001the meeting in the open session at 6 or 7 pm. Actuary Kchfield will update us on the topics of the closed session. Thank you, Madam President. The topics discussed in the closed session were litigation, issues of case, discipline, and employee release. In session we left, based on the educational code 49709, unanimously to approve the appeal of the request. Thank you. Thank you. Today we have Mrs. Alma and she will lead us in the oath to the flag. Thank you. Do we have any pages or modifications to the agenda? No, we don't have any. Continuing with the student staff presentations, we have the employee representative. Today I represent BTA, our new president John. Good afternoon everyone. I'm sorry, I said good morning. I'd like to introduce myself. I know some of them more formally than others,
002but I'll gladly start to take Carry's place. One of the updates you may have already heard is that we do have several teachers signing up for the Summer Institute. I think it's about 50% of the teachers, and we have 600, so it's something like around 300. I definitely want to give a compliment to the process. It was very easy to register them and get the information they needed quickly. We have several teachers attending CTA leadership in the coming weeks and they are probably aware that we have several schools that are ready to participate in Aber training at the high school and elementary levels. There's a little problem we have there that I want to share with you; maybe it will fix itself, it's just a matter of tidying up. Many teachers in elementary schools are
003reporting that they haven't received confirmation of their hotel accommodations, but perhaps that's something that will be sorted out. One last thing, perhaps a little more worrying, is that some of the high school teachers have contacted me about the new programs they are using to recover credits. It's called Ingenuity and the main concern was that there weren't enough, there weren't enough limits for them to use artificial intelligence, other things to do the work for them. In that program, Ingenuity, a short story with a teacher, she observed that this was happening. He watched some students carefully for several hours and they weren't doing any work, and in the last 5 minutes of class, 600- word essays were handed in. He is concerned about the legitimacy of the program. She doesn't know what the solution is, but she
004has a concern and wanted me to inform you. He did mention that the previous program they had used was called " Ahora Sí" and seemed to have a little more protection in that regard. That's all I have for tonight. Thank you. Thanks a lot. We have no communications from CSA. Now we go to PTA communications and we have our new president, Alexandra Cés. Thank you for being here. You have to push the little button. Thank you. Good afternoon, presidents, board members, Deputy President Dr. Van Smith, cabinet, and community members. My name is Alexandra Cortés and it is an honor to serve as the new Bufflower PTA president. I'm a little nervous. Thank you for your welcome. It is a privilege to be here today and to work with you to support the students and the
005school community. On July 1st, the official PTE year begins. The units across the district began planning and we had our first meeting this Tuesday. We already had the meeting and started our membership process. PTA membership is a way to support schools and we encourage everyone—staff, community, and students—to join. You can buy it at Chogram or in person. Our first excess, which is the sheet that you will see there, will be on Saturday, September 13th, at Vermont Elementary. We're going to have all the PTs together with community resources so that parents and families can meet, join together, and get resources. Another way to stay connected is to follow us on social media; we are Belfower Council PT on all of them. thank you very much. We have Dr. Smith's report. Yes, just a few things. Good
006afternoon, President ST, members of the board. Before I begin, I want to share that the district has completed the quarterly report, as required by the county as a result of the William Settlement legislature. There were no complaints received during this quarter regarding materials, instruction, facilities, or teacher assignments. Next, I would like the director of maintenance, facilities, operations, and transportation, Patrick Turner, to come and introduce himself to the board of directors, our newest member of the Belf school district family. Thank you, President Stuart, members of the board, Superintendent Dr. Smith, and the cabinet. It is a pleasure to be here today to introduce our new transportation manager. She's been here for about a month and a half, and she came with us and started performing. Since then it has been excellent. She comes with us with
007a wealth of knowledge and experience. She is a state trainer, not only in the classroom, but behind the wheel for truck drivers. We feel very fortunate that our team is already here in the district. At this time, I would like to welcome our transportation manager, Mary Thompson. Good afternoon. Thank you, Patrick. Hello everyone. For the meeting. My name is Mary Thompson. the newest member of the Bellflower Unified School District . I want to say, thank you all for inviting me. They have been very welcoming. I am honored to be a part of this school district. So thank you very much. One more thing, I'm very impressed. She brought her family with her, and her family came from the high desert, they come from the high desert. They've been traveling for over an hour to come
