MVUSD Regular Board Meeting Board of Education 3/10/26

001Mhm. >> Mhm. >> and to open session at 5: 10 p.m. Roll call, please. El Hearing Student Board Member present. Joanna Leiva present. Justin Jackson present. Rhodes Williams present. Sammy Luna present. Brandy Clark present. Alejandro Alcantar present. Esperanza Arce present. Robert Verdi present. Susana Lopez present. Thank you. The Board of Education met in closed session to discuss board deliberation regarding public employee discipline, dismissal, release, and non-re-election, a conference with labor negotiator, a conference with legal counsel regarding existing litigation, a conference with legal counsel regarding anticipated legal um anticipated litigation, settlement of claims, and the superintendent's evaluation. The board gave further direction to district staff and took action on the following. A motion was made by Trustee Luna and seconded by Trustee Leiva and approved the settlement resignation agreement with employee number 58603. This was approved

002by the Board of Education by the following vote. Sammy Luna, yes. Brandy Clark, yes. Johanna Leiva, yes. Justin Jackson, yes. Rose Williams, yes. For a vote of five yes and zero no. A motion was made by trustee Jackson, seconded by trustee Leiva. Uh by a vote of five to zero to the following members voting yes. With the following members voting yes. Sammy Luna, Brandy Clark, Johanna Leiva, Justin Jackson, Rose Williams. And the governing board approved to reassign employee 14395 Excuse me, 143959, employee number 147811, employee 179330, and employee 203194 194 from their administrative position at the end of the 2025-2026 school year. A motion was made by trustee Luna and seconded by trustee Williams and approved settlement of claim 633748. This was approved by the Board of Education by a following vote. Five yes, zero

003no. With Brandy Clark being yes, Sammy Luna being yes, Rose Williams being yes, Justin Jackson being yes, and Johanna Leiva being yes. A motion was made by trustee Luna and seconded by trustee Leiva and approved the settlement of claim of 651 settlement of claim number 651270. This was approved by the Board of Education by the following vote. Five yes, zero no. With Brandy Clark saying yes, Sammy Luna yes, Rose Williams yes, Justin Jackson yes, and Johanna Leiva yes. A motion was made by trustee Leiva and seconded by trustee Jackson and approved the denial of settlement claims claim number 668049. This was approved by the Board of Education by the following vote: five yes, zero no, with Brandy Clark saying yes, Sammy Luna yes, Rose Williams yes, Justin Jackson yes, and Johanna Leiba yes. And now

004I will move to student board member hearing for the Pledge of Allegiance. Please stand. Put your right hands over your heart. Ready, begin. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. You may be seated. Now we are moving forward with our land acknowledgement. The Moreno Valley Unified School District acknowledges that our schools and district sites are situated on the ancestral homelands and traditional territories of the indigenous people, including the Cahuilla, the Gabrielino Tongva, Tongva, the Luiseno, and the Serrano. We honor their connection to this region and sincerely appreciate the opportunity to educate our students on their traditional homeland. Their continued presence, resilience, and vital contributions remind us of how of our responsibility

005to honor and care for this land and its people. We're now moving on to item E3, future board meeting dates. Okay, at this time there's no updated changes, but potentially there will be one coming school soon. Now we're moving on to the school report. Student board member hearing. Can I please have Jenna B. Covington, student representative, come to the podium? Good evening, board president Ms. Clark, board members, superintendent superintendent of schools, cabinet members, and the Moreno Valley community. My name is Jenna Covington, and I'm the ASB president and proud student of Moreno Valley High School. And I'm here tonight to share the exciting and wonderful events that are taking place at our amazing school. For our past events, the Moeller robotics had an outstanding season in the First Tech Challenge, the FTC, finishing second overall

006in league standing with a 23-11 record across all matches. Despite challenging alliance pairings, the team remained highly competitive with many matches deciding very close scores. At the qualifying tournament, Moeller robotics was eliminated at the semi-finals, but earned a prestigious first place Inspire Award recognizing excellence in engineering, teamwork, and outreach. Uh we would like to give a shout out to Emmanuel Hadamio for an amazing performance for the first ever Festival of Winds Honor Band hosted by Cal Poly Pomona. He had an amazing opportunity to work under the direction of Dr. Ricky Buddha, director of bands at CCP, and the talented Frank Ticheli. On February 10th, we welcomed all of our future Vikings on campus by introducing them to a major club and activities on campus, as well as introducing them to our athletics programs and that

007are offered here at Moreno Valley High. This event, hosted by our very own Mr. Singer and Mr. Nuno, is an annual event that also includes a campus tour by our amazing ASB students. Speaking of ASB, ASB held another senior event taking our senior class to Huntington Beach for our first ever senior bonfire. The kids enjoyed a beautiful sunset followed by lots of laughs, music, and mobile history. Oh, sorry. But we would also like to highlight Miss Valentine and her virtual business academy as they attended the trade show with their business learn the game at Cal State San Bernardino. They competed against over 60 other virtual businesses across Southern California and we would also like to recognize Miss Valentine who is spread hearing our CTE program at Moreno Valley High with events such as our second

008annual passions to professions where she brought panelists from different professions sharing their knowledge for their careers. Uh this winter at Moreno Valley High we saw uh a lot of the Vikings dominating our athletes in in the department. Five of our seven sports teams made it to CIF this year highlighted by our girls and boys basketball teams who both won their league championships. This made six league championships in a row for our girls basketball team and for our boys it's the first league championship in five seasons. Our boys team went on to reach the semi-finals earning a spot in the CIF state championship bracket. Our boys soccer team this year moved up to the highest league in our conference after winning a league championship last year and they did not disappoint as as they placed second

009in the league. Both boys and girls wrestling teams showed off their dominance this year as they pinned their opponents each and every week. This year we were able to crown five league championships. Andrew Ramirez, Caden Cryer, Fatima Montanez, Jasmine Aguila, and Candy Sierra. Since our last board report we were able to watch as our girls volleyball team went to another historic CIF run win in their second CIF championship in the last 3 years. This accomplishment is even more special for our Lady Vikings as this was coach Jennifer Strong's second championship make her the making her the only coach in Mobile history with two CIF championships. We were also able to see two of our wrestlers go on a win for CIF championship. Caden Cryer won the CIF championship in wrestling at 215 lbs while Andrew

010Ramirez won a CIF championship in wrestling in the heavyweight division. Our winter sports teams were truly historic for us here at Moreno Valley High as our boys basketball team won their first CIF state championship playoff game beating Central Valley Christian before losing it in the second when the rough heartbreaking fashion with two points. Our girls basketball team all state playoff game after competing in extremely difficult CIF division one playoff bracket. Caden Cryer also made school history by placing sixth at the state of California at 215 lb division. This winter season marks one of the most successful athletic seasons in our history. Building community is one of our high our main high points of focus at Moreno Valley High. We recently held our second blood drive of the year where we were able to collect 83

011donations which led to saving 249 lives. So far this year we have collected 176 donations. We're off to a strong start with another successful blood drive in May and this looks like the best year for our donation since before the pandemic. We'd also like to spotlight our robotics club who partnered with Moreno Valley Public Library to help prove hands-on STEM activities for the community of Moreno Valley. In a world of social media we pride ourselves here at Mobile to have a strong and positive digital footprint. So, we are extremely proud to say that our community engagement online reached nearly 1 million views over the past few months. We have used social media to engage engage our community to help highlight all of the positive aspects in our school clubs and sports and activities. We would

012like to give a shout out to our Viking alumni and Ballet Folklorico instructor for engaging our alumni this year's winter event by inviting back alumni to participate and dance once again on the Viking stage. This event was made more special as a group of alumni included three current Moreno Valley teachers, Jasmine Torres of Amanda Amanda Elementary, excuse me, Leo Huerta of Badger Springs Middle School and of course our very own Vanessa Huerta of Moreno Valley High. In February, we stood proud as the Vikings celebrated 930 of our students at this semester's 3.0 assembly. Nearly 50% of our students at Moreno Valley High had above a 3.0. 271 of these students were about a 4.0 while we had five students with a perfect 5.0 GPA in the first semester. We'd also like to celebrate this year's

013Teacher of the Year Viking alumni, Mr. Ben Benitez. He's over there. And he graduated from Moreno Valley High in 2007. Upon graduating from UC Riverside, he returned to teach math and avid in 2012. This is the second time Mr. Benitez won Teacher of the Year at Moreno Valley High after winning his first Teacher of the Year award during his second year of teaching. He's currently our ASB director and our head football coach. Another spotlight goes to our senior Areli for winning the student of the month. Areli is an ASB leader and a Ballet Folklorico dancer. She is currently planning on attending UCR after high school. Events we're looking forward to in the upcoming weekends to start off our Friday Pi Day event. Every year our math club helps celebrate Pi Pi Day with an all

014day event held for students in the MPR. And math club creates a fun and safe environment for our students to play games and participate in activities to engage our students in the world of mathematics. Next we have our multicultural week. This is a week where hosting or hosting and celebrating all of the wonderful cultures that are represented in our campus. with And at highlights including our land acknowledgement on May or Monday along with our parade of nations. Tuesday our Bad Lake Folklorico will help us celebrate um our essential South America and Wednesday we'll be highlighting our Asian and Pacific Islander students. Thursday our BSU will help us celebrate our African-American students and Friday finally we will conclude our week with a multicultural affair. And now we look forward to April 18th for this year's prom

015held at Palm Springs Air Museum. And before we leave off we would like to send off um our morning announcements. Always always push for Vikings to remember to keep that Jedi mindset with justice in all that we do. Push for equity, appreciate our diversity, and promote inclusivity. Valhalla. Thank you kindly. Any comments? Yes. First, thank you so much for your presentation. It was wonderful. I just want to say congratulations for all the amazing things that your school is doing all around and I just think it's so admirable how all of your students in every aspect is just so dedicated to everything that they're doing and prospering. And then um I just want to say that I think it's so cool that your school got to also experience the virtual enterprise trade show in San Bernardino

016cuz I also got to experience that, and I think it's such an eye-opener for all of the students that want to go in the business field or just do something in that of that nature. So, just congratulations and thank you for your amazing presentation. Trustee Leyva. Thank you. President Clark, I just want to say thank you for coming here and presenting to us everything and all the wonderful things that your school and, you know, it's doing. Um I would like to congratulate a all the students who in one way or another, you know, were recognized or were able to obtain a trophy or a medal at the different competitions. You have so many things. Like, I was like, which one should I talk about? But, there's so many things to talk about. And, you know,

017it is just amazing what is happening uh with the students. And, um but I don't want to pass also um to congratulate the teacher of the year. It is incredible, you know, that you guys Yeah, teacher of the year. Congratulations. And, it was it is important that you highlighted that he didn't only obtain it like, um you know, teacher of the year once but twice. So, that is, you know, above amazing. So, congratulations. Thank you. Trustee Jackson. Thank you, Board President. I'll pick up where Trustee Leyva left off. Congratulations again. I love that you made a conscious decision to come back to the school district that you graduated from, and you also taught in avid. So, thank you for giving back to our students. One other point that I wanted to highlight that your school

018is doing. Thank you, Genevieve, for your presentation. Saving Helping save 249 lives through you guys' second blood drive. I'm I'm a my my blood type I'm a universal donor, so I'm always giving blood. So, um thank you all for for uh prioritizing that at your school site. And then also, it's incredible that you all have five students with a perfect 5.0 GPA for the first semester. I I've said this often. I was just 10 years ago a high school senior, so that is incredibly hard to do. Few and few can do that. I was nowhere near close to that. Um but that's just incredible talent that you all have there at your high school. And then lastly, I would just highlight as well um Again, there are so much to highlight, but I I just

019love the the athletics that you all are doing there at your school as well. Seems like you guys have a lot of talent there. So, um thank you for sharing that report with us. Thank you, Trustee Williams. Thank you, uh President Clark. Do we have Moreno Valley students here in the audience? Raise your hand. Yeah, we have a few. Former students. Yeah. Stand up. You're going to get a applause for all the students that participated in this presentation. Uh what really stuck out to me in your presentation was 390 students with a 3.0 or better. That's more almost half of your school population. And that's that's a big applause to to all the teachers and to all the students to to embrace that and engage with that. Um the the athletics I'm always proud of

020uh from Moreno Valley and the robotics. That was That was something uh really interesting. I know Mr. McPherson when he started that um Um, prior to COVID, he was supposed to go to a national championship with a team at that point. Um, the achievement that I've seen come from Moreno Valley from when I first went there till now has been amazing. And it's I I want to congratulate everybody in this room. How many of you went to Moreno Valley that are in this room? Okay. Applause to all of you. And that's basically all I need to say at this point. Thank you, Trustee Luna. Thank you, President Clark. Miss Covington, thank you so much for your presentation. Thank you for highlighting all the wonderful things that are going on at Moreno Valley High School. Um,

021obviously I'm not going to repeat what everyone else just said, but um, congratulations and on your continued success and look forward to uh, seeing you at Are you senior, right? I'm a junior. You're a junior. Okay, great. I look forward to seeing you next year. Thank you. And great pre- great presentation and I just want to highlight to remember to keep that Viking Jedi mindset. Great presentation. Now we're moving on to the Superintendent's Report. Dr. Rubalcaba. Thank you, President Clark. So, before we begin my official report, I think it's important that we acknowledge that we have a new member of our governance team with us. Trustee Jackson, welcome to the team. Claudia has prepared a gift bag of swag so you can wear it with pride. And so, for our audience and for our viewing

022audience as well, um, Trustee Jackson was sworn in at 3:00 right before we went into closed session. So, he is officially now a member of our MVUSD Governing Board. So, I am happy to share some of the wonderful stuff that's happening in our district. As always, we begin with our vision, mission, and portrait of a graduate. And it's always great to see our high school students come and present about their high schools and really exemplify and demonstrate these proficiencies as they speak. So, thank you Genevieve for speaking and thank you for really demonstrating all of these in how you presented yourself. As a district, we commit ourselves to empowering students to be future ready and a positive impact the world through a equitable education for all students to make sure they are prepared for college,

023career, or whatever awaits them as they become an adult. And we commit and promise that when our students leave us, they're going to be adaptable, collaborative, communicative, critical thinkers, individuals that are creative and who persevere. And we do this by focusing on the five essential goals that you see up here. And throughout my presentation, I'm going to be demonstrating I'm going to be presenting to you some students who demonstrate these as well. So, we're going to start with a very special recognition. If we can have um help me, is it Amaya or Amiya? Amiya. Amiya Mendoza, if you can come up to the podium, I'm going to have Dr. RC join you up there as well. So, Amiya is our district spelling bee competition champion. Congratulations, Amiya. Eighth grader from Butterfield Language Academy. So, just

024know, be prepared. They're going to put you on the spot to spell some words. But congratulations, Amiya. Uh any members of the board want to ask any questions? Oh, nice. What was the toughest word you had to spell? Um probably the last word. Yeah. Which is like volition. Because um I studied um like for example like French roots and Latin words and when they told me it was French, I was thinking like oh like maybe I have to spell like o u cuz like you know like o in French, but then something in my gut just told me like to spell it regularly and then You went with your gut? Yeah. Good job. Thank you. So Mia, I know that you're joined with by your family, so if you want to have them come up

025as well and stand in front of you. We're going to do some pictures with the board, so come on up. Come on family, don't be shy. You're all welcome. We're all friends. You want to scoot this way? Scoot this way. Scoot this way. How's that, Angie? Looks good. All right. All right, here we go. 1 2 3 One more. 1 2 3 Awesome. Thank you. Congratulations again. So also joining us tonight is Caleb Huerta who is our district spelling bee competition runner-up. So Caleb, come on up. Caleb is a seventh grader at Mountain View Middle School. Good Caleb. So you she got some questions, so you know that they got some questions for you, so you're ready? All righty. Trusty Jackson Again, same question. What was the hardest word that you had to spell? Uh

026I think my hardest word was apostrophe cuz that's like a word I type on a computer, but usually I mess it up on computer, so I have to use like auto correct. Well, good job. You did incredible. Thank you. Congratulations, Caleb. And Caleb, I know that you have family here as well. So, you want to have them come up? Dr. Rubalcaba, if we could change the screen. So, Caleb's picture's up. Sorry, there you go. If you want to take a picture of that, too. Okay, don't move yet. Uh Ms. Chiza, did you get it? Yes? You got it? Okay, perfect. Right. Congratulations again, Caleb. So, before I change the slide, I want to share that we are fortunate to have many amazing educators as part of our MVUSD team. And every year, it is very,

027very difficult to identify the four that stood out that particular year for the amazing hard work, their dedication to our students, and their achievements not only in the classroom, but outside of the classroom as peers and mentors to our students. We are fortunate that we have four amazing educators with us tonight who are our four teachers of the year, but are also our nominees for the 2027 Riverside County Teacher of the Year program. I'm going to have them come up one at a time, and then but wait till they're all here, and then we have them all here, and then we have the board ask some questions. But, one of them you already know because Moreno Valley High School's presentation stole our thunder a little bit, but Mr. Benitez, if you can come on up.

028Mr. Benitez is a dedicated educator for nearly 13 years. Currently serves as ASB teacher at Moreno Valley High School, supporting students' leadership and engagement on campus. Also, in our audience, Kylie Overly. Kylie, if you can come on up. Kylie busted a cheering section. Kylie is a special education teacher at Valley View High School who's been serving our students for nearly 7 years, sup- supporting and advocating for the success of all learners, especially through her work with PBIS. Congratulations, Kylie. John Francis. John, come on up. John has proudly served our district for 20 years and currently teaches English and credit recovery at Vista del Lago High School, making sure that our students uh stay on track for graduation and for future success. Congratulations, John. And Mr. Chris Johnson. Who also brought a cheering section with him.

