001good afternoon we are calling this meeting to order at 4 pm the nvisd board of education is holding a regular board meeting tonight that all can participate remotely via Zoom or in person here in the boardroom directions on how to participate via Zoom are available at nvisd.org board before going into closed session the board is available for public comment on closed session agenda items is there any public comment on closed session items Mr Michaels uh we do not have any public comment on closed session items thank you seeing that there are none at the Napa Valley Unified School District will now adjourn into closed session we will see you at 7 pm good evening we have reconvened open session at 7 pm my name is Robin genkowitz and this is the Napa Valley Unified School
002District Board of Education the nbusd board of education is holding a regular board meeting tonight that all can participate remotely via Zoom or in person here in the boardroom interpretation in Spanish is available for tonight's virtual board meeting our interpreters Ari Sidra menkos and Francisco Meza may we have one of the interpreters translate the directions on our English Channel so our Spanish-speaking families can hear the instructions see Buenas notches gracias foreign can we please start with an attendance roll call from Vera Morales executive assistant yes student board member Gomez trustee jankowitz present trustee Gracia present trustee water president trustee ricer present trustee Gonzalez Mares present trustee shu present Quorum present thank you thank you Vera thank you for joining us tonight for our Napa Valley Unified School District board meeting public participation and moving forward
003will be both virtual online and in person here in the boardroom directions on how to participate via Zoom are available at nbusd.org board trustee water do you have a report on closed session items David will do it yes in closed session the board approved an agreement to settle a dispute with a former certificated employee on a motion by trustee Gracia and seconded by trustee water the board voted five zero and one the roll call vote was as follows trustee jankowitz I trustee Gracia I trustee water I trustee Riser I trustee Gonzalez Mars I and trustee Chu abstain thank you very much and now we have our flag salute would our student in our audience like to lead us in the flag salute this evening Norma to the flag of the United States of America and
004to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you very much this meeting is live streamed and recorded via zoom and will be archived on the district YouTube channels for a detailed review of any meeting agenda item the archive video can be referenced and located on the district webpage at nvisd.org the public can join the virtual board meeting remotely as I've said via Zoom participation instructions and the process for public comment can be found on the district webpage may I get a motion for agenda approval move to approve first by trustee second second by trustee two all in favor aye aye agenda agenda passes thank you approval of September 8 2022 minutes may I get a first move to approved first second first by trustee
005Gracia second by trustee two all in favor aye thank you minutes pass and then approval of minutes on September 15th 2022. first by trustee Gracia second second by trustee Chu all in favor aye any extension abstain thank you very much trustee Reiser and Dr massetti recognition of visitors and employee organizations yes thank you president jankwitz I see that we have this evening uh Miss Gail young president of nvea can she please get promoted so she can address the board this evening good evening president jankowitz trustees student representative Gomez and the superintendent Dr miss being members of the in the USD community um I wanted to say I'm very happy that things are still in Virtual and in person I think that that's um although I I think it's so much better to be in person
006I think that that it does afford the opportunities when we have people quarantined or in different locations I want to say after six weeks our amazing counselors have settled so many schedules our wonderful teachers are creating classroom communities that Foster deep learning and our extraordinary nurses have gone above and beyond to ensure the health of our students we're off to a really great start and I hope that we have as much um I hope that we can continue in the best possible way as we go forward this school year there are so many exciting things that our district does for kids thanks thank you Miss Young we also um thank you so much for that positive message we also have Miss Leslie Walder the president of naps present this evening can she please be promoted
007to address the board good evening this is Leslie Walder president of naps good evening president Jenkins members of the Board of Education student representative Gomez uh Dr musetti and members of the Napa Valley Unified Community I'm pleased to be here this evening as well like Ms young I Echo her appreciation of the Opera the option of joining via Zoom um um since we heard about our wonderful teachers and counselors and nurses I would not want to miss an opportunity to acknowledge the many members of the Naps Union who have been working hard sometimes taking on some extra work to ensure that the needs of students with IEPs and the needs of students who might have the need for counseling guidance support um and for our behaviors and our social workers ensuring that we have system-wide
008supports to address the broader issues that impact our children as we enter this school year um the you know two and a half years after the onset of a pandemic so thank you I'm grateful for the group that I get to represent and I'm grateful to be a member of the Napa Valley Unified School District community thank you Ms Walder you're welcome we are moving on to recognition of students of the month which we thoroughly enjoy as a reminder recognition of students of the month is generally generously sponsored by the Napa Valley Education Foundation and we're starting off this evening with American Canyon and principal Lopez are you with us yes I'm here thank you um once again I would like to thank the Board of Trustees Dr Mercedes for affording us this opportunity to
009celebrate some of our wonderfully deserving students in Napa Valley Unified School District and in at American Canyon High School our first student of the month is we make sure I have the right one for September is Trenton camp yep there he is so Trent was nominated by his counselor and this is what she had to say about him that Trent is an avid student who has persevered to get back on track in high school he has struggled through much adversity that would have caused most people to give up he is a musician and a skater he's communicative helpful and polite he is the kind of kid that would deserve a student of the month nomination he is not a straight A student but despite all of his life circumstances he has made it and he
010will be graduating this year from American Canyon High School so congratulations congratulations Trent thank you so much I really appreciate it it I can't even say how much it means to me to get this opportunity to be up here and speak and to change from where I became I'm a little nervous so excuse me for I'm not really good with speeches so you hello my name is Trenton Carter Camp I am a senior at American Canyon High School and I have been in Avid for all four years of high school I also went to Canyon Oaks Elementary and American Canyon Middle School previously I was born in Venice Italy and came to the US when I was two weeks old I grew up without a relationship with my parents and family I had a release
