001and then we can, because we have to go into closed session. So then we'll do that real quick. We can do that without Mr. Silver because he said the flag slipped. Oh, and it's her now. Hello. Hi. Okay. So welcome. We'll call the meeting to order at 541. Welcome to the June board meeting of the North School District. We are glad to have you here. Item 1.2, notice of meeting being taped, filmed, streamed, or broadcasted. Item 1.3, and he's already ready, is the flag salute. And the flag salute will be led by the district's Expanded Learning Opportunity Program and Extended Day Class Manager, Spencer Alfonso. Welcome, Spencer. Can't believe they told you you had to wear a tie. Okay, everybody, please stand. Salute and pledge. I pledge to you. Thank you. Well done. Item 1.4,
002approval of agenda. And before we do that, I need to make one change. We're going to remove item 6.18, also known as 6.18, pick your poison. If I could have a motion to approve the agenda as modified. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Fantastic. Thank you. Okay. Community comment. We have two appeal of denied enrollments and we will deal with those after the meeting. So if you are here for that, we will do those afterwards. So thank you. And then we have another community comment. Kimberly Granger. Come on up. Hi, I'm here today because I'm a mother of a student who just finished sixth grade at Veterans and is about to enter seventh grade at Norris. And I'm here today to raise my family's concerns regarding the elementary band teacher for the district. I'm not
003going to name her name since it's broadcast. I understand that she has a tremendous amount of experience in the violin and has extensive experience in the pursuit of her own music education. However, her work at the elementary level has been lacking. I first raised a concern on December 15th in a parent square message to Mrs. Salih, and I noted that I believe that following the holiday concert, which had been really inadequate as compared to the other one that we had been to the prior year, that the teacher had really missed an opportunity to continue the musical development. of the students that she had inherited from the prior music teacher. The students were often not allowed to play the notes, only finger on the notes. The classes were disorganized, according to my daughter, and the students
004stopped wanting to attend. Mrs. Salik kindly and promptly responded to my concerns, and I really appreciated that, and stated that they were aware of the issues and had plans to provide the teacher with more oversight and a mentor teacher. I had hoped that things would get better. However, they did not. I'd like to provide just a quick summary of the spring concert for you so you have an idea about what was performed. It started at 5.30. At 5.32, the fifth grade song started. Four minutes later, at 5.36, the fifth grade song ended. Then she did interviews with the students at 536. At 538, the interviews ended. And then there were group photos to about 540. At 543, there was an introduction to the sixth grade. At 545, the teacher spoke about the music selection. At
005546, the sixth grade performance started. And at 548, the sixth grade performance ended. It was a two-minute performance for students who had been in band for almost two years. And then there was a group photo, and at 5.50, there was the end of the concert. The teachers had these students for approximately 50 minutes each week. And since the winter concert and being generous with having approximately three months or 12 weeks of teaching, she had over 600 minutes, 10 hours of teaching. And in that time, the students were only taught a single song that lasted less than two minutes. I just really find this inexcusable. The lack of proper music education will undoubtedly affect the future desire of these students to continue and pursue a music education. A declining music program not only affects elementary schools,
006but it has a domino effect in the middle schools and also the high schools for students participating in those types of classes. So I just wanted to ask that the board please become involved in improving the music education for the students at the elementary level. Thank you. Thank you for your feedback. Okay. Next, this is where today's meeting goes weird. And I apologize, we didn't bring you snacks. So we are going, I need a motion to move into closed session. And then we're going to go into closed session and do a conference with labor negotiation, which sounds real fancy, but I can assure you it is not. But so if I have a motion to go into closed session. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Fantastic. Okay, we'll be back. Here's the
007topic. You can discuss amongst yourselves. Oh, no, thank you. Oh, wait. Do you have lemon? This comes off the lemon side. Okay. Hi, all. Did you have a good break? Okay. Do I have a motion to enter into open session? So moved. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Fantastic. Item 4.1, report out of closed session. So item 4.1.1 is to approve the public employee reappointment termination of 2327 employment contract and the approval of employment contract for the superintendent. Okay. Mr. Silver. So we did actually complete and have agreed upon a new four-year contract. I would just like to let you all know that in transparency, we reviewed his salary in comparison to other nearby districts, people with similar ADAs. And we found that our superintendent was at the bottom of all. comparable salary ranges. And
008so we feel as a staff that's important to pay him appropriately. So when we went to negotiate that, it was not very easy because what we had offered was declined because he did not like what we had offered. And so he asked for less than that. So probably the first time I've ever been involved in negotiation where the person asked for less. But I will say, As stubborn as he is, he is excellent and he thinks of our staff and our teachers and our students first. So he is still well below the average, but we did settle on a new salary schedule with a new base pay beginning at $205,360. I think it goes without saying that he is doing such an excellent job. Our district staff, parents, community members, and colleagues think so highly
009of him. I am around a lot of people that work closely with him in a lot of different ways. He sits on boards through the County Office of Education. And in this process, I was having a conversation with someone and they said basically this to me. This person also is a parent of Norris students. They said, Sai has done so much for this community. His commitment and service on various boards is noticed. His passion to elevate security for our students and staff is a strong priority, and he demonstrates his leadership across the region. In addition, his tenacity at bringing back students in. students back to inside of our district through our special ed programs is so vital to our students and families. He has made that a real priority and we have seen that program
010by program. We're seeing it at Norris and this is huge for our families. This significantly shortens our travel time and also allows them to really be part of the Norris family as they get to be on our campus and interact with the other kids. So these are just a couple of examples of his exemplary work and advocating for our students and staff. We did finally approve that contract, even though it was a real challenge. So thank you. And you've got four more years, maybe. He just didn't find that hidden clause I put in that said that he had to wear jeans on Friday. That was the good one. I snuck it. Look at him. He's like, I will defy. That's how he is. So thank you for truly being excellent. I appreciate it. Thank you.
