001Right. Good evening. Calling to order the Almani City School District Board of Education meeting for February 17th, 2026 starting at 5:01 p.m. We will now do roll call. Um, starting with Mr. Peralta >> here. >> Miss Rivas, >> present. >> Mr. Seagrist, >> present. >> Menddees Garcia present. And Miss Cobian is not present today. Okay, we will now stand um for our flag salute. Today we have our proalo representation. We have students, three students are going to be coming up today, but specifically Eileen Ramirez will be leading our flag salute >> and then after that we have Mariah Empilar who will also then be giving the school report. Thank you girls. Good evening board members, Dr. Garcia, members of the cabinet and guestes. My name is Eileen Ramirez and I'm a third grader at Porttoa
002School. I'm here with Mariah Dominguez and Pilar Bales. We are excited to share with you the great things happening at our school. But with you, the great things happening at our school. But first, we'll like to join me in receding the pledge of allegiance. Everyone, please stand. Put your right hand over your heart. Ready? Begin. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. You may be seated. There are many wonderful things going on at Patreo school. Now to hear more about them, we would like to turn over to Maria. Thank you everyone. Thank you, Eileen. Good evening, everyone. My name is Mariah Dominguez Moya and I am a eighth grader at Potero
003School. It is my pleasure to share with you some of the awesome things our Lion leaders are doing at my school. At Potero, our mission statement is to achieve limits. We strive for this every day, both inside and outside the classroom. We engage in our community with events such as the Corason dev. We have thriving afterchool programs like youth cinema project and mariachi. We have fun events like our student teacher softball game. We work [snorts] hard in our classes and we are proud to have our district teacher of the year, Mr. Williams, at our school. Student leadership is a very important part of our school culture. At Potto, we have a large student lighthouse team. Student Lighthouse leads events around campus, works with teachers to promote academic excellence, and provides ideas for how we can
004make our school an even better place. Here you can see our lighthouse team hosting our annual Veterans Day ceremony. [snorts] We al we recently created posters and paintings for Red Ribbon Week and we regularly update our I Ready goal charts for stu everyone to see. Finally, we have a large number of students who participate in our community schools meetings making suggestions and proposals that make our school better. [snorts] One exciting thing that helps us achieve beyond limits is a Pax and Patterson college and career readiness class. An elective class is available for seventh and eighth graders. Polar is here to tell you about it. Hi, my name is Pil Barales and I am a member of the Pax and Patterson College and C career readiness class or in other terms CR R C E C
005C R. This is my second year in the CCR and I really enjoy it. Class members work in pairs, rotate through different career modules every two to three weeks. Each module has a reading and writing component, but is also very hands-on. Here you can see our lines working it with a 3D printer, taking apart an engine, learning how to use alternative energy to turn a wind turbine, cooking delicious food, and even doing hair and nails. [clears throat] There are many other modules not pictured here too. We build rockets, fly drones, learn veterinary skills for animals, and design video games. My favorite module is the cookie module. I am glad to have been a part of this class for the past two years and hope you have enjoyed hearing about it. [snorts] We show our achievements
006in many different ways at Potero. Our academics are very important and all of our teachers are committed to giving us a supportive, challenging and rewarding classroom environment. In addition to the hard work we do in classes like language arts and math, the arts are also important are an important part of our day. From art projects in third and fifth grade to our seventh and eighth grade elective classes, which has one of only three string orchestras in our district, arts and music help us develop confidence in oursel and make learning a rewarding experience. And of course, learning can take place outside of the classroom, too. As you can see, our sixth grade class's recent trip to science camp in the mountains. [snorts] Lions do great things every day. Our junior coaches helping others with sports, games,
007and having fun safely and responsibly. Our youth cinema project is a very popular afterchool program that helps teach the art of filmm. Potero has won an award for the best short film, something we are very proud of. [snorts] Students have also excelled and won awards in robotic classes and our weekly spirit days unite us all as a school family. Potto is a true neighborhood school. Many of our students have parents and even grandparents who came here and connecting with and giving back to our community is important to us. We began the year with a well attended ice cream social where students and parents came to enjoy the afternoon with food, companionship, and fun activities. We honored our community v veterans with a ceremony that included speeches, art, and music. And we have a wonderful Dia
008de los Muertos event with the beautiful Alar ofas, music, face painting, games, dancing, and more. We are looking forward to more events that involve our community in the future, such as our upcoming Lunar New Year celebration on February 25. [snorts] Thank you very much for your attention. We hope you have enjoyed our presentation and are excited about our school as we are. [applause] Thank you so much, Pro Representatives, for doing such a great job tonight. >> [applause] >> All right, our next item, we have a strategic plan update via our district administration update. >> Thank you, President Mendes Garcia and board members. Uh, tonight as Robert begins to tee up our presentation. I want to share that we have another update that really just centers the work of the strategic plan, making sure that all
009students, all of our actions are ensuring that students achieve beyond limits. And so we'll begin with priority area number one and I'll turn it over to um me >> Dr. Pett. >> Good evening. President Mendes Garcia, governing board and community members. Um here's our update for the strategic plan. Um so we just completed our spring conferences um in in the last few weeks and um this conference focused on um students who might need additional support in academic and behavioral supports um and ensuring that students are on track uh for the end of the year. Um so during that time we share um you know how students are doing their performance. We look at their areas of growth and then we work with our families to develop, you know, what are the next steps or supports
010that are needed for the remainder of the year um for their their their children, our students. And so this is a great way for us to have um to strengthen our um homeschool connection. in priority area two where we deliver diverse experiences and opportunities that prepare students for future success. We have just secured a wonderful grant in partnership with uh for dis with Discono Gardens. Um all of our second grade students will be able to engage in a study trip this year that will focus on habitats that will align to the second grade NGSS standards. Um through this grant, all of the tours will be guided by dosent and it will be free for all of our schools and our schools will also be reimbursed for the cost of the bus that it takes to
011get there. And I I've shared this before, but we we have finally selected our Hypocrates Circle program students. There are about 50 seventh and eighth grade students who will be participating in this from Colombia, Petro, and Gidley. And the focus of this is to introduce students to careers in health care. Um they will participate in workshops and mentorship and hands-on learning experiences. Um they're going to be exposed to um medical professionals that they'll get to speak with and then learn about the educational pathways it'll take to pursue a high demand career in in health science. Um students are going to be visiting Kaiser and Baldwin Park and then USC KEK medical school where they will interact with current medical students. This was all made possible um through Dr. Kevin Tran who is an EMCSD alum.
