001the Palm Springs Unified School District regular meeting of the Board of Education today is Tuesday uh October 10th 10th yes thank you October 10th I'd now like to call the meeting to order and I'll begin with roll call Board member derell board member Irvin here board member cornette here board clerk esua here board president gerardi here and today we also have student board member lezma and student board member calron here all right would you please rise for the pledge of allegiance that will be led by our student board member Luke Calderon States of America and the for IT stand na indivisible uh actually can I get you please to stand again we're going to have a quick moment of silence we'd like to have a moment of silence to uh observe Anna Castillo Anna began
002her career at Palm Springs Unified School District in August of 2018 as an early childhood education teacher she later became a resident teacher at cabat yera elementary school in August 2023 we would also like to observe Lillian Torres who began her career at Palm Springs Unified School District in July of 1993 she DED dedicated 30 years of service to the district as both an instructional Aid and a community liaison thank you very much would you please be seated all right next will be a a reading of our missions statement by our student board member Juliana lezma all members of Palm Springs Unified School District are united in our commitment to equity we create deep meaningful learning opportunities build professionalism and engage parents and Community to ensure success for all students all students graduate with the
003skills capacities and confidence needed to succeed in a rapidly changing world thank you Juliana next up will be report of closed session items clerk esqua do we have any closed session items to report this evening president gerardi yes we have one item to report and in close session the board by unanimous vot instructed District Council to S the mared and release of all claim perc to the global government entity serment agreement with alria group incorp oration uh Philip Morris USA incorporation Altra CL Services LLC Altria Enterprise LCC and Altria Group Distribution Company in the y La incorporation Marketing sales practices and produ liability litigation thank you very much Sergio uh next up item would be approval of the agenda I believe we're going to pull item 15E to our next board meeting so could we
004get a motion to approve the agenda with that uh modification move for approval how about a second second and a second all in favor I I thank you very much that motion passes I don't think our um microphones are on test test test test good we did we're good all right next up will be our student board member reports I think first up we'll have Juliana from Desert Hot Springs High School hello I'm Juliana Le Desma I'm from Desert Hot Springs High School and this is my August and September update first up we have some agenda items we're I'm going to be going over uh senior season sports activities and our spirit days outstanding students social activism and homecoming prep week first up we have our senior season for our class of 2024 the senior
005class hosted a senior prep day where seniors got together to paint jeans and other accessories to get us pumped up for all of our senior events including our first one which was our senior Sunrise which was on August 30th next up we have sports activities and spirit [Music] days as you can see here we had our annual Club Rush where all our clubs on campus got together during lunch around our lunch quad and gave the students the opportunity to sign up for different clubs like the anime club the skate Club Art Club the BSU club and a cooking club this was our first home football game of the season we kicked it off with a blue and gold game for our blue and gold pride and we had our lunchtime activities which we painted um
006our students faces with blue and yellow gold paint and it was a very successful game this was our next um themed football game and uh spirit day we had a lunch lunchtime activity in which we had students line up in chairs and pass buckets of water and whoever had the most at by by the end won the activity we did this to cool off our students cuz it was a because it was a hot day but then we ended up getting uh rainstorm at the football game but that didn't stop us from appreciating our teachers at night we serve them drinks to the ones that were able to make it and we enjoyed the night in the ring this was our most recent themed football game it was our pink out for breast cancer awareness
007month we had um our halftime performances from our golden eagle cheerleading squad who were joined by our little cheerleaders and then we also had a performance from our by our B florico club we had vendors like the I am that girl club and Spanish club and wrestling as well and it was Barbie themed to go along with the pink out uh recently their history was made we have our first dhshs girls flag football team they had their first two games against Palm Desert at Palm Desert and this week tomorrow they will be having their senior night also against Palm Desert but at home moving on to our outstanding students we have our athlete of the month for volleyball we had justella Sanchez and our Visual and Performing Arts student of the month Jordi Aro we'
008like to highlight our students um and ask teachers and coaches who they think deserves to be recognized based on the sport or Visual and Performing Art they participate in next up we have social activism in honor of in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month we wanted to recognize our teachers and staff on campus by giving them a shout out on our Instagram and on our morning announcements these are some of them from this month we also had visitors from Denmark we hosted them at in our USB room and gave them a delicious lunch and we exchanged um we exchanged information because we were really intrigued with each other's differences and how we live our life at school and outside of school and it was really it was a really eye openening experience to see how different
009they go to how differently it is when they go to school compared to how we are we also had our blood drive for this semester we had around 40 total donations which was more than last year so we want to keep increasing the amount every time and then we also had um our Suicide Prevention Week with our peer counseling they set up a table during Club rush to U promote the suicide prevention and were they were giving out little ribbons for people to wear this week is actually our homecoming week today was the start of our spirit week and we had um our also we also had our float building today even with the wind we're working through the wind um tomorrow we have Wacky Wednesday Wednesday I mean sorry we have wacky Wednesday Stripes
010versus hearts and we we're going to have our first homecoming rally since our coid shutdown this Friday as well and our homecoming game with our floats on Friday and our dance on Saturday and it's Tim Burton themed and Corpse Bride and that's it for me thank you thank you Juliana all right next up we have Luke from Desert or excuse me Palm Springs High School hello my name is Luke Calon and I'm our Palm Springs high school student board member um this is my month of October update so my name is Luke Kon I'm a senior at Palm Springs High School I'm our ASB president our cards for kids club president which is a club where we create cards for kids who are sick in hospitals and I am a skills USA officer for our
