School Board Meeting- May 14, 2026 (Open Session)

001Okay, good evening. If everyone could find a seat, please. Hello. Can you please find a seat? I need everyone to find a seat, please. I need my teachers to help clap. Thank you so much. I appreciate you. Okay. Good evening. Uh, welcome to the open session of May for of the May 14th, 2026 board meeting. We will start with the um roll call to establish quorum. Member Kelly >> here. >> Member Hills >> here. >> Member Maleski >> here. Clerk Perry. >> President Morgan >> here. Thank you. Okay. Well, next we'll have the pledge of allegiance. Can I ask one of our student board reps to please lead us in that pledge? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under

002God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. We do not have a report out of close session at this time because we've not we have moved to have the close session. We do not have a report out of close session because we have moved to have close session at the end of the meeting. So we are going to go straight into our first item which is public comment. This will be a 20 minute session of public comment. Any additional comments will be at the end of the meeting. Member Perry, how many cards do you have? A lot. Okay. So we'll do the first. So, let's shuffle that list and let's go um >> the first 20 and you have students. Let's do students first and then we'll move and then we'll move

003the rest to the end of the meeting. >> Point. Can I have a point of inquiry? >> I'm sorry. What? >> Have a point of inquiry. >> A point of inquiry. >> Yes. Thank you. I couldn't hear you. >> Because I don't know how many student cards there are, but clearly there's a lot of students here today. If the 20-minut time doesn't facilitate all the students to be able to speak, will we be able to potentially amend the time so the students can get home early because they still have tests and stuff? >> How many cards do we have for students? Because typically when we have 20 minutes, >> we shorten the time. >> Okay. So, do we have all the student cards in that are labeled students? Okay. So let's go ahead and start.

004Yes. >> And the students will speak first. Yes. >> Yes. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> Sophie Moss. Um Samaia Sadal and Jamaia Sadal. >> And >> oh >> yeah. Cards can only be submitted for public comment and on agendas once. So if you speak in the beginning, right, you're correct. We don't speak again. >> Okay. So, the next one then will be Thomas Shear. Now, >> please begin. >> Uh, good evening. My name is Sophie Moss and I'm a junior at Laguna Beach High School. I've been in the Laguna Beach Unified School District since first grade. So, these schools have been a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember. I am speaking because I am genuinely concerned about the lack of communication and transparency of the school board. Recent

005decisions by the board majority make it hard to trust that they are thinking about how students are affected. These beliefs are reflected by many and it has created uncertainty that has reached our schools and community. Teachers have been affected, staff has been affected, and students are feeling the impact even if we're not the ones making the decisions. I'm concerned that this lack of communication will hurt our schools in ways that won't be obviously immediately. It can make good teachers question whether they want to stay in a district where major decisions are made without explanation. It can make families lose confidence in schools they trust with their kids. It can disrupt plans and progress that affect students like me, especially when we're the ones relying on our district to stay focused on education and stability. I

006am especially disappointed in Sherry Morgan, Howard Hills, and D. Perry. You were elected to make decisions that protect our schools and support students. From my perspective, you have done the opposite. You have created uncertainty in a district that has worked hard um to believe in you. I spent nearly my whole life in these schools. I care about them deeply and I care about the students who come after me too. I hope you think seriously about the message that you are sending and the damage it could cause to our community that trusted you to lead responsibly. Thank you. Excuse me. Okay. Excuse me. As was indicated earlier tonight, this is a business meeting and like all of the teachers here in the class, when you have people speaking and people presenting, I know that you would

007prefer that this people in the room demonstrate respect. Excuse me. I know you said that before and I appreciate that, but this is a business meeting and I would like you to respect the guidelines and the policies of our board that that previous boards that are also sitting in this room have adopted and uphold. >> Okay. >> Excuse me. >> Thank you. Okay. Excuse me. >> Order. Order. >> Order. >> I need order, please. I need order, please. And I would like the leaders in this community, the teachers, the adults in the room to please demonstrate the behavior that you would like your children to witness. Thank you. >> Excuse me. Excuse me. Um, I have not I do not see the clock started. I do not see the clock started because I appreciate respectfully

008waiting until we get control of the room. I appreciate the quiet so that we can listen to the speaker. Thank you so much. Please continue. >> Um, hi, my name is Sam. I'm a sophomore at LBHS. I wanted to express some words of deep heartfelt gratitude, specifically to President Morgan, Clerk Perry, and Trusty Hills. Thank you for exhibiting behavior that makes us students take notice and ask deep questions about this is if this is how elected officials are supposed to behave. We are watching and this is why we are showing up, why we refuse to sit down, and why we refuse to be silenced. You've taught us something the classroom could never. Thank you for showing us how not to treat people who are the very foundation of the district you were elected to serve.

009The staff who give everything to this district, the parents who trust you with their children, and the expert teachers who show up every single day. Thank you for showing us what it looks like when elected officials forget who they were elected to serve and why they were elected to serve. Thank you for uniting us through your Discord. >> Sh, please. Students who have never spoken to each other now stand side by side, watching and aware of our role in taking care of our district. Community members who once sat quietly now fill these seats every week. Congratulations. You did that. Thank you for showing us what it looks like to push leaders out of this district, even the ones you fully supported to hire not long ago. I had the honor of serving on Dr. Glass's

010superintendent student council. He listened, he asked questions, he cared, and we were doing great work. This is more than I can say for the current board majority. Thank you for showing us what bad governance look like so we can focus on shifting to good. Thank you for reminding us that we are taught to lead with respect, curiosity, and kindness, not to consolidate power for selfish purposes. Not to silence disagreement and not to treat people as disposable the moment they think differently than you. Thank you for doing all of this during staff appreciation week. The timing tells us everything we need to know about your intentions. And lastly, thank you sincerely for the motivation. As I've said before, some of us are turning 18 and will be at the balance in November. We will not back

011down. >> Okay, thank you. I would like to go back to jazz hands, please. Because while the pom poms are very celebratory and a lot of fun, it is make it is making it very difficult to hear even with new audio systems. And we do have policy about disruption. We have policies about disruption, civility. We have policies about decorum and how people behave. And I am really struggling to believe that asking you all to be respectful so that we can hear each speaker and give them our full attention that the behavior that is your first amendment rights but it is not in line with our bylaws is making it very difficult to hear. So I would like to respect each speaker and I would like those in the room to respect the process. Thank you.

012>> Can I ask a point of inquiry again, President Morgan? Um, I just wanted to give a quick review of the bylaws that regard audience uh, like how how audience is supposed to conduct themselves. And I know we've had this discussion before with um, Mr. Pearl about if they're allowed to cheer and whatnot, which is I I'd have, you know, if you review the bylaw that's specifically related to that, it's the number of it is unfortunately slipping out of my mind at the moment, but it does not distinctly mention cheering. However, it is true that under the provision of the statute that the board president is able to determine criteria that if the audience is disrupting the meeting, she's allowed to say he or she is allowed to say that the audience needs to stop.

013But as far as I'm um aware, because the bylaw does not mention anything about cheering and you have not come out with any specific criteria to the public about if we can cheer or not if we can, but if the audience can cheer or not, I don't think it's necessarily fair to tell them to stop without providing that criteria. >> I think Carter, it does go to >> Logan. Sorry, my apologies, Logan. Um, I think it does go to the earlier point. It's about, and we we've talked about it in prior meetings. If the meeting's being delayed because instead of waiting for the next speaker, we're hearing loud cheers and applause and that's slowing down the progress of the meeting, then that is an actual disruption based on just a reasonable person understanding of what

014that means. I would 100% agree, but I think we could even ask Samya if she at any point during her speech felt disrupted by the audience members. >> I think it's not it's it's not really it's a it's not a subjective standard. >> But I thought we just we just raised it to the standard of to a reasonable person, which you know, if Samya, I'm assuming she's a reasonable person, would 100% be adequate to determine whether that was considered disruptive. >> It's not one person who decides and it that right's not vested with the individual speaker. So I would ask like as a general rule everyone and we've talked about this before if we could do the jazz hands or whatever it is so we can get Thank you. thumbs down um you know so

015we can get the speakers in and out and have an efficient meeting. That's really what we're striving for. I don't think there's any question on like that there shouldn't be disruption. I just think the question comes about if it's not presented in the bylaw about the rules any rules about cheering then there should be some precedent said about what is considered disruptive at what at what point is the cheering considered making it hard or making it or impeding anyone's ability to understand what the speaker said >> not the bylaws it's in the Brown Act >> yes but where in the Brown Act does it say that they can't cheer >> it talks about actual disruption that's the only point that I'm making >> I agree but >> and we've already been delayed in the meeting

016because of cheering >> point of We'll cheer for three seconds and then we'll stop. >> Okay, >> that sounds like adequate criteria. >> Thank you. >> Awesome. Thank you, >> member. Um, clerk, can you please call up the next three speakers? >> Yes. Um, Kate Sheldu, Shannon Chastain, Howard Englander. While we're waiting, >> while we're waiting for them to come up, I have said in the past and I will say again, this is a business meeting, jazz hands are acceptable. There's no eating. There's no yelling and shouting. I have said that before. And if I didn't say that today, and that's what I needed to say, I appreciate the um reminder. So, thank you for that. Please proceed. >> School board members Hill, Morgan, and Perry, thank you for the opportunity to speak. My name

017is Thomas Sherau and I'm a seventh grader in the school district you represent. I am here because I'm frustrated and deeply disappointed by how Dr. Glass has been treated. Dr. Glass has been a strong superintendent and a kind leader for our community. I really appreciate that Dr. Glass is a fun person who always brightens the room, not to mention how his children have grown to become great friends of mine and he actually cared about us. There have been three superintendent changes in the last 18 months and I'm concerned by that pattern. Therefore, I strongly encourage you to take the district's students into account when you make decisions because we deserve better than this. Thank you. >> Good evening. My name is Kay Shaoo and I'm a ninth grade student at Laguna Beach High School. I

018came here tonight because I love my teachers, my school, and my town. At school, we are constantly taught the importance of respect, collaboration, and listening to others even when we disagree. In programs like Model United Nations, we learn how to debate professionally, understand different perspectives, and work together to solve problems. Those are lessons our staff work hard to teach us every day. And I feel incredibly lucky to attend a school with such great teachers, strong programs, and amazing facilities. Staff members work hard behind the scenes to create opportunities for students, and I know that a lot of us are truly grateful for that. Many of my teachers have been some of the strongest role models and leaders in my life. They encourage us when we doubt ourselves, push us to think bigger, and genuinely care

019about helping us succeed. A great teacher can change the direction of a student's life, which is why I'm devastated to hear that teacher morale is at an all-time low. Ever since my Elmoro kindergarten days with Miss Bllandon, my teachers have taught me the importance of empathy and kindness. The board majority's decision to push out Dr. Glass goes against everything I've ever learned in this school and shows how a and shows a complete lack of respect for him and his family. I've attended board meetings to learn about leadership and civic engagement, but lately I felt like all I've learned is how not to lead. Teachers, students, and LBSD staff are demoralized. As students, we do not expect everyone to agree on everything, but we do expect professionalism, respect, and the ability to work together, even when

020opinions differ. I ask you to think about the example you're setting for my peers and me. Please show us what inspirational leadership looks like and set a positive example for the amazing students in this district. I hope one day I can see trust and respect restored, and I hope I can look at our school board and see the kind of strong leadership our community deserves. Thank you. We're just doing students and then we're going to >> That's the last student. No, >> that's the last student. Okay. What's our time? >> Yeah. >> And then what's our time? >> Was the last student? >> We've used four and a half minutes. >> So, this will be our last. Sorry. >> Five and a half minutes. >> We have five and a half minutes left. No, >>

021that's all that's been used. >> That's all we've used. Okay, great. Thank you. Okay, good evening. My name is Shannon Chastain and I have proudly served the students of Lagona for 20 years. As union rep, I'm here sharing the sentiment felt by our staff at Elmoro. We have gratitude, so much gratitude. Gratitude for all the families that show up here daily and especially this week to shower us with love and appreciation. Gratitude for Dr. Glass for being our leader despite all the obstacles. Gratitude for Joan and for Jim. Thank you. We see you. We appreciate you. And we know you are here for the right reasons. Please know that the rest of my comments this evening have absolutely nothing to do with you. For the board majority, Howard, Sherry, and D, we would like to

022speak to the current state of your leadership. As a teacher, we reward hard work, growth, and participation. Looking at the state of our district, the only credit we can give you is for your participation. The recent dismissal of our superintendent wasn't just a personnel change. It was a dismantling. It is painfully clear that this majority has no idea what it takes to run a school district, let alone one of the highest performing districts in the state. Since celebrating Earth Day last month, I can't help but compare our district to the Lorax. In that story, the onsler arrived at a beautiful, vibrant place and out of pure ego and short-sightedness chopped down everything that made it special until until there was nothing left but smog and regret. You are playing the part of the onsler perfectly.

023You are dismantling an ecosystem of excellence that took decades to grow. And for what? For two decades, I have pr been proud to say I work in Lagona. As a teacher, we attend professional development trainings with teachers from other districts. We used to keep our workplace quiet. Back then, it was done out of humility. We knew how special we had it here, a district that took care of its staff and kept students at the center of every single decision. We didn't want to seem boastful to colleagues from districts that lacked the support that we had here. Today, we keep it to ourselves, but now it's done for another reason. It's done because we don't want to answer questions about the latest antics or the political theater happening in this room. You have traded our reputation

024for your personal agendas. You have taken a destination district and made it a place people are looking to leave. Just like the creatures in the story who had to find a new home once the environment became toxic, you are forcing out the very people who made this district bloom. You have done a profound disservice to the professionals who work here and the students we serve. Shame on you. >> Howard Englander >> D. Can you call the next speaker as well so we have a >> Yes. >> continuation. Thank you. >> Dr. Howard Evo Pauling and then Cassandra Dancy. >> Board members, thanks. Thank you for allowing me to speak. Um, I have put four kids through the school system. I have two young grandsons about to enter the school system. Uh, many of us in

025this room viewed viewed Luna Laguna Beach as the greatest gift because of the school system that anchored this community. It was our pride and our joy and right now that is being devastated. Um I wonder about the word competence. What is competence when you hire a superintendent with a stellar resume and you terminate that spirit within 10 months? Does that speak to competence? I think there are enough people in this room and in this community to not let this issue die. We are here for our students and we are here for our community and we will not go away. >> Hi Eva Pauling um parent of two kids in the district and fuel board member. A mutual separation less than a year into a superintendent's tenure is not an amicical partying. Anyone who has ever

026led an organization knows exactly what that means. It's a forced resignation with a payout to leave. That is what happened here this week. And the tragedy is not just that you pushed out Dr. Glass. It is that you pushed out one of the most qualified leaders this district has ever hired. a superintendent unanimously brought here by all five of you, including the three of you for his experience, professionalism, and ability to lead through complex situations, who moved his entire family across the country to serve this district. But competence was never the point. Control was. Let's hope Don Austin fares better. You stripped agenda setting authority. You pushed public comment to the end of meetings for months, forcing his community to wait until midnight to be heard. You overrode professional and best practice recommendations. You tripled

027the legal expenses of this district. And you created an environment so toxic that for the first time in over 40 years, teachers marched in protest. And for what? Our teachers, staff, and students are producing exceptional outcomes here. We are the top performing district in Orange County and then the top 4% statewide. Suspension rates, chronic absenteeism remain far below state averages. Students report feeling safer than their peers across California. This district has been thriving. The instability is coming from the three people sitting on the deis here, D, Sherry, and Howard, who have proven entirely unequipped to lead. Between the three of you, we have four failed campaigns for school board, unsuccessful lawsuits against this very district costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars, questions surrounding residency and ethics, erratic behavior leading to removal from PTA meetings,

028and now complete lockstep control over nearly every major decision impacting this district. Fuel did not organize because of politics or personal ambition. We organize because competent people step up when instability, ego, and dysfunction threaten the institutions at the heart of a community. Lagona is filled with talented, accomplished, deeply caring people who will not sit quietly while three reckless individuals try to damage one of the best school districts in California. You talk about protecting students while modeling some of the worst behavior this district has ever seen, including dragging student board reps and allowing your small group of community misfit loyalists to pile onto these teenagers publicly. These sophomores in high school have shown more courage, restraint, and integrity and moral clarity than the three of you combined. The community, THE community you underestimated is fully awake

029now. D, you will not be sitting in the seat after this next election. And there will be HUNDREDS OF US WORKING tirelessly over the next five months to guarantee it. Sherry and Howard, this community is counting down the days until the two of you no longer hold the power to inflict chaos on this district. Your grip on power will be remembered as one of the darkest chapters in LBSD history, and we will not stop until integrity, confidence, and trust are restored to this district's leader. Thank you. It should be. >> Can you start over my time? >> Give us one. My name is Cece Dancy and I have a fourth grade son at T and a seventh grade daughter at Thirstston. I have been room parent for all eight years, kindergarten and fifth grade promotion

030chair both years. to talent show chair for two years, Thirstston Thriller and Thirstston Winterfest chair for two years, music uh Thirstston musical theater and choir booster chair along with the multitude of committees over eight years. This is my first time attending a board meeting in person and I'm here because of your devastating decision regarding Dr. Glass Tuesday afternoon. Miss Morgan, I will never forget meeting you while you were campaigning for yourself walking the streets of the Laguna Autobon, presenting yourself as a kind and caring parent who wanted the best for our students. Like many others in our neighborhood, I initially believed that. My husband, however, immediately sensed something was off. He felt there was a lack of sincerity and authenticity behind the image being presented. Unfortunately, he was absolutely right. Those families that you lied

031to on your campaign walk around our neighborhoods would never have voted for you if they knew how you and your board would operate. Beyond the outrageous and disappointing decisions that you, Mr. Hills and Miss Perry continue to make the behavior displayed during board meetings are absolutely embarrassing, disgusting, and so unprofessional. Even my own children who are only 10 and 13 are shocked by the way you board members speak to by the way board members speak to and disregard our students, our former superintendent and our families. It is unacceptable. As an elected school board, your foremost responsibility is to serve the interest of the student community. Dr. Glass was fulfilling that responsibility. Yet this board un chose to remove him and the under the guise of a mutual parting of ways with him. There was nothing

032mutual about it. So I ask you on what basis and on on behalf of which students or families was this decision made? Your responsibility is not to act arbitrarily. It is to act in the best interest of the majority and time and time again you have failed to do so. This decision is not just disappointing. It crosses a line. It is a breach of trust and a clear dereliction of your duty to the very community you elected to serve. At some point, when this many people are pleading for change, there must be self-reflection. Leadership is supposed to unite a district not divided beyond repair. The damage you three have done to this district. District's trust, morale, and sense of community is heartbreaking to watch unfold in real time. Our school district deserves better. I urge

033the three of you to reinstate Dr. glass or step down and allow this district the opportunity to begin healing and rebuilding the trust and integrity that you three have lost. A mutual separation between Hills and Morg Morgan and Perry and the Lagona Beach School District seems like the most APPROPRIATE ACTION TO TAKE. IT SHOULD IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN the three of you that were forced out Tuesday, not Dr. Glass and his incredible family. My 10-year-old son said it perfectly yesterday. Congratulations. You three just made it into the hall of shame. >> How do we We still have more cards. >> Victoria, how much time do we >> We're at 15 minutes, I believe. 16 minutes. >> There's four minutes left. >> Okay. >> Meredith McMahon. Sherry, I've known you since I was 15 years old.

034I didn't just know your family casually. I helped raise your kids. I babysat them before your youngest was even born. My mom taught your oldest first grade. Our lives have were intertwined for decades. I was there through job changes, hard seasons, remodels, celebrations, new dogs, losing dogs, weddings, babies, birthdays, all the small moments that make up a friendship and a life. Even after I left for college, I still came home to help when you needed it. I remember one weekend during finals when you were desperate for child care, and I came home anyway, settling while taking care of your children. Your girls were flower girls in my first wedding and then years later you were there celebrating with me at my second. You stood beside me through some of the biggest moments of my life.

035You have watched my son grow up. You've been at birthday parties at my home. That's why this hurts the way it does. You know exactly and intimately who these decisions affect. Because this is not some abstract political disagreement for me. Your children got to experience the very best of this district. incredible teachers, leadership, civility, arts, music, trust, joy, opportunity, and a community that believes strongly in excellent public education. And one thing I've always respected about you and still do was how much you expected from your kids. You pushed them. You advocated fiercely for them. You expected excellence from them and from this district because you believe your children deserve the very best education possible. And they got it. And now you I look at my own son and gently wonder if his generation will inherit

036the same district that your children got. That really breaks my heart. What h what is happening now has damaged this community deeply. Teachers are exhausted. Steve morale staff morale is shattered. Kids are watching adults choose power struggles over collaboration and ego over empathy. and families no longer trust the schoolboard majority to protect the culture, stability, and values that made this district so special in the first place. And I think what is hardest for me personally is that after decades of friendship, shared history, and showing up for each other's families, I never imagined I would one day be standing here at this podium asking you to stop hurting a district that gave so much to your own children. You know this community. You know these teachers. You know these families. You know better than most what

037makes this district so special. Which is why watching you help dismantle it feels so personal to so many people. Because after all these years, I didn't expect to be grieving both the unraveling of a district I love and a friendship with someone I have cared about so deeply. Yet somehow here we are. No, there's lots of cards. >> There's lots. There's one minute left in the 20 minutes. >> So, let's do one more card and then we'll move the rest to the end of the meeting. Thank you. Kathy A. Good evening. Tonight, I want to speak about the damage being done to this district by the current board majority. Less than a year ago, you, Sher Morgan, publicly celebrated Dr. Glass's arrival at LBUSD. on your own Instagram page, you called him an experienced visionary,

038a gift to our community, and said students, staff, and families were so fortunate to have him here. And we were. She You praised his leadership, his ideas, his experience, and his vision for the future of this district. And now, less than a year later, the same majority led by you has pushed him out. So, what changed? It certainly wasn't his professionalism, his qualifications, or his commitment to students and staff. The difference is that Dr. Glass chose to prioritize the long-term health of LBUSD over politics and board control. Howard Hills Morgan, Howard Hills, and Derry have created an atmosphere. >> Your mic got turned off. Can you push the button? >> Morgan, Howard Hills, and D. Perry have created an atmosphere of instability, intimidation, and division throughout LBUSD. Teachers and staff have publicly expressed frustration and

039exhaustion. families still shut out and unheard. The result is a district losing morale, trust, and credibility. LBUSD has long been a source of pride for this Laguna Beach community. But the leadership matters, governance matters. Integrity matters. Our students deserve stability. Our teachers deserve support. Our families deserve transparency. And this community deserves leadership grounded in professionalism, not politics. The greater Laguna Beach community is now paying attention. and people will remember the choices being made here. And finally, you have unleashed the fury of a thousand moms. Good luck. Okay, thank you. All right, we are going to move on to our reports. The first reports up are the bargaining units, excuse me, CSA and Laboufa. places yet. >> I don't really have any words right now. Sorry. >> Thank you, Scott. >> Yeah, I'm going to give

040a few thoughts here. First of all, in my 30 years of education, this has been the probably 40 48 hours of chaos that I've ever seen. That being said, um the board owns this new decision as a group. This cannot be wrong. I implore you to let our new superintendent do his job. I felt like the last one did not get that opportunity. So, I implore all five of you to give him a shot. He is definitely more than qualified to run this district. I know him personally. Um, and I know that he loves Lagouna Beach. I know that he loves this district. And if you guys didn't know, he was the principal here um, till 2011. He was innovative. The program I run was started with his forethought. The CTE pathways from the school

041were born from him. So, I also ask the community, Fuel, Sensible Lagona, and everybody else, let's work together to make this district what it is and what it should be. We cannot survive another 18 months of what we've gone through. So, I just ask everybody, let's be optimistic. This is the most optimistic I've been since our famous December 16th meeting. and I have hope. Thank you. >> Thank you, Scott, for your words. I appreciate that. Okay, moving on to our SRO, Danny Lopez or Spencer York, whoever, whichever two of you. I see you both. Come on up. And then after that, we'll have the executive cabinet, uh, Mike Conland and Chad Mayberry. Good evening. This is shorter than usual, so I apologize. I'm going to lean forward a little bit. My name is Danny Lopez,

042one of two school resource officers. As always, we are very proud to have our partnership with the district, pride to support our students and our staff. I don't have too much to report other than to say I'm very excited for upcoming graduation and our thirst promotion going to the high school. Uh we do have a couple things lined up. We have our senior parade happening very soon, which is something I take great pride and joy in. I get to make traffic in downtown Lagoon a little worse, but it's at the uh expense of our public that I get to proudly stand by our graduating seniors on their walk to main beach. So, congratulations class 2026. We also have our upcoming Teen Leadership Academy. We took a little hiatus last year to get personnel squared away

043and up to training up to date. And we have an amazing week planned for our students coming up and that's going to be next month starting on June 23rd on a Tuesday. # shamelessplug. And last but not least, we have our school resource, excuse me, I haven't had any coffee today, so I'm stumbling and fumbling my words here. We have our school resource officer summit and that is put on by Orange County Sheriff's Department where myself and my partner Spencer York have the opportunity to team up with SRO's from across not only the county but across the state and including some SRO's from visiting states where we'll actually have a chance to study some case study about trends that we see on our campuses and on other campuses and how we can potentially get ahead

