001I think they're a little loud. Is it me or maybe talk over here? Okay. Oh, that's that's better. Okay, great. I'd like to call this meeting to order. Uh, this is the June 23rd, 2025 meeting of the Elmani City School District Board of Education. We call the meeting to order at 50:01. I'd like to begin with roll call. Mrs. Kobian, present. Mr. Paralta, present. Mrs. Mendes Garcia, present. Mr. Seagrist, present. And Rivas, present. Please join me for the flag salute. Ready to begin. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Uh thank you to our guests for being here this evening. Um we'll begin with board reports. So Mrs. Kobon, uh nothing at this time. Thank you,
002Mr. Parata. Nothing today. Mrs. Menddees Garcia, nothing at this time. And Mr. Seagrist. Uh, yes. Uh, I'd just like to let you know that there's two programs underway. The girl state from the California American Legion Auxiliary and also boy state girl state. And I get a lot of positive feedback about how wonderful those high school kids are. I remind them that many of them came out of our district. So, we did really well training those kids. Thank you. Thank you. And um for items of interest, we have the local indicators presentation. Thank you. Good evening. President Rivas, governing board, community members. Sorry, I was a little bit late. Um I'm pleased to present our district's progress on the local indicators component of the California dashboard. Um the dashboard provides us with well-rounded picture of how
003our district is meeting our students needs not just academically but um through the conditions and supports that help students to thrive. The dashboard provides transparency for our families and communities by showcasing our successes and areas for improvement. The dashboard consists of both state and local indicators. And so I apologize. me. There you go. Oh, there it goes. Okay. So, um while state indicators um include metrics like test scores, suspension rates, and our attendance rates, um our local indicators are determined by each district and reflect the work that we're doing internally um around access, implementation, engagement, and school climate. It does not. There we go. Yes. Um and the the wonderful thing about this is that um you know it really showcases the work that we're doing. It it provides transparency to our families and our
004community. It showcases um our our uh successes but also um areas of of growth. Um, we did meet um all of our five standards and our um priorities. I'm sorry, it's not There we go. Here we go. Um, it's like I've never done a presentation before. Is it not? It's a big delay. Okay, go back to one, Robert, please. Thank you. Okay. Um so for priority one basic services and conditions um we ensured that 100% of our teachers were fully credentialed um and appropriately assigned uh all of our students had access to standards aligned instructional materials and all of our facilities were rated in good repair. For priority two, implementation of academic standards, our teachers part have participated in over 18 hours of professional development across content areas and administrators engaged in year- round learning.
005Um, instructional coaching with our wonderful tosses remains a central strategy in uh building teacher capacity and strengthening classroom instruction. for priority three um parent and family engagement. the local indicators. Um the this local indicator um ensured two-way uh communication through um avenues like parent school um our wonderful community liaison the workshops that we provide um the school events that we've had um and all of these have and then our advisory committees um and all of these have strengthened the um our and empowered our families to be active uh participants in uh their child's education. And then um priority priority areas four and five are actually state indicators. So you won't see them here. Those are actually reported straight on the dashboard. Um and that's academic achievement and chronic absenteeism. So th that's not something that
006we um rate ourselves on. That's something that happens through the dashboard through the state. So priority area six is school climate. And you'll see here that um 70% of our fifth grade students um feel safe at school with 64% of our students um feeling safe at school. And then 69% of our fifth grade students feel connected at school. And then we do drop to 59% of our seventh grade students feeling connected. Um and we still met this standard um because we did have those higher numbers uh for fifth grade and in the other areas. And also part of the requirement is that we survey um and that we use this data to you know uh plan how we're going to move forward in this. Um and so we have here that we are going to
007continue with our plans for focusing on you know those positive student and staff relationships. Um have structured environments uh both in the classroom and outside on the playground. um have those high expectations and engaging instruction, professional development, and engage our family and our community. Um, additionally, in this area with um student connections, this is a big priority in our strategic plan um that will be presented tonight. Okay. And then the last priority is access to a broad course of study. Um all students are enrolled in a wide range of courses um including core academics, visual and performing arts, uh PE and health. And we monitor all of these co um all of our course access through our student information system to ensure equity and alignment to student needs. And we ensure students with disabilities are