011futures and leading Med leading media pathway um leadership is a huge thing it means a lot to me I I take a lot of pride in it and I am very grateful that I have the opportunity be to be a student board member and participate in these meetings with you guys so first up we have our homecoming season at Palm Springs High School um homecoming is taking place on October 21st at hotel zoso the theme this year is Viva Las Vegas we're super excited for this we're we're getting into our homecoming Spirit weeks we're getting our homecoming floats built and we're getting prep for our homecoming parade that is happening next Wednesday Downtown Palm Springs homecoming float building we have a couple pictures here um we've actually been working out of our senior class president's
012garage it's been a lot of fun to see our senior class come together and work on a float collectively um we're going to be featuring The Vegas Skyline um our 2024 as you can see there and we also have the welcome to fabulas Las Vegas which features the class of 2024 on there we're super excited for this and we've been working very hard toward our um homecoming date of October 21st next up we have our film pathway students attending a national competition in Springfield Missouri I'm very close to these four students students that are attending this trip and I cannot be more excited for them they are all in the Inn uh class which is our Indian news network uh it airs daily at Palm Springs High School and it's a big thing that our
013students really enjoy it gives them kind of that entertainment but but also updating them and they they enjoy it and I'm super happy for our four students and they're going to represent not only our school but also our district as they fly to Springfield Missouri and compete against the national competition so I'm super excited for them and I'm super happy that they have this opportunity and this is also a big thank you to our district because without you guys the funds would not be provided so thank you and then next uh this past weekend I actually got to attend a skills USA leadership conference skills USA is a national competition that takes place every single year and this year State our California state competition is going to be in onario I had the pleasure of
014attending this competition in my sophomore year I wasn't able to attend last year I was blessed to go on the HSI tour but I'm super excited for this for this competition i i attended the the conference this past weekend and I learned a lot one of the main things I learned was how to connect better with our student body and how to really get their input on on things such as dances um different events we have different rallies we have that meant a lot and I also was really excited to learn about how I can better connect with organizations in our community such as Arcane fundrais that we usually do and not only just just our fundraisers but also trying to partner with them to kind of get them more business but also provide us
015with things like team meals for a football team and our basketball team and other sports like that and starting tomorrow we have our College and Career kickoff day our freshman are going to be working in college career guidance initiative classes to explore their careers in colleges our sophomores are taking the practice sat it's an awesome opportunity for them to get ready for the SAT and get prepped for college our juniors are also working in college career guidance in initiative classes to explore colleges and careers and our seniors are also working in College and Career guidance initiative classes to complete their FAFSA and work on college applications this is a perfect opportunity for them to work on their UC applications their Cal State applications and their Comon app applications that those deadlines are quickly approaching so
016it's a big day tomorrow and I'm very excited for our entire our entire school to start career in college kickoff next up our Palm Springs High School received an 8piece School honor rooll distinction we re received our AP access award for the a accessibility of our AP classes uh a good percentage of our school I don't know the exact percentage but a good percentage of our school takes AP courses and it's really awesome to see our our our school partaking in those harder level classes to be College ready so that's a big it's a big thing and um I'm very proud of our school for that and next up we have our rallies this was actually our freshman welcome rally um we put a big emphasis on making sure that they showed that that we
017showed extra love to the Freshman so they could feel loved and welcome and we we had a a welcome tunnel for them it was a really awesome thing to see the Freshman really smile and really see those faces light up because this is like the first class back since Co they like or not like that I don't really know what I'm saying but these these these freshman these freshman man it it was it was awesome to see their faces light up and awesome to see the excitement for their first ever Palm Springs High School rally and just just seeing that and putting an emphasis on them meant a a lot to me and our student body because it showed that they they were receiving the love we tried to give to them and then also
018for our interactive games we played Family Feud had a had a scavenger hunt which involved our crowd we needed a binder we needed a pair of panda dunks where which are a pair of shoes and it was a really interactive rally that our students enjoyed and it was awesome to see everyone having a good time and we also had our amazing performance performances featuring our madals which is our team that are they're awesome voices man they put them to work it was really cool to see that um our dance team our ball F cico and our cheer team all performed ining this rally and it was just an amazing thing to see our school really come together and all participate as one then next we have a little math update so students are conducting experiments
019to notice the differences between linear and exponential changes in their freshman math classes in their sophomore math classes they're going outside and using angles and shadows or mirrors to find the heights of objects that are too tall to measure they use tonometry for this and it's a really exciting thing I remember my sophomore year doing this I had a lot of fun and it taught me a lot about trigonometry and then for our junior level classes they're exploring regressions and comparing three or more polinomial functions for me I'm a senior I'm taking our statistical methods class that is actually partnered up with cood so I'm taking our cood statistical methods class and right now we're learning about probabilities and different probabilities in statistics so it's been a lot of fun and I'm excited to keep
020learning about that and then finally we have our freshman interviews each month that I give a board presentation I plan on interviewing a different group of people and this month I wanted to interview our freshmen to get their input I asked them what the most important thing they've learned so far being on our campus was and these are their answers question is the most you guys Le Le m nice I feel like that was really important to kind of highlight a a group every month that I come here and present and I I think our freshman gave awesome answers and I'm super proud that they're having a good time and settling into Palm Springs High School well and with that that's my presentation thank you guys so much for having me and hope you guys
021have a great night good job Luke well done I lost my page next up we're going to have a special recognition and I think we have a couple videos first thank you all right okay um it's an honor to ask Miss Claudia Flores to come on up will you please give her a round of Round of Applause oh look you have a sign okay congratulations good to that's okay we're going to have you turn around and we're going to read all these wonderful things about you okay Miss Flores Claudia Flores is dedicated selfless and hardworking her commitment to our students is unparalleled she goes above and beyond in her role as a supervision Aid and often takes on additional tasks and responsibilities to ensure the smooth operation of our team whether it is assist fellow