011Okay. So with that, do I have a motion to approve the contract? Second. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Okay. Do you guys have any comment? Comment. I always have comment. We know. I watched this young man grow up with my daughters and I went all through school with his mother. Tony and I were on the board way back when. And I want to just say that. That whole family, the Silver family, other than his older brother, are committed educators. He told me, oh, my brother's a banker, so he makes a lot more money than the rest of us. So it's just a joy to watch a young man like Cy advance and do such a fantastic job. He came in during COVID. He worked his tail off, and it just, his... Commitment, I said,
012you know, I look at it sort of like a corporation because I've been in marketing and sales all my life. And I look at him as a CEO of a multimillion dollar operation. And that the multimillion dollar operation, he looks at it and we know you guys as a team put this all together. You know, it's it's the leader. It's the leader for in the finance and everything that you guys do. But I couldn't I couldn't ask for a better superintendent than Cy Silver. And I love the guy. And we're it shows it shows how. He has humility and he has respect for you guys and he has respect for this whole organization. And that's what's so, I guess that's why I've been on this board for 39 years because it's something special. This is
013something special that you guys have created and you continue to create it. And this board continues to put. children first and then support all of you guys everywhere we can. And I know the board feels that way. And then so I'll shut up, Si. Yeah. Oh, I agree. Especially working in education is new to me, coming on the board there and stuff. Been on boards before, but they're all nonprofits. Nobody shows up. Nobody cares. You just kind of do what you want to do and take care of it. That has been a very different situation. But having worked with this gentleman here and known him a little bit, I had the privilege of officiating his wedding for he and Jennifer and got to know him pretty well there. But in this environment here. And I
014don't, I've never worked with any other superintendents really this closely, so I don't know how to compare it to anything. But the man intimidates me. He is so stinking good at what he does. He always seems to be a step ahead of everything we're doing. And which is, it might intimidate me, but it makes him overly qualified for what he's doing. And we're very blessed to have you here, Mr. Silver. Thank you. I appreciate it. And I don't know if I have Jim beat or not, but I think I remember Mrs. Flippens. I've known Cy since he was little because he's the same age as my daughter, my oldest daughter. And so they've kind of grown up together. But through Norris, watching Cy be a board member first and seeing what he, his comments and
015how he took on, you know, how he took on that. job and what he he did a great job at it and then watching him as superintendent I know when he first came on as superintendent I thought he was moving a little slow I go Cy can we make this decision or whatever but now I see that he thinks it out so far in advance that I would have never thought out of the box and you know everything that's going to happen that I appreciate that a lot and he's just putting us in the right direction and I appreciate that I appreciate him doing the job he does He's always here. You know, you can drive up Callaway and there's a black truck. But I just appreciate what he's done for our district for years
016and years and years. Thank you, Cy. I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you, Cy. Speaking of Cy, 5.0 reports and discussions from superintendent and staff. 5.1 enrollment. Mr. Silber. All right. I appreciate you guys. Thank you. That's all I'm going to say. So, all minutes. I gave you guys some information regarding enrollments, kind of our end of the year enrollment numbers. We ended the school year at 43-48. And then what I also included, which was good growth. So just looking back on the year, we talked about this a little bit last month, but we had good growth. four or five years over the end of the year numbers. We've increased every single year. I think we increased by 20 plus kids the first year, then 80 kids. And we've grown into growing over 150 kids
017in certain years. And so we've seen our enrollment grow quite a bit, which is why we've been doing so much around the new school. And what we're seeing is we're seeing that enrollment jump between the last day to the first day. So we've been seeing us adding students, which generally is from new construction or families moving in. So that's been a really good sign. So our end of the year has been great. We had a pretty good jump, 57 students from the first day of school, 131 students from the last day last year. So there's that growth that we've been looking at. The other sheet I gave you with the red outline just highlights the tracking our enrollment. So we start the enrollment process in March, the first week of March, and we get kind
018of our first numbers around the second week of March. So what we're tracking there is we're tracking the actual enrollment. So this is all students that are rolled over from the current school year into next year, minus any students that we know that are moving. We cohort kids up grade to grade. So you see a change from eighth grade to what's coming in enrollment with TK and K, which is why you have a deficit. And then we have new enrollments come through. So we track that every week. And then that gives us a kind of an outline of what we're seeing in enrollment difference from what we end the year. So those numbers start out really small and they grow throughout the summer. So we currently are at 43, 48 for our in number from
019the last school year. We have 4,132 students that we have as rollovers with packets in or packets out. So we count packets out because those usually come back in especially early in the year. So we are down 216 students. So we would need to add 216 students from now until the first day of school. to end up at that 43, 48 as a starting point, which is really for me, the goal is to get back to the same number in terms of what we're monitoring. We're kind of planning that we're going to hit that in terms of our enrollment. Again, we are seeing changes in numbers because we're now rolling TK kiddos into Kinder. And now our TK is how Kinder used to be for us in terms of tracking enrollments and packets, even though
020we still get a lot of Kinder enrollments. Last year at this time, we were about 180 students less than where we ended the year. So we're a little bit behind on enrollment. But we did see a big surge last year, the last three weeks, which put us above where we ended the year. So we'll see how that goes. We have one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine weeks of enrollment left. So if you do the math, if you go nine weeks, you'd probably need. 20 plus kids a week to hit that number and some weeks we get to 20 some weeks we have 10 some weeks at the end we have 40 or 50 kids enrolled so it can it can take off the last couple weeks part of that also is that
021we have younger students that have to get their packets in and they have to get those kiddos to the doctor and get some of those things done and that tends to take a little bit more time for the three-year-olds and four-year-olds as they get themselves enrolled so We'll see. And we also be watching how a full day TK impacts our TK numbers. So that's also another thing. So at the bottom of that sheet, you also see a historical from 2020 to 2021. These are just numbers I've been keeping as we go through the years. And you can see our end of the last day from 2020, 2021 was 3080. And we're up to 4348. It's a pretty big jump. But remember, we also at 4256 prior to COVID. So we're above and beyond where we
022were prior to that mark. So 4256. That was our peak. prior to overtaking that in this last year or two. So what we also would need to do is get your guesses for what our enrollment will be at the first. full friday so that would be not the first friday of the short week but the first full friday so the second friday of the school year and keeping in mind that we're at 43 40 to end and you guys get to guess what that number would be do we have information on the packets out right now we know you're not gonna tell i don't think we ever go through that i think we just guess yeah okay I think you're trying to get more information. I feel like it's the feel. I think you have
023a feel for it. Who goes first? Are we doing it now? Are we doing closest without going over or just closest? Closest. I think that's fair. You may want to take a shot. I mean, it's what we start with, right? What we will have first full Friday. First full Friday, which is the second Friday. Yeah. 44, 44. Okay. We're going to have to do a lot of hiring if that's the case, Jim. Yeah. That's pretty good. Back to me. I'm not, it's your turn. What's your guess? I'm a, I'll do 4407. Okay. And I think that's probably low. Okay. Who's going next? 4420. 4420? Okay. Because we still got to make up 216, right? Plus that. But you have to think of all those TK packets. I know, I know. And he's giving us no
024information on how many are out. Ronell, if you want to give me some way. I'll give you the same information I was going to. Ronell? I thought we were clear. I'm going to go, let's just do straight 4400. Are we locked here? That's a fine answer. And we'll need to get Steph. Now, Steph hasn't gotten to play, so we'll have to ask her. We'll chase that down. You can't tell her what we all picked, though. She's got to go in blind. Tough luck. Okay. That's what happened. You're gone. You're gone last year. Thank you. Okay. All right. Anything else from you about that? No, no. Just getting through these next couple weeks. see where it goes okay i can tell spencer's already getting excited about this so he's stretching like he's ready okay here we
025go 5.2 report from spencer alfonso elop and edc manager on the and he's going to talk to us about the district's elop and edc programs yay I know this is my first board meeting. So my name is Spencer Alfonso since I came to the district and it's to present to you guys. So I came in October, the end of October. So three months of school, I'm already gone through. So I was kind of playing catch up coming here from the Deersey School District, running the ELOP program over there. So I had a few ideas of how I wanted it to grow this year. really in a moment for our AOLP program was kind of my goal to get every site full to where I needed more staff. That was the direction I wanted to go.