029Sixth grade math and science teacher and true to cybersecurity at Palm Middle School, proudly served our district for nearly 28 years, inspiring his students with his passion for learning and keeping them guessing in terms of what color the beard's going to be. So, I'm going to let each one of them share a few words. We're going to start with Mr. Benitez. If you want to share a few words with the board and with uh those of anybody who's joining you, and then obviously we'll have the board ask questions as well. Mr. Benitez. Uh thank you, Dr. Rubalcaba, for having me. Uh you know, the board and uh district personnel, I appreciate you guys. Thank my parents for coming to support me. My wife, Michelle, thank you for coming to support me. And of course, my

030amazing principal, Mr. Contero, thank you for coming to support me. Obviously, uh super proud to be able to be acknowledged as a teacher of the year this year. Uh especially being from Moreno Valley High School myself. Had three brothers graduate from Moreno Valley High. Moreno Valley is home, and so thank you very much. Appreciate you. Any questions or comments? I have a comment. >> Okay. Actually, we'll go ahead and start with Trustee Leyva first. We'll go in order. I have a question and a comment. Um congratulations to you and your family. Um you know, I feel very proud of your achievement, but um what's the secret? Cuz I'm not only once, but twice. Uh I mean I don't know. Work hard? Uh I I I always uh will credit my parents because I always tell

031them that I got my you know, my work ethic and my drive from my father, and my compassion and my heart from my mother, so it's probably them. Thank you. Trustee Jackson. And your parents seem so proud right now of you. My question is you decided to come back and first teach AVID. You had the opportunity. Could you explain to our audience just how vital AVID is for our students? Uh I mean, me personally, I was an AVID student myself. Joined the AVID program when I was in seventh grade when it was first at its uh inception at Sunnymead Middle School. Uh I was an AVID student at Moreno Valley High School. I was an avid tutor, avid teacher, avid coordinator. I actually was avid coordinator at Vista del Lago as well. Um, it transforms

032lives and, you know, it transformed my life. Uh, I tell the students all the time, there's no greater equalizer than the right education. It doesn't matter where you're from, doesn't matter where you're from, your certain life circumstances and the obstacles, you you give the person the right education, you walk into any room with your head held high knowing you belong. So, uh, avid to me is an absolute necessity for especially for a city like Moreno Valley High School where avid was made for students that look like me, Exactly. that, you know, walk and talk like me and we we need programs like that to help our students to to succeed in life. Thank you and congratulations. Thank you. Trustee Luna. Well, uh, Mr. Jackson stole my question. Um, I had an opportunity, it's a comment.

033I had an opportunity to go with Mr. Benitez to San Diego for the avid conference. And, uh, what you demonstrated in leading that group, um, just kind of blew me away. I never told you that. Um, but, uh, I now know why you've been teacher of the year twice and I think avid had a big big part of that. But, uh, you as an individual and your drive, uh, have have brought you to this point. Thank you very much. Trustee Luna. Mr. Benitez, besides avid, did I hear right that you're a the football coach and ASB director? Yeah. Wow. >> That's why I got a lot of gray hair. Yeah. So, in my opinion, ASB and football, those are like the best of both worlds right there. So, can you can you maybe share with

034everyone, you know, cuz they're two different groups of students. So, you're like you're sharing yourself with two different groups of students. How does that How does that How are you impacting them and how are they impacting you? Um well, when I transitioned from Avid to ASB, uh you know, I really had the vision of you know, I with the Avid kids I had when I was originally Avid coordinator I had about 730 students or so as the in my Avid program, but we have 2,000 students. So, the only way to be able to impact everybody was to be in charge of everybody. And so, that's why I transitioned from Avid to ASB because I had a greater role in the entirety of everything, the school culture, the the atmosphere, if you will. So, you know,

035I tell the kids all the time that we're the heartbeat of the school. So, if we don't work hard, you know, culture dies. So, you know, just being able to be able to be in that position to help at my alma mater to see the students thrive, to see the culture uh you know, thriving on campus, that was the vision, that was the goal, and I think we're doing a good job. As far as being a head football coach, um I played football at Moreno Valley High School, you know, my brothers played football at MoVal. Uh this was always the dream, this was always the goal, and I use that education to kind of mirror that goal and that dream, and you know, my little brother told me this past weekend I'm living my dream,

036so you know, living good. You appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you for being a great role model for our district. >> Thank you. Thank you. I don't have a question. I just want to say thank you. Thank you for your hard work, your dedication, and most of all, thank you for choosing to stay in Moreno Valley and choosing to um impact our students is I was greatly appreciated. So, thank you for choosing us. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Benitez. Now, I'm going to say something that I think everybody's seen is um I think you you can probably credit some of your success to how humble you are, as well. So, thank you so much for being who you are. Appreciate it. Thank you. All right, that's it. You can You can take a break. No

037more sweating. Kylie Overlees is coming up. Kylie. All right. Now, there's some pressure on you, because Mr. Benitez has done a great job, and you have a cheering section back there. That can quickly become a booing section. So. Uh well, thank you, board and superintendent, for this wonderful honor. I very much appreciate it. Um I'm joined by my family, my husband, and my two kids. Um and I think I'm super lucky, because the reason I do what I do is because I love the kids, and I care about making sure that they are safe and taken care of, and my entire team of people that love making sure they're taken care of are also here. So, thank you. And then, I'm also joined by my principal. There he is. Um who really does go above

038and beyond to support me and the PBIS program, and all of the great work we do at Valley View High School. Because we are such a fantastic school, and I'm so proud to be a part of the staff at that school. Thank you so much, Kylie. Board trustees. I just have a comment. I just want to say thank you. Thank you for your dedication and your hard work. Um I know that it takes a special heart and a special person to teach our kids that are in the special education program. And um it's a lot of work and dedication. So, thank you for doing that. My question is who who was the person that first inspired you to become a teacher? Um it was actually my neighbor. Um she is a teacher. She actually retired

039a few years ago years ago. I didn't know what kind of teacher I wanted to be but I knew I wanted to be a teacher and then I went into her special education classroom and I fell in love and it was the only thing I knew I wanted to do after that point. So she really pushed me to become a teacher especially teacher for students with learning disabilities. Thank you for doing that here in Moreno Valley Unified. Thank you. Kylie, how long have you been teaching? Uh this is my 13th year teaching. So I've taught as a special ed I've taught the gamut. I've been elementary, middle, high school and done all of it. Thank you. Just want to say congratulations. Thank you so much for all you do. Like Miss Leyva said it takes

040a special person to to have a heart to do everything you do and then now being recognized for it you're obviously a standout teacher. So thank you for everything you do for our district. >> Thank you. The heart wants what the heart wants and I could see that in your smile. I could see that in your passion and it's no wonder you were selected. Hands down you are the best and the greatest and you are at one of the very best high schools in our district. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Kylie. Thank you. Mr. Francis, come on up. Okay, so just know that when we presented Mr. Francis this recognition it was with his team who are pictured there. So he has a posse too. We got So know that he's not alone. Mr.

041Francis. Thank you. Um I am from Vista del Lago High School. Here tonight with my wife. Who is also a former teacher of the year for in the district and also a national teacher of the year. Um, and her mom, Penny. And my principal, Mr. McCain. Thank you. Um, and um, just wanted to say thank you. We've worked I work with my wife who is a team teacher who's been doing team teaching for um, more than 15 of the 20-some years we've been teaching there and intensive reading intervention. Um, and we've had a been lucky enough to have our students work incredibly hard and uh, um, make significant improvements. When I first came to our school, we were graduating about 62-63% of our students. Um, I've watched the school continually improve while I've been there.

042Their graduation rates over 95% Our our scores are significantly better than they once were and it's been a a school to be proud of and it's been fun watching it grow and growing with it over that time. Kristi Lovett. Thank you for everything that you do. Congratulations and my question is how is it uh, what is it that you do to have that connection with the students so they can see the importance of the work that you do. Um, you just try and you have to be yourself so um, I'm I am what I seem to be and um, everything's everything's really well planned. It's bell to bell. We try and make try and meet the students where they're at and then help them build from there. And um, between the because I have a

043a permanent PLC, we're always she can my wife can see the flaws, things that aren't working. We can make adjustments mid-day instead of waiting until the next year the lesson rolls around. And that helps, but having two personalities, having a great support staff around us and great peers has been a massive help. And uh success builds on success. Once the kids start seeing that the work they're putting in is paying off, they're willing to keep putting in the effort. Thank you. Mr. Francis, no no question, but just a comment that it's incredible to have a teacher of the year power couple. Um that's phenomenal. So, thank you for what you're giving back to our students and reading is fundamental. Reading changed my life, so thank you for facilitating that for other students. Thank you. Um

044Mr. Francis, I uh I'm kind of in third position here, so a lot of my questions are getting stolen right out of the gate, but you mentioned you meet the students where they're at. And what do you what are some of your best engagement strategies that you seem to use with most students? Um first thing we do that's a bit unusual is they just 60 seconds they just settle in. There's always a photo we um and but it it resets the room. So, when students come in to us, whatever's going on in the hallway, going on in other classrooms, gets a chance to go away, all the banter, and we just settle in right from the beginning. And it um allows us to see where they are. They'll do their warm-ups. We get going, but

045also with their their reading levels. My students come to reading anywhere from kindergarten to fifth grade um entering high school. Um the average reading level when they leave is going to be in the seventh or eighth grade range. So, they're making significant progress while they're in there. But somebody who's reading at a first grade level, if I keep throwing ninth grade material at them, it's going to frustrate them. And so, just letting them know once they know they're where they that they can start progressing from where they are. It opens things up, but they're also not if they're reading at first grade level, they're not like first graders. They're high school kids. And so you have they can have those discussions. And so we don't dumb it things aren't dumbed down. We're working on high

046school standards. We're just finding ways to help them get those standards in ways that they're going to be able to be successful with. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much for inspiring and motivating our students. You're definitely another standout that many of our teachers can learn from. Thank you so much for everything you do for our district. Congratulations. And like the others, you've taken every they've taken everything, but you are phenomenal and thank you for meeting our kids where they are. That's so important and it shows and the the dynamic duo is everything. So I appreciate you and congratulations again. Thank you very much. Thank you so much. Mr. Johnson. Save the best for last, right? >> Absolutely. So I I want to share something that when we went to your classroom and we

047we recognized you with your kiddos, I think they were happier than you were about the recognition, which was pretty cool. So it was so it was really nice to experience that with you. I'd like to first just thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ because he is my inspiration. Anything that's good about me is him. I I love my job. I think it is the best job in the world. There's no other job where you can make such a difference every single day in the lives of so many kids. I too am a fellow Moreno Valley Viking. Graduated 1986. I too am a two-time teacher of the year. The first time by far was much better than this time. So, no, just teasing. And in fact, about 44 years ago, I actually played football for

048Coach Rhodes Williams at Moreno Valley High School. So, we can imagine how old he is. Uh when I got out of high school, I I joined the Marine Corps. My My goal was to become a police officer, but when I was in the Marine Corps, I had a lot of opportunities to to train and to teach. And I discovered early on that that's what I wanted to do. And when I graduated from high school or college, I actually graduated in 3 years cuz I wanted to start teaching right away. I had five different choices from five different districts. I chose to come back to Moreno Valley because I love the kids here. And so, it's always been my desire to make as much of a difference with these kids as possible. Since we have such

049low kids and such high kids and such medium kids, it's really hard to teach these kids, but it's such a pleasure. It really is. I'll start out. I don't I don't have a question. I see your passion. Thank you. I don't have a question. I have a comment because I feel that you answered, you know, like my question already and everyone else did it, too. That when you love what you do, it's not a job. It's part of your life. Right. So, thank you for doing that. I really appreciate that you have that love for the kids, for what you do. And you know, that's I have no words to describe, you know, how valuable it is that to me. Can I pause for a second? I forgot to introduce my lovely wife. I'm here

050with my lovely wife. And my amazing principal, Dr. Reynolds. Thank you. Um I will make my comments brief so we can head over here. Um but I would just say um I can only imagine how vibrant your classroom is. So, thank you for giving that. And also just the trend that all of our teachers of the year purposely chose to come back to Moreno Valley Unified School District. So, thank you for doing that um as well. Now, over to you. Mr. Johnson, you know you played football in another century now. So, it makes us equally old. Hear, hear. Yes, sir. And uh it's it's nice to know that where your education started, we know where it's continued. And um I'm a little surprised to see you teaching cuz you did mention, I remember you mentioned

051you were going to be a police officer. And you went into the Marines. And then when I saw you in the classroom, I was like, "Wow." And um thank you for coming back to Moreno Valley. And it speaks to the village that surrounds you. And for that, I am grateful and thankful. Continue the great work, sir. Am I correct in assuming that your beard is something that says embrace who you are? It's after I got my COVID shot. I just it became a mood beard. Oh, okay. >> No, it's just something during distance learning. I I I began to dye the beard and let the kids pick the color. And so, if they're doing their job, they're doing what they're supposed to be doing, they get to pick the next color. So, it's been That's

052awesome. That's a great technique. Take note. So, I ladies especially suggest grow a beard. So, I was trying to make it deeper and say you're trying to show the kids just be who you are, you know, but >> That isn't who I am. I'm a Marine through and through. This is something that gets the kids to understand that there's more to life than what you look like. >> Yes. Yes, absolutely. So, it it is it is kind of that lesson, but thank you. Thank you for representing our district the way that you do. Thank you for coming back. Thank you for loving our students the way that you do. We definitely we embrace your passion and we share it and we appreciate you. Congratulations. >> Congratulations. Thank you for being so amazing. I too was

053going to say something about your beard. I was going a different route though. I was thinking you're twice you've won the teacher of the year, so you represented two colors and I was hoping by the time you retire, there's about six or seven colors cuz you have seven teachers of the year. You're you're just amazing cuz you deserve it. >> be here that long. Well, you deserve everything because you give everything and it is greatly appreciated and valued. So, thank you and congratulations again. Can we give our teachers of the year more one more round of applause? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Can we come up and do a picture, please? Yeah, come on up. Mhm. I know maybe I

054can get one strand. Thank you again for joining us. So, continuing on some district highlights, as we continue to look for opportunities to reach out to our community, I want to just commend and highlight one of these. Uh, Ed Services, working with our media team, has developed a series of really quick, but easy to understand videos designed to empower families with guidance and tips and information around a lot of the initiatives that we do here in our district. Um they've titled them worth knowing. You should have received the first one last week. They're incredible. I hope we don't get sued by NBC cuz they have something called uh the more you know. Um but uh we do appreciate uh the fact that we're getting so much visibility on these. As we progress, they're going to

055be part of what we send out on a very routine basis. And it's just an opportunity another opportunity for us to reach out to families in a different way. We know that we're all stretched for attention span. Our families get bombarded by texts and emails from parents, from teachers, from the school, from the district. And we want to make something that's easily digestible. So, we hope that you're enjoying these as we proceed. So, kudos to our Ed Services team and kudos to our Media team for that as well. On February 7th, we held our District Honor Choir. This is a very special performance by our top earners through a competitive process. And they performed that evening to a packed house. It was amazing. So, kudos to our kiddos and kudos to our team along with

056Renee Wurzenero who oversees the entire program and Mr. Nick Sterns as well for this amazing performance. On February 7th, we held our kickoff to our Black History Month, our Soul Fest. It was amazing. I held it at Canyon Springs this year. We had an amazing crowd amazing crowd, amazing energy, and just a lot of really good really good performances and information for our families. And just another way again to as a community come together in celebration of the diversity that's so rich in our community. On February 19th, we held our State of the District. And this is an opportunity to again showcase some of the accomplishments that we've done and we've done we've um had throughout the year. But it's also an opportunity for our community to hear from us in terms of what are

057we doing to support some of the needs in our district. It's a huge celebration. We have a a lot of amazing perform student performances. But again, it's just kind of a year review of all the things that are happening in our district and it was another amazing event. Again, want to thank our performing arts center staff, Renee who oversees all the talent, and our team, our cabinet, and our board for their work in putting this together. On February 21st, we held our district honor band. Similar to our choir performance, it's our prestigious ensemble of performers with expert guest conductors and this is an opportunity for them to refine their skill set and again perform for our our community, which is one of the reasons why we learn how to play an instrument. On February 24th,

058we sent a bunch of our kiddos to our California State University Discover Days and this is an opportunity for students to start exploring the opportunities that are made available to them through our CSU campuses. Here you see a lot of our kiddos who are at San Bernardino just experiencing what's awaiting for them if they choose to participate or to go to a four-year college. On February 26th, we held our newcomer summit. This is an opportunity for our students who are new to our district and new to our country to really hear from our team in terms of the supports that are available, but more importantly is an opportunity for us to hear from them in terms of what are the things that they need. How can we further support their indoctrination and their and their

059entrance to our district, especially for students who are learning a second language as they join our district. It's very very important that we hear from them in terms of how to support their needs. On February 28th, we held our STEAM Unity Expo and reading challenge at Vista del Lago. A packed house. I know they came from the top for the tacos as well, but they also came for the the performances and the activities and it was just a day full of STEAM activities and experiences for our students. We had community partners, universities. We had our Warcraft Rangers is going to be our after school provider for next year. Be there as well. And they It was just another opportunity for us to showcase some of the things that are happening in our district. And on

060March 2nd, we finally held the ribbon cutting for our Raven Health Center. This is a new building at Vista del Lago, which is going to house all of the students that are in in involved in our health careers pathway. It's an amazing building. I'll show some other pictures as well, but get there you get to see um some of our students actually demonstrating some of the uh opportunities that they're learning and through that health care center. On March 5th, we held our community connection for literacy day, also known as Read Across America. So, our students got to um experience special visitors, including many of our trustees, who visited our schools and basically read to our kids. So, it's another opportunity for us a community to come together and support reading as an initiative. Every month,

061we present to our board our attendance report for that month. We are continually on the path of trying to get to that 95%. We know that when we get to the winter months, it gets very difficult. It's also the cold and flu season, but if Northridge, Vista, and Butterfield can do it, that means everyone can do it. And it's really about striving to 95. We know that our kids learn best when they're in person and present in front of their their teachers and our talented educators. So, again, please continue to support our kids being here in person. We also want to highlight some of our facilities projects, and this year we're going to focus on our I'm sorry, this time around, we're going to focus on our high school modernization. So, at the high schools,

062modernization is focused on a lot of different needs. One, our high schools are continuing to to grow and expand in terms of programs, but also we know that our students are different clientele. So, how do we make our schools welcoming and and with a sense of belonging? There you get to see the amazing cafeteria at Canyon Springs. Who wouldn't want to eat there? I mean, when I went to school, we didn't have a cafeteria like that, that's for sure. But again, it's another opportunity for them to congregate in a shared space and kind of break bread. So, it's a really nice place for them. At Vista del Lago, we talked about the health academy. So, you saw the picture of the building on top, but on the bottom, you get to see what they look

063like. And all the way to the right, you can hardly see it in the picture, but that's an a replica of an actual ambulance that was built into that building. So, it gives our students the opportunity to practice what it's like to be an EMT. And that's a fully functional ambulance with lights and horns and sounds. The back has all basically if you as if you were in an ambulance, it's exactly like that. So, and the reason that we showcase is that is that we really as a district on a mission to build our career technical education pathways because we know that not all of our students are going to go to a four-year traditional college or university, and they're not all going to go to a community college as well. Some of them have

064already predetermined that they're going to go through a CTE pathway and want to earn money immediately post high school graduation. So, this is an opportunity for them to do so. Um the health academy building is just one of the investments that we're making. So, very happy to share that this is another significant one. When our board um a a board brought forward the opportunity to put another bond campaign in front of our voters in our community, one of the priorities is making sure that we do something about March Mountain. It had not been touched in terms of modernization for a very long time. We had done some modeling remodeling of the gym, and some other spaces, but not a total school renovation. So, I'm happy to share that this is the graphic design of what

065the school is going to be done with the work going to be done with a focus on career technical education. The board asked us to prioritize the March Valley March Mountain renovation, and I'm happy to share that construction is going to begin in the summer of 2027. So, I want to thank our team led by Mr. Romero and Ms. Lopez, who really pushed that forward to make sure that we hit March Mountain as soon as possible. And some of the other projects that we're working on, I mentioned March Mountain, but really a focus on career technical education, barbering, patient care, pharmacy technician, child development, and film, TV, and video production, and that's going to be be part of the modernization. At Moreno Valley High School, we're looking at public safety as another career technical education

066pathway. And at Vista del Lago, we're looking at residential and commercial construction, and we're partnering with our union, our trades local trades organizations to make that happen. And lastly, just as some save the dates, and one very important one that's coming up is our open houses. So, we hope that our board will join us at those, and we'll be sharing those invitations with you through your calendar invites. You're going to be very busy the last few weeks of the school year. And that's my presentation for this month. Thank you, Dr. Revocable, for an amazing superintendent report. Now, we're moving forward to recognitions, and we're going to start with E6A. Um can I get a motion to approve a resolution 20252665 Cesar E. Chavez Day on March 31st, 2026. So moved. May I get a second?

