you translation headsets. All right. If you need a translation headset, please put your hand up and we will get one to you. A couple more, I think. Okay. Gracias. Muy buenas tardes a todos. Good afternoon, everybody. My name is Maria Daisy Ortiz. And well, first thing that I want to say to you is you say that you put students first, right? And so based upon that, I want to know if you started reducing your positions here. So much personnel that you have here that is
424just behind your back. I just have data for you here that is very important. More than anything for English learners who are 20%. And just to say, level 1. See how much level 1 is. It's 26.31. And in grade 9, it's at 53.18. 10th grade, 48. 11 35 and 12th grade is 32 28 so our english learners are graduating at 86 but they don't even have a level of proficiency for english at a college level so i want you to see How are you going to stabilize the funds and how you're putting students first in the category for listening and speaking? Category one is at 23.70% by ninth grade. It is a 50.51% and grade 10 is... 42, 57%. And then if we go to the categories of reading and writing, we see that level
425one in grade nine is at 60.10%. The other grade, 51.1. 11th grade is 42.92%. And 12th grade is 40.94%. Do you call that, Mr. Superintendent? Is that academic excellence? What are you all going to do so that our students, English learner students, are not giving them a dream that does not exist with your demagogue words? I also, for beginning level, it's 45, 50. But for all grades, from 6th grade and above, are at a 56.62%. And in the dashboard, English learners, long-term English learners, they are at, in science, they are in the red. Thank you so much for your time. And in the dashboard for English arts, they are in orange. So we need to improve. Thank you for your time. Daniel Serra. Daniel Serra, come on up. You have two minutes to speak once
426you begin. And then after Daniel is Abraham. Good afternoon, District Board. My name is Daniel. I'm a leader with Students Deserve, and I'm a student at Roybal. Five years ago students made history. We moved to pass the Black Student Achievement Plan, a plan to help black students achieve academic success. Not only does this plan help black students, but it also helps all students that are under its wing. It has maybe been the most useful thing the district has passed. Yet you all are looking to defund it. BSAP is looking to be defunded this year because of a fascist Trump regime, and you all are bending the knee and waving the white flag to a regime that is looking to destroy the poor, the people of color, the people of different genders, and education. You say
427that there are no funds, that the district has no money. Well, then use those $5 billion in reserves to fund the students, the educators, and the schools. You say those funds are only meant to be used in times of emergency. Well, now is that time. Families are being kidnapped and killed by mass federal agents. Keith Porter was a man of color who was murdered by an off-duty ICE agent. He was the cousin of Students Deserves parent organizer Janae. His name alongside Renee Good, Alex Pretty, and the many more killed by ICE will reverberate throughout cities and school hallways for decades to come. Instead of wanting to fight back in your own ways, you are looking to start layoffs and defund schools, educators, and by extent, students. Educators such as those from SEIU Local 99 can
428barely afford to live, living off an average wage of nearly $35,000. Educators cannot afford to live in the areas where they are educating. Schools are in bad condition. Gas leaks, rundown bathrooms, and vandalism on school property. Students are unsafe the moment they step foot out of school grounds. Again, yet you choose to defund all of these. We demand you work with UTLA, SEIU, and students to help allocate funds to schools, educators, and student plans like community-based safety, dream centers, LGBTQ plus resources, and of course BSAP. Thank you. Thank you for your time. Abraham? Is Abraham here? Abraham? All right. Araya Blakely? I yield my time to Ainsley. Understood. Thank you. You have two minutes to speak. Why don't you begin? Thank you. Hello. My name is Ainsley Drake. I'm a junior at Eagle Rock High
429School. But today I'm speaking to the board on behalf of somebody else. I have a friend who comes to school in fear every day, feeling that she is forced to take a risk every time she takes a trip to and from school. She fears this for her single mother. who must herself risk security to support their small family. My friend fears this because she knows that if ICE or any such predatory institution were to come after her or her mother, there would be little to nothing that our school would be able to do for them. And we know full well this is the case for a disproportionate number of students across the district, as if something must be done. That's why 4,000 students walked out February 4th demanding the district-funded family centers and dream centers
430for all schools. Because schools must be more than just a place where students go during the day, but you must ensure that students are safe when they go home. We understand the school district faces extreme budgetary problems, but that excuse should pale in comparison to the fear and suffering faced daily by our students. And so sacrifices must be made if we are to keep those students safe in these times. So make the necessary changes for my friend, the over 4,000 students who walked out on the 4th, the 6th, and the 13th, and the many, many at-risk students across this district to fund family centers and keep people safe. Thank you. Your time. Brian Z. Brian Z, are you here? Brian Z. Come on down. You have two minutes to speak once you begin. After Brian
431Z, we'll return to Mariana for Ian Kirksey, and then we'll try Abraham again. Please go ahead. Well, first I would like to thank Dr. Rivas, Kyle Grego, and Kelly Gunness for pushing for community-based safety, okay? This was an important step toward what students, families, and community members have been demanding for years. Real safety, really in care, and not policing. Now, LUSD must ensure students and community organizers must include, or are included and centered in how this resolution is implemented. What does community-based safety mean for me at my school? It means PSWs, workshops like Know Your Rights, and more safe passage programs. These are meant for the students to help out the students. And some of the board members might say, oh, students will use this. I use this. My friends use it. The New Year's
432rights workshop at my school. Hundreds of students popped up and wanted to learn more about their rights. It's also more important, sorry, it's also important that students and community organizers help shape these safety policies because it's... Because it's us, the students and the communities living here, we are affected by the changes made by the school board. If you cut PSWs, then a lot of the students' mental health will get worse. If you let ICE raid our schools or get close, then student attendance will drop. We as a community want our voices to be heard, so please and work with us so that we can help shape those safety policies. And let me explain furthermore. How does community-based safety matter in the context of ICE raids and police violence? Right now, there's a fear among students,