008scheduled based on their IEP goals, objectives, and services. And that is it. So, yes, we've we met all five of our uh local indicators. Okay. Any questions? Uh yes, I do. I'm concerned about the difference between fifth grade and seventh grade about the school safety and I'm just wondering at each school site, do they actually have police officers come and explain to them about how safe they are and maybe have them walk the campus and know that those cameras are in the office and that they're being monitored? It's just an a suggestion that it might kind of help those kids get along with that because I'm sure the concern about school safety affects our attendance. If I were a child in let's say fifth grade and I and I'm one of that percentage that didn't
009feel safe, I might be reluctant to come to school. I'm just saying it as suggestion. Have them know that they are safe there. The fencing, the fact that we have security all the time. I think they need to know that. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Seagris. And that is a priority for us this next year. Um, also to engage students in focus groups. Um, because we've found that when we actually engage them in those focus groups, we get a lot more information from them about what's making them feel unsafe or what their needs are. And so, we'll be conducting those focus groups as well. Thank you. Any other questions? Yeah. Oh, I have a question for our students with disabilities. We indicated about making sure that they have that broad course of study. Can you
010um can you explain more about that? Is it more our students who are in self-contained settings that we're making sure that they're having like their mainstreaming or It's our students with um with well it's being in general education settings first. So as much as possible um having push-in services um and then our students in seventh and eighth grade ensuring that they're you know um attending the gened classes as much as possible with supports. At times they will be pulled out but um we look at not pulling out during the core content areas ensuring that they're in elective classes as well um and so that they have that access um just as a general ed students have okay are you monitoring that by that percentage yes of the okay the percentage on cowpads of time in
011general yes Mr. Munoz is all over monitoring that. So then that's your indicator of Yes. to know if you're increasing or meeting the goal. Yes. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Any other questions? Thank you so much for the presentation. Uh we'll move on to communications and we do have two public comments. Um first up is Pedro Galindo. Good evening. I am speaking today on behalf of the Elmont Elementary Teachers Association. As a recently elected member of the executive board, I am here today to share a concern for the board members to consider regarding the approval of the the strategic plan. Over the past three years, EMA has visited 16 sites to speak directly to more than 400 of our members. We bring our members lunch and as we break bread together, we listen deeply and
012carefully document their concerns. To be clear, I respect and admire most of what is outlined in the strategic plan shared by Dr. Garcia last week. However, this plan does not address what a majority of our members are deeply concerned about as a priority area, and that is safety. We have heard countless stories from our members describing unsafe working conditions, not only for themselves, but for their students. While we know that these safety concerns are not unique to EMCSD, as an association, we have done our research on this topic and have learned that safety must be addressed comprehensively. Safety is not simply a matter of emergency response plans for for fire and earthquake. Comprehensive safety includes student discipline procedures, staff wellness, relational trust, and shared decision-making. According to the California staff California school staff survey, 89%
013of EMCSD staffer respondents reported that disruptive student behavior is a problem. 75% of respondents reported harassment and bullying as a problem. Only 38% of respondents strongly agree that their school is a safe place for staff, which is the lowest that number has ever been since this survey began. Our members are dealing with unprecedented challenges. The educational landscape is fundamentally different than it was 10 or even five years ago. Our members are on the front lines of this hard but incredibly important work and their voices matter. We believe we have shared interests. Our members seek to improve academic outcomes for students just as much as you. Our members also desire safe schools as I know you do as well. Community schools provides us with an extraordinary opportunity to build safe and nurturing schools that reflect the
014desires of the community. EMA members are a part of those communities. We are elected by our members to advocate for them and they share concerns with us that they will not share with you. We respectfully request more inclusivity of our executive board members when making decisions that affect our membership. Now more than ever, we must work together to take on the challenges that lie ahead. Thank you. Thank you. And next we have Edgar and Jose Miranda. Hi guys. So we start with the clock. By the way, uh congratulations. Beautiful facility. Um, I've been part of boards as well. And, uh, the point of us here is really to do an introduction to the board. Uh, we've been part of the organization since I was literally like 5 years old with my father. Leon International Soccer
015League Youth and Adult. And hey, I know we're not entitled to the facilities. We get to invent that relationship every single day. Um and when COVID happened, unfortunately, our relationship stopped for like two years because of what happened or didn't happen. And you know, with the World Cup coming uh next year and you got the Club World Cup and the frenzy of Messi, the organization really would like us to utilize the facilities that we've had for 40 years. And you know, my father now an older man, the energy of him coming and doing the paperwork, uh, I've been part of the organizations ever since. I've seen professionals come out of the school districts, one being Felipe Rodriguez, paid professional, MLS from Amani High School, and I I have a list, but for the sake of