044of the curve essentially. And that'll also end with an active shooter drill where all the officers get to dress up in our mock uniforms and our mark gear and use essentially paint rounds to be able to go after an active shooter on an actual school campus. Something I'm very proud of because that gives officers the training they need. God forbid something ever happens. That's all I have to report. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them. >> Thank you so much for your report. I appreciate that. >> Okay, Mr. Colin. >> Thank you, President Morgan. Um Dr. Dr. Mayberry and myself are going to bypass our reports this evening since we have a lot of presentations going on tonight so we can get those started. Thank you. >> Great. Thank you so

045much. Um Mr. Roer Ro I still struggle. I've tried Mr. Rocher. >> Good evening board president, members of the board and members in the audience. Um this is a difficult time to speak. First and foremost, I want to thank the board for giving me the opportunity to stem step step in as the interim role and I'm also glad to hear uh Dr. Don Austin's name being proposed as the uh superintendent for the school district and I am very glad to hear that we have positive experience uh from our uh laba leadership on his experience prior in the school district. So I would just again urge uh if we can all work together and come to uh a consensus on common grounds um we are having exciting times in about couple of weeks or three weeks

046we will graduate 200 plus students from our high school that have gone through the system and we are looking forward to that coming up also the construction for the long awaited swimming pool uh that's on the agenda so we are looking to excitedment times and I'm sure we'll hit some common ground. Thank you. Um and that's all my report. >> Man, thank you very much. Okay, we're going to move on to our governance section, item 6A, board member reports. I'd like to start to my uh right with um Dr. Kelly. Before you begin, I would like to remind all of the board members of the protocols. It is in the agenda. Uh but we will limit our remarks to comments regarding the committees outside organizations that you officially represent. on behalf of LBUSD LBUS LBUSD

047events attended or information that helps other board members do their job better before beginning it's appropriate to first ask oneself does this need to be said no discussion amongst board members can take place but during individual board reports though fellow members can ask questions for clarification and if necessary we'd like you to keep your reports succinct so we can keep the moving the meeting moving forward thank I thought that I would just talk about one positive thing uh that has been going on and that's the Barefoot Classic. It's the School Power uh fundraiser. It's one of the fun things that uh I do. Uh I I love seeing the parents without their shoes and uh the fun that goes on between them all and uh without their kids and it's it's just it warms my

048heart. I was also lucky to support a winning team uh of uh the school district had two principles uh Dr. Keller the superintendent and a few other people that uh that participated and uh and it was really in honor of Dr. Shelby this who's retiring that she uh she played well and so I I was glad to be there for that. Uh the other thing is as I told you earlier I will be gone for the first part of June so I'm going to miss graduation honors which I'm really sorry about that uh they're two of my favorite things to do and u so uh I will be back. Thanks, >> Member Hills. >> Well, I would just like to report that uh one of the highlights for me uh in the last part of

049April and beginning of May was um to go see the uh the uh uh the Elmoro School talent show at the at the LBHS artist Theater. I don't know. It was a It was a absolutely jam-packed full house and the performances by the students were exceptional. Um uh the the synchronized swimming uh uh performance was something that could have gone national as far as I'm concerned, but the every one of the acts, every one of the performances was just I I was so proud of the students. The thing that I liked most about the event was the support that the students gave to the other students. The it this it was it was a little bit rowdy, but it was it wasn't rowdy distracting. It was rowdy supporting the performers and it was thrilling the

050the the the it was exhilarating how the students supported their classmates. Uh uh really a powerful thing about uh what a lot of you have talked about tonight. Um there's a really strong spirit of humanity, not just at the adult level, but going down to the lower grades, this school district is doing something to instill um a compassion uh and an empathy uh that you could feel there. And every time somebody got up and they were a little bit scared or they were a little bit nervous, the students just poured it on to support them. So, it was really a highlight of my uh of my month uh to go to that. Uh the other thing I just want to report on very quickly is that I've really enjoyed working with um uh Logan Marshall,

051our our school, our student rep. Um you know, the the student rep program on this board um has had some historical uh uh issues and organizational issues and challenges. Um but um I think we're we've identified some things that the board, the student reps and the full board can work together on to um stabilize and strengthen the student rep program on the board. And um uh I'm looking forward uh I met with Logan in in our capacity as the governance committee. we uh just had a a meeting to informally discuss it and then we're what we will do is we will bring to the committee and the committee will discuss and then we will bring to the board to discuss some of the ideas that we just uh uh shared about how we could strengthen

052the student rep program. So, uh, that was an activity that, uh, and I really thank you, Logan, for your for, um, the the the in addition to everything else, um, you have a really fine intellect and your ability to analyze problems and issues and formulate positions and ideas is really very impressive to me. So, I look forward to working with you. >> Thank you. Howard, is that the end of your report? Can you turn your mic off for me, please? Thank you. All right, I'm going to go swing over here to my left and go start with the student board members. Ivy Dabs. >> I believe Logan's going to begin first. >> I was I was just going to say, is there um Okay, I guess I'll go first. So, um I in in in

053uh I was going to say in light of Dr. glass of departure. I don't know how how much of it is can be considered light. There are some comments that I feel like have to be made to accurately depict the view of the students. So the first one that I wanted to start out with um I actually learned this in um Miss Hansen's class is that there is often a phrase regarding fascism that goes like this and it's we don't all one day wake up in uniform. So the meaning of this quote refers to how grabs of power by those you know who can get out of control in their in you know their quest for completing a total dominance of whether it be the state or a country or even a school board. Um

054does not result in everyone one day waking up in a state where we're controlled by those people. But it is through slow moves made by leaders and made by those who want to look the other way and turn the other cheek uh who ma made by these leaders to enrich themselves with the power so they can achieve their agendas. So I was appointed to represent the students. I actually finished my application today to apply for the role again next year. Believe it or not, through throughout through throughout my role trying to accurately depict the voice of the students, I have unfortunately been unable to always focus on relaying the positive view that the student chair of the board because it's non-existent. As many of the students indicated today who spoke, as many who are speaking

055at the moment, they do not have a positive view of the board. So, and specifically the board majority. Now, how does this relate to all of us waking up one day in brown shirts? The moves made by the board majority such as attempting to give the board president more power by giving them the final say on the agenda or whether it be just constant rhetoric regarding the bylaws and regarding in general the practices of the board on how how can the board gain more power? How can we maximize essentially our influence over the goings on of the district tends to look like a lot of the moves made by those in power who wish to have more of it. And am I saying that the school board has become overrun by Nazi fascists? No. But

056what I am saying is that the behavior of those who have a constant desire for more power eerily mimics the behavior of the board majority. And it is my job as not only a student, not only as a community member, but just as an American to oppose that. And to our it's just as Mr. Wickob said, I have incredible optimism that that will change. I have incredible optimism that the community and the students will be able to change this fact. and to our interim superintendent um Minoj to the staff members students and all community members even in our darkest hour I would like to remind everyone that there is hope and I would like to read this quote from Horatio live as brave men and if fortune is adverse front its blows with brave hearts

057>> thank you Logan Ivy >> I had a normal report planned for tonight. But given the energy and tension in the air, I feel that it would be inappropriate to let the students down here that I'm here to represent. In the eyes of the students, Dr. Glass's immediate, sudden removal was, and I quote, weird, unfair, sad, and unexpected. Dr. Glass inspired kids throughout LBUSD with his kind words and powerful essence of hope. Students saw him as a strong leader who they could rely on and who would advocate for them no matter what. In the superintendent advisory group, students set the agenda and he laid the framework to represent those ideas. He let us craft plans to make a difference. And in the midst of those plans, he was whisked away. Students are uneasy, confused, and

058feel unseen as their main adult advocate is on immediate paid leave as of Tuesday. Dr. Glass has been a large part of my life as a student board representative, and I have applied next year to be an alternate student board representative, but I worry greatly for the next permanent student board rep as they will not have the support system that I was so lucky to have. Everybody is confused. Nobody has answers and the students feel uneasy. That's all I have to report. >> Thank you. >> Clerk Perry, >> thank you. Um I really appreciate Mr. Whit's words and menases and that we can get to a better place alto together. Um I attended a few very positive student events. The student spring dance was lovely. The transportation committee and arts committee are doing really good

059work. Um the state of the city by the mayor because I really care about jobs and getting internships for students. I went to visit one of our interns who is just starting to learn sound systems at um Laguna Beach Cultural Arts Center. And I think my favorite event was the Apple Awards because students spoke from their heart about teachers that they loved and had made a difference. And it was very very touching from all of the different schools. And then some of our students also came and sang which was very uplifting. That's it. >> Sorry, Dr. Meski. >> Um, so since my last board report, I attended two nights of the middle school middle school moot court competition at the Orange County Courthouse. Our thirsten students did a really impressive job of presenting their cases,

060responding to the opposing sides, the opposing council, and responding to questions from the presiding judge. Um, thanks to Miss Martinez and Miss Anderson, and to our own parent, Judge Doug McCormack, for working with the kids. It was they did fantastic. I also attended the Barefoot Classic. It was a terrific event. Um, and then, uh, the other topic I want to talk about is to say thank you to Dr. Jason Glass for his service to the district. In just in just in just 10 months, Dr. Glass brought steadiness, professionalism, educational expertise, and deep commitment to students during a very unstable time in our district. He relo excuse me he relocated his family across the country. He stepped into a difficult governance environment. He also continued to lead with dignity even while facing nearly impossible conditions. I

061thought that the decision on a settlement agreement during this week was potentially destabilizing but it also felt cruel. So the reason I bring that up is that staff have reached out to me and it is important for the board to hear their perspective in this moment. The most common question I'm getting is who's next? That question doesn't emerge in healthy organizations. It emerges where people feel vulnerable, fearful, and unsafe. We've repeatedly over the last 18 months had investigations, threats, public insinuations, opaque processes, employee pressure. Staff have reported to me that their professional expertise seems to be ignored and many have reported that they have had to hire attorneys to protect themselves and are working in a context for months with unresolved allegations against them. They're working under duress. The instability at the top affects our

062school sites, district offices, our students. I don't want talented people to ask whether they can continue to work in this environment. I again urge you to read the report of the teacher listening sessions with President Morgan which demonstrates the extent to which staff morale has deteriorated and I urge the board to think about how to heal our relationships to our staff. Our schools are a public asset and the board's responsibility is to understand its role and create an environment where educators and administrators can do their work effectively on behalf of our students. My focus will remain on protecting the institution, supporting the people who serve students every day, and ensuring that our schools remain worthy of the trust this community places in them. I did not vote yes for the new superintendent because of process

063issues, but it's done. And in keeping with our need to make the best district possible and support our teachers, I will also do what I can do to support his work. We need to move the district forward and we need a period of healing. That's it. Thank you. Uh my report is brief. Um like D, I attended quite a few events uh that were very community, student, and staff focused. Uh I attended the ad hoc facilities meeting. We've done that twice with um Manoj leading the charge on that. Thank you. Um and it has been a very uh productive process. We have visited all the sites. We have discussed the priorities and thanks to to Manoj and his staff, they've put together a great spreadsheet where we're going through and and weighing and evaluating individually

064and then we will come together as a whole. These committees are all formed um by this new board. um many of them and the topics the transportation and the arts are items that uh member Perry has worked for years to bring forward and I am honored to be part of the team that has championed those and shepherded them forward. The transportation committee has also met. Um I think um we've got also a lot of parents on that. Uh one of the parents has been working on that issue for quite a long time. Uh we also had the expertise of Erica Rule who I is probably in the room somewhere. uh she's on that committee as well and we collectively have been able to improve the transportation uh the quality of the transportation the safety as

065well as the routes providing access to students in the autobond that did not have access to transportation before I'm very proud of that work and all of that was done at no cost we are also looking to add a bus monitor because many parents have expressed a concern with their children on the bus especially for long periods of time and so that is a position that we're also bringing forward forward again work that this new board has been able to to achieve that has been asked for for years that was not able to be done. I attended the um we had an arts committee meeting as well and in that meeting we have also had um another great meeting that um was something that member Perry has um been working on for years. Um I

066am very passionate about the arts. We have phenomenal community members on this committee that are doing ex exquisite work. We have two student stu two student members on this committee as well and they make a point of showing up every time and bringing their voice. We have had a um session where we had teachers, we had a session where we had additional students and we had a session where we had different members of the arts alliance uh that came forward and talked about the different needs that they saw within the arts programs. um and not and we have wonderful art programs and one of the things that kept coming out was that there's so much paperwork to try and coordinate all of these different departments and so the committee has recommended a arts coordinator at

067the district level to help those at the site level. So I'm really looking forward to that work and I am grateful for all of those that were involved in the conversation and had made that recommendation coming forward. Um I also attended the Apple awards and I went last year also when Mr. Mr. Wickop was receiving the award along with another staff member and Mr. Wickop told >> Thank you. Uh Mr. Wickop had told me at the end of that meeting that I was the first board member that had ever attended. So I was actually quite happy that um we have made new efforts um as a board majority to be more involved in supporting our students and our staff in when they are being honored as I even last year I had gone to the

068student uh awards for Katrina Foley when our member Carter McKenzie was on the board. The last thing um last couple things um I went to the state of the city uh mayor lunch also on Monday and I along with disc with the conversations about the trees and a conversation about uh different things in the city. One of the things that um mayor or focused on was the arts in our community and how we really need to return to the roots of this community and what we were founded on. And that is actually one of the many items that the arts committee is tasked with is bringing the great work of our school district out into the public, connecting our community, tapping into the resources that they can provide to enhance the educational experience for our

069students and support our staff. I am incredibly proud of the work that this board majority has brought forward. Lastly, I'm talking about the arts in our community. I'm really It's really upsetting that you all aren't supporting that, but that's okay. So, excuse me. Thank you. >> Excuse me. Thank you. The work of the committee and the respons the respectable people on those committees will continue. That is my commitment. we have a smooth transition plan in place and I am very proud of the work that we're doing. Um, lastly, I appreciate um I think it was Logan or maybe it was Ivy's comment about how they were in a superintendent meeting and they controlled the agenda. So, I appreciate that being the students and your meeting and controlling the agenda is kind of the idea behind

070um 9233. So, I appreciate you making that statement. >> Yeah. Lastly, to the thousands of mothers out there that I have seemed to have enraged, I understand mama bear mentality and I wish you all a happy Mother's Day. Moving on. >> Okay. Excuse me. Excuse me. Excuse me. Excuse me. Excuse me. Thank you. >> Does Can we get Thank you for the microphones. We're having some problems up here. Thank you. Okay, let's move on to item 8A. This is LCAP 2627. >> President Morgan Ivy had her hand raised. >> I just have a point of inquiry. Um, as in regards to the superintendent advisory council, I like had a bunch of students asking me what was going to happen with that. Um, do we have any idea what's going to happen with that? >> Yes,

071we do. Victoria is nodding her head. Yes. And as soon as she makes me aware of those plans and we work as a team, which we this is an excellent team to um bring those forward, we will. It's been a busy week, but thank you for your >> Okay, I'll let the students know. Thank you. >> You're welcome. Okay, moving on to item 8A. This is the LCAP 2026 public hearing uh for the Laguna Beach Unified School District's local control accountability plan for the year ending June 30th, 2027 prior to final adoption as required by ED code section 52062. Okay, I see Dr. Keller and Miss uh Miss Canenberg. Betsy Canenberg, I look forward to the presentation. Is this a presentation prior or just because it's a public hearing. So, are you presenting the whole

072plan first? Okay, great. Thank you. >> I'll I'll get us started. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayberry. >> We do want to open the public hearing first because it's part of it and then we'll just continue through if that's okay. >> Yes, my apologies. I have it here. So, that we're opening the public hearing at 712. >> Dr. Mayberry, >> thank you. So tonight staff will present the draft LBSD local control and accountability plan after myself, Dr. Keller, Dr. Canenberg provide an update. We'll then take public comment uh and then close the public hearing. Then the board will have opportunity to ask questions, discussion, give us direction. Um that process will repeated for the LCAP budget hearing, the next item with which Mr. Richowdery will present. Um the goal for today is to get any final

073feedback and input. So we can submit the draft LCAP to Orange County Department of Ed for their preliminary review. Once we receive that feedback, staff will make additional necessary adjustments and bring it back to the board on June 8th for final approval. Uh this is really important. If there's any new um programs or staffing changes, those can't start till after the budget's approved. So that's the timeline that we're working with. And so we're going to share uh all the different input and feedback that we've been getting throughout the year. Do you have the Victoria? Can you put the presentation up? >> Thank you. So, the LCAP is a three-year roadmap uh to ensure equitable outcomes across eight state identified priority areas, specifically English learners, foster youth, and those from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. The focus is

074on aligning our actions, resources, and outcomes to student success. As part of the annual review and update of the LCAP, staff collect state required data throughout the year, quantitative, qualitative, focus groups, surveys, perceptions, a variety of ways. Uh, in the spring, we host several input meetings with our educational partners and stakeholders. Ed code requires us to do this. Uh, districts must present the LCAP for review from comment from advisory groups, including parents, English learner parents, as well as students. Ed code specifically uh calls out teachers, principles, administrators, other school personnel, local bargaining units, parents and students must be consulted in developing the LCAP. So those are those meetings that we have on the beginning. Uh we actually had an additional full community input uh meeting uh at the end of April as well as this

075public hearings opportunity for community to give input as well. Um which will that'll open up uh after we present uh our our data uh quantitative and qualitative. So this year we created a video um from Mr. Chris help helped us create uh that could capture this critical stakeholder input process we wanted to share with everyone. Hi, I'm Dr. Chad Mabberry, assistant superintendent of instructional services at Laguna Beach Unified School District. Each year, our district engages in the local control accountability plan process or LCAP, a statewide process that helps school districts connect student needs, district goals, and resources. engaging stakeholders throughout the process. At its core, the LCAP asks three important questions. How are students doing? What do they need to thrive? And how should we focus our actions and resources to support them? In Laguna

076Beach Unified, this process is grounded in listening. We gather input from students, families, staff, and community partners, review academic, social, emotional, and school climate data, and use what we learn to refine our goals, services, and supports. The LCAP is more than a compliance document. It's a reflection of our shared priorities and a roadmap for continuous improvement, helping us create the conditions where every student can grow, contribute, and succeed. >> I've been with the Boys and Girls Club for 25 years, and our partnership with the school district has really developed and deepened over that time. I work with three separate school districts and I've got to say Lagouna Beach is extremely unique, extremely special. The relationships that we have, I can actually pick up a phone and call someone and talk to them and also that

077they're the one district that has invited us to be part of this process. I've been part of this ELCOP conversation since seventh grade actually. I'm so happy I've gotten to see how we've continued to grow in this district and how we've made goals and then achieved them. I think that including student voice is really important and for me just knowing that I can make a change for my younger siblings or my neighbors or my community and knowing that I can make a meaningful impact on like my friends futures is just really meaningful to me. One example that our team was discussing today at our table was around tutorial at in at that period at the high school and how effective it's been in helping kids achieve balance. For one thing, be able to seek support

078outside of class, be able to get the help they need. And that all happens within their bell schedule instead of in the early days of our traditional schedules when that was happening after school, even before zero periods. So, that's been a really great change. I was asked about a lot of like my personal experience on the um what's going on at LBHS. I also got asked like certain questions like what's it to be an empowered learner? What do you think it means to be an empathetic citizen? But also questions that help us fully understand what we can do with our voices to help change what's going on at LBHS. This is more of a conversation and there's no wrong answer. We really do want to hear what you have to say. And that made me

079feel really confident in what I could say and didn't feel like I had to hold back and I could really communicate with them what I think is gonna make our school better. >> I am here because uh I really value the input of our different stakeholders and what makes our school great. So it's not any one teacher admin or student that makes it great. It's all these different people creating this amazing thing that creates, you know, something for every student. We're always trying to get better at what we do. So, the student panel is always amazing to hear kind of like their perspective of of our whole process is so cool. The kids really do love it here. We're not imagining that. They also had some really insightful comments about like how we can make

080the process better for kids coming into high school and what they wish they would have known when they started high school. What I felt was really great about the process was to understand the breadth of opportunities that are available to students and the fact that students are really gravitating towards things that they enjoy doing. That was pretty apparent across the board despite the fact that you had a pretty large panel and it was clear that their experiences were wildly different than each others. So, I thought that was pretty impressive. Having student voices is something that our district does very well. Uh there's multiple lenses which uh students can take a part of and get their voices heard. I think that it's important to really implement what students want. Building programs for students such as a

081firstgen program which really resonates with different backgrounds of students and understanding that they're not they're all not all students are the same. We have different backgrounds and that's who makes us who we are. Yeah. I think today was a really crucial convening particularly because we heard from our high school students. I can tell you that I met three of the students in the panel when they were in elementary school, but even in as freshman in high school, they were really quiet and timid and and it was really impactful to hear their voices to see them grow in a in a convening like this and speak on a panel about their experiences throughout their journey in Laguna Beach Unified has was really impactful in so many ways. But we're also saying that their voices matter and

082that their voices are important to the district storytelling. Like I'm excited about seeing them share that with the world. >> Yeah, the this video and those experiences, those you have been a part that have been a part of it. um you really hear the student voice and that's really what we emphasize the most to drive our work forward. There's so many parts of what we do programs we offer even the learner profile uh shifted and moved through student voice and their feedback. So u that is a huge part of it. The other uh more technical parts to the LCAP are these eight state priority areas. Uh all California districts are required to collect and monitor and analyze these. Uh these eight state priorities make up the district's three LCAP goals. So when you get to

083that point, we have our three LCAP goals that focus on college and career readiness, social emotional development, and safe inclusive schools. These goals align academic success with student well-being, creating one cohesive vision for student success. As we talked about earlier in the spring, there is this process of really gathering a lot more feedback with focus groups and collecting the data. But this is happening all year around. Uh and the fall we're analyzing data, goal metrics, implementing new actions and services. School plans are getting that are aligned with the LCAP. Those are those are starting in November and April, the middle of the year. We start to get more input through surveys. Uh the California school dashboard comes out in that time frame. We start to meet with some of the advisory groups, school, school site

084council, DAC. Uh and then we again we get back to that spring part where we start to bring it all together and eventually get it to the county office of ed uh for their final approval. In these stakeholder meetings this spring there were some common themes you can see here. Um really they a lot of them centered around expanding real world learning, balancing rigor with student well-being and ensuring all students continue to make progress and feel valued. You'll see that throughout these the feedback we'll share today. uh a lot of work that aligns with our learner profile around authentic relevant learning experiences, competency based assessments. Students want those choices and voice and choice and uh and staff is trying to uh adjust and and move programs in that direction. So I'm going to speak a

085little bit about goal one and some of the recent some of the data related to that uh before we go on the goal two and three. Uh goal one uh emphasizes the classroom experience, collaboration, creativity, communication, critical thinking, problem solving. These are all skills that really are developed in goal one. Uh they're embedded across academic as well as our enrichment programs. Um this is a a snapshot of the state testing data which is actually happening right now. This is last year's data. Um you can see here um the our metrics for meeting or exceeding are fairly high compared to the state level. Uh we regularly are in the top three or 4% for uh K12 school districts. I think this year we were around 12 or 13 for ELA and math. Uh when compared across

086California, uh one of the challenges with the the annual state tests is that they act more as an autopsy, right? They're summitative. They're delayed assessments that we get in the summer when you're analyzing student data after that school year, it's already ended, right? So rather than providing immediate feedback that's actionable that we can improve in performance, we get this in the summer. We're trying to make some adjustments. Uh but it's the it's not the most impactful probably one of the least impactful data points that we do get. Um this is why we do have three times a year we do the screening and diagnostic assessments. This would be like if you're going to the doctor and you found out some information that was really important to follow up. You wouldn't wait a year to implement

087something. You would want to have data coming in, checking on it, doing some interventions, getting feedback on those. That's our multi-tered systems of support that really drives it. And so uh this is also our third our third uh assessment and screen screening here uh at the end of the year will show progress of the interventions that we've been doing uh since the middle of the year uh which will give us good feedback and and it's still coming in right now but we're seeing uh some indicators that will continue to see this growth that we saw from the fall to the winter. I share this slide again. This will be one that we'll be updating soon. Uh this is last year's uh class of 2025. This is a really important slide. This is a culminating set

088of data for our students as they leave us uh ready for the the real world, wherever that takes them. Uh couple pieces I do want to point out to here that I think are really important. Last year, 85% of the graduating class earned early college credit through either CTE articulated courses, AP exams, or dual enrollment. Uh has anyone sent their students to college or when they went to college, it was really expensive, right? Okay. So what that means is those 85% of students, this is why high school is very different than it was 10, 20, 30 years ago. Those 85% of students are going in already saving thousands of dollars for college. That's a really valuable value ad for our students in this community, right? And so we strive to make that as many as

089possible. We don't know if we'll achieve that this year, but we are constantly working to provide those opportunities. The other one on there is the CTE and career education that you see there. We really want kids to take these career focused courses or if they can't take those, do more work-based learning experiences. It's incredibly valuable if you're going to college to have a good idea on what you're interested in. You don't have to have it all figured out. There's a good chance your plan will change. But when you take these career focused classes, it allows you to think, "This is something I maybe want to explore more." Or maybe it's I don't want to do this ever again. But either way, you're figuring more about who you are. You're not going into college without any