433parents, and the community. Fear that on our way to school or the way to work, we will be kidnapped by ICE. How can students focus on their grades knowing their parents or even themselves could be taken away? How would you feel if you have a child going out there knowing that they could be taken away? On my way to school, I was on the bus, okay? there was an ice rain near my bus stop. How should I go to school knowing that? How should I be able to focus in class knowing that? So as a student, as a part of the community, for teachers, okay, for everyone, help us to help you to shape safety policies, please. Thank you for your time. All right, Mariana for Ian Kirksey. Mariana, come on down. You have two
434minutes to speak. Why don't you begin? My name is Mariana Calderon. I'm currently a student at San Pedro High School and I ask that you listen, that you truly listen. I came to talk about an urgent problem today, waste management, sustainability, and climate responsibility at our schools. I want to begin with something simple and that is plastic straws that come with the lunch utensils. Why are we still using plastic straws, which aren't even straws in the first place, they're stirrers. The drinks provided in the school lunch can be consumed perfectly fine without them. They are unnecessary and they are wasteful. And more often than not, they end up on the ground instead of in a trash can. We live right by the ocean. Los Angeles is right by the ocean. That means that the plastic
435we casually throw away doesn't disappear magically from the ground. It travels through our streets and eventually into the water that defines our community. Thousands of pollutants fill the ocean day after... Sorry. After days like today, after the rain, a natural phenomenon of life carries our trash into the most beautiful landscape that is the sea. So when we continue to use single-use plastics unnecessarily, we are contributing to environmental harm that directly impacts where we live. And it doesn't stop there. We are told to recycle, but then we watch as the staff dumps the recycling into the same trash containers because the systems aren't set up properly. There is literally no point in doing anything if it won't be handled the right way. If sustainability is treated as performative instead of something real, then students are being
436taught that responsibility doesn't matter. Instead, we should be implementing real solutions, biodegradable solutions, and utensils instead of plastic ones, like the cardboard-based materials used at places like the Getty Center, proper recycling, and compost bins, because those are also important. that are actually separated and used correctly because when so much can be reusable or biodegradable why is waste still the default? But I don't want to cover only plastic in the conversation. It's about climate justice and climate justice is about equity because environmental harm is not distributed equally. Plenty of studies expose that unjust environmental consequences that lower income communities endure when a problem is created by the rich. Power plants, industrial pollution, and waste infrastructure are almost always placed in working class communities like Compton, Torrance, and San Pedro. You won't find power plants sitting next
437to luxurious neighborhoods like Beverly Hills or Hollywood. That is not accidental. A few weeks ago, I conducted my own study where I visited different neighborhoods and... measured the amount of plastic waste on the streets. The results were predictable that there was no visible waste in wealthier areas like Beverly Hills, while neighborhoods like South Central has significantly more pollution and trash. And you can literally walk out right now. Thank you so much for your time. Amir? I thought I saw Amir out there. Come on up. You have two minutes to speak once you begin. And then we will go to the folks who showed up late. We have Jalyn is next, and then two callers. I'm giving my time to Maria Sanchez. Hola, buenas tardes. Mi nombre es Maria Sanchez. My name is Maria Sanchez. I
438just ask that you please not fire the counselors or classified personnel or teachers, but rather school police. Please protect and support the mental health of the student. Please don't lay off any of the classified employees or counselors, but... reduce the school police and put more members of personnel in the schools that support mental health. It's very important that you also reflect the needs of the structures of our schools that school 21 has so many needs right now. Please consider reducing or holding off on layoffs because we need so much support in schools because we don't have teachers, we don't have counselors. And we need your support in the schools. A lot. Because as a parent of special needs student, I need your support. I need it very much so. Because the kids need it from
439you. And all the schools, the personnel, and all the organizations. Because I'm also... in Reclaim and the other organization. Please support the students and the kids and everything that is necessary because they are taking advantage of this project that you will implement this year. Please support them. I just need your support as you represent the whole district. Thank you for your support and your time. Thank you for your time. All right, Jalyn, are you here? Jalyn? I'm told Jalyn is here. Come on up, sir. You'll have two minutes to speak once you begin. Hello, everyone. How's y'all days going so far? Y'all days going good? It's cold out, so I'm laying on there right now. But hello, my name is Jalen Sims, and I am a senior at Hamilton High School. I stand here because
440the disconnect between this district and its students has reached a breaking point. We're not just names on a roster. We are the community you serve, yet we are being treated as afterthoughts. First, we demand transparency. For sudden changes in lunch procedures to major policy shifts, students and teachers are consistently the last to know. This silence breeds distrust. If you expect us to be the leaders of tomorrow, Stop leaving us in the dark about the developments happening in our own hallways today. Furthermore, LUSD must acknowledge the reality our families face. For the BIPOC, LGBTQ, and migrant communities, the threat of ICE is a daily crisis. We, beyond simple red cards, we demand the district to use instructional time. for active safety training on documenting encounters and community safety. Do not just point to us as to
441the website. Partner with the organizations already doing this work to prepare us for the world we actually live in. Finally, we must talk about the budget. As a reflection to our values, we demand that LUSD completely divests from school police. reinvest to those millions into our people. Specifically, we demand zero cuts to our classified positions. Am I done? Am I done? Okay, hold up. Our custodians, cafeteria workers, and office staff are the backbone to our schools and our students. It's unacceptable. to even consider cutting the workers who keep us fed and keep our campuses running while continuing to fund police force. Thank you for your time. I appreciate your time. Thank you. All right, now that we have two callers calling in remotely, Selena, I see you're on the line. Selena, please press star six
442to unmute yourself, and you'll have two minutes to speak once you begin. Selena. Hello, can you hear me? We sure can. Please go ahead. Hello, my name is Selena McClurkin with Catalyst California, and I'm also a Board District 1 resident. On behalf of the Equity Alliance for LA's Kids, we urge LAUSD to prioritize equity and protect high-need schools by restoring the full $700 million to CENI. At a time when our communities are facing federal funding cuts, ice raids, and the erosion of critical social services, schools look to the district for stability and safety. Instead, LAUSD's proposed cuts to CENI not only create more instability, but strip communities of vital resources. Currently, the district has cut nearly $100 million in CENI for fiscal year 27, swept carryover entirely, and proposes another $200 million cut the following