022colleagues volunteering for extra Duty or helping with duties outside her usual scope Claudia is always eager to contribute without hesitation her diligence and dedication play a significant role in enhancing the overall efficiency of our team and creating a positive work environment we are honored to have Miss Flores on our team so Mrs Flores on behalf of the students and staff of Ranch Mirage elementary school and members of our governing board and administration it is an honor and pleasure to present you with this plaque of recognition as classified employee of the month for October 2023 thank [Music] you all right so I'm going to give this to you okay and you can say anything you want is there anyone you would like to recognize okay thank you oh good afternoon everyone I would like to thank
023my co-workers and my family for their daily support um it's a pleasure work with the childrens um sorry I'm nervous it is a place working with the children's um [Music] knowing [Music] sorry to be the difference every day um and Lees them beautiful memories thank you for everything Mr thank you staff to be here thank you Miss Brenda thank you meet the board uh we'd like like to honor rerto figeroa Sao you would like to come [Applause] [Music] up got that Rancho Mirage elementary school spirit congratulations okay got some nice things to say about you Mr fero has exceptional commitment to education an unwavering dedication to his students and a profound impact on our school Community his Innovative and dramatic Dynamic teaching methods have captivated students attention and ignited their passion for learning through his
024engaging lessons he has successfully fostered an environment of active participation critical thinking and invaluable and intellectual curiosity beyond the classroom Mr figuro is an invaluable asset to our school Community his willingness to go above and beyond beond his responsibilities helps our students develop not only academically but also as responsible and compassionate individuals Mr figuroa has genuine care for his students thank you he consistently demonstrates empathy patience and a sincere interest in their well-being many students have found him not only a teacher but also a mentor and a role model we are thankful to have Mr Figaro on our team Mr Figaro on behalf of the students and staff of Ranch marage Elementary School many of which are here tonight members of the governing board and administration it's a pleasure to present you with this plaque
025of recognition as certificated employee of the month for October 2023 is there anyone in the audience you'd like to thank or recognize my co-workers all laughing in the back because they know I hate public speaking um I get snacking in front of adults not in front of children though um but I would like to thank my mom and dad of course thank you so much for supporting me constantly Dad thank you for making me lunch every morning I love it thank you so much um to my sisters I'm like thank you so much they're both teachers they actually inspired me to become the person that I am now so thank you so much to my sisters um Mr Hagar thank you so much for taking a chance and hiring me two years ago as a
026student um freshly graduating from college having done student teaching on Zoom I was very nervous and anxious to be in the classroom but yeah it's the place that I love being the most thank you so much to all the other staff I appreciate you guys so much Susie thank you so much for constantly supporting me in the classroom Brenda thank you for everything you do all the time for me I don't know where I'd be without you guys thank you so much thank you thank you email comments this evening uh pres president gerardi yes we have received a five electronic comments that had been distributed to the board at education thank you very much uh inperson comments All uh comments are to be directed to the board please be under three minutes and shall be
027devoid of any personal attacks members of the public are expected to maintain a professional courteous decorum during public comments please understand that board members cannot respond during public comments as the topics are not agendized so my first Speaker it will be Lisa garez hopefully I said that right good evening board um my name is Lisa Taris and I am the Palm Springs general manager for think together we are dedicated to working with Palm Springs unified to support students and families in this community think together am I not am I off am I oh there we go I'm just short okay thank you got it all right got it thank you think together currently serves approximately two 2,000 students daily uh at 22 schools in before and after school programs yesterday we served uh 604 students
028during the non-school day our high school students visited uh the Oldtown Artisan Studios and painted Pottery our k38 students participated in lessons about the Harvest decorated pumpkins and did a vegetable taste test which was a great practice for our upand cominging food critics and then they made pumpkin parfet we I think together are so grateful for your partnership and support we are advocates for highlighting the importance of after school programs in the lives of students and Families Our programs provide students with academic enrichment and physical activities that help them practice creativity problem solving and teamwork we are also so fortunate to be a part of a state and community that believes in the benefits of innovative expanded learning programs that support kids outside of the school day this month in conjunction with the after school
029Alliance organization we're celebrating after school programs during the Nationwide 24th annual lights on after school event on Thursday October 26th we are celebrating in person as well as virtually in person we are having an openhouse style event at Vista Del Monte we're having a family leria night from 4:30 to 5:30 for our virtual celebration you can visit think together.org back slash lights on after school to watch think togethers live broadcast starting at 3:30 p.m. this year we celebrate the Bright Futures of our amazing students and our incredible staff we are so proud to partner with you to provide afterschool and enrichment programs for our students we hope you can stop by uh during our annual lights on after school event starting at 4:30 on October 26th at Vista DelMonte thank you very much good evening
030ladies and gentlemen of the board as he said my name is Lou gerarden and I am the chairperson of the local CF Board of the Morango and Coachella Valley CF stands for for child evangelism fellowship and I would like to read from our staff coordinator in regards to a situation of changing our time after school the is longer than three minutes so the second speaker you have is Shannon so she'll read the second half of the letter if that's okay with you okay I'm going to just my name is Alita Stevens and I'm the local coordinator of the child evangelism Fellowship Coachella Valley and Morango Basin chapter we provide an afterschool program called Good News Club the club is nurturing welcoming privately sponsored Afterschool enrichment club that teaches children good character and from a Christian