026Bringing in new things, new equipment for staff and for students. I know that the new radios were definitely a helpful thing for my staff for communication. This works, right? Did not work. All right. So here's our program this year. We had a lot of enrichments come to us. We had a succulent plant lady come and the students got to learn how to plant and grow and take home their own their own succulent plant. We had Noah's Ark, which was like build a bear for our littles. I just I tried to really expand on, you know, every grade level getting some form of activity or stem. Or workshop or craft that they that they had for just their grade level to make them feel a little bit more special. We had a lot of tutoring sessions.
027We had Sylvan come in and do some tutoring. But my goal for the tutoring program for next year is going to be more teacher involved a little less third party, a little bit more of our district getting involved in the actual school program. As far as our year in review, since I joined our ELOP program, our veteran site filled up completely for ELOP. Our EDC also grew pretty good size. Norris is very full at EDC. ELOP got just shy of being full to adding a new staff member. New programs, and I know that some of the kids probably have mentioned this one, but ZTAC has been the absolute favorite. The bracelets and them running around trying to play zombie tag has been a hit with every kid in EDC and ELOP. Elemental Hardware is another
028community partner program that we brought in for the summer. Yesterday, if you were at Olive Drive Elementary School, you would have seen the kids building a Bluetooth speaker for themselves. So that was a pretty big thing for us. Looking over it, we have over 1,000 students in EDC ELOP, and if you combine all four schools, it's over 8,000 hours of programming that these kids have spent with the four schools. We formed new partnerships, which is the other packet that I did provide, and that was I Am Impact, to give my staff a little bit more insight as to why they're here and how much of an impact that they have on these students' lives during the after-school program and enjoy coming and giving their 100%. to all of our students. The other big thing that
029has happened since I came here is that one of my staff members, Cindy Gioa, won Employee of the Year for the Classified for Security Services. So that was really cool. I really enjoy Cindy. my go-to when it comes to EDC. She runs a really tight ship over there at the Matt Elementary School, and she's one of my favorite employees to go watch. All the kids just look up to her. It's fantastic. Visits for next year, like I said, is expanding a little bit more in STEM and arts, as well as the teachers coming in and being our tutors. I think that it's easier for students to learn from somebody that they've already learned from throughout the day. And then the goal is to increase enrollment by 25% for students in all the programs, get more
030staff, train them. We've been working with Mary and trying to get it to where my staff is a little bit more knowledgeable as far as accommodations as well, making sure all the students feel welcome and that they have the spaces that they need, improving facilities. Trying to upgrade all the furniture in the ELOP spaces and get some new things for EDC as well. And just all these pictures are just them throughout the year. Other than that, I don't have anything else. If you guys have any questions, feel free. I thought we were going to get a chance to play zombies tag tonight. I could go get one, but we can do that at the next board meeting. Just like to welcome you. I met you at my first day. Yeah. Expanding this program is phenomenal.
031We have expanded the program somewhat over the years, but just seeing this and I do have a granddaughter in the program and both programs and it's you've done a great job this year. And I'd like to see that they're all kids are. being focused on and you know they have something to look forward to I appreciate that any other comments sounds like a lot of fun thank you so much I really appreciate it thank you well done on your first time all right next up 5.3 end of your library report Rebecca Bean hi welcome So thank you so much for having me. As always, I always enjoy tonight to brag on my library staff and tell you all about all the things going on in our libraries throughout the district. Being that this is, I
032think, my 10th report, I decided to change it up just a little bit. You do have the detailed statistical information in a packet that Rinell sent you, but I decided to take a different approach this evening. I thought... maybe, that I would share with you a little bit about the power of story time, because this is something that takes place daily in our libraries. It builds vocabulary, comprehension, critical thinking, empathy, community, and love of stories. And so I thought the best way to do this would be to share a story with you. One of my favorite stories when I taught kindergarten and first grade was if you give a mouse a cookie. If you don't know this story, it's about this little mouse who first asks for a cookie, but then wants some milk, then
033needs a straw to go with it, and then goes through his day, and in the end, just wants another cookie. So tonight, I want to read to you a story, If You Give a Librarian a Book. So if you give a librarian a book, she's going to ask for students to share it with. And this is what happens every week in our libraries, every class is in the library every week hearing great stories. After she shares the book with the students, they're going to want to read it again. And that reading and rereading books is what builds reading stamina. And that's what benefits our kids in every curricular area across the board. Then the students are going to ask if they can borrow the book and take it home. Again, every week our students come
034to the library so they can check out books either during their class visits and if they miss out on that or need an extra book they can come before and after school or during their lunch recesses. We've had almost 100,000 books circulated throughout our five libraries. So that truly shows that our kids are getting books in their hands and taking advantage of our libraries. Every visit, they get to check out two books. One is to support the curriculum they're studying, whether it's AR-level books, something for a research report, or some other topic their teacher's wanting them to read about. But the other is focused more on the research that shows that kids are more likely to read books that they choose for themselves. And we call this book candy. And every student needs and deserves
035to have book candy. This is a book that may not be in their reading level. It may be higher or lower. It may not be on any topic we're teaching in school, but they may love reading about their favorite sports team or motorcycles or how to build crafts or make different cupcake recipes. It's something they want to look at a book for. And that's what makes sure they'll take that book out when we're not standing there telling them to take it out. So when you have book candy for students, they'll come back again and again and ask for more great books. High interest books are book candy and that equals engaged readers. In our libraries, we have an average of 15,000 books per site, so that gives us a wide variety of genres, which helps
036with that book candy and supporting the curriculum. And we have an average copyright date of 2010, which keeps our collection current and relevant. The students will take their book candy books with them everywhere. They will read in the car. They will read on the bus. They will read at their sister's soccer practice. And with all this reading, a few books may get damaged or lost. And one of my library staff's biggest fears every year is how many books aren't coming back. With almost 100,000 books circulated this year, 327 didn't make it back or weren't paid for. So that's less than a 0.33% loss. I think that's pretty good with those books going to all those places. To keep a current and high interest collection, the librarian will also need to get a few new books.