443year. These decisions roll back a community-driven equity win established over a decade ago. School budget data shows these reductions disproportionately harm our highest need students, a striking contradiction to LAUSD's supposed commitment to equity in its strategic plan. On average, when accounting for schools that do not change CENI quintiles, highest need schools are losing 15% of their CENI budget compared to just 6% in lowest need schools. This is the opposite of equity. These dollars fund essential roles at school sites such as campus aides, special education assistants, school climate advocates, and more who help students feel safe and supported. That is why we stand in solidarity with our labor partners in opposing any reductions in force that will cause further harm to our high and highest needs students. Further, last June the Board passed a budgeting based
444on equity and student need resolution committing to protect CENI highest and high need schools and release an equity impact analysis. To date, the community has still not received this critical information that could have helped avoid the district's inequitable budget choices. This is unacceptable. Schools cannot be expected to sustain the programs that drove historic learning gains while their primary equity funding is dismantled. We urge the board to fully restore the $700 million to CENI, eliminate CENI cuts in the fiscal stabilization plan, and publicly release the equity impact analysis before making decisions that further destabilize our schools. Equity cannot be a stated value without action to back it up. Thank you. Thank you for your time. All right, Sam Wamba, Sam W. I see you're on the line. Please press star six to unmute yourself, and you'll
445have two minutes to speak once you begin. Sam W. Are you able to hear me? Yes, please. Go ahead. We can hear you. Dear members of the Los Angeles Unified School District, I write with profound concern regarding any potential downsizing or budget driven reduction to support student services. At the moment, many students are still grappling with emotional, social, and psychological. After effects of prolonged pandemic isolation, further reduction, particularly the mental health and individualized supports, which would have serious and long-lasting effects. I am countless families across the district, including my own impact of the pandemic are not theoretical or abstract. My three daughters, like many students continue to experience delayed social development challenges with emotional regulation, difficulty with fully reintegrating into in-person learning and facing personal challenges, challenges, challenges themselves at school and at home. And
446in moments when children are expected. to function as though things are normal in these formative years of disruption have never occurred. For the many students who are struggling to learn, stabilize, and grow, including my own, I believe it is important you do not make this cuts. At this time, I'm unable to even find a way to transport my child adequately to support her therapeutic and educational need outside the school hours due to struggles with everything going on. As such, I'm formally requesting that LAUSD preserve and allow continued access to in-school services provided by psychiatric social workers and licensed psychiatric social workers. This request is grounded in necessity, not only convenience, as a parent who can testify to the effects it has had on my daughter, who is personally benefited from those services. I want to
447be unequivocally clear. My daughters have acted appropriately, responsibly, and good faith at all times, and yet continue to face many challenges, results, and misconduct of things that are not due to their own faults. These unpredictable, undocumented effects or unprecedented disruptions have caused critical development for years to come. Thank you for your time. All right, that concludes general public comment for this meeting. We're going to return to tab 13. I believe, let me check on that. What was your name again? I know, but what's your name? Oh, Marche. Marche. Okay, hold on one second, please. And Ainsley D. already spoke, right? That was that young... Yeah, I understand there was another young man named Ainsley D who who signed up twice so come on up Marche you're good Hey, my name is Marshae. I'll be speaking
448for Abraham May. Yeah, my name is Abraham May. I am a student at Mann UCLA, an underserved school in an underserved community. Students who look like me and students who come from backgrounds similar to mine have been taught to conform to a style of education that is outdated and is built to essentially make us robots with no voice. Programs like BSAP have allowed students of color to experience the world in ways that prepares them for adulthood. further education and careers. In my experience with BSAP at my school, I've noticed myself and my friends grow as students and as fighters for change. Through BSAP, I've been able to let my voice be heard and the problems in my school and community are being addressed. Without BSAP, I wholeheartedly believe that black and brown students would not
449have their voices be heard in addition to the problems in their communities not being addressed. It is a shame to essentially have our First Amendment rights taken away through the only means that our voices can be heard to defund or cut BSAP. Please fund BSAP and defund Polis. Thank you. Thank you very much. All right. Now back to tab 13. Chiomara, are you here? Come on up. You'll have two minutes to speak in place of Vicky. Buenas tardes. Mi nombre es Chiomara. Good afternoon. My name is Chiomara, and I represent the school in District 9. And this message is for the President Carvalho. I want to say that the people voted for you. Until 2030. And the data is not in your favor. Right now and coming in on January of this year. And believe
450me, in a ship, there's captains, there are others, and all those that are on their way in a boat. And we as parents, we will not let this boat sink. You are doing your job just like a... the education of our students in play. Do you think that we're just going to sit down so that you can keep leading until 2030 and for schools to disappear just because there are no funds? Knowing full well that you and the entire district have a fund reserved for great emergencies, my question is, if teachers And all those that work in the schools, the one that gives coffee or the one that picks up papers in the bathroom is not important. And are they not emergency? So why do you have these funds? We will not stop. Me as
451a mother, I will not stop. I hope to see my two daughters. I hope to see my grandkids in this district. And you might think. But the boat will not because when people come together, there is power. Because in 2018, we united, and that's where the Colorado State united. And you know why? Because the same word in Proverbs that is said, when a king is bad, God will return the answer. Thank you for your time. And we'll check to see if Crystal is here. One last time for Crystal on tab 13. Okay, thank you. That concludes public comment for tab 13. And then I believe, Ms. Griego, you had your hand up and Rocio, I mean, Dr. Rivas, you were. Okay. All right. Can I go now? Go for it. All right. Thank you. Yeah,