008and be with us tonight. So thank you, and we appreciate each and every one of you. How soft. We definitely want to thank you very much for being here. Do you mind coming to take a picture with us? Let's do it. He says that the members of the family are tall . Beautiful. It would be a good photo. It's called go bell flowers. H H Bfower everyone says. Well, Madam President, I have a few more things to report, but I can't beat you at that , so we'll leave it at that. You're sure? Yes, that concludes my report for today. Thank you all so much for coming. Thank you so much for coming. Okay, now we're on to the committee updates. Is there any update from the committee that the school board has? Some of
009the committees have met. Longst, does anyone have anything? I would say that the committee attached to the security committee, we sent out a survey and that will be active on our timeline, tentatively keeping the survey for an additional week to give us enough time for the presentation of the results on August 7th. Well, the only update I have is the survey. If you want people to answer, the survey is still published and attached to the security committee. Okay, anything else? Okay, thanks. So, we're in the public comments. Tonight we do have a request to address points on the open agenda, although they are not public, they are open to the public. Each speaker has 3 minutes for scheduled and unscheduled topics. The total time for each public contribution is 20 minutes according to 932. This
010educational board statute, Mr. John Paul Jerry cannot accompany. Welcome. It 's already on. John Paul Dreer Fwood Street, North Belflower, District 2. My father was the mayor of Belflower in the early 1980s and he tried to start a development agency, this Belflower development agency, but it was misinterpreted and we were unable to have another development agency for many years. and that economically we are behind, although it could be like reading and hills in that sense. After the state got rid of the Cerritos city development plan, well, we have the Cerritos development plan , but we're behind on it and it's affecting the economy and our property values and school districts. So I'm working hard to get more people involved. and that they commit to the city to make improvements. I ask that a tree be
011planted in front of your house. That can improve the property value, but if someone, if we can all do something by cleaning their yards, their trash, if they can't do it, there is a volunteer center for people who can clean it too. Student volunteers can help with what they need. There have also been some political misunderstandings and other issues . I was also talking to someone in the east at City Hall. They say the current board is the old majority, but there's a new majority on the school board. They're joking around, they're following the audit recommendations, they're a little behind on what's been happening in the news, but the work and progress they've made is commendable. We need to work more with the city of Bellflower and the City Council to do things with Mayfir
012and the schools, the other local schools. I am working behind the scenes to try to help, engaging my neighbors to improve our school district in all of our schools that we attend. Thank you for your time. Next up are Mauricio Pérez and Eduardo Tapia. Peace from now on. Thank you for being here. I'm so excited to hear this. Good evening everyone. Good evening Board of Education with this cabinet member. Morisa PR is my name, a member of Belfower Unified School District, the Belfowering community. Nice to meet you. Thank you again for all your service. This proud mother of two graduates and two Mayf students, but here I am in my capacity to work with Gateway City. Council Government. We represent 2.1 million residents in Southeast Los Angeles, the same as 27 cities. I'm here with
013Eduardo Tapia, my colleague who's going to give the presentation. Hello, good evening members of the educational board, members of the public. My name is Eduardo Tapia with Gary Council Governments and I want to take this opportunity to introduce you all to a great resource that we have promoted to other school districts in the Los Angeles County region, which is the Kids for Kids Program. This is a free program that provides these energy-efficient exchanges for free . of second and third grade classrooms and $1,000 in grants. Uh, the students take the boxes home, they can see everything they have. It has Focus LD, this, a and a this shower timer. Students take it home and mark it on a card, return the check-in card to the teachers, and 65% of students return the card. Is the
014speech eligible for a grant of ,000. They are very flexible; they can be used for science experiments, for field trips, or for classroom needs. Very flexible. The only eligibility requirement for the program states that the schools or districts must be within the territory. I believe it's all a certain rental territory. This Bellflower is here, so we're registering first come, first served, so you need to reserve your spots. They are registering this summer for the fall of the next school year. Free program for schools, families, and students. A great way to teach students about energy efficiency and give a tangible resource to teachers who always need help. The reason we've gone to districts instead of individual schools is because it 's easier to coordinate with someone at the district level rather than with each school individually.
015I would tell them that if they are interested in bringing this resource to Bellflower Unified, I will leave my contact information with a flyer and we can give you more information about this at a future meeting. I appreciate it very much. Could you give it to Dr. Smith, please? Pass it on to him. Thank you so much. We really appreciate that. Continuing with the consent agenda, colleagues, are there any points you'd like to stop? I'm going to stop at 11.16. Does anyone have any others? I want to retain 11. Let me, let me see the correct numbers. Point 15 11.15. Some other? Okay, I'm excited to try the consent agenda - 11.5 and 11.16. He has the motion. One second. Second. Armstrong Member. Second. Call the roll. Mrs. Armstrong. Yes, Mrs. Cron. Yes, Mr. Criteld.