090plan because that's really the heart of high school is having a plan to be ready for your future whatever that is when they leave us. Uh these are additional important data points if we look part of our survey which has lots of other ones. Um this one reflect the strong alignment between instruction and student engagement. Right? Finding those relevant experiences that are also challenging, right? that rigor that I think we want through meeting kids at that right level where they're being challenged but they're also having success. Uh student feedback um shows uh a pattern of things across K5 68 and 912. What you really see here is how much students value engaging most when the students is when the learning is active and meaningful. Right? You're more active, you're more engaged, you're going to learn

091more. Um, and so that's why you see so many more students doing more community- based experiences, presentations of learning, all those things that align with our learner profile competencies. Uh, alumni feedback is a is important point. One thing you'll see on this alumni is they identified writing, analysis, time management, and self-reflection as the most valuable skills after they left us. So, they're reflecting these are recent alumni in the last three or four years. Uh what is really a really valuable point here is that all those skills that they mentioned will transfer to the future whatever it looks like whatever happens with technology whatever job you have those are human skill skills that are really really important u and there and those are what we are backwards mapping onto our courses and in our classes u

092the last one of the last things I'll share here in goal one um we're now been implementing our learner profile for several years that was built from our community. Um the year one and two really were around building awareness, starting to in integrate it into uh instruction. Uh recent survey this year, uh 97% of staff indicated that they've integrated elements of the learner profile into instruction. Uh that's a really high amount for just two years. Uh so very proud of that. Uh year three, we begin to focus on expanding those presentations of learning. Presentations of learning where kids are showing what they know. It's comp you the competency based education comes out there where you're really seeing skills that the the alumni were mentioning right communicating time management reflecting on your own learning the the

093cognitive piece right knowing how to knowing how you learn uh so we see those whether that's some of the the increase in the state seal civic engagement uh or the eighth grade is is in the middle of doing their cool presentations celebration of our learning uh those are all aligning to at uh we're also focusing on developing a learner learner profile student story uh where each student has an individual dashboard of of all these different skills not just academic not just attendance the ones that you can see in areas but one that brings in their strengths their interests their goals uh things that we've been collect we can collect through surveys or short uh sessions with students it really brings out that whole child approach so that when a student doesn't do well on one

094of those assessments that I mentioned earlier It's not just why aren't they learning, it's what's going on with them, right? We don't know when they walk into the class. We all come with different background, different experiences. Um so if we can have more information, more data to look at, we can really help diagnose how we can help students best. So lastly uh with goal one uh the key actions that are in place that will continue uh are working more workbased learning experiences expanding sustainability in civics education uh and personalized learning additional investments as well uh and new math curriculum as well as arts education. And I'm going to hand it off to Dr. Keller uh to go over goal two. >> Uh thank you Dr. Mr. Mayberry and uh uh President Morgan, members of the

095board, thank you so much for an opportunity to share with you some of the highlights from goal two. I have deep gratitude for this work and the progressive school district that truly values the whole child learning experience. Goal 2 focuses on our efforts and creating the conditions where students feel safe, connected, supported, and capable. And we know that this goal lives as the foundation of academic achievement. And we really strive to live our motto of every student every day. Relationships matter. And we all strive for continuous improvement. Our our focus and goal two is supporting students in developing resilience, self-awareness, positive relationships, and a sense of agency, helping students feel that their voice matters, and that they belong. We monitor this work with a variety of student feedback and performance data and meaningful opportunities to

096capture student voice. We look at attendance, suspension rates, and school climate indicators, which are really important for that that whole child experience. Most notably, gathering gathering perception data about their school experiences and the system of supports that we provide. So on the California dashboard, we're held accountable through the LCAP process on two key indicators from goal 2, suspension rates and attendance. One promising trend is the continued reduction in exclusionary discipline measured as on the dashboard as our suspension rates through our efforts around positive behavioral interventions and supports and our efforts to integrate restorative approaches and our discipline process and really think about discipline experiences as teaching and learning experiences. We've done a great job of reducing that rate to 1% to date this year and we'll continue to to uh challenge ourselves to have really

097strong systems in place next year. And then our next measure, our average daily attendance is a measure of how full a school is on any given day and we're at 96% which is generally a strong daily attendance rate. The last measure up there which is one that we really want to pay attention to and prioritize for next year. Chronic absenteeism um is a measure of a student being absent from school for 10% or more of their school days. We're at 10% and that's gone up and that's the wrong direction. And so we're we're going to be prioritizing that through personalized outreach, our multi-tered systems of support, using our school social workers and our and our student attendance staff to really provide supportive opportunities to try to increase those suspension those uh those chronic absenteeism rates

098and positive attendance in school. We know that students when students are in school, they're going to learn more and we want them to feel that they can handle the experiences in school and that they can thrive. on our student feedback. One of the most meaningful data points for us is that 88% of our students report having at least one adult on campus who supports them. This matters because research consistently shows that one strong adult connection can significantly improve student resilience, engagement, and behavioral health outcomes. And those are lifetime impacts. Another important po uh data point is that we saw 90% of our students know qualified supports are available if they need help socially and emotionally. This reflects the visibility of our incredible team of school counselors, school social workers, student support specialists and school psychologists

099and our curated well spaces that we have at Thirstston Middle School and Laguna Beach High School which are really becoming hubs of student support. And lastly, 81% of our students uh responders on the LCAP survey reporting having positive learning environments, which speaks to the intentional culture building work of our teachers, classified team members, and administrators who are purposedriven to care for their students every day. In our listening program with students, we consistently heard across all grade levels that students feel most confident and engaged when learning is interactive, collaborative, and meaningful. Younger students in kind in K5 shared with us their preference for choice, opportunities to be creative and working with friends. Middle school students emphasize collaboration, flexible learning spaces, and opportunities to be hands-on and make or create something. They want uh they they absolutely

100want to be hands-on and that's we saw that through into high school. And our high school students spoke strongly about wanting learning that feels relevant, discussionbased, and authentic. And that really mean we're really working to develop real world learning experiences for all students. So across every grade span, students are telling us the same thing. They want to be active participants in that learning. As we move into our third uh year three of our three-year LCAP plan, our work is focusing on refining and strengthening our established systems of care. We'll continue expanding our wellness supports and strengthening our counseling systems align aligned with national best practices. And I'm very proud to say that our middle school and high school teams are finishing final multi-year preparation for submission in October of 2026 to become recognized American school

101counselor association model programs. That's the ramp program. We'll continue this work with both to Elmoro in 2627 with an anticipated submission in October of 2027. These are model programs. They have they per datadriven and really strong systems of care for students that emphasize direct services over indirect services. We're also going to be continuing to strengthen our MTSS so we continue to identify needs early and respond proactively. This is especially true for the ongoing supportive work in the areas of academic and behavioral support and and as I mentioned the continued efforts to improve chronic absenteeism with personalized outreach and support. And importantly, we continue to elevate student voice, student agency, and advising structures that help students connect learning to their interest, strengths, and future pathways. In closing, I'd like to I often think about as simple

102concepts. Students may not remember every specific lesson we teach in school, but they'll always remember how school made them feel. Now, it's my honor to invite Dr. Dr. Betsy Cannenburgg, access central office administrator of the year 2526 for the Orange County region and the architect of the LCAP to share both three. >> Thank you, Dr. Keller. Good evening. Tonight, I have the privilege of sharing an update on LCAP goal three, safe, equitable, and inclusive schools. This goal is at the heart of our district's mission to ensure that every LBUSD student feels supported, valued, and empowered to thrive. For our LBUSD students, this means schools where they feel physically and emotionally safe with access to personalized support and classrooms that celebrate unique students strengths and are responsive to diverse learning needs. An important element of this

103is providing school-based resources that help close achievement gaps and ensure all students have equitable opportunities to succeed. Goal three is assessed through a combination of state and local indicators, including student academic performance and targeted intervention outcomes with particular emphasis on significant student groups evidencing achievement and opportunity gaps along with school climate perception data. Together, these measures help us to evaluate progress and identify areas for growth. One of our core priorities when working with our multilingual learners, one of our key significant student groups, is to ensure that they are progressing towards proficiency in the English language proficiency assessment. In addition to evidence of grade level standards mastery, this is a very rigorous process and we are exceptionally proud of our students who reach this high standard each year. We began this year with 48 students identified

104and as English learners and are proud to report that as of today 13 students or 27% have met the state English language proficiency reclassification criteria. I cannot wait for you all to meet this exemplary group of scholars at the upcoming board recognition event. Once all of the state desk once all of the state testing data is complete along with our local endofear I ready data I will compile a comprehensive written report for you to highlight the growth of students currently within our English learner group. Some of the actions we attribute to the success success of our students this year, aside from their incredibly hard work and family support, of course, is high quality instruction. This year, our English language development instructional coach, Yadira Rojas Reynolds, designed a four-part professional development series open to teachers and

105support staff across the district on the topic of culturally responsive teaching practices to support multilingual learners. across academic content areas. In order to meet the needs of our multilingual students at the high school level, Miss Reynolds also designed a stay on track hour to assist students with assignment completion, organization, and time management. This additional service is the perfect complement to Mrs. K's EL support class at LBHS. We look forward to continuing our ELD support this summer through our K12MEIES. Through our LBUSD multi-tiered systems of support or MTSS, actionable data is used to create a program that is responsive and timely to address students specific learning needs. This process embodies our district's collective commitment, every student, every day. Each school's MTSS team meets regularly to proactively address needs by reviewing student performance outcome data and trends

106to identify students who may benefit from supplemental, targeted, and personalized supports at both the tier 2 supplemental intervention and tier 3 intensive intervention level. I have been so fortunate to attend these sightbased meetings this year and it is truly remarkable to see interdisciplinary team members at each school come together to delve into progress monitoring data including academic behavioral and attendance to identify students experiencing a need and ensure they receive personalized additional layers of support across all grade levels. Students have access to these opportunities for specialized instruction that is responsive to their unique needs. Our dedicated special education team continues to implement specific actions designed to address the needs of our students receiving IEP support. We currently have 249 students participating in special education programs districtwide. The individualized support. The focus of this program is individualized

107support and specialized instruction that is grounded in the latest research and evidence-based practices. This year also emphasize peer buddies and community- based learning. This year, LBUSD continues to offer a myriad of resources, supports, and services offered through the family resource center. Through a tiered system, the F FRC team is able to serve all LBUSD families through opportunities ranging from hosting book clubs and parent education workshops to facilitating our district English learner advisory council meetings to offering individual sessions for parents and families to address unique needs and offer additional district and community resources and mental health services as appropriate. One of the best parts of my job is getting to go to our schools and conduct student focused groups. Talking to these students and hearing their perceptions about how we are meeting their needs is invaluable

108data that informs our LCAP. So, one of the questions that was posed to our students was, "What makes you feel known and valued at school?" As you'll see here across our grades spans, common themes are clubs, sports, campuswide events, recognitions, and um their relationships with adults on campus. So, it's really incredible to see that our students feel as though they are connected to their campus and that they're known. Dr. Mayberry referenced earlier our high achieving learner study and also our LBHS alumni study that was conducted um the year prior. So again you see common themes that resonate with the same sentiments that our students are currently expressing. When high school alumni were asked to reflect on their experience and what was most valuable and most meaningful to them really it all comes down to relationships.

109They love that their teachers were caring and passionate. They loved their strong sense of community. They love the individualized attention they were able to receive and that small close-knit community feel. So, in the alumni reflection up on the screen, you can say that you can see that our alumni reflected and said that their favorite aspect of high school was immersing themselves in the clubs and activities on campus. So, well done, site teams. Another huge part of our LCAP is our annual survey. We had over 400 parents complete the survey this year. And as you can see here, our parent perceptions are overwhelmingly positive in showing that they believe that school staff coms. And I know I speak on behalf of all of our LBUSD staff when I say this metric is the most important one

110to us. 90% of our parents and guardians also report that LBUSD offers opportunities for families to participate and 73% reported that they feel that they have input on district goals and action plans. So, we will continue that outreach because we want to hear from our families and students and community members who we serve. Okay. What comes next? In the name of continuous improvement in our LCAP. For goal three, this looks like expanded studentled climate initiatives and cultural celebrations. Increased opportunities for students to lead campus programs that foster inclusion, belonging, and respect for diversity. Strengthening engagement, especially for our under reppresented families. Enhanced student voice infrastructures. Continuing the development of advisory group, panels, and focus groups to ensure students help shape school culture and decision-making. And continually refining targeted student supports and services for students with

111specialized needs, including foster youth, multilingual learners, students with disabilities, and students from economically disadvantaged homes. New this year, we have also added the recommendations of the board ad hoc transportation committee. In closing, it is our job to prepare students for success and the futures they have envisioned for themselves. Together, in partnership with our families and LBUSD community, we can support our students in achieving their personal goals. We hope that this presentation has highlighted how our district teams leverage both state and local data in meaningful, intentional, and strategic ways to assess needs, drive decisions, and most importantly, create the conditions for every student to succeed. Thank you. I would like to let the community know we have had our draft LCAP posted for two weeks on our website. Um so that there's opportunity to give input

112and we invite you to also give input this evening. So there is a bitly there or a QR code you're welcome to scan on your phone. We love hearing feedback from you. Thank you. Thank you to all of you for that great presentation. I appreciate you focusing on highlighting and um giving us some points along the way. That was terrific. Um I know it's a lot of work. I sat on that LCAP committee at TO and at the district level for several years. So I know there's a lot that goes into it and I am appreciative. Um we're going to move on to public comments after the presentation before we close the public hearing. Clerk Perry, do you have any cards on this item? Thank you, >> Ka Brown. And then Erica Hinnan and then

113Kimberly Smith. The addition of a VAPA director is completely redundant, a slap in the face to the plethora of extremely talented art staff we already have. D. Just because you have a beef with an old teacher does not warrant hiring a FTE at $200,000 plus benefits every year while you're cutting site budgets. Hello everyone. My name is Erica Henroll and I'm a Lagona Beach district parent. I want to speak to the LCAP specifically to the transportation recommendations because I was just referenced as a member of the transportation committee and I want to make the record clear. I participate in that committee because the transportation does matter to this district. It's access, its safety, its equity, and it's whether students can actually participate in programs that the district says its values. And I've appreciated the parents,

114the students, the staff, and the district leaders who worked on practical solutions. And I especially want to be clear that it was Dr. Glass and district staff who identified no cost solutions and moved the work forward in a productive way. But I cannot allow my participation to be used as a shield for this board majority's actions. It was deeply disappointing to hear my committee involvement used tonight as a defense against legitimate parent concern and frankly as a political weapon against upset parents. Parent participation does not mean parents endorse the conduct conduct of this board. Serving on a committee does not mean that we are here to provide cover for board interference, instability or decisions we do not support. So I am publicly withdrawing from the transportation committee. I cannot continue serving on a committee while

115board members interfere with the work and then use that work to suggest that everything is fine. Everything is not fine. This committee could have been staff, parents, and students working together in good faith. We could have had gotten the work done more cleanly. Board members did not have to be involved and they could have trusted the group and trusted staff expertise. Instead, there was too much board involvement, too much positioning, and now my name and p participation are being used in a way I am not comfortable with. Parents and staff do not need to be grateful or graveling because board members are allow work to happen. Our dis, our labor, and our community. I support transportation access. I support student centered recommendations. I support the staff, the parents, and the students who did real work.

116When board members are no longer part of these committees, I may reconsider joining one. But for now, I am done. >> Perry. >> Oh, perfect. Thank you. >> Good evening. My name is Kimberly Smith. Uh Dr. Mayberry, Dr. Kelly, Dr. Cannonburgg, Anna Karen, all the teachers and staff that put together this incredible plan. Thank you. I, my husband and I moved to this community because of this district. We bought a home. We are taxpayers and we have roots in this community because of this district. Um I had the pleasure of participating in the listening session, the LCAP discussion a few weeks back uh where we had the privilege of getting a deeper dive into this uh plan which you know unfortunately the events of this week are overshadowing the work that the district is doing

117but at the same time the gift is that so many parents here now get to see the incredible work that our district does for our children. So, thank you. I do have a couple thoughts. Uh, some of which I shared with you, but I figured I'd just go on record here. Um, because I'm very bad at QR codes. Um, so, so there are three areas that I'd love to highlight as opportunities to continue building as the strong foundation that LBUSD already has. So, first is sustainability. Uh, Laguna Beach has done a meaningful work integrating sustainability into its programs and I support continuing to expand that. As someone who works in this space, I've seen firsthand that sustainability is not just about responsibility. It's about opportunity. It teaches students how to think about systems, resourcefulness, and

118innovation. It's a powerful example of how we can do well by doing good. And I think that's an important mindset to instill in our students as future citizens. Second is AI. As a CEO in the tech space, I spend a lot of time thinking about AI and its rapid integration into everyday life. Our students are already interacting with these tools, often without guidance. I believe there is a real opportunity for the district to be proactive here, not just in the terms of policy, but in the terms of curriculum and instruction. how we introduce AI in a way that enhances learning while still protecting and strengthening critical thinking. It can be a powerful tool to help meet students where they are, but it requires thoughtful strategy and importantly engagement with experts in the space. I believe

119we do have teactosas and other community organizations or uh admin who are working on this. So more engagement and communication with the uh community would be much appreciated. Uh and third, continuing to support diverse student pathways. One of the strengths of this district is its ability to serve a wide range of students. Those that are seeking academic rigor as well as those that are drawn to the arts, the technical pathways, and the hands-on learning. Programs like CTE are incredibly valuable, and I strongly support continuing to invest in both college preparatory and career oriented pathways. Who? >> Morgan Lamb. >> Do we have another card after Morgan that can we can bring people up? >> Okay. >> Hi, Morgan. Liam. Um, I thought a lot about today and yesterday and decided that I was going to

120speak tonight on this. Um, and everything going on today. Um, I just want to put on public record that I had stated during the arts committee meeting that I think it's incredibly important that our VAPA coordinators are involved in the decisions that we put forward and they are critical in that. They My children love it. I loved it. I think it is critical and I just wanted to go on record and indicate that that is what I had said during the last meeting and I just want to let everyone know that that will be my mama force to push through to really make sure that that happens. Um, with that being said, that wasn't what I actually came up to say, but I think it needed to be said. I think our VAPA coordinators need

121to have a direct hand in if it's decision, if it's needed, if that job is even needed, if it's not. I think they are the integral part of that decision-making process and that's what I said during the meeting. So with that being said, I actually wrote out something today. I know our district is facing many challenges, but students and staff remain focused. I want to ensure that the issue of GPA ranking is not overlooked. Many Luga Beach Unified School District High School students have raised concerns about its negative effect on mental health, course choice, and social dynamics. Many harms of GPA ranking is erosion of mental health and well-being, strategic gaming of the system where they choose classes to avoid risks and misalignment with real world success or a narrowing of the educational experience. This

122issue has persisted for years here in Laguna Beach. Laguna Beach learner recommendations from spring 2024 even called for the elimination of GPA ranking to support a more personalized student experience, reduce stress, and broaden choice. The current system push pushes students towards classes to boost GPA and away from subjects such as arts that may not offer the same ranking advantage. Students also report bullying, teasing and exclusion tied to this rank. While assessment is necessary, strict GPA ranking system produ can produce high achieving but anxious risk adverse students. A shift towards holistic assessment and competencybased grading could better support student well-being and genuine love of learning. I respectfully ask the board to form a committee to examine the the effects of a ranking system and consider eliminating it. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Is that the

123last comment? >> Yes. >> I do appreciate that comment on class ranking. It's been an issue for a lot of years. Um okay. So that's the end of our public comments. So we can close the public hearing at >> hasn't been able to attend school in Laguna Beach for seven years. Hello. >> I'm sorry. >> My name is uh Nicole Fuentes and I'm the mother of a 13-year-old child with special needs. You have seen about 500 emails. Mr. D. Perry, Mr. um over here, and Miss Sherry. I'm here tonight because my son's story is not just about special education. It's what happens when a school system stops seeing children as human beings. Le is right now on the sixth road. You guys put him on a NPS children that have severe behavior. My son has

124sat here the whole time since the beginning behind Jennifer Moss. Why isn't he allow an opportunity to come to Thirstston or ever attend school? Because he has severe autism and he has very high skills of learning. He's sitting there everybody on the sixth row covering himself. My child never truly been included in this district. He has never been given a real opportunity to build friendships with peers. You guys spent hire a lawyer without me hiring any legal advice and you spent over $100,000 to fight me because I was asking you the board and Jennifer Moss for help. This is how your tax bay spending money is being spent against a parent. This is how your money if you want to know to shut me up and to protect what they're what they do. I think

125my son Lee should be given an opportunity. Look how well he has behaved. He doesn't take any medications. Why? Why did you decide yesterday in the IEP that he's not allowed to come to Laguna Beach? Why are you making me feel this way? What do you have against me? Why don't you ever return, Sherry, my emails? I've asked you plenty of times to come to meet with me. I offer you coffee. We should meet. This is not personal. It's a little boy. He didn't hurt you, Mr. Heels. He didn't hurt anybody. He doesn't know any of the name of any of the peers his age. Nice to see you, Mr. Colin. And this relates to decision making without cooperation, which is the same thing that happened with the superintendent. I'm dealing with the same same

126situation. And this is why as parents, we're upset. You're hurting us. Thank you. Okay, >> she didn't call you out. The only thing I'd like to say is that the board is not involved in student IEP programs. That is that is something that we do not get involved in dayto-day. So, thank you law. Yeah, it's the law. It's the law and that's we we follow the law. Okay. So, the public hearing uh we have we have clo Excuse me. Thank you. We have closed the public hearing. Um I'm going to move on to board questions. I'd like to start on my um actually let's start on the left this time with our student board reps. Do you have any questions on the LCAP? >> Um Mrs. Morgan, we need to close the public hearing. >>

127We did close the public hearing at 7:12 or >> that was opening. >> That's when we opened it. >> Didn't we announce that I closed it? I thought we did. >> Oh, sorry. After public comments. Okay. Um let's close the hearing at 8:02. Uh, and then let's move on to board questions. I'll go to my left with the student board reps. >> None. >> I'm in solidarity. Ly. >> Thank you. Uh, clerk Perry. >> Excellent report. No. >> Um, I'd like to thank everyone for all the work on the report. It was a fantastic report. Um I actually have a few questions but um the report is the report and some of my questions have to do with the larger issues around um my favorite topic which is reading. So I'm going to run through

128them but I don't know that we have time to go through all these. The first one is um which is a quick one. I think it would be useful to explain what exactly the CASP measures. We had a New York Times article this week that came out that also talked about rankings and there's a real misunderstanding about what that cast store score is measuring. Um I know from the Times article it looked as though you know only 59% of our students could read. That's not what a cast score is. So I think that would be very useful to explain to people what that means here. We have so many different kinds of of testing and I want to move on to I Ready when that's done. Thank you. Yeah, I can just do it very

129briefly. I mean, it measures a variety of things, but reading comprehension, uh, writing skills, listening, speaking, uh, all the standards that are aligned, whether it's the third grade standards, fifth grade standards, seventh grade standards. Um, it's not just measuring. It does not it does not show if we are 70% proficient. It does not mean that 70% of our kids can read. It's a proficiency across a multitude of of state standards. for for English language arts there's grammar in there a variety of >> right but doesn't it also denote like college readiness learning for college readiness so that it is a particular kind of test score it's not testing and reading for example literacy it is testing something larger than that so when you say 59% you're not testing whether or not students are literate you're

130testing whether or not they are getting college ready prepared right of course we want 100% % that's not the point. Um the second thing that I want to mention or ask I guess I should say is um the the use of the I Ready um one of my concerns about that is that um I understand that the I Ready is useful in real time because it can be targeted to each students abilities so that different students are taking different IR questions. Um my concern is that when we rely heavily on I Ready testing to measure student progress in reading, what we're missing is the ability of students to develop the endurance to actually read books. Right? So, I want to say thank you because I know that we're incorporating new programs around reading, but I

131want to also ask whether or not, you know, what we have in uh coming up to continue to work on the reading scores. I I don't believe I ready is the great best measure, right? >> Yeah, we use a variety of measures. It's it's what a screener does is allows us to look for risk in students. It doesn't tell us the whole story of a student by any means. So, if you see a student that might not do well on a screener, it allows to ask more questions, take more data. Uh we do multiple a variety of assessments. Some of them are uh are more quantitative, some of them are sitting down one-on-one with a student, right? Uh and that's a screener and gives us diagnostic data three times a year. um if a student

132was to receive that targeted, timely, actionable uh intervention, they would be getting that extra they would be getting essentially like an extra scoop of instruction because they're what it tells us that the student may be falling behind grade level, right? And so it's hard for a student that's behind grade level to just catch up doing the same as everybody else, right? They need additional instruction, additional support. And so what we do, we get that screeners, we do additional assessments, we do additional interventions, and then we're doing small progress reports along the way that are not I ready. Uh there's a variety of ones that we do. Uh but it's really just measuring risk of like someone struggling or falling behind grade level where we can then go in and get a closer look. >> So