452I just want to clarify a couple of things that were said. Regarding school site budgeting. Simone, you said that schools made choices and prioritized and but when we're taking away their sunny, their sunny funds, we're reducing it. We are taking away their carry over. We are, you know, they're losing enrollment. They don't have much choice. Right? So I just want to be clear that schools had to make very difficult choices because they were placed in that position by this. Fiscal stabilization plan, and so when they did not choose a supervision aid, but instead chose. Another position it wasn't because they valued 1 more than the other, or that they felt that there was a greater need of 1 more than the other. Simply. It was a very difficult position that they were placed in. So
453I want to make sure that that is is out there. The other thing I heard. We're number, Melvoin say that we have 140 ongoing OPEB. And I want to clarify what that $140 million are. Is it the pay as you go? Or is that, what is that? Because I thought we were not going to make any, we were not going to put any money into the trust. So can you clarify that for me, please? Sure. So the in June the decision was made to lower the to lower the previously decided contribution into the open trust the irrevocable trust It had been previously a little bit over 300 million dollars and then it was lowered to about 143 million dollars so that reduction is allowed for the district to free up about 634 million dollars which
454was reflected at first interim so earlier in my presentation I gave a summary of some of the actions that improved the district's projected ending balances, and that was one of them. So again, the contribution in the OPEB trust reduced from 300 million plus down to the $143 million. And that's now what remains as the contribution into the OPEB trust for this year and each subsequent school year, fiscal year. I see. So we have not... We have not decided yet, right, that we will make zero contribution into the trust. Correct. All right. So that $140 million are still there that we could choose to not – to use in other ways. Yeah, and just to clarify, the $143 million is a combination of different funds contributing because all positions of the district, whether, for example, they're
455in the bond funds or general fund restricted, Title I, et cetera. So the portion, it's not all general fund unrestricted, the $143 million. Because each position, depending on how it's funded, provides the same contribution into the trust per position. Is this the one, is this the amount that is charged to each position? It's a portion of it, yeah. So you referenced the pay-go. It's separate from the pay-go. Yes. The pay-go, the pay-as-you-go. It's separate from that. Yes, correct. I see. Okay. All right. So the other thing is, you know, when I... Carla can you hang on for one second to our friends who are valuable members of the public if you if you want to have a conversation can you please take it into the hallway because Miss Grego's coming in faintly we can't quite
456hear the questions she's asking and we also want to hear the these answers it's very important stuff so with the utmost respect that I can offer can you please take it into the lobby to chit chat thank you go ahead Carla All right, thank you. I cannot hear any of the background noise in the room. So, all right. So, yeah, in the summer, we voted on this FSP plan, and I abstained from that vote. And the reason why is because it wasn't clear about how the items in the FSP plan were going to impact our schools, right? And then... You know, as the year progress, it became clearer and clearer and at the same time, as I said, in my earlier statement, there are 2 things that to me are very important in making such
457a huge decision because frankly, I can't stand here and advocate. Only for it only for bus driver supervisors only for gardeners only for the. beyond the bell workers who are getting their hours reduced and will no longer have health care because they're all very critical. folks, all of them are very critical and making a big decision such as cutting employees, cutting personnel whom we know none of them are just sitting around doing nothing. They're all working. They're all contribute to the district. To me, that is a very big decision that ultimately impacts everything that we do. And especially the academic. progress of our students and or achievement of our students and so for me two items that wouldn't help me make a very sound and fiscally responsible decision are the equity impact analysis that we've
458asked for because that is very important. And then the second one, which not just me, but several of us have been asking for, are these reviews of consulting contracts. Saman, you shared great numbers as to the reductions in over the year in non-labor contracts. However, we want to see the actual contracts and the amounts. What are they? Because perhaps there are some there. even though you all have said that it's personnel that costs more, I still want to be able to see that information. And I have not seen that yet. And so to me, those are very critical reports in order for me to make a sound and fiscally responsible decision today. And it it really bothers me that. The issue of the contracts is on a slide that speaks to something that we will
459be doing when this was obviously something that was voted upon by us that it get done before this big critical decision. So, I just want to say that. I acknowledge that you all the staff. And the superintendent worked hard to try to. Reduce the layoffs. directly at the school sites. I acknowledge that effort and that work. And I also want to say that we need to do more and we need to have this information because the minute we start cutting, if we only see that as the only solution to balancing our budget, I have a big problem with that. That should not be the only solution. There should be other solutions and that should be the last one, if at all. That's where I am right now. Thank you. Sure. And just I know you
460didn't ask me directly a question on the contracts, but the information that I provided, at least verbally, hopefully did demonstrate that reductions have. been ongoing. Reductions to what has been spent outside of labor has already trended downwards through last school year and that the amounts budgeted both this year and next year are substantially lower than in the past. And so while there is a slide and in the board report it makes reference to that this will happen, that's just that it's going to continue to happen. The district is certainly committed to continuing to reduce as much as we can outside of personnel but i do just want to make the point again that that that is largely already happened both centrally and at the school level thank you simon and i will keep an eye
461on these contracts since we did say that we are not going to be contracting out any services for any of the positions that could potentially be reduced thank you carla uh mr melvoin Sure, you know I echo a lot of what Miss Griego said and I think one of the challenges is that multiple things can be true here I mean the district needs to be more transparent about its budget one of the first resolutions I brought was open data It was great hearing a student speaker reference it today. I actually think school police data is on open data So, but we need to check in on that And I agree that missing deadlines on resolutions and equity analyses and the contracts doesn't breed trust because it makes it seem like there's something to hide. I