016Yes, Mrs. Garsa. Yes, Mrs. Stuart. Yes. Okay. Continuing from the first one, I'm being held back. 11.15. Vice President Garza, I'm sorry, mine was 11.16. He's holding the... That's mine. I'm confused. I got 11 points. 1 C. I'm sorry. 11.16. Correct. That's not the one I said, that's not the one I took out. Yes, I think I have a question about that. The F3 contract, the 43,000 increase. Can you give me an explanation as to why we are increasing that contract? We added special education to that contract, and that explains the increase in the amount. Okay. Special education for F3. They had already done that in special education. We added it at some point this year until we had to increase the amount due to the costs of litigating special education. We have another question
017at 11:15. Okay. A motion to approve 11.15. has the motion. One second. Second. Thank you. Actuary. Secretary. Crchel. Second. Mrs. Armstrong. Yes. Mrs. Sintron. Yes. Mr. Kell. Yes. Mrs. Garser. Yes. Mrs. ST. Yes. Okay. The following is 11.16 the contract and agreements for the 2025-2026 school year. Vice President Garza, I have a question. I believe the John Trade Clinic says that a non-public agency can tell us a little more about what it says regarding education, socialization, preschool attendance based on the placement of the individualized education plan can give us more information about the location. The John Tracy clinic offered us services for students who have hearing difficulties, and we added a student to the program. We don't have a person for deaf people. They provide that service. They provide us with related services and also
018provide us with the placement they need in the DDH program . Ah, I see. My question was respectfully about the contract with YNCA. I asked this question before, but I wanted to do it publicly because I've received different information from the public, and today I wanted to repeat that. My question is that we paid 1.24 million for this and I was told that if one goes to the YMC before school , some parents are thinking that there was a fee for that. I wanted to verify that the before-school care at the YMCA in Foster, Ernile, is free for parents for the YMCA morning program. Correct? That contract is for two things: Playground partners and the Afors from before school. Some parents thought they were very expensive. How do they register? Do they register on the
019site or an online site? How can parents register for the program? There is an online interest form and also during the school year there are forms available at school sites. And to clarify, after school we have two programs. You can use the YMCA or you can use Think Together. My approach was the one from before school, but you have two options. The two Think Together are everywhere. After that, the school was only in three locations. Correct? Do you know those places? It's going to be ILC Lstr. Those are the places where the CRF secretary, the MCA, and Think Together are located. It's free for our parents. Correct. And BMC charges, but Together is in all of them and BMC is only in three. Correct. Are there any other questions? The John Tracy Clinic prompted me
020to ask a question. It's a quarter of a million dollars. The question is, how many students does the deaf program need, and what would it cost to have that service here? Because that cost you're seeing is part of the services provided to students, it's not for a single student. We just added one year, a preschool student, and we didn't have one previously. They provided services to about 15 of our students, and they were different services. He knows what it would mean to have services in our district, which would be over 4 million. It would mean having a partner with Celpa, or in the district, we have explored those options in conversations with Celpa so that we would n't have to use JTC. It is something that we are investigating , exploring, and will continue to
021do so. And I have one more question. The Scholar System contract, I think that's for our Welcome Back breakfast speaker. Yes. Ah, Mr. Critfield, that's the company for the speaker, who is Dr. Victorious. At that point, with respect to what we hope, I'm excited for Dr. Simon to start in the district, to hear everything we're going to do, but I still don't think there's been much communication with the board. I think that when we return to the district breakfast next year and the idea of the speaker was to emphasize the vision of the district and the board, I think it's a little too soon to say that's our vision when we haven't had the time to build a relationship with the new superintendent, for them to get to know the board so that we're going
022to agree on what the theme and message of the district will be going forward. I prefer to wait until the next meeting, unless it has to be right now. Yes, I met with her and spoke with her. I don't think there was like a vision. He was a very good speaker. We have n't done it in the past. I think the last speaker didn't speak. I support the superintendent, she's here. If she thinks he's going to be a good speaker, I support her. I am not in favor of doing that. Vice President Garza. Thank you, Madam President. I agree with member Cfield. We have not yet met with the superintendent. I think the speaker should be someone who will start the school year with the board's vision . That's our job here. That's why we're
023here having these conversations, and then choosing the speaker would be better. I haven't met with her yet, but I would love to sit down with her so she could get an idea of where we're headed . And it's not something she chose randomly; we don't know her yet, we want to start a conversation with her and establish a relationship with her. I'm in favor of waiting a little longer. I understand that you as staff have due dates, deadlines for a speaker. I hope we can return to this topic after having these conversations with her. to address that. I have met with her, but she hasn't started yet. So the public knows, she hasn't started. The superintendent doesn't start until July 14. As president, I requested that she be the first to meet with me. I'll