133I appreciate that. I think the the um question I would put out there for us to think about for another time is where in assessments we actually measure at grade level whether or not students are able to get through a whole book, understand plot, understand character development as opposed to just an excerpt in an I Ready. And that's not a conversation for now, but as you know, I like to bring up reading every time I can. >> Yeah. >> All right. My last question has to do with alumni feedback. I want to thank Morgan for mentioning the class the GPA ranking. Um, that's a really complicated one because I believe that people have complex feelings about it. My my daughters went to a very competitive math science high school and they did not publish class

134rankings for this very reason. Um, and uh they also uh incidentally didn't do or they did test didn't do test stacking. Math got a day for testing. Science got a day for testing. I think that what makes it hard here is the fact that we have um you know a schedule that is I'm just losing the word for the schedule. We don't have the same schedule every day. So that makes it complic. Thank you. Um but I do encourage us to think about that. I don't know if we've worked on that. And I um would also like to ask again that we think about the GPA ranking which does very little for students and it's not particularly useful for college applications because colleges redo the GPA anyway. >> Yeah. >> Um that was and I'm

135sure Ivy can speak on this a little bit as well because that was something that uh we worked a lot with in the the superintendent advisory council and a lot of the There had been a bunch of attempts originally to get survey data about like how students felt about GPA uh or about GPA ranking systems and a lot of the the a lot of students basically just said we don't care and then a lot of the students that did care were the top end students who are worried that their ranking getting taken away would negatively affect them going into college but then as it was explained to them that colleges do recalculate your GPA and your GPA ranking within a a like if you're a college for example and say you were the like the

136one of the top three people in your class, the college that recalculates your GPA isn't going to recalculate everyone else at your school's GPA to see where you rank amongst them. So, it's really not a super important statistic because uh the the colleges are going to go and and determine how your how your rigor affects affects you in the context of their application process anyway, >> right? It also doesn't take into account that students take different kinds of classes and it also doesn't take away that you can keep the ranking that you can have the data available to the high school if the college wants that information but it doesn't have to be published on a regular basis for students to have to look at because it's not yeah anyway I'll stop there but but

137I would like us to revisit that whatever that means at the high school >> and I can and I can say I think Logan kind of sum it up well like the high school is looking into this This is not something that you it's rankings of something have been in schools for for decades, right? It's been a part of it and and there have been uh lots of community members who have wanted that to keep that ranking. And so I think when these things like come like come up that have been around for a long time. Um we always want to be thoughtful that we're we're getting all the input that we want to get from students, from parents, and from staff. And and I can tell you as as Logan said, like the high

138school students and administration are have been having this discussion for several years and looking into getting feedback in the right way. So they're not rushing to make a decision that has a potential negative impact that we didn't see or weren't aware of. And so um I would expect there's um more to come with that from the high school. The the other thing um about this sorry I just want to contribute one last piece here was that there were also alternatives to a traditional ranking like you know 1 2 3 4 5 system like a percentile ranking system. There was even >> Yeah, exactly. That that was one of the ones that was actually really really popular among students in the advisory council where a lot of people were that were kind of hesitant about removing

139it all together heard the percentile thing and were all like sure great. So uh that that's there's also other avenues about it. I remember and um Seama would be able to actually give a lot of advice here cuz she's been the one who's working on this in the high school along with her and um Lette Zingali and they they had also said something about I think it was Dana Point where they had a system where you at graduation depending on where your percentage kind of ranking was you had a a different color ribbon or or something something like that which uh I'm I'm not going to lie that was really unpopular when it was presented to the kids, the supervisory council. Um, but the I guess the other the point I'm making here is that

140there's also just alternatives. It doesn't have to be as black and white as either we have it or we don't. >> Thinking about it. Thank you. >> Okay, Dr. Kelly. >> Yes, I have questions about each slide, but I will save you from going through that. >> You have questions what? >> About each slide. Oh, about each slide. I You have the floor. >> I'm just gonna highlight some some things first. I'm Dr. Kelly, not Dr. Keller. >> Did I say Keller? >> That is Dr. Keller over there. Dr. >> He is much more capable than I am. So, if you're giving someone uh you know credit, it's Dr. Keller. >> Um I want to first thank uh Dr. Mayberry, Dr. Canenberry, and Dr. Keller for just an excellent report. You you always outdo yourself.

141And uh I I just have a few comments on them. um about the GPA. I thought we did away with that four years ago. D, do you remember that that we we basically told the staff to look into it and do away with it? And then I was reviewing the the scholarships uh that uh my spouse and I give out to gays and lesbians and anti-semitism. And one person put her ranking on there is 147th. And I thought, why would you even put something like that on your CV? And so I had to get in touch with the father of that person and say you don't need to do that. It just it's just it's just awful. And I hope that the board request go gets done with. That was three or four years ago.

142I think D and I were the only >> Yeah. So please do that. Um what else? Um I want to thank the students, the faculty, uh the teachers, uh and the staff for all the good things that you do for this district. I mean, uh, this report, the LCAP really shows the variety, the integration, and how the team works together to make this the best school district in Orange County. And so, uh, again, thank you all. And, um, if Dr. Glass was here, u, he would say that a number of our a number of the statistics here might sound low to you, but if you compare them to the state or nationwide, we're way at the top. And so always keep that in uh in the back of your mind that our our staff sometimes

143don't do it you know that way. And so those are some now I'm going to go to my specific slides if that's all right. Um the first thing is Dr. Mayberry talked about um the number 85% of our students take college credit and he says they parents save money. No, what colleges do is they give you contact credit. That means if you need to have a history class and you took one with his AP, you don't have to take that, but you still have to get three more units someplace else. So for a private college, you have to spend some more money, you know, take something else. So that road I would not I mean, I'm glad you're taking the AP classes. Trust me, I think that's fabulous. But my suggestion to parents and students

144is we have the best community colleges in the country. We have the best CSUs in the country, and we have the best research universities in the country. encourage your kids to go here and save you some money, save them some money so that they can have a car at the end of the career or maybe go on to graduate school. Uh that's my advice after being 40 years in higher education. Um I want to commend the student feedback I think that was just great. The parent feedback I thought was also great. um the the uh the indicators about uh suspension rate uh from down to 1% I think that's superb everything that you've done and u the daily attendance which is so hard in this district because we have so many parents that fly around

145the world and why not take a kid for a nice trip someplace that will make history come alive and so uh I'm not really that concerned about that that one. Uh the chronic absenteeism is something I've been concerned with since since the beginning, but uh they we keep working at it. Um and uh the alumni survey, thank God for that. I mean, uh we've been, you know, we don't do it every year, but it's it's a hard thing to do because it's hard to get them to respond back. Uh and the the 400 parents perspective I I think is just exceptional. uh nine, you know, just and I think that's probably uh it for my highlights of uh the report. Well done. Well done. >> Thank you, Dr. Kelly. Uh member Hills. >> Yeah. Um

146I've um been watching the LCAP process and learning a lot from watching how you all do this and very impressed with it. It's very comprehensive. I've talked to people from other districts that say uh our LCAP stands out as having a lot more information in it and a lot more material than uh that it's very beneficial to this community that we have um LCAP on steroids. Um that's what people have said to me. Uh um so it's a benefit for the district and for the parents. Um, you know, uh, board member Perry and I are on the, um, board for the CCA and the, uh, the we go down to Kappo and go to the, um, events where you have all the students who are doing vocational stuff and who are not going to college.

147Um, and they are proud of the fact that they're not going to college because they want to get out and they got things they want to build and things they want to invent and things they want to create and um, they want to make money and instead of spending money on college, they want to get out of school. But they're getting the point is uh what can you tell us about um maybe elaborating going a little bit deeper and telling our story a little bit about what kind of vocational programs and and um in other words doesn't mean that they're not going to go to college but it means we're giving choices and addressing different needs and whatnot. Yeah, there's I mean between our the pathways we have on campus uh I think we'll be

148up to we're up to 10 now uh as well as all the ones we have access to in our partnership with Capistrono and the college and career advantage uh there's a variety of opportunities and so some of them like we have medical classes on our high school right and those students uh depending on what the career they want they'll go on to college uh and take and go into medical majors right um others may if you there's classes that they have at some of the and college and career advantage where they're doing like dental assistant work. Um they do it in a year and they're getting jobs before they're even done with that year uh just because there's a need and they have the skills to get uh to get in right away. So there's

149a variety of some that like may lead depending on their interest into college uh where they can explore it further. And there's also several that uh there's a vet tech program u there's a medical assistant ones where they can jump right into that career if they want to for whatever reason it is uh and and and start the work right away. >> Yeah. Um yeah. you know, um, board member Perry, I I shouldn't even be talking about this because she's a legend in the vocational education, um, programs here in the county and, um, she, uh, has been working on it for a long time. Um, so I also wanted to just note, um, that when you look at your statistics on what teachers par what teachers and parents and students are saying about their experience

150in our school district, the percentages are very, very high. um uh almost across the boards and that's a very positive story to be told and I think we need to keep that in mind when we do go through some rough weather or we go through a difficult period that you really look at those LCAP uh surveys and whatnot to get a sense of what long term is really going on and I I think that's important. I also wanted to agree with board member Kelly um and and board member Melchesky talking a little bit about her her own children's experience and and the schools and issues like GPA and just I I would like to join him in saying to parents and having parents say to kids um you know if you're if you're in America

151and you uh can decide what you want to do with your future, you've won the lottery right there. And um uh you know I I had one daughter who um she uh once she got into Stanford she actually lo uh intentionally I got really mad at her. She had lowered her GPA on purpose so that her friend could have a higher ranking and have a better chance of getting into colleges and I said you what? you know, but the point is, uh, on the other hand, I had a daughter that went to Laguna Beach High School. Um, when she got her C minus in algebra 2, we took her out to the studio and celebrated her C minus and she went to Saddleback, took her three years and, uh, she saved a lot of money.

152It's a lot better than the checks I was writing for Stanford. But the point is, there's a book called um, 100 colleges that change lives, and it's a great book for young parents who parents with kids. Um, and I I I went to the career day at Thirsten a few times about 15 years ago, and I always said to them, when you get down to Lagona, they're going to tell you what you got to do to get into uh University of California. They tell what you got to do to get in the Ivy League. And you know, I said, just remember, you don't have to go to the Ivy League. If you can get into Harvard, go and do it. Great. Um but uh my daughter who went to a little tiny school down in

153Spartanberg uh South Carolina I think in many ways got a better education than my daughter that went to Stanford. And so I just try to say that to students and say that to parents whenever I can that the the real goal to me um if you can go to work in the workplace and be a valued person producing things in the workplace but in terms of college and higher education what your goal should be is to be a valued member of a learning community. And that doesn't have to be the Ivy League and it doesn't have to be University of California. It can be all these small colleges all over the country. So I just try to make that pitch whenever I can. >> No, I think our we would appreciate we appreciate that. And

154I think what a lot of what you're describing is around continuous improvement, right? And so whether you're whatever grade you get or how you do on an assessment, I think ultimately we want our students to continue to grow and develop at the right pace for them, right? And so that can look differently for each student individually. Uh and the same thing goes for college. And we've had this discussion in here previously. uh there is a small select univer set of colleges and university that are very difficult to get into and unfortunately it's created a very real like pressure and mental health challenges for a lot of students and the reality is it's about finding the right fit right when you get those jobs out there no one's going back and asking you which college you

155went into make this huge difference you're looking at the skills you're developing you're looking at the experiences you can get out there and finding where you can make the right contribution to your community uh and taking care of your family and growing. And so that's what we want we are encouraging students to do is find the right fit uh not go chasing after something that may or may not be a fit just because of how Newsweek ranks them. Right? So um we if you see that in our college and career center at the high school that really lives that philosophy. >> I appreciate that discussion. >> Thank you. Um, so I had um I love all the points that everyone has made. Um, and I think there was a couple I wanted to tap into

156as well. I think member Malesky and the reading is always um, as a as a family of readers, I have said this before. I think I have about 20 to 30 boxes of books that we have continued to keep and the kids won't let me get rid of. So, um, uh, and one of them would make recommendations to their friends and keep them reading. And so if you have readers out there, please let them be that um link as well to uh foster that love of reading. Um it was always fun to have the parents call and say, "I'm so grateful your daughter recommended all these great books." So um reading is important. I love that. Um and it opens up a whole new world. um regarding class rank and I think that that is

157something um that is has been an ongoing issue and I appreciate the conversation about that and I would certainly welcome um and encourage further further study on that um and and maybe that includes you know colleges, parents, students as well because I I do agree. I think that it um it does create a a competitive environment that is not necessarily always healthy. Um it also um to uh Miss Lamb's point, it creates um a a difficult situation for kids because one of the things that we have heard through the from the students in the arts, um committee was that they really wanted to take a certain class, but we didn't have that opportunity and um because they have to take other classes and because they're not weighted the same that they um bypass it because

158they need to keep their GPA up. So, I do think it's a serious conversation that would be beneficial to have. Um, I wanted to address the idea. Um, well, let me back up. First of all, thank you again. This is, and I said that at the end of the report, so let me just say that again. This is a very, um, uh, thorough report, and I appreciate that. And I especially appreciate um, the actions outlines that has the highlights of what's being recommended and what's being advised. Um, it made it very easy to understand what we were filling because that was one of my questions is what's different and what's being recommended. So, I do appreciate that because that makes um the questions because I I I look for what how can we keep improving

159um because I do believe strongly in this district. I believe strongly in the budget that we have and that we can be elevating our district to levels in the stratosphere. Um not just number one here but you know global and when we start talking about declining enrollment um you know we have a lot of resources here that should be um that I would like to see leveraged even more to make the schools more rigorous. Um I think rigor is something that I've talked about before and I think it's been mentioned throughout. I have a little concern with the fact that and I've said this before too that it's known that the state standards were reduc were dropped after COVID to be able to catch more of that middle tier group of students. And I think

160we've I've said that before and I've gotten a lot of head nods. So, I'm curious as to how our district can address the state standard knowing that the standards did come down after COVID and at what point are we talking about either working together to help encourage locally because if we can't ask, you know, we can ask the state to increase the standards, but um maybe we want to look here of how can we add more rigor or um address that that common knowledge that we are celebr celebrating a standard that is lower than it was in 2019. And so looking at how ahead and how we can f further prepare our students to elevate their experiences and their opportunities. So I would like to um I would like to suggest that. Um and again

161I I appreciate all the actions in here. Um, and then to speak to the college thing, and it's a little bit different from the LCAP, but I do think that it would be something to kind of keep in the back of the mind as these LCA as we pull our programs together. And I think even to Dr. Kelly's um uh statement, you know, college is definitely what you make of it, right? You can have a somebody go to Stanford and never participate in anything other than going to class every day. And you can have a kid go to um Chico and have be involved in student leadership and clubs and outdoor adventures and um um sports and civic engagement volunteering. So I think it really is something that throughout our experience and I think we

162do a great job with all these great programs with the cool, you know, cool was one that I saw last year that was so good. Um and I know we're working on pulling that. So, I'd love to see how um we're working that all the way through and having that be part of this presentation because that cool program and I know it'll have its own presentation, but that idea filters through a lot of this um plan of giving students agency and helping them understand that that it's it is more than their grade. Um and I would love to look at that GPA um and you know filter that cool project through there. I did have a couple of questions just about consistency that I'm not really sure what I'm what I was looking at. So,

163I just want to make sure I'm reading this correctly. Um, on it's page 23, we talk about how many enrolled 81% are enrolled in one or more AP classes. And this kind of goes back to that class rank because APs always get a a score bump. Um, but we have a lot of kids that take a lot of APs because they want that high score, but they don't um but it's a lot. I mean, I've had kids take five APs because it was recommended and I I they came home and I was like, I can't believe you signed up for five APs. Um, it was a challenge. Um, and I have a kid who was all APs and he actually he did not take AP English his senior year uh for literature. He was really

164wanted that teacher, but at the same time he said, "I don't need that workload because I'm going to be an engineer." So, um, for whatever it's worth, but I do have a question. We talked about 81% are enrolled in one or more AP classes. And then we talked about 69% passed one or more AP classes. But then when we go to page 42, it says 59% students who have taken at least one AP class. So am I looking at different years in here? I mean, that's just one example because there was a couple that I was a little confused on of what the data points were and are we what are we reporting? I can't see exactly what you have on there, but my guess is that one is based off of like the current

165year number of students in it. And then one uh the one around 81% um students taking one or more classes that is that is the senior class. So over the course of four years, 81% took and we do periodically do share some of like the current students how many have taken one. Does that sound right? >> Yeah. So when we look at it the whole >> So when we look at the whole just the senior class >> yeah we'll look at it obviously in different different slivers and ways of looking at it. Um, one of the reasons we look at the graduating class, um, is one of the best indicators of college success is taking a college level type course, right? And so when you can get 70 to 80% of your kids, uh, taking

166a rigorous AP course pass or not, um, it's giving them a college-like experience that'll make make them much more likely to be successful if they choose to go to college. And so that's a really important data point to look at, like, do they take that that somewhere over their high school career? >> Yeah, thank you. I appreciate that explanation because I think I do think that's important for people to understand sometimes that AP classes may not be for all, but to take it at least gives you a taste of what it looks like. So, do we have how many of our students that take AP classes actually take the test? Do we have that data point? >> I don't have that with me. Um, okay. The large majority do, but there's definitely some students that

167choose not to at the end after the year. They may choose they may be taking four four APs and say, "I'm going to do three of them. I feel better about these." Um but the the large very large majority take a the AP test um with if they're taking the class. >> Thank you. Okay. I think that would be interesting to know as well when we start talking about class rank and me and and also tying back into Dr. Keller's area of of social emotional well-being of the pressure of taking these APs and and the tests and and just that those resources, right? I love I mean again I've had a lot of my kids have taken APs so I mean I I'm love the teachers and what they do but I also know it's

168a test and so um I do I don't think that um the teacher has since retired but I I do recall a conversation about you know these are the well yeah these are the things that you need to know for this test but please don't repeat this class or or please don't take the next class. It was a calculus class which um is already beyond my my engineering knowledge. Um, but to to reiterate that work once they got to college. And so I would definitely as a as a district, I would love to see us kind of look a little bit further at that. I know we can't change the system, but it certainly would be interesting to find a different approach maybe um that continues to allow us to elevate our excellence while also

169serving every student every day. So I appreciate that and I appreciate the report. Thank you very much. Okay. Does we do we have any other comments from anyone or questions from the board? Okay. Okay, then. Uh, so we've closed the hearing, we've made public comment, and we've had board questions, so we're going to move on to 7B. Thank you. Okay. This is the 2026 budget public hearing. Uh, we're going to open the hearing at 8:33. Uh this is the Laguna Beach Unified School District budget for the end year ending June 30th, 2027 prior to final adoption as required by ED code section 52062. Uh Mr. Rodery, >> thank you. Good evening board members. It's difficult to follow the excellent presentation by Dr. Mayberry, Dr. Kenberg and Dr. Keller. Uh but it's again easier in a

170way because I'll do my budget presentation to the excellent work that's been going on in the district. Before I start again, I want to acknowledge uh the great uh outcome of the student outcome that's being uh shown in the LCAP. And I want to acknowledge the support of the board, the staff both certificated and classified as well as the parents, community member because it takes a village to get that kind of outcome in a school district. How does the budget support the LCAP? Most and foremost the resources that's needed to support the LCAP are people resources, human resources followed by fiscal resources. So in the human resources we have our staffing. Uh we need to provide uh fair uh salary to the staff and our 70% of our budget is spent on staffing both for

171certificated and classified. So coming back to the budget, we start with 2526. You will see on the screen itself, we start with a beginning balance. Then comes the ongoing revenue and the ongoing expenditure. In Laguna Beach, we have very consistent ongoing revenue and ongoing expenditure. This year 2526, you will see a line transfer to other funds. This is a one-time expenditure primarily from the expenditure of the swimming pool and absorption of the one-time healthcare payments. That leads to our ending fund balance. We are proposing to start with the ending fund balance of about 12.9. It's still estimated. We will have our revenues and expenditure in 2627 and we expect that the ending fund balance in 2627 will be about $11 million. Now this fund is both restricted and unrestricted. I went over uh the budget

172uh study session in 12 on couple of days back. I kind of explained what this restricted and unrestricted are. But if you have some questions, I'll be available to answer any time between now and the adoption of the budget. So this graph kind of shows the difference between 2627 and 2526 which is the current year. 2627 is the budget year or the proposed year. If you look at the revenue, it's pretty consistent. We had about $94 million in revenue, $94 million expected revenue for 2627. Over the years, as I explained in the budget study session, additional revenues come in. Today, this morning, uh be after this presentation was prepared, the governor released what we call the May revise, which is governor's uh more uh uh close proposal to the state budget. The state budget revenue

173has been coming over the expected revenue. So there is a significant amount increase in state budget and to school district. Unfortunately, it does not impact a property tax or community funded school districts like the US because the cola is usually relevant for LCFF school district. Uh but there are some amounts that will come to us in the form of one-time revenues. The governor significantly in his May revised proposal um increased that light green bar which is the other state revenue which is the discretionary student support and professional development block grant. Uh we will realize that rec re revenue or recognize that revenue when the state passes the budget likely around June 30th and we'll reflect it um in a subsequent budget proposal. So uh not much significant change. We assumed a property tax increase of

1744% based on expert opinion and then as we recognize the revenue in the local revenue and other state revenue we will most probably see a spike in revenue for 2627. The next slide are our expenditure. Again our expenditure are similar to what we have done in 2526. Um if you look at the salaries and the benefits there are slight increases in salaries because of the step column the stipens and the longevity increases that are built on our salary schedule. Books and supplies and uh these are the broad categories and contracts. We are seeing a reduction because those increases corresponding to our one-time revenue from local revenue that we get. Um we are pretty stable on the one-time transfer for the remaining balance of the swimming pool. We expect the swimming pool to start and finish

175in the year and we are fully funded for the swimming pool. Next slide is our inter fund transfer. That's our transfer out between 2526 and 20 among 2627. In 2526 you see the blue bar which is a significant amount of $13.3 million. 11 million was transferred out from our general fund to the school pool fund for the construction of the swimming pool. Uh and I want to acknowledge and appreciate the board uh for approving that swimming pool contract in January of this year. This is uh something we should be proud of as a community. Very few school district fund out a large capital project $25 million from their general fund. This district because of the board prudence and savings over the last several years more than 10 years was able to accumulate that fund and

176we are in a position where we can execute that project in 2627. the far column on the right, the blue bar, that's the transfer for the remaining balance of the swimming pool. And there are very minor contributions for uh or preschool program and nutrition services program. Uh we also have other than the first on the first bar the one-time absorption of the healthcare payments about $1.04 million in 2526 expenditure. Next slides. The components of ending fund balance. Uh as I mentioned, we are projecting an ending fund balance of $11 million. Uh the restricted fund balance is about $3 million and then we are required to have a minimum balance of $4.8 million. That leaves some balance for the board uh to sustain any unexpected u emergencies or other priorities as they may come up during

177the school year. So we have about $2.7 million for that. Next slide. Uh the multi-year projection. This is the single most important slide and school district as we see what the outlook is not only for the budget year but for also for the outgoing year. The green line at the bottom shows our ending fund balance which is our reserve to sustain any emergencies. We will bottom out at the end of 2627 on our ending fund balance. we are still comfortably over the 5% required per our board policies and then we are again on an upswing. So uh as such on the budget and I did hear one of the comments during the public session there is and again I want to stress there is no change in our expenditure there is no change in staffing

178projected between this year and next year. So no reductions. Uh on the contrary, we are adding a few positions to basically respond to the need that came from the various committees uh from the community. So with that being said, that's the end of uh my presentation. I'll take questions from the board. >> Thank you. Uh first we're going to go to public question public um public comments and then uh we'll close the hearing and then we'll do go board go to board questions. Okay. Thank you clerk Perry. Any uh cards? >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> Ka Brown, Danielle Roers Shimemer, and Erica Hennon. >> Just a few questions. 200,000 for >> PA. Can you bring the microphone closer to you? Thank you. >> Is that Is that okay? >> Yeah. >> Thanks. 200,000 for

179an unnecessary VAPA director to settle an old score from $900,000 to zero for facilities repair and replacement because of the pool. What? Mr. Zeta can walk and chew gum at the same time. And finally, a million dollars for legal fees. Council must be thrilled. I'll try and go fast because I have a lot to say so it might sound a little bit like an auctioneer. Just as our great teacher staff and administrators are what make this district great, so do the volunteer organizations. In particular, PTA spends thousands of volunteer hours and raises about $650,000 a year to put right back into our students. Man know, you should have learned as a young child that if a mother asks you a question, it's highly likely she already knows what the answer is. I would not advise

180being dishonest to a room full of moms, especially millennials who have research skills and connections parallel to a police detective. You boldface lied to our room of over 20 of us. Trust is broken and you have work to do to fix it. Aside from the great dedicated staff members we have here, a contributing factor to the high performance of this district is highly educated, highly motivated parents with remarkable skills and careers. You should be aware when you tell a room full of current or former professionals that they can't understand a budget. It comes across as extremely condescending and undermines public trust. One out of 10 would not recommend, especially if you're looking to build allies beyond this current board. This district currently maintains approximately 13% in reserves, a significantly above the 3 to six% commonly

181maintained by LCFF funded districts and above the 10% reserve cap often discussed statewide. In addition, fund 17 is projected to end the fiscal year with approximately 23 million bringing the total reserves close to 25%. Given these reserve levels, it's difficult to justify cuts to student facing and employee support areas while increasing the legal budget to approximately a million dollars for the second consecutive year. Reducing employee benefit contributions despite the rising insurance costs nationwide comparable to high performing districts such as Palo Alto Unifine who continue to prioritize competitive employee benefits because they recognize the connection between staff retention, district performance, and community expectations. providing full medical benefit for employees only vision and dental full coverage and 90% coverage for families, eliminating maintenance and repair funding and reducing athletic transportation funding while adding positions tied to board

182initiatives. The board frequently emphasizes fiscal responsibility yet recent spending decisions appear to be inconsistent with that message. The district in invested heavily in superintendent recruitment and compensation while publicly criticizing prior administration compensation packages in previous years. Legal expenditures under this current board have also increased substantially compared to prior years, including the unprecedented practice of having legal counsel present at every meeting from start to finish. At the same time, reductions have been proposed in areas impactly direct directly impacting student staff and school operations. You have spent almost $30,000 in legal costs from February to April for meetings alone. Because of this frequency and the length of these meetings, the total cost is almost 45,000 from February to April. From February to April, you have spent the median house price $3.5 million in what their property taxes

183are a year. One house. Looking ahead, leadership stability should remain a priority. Frequent and mis strain of turnover can make future superintendent recruitment more difficult and potentially more costly. On a separate note, one of you up there has made comments to Thank you. I believe your mic is off, Danielle. Thank you. Order, please. Order, please. Thank you. This board majority ran on fiscal responsibility, but it seems that only applies when questioning staff and not when accounting for the cost of its own decisions. This budget may show positive certification, but it does not answer to what board created instability is costing us. Transition costs, legal views, separation related costs, and a loss of trust with staff and families. But apparently, there will not be a superintendent search cost because this board appointed someone behind closed doors

184instead. This is not transparency. This is not fiscal responsibility. This is governance failure dressed up as efficiency. I also want to be I also would like to have a clear answer on benefits. The budget shows employee benefits decreasing, including health and welfare. But what does this mean for teachers and staff? Are premiums going to go up? Are employees absorbing more of this cost? And it looks like it's going to be quite a lot. Staff should not have to guess what is happening to their healthcare. So a balanced budget does not mean responsible leadership. A balanced budget does not mean responsible leadership. Right now, this board majority is failing at that test. Is that all? Okay, thank you. So, uh, we're going to close the public hearing at 8:48 and move on to board questions. Dr.