462will say that in my interactions with the team over the last few months as we tried to go from a much wider swath of RIF notices to the very narrow few that we have here, although those are obviously real people in real positions, I've seen a lot of good faith efforts to get there. But it's challenging because when we look at and we heard today that the contracts are utilities, trash pickups, legal settlements, and we also had the JLBs today, insurance, other things. It's you know, it's let's let's be open about that. And some of them we are. I mean, the Zoom contract and that is Teamsters unionized bus force that we discussed last week as part of that. But. I'll just say we have to do better going forward. At the same time, it
463is clear that 90%, 85 to 90% of our budget is people. And so when we talk about cuts, cuts to the central office, like eventually they're gonna fall out somewhere. And I think the last few years as we've tried to move people from ESSER funding to non-ESSER, to ongoing funding sources, we found ways through attrition and retirements and moving people around to not do layoffs in a way that other districts weren't able to avoid. And there's only so much you can do. And I think in a district of 72,000 employees having 670, there is a way to look at that that says the district has done a lot to avoid more pain. if you were saying as we all are, cut the central office, cut the central office, those are people, right, who are doing
464things to serve students as we've articulated. Those are also positions and as I articulated earlier, you know, the bumping mechanism just means that there's no way to, again, balance the district budget that's not gonna affect people because that's what our budget is. I think to miss Griego and others points and like we you know, this has been a helpful conversation I think the boards and be very split on this is that The the flexibility and part of this riff notice is the the certificated admin ones that we do every year That ensure some flexibility and they get rescinded and so I know you've clarified this but the vote today Like if the board does not vote to go forward with these notices and March 15th happens and that's another thing I mean, there's a lot
465I know We get a lot of nods from staff sometimes, but some of these advocacy priorities, revenue, one-year AB 1200 statements, advocacy around even the March 15 statutory deadline that makes it so difficult because the state is requiring that we notify people that they would lose their job before the state gives us the money to tell us whether we can keep the job. I mean, that just, you know, I understand the history and the purposes, but that's nonsensical. But that if we don't go forward with this action that we take out that 250 million dollar savings and we have to look at other ways to get to the labor contracts that we want to get settled to get to potentially I know someone you feel differently, but we're storing some carry over to get to
466other things that the board has acknowledged in a fiscal stabilization plan that was passed and then updated That being said, I think if the board goes forward with these notices today, it's definitely my understanding and expectation that there would be continued work around the clock to reduce these numbers even further or to nothing by looking at those state, not only looking, but doing more advocacy, looking at... actual attrition. I know that one of the questions I've asked many times is why don't we have that specific number of notices that have to go out and why don't we know those people? And I've been told that well, it's very complicated and requires a lot of staff work to figure out if we're gonna close these positions, who has seniority bumping rights. I get that. It's one
467of the reasons I'm against that whole system. But I think as the district starts to do that work and we start to have an understanding of how those IT cuts will support, will... will affect our schools. How some of the cuts to hours that look like they're taking someone just under the four hour mark to get healthcare, if that's actually where that's gonna land and they're not falling in another position, I know those are cuts I'm not gonna be supporting because I think if you're on the bubble and we worked hard to make sure that our four hour employees get healthcare, some of the reduction in hours, which I know we've been advocating to get down to zero. go from four hours to three and three quarters of an hour. So those are the types
468of things that I think we're all gonna be looking at to say, are we doing everything before June 30th? to ensure sure equity and make sure that we are not projected to conservatively so I guess that that's all teeing up just this question which is remind us again I know it's in the presentation between now and June 30th the the actions that the board would have to take to actually effectuate any layoffs and what other work the district staff will be doing to minimize those numbers you know potentially to zero but also due to everything we can to kind of be responsive to the board including the transparency around any contracts Any outsourcing any of those things that I think if I'm speaking honestly The public has an outsized fear of but it's because the
469district hasn't showed the receipts if you will Thank you. So on the personnel side today the vote is to Give an initial notice. It is not a layoff. It's to give an initial notice that there may be a reduction in force It starts the process The final vote that you would take later in the end of May or in June would be on whether or not those initial notices that remained. that had not yet been rescinded would be enacted. So there's a significant amount of time between now and June when the district will be looking to advocate for additional funding, identify additional funding, identify vacancies based on attrition for employees to move into fully funded positions, and we would be able to provide progress reports and to bring that information back to you on where
470we stand in May and June before any final notices would be issued the board would have to vote yeah because I'll say even the last few weeks as this you know and again this goes to the challenges and just like two things can be true as I said earlier the fact that you were all working very hard to reduce this number but the board report went out at 10 30 on a Friday night of a three-day weekend and this presentation wasn't public till 10 a.m. like that We can understand the rationale as folks are working hard. It also doesn't breed a lot of trust. But what I will say is in my conversations with the team, when we were kicking the tires on certificated RIFs and looking at attrition and looking at, oh, what about
471class size reduction? And what about all that? It did lead us to eliminate any certificated RIFs when just a few weeks ago, the plan was to do certificate outside of admin. And I hope that now... We are up against a deadline and there's a process that has to take place. But if that same creative thinking goes over the next few weeks and months to figure out more, that is definitely my expectation as a board member, regardless of how this vote goes, to make sure that this is the matter of last resort. So I appreciate the acknowledgement of the work that's happened over the last couple of weeks. I would characterize it not so much as creative thinking as taking a calculated risk that could have a financial impact. There were positions that were not funded