012um he went to um New Lexington and Colombia and he really wanted to see students from Almani City School District participate in this so that they also know the potential of of um becoming a healthc care professional. Um he went from here um to Stanford to Almani High School and then off to Stanford. [snorts] And then our musical theater program is up and running. We've already had uh two um performances, one over at Colombia School that um was Finding Nemo and um one at Sherpser um that they performed the Adams family. Uh these productions highlight our commitment to creativity, collaboration, and of course the performing arts. And the there on the right you'll see um the rest of our spring performances that'll be taking place. There will be one um on the 18th which is
013Real Hondo that will be performing Elf Jr. and then next week we have Cortata performing in The Little Mermaid Jr. Uh I can take the next slide. Um the earlier um uh this month uh we kicked off a campaign called No One Eats Alone. Um, as we think about our lunchrooms and just our schools in general being areas where students feel welcome um and included, right, we want to make sure that we end any social isol is isolation, right? Um, it was a great initiative that we introduced uh where we invite staff members to partake in uh breaking bread at lunchtime with our students, right? To make sure that every student um feels welcomed, right? Strengthen those relationships, right? um they may know the staff members right inside the classroom but connecting with them um
014during lunch right um gives a different perspective um and strengthens that that relationship amongst our students and their staff members. So we're happy to introduce that. We offered our staff members a voucher so they can swing by um and uh partake in the activities with our students during lunchtime. And we hope that this also continues so that students see the value of sitting down with a friend that perhaps may be at the lunch um table, sitting by themselves, right? So that we never have any social isolation um that occurs anywhere on our campus or modeling that in the lunchroom. Following along the same lines of students uh cultivating a a community where students live in an interconnected world, we are um celebrating the Lunar New Year at various schools. Um unfortunately, Dery cancelled or postponed
015their celebration for this Thursday because of the weather. So, we'll bring back an updated date for the board and for our community. New Lexington will be celebrating on Friday the 20th. And I want to take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy Lunar New Year. Another date to add to our calendar and I'll also let Mr. Hera speak to this is we're uh we've uh are finally completing one of our schools for the Craning Schoolyards grant. Uh Cortada is the first school to be completed and we will be celebrating on March 31st. We'll make sure we add that to the board calendar and to the community's calendar so we can celebrate the uh the grant that came to life at Cortada School. You're going to see an amazing transformation there on the field. Mr. Da,
016do you want to add to that? Well, and more to come, right? You can see some future plans that we have um at R3 schools is updating the playgrounds, right? Um and so we are in the final phases of getting DSSE approval on some of those plans. Um and so we leverage the funds that we received from CalFire um with our school bond funds, right, to take these projects to another level. So, we're really excited about how these schools are being transformed and with the lessons learned, we're going to take that and adopt it to future schools moving forward. Uh because we know the importance of green schoolyards and outdoor education. Um so, we're looking forward to learning from these projects, right? Um and taking and adopting best practices to future projects as we move
017forward with uh measure me funded projects. Well, good evening. uh in priority area four. Uh as we inch closer and closer to the end of the school year, it's hard to believe we're we're midFebruary. Uh just wanted to share with the board that uh we are starting our uh classified and certificated employee of the year campaigns. Um we'll be pushing on our nomination soon for classified. um as we prepare to not only celebrate uh the person that's going to be recognized this year, but also prepare our packets that we turn into the county office of ed for consideration for county office employee of the year and so on. Uh so just wanted to highlight uh as as the Petro students uh showed earlier, uh there's Mr. Williams uh which was our certificated teacher of the
018year and then Mr. Roy Melendez who I believe is in the back of the room was our classified employee of the year. Um, and so we're going to celebrate them for at least another month or so and then in May we'll bring in the uh the next recipients of the award and then we'll start celebrating them. So I'm sure if you see anything from Petetro coming out, you're going to see a lot of Victor Williams just to try to make sure they highlight that. Uh because I believe uh uh Principal Barbara had mentioned that that was going to be her her goal for this year. >> Yeah. So, and then also moving into what's coming up in in uh March is our annual uh EMCSD service pin mixer. Um, as I always share every year
019when we when we start talking about this, this is something that's probably a 30 plus year tradition here in the Almani City School District. Um, and so this coming year, we're going to be doing it on Thursday, March 15th from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. in this very room. Um, and so we'll send out reminders. Oh, did I? Oh, March 12th. I apologize. I put March 15th. That's a Friday. So, if you want to show up on a enrichment day, um you can March 15th is >> March 15th. Okay. Well, we were talking about a bunch of different dates. So, I apologize. It is my clerical error. Um there we go. I just we just fixed it. So, um and so this year we're looking at celebrating 178 Elman City School District employees. um that will
020encompass 2,875 years of service uh to our wonderful district and our community. So, more information to come with the correct date um on it um as we invite everyone to come celebrate with us um and celebrate our employees as well. >> Um and as we look to [clears throat] our finances, something that recently um was secured was a federal budget was passed, right? their fiscal year operates on an October 1st through September 30th fiscal year. Um, but as is always the case typically with the federal budget. Um, you know, it gets there's a lot of contingent or, you know, band-aids that get put on the budget. Um, so you would have thought the budget at the federal level would have been approved before October 1st when the fiscal year started. Um, but you always have