024be with her on July 17th because I'll be at the congress until the 16th. I fly on Wednesday and I'll meet with her on the 17th, and the rest of the board will be meeting with her on the 21st or 22nd at the beginning of the week when it starts. She has n't started yet, for example, we haven't met with her. Members, I want to repeat the actuary Criteld and the designated Garsa. I think it's necessary. Thank you, Madam President, for providing the timeline. I think it's important that we understand the vision with the new superintendent, but approving something of this magnitude without even being able to have a conversation and reach a consensus on what we want to see going forward and hiring someone who will have a major impact on the start of
025the school year. I think there's a little bit of space in the timeline to be able to meet and then reach an agreement with the speaker. I don't know this speaker, I haven't heard this person myself. I 'm not saying anything bad. Of course we can approve it, but I think I would feel more in coordination with the superintendent if it's something we can wait a little while to clarify. Last week they sent us a link with information, different things we could watch so we could learn more about the speaker and be prepared before the meeting. But I understand, Member Armstrong, thank you Madam President. I don't know him personally. Victor Rias is not my friend, but he has been a guest speaker at CSPA, at SBA. He comes and speaks to the board of
026directors of California Latina. He's there and has been to several of our schools, our neighbors' schools in Lindwood. The last one he was at was... and when he speaks, he connects with the students if they listen to him. And his story is that he didn't expect him to be successful at all. Very strong, very powerful, and even the student board members in different places felt like he had a certain magnetism. It's called the system, the scholar system. This is its manifestation, we believe, in the incredible potential of our students and the great things that passionate educators can achieve. And like I told you, I've been to LAUSD, in the app of the Lampac, he's everywhere. We have enough time or whatever, but I promise you, I myself have tried to get Victor to come here
027as a district. We 've had so many changes as a district that it hasn't been possible, but for him to make it available, our teachers are going to love it, the students are going to love it. They will connect with the message. I want to put it in a contract so that he does n't go somewhere else. To be honest, we don't have another meeting until August 7th if we don't sign this contract, which was the first thing the superintendent asked the board to do . Let's trust her, we'll hire her. If we don't approve the contract, we probably won't have a speaker because the next meeting is on August 7th and the breakfast is on August 18th or August 12th. We will not have a speaker if we do not approve this contract. That
028is why I trust our superintendent. We can have conversations with her; she's a speaker and she thinks she'll be a good fit for us. Members members in Trump. I want to see what actuary Chfield means and what member Carsa meant . I do n't know if someone pushed the button. I'm here right now, the secretary has the quech. Thank you, Madam President. He's probably right, and I saw some of the videos. Very well, he may be the best speaker. And the thing is, the district breakfast that we're returning to after 17 years was to demonstrate the district's vision, our role as the board is the vision, and I think it's worth having a conversation. Maybe it could be. I know it's incredible. I've seen your videos. Perhaps it would be a conversation. It's difficult to
029say, although it hasn't started yet, so we have n't had the conversation. When I've heard twice that there have been conversations here and that contracts have already been discussed for us to sign, that we can have a relationship and collaborate beforehand. I think it's going to be an amazing collaboration. I've spoken to her briefly, I think it's going to be really great, but we haven't done it yet. It's not our fault the timeline isn't there, but I suppose we can figure out a way to have those conversations, maybe by hiring Victor, if it hasn't started at all, because we're talking about contracts without being able to ask her why she wants this speaker instead of others and spending over $1,000. It's a big conversation that we haven't had. We are in the transition period, it's
030a matter of time, but maybe that person will be that speaker, but we are a board of directors of five people. I respect your decision, Madam President, to speak with her before the board meeting; it seems you already had that conversation. I believe the discussions could have taken place before this meeting so that I could have the opinions and comments of the board with a unified purpose. Having a theme for the year is something we should definitely discuss and give our feedback and opinions on before the start of the school year. Thank you. I totally agree, that's why I'm shocked why we didn't have that last year with the last speaker, but member center, but sorry, yes it was part of comparisons with the speaker as vice president. I didn't choose the speaker, we had
031a vision, we talked about the vision last year when we chose the speaker or the speaker was chosen for us respectfully, the previous president chose the speaker. Correct. The conversation was with you and me and there were three convergences, but I say the whole board. We had a conversation and meeting this year to talk about last year's speaker. Well, we didn't do it, but we did talk about the topic of the year. The superintendent chose the speaker to match the theme. There are more conversations now, aren't there? As I said, I'm not against the speaker. I want to have that conversation again and collaborate. I don't want to say anything more. I think we haven't even had the opportunity to talk about these fixed contracts. We haven't discussed this issue, and I think it's irresponsible.