472during budget development far in excess of what's in the board report today And so you might maybe that's creative thinking but I just need to be clear that that there is a financial risk associated with it Well, I guess I think and we've pointed this out Over the months and years is that sometimes the budget presentation it is complicated We're talking about as one of our speakers I think our labor partners said earlier one of the largest public budgets in the I would say the world our annual budget is larger than the GDP of some countries and We do it. We you know, we show a slide here about restricted non-restricted category, you know And I think when we want to expand the whole picture. And so when we looked at Will Fund 17, well,
473there's a statutory reserve and then there's a district policy. Well, this board gets to change policy. or when we look at OPEB, and you all, as you do, need to convince this board around the benefits and continue to fund that, but the board does have the prerogative to say over the next few months, like instead of 140, we're going to go to 85, and that's going to save us a few positions, and I think that has its tradeoffs because when we've seen public institutions go into financial distress, like the city of San Bernardino. San Bernardino, they go bankrupt, the first thing that's cut is all those contracts. And we have, you know, in that instance, you had firefighters who were losing their health care benefits. So that prudence is critical. And I think we had
474some speakers talk about our credit ratings. Like it's our credit ratings that enable us to borrow money to do things like pay for the settlements that we did earlier today. Or that credit rating that enables confidence of voters when we go out and we pass the largest school bond in American history that's funding a lot of our trades and workers. So it's, we don't. It's not fair to see things in silos, but I think we still have work to do to gain trust. And I think that these, even among the board, because I think that I've appreciated this conversation and the thoughtfulness that the board has given, but these are the decisions that really should be made unanimously one way or another. I don't think that's gonna be the case today. And that's unfortunate because
475we have to be standing here as leaders of this district and saying, this is what we're doing to ensure the sustainability of this district and most importantly, the students who attended. So thanks Scott. Thank you. Ms. Ortiz Franklin. Thank you. I want to lift up something from public comment. Why are there no rifts for LA School Police? LA School Police were also subject to the same budget cuts as other departments. However, they have a number of vacant positions, which is how they're achieving their reductions, and they didn't have filled positions. That needed to be cut in order to achieve the the savings. So it's a combination of looking at similar to the way we look at attrition as a factor of Being able to absorb reductions there which doesn't necessitate a riff As well as
476the central administration was the kind of targeted area for reduction Just as with any other central office division what we've said from the get-go is we took out any reductions that were school-based to the extent that we could. School allocated, community allocated resources were not part of your central office reductions. Only those that were centrally managed or unfunded positions that you're seeing in this particular set of RIFs. But yes, they were also part of the overall central office reductions. They are reducing their central administration by 20%. Okay, that's helpful. And so a similar parallel to the classroom teachers, right? We're not closing any classroom or we're not riffing any classroom teachers because the system can absorb them through the vacancies and natural attrition. It's the exact same thing that's happening with our school police. Okay,
477grateful for the explanation there. Did I miss it? No. Something else that came up in public comment a little bit is are we sitting on $5 billion in reserves or are we spending it to keep people? Spending it. That $5 billion figure is how we ended last school year. Last school year, and that's when you include all of general fund, so general fund unrestricted and restricted. And just to clarify, again, I know I've mentioned this before, the district does not determine what is restricted. Those restrictions, whether something is in the general fund restricted, is determined by law. So we have no say or discretion on what is restricted in the general fund. So that $5 billion figure includes general fund unrestricted and restricted, and to board member Melvoin's point, there's also that includes the statutorily
478required reserve. It's called the Reserve for Economic Uncertainty. It includes also the full balance at that time, at the end of last year, of Fund 17. So that $5 billion total, again, caveat it, caveat. with all those caveats, is not what we're going to end this year at. Because just like last year, where our general fund unrestricted ending balances went down by about $2 billion, that trend is projected to continue. That this year, we're going to spend almost $2 billion more than we bring in. And so the reason why the multi-year projection goes out to the third year, 27, 28, and then in June, 28, 29, is because the county and the state requires for that to be projected in order to determine is a district facing a trajectory, a rapid depletion of their reserves
479that necessitates a fiscal stabilization plan or action by the district. And that is again what not only LUSD is facing, but the majority of districts in California are facing. So the shorter answer to your question is those reserves are being fully utilized. That started... Last school year, we spent substantially more than we bring in. It's going to happen again this year. It's going to happen again next year and every year thereafter. And those reserves will not only be fully spent, but they're going to go negative. And districts are not allowed to have negative unassigned reserves. At some point, will we spend what we bring in? Right now we're spending more than we bring in, but do we have a plan to get there? Eventually that will be necessary. Eventually it will be necessary for spending
480to equal the amount of revenues. What we're doing now is we're still going to be deficit spending. Even after the fiscal stabilization plan, we are spending more still after all of those very, very difficult reductions. We will still be spending more than we bring in. What we're doing is depleting the reserve a little less quickly. Okay, a little bit less quickly, but eventually they will run out even after these very difficult actions, and we will have to then live with only the new revenues we receive each year. Okay, which I can appreciate and lots of us who do our household budgets we try to spend what we bring in or maybe even save a little for the rainy day at some point. You know when we voted in 2021 to add 6,000 extra positions we
481knew we were doing this with one-time money and I feel like we've had all these one-time solutions so I'm looking forward to the longer term solutions. Mr. Melvoin lifted up some of the things in the FSP that we're not yet doing. School consolidation being a big challenging one that I want us to take on in a really thoughtful way with our community because I think we need to get to that place where we are closer to spending what we're bringing in. The long term spending more than bringing in feels very insecure for me. It feels unsafe. It feels unstable, particularly for our highest needs schools. So I know my colleagues have lifted up the equity impact analysis. I actually want to thank the team for sitting down with me and looking school by school at