067I'll second. Miss Claudia, please call for the vote. Student Board Member Huing. Aye. Miss Leyva. Aye. >> Mr. Jackson. Aye. Mr. Williams. Aye. Miss Luna. Aye. >> Miss Clark. Aye. This motion has passed 5-0. And Oh, excuse me. 6-0. Um and I am going to Board Member Huing. May I please have Veronica Zepeda, principal of Tanga Elementary School, and Jessica Almazan, bilingual switchboard operator and receptionist from the Human Resources Department, come accept this resolution? Cesar Chavez was born on March 31st, 1927. He lived his life dedicated to improving the lives of thousands of farm workers through sacrifice and tireless commitment. After 8th grade, Cesar Chavez was forced to quit school and work in the fields to help support his family. During that time, he developed a strong work ethic and respect for the farm workers.

068Cesar E. Chavez believed it is not enough to teach our young people to be successful while forgetting about progress and prosperity for the community. He spent his lifetime forging a legacy of service, conviction, and principled leadership that served as a beacon for Americans. In honor of his of his life and legacy, we are proud to proclaim March 31st, 2026 as Cesar Chavez Day. And we encourage schools to participate in activities that teach people about the contributions he made to this country and all of its people. Good evening, Board President, members of the Board of Education, Superintendent Dr. Rubalcaba, and distinguished guests. My name is Jessica Almazan. I am the district's bilingual switchboard operator in the Human Resources Department. Thank you for the opportunity to accept accept this resolution this evening. Cesar Chavez's legacy reminds us

069that dignity, fairness, and respect in the workplace are worth standing for. As we recognize Cesar Chavez Day, may we continue the work of uplifting workers and serving our communities with courage and unity. Good evening, board and superintendent and cabinet. Thank you for this honor to be able as the principal of Towngate Elementary to be here tonight. And I promise you that at Towngate Elementary School, this resolution will not just be a piece of paper. Um we will bring his legacy to life through meaningful educational activities for our students and service learning opportunities. We will teach our students about equity, justice, and non-violence. And most importantly, we will instill in them the belief that no matter the obstacles they face, they have the power to create change in their own lives and in their community. Thank

070you to the Board of Education for cementing the commitment to our students and our diverse community. We look forward to honoring his legacy and reminding every single student who walks through our doors, "Sí se puede." Yes, it can be done. Thank you. Moving along to E6B, approval of resolution number 2025-26-66, National Library Week, April 19th through 25th, 2026. Can I get a motion? I'll make a motion. Thank you, Trustee Williams. Second? I'll second. Thank you, Trustee Luna. Ms. Claudia, please call for the vote. Student board member Hearing? Aye. Ms. Leyva? Aye. >> Mr. Jackson? Aye. Mr. Williams? Aye. Ms. Luna? Aye. Ms. Clark? Aye. This motion has passed 6-0. And Trustee Williams, we will present this resolution. Could I have to the podium uh Jeff Jones, coordinator of elementary education, Monica Sanchez, district librarian, and

071Vanessa Contreras, library media assistant three. The Board of Education recognizes April 19th through the 25th as National Library Week. We recognize the essential services, resources, and opportunities that libraries provide for everyone. Our library staff plays an instrument instrumental role in connecting students to services and resources, such as space resources, digital tools, college and career exploration, and many other resources beyond printed materials. The value of a library is more than just sharing books. Libraries provide doors to knowledge and open the doors to expand our students' imaginations. They provide comfort and endless world of discovery. Libraries provide students of all ages and backgrounds with the necessary resources to succeed and thrive. During National Library Week, we celebrate how libraries and our amazing librarians enrich our schools. Thank you. Very much. Good evening. Just a Right on the

072on the little stand. There you go. As you can tell, I've not done this for a while. Um I just uh good evening, board president and members of the school board of education, superintendent Dr. Rue Vocaba, and uh cabinet members, and all distinguished guests. I am Jeff Jones, as mentioned, and I just uh just uh briefly would like to just say as an old-timer, um I believe strongly that the library is more than just a room full of books. Um it is uh the heartbeat of a school, I believe. Um and uh just as blood circulates through our bodies, as it's doing right now through your heart, I think that uh our wonderful representatives of librarians know how important the circulation, not just the blood, but circulation of books is to our students. And it's

073it's just as important now, I believe strongly, as it was 60 years ago when I was in elementary school. I really strongly believe that, even in light of all the information age that we're living in. So, we want to get books in the hands of our students, and these are the ladies that do that. So, uh our first district librarian, I'd like to introduce right now Monica Sanchez. Good evening. Good evening, board president and members of It's not working. Good evening, uh members of the board of education, superintendent Dr. Rue Vocaba, and distinguished guest. My name is Monica Sanchez. I'm I'm the district librarian, uh supporting all K through 12 uh library media assistants under supervision of the elementary education department. And thank you for the opportunity and the honor to accept the resolution recognizing

074upcoming National Library Week. This evening, um I look at National Library Week uh okay. As an opportunity on how to uh to reflect on how we as a district are supporting our school libraries. Libraries first and foremost are safe havens. They're the libraries where students go when they don't know where else to go when they feel like they don't have another place to go. Um our library media assistants go above and beyond their job description to create safe welcoming places spaces for all students and they often do this by applying for outside funding. I want to take this moment to recognize Vanessa Contreras. Um who successfully did a Donors Choose project a little under a thousand dollars to create a gorgeous mural at Vista del Lago High School. Um so I highly recommend checking out

075her mural which she has dubbed the calming corner where students can decompress. Um and we have another library media assistant who was unable to be with care with us today who also did a successful beautification project that is still in progress at Cloverdale Elementary Carmel Cruzen. Um all of our library media assistants have learned how to be creative in order to support students and get them the resources that they need with limited funds or no funds. Currently seven of our schools have gone without funding during the school year. Um we do see all your donations from the board, from parents, from the community and I just want to thank you for your continued support. Um and reiterate that the best way to continue to support our library media assistants is through donations and consistent funding.

076Thank you. Congratulations. Thank you. Moving on to E6C, approval of resolution number 2025-2667, Adult Education Week, April 19th through 25th, 2026. Can I get a motion, please? I'd like to make a motion. Thank you, Mrs. Leyva. Can I get a second? I'll second. Thank you, Trustee Luna. This was a motion was made by Trustee Leyva and seconded by Trustee Luna. Please call for the vote. Student Board Member Hearing. Aye. >> Mrs. Leyva. Aye. Mr. Jackson. Aye. Mr. Williams. Aye. Mrs. Luna. Aye. Mrs. Clark. Aye. This motion has passed 6-0, and this resolution will be presented by Trustee Leyva. Um can I have to the podium Dr. Elsa Magaña, principal of Moreno Valley Community Adult School, Ms. Lisa Cayetano, ESL teacher from Moreno Valley Community Adult School, and Dr. Cynthia Aguilar, academic advisor from Moreno Valley

077Community Adult Adult School, please? Thank you. The Community Adult School of the Moreno Valley Unified School District has a unique and vital role in our community. In addition to giving individuals the opportunity to finish their high school education at their own pace or obtain a equivalency certificate, GED, it also offers citizenship and English as a second language classes to members of our community. For individuals looking to obtain or advance in employment opportunities, it also offers technical and career training programs in the medical field such as phlebotomy and pharmacy technician. The Board of Education for the Moreno Valley Unified School District is pleased to declare April 19th through the 25th, 2026, as California Adult Education Week. We are grateful for the work and accomplishments of the instructors, students, and administration of the Moreno Valley Community Adult

078School. Thank you. Good evening, um, President, uh, Board President, Mrs. Brandy Clark, Board Members, Dr. Rubalcaba, Superintendent, uh, Superintendent, and Cabinet. Thank you for being here, and distinguished guests. My name is Elsa Magaña, and I'm the principal of Moreno Valley Community Adult School. It is a privilege to serve, um, the adults in our community, my community, um, and thank you for the invitation to come and accept this resolution. It is a privilege, and, uh, with me I have our two teachers who would like to say a few words with you guys, and thank you for your support. Good evening, Board President, members of Board of Education, Superintendent, Dr. Rubalcaba, and distinguished guests. My name is Lisa Gaytan, I'm an ESL Advanced Teacher, or a a teacher at the, um, Adult School. Thank you for the

079opportunity to accept this resolution this evening. It is truly a privilege to work with our members of our community, um, who have chosen to come back to school and invest in themselves. Everyday we see students who are balancing work, family, and many responsibilities, yet still show up with determination and hope for a better future. At our school we witness success happening every single day. Students gaining confidence, reaching goals, and creating new opportunities for themselves and their families. On behalf of our students and staff, thank you for recognizing their dedication and for supporting opportunities that strengthen both our school and our community. Thank you. All right. Good evening, Board President, members of Board of Education, Superintendent Dr. Rubalcaba, and distinguished guests. My name is Dr. Cynthia Aguilar, a CTE teacher at Valley, and proud academic advisor

080of the adult school. Thank you for the opportunity for us to accept the resolution that highlights our adult education students. It is a privilege to be here this evening because we are so excited to celebrate our students. They're resilient, they're dedicated. They're here to earn their GED, their high school diploma, take CTE courses because they want a better life for themselves, and perhaps even their children and their futures. Every day during Adult Education Week, we're hosting fun activities to celebrate their commitment. Some of these include a multicultural event that we're planning on having, a game night. I'm going to bring my grill. We're going to have a hot dog night. We're going to survey the students for their input for the fourth event. So, every single day we plan on having something different in the

081morning and in the evening, and we hope that you can all join us for these fun activities. Thank you. We are now moving on to agenda item E6D, the approval of resolution number 2025-2668, National Auto Autism Acceptance Month for A of Excuse me. Let me do this with respect. Approval of resolution number 2025-2668, National Autism Acceptance Month for April 2026. Can I get a motion, please? I'd like to make a motion. I'll second. Thank you, Trustee Leyva. Seconded >> Seconded by Trustee Williams. Miss Claudia, please call for the vote. Student board member hearing. I. Miss Leyva. I. Mr. Jackson. I. Mr. Williams. I. Miss Luna. I. Miss Clark. I. I. This motion has passed 6-0 and this will be presented by Trustee Leyva. Can I have to the podium Mr. Jason Ramirez, executive director of

082the SELPA department, um Kimberly Coronel, 12th grade student from March Mountain High School, and Myra Ramirez, community advisory committee uh from the CAC member to accept this resolution, please. Okay, Myra. Autism is a developmental disorder typically diagnosed during the first 3 years of life, which robs individuals of their ability to communicate and interact with others. In 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Health and Statistics report concluded that the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder had risen to one in every 54 children in the United States. The good news is that early diagnosis and intervention programs lead to significantly improved outcomes for individuals with autism. The board is happy to pass our resolution to designate April 2026 as National Autism Acceptance Month, aiming to celebrate differences and build an inclusive society so that individuals

083with autism can live fully through connection and acceptance. All right, good evening President Clark, members of the board, new board member, uh Superintendent Ruelcaba, and our cabinet, and our esteemed guests here. My name is Jason Ramirez, I'm the executive director of the SELPA here in Moreno Valley, and before I introduce my guests with me, I just want to share a little bit of history and some data cuz I know you guys love data. Um so, we just recently celebrated 50 years of special education law, IDEA. Um believe it or not, 50 years. And um in 1975, uh students before 1975, students with disabilities were not afforded the the right to go to school, um and they had no protections. Now they do. And for the last 50 years, we've been working on those laws and

084changing them. Um autism in 1975 did not exist. Uh autism was a new eligibility criteria that came about in 1990 when IDEA was reauthorized, believe it or not. And now, um autism is our district's third highest eligibility area. Third highest. So, data. Um in fall of our CALPADS data, when we report data to the state, we for the first time ever broke 1,000 students with autism in our district. So, we have 1,001 students with autism in our district. Again, our third highest eligibility area. And um as a secondary disability, there's another 58 students. So, we technically have 1,000 59 students with autism in our district. And um I did want to share uh so, I just wanted to share that data with you. The previous year, 880 students with autism. And the year before that,

085780. So, you can kind of see the growth, right? Um and for the first time ever, our district has uh exceeded over 5,000 students with disabilities that we serve in our district. Um so, exciting exciting data. I just want to give you a little little provide you a little bit of that. Um I'm going to introduce my friends to you now. They're the most important part of this uh resolution. And I have the privilege of introducing Myra Ramirez, who is a long-standing CAC member on our committee. And also her daughter Kimberly, who is a student at March Mountain. And if you ever want a really cool prom picture, I have mine in my office with the Kimberly and I when she went to Canyon Springs and we got Do you remember that? Yeah. You do,

086huh? Yeah, she had a pretty blue dress and like a gold sash. I'll never forget it cuz it's in my office. All right, so Hi, my name is Myra Ramirez. I just want to say thank you to Moreno Valley District for all the support that you've been giving to my daughter. Um it's it's been really difficult all these years. My personal opinion is a kid kid with autistic um diagnostic it has to start from early intervention. I'm sorry, I'm not a good speaker. I hate it. I just wanted to say that Thank you very much for everything and and for me I appreciate it all the help that she got from the bottom to to what what is she's now right now. And you want to say something, Kimmie? No. No? And this is my

087daughter Kiley. She's been with me through ups and downs. So from physical therapy, speech therapies and everything. And I want to say thank you for being with there for me. Thank you again, district, for being with me and my daughter. And believe it or not she is she's been through a lot, but look at her now. Huh? You don't want to say anything? No. No? You want to go home? Yeah. Yeah. >> Kimmie, I'm so proud of you. Thank you. >> Thank you. Sorry for not introducing you. She was a bonus guest that came came with us last minute, but very important member of the family and the work we do. Did you want to say something? Okay, trying to get her to talk. Thank you, guys. Thank you so much. Now moving on to

088item E6E. Which is the approval of resolution number 2025-26 -69 National Child Abuse Prevention Month for April 2026. Can I get a motion, please? So moved. And a second? >> I'll second. This was moved by Trustee Luna, seconded by Trustee Leyva. Miss Claudia, please call for the vote. Student board member hearing. >> I. Miss Leyva. I. Mr. Jackson. I. Mr. Williams. I. Miss Luna. I. Miss Clark. I. This motion has passed 6-0. Trustee Luna will be presenting. Thank you, President Clark. May I have Cody Harvey, interim director of student services, Theodore Brown the third, interim coordinator of student services, and Kaylin Montgomery, social worker of student services up to the podium, please? The Moreno Valley Unified School District Board of Education joins the National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse to designate April as Child Abuse

089Prevention Month. National Child Abuse Prevention Month recognizes the importance of families and communities working together to identify and prevent child abuse and neglect. We understand that districts have a responsibility to provide a safe school climate and that child abuse and neglect are a threat to the community's way of life. Therefore, during this month more than any other we encourage the community to share the responsibility of being alert and helping all children to have a safe, positive, and meaningful life experiences so they may grow to their full potential. Good evening, Board President Clark, members of the Board of Education, Superintendent Dr. Ruevelcaba, and distinguished guests. My name, as was introduced, Cody Harvey. I'm the interim director of student services and joined with me, Mr. Brown, interim coordinator student services, and Kyla Montgomery, student services social worker.