037Of course, when we're selecting those books, we go with our acquisition process and guidelines. We follow board policy. We use this North School District Mission Statement, and we select appropriate books for the age and ability of the students in that library and find high quality, diverse and balanced and positive book review books, books with positive reviews. This year we've acquired about 2,700 new books. Most of that came from lottery funding, with some of that coming from donations from book fairs and families and library benefactors like our PTCs and families that give to our benefactor fund. As students read more and more books, they will want to learn and do more in the library. They'll build interest and curiosity and make connections with our library staff. And so we have a variety of enrichment activities from
038interactive displays and contests in the library, things like Battle of the Books where we had 101 elementary students and 14 Norris Middle School students read at least 20 of the 28 books for Battle of the Books, and author and illustrator visits on all of our campuses. We also support a host of other programs where they either use the facilities or use our library staff to be judges or help students prepare for other contests. We're always looking to improve and draw more students in. One of the things that we focused on this year is we wrote a grant for our Norris Middle School library. We had a community member donate Cricut machines and t-shirt presses, and we did just receive just under $2,000 from the Art Council of Kern to add some 3D printers. So those
039were in right before school ended, so we're excited to start those up with some of our student-led clubs and some of our elective classes next year. The turtles were made for, I think, several teachers. By the time they saw them, they made extras as they were at a meeting so that they could take them with them as well. The teachers will see all of this reading and want to see the data, maybe. So we have had our students read over 68,000 books and over 593 million words. So that's quite a feat for our students checking out those books and reading. Then the teachers will want resources to connect learning to their classrooms, and they have database access for all of their research reports they do, as well as Alexandria access where they can find the
040books they want in the library from their classroom or at home. And all of those resources are available from classrooms, libraries, or home. With the friendly staff and great books, the library will become one of the favorite spots at the school. Students will read in the library, play games in the library, learn in the library, make friends in the library, and quite frankly, just belong in the library. But then the school year will come to an end and the library doors will close, but students will still need books. We have them reading with e-books on both Sora and Alexandria. We've promoted the Kern County Bookmobile and Library to them, and we've connected them with community partners for reading incentive programs. Students will even visit our schools during the summer for more books. We just hosted
041our annual summer school book market last Thursday, I believe it was, at Olive Drive. And we're working with MOT right now to get our book nooks that we started last summer up at all of our elementary campuses. They're kind of like little free libraries that we'll have outside of all of our elementaries. And we're partnering with SLED to do those programs. And it all started with just giving librarians a book. And the library became the heart of the school. And it won't stop there. The librarian will want to share that book again and again and again, just like that mouse kept wanting another cookie. And that will lead to all of our library goals being met and exceeded, encouraging the love of reading, supporting the curriculum, connecting with students, and being the heart of the
042school. This is not the end of the story, but a continuation of the library's commitment to the Norris School District students. And so from my library team to all of you, we appreciate the board support and our admin support of our library programs. Any questions? Good job. Good job. No questions, but thank you. I will tell you, I love that story. And I made a reference a little while ago just talking to someone. I was like, oh, it's like if you give a mouse a cookie. And they responded with a blank face. And I was so offended. It's like, how do you not know this story? This is very important. And so I felt like that I needed to go buy them a copy so that they could see it because it is a great
043one for sure. So thank you so much. I love the library. Also, guys, before I forget. Spencer talked about succulents and it reminded me, there is the most beautiful flower in the break room. Is someone a gardener? Like, do you, like, who? That thing is gorgeous. It looks like a huge dahlia. It is stunningly beautiful. So that person has a green thumb and tell them the beauty was noticed, please. Thank you very much. Oh, Dan. Get ready. 5.4, district construction updates. Dan has a busy night tonight. Thank you. Construction updates. Okay, you're going to get a more in-depth construction update later on in this month, but just a few items I want to share with you. Our Norris Elementary School wing. is about 70% done. It's slated to be completely finished just before July 4th.
044The remaining 30% should go pretty quickly, and they're just waiting for things like letting the tack board and the flooring acclimate once they start the thermostats, and they had to pour the concrete down the middle. So some of the finishing touches, but they are doing a great job, and that project has gone very, very smoothly. Dan, it would have been helpful if you could have given us the description of what they have left in the same cadence as if you give a mouse a cookie. That would be a challenge. If the agenda didn't have so many things, I'd take you up on it. Other projects that we have going that we're starting here, should start next week, is our HVAC project, which we're very excited about. And that's new HVAC units for Norris Elementary School
045veterans in BMAT. Those cafeterias are still, since it began, working with evaporative coolers, which you can imagine gets pretty steamy in those kitchens. So they're going to have brand new HVAC to start the year. Those projects, again, will start next week. And then we have portables going in. So you would have seen at Veterans some portables delivered this week. And we have two portables being added at Veterans and two at BMAT. BMAT is a little unique because one of them is not for a classroom per se, but it has office space and a learning space for a small group. And then we have one classroom and at Veterans it's two classrooms. So those will be done. And for portables, they'll be done really early. Normally we're getting portables in like right before school starts. These
046should be done here by the end of the month, first part of July. So plenty of time. And then Gossamer Grove, we just had an update today. We got our preliminary title report back for the land purchase. So that's moving right along. I know I sent some emails to try to expedite that as quickly as we can because... We'll be planning a little shovel in the ground ceremony before you know it. So we'll have to purchase some golden shovels, I guess. But that is slated to start here at the end of August, maybe first week in September. And it will finally start being built. Any questions on any other projects? How about the playgrounds? You devastated a lot of children. I know. But they'll be so happy next year when it happens. So we are.
047Ron and I looked at the age of all of our playgrounds. And so through our routine maintenance money, we are putting them in kind of rank order as to their age and what condition they're in. So veterans is up and they're getting two new playgrounds that will happen over the summer. So they'll be very happy when they return. It's a flat land right now. Yeah, it's flat. Yeah. That's fun. Any other questions? No, don't go anywhere. Stay there. 6.0, new business. 6.1, public hearing regarding the proposed budget for the 26-27 fiscal year. Okay. So I cannot believe we're already to this point. Neither can Katie, I don't think, that we're already adopting a budget. And the exciting thing about this budget is that included in this budget, the last out year is the year that
048we opened the school. There's a little bit of a sticker shock when we look at it, but we'll go through that and really things look pretty good so far. The first thing I want to talk about is this, the picture of the state budget, where we are. Normally it's really doom and gloom. And this year there was a lot of interesting things in it. It was a little bit of a shock because there is quite a bit of new money. All of it's a little bit different. Some of it has strings attached. So I want to go through that with you. The Prop 98 guarantee grew pretty substantially, up by $1.6 billion since the January budget from the governor. Only in California can you have like a $50 billion swing in a year with revenues.