482how much they were losing based on enrollment, based on carryover and CENI, because we did find together that some of our higher needs schools were being hit harder than the district average. I appreciate that we have found that and we are starting to find solutions like what you said Dr. Murphy about if we can preserve these positions that otherwise wouldn't have been funded by schools let's try to save them at the schools that need them and I think this district is committed to equity and so you know over the next few months as we rescind layoffs as we restore positions as we potentially look at carryover or where there are additional dollars coming in from the state I want to make sure we come back to our high and highest needs schools and we have
483been looking at that together so So I'm glad that we've been able to do that. I hope we can do so publicly. That's why we wrote the budget transparency resolution, because we don't want to hit them any harder than they've been hit historically. And we know, we've heard from the community, from my colleagues, ICE and just overall need that some communities have more than others. It is worse for some than others, and we want to make sure that we are not destabilizing the school. the communities that most need stability from their public institutions. So I'm grateful to the work that has been done, but I want to hold us accountable to that vision as well. And I guess just my last comment here would be on that long-term planning. One Direction could have been issuing
484more RIFs this year, and I actually expected more to be the vote today. So if you could, in a short answer, why are we not voting on even more RIFs today? So it's it's sort of keep repeating the same phrase, but it's a calculated risk. It's a calculated risk that will have that will absorb the folks whose positions weren't funded into vacancies as they become available. And so that is a risk that I think the district is comfortable taking under the current circumstances to avoid. disruption to schools, to employees. And so that's the rationale. That's the trade-off. So a more conservative approach would have been a higher number of RIFs today, but we're taking a bit more of a risk, which maybe I'm less comfortable with, but I realize we are a board of seven,
485not a board of one. So I appreciate you trying to balance all of the desires of the colleagues here. And I'll pause there, Mr. Schmelz. And thanks. Thank you, Mr. Superintendent. Some closing remarks? Oh, Charlotte, go ahead. I'm sorry. I, too, want to say thank you for the work done. We know that this is not easy decisions to make in the long haul. We know that today's action is for notification, which is a statute that we have to meet. which doesn't align, and I agree with Nick that the state needs to change the timing in which these statutes go out because then the May revise comes and then there's the rescinding of these notifications if we, in tune, do get more dollars to our budget. I wanted to just highlight some things that were mentioned
486for us as a comment, too. As we talk about this work, and hoping that we go to the state together collectively as we talk with our partners, our labor partners, because this is important. I know some things were mentioned about how the state has certain certain sessions for us to live up to we have to Present this budget and needs to be positive. We have to present a fiscal stabilization plan in order to move forward We cannot show that we're not Fiscally responsible we cannot show that we're in a negative therefore these cuts have to go forward which again No one is excited about No one is excited to lay off anyone. And I think no one on this board wants to do that. No one wants to send anyone home. And we know that
487the work that especially our classified employees do for our campuses, we understand that more than ever. just the impact that they are and they may not be in the classroom, those are the ones or the faces that our students see every day. And so we don't want to make short of that, make light of that because it is important. But I did want to just highlight that I think Tanya had mentioned that in 21 that this board had hired or elected to have 6,000 additional folks with one-time money. And that is unfortunate because that one-time money is just that. It's one time. But yet our workers are here in perpetuity. And the fact that we are one district, and you did mention that other districts are facing the same thing, and I know that we'll
488have posted, and I'm not sure how much detail other districts have in comparison to what we're doing. as far as healthcare, as far as the reduction in force at other school sites or other school districts to be able to compare. I know they look at LA Unified as the trailblazers, but there are other districts that have, and I appreciate the fact that you brought some of those numbers and that we as a public can be able to look at that and see where we compare. And the other thing was... As we go with the COLA in mind, and I hope that we can find ways to go to the state, because living in Los Angeles County is way different than if I lived in Victorville, if I lived in Hemet, if I lived in San
489Bernardino County, it's different. If I lived in San, if I live in Fresno, it's different. And to know that, it needs to be a different calculation. Our budget needs to be different here in Los Angeles because it's not the same. And so I wanted to elevate that because that is something when we leave here that collectively, together, that we have to fight for at the state level so that we know that it's different here in L.A. And like they say, we're not like them. So it's different here and we need to be treated different in that regard because when we do have labor partners that are coming before us wanting substantial different. amounts of increase when the state is not giving us that increase. And so I just wanted to mention that and elevate that
490because that is important to know as we continue to fight and continue to bring the budget in clarity so everyone understands what it means in budget development, what it means in carryover, that those decisions are made at school sites, that the district doesn't make that decision for a school site because that's important to know. So just wanted to elevate that and say thank you again for the information that you brought us here today. And thank you, Charlotte. Sorry for interrupting. I apologize. Rocio. And I just wanted to make a final sort of statement, so no questions. I just want to say that I understand the financial condition before us and the fiscal pressure facing this district, and I also thank you for all the work, not only you, but Frank Serrato and Mr. Greco and
491everyone here at District of Lear. I know you all have been working hard, but... But I will not accept reductions in force as a default response without a clear discipline showing that this is the most responsible and strategic course available to us. Our employees and our communities expect diligence, transparency, and thoughtful deliberation from this district. This action is being framed as strategic stabilization, but stabilization must be more than numerical compliance. It must be responsible sequencing, authorizing broad RIF notices at this scale, particularly when the report itself acknowledges that many notices may not result in final layoffs, creates widespread uncertainty across our system. That instability has operational human capital and moral consequences that are not fully accounted for in this analysis. When we issue statutory notices, we trigger consequences that are financial, operational, and deeply human.