185Kelly >> for this budget. What percent increase for faculty salaries did you put into the budget? Thank you for that question Dr. Kelly. The faculty or we call the staff salaries is a jurisdiction of the board. Without the board uh direction or approval we do not put any increase we cannot by legal uh uh code we cannot put any increase in the salaries. >> So how do you projective budget for next year if one of the largest parts of it is the staff salaries and benefits? We will as I mentioned that there are some uh areas in the budget that the board has discretion over um and the board can allocate that discretion. We can discuss more on the close session because now we are getting into where we can find the money. But uh

186as I said mentioned there are areas in the budget uh during the presentation that the board has discretion over and can use that >> and it's the same thing for benefits. >> Yes, salaries and benefits is considered as total compensation and we cannot uh unilaterally increase that without a board direction or approval. My second question has to do with the $200,000 that is scheduled for the arts coordinator. Is that $200,000 includes the benefits or is it $200,000 plus the benefits? >> So the coordinator salaries is based on the current salary schedule. Uh we work with human resources and uh around $200,000 includes salaries and benefits. And is this a teacher position or is this a staff position? >> Uh I'll have Dr. Mr. Conland address. >> It would be part of Libufa. It would be

187part of the teachers union. >> A teachers position. Okay. And um I had one other thought that I lost. Uh but it'll come back to me tonight. >> Okay. Oh, I know what it what is. If you compare the amount of money we spend for the science program and for the uh math program compared to the arts program, it seems like the arts program is way over already with the money that we're putting into arts. I know that I've always asked Mrs. Perry, what more does she want? because I've I've just been concerned about the the arts program piece continuing and I'd rather see this money going into math for sure or the science programs as far as for adding different things than putting another two putting a $200,000 position into the arts program which

188I think is overloaded right No, >> just a comment. No, this is comment. >> Okay, thank you. Uh, member Hills is I'm sorry, Dr. Kelly, are you done? Okay, thank you, Member Hills. >> So, um, I like the I agree with you. That's a very important chart. So what as as you put it, it we're bottoming out at this point right now. Um uh and we'll start climbing out of the uh climbing up uh in starting in what 26 27 um >> 27 28. >> Yeah. So uh and the bottoming out right now uh do do you have that chart that you have that has the red line that goes up uh because of the capital outlay that we're doing right now? In other words, that red line that goes up on that one chart

189is corresponds to the green light that goes down um because of the capital outlay we're doing right now. Um are there any um are there any gaps in the funding for the pool right now? Uh we have a gap of about $2 million. Uh we anticipate additional funding as I mentioned during the uh initial May revise that the governor has released. At this point based on what I heard, we'll be able to most probably cover that gap uh with that additional funding. But on May 12th when I presented, there was still a gap of about $2 million on the swimming pool funding. Um, and we're going to be talking about uh legal services a little bit later. Um, but just for purposes of this, uh, yesterday during our budget study session, uh, we looked at

190the charts that show that starting in 2023, you have every year an escalation of legal fees. And in the case of the two most recent years, the escalation of legal fees corresponds to the also increase in settlement payouts that we've done during those same years. And I I would just make the point that the uh legal fees uh at when you're when you're litigating and you're paying for settlements, that causes legal fees to go up uh correspondingly. But um I don't know if we can do it now or if we can do it later um when we talk about legal services, but I've been unable to open that um chart with the legal fees. So I'm wondering is that something we can display? Um uh and uh uh so we can have a more informed

191discussion about what the legal fees actually are. Um uh is that something we have that's can be publicly displayed? I'll have to kind of look towards um attorney Mr. Paul to see if we can display something um that we had provided through a PR that was redacted though. So >> Oh, it's not. Now it's on. You can provide aggregates um typically and usually relative to closed matters. Um but that's why certain information in response to a P would have been redacted, >> right, >> if it was more specific. But if you're trying to get a sense of each of the external firms that you >> there's a lot of disinformation and information about legal fees going around. So, I'd like to get that chart and actually show what the the the lawyers we hire because

192the aliso I don't even know if the public's aware of the fact that the leisal property is in legal jeopardy and what the costs are associated that or the legal fees that are associated with um the the fact that there was a a gap in in um legal capacity last year uh during the transition. And so I think we just need at some point and we don't have to do it right now, but I want to get together a really really granular analysis of legal fees because uh the some of the statements that are being made are not helpful in and people working together because they're not truthful. And so um I'd like to get to the truth on legal fees. >> Well, happy happy to work with the interim soup to see what information

193can be shared. >> Okay. >> Thank you. Okay. Um, do you have any further questions? >> Uh, no. I think I'm good. >> Great. Thank you. Okay. Uh, student board reps, do you have any questions for the budget? >> No. >> Okay. Clerk Perry. >> No. Manoj was very thorough on Tuesday and I've gone over this. I did ask some questions similar to Dr. Kelly and found out those were too close to negotiation questions and couldn't be answered. >> I have comments so I think >> I have comments so they should wait. >> No, I think the way that because it's a public hearing you can go ahead and make questions and comments because then we close because then we close the hearing. >> Okay. So, um, my first comment is on legal fees. Um,

194we always have litigation every year about something and there was a very big jump in legal fees when the board turned over. That's just a fact. But aside from that, we can see ourselves spending money on investigations and a lawyer sitting at the meeting and, you know, all kinds of other things. And that's just a descriptive fact. Yes, there are lawsuits this year. There are always lawsuits. Um, the second thing I want to say is that we're moving since this is both comments and questions. I want to revisit the transportation and arts position. We we keep on talking about it as these committees that finished and then it got added to the LCAP and then it got added to the budget, but there has never been a process at any point in talking about a

195vote on any of those items. So if we don't do that, I will just vote against the budget. So I want to say that >> please. Thank you. My position on it is that um I found the transportation committee um recommendations compelling because parents talked about a need to serve students who were on buses and concerns about safety and I find that compelling. Um, I have real questions about the um bus uh service to the CTE, but I really appreciated that the committee forwarded a recommendation to pilot a program and I think that's a reasonable thing to do and this has been something that keeps coming back. Um, on the arts position or the arts uh recommendations, I think it's great that we pay the people who are coming into our classes sufficient money to

196come into our classes and assist. And I love that we get professionals across the arts to do that. Um, for the extra position, I cannot justify that because one, it's not directly in the classroom. Two, we haven't gone through the people in the schools that are already doing this and considered in a meaningful way what the job descriptions are of the people who are currently doing the work and how that work might be reconsidered. So, I would suggest we continue that discussion, but I do want to have a motion uh figure out how to have a motion on these specific items and not assume that just because they're in the budget, we have to approve the budget. So, I don't know if you want to do that specifically for each of those items or you

197just want me to make a motion on the one that I think has to be removed from the budget. >> This is a public hearing. So, I don't think we're making motions on what's in or not in the budget. Correct. Or are we doing that? >> Right. So, this is not So, this is a time you can discuss because it's a LCAP and a budget hearing. So, if uh the discussion is to remove certain item, it has to go through the LCAP changes and then we'll >> Okay. Well, I didn't mention it in the LCAP discussion because where it mattered was in the budget, but um I think for the LCAP and for this, I recommend that that be removed. And you know, since we're not voting on it today, I'm putting my concerns about

198that on record. And I also suggest that for the future we have a process that's embedded in these discussions rather than just having an LCAP and a um budget where things are just added. So I I understand why you did that and and this is a new thing, but if we're going to make decisions about program expansion or whatever, I think we have to have a real discussion and a vote on it. So that's it. Order, please. Thank you. Okay. Do you have any further questions? >> No. Thank you. >> Okay. I haven't Did we go to questions yet? >> So, didn't we already We already had public comment. Okay. Um I still have a couple questions. So, we can go ahead and have the public can we go ahead and have go back to

199the public comment and have the card and then I can finish the questions. Okay, great. Go ahead. >> I apologize. I didn't see this over here. Kelly Osborne. Thank you board for hearing me. I'm sorry my card got set aside and uh but I appreciate you bidding me in here. So, um, I'm here today. My name is Kelly Osborne. I'm a parent of two high schoolers at, uh, Lagouna Beach High School. And yes, a former board member and yes, I did want to apologize to everyone here tonight for speaking out of turn at the start of the meeting, especially our attorney. I know better and I'll do better. Uh, this item 8b, our proposed budget for next year. Um, wow, what a strong position our district holds financially. And I wanted us all to take

200a just a moment to stop in the chaos of what we've been through this week and just celebrate that for a moment. Our LCAP goals are fully funded. Maybe more than we need, but fully funded. Uh we hold the highest S&P AAA rating. We have a rainy day specific reserves set aside in fund 17 and all of our fund 40s. And we're getting ready to break ground on a highly anticipated and thoughtfully designed aquatic center for our students with over 20 million carefully saved over many, many years and strategically sent to the CIP fund. That's a lot. And that's a lot to be thankful and grateful for. And I'm grateful for everybody here tonight, all of the community members, all of our board members, uh, current and past and future, uh, to help kind of

201this position remain. Um, as we know, the aquatic center is a large, um, project and the CIP fund needs to be refilled. So, that's what I'm here to discuss. On Tuesday in the budget study session, which I really appreciated, our CBO concluded, "Our district facilities," and this is a quote uh in the summary of the PowerPoint slides, "Our district facilities are aging with some no longer fully supporting current education needs and many requiring significant investment in the near future." So, I am sincerely looking forward to seeing the no tax rate increase ballot measure being brought forward to our voters this fall. I extend my gratitude to the ad hoc facilities for completing their annual update to the FMP in a timely fashion and fully look forward to seeing the ballot measure resolution this June to

202help fund many of the exciting parts of the plan. Revenue created from a successful no tax increase ballot measure is a tremendous investment in our community schools. It positions us for additional revenues with state matching funds which streng strengthens our budget further. Member Hills mentioned his desire for impartiality regarding this matter on Tuesday. I agree with him and reading ED code 7054, I'm encouraged that our district and board is objectively analyzing the impact of a ballot measure on the district and will provide this information to us the public all in accordance with EDC code. This is not meant at all as an adversarial comment. Thank you. Are there any other speaker cards on this topic? No. Thank you. Okay. Um, excuse me. Thank you. Um, thank you for this and I appreciate the study session

203also on um, Tuesday. So I and I appreciate your good work and um I am glad that we are in a district that spends many thousands of dollars on encouraging and reminding our students that um perfection is not perfect. imperfection is what's perfect and that mistakes are okay and that we um celebrate them and give them grace, not try to um beat someone down with them, I guess, because I would hate for that to be reciprocated. Okay. Um so I had a couple of questions. So I appreciate how it's all broken down by salaries and different um and benefits and facilities, etc. I'm curious if you can tell me, do we do a budget? Do do we look at the budget based on programming and things? Because I know there's been some things out there

204that have been discussed such as um I think and I it's an it's a topic that I was told is a bargaining item as far as whether we have full-time, part-time, quarter time. Can I ask a question about that or is it strictly in bug? So I think one of the questions that was asked was how can we bring staff at five at 575 to six and if we did that to 6.0 hours and if we did that it would make about 45 uh staff members eligible for insurance that they're not currently eligible for. You had put a price tag on that of about $445,000. Correct? Is that is what I recall? I just want to make sure I remember that. And then we have the leads program the summer which was I saw it

205last summer. It was a fabulous program. My question about it is that's I think at a cost of $600,000 to the district as operational cost including staff and space etc. Um so a couple questions that I have on that. We do not currently charge for that program this summer. Is that right? >> That's correct. >> If we how much of the So if that were So that's a $600,000 program. So, when we're looking at different programs on on how we want to move how we move these piles of money around, is that a program that we could recoup some of those costs if we were to charge um or a sliding scale or something? Um because I'm very aware of that fact that 20% of our of our students are um below are considered below

206the poverty line. So, that's a lot. So, how could we can if we were to charge for a program like that, how could that impact that program so that that money could go somewhere else? That's one question. My other question is about um this this very seemingly which I don't still don't understand highly controversial committee suggested um need for someone to help all of our wonderful arts programs have because have less paperwork because one of the things that was very evident that came out of all of the staff that came through was that there's a ton of coordinating that is done that takes away from their teaching experience. and they do it because it's part of the thing, but it takes up a lot of their time. And I do believe I if I So,

207let me I won't confuse the two. So, I'm just really curious. Um, if we don't include that position, then there's no way it can happen if it is determined it's needed. But if we keep it in the budget and and as the committee is continuing its work which includes tapping into the VAPA coordinators includes more discussion with the arts teachers because we do have quite a few arts programs and I think we were all pleasantly surprised to see how many we have and I don't think that's being challenged. I think what's disappointing is that this committee that has done all of this great work um has said it would be unfortunate to see that we have been asked to come in and do this great work and then it's not going to the work that

208the committee has done is not going to be respected. So if we take that position out we can't fund it even if we want it. But if we leave it in the budget we can fund it but it we don't have to have it if we don't need it. Is that that's how this works? Correct. So I'll address both the question. I'll start with your first question. Is the lead program charging for the lead program? So Dr. Glass, myself and Dr. Mayberry had a discussion as to how we can uh kind of figure that solution out. So we have been working since that time. So it will be Dr. Mayberry and myself working together to figure a solution or propose a solution and we'll bring the proposal for board consideration sometime in the future because

209this will impact the next uh year's lead program. Um so the second part of the question is on the uh arts program. So Dr. Glass and I worked and Dr. Glass was uh very instrumental in bringing through the process by which the board gave direction to Dr. Glass to include the arts subcommittee recommendation not all the recommendations but the recommendations that was made the urgent recommendation and it was included in the LCAP and the LCAP once that was included we were able to include it in the budget. So once the board approves the uh budget sometime in June, what will work is we'll try to execute that LCAP. That means we'll hire the person Mr. Conan is going to work with the association to develop the uh position itself, go through the process and then

210we'll hire. Um just because it's in the position control in the budget does not mean the position starts day one. So that's a process. The board still have the capability as I mentioned during the budget study session at any point of time um to revise the budget and reverse any position. There are some education law that we have to follow um it might be a year worth that we may have to have that person but that's the process. >> Thank you. And then does has this budget that's been presented, does it anticipate because one of the things and I appreciate that um uh member Malchesky noted that we um pay our uh art the people in the artists in the community that come in and support our students. One of the other items that was

211discussed was elevating that that payment that um salary or the um >> what's the word I'm looking for? >> The budget. Yeah. the PDM for their work because one of the thing the other things that this committee has pointed out is that we that the artists um their time is very valuable and we need to elevate the pay structure for those because they're underpaid currently. So, does this budget accommodate for that? And yes, it does. >> And do we have a percentage increase idea of what we're looking to be able to to offer to our um PDM artists that come in and help our students? and how much how does that compare to other um areas? >> I can speak to that. Um it's typically performing arts experts that we bring in. Um nearly all

212of them are um they're currently they're currently paid $30 an hour. Uh and we believe through restructuring within the current budget. We could move it up to $40 an hour next year. It's still a little under the market value in the area, but for a one-year increase, it's quite a bit. And then we can look more long-term uh to getting it back up at a market level where it's raised a little bit around at other school districts and areas um it's been raising a little bit uh more um than we anticipated. >> So thank you for that. So at $30 at $40 an hour, we're still underpaying our experts that are support experts that are coming in and supporting our experts that we have on staff. >> Yeah. Yeah. Uh one of the other challenges

213with uh bringing staff in whether it's professional experts or even just like the after school program at the elementaryaries is they're coming in if they only come in for an hour of work or two hours of work. There's drive time it's not easy to get in and out of Laguna Beach. Uh so when you pay them for 1 hour like there's a you know sometimes it's just not a value to them to come in. So ultimately we should be we want to be moving towards um u a competitive price that's at least at at the same level as anybody around us. knowing that there are there's significant traffic challenges getting out of Laguna Beach for an hour, two hour, three hour uh role or or support role. >> So So what is the market rate

214then? About $40 50. >> Yeah, we did a we were work with some teachers in the fall and I think it was in like the $50 to $50 $55 an hour range >> and we're still $10 into that per hour. So that does not include travel time either, right? It's from the moment they step on the campus until the moment they leave. >> Uh it's in that range. It's not it's not exact. There's not like a check-in checkout process. We set up we set up a set of hours that we approve them for and then they docu they we we they document and we approve as they use it. So uh but yeah, it's mainly it's their time with us. >> Okay. Well, I hope I hope we can look at that because I think

215that um our arts programs are very rich and I know that our staff really values the uh supplemental support that they get. Um and I do think um the concern there too is there's a lot of coordinating that goes into that as well on the sites, but then also how they talk to each other was one of the things that was challenged is that there's no um the coordinating is the hardest is the hardest part. And so that's the idea of this position is to bring them in at a district level so all of these art um programs that we value so much um including arttosis can um point to that. Certainly we need to look and see if it's if it's necessary. Um, and I look forward to the committee continuing that work. Um,

216and then I had my last question was about fund 17 because there seems to be some confusion on if fund 17 is well funded or if fund 17 is underfunded. So typically I think the motion from 2005 was that the fund was established and I think what you had said before is that at the time it was putting away two or three million dollars and and making sure that differential was there. But as um our our budget has gone exponentially high at $94 million, the typical funding for a district is about $26 million. So the differential was about 50 and now with 90 it's even more than that. So what is fund 17's ideal balance based on what our budget is and what our expenditures are and what would we would get funded if we

217didn't have our if we weren't a basic aid district. If if we weren't a basic aid district, we would have $26,000 or $26 million to to do the entire operation that we do today that we do on $90 million. So that fund 17 is an is a backup fund. What is the ideal balance on that? >> Sure. So the fund 17 as I mentioned was started by the then board in 2005. Uh the fund 17 is what we call capital I mean reserve for non- capital project. So it's ideally for school district's operation. At that point of time the district was community funded district which is still now and the community funded district uh there was a risk that if the district due to some reasons fall out from the community funded status it will

218go to the revenue limit at that point status and how will it sustain. Uh so as a insurance the board decided prudently to keep what we call the basic aid differential reserve between what we are funded as a community funded district with respect to LCFF or revenue limit district at that point of time I'm speculating uh back in 2005 the differential was mostly five or 10 million uh so it was conceivable the board uh since that time have frequently uh not every year but very um infre I mean I'll say very frequently once every two years or once every year kept on fund 17 funding fund 17 so that the basic aid differential reserve is maintained the over 2005 to currently 2026 our property taxes grew exponentially the fund was not adequately funded. It was

219last funded in 2019 2020. So currently our uh LCFF funding is $27 million and our property tax funding is $76 million. So the difference between 76 million and 27 million is $49 million. That's what the aspirational goal from the board policy is. We should keep that basic differential which equates to today to $49 million in fund 17. Currently the projected fund balance for fund 17 is $24 million. So we are not even 50% of the aspirational goal of the basic aid differential reserve >> and we have not yet identified why the district would not have funded a a fund a a fund 17 even though it was a board directed initiative we don't know why it wasn't funded for the last seven years >> that's correct we don't have uh the documents so this year

220when the board adopts the budget I looked at the board policy. Um the CBO is supposed to go and uh tell the board as to why uh the fund 17 is not proposed to be funded. Um so I'll do that during the budget adoption process because we in the budget as you saw we are not proposing to fund the fund 17 in 2627 school year because of our uh budget scenario. >> Has that has that requirement to fund it been waved in previous years? Is this a board vote that has to be done every year? >> Uh, I haven't seen any board documents to support that. >> So, we have a policy that from 2005 saying that we'll fund it and keep it at the different differential between the LCFF and where our property taxes

221are and it's $25 million short. We haven't contributed to it in seven years and there's been no motion previously as to why, but we've issued all the we've funded all a lot of different other opportunities. >> That's correct. Yeah, I have not seen any um documents supporting as to why or why it was not funded. >> But this year, you're going to we're going to need to make a motion to wave funding that fund because that is what we're supposed to do as far as policy and ed code. >> That's the policy. It's not the ed code, the policy. >> I appreciate that. >> Sure. >> Um I just want to follow up on a couple things. The first thing is that um research shows that um the the biggest loss in learning for students

222is the summer months. And the benefit of the LEAD program is that you inspire parents and students to come and take classes which is a wonderful thing for promoting academic excellence and that is the reason that the university or the university sorry the the school district does this. So the idea that we would not want to spend as much money on that but we would spend on other things like you know I I won't name anything that's incendiary. Um yeah uh you know I I I just want to say that it's I think an important and extraordinarily popular program and I would not want to add minor fees to it that detract from the willingness or inspiration that parents have to have their students do that. I mean I can say my son didn't always

223want to but I was like free school for two weeks you're in. Um, the second thing I want to say is on fund 17, I think it's important to recognize when the property taxes grew exponentially, there were legitimate questions about whether or not it made sense to keep a reserve at that level, right? Because it's there's a big difference between 5 million and then trying to build a reserve up to $76 million. Um, it it just on the face of it doesn't make a lot of sense. So the fact is is we should talk as a board at some point about what that should look like. But I have very, you know, strong concerns about building up a reserve that high because the reason it got to that point was because of the exponential growth

224in our property taxes. And you know, the likelihood of losing our basic aid status in in the near future is is small, but we of course have to talk about that. Um, and I thought there was one more, but I'll just stop there. >> Thank you. Um, just to be real clear, I'm not challenging whether or not we have this the summer program in the leads program. The um Excuse me, please. How about two more and then you can wait while somebody's talking. Thank you. Perfect. Thank you. Thank you. Um I want to make it real clear. I'm not challenging whether the leads program is valuable or not. I think the leads program is fantastic. And and another highly controversial statement would be um having our students in school longer um is also tied to

225um is tied to learning um you know elevating the learning. So, um, I would be happy to get into a conversation about wanting to keep those programs longer, but I don't think that would be popular. Um, but I do appreciate the leads program, but when we start talking about where our funds are going, I think it's important to recognize that um, we do have a $600,000 program that is not um, a balanced does not balance itself out. Um, whereas our nutrition program has to balance itself out. our preschool program um I think is is preschool is is a necessity to help um integrate um our students uh but it's not necessarily required and it's something that we offer but we offer this the preschool program as a fee it's not free so I think when

226we start looking at these piles of money and where we're spending them those are the purposes of my questions not because I think one program is less valuable than the other I think they're all very valuable but we also have to be u fiscally respons responsible because that is our job. Um and then the other one was the fund 17. I do agree with Dr. Malchesky. I think it would be important for us to understand because even though um we may not need to maintain a reserve of $50 million, we have a policy that says that we're supposed to. And so we can't just decide not to do something for six years um and say that it's got to be okay. I think having a conversation is going to be good. So I know and

227that's what that's why I've asked those questions. So thank you so much. Um okay, >> Jeremy had another question. Yes. When you're thinking about uh upping the uh the payroll for the arts people, you might also think about the individuals who are assistant coaches that they're so underfunded and they play such a key role in the lives of our students and we have revolving doors as far as as there and again remember you all know what the prices are at the gas tank for the you know that that for the arts teachers and for the coaches you know you know if there's some way we could do some type of a one-time bump up as far as with your travel expenses or something like that because that's going to that's going to harm all >>

228No, I'm really glad that you mentioned the coaches because that's actually something else that we've talked about because I think a lot of the coaches are some some of them are fortunate to be an extension of a job that they currently have here in the district, but some are here just as a coach. And I know we've had issues and I think one of the things that we talked about with even enrollment was could we offer um and expand that for our coaches for their kids because I know we've lost coaches because their kids couldn't go here because they didn't teach here enough. Their their hours weren't long enough to qualify. I think if that's if I correct me if I'm wrong, but there was something about that and I know you and I have

229talked about a little bit about how can we better um compensate our coaching staff as we're looking at compensating our um our arts. But I also think there's some guidelines in law. And so I'm just curious. I would love to see us find a different way to approach it so that we could better support them because our our athletics are very important. It's one of our other higher expenses as you pointed out on Tuesday and yet we still don't pay our coaches very much. >> May I speak? Um yeah, being a coach in the district for 20 years and being head coaches and dealing with assistant coaches, it is difficult to retain them. Um, but it is a negotiable item and that can be brought up in negotiation since we have the whole contract open.