049And that's what we saw. There also was a cost of living bump. So not only... Did they bump up the statutory COLA, which we kind of figured they would, up to 2.87%. But they also added on an additional 1.44%. They call it an augmented COLA, cost of living increase, for a combined 4.31%, which was a big surprise. I'll talk more about that 1.44% in a minute. One-time dollars. There's a lot of it. Now, one-time money is difficult because you can't spend it on ongoing costs. But right now, it's a projected $5 billion discretionary block grant. which would be pretty significant for us per ADA. It's not going to be in this budget. And I'll tell you why. We don't normally put things in there like this until we find out exactly how much we're going
050to get. The state assembly and the state senate are asking and thinking they should be more block grant money, more one-time money than what's proposed by the governor. So that could look pretty substantial for us when we come to you in August and do an August budget revision. The 1.44%, there's some strings attached to that extra COLA, which we thought was interesting, because they also proposed a new 14-week paid pregnancy disability leave mandate that is tied to that extra funding. And so how much does that cost? We have to cost that out a little bit. So we're being very cautious with that 1.44%. Brandy and I are thinking of having kids again, just so we could get that 14 week. It was only six weeks when we had our kids. So we're thinking about doing
051it again. I wish you both well. I suggest if you have a boy, Daniel's a fine name for a young man. Our guiding principle, as always, when we go through with this budget is to plan for the worst. So I told you we're going to do an August revision. It's because we really just planned for the worst. We want to see. What would happen if nothing went our way? Because in school finance, sometimes that happens. So we left out that one-time money. We also left out something that could be a big winner for us as well, which is a huge increase to SPED funding, special education, which doesn't always happen. We knew there was going to be an increase, but they increased it even more potentially. So if that comes through in the final budget
052and through the trailer bill language. We'll be adding that to the August revision, and that's going to help our district tremendously. We held enrollment flat. I know you guys all had some guesses there. I think you all overbid, but I hope you didn't because that would be good for us. We are a growing district still, but we still hold that enrollment flat just because we don't want to overestimate. So we're about 30 new students, what we're projecting per year. We set aside that COLA boost, that 1.44%, until we figure out through the trailer bill what are the strings attached, what do we have to do. We're kind of treating it as a categorical right now because there's going to be costs associated with paying employees 14 weeks of full paid leave for pregnancy leave. The
053other part of that is that it doesn't matter how long an employee has been with you. They could have been with us for one day, which is different than what we've had in the past. It could be three weeks. They still are eligible for that leave. So we really got to plan that out. Where does the money come from? You can see, first of all, $73.1 million total revenue. Katie and I were reminiscing about when it was like in the 30s, and we didn't feel like that was that long ago. It's a big budget, and most of that comes from the LCFF and our base grant. You can see a majority of it, $53.6 million, or 73%. And then we have from other state revenue, other local revenue, that federal revenue, very small slice for
054us still. Historically, that's been the case. The transfers in has to do with, we do make occasional transfers from our EDC program, Fund 63, to help offset general fund expenditures. So all that money, where does it go? Well, $72.4 million is our projected expenditures. for next year, which leaves us ahead. We're actually in the black. And I think that's going to grow pretty substantially for next year because of that one-time money. But where does it go? Where it should? Our people. So 73% goes to salaries and benefits, which is really kind of in that sweet spot between 70 and 75% for fiscal stability. And then from there, classified salaries, capital outlay, which we have a lot of projects going on right now. And you can see the rest of those categories there. The three-year outlook,
055which is always really important to us, our multi-year. You can see that in 26-27, again, we have a surplus, which is good to see, and that surplus will grow, I'm telling you, by the August revision. Then in the 27-28 year, you see there's a negative number there, and so I expect that to change as well based upon things like special ed funding, which is ongoing. But we do have a negative number. And then in 28-29, it's a pretty substantial negative number, 3.92 million. But that's when the new school opens. You have your startup costs. And I will tell you that when we estimated the costs for that new school and operating it, we really tried to make some healthy estimates so that we didn't underestimate those costs. And so that's kind of the hurdle that
056we'll have to overcome. We knew that was going to happen. We're prepared for it. But remember, we're also, for these three years, predicting pretty flat student growth. And if you drive out past 7th standard, there's a ton of homes going in and we have a lot of kids coming. So I expect that to change as well. What are some of the things that are affecting this budget? One is rising costs, and that's not a surprise to anybody, whether at home or at their place of work. Healthcare, it's going to cost the North School District $1 million more next year than it did this year for healthcare costs. $1 million more. We thought we really had overestimated that percentage. I said, throw in 10% just to be safe. I'm glad we did because it was higher
057than that, and that just blew us away. Goods and services, inflation, I mean, all those things, service contracts, utilities, all those things are going up and the COLA is not covering those increases. The new paid leave mandate is going to affect us. It's going to cost us some money. And pension and benefit rates are always something that we look at. Those are fixed costs on every position for the district. That 1.44%, I told you I'd get back to it. So just to give you an idea, again, We're trying to separate these two things as if they're two separate things. We have the 2.87 COLA, which we love. The 1.44% is kind of an additional investment that we think will cover the cost of this new pregnancy disability leave. Right now, we know of about 11
058employees next year that that's going to affect. And long-term sub-costs are $212 a day. We might have to revisit that, by the way, because I know we raised those rates during COVID to be competitive, but we'll probably need to look at it again because there's some districts paying some pretty healthy amounts for subs. But 14 weeks, that's 70 workdays. So do the math. It's going to be a couple hundred thousand dollars when it's all said and done to cover those costs. Our plan is until that trailer bill language comes out and we get all the fine details, we're going to be very cautious with that extra 1.44 percent. Looking ahead, Gossamer Grove, super excited about this. We are really in the planning stages. There's going to be new staffing. There's going to be new operating
059costs for the district. We expect there, we expected there to be a dip in that out year, which we do see. But the good news is our reserve still stays strong, which is good. And again, because we're a growing district, that's a good place to be. If we were in declining enrollment with a new school opening, I'd have a different, I'd be wearing a different face right now. So, and again, just reinforcing a strong position. We are in a strong position financially. We're cautiously managing that. We always set aside 25%. I know we have another item here coming up on committed fund balance. We always set aside 25% for economic uncertainties. That's smart, disciplined planning. So we've got, for this particular budget, a $760,000 surplus next year. It's going to be greater than that, but
060we wanted to be conservative. And then, of course, our eyes are on the horizon to see what is all going to be decided in that final budget from the governor and that trailer bill language. So any questions on the budget? And of course, as always, I want to thank Katie, because every year, I kid you not, that job becomes monumentally more difficult. There is always a new categorical. It's well over 25 now. And at one time when I started, it was three. Everyone has strings attached. She is an amazing spreadsheet maker. I have a spreadsheet that she gave me that would fill up your table because there's that many categoricals. So it's a lot of work to get into this. There's a lot of guesswork. There's a lot of detailed work. So I really appreciate
061all the time that she puts in for this budget. Jim, any comments? I can't see Katie's face because I think she's hiding right there. She will. I'm not looking, but she's hiding. I know she is. I do want to say that I happen to be reviewing it and looking at it. And I had a couple of budget questions. And so Jonathan Medina was near my office. And so I asked him and he was like. So he's the assistant superintendent of finance. And he was like, whew, you guys always do such a good job. Oh, it's always so nice. Oh, so clean. And they add all the explanations. And he was oohing and aahing over the whole report and saying what a good job you do. So I just wanted to make sure to let you