492Our schools, our students are affected, our families are affected, years of service are affected, institutional knowledge is affected, the stability of our system is overall affected. Once we move forward, we cannot simply reverse the disruption this has caused. I respect the legal deadlines in the code and the seriousness of our fiscal condition, but respect for the law does not require acquiescence to a strategy that I believe lacks sufficient demonstration of last resort necessity and a system-wide impact analysis. So for those reasons, I will not be voting in favor of this item. Thank you. Go ahead Kelly I see your hands up Kelly. Thank you board president Schmarrelsen. I had a few more questions about operational impacts but given the hour I'll go ahead and proceed to closing comments as well. I do want to appreciate
493the staff for for many many days i know they have been working very very hard on responding to many board questions about these items um and there is a lot of work that has happened behind the scenes to bring us to today and so i i just want to appreciate the the whole team that has worked hard on this um and though you know it's not publicly available you know there were contemplations of a much broader item coming today that would have had significantly more impactful cascading effects at our school sites. So I do want to appreciate the leadership in making the best effort to try to narrow this approach to the central office, while also acknowledging that those are important people too, that everyone who works for the school district plays a really important
494role. And my questions around the impacts of reductions of gardeners. or our bus supervisors. Transportation for All is an effort that we have undergoing. So certainly every single position on that list, every single person matters and contributes to the district in a significant way. So this is really, really painful to be at the stage where we're contemplating this. And I know that it is real financial difficulties that could also down the road have very harmful effects on our students and families that are bringing us to today. I will just... Again, Rader, I think I've been pretty clear in these budget conversations that I just feel like we need to approach these subjects of great seriousness with as much transparency with the public as possible. And I think that there's been a significant improvement over recent
495months, but we're still not there in terms of being able to really show. all of the efforts that we're taking before eliminating district staff. So I would just continue to ask for it. Like, please, let's see the equity analysis. Let's see the contracting analysis that was referenced today. Please make it public as soon as you can. I know that there's work that's gone into those analyses, but, you know, it really deserves to be aired publicly to be part of this conversation. And then in closing, you know, these issues will not go away after today's vote. We are going to continue to be dealing with long-term financial challenges as student enrollment has declined year over year, as again, costs of living are going up, costs of everything are going up, declining birth rates in California, et
496cetera. These are long-term challenges. And though it is clear, you know, board members are in different places today, and I know that this subject is deeply personal. and deeply affecting to our employees, I hope that we can find a pathway together to find sustainable ongoing revenue for our schools. Because ultimately, votes may go one way or the other today in June, but to really put us on a path to support the holistic needs of our students academically, socially, emotionally, their mental health needs, their physical health needs, we need sustained. funding, equitable and adequate funding from the state of California. We are not there. We are far from it. And I know that only when we work together, when we leverage the capital and the human power that all of us have as entities, will we
497be able to make a change in that fundamental problem, which is bringing us to why we are here today. So I hope that there's a path to get there. And I'm absolutely willing to do whatever I can to make that possible so that we can build the schools that our students and families so greatly deserve. Thank you, Kelly. Are we ready to vote? Yes? All right. Having been moved and seconded, we are going to take the vote on tab 13. Ms. Newbill? Yes. Dr. Rivas? No. Mel. Mr. Melvoin? Yes. Ms. Griego? No. Ms. Gones? No. Ms. Ortiz-Franklin? Yes. Board President Schmurlson? Yes. And then, Mr. Yang, I need to collect your vote on the consent calendar. Yes on the consent calendar. All right and on tab 2. Excuse me, he's a student board member voting
498on the consent calendar. Then tab 2. On tab 2. We appreciate it. Let's see the vote again on tab 13 was 1, 2, 3, 4 ayes and 1, 2, 3 noes. The item passes. Are there any adjourning motions? We can just pause for a moment. Okay and for the adjourning motion? Thank you. I'd like to take this opportunity to adjourn today's meeting in solemn memory of the Reverend Jesse Lewis Jackson. Civil rights advocate, politician, ordained Baptist minister, Reverend Jackson was a towering figure in the struggle for civil rights, human dignity, and social justice. For decades, he stood at the forefront of the movement to expand opportunity and equality. From his work with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and James Bevel during the height of civil rights movement to the founding of the Rainbow Push Coalition,
499he dedicated his life to empowering marginalized communities and challenging injustice everywhere it appeared. His voice carried not only across America but throughout the world, calling leaders and citizens alike to higher standards of fairness and compassion. Reverend Jackson consistently elevated the importance of education as a pathway to empowerment and justice. His connection to educational leadership in our own community is especially meaningful. For 12 years ago, as in the photo above, Reverend Jackson sworn in my predecessor, Dr. George McKenna. This moment is symbolic of Reverend Jackson's commitment to education, public service, and strengthening leadership at every level. That act reflected his belief that change begins in our schools, our neighborhoods, and with those who dedicate themselves to public service. Reverend Jackson was a presidential candidate, an advocate, a pastor, and above all, a servant of the people.
500His life reminds us that progress is achieved not through silence, but through courage, not through division, but through unity grounded in justice. As we reflect on his legacy, may we recommit our own selves to the ideals for which he stood. Equality under the law, access to opportunity, and respect for the dignity of every human being. As we celebrate this 100th anniversary of Black History Month, at today's meeting, we take this time to honor Reverend Jesse Jackson. to reflect on his lifetime and legacy of courage, advocacy, and unwavering faith in the potential of young people. We extend our condolences to his family, friends, and all who were touched by his extraordinary life of service. In the words of Jesse Jackson, we keep hope alive. Thank you. I'd like to just also say a few words. Go
501ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead. So I was deeply sad when I learned this morning of the passing of Reverend Jesse Jackson. We honor the life and legacy of Reverend Jesse Jackson, a tireless champion for civil rights, economic justice, and human dignity. For decades, he stood on the front lines of the struggle for equality, giving voice to the unheard and power to the powerless. From marching alongside Dr. King to founding the Rainbow Push Coalition, Reverend Jackson reminded us that our diversity is our strength and that justice requires courage, faith, and action. His life was a testament to the belief that ordinary people united in purpose can do extraordinary things. May we honor his legacy not only in words, but in the work we continue, building bridges, fighting for justice, and keeping hope alive for the next
502generation. Rest in peace, Reverend Jesse Jackson. The time is now 610, and unless there's any objection, the meeting is adjourned. Adjourned, 610.