090Uh thank you for the opportunity to accept this resolution this evening. As in child advocate Marian Wright Edelman once said, "If we don't stand up for children, then we don't stand up for much." National research suggests that about one in seven children experience some force form of abuse or neglect each year. When you apply that to a district our size, that could represent more than 4,000 students. This statistic reminds us that before students can fully engage in learning, their most basic needs for safety, stability, and belonging must be met. Just as Maslow's hierarchy of need needs teaches us that children must feel safe and supported before they can truly thrive academically. This is why schools are so important. For many children, school is the most stable and supportive place in their lives. In Moreno Valley

091Unified, our educators, counselors, administrators, and other staff serve as trusted adults and mandated reporters who stand on the front lines in protecting our students. And our district is so committed to supporting families that we have our wellness center as well, which connects our students and our families with food, clothing, supplies, mental health, and other supports. So, tonight's resolution reminds us that protecting children is not just the responsibility of one agency or one profession, like Ms. Luna read in the resolution, it's the responsibility of our entire community. Because when a community chooses to protect its children, we do more than prevent harm, we create conditions for every child in Moreno Valley to learn, grow, and reach their fullest potential. So, we urge everyone to be a hero to our children, in our schools, and throughout our

092community. Thank you. Thank you. Now, we're moving on to item E6F, the approval of resolution number 2025-2670, National Financial Literacy Month for April 26. Can I get a motion to approve this resolution as presented? I would like to make a motion. Thank you, student board member Hewing. Can I get a second? I'm happy to second. Thank you, Trustee Jackson. Ms. Claudia, please call for the vote. Student board member Hewing. Aye. Ms. Leyva. Aye. >> Mr. Jackson. Aye. Mr. Williams. Aye. Ms. Luna. Aye. >> Ms. Clark. Aye. This motion has passed 6-0, and Trustee Jackson will be presenting this resolution. Can I please call to the podium Lindsey Huntsman, coordinator of college and career readiness, Chris Gilliat, principal of Valley View High School, Brenda Perry, counselor from Valleyview High School, and Andrea Evans, guidance assistant from

093Valleyview High School to accept this resolution. Chris, that's your first name. I never knew. It's still Mr. Gilliam. Good evening, board president, members of the Board of Education, Superintendent Dr. Rubalcaba, and distinguished guests. My name is Lindsay Huntsman, coordinator of college and career readiness. Thank you for the opportunity to accept this resolution this evening. This resolution is important because it highlights Moreno Valley Unified School District's commitment to equipping students with a financial with essential financial knowledge and skills that empower them to make informed decisions, build economic stability, and successfully navigate their future educational career pathways. Across the district, teams are supporting financial literacy in a variety of ways. Um by providing eligible student or CalKids, sorry. CalKids provides eligible students with an opportunity to begin saving for their future at an early age. Our counselors

094and teams continue to support this effort effort by helping students register for accounts. Currently, more than 45% of students have claimed their CalKids accounts with several schools reaching over 90% including Midland Elementary, Mountain View Middle School, and Badger Springs Middle School. And a special shout out to Mountain View who is currently at 99% participation. Only five students are left. We recognize that this work requires continued support. This week, second- third-grade teachers at Butterfield Language Academy are providing financial literacy lessons to all students culminating in a CalKids claiming day on Friday, March 13th. As we launch this collaborative approach, we hope to inspire more school sites to implement similar strategies that connect financial literacy learning with Cal Kids participation. We also continue to take a collaborative approach to supporting the class of 2026 with financial aid

095completion. Each year we strive to increase our completion rates. Currently, MVUSD has a financial aid completion rate of 68%. In June of 2025, our completion rate was a 71%. So, we're already meeting our mark from last year. Tonight, I have a special guest from Valley View High School, um who are going to share their sites approach to supporting students with financial aid completion. Thank you. Uh good evening board president, board members, Dr. Ruacaba, distinguished guests. Um on behalf of Valley View High School guidance department, who's here partially here with us today. Um my name is Chris Gilliat, and we are so proud to accept this resolution. We believe financial literacy is the foundational life skill that empowers students to make informed decisions about their futures. One way that we support this is by encouraging our

096students complete their FAFSA and California Dream Act um early so that they can access financial aid and resources available to them. Our guidance assistant implemented a streamline approach process to support our students throughout the financial aid application cycle. Seniors were contacted multiple times during the year to ensure they understood their financial aid options and received assistance completing both the FAFSA and the California Dream Act. In addition, monthly FAFSA and Cal Grant Act parent workshops were hosted to help families better understand the application process and requirements. Staff also conducted numerous follow-up phone calls with parents to provide guidance and ensure families had the support needed to complete the applications. Throughout these consistent proactive efforts, our school achieved the highest faster and Cal for GMAT completion rate in a district at 78.96% as of right now. It's

097going to be higher. That's just where we're at right now. We want to recognize the tremendous support from Andrea Evans, our college and career technician. Our Cal-SOAP coaches and our team of seven counselors. Um We have four of them here to or three of them here today. Uh Miss Brenda Perry. Miss Dollman, Miss Olivia Corona. I also want to recognize assistant principal of our guidance, Miss Lerma, who leads this team and the amazing work that she's done. Um the team's dedication and hard work have helped our school achieve um the number one faster completion rate. This has allowed our students to see the opportunities that they have um in in furthering their educations and what they're going to do after that. We we talk about it. We want them to hit spring break with options.

098What are my options? Whether it's going to be a four-year school, uh community college, am I going to go into trades, am I going to go into the military, what am I going to do? And having this faster done and getting their financial aid packages back to them opens up those doors because by April 1st, they need to start making decisions. Um so our May 1st May 1st is the deadline. So it allows them to make those decisions. So want to thank you guys for this um this recognition and and thank this team for their hard work. Thank you. Mr. Gilliat. >> Thank you. Before you all sit, can you come back up to the So starting tomorrow, we're going to be referring to Valley View High School as what? A 2026 what? California Distinguished

099School. SO WE GOT THE EMAIL ABOUT 3 hours ago. Hot off the press. Hot off the presses. Congratulations. Congratulations. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. I have your certificates here. Well, now I'll be moving on to E6G, approval of resolution 2025-26-71, Administrative Professionals Day, April 22nd, 2026. Can I get a motion to approve as presented? I'd like to make a motion. Thank you, student board member Ewing. Can I get a second? I'm happy to second. Thank you, trustee Jackson. Miss Claudia, please call for the vote. Student board member Ewing. I. Miss Leyva. I. >> Mr. Jackson. I. >> Mr. Williams. I. Miss Luna. I. >> Miss Clark. I. This motion has passed 6-0, and this will be presented by trustee Luna. May I have Amy Esquibel, administrative assistant from HR, Monica Lopez, secretary

100three from Business Services, Sandra Triptow, school secretary two from Northridge Elementary up to the podium, please. On behalf of the Moreno Valley Unified School District Board of Education, we honor the outstanding services and contributions provided by our administrative professionals by proclaiming April 22nd, 2026 as Administrative Professionals Day was formerly known as Professional Secretaries Day to recognize the work of secretaries, administrative assistants, receptionists, and other administrative support professionals. Administrative professionals represent a broad range of job titles and ever-expanding responsibilities. They make a tremendous impact on the lives of students, families, and staff. As we all know, they are the reason our schools keep running so smoothly. On April 22nd, let's make sure we all show our gratitude for all of the work our administrative professionals do across the district. We sincerely thank you for what you

101do each and every day. I was nominated to talk. Um Good evening, Board President, board members, Superintendent Rubalcaba, cabinet, and distinguished guests. Um my name is Amy Escobel. I'm the administrative assistant for Human Resources, and with me today are Ms. Monica Lopez from Business Services and Sandra Treptau from North Ridge Elementary School. We want to thank you so much for allowing us to accept this resolution on behalf of our peers. We are truly honored. While April 22nd significantly highlights administrative professionals, the daily work we do is rarely done alone. It's a team sport. It's about keeping our schools, departments, and divisions running as smoothly as possible so that everyone can do their best work in support of our students, staff, and community. We want to share this recognition with our colleagues who work in tandem

102to get things done and make the behind-the-scene work uh a lot more fun. I did not mean to rhyme that, but we did. Uh we consider ourselves the stage crew for this production. We want to thank our leadership team for recognizing the value of the support systems that keep this district moving forward. And we also want to thank the entire staff because a smooth operation is a team effort. It's a privilege to support this district and this team every day. Thank you again for this incredible gesture. We truly appreciate it. Now moving on to a agenda item E6H, the approval of resolution number 2025-2672, Day of the School Bus Driver for April 28th, 2026. Can I get a motion to approve this resolution as presented? So moved. Can I get a second? >> I'll second

103that. Thank you. Ms. Claudia, please call for the vote. Student board member Hearing? Aye. Ms. Leyva? Aye. Mr. Jackson? Aye. Mr. Williams? Aye. >> Ms. Luna? Aye. >> Ms. Clark? Aye. This motion has passed 6-0, and student board member Hearing will be presenting this resolution. May I please have James Sanford, Transportation Manager, Bea Blackwell, Transportation Supervisor, and school bus drivers Eva Guerrero, Beatriz Galindo, and Griselda Roman to please come accept this resolution. Annually on the fourth Tuesday of April, school bus drivers are recognized for their excellent service to students. For bus riders, the school bus drivers are the very first people that our students see when they go to school. They create our students' first experience of the day. The safety of our children is in the hands of trained school bus drivers. They work

104on maintaining a current license, perfecting their driving skills, and increasing their knowledge of school bus laws. Although school bus drivers face natural and unexpected hazards in the performance of their duties, they do not steer away from showing care and compassion towards the students that they serve. We are proud to recognize all of our school bus drivers on April 28th, 2026 for their continued and outstanding services to our future leaders. Good evening, um President Clark, um I always struggle talking in front of people. Um school board, superintendent, cabinet, um it's hard to come up every year and when we discuss this cuz it's hard to just take a short moment to describe what the bus drivers do for this community. Um even when I try to explain what they do, it's hard to talk about the

105amount of hours of training, responsibility, the skill that just takes to drive a large vehicle. I mean, you guys driven around this town, you know what it's like in a small vehicle, and they're doing it in large vehicle. Um just the sacrifice that they give every day. Our office is open at 5:00 in the morning. We're driving kids to like 8:00 10:00 at night with sports. It's We don't have a separate group. It's the same people standing by behind me are the ones who are stepping up to the plate doing the work. Um with that said, uh Eva Guerrero, she's here supported with her family is in the audience. Um she wants to give a few words on just what she does for our community. Good evening. My name is Eva Guerrero. I've been a

106school bus driver for 18 years. Um I just want to say uh it's an honor to drive um the students of our community. Um it's it's definitely a challenging job, but at the same time it's rewarding and um and fun, I guess. Um is it's it's sometimes we take it for granted what we do, but um knowing that that you know, many many people I've always said we're the first ones that they see and the last ones that they see throughout the day and um we take that for granted, but um but I guess it's an honor to have be able to um make that impact on them and be the ones to set sometimes the day for them with the positive good morning or have a good day. Um and regardless of how their

107day was at at school, it's also nice to maybe change their evening and have a good evening, see you tomorrow. Um something to look forward for the next day. Um I mean, what can I say? I love my job. I've been here 18 years and um I hope to be here a lot a lot longer. Thank you. Um and I just want to recognize the other two drivers. They didn't want to speak in front just cuz of being nervous, but it's definitely just a small sliver of the definitely over 100. So, we definitely have a large strong group going. So, thank you. >> Thank you kindly and thank you for all Thank you all for your hard work. We're now moving on to item F public comments on agenda items. Any person requesting to speak

108to any agenda item um on the agenda may do so at this time or when the item is addressed by the Board of Education. Individual speakers shall be allowed to speak for 3 minutes on any agenda item. The Board of Education shall limit the total time for public input on each agenda item to 21 minutes. Per Board Bylaw 9323B section 5, per Board Bylaw 9323 twice the allotted time will be provided a uh uh provided for a member of the public utilizing a translator. Ms. Claudia, do we have any public comments? >> President Clark, we have a total of 10 public comments on agenda items. With 10 comments, I'm asking for a consensus of the board to change it from three item um 3 minutes to two so we can reach that maximum of 21

109minutes so that'll be 20 minutes. Do I have consensus? Yes. Unless of course there's a translator and we will give them 4 minutes. Consistent? Yes, so we can hit that 20 minutes. Thank you. >> 21 agreed. Thank you. Our first speaker to the podium is Alma Del Galo Delgado followed by Christian Martinez. Hi, Ms. Alma. Good afternoon, um board members and superintendent. Appreciate you guys giving us this opportunity. Um I'm the mother of Scarlett Galouka. She is currently going to Clover Dell Elementary School. She is in the DLI program, fifth grade. And the reason that I'm here today is because um, we did find out that her current teacher, DLI teacher, is being terminated from the school and potentially the district as well. And so, I wanted to give my opinion as far as my

110experience with this teacher. Earlier today, we had the opportunity to see all the teachers that, you know, they're teachers of the year of the year. And I can't recall exactly who made the comment that it takes a special heart and a special person to be a teacher, right? I've had my daughter in the DLI program since kindergarten. And I have never met somebody like Miss Guzman that had that heart and was just meant to be a teacher. She has taught us parent that, you know, there's really true teachers out there that are willing to give their own time for our kids. Um, I'm a full-time employee. I work actually more than full-time, you know, weekends. And even though my student my daughter is an excellent student, she many times needs help. I get, you know,

111home from work tired and I have to help her out with school. This has been the same process for the past, you know, years except for this grade because Miss Guzman has gone out of her way to have that time after school. She's done study halls where she allows our kids to stay over. She helps them with their homework, if they have any and God knows I'm not good at science. Um, if they have any science projects, you know, she's the one that's there. I'll text her during the weekends. I'll text her at night because obviously I'm working during the day. She answers me right away. I have never had a teacher that has Sorry, is that my time? Yes. Thank you. It's your time. Thank you. Thank you. Christian Martinez to the podium. Thank

112you. Like that? Uh hello, uh board members and superintendent along with distinguished guests. My name is Christian Martinez. I'm a student at Valley View and I'm the I'm an older brother of one of the students at Cloverdale Elementary uh Sydney Martinez and I recently heard that the DOI teacher was going to be terminated and I also wanted to put in my opinion because over the past couple years that my sister's been in school I I've noticed she's like eager to learn, but even more so this year because she's had a teacher who she could talk to, someone who would support her inside of school and outside of school and every manner, shape, and form and especially when she asked me after school for homework help, I always see the eagerness of her wanting to learn

113and I think a lot of that is contributed to the DOI's the DOI's teachers like giving heart and her ability to allow children to connect both educationally and just overall as a great person. And that's about all I have to say. Thank you, Mr. Mr. Martinez. Thank you. Can I have Miss Luna Del Baso to the podium, please. Here you go. Hi, my name is Luna Villalobos, and I'm going to be speaking on behalf of Ms. Guzman and her unfortunate termination. I'm going to start by mentioning the students' grades. Most of the students' grades that have attended Most of the students that have attended her class, their grades have gone up very much, including myself, especially in Spanish. And it's all because of her creative creative strategies that she's made up and all of the

114all of these amazing things that she does for us. Another thing that I'd like to mention is how she disagrees with bullying. She is she's very she just doesn't want us to get bullied. She doesn't want us to be hurt. She doesn't And I know that all the students can agree that it's a safe space for everyone there. And then I just want to say that Cloverdale is a great school. It's an amazing school. Just that I do need you guys to rethink the situation and decision. And that will be it. Thank you. Thank you. Can I please have Cesar Martinez to the podium? Uh hello and good evening, everyone. Um I'm Cesar Martinez, uh the brother of Cindy Martinez. And um I just want to say thank you for everyone coming out to show

115their support. And um Cindy's always struggling with struggled in math like over the past years and I've always had to help her. But this year I've seen her like her growth. Like she she grew a lot. And uh a lot of that is because of the teacher. And another thing is her Spanish. I've seen her Spanish like also grow and uh also her friends um their Spanish have grown, too. And uh Sydney just loves going to school and a big a big reason because of that is uh the teacher. And uh teacher is very young and I think she has a bright future ahead of her. And um yeah. That's it. Thank you. Can we please have Mr. Uh excuse me. Sydney Martinez to the podium. Hello, my name is Sydney Martinez and I Oh,

116well, hello uh uh board members and superintendent. My name is Sydney Martinez and as you heard my siblings were right here and they were talking about my growth and everything um my teacher has done for me. I I feel really bad for the termination of her going and I do not want her to leave. She's helped me with math, my Spanish, my English English and I don't really want her to leave. She helps me a lot on everything for my science projects, my history projects and we do multiple activities and strategies to help us grow. I mean sense. Yeah. Well, that's it. Thank you. Can I please have Itzel Martinez to the podium, please. Oh, hello. Um hello board and superintendent. I'm Itzel Martinez. I am here for um to talk about the fifth grade

117DLI teacher. She has helped my um sister, Cindy Martinez, so much. She has um built confidence and self-esteem through the teachers. Um a lot of stuff confidence come from teachers and the people that you are around with. And I believe that the teach the DLI teacher was the one that helped her with that because before that she's been like very shy person and now she's going more outgoing and exploring herself. And I like I we would like to think it's the family as well, but the teacher has a big part of that because they spend like 8 hours together a day, so I'm pretty sure she's the one that um helped her so much. And it's really important because she is a young girl and I'm sure that she does that with every girl and

118every student that she has, not just her. Um Um she has built really good connections with her students as many of them are right here right now trying to support her for her termination because she does not deserve that. And she's also a great road great road model for me as her and I have go we go to the same school, Kelsey Elementary, and she's helped me so much. And I know she's a good teacher. Um I'm sure I'm everyone has a good teacher that they remember and I believe for my sister it's the fifth grade DLI teacher, so I believe that you guys should reconsider her ter termination cuz she really does not deserve that. Thank you. Miss Lorena Colorado to the podium, please. >> We do. But if you want to translate it

119Yes. Is the translator by the store? Yes. Perfect. Thank you. Gracias. Good evening. My name is Laura Coronado. Colorado and my daughter's name is Sophia Colorado and I come to speak on behalf of the teacher of the DI staff that we are speaking on behalf of. My daughter is assisted by them. She is a great teacher. My daughter needed help and the teacher provided that help and I have seen the growth of my daughter. She has exceeded in her studies and she has stayed an hour after school to receive that help in class and she receives that help in both dual languages and in this country it is very important to have a mastery of two languages and the more that you master the better. What I like to say is that I'd like to

120say that it is very important the time that they spend with the educators. As parents, we spend our time with our children at home and the teachers spend time with them at school and it's very important the time that we share, the time that they share and I talk I I to the class and I talk to her. I want her to explain to me the things from her point of view and her perspective so that I can better help my child. And she not just only helps my child but she helps all the children and that to me is very important and I pray to God that the best happens for my for her for our students and that is all I'd like to say. Thank you. Can I please have Sophia Rodriguez up

121to the podium, please? Hi, my name is Sophia. I'm here for as my um I'm so nervous. Uh So, my buddies from school I said um My teacher has helped me so much and my English to improve to an average of fourth to a seventh grade. And uh the teachers stays after school to teach me English and her strategies and I have have felt more confident for the ELPAC test. And I think I hope you can consider again about this. Um Uh How can I say it? About this. Yeah. Thank you. Miss Melissa Salgado to the podium, please. Hi, good evening board president, superintendent Rubel Caba and all board members, thank you. I appreciate your time. Um I'm here in support of Ms. Guzman. She has been a tremendous teacher to my daughter, Luna Villabaso.