011I had a rough relationship with my foster parents yet I wouldn't call them my foster parents because they are the ones who raised me into the man I am and in the end I thank them for the throughout my life I had to deal with mental health issues involving grief of my brother and friends that are no longer here causing depression for years that I felt stuck my grades dropped I skipped class and my home life was worsening I then looked into music and found that it was my passion for it I had my I have a passion for it it has always helped me and been by my side I eventually realized I couldn't do it alone so I reached out to my counselors friends and teachers which they have made things more easier
012and helpful for me to never give up on my goals or dreams to any of those who struggle with mental health issues or depression You are not alone please don't give up because I was in a dark place where I was really suicidal and didn't know what to do or where to go but I kept fighting no matter what with the help I have surrounding me for every dark night there is a brighter day thank you Trenton thank you very much for sharing with us we're very proud of you no problem thank you for having me thank you Trent okay our next student of the month for American Canyon High School for October is Delia LeBeau Delia has been an active member of leadership over the year her four years of high school and is
013currently our ASB secretary in addition to weekly meetings for ASB she was also in charge of the national eat outside day she led a group of students who had either been in leadership one year or just one month they planned a successful event that students were talking about for days in addition Delia is also managing our homecoming nominations committee she never lets anything fall through the cracks and does everything with a calm and composed nature that keeps everyone focused Delia has ensured a great start to the year and she's a great candidate for student of the month all right Delia are you here I think I saw you yeah sorry um thank you Miss Lopez yeah um good evening everyone my name is Delia LeBeau um first off I would like to thank Dr mussetti
014as well as the school board for recognizing me as a student of the month for October I also am very grateful for Miss Harris my wonderful leadership teacher who nominated me and my parents for all the sacrifices they made so that I would be set on the right track from the moment I was born I am extremely grateful for this opportunity and proud of myself for all of the hard work that I've done to God to get to this point attending American Canyon High School without a doubt has shaped me into the person I am today and I'm continuing to become because of the countless opportunities it offers the variety of classes with fluctuating rigor allowed me to set myself on the right track to a treat to achieve the high life goals that I
015aspire to reach later in life throughout my time at achs I have been a part of countless programs that the school offers on the athletic side I have been a part of the girls basketball team as well as the softball team on the academic side I've always challenged myself and made the choice to take more rigorous classes to start off with my freshman year I took math 2 and as well as biotechnology and over the last three years I have taken honors math 3 AP World History AP Language and Composition AP Calculus and honors anatomy and physiology lastly when it comes to creativity and social building I've been in leadership for the past three years now I last year I served as the junior class Treasurer and this year I am the ASB Treasurer as
016Miss Lopez mentioned although it comes with many responsibilities and quite a busy schedule I truly feel that all of these different courses and extracurriculars that I take part in at achs have made me into such a well-rounded person with many vital life skills now I wouldn't be anywhere without all of the teachers who guided me in these courses I also would like to thank my counselor Mrs Hernandez as she has always been there to advise me on which classes would be the best for me without all of these inspiring individuals I definitely would not be where I am today and I am forever grateful for the time and effort they put in to not only teach me in school but make an impact on my life that has shaped me into the person I am
017today After High School I plan to attend a four-year University such as UC San Diego or UC Irvine I'm going to pursue a major in biology as I will later transfer to medical school to become an OB GYN as I have always had a love for biology after getting my credentials and collecting years of experience I plan to open up clinics in less fortunate areas to help women and babies who cannot afford the resources that they need I truly would love to be able to help people and provide good quality resources to those who might not be able to afford them thank you all for this opportunity and for taking the time to recognize me as a sooner of the month for October congratulations Delia it was lovely and as you can see she um
018is still at school because it's homecoming week and she's really busy and she's working yeah thank you principal Hutchinson are you here with Victor and Sophia I am here virtually Victor and Sophia I believe are here as well and I am it's a pleasure to be here tonight and I want to thank the board and Dr nusetti and the Ed foundation for this opportunity to recognize our students of the month uh as a new principal I've only recently met these two seniors and it was such a pleasure to meet them and to get to know about them and learn about other accomplishments are two students for this month are Victor Chen and Sophia Navarro Victor Victor is a senior at Vintage High School and academically he has excelled in all areas um he is currently
019taking math classes at Upper Lake College and he actually started taking college level math classes in middle school he's kept himself busy outside of vintage and being a student he's an eagle scout he is also a second Dan belt which is a second degree in Taekwondo he's been a part of our school band for the past four years and he plays the euphonium the trombone and the piano and he's currently our Color Guard Captain this year and additionally he just received the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor for completing 400 plus hours of community service and this includes a project to fly a drone over the Napa River to detect trash for cleanup um and Victor certainly has a bright future ahead of him he dreams of attending MIT and he plans on majoring in computer
020science with a specialization in computer vision which is a field of artificial intelligence Victor are you here I am thank you very much uh Mrs Hutchinson um that was a very wonderful introduction uh good evening Dr musetti and the mvsd Board of Education thank you very much for allowing me to speak today I would like to acknowledge for even many teachers that have allowed me to reach where I am today starting off with Mr brochar Mr rochar has been instrumental to my computer science career he's worked with me outside of class in additional computer science tutoring and worked with me in developing models with graphical user interfaces in addition he has helped me in competing for the USA Computing Olympiad he's one of the most hard-working teachers I know and he cares greatly about his