032There is a contract that has gone through the board for the first speaker and our superintendent thinks he will be a good speaker. The previous superintendent chose based on what she thought. But hearing that we are not going to extend that grace to the new superintendent truly disappoints me. Vice President Garza. Thank you, Madam President. I think one of the key parts of this story is probably the difference between last year and this year, which is that Ms. Acebedo had already had those conversations with us before deciding who was going to be the speaker. So I know that at that point I wasn't asking any more questions because she had had that conversation with me. I sat down with her and gave her my vision. I shared my vision. At that point, what were our
033visions? That board. I assumed that all the views would coincide. Uh, that was his job. But I don't feel comfortable with this speaker, or rather, he's not the speaker anymore. The speaker really agrees with member KCH. It may be the same, but I just want to be able to have a conversation with her, sit down so she can see. So, if this is, uh, if this coincides with the board's vision, and thank you for giving us your itinerary, it wasn't necessary, but I understand why you would want to speak with her first. I think that as an educational board, if the three of us ask for a little more time, that they grant us that favor. This time of grace with them is so that our relationship with her has a positive start. So, that
034will be paid for with dividends in the future, but frankly I don't feel comfortable approving such a large contract. This is the first time, but it is something I want to discuss with her first, Ms. Alzedo. To clarify for the public, Mr. Acevedo became the interim superintendent in February, so our current superintendent had plenty of time. We had to wait a little while to approve her contract for reasons beyond my control. And again, if we don't approve this contract for her, we probably won't get anyone. So that's because they haven't had a conversation with her, because it has n't started yet, and because the president asked to have a conversation first. If that's the reason for not trusting her, for hiring a speaker, then that's what they're going to do. I am against that. I
035think we should be supporting our superintendent. Vice President Garsa, you had something to say, didn't you? I'm going for the They want to see it. I'm watching, I'm calling him in order. Remember, as I remind you, if you turn it off and turn it back on, it will still lower it all the way down. I will continue in order. Vice President Garza. Well, I can understand what she's saying, but it's not about the president talking to her first. You are the president, you were allowed to be. That's how it sounds, but please continue. I'm sorry, you can't . I'm not even going to address this conversation right now , but this is something that we as a whole board have to decide if it's the vision of the entire school board. Ensuring that the superintendent
036understands what we all think is important and agreeing with that vision is important. Choosing the right speaker is also important to start the school year. And just to clarify again for the public. As a board member, I have been in this position for two and a half years. I have never been asked what my vision is, regardless of who the superintendent or president is. Nobody has asked me who I am, what my vision is. Continuing, Kirk Crackfield. Thank you, Madam President. It is unfortunate to frame this as us not having faith or confidence in our new superintendent. That's not the point; the point is to have a truly collaborative approach, and that's the difference that Mrs. Chavedo points out. She was in the district for over 30 years, so she was in the district for
037a long time. I think their understanding of the community, having a clear vision, is there. Ms. Summer already agreed that there is a learning curve to being a new, surprising, new community, and I respect that learning curve. And learning can start with the school board when it comes to listening to our vision and what we think about the direction of the school board. The comparison, I think, is not serving future goals by framing it as a matter of not trusting, but rather that the Board wants to collaborate with the new superintendent . Again, it sounds like conversions have already taken place, and so these timelines and guidelines have flowed. In other words, how long are we asked to wait to speak with the superintendent? I think that because of those timelines I prefer perhaps to
038put this on hold, to postpone, to delay that I am ready to move forward, to have those conversations, but they haven't taken place, so it's very unfortunate. And just to be respectful, I've had conversations with you about some of these things, so yes, it's my personal opinion, maybe it's not correct, but that this isn't having confidence, but not being able to talk to the new superintendent for 5 days, I don't think that's such an atrocious timeline. Member Armstrong, thank you President Stuart. I'm thinking of a more cheerful approach, considering the timeline. As I said, I would love for Dr. Ríos to come and talk to the teachers. I already talked about that, but it's possible we can approve it because he's approachable. Perhaps if you want to contact him, he is quite accessible. If you
039want to talk to him, hey, you're going to go to our school. I am sure he knows about the new dynamic we have pending, etc., etc. You can talk to him, communicate with him, contact him and talk to him. He is not what you think we want. I am like you, Mrs. Amy. Uh, Amy, this, they never asked me, Dr. Acevedo, they never asked me which speaker we should choose or things like that, it just happens because they're working on trying to plan. So we could approve the contract for these 20,000 so that Dr. Ríos can come. I can provide you with links so you can research him and possibly even talk to him, but I promise you, I don't know how you can trust me, but I promise you that he resonates with teachers,
040board members, and most importantly, with students. And I know that he has something that we're all going to be excited and happy to hear from him . I promise you, we could reach a happy medium and approve the contract. I can provide you with information, and if you don't want to do that, we can always cancel it. But let's do this, let's get to the point of joy. This is a means, for example, you don't first in my case, we must after we finish talking, turn it off and on, so we go in order. I agree with you. I was the one who brought up this point. It doesn't seem important, Centron Board member. Oh, thanks. Well, now you've got me, Armson, this news story has me thinking. Well, once again, you're absolutely right why