021these, you know, spending band-aids that just kick the can down the road by a couple weeks and a couple months. So, uh, in the month of February, finally, the federal budget as it pertains to education was finalized for the current fiscal year, um, and also protects our funding for the next year. So, when we look back to 2025 when the first iteration or proposal of this budget proposal was introduced, there was a proposal to reduce uh, public school funding by 15%. Obviously, um, there was a lot of negotiation back and forth. The final proposal remains uh funding flat um in 2026 and going to 2027. Um so that's welcome news for um Elmont City School District. Our funding for now remains intact for this year and next. Uh you may hear some discussion about a
022government shutdown as part of the federal um budget negotiation. Um they did remove Department of Homeland Security from the negotiations. Um and so that is not holding up any um uh stalemates that came up. Right. So I know there was some I think some news that broke uh in the past few days where the federal budget the government there's portions of the of the government that were shut down, but those are outside of education. They're more in the Department of Homeland Security um area. So welcome news for education. the skinny budget that was introduced about a year and a half ago uh did not prevail. Those 15% cuts did not prevail. Um and we have that funding for 2026 and at least for 2027. Uh some welcome news as we are preparing for our upcoming
023bond measure me bond sale uh in the next few days and weeks. We recently met with uh S&P Global Ratings and they reaffirmed our credit rating of A+. That's welcome news for the borrowers of borrowers of El Monte uh who will be funding this upcoming bond issuance. We're always looking to make sure that we can secure borrowing at the lowest um cost of borrowing for um the taxpayers in the community. And so the A+ rating affirms the market's confidence and our ability to manage our finances um and manage our long-term liabilities. So we are thankful for that. One thing that was noted was the deficits that appeared last year and this year. Um and so there is an expectation that um as we have done in the past that we will align our spending habits
024uh to make sure that um you know we uh maintain a balanced budget going forward. And finally um I want to take this opportunity to showcase um our strategic plan in the community. I know that as we are preparing uh for the board visits to see the strategic plan um happening taking place at all the different school sites, we were also able to wrap our vans. Um and we're going to start doing this with many of our district vehicles that highlight the work that we're doing as a district and make sure that our community um is is working closely with us to um making sure that we are nurturing young minds to achieve beyond limits and empowering generations through leadership, excuse me, learning, leadership and community. our mission and vision. And lastly, I want to
025just take this opportunity to highlight the diversity in our community, which is one of our strengths, and wish everyone a happy Lunar New Year. Thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. Garcia. Cabinet. Our next item is board reports starting with Mr. Peralta. >> Um, I had the opportunity to attend the Finding Nemo. uh performance as my daughter was performing in it. Um and I'm looking forward to uh attending many more of the additional ones. >> Perfect. All right, Miss Ribus. >> Yeah, I had uh the great privilege of being able to attend the school visits with Dr. Garcia. Um visited a couple of our schools and got to see our students in action and learning in action. And um you know um for myself as a board member I feel like it's part of my responsibility
026to know how decisions here are impacting our students and so to be able to go and visit the schools and see the strategic plan at play um is a wonderful opportunity and a great privilege. So good things happening at those schools. >> Mr. Seist. Uh yes, I would like to report on that. I am engaged in interviewing five people from our high school district. Well, actually it's Almani High School. And the people I'm interviewing are graduates, eighth graders from our district. They'll be going to Boyce Girl State program in Sacramento. and a wonderful report back whenever our district sends graduates who went on into high school to the boys state girl state program at Sacramento State University, we're being asked to send more children like the ones we send. They're so well prepared [snorts] and
027um I am getting some requests from our community for bilingual education in Vietnamese and English. And one of the moms suggested that we contact the owner of the Sicha Sriracha um hot sauce company that's a multi-millionaire company and asked the founder who happens to be a person who came in a boat as a refugee during the after the Vietnam War. He's a multi-millionaire. Maybe he'll help fund a bilingual immersion program for our district. Also, anybody out there that wants to know more about education, I encourage all of you to go on a website. It's free. It's called CAPTA capaca.org. It's the parent teacher association website that will explain to you everything you need to know about education, including LCAP funding, everything you want to know. It's in English, it's in Spanish, and now it's in
028Vietnamese. It's capa.org. So, please take advantage of resources that are out there. Thank you. >> I'm done. >> Thank you, Mr. Seagrist. I would like to acknowledge our students who participated in um in recent peaceful walkouts in support of immigration rights that were going on last week in our community. Um our students gathered respectfully at city hall to make their voices heard on an issue that is deeply meaningful to many of us in our community um including the board. I would also like to extend our sincere gratitude to our dedicated staff members who ensured that they supervised the students and worked diligently to ensure their safety throughout the events including returning them to their campuses. As always, our primary goal is the safety and well-being of every student entrusted in our care. Thank you for