021students lastly he has also tutored me for the AP Calculus based physics mechanics and AP Calculus based physics electron magnetism exams I can I attribute uh my fives on both of the exams largely due to his help Mr merkner has taught me the fundamentals in working hard and planning your time freshman year my most rigorous class was his pre-calculus class he mentored me in the Golden Gate stand there which is what the isef related fair at the regional level I eventually placed Ferd in the computer science division for my project I use a drone map I mean I use drones to create an orphan mosaic which is a map integrative location data I then use artificial intelligence to detect the trash and I then hosted two or if they clean up two or if they
022quote Coastal cleanup sites which brings change to mind and Key Club here at vintage assisted at lastly but not least Mr Galvin he's taught me the meaning of community the mutual sense of togetherness in the band allows us to feel comfortable and we work together to create amazing shows together he places a lot of trust in students and we learn a great deal for taking on responsibilities we each have ideas that we contribute and we all feel heard and valued um the marching band is very student driven and the community is extremely extremely close every single group I'm in low brass Color Guard um winter percussion last year we all have our own energy and familiarity with each other and the band room is like a second home so I want to thank Mr Galvin
023for creating this environment I'm currently trying to engage myself in a lot of activities here for my final year at vintage um I am in five different bands and I'm working hard in leaving caligar this year we've more than doubled our size um and I would like you ought to look forward to our performances in our upcoming games I'm currently researching to improve citizens capabilities in disposing of solid waste I've released the application on the Google Play Store that uses computer vision to classify an image to its proper disposal method I eventually plan to release two more advanced applications and and to create location data to provide answers based on the local waste recovery facility regulations because of obvious experiences and obvious wonderful teachers my dream is to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where
024I would love to continue my work in protecting our environment through technology and artificial intelligence finally to my dear family thank you for everything um you're the reason I'm here right now thank you everyone thank you very much Victor well done congratulations and we're moving on to Sophia foreign can you hear me okay now we can okay good my connection is a little weak here Sophia Notaro is also a senior at vintage and she has taken multiple AP classes and her favorites include areas of math and science um most especially in her favorites were AP biology AP Chemistry she loves being a member of the teens club and additionally she is an outstanding of many awards um basketball and track and field over the last four years and she's also done cross-country for the past
025two and I believe she has just come from practice uh to be here this evening and her contributions to these teams have as I said have been recognized with many awards as she plans for her future Sophia dreams of attending the U.S military academy at West Point or the Air Force Academy and she's a future stem student and wants to go into the fields of aeronautical or aerospace engineering Sophia are you here yeah thank you hi Sophia hold on one moment having a little trouble hearing you uh all three of these teachers have helped me solidify my study habits made learning super engaging taught me how to never give up and are just overall amazing Jolly people another part of vintage that I find very valuable is the ESET which a sense of community forms
026um it pretty much like everywhere especially within the sports but even walking around campus all the staff even I can see her lips moving Sofia we keep furthermore every coach I've had throughout my years at vintage fully in my opinion fully embodies the spirit of the school and truly shows that they care about you and want to see you succeed similarly I've received this kind of support from my parents which has really helped my growth as a person and I'm just extremely grateful for all these positive experiences and figures in my life but vintage has it showed me and I'll hold on to them as I pursue acceptance to a United States Service Academy and yeah thank you for your time have a good congratulations once again congratulations to all of our deserving students this
027evening public comment on non-agenda items members of the audience May address the board on any school-related matter that is not on the agenda the board will not take action on any issue raised during this section of the agenda and as much as board action is limited to posted agenda items speakers are requested to limit their comments to a maximum of three minutes trustee water did we have any public comment on non-agenda items received at Via via email at public comment at mbusd.org we did not thank you very much and Mr Michaels did we do we have any call in public comments uh yes we do uh first speaker is Heidi Zippy go ahead please really uh okay good evening uh board members and um District officials just wanted to take a moment to thank all
028of you for coming down to American Canyon last night for the Reuben coming ribbon cutting ceremony for the new acms Commons it was so great to see everybody there and what a fantastic building the community is so lucky and so fortunate to have the district um put as many words mouth is so to speak um and build this glorious facility in American Canyon we cannot be more thrilled on the same note we are very excited to be pushing forward on measure A2 because I think there's more work to be done so thank you for putting that forward to our communities to take on the responsibility of continuing to support the school facilities here at American Canyon uh we can't wait to see what comes next thank you so much thank you very much Mr Michaels
029there is there is more public comment on non-agend items well thank you very much so we have um two more public comments on non-agenda items who would like to go first welcome Norma Norma hold on sweetheart we're gonna foreign ER at Redwood Middle School to begin I'd like to talk about social emotional and the wellness of students and how and why it's important for example if social emotional um well-being of students can impact their overall development and learning in general this is important to understand because students who struggle with social emotional development have a difficult time learning and following directions teachers teachers and staff can take part by being more open and interactive in general I would like to I would like this item to continue to being on the top of our priorities at
030nusd as a student I feel that this is a very important topic thank you thank you very much Norma foreign members and mbusd Community my name is Norma Ortiz and I am a great supporter of mental health awareness therefore I would like that all our middle and high school students in addition to the wellness Center's continue to have information and access to Mental Health crisis journalism opportunities to boost students critical thinking abilities English development skills advancement and core academic curriculum Ela math stem but also ELD interventions raise the math English success of underperforming students were deemed appropriate applicable including English language Learners special education students lesson tactics strategies that best work for them Equitable access to rigorous coursework educational tutorials on topics like bullying student expression rights information on fentanyl laced pills to overdose deaths