041I wasn't comfortable with this particular contract. It wasn't again because I don't know the speaker. Also, just to be very clear, because it has been said several times in several different meetings, if we are given the information in advance, and yes, I do receive the same information as everyone else and I was not satisfied with that information, that's why I say, here I do trust who we chose. That's not the point, that 's not the issue. I also want to make sure, as I said before, that we are on the same page as the incoming superintendent. I have no problem with the timeline for speaking with the new superintendent. It does n't bother me in the slightest. I think I need to hear more debate in order to properly establish how I want to proceed
042with my vote. KF. Yes, Madam President. Can you repeat that again? It's not about the speaker or the trust in the superintendent. It's unfortunate that he paints it that way or suggests private conversations. that what I say is not true. I don't like it, I don't like that either, but I want to say that this is literally what it's about when we talk about unified purpose, having a vision as an educational board. I'm sorry you have n't been asked, but every time we talk in this district we talk about the vision. What is important? These conversions, what is the important thing we heard from the community that the community needs to hear this year? This coming year, I feel it is important, there must be a unified message for the CES Victor Rios district. Great,
043but there's no reason why that conversation couldn't have happened in my humble opinion, especially considering and knowing the conversion links that have already taken place, even though it hasn't started yet. I think those conversations could have been with the school board so that these conversations could have been more reasonable. The rest of the confidence, the speaker, none of that. At the start of the year, a unified message with the vision and message of this educational board, and I believe we all have a very positive vision for this district, and I think that working together is quite optimistic. Optimistic and with a great vision, we took steps, and thanks to the staff for also helping us get to this point. This should happen when Dr. Simon starts with our district. The timings aren't ideal, but the
044conversations are very valuable . I 'm not sure what George Cor's vision was last year, but the vision and conversation that you were part of was about technology. and with activity and unified and purposeful using technology and changing the way we see technology with students. Ah, getting to the initiatives we came up with this year, or with the AI policy or cell phones. That's why we focused on the elements with George Corse; perhaps, I don't remember the conversations about artificial intelligence and technology. Again we're talking about a collaborative board and we didn't have a collaborative conversation with that speaker last year, although maybe you and I did have conversations because you were president and I was president in the closed session. What I want from my other colleagues is that it wasn't a collaborative effort,
045and our superintendent hasn't even started yet, having that framework. It wasn't collaborative last year here at the desk, and it's consistent with what's happening right now, but it seems we're indifferent to that. Armstrong member. Thank you, President Start. I want to reiterate that I know this for sure. Dr. Brios will talk about professional growth for teachers, student empowerment, and parent involvement. That's what he's talking about. He has a fairly wide range, but I know the common goal. I haven't spoken to Dr. Ríos. I haven't spoken with Dr. Simon either, but I do trust her and I trust that he will be talking about teacher development, student empowerment, and parental involvement, right? I know she could possibly be talking about almost anything, but again, we need to agree to a middle ground, approve this contract, and
046try to see how it is to talk to Dr. Simon when she starts, and if we have to—which I don't think we will— but if we have to cancel the contract, we will do that, but I promise you we won't have to . We won't have to do it . Secretary Kfield, thank you, Madam President. I do n't think it's a good idea to approve a contract and start it right away. I 'm talking. You don't want to approve it. I'm not saying we're going to try everything and then think about it later. I'm trying to give him something. If you can trust me as your board member . If you are trusting what I am saying, if you are trusting what Dr. Simon is trying to present. I don't know, it just needs to
047be approved. We do n't have it, but we should trust it. We had just hired her. I have the links, number of numbers. You can contact Dr. Ross yourself or you can wait to speak with Dr. Simon. I promise you he is a good speaker who will inspire. I've looked at the links and with respect, Mr. Armstrong. What I'm saying is not about how good a speaker he is or what he's going to talk about or having confidence in you or Dr. Simen. It is literally the collaborative effect of starting the school year. It's just the beginning and I hear the murmurs, but I wish this weren't the case because we talked about collaborative efforts and the six-member governance team. I think those conversations in general are going to be amazing, but those conversations are
048going to come to a unified vision for the school year and I hate that a request to have a little more time to consider the contract with a superintendent has become honest. It's regrettable, but with all due respect, I propose postponing this point. I think it's terrible that this conversation came to this because as president I already told her that I spoke with her. You're not trusting me with that. And from the basic fact that it's not something we normally do. We don't usually talk about the speakers we're putting so much effort into, the one the superintendent chose as the speaker . No, I don't understand. Does anyone else have anything else? Do you have a second? I want to answer that. He already made the motion. Second, the next step in having the motion
049is to approve the agenda item with the scholar system item postponed because we did not have enough cooperation with the superintendent who has not started. Call the roll. We are approving 11.16. We are postponing the speaker. The point related to the Scholar System is the only component of the overall point that is postponed and the only thing we currently need, Ms. Armstrong, isn't it? Mrs. Centron. You can skip to the end. Actuary Chrisfield. Yes, Mrs. Garcia. I want to explain my reason. Yes, my vote is yes, but I want everyone to understand that it's not because I don't trust the superintendent, it's not because we don't want this speaker or that I don't want this speaker, I'm speaking for myself, it's because it's important that we have a conversation with the superintendent beforehand. can explain