122In the 5 years that Luna's been doing DLI, this is the first year that she actually wants to have conversations with me in Spanish. She's helping me too cuz my Spanish isn't that great, but um and her math scores have just improved that much with Ms. Guzman. Ms. Guzman gives her the space to feel confident. She creates a safe space for her, not only her, but for all the children. And um she I and I just want to state that I love this school. I volunteer. I'm a PTA parent. I volunteer so much for this school. I think it's an incredible school and Ms. Guzman's part of that. And she's an asset to your district. I really want to see her retained in the district because she is somebody that sees the kids. She builds

123confidence. I invite you to look at all their test scores, all their scores because you're going to see a almost across the board all their scores have improved dramatically this year and that's because Ms. Guzman cares. She spends her own free time after school tutoring her kid the students. And she's she's an amazing teacher and I really feel she doesn't deserve this termination. Please retain her in the district. She's a she's an asset. You want this kind of teacher teach you want this teacher teaching kids in this district because she understands them, she sees them, and I'm so grateful. Thank you. The Board of Education will take a recess and will return in 8 minutes, 7:20 p.m. >> Mhm. >> 25 p.m. Moving on to item F, public comments on agenda item. Any person requesting

124to speak to any item on the agenda may do so at this time. Can I please Yeah, I'm so sorry. The Board of Education is in session. Individual speakers shall be allowed to speak for 3 minutes on any agenda item. The Board of Education shall limit the total time for public input on each agenda item to 21 minutes per Board Bylaw 9323B section 5. Per Board Bylaw 9323 twice the allotted time will be provide will be provided for a member of the public utilizing a translator. Do we have any items on um non-agenda public comments on non-agenda items? Just the one. Thank you so much. Can I please have Ms. Jasmine Guzman to the podium? Pardon? She's agenda? Thank you. Okay. Um good evening, President and Board members. I'm here. My name is Jasmine Guzman.

125I'm the fifth grade DLI at Cloverdale Elementary School. Um I do want to come here to advocate in a way for myself and including you know to speak not only for my behalf, but also advocate for my students and my families and especially all of my community I represent. Um I came here today because I did you know I found my name under the board agenda for the employment number four. Um, I did sign the resignation to fact that I didn't want it to be put on the wrong section of the agenda since I got pink slipped. So the way that I got pink slipped at the folders that I have provided, I have documentation there where I have positive evaluations. Along with that I do have um, district walk-throughs where I'm always set up

126as an example in that school site. Um, I'm also in the leadership program for the equity program here at the district. So I'm always um, about the equitable process on how we can better support our students. Um, not only my students, it's the community who we represent as a whole board members and including myself. Um, so I do want one day invite you all to come to my classroom. So this way you can see and experience the classroom environment that I fostered a community sense in my environment so that way you can not only through the evaluation you're taking the time to actually get to learn about me in my classroom. Um, not only because I'm DLI I'm providing a multicultural connection. Um, also providing that equitable access of um, equal opportunity for my students,

127their communications, um, translanguaging, providing that um, number talks. Um, I'm also, you know, I do want again provide that invitation for you to take the chance to come to my classroom and actually experience what my students experience. Um, the time is up. Yes or Okay. So again, um, um, here to remind ourselves we're here for the community. I'm here for the community for my students. Um, I involve, you know, I have a close connection with family because I involve the inclusion. I don't only work with my families because they're my family but they're my partners, my they're my teamwork so that way we can provide our students for again our mission and vision which is the empowerment of equity That's time. Thank you. >> Again, I invite you to my classroom so >> Thank you

128Ms. Cosme. >> Yeah. Mhm. >> So, we don't have any public comments on non-agenda items. That's That's correct, Ms. Clark. Okay. And then, employee Employee Association reports, NVEA. Uh unfortunately, Mr. uh President Farias could not make it this evening. Thank you kindly. Now, we're going to move on to comments from the board members, starting with student board member, El Heuing. Um I just wanted to talk about State of the District. This is my first time attending State of the District and honestly hearing about State of the District. And I just think that this event is so wonderful and so amazing and I think that every I hope that every student and every family gets the opportunity to go because the whole room was just filled with joy the whole entire time. There was nothing but

129smiles. The performances were amazing. All the CTE booths were amazing. And I just feel like it gives our community an opportunity to celebrate our successes together rather than just doing it by ourselves at home. And I feel like it was just such a positive experience that I hope everyone gets to experience. Thank you, board member Heuing. Trustee Leyva. I um talked to the superintendent regarding the survey that it was um Should I talk about this one or should >> Wait for the end. So typically board member comments are just where you visited, what you've gone to. I think the other can come under new topic or future business topics. At the end. Okay, thank you. Sorry about that. But um Okay, I was able to attend like many different events. Um we were uh with

130Miss Clark and Mr. Jackson, we were at the Stravaganza event. Oh my goodness. You know, it was that room was full of energy. We were clapping, dancing, and um it was just magical. Um I don't know. It was It was something else. Uh I also had the privilege to be at the Newcomers Summit. And um listening to the students, you know, sharing um their thoughts. Um sharing their stories of how hard it is for them um to come to a new country, learn a new language. But, one thing that is you know, stay with me was when the question they asked them is like, if you want if you would be able to go back to your country, would you go back? And all of them said, "No." So, they want to stay here. They

131like, you know, being able to attend a school, being able to have the opportunities that many of them don't have in their countries, and they see and they want to take advantage. Um Dr. Ash said talk about, you know, attending college. And um you know, how the district will and supports that. And um it was impressive that the students will come, you know, up to um her and look for her to ask questions about what they can do, who they can talk to, cuz they're eager to go to college. They want to further their their education. So, um it's not just going to the to the to the different events. There's always something that you learn when when you have the the opportunity to attend. And um I was able to be um there on

132What is Saturday when they have the band? Um and um I was able to hear and learn, you know, like they um they qualify everything. The posture of the students that are playing, how they hold their instruments, and you know, how every single little detail is important. So, I I am thankful that I have the opportunity to go, you know, um it doesn't happen often that I can go to everything that I would like to attend. But, uh things that I'm able to attend, you know, I I have learned so much and I'm, you know, appreciative of that. Um and that's all I have to share. Thank you, Trustee Leyva. Trustee Jackson. Thank you, President Clark. This has been an incredible experience. It's been my first 2 weeks serving as a board member for Moreno

133Valley Unified School District. And before I go on to the events that I was able to attend, I just first and foremost want to thank the public for putting their trust in me. So many folks have congratulated me, so I thank you all that live in Trustee Area 3. And then secondly, but definitely not least important, I want to thank the executive cabinet for all of your support. Um you all have walked me through and gave me a long runway to learn all of what it means to be behind this dais. So, thank you each individually. Superintendent Rubalcaba, Claudia and Robin as well. Thank you all for truly um walking with me step-by-step as I get on boarded. And I look forward to working with you all closer as well. As you all know, I'm

134very inquisitive, so thank you all for that collaboration. Uh my first event, the morning after I got sworn in, was the Newcomer Summit. I hit the ground running and as Trustee Leyva said, it was incredible to see our students that made a purposeful decision to come to this country and stay here and um bring that diversity to our school district. My second event that evening also was uh Serrano Elementary their Black History Month celebration. I walked in when they were doing They were dancing to Thriller, Michael Jackson, and it was just so heartwarming to see those little kiddos dancing and it brought me immediately back to when I was in the Black History program at Moreno Elementary under Ms. McDuffy. I was I was also able to attend the state of state of education address

135at Riverside County Office of Education with all of my colleagues here and again, just another opportunity to showcase the great work that MVUSD is doing and have that recognition be at the county level. So, kudos to all of the folks that were there, the schools that participated from MVUSD at the state of education address. I also was able to attend the district task force, an opportunity to meet with a lot of the members of our leadership team here and see just the collaborative work and interdepartmental work really to focus on some of the the high need areas that MVUSD is working on. So, it was great to be a partner in that as well. And then myself and also Trustee Williams attended the African American Advisory Council AAC. That was a phenomenal turnout. It it

136the the vibes in the room were were incredible and so many folks were excited about the HBCU pathway that's going to be launching at Vista del Lago. So, it was incredible just again to see the richness that our school district can offer. Um I stayed busy. I went to the STEAM Unity Expo as well at Vista del Lago High School and the students there definitely beat me in Smash Brothers, but um I'm how And I I was actually really trying hard. Um maybe next year I'll I'll I'll get some coaching from them. So, um next next year at our second annual or the next time we have a STEAM Unity Expo I can go toe-to-toe with them. And then staying at Vista del Lago and Trustee Area 3, we were able to attend the Health

137Academy ribbon cutting. And as you saw in the Superintendent's report, it is a phenomenal program that we're able to offer our students. They as mentioned, they have a fully functioning um ambulance simulation in there that they can work in and those kiddos were also at the Riverside County uh Office of Education State of Education address showcasing that talent as well. We also attended the I also attended the Secondary Education panel and it was one thing that I would highlight from that event was seeing the strong turnout from our parents. Our parents that are invested in their students' grades and if they are lower performing, they're standing right there next to their kids to make sure that they're getting the support that they need. Extravaganza as you mentioned was incredible, incredible. That that was a great

138way to start my morning. And then the Canyon Springs High School musical that um Trustee Trustee um Luna, Vice President Luna was at as well, was incredible to see our students um not only their their their triple threat, their actors, singers, and dancers all in one. So, to see so many of them going to do bigger and better things is incredible. And then lastly, I had to I had the opportunity to end the week at the elementary the elementary soccer tournament that was hosted at Mountain View and Valley View. And I wasn't able to stay for the entire event, but I heard Butterfield won. So, congratulations to Butterfield on their championship. And I'll end my comments by saying I know I promised this board that I would get through the L cap in 45 days.

139My update is I'm still working on that progress. I have about 32 days remaining. So, be gracious with me. Thank you all. Thank you, trustee Jackson. Trustee Williams. I uh I was amazed at uh the meeting today. Uh we've kind of gone full circle in again, where education begins and where where it flourishes and looking at the teachers of the year, uh we've been able to retain our former students and they are passing on what was given to them to their students as teacher of the year. We have a board member who is an alumni who is giving back to the community as well. And so, the best thing that can happen to this district is to have our former students be part of the community and reinvest in the community as they were invested

140in. And so, I think tonight really speaks to all of that. And a parent of the autistic student and the autism uh note, that's one of our employees. She works at or worked at Moreno Valley High School. And she invested in each child having something to eat every day. And you know, she was very thankful and and and humble for what work was done for her daughter as well. So, that is what this Moreno Valley community is all about. And so, for me, that was a catharsis of why we're here. And I turn it over to uh Ms. Luna. Thank you. Thank you, Vice President Luna. Thank you. Um first, I want to start off by saying happy International Women's Month. I celebrate all all of our women, all of our young ladies, all of

141the trailblazers who made their way for us. Um not to put a negative spin, but we still have a lot of work to do as women to continue to forge our path. So, let's let's stick together, stay strong, and and continue the hard work. Um I had the honor of attending multiple events as well. Uh State of the District, I too, just like student board member, was just in awe of that. I love that event. It's it's a great celebration. I was very very honored to have my children there with me as well um to celebrate all the great things that we do in our district. Um great student performances. Uh, thank you Renee for coordinating that. Also at the RCOA State of Education, I really feel like Moreno Valley was showcased quite a bit.

142Uh, we were like the first presentation and then we had two student groups that were performing there. Um, Moreno Valley is definitely on the map in Riverside County and I'm very proud of that. Um, and then of course we had our um, we had our students that were in the showcase area um, for the CTE R EMT from Vista del Lago students. Great, great um, great students there. Um, leading me to the ribbon cutting that we were all attending. That was also beautiful, great day. All of us most of us in our purple. Um, and then um, also um, very, very proud of um, our district and kudos to Dr. Arsay um, for the director's panel, the early intervention of our students. Um, we want to make sure all of our students have an opportunity

143to graduate and I think uh, that that panel was very um, very intentional in in making sure that happens especially at at the age or level we talked about. Um, I think I think we're on track to help those children succeed and I look forward to seeing what comes of that. We'll just keep working with them and letting them know we're here for them. Uh, one of my favorite things I got to do was the Read Across America. Uh, I got to visit Seneca and Edgemont. I want to give a shout out to uh, Principal Perez and Principal Quintanar for welcoming me um, and shuffling me around to the classrooms because I had to go back to work. So, they were getting me at to as many classrooms as possible, but it was such a

144joy to see all those smiling faces of those students. And the minute I opened the book and I started reading, they just grabbed their attention, and that that's just a wonderful feeling. I wish I could have stayed all day. Um I would also like to give a special thank you to uh Jesse De La Cruz and Tilden Coil who sent uh some of our students to the Hope Latina Literacy Day, which was on Friday. Thank you so much to them for sponsoring that for our students. And finally, uh I What an honor it was to uh be with uh Trustee Jackson at Canyon Springs High School uh to see the musical Once on This Island. If you haven't been, I believe they have two more shows. There's Next week, too. Yeah. You have to go.

145I'm telling you, it's it's a must. You will not be disappointed. Right? It was great. Our students are so talented. So talented. So, shout-out to uh Mrs. Rodriguez, and thank you, Mr. Roberson, for sitting with me and uh not making me feel uncomfortable about some tears in my eyes. Uh it was a great great musical. So, thank you, everyone. Thank you uh to all of our leadership here. Thank you to all of our educators. Thank you to all of our students for making this district what it is. And especially, it's an honor to serve with all of you, all of my colleagues. Um and uh congratulations to you, Trustee Jackson. Thank you, Trustee Luna. I think I need my glasses back on. I want to say that uh I I I too attended the Read

146Across America. I had the privilege of being hosted by Miramonte Elementary and Bear Valley Elementary and it was amazing. I brought me so much joy and I realized I hadn't read some of those books in a long time and to see the excitement and have the interaction with the students is definitely my why and why I'm here. It felt good. I hope they feel good. I hope all of you feel good because wow, knowledge is power and our kids are amazing. Congratulations Justin Jackson. Welcome to the board and you know, um I know that we talk about a lot of the events that we attend but I sure Mr. Trusty Jackson can attest to those hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of pages that he has to read every week. It is not very easy but

147it's definitely rewarding and I want to say that not only are you reading all your materials and coming and coming to the board meetings prepared which is which I'm sure all of us are grateful for but you're even taking time to go to a lot of events and I hope that you practice self-care and get sleep because I'm not sure if you're doing that just yet. But thank you. You're amazing and your hard work and dedication is showing even though you've just been on the board what like 13 days There you go. Feels like a million already but you look great doing it. So um also I want to just touch on a few things. Um you know, we have speaking to the hundreds of pages that we read. You know, this board makes decisions

148based on information and needs and I know sometimes to the public it may seem as though we are making decisions that um aren't well thought out or very thorough, but I guarantee you they are. We ask for so many materials. We ask for backup paperwork. We ask for a like additional objects to make in well-informed decisions. Though we are the Board of Education and I do want people to to use and champion for themselves, so I do appreciate people speaking up. Her um Ms. Guzman, we hear you. Um um I also want to say that you know, we get comments and one of the comments that was made in in a recent board meeting was about suspensions and how the teachers feel their their hands are tied on suspensions. Well, I want to share that

149this board does not want to tie your hands, but what we do want to do is ensure that every student is is met with the same grace. We have an education code. We have policies and procedures and if you follow those policies and procedures, there wouldn't be disparate treatment. And if there is disparate treatment, then we have to go back and look and see, "Hey, what's going on and how can we help to improve the situation?" So, if if I'll use an example of little Johnny is in trouble for eating candy, little Jacob should be in trouble for eating candy. Things should be equal. It shouldn't be little Johnny gets a pass, but little Jacob doesn't get a pass. So, that's what we mean when we say we want to improve our suspension suspension. It's

150not that you can't suspend your students, it's that let's make sure that we're following policies and procedures to do so and that's why I value all the teachers who and and staff and counselors and Dr. Arce's team who come up here and are vulnerable to share their MTSS information with us and say, "Hey, this is what's going on. This is our plan to improve it and this is what we're going to do. And and and and that takes courage, guts and skill and I appreciate that. So, I just want to say thank you again to those people who are doing that, but I also want to inform the community of what what what the ask is. Um I also want to say that we've had our first student per Dr. Arcy complete our DNV our

151DNV education. You know, we laugh because, you know, people are like, "Oh, kids don't want to drive. They want to Uber or Lyft." But our kids need to drive and that is my passion and I am glad the Moreno Valley Unified School District has a program for your children to take driver's education for free. Sign up if you are eligible to take it because I will be pulling the reports. Not only that, once you complete driver's education, these are life skills. You get to go on to driver's training. So, I don't want you to be suspended. I want you to get straight A's and I want you to drive. Okay? That's all I'm asking as a board member. Please and thank you. So, also, I want to take this time just a little tiny bit,

152you know, and I just want to say, "Hey, culture and climate is important. And that's why here at MVUSD, we wrap around the whole child. We want to wrap around our educators, staff, everyone, okay? This world is hectic enough. So, show grace to your colleagues. Show grace to your students. Show grace to your neighbors. I'm asking you this because when we step out these doors, this world is what it is, you know? It doesn't matter how you feel and where you land on politics. I know one thing, we all land on community and love. So, let's remember that, right? MBUSD forever. Dr. Rubalcaba. Thank you, President Clark. Um I was going to save my congratulations to Valley View High School for the California Distinguished for now, but I've already kind of said that. I do

153want to just acknowledge um a trend. So, 2024 was Moreno Valley High School California Distinguished School. 2025 was Northridge Elementary School California Distinguished School. 2026 is Valley View High School California Distinguished School. So, there's a there's a trend there. There's a pattern. So, if the community's hearing, and I know they are, not only here and present, but also viewing, amazing things are happening in our district, and there's much more to come. Thank you. We are now moving on to K. One, presentations to the board. Presentation on the multi-tiered system of support data, academic suspension, and chronic absenteeism. Dr. Arce. Thank you very much, President Clark. At this time, I'd like to invite Mr. Peoples and our four school principals that will be showcased this evening um in their glows, and will also be honest and

154genuine about their grows. So, Mr. Peoples, you can come and get the clicker. There you go. Thank you very much. They're really nervous right now. So, I'm just trying to help them breathe, woosah it out. Um I told them just to make sure um you know, when they're presenting that they're pres- they're think they're presenting to family. You know, uh or staff members, staff meeting, or students uh in a classroom. It probably didn't help that I was sending them emojis of somebody sweating so much and you know, up at the board. So, thank you so much, board president. Thank you for uh allowing us to come here and speak tonight. Uh board members, Dr. Rubalcaba, superintendent of schools, and of course our executive exec- executive cabinet. I am proud to present four great and amazing

155principals. We have over here Ms. Marie White Hendrick Ranch Elementary School. Uh again, we have Ms. Veronica Zarate from Towngate Elementary School. Mrs. Smith. I'm trying to say her first name, but I I want to say Twena, but Mrs. Smith uh from Moreno Elementary School. And one of our newcomers from uh Riverside Unified School District, but now Moreno Valley family, Mr. Michael Muding. So, as we move on of course, we have our vision statement to empower students to become future ready and to positively impact the world. And then also to provide an equitable education. And then of course, we have our six POGs, uh the four C's, and then of course, the adaptability and the perseverance. So, everything that we talk about today, it's all going to be about chronic absenteeism. It's we're going to