230So, if that's something that you guys want to do, we are willing to bring that up as a negotiated item. >> Can we have those can we make those comments at this point because it's it's it's something to consider, right? Okay. Terrific. Yeah, the floor's open. So, good. Thank you. Thank you very much. That was a very good report and again with your study session, that was excellent. Please, >> thank you. Sorry, before I close the budget, I just want to also publicly apologize to Miss Rutershimer. I the intention of that comment was never condesenting, so I want to apologize um in public. Thank you. >> Thank you, man. Okay. Um I did you have a final question? >> Oh, did I not ask you questions? >> Please ask your questions. Yeah, I just wanted

231to say I um repeat something I think I said at the study session and that is you refer to the fund 17 as aspirational. Um I refer to it I would prefer to refer refer to it as credential. I think that um we shouldn't so dismissively or casually uh you know set aside the idea that we could have a catastrophic situation at some point. There's prudence to having it funded at 50 million. That's the policy that it should be. And if we're not going to do it, we should that should be an with intentionality that we don't do it as opposed to letting it just slip by. You know, I agree with do uh with Dr. Melky. Um I don't think the legislature is going to take away our um our uh uh community funded

232school status. Um, but you know, uh, people up in Palisades probably didn't think they were going to have the situation they're looking at right now. Um, and I'm just I I I just think that we need to be very mindful about uh the prudence of having more reserves than we have. U, we don't know what could happen. We live in some pretty strange times. And I think that's why that that's why that policy exists. And if we're just whistling past the graveyard and pretending that we don't need it, uh, I think we could end up regretting it. >> Please. Shh. Please. Thank you, Howard. Is there any further comments or questions? Okay, seeing none. Um, did we close the public hearing? We did not. Oh, we were supposed to close that first. Okay, so we're

233closing that session at 9:29. Thank you. Um, okay. It's 9:30. We have the communications plan and then action and then uh couple more things to go through. So, we may need to extend and we still need to have close session on negotiations. So, um the next item on the agenda is um the information item update on the LBUSD communications plan. Um, and Karen, the floor is yours. Shh. Order, please. So, we can continue. Thank you. All right. This is Hello. All right. Thank you. Tonight uh will walk us through the strategic communications plan um written with priorities for implementation in 26 and 27. Um the slides tonight are going to go over um the information really high level. There's a QR code there and copies of a comprehensive communications plan in the back that um

234goes into more detail. Much of our foundational work will be familiar from our recent updates. So I'll move quickly through the first several slides to spend our time where it matters most on the six strategic priorities and how we're measuring progress. One of my favorite slides and I'll bore you for 45 seconds is this uh framework that our communication system rests on which is the general systems theory. It was articulated by lewig vonberg talenfi nearly a century ago and rests on the concept that the whole is more than the sum of its parts. Um you heard earlier from Dr. Mayberry a metaphor related to um an autopsy. I will um join the crowd of metaphors today and use a um metaphor that I like to use for the general systems theory that explains it through

235the lens of a physical exam. A physician doesn't determine a patient's health by checking blood pressure alone or p pulse alone or temperature alone. Each measurement matters, but it's the integration of cardiovascular, respiratory, neurological, and immune systems, each understood in relation to the others, that tells the doctor what's actually going on. And the patient isn't a static collection of numbers. The patient like our communications plan is a living open system continuously exchanging with its environment adapting and responding. That's the lens we apply to the district communications function here in LBUSD and it provides us a lens that uh rests on wholeness, open exchange and mutual interaction. No single channel, audience or metric tells the full story on its own. The systems health is in the inter in the integration applied to LBSD. The framework yields

236four inter interdependent modes. Proactive communication that carries the district's story, responsive communication that answers questions in real time, engagement that invites two-way community voice, and crisis communication that executes rapid protocols when emergencies require. They sit around a continuous feedback loop because they don't operate in isolation. The way we respond to a community inquiry feeds the next round of proactive content. The engagement input we gather shapes how we communicate the next strategic decision. Crisis response feeds back into proactive readiness. and throughout because we hold information entrusted to us by students, families, and staff. We hold a responsibility to balance openness with the same responsibility to protect information within every mode. Like the body systems, each function is distinct and the health of the whole depends on how they interact. The framework serves six distinct audiences, each

237with different information needs and channel preferences. The board for governance and decision support. Students and families for student progress and school updates. Staff for district priorities and internal alignment. Community residents for stewardship and civic clarity. Particularly important given our basic aid function. Uh funding structure which you heard about earlier today. Partners for collaboration and media for accurate timely information. Audience clarity is foundational. Who we're addressing shapes how we communicate across every channel. Each audience is reached through channels calibrated to their information needs and timing. Real time and daily channels like parent square and social media, weekly and monthly channels like principal newsletters, surfside, the staff newsletter and it's a wrap and annual touch points like the annual report and a proposed state of the district which uh you'll see in this plan. The channels work

238as an integrated ecosystem because audiences move across them. A parent is also a community resident. A staff member is also often a parent and the framework supports that movement rather than fragmenting it. The full plan includes a comprehensive situational analysis which you can review at your leisure. Um there's a pest analysis which gives us an overview of the political, economic, social, and technological uh situation that we're operating in. A SWAT uh synthesis which looks at our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that exist within the ecosystem. Multi-year audience sentiment trends and a complete channel performance baseline. I'll cover the highlights to set the stage for the priorities, but the detail is in the plan. We're operating from a position of substantial strength. School level parent satisfaction is at 89% the highest we've recorded. Its ARAP sustains

239a 74% open rate against an education sector average of 25 to 28%. The resident outreach lists reaches 9,000 contacts at a 63% average open rate. Instagram has grown to 3,565 followers averaging 106,000 monthly views with 43% of that reach to nonfollowers. Community participation in the annual LCAP survey has grown from four participants uh in our community segment in 2223 to 107 in the latest cycle for 2526. At the same time, district level parent satisfaction sits at 77%. That's an 11 point gain over our 2023 baseline, but below the 2024 peak of 88%. That gap between school level satisfaction at 89% and district level at 77% is one of the conditions driving the priorities you'll see next. The plan synthesizes input from the just completed LCAP cycle, multiple structured listening sessions, committee feedback, the superintendent's 100day

240report, the 2026 bond feasibility survey, and the gray matters communication uh review. three insights serve uh surfaced as drivers for the 2026 27 update. Um among I'll list those internal communication and decision visibility, awareness of events and activities and broader community engagement beyond enrolled families. The plan organizes our work around six interdependent strategic priorities. Five, build on continuing work. One, strengthening family communication is new for 2627, though I would argue that that has been uh central to our efforts in establishing a solid foundation and a system of communications. The priorities aren't ranked. They operate as an integrated set and progress on and progress on anyone strengthens the conditions for progress on the others. That's the systems lens again. The whole is more than the sum of the parts. So looking at priority one, strengthening internal

241communication and feedback loop completion. Priority one reflects a principle we've heard consistently from staff listening sessions and from the broader research literature. Effective external communication depends on effective internal communication. When staff are informed before or simultaneously with families and community and when they have meaningful opportunities to provide input on decisions affecting their work, the district speaks with a unified voice. This priority is about infrastructure, not effort. Feedback loops are properties of organizational design. Three new elements for 2627. Embedding communications planning as a standing item on cabinet agendas. So communications consider considerations enter strategic strategic decisions at the start rather than at the end. Establishing school site calendar and website maintenance protocols so information availability is consistent across sites and a commitment to study current practice on decision-making input during the 2627 LCAP cycle so we

242have evidence rather than impression for the next uh refresh. In priority two, elevating district profile and broadening community reach. Um, this one has two dimensions that reinforce each other. The thought leadership dimension promotes LBUSD's model programs of which we've heard a lot um tonight and student outcomes beyond our immediate audiences through education trade press, professional conferences, peer district networks, and program awards. with students performing in the very high range on the California school dashboard in both English language arts and mathematics and distinctive programs like the flow program at the high school and au authentic exploratory research more familiarly known as AEER. We have substantial evidence to amplify. The community reach dimension recognizes that as a basic aid district, the community residents who fund us through property taxes form a financial foundation on which our operations

243depend. Three init three new initiatives under this lens. We're relaunching the annual report, which has been on hiatus since 2024, as a community-f facing publication with professional design, copy editing, and audience research support. We're also launching a state of the district event as a flagship community convening which would include facilitated candid discussion, student panels which you've heard how impactful they are. Candid discussion that integrates student arts, student voice, and governance recognition across priorities. And we're establishing a thought leadership content pipeline to systemically to systematically document and promote our model programs under priorities three and four arts visibility and student voice. These two priorities are centered on student experience. Priority 3 coordinates LBUSD's distinctive art strength as a communicated identity connecting students, families, and the broader community through shared artistic experience. Our community's cultural heritage, the

244festival of the arts, the pageant of the masters, the public art program creates a natural alignment between the district's arts programs and the community's interests. The district's arts coordinator proposed under LCAP goal one creates the conditions for sustained collaboration between the arts and communications functions. New for 2627, it's uh an arts court calendar coordination protocol ensuring that arts programming has visibility across districtwide and site level calendars and a dedicated arts stream in a also newly proposed district family newsletter. Priority four, amplify student voice. The learner profile names effective communicator as one of the five four competencies and the way we treat and amplify student voice functions as a living curriculum. Students learn from observing how adults communicate and from being asked to communicate in ways that are taken seriously. New for 2026 27, our communications

245team will explore editorial pathways for student generated content across writing, video, and social media. Uh we'll also work on the development of a student communications internship program and uh a specific VO uh focus on hidden voices uh which is a concept we'll use um to discuss uh or to speak to the um elevating voices that we may not typically hear in our mainstream um communications channels. Under priority five, um, we're looking at supporting transparent two-way governance communication. Priority five supports the board's governance work through coordinated communication that strengthens public trust and the framework's accountability function. This is largely a continuing priority extending refinements documented in the January 2026 communications action plan and the March 2026 communication systems update that includes next day it's a wrap communication following board meetings. Subscribe at www.lbsd.orgitarap /itare um with

246content developed um uh to highlight and elevate uh significant board actions and decisions, press release style summaries for major board decisions with expanded distribution across media, district channels and community organizations, the weekly board update and board reports as the foundation and new for 2627 the state of the district event that I mentioned will which will include a governance component. board members participating in the community convening alongside student voice, arts, and district programming. Under our uh final and not the least, uh priority six, strengthening family communication and engagement. Priority six will be a new targeted focus for 2627. The data point that surfaces it most directly is the one I mentioned earlier. District level parent satisfaction at 77% while school satisfaction is at 89%. Families experience strong communication from their schools but the district-to-f family layer

247has a gap. Three new initiatives address it directly. A district family newsletter, a direct districtto-f family channel distinct from principal news newsletters and it's a wrap focused on events, resources, programs, and engagement opportunities across the district. A family resource center awareness campaign, which will tie into the district family newsletter to increase current EF uh awareness of the family resource center, which currently sits at 49%. and this priority is positioned to close that gap. A final area of focus will be a hidden family's outreach strategy that treats accessibility of input across language uh time and other engagement factors as a design requirement rather than an add-on. So, putting those initiatives together across six priorities, we see three new channels. The district family newsletter, the state of the district event, and the relaunched annual report. We see

248three new infrastructure elements. Cabinet communications planning as a standing item, school site calendar and website protocols and arts calendar coordination, three new student pathways, editorial pathways for student content, the communications internship and hidden voices student engagement, and three new family engagement initiatives, the FRC awareness campaign, hidden families outreach and family input accessibility enhancement. Looking at the key performance indicators that we look at, you heard a lot about these in the first presentation in March. Each priority has associated measurement approaches grounded in data sources we already operate. The LCAP survey uh engagement with our staff newsletter, Surfside staff in the room, please read it. um and channel analytics, content audits, and student survey instruments, including the California Healthy Kids Survey and Challenge Success. A few words surfacing. Priority 2 measurement integrates its ARAP analytics, resident outreach

249list engagement, and annual report distribution alongside earned media tracking and conference participation. Priority five measurement includes channel analytics on board related content. and it's a wrap open and click-through performance benchmarked against the 74% baseline. Priority six tracks district family newsletter adoption and engagement once launched. Parent Square adoption growth, LCAP family communication data, and FRC awareness. The headline is that measurement is in service of refinement. We collect data to learn, adjust, and improve, not to score the framework against a fixed standard. Returning to the physical exam, vital signs tell the doctor where to look next, not whether the patient passes. Implementation will roll out across the 2627 school year with progress tracked through the framework's established reporting cadence. The weekly board update continues as a recurring communication on framework operation, emerging issues, and district news. It's

250a wrap follows each board meeting and I'll clarify that we currently have it to be issued after every regularly scheduled session highlighting key governance actions and broader district work. The annual comprehensive update to the LCAP, which is an aligned synthesis of progress on the six priorities, channel performance, audience sentiment, and resource consideration, provides the deeper annual look, and as needed, updates fill in between for significant initiatives or events. This rhythm is where the systems framework uh continues to show up. We're not waiting for an annual review, much like we don't wait for annual calf scores to make adjustments to student teaching and learning. Um, the framework is built to learn continuously the way a healthy body keeps adapting to what it encounters. And with that, as promised, I will close. >> Thank you so much.

251That was terrific. As a coming from your world of communications, I really appreciate this and some and the actionable items. So, thank you for that. That's what I've been looking for and I appreciate it. Um I'm going to move to um board questions before we go to public comment. Um let me start on this side this time. Student I'll start on this side. >> Questions or comments? >> Questions? >> Comments come after board public comment. >> Well, the last ones were public hearings. These are just presentations. >> Okay. Questions? your chart on uh ecosystems and delivery has numerous things that we do now. How many of these have you started in the last six years since you've been in this role? >> I have been in the role since November 2022 and I would say

252that substant um items like it's a wrap have been in place. Um I think speaking to the general systems theory, some of them were in place um and the work that we have done in the last couple of years is to align it under an organized framework um that is interdependent with each other. >> But what I'm getting at is you've initiated a lot of these things since you've come on board and you've done an excellent job I must say and I I loved you starting with systems theory and ending with assessment. Thank you. Thank you Howard. Any questions? >> Yeah. >> So, uh, thank you very much for a comprehensive, uh, presentation. I wanted to ask some questions about it. Um, first of all, you know, you note on page seven that audience clarity

253is foundational. Um, and, uh, so that's kind of the area that I'd like to think about a little bit. And so when I look at when I look at the how this ecosystem operates within the larger ecosystem of the the district um what do you when you say the district what are you referring to? >> I I think um you can answer the question in a number of ways depending on where the perspective is coming from. If we're uh looking at it from a a purely authoritative authoritative way and who is authorized to represent the district for example in legal matters it is the board of education. Um the board of education represents the school district which is constituted by the students staff families and parents. So when I say the district it's referring to

254it here in this context as the complete ecosystem. though you'll see throughout the 62page document that the different roles and authorities are um more clarified there. >> Yeah, that's what I want to get get to. I noticed that also on page seven you talk about the staff as being one of the audiences. So when you talk about the staff being one of the audiences, you um you refer to the district cert uh certificated and classified employees. Uh, so, um, there's the district and then there's the district staff and they're one of the audiences. >> Is that how you see it? >> I'm waiting for the other half of the context. >> What's that? >> I'm waiting for the other half of the context. >> Uh, well, I'm just I'm I'm just saying, you know, uh,

255you you named different audiences here, the community, the community partners, and you name the board of education as one of the audiences. Um and then you name the staff. Um so who is not an audience? That would be one way of asking it. >> It depends on who the speaker is. >> Yeah. Right. Um okay. So uh in that context then uh what I wanted to ask you um is uh on page five you talk about the governing authority for the ecosystem. In other words, if you look at uh page five where you say governing authority and then you talk about what is this ecosystem, uh what's here is that the ecosystem consists entirely of board policy 1100. And so what I wanted to ask you is uh this ecosystem uh you know and it's

256funny because I guess Logan left but he was talking earlier about um you know getting lost in the ecosystem of the bylaws and that sometimes getting lost in the ecosystem of the bylaws becomes um uh sort of um sort of a system of trying to have power or something. and I look forward to talking with him about I actually wish he was here. But for example, if we are going to accurately define the ecosystem you're talking about and we're going to in the context of governing authority, it is true that 1100 sets forth and prescribes authority um for the board to engage in communications. And the first um measure they have for communications is to assign leg uh communications authority to the superintendent. But I'm just wondering why we limit the reference here to 1100.

257Why wouldn't we include, for example, um, board policy 1112, which uh, also includes some designation of other people. Oh, there's Logan right there. Um it it says uh spokespersons designated to speak to the media on behalf of the district include first the board president uh then the superintendent and then the public information officer which I guess would be you um or district communications director which also might be you um or somebody that works for you. The point I'm making is if we're going to have a complete statement of what the sources of the ecosystem are, it would seem to me that there in that governing authority, you would also have to make a reference to not just 1100, but you would also make a reference to 1112. Um, so I would recommend that um to

258be uh to be more complete. Again, I just want to read what 111 uh two means. Can can we read that in >> I could speak to that before you read it >> and then we'll go back to questions and we can come back to >> yeah the more comprehensive plan um which I know you haven't had a lot of time to review but it does acknowledge that other policy and bylaws exist and support for example we have other um policies and um bylaws that speak to the confidentiality of student records >> you've correctly noted that there's a bylaw not a policy that also coexists with the communications function and designates the board president as a spokesperson. And what we've learned >> in the last couple of years is that that that um is most

259um perfectly executed when there is a strong partnership between the board president and the communication staff. So, I've appreciated President Morgan's clarity during this time um and the partnership that we've worked through to ensure that we're issuing communications in tandem and that um not one is speaking over the other. >> Yeah. And I'm glad I've put a lot of energy into that and I'm glad that it's coming and bearing to fruition um because there was a time when um the response was that there was no collaboration, there was no partnership. So I'm glad we've made progress on that. But and I am aware of the fact that in some of the more comprehensive documents that you do refer to among other things, the materials about the bylaws about student records, what I'm saying is that

260I would like it everywhere. um uh for it to say and it's not and um I will also just ask um I would also say that it's not just um uh those two not just uh 1100 and and 1112 but it's also 9212 which has specific um uh delegates specific authority to the board president for communications done in conjunction with the superintendent. So, I think also 9121 I would ask you um uh would that be something that you would agree should also be cited here? >> Yeah. >> Okay, that's great. Thank you, >> President Morgan. I'd like to make a motion to extend the count clock by 30 minutes. >> Thank you. We also need how many more? We have a few items we might need to extend for an hour to make sure we

261get through the agenda and the rest of the items. And we still have to have close session. Okay. So I we have a motion on the floor to extend. Um do you want to do just 30 minutes or an hour? >> Second. >> Start with 30. >> Well, we have we have many public comments tonight. >> I understand. So >> that's an hour. >> What? >> An hour. >> Okay. So we're going to extend for an hour. Can I get a So we have a motion on the floor to extend for an hour. Can I have a second, please? >> Second. >> Thank you. All in favor? >> I D. Okay. Thank you. Motion passes. Okay, let's continue. Um, questions about the communications plan. Logan, >> I have none. Uh, are we not doing comments

262yet? I assume. >> Wrong questions. Okay. D, any questions? >> Yes. I um I wasn't now I'm now I can't find it. But isn't there something about um you added 9,000 people from the voter registar? Yeah, there's listed on there. One of the um channels that we have for engaging the broader community is a resident outreach list is what we call it, which is purchased through the OC registar of voters. I think is worth noting that also stipulates um how we can use it. Um when we purchase that information from the OC register of voters, they give us um guidance on how that can be used. So there's limited instances um but it is most often directly tied to anything that those voters would find um of importance to them and that would often be

263something that the board is taking action on that is significant. >> Okay. So so can you explain to me how you decided on those 9,000 that they would be more interested than maybe some other people? >> I don't get to decide. That's the list that the OU registar of voters pro provides me with. >> Okay. Okay. And how is it how is the number 9,000 chosen? >> I'm that's the um it's based on the contact information that the OC register voters has on file for the city of Lagona Beach. Uh so I'm not sure what process they use to distill that information. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> I have no questions, only comments. >> Thank you. Um I just have a couple. the um voters's guide list. Um how can we use

264that and what is it being used for? >> I don't want to list it inaccurately. I usually reference the list whenever we're considering it, but typically it's um items that would be of importance to the civic body so to speak. So, if it's something related to, for example, um the board conducting engagement for the appointment of a superintendent or for broader community outreach that would uh influence or affect governance decisions that voters would find relevant to them. Um, but I can get back to you with a more clear bulleted list because it's pretty uh specific. >> So, is that list was that list procured recently and is it being procured for a bond measure and are you handling the bond measure communications? I'll answer the first question. That uh list was procured in 2023, I

265believe. Um what it's not being currently used for bond communications. It's currently it's historically been used one to issue annual reports related to the progress of the district, which is one of the areas that we can utilize it for. It was utilized um to do community outreach during the superintendent search in July or June 2025 or the most recent one the um and um to support the listenings uh promoting of the listening sessions during that time as well. >> Okay. and the um bond communications. Uh there's a uh >> third party that we've contracted with with team civics that is handling and um they do work in collaboration. >> Okay, that's what I thought. I was I wasn't sure if it was um if there was overlap there. Um and then so I love um

266I appreciate this. Um like I said, I I come from your world. I appreciate this. Um I one I'm curious on a couple things. one um how what is the process? So, for example, we've made um improvements on transportation and the security systems and the and the cameras and there's new signage. How would that be communicated out? because from what I'm understanding in the last committee meeting that information has yet to get to the site levels and there's a significant improvement in uh data access for the site leadership that they can re that they can receive prior if there's an incident on a bus and they have to do an investigation on it. Right? Before they used to have if there was an incident on the bus, the bus driver had to um you know

267go back to the yard, put the drive in, download the information, take it to the office, the office uploaded it to a drive, then that link went to the school and the school then downloaded it and took a look at it and then acted that one of the that process is something that this committee has improved through conversation with the um Durham staff that was there. Um and I and Manoj has been um an integral part of this committee in helping us um facilitate um the services that our students need and honestly that we pay for. Um so how would that communication for example fall into this plan? >> It's on page 70 and 71 is where you'll see uh it's a little bit focused on operations and communications like crisis protocols. Um some of

268what you've listed is news to me and so I'll connect with Mr. Roach Chowdery to um get a comprehensive list of the updates that the committee has implemented so that we can um ascertain where within the ecosystem that makes the most sense. >> Okay, >> that's so that's a great point, right? Here's this great service. We have a comprehensive plan, but yet this hand's not talking to this hand. And yet, it's directly related to student services and to parent concerns and supporting our staff. So, I'm glad that we had that that we were able to identify that it's there that you weren't aware of it. And I know with our committee, we're that that piece is what's missing and how and why that's not happening. So, I appreciate you recognizing that and I appreciate that

269you'll follow up on how to get that information because I know they've asked for it for a couple times. So, thank you. >> Yeah. One thing you'll see noted in the situational analysis is one thing that we're experiencing as an organization is an influx in the flow of information which is impacting our ability to fully execute our feedback loops which would include for example taking those committee recommendations and cycling them through our internal communications processes so that our cabinet team has time to review it um has time to connect with those school sites. Um, a lot of those changes have direct implications for the staff at our school sites and most importantly for our school site leaders. >> Um, so one thing that I will encourage is a little bit of a general slowdown which

270everyone most of the audiences listed here has have heard from me that the most effective way to streamline communications is to stream to slow down and to clarify priorities so that we can complete those feedback loops internally. Well, hopefully some of the hopefully all the uh excessive PAs slowed down a little bit too because I know that's a burden as well. I think there's one one one person I think has made like 40 in the last year. So hopefully that slows down a little bit. So I appreciate that. And then my last question is how do you so what is your method to measure some of these new initiatives and if they work or if they don't work? You saw that in the very uh second to last slide where we listed some of the

271key performance indicators, but you'll also see that um in the comprehensive plan and it's probably easier to find it through the table of contents, but we've listed some of those there which exist in some of our standing um instruments for measure which include the LCAP, the survey, but as I spoke in March 2026, we have both real time and annual engagement metrics. And so we'll utilize both of those so that we can refine the system in real time, but also um have an idea of what priorities need to be adjusted in the outy years. >> Thank you. I appreciate the report. I know it's very comprehensive and I appreciate that you had it available and I'm sorry if I am fumbling through the papers a little bit, but since I just we just got it,

272um I'm appreciative of that and I will read it more thoroughly uh tomorrow or over the weekend. So, thank you very much. Um, let's move to um I'm appreciate you. Thank you. I'm going to go ahead and open it up to public comment and if there's any questions that um uh come up, we can note them and get back to people. So, thank you so much. Great work. Thank you. >> Uh, public comment from Erica Hennon and Eva Pollen. >> First, I want to say that Aaron uh Anna Karen did an amazing job. The communications plan is detailed, thoughtful, and professional. I have worked in communications for many years, so I know what a strong plan looks like. So, thank you so much for that. Now, I don't think that the district necessarily has a

273communications problem as much as it has a trust problem. Um, and those are not the same thing. That is why I am a little concerned that Sher Morgan was listed as the contact on a district press release about Don Austin. A board president being quoted is one thing. A board president being the contact on a district press release about a superintendent appointment is another. That does not feel like necessarily clean district communication. It feels like board ownership of the message. And Howard, this applies to you, too. So, if you are so concerned about a unified communications message, then why are you circumventing the district's own communications process through paid advertisements, political allies, and outside narrative management? Is it legal? Maybe, but is it ethical? No. The community can see when a narrative is being managed.