031depression Suicide Prevention I lost a great friend of mine due to suicide power students and support students to continue building literacy language skills agency citizenship in regards to the Redwood Middle School sepsa plan that I am reviewed not too long ago that was approved by School site Council on May 17 2022 page 30 of page 3 of 30 identified need in terms of goal one students with graduate will graduate college and or career Readiness based on the star reading and math data assessments um such school year in particular shines a light this information is taken from the plan on the need to focus on literacy strategies to support students reading there's additionally a decline in proficiency from sixth to eighth grade students at that time a factor may be due to the ongoing covid-19 pandemic
032therefore please continue to invest in this area I would also like to invite the public to the upcoming selpa meeting this Monday September 26 2022 from 6 to 7 30 and I also want to congratulate president Robin changowitz for re-election wishing her the best of luck and appreciate her experience and time invested here at nvusd thank you thank you very much that concludes um public comment on non-agenda items and we will move to reports student board rep Gomez would you like to start us off please yes thank you so on Monday I was able to participate in the Democrats of Napa Valley Forum I spoke about a few topics on behalf of students surrounding both some concerns and some positive feedback about the functioning of classes it was really good to hear from some of
033the candidates Representatives as well as Dr massetti president jankowitz and trustee Gonzalez Morris and I want to thank the Democrats in Napa Valley for having me speak I also have an early update from students regarding the new Commons area at American Canyon Middle School a student said that it is nice and makes the campus feel more spacious a huge upgrade from last year there are more areas to hang out and it feels more open overall I think it creates a Better Learning environment for students that was a quote from a current middle schooler there and the general responses from other students have been just as positive they've claimed that the buildings and look at the school before was a little worn down and felt old so all of the students especially the 7th and 8th
034graders who were there last year appear to have very positive initial thoughts about the upgrades and that concludes my report thank you very much trustee too so I have been engaging in community outreach um a lot with the Canyon Oaks PTO I joined their first meeting of the year as well as the American Canyon middle school PTO meeting along with trustee Reiser it was nice to engage with um our constituents on that level um on the ninth on the 14th I um joined the Napa schools for climate action leaders in a meeting thank you Liliana karesh of Napa High School and Allison been sick of achs for inviting me to that discussion along with one of our achs teachers Gene Hilliard and some Community leaders it was a really nice discussion about what students can
035help and what we can try to promote as a district so hopefully we'll hear more from them when they start implementing um on the 15th I attended the I listened in on the State Board of Education meeting and on the 16th and the 19th I did site visits to Canyon Oaks Elementary Dallas away Elementary in Napa Junction thank you to step principals Vasquez Abalone and Montgomery for hosting me and like NBA president Gail young said I definitely saw the wonderful communities of learning that was very much displayed um really really happy with how the students are engaged and teachers were just awesome when in their actions um on the 21st yesterday I attended the uh participated in the board advisory curriculum and student support committee meeting along with trustees Reiser and Gracia and um I
036attended the acms student Commons grand opening which was fabulous um I have to say that I I said it last night that would that campus is one of the reasons why I am here in this seat and I am so proud of the district for making that happen for our students because they will benefit for many many years to come so um and with that I conclude my reports thank you very much trustee Chu trustee riser thank you um yes I'm back I took my trusty hat off for several days to deliver my kiddo down to college and now that I've cried all my tears I'm back back in business um so before the last board meeting which I did miss I attended the Napa High back to school night on September 12th it's um
037harder to make those connections with your kids teachers when your kid is 16 but I always appreciate the back to school night and a chance to see the teachers face to face and um yeah I thank them for their hard work I also attended the Democrats at Napa Valley uh Forum listened in on that discussion um I've been engaged in quite a bit of community engagement as well in particular in American Canyon lately uh as trustee Chu mentioned we attended the first PTO meeting for American Canyon Middle School got a chance to meet those active parents and thank them for their involvement and support um and lastly I just want to bring attention again I know I did this at the first meeting in September but September is suicide prevention awareness month and I just
038want to thank our student of the month Trent in particular for being so open and honest about his journey and his challenges that he's overcome it's that kind of vulnerability and honesty that um we're starting to break down the stigma around around mental health struggles and so I just think it was really Brave of Trent to share that with us and I want to thank him and I also want to thank both Norma's for also servicing that issue of student mental health and wellness that's important all of the time but because it is suicide prevention Awareness Month in particular I just want to give our community a reminder that uh that we have a national Mental Health crisis and suicide hotline now um You just have it's like 9-1-1 but you dial 988 and it's
039okay to not be okay it's okay to be in crisis and there are supports there for you and I want everyone to know that and on that note I just wanted to thank the district I'm really proud of the fact that we have committed to giving the QPR suicide prevention training to every teacher and staff member in our district this year um it's a training that I've done it's very short it's an hour but it's incredibly powerful and equips you to know how to respond to someone that is in crisis you don't need to learn how to be a crisis counselor it just is a a quick but intense uh training on how to respond to connect somebody that is in crisis uh with that support and Jenny Olson at mentis and her prevention staff