156hit hard on chronic absenteeism. So, that really covers every single goal here where it's promoting academic growth, college and career readiness for every student providing a safe, welcoming, and respectful learning environment. So, we're going to start out again with our monthly CER and A. The claim, the evidence, the reasoning, and then most importantly, next steps, the actions. Cuz those are going to speak for themselves. So, as we go through this, the claim, overall, Moreno Valley Unified School Districts schools demonstrated growth across multiple indicators on the state dashboard. Several sites experienced notable gains in math, English, and suspension and reduction of suspension rates. While this progress is encouraging, continued and targeted efforts are essential to support specific student groups. Again, I want to make sure I rephrase that again, specific student groups. And close the achievement

157gaps in key areas of the dashboard, particularly in reducing chronic absenteeism rates. So, what's the evidence? And we've seen this before. As the dashboard was posted out in November, of course, you see the definite gains from 2024 to 2025. You You see a lot less orange and red, and you see a lot more yellow, a lot more green, and some blues. So, you definitely see the gains that we've made from 2024 to 2025. As a district, we increased in mathematics, we've increased in ELA, we decreased in suspension rates. We decreased a little bit in chronic absenteeism, 1.4%, and then overall, as we look at the specific schools, again, you could see their their gains um or their dashboard indicators with Hendrick Ranch, Moreno Elementary, Ridgecrest, as well as Towngate. Now, I really want to again

158focus on the grows, but we also had some successes at these schools. So, as you look at what glowed, the overall suspension rate decreased 1% and ELA increased for African-American students 33 points from 101.9 to 68.8 at Hendrick Ranch. So, great job, Maria, and to your team over there. Well done. At Moreno Elementary, the their successes overall math increased 7.5% from -86.4 to 78.9 and ELA increase in African-American students of 23.1% of points from 94.5 to 71.4. So, great job, Ms. Smith. Well done. Ridgecrest, ELA improved by 9.3 points from 44.4 to 35.1 and English learners improved by 18.6 in ELA from 85.9 to 67.3. So, again, Mr. Mutin, great job to your team over there at Ridgecrest. And then finally, Towngate, overall math increased 3.4% from to 57.2 points to 53.8 eight points and

159math increased for African-American students by 23.4 points from 97.9 points to 74.5 points. So, Veronica, great great job to you and your team. So, as we talk about our chronic absenteeism, those areas that we need to grow, the reasoning, let's have that discussion again with our principals. They're not going to be nervous. They're going to be open. Um and they're really going to tell you what their plan of action is. So, I really want to start with um, Hendry Grants, Mrs. White, come on forward. Good evening, everyone, and thank you for having me as I am the proud principal of Hendry Grants Elementary. I've been there for several years, and they Hendry Grants is very important to me and my students and their success. So, one thing that supported our suspension rate, it was purposeful,

160that we have a group called the lunch bunch, and we had a room particularly where we meet with our students, and um, they come in, and rather than handle their things outside, we actually discuss, we come up with transitions, we come up with ways where kids say, "Well, Ms. White, this is what happened. This is what he did." We use effective PBIS skills, and we talk about how we want to be treated, and how we want others to treat everyone else. The other thing is that, along with our parent ambassador, our PD specialist, the AP, and the leaders of our APAC, we work specifically with our African-American students, and we geared toward targeted students, and that's what supported the increase in our ELA scores, and everything was data-driven, and we met with them every trimester,

161or when needed. So, if the teacher said, "You need to meet with little Johnny." That's my example, too. And so, meet with little Johnny, he hasn't been in school, or he's not completing his work. We actually met, and we say, "How can we help you? What is it that you need so you can keep on a positive trajectory?" Questions? That's it? Good evening. I'm so happy to be here. As you know, I'm 6 months in as a principal of Merino Mustangs. I am so, so honored to be able to present our data as we continue to work with our staff, our students, and our community. I believe we believe that the overall math increase has a lot to do with our staff during POCs increasing by unpacking our standards, our essential standards, and of course

162our continued goal of making sure that manipulatives are available to students at all times in all grade levels. And during our POCs, we concentrate on not only the vertical articulation, but those articulation is driven by data. We want to look at the data and look at what we need to do to continue moving our students forward. In terms of our ELA increase for African-American students, we firmly believe it is our community. Community outreach is very essential to our students. We have amazing A-Pact events happening at our school, and then of course the data chats with our students. I believe we believe that in order for our students to grow, we have to be able to allow them to see their data, where they're at, so we can continue moving them forward. Thank you. Good evening.

163Uh Mike Meeting over at Ridgecrest, just want to say thank you guys. I do want to say yes, I'm new to the district, but also um I would say that I've been at Riverside for the last 10 years and had no idea how amazing Moreno Valley is. So, just want to give kudos to all the work that's being done here. It is incredible and it's you know, had no idea right next door that such amazing things were going on. So, um jumping over to uh our glows. Um when we talk about ELA, there was just that intentionality behind small group interventions. And so, we look at there was the introduction of UFLI, which is that um foundational reading program, as well as that small group intervention, making sure that those small groups are effective. Um

164not you know, just small groups of students being pulled but intentionality behind what they were doing with those small groups. Um looking at our EL students, we we did see a rise with them as well. Um what we really focused on that seemed to be was that there was just that connection between the intervention specialists that were happening and the teachers. There was intentionality between that connection of what they were doing, ensuring that um the interventions that they were giving were reinforcing those core concepts in the classroom as well as supporting our EL learners and that's kind of what we see that growth that um we saw with those learners. So, um yeah, those were our glows for Ridgecrest there. Good evening. I am the proud principal of Towngate Elementary and our glow for math

165overall increase was due to best first instruction and then afterwards providing small group instruction during math time. And so, um also providing um tutoring within the school day. So, thank you for that board for approving that for America Corps providing tutoring and Hey Tutors. So, that helps um our students and it also helps our teachers to provide more intensive small group instruction. And then we have our math PD as well. So, we are guiding and instructing teachers on how to use best teaching strategies and also manipulatives and allowed students um math discourse. So, that is a continuance of um this year as well as last year. And then um our math increase for our African American students was also due to goal setting. So, we were strategizing and focusing with our students and we were

166having student data chats and we invited to our school our school um ambassador to be a part of that as well. And then um just continuing to monitor their data. Thank you. Wow, you guys are doing a really good job. Keep it up. Okay, so now we're going to really focus on the following possible reasons for the areas that need to grow. So I'd like to invite Mrs. White back up to the podium. Thank you. So when I looked at the data and decided what was the reason for the increase, it was the change within the parent engagements within our TK and kinder students from the 23-24 school year to the 24-25 school year. We lack parent engagement. So we would purposely bring our parents in, our TK and kinder parents in and have something

167that we call pastries with the principal and explain to them why it's important for your student to be here. What a lot of parents understand that those grade levels are not required. What we did in the previous years was we explained to them even though they're not required, it's important it is it's essential for their overall academic career. So we fell short of that. Also, we had strategic plans for independent short-term, something that we didn't monitor as much as we did in the previous two school years. That's what's the reason for it. Something that we're now we put back in place. And in looking at our chronic of 2.5% going back to our MTSS data. Looking at it, for us it's about providing the resources for our parents. So we were not doing our part

168in making sure that we have those A2A parent meetings to provide parents and even their students with the resources that's available out there to get the students back on track and to get the students back into the school system and that actually is a line with the fact that parents did not realize there was ISP. You know, they weren't aware of it that it's available to them whether it's one day or 15 day. So we are now working with our district to ensure that we provide those resources to our parents and our students regarding our ISP process. In addition to that, we had our PBIS but we just launched our online PBIS reward system for our attendance for our students. So that too really helps to increase our students or I should say ignite our

169students to say hey, I'm going to come to school because I'm going to receive PBIS points online for my attendance. And then of course, our limited community and family engagement. We're going to tackle that to reach out with our parents ambassadors to help us reach out to our community and make these phone calls and provide them with the resources that they need. Thank you. Okay, so looking at Ridgecrest for we did have that site uptick in chronic and looking at the data what we kind of identified is that there wasn't a backstop in place for students. Like when we saw absences coming, they kind of snowballed. There was no um nothing going out, no contact going out to families to get the student back in coming. And so that's kind of looking what we feel

170that was help driving that uh chronic absenteeism up. The other thing is actually the community and family engagement. Through community surveys we found that there's actually a feeling that we are not recognizing attendance the way that we should at Ridgecrest. And so in the sense of it just it isn't um there was a diminished value of the importance of having students attend. And so we think that that that coupled with the um lack of backstop pretty much helped tick that rate up. And I also had chronic absenteeism increase in our African-American students of an 8.3% and so I'm not very proud of that but I believe it had to do with not having a clear strategic system with with short-term ISBs and letting the parents know that this is available for them. And we currently

171have an attendance team that means that meets monthly and so that is helping us make sure that we are strategic and consistent with that. And then also making sure we make those personal phone calls and we make time once a week to schedule those personal phone calls with the parents to see how we can make sure their students are at school and learning. And then we are providing more raffles for the families with perfect attendance and we're encouraging just sale parties and attendance parties so we're making a really big deal at town gate with attendance and when students are there. Thank you. Okay, so let's talk about the actions or next steps. Let's talk about that. As you already know we we've been through this with our alliance task force, whether it's equity and achievement

172group, the heart of success task force in regards to dealing with chronic absenteeism. Thank you to Anne I E and her group with again phrasing that new slogan of missing school is missing out and creating that beautiful beautiful design on the card right here. It's a great way to encourage students and student engagement piece for our kids. And then you've seen all the district level support and resources that we've provided the schools. Part of that is the guiding coalition, the PLCs, the district PLNs in math, our dial team, BTCs. Again, you're going to hear a lot of acronyms. The BTCs, the building thinking classrooms with the defronted classroom, the use of manipulatives in the classroom, you know, so and the the mathematical discourse. Um and then here's a new slide that you have not seen.

173So, what we wanted to do is we want to incorporate where we were at this time last year with where we're at this year. So, as you can see in the middle, the chronic absenteeism MTSS report, last year at this time we were at 27.5%. This year at work we're at 24.4%. So, a 3.1 decrease. Again, although it's 3.1, we would like to see that gap get wider and wider and decrease the chronic absenteeism even more. Yes, ma'am. Oh, you're welcome. And so, now our response to the reasoning, right? The actions or next steps for areas of growth and improvement. And I would love to invite Mrs. White up here to really talk about her action steps at Hinojosa Elementary School. Well, we are going down and similar to my colleagues, we went back to

174be purposeful purposeful with our chronic absenteeism. One thing about data and working with people is we look at what works and what didn't work and we went back and we added what worked. We're purposely engaging our TK and K parents in understanding the importance of having their students there. Thanks to student services, we have a extra teacher to support our independent studies, so we're already seeing an increase and that's turning around our weekly attendance. That's making it more. in addition with our PBIS, we've also added weekly raffles. We've added weekly My kids love recess. They love it. So, we've given them more recess and they can't wait. So, you know, I've had and I like when parents are very purposeful. They get a a phone call and it's they're like, "My student was there." That

175means that I'm reaching out and my actions are happening. Somebody needs to make a correction or they come and see me. They're like, "Ms. White, I'm working for a perfect attendance for my students." So, now with the change of attitude, the more engagement, we see that within the school community. Thank you, Mrs. White. And I I really want to engage you on the slide real quick. At the very top, it says chronic decrease chronic absenteeism. It's highlighted in bold. That was last year's chronic absenteeism. If you look at the at the bottom of each school, year-to-date this year is what their chronic absenteeism this year. So, I really wanted to make sure you were aware of that. Mrs. Smith? Thank you. I really love that you highlighted that because this is my Sego goal for

176our school here. To decrease from 36% to 30%. So, as of today, we are meeting our Sego goals. And why is that happening? It's happening because of the staff and the community and the students. So, we are providing small group attendance intervention workshops with my intern social worker. That's me saying again where we did not have that community outreach for our parent engagement piece. So, I'm utilizing, you know, the support from the district to have those small group workshops with our students, but not only with our students, also with our parents as well during those A2A meetings. In addition to that, our focus group this year is our African-American group. So, we have built at Moreno Elementary our legacy builder leadership program. It's about pride, it's about respect, it's about allowing our students to be

177seen when they come to school. In addition to that, we recognize our students every bi-weekly per grade level superhero attendance award. We track their attendance and the week every week certain grade level gets a superhero in their classroom so they can show off as I go into the classroom and I wear my Wonder Woman superhero outfit. In addition to that, working with our PBIS stride team, we have rotations three to four times a year. Not only to emphasize behavior, but also to emphasize the importance of showing up to school and making a difference. And then last but not least, the key component to this is of course highlighting our students in my parent and staff newsletter. Those who have perfect attendance, those who have zero tardies, or those who have zero early releases. Thank you.

178Okay, so for Rich Crest, if we do look at our percentages, unfortunately we're not quite where we want to be right now. Um I would say that when we look at what it our data like we had our systems that we're building at the beginning of year, December came and we saw like a big wave of chronic absenteeism that helped push that over. Working out of that, what we're doing what tweaking what we have done plus adding in is kind of our areas of growth and improvement. And so new monitoring systems to identify identify those students who are approaching chronic absenteeism. So running weekly approach weekly reports to see those students who are climbing into that range of becoming chronic. As well as the attendance buddy system which is pairing students who are showing attendance

179issues with other students to have that positive peer-to-peer connection. Weekly attendance recognition, we do a we have implemented a weekly trophy system for each grade level where that class gets recognized as well as a daily shout-out where two students from each grade level, if you're here that day you come up and grab a quick prize up from the office there. So, we also are doing our students morning pledge. So, part of our morning announcements has a part about attendance and just being present and the important importance of that. And so, as we said earlier there was that feedback from the community about the giving value back to the importance of attendance. And so, you can see some of these things are focused towards that. As well as that reporting system, we're looking to highlight how

180how to identify those ISP students quicker to be able to recapture that attendance. As well as we do have like a substitute that is working with students to help complete those ISPs or help focus on those ISPs as well as provide specific positive reinforcements for those students. Yeah, thank you. Well, just like my colleagues, we're working very hard in increasing just our monitoring practices, you know, at our school and making sure that parents understand the importance of attendance. And we're doing a lot of spirit days, just dress-up days. Admin is there welcoming students every morning making sure that they are happy coming to school, that they feel safe and the needs of parents are being addressed. And we're implementing a consistent system in completing short-term ISPs. So, every Wednesday we have students complete ISPs. We

181get students from Think Together or we call parents and we schedule them once a week to come and provide that time and support. So, we have instructional assistants assisting with that as well. And we provide a lot of trimester attendance awards and data chats with our students to continue with. And so, our data is looking good. So, I'm hoping it'll get better. Thank you. All right. Thank you, school leaders. So, what you heard is a lot of growth mindset, right? If something's not working, let's not throw it away. Let's Let's revamp it and let's continue pushing for a decrease in chronic absenteeism. But what you also heard was about being intentional and strategic and really working and focusing with those student groups on decreasing chronic absenteeism. So, thank you so much for allowing us to

182present on chronic absenteeism. Are there any questions? Thank you all for an amazing presentation, and I'll start with student board member Healing. Um I don't have any questions, but I do have a couple comments. First, I just want to say thank you for your amazing presentations. It was very insightful to see you all that you guys all the data you have collected. And I just want to say I really appreciate how you guys have very clear actions, a very clear plans that for your Sorry. How you have very clear plans for the places that you need growth in, and rather than just purely relying on incentives, you focus on things that you can do in the long run that will help your students. And then, I just wanted to point out Hueneme K-8. I think

183it's really important that you teach that you teach your students to advocate for themselves to prevent conflict. And another highlight from Marina Elementary, I think that providing students with data and seeing it firsthand rather than just hearing about their test scores or just hearing what how they're doing and seeing it firsthand, it's really beneficial cuz as a student I can attest when I see how I'm doing like in a graph, it makes me want to do better. If I see how I'm doing um I'm improving and makes me feel great and see like how I've improved and I just want to say that it's really important and thank you. Thank you. Trustee Leiva. I just want to say thank you for coming here and being vulnerable and presenting to us the areas where you need

184to grow and you know, recognizing that there's work to do. Um it takes a lot of courage, you know, to to acknowledge that. But um I see that you guys have the willingness to make those changes and um as I know some of you are new and you're working, you know, towards um making those changes to improve your schools. So, I just want to say thank you for coming here. Thank you. Trustee Jackson. Thank you, President Clark. Um as my colleagues mentioned, thank you all for coming here and opening up your schools and opening up your data to all of us. It's very consequential that as a board we receive that data as often as possible so we can also provide the support and resource that each of you need respective to your individual schools.