031religious perspective through stories songs children only attend with parental permission and all children are W welcome regardless of religious belief the club meet meets pursuant to the Palm Springs Unified School District facilities use policies the California Civic Center Act and the First Amendment we have been informed that the Good News Club will no longer be permitted to provide our programming to Children directly after school but that a decision has been made to prohibit meeting in Palm Springs Unified School District facilities until we wish to appeal this decision and be reinstated in the previous time slots at which the Good News Club has been met for many years the US Supreme Court ruled in 2001 that school districts should provide equal treatment to the good news clubs compared to similar groups like Scouts in terms of
032facility use meeting times and announcements the Cal does not permit School District to ban priv spons parents like 6:30 please let me know when I get to the you're at 30 seconds have that was sent along with the letter are the seven schools with their Good News Club schedules as of the last week of August 2023 all seven principles have approved us to hold the Good News Club again this year of 2023 to 24 at their schools of which we begin the process of use of facilities application Shan so next speaker will be Shannon koville hi I'm Shannon koville I am a I think Lise could help you oh thank thank you I'm an elementary school teacher at Sunny Sands for 35 years and I've just been a part of good news last year of
033and because this is a great program you all love children all of you and I love children too and this is an amazing amazing after school program that teaches the kids we come have students that are broken their families are broken these children come broken to us and you know about them we talked about suicide on there and we talked these children are learned in this club that they are loved that they belong somewhere and they learn new friendships it's an amazing club and so I'm just here to support this and finish this letter on September 1st the district supervisor for Extended Learning Miss Amber as coin sent a message to each principal instructing them to withhold approval of the Good News Club use of facilities forms when I spoke to her on the phone
034she stated that she is working on something and we would have to wait on September 12th her email response to my followup was that she is still working on an additional requirement to put into place for the use of facilities by outside organizations on October 6 Miss gas coin emailed me stating that she worked with her team and determined that the organization can use the elementary facilities but programs would need to begin no earlier than 6:30 once all students are gone from the campuses she also emailed Lizette who approved the use of facili forms and gave her the update I responded to clarify that she actually meant 6:30 p.m. Which is far from after school and which I when I heard this I was like I can't believe this this is unsafe for me to
035be out School outside the school in the dark waiting for parents to pick up their children I could not believe that my school district would have me doing this and I'm volunteering my free time to be doing this I am there for safety of the children and only a janitor would be there this is I can't even believe this she also emailed uh she also stated that the parents would need to bring the kids back to campus at 6:30 p.m. I'm like I tell my kids to be in bed get a good night's rest they won't be getting home till like 800m if they want to participate she also stated that any outside organization at the elementary sites can access the campus with a use of facilities form but that the district does not partner
036with any other outside organizations that use campuses other than contracted vendors such as to think together and I don't know how we became 18 years in the district and all of a sudden now 6:30 p.m. which we are helping the children we're loving the children and it's free of cost The Good News Club wants to have to appeal this decision and to be allowed to hold a club after school based on previous times we have served the parents and the children of psusd faithfully for 18 years and have provided the club to the Elementary children for free this club is entirely voluntary and requires oh sorry and requires registration by parents the club that has fostered children's positive character development and improved social emotional skills the children have made friends and felt that they have
037made a family yes oh sorry well thank you for listening and I hope you understand a great Club this is thank you uh Charlene abcar okay are you ready okay hi my name is charlina basan I'm a teacher um in the district and I'm also a mother of two students um today I just want to ask that you please consider the The Good News Club um as an after school program just like my fellow um teammates were talking about so last year I actually had the opportunity to host the Good News Club in my classroom we had over 20 students consistently attend my daughter being one of them the students were so excited to attend every Friday after school and they looked forward having a club where they felt like they fit in built relationships
038with each other and enhanced their social emotional health so many of them are even asking me this year when are we going to start the club again and I'm telling them I don't know um for the last 18 years The Good News Club has been has uh been held on campuses throughout the Palm Springs Unified School District this is the first year that the club is being pushed to begin after all the other clubs have finished at 6:30 p.m. none of the other clubs are required to meet after all the other clubs have left what is the differentiation is in the past the only requirement was that a use of facility form was accepted if the guidelines have changed why haven't they changed for all clubs the start time of 6:30 would mean that students
039and staff would be on campus after dark with no security presence and that's a safety concern for parents it's a safety concern for us as staff um I know this District Prides itself on being Equitable and inclusive yet this is not Equitable or inclusive other outside organizations are able to conduct their activities directly after schools such as think together tools for tomorrow cooking robotics Jon soccer and Men the list goes on and on um asking our students to leave then come back later excludes several students why is the Good News Club not not being part of this inclusion in order to keep the lines of equity open we need to make sure that all clubs are held to the extent that they are accessible to all students after school if this is the only Club
040being required to meet after all the other clubs have left then this practice is discriminatory just as um Shannon said earlier with the c with the um Supreme Court decision um that means that our program should be uh given the same access to the school facilities and this is an after school club and it should be treated like one so this is not the same as letting a church group borrow our facilities no The Good News Club actually has our own students attending this program who have expressed interest in the club and want to attend as a non-paid and um as well as a non-paid faculty member who is present at all the meetings um yes we have a CF teacher and helpers who come in to help facilitate the lessons but the only students
041allowed to attend are those that attend that particular School School site where the Good News Club is taking place so this makes it a club just like all of the other clubs within this the district that are run after school and is required to operate like all the other clubs regardless of personal beliefs in conclusion we respectfully ask that you would allow our students to engage in a club where students feel welcomed included and valued please allow the Good News Club to continue operating after school as it has been for the past 18 years please ask yourself does this decision aligned with our psusd belief statement thank you for your time and consideration thank you thank you hi I'm Cheryl Bailey okay put down oh I'll move it down hi I'm Cheryl Bailey um I