016time, I myself also came out of that. I played with Landon Donovan. And I'll tell you guys this, sports is what keeps families together. Sports is what keeps kids distracted from the streets. And more than ever with the morale of what's happening right now with you guys know what's happening out there, you know, for us to tell the the the parents, hey, they don't want us at the school district, which is not the truth, but that's how they interpreted. Uh we just wanted to come here and do a formal introduction of what can we do? I mean, when it comes to giving back for 40 years of 35 years, actually, us never being kicked out, whether it was trash or being a nuisance or uh you know, that never occurred because of the strict organization
017that my father put together. We had walkie-talkies when walkie-talkies cost $10,000. We brought trash uh uh we brought trash cans. We brought porter parties when that wasn't even asked by the school districts because we were always being proactive. Uh you know the golfers and and I know this might not sound good but we helped kill not kill but take the golfers and send them to the to the to the to the hills uh because we wanted the fields to be perfect. We've done seeds. We've done I mean you name it. We uh we've done donation uh the scholarships, murals, uh clinics for the kids. And while we wanted to do an introduction, we're going to apply again for the the the permits. And unfortunately, we don't have the relationship with whoever the director is. And
018uh we want to create that relationship. Give us an opportunity. One field, two fields. We're grateful Mountain View gave us the opportunity, but they're in construction. and uh you know whether it's Gidley or whether it's uh Schaefer um we're open to whatever and we'll build that trust again with with with the organization with the school district if if you give us that opportunity. So thank you for uh the 35 years if nothing happens. Cool. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you to um to um all of you for coming and and speaking. And uh as you know we the board uh during public comments listens and um doesn't respond but we definitely listen carefully and take everything into consideration. So thank you so much. Um and are there any written communications? Dr.
019No written communication has come forward. Okay. Uh then it's time to move on to the approval of the minutes. We have the consideration of approval of the June 16, 2025 board meeting minutes. I'll make the motion to approve. Motion motion made by Mr. Seagris. Now second seconded by Mr. Paralta. Any discussion? I. All those in favor? I opposed. Motion carries. I'll abstain. 4 Z with one abstension. Um for the consent items, is there any item that a board member would like to pull for separate consideration? Yes. Number nine. Okay, we'll pull number nine. Any others? Okay. Do I hear a motion to approve the consent um with nine pulled? I'll make the motion. Motion made by Mrs. Kobian. Is there a second? I'll second. Seconded by Mr. Peralta. Any discussion? All those in favor? I
020I Motion carries 5. Uh for item nine, Mr. Chris, did you have a comment? Uh, yes. On item number nine about the student teaching internship agreements, uh, I suggest we should add Citrus College, Lyola, Marry Mount, Accidental, Mount St. Mary's, and the Los Angeles Community Colleges in that list. I know it's a long, long list already, but the more the better. Thank you. Thank you. Ju just to send you the list. Just to clarify, um those are the ones that we actually have memorandums of understanding with to actually do student teaching um um relationships with. Uh so if any of those universities would like to enter in uh memorandums of understanding, then we add them to the list and we can add them at any time during the school year. All righty. Can I invite
021them? Of course. You can have them reach out to me and I'm more than happy to uh to work with them to But I'm impressed with the list that's already there. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you. Do I hear a motion to approve item nine? I'll make the motion. Motion made by Mrs. Koban. Is there a second? Second. Seconded by Mr. Podto. Any further discussion? All those in favor? I opposed. Motion carries. 5-0 for action items. Item one, consideration of approval of the EMCSD 2025 to third 2030 strategic plan. President Reeves and governing board members. Um, I'd like to begin with just a a gratitude for our entire school community um for the partnership in this journey and bringing forward a strategic plan for the district. Over the past several months, we worked together to develop
022a strategic plan that reflects our shared values and the bold aspirations for our students that we have as a community. As you know, this plan was not created in isolation. It was shaped by over 90 uh different voices across the district comprised of teachers, staff, parents, uh partners from EMEA, CSEA, community partners, and students. All coming together with one question in mind. What do we want for our students and how will we get there? Our vision is clear. Nurturing young minds to achieve beyond limits. And our mission grounds us empowering generations through learning, leadership, and community. We've also defined the kind of learners that we hope to nurture through this work. We want our students to grow as change agents, knowledge seekers, forward thinkers, empowered communicators, and thriving leaders. These qualities will guide our instruction,