040are partnering with the district and I know that last night they did a community training and she did not have a date for the next one but I'm sure if you were to call Jenny Olson at mentus if you were interested in hosting a training in the community you could do that but I just think it's really important to keep that top of mind and I'm very proud of our district for for leading in this way on that issue and this concludes my report thank you very much trustee Weiser trustee Gonzalez Morris I did not need I did not mean to skip you thank you president genkowitz um I am no worries I am here listening attentively with all with everybody um I um attended on September 13th uh coffee with the superintendent at one
041of the elementary schools in my district area six that's Pueblo Vista and so um just really um excited to be uh among a really a circle of just conversation about what parents um in their comments in regards to our schools uh 9 20 I attended the facilities and Technology board advisory committee which um it's a part of our agenda in minutes and on yesterday was the big uh culmination of a big day for everybody when we attended the American Canyon Middle School uh opening of of the facilities and so it just went full circle there and I really appreciated the words that Dr mercedi shared uh and then a principal uh Carlisa just was uh making us all cry um and um and also from um assistant superintendent um Mike Pearson and all the recognition
042so just I I know not a lot of people were there in the room but let me tell you there was just a lot of emotion and just so much happiness and so it's really hard to convey that and summarize that but it was just absolutely beautiful and um and I just don't uh I want to end with um just um celebrating that it's uh kickoff on September 15 was a kickoff of national Hispanic Heritage Month and my family and I uh were fortunate to be able to kick that off by taking uh the the all 11 of us so yeah like two cars um to um um the San Francisco Moma um to go see the Diego Rivera's America exhibition and so it's just really wonderful to be walking in a space that you
043call home in the Bay Area and to have a little bit of your heart and soul um being um in an exhibition with a lot of history and culture and um and disability to for us to have a conversation at home in regards to all of the learnings that we obtained from that day so just um wishing everybody a beautiful month and I can't wait for any of the celebrations that are happening throughout our community so and that concludes my report thank you thank you very much trustee water do you have anything to add but of course uh I'd like to tell everyone remind everyone that this is banned books week so get out and read a Banned Book now more than ever and um I uh I too went to uh I went to
044uh the um coffee with the superintendent at Pueblo Vista school and it was fun to see a lot of you know overall quite happy parents and hear good hear the good things that are happening at that school and we remembered our wonderful visit last spring at the Children's Science culmination I also went to back to school night for Napa High School and was kind of delighted and horrified to see former students uh there with children and um that was you know entering you know and you know there were ninth graders um that was fun and let's see I did a little Community engagement you know on the phones um I also uh attended the um California State Board of Education meeting on the 15th and I went to oh with uh trustee with trustee Gracia
045toured the kitchens toward our um Central Kitchen and learned more about um our our terrific uh healthy food program and I'm hearing about you know I have large tears in my eyes because I was unable to attend the grand opening of American Canyon Middle School's Commons that's something I really thought was needed ever since I started working there a little more than 20 years ago but um and I have lots of plans this this week but my health hit the walls so but I'll be back I'll be back on the saddle next week and that you look forward to that all that concludes my report I think I look really good I mean I think the white on black is uh that's a good look for me you wear it well yeah thank you feel
046better trustee Gracia sure so on the 13th I attended back to school night at Silverado Middle School and then on the 14th I went to the Central Kitchen tour on the 15th I attended the State Board of Education appeal hearing on the 20th coffee with the superintendent at unidos Middle School also on the 20th fnt facilities and Technology committee meeting on the 21st the curriculum committee meeting and then also on the 21st the student Commons grand opening and then today I had a tour of new Tech High School I had a great visit with principal Dev and I also learned just how popular our new menu item of pupusas are so very uh strong seller apparently they they have a mad rush to get there and get the pupusas before they're gone so apparently quite
047popular thank you very much trustee Gracia I will go quickly is this is kind of duplicative at this point I had seven Community engagement appointments over the last two weeks and I met with community members regarding key issues the board faces I too attended the Napa Valley Democratic Forum I attended two a1a2 meetings I also attended the State Board of Education meeting attended the diversity equity and inclusion council meeting um special board meeting on unaudited actuals you need to just copy with the superintendent and I also um attended the acms commons ground opening which I know everybody has referenced but if you have not made a trip down to American Canyon please do I thought the um it's stunning it's beautiful I thought the whole presentation last night was wonderful I thoroughly enjoyed the new
048idea of introducing the architect and the construction team I thought they gave great insight into the project and they had such deep emotion when they were speaking about the entire process and it just shows you how important this community is to not just all of us sitting here but those that are um involved with the work we do in some different ways so um assistant superintendent Pearson thank you very much for all of your efforts it was um it was a lovely evening and that concludes my report and Dr massetti now we're going to the board represent Representatives reports special education Community advisory committee yes we did meet on the 19th I forgot to add that to my report um and at the meeting all the school districts within the Napa County selpa shared plans
049for special education programs in each of their districts for the 22-23 school year and nbusd shared that the new special education parent advisory committee is about to be up and running and that they will have more parent engagement sessions coming up so really looking forward to that thank you city of American Canyon we have not met city of Napa we have not met thank you very much trustee Gracia we have not met with the city of Youngfield thank you very much Dr massetti great thank you president jankowitz so good good evening mbusd Board of Education staff and the entire nbusd community over the last couple of weeks our district office leadership team has been working closely with our 26 site principals to fine-tune our school operations in order to ensure a positive successful 22-23 school
050year I want to thank the district office administrative team and the site principals and their assistant principles for this strong collaborative effort and commitment to continuous Improvement the strong connection between the district office and our site administrators leads to a better experience for our staff students and Families additionally I also want to thank the parents who've reached out to me the site principals and to the board members regarding the Elementary schedule and its impact on lunch and recess times after detailed research and evaluation assistant superintendent Pat Andrew Jennings and director Matt Manning have concluded that this is a site-by-site issue so they're they are working strategically with specific principles to make sure students have adequate time to play and eat their lunches I'm grateful to the parents who attended our last board meeting and provided