050that it is no. And for me, we have always had respect for the president and the talks again for the last two and a half years, until two weeks ago. No, they haven't started, we haven't had the conversation because it didn't start until the 14th and not trusting it because of a breakfast speaker is terrible. I'm voting no. Members are coming in, I'm torn because I'm listening to my colleagues. I don't want to start the school year. Because everyone is clarifying. I want to clarify. My vote is to derail, not because there is no trust, not because we haven't debated. I ca n't, I haven't been here to find out what they've done previously. I don't know how I would like our vision, as our board, to move forward based on the spirit of collaboration
051and transparency. I 'm voting yes. Continuing with communications from the board members. I hope everyone is enjoying their summer. It's been a bit difficult. There are many components. I want to congratulate the two new presidents who gave their presentations today. Welcome, and I'm looking forward to working with you and continuing to work with all of you. Thanks a lot. I want to have a drink , I want to say something personal. It's difficult to make these decisions knowing how hard everyone is working. It's not to ignore all the efforts they are making. I know we're a somewhat difficult group, that we all have strong opinions and how we think things should be done, rather than being practical. No, thanks. But I urge you, as the board of directors, to find unity; to show respect when
052we have differences of opinion is necessary. And I think that when I joined the board, nobody was affiliated with anyone, and if I vote with someone, I'm going to vote that way. The reason we are strong from here on out is because we all have the same vision, the same dream, the same authentic steps to move forward. I want to see more collaboration and conversations and to be able to have a way where there are no insults. Because everyone here at the board has a valuable voice, although perhaps not in the same way as our colleagues. With that, I'll see you all at the next meeting and I hope you all have a safe and amazing summer and are getting ready for the new school year. Armstrong member. Thank you, President Stuart. I want to
053say thank you to everyone for coming. I've been enjoying my summer, including attending them together with the board. I also want to say that you know I am a teacher, I just returned from the National Association Representative meeting with some teachers. Unfortunately, we didn't take a picture this time . It was a little different. This time there were many new teachers that I didn't know, and the teacher I did know was volunteering; she was here, there, everywhere . I want you to know that the problems that are happening locally in the state county, the ea have been fighting. I didn't know how many lawsuits had been filed against the administration; messing with schools is like a soft target. that they will be judged, but a ruling will come and they will appeal and then deny
054it. They have filed about 17 lawsuits and only two have been carried out. Everything has been rejected. As teachers we are fighting and we will have to fight, we will have to fight for education. And I applaud the staff for continuing to work as if nothing was happening, because they know that many things are indeed happening. I'm praying that they make the adjustments they're going to have to make in the future. I attended the swearing-in ceremony for the mayor of Lw. We have Canderra Chase. She will be the first African American woman to serve as mayor of Lwer and we are so proud of her. She is involved in community organizations. She loves education and is now the mayor of Lakw. I am very proud of her. I am very proud of her and I
055do want to talk about how July is Disability Pride Month. I had an article, sorry, um, give me a second, I want to share something with all of you. I want to talk about Pride Month, and about disability later. This, I want to be calmer. Um, I want to talk about how at the last meeting we had a teacher who helped us welcome our new superintendent and one thing she said that really impacted me. She made a comment about micromanagement, and I'm saying this because I hope she knows that our intention as a school board is to close students, for everyone in the district. She's planning it, she has n't started working yet, but she's eager to because she's very excited, we're all excited, but I'm praying that the decision to wait on this doesn't
056negatively affect her enthusiasm to work with us. I'm not micromanaging here; I want to know what's going on in the minds of the staff, what you all think about this. I like to ask questions, I like to see how things are going to work, how things are done, and then I ask my questions. Then I'll ask my questions, but yes, I'm looking forward to an exciting new year. As an educational board, we will work together respecting each other. What is most important? Know that our hearts are in the right place, at least mine is. I'm sure you feel the same way, because you wouldn't be here otherwise. So let's trust our superintendent and staff and allow BF to grow and grow because hard times are coming with other issues and problems. It's all for me.
057Thank you, all of you. Kurt Crit, thank you Madam President. I also went to Lak's celebration and I give thanks and congratulations. T Rogers always did a fantastic job, I think it was his fifth time, he always does a good job. This, by the way, my friend Cassandra Chase is great. It's great that she's the mayor. I was super excited at that event. Also at the event was the meeting after Lak Celebrates Event. We can welcome new people to the community once a year. So she came on stage, gave a really cool prayer and a great speech, and then started making connections by meeting people. Very impressive. It was a very good night overall. And today I would also like to thank Mrs. Oma, Matader Michelle from CSA, for the collaborative effort they have undertaken
058in the transfer of Ern Pile with our services. Everything is very impressive. It was really nice today and your ability to truly listen, make adjustments, and collaborate was great. I think that's what they're programming for success in this coming year. The conversations, which included the inclusion of students going there from Washington, were very positive, and I feel that all the concerns were addressed and resolved. Thank you for the work you did on that topic. I do n't want to continue the conversation about the last point, but when there's a refutation of everything, someone has to stop it. I am not that person. The fact is that we keep putting the dot, making it seem like it's a matter of trust, but it's not. I'm not going to change who I am. And when we talk