023school c culture, and the programs that we bring forward. The plan focuses on four key areas. academic excellence for all which interprets as which we've defined as highquality instruction supporting all learners and closing any type of achievement gap that we have established. The second was diverse experiences and real opportunities ensuring every student has access to the arts, field trips and career exploration and more. Third, thriving school cultures where every student feels seen, valued and safe. And the fourth one is uh creating making sure that we have an alignment in all of our resources to strengthen the collaboration um amongst all of our programs and all of our resources. So each focus area includes clear goals, measurable outcomes, and annual priorities starting with foundational work in year one. We'll begin to track that work and adjust
024as we go. So we'll bring the strategic plan every year for the board to review. And as you know, this plan isn't just about a compliance or checklist. We have plenty of those that we have to submit to the state. It's really about transformation. It's about creating the types of schools where students flourish, staff are supported, and families feel like true partners. So, in close, I would like to quote by um saying something that I've often shared. Cesar Chavez said something really um that's just always resonated with me. We don't need perfect political systems. We need perfect participation. And so the work that lies ahead for us is making sure that we provide this roadmap for our entire school community so that everyone's in full engagement and can bring it to life. Thank you. And
025this evening before you you have the strategic plan for 2025 to 2030. Thank you. Um to enter a time of discussion we'll have to have a motion. So uh do I hear motion for um for the strategic plan? I will make the motion. Motion made by Mrs. Kobian. Is there a second? Second. Seconded by Mr. Peralta. Uh now open for discussion. I think I would um just maybe if Dr. Garcia could clarify kind of the next steps in terms of the presentation of what this will look like going forward. Also, thank you. uh you know be what we attached to the board item was um version one of the strategic plan that really just lays it out and gives context for the creation of the plan. And so during the summer, we're going to create
026a presentation um that we're going to be sharing with all of our school community on August 13th as we welcome our staff back. We're going to give all of our staff a copy of the strategic plan and then we're going to use this next year to align all of our plans to the strategic plan. Um, in addition to that, we're going to begin sharing the strategic plan with all of our educational partners, including the guiding coalition that came together to really thought to to begin the planning for the strategic plan as a way of saying thank you and sharing the final product. Um, and then annually we'll be sharing updates with the board. One of the goals or one of the metrics that we have is to create a dashboard that keeps track of all
027of our metrics for the strategic plan and that we're constantly reporting to the board how we're doing, the progress we're making, and um the strategies that we're employing to make sure that we achieve the goals that we've set out for the district. Thank you. Thank you. Any other I'd like to say something about this. I worked in teaching many years before many of you were born. And I'm so proud to see that we're talking about the community. Years ago, it was always the school and those people out there. Now, the fact that we deal with a community, including all of the constituencies and all of the participants, I think it's really a major plus. I'm so proud of what we've been doing. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Seagrist. I I agree. I appreciate that
028um Dr. Garcia gave reference to the the guiding coalition and the way that the community came together to talk about what they want for for kids. Yeah. Did Did you have a comment? Yeah, I'll chime in. I know I wasn't here um the last board meeting and I'm on my phone just because I can't log in to my account. So, I was just kind of looking at the draft. No, one of the things we really talked about was just making sure that alignment, right? making sure that the vision and the mission it's very clear the connectedness when we were we met twice right to discuss our um our priority our our priorities regarding um our our goal areas and you're right I'm really glad and and lucky to have been part of this process where
029we really did make sure that we heard the voices of our constituents where typically the process usually from the top to the bottom right where it was really from the bottom to the top and I really think that it reflects from our learner dis um dispositions and our strategic plans really um tie into our vision, our mission, just making sure that we're nurturing uh young minds to achieve beyond limits. And so, no, I'm really happy with the strategic plan that we created. And again knowing that we really took into account um diverse a diverse population of of from students to community members to high school students and and I know that um in our priority three no is it three we made sure that we are addressing safety and social emotional learning and encompassing and
030it's very specific about the metrics and those different strategies that we're going to be taking to address those to address that priority area number three. Thank you. Any other discussion? No. Well, again, thank you to everybody who participated in this. I know this is a really huge effort and while it's um a board responsibility to to make sure it happens. Um the way it has the way people have come together um and really unified in what they hope for for our students is u has been really amazing to see. And um I know that many many people have put in quite a bit of work to this and I'm very excited to see what happens uh with our students as a result of this really focused work. So um I'd like to call for a