051public comment on this issue and created the sense of urgency to look into the impacts of the changes to the schedule we always appreciate feedback and the opportunity to respond and improve I would like to celebrate that our district office full cabinet team which includes our assistant superintendent our directors and assistant directors all participated in a full day of professional learning and team building on Friday September the 9th building and nurturing the leadership capacity amongst the central office team so they can reach the I'm sorry we're working on building and nurturing leadership capacity amongst the central office teams so they can reach their maximum leadership potential which is critical to our district success we also spent time as a team visioning on how Dr Victor rios's ecosystem of garino framework can be applied to creating
052a culture of high care and high expectations for our employee Workforce paralleling the work that we're doing with our students in the classrooms this visioning aligns nicely with our board annual priority number six that calls for implementing Talent acquisition development and retention strategies I've observed staff and students settle in like Miss Young said over the course of these first six weeks as I continue begin as I continue my beginning of the year school visits and I've just been so impressed on what I'm observing in the classroom and on all of our campuses it was so much but fun to visit unidos middle school again for a second time West Park Elementary Pueblo Vista Elementary in Northwood Elementary during this last week it's also been great to observe students settle into our new after-school programs upon
053dismissal our busy fall athletic season and our enriching Visual and Performing Arts programs at both the middle and high schools I also want to thank the parents I think a couple of the trustees have mentioned it who have attended the first two coffee with the superintendent events at Pueblo Vista and unidos I think we had a one parent who was actually a a repeater went to both of them so that was great um it's been great to dig deep into topics impacting our students in a in an intimate and informal setting with parents thank you to trustee jankwitz Gracia water and Gonzalez manes for being present there as well and leveraging this opportunity to listen closely to parent voices I also want to thank um the Democrats of Napa Valley for inviting me to open
054up the candidate forum and speak to the critical issues that as school board members who will be elected in November will be facing over the course of their tenure in the next four years and I also want to Echo um what trustee Gonzalez manes stated regarding National Hispanic Heritage Month I'm very excited about the work that our Communications team is leading as they collect the positive stories from across the district around the ways that our classrooms are honoring and celebrating the Latin X culture it's also great trustee Gracia to hear that the busas are popular especially during this month I'm given that is a specialty dish Salvadoreno from El Salvador so it's great to it's perfect timing I guess is what I want to say and lastly I want to thank everybody it's been stated
055and I'm gonna just you know close with this I it was also just amazing to attend the acms for bin cutting ceremony yesterday and I also want to express again the the Gratitude to assistant superintendent Mike Pearson him and his team just doing extraordinary job of highlighting the excellent work that the measure H Bond program has brought to our school communities so with that I'm going to turn it over to the assistant superintendents we'll start off with Miss assistant superintendent Ms Dana page who oversees the work in the Human Resources Division good evening President James Board of Trustees Dr massetti and student board representative Gomez at the last board meeting I highlighted some of our programs to help grow and develop Talent from within our District staff and Community particularly for teachers and Mr Pearson
056mentioned in his report our need for bus drivers uh which reminded me to speak about our program to train and certify bus drivers so if anyone out there is interested we're happy to share that we have a very successful program within our transportation department um our managers Justin Binion and Fernando Rivera are certified bus driver trainers so if you're interested in a well-paying job with benefits that allows you to work directly with students and you have a clean driving record then after an application interview you can join our bus driver training cohort for paid classroom and behind-the-wheel training once you pass a probationary period you receive a thousand dollar bonus we have a cohort starting soon and but there's still time if you're interested so please contact Nancy Crane in HR I'd like to highlight
057our latest staff Spotlight on Vilma Ledesma who is a parent and Community liaison at Redwood Middle School Doma is nominated by the counseling staff of Redwood Middle School because of her dedication and eagerness to help where needed she relates to the families understands the hardships they are facing and looks for creative ways to support them Vilma said her favorite part of the job is being able to put a smile on someone's face through her help in relieving a stressful situation and advocating for the education of multilingual learners we're so happy to have dedicated people like Ms Ledesma supporting students and Families if you know an extraordinary employee please consider nominating for staff Spotlight nominating them for the staff Spotlight feature so we can recognize and celebrate them thank you and this concludes my report thank
058you Miss Paige we're going to hear next from director Matt Manning who's here um covering for assistant superintendent Pat Andrew Jennings and he'll be reporting out on the work in the instructional services division thank you good evening president jankowitz Board of Trustees Dr massetti student board member of Gomez in the nwst community instructional Support Services team has been hard at work planning and preparing for the October professional learning day the theme this year bringing the mass Bloom relates to our district-wide focus on building the nbusd ecosystem of Carino the term masbloom referenced in the theme combines Maslow's hierarchy of needs in the mass which is the mass and mass Bloom with Bloom's taxonomy the concept of masbloom reminds us that in order to reach our students we must attend to their basic need for care
059and belonging and provide rigorous and engaging educational experiences we accomplished accomplish this by creating caring School communities where adults hold high expectations for all Learners and support them in meeting those high expectations the professional learning day will serve as a springboard for this work School site teams have begun building the foundation for Mass Bloom throughout the first month of the school year we look forward to leveraging the professional learning day to deepen our Collective understanding of an asset-based approach to caring for and educating students with an emphasis on annual board priority two increasing high quality tier one instruction for all students the professional learning day will include opportunities for all nbusd staff including both certificated and classified team members to share in the learning registration and session select selection are scheduled to launch next week