042am a resident of desert hot springs and I've lived there for 29 years and um everybody's touched on pretty much everything in regards to Good News Club but I want to touch on a couple of other things that I think are important about this club um I have been a volunteer for the last five years at the Good News Club at Tu Bunch Palms Elementary School which has been there for uh seven years so um every school every Elementary School in Desert Hot Springs where I lived every principal wants this club teachers want to sponsor it we want to come in and do it um it's 2:45 to 4:15 the kids get a snack like they said um like they said they have fun games they learn all kinds of things but I want to
043tell you about the things that I've heard from the parents and from teachers and principles um and the effect that this club has had on their campuses the kids have been um the what parents have said and and and all those individuals have said is that the kids are um are better emotional they're better academically because they're in the club they're better uh socially they're better they're more helpful to everybody and and anybody and and I've seen these changes in these kids last year we started in Bell Vista Elementary School which was great and we meet in the library there so we're not even using any teacher help we're just using space and like they've all said it's all free it's all free we just need your help in getting us back in there and
044the time that we're supposed to be in I run into students all summer long and sometimes I'm in Palm Springs shopping and I ran into here's an example when I was at Aldi shopping and a parent came up to me and it's like my son knows you my son knows you I'm like oh yeah it's Christian and he goes he wants to know if we're having Club this year this is like you know June so the kids are excited for this club they feel welcomed they feel loved and they just they feel so much better about themselves and we as teachers going in to do the club love it because we love the kids and like I said I lived in desert hot springs for 29 years I brought my son up in school there
045and you know I wish we had had Club then because back then we didn't have the club so we just we just ask for your help to get us back into the schools that's all we want to do thank you Monica Morgan please thank you I'm Monica Morgan I live in Palm Desert uh almost 23 years and I volunteered uh Good News Club last year I drove about 30 minutes to C City to volunteer when I you know to volunteer I had to take about 12 weeks teaching uh children effectively you are not just kind volunteer you be equipped and prepared for this specific position anyway I volun The Good News Club at Sun Elementary School I have noticed kids love to come to this Good News Club learning about the Bible and building friendship
046with one another we started around 2:45 so the kids come to this club right after school and parents love this schedule so they don't have to drive back and forth to pick up their child it is a perfect time for kids parents and volunteers one of the reason is why all after school program exist at this time right after school I believe psusd values culture relationship and social emotional health I strongly believe that Good News Club plays this role very well the keys and volunteers of Good News Club respect each other and work on social emotional health every day we teach God's words encourage them to obey when they learn to obey their parents love one another from the Bible they respect it because they trust that almighty God only speaks the truth uh Through
047the Bible I go uh our Good News Club commitment is much similar to your commitment uh seeking the way to help children to be healthy and well emotionally and socially we are uh we are for the psus mission statement not against it we actually Thrive for your mission statement to be successful in every school in Palm Spring District so we ask you to give us the opportunity to prove that your commitment to equally equality and create deep meaningful learning opportunities building professionalism and engage parents and Community to ensure success for all the students be truthful and fruitful um we need a timeline that works for everyone which is right after school around 245 5 p.m. will you work through the way to make this possible please thank you thank you very [Applause] much Charles Boon
048good even thank you for time um I'm a a parent and a volunteer with CF I'm actually the vice chair chairman I've been part of the organization for many years um also have children at every age um in the school cycle from elementary middle school and high school um my daughter actually went to Rancho Mirage Elementary and Nelly Kaufman as well um and so I just want to advocate for our organization to have the good news clubs in the school um as was mentioned we've served the children of Palm Springs uh district for over 18 years um we we um really promote safety with the children everyone is screened and background checked and um that time that was recently changed uh is just very extreme and it would be a great uh inhibition to allow
049parents to get to the clubs and bring their school to the club or the children to the schools for the club um and so we just we're hoping that you guys could help us appeal that decision to get the time back um to immediately after school um these clubs are sponsored by a teacher um and so you know it's really no different from the other uh school club clubs that you guys provide and so it does feel like discrimination that all of a sudden um this obstacle has been in play put in place to prevent us from getting uh into the schools and so um we just um would plead with you guys to please uh support us and help us to get um our after school program in the schools at a decent time
050thank you guys for your consideration thank [Applause] you Karen Johnson I'm Karen Johnson president of the Palm Springs Teachers Association look at all these beautiful colors up here thank you for supporting our district Spirit Week um I love the shoes Mr irin they are [Laughter] amazing um I was actually actually told Dr sior a that I was here in Crocs and socks a couple weeks ago so um I'm thrilled to see participating this week we started our bargaining today I've been with on our bargaining team for about seven years before I became our president so with the five years in that so 12 years of being on bargaining and for the first time ever today our super attendant came in and welcomed our bargaining teams and told us he hoped everything goes smoothly and goes
051well and that really meant a lot to us because we've been holding bargaining here at the district since we came back from distance learning and it is the first time we have ever seen the superintendent come into our bargaining meeting just to say hi and wish everyone luck and tell us he HED we have a good day and I just wanted to make sure known by everyone um uh just how much PSTA appreciated that thank you have a wonderful evening thank you Karen uh Jennifer Stillwell please well hello my name is Jennifer and I'm with Mom's Army culture Valley I'm in the school district I'm a parent of three um I care about our kids dearly um I'm in the whole Coachella Valley um listening to you guys I hope you guys get your program