185It's been a privilege to meet all of you Ms. Arnett and principals throughout this my first time meeting you so it's a pleasure. Thank you Thank you to the rest of you for allowing me to go to your school sites. Um it was a privilege particularly my alma mater Marine Avenue Elementary and thank you Ms. White as well for welcoming me for Read Across America. And then also thank you so much for bringing me to Richcrest. Um Oh oh I Please please send the invite. Um when it comes to Hendrick Ranch, I love the idea of the Lunch Bunch that you have there building community. That sounds incredible and that gets me towards my question of what are some of those draws that outside of this presentation, outside of academics, that you see really bring

186and incentivize your students to come to school every day? For my I have a loud voice. I thought I could talk. I'm sorry. Um for my upper grades, it's the uh the Lunch Bunch. They That started off as something small. Yeah. And we ended up having it inside of a classroom, but we're underneath construction. So as you saw, it's in my office now and they're kind of like the veranda. I apologize for that. But that's time for them to have a relaxed time, to talk about what's going on, to talk about work, to tell me things without feeling like they're going to get in trouble, right? So cuz the principal is I'm the disciplinary there, but I'm also their advocate. I'm their counselor and I'm the person who makes school fun for them. We also

187have e-sports for our upper grade students. So they work with our fourth two of our teachers, a fourth and fifth grade student uh teachers and we have a studio club. That's very important to our students. So in order to demonstrate to your uh lower uh grade colleagues or fellow students, you must demonstrate good behavior, how to be a good student. So that draws in our students. So that's why my focus is on all parents, but primarily primary to get that engagement up for them. And one more question, when you when you all saw that um that increase in chronic absenteeism um almost at 11%. Was that something that you could feel and see on the campus as well when it came to, you know, the other students seeing that their classmates weren't there and teachers

188having um you know, m- more open seats in their classes as well? Was that something that you guys could feel? The lower grade teachers talked about the attendance for their TK and kinder. Okay. And we talked about what was the difference from the two previous school years. So we went back and we looked at the data. What were we doing where we saw our chronic absenteeism decrease. So, we we did So, this we started working kind of late in the year about this time when we started working on getting our parents back on campus. So, hopefully we have them back as the data is showing and that students are back. Thank you, Ms. White. And I would just say, again, you were incredible welcoming me and hosting me. You were doing a million things. So,

189thank you so much for giving me the attention. I appreciate that and working with your students. And also, your students love you. You know all of their names. So, thank you so much. >> And thank you for coming. My pleasure. Moreno Elementary, my alma mater. Um you mentioned fostering community and um a big part of that was having the African-American Parent um Advisory Commission there or Council, I should say, Commission. Um that's my other hat. Um uh could you just speak a little bit about how that cuz you also mentioned um in one of the growth that you would like to see more community engagement. Could you So, could you try to highlight how that's been um receptive for your African-American population um and how you would like to expand that to other groups as

190well? Absolutely. I love that question. Um at Moreno Elementary, we have a very strong APAC community. When we have events, it's jam-packed, you know? And what we do is we provide food. They come for food, you know? But we also have very interactive activities not only for our parents, but also for our students as well. They focus on SEL lessons. They focus on community resources. One of our presentation was on the availability of what the wellness center is all about. And it was very eye-opening to our community that it's right here in our backyard that they have access to it for free. And they had no idea that it was available to them. In addition to that, we also have the opportunity for our teachers to take center stage during those African-American APAC meetings. The

191teachers are providing not only reading resources for our families, but also math resources for our family. And out of that, we created a Legacy Builder program. The Legacy Builder program is all about making sure our students come to school, but not only coming to school, but that they're seen and they're heard. And I did mention, you know, to a few of the board trustee, it this initiative came about because of our leadership meeting when we had those panel of students from high school. And what we took away, my amazing AP is here, you know, to support us. What we took away from that is our students show up, but are they really showing up? So, we wanted to provide a space for them to be able to say, "You know what? There's a reason why

192I'm showing up for school. There are people who are connected to me at school, but they're allowing me to have the opportunity to advocate for themselves, to provide them with that support, and to build that relationship. So, what we're doing with that is ensuring that our students feel like, "I have a safe place that I can go to school, and if anything happens, I can go to my mentors, and they're readily available for me." If that's the message that we're sending home to our community, then I think we've done our job. Thank you. Thank you. >> that question. Perfectly. Thank you for hitting the ground running at Rincon Elementary in 6 months. Of Rich Crest. Um I really appreciated how you highlighted the U-FLY um program that you all have there in building those foundational

193reading skills again. Um reading was my saving grace when I was at the elementary level, so I really appreciated that. And um on the on the growth, I believe it was chronic absenteeism increased by about 1.4%. Um is there any other growth areas? 1.4% is pretty marginal. Of course, we want our students there. Any other growth areas outside of chronic absenteeism? Are you asking just if we've seen growth in other areas? Yeah, any other cuz 1.4% it's it's marginal, but of course, you know, chronic absenteeism is what we're focused on, but wondering if there are any other areas that you would highlight in addition to chronic absenteeism. Um yes, like uh we had those growths in the um ELA sector. We did see some gains in ELA that we were able to um highlight through

194those reading those foundational uh reading skill programs. Um and so if is that what you're asking for like growth that what other growth we've seen across from other student groups or >> Yes. Okay, this this actually explains it perfectly. Yeah, yeah. Thank you. That that was a Rich Crest is doing great work, so that that was my only question in regards to Rich Crest. Thank you. Okay, thank you. And then Town Gate, I just wanted to highlight the AmeriCorps tutoring. I think that is so foundational that you all have welcomed that to your school. Um I would love to learn more about the AmeriCorps tutoring program, so maybe that's my opportunity to come visit you all there. Okay, see you. The whole system. Thank you so much. Thank you, Trustee Williams. Uh that was an

195amazing presentation and I I thank all of you for being here and and sharing with us your your nuggets. Um you truly have some nuggets. You've realized those nuggets. But what do you all have in common in terms of your improvement? Cuz you've all improved on actions or next steps for areas of growth or improvement. So what What all have in common? Come on, don't be shy. Don't go to the back of the room on me. Come up. Come up. Speak. Speak. I think for us it's it starts with leaders starts with our staff and then of course it's that community. I love the word purpose. You know, we all have a purpose behind this. You know, for me it's I'm not doing this because I don't love it. I love what I do. I'm

196exhausted every day and I can speak for my colleagues too, but I just feel like we all have a purpose. We all love our students and we want the best for them and I think that's the common for me. You know, that each and every one of us we're so passionate about what we do and we're so passionate about making sure our students come to school and have what they need in order for them to be successful, but not only that it's just the resources available to our families as well. I would I would also add add the just also the direction, you know, that Dr. Arcy, you know, she she makes sure that we look at our data and we reflect on it and we put actions, you know, not just this is what

197we're doing, but and then the providing the the supports especially I know because you know, it's communicated to you and what the need is of our students. So, if tutoring is needed, we have tutoring. If a level is needed, a level is there. So, all of those programs that all of those programs enrich our students every single day and we could see their talents and their creativeness creativeness in so many ways. So, there's no reason why students shouldn't be at school every single day. So, you know, we get the teachers involved where we tell them send a message send a message that you miss the student. Then next we you reached out to us to admin, you know, to the front office, then we will reach out. But, you know, parents want to hear from

198their teachers. So, just sending that Parent Square message makes a difference. I think as the data as Ms. Arte stated, the data doesn't lie. The data is intentional and a sign of a good teacher. So, I always appeal to my teachers is when you see something's not working working when you're teaching, you got to pivot and turn, right? So, when we saw that our the way we stopped doing wasn't working, we pivot, we turn, and we went back to where we were more successful. So, everything is driven by the data. Dr. Arte makes thing One thing she said is the data does not lie, right? So, we have to drive our instruction, we have to drive our attendance by what we see and that's how we support our teachers. And our students. And just supporting

199everything that they've said, but I think it's also just when we set out to hit these goals and you see the growth in the student and you achieve with them, it's the feeling that that brings because you know that the impact that you've had is like changing those students' lives. And so, really like all of these goals hitting them, seeing that growth is just such that I give that impactful situation that we all Excuse me, that we all are working towards. And so, yeah. You know, I I I want to bring it all back around and I I'm glad you all spoke about it because it is the triangle. And it's school, it's the community, and it's the student. See, that's what you all have in common. And you all hit it where it needs

200to be hit. And what you're increasing in the students and the parents, what was the last thing you said, Mr. Peoples? Mindset. See, the mindset is growing. Therefore, they can take on more. They can take more on more to engage as students. They can take on more to engage as parents. And we have to increase that mindset so that we derive the benefits from all of the programs that you're supplying. And knowing about the wellness center, that's going to change a lot of people. See? Um and you said you got to pivot. Well, in football, we call that a halftime adjustment. See? And that's what you got to do. You If it's not working, you got to make an adjustment and keep on on stroking. So, I said all of that to say, continue what

201you're doing. And if you need something, you got to you got to let us know. Thank you. Trustee Luna? Thank you all for your hard work, for sharing your best practices, for caring about our students. I just have a couple of brief questions. Um one, I didn't hear it in the presentation, but I could have missed it. Do any of you do home visits for chronic absenteeism? I I haven't personally gone out. Oh, I'm sorry. I myself haven't personally gone out, but I have sent our staff to go out with our counselor and of course our intern social worker to do that. Okay. Have you found it successful? I I believe so. You know, at first it's very scary, of course, you know, uh but I believe you have to be vulnerable, you know, in

202order for progress to happen. So, absolutely. Thank you. Um the other question I wanted to ask was about uh the missing school is missing out cards. Do any of you have data on how often those are used? And also maybe any stories you'd like to share about how the students respond to receiving those? Cuz I just imagine myself as a young person receiving one and feeling special, you know, like, "Oh, they missed me." You know, and I'm sure I'm sure it would encourage them to come to school. Do any of you have any stories about that? I have one. Um I don't have data for those cards, I will say, but I know that um one of those cards that we given out to a student, they were pretty shocked. They didn't quite understand they

203need to explain it and they were happy and they were like, "Oh, this is awesome." And then as part of the uh the candy grams for Valentine's Day, he bought a Valentine's Day candy gram for me and was like, "Hey, this is because you gave me the card. I wanted to give this back to you." So, yeah. Yeah, see that I had a feeling I would hear a story like that. That's really sweet. Very special. I hope I hope that um everyone is using those as as much as possible cuz it's such a simple thing. It was a great great idea. Thank you, communications. Thanks, Anahe, for for coming up with that. That's that's an awesome um thing that we can use that, you know, doesn't cost a lot of money. So, but thank you

204all. Thank you all for being here. Thank you, Trustee Luna. Hi, everybody. So, I am computer bad board member, but it's okay because it's all with love. But I do have some um I'm happy that you guys have a action plan and I believe that that action plan is going to be extremely successful because I see it in you and I feel it in you. One of the things that you said earlier was leadership, expect changes, impact, and changing lives. Listen to these words, leadership, expectation, impact, and changing lives. That's the formula, right? You guys got to that's you could put that in the bottle because I believe that with those things that you all said, these are your words, not mine, that change is going to come. I want to challenge you on the

205leadership position. When we talk about the kids, I know we're just focusing on, "Hey, the parent calls." Great, you guys got that. You guys have put going to put that into action. The teachers, right? You all. I also want to encourage you to look at your secretaries in the office and the front office. Your yard duty. The people who see these kids when they first walk up. Make sure it's trickling all the way down to that level because when a kid feels welcome even in those spaces, it could add, I think, to them wanting to go and the sense of belonging at the school. And I know that you guys are all doing great work and I know I probably don't even have to say this, but just look at every single person on that

206campus and how they've added value to that student because it's so important. And it's appreciated. You mentioned safe space. Everywhere should be a safe space in that school. You apologized, Ms. Wyatt, about I know it was in the principal's office, but how cool is it to go to the principal's office when you're not in trouble? I'm sure all those kids were like, "We are having a good time." >> apologizing to Trustee Jackson who came to visit and my kids came in. Yeah, that's cool. And I'm like Like they're like, we're going back to school tomorrow. Sorry for interrupting you, but they're like we are going back. Chelsea Jackson's going to be there and the principal. We scored. You mentioned having food. I think that's, you know, food is is the universal language, right? Like we

207all come to eat no matter what. Um if that brings you in the door, bless it. We're blessed, right? Because we we got your attention. So, continue that good work and and you know, all all of you all of you are doing a great job. All of you recognize your data. You guys have the formula and the key to success and I'm grateful that you share that with us. So, thanks again. Thank you. I I'm just looking at them and I think this catharticism really encouraged them to just go back and do better. I got seven words to end with this just to echo what you said earlier. We have we have banners hanging at the schools and it's be kind. It takes all of us. So, thank you. Thank you guys for the great

208work. Moving on to K2 action items and presentations on 2025-2026 second financial interim report. Ms. Lopez. Thank you, President Clark, members of the board, Superintendent Dr. Ruel Gavaldon, cabinet members of the audience. Uh Suzanne Lopez, chief business official, and I'm going to be presenting an overview of the second interim financial report. And this is an attempt to summarize the 195-page attachment. So, Trustee Jackson, if you want to add some more to your reading, 195 pages right here. But, they're all numbers. Um and so, that that attachment are the actual forms that are required to submit the financial data to the state of California. Uh but, we're going to summarize it for you this evening. So, I'm going to Uh we had a couple presentations that covered our goals. It's not clicking now. There we go.

209So, I'm going to go ahead and get started. Um before we focus on second um interim, we did have a January presentation that summarized the enrollment enrollment for our elementary schools. We had in February a presentation that summarized the enrollment for our secondary schools. But, I did want to include a couple slides here with second interim that just talks a little bit about what is happening at our alternative sites cuz we want to make sure that we look at our entire district as a whole. So, these next couple of slides are going to show what is happening at those specific sites. Uh this is the entire district enrollment trend, which we reviewed at that January and February meeting, where it shows that as a district, we declined the 500 students in 25-26. So, specifically looking

210at our three alternative sites, Bayside, um uh looking at Mavoa, and looking at March Mountain. Um when we're looking at the enrollment for the sites, if you recall when we discussed the elementary, we talked about specific programs. Here we want to focus on the FTEs for these sites. All three of these sites are funded from the L cap. Uh there is a goal that is specific to our alternative sites and that is going to be gold 2.3, which is our alternative school support. So you will see that dollar amount identified there. And when you look at Bayside Community Day School, you can see that the enrollment, um coming out of COVID, has been right around 120 students. And we have 11 FTE full-time equivalent teachers, um that are supporting Bayside. Taking a look at March

211Mountain, um and again, just a reminder, um March Valley was closed and so prior to that occurring, that would have been reflected as a separate school site. Um now you can see that March Mountain has an enrollment uh under 300, whereas one time it was approaching almost 350. Again, this is a school site that is supported by 22 FTEs uh for March Mountain. And then when you take a look at Mova, our Moreno Valley Online Academy, you can see that COVID really changed the enrollment of Mova and that was when we saw a very high increase. And after a couple years, that enrollment has stayed steady. So um that is a school now that is uh has an enrollment of approximately 735 students and has been in that 700 student range now uh for a

212couple of years and so that's going to be the the projections as we move forward. And they have 17 teachers supporting Mova. Also want to note that there is no slide for adult education or our early learning academy as both of these programs would be outside of CalPads, so they're not considered um for enrollment purposes, they would not be included in district enrollment. Uh district enrollment is focused on your TK through 12 enrollment. And so both of these alternative sites um would fall outside of that. So just wanted to to note that that it wasn't intentional to leave them out. We were just focused on on district enrollment. Okay. So now we're going to talk about second interim. And again, this is the time of the year. We do this twice, once in December first

213interim, now in March for second interim. We are looking and doing the same exercise that we did when we presented the information to you in March December, I apologize. In December though, we were we had information actual information through October and we're then projecting what the numbers would be through June. Now we are further into the year and so now we are taking a look at actual information through January 31st and making our projections based on that. Um we also did note that third interim um is only required when you are submitting a qualified report, which we are not. And so this would be the last interim report for the 25-26 fiscal year. It is required that all districts do this. You are including information not only for your current budget year, but also your

214two subsequent years as required by AB 1200. And it allows the state to really take a look at information for all districts. So this is something that regardless of which dis which of the 1,000 districts you are in the state you're providing this information in the same format to the state for comparison purposes. There are three certifications that a district could have and pleased to report that we are recommending the approval tonight of a positive certification. That means that the district will be able to meet its financial obligations not only for the current budget year, but for the two subsequent years as well. And so here is the summary of that and then just a reminder that we will maintain this positive certification through next year's first interim. Um interims are the only times that

215districts could change or update their certification. So we will be in this positive certification status. Not going to spend too much time on the enrollment cuz we've been able to focus on that each of the last couple of meetings. And so this is again big picture wise, uh current year 30,417. That was a decline of about 507 students. So we are projecting of 475 as we move forward. And then taking a look at our attendance, attendance is a little tricky cuz I know sometimes we are seeing lots of percentages and we're seeing um as was included and provided in the superintendent's report, we do have a handful of schools that are making great progress and you're seeing the 94s 95%. As a district uh there is only one point in time that the state will

216use to determine what your attendance rate will be or what your funded ADA will be and that is period two, uh which for us is the eighth attendance month. It's typically around spring break. We are allowed to revise our P2 and that is the purpose of us having Saturday innovation camps so that we can make up attendance. However, it's only that specific report that they will use and you divide that by your your enrollment to get a percentage. And because as a district we typically lose students throughout the year, our enrollment will decline and so sometimes when we're looking at and showing percentages of what do you mean you're projecting 92.5 for the year? That's because it's cumulative for all of our schools and looking at from the very first day to period two. Um

217right now things are on track that we will hit that 92.5% mark. You can see that for last year we were at 92.27, so that would be an increase. Um however, for the out years we are staying conservative and projecting 93% even though I know we have a lot of efforts, a lot of initiatives to increase that attendance, but the way that trends work, remember, we need to make sure that we have the data to show our COE. This is why we're projecting this rate. We need to have the backup to show that. So if we can have a couple of years of higher attendance, we would be able to increase our projections in the out years. Uh the one of the assumptions that has a very big impact on our funding is what we

218refer to as our unduplicated pupil percentage and we spend a lot of the time sharing um at the beginning of the school year especially because that's when all the efforts are made to collect the forms so that we can collect and have accurate demographic information for our district. And just as a recap, unduplicated pupil percentage is the percentage of students that meet one of these three groups. They're English language learners, they qualify for free and reduced low income, or foster youth. It's unduplicated, so when you have students that meet all three, you still can only count them once. And so you take that number, you divide it by your CALPADS number again to get a percentage, and for us that percentage is 87.76. We have been holding steady now at this 87% mark, which is

219good. Um but if you recall for the last couple of years, we were seeing increases to this percentage because we had when universal meals was implemented, we had a couple of years with low percentages, and so we've rebounded. Now we have 3 years of good 87% range. So this means that as we move forward, there's not going to be any more significant increases to the LCAP funding, which this directly impacts. So when you're calculating your revenues, and you take a look at this unduplicated pupil percentage, that dollar amount that this these students generate is what goes into your LCAP. And that is what we need to account for. Um and so that number in the LCAP will probably stay pretty consistent as we move forward. Now we want to take a look at our major

220assumptions, and again our assumptions are used to build the budget. This is based on the most recent information that we have. And assumptions are monitored throughout the year, and we will make adjustments when we need to so that we have the most accurate data. What we do is we will show and outline the projections for each of the 3 years, so you can see that for current year, uh we are including a 2.3% COLA. We usually include the COLAs for budget year because now the state has finalized that percentage. We know it's not going to change. However, for the subsequent years, we are more conservative. We typically don't include COLAs in the out years. However, we did include a 2% COLA for 2026-2027, and once that COLA is finalized for 2026-2027, we will capture the

221difference um because right now we've only incorporated that 2% of revenues, and then a 0% colon 27-28. Um as I mentioned, the unduplicated pupil percentage is now staying pretty consistent in that 87% range. Don't anticipate much change to that. Our district enrollment, you can see that reflects the 475 decrease in each of the two years. Average daily attendance, you can see that aligns to the previous charts at 92.5% for current year, 93% for the out years. The mandated block grants and lottery funds are assumptions that are provided to us by the state. So, the governor, every time he updates his budget, will give us what these factors are for these revenue streams. And just like we have assumptions for revenues, we need to make sure that we have assumptions on the expenditure side. So, the