029that. Um in addition, I also was able to participate um so far in one of our school visits. We went to Rio Vista and we had the opportunity as a board because that's one thing we really wanted to see is part of the strategic plan is not words but seeing it in action and as a board member um and my also follow board members. We want to be able to to to be able to go and actually see the items um that we're supporting in action and to know and to hear feedback from our our students and our from our staff. this is something that is in the direction that we should be going in when we're looking at right achieving beyond limits. So it's great to see some examples of reading comprehension strategies that
030teachers are using. Um we were able to see observe at that time at Deru Vista they host on the last Friday of every month a sensory recess. So giving students both both general and special education opportunity to participate in sensory activities together because as lifelong learners we need to be able to understand and work together. um and work together, but also that socialization piece. So, it was great to see that. And also then we met with a group of students who shared with us their experience at Riovevesta. They always love to share with us their leadership binders. Um and then they also wanted to share with us what they liked on the lunch menu and what they didn't like on the lunch menu. So, it's always like a top priority for for students, right? Um
031so, yeah. So again, we're looking forward to we have scheduled visits this upcoming Friday and again just showing our commitment as a board strategic plan that we want to get out there and really see the the plan in action, how we can better support our students and our staff. Thank you. Okay, we have um following we have our next item is items of interest which is our EMCSD midyear LCAP update by Dr. Lauren McLaren. >> Mrs. This is Mendes Garcia and governing board um and community members. Each year districts are required to provide a mid-year report on the annual update to the local control and accountability plan or what we call our LCAP along with the local control funding formula budget overview for parents. At this time, I would like to introduce Dr. Lauren McLaren
032who will present the 202526 midyear LCAP update. >> Good evening. Thank you for having me um tonight. So I'm going to provide a very high level overview of our midyear for our LCAP. Um the presentation does go into detail um and specifics but for tonight I'll just do a broad overview of our successes, areas of growth um and expenditures. Okay. Um so this year's data represents our second year of implementation under our current three-year LCAP. Um so state guidance does require us to compare our progress in our to our baseline year which was in two 2023. Um and I mentioned this just because at our December board meeting Dr. Pedo did provide an overview of the dashboard. Um and at that presentation she was comparing our data to the previous year. Um and tonight I'm
033comparing it to two years ago. Um so it will look slightly different. So what's working? So, in English language arts, we're seeing um great growth compared to our 2023 dashboard um baseline year. Distance from standard tells us how far on average our students are at meeting the state's proficiency benchmark on the ESPback. And that's used um for ELA as well as in math. Um, overall district-wide, we're moving in the right direction and we've seen meaningful gains for our Hispanic English language learners and students with disabilities. And that's important to note because these are three subgroups that we have prioritized with our funding um, and actions in our current LCAP. In terms of attendance, we're seeing chronic absenteeism decrease districtwide. Um, African-Americans and students with disabilities have historically been two subgroups we've struggled with. Um, but
034we're seeing grow great growth in both of those areas. Our suspensions also remain low at 1.2%. So, while we're seeing fabulous growth in ELA, um, one of the areas that we have um, uh, that's an area for improvement is in mathematics. So that's flatlined a bit. Um the score has remained the same from two years ago. So we haven't um necessarily moved districtwide in in the desired direction. Um in terms of our widest gaps, uh you can see those uh equity gaps with our African-American students, our ELTs, as well as our students with disabilities. Uh those three subgroups are also where the gaps persist in ELA as well. So while these um patterns are predictable um there's a lot of actions that we can take in our LCAP where we can strengthen instruction, professional development
035and ensure resources are allocated in these areas um to see growth. So this slide is a little bit more nuanced. Um a bright spot is our English language learners and they've made t um tremendous growth across all areas. Um, however, our long-term English lang language learners remain our biggest area of need districtwide in terms of our subgroups. And this isn't unusual. This is what the data tells us um and the research uh that we have to consider um not providing just um we have to consider providing more specific and targeted support to our uh long-term English language learners and not have a one-sizefits-all model. intentional investments. Um so I've summarized some of our biggest areas where we have um spent um funding so far at the midyear point. Um and those are in personalized small
036groupoup instruction, our nurses and health assistants, um enhancing our learning environments. And so this is our furniture and adding things to increase um access for our students within their environment and creating conditions for learning. Um we've also worked on PD tailored to unique student needs as well as our professional learning time. A few highlights so far this year. Um we've had 95 English second language classes and 36 family workshops that have been provided. Um and this is offered uh because we've dedicated that funding in our LCAP um to our community le liaison and the workshops they provide. We also have had counselors at all of our schools who have responded to over 800 student requests um and 300 plus teacher referrals uh for counseling support. Our school nurses have seen about 23,000 uh students with
037health office visits and our instruction department provided differentiated PD um in September and October of this school year. So what's next? We're at the halfway point. Um so far this year we've worked very hard to um gain more impa more input from our educational partners specifically our students. Um so so far we've interviewed and met with focus groups with all 14 schools and 255 students in grades first through 8th grade. Um we're also working to uh meet with parents through our ELAC meetings. Um, and so far we've met with five schools and um, we have a lot more to go, but that's something new that we haven't done in the past. And so we just want to ensure that our LCAP is um, driven by our community needs. Okay. And that is the highlevel overview.