052back because God is first and that's the foundation we build our educational system on so thank you for being here and I hope you guys listen to them because that is a very important club we have all kinds of different clubs out there lgbtq bunch of other clubs why can't we have ours right but anyways my name is concerned parent and I would like to urge you parents to get involved in your kids education now cuz now is the time to stand up and know what's going on in our kids' education it is not parental rights it's our god-given rights as parents to decide what's our kids are being taught whether they're homeschooled whether they're educated you guys here you board members are here to listen to the parents and say what they want in
053our schools in our school system is going down because the number one thing our school system should be teaching is English and math not all this transgendering all this other stuff so but I am here because I kind of changed my speech around and I totally agree why not give these people a chance to teach what our foundation was built on secondly I am also here because I know other parents are listening around the world to educate parents on the laws that are passing that may take your rights as a parent because like I said it's not the government who gives us our rights it's God who gives us our rights to educate and teach our kids so there's a law called 1314 which we would want which would notify a parent if any of
054your kids would be being transitioned or medically transition into transgender and all that um we would want to vote Yes on that which there is another law let me cuz I kind of switched up my thing which is horrible and we do not want it to pass because it will take away your right as a parent if you decide as a parent I don't want my boy to transition into a woman or whatever they they will take away your rights as a parent so I'm here to I changed my whole things I'm sorry um just to notify and it's called 957 that's the um the bill that we we want to press against so it also says our kids go through all kinds of phases in life they go through all kind kinds of phases
055wanting to do drugs waned to be gangster wanted to be all kinds of stuff but it doesn't make it right um so gender affirming and us as parents allowing our kids to medically transition is totally wrong and it's not up to you as board members up to teachers to teach our kids what to do with their sex because it's up to us parents to teach our kids whatever we want now you WR WR your comment you already pass no but I'm I'm continuing to comment cuz I have have a few more seconds so let me let me finish so my name is Jennifer I'm mom's I'm mom's Army Coachella Valley if you guys have any other questions let me know and I will be here any questions thank you thank you and you know what
056must respect you guys all right that takes us to item number 12 which is a public hearing the board now opens the public hearing on the initial proposal for successor agreement from Palm Springs Teachers Association PSTA to Palm Springs Unified School District psusd have any written comments been received by the district as to the PSTA initial proposal to psusd um president gerardi no no writing comments have been receive it okay is there anyone present who wishes to Pro provide oral comments as to the PS PSTA initial proposal to psusd all right seeing no comments I now declare the public hearing closed thank you that brings us to item 13 board member comments does anybody have a comment tonight to Mna go ahead so tonight can you hear me okay yes or not yet okay all
057right I'll I'll just talk uh tonight I'm just gonna touch on um some things maybe our board members might not be mentioning so I'm picking the things that we've all gone together and not touching on those so uh in another state I noticed in the local newspaper uh a district honoring uh the principles that were working in the district because this in October is National principles month and they took out an ad in the paper to thank the principls who were guiding the schools and leading and the had said this is to celebrate and honor our amazing administrators our principles for their Visionary leadership and dedicated Energy hours to meet the needs of every student and so I would like to dedicate uh that to our principles uh here in October and for every single
058month uh also October is um our bullying prevention month we wear orange for Unity day uh for inclusion stop bullying month work together Red Ribbon Week uh but today is World mental health day and as a board we are dedicated and I'll speak uh that we just had a meeting recently with the foundation that most every single person in that room said our priority is mental health and helping us do better for our kids and for our staff so um we recognize that um here's another one that I think our board might not touch on is I want to thank everyone who took our survey for our parents survey Community survey in helping give the board feedback in choosing a superintendent I don't have the numbers but um we had community members parents staff District
059employees students help us give us feedback in our superintendent search and we as a board uh really value knowing what you think is important and giving us that input um I was at the homecoming parade for Cathedral City we're going to be at or Palm Springs oh no that was Cathedral City we'll be in Palm Springs parade there's so many activities happening uh here across the valley um and um recently we just had our convention for our equity and resiliency uh it's a second annual in Downtown Palm Springs at the convention center and uh kudos to everyone the students the staff the sponsors I have a whole list of sponsors that helped us I'm not going to read it uh that helped in the community uh bring together this great event so it takes us
060all is what I'm going to say um there's a person that took a leave uh in our Personnel uh in our agenda in personnel and I'm not going to say his name but I know him and he is in the military reserve and he was called to active duty and he's gone out of our district and put teaching on hold to serve for our country so all of our uh reservists all of our our uh employees and parents who are called to duty we honor you and thank you and that's all I have to say thank you madna U member Irvin hello Mike not is the mic on yeah yeah okay all right so um I had quite a few things that I done as well um on September 29th I went to the Palm
061Springs versus Ranch on Mirage football game um unfortunately Palm Springs lost to Rancho Mirage I think the score was 20 to 26 uh it was a great game um backwards and forwards it was really exciting and um next on the 30th of September I went to the the equity conference as well at the convention center with Madonna and the rest of the board and the other uh committees here um October the 3 I did the state of the district um with uh Cathedral City rotary um and um once a once again a great event always a great opportunity to to speak about what's going on in our district and uh let everyone know what we have going on in our district um October the 8th I went to uh the section 14 survivors um rally
062at Francis Stevens Park um it was a couple 100 people there there in attendance um they had music um and they also uh informed uh the the crowd about section 14 um if you have an opportunity uh section 14 is something to happen here in the city of Palm Springs uh if you get an opportunity please look into section 14 um uh October the 9th I attended the APAC meeting um Dr Killian did a wonderful job with career career Readiness um and I appreciate her coming to the meeting and speaking with our parents October 10th I did a a two by2 with the city of Palm Springs with mayor Grace Gardner and also Scott Skyles um which it's exciting to hear the things that the city of Palm Springs has and how uh the city