060as additional evidence of progress toward annual board priority 2 implementation of Imagine language and literacy is underway at the elementary level all TK through fifth grade students have been enrolled in the program students are currently taking the ill benchmark test which will place them in the appropriate grade level in the program and will enable us to track growth and progress throughout the year ill will help teachers provide targeted instruction for students and strengthen language development skills for all students we are excited to have 36 Elementary classroom teachers interventionists and resource Specialists confirmed for language Essentials for teachers of reading and spelling also known as letters training we have our kickoff meeting scheduled for September 29th to welcome teachers to the cohort and get started on the work these teachers have committed to two years of
061professional learning to develop their own knowledge and skills to best meet the needs of our students in mbusd and we are so appreciative of their dedication as a part of board priority number one TK through 12th grade mathematics program alignment and Improvement secondary principles and assistant principals attended training last week with Dr Tammy heffelbauer on how to support mathematics mathematics teachers with unit planning using the priority standards and proficiency scales staff are learning how to build Clarity and increase effective feedback in mathematics additionally as we seek to increase high quality interactions our site leaders learned about what to look for and listen to in the classroom that would show students thinking and learning in mathematics we look forward to applying these strategies later in the fall during District learning walks also at the secondary level
062the flex the flex being the central component of the Middle School redesign we look forward to providing all Middle School staff with training on October 5th in supplemental instructional tools to support students during flexible learning time including DreamBox Accelerated Reader Second Step advisory Renzulli and more finally in recognition of September being National Suicide awareness and prevention month we are pleased to report that through our partnership with mentis we have been able to train more of our staff than ever before with critical suicide prevention training at the start of the school year our goal is to ensure that the majority of Staff both certificated and classified receive training prior to the end of the calendar year in addition our specialized student Support Services Personnel are finding creative ways to share information on Mental Health managing stress
063and suicide prevention we are also providing this content for teachers to use in their classrooms during intervention blocks and advisory periods our system-wide commitment to our Des to our designated SEL programs toolbox project and second step helps lay a foundation for emotional Wellness for all students while integrated scl such as welcoming activities help create a sense of belonging and Trust for students within our classroom communities thank you and this concludes the instructional Support Services Division report thank you Mr Manning it's a pleasure to have you here this evening um next we'll have assistant superintendent Rob manguala who oversees Business Services thank you for the opportunity to update the board in the community the data and the assessment team is busy processing the data from our fall Administration and the star assessments we look forward to
064sharing the results at the October 13th board meeting the enrollment center is getting ready to start registration and open enrollment for the 23-24 school year new students can begin enrolling on October 15th and current students can open enroll between October 15th and November 30th the enrollment center is coordinating with the Communications Department to clarify messaging to families and to increase awareness in the community for registration and open enrollment the technology department is continuing to offer prompt and high quality support to the staff and students of nusd our systems team is hard at work on the second phase of our data redundancy project which when finished will offer a second level of data security for our entire District infrastructure be on the lookout for our technology department newsletter offering important updates and helpful tips from the
065ndusd technology department the business department is busy working with our Auditors as a part of our annual audit this concludes my report thank you Mr manguala and next in our last report from staff is uh Mr Pearson assistant superintendent Pearson who oversees operational Services uh good evening president jankowitz mbhd Board of Education trustees.com student board Representative Sam Gomez and members of the mbsd community I want to thank you for the opportunity to provide you with an update of operational services so the maintenance and operation staff is currently completing our our second review of all school campuses for the 23 2022-23 school year using the fit inspection tool or what we would call the fit this is also part uh this data was also part of each School accountability report card as a reminder this uh
066the fit was developed by the office of public school construction it came about and it replaced the interim evaluation instrument which is adopted in response to the Williams lawsuit back in 2004. it establishes a permanent and objective tool to evaluate all school facilities for students so students have access to clean safe and functional school facilities it's required required by Ed code and it's to determine if school facilities are in what is deemed good repair it is a visual inspection tool and it is a point in time where students frequent so some facilities students don't typically go into we would not look into those but it we but for the majority of our campuses we're looking at that but it is a visual inspection and it's that point in time for that um it is that
067the purpose is to document our facility conditions and it's a an opportunity for us to celebrate accomplishments our progress and our needs and then communicate to our and educate our stakeholders it also informs our deferred maintenance needs and expenditures and it like I said earlier it complies with one of the education codes which means it's part of this school site star and finally the fit assessment represents one of the several reports for mbsd to be eligible when State funding is available there are other documents that we need to have but this does keep us eligible for State funding which is really important um as a reminder our process to meet the annual November deadline starts uh typically in April and May of the previous school year where staff inspects all Sites work orders are then