038Um, the following slides go into a little bit more detail, but any questions? Just would you explain LCAP? What does it mean? LCAP, local control, >> accountability plan. >> Accountab Thank you. >> I don't think we have any questions at this. Thank you. >> Wonderful. >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Okay. Morning. Moving on to communications, we have today two public comments submitted. Starting with number one by Mr. Pedro Galindo. He is a staff member. [snorts] Good evening. I'm here to read a statement, a written statement by Mary Esther Espinosa, who is our association president. Dear uh good evening school board, Dr. Garcia, Mr. Solenbach, Dr. Pinedo, and Mr. Herrera. On February 5th, 2026 at 11:00 a.m., I was assaulted by an escalated student in my classroom. This student had an
039assigned behavior interventionist who was not trained in crisis prevention intervention. This student punched me with a closed fist, causing a fracture to my nose. I have been a special education teacher for 13 years and this is the first time I have felt unprepared, unsafe in my classroom. The district failed to hire a person who was appropriately trained to work with said student. A police officer or SRO was never contacted by my school site. California Education Code section 44014 mandates that any school district or county office of education employee who is attacked, assaulted, or physically threatened by a student must report the incident immediately to local law enforcement. I had to go to the Elmani Police Department on Saturday, Saturday, February 7th, 2026 to file a police report. Prior to February 2025, I was trained in
040crisis prevention intervention, which assists with deescalation of students. When I asked to renew my certification, I was told no. My classroom support staff would be trained. My administrator and the office staff had no idea how to write an incident report for an employee or if a form even existed. Consequences for the student have been minimum. Non-catategorical classrooms should not be a catch-all for students with disabilities. Students need to be appropriately placed and this is not happening. This is unacceptable. EMA has been asking for comprehensive safety plans. Not all sites have them. EMA has been asking for workplace violence incident reporting. This has not been fully implemented. EMA has been asking for all teachers to receive crisis prevention intervention. This has not happened. The district needs to act now and ensure all staff are appropriately trained
041to keep students and staff safe. I am not the only teacher who has been injured. When will teachers get the appropriate support we need? Thank you. >> Thank you so much for their comment. Right. >> Next we have um Ela Graph. I am practicing habit one be proactive. Dr. Garcia, members of the cabinet and members of the board. My name is Elaine Graph. I'm a teacher at Petro School where I have taught since 1989. I am currently in my 37th year of teaching. It is special to be part of the Petro family. I have had children of former students in my classes and last year I even had the grandchild of a former student. In 1989 I was so young, new and eager to start my career. It's strange that I am now at the
042other end giving consideration to the various factors that go into my decision regarding when to retire. One of those factors would be my salary on which stirs would base my pension. When [snorts] I signed my contract in 1989, I was on step one column B with a salary of $20,451. On our current salary schedule, that same step and column provide for a salary of $68,875. That is about 3.37 times higher than in 1989. However, our salaries have not kept up with the cost of living. I am not a statistician, but I have some rough figures for you with help from Google AI. In 1989, a half gallon of milk in Los Angeles area cost approximately $116. In January of this year, a half gallon cost approximately $543. That is approximately 4.68 times as expensive in
0431989. The median Los Angeles County home price in 1989 was roughly $224,000. Today, an approximate median home price is $941,000. That is about 4.2 times as much as in 1989. Here are the numbers again for the previous information. For step one, column B, the salary grew about 3.37 times greater than in 1989. The median home price is about 4.2 times greater and milk is about 4.68 times more expensive. EMCSD has provided many raises in my career. Thank you for that. I appreciate the retroactive pay we've received as well. I am asking you for a generous raise with retroactive pay for the whole school year. Not only will this be helpful to all financially, but it will be especially helpful and honoring to those teachers who have served for generations or decades as the case may
044be who are going to retire this year if it can be counted toward our pensions. Yes, I said our pensions because I'm seriously considering it this year or next. This is not a surprise to Miss Barbara and I don't think Mr. Salenbach is at all surprised, but I need a very, very good raise. I still might stick around here anyway. Thank you. >> Thank you so much. >> All right. We will be moving on to close session. We have two items. Close session item pursuant to government code 54957.6 six sorry conference with labor negotiators um EMTA CSCA 10 and CSCA 356 and conference with legal counsel on existing litigation >> and then we'll come back to resume open session. Thank you. >> Madam President, may I ask a special favor? I would like the board
045to applaud those young ladies who spoke tonight because this is one of the most outstanding presentations I have ever seen by students. Please board. Thank you. [applause] Wonderful. Awesome. We are resuming tonight's Almani City School District Board of Education meeting at 6:28 p.m. During close session, um, no action was taken on both items. Moving on to item I, approval of minutes, we have consideration of approval for the January 20th, 2026 board meeting minutes. Do I have a motion? >> Motion to approve. So moved. >> Motion by Miss Bara, second by Mr. Seagris. Any discussion? >> All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Zero. The motion carries. Okay. Moving on to our action and consent agenda. Are there any items a board member would like to pull separately to vote on and discuss? None at