062know that. Because he was like, well, scroll down to this. And ooh, I like the way that looks. It was kind of hilarious how excited he was about the way that the budget looked. 100%. It was actually like, I adore him and I thought it was so funny. So clearly job well done. And that is not the standard across all districts. So job well done. Okay. With that, so with no other questions, Dan, you get to sit down for a few seconds. Okay. But don't get too comfortable. I will. Okay. Yep. But you don't have to be standing up to do that. So with that, we will, I don't have a gavel because it's in the other room, which is fine. So we're just going to pretend I'm gaveling. With that, I will open the
063public hearing at 649. Would anyone like to make any comments about the budget for fiscal year 26-27? Don't all rush up here at the same time. Okay. So with that, I will close. I hope he's not going to get my gavel. That's nonsense. That's silly. And with that, I will close really fast at 6.50. Look how well I did it without it. I can improvise. I can do this. I did theater, and so I can still do it. I already closed it, but there it is, if it makes you feel better. Okay, so the public hearing is closed. Dan, you still get to sit down, but 6.2 is Chantel. More public hearing fun. We're going to have the public hearing regarding the proposed updates to the district's local control and accountability plan. Also another busy
064time of year. Yes, it is. Good evening, everyone. I have to echo Dan's sentiments and the fact that it feels like we were just up here doing this last year, but it doesn't feel like last year. But you also come up and give us this update a lot. Yeah, so because we have the mid-year update now, so it does feel like it's kind of constant and ongoing. So I'm here to present our LCAP executive plan summary for 26-27 school year. As you know, the LCAP is our district's primary planning document. It outlines our goals, actions, and investments that guides how well we serve our students. Here's a recap of what makes up the full LCAP document. It includes our budget overview for parents, the LCAP template, the template instructions, action tables for both the 25,
06526, and 26, 27 school years. And tonight I'll be summarizing the highlights so you have a clear picture of where we're headed. As a reminder, California requires every LEA to address all eight state priorities in their LCAP. These priorities cover three broad areas, including conditions of learning, pupil outcomes, and engagement. Our three goals are they collectively address all eight of these priorities. Looking at goal one. So first, I'm going to provide some reflections on our 2526 LCAP goals and our actions that were within that. For goal one, we fully implemented all of our actions. We had our intervention instructional materials and professional development, and then our professional development for learning loss. That's been huge for us recently of just increased professional development and trying to be very intentional. Our CTE opportunities, we were able to
066add a few more sections, especially with ag this past year, and hoping to continue to grow that program. Our enrichment opportunities, which includes our field trips and any other activities that we provide for our students outside of the classroom, and then maintaining that student-to-device ratio. Under goal two for academic proficiency, all actions were successfully implemented. We maintained our reduced class sizes at TK through third grade. We ran our 14-day summer school program last summer, targeting our students with the greatest academic need. And we supported students through our academic student success team, which remember is a collection of staff members that support our students academically in many ways. I trained our classified staff. That was a really big step for us this year of being really intentional on those professional development days and being able to
067provide training for our classified staff so they feel better prepared to support our students in the classroom. And then also continued to maintain our ELA at every campus and expanded our AVID elective program at Norris Middle. We were able to just this year add one more section and that has been really well received on campus. For goal three, school climate engagement, all of our actions were implemented as planned. These range from parent nights. We have our Power School Parent Portal that allows parents to monitor student grades, PBIS training. Brandy has done a great job with that in having regular meetings and making sure that that program is being well implemented on our campuses. Our Attend Attendance Monitoring System, behavior support. And then our student success team there that focuses more on SEL. One of the
068highlights this year included our EL parent night, which had a really strong turnout, the best turnout we've ever had. And we received great feedback on that. Our daily attendance rate improved slightly this year. It wasn't a lot, but we're maintaining well and hope to continue growing in that regard. Now let's look at our 20-6-27 LCAP. This is our third year in the LCAP cycle, so this is kind of the tail end, and typically we don't make a whole lot of changes throughout that cycle. But I will say we are expanding on some of our actions next year in terms of being able to support our student groups, our unduplicated students, and pretty much most of those actions are being implemented district-wide. Our goals have not changed. The language is here. First goal remains all students
069will have access to high quality education in all subject areas, including standards aligned curriculum, highly effective teachers and staff, and a well-maintained learning environment. And this goal addresses priorities one, two, and seven for basic services, state standards, and course access. So for 26-27, our goal and actions included, we continue funding for intervention instructional materials. I've included dollar amounts here this year just for a little bit more transparency so you can really see where those dollars are landing. You'll notice that some actions seem significantly lower than others, but it's just a matter of what's needed within that action and who it impacts. So this goal was actually this action in particular had actually lower funding than even just the 7000 this year, but we've included some more intervention materials within that action. Professional development for learning
070loss, like I said, that's been a huge focus for us. We are going to continue putting quite a bit of money towards that so that we can continue to give our staff the tools they need to be able to support our students. CTE opportunities at Norris Middle School. We are going to add even more sections of ag this next year. Super exciting to add to that program. And if you've seen our garden over there, you'll know they're just doing a great job over there. We are also going to be adding more sections of media arts this year. And that's a really popular elective at the middle school. So excited to be able to continue expanding on those programs. In terms of enrichment opportunities for all students, this mostly encompasses our field trips. And just so
071you know, this is one of our actions that in the past has not been considered a contributing action, but we were able to justify it this year because it does offer opportunities for some of our unduplicated student groups to go on those types of trips that they wouldn't typically be able to do if it wasn't going through our school trips. And then instructional technology access and support. So this is one that was already contributing, but we were able to add some things within this action. Worked with Dan on this. So we changed the title of this action and also added in some teacher device replenishment and inventory management system. And then also hoping to add a new technology support position just because we have so much technology throughout the district now. Goal two focuses on
072academic proficiency. All students will achieve academic proficiency through effective universal teaching strategies, classroom-based interventions, enrichment opportunities, and supplemental resources to support full access to the Common Core state standards. This goal addresses state priorities four and eight. Quite a few actions within this goal, including maintaining our class size reduction at TK through third. Like I said, most of these are just ongoing actions from our previous years. Our learning lost summer school program, which is taking place right now for the current year, but still planning on doing that again next year. Our academic student success team, we are expanding that this year to finally get a TOSA over at Norse Middle School to help with that new teacher support. And that TOSA will also serve other functions over there as well. So really excited about that. I
073know the middle school admin is looking forward to having that resource. We'll continue the classified support training on our PD days. We'll continue to have our EL aids at every campus. That population is growing, so it's great to have that support there. Our AVID elective program is expanding again. We are going to be adding additional sections over at Norris Middle School, and then BMAT is going to be piloting with their sixth grade team on implementing AVID strategies on their campus. So they will be attending the AVID Summer Institute with us this summer and starting to implement those strategies there. Then we have our, what was our last one, our LTEL support resources. And so we are, that is an increasing population as well. Those are students that have been designated English learners for a long
074period of time. Most of them are at our middle school. So it's really important that we provide resources there to try to get those students reclassified. All right. Goal three is our school climate and engagement goal. Foster a school climate that promotes safety and school connectedness, encourages parent involvement and student engagement, and provides behavior interventions to reduce chronic absenteeism and suspension rates. This goal addresses state priorities three, five, and six. So, Goal 3 actions include some expanded parent nights, including programming for our English learners families. So, really want to continue that EL parent night that was so well attended. Some other things that we included here that have kind of been ongoing, but that are relevant to this category is like our boy-to-man and girl-to-woman nights, our TK readiness night. Anytime we can bring our