068generated from the site visit completed over the summer and then another inspection which is what I referenced earlier uh occurs at all sites in late August through September to ensure our facilities are in good repair there are 15 building system areas that are reviewed which are then combined into eight building categories that are weighted and depending upon the point value after each evaluation an average of eight building categories results in either a good fair or poor ranking and of course we're always striving for good once our assessments are completed along with addressing any of our outstanding work orders the data is insured with instructional services to be included in each School site sort and finally effective in the next school year the 23-24 school year the Office of Public School construction has made change it's
069a two of the 15 categories category five which is overall clean cleanliness has now become very a much more objective on things like floors walls desks Furniture baseboards light fixtures sinks uh if the trash has been thrown out windows water fountains toilets mirrors and hand dryers bathroom supplies and graffiti and Landscaping are all going to be we're all going to be looking for evidence that this has been done at some point so again it will reflect the point in time and then in category eight under restrooms we'll obviously be looking at cleanliness as well too but in grade 6 to 12 restroom stocked with menstrual products are also something that is going to be a focus of category eight and that's a as a result of assembly Bill 367. and then lastly um the the
070document is also now going to make sure that we we document uh the number of restaurants on every single School site the site square footage the number of Acres at every School site and the building square footage and the building volume so that people who are reading this are educated is how many how large our facilities are and how many restaurants are which I think is really good that they they have kind of data and then finally under the facilities I want to thank everyone who attended yesterday's ribbon cutting celebration at American Canyon Middle School to celebrate the student Commons building and the interior quad Renovations we really do appreciate everyone's support and acknowledgment and as was referenced earlier I did ask a contractor and architect to speak and I will admit I was rather
071surprised that I was going to be left with concrete and tears as sort of the mental momentous things that they would mention uh but it was really nice to hear from from both of them in regards to that um I do want to mention one one other group I did highlight them at the uh at the ceremony or at the dedication but we want to make sure I want to make sure that our van Pelt Construction Services team is is really publicly recognized for the work that they put in to these projects as well too yes we did give the architect and we did give the contractor an opportunity to speak and Kelly Jurgensen who's vice president Ray Greene who is the senior project manager and Jen Kerr who's the project manager or all have
072spoken at one time or another here at the board of education but it does I just don't want to go without saying how appreciative we are of their hard work and their dedication to Napa Valley Unified to make sure we get the best product possible when they are working with the contractor in the architect so Kelly I know you're out there I wish you'd show your face or something like that up there on the screen just to receive this acknowledgment but I do want to say thank you to Van Pelt Construction Services for the hard work that your team puts together each and every day we really really appreciate that work and it was definitely reflected in the work at American Canyon Middle School so thank you vanpool thank you wow much appreciated information on
073these items is provided to the board prior to the meeting a common motion takes action without discussion on a roll call vote unless discussion of item or items is requested by the board may I get a motion to approve for consent agenda move to approve first by trustee Gracia second second by trustee Reiser here please yes student board member Gomez hi trustee jankowitz hi trustee Gracia hi trustee water aye trustee ricer hi trustee Gonzalez Marez I request issue hi thank you thank you very much um we do have a public comment on the consent agenda Norma Mr Ortiz can you pause for a second we need to turn the microphone on [Music] thank you yes thank you in terms of item D renewal of agreement between Rosetta Stone and natural Unified School District just out
074of curiosity um if that's the case I would like to know how many ESL students are being served and benefited from those licenses thank you foreign can you note the question and get back to Mr Ortiz thank you okay moving on to action items this evening under General Services resolution 2309 authorizing continued use of remote teleconferencing Provisions pursuant to ab361 and government code 54953. first by trustee Gracia second second by trustee two Mr Michaels do we have any public comment there is no public comment on this item Vera may I have a role called vote please yes student board member Gomez hi trustee jankowitz aye trustee Gracia hi trustee water hi trustee ricer aye trustee Gonzalez Mares I trust issue hi motion passes thank you thank you very much Vera adoption of csba recommended June
0752022 policy updates to approve first by trustee Gracia second second by trustee two Mr Michaels do we have any public comment there is no public comment on this item student board rep aye all in favor um motion passes under Human Resources request to hire educator less than fully credentialed first by trustee Gracia second second by trustee two Mr Michaels there is no public comment on the site thank you student board rep aye all in favor aye motion passes local assignment options for Teacher assignments 20 20 22-23 move to approve first by trustee Gracia second second by trustee Riser Mr Michaels there is no public comment on this item thank you student board rep uh all in favor aye motion passes ncoe Claire administrative Services credential program mou move to approve first by trustee Gracia second
076second by trustee Chu Mr Michaels there's no comment on this item thank you student board rep aye all in favor aye aye motion thank you trustee water instructional Services agreement between design for emergence and Napa Valley Unified School District first by trustee Gracia at second second by trustee two Mr Michaels there is no public comment on this item thank you very much student board rep uh all in favor aye I should promote passes under operational Services request to purchase new oven for food service department first by trustee Gracia second second by trustee Riser Mr Michaels uh there is no public comment on this item thank you student portrait um all in favor motion passes School planning and construction SPC number 1.3-23 request for Democrat demographic Consulting Services by King Consulting first page trustee Gracia second
077second by trustee two Mr Michaels there is no public comment on this item thank you very much student board rep uh all in favor aye Ocean passes moving on to informational under General services um the two first committees as shown have met notes will be posted next to board meeting finance and policy have not yet met moving on to L additional suggestions and comments from board members and superintendent future agenda items I do have one there yes uh I would like a report on the continuing need and efficacy of Imagine Ingenuity prior to any additional funding the approved for this item next year foreign thank you very much trustee Gracia and that moves us to adjournment may I get a motion move Twitter first by trustee Gracia second by trustee Chu all in favor um
078thank you very much we'll see you in two weeks