274You cannot message your way out of broken trust. So, let communications professionals do communications work and stop turning another expert function in this district into a place with board interference. >> Order, please. Thank you. >> Hi, Eva Pauling. Um, I just want to recognize the incredible work and professionalism of our district comm's director here, Anna Karen. Um, it is no wonder that she was named one of just four 2025 national communicators of the year in the entire country. The communications plan presented this evening was thoughtful, strategic, detailed, and entirely aligned with the needs of this community. It reflected real expertise, the kind that comes from experience, preparation, and genuine care for how a district communicates with students, families, staff, and the broader community. Years ago when the family resource center was being stood up, it

275was in partnership with the district and school power. I got to work with Anna Karen and Dr. Keller during the development of the F FRC. And I saw the depth of planning and thoughtfulness she brings to every initiative. She is exceptionally talented and one of the strongest communications professionals this district will likely ever have. Which is why it is so concerning to see press releases now coming out from the district with President Morgan's name and contact info on it. We have expert in this district whose job it is to communicate with professionalism, transparency, and credibility. The plan presented tonight proved exactly that. Please let our incredible staff do their jobs. >> Clerk Perry, are there any further comment uh comment cards? >> No. >> Okay. Thank you. Okay. Let's move to board question uh any

276board comments and we'll try and let's I'd like to encourage everyone to keep them brief so that we can move on. Logan uh >> the only comments I want to give is the thank you for an incredible uh presentation and >> Karen >> member Perry any further comments >> um I just want to acknowledge how how many your statistics on the number of parents that enjoy it and read it and that's thanks to you and your communication. member Meski. >> Um, so first Anna Karen, thank you. Your work is exemplary. I'm really compu conf confused about the hyperfocus on every single thing that you do in your office at multiple meetings this uh this year. It um it's just confusing to me. Um, coupled with that, sorry it's really late. And part of my confusion

277and frustration about that is that in every conversation we have to go through this petty thing about who runs communication, you or the board. So, I'm sorry. You do a fantastic job. The second thing is I have said this before and I want to reiterate that I don't actually support the emphasis and priority five of this constant attention to every board decision that happens. I always felt that, you know, the the job of the communications office is to talk about important board functions, but the idea that it actually serves some sort of function to keep the board out front. People don't care what I do, right? We care about what is important for the district. We care about the information that the parents need to mass, you know, manage their child's education. and we really

278care about what goes on in the classrooms. And so I just want to put that on record. Um, you know, some of that's obviously important, but but the larger emphasis which came out in the January 25th letter was very concerning to me about the the focus on the board. Um, so yeah, I'll leave it at that. Thank you and sorry you've had to do this over and over and over again for hours and hours. >> Thank you, >> Dr. Kelly. I uh everything they've all said, you know, what more can I say? You know, I I was the one who really pushed for that for this position and you've done an excellent job in it and so I'm grateful. >> Thank you. Um Member Hills, any further comment? >> Yes. >> Briefly. >> Yeah. I

279um I find it very interesting that so many of the comments that get made about these subjects uh you know and some of them what Logan brought up earlier about um you know preoccupation with bylaws and and u uh you know it's interesting because the uh the fact is that there's competing models, competing reference to ecosystems is is an interesting one. But basically in the state of California under the education code, there's competing models that get implemented politically at the district level. There's the so-called weak board, strong superintendent, and then there's the strong board, weak superintendent. And that's the dichotomy that everybody wants to have all these competing theories of where communications fits into that, where bylaws fit into that. But, uh, what I think we as a district can do better than other districts

280is have a strong board and a strong superintendent. And the idea that we don't want to know about what's going on the school board, we just want to know, I I think it's a really unhealthy idea and it's not right. Secondly, I want to say that with respect to the comment that was made, we have a bylaw in this district um that says board members are encouraged to communicate with the public on their personal views about board business as long as they identify that it's personal views. And it says including disagreement with the board. Now, that's a that's a bylaw that protects the First Amendment rights of board members. So that being on the board doesn't mean you can't communicate your views. And so the idea that a board member should not be communicating their

281views independently is just anti-democratic and it's it's anti- first amendments is is what it is. And um so that would be uh including a situation where a board member runs for the school board and wants to do political ads in the newspaper. If the standard that was asserted with respect to me tonight uh uh is true, then a board member can't do a political ad in a newspaper uh if they're if they're going to run for the school board. The the bottom line is schoolboard members retain first amendment rights and have all the freedom to independently communicate any way they want as long as they identify it as their personal opinion. So the view that was expressed is just sort of illiterate. The last thing I wanted to say is that um I really enjoyed

282your um presentation tonight. I don't know what the hell people are talking about because I did not ask that you do this tonight. I've never requested that you do this. So, whoever is saying that there we're here because of Howard Hills does not know what they're talking about, but it's very typical of the kind of things that get said around here. >> Um, no, I have one more comment I want to make. >> I think that uh a recommendation and maybe we can talk about it um would be that in your statement of audiences, you should include the district administration as an audience. and um these these these comments about the fact that there's somehow something wrong with um the president of the board signing a press release or the idea that the president of

283the board communicates on behalf of the district when you have bylaws that have the force and effect of law and are legally binding and they and the board you know this whole thing about board members don't act individually board acts as a whole uh by majority vote that doesn't even apply to this where the board has delegated an authority and a responsibility for the president to communicate with the public. That makes it no different than if the superintendent uh issues a press release. There's no difference between the two. That's called a balance and that's called co-equal. Um and so that's what's in the law. if people don't like that. And we had a we had a governance meeting with the lawyer present and it wasn't it wasn't um Mr. Pearl, it was Mr. Danforth. The

284question was asked of the lawyer. If we don't want the president of the board to be able to communicate the way it says in the bylaws, what do we do? And the answer was you got to amend the bylaws to say that the president can't do that. But when you've got it in the bylaws saying the president can do it. And then people come in here and say the president shouldn't be doing it even though it's in the bylaws, that is just that's just that's really shoddy civics is what it is. And so we've got the bylaws. If we don't like them, we should change them. If we're going to if we're going to have the bylaws, we should respect them and respect a strong superintendent and respect a strong president, a strong board, and

285a strong administration. And so that's um what I think we ought to be working towards. >> Thank you, Howard. Um I absolutely will own I requested this information because I think the reports that we've had so far have been terrific, but they there's actions that we needed and I think you and I just demonstrated that with the transportation and ensuring that the staff so I am grateful for your time. I know you've been working very hard. Um and that is why we're here, right? We're all working hard. So I appreciate you and this is what I was looking for. And so if that was never clear before, I'm really sorry. Um, but I'm glad that I can speak to you directly and let you know that this is what I was looking for. So, thank

286you very much. I appreciate that. Um, and I do look forward to continuing the collaboration. And if Maninoj doesn't know, uh, we do its wrap tomorrow by noon. So, there's lots in there. Okay. I have, um, a point of information or a point of information for um, Jonathan. I we are going to run out of time with this uh, the rest of this agenda um, and our comment cards. So, I first of all want to find um so I want to do a couple I want to see if I can do a couple things. One, I want to find out if every make sure everyone that you have a card for is here without going through each name. Um if so, maybe that we can't do that. Um that's not going to make sense. But

287then I'd like to know what can we move from at this point off of the agenda for the June 4th. We have another meeting. Um we have recognition meetings on June 3rd and June 4th um at the request of the parents to split the two. And so after June 4th, um Victoria uh had added a business meeting and then we have another meeting on June 8th. And I know I have spoken about um frequently with U. Manoj um about whether or not we need to add like a June 25th special meeting just to make sure we're wrapped up with all of this. And this is outside of the quiet period that member Malchesky has pointed out a couple of times. So, um I think that was an identified date. Um as and hopefully we have

288consensus. Um so I want to ask what we can do and I don't want to work on dates right now. We can talk to Victoria about that, but I want to know what has to get done and what can wait till June 4th and if we can move those off to June 4th. Uh that would be great so that we can make sure we wrap up here shortly because we do still have to have negotiate a discussion with negotiations in close session. So from HR perspective, I would I would encourage us keeping those on because it would impact the uh the hiring process and delay the hiring process. So if that's uh if that's possible, >> is two more weeks going will that impact it so significantly? I don't know. Um, >> not it's definitely

289not ideal, but again, >> because I I also think with the transition here, maybe postponing hiring or not postponing, but at least getting weigh in um from leadership not a bad idea. >> I mean, when you're hiring, like this is we want to be interviewing now. So, people are looking for I this recommend definitely do the job descriptions because the longer you wait, the more the good best people are already getting jobs, >> right? But I think some of these are based on like like structural like um item 10 A or 10B the information system technology >> 10A 10A could wait for sure we could we could push 10A back. >> Okay. >> Um the other items that are instructional or technology based are all in consent. So if consent is approved without question uh

290that would be really helpful because there's several contracts that we want to get >> okay done. >> So okay thank you. Sorry I'm not trying to uh cut you short. The consent also has five different contracts for the attorneys and I know that um uh Howard is going to want to get into those conversations. So, can we move those items to June 4th? >> I'm most amanable. >> Thank you. Okay. Um, so I need a motion then to move items um 9A uh 10B. >> Mine says multiple award contract 9A. >> Is that not correct? Okay. >> So, we're going to pull everything out of the consent calendar about law firms. >> Yes. So, let's move So, then Okay. So, then So, is the binder correct or is the script here correct? >> So, let's

291move the uh camask off. >> 9A. >> Mine is 9A2. What is yours? >> So, mine has already been moved around for the minutes. Oh, but my binder says that that um 10 >> 10 award >> that's 10 >> 10 a >> Okay, so on here it's 9a. Okay, so there's some of the confusion. Okay, so let's move that off. Let's move um the boards. Are we moving the uh are we moving uh 11A the board certified behavior analyst? Can that wait until June 4th? >> We would like to move those A and B forward so we can start recruiting and get the best possible candidates. >> What's A? >> I I agree. I would like to move A forward. The behavior specialist. >> Oh, there's two in here. Okay. But we're going to move

29210B off. Correct. The uh technology because that's a restructuring of a department and I think that would be good to have um input on. >> Okay. Um >> I would just I'm not going to be here on June 3rd. So and I know we want to our we don't have a C this I guess is my recommendation but we don't have we haven't had a CTO since midFebruary. >> I understand but I I recall a conversation that we weren't replacing that position that we were >> this is the restructuring. So that's that's why we were hoping to get that going so um we can get people ready for that position sooner than later. >> Okay. Um but we're also looking to save some time right now. So can if we can move that off that

293would be terrific. Um okay. Um the resolution this is 12 on here it's 10. Uh let's see. No it's 11. Okay. So 11 is a um is that a quick that's the election. So that should be fine. And then on consent, can we move the uh I don't have a consent. >> No, I'm just trying to save some time. >> There's but we want but there's a request to pull all of the attorney contracts and discuss them. So I want to pull those so that we can discuss them at another time. So those are >> so um starts with a a l r t and you want to move forward from there. >> T U V >> W >> X >> not X audio and visual. >> No, not not audio visual. Okay, not audio

294visual. >> TUV. There's only three. I thought there was five W >> T U VW. >> Thank you very much. I appreciate that. Okay. Okay. So, um I know we'll have to make a motion on consent, but Victoria, could you not note those and then we'll circle back on that. Okay. Let's So, thank you for that clarification. Let's proceed. Um >> we need a motion to remove to pull those >> items. Second. >> Okay. All in favor? >> I Okay. So you removed everything 10 A 10B and then consent T UVW. >> Hey, excuse me. Um Victoria, um it was Retan and Tucker in here. >> Oh. >> Okay. Because I I saw Rattan and Tucker on the agenda or something. So Okay. >> Okay. So what items can you repeat back then what items

295we pulled since I was pulling >> 10 A, 10B, and consent calendar items T, UV, and W. >> Okay. So 10 A and 10B. >> Victoria, it's >> I don't have the >> on the agenda I'm looking at. It was the business item 10A the CMAS. But then in 11A, the BCBA is staying on, but the >> we're keeping 11 A. We're taking off 11B. >> Taking off 11B. taking off 11D. Okay, >> that's the restructuring. >> Okay, >> so we're so we're doing 10 A. We're taking 10 A off. >> 11B. >> This is so confusing. My 9A is the C mass. We're taking that off. >> Yeah, >> T mass is coming off. Correct. >> C mass will come off. So, Victoria, that's 10 A. 10 A 11B consent TUVW. >> Okay. So,

296let's go on to 11A, which is the board certification specialist. >> Correct. >> Yeah, we voted. We vote. We motioned, made a second. Logan seconded it. And we did. We say, did we vote? >> I'm getting there. Sorry. There's a lot of Well, our our agendas are different, so there's um it's a little confusing. Um so, we have a second. So I need a motion to pull the items that we have a list over there and we need a vote. >> The question is did we vote? >> All in favor I. >> All in five I thank you. Okay. So moving on to item I don't even know anymore. 11 >> A which is on my page 10A. Okay. >> Can I just do a motion to approve it? >> Um I think we have

297to introduce it. Um so item 10 A is approval of the board certified behavior specialist. Uh staff is recommending that the board approve the board certified behavior analyst position for the 2627 school year. Um Mr. Conland, do you have a presentation or you just want to describe it real quick? >> I can describe it really quick. Perfect. >> So this is a 2-year grant-f funed temporary position. Um and then during the 2728 school year, the staff will bring a recommendation to the board if we feel the position should be extended and then at that time the cost will be absorbed by general fund. But it's a two-year pilot. >> Sorry. And in this position, so a board certified behavior analyst provides both direct and indirect services. These services include instruction, collaboration, consultation, and professional development

298related to evidence-based behavioral methodologies and curriculum adaptations for students with significant behavior needs. So staff recommends that we bring this. >> Perfect. Thank you. You're welcome. >> Okay. Are there any questions? What is the cost of this position? It's board. It's funded. It's um >> it's being funded out of medical dollars for two years. It's about 350,000. >> Okay. Thank you. >> But fully covered by by the medical dollars. Great. Thank you. Okay. So, I think that was one of the basic questions. Any other questions from the board? >> Okay. I need Yes. >> So, so this is the board certified behavior analysts, but there are other levels down of behavior analysts, correct? >> Yeah. There are there's a registered behavior technician >> is is like more of like a a well-trained instructional assistant that

299works be just through the lens of behavior. Well, we're starting with this position >> and then we we could be bringing the other position to the board at a later date. >> Okay. And see how this Yeah. >> this works. I I'm very much in favor of this. I know when I've visited, for instance, Saddleback Valley, they have 10 board certified behavior special behavioral specialist plus several levels below that. So, a lot. and they started with just one and they quickly grew because it proved to be so valuable. And so I'm thrilled that we are getting this. And um it's also used not just for students in a in a special education class, but other students that may need help, right? >> Oh, 100%. Yeah. They'll they'll be working in consultation with general education and

300special education uh staff and students. Okay, >> great. Thank you. If there's are there any other questions? Okay, I need a motion. Um I need uh public comment. Hang on. Is there any public comment on this item? >> Okay, thank you. Um >> motion in a second. All in favor? >> I >> Great. Thank you. Moving on to item >> Jim. Jim motion seconded. >> Are we 11 or 12? >> 12. >> We're on 12. Okay. So, this is off by one. Okay. So item 12A is the re the resolution uh this item approval of resolution 9 uh approval of resolution number 26-04 resolution and order of the bay bianial trustee election and specifications of the election order voj. >> Thank you. So this is uh 2026. So we are in our election year. Um

301three board members um are up for election. And this will this resolution will authorize the Orange County voters to put uh combine the general election for November with the trustee election for the school district. >> Thank you. Um, and this ties this R election to the county, not the city. Correct. >> That's right. >> Thank you. Okay. Um, so this is a resolution. Uh, do we have any board questions? >> Okay. Seeing none, uh, do we have any public comment? Okay. November is coming. The record is being written right now. every vote, every close session report, every consent item, every legal cost, every public comment, and every decision this board makes. The parents are watching, the staff are watching, the teachers are watching, the community is watching, and in 6 months, voters will get a

302chance to respond. >> Thank you. Next speaker. This is the perfect time to discuss adding a residency affidavit process. >> Wait, I think it's not. >> I can't hear you. >> Do it again. Do it again. >> Is that good? >> Yep, you're good. >> This Oh, >> too close. >> This is too close. This is the perfect time to discuss adding a residency affidavit process for candidates and sitting trustees each year similar to what our families complete. This would seem to be an excellent governance item. >> Is that a residency verification? Do we can I ask a point of question? Is that something that we can add? How do we what's the process of adding a residency verification? >> Put in a bylaw. >> Just put it in a just a bylaw. >> Okay.

303Don't we have a policy or isn't that part of the It's part of the election process. You have to approve your residency in the city of which you're running. >> I'm Excuse me. I can't hear him and he's sitting right there. Can you please allow him to the respect to answer the question? Thank you. >> To approve the resolution. >> No, it's that I think I'm asking a question based on the comment of what's the process and do we need to do a process to add a residency verification because I know you have to do residency verification to actually run. for any vacancy or office. That's a precondition. >> Okay. So, we don't need a resolution for that or something. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Um Okay. Are there any other public comments? >> Okay. Thank

304you. Uh are there any board uh discussions or questions? No. Okay. Seeing none, this is a motion. Uh we need a motion to approve the resolution. >> Second. >> And we need a roll call vote, please. >> Member Kelly. >> Yes. >> Member Hills. Yes. >> Member Maltesky. >> Yes. >> Clerk Perry. >> Yes. >> President Morgan. >> Yes. >> Okay. Thank you. Now, we're moving on to our final item, which is the consent calendar, and we can approve this in a bulk, but we've pulled out T, U, B, and W. Correct? >> Yes. >> Okay. So, uh I need a motion to approve the consent. Are there any disc? >> Thank you. Are there any discussions? Okay. Board member uh student board member vote. >> Yes. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Thank

305you. I All perfect. So items B uh I don't have it in front of me now. Items B through S have been approved and we have moved TU and V TUVW off to um June 4th. Okay. Okay. So, this one does not have public comment. Okay. So, the next the final item is public comment. >> Okay. And we'll start >> on non-aggenda items. >> We'll start with uh students. Um, Samia and Lette, did you want to come together? Okay, that's fine. I just wasn't sure. >> This is regarding something different regarding the LCAP. I just >> Well, I didn't have a chance to comment on the LCAP because I had to leave, but I'm here. Just can I comment on the LCAP? >> Is that fine? Okay. Thank you. Hi, my name is Samir Sadul

306and my name is Lette Zinggali. We are sophomores at LBHS and have been reading the research and conversation surrounding class rank. We started this conversation after the 2025 LCAP committee when we identified the class rank topic as a concern for us and the overall mental health of the student body. Our current solutions include removing class rate entirely, keeping it as a cumulative weighted GPA system um or shifting to a decile system, meaning students would be rigged as percentages, so top 10%, top 5% as opposed to the current system where we have you'd be four out of 200. Since then, we have had conversations with the principles of surrounding schools, our admin team, Dr. glasses, superintendent, student council, student senate, the LCAP panel, LBHS, LBHS staff, LBHS counselors, college counselors, and the admissions officers from different

307colleges to gather sufficient data to inform our research. At first, most students opposed removing rank, worried about how it would affect their college acceptance rates. However, after researching the topic more deeply and its impact on overall admissions performance, many students realize the irrelevance of this number. Overall, Sime and I have concluded that a student should not be feel defined by a number. Their successes and achievements are not always demonstrated by getting an A or being the top of their class. Sometimes success lies in pursuing a passion or an interest, something that's not shown on a transcript. Even though we have accumulated significant data and student voice, we are not in an adequate position to make a decision this year as we still need more input and conversation from the broader community. However, we would like

308to make you all aware of this topic as it has been raised in several councils and will continue as a conversation into the next school year. Thank you again for listening to our ideas and developments. Feel free to reach out with any further questions or input. Thank you. >> Thank you. I don't I know I just want to briefly comment it. Um, thank you for coming up and saying that we did discuss it briefly deciding that since it's such a a a in-depth conversation that we want to bring it back with future research and and that needs to occur and have that discussion. So, thank you. >> We're also currently reaching out to the regional coast college admissions counseling department. Um, they currently have a survey being sent out to any colleges and admissions officers

309that are within that um team. So, we're just waiting to see if that um survey gets approved and will be sent out shortly. So, thank you. >> Terrific. Great work. Thank you. >> Okay, next speaker. >> Okay, a couple. Uh, yes. Um, Erin Bryman, Emily Ralphing, Shaheen. >> I'd like to illuminate what is happening in this community at the hands of some very loud um members of this community. It's the same people who helped get the board majority elected. It's the same people across the same platforms. They are moderators on Next Door who immediately delete a post when it's contrary to the moderator's narrative. The moderators are also sensible Laguna people. These are people who are elecuting on the same Facebook page and managing the page. They're um sending out misinformation, disinformation, flatout lies, and

310they're making comments that to the effect that if you didn't move here 200 years ago, you don't matter. You don't have a voice. That's a messed up ideology. Worse, they're on Instagram spewing misogynistic, racist, and hateful tropes in general, but about other members of this community. They're not just trolls behind devices. They come here to meetings. They film children. They say negative things about student board reps. They say horrible things about students and staff. And they have threatened threatened staff with bodily harm. It's egregious, out of control, should be handled legally. Not okay. What I want to say is that this is not what this community is about. Laguna Beach has a rich um legacy, cultural legacy, and a history of welcoming marginalized LGBTQIA plus community. People looking for a safe haven if they couldn't

311find it elsewhere. Anyone who wants to move here because they want to start a new path and they recognize how incredible this school district is, thanks to the legacy and decades upon decades of incredible staff who taught me and the incredible current staff who are now teaching my children. These people, it doesn't matter whether you moved here 200 years ago or two seconds ago, you are welcome. They're the people that come to meetings. their coaches, their PTA chairs, their room parents, they are welcome. This extends to Dr. Class and his lovely family. He showed us immediately his leadership, his expertise, his wisdom, his experience, his thoughtfulness, and his care and concern for kids in this community. He and his family are welcome. People who act hateful are not. This community is not about that. Um,

312your legacy right now is that of cruelty and incompetency, the current board majority. And um I don't really know, you maybe think that you've won a battle right now as evidenced by your countenances on Tuesday in the last several months, but look at what you've won. You are destroying an incredible school district and you have done and you are uh doing more irreparable harm to children. And if that's your brand and if that's what blows your skirt up, no one wants to be on your team. And yeah, I the countenances are smug right now. And so I'd like to end again with the words of Taylor Swift. In a previous meeting I said karma's going to track you down. I would like to evoke some of her poetry from an earlier song. People who act

313like that that are rude and mess with children. All you are is mean and a liar and pathetic and alone in life and mean and mean and mean. And someday there will be a reckoning because history does not look kindly nor does karma on people who mess with children and the incredible people who help them every day. History does not look kindly on people who mess with children and spew hateful things out into the public. So, a big fat no thank you to anyone who acts like that. That does not does not do anything for children and therefore the wider community. >> Thank you. Order, please. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Emily Ralphing. I'm an alumni of these schools, a parent, and a grateful volunteer who has been lucky enough to wear many

314hats over the decades my family has been a part of LBUSD. I'm here tonight because something I cherish and respect is being harmed. And I believe this community deserves to hear it plainly. For over a hundred years, this community has done something remarkable. It has shown up for its children. It has invested in its schools, nurtured its young people, and built an educational tradition that I am personally a product of. These schools shaped me. They shaped my children, and it has meant everything. And the data reflects it. Our students are performing at the top of California and above national averages across nearly every measure. 85% of last year's graduating class earned college credit before they ever left our schools. Our suspension rates are at historic lows and our learner profile developed with the whole child

315in mind is guiding students to become empathetic citizens, creative problem solvers and empowered learners. This district is delivering this staff is delivering delivering our students, our teachers, our site administrators and our and all of our staff are delivering every single day. So let me be direct about what I've watched this board major majority do in the face of that. I have watched you tear apart staff, past board members, student representatives, three superintendent, and student achievement. I have watched Sensible Lagona, the organization that campaigned side by side with this board majority in 2024, actively work in this community to to disparaged student learning and undermine public confidence in our schools. They are promoting a narrative that is the direct opposite of what the evidence shows. And this board majority has not just allowed it, you have

316enabled it. D, when you were elected board president, I told you to your face how fearful I was. I told you I was deeply worried about what Sensible Lagona's influence over this board could do to our schools, our staff, and our students. I told you directly that I was fearful of the men that founded that group, and what I fear has come to pass. What I have witnessed is the dismantling of one of Laguna's most treasure treasured legacies. Not the Irvine Bowl, not a building, not a SE ceremony, not a pool facility. The tradition of a community that shows up for its children. The traditions of neighbors investing in neighbors. The tradition of a city that understood for over a century that excellent public education is the foundation of what everything else is built on.