075parents in and help with that education, it's super beneficial for our students and our parents. Our PowerSchool Parent Portal, you know, that's an every year thing, just allowing that communication with parents in an easy way. Same thing. Our online lunch application, obviously, this is a little bit different now that everybody can receive lunch, but there is still a process that goes along with that. Our parent communication platform with ParentSquare, which has really helped with just quick communication with families and also with that translation ability, it gives us access to more families. Still maintaining that full-time SDC administrator and our health clerks. Continuing, this goal has lots of actions in it. Our PBIS program and training, we've seen great results with that and we'll continue that. Like I said, our classified support training, there's two different
076categories. So you saw there's an academic component and then also our SEL component. 3.9 is another action that we've expanded on attendance and school climate intervention supports. Previously, this really focused on the attendance component with the program that we have to help with that. But now we've also added in, I worked again with Dan on this action. We're hoping for a school resources officer. This can include some of our crossing guards in regards to safety and then additional security cameras, especially over at Norris Middle School. Our transportation aides who, you know, serve a big function on our transportation routes. And then that last one there for our student success team, maintaining the positions that were already within that, but also including directional of instructional services in that as she's a big part of that. She
077supports that the truancy and improving our attendance and reducing our chronic absenteeism rates. So that concludes my presentation for the 2627 LCAP. I do want to thank everybody, all of our... groups involved in providing input for our LCAP, our staff, parents, students, and community partners. Also want to thank Katie because I know how much she likes to be recognized. She and I worked more closely than we probably ever have in past years. And then Dan was in with a few meetings too. We've just found that the more closely we work together, that the smoother this process goes. So I'm just grateful that we were able to work together in that process. Any questions? I just think it's nice that we have expanded. into all areas now. And we can, the programs that we have, we
078could use the cell cap money now and it looks good. Yes. Good job. No, great job. Thank you so much to all of you. I know it's a ton of work to make it happen. So thank you all. Thanks, Katie, who always hides in the back too. But thank you guys so much for that. Thank you. Okay. With that, I will open the public hearing. Just for you, Mr. Silver, with the gavel. 703. Does anybody have any comments? I mean, Dan, do you have comments that you'd like to make about the public hearing, Dan? I'd just like to thank Katie. No, I'm just kidding. That's great. That's great. Anybody else like to get up and thank Katie during our public hearing? Thanks, Katie. Okay. With that, at 703, I will close the public hearing. Dan
079was ready. 6.3, review and approve the district's annual report on Proposition 28, Arts and Music in Schools, funding for fiscal year 25-26. Yes, so we have to do this every year for Prop 28. It's required. And first of all, what a great music department that we have. If you've ever been to a music department meeting... They're a lot of fun, and it's a great group to work with. We were able to do quite a few things through this Prop 28, even from the start. It's by site, and so each site is funded a little bit differently, but we've made some really great improvements, bringing on some more music so that everybody had a dedicated music teacher from the start, and also some of that, a percentage of that money at each school site goes towards
080materials, and we were able to purchase a really nice piano over at the middle school. They had a pretty old piano that just would never stay in tune. And we have an award-winning choir. So we bought a really nice piano and I went down and I played it before we bought it and it was so much fun. So they have a piano worthy of that program. That's exciting. If you go to the choir concert next year, you will see it. It's a beautiful instrument. So any questions on the Prop 28 report? Questions? No? Okay. With that, do I have a motion to approve the Prop 28 Arts and Music funding? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Fantastic. 6.4, approve resolution 2517 requesting the R&R School Financing Authority issue not to exceed $100 million. Okay, I
081didn't misread that. Aggregate principal amount of its community facilities, District 92-1 special tax bonds 2026 Series A, of which not to exceed $50 million in aggregate principal amount may be allocated to the Norris project. So that's a mouthful. I know. Let me tell you exactly. And a lot of money. It is, but it's not going to be $100 million. So this is the formal process to get us prepared to issue the special tax bond through our R&R, our CFD. And this is part of the funding that's going to use to build Gossamer Grove. We're going to be going out for approximately $40 million for this process. This is how it has to be written. But we're trying to take the smallest amount possible. And the reason for that is that We want to create some
082space and again prepare in the future when we build the next school. So we could max it out and take less from our general fund or from our other capital facilities funds, but then we're going to be left. you know, in 2035, 2036 with not a whole lot of money to put towards a new school. So we're trying to be fiscally responsible, but this is just the first part of that in preparation to issue that special tax bond. Okay, is there a question? No. Do I have a motion? So moved. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Fantastic. Thank you. Item 6.5, approve Resolution 2514, Committed Fund Balance. Thank you. So committed fund balance. We're not always required to do this, but in this budget, 10% cap is enacted for reserves. So we have to commit
083funds that are in excess of that. We still reserve the minimum 3%, but then we commit the rest of that reserve. So as I mentioned in my budget report, we do 25% for economic uncertainties, which I'm very pleased with. And then it's a little bit different than ones you've seen in the past. We have $10 million there for capital facilities. And again, that's in preparation for the building of the school. And then we have an amount there for technology, books, supplies. As we have grown our technology and our devices, the replacement costs does cost some money. So we set aside some money for that as well. Okay. Anybody have any questions? No. With that, do I have a motion to approve Resolution 2514? So moved. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Fantastic. Item 6.6, approve
084Resolution 2515, resolution regarding the Education Protection Account. Yes, also required every June, this resolution. So the Education Protection Account, you have to state what you are spending that money on, which goes towards teacher salaries. The one caveat is it cannot go towards any administrator salaries, and it does not. But it has to be an item that comes before the board every June as a resolution. Anybody have any questions? No. Do I have a motion? Second. All in favor? Fantastic. We got one more, Dan. 5.7. Approve consolidated application CARS. I don't want to thank Katie again, but I'm going to do it because she does this. I think you need to. And I think I need to because... I'm still hiding, but thank you anyway. So this has to do with our federal programs that we
085apply for. And for the North School District, we get three pots of federal money, Title I, Title II, and Title IV. And we have to apply through the consolidated application. So this is the part of that process. It comes to you every June. Okay. Any questions? Do I have a motion to approve the consolidated application? So moved. All in favor? Aye. All right. Fantastic. You are dismissed. You can wait a little bit, though. That's good news. 6.8 is Chantel. Approved district single plan for student achievement. So every year, our school site principals have to work on their SPSAs and get them in alignment with LCAP. And since we started receiving Title I, this has been a much more challenging task for them. So they put a lot of work into this every year. And so
086now we're bringing them to you for approval. Okay. Thank you, guys. Have any questions? Do we have a motion? So moved. All in favor? Aye. Thank you. 6.9, SAI approved the Resolution 2516, approving the termination and dissolution of the school's legal services joint powers agreement. Yeah, so... This is a kind of a two-part process here that you're going to see on the agenda. So we received some communication last month and something that's been worked on. I'm a board member on the Schools Eagle board, and that has been a JPA that's existed within our county, I think, since... the 80s maybe it's been a while and um that was something that was started it's one that operates through kcsos as an umbrella but it is uh separate from that has its own board and has been
087an organization that has helped serve not just kern county but also other school districts outside of the county that have been using schools legal service as their league their main legal service. And it's been one that's, the goal has been to lower costs and rates for legal services over the years. In the last four or five years, that's become a challenge. And so the board has been meeting and talking and going through kind of the outlook for what the GPA would look like. And through that, those conversations, the GPA structure just really didn't make much sense any longer. There were some changes to some of the rules with how you would charge or collect fees from districts, and those had to be addressed. four or five years ago. And so just over the last couple