063of Palm Springs wants to work with Palm Springs Unified School District and um last but not least I missed October the 3D I went to a family night and uh the uh Power Stadium uh with the police department uh had a great turnout uh the police department brings out different drones different items that they have available for the kids it's a great opportunity to take family out and and have a good time and meet some of our law enforcement and um that concludes everything that I've done thank you very much Charlie Karen you got anything yes I do I want to thank uh Juliana and Luke for their uh really excellent reports tonight it was your first so it'll get easier we want to thank you for that um also um it's important that we
064do have people come for public comments and I'm sorry that they left because I think their concerns will be addressed later later on uh yes we are uh in a search for our superintendent and we do want to thank everybody that participated and completed the surveys for that uh the annual diversity and racial conference was great and um it was nice to have the board there I also had uh I had the honor of presenting the state of the district to the cathedral city noon rotary uh rotary uh throughout our uh district is strong supporters of Palm Springs UniFi and thank you for Charlie and Sergio and Joan and Dr sign for coming there and supporting me I think they had a nice turnout the cathedral city noon rotaries uh hero Awards dinner is on
065October 26th and we are honoring sever several of our District staff members including Dr signer so I hope we'll have a good turnout for that the Bollywood event sponsored by the foundation our foundation was a huge success Saturday night it was really a lot of fun uh of course our homecoming parades are always great the cathedral cities was great it was well supported by the community the staff and the parents um and we're all looking forward to riding in the Palm Springs High School homecoming parade on the 18th uh today uh Dr sigay and I visited James workman's Middle School it was great to see what's going on to Middle School since my youngest daughter went there and also all of my grandchildren so it was nice to to uh with uh Dr I mean
066Prin principal Chavez she gave us a great tour of the school and our legislative breakfast is scheduled for October 19th our student board members will be involved in presenting the state of the district so I look forward to attending that thanks thank you Karen Sergio thank you yeah uh first thank you yeah to all all uh resident for the uh public comments we say the all comments very seriously uh thank you the student board member Mrs leet man Mr keron great presentation thank you and the same the with another board members in in in 28 at September I attended the traditional cathedal City homecoming parade uh this event bring the entire Community together to celebrate the the new school year and also reinforce the relationship with the with cathedal City officials um also in 29
067and went I went to the game c City versus India also C City Los but I I have one something to say it was a competitive match where the team showed their decided to win UN in the last minute um also in in September 20 um I attended the the pal spring school this second annual deers and racial Equity conference was a great conference uh this this year um had the PE pecularity at involving more student in expressing their points of view that was good good idea good in this year and I attended also in October 3D the Cal City rotary estate the district presented by Karen Cor was a uh good to to see people that many us already know they work hard to recruit new members they invited me I I would try
068to consider I um also um in the the seven October 7 and I stop a little bit by the foundation One Night Out events in the par prier Museum was funny was the young birthday that um also uh yesterday I attended the APAC soon meeting was a I invite the public parents or any community members to attend this these kind of meetings because is each meeting have different topic but very U informal that yesterday was about uh College and Career for the student and how to what they needed to Contin their University education that was good good information presented by um Dr Kian and Dr diminic they they they are had good knowledge of this topic and good to respond hard questions sometime thank you for that and today this morning with uh Dr signor
069I have the one to one side visit in the mon saso High School uh was a good good experience to me also because this is the first day of the second cor and and technically they spend the day the the teacher to braid the eyes and introducing with the student and the student with a teacher and they had good good programs to to L the student that they are there for for them thank you thank you Sergio just real quick I want to thank uh Dr senior a and our assistant superintendent of Business Services Jeff Simmons I think we had a very nice two on two with the city of Desert Hot Springs Mayor Scott Mattis and council member Roger Nunes I thought it was real productive and it's just a great way for us
070to establish and keep our relationships with our sister entities um I also want to congratulate the foundation Bollywood was a Smash Hit It was really a lot of fun and very well done and I want to thank them for their study session this afternoon um I told them personally I I but I like everybody else to hear it um the board members on our foundation really do it as a laborer of love and U we they supplement a lot of programs we wouldn't be able to put on and we are very thankful for their efforts and their commitment and dedication to our school district um I also attended the APAC meeting with Madonna Charlie and sergy over there and I want to congratulate Dr Killian and Dr demic they did a very very nice job
071well done presentation and a big shout out to the Secretary of APAC Jackie Terry she runs a tight meeting and um it was really really well done uh and then finally uh this morning um I met with uh one of our community members from ranchel the area of ranchel Del Oro and principal Mark AER at Painted Hills Middle School and um I'm very thankful Mark is open to revitalizing community meetings at his school to just update the local community there of what's happening at Painted Hills Middle School and create dialogue and a relationship with them that and that oh one more thing and I'm channeling Madonna because it's something you do that I really I really respect and we get donations and the donations are hidden in our um a consent calendar and nobody ever
072hears about him Madonna has been mentioning him which I think is a great idea so I want to mention him I want to H shout out to Sun stashes they donated 125 pairs of character sunglasses at Bella Vista Elementary School for positive behavior intervention and Mr Richard dagle he donated a 2002 Land Rover to the race Academy at Rancho Mirage high school thank you very much for that all right I'm done with those comments and we'll turn it over to our interim superintendent Dr senior a thank you president gerardi um got a few things that I I uh wanted to touch on but first uh just even though they've already left I just want to touch on uh our good news uh Club folks that that showed up I just want to go on the
073record and thank them for coming um and thank them also for what they do for our kids in our community uh we're going to reach out to them very soon uh and really help clarify the the procedures and expectations relative to uh the use of facilities as it's not our intent uh to deny the opportunity uh to continue their programs um and uh and and and we're going to work with them uh instead we want to just make sure that all procedures and safety liability expectations are met uh so we'll reach out to them very soon uh some point this week and uh reach that clarification and assist them uh so uh but again I want to thank them for for coming um also want to mention uh this uh past Monday our district held