046this time. So then I will ask is there a motion to approve our action and consent agenda? >> Motion to approve. >> Motion by Mr. Peralta. Is there a second? I will second. Is there any discussion? All in favor say I. >> I. >> Any abstains or any nos? I'm sorry. Any nos? Okay. Motion carries 40 zero. Moving on to our action items. Starting with number one, consideration of approval to adopt resolution for the 2526 school year, proclaiming March 2026 as arts education month. Thank you, Mrs. Menz Garcia. For your consideration this evening, this resolution proclaims March 2026 as arts education month in the Almani City School District and recognizes a vital role of arts education in supporting student success. Arts programs foster creativity, critical thinking, cultural awareness, and self-exression while al also strengthening academic
047achievement and student engagement across all grade levels. >> Thank you. Is there a motion for arts education? >> I move to approve item one. >> Okay, we have a motion by Miss Rivas. Is there a second? >> I'll second that. >> Second by Mr. Seagris. Any discussion? All in favor say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? >> The motion carries 4 Z. Next item two, we have consideration of approval to adopt resolution for the 2526 school year, proclaiming March 31st, 2026 as Cesar Chavez Day. For your consideration this evening, this resolution recognizes March 31st, 2026 as Cesar Chavez Day, honoring the life and legacy of Cesar E. Chavez, a prominent civil rights leader who dedicated his life to advancing justice, advocating for workers rights, and building coalitions that promoted equality and dignity for all. Okay.
048Do we have a motion? >> I so move. >> Motion by M. Rivas. Is there a second? >> I'll second. >> Second by Mr. Balta. Any discussion? >> Uh, yes. I would like to add that many people don't know this, but Cesar Chavez did serve in the United States Navy. >> I did know that. Thank you. >> Okay. All in favor say I. >> I. Any opposed? >> The motion carries 40. Next item three, consideration of approval to adopt resolution for the 2526 school year proclaiming March 20th, 2026's International Day. For your consideration this evening, this resolution affirms the district's commitment to celebrating the rich cultural and ethnic diversity of our student population. It underscores the importance of eliminating discrimination and intolerance while promoting mutual mutual respect, peace, and understanding among all cultures, traditions, and
049languages represented within the Almani City School District. >> Thank you. Is there a motion for International Day? >> I'll make the motion. >> Okay. Motion by Miss Bara. Is there a second? >> I'll second. >> Second by Miss Revas. Any discussion? Okay. All in favor say I. >> I. Any opposed? The motion carries 40 Z. Next, we have consideration of approval to adopt resolution for the 2526 school year proclaiming March 2nd, 2026 as Read Across America Day. For your consideration, this resolution recognizes ReadAcross America Day as a national celebration that promotes literacy and a lifelong love of reading. It highlights the power of reading to expand students perspectives, introduce diverse cultures and experiences, and cultivate empathy, curiosity, and academic growth. >> Thank you. Um, do we have a motion for Reader Across America Day? >>
050I move to approve item four. >> Okay, we have a motion by Miss Rivas. Is there a second? >> I'll second. >> Second by Miss Bara. Any discussion? >> All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? The motion carries 4 Z. Then our last resolution is a consideration for approval to adopt a resolution for the 2526 school year proclaiming March 2026 as Women's History Month. For your consideration, this resolution proclaims March 2026 as Women's History Month and honors the significant contributions women have made to the economic, cultural, and social development of our nation. It recognizes women's leadership in the workforce and in movements for social progress while affirming the importance of continued equity and opportunity for future generations. >> Thank you. Do we have a motion for item five? >> I'll make the motion. >>
051Okay. Motion by mea. Is there a second? >> I'll second. >> Second by Rivas. Any discussion? All in favor say I. >> I. Motion carries. Any nos? Motion carries for zero. Item six, consideration of approval of classified management position, director of fiscal services. >> Members of the governing board, I have the pleasure of uh presenting for your consideration tonight Miss Amy Johnson, who won't be able to join us today as she's traveling out of state. Um she comes with more than 20 years of experience working in various capacities. Most importantly, a few of those years were spent in the classroom teaching students, right? And that experience will go a long way in this new role as a director of physical services. We look forward to welcoming her as part of our team and you all
052will get the pleasure of of greeting her and getting to know her at future meetings when she's presenting interims and budgets to the board and the community. >> Thank you, Mr. Eda. I'll make the motion for item six. Do we have a second? >> I'll second. >> Second by Miss Rivas. Any discussion? All in favor say I. >> I. >> Any nos? Motion carries for zero. Next item seven, consideration of approval of revised board policy and administrative regulation 0450 comprehensive safety plan. President Mendes and governing board members, um the following board policies are being brought to you this evening as part of our action items. Uh they reflect recent changes in the law and I'll explain each one um as we um discuss each item. So for this particular item, it reflects um SB 848,
053SB98 and AB962. SB848 expands safety plan partners to include um insurance providers. It also adds child neglect reporting, strengthens protections around child abuse and sex offenses, and expands the definition of violent crimes. SB98 requires procedures to notify parents and staff if immigration enforcement is confirmed on a school campus and AB962 allows district to address smartphone use during emergencies when needed for student safety. All three of those laws recently were enacted by the legislature and so they this now um is the update to the board policy reflecting those laws. >> Thank you. Is there a motion for item seven? >> I make the motion. >> Okay. A motion by M Ras. Is there a second? >> I'll second. >> Second by Mr. Baralta. Any discussion? >> All in favor say I. >> I. Any opposed? >>