059about the importance of shared vision and collaboration, yes, I mean it sincerely, and I think everyone agrees, but it doesn't do anyone any good to paint a different picture. This is what I mean. I'm very excited to keep going. She is at the top of our district. We want it to be successful. We came out looking foolish , if that doesn't give me much hope for the future. And how are we going to do the breakfast that has returned to the district all positive and unfortunately that is painted as something less positive with the language, but I think it is important, as my colleague Mr. Trump said, when we are in disagreement, it would be good if as an educational board we hold back a little on the less productive comments. and learn to trust
060each other. If we're going to trust someone we barely know for everything, if we can't trust each other and take what they're saying at face value, it's even harder to swallow. So we need to do that, uh, disagree respectfully. Disagreements are great and I have a great educational board, we all have good principles, different opinions, it's a very great thing. Fine with disagreements with me. We need to learn to disagree in a better way because that makes for a better service to the district. Have a great night everyone! Vice President Garsa. Thank you, Madam President. I just want to say that I attended State of the City of Cerritos. Congratulations to them. A truly wonderful event. It seems they have quite a lot to do over there. I'm very happy for them. Also, congratulations to
061Sandro Chase, a great person, eh, wonderful. In my opinion, they'll be very happy with her. as the leader and the mayor. Congratulations to her again. And Char Rogers, former mayor, thank you for your service, ensuring that we all collaborate together like this because we also do service in Lakware, part of Lakware. Thanks also to our staff from the sides of the staff and I know this has been a marathon summer. We've read through pages and pages of people we recently hired, so I'm very happy and excited that both of them are here on both sides ensuring that all needs are met for the district this coming year. They've been putting in quite a few hours of work on that topic over the summer, so CSA is also working on it in their place . Thank
062you, thank you very much. It's something we sometimes forget when we leave the school grounds; not everyone goes home. Thank you so much to your employees and staff; it has been wonderful to have you supporting us in this way. Congratulations, John Young, on taking the reins for PTA. Um, I'm really looking forward to having many conversations with you and the staff as well. Everything you do on a daily basis is a testament to how much you value the district and want to work with us. So I really appreciate that . Thank you. Good evening everyone. And just so you know, I have it written in advance, and how ironic, given how much cooperation we talk about, read my board report. That was the last regular meeting I had with the executive cabinet regarding changes in
063special education for the 2025-2026 school year. We spent time discussing anticipated concerns and challenges. I'm happy to report it. I saw very clear plans and am confident that the necessary steps will be taken to ensure a smooth transition for students in August. Last meeting. We approved the superintendent's contract. I want to take a moment to say how excited I am that Dr. Sim will be joining us in the district, which she will also be joining us for. On July 2nd I met with her and the 100-day plan is typically what a president does, according to what previous presidents have told me, it encourages me, the direction she takes. Um, I will be meeting with her again on July 17th, as I shared, to talk to her about my perspective, about what we have accomplished in
064my time on the board in areas where I believe we can grow. The collaboration, the part where I'm going in preparation for that conversation, I invite all board members to reflect on their own vision for BL Unif because we've never been asked, and if you have a strategic plan, what are you going to do in your three or five areas of focus? What do you think the profile of an apprentice or graduate should be? things we've talked about for two and a half years and haven't done. Things they think students should experience and become from the day they enter the district to the day they cross the recording stage. On Tuesday I went to the Laker celebration along with Dr. Simon, Dr. Smith and Kirk Kirchfield. We congratulate Cassandra Chase from the bottom of our
065hearts. The new 22nd mayor, seventh woman in that role and first African American mayor in the city's history. Uh, his work and leadership are inspiring, and I look forward to the impact he will have on society. I'm going to a conference in Napa with African American educators, including Paramount Unified member Colin Capernck and others. I'm very excited about it, and his advocacy and philanthropic work is still relevant and empowers us to push for equity and inclusion in every aspect of education. This summer, second grade ends today . I teach classes at Paramont. It was very encouraging to see that all the students are graduating and having a good year. I want to thank all the staff and teachers because they tirelessly helped me recover credits, enrichment, and personal growth. Thanks to the entire Think Together
066program for very important programs and safe spaces during the summer. Thank you all for your commitment to our eager students and community. I hope this will happen next year. One last thing because we have continued down this path of talking about and reaffirming how we feel about our things so that the public understands for clarification. Collaboration can only happen in court; we can only talk to one person or we break the law, but we cannot have conversations outside of here. As president, I have never denied any agenda item or collaboration or anything that anyone wants to talk about here on the podium. I have never had a request that I did not approve. Uh, something my colleagues want to collaborate on, please bring this to my attention. I agree with KK on less productive comments.
067I couldn't agree more . I've seen some pretty ugly statements on the stand in the last two and a half years, and I hadn't seen this for a long time. So I'm very grateful that maybe this wasn't very great, but we haven't had any problems in the last 6 months. So thank you all. Moving on to information points, does anyone have any questions about information points? I have a question. As for camp, Wrf Washington, they're going to Emerald Cove and the rest of us are going to American Outdo Education. Is there a reason why they're going to a separate camp? I think the dates are similar. It's in April and May. Did they like that camp better? or why they chose. Ah, that came about after COVID. Camp was canceled several times, we stopped going
068to Thousand Pines, most of our schools except one, and we looked for other camps. That was a camp they attended and liked, so they're continuing to go, and the other schools are back in Thousand Pins, because I saw those two and wanted to know what the difference was. If there are no protests, the session is adjourned at 7:28 until the next board meeting on August 7, 2025. [Music]