088years as a board and then as a rates committee, we went through that process and determined that the best solution was to make a change. So what you're going to see here is something that districts that were a part of the GAPA needed to do prior to July 1st. And that is to do a dissolution of the GPA for schools legal. And so basically that would end the structure in which that organization exists. And then the following part, you're going to see a legal services agreement. So that allows districts to then re-engage with schools legal. for services on basically a direct service contract where you pay for the services in which you get. Those rates are designed to be at a lower rate still and be highly competitive, if not better than other legal services
089in or out of the area, but it just changes the relationship. What's going to happen is Schools Legal is just going to move into a division or department within KC SOS and then work with pretty much the same. services staff probably will change a little bit over time just to kind of fit within that new structure, but it will remain very similar. So the first one that you're going to see there for 6.9 is for our board to approve that resolution to terminate and dissolve that JPA. And then 6.10 will be my request to establish a new agreement with Schools Legal so we can still utilize them. moving forward for any legal services that we require. So that's kind of a summary of it. It took a lot of time and energy to get to
090that point. I think we've been talking about rates and what's been going on with the GAPA for at least a year and a half, two years, and really just struggling with the structure of how things were operating. And it was hard for me to do that because I felt like it was ending kind of a tradition for our area. The main thing is that we're still going to have... districts served by schools legal especially our smaller districts that need that and so it it does at least house it under kcsos and still provides those services to those districts that need it we need them other local and so this is kind of the next step in the journey for sls so with that you guys have any questions Do I have a motion to approve
091Resolution 2516? So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Fantastic. So 6.10 is to approve the legal services agreement with Kern County Superintendent of Schools. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. And I'm going to abstain from that right now, please. On 10. Thank you. 6.11, approve employment on the basis of a variable term waiver for Elizabeth Tudor. Oh, look, she's got to get all the way out. Good job, Rusty. Thank you. Yes, it's good to get up. All right. Good evening. So tonight we are seeking approval for employment for next school year. For Elizabeth Tudor, she will be on a variable term waiver as a speech pathologist. And then this just shows that we have conducted a diligent search for a credential teacher, but she does have experience. So we're seeking approval tonight. Do I
092have a motion? Whatever. Ronell, you make your pick. They're fighting. Sue and Dawn. Yeah, they both did both. Sue got it. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Fantastic. 6.12 employment on the basis of a variable term waiver for Yadira Anguiano. Anguiano, yes. And so again. similar to the previous one. She will be a speech pathologist for us for the upcoming school year on a variable term waiver. So we are seeking approval tonight. And she actually used to work for us as a speech language pathology assistant, left for a minute, and then she's coming back. And this is also, we're adding services as we expand our special education program. So these are going to be vital services to our students. Fantastic. Do you have a motion? I'll bid you. It was his turn. It was Jim.
093Jim. Jim and then Dawn. It's out of control up here right now. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Fantastic. And I think that's all I have for you right now. Thank you, Rusty. 6.13, approve updates to the district's educational specifications for future new elementary or transitional kindergarten through eighth grade school. Dan. Dan, I don't even have to tell you. You're just ready. Yeah. These are our new ed specs. So we worked with our architect, PJHM, on this. And this is required to be in place and in front of the board as we apply for new funding after our school is built. We want reimbursement from the state. So we've worked on this in collaboration with PJHM. And it's kind of a cool document to go through, especially the page where it talks about all the
094people we've worked with and talked with on the new school. and feedback and input that we've gotten. So it is before you for approval. Once that's approved, that gives us the ability again to start looking for funding. Sounds good. Do I have a motion? All in favor? Aye. Fantastic. All right. Now everybody gets to rest except for Cy. 6.14, public hearing and initial proposal from CTA for 26-27 school year negotiations. Yeah, so this is kicking off our negotiation season, which we do this every spring. We're a little bit later in the cycle here, but just as long as we get it done prior to summer is pretty much where we need to be. So this initial one is the proposal from our CTA or NTA group. And so they've sent us that initial proposal to
095open the negotiations. And then we'll have a public hearing for that. And then also in 6.15, you will just see an informational item that shows our proposal back to CTA. So we give them that response. And then what we will do for negotiations is we will wait until the September-October timeline. And that gives us a chance to do negotiations after we know all the budgetary questions are answered, we know all of our numbers, and then we can negotiate with... with real information instead of trying to guess. So that is the item for PTA. Okay. With that, we will open the public hearing at 718. Anybody want to make some comments? Okay. Hearing none, I will close the public hearing at 718. 6.15, initial proposal from North School District to CTA for 26-27 school year negotiations.
096Yeah, so this is the initial request from CSEA. So this is really our classified group that we negotiate with. Just to say, we've had really great negotiations. At least in my, I can speak directly to my five and a half years. Both groups have been amazing to work with. We stay in constant communication. A lot of this information that's put out in these letters is things that we've already discussed. in terms of just topics and issues to try to address through the CBAs that we approve. And so this is the opener for CSEA. And so they've provided that with us. If you look at 6.17, that is just our response to CSEA for negotiations. So we both have our proposals out there. And again, we'll wait until the September, October timeframe to start and to
097finish negotiations. to do that with the public hearing today. I'll make sure to read it correctly. That 6.16, this is the public hearing initial request from CSEA, Chapter 824 to open negotiations for the 2629 collective bargaining agreement. With that, I will open the public hearing at 7.19. I'll allow for any comments you'd like to make. Hearing none, I will close the public hearing at 719. And then 6.17 is the initial proposal from North School District to California School Employees Association, Chapter 824, request for the opening of negotiations for 2629 collective bargaining agreement. But you already talked about that. Okay. Just got to make sure it's the same. And we eliminated 6.18 at the beginning. With that. I will move on to the consent agenda. We have 7.1 minutes, 7.2 financial warrants, 7.3 inter-district transfers, which
098we're going to pull. Is that correct? No, we're not. Okay. 7.4 personnel. 7.5 coursework, 7.6 agreement with Kern County Superintendent of Schools for the 26-27 Camp Keep program, 7.7 three-year contract with Cisco Ventura Incorporated for commercial food and grocery products, 7.8 three-year contract between the purchasing group and Gold Star Foods as secondary distributor of commercial food and grocery products, 7.9 three-year contract between the purchasing group and Imperial Day to provide paper and pad. 7.14 annual contract with the School Services of California for Fiscal Budget Services and 7.15 CISC investment pool statement. Does anyone have anything they would like to pull from the consent agenda? We're not pulling that. We're not pulling that. Does anyone have anything special? No? With that, I would entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda. So moved. All in favor?
099Aye. Any opposed? Fantastic. Do we have any board member items? I say great graduation this year. I just hope next year it won't be in the morning. Do we have included that? Oh, you're smiling. Keep it in the morning. I liked the morning. I liked the morning, but I know that a lot of siblings, they weren't able to attend because it's their last day of school. Or by the person they missed the last day of school. Yes, or it's the last day of school to come. But it was a good graduation. And thank you everyone who participated. Well done. Anything else? Don, Jim? Okay. Yes, graduation was fantastic. I hope for all of you, you have a really nice summer. We're not having a meeting in July again this year, which is so exciting. We
100all get some downtime. I hope you have rest, relaxation, some time away, maybe a vacation, maybe you read a book. That was for Rebecca Bain right there. I've been stacking up my, you know, you got to, if you borrow from the library, you got to order everything early because it takes, you know, six months to get it. So I've been ready for my summer vacations. I can do some reading. So I hope that you all get some time to really rest and recharge for the next school year. So that is my hope for you. And with that, do I have a motion to enter into closed session? All in favor? Aye. There you go. Oh, yeah. actual value