054The motion carries 4 Z. Next item eight, consideration of approval of revised board policy and administrative regulation 1340, access to district records. Um, similar to um, item number seven, this one is a revision to align with AB10004 and AB370. AB10004 protects confidential financial information provided by parents. The regulation also clarifies that immigration status may only be disclosed according to our immigration response policy. AB370 allows timeline extensions for public record requests when cyber attacks or states of emergency prevent a timely response. Is there a motion for item eight? >> I so move. >> Motion by Miss Rivas. Is there a second? >> I'll second that. >> Second by Mr. Seagris. Is there any discussion? Okay. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? The motion carries for a zero. Next, we have consideration for
055approval of of the new board policy and administrative regulation 1445, response to immigration enforcement and delete board policy 514513, response to immigration enforcement. >> Thank you. This new policy aligns with AB495 and the California general California Attorney General model guidance. It replaces the previous policy and expands protections to include both students and staff. The policy prohibits collecting or sharing immigration related information unless legally required. Ensures equal educational access, requires parent notification, and provides clear procedures for staff if enforcement actions occur. This policy affirms that every student and family in the Almani City School District will feel safe, respected, and supported. >> Thank you. Is there a motion for item nine? >> I'll make the motion. >> Motion by Miss Ala. Is there a second? >> I would like to second that. All right. Second by
056Mr. Seagrist. Any discussion? All in favor say I. >> I. Any opposed? The motion carries for a zero. Next, we have consideration for approval of revised board policy and administrative regulation 5125, student records. This revision aligns with education code 234.7 as amended by AB495. The district will not collect or disclose immigration status information unless legally required or with consent. Updates reinforce furpa protections and align with our immigration response policy. These changes strengthen student privacy and protect our families. >> Thank you. I'll make the a motion for item 10. Is there a second? >> I second. >> Second by Miss Rivas. Any discussion? All in favor say I. >> I. Any opposed? The motion carries 40 Z. And then item 11, consideration for approval of revised board policy administrative regulation exhibit 5125.1, release of directory information.
057>> Thank you. This revision also aligns with direct directory information practices with FURPA and uh AB495, which we've referenced a few times this evening. Parents retain annual notification and opt- out rights. The directory information cannot be released in ways that conflict with immigration related protections. In essence, this keeps our processes transparent while safeguarding student information. >> Is there a motion for item 11? >> I move to approve. >> Okay. Item approval. A motion by Miss Rivas. Is there a second? >> I'll second. >> Second by Missalta. Any discussion? All in favor say I. >> I. I. >> I. Any opposed? >> The motion carries for zero. >> Thank you, Mrs. uh board president and and board members. I just want to say that while these updates do feel a little technical, they really are meant
058to strengthen the safety and privacy and trust across all all throughout the Almani City School District. Appreciate um the votes this evening. >> Yes, of course. Next, we have item LR, board policy updates. Um these are second reading. Yes. Yes. These are the second reading of the board policies that were introduced at the last board meeting. Before moving forward, I'd like to um ask the board to pull item number two, consideration of approval of a vice board policy administration regulation 1114, district sponsored social media. We will bring that back for a second reading at a future meeting. >> Okay. So, do I have a motion for our board policy update second read second reading for items 1 through 20 minus item two? >> I'll make that motion. >> Okay. Motion by Mr. Ala. Is there
059a second? I will second. Any [snorts] discussion? All in favor say I. >> I. Any opposed? >> The motion carries for a zero. Okay. Moving on to our discussion session. Item one is ethics policy. So, Dr. Garcia shared with um the board Glendale Unified School Districts. I'm pulling it up really quick. Um their district's first code of ethics and the state of California's for ethics um complaint procedures for board members and local elected officials. I would like to ask if it's the will of the board for the subcommittee. That's a subcommittee with myself and Miss Kobe on that reviews our handbook and makes updates. If you would like us to review the ethics policy that Glendo Unified has in place and then bring it back to the board um for review if that's the will
060of the board. Can you tell a little bit more about what you're thinking? >> Yeah, so they have two things in place. Um it's for if there is a um a concern by community member on the ethics on um the exit I'm sorry the ethics of a board member then it's on their district website the procedure right and the steps that they would follow um if there is a concern. So you have that piece and again you're right that's something I haven't looked at it in depthly. So that would be the first step is that me and Jennifer would really look at it and read everything that they have on that and then bring it back to the board to let you know this is what we we found maybe provide even just a summary
061of it first like that's that's what's in place. >> Okay. So the question right now is just if the subcommittee would just be reading it and then bringing >> we would be reading it and then re and then providing a recommendation. We provide you bullet points, right, on this is what we found and then our recommendation if we feel like this is something that we'd want to um to adopt. >> I see. Um well, I'll give my um my first you know response just to the um to the documents. Um first is um you know normally when we are looking at board policy and even like in our handbook uh the stuff that we get you know pretty vetted by CSBA comes from best practices we read in books that kind of thing. So, this