031vote. Um all those in favor I I opposed. Motion carries. 5-0. Uh for item two, consideration of approval of the 2025 2026 LCAP and budget overview for parents. Thank you for your consideration this evening is the approval of the 202526 local control and accountability plan and budget overview for parents. Uh this is year two of our three-year LCAP um that is updated annually. It outlines our district's goals, actions, services, and expenditures to support positive student outcomes. Um, it is a key component of California's local control funding formula, which requires us to align our budgets with specific goals focused on improving student achievement, school climate, student engagement, and access to a broad course of study. Our LCAP is developed through an engagement process that includes input from students, families, staff, bargaining units, and community members. The
032budget overview for parents is a comparison document to the LCAP that provides a simplified summary of the district's budget revenue sources and how funds are used to support LCAP goals. It is designed to promote transparency and help families and community members better understand how financial resources are aligned with student needs and district priorities. Thank you. Do I hear a motion to approve item two? Motion to approve. Motion made by Mr. Peralta. Is there a second? I'll second. Seconded by Mrs. Mendes Garcia. Any discussion? We had these uh presentations last meeting. Um any any discussion before the vote? Okay. All those in favor? I I opposed. Motion carries 50-0. Thank you. And item three, consideration of approval of the 202526 adopted budget. Thank you, President Rivas and governing board members. Um, this evening before you is
033the adopted budget for the 2526 school year. Um, as you recall at the last board meeting, we held a public hearing and the budget was presented to the board and the community. This budget incorporates all the budget revenues and expenditures projected for the 2526 year and the subsequent fiscal year is 2627 2728. The purpose of the adopted budget is also to provide estimated actual expenditures for the current year and to present a financial plan for the upcoming years. Um, assumptions have been updated to reflect the information that was provided in the governor's May revision. Thank you. Do I hear a motion to approve item three? I'll make the motion. Motion made by Mrs. Kobian. Is there a second? I'll second that. Seconded by Mr. Seagris. Any discussion? Okay. All in favor? I I opposed. Motion
034carries. 5-0. Um we've already come to the discussion session of our agenda. We're wrapping things up very quickly today. And um are there any items for future discussion? I don't have an item. Just um if Dr. Garcia could just remind us about we're that we're not doing a summer study session and what that looks like. Thank you. Um so we are uh putting our study session on hold. Um, and when we come back in the month of August at the August board meeting, it'll be an opportunity for us to think about scheduling our um, normally our board retreat is what we do in the summertime um, sometime in the fall to accommodate all schedules. Does that work? Yes, that's very good. Yeah, thank you. Um and um I would just say for future discussion, we'll
035be um now that the strategic plan is approved, we'll be um aligning our superintendent evaluation to the strategic plan. So um it seems a good opportunity to continue the strategic plan subcommittee um so that we can continue to that work if that makes sense to everyone. Um, and that way, yeah, we can really complete the process. I appreciate that. And I think, you know, moving forward with the formal approval of the strategic plan, the alignment of all of our school plans, the LCAP, um, our board agenda, there's a lot of things that we can look at differently through the eyes of the strategic plan. Um, and so it would be appropriate to bring these items to the subcommittee as a working committee and then present them to the board to continue moving forward the work
036of the strategic plan forward. Great. Thank you. Any other items for future discussion? Mr. Crisis? Uh, yes. I'd like to see us promote more dual enrollment in our two community colleges because it's not only the students can begin seventh and eighth grade, but we can get their parents and family members to also go in. Too many people do not know that the first two years of community college is free. I mean, it's free. There's no tuition. Also, I think that if we could create a dual immersion language program, Vietnamese and English, we could generate enough ADA to self-support it. And also, I'd like to see every school in our district apply for the Ben Carson scholarship. To date, no one's ever applied for it. For the first time in this area, a uh a student
037at Rose High School did get that scholarship. It's $1,000, one per school. If you don't apply, you can't get it. It's fourth grade to 11th grade and I'll send you information. I think we have to do that for the good of our kids. Another promote the con academy and also appren.org. Thank you. Thank you. Any other items? Yeah, I'd like to recommend connecting again how we're going to be realigning everything that we're doing with our new strategic plan. And I know typically at a board retreat, we had in the past done a self-governance reflection, right? but instead it could be a self-governance reflection of how we're supporting the new strategic plan. Thank you. I'm taking notes. Metrics. Thank you. Any other items? Okay. Well, we're entering into um I mean July is around the corner
038and I know a lot of people will be heading out of town and I just wish everyone a wonderful summer. Um take some time for for refreshing and for some rest and see new sites, go new places and um or experience new things and wish everyone the best. Um, we will adjourn this meeting at 5:34.