317This community has given this board majority a year and a half to do the right thing. A year and a half of packed board meetings, a year and a half of public comment, a year and a half of parents, teachers, alumni, and community members standing on this podium asking for accountability and restraint. And what we have received in return is more chaos, more division and more damage. So let the record show the erosion of public trust in this district, the dis dysfunction on the dis, the dismantling of institutions this community has spent generations building that will be laid at the feet of this majority and sensible. >> Thank you. Thank you. NEXT SPEAKER. WE announced earlier that we're only going three minutes and the mics are cutting off. We are trying to move this meeting

318along and and we can all work together to do that. Thank you. >> Hard to follow those two women. My name is Shaheen and tonight I wanted to say during this very special staff appreciation week, I first wanted to acknowledge Dr. Glass and his family who trusted this district to do right by them. Many of us are deeply sorry that we could not do more to prevent what happened here this week. And to Anna, Karen, Chad, Betsy, Mike, and Michael, and every other staff member sitting in this room or watching from home, I hope you looked around earlier today when 200 of us parents were in this room. We are going to be here valuing you and we will do everything we can to make sure that you do not suffer the same fate of

319Dr. Glass. Because what happened over the last 48 hours was not leadership. It was a hostile takeover of a high-erforming school district without transparency, without community input, and without public process. This board majority fired a superintendent, appointed an interim superintendent, and hired a new superintendent. All within two days while shutting out the very family, staff, and students this district exists to serve. This level of coordination required to fire a soup, install a new soup, and then hire a new permanent soup within 48 hours could only occur through ongoing private alignment and serial communications outside public view. The public understands that, including the press release that came out what, two hours while you were all in the middle of a meeting, and is precisely why so many in this community continue to raise Brown Act violations

320against the board majority. And let's be clear about what it is what is being destabilized here. In 2025, 77% of our students scored proficient in English and ELA and 72% in math and statewide those numbers are 48 and 37% respectively. These are not easy benchmark. CASP is calibrated to college and career readiness. It is not a minimum competency standard. So this narrative that our kids are getting C's in English and math is just false. Lugi Beach Unified is one of the highest performing districts in our state and our country quite frankly. Yet instead of protecting this public good, this board majority has created an environment of fear, retaliation, and instability. Public employees are lawyering up because the fear of retaliation and investigations. Dedicated professionals are being threatened with mutual separation agreements and termination for cause.

321Staff morale is collapsing. And Mr. Pearl. As a fellow member of the bar, I want to address this directly. What this community is witnessing is not transparent governance. It is a calculated effort to thread the narrowest possible line of technical, legal legality while undermining the spirit of public accountability. When Brown Act concerns are raised and there are delays, silence, and procedural maneuvering that appear designed to let statutory challenge deadlines lapse rather than openly address the underlying conduct that may be strategic lawyering, but it is not public stewardship. These board members are only able to continue operating this way under the cover of legal process and legal framing under your >> Thank you. Next speaker. Oh, excuse me. Can you call the next three names, please? Thank you. >> Brown. >> You said Brendan Stevens, right?

322Yeah. I'm Brandon Stevens. Uh I currently have three daughters who attend Laguna Beach Unified Schools. I also attended Laguna Beach Unified Schools from K through 12. Um so this is important to me. Um I want to preface everything that I say tonight with this simple fact. I have no opinion on any individual board member or any of their perceived motivations for what what they've done. I have one dog in this fight. That's the health and well-being of this district and ultimately every single student that depends on it. Now, for the reason why I came up here tonight, the news on Tuesday that we fired or I'm sorry, mutually separated with our third superintendent in the past 18 months is deeply disturbing. I don't know why you're shaking your head. That's disturbing from any objective view.

323>> In 18 months, >> I don't know what you're talking about. >> You're not allowed to respond to public comments. >> Okay. Okay. We cannot engage in a conversation. Former board you're not allowed to respond to public comments. >> Order, please. Order, please. Order, please. >> Can you please put two minutes on the timer? Order, please. Okay. I think the clarification is this board has only hired one. I don't need clarification. I'm stating the fact that there was three superintendents in 18 months. I don't need clarification. I didn't blame you for it. I said three superintendent in 18 months. Is that factual or not? I >> I thought you said the board. >> You're not allowed to respond to public comments. >> God, dude. After I heard the news on Tuesday, I spent some time

324looking on the internet, looking up data, trying to understand, hey, is this normal? No, it's not. I found an interesting statistic. 5.4 4 years. That is the average tenure of a superintendent according to the AASA. 5.4 years. So I asked this board, what are you doing? I also spent some time reading through the bylaws that govern this board and I ask each of you now, are you holding yourself personally accountable to the laws that govern this board? Are you? There's a few that really stood out to me. There's a they really stood out. Keep learning and achievement for the students the primary focus. Two, maintain yourself in a dignified and professional manner and treat everyone with civility. The third one is finally take collective responsibility for the actions of this board. All the members of

325this board are elected leaders. The public put their trust in you and with that trust comes a responsibility. There comes a responsibility that you reciprocate that trust and you listen to those people who put you in office. In my experience, great leaders lead by example. Great leaders put the needs of those that they're they're entitled to shepherd in front of their own. So, as of last Tuesday, for better or for worse, the slate's been wiped clean for you. What I can tell you now is we are all watching and you need to get this right. You've used up all your mulligans. Thanks. Order, please. Excuse me. Please, before you start, excuse me. We have We indicated at the beginning that we will not be clapping and cheering and shouting. It is a disruption and it

326is slowing down our process. This is a business meeting. This is not a pep rally. So, I appreciate you following that guidelines. Please do jazz hands, but let's continue. Thank you. >> Steve Macintosh with Sensible Lagouna. Um, just for clarification purposes, Jason Valoria uh begged to be let go before this board was put into place. So, that doesn't count. Then there was an interim superintendent that is by name interim temporary one superintendent. Folks, um Manoj put on a great presentation the other day uh talking about uh the state trend uh of attorney costs going uh very high, a lot of lawsuits, etc. Another item that the board inherited that required attorney fees is a violation of the CBA contract that went on for four years, resulting in a misappropriation of 1.77 million of taxpayers money,

327supplying discounted healthc care benefit premiums to most of the employees that were in this room. In July of 25, this board voted to absorb 850,000 of that benefit o overspend. The healthc care booklets had not been distributed and could easily been reprinted. And that would have uh required uh each employee to u pay anywhere between $50 to $500 more per month. Currently, an $850,000 gift that this board gave to the employees. Each board member stated the employees did not know about the misappropriation and should not have to refund the money. Another gift of nearly a million dollars. That doesn't sound like people out to get staff and teachers, does it? Yet, here we are with madeup attacks on in generalized uh fabricated statements with no details or merit. Each board member sitting here stated that

328they wanted to give teachers all the tools they need to teach and be able to improve academics in this district. Speaking of attorney fees, we understand that each P uh request has a cost and attorney needs to review each one to make sure proper redactions are in place, information releasable. Since December 26, 2024, just 10 days after this board was seated, Jay Doe has made over 40 P requests. 40. This certainly puts in a major major strain on district resources and raises attorney costs. The Isuziaak has made over 14 P requests. I took a look at one of her recent requests and noticed that her email was 92651 upstanders atgmail. I thought that email sound familiar and sure enough I looked and lo and behold Jay do has the same exact email. So it's obvious

329Miss Zuziak is Jay Doe and has been uh pretty busy running up attorney costs for the district on her own and blaming them on the school board majority. Unbelievable. The moral of the story, there are no morals with some of these people. baseless attacks, fabricated issues, promotion of chaos by fuel and union leadership. In fact, the end of the employee march a few weeks ago, the protest signs were thrown in my yard, terrifying my family and my daughter, and they were concerned what would happen next. >> Yeah. Laugh. My daughter who had many acceptable point of order in here are >> others. Please, please refrain from profanity. >> They need to follow the rules, too. >> Please refrain. >> My daughter who had and love many of the teachers protesting here tonight and others watching

330was absolutely devastated by her actions. >> Times up. >> Enough is enough. As we all said many times >> him the same thing I'm telling you guys. I'm asking him to stop. >> Okay. Who's next, please? >> D, do we have any more comments? >> He had to go to bed. >> Did But Ketta, have you already spoken for for non-aggenda items? >> No, I'm speaking for Jeb and then I'm going to speak for myself because I'm actually >> I think you can only speak for one. You can't speak for somebody else and then yourself. So, pick one. >> Oh, me. I'm better. And I'm still awake. >> I know. >> We love you. >> I know Don Austin. I liked Don Austin, but to appoint him without any board process or community input is

331disgraceful. The board majority has been strategizing for this since the first of six closed sessions in March. Once again, you are you did this behind closed doors in the dark. You cannot help yourselves from bad to worse. >> Next speaker, please. >> I was going to root leaves because student. >> Yeah. >> Is that okay? >> Yeah. How many more cards do we have? about 10. >> Please ask. >> We're going to need to extend time. >> Um, that was kind of crazy. Um, but it's like been like that for as that sign says and all these signs say 18 months and November is however far away, 6 months away. Um, I wonder why you ran for this position. And if the bylaw says that if students are the number one priority, it doesn't seem

332that way. It seems like you're manipulating bylaws, shifting power, and doing other wild things that don't seem to make much sense. But um if you're worried about students clapping or people clapping if that's disrupting the meetings, I personally don't think it does because if someone's walking down and the next person's walking up, I think the public showing what they agree with should be what a representative um school board should um be allowed to do. But that's just my opinion. Um, in terms of a pep rally, um, there is a pep rally tomorrow at our high school. I can almost guarantee if the board showed up to our pep rally tomorrow, they would be disappointed with the reception that they would receive from the students at the high school. if they thought what happened today there

333was 200 people disappointed and upset. If you do that in front of 600 and 700 high schoolers who are also upset which is crazy. They shouldn't be worried about this. This is a school board. You should make education good for us and send us off into the world. But people are worried about a school board which is kind of crazy. But if you showed up to that pep rally, I know you're busy. I'm not saying you have to. But if you showed up to that pep rally, I think you would be disappointed and it would make you question why you ran. This is the second time there's been signs all over this room. This is a terrible look for our district. It says shame, shame, shame everywhere. You should change something. Miss Perry, you are

334my dad's fourth grade teacher. The first teacher he ever had in this district. He loves this district. I love this district. I think you love this district. I urge you to change. I believe you can. I think all of you can change for the better and turn this around for our district, please. Thank you. >> Okay, we'll do uh the next three. >> I'm going to need a motion to extend. It's 11 o'clock. I know we're outside of our bylaws. >> Okay. All in favor? I >> I Jim >> I'm sorry >> I need we're making a motion to to extend extend once >> that's true >> but if there's no objection to the extension >> basically >> okay I think everybody would love to speak so I don't think anybody will challenge us so

335if you want to extend >> okay well thank you for pointing that out >> I'm talking about board members >> oh I don't think Um, well, we have to have a we have close session still. Um, next speaker, please. How many speakers do we have left? >> Uh, I'll do the next three. Uh, Logan, Erica, Elizabeth Bates. >> Sorry. Hi, my name is Logan Marshall. not speaking today as a student board representative, but now as a community member. I wasn't originally planning on speaking, but I just had to quickly put up my speaker card because I think that it needs to be acknowledged the absolutely deplorable behavior that we just witnessed in this board meeting and President Morgan, I'm speaking to you as a student and just from my fellow students with them being referred

336to in that manner and it not being addressed by anything more than watch your language is absolutely ridiculous. We have a motto in this district that's every student every single day. And the fact that these students are going to perhaps not feel safe to speak their mind at these board meetings because they're being treated like that by people that are attending our board meetings is absolutely insane and ridiculous and it cannot be something that continues. It's not something that we stand for as a district and it's not something that we stand for as a community. And certainly personally, and I hope you share this personally, it's not something that I stand for myself and something that I really don't believe you do. And I think that that needs to be handled differently and more effectively

337in the future. Speaker. Thank you. Next speaker. >> All right. A long time. All right. Howard, when you called me called my understanding of the First Amendment illiterate, you did not answer the ethical concern. You proved it. I am not confused about your right to speak. I am not questioning your judgment as a trustee or I am questioning your judgment as a trustee, your use of political messaging while sitting on a school board and your willingness to use numbers in a way that disparages district staff instead of clarifying the truth. I also saw your comment on George's Substack that included remarks about Joan and Dr. Glass. The threeline is clear. Discredit the people, raising concerns, minimize the substance, and frame criticism as confusion of factional politics. That's not leadership. That's deflection. This is why many

338of us were worried about this during a long time ago during the bylaw change. Not because bylaws are exciting, but because process shapes culture. When power is consolidated and disscent is treated like a problem to manage, this is what follows. So, I'm not going to pretend that this is normal and I'm not going to ask this board majority to become something it has already shown us that it's not. My message tonight is much simpler than that. The community, the parents, everyone here, we're watching. We're watching you. the record, the numbers, the process, the communications, the votes, and the way this board treats people who question it. So, you may have the votes tonight, but you do not have the public trust. And November is coming. >> Thank you. Next speaker, can you call the next

339two uh three after that? As this as Elizabeth comes forward, can you call the next three, please? >> Yeah. Good evening, board. Um, I'm Elizabeth Bass, lifelong Lagona resident, mom of four, two of who have already graduated the district and two who are currently at the high school. D, you're my fourth grade teacher, too. In fact, I was in Tyler's class. Um, I'm here to explain tonight why so many parents in this district stay silent. I speak for an army of parents who are unfortunately afraid of speaking up publicly, who strongly support the board majority, especially D. Perry D. They are grateful for your transparency and fairness. They've watched the coordinated harassment spear smear campaigns and retaliation from groups like Fuel, especially now as they ramp up their attacks on D. Perry because her seat

340is up in November and they want to flip the board majority. The irony is thick. Derry is the one who fought hardest to hear every voice in this community and demand real transparency. I have lived the retaliation myself since I stood up and supported the board majority and fought to restore our 70-year multigeneration generation generational Irvine Bull tradition. My own children have been ostracized and treated differently at school. One teacher in particular who sits on this day is is my son's favorite teacher for four years. And now this teacher barely speaks to him because of my advocacy. My son is heartbroken. This is exactly why parents stay silent. They have children in the district and they don't want them targeted. And I believe this to be one of the reasons Dr. Glass is leaving this

341district. Everyone is talking about shame today, so I will join in. Shame on you, trustee James Kelly, for forwarding my private email with a hostile note to previous board members and to Shaheen, the president of Fuel. What business do they have in my personal communications to this board? Shame on you, Trustee Malchesky. I sent you my petition in good faith. I did not have to. I trusted you with that information. Yet you called many of your friends on that list as you admitted on record twice during the February 12th meeting and you told them exactly how they were supposed to think. What you did was unethical and you should be censured immediately. To D Perry, I am so sorry for the bullying, slander, and harassment you have endured. You are a kind, fair, and dedicated

342public servant who has given decades to this district. Rest assured, you have a strong, silent army of parents standing firmly behind you and this board majority. To Sherry Morgan, Howard Hills, and Degan, we see you. We support you. We appreciate how you continue to govern ethically despite all the nonsense that fuel and other groups have created. Their vid vendetta against you is personal and filled with spite. Many parents are watching more will. >> Thank you. Four majorities will protect their voice. >> Thank you. I have this is our meeting. I will run it. Thank you. >> Next speaker, please. How many more do we have? >> Um, next four, Carol Nelson, Kimberly, um, uh, Vivian Tran, and Basa. Good evening, Carol Nilson, and I'd like to address the May 12th announcement of Dr. Glass's departure

343and what I felt it revealed about leadership. Elections do indeed have consequences, some breathtaking, for instance, empowering a rogue majority. Lesson learned was issued before the body was cold. That announcement was worthy of a swaggering new dictator minutes after a successful coup. All it lacked was logic, transparency, or even a nod to hum excuse me um humility or grace. But who makes such a proclamation? Leaders who fear the chaos they created and need to squaltch the crescendoing revolt? who have grabbed more power now fear the new a new newly awakened community during this transition period. The announcement goes it's imperative that our students continue to receive the highest quality education. A board acknowledging that its actions threaten existing highest quality education. That's breathtaking. Later, families should expect schools to continue operating as usual, knowing their

344chaos is a threat, but creating it anyway. Breathtaking. The epistle refers multiple times to a transition period. But transitioning to what? To taking total control into your hands, now conveniently freed from annoying professional grievance. transitioning from professional input to input from those who will back your retention of power rather than backing our school's retention of excellence. The announcement closes with commitment to provide stability and progress. We had stability. Now we have chaos of your creation. And you're saying just trust us. That's breathtaking. Progress toward what? You already have acknowledged our highest quality education. So progress must refer to increased power via a new duly grateful superintendent. Is stability actually chaos speak for doing it all your way, unfettered by professional opinion, except perhaps for those opinions of your attorney. Our beloved schools are transitioning to

345something. Meanwhile, May is transitioning to November and another election which we all know will have consequences, maybe even breathtaking ones. Thanks. >> Thank you. >> Want to apologize. Um I think Lette, did you want to speak alone? Okay. Okay. I didn't understand that when I asked if you guys wanted to speak together. You can come now. Good evening students, staff, community members, and board representatives. My name is Lette Zingali, and I'm a sophomore at LBHS. This year, I've had the honor of serving on Dr. Glass's superintendent student advisory council. Over the past few months, the council has created three goals that Dr. Glass and the students wish to complete over the next year. One of them was student voice. Based on all my interactions with Dr. Glass, I firmly believe that he was a strong

346supporter of student voice and choice and have experienced this firsthand. On the council, my peers and I approached Dr. glass with numerous questions and ideas, some realistic and some not. However, he always made it a point to respect our perspectives and answer our questions in a professional manner. Truly, I believe that Dr. Glass represented and respected our Laguna Beach community, constantly making efforts to learn about our history and culture that we all love so much. Since this was my experience with Dr. class. I'm incredibly confused as to why he was removed from his title as he has had little to no opportunity to make both positive or negative impacts on this district as he just got this position. Just a few hours ago when this meeting started, I had soccer practice. During warm-ups, there's always

347a topic of conversation or gossip, you could say. Um, and today, unfortunately, it was about the actions of this board majority. Although most of my teammates had no idea what a schoolboard was or how it functions or even why they removed Dr. Glass, they all knew that there was a lot of chaos happening at Thirsten this afternoon and that people were protesting. Everyone was very confused and that's why I'm here today. Not to argue or be disrespectful, not to applaud you for your actions, but to ask questions. And my question is why? Why was Dr. Glass removed? We all know that it's written that it was a mutual agreement of separation between Dr. Glass and the board, but no one knows the logic behind this decision. I understand that I'm only a student and have

348little to no experience in the realm of school politics. However, I do know that I need to strive to know what I don't know, and in this case, what the community does not know either. Even though the board is entitled to their decisions, I believe that student voice and the broader voice of the community should always be respected and heard. One lesson I learned from Dr. Glass is that a lot of schools are leaning towards an authoritarian style of learning and teaching. What this means is that teachers and leaders in education are not listening to student voice. On the superintendent board, all of the students recognize that a shift from authoritarian learning to student choice learning is essential for the growth and success of this district. Due to this research and conversation, it's concerning to

349see how the actions of this board have recently been perceived in a more authoritarian manner. Which is why I urge you all to listen to the community, students, and teachers, as these are the people who make the whole district as prestigious of a school as it is today. Thank you. She's gone. Okay. Uh Vivian Tran, I'm very relieved I don't have to go after Kimberly. Um usually I don't just make it up as I go along, but today I was compelled to speak because I was so impressed by the community that showed up. Um, I don't think if you I don't know if you all know, but the different schools each grade they make their own chats and we have hundreds of people on them and you have lit a firestorm. The chats have been

350exploding with comments. People are paying attention and today there have been so many people I've never seen at a board meeting before. Before the past year and a half, it was like Shaheen and a handful of people at this time. And you see what you have done. You have brought so much attention to yourselves and people are talking and they're not just school chats, we have neighborhood chats. So we have huge neighborhood chats. Everyone's starting to ask questions. Neighbors are talking to neighbors. We're not talking about just people who have children in school. We're talking about voters. Every single person who has voting capability is starting to open up their eyes. We have celebrities who are in the room. Like this is bringing a lot of notice. And thank you. You have made this so

351easy for us come November like people are demanding answers. And then today, you know, to to mention that maybe there's like groups that are attacking you and political organizations. Like we are not like mastermind like political people like we're literally like moms and dads like moms worrying about driving their kids to carpool about what are they going to eat for a snack. That's why we have a table of snacks because we don't want our kids to be grouchy. Like these are the people who are here. People who just have their children and love their children. And there are dads who are here who are coaching their kids sports and we're talking about it at baseball. I'm talking about it at PTA functions when we're running Bonanza and Jogathon and staff appreciation. We are talking to

352other parents. So, thank you for giving us such a great and easy narrative and so much to talk about with everyone else so they can really understand what's going on because it was confusing but now it's very polarizing. Um, additionally talking about lead I mean wonderful like you were giving me so much material to speak about with other parents like talking about charging them while for what like is it so that we can pay Mr. Pearl more and I have to congratulate you. You have the most cushy job sitting there for 7 hours getting to watch this. I mean, you have hit the jackpot. This is not your bread and butter. Like, a dysfunctional board is like your lobster and caviar. So, congratulations. You've hit the holy grail. Um, but come November, everyone is paying

353attention. There are brand new people in the room. Every single time, every single day, we are explaining what is going on. and more and more people are very interested and want to know what's going on. So you are making our job easy for us, for the parents who care about this district and that for that we at least can thank you. >> Last Was that the last speaker? Do we have one more? Oh, >> perfect. Please continue. >> That was hard to fold. I hadn't planned on speaking tonight, but after Howard's comments, um, I needed to because I want to go on the record and correct it right now. Howard, you may have freedom of speech, but you do not have the right as a sitting board member to lie in your ads and mislead

354the public. 1.04 million. Stop the 1.77 million. Our CBO has said it over and over. Stop your narrative and stop ignoring the fact that for two years we overpaid. You don't get to just wipe that away. Shake your head. Yes, it is true. >> It is true. >> So the auditors and our CBO are lying. That's good to know. Okay. >> So you >> you cannot respond to public comment. You also >> you also in your ads do not have the right to insult staff for exercising their First Amendment rights. And you do not have the right to attack employees and then claim they need serious counseling because they disagree with you. This just shows how disconnected you are living in your own mind. And Mrs. Morgan and Mr. Hills, your so-called sensible Lagona supporters.

355Mr. Macintosh who threatens parents here who threatened the other union president and I. We sit here as staff members and union leaders and we have to sit here and be threatened and he gets to sit on a committee. We had to file workplace violence complaints against him and he gets to sit on a f Logan. You were right. It is their job to keep staff and students safe. It's board bylaw 109. They don't do it. They reward their supporters who threaten staff and parents. I have a first amendment right. I don't lose those rights because I am a district employee. I don't lose those rights because I'm union president. I have every right to fill out a public request form just like Miss Bates, just like Mr. Macintosh, just like you did, Sherry, just like

356you did, Howard, just like anyone else. I don't give that right up because I work here or I'm union president. So calling that weaponizing or attacking someone is false and it's ridiculous and it needs to stop. It doesn't just go one way with your supporters. My role as president of the union is an elected position. I was unanimously elected and reelected by the classified staff in December. I am not paid for this. I don't get a dime. It is volunteer work. I do it because our members deserve respect and representation. Do I like spending 30 to four hours uh 40 hours a month in meetings pulled away from my students and my family? No, I don't. Do I enjoy sitting through seven hour? Do you have any further comment? >> No, I think the other

357people have left or they've already commented. >> All right. Thank you. Um going to make a comment. I can't remember what it was. Um okay. So we have um we need to adjourn this meeting and then we need to open >> we just need to >> adjourning to closed and then come back. So okay terrific. So we um at this time item 13 we're going to adjourn to close session. I need a motion. >> Motion a second, please. >> To close session. What? Yeah. I need a motion to adjurnn to closed. >> Motion to to move to closed. >> Thank you. >> All in favor? I. Howard. Howard. We're going to go to closed. >> Okay. And while we're gone, they we can get have the room cleaned. >> Oops. Sorry.