062doesn't feel like the same family of of of um content as as that, you know, doesn't really read the way that the policies read from CSBA or or even some of those best practices. Um, and some a lot of it I feel is pretty repetitious from what we have in place already that's more fully fleshed out like in some of our policies. So maybe there would be um, you know, like in our handbook we have bullet points of good practices. Maybe there would be a couple of bullet points that could be kind of drawn out of that ethics um, content. Uh but kind of as a whole it doesn't capture my attention of like oh this is really helpful. It doesn't it doesn't it doesn't do that for me. Um, it also I I worry
063about it kind of pointing us in a direction where some districts have a lot of infighting >> and I would just worry about kind of taking steps towards more that type of a board environment which we've been pretty um pretty good about like not participating in that uh so I would I wouldn't really want to move in a direction that that kind of changes our board culture. >> Um that being said, if if if you guys take it and review it and then pull out some bullet points that really do feel like, okay, this rounds out our handbook, then you know, maybe I'd be open to looking at some of that. >> No, I really actually really appreciate your input because I I do agree. I think the first step is just for us to
064take the time even though you know we we get like kind of snapshots of a quick summary but actually reading it to really understand is this something that we even recommend for us to even consider. So, I do agree with you that if we do, me and Miss Cobon would just be really reading it more in depthly. Um, and then bringing and then you're right, we're just bringing it back to the board to say this is what we found and um this would be our recommendation of we if we won't even want to move forward with anything like this. It would just be to review. >> Yeah, I I I I agree with what you're what what you're saying over there, Mr. Rivas. Um, but I like I I really like this idea of being
065more transparent. And yes, while right now the five of us, we have a great working relationship and and we have established this culture, we don't know what the future holds for when we're no longer here, when it's a whole different uh uh board and this community isn't isn't us anymore. it's some it's other people and we have to start thinking about what we need to do to ensure that this culture remains established this culture of cooperation and and doing what is best for uh the students and the community versus what is best for the individual uh governing board member. Um I don't want to point fingers but we have a lot of local examples of that infighting that you're talking about and we've I I'm proud to say that I'm a part I'm a part
066of this governing board um and that we have this culture that we have and so any steps that we can take to ensure that we maintain it and preserve it when we're no longer a part of it I I would be all behind. So, if you know if they want to uh uh if they want to review this and see what items we can bring to our our uh policies here, I'd be all for it. Yeah, >> and you're right because the way I'm reading it at a quick glance is that because it's a public on the district website, it's not necessarily for like within the board to file complaints against each other, but it's more if an actually an outside community member were to have a concern about a board member that there's a
067process that they would then say, I have a concern. I'd like to file a complaint on a board member. But you're right. I think um just taking the time to review it and again at the fin at the end of the day the final decision being in the board if it's something that we want to move in but it would it would just be the preliminary of reviewing it. >> You know as I was reviewing the information from Glendo and I think we received it in the fall and so I I had to reacquaint myself. Um I think we have very similar procedures that we have followed and so I'm happy to be a part of the discussion. And I think there are some best practices that we have that perhaps um I don't know
068that they require us, you know, another policy, but I like the idea of really thinking about how this can be incorporated or what elements of this can be incorporated and then having a larger board discussion. Um and I think it's an opportunity for us to just continue working on our governance handbook. Um but but I think this would give me an opportunity to share with the board um you know practices that we've had at the past that that perhaps the board might not be aware of just so that there's an understanding and context for you know some of our previous practices in in dealing with any types of issues that come from the community. um because I think we we we do have, you know, some pretty solid procedures and we always turn to legal
069counsel and and that would be I think my overarching advice is that we still have the flexibility to work with our teams to really determine a course of action in the in the event that we have to make some corrections to the work that we're doing as a governance team. Does that make sense? >> Yes. So is is if if the board's okay, it would just again just be me, Miss Kobe, on just kind of reviewing it more in depthly and then just bringing it back to the board for consideration and bringing back um a summary of the things that we found that we liked or things that we found, you're right, maybe that wouldn't work for our district and for our culture. >> Okay. >> Would you want me to participate in the subcommittee
070as well? >> Yes. Yes. Same thing with our similar to how we reviewed our governor's handbook. >> Perfect. >> Okay. All right. Any are there any future discussion items boards uh board member would like to add to a future agenda item? >> Yes, Mr. S. >> I have one. I wish we would explore the district uh becoming members of Cababe, the California Associates of Bilingual Education since we've been at this for quite a few years. I think there's so many things. The next conference is coming up in Cababe, but I'd like to see us consider joining the CB. >> All right. Thank you, Mr. Cris. >> Any others? And I will adjourn tonight's meeting at 6:50 p.m. And once again, happy Lunar New Year.