074uh professional development day uh and I just want to give a a shout out to our ed services student services special ed and business services department they did a great job of planning preparing and implementing uh training for all Personnel so thank you guys great job and everything you did also October is uh LG btq uh history month and this is a great opportunity to shine a spotlight on the lgbtq plus heroes from around the world and express our support and allyship to our local lgbtq community and just want them to know psusd cares about you um already hit on the College and Career kickoff week and thanks also to Student Services that's getting us going with this flyer uh great job uh keeping me on track I I did have a Chang midday I
075did forget about my neon colors so I went home and lunch and got my bright shirt on um but also in addition to some of these activities uh we do have our um uh Regional college fair scheduled for this Wednesday October 11th at Rancher Mirage uh excuse me at the AWA Cente casino and Rancher Mirage from 4 to 7: uh so if you haven't registered for that that's a great opportunity for kids uh to meet with college representatives and and look forward uh to their future um also shout out to Ellen Goodman the foundation Bollywood was an absolute blast um Julian Juliana excuse me and Luke uh you guys did a great job we extremely proud of you you guys do wonderful thank you so that that's one down 20 more to go so just
076kidding just kidding and yesterday uh just to wrap up I sent out a letter to all our staff not only to express our gratitude for the work and dedication they demonstrate every day and this is to all staff but also recognize that October is that October Blues month uh that's that month that's typically we need that little extra boost to get us going uh so please do whatever you can to take care of yourself both uh mentally and physically and I mean that to everybody in this room uh take care of your staff and or take care of yourself and to all our staff uh please know uh regardless of how you're feeling you're making a difference a big difference every single day so thank you so much thank you thank you thank you 15a
077is approval of monitory report governing policy o10 operational expectations instructional program again oe1 I get a motion to approve 15 move for approval have a motion Now by a second second any discussion or question seeing none all in favor hi hi remember if you guys have any questions you want to say anything CH 15b approval of proclamation of red R Riven week excuse me October 23rd to 31 20231 and I believe Monica bgo is gonna read this Proclamation for us whereas alcohol and drug abuse affect individuals families and communities Across the Nation and whereas it is imperative that visible unified efforts by community members be launched to prevent drug abuse and whereas Red Ribbon Week offers citizens the opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to drug-free Lifestyles and whereas Red Ribbon Week will be celebrated in
078communities Across the Nation on October 23rd through the 31st and whereas businesses government law enforcement media Healthcare Providers religious institutions schools and other community-based organizations will demonstrate their commitment to healthy drug-free Lifestyles by wearing red ribbons and participating in drug prevention activities and whereas the Palm Springs Unified School District further commits its resources to ensure the success of Red Ribbon Week now therefore be it resolved that on October 10th 2023 the governing board of Palm Springs Unified School District proclaims October 23rd through October 31st 20123 as Red Ribbon Week and encourages you to participate in drug prevention education activities not only during Red Ribbon Week but also throughout the year making a visible statement that we are strongly committed to a drug-free lifestyle thank you very much with that can I get a motion to
079approve item 15b I move to motion have a motion how about a second please second second all in favor motion passes Monica you know on your job description where it says other items assigned nice job 15 C approval of initial proposal for successor agreement from Palm Springs Teachers Association PSTA to Palm Springs Unified School District psusd OE 49 somebody like to approve 15c move for approval how about I second second any comments or questions all in favor I I that motion pass thank you 15D adoption of resolution number 24-13 approval of authorizing an award to contract to Velocity Truck Center to purchase three vehicles and authorizing the immediate negotiated procurement of nine Vehicles listed in bid number 03- 24 palom Springs Unified School District vehicle Fleet which number bids for which no Excuse Me Miss
080stated for which no bids were receive OE 6.4 may we get a motion to approve that item move for approval motion how about a second please second motion a second all in favor I thank you that brings us to item 16 the superintendent's consent item where we will vote on items 16 a through 16f unless somebody would like a particular item pull for further discussion can I get a motion to pass item 16 I move for approve we have a motion to approve it 16 how about a second second all in favor I 17 is the board's consent item 17A approval of meeting minutes for September 26th 2023 we get a motion for that move for approval motion about a second second favor I motion passes item 18 is information item Early Head Start and
081Head Start reper reports per requirements for the Head Start act for July 2023 this has to do with OE 10.1 board has received and reviewed this information item 19 is suggestions for future agendas any suggestions I got a couple things I don't know if there future agenda items or may Friday yesterday we were talking about CTE programs and I know we had one CTE program at Desert hos Springs High School the teachers Academy and it went away I'd like maybe some kind of report on our any of our other CTE programs in jeopardy with what's the status of them is there any thought of bringing back the teachers Academy because I thought that was smart idea that kind of went by the wayside I think because it wasn't promoted and then my second one is
082that our 2 by two with Palm Springs High with desert hot springs uh they mentioned the high school Landscaping I drove by there again today it's pretty ratty so if you guys can take a look at that anything else okay no that's just good item 22 anybody want to make a motion to adour the student don't have comments you're right all right actually 21 is to Deb would you guys have like comment I just want to say we're excited for our meet and greet tomorrow with Dr Senor a and we have some questions prepared and comments and also we'd love to see all of you and hope to see you at our homecoming game this Friday with our floats that's it thank you I want to once again say thank you to you guys for
083having us here on the board and it's an honor to be a student board member and I also want to say thank you for making Red Ribbon Week a big deal within our district I feel that the use of drugs among teenagers is a major issue and an issue that needs to be addressed more often and I feel that the proclamation Red Ribbon Week and the fact that we address that in our board meeting is a huge step toward actually addressing that within our schools and I feel like it's a big thing that I can't wait personally to address in my school as I feel that it's a big issue and I hope to hopefully bring the usage of drugs down in any way that I can so thank you guys for having us and
084hope you guys have a great night thank you thank you to have you here you almost Miss can we get a motion to adjourn please so moved about a second second in favor hi thank you all we are