222largest um uh variable on the expenditure side would be what our cost is for step and column. Step and column simply means that if all of your employees uh were to remain employed for the full year, each year as there's progress made on the salary schedule, there is a cost to that. And that is what is referred to as step and column. For us, it's almost 1.56%, and you can see it's about $6 million. This would be all employees, all groups. We just lump it together. Thankfully, we're not seeing um as much variation now on the retirement percentages. These were percentages that for the last couple of years were being increased significantly. Now, STRS, which is the State Teachers' Retirement System, has stabilized. That is a 19.1% that is holding steady. That is the employer

223contribution for retirement. And for PERS, it's uh projected to increase in 27-28 from 26.4 to 26.9. So, all of our school sites know and department heads know that as we're working together on putting together the budgets, it's not just the cost of the salary, but it's also the cost of all of the fixed cost and retirement would be your biggest variable. So now we're going to take a look at what has changed from first interim and and now that it's second interim and and last there's things that are drastic or we have updated information, there's not a lot of changes typically on your revenues and you can see that reflected here. These are unrestricted only what we refer to as fund 03. You can see that there is a 435,000 projected difference. Um and it's

224mainly due to use of facilities revenue which is something that we typically don't budget until we receive the money. Um and so you can see that we are projecting our revenue on the unrestricted side to be $490 million. Of that, about 110 million would be the L cap portion. A better illustration of the revenues would be this visual here that shows you that 95% of revenues are tied to our local control funding formula which is simply enrollment, attendance, and your unduplicated pupil percentage. That's why it's so important that we monitor our enrollment and our attendance because 95% of the revenues are dependent on that. When it comes to unrestricted, you can see that there's no federal revenues. Those are all restricted. The state lottery would be part of those state revenues, so 2.8% and then

225local revenues at 2.1. And so it's just really emphasizes the significance and the importance of enrollment and attendance. So now as we turn to our expenditure side, you can see that there are more significant variances here when we're looking at first interim in comparison to second interim. But really the emphasis and the reason behind the biggest change had to do with the fact that we did approve a salary increase at the end of January. And so when we shared the first interim presentation, we shared that those numbers did not incorporate the cost of the salary increase. And so if you take a look at just those first three categories, certificated salaries, classified salaries, and employee benefits, those three numbers alone um reflected an $11.4 million increase from first interim. $10.3 million of that was tied

226to the raise. And so the majority of the increases are reflected there. We also want to note that and you'll see it when we look at our multi-year projections, we have included in that 10.3, 4.5 of it is one-time because remember we had a one-time component to our raise. And so the way that that multi-year works, yes, it will be reflected as expenditure in current year, but you'll see that those expenditures would be lowered for those amounts in the out year, which is helpful, um but all of that has been reflected. So when you're looking at total expenditures, even though we're projecting that it will increase 11.6 million, again the majority of it 10.3 was due to the salary increase. And if you look at the visual of the breakdown of our expenditures, you can

227see that we've broken it down into major categories and just want to bring your attention um when you add the percentages for certificated salaries, classified salaries, management salaries, and employee benefits, those four um, sections would equal 87.9. And so, many times you're hearing how many district budgets, a large portion of district budgets are tied to personnel. We are no different. We are at 87.9 of the unrestricted general funds are tied to to people, to personnel cost. However, I will tell you that that's probably on the lower end. You'll see that there's districts that are as high as 94, 95%. And now, when you do a breakdown of the financing sources, um, we know that there are times when unrestricted general fund revenues have to be used to contribute to other programs. And so, we see

228that in our classified classify that under financing sources. I'll first touch on the transfers out. Transfers out are anytime that you are moving money from your unrestricted general fund to other funds. Uh, for us, uh, the largest portion of that, $8.6 million, is what is transferred out to our liability fund, our insurance fund. Um, and then there is an increase of $2 million reflected now at second interim. This is money that was sitting in unrestricted that was generated by transportation. Um, and there's going to be a transportation presentation following this. There's state money that we receive for transportation. And as we are working on, uh, beginning the project next door at the vacant lot, $2 million of that was moved to our capital outlay fund so that we have the revenue stream there to begin

229that. So, that's the reason for the $2 million transfer out. Those were already funds designated for transportation, but now will be used in for capital outlay still related to transportation. And then when it comes to the contributions, these are funds specifically that are going to special education as well as routine restricted maintenance account. And I'm going to just go to the next slide so that I can illustrate and take a closer look at that, but you can see that overall projecting those numbers to increase by 3 million. So if you just were to take a look at that and we're looking at slide number 25, a contribution occurs anytime that a restricted program does not have the revenue to fully fund their expenses, or it could be a requirement of Ed Code. So in this

230case, we have both examples. First of all, for special education, these this contribution is needed to cover the funding shortfall from the federal and the state. We've had a lot of discussions. The federal government is mandated to cover um approximately 40% of the that excess. And what districts are seeing is less than 15%. And so it falls on districts to have to cover that shortfall. For our district, that is projected to be $74.5 million as of second interim, which does reflect a 1.1 increase from first interim. The second one is our routine restricted maintenance account, and this is an education code requirement. So any district that receives state facilities money, which our district does for our our modernization projects, we are required to set aside 3% of your general fund expenditures in a routine restricted

231maintenance account to fund maintenance and upkeep of these facilities. And so you can see that that dollar amount is projected to be 21 million at second interim, an increase of 1.8. So those two increases combined make up the almost $3 million increase from First 5 Interim broken down by those two programs. So, as we take a look at our multi-year projections, again, we are required to present multi-year projections, and I want to just emphasize um multi-year projections are not predictions of the future, and they're also not forecast. These are simply calculations based on the information that we have today, and they're based on the assumptions that were provided. And anytime there's any changes to that, we will make updates. So, your multi-year projections are designed um to fluctuate and to be updated with each financial

232report. So, when we're taking a look at 25-26, we already really broke down the revenues and expenditures, as well as the other sources and uses. When you put all of that combined, you can see that we are projected to deficit spend $14 million in current year. We did add a row at the very bottom of this table because there have been questions about, you know, in the past though, some of these expenditures are one-time in nature, which they are. And for 25-26, in that expenditure number of $398 million, we are including 8.6 million of one-time expenditures. So, want to be very transparent about that that it does contribute to the deficit spending, but when things occur one-time, that's the purpose of the reserves, right? To be used for one-time. Um and so, we wanted to

233to add that row there at the bottom, and and hopefully it's helpful as we move forward to keep that row. For 26-27, as was mentioned already, we are incorporating a 2% COLA. Once the COLA is finalized in June, uh we will make any updates. Right now, it's projected to be 2.41. Um and so there will be a slight increase to the revenues. Our total expenditures right now already incorporate removing any FTEs associated with the loss of enrollment, as well as adding the cost in for things like step and column. Um and then in our other sources and uses, our special education contribution has year-over-year increased, and percent increase has been 10%. And so we are projecting that we are going to continue to see those contributions increase until something changes, right? We can't just say

234federal government is responsible for 40%. We're not going to incorporate that. We we can't do that. So you will see other sources and uses projected to increase to 114, and you can see that the revenue increase is not enough to cover the increase in your expenditures. That's why your deficit spending amount is projected to increase. We do have reserves, which will be lowered from 106 to 83 in 2026-27. And then in 2027-28, being very transparent, there's no COLA increases. We We There's projections out there, but we're not comfortable incorporating a COLA right now. Um so as we get closer uh to that budget year, we will include that. Expenditures, again, we have projections of what they are projected to increase. Same with your other sources and uses on those contributions. And so the deficit spending

235projected to be 40 million, which would bring our ending balance at the end projected to be at the end of 2027-28 to 42 million. I'm going to bring your attention back to that first or second column, 25-26, where we say the ending balance of 106 million. We want to just show you what that 106 million incorporates. Um, so how do we break it down? We know that the state mandates a 3% reserve for economic uncertainties. That's about 20 million. We do have a board policy in place. Uh, 3100 that calls for an additional 3% reserve. So that's the 20 million reflected there. And then we did take action a couple years ago to commit for several categories. That could be a conversation that we uh discuss again when it comes time for adopted budget about

236do these categories still make sense? The do the dollar amounts make sense? Uh, there is a revolving cash uh 50,000. And then our commitments are 5 million for safety and security. We have vacation payable for our classified employees that um earn vacation. And that is the value of what that vacation is, 5.2 million. Uh, we do have money set aside for future stirs and person increases 6.3. Technology lease 3.5. And then the remainder amount is just left there for deficit spending. However, if you were to fast forward to 27-28 when the total projected ending fund balance is only projected to be 42 million, you could easily see that you don't have enough money to put set aside in all these categories. Um And so we'll take a look at that on the last slide when

237we look at the reserves. Just quickly going through the restricted side. I always say we include the restricted side, but these are all of our grants. These are all uh monies that we get for specific purposes. So we always discourage from anything that's ongoing if if the grants are one-time or things to be used for operational. Uh, we did have we do have projected increases on the federal revenue of 3.9 million dollars uh specifically for two programs Head Start saw projected increase as well as our Medi-Cal billing and so those two adjustments count for 3.9 million in additional revenues. The Medi-Cal billing is one-time that is generated it's a reimbursement type of grant. On the other state revenue that 5.6 million is um attributed to a number of grants learning communities reading and literacy coaches

238and a professional development block grant um that were all incorporated into our second interim and so you can see that that's good news cuz there's more revenues um and so total increase projected for revenues 9.1 million. When you're looking at the graph or restricted it looks very very different than unrestricted. There's no LCFF. Um this is all federal money mainly state revenues right and then you're seeing a little bit more on local revenues um and so the the breakout is much different on the restricted side. When we take a look at expenditures not a lot of changes on the expenditures for our restricted. We are projecting that our expenditures will increase by 3.1 million and again if you were to look at certificated salaries classified and employee benefits those increases are tied to salary increases

239because there are some there is some staff um charged to restricted. And then usually your books and supplies is offset by services. That's just because schools and departments are spending money differently and and so usually those numbers offset but overall 3.1 million dollars. When you look at this pie chart you can see that it looks very different as well from unrestricted because not as much is spent on salaries and benefits because a lot of these grants, again, first of all, might not allow you to spend money on on people, right? Or many times, a lot of these grants are one-time in nature, so you don't want to spend money on positions, and you can see that um it's 59.5% the amount of expenditures on the restricted side that are spent on salaries and benefits. The

240financing sources, this is the offset to the contributions. So, contributions were coming out of unrestricted. It's treated as money coming in to restricted, right? Because we need to cover the expenses in special education and routine restricted repair maintenance, which are both programs that are included on the restricted side. And then when you look at the multi-year projections on the restricted side, you can also see that the deficit spending looks a little bit different, number one. But number two, the biggest change is look at how the total revenues change from current year to the subsequent years. And even the $180 million for current year is much lower than what the restricted revenues were in the last couple of years when we were the district was receiving a lot of the COVID funds and a lot of

241the one-time funds. We still have a couple of programs um sitting in this reserve or this ending fund balance. Uh for example, of that $128 million uh we're projecting to still have almost $27 million for learning recovery emergency block grant, which is a grant award that was allocated through 27-28. Uh we also have budgeted and not fully spent because we are in the implementation of our community schools block grant. And so in that $128 million, there's also 10.7 million sitting for community schools. And then recently uh the district received the literacy coaches and reading specialist grant program. And so these are all grants that have plans on how moneys will be spent. And as those moneys are spent is when you're going to see the expenditures being reflected. It's a trend that is very different

242than what it used to be. Usually you received the money for 1 year and you had to spend it that 1 year. Life was much easier than it is now, right? When you're being told you have 5 years for grant or 3 years for that grant, 2 years for that grant. Um and I know Dr. forwarded an email a couple days ago. Um the federal government, for example, if we have funds and we collect interest on any federal grants, we have to send it right back. So there's actually a calculation that the district does. Heavily audited area. I mean there's just a lot of compliance things um that don't make sense, but literally if we were to earn any interest on any money that is sitting here in the reserve that comes from a federal

243program that money has to go back to the federal government. So. I wish we didn't have to work on those calculations, but we do. They're audited. And so to to summarize this is our snapshot of our fund balance in percentage. This is combined. The yellow or that yellow orange is our restricted. And so you can see prior to COVID very small restricted amounts. And then COVID just everybody started giving grants for everything. Um which we lost flexibility. It's good for the purpose and for the specifics of the program because you have to spend it on those specifics. So in that regard it's good. But it makes it difficult when you are having to create things or implement new programs and people don't understand why you have the ability to do that when on the operational

244side and you see the blue, um we're getting really close to to being at a 6% reserve in that third year out. Um but I would state still say that we are I would consider we're still fiscally solvent, responsible, we're doing what it takes to monitor contracts, to evaluate, to review positions, um because we're seeing what is happening in a lot of districts and we're not there, but we just need to continue to to have the conversations and and those discussions of how we continue to move forward when state level there's just a lot of uncertainty. Um and so our next steps is we will have a May revision where the governor will provide what the new assumptions are. We'll get updated information on on Cola, on rates, um and then come June we'll use

245that information to build our budget for 2026-27. Uh two board meetings in June, a public hearing as well as an adoption. Uh the state will adopt their budget in July and then we get to close our books and present that information in September. And just before I finish off, just want to really thank um Mr. Layouda and his team because this is all a result of the work the hard work that's taking place in that business department. So, team of accountants, supervisors, payroll folks, accounting folks, and and so just want to make sure I give a shout out to them cuz they're the ones that that do all that work. So. Thank you and I will Prior to moving forward, the board has to end their meetings at 10:30 p.m. unless we have consensus. We

246have Have have at 10:00 unless we Excuse me. I'm sorry. We have to end at 10:00 unless we have more time. We have one more presentation. As well as a host of action items. I'm wondering if we if I can get consensus to extend until 10:30. But we only have one time to extend. So do you think we should extend until 10:30 or 10:45? What are What are your thoughts? Pardon? Yeah, at 10:30. Um if I could take a moment just to look at the agenda to see what our action items are. Are any of those action items ones that folks would be willing to table or do those need immediate action? Well Go ahead. You want to talk? Pretty much everything that's on the agenda is going to need action. Okay. Okay. I think

247we can do it because we have a large consent agenda. That's right. Okay. And um I think it would be sufficient to say 10:30 if you keep your comments concise Okay. and your questions. And then we also can skip maybe if anything future agenda topics this time unless you guys have something That would help. Yeah, that would help. >> Yeah, I agree with that. Okay. So let's um table future agenda items which is B. And let's be intentional with our comments and questions. What are your thoughts, Dr. Okabe? I agree um but we need to make a motion. I move to table future agenda topics. I'll second that. And end end the meeting? At 10:30. >> At 10:30. >> And end the meeting at 10:30. So so your motion the motion on the floor is

248to end the meeting at 10:30 and skip future agenda topics. >> second >> that. Thank you. Ms. Claudia, please call for the vote. Student board member Ewing. Aye. Ms. Leyva. Aye. Mr. Jackson. Aye. Mr. Williams. Aye. Ms. Luna. Aye. Ms. Clark. Aye. This motion has passed 6-0. And we'll start with questions for Mrs. Lopez, starting with student board member Ewing. No further questions. Thank you. Trustee Leyva. Okay. After, you know, I have seen this before, um we came to the board meeting and listening to you, you know, my biggest concern and question that I've been asking to Dr. Recabarren is like, how will this decrease of enrollment, the increase of expenditures, could put us at risk of having to do layoffs? So, we are filing positive, so we're still saying that for current year and

249two subsequent years, we are good. Um so, now the next step would be based on what we get in May, uh we're going to build in some revenues, um and and so I think we are taking steps in the meantime to look at other areas before we touch personnel, but we also are taking the opportunity to look at right-sizing, to looking at class sizes, to looking especially at our secondary schools, um focusing a lot more on the on the master schedule, having the conversations with folks. A lot of it has to do with cuz we understand that there's new initiatives or new ideas, how do we fund those, but taking a look at utilizing almost repurposing or looking at things with a different lens so that we're not necessarily adding expenditures, um and and again,

250it's all going to be dependent. We're projecting we're going to decline 475 students. If the first day of school and, you know, we get lucky and we only decline 200, then we're going to be able to come back and and make the modifications. So, this is just based on what we think is going to happen today. There's still, I think, a a of things that could come into play before we're at that step. And President Clark, if I may? Yes. So, one of the conversations we've had I've had with um several trustees has been this fear of layoffs. And we know it's coming from what we've seen in the news with neighboring districts. We don't want to be in that position. And we're committed to that as well. Typically, what uh the districts that are

251in are having some challenges will do is develop a fiscal stabilization plan. How are we going to make sure that we're not in that position? For all intents and purposes, even though we don't have a board adopted plan, we're engaging in those activities anyway. We're looking at right-sizing. We're looking at our investment return on investment on all of our contracts. We're looking at making sure we're monitoring budgets. We're making sure we're looking at looking at all the contracts. And so, even though we don't have a formal plan, we're engaging in those activities already to make sure that we don't get in a position where we have to do layoffs. I think the challenging part is we only get to see 3 years out. May I think all of us are afraid of what's happening in

252year four. And I think that that's the tough part cuz we don't have enough information to really talk about year four just yet. Yeah. Thank you. I'll pick up right there on year four. If we're projecting that our reserves are going to be 42 million by year three, but clearly our expenditures won't be able to cover that. Year four, would you say will be Would you give us a positive I know you can't predict year four, but I think it's clear what year four is going to look like um just based on these projections. So, would you give us a positive um you know, that that third slide with that you had, would you predict it was going to be positive in year four? So, I think that's the um nice thing about the certification

253cuz it's not really what we It's what the numbers show, right? The numbers are going to show and dictate as you go through the calculations. Um but I do think that because year four is still so far away, um I I think we shared in the conversation, right? A dollar that we save today has a three-year has a a $3 impact on my multi-year or four-year if I'm looking at at the four fourth year, $4 worth. And so I think that's why as we make all of these small adjustments and then remember we're not building in cola in that third year out, which is huge. I mean there's things that we can do along the way that we're going to attempt to do cuz we have been qualified in the time that I've been here

254and it wasn't pretty and there's a lot of extra things that you have to do, a lot more eyes and just folks having more control and I think we want to make sure that we have the control and that we decide what it is we need or want to do and and so I'm hoping I don't have to Okay. recommend a a qualified again. Okay. Um we mentioned interest. Do we build interest on what's left in our reserves? So our funds are held with the county treasurer and we do receive interest on a quarterly basis and we are able to keep the interest for anything that is not a federally funded program. So that is we do have to return that and there's actually a line item. It's part of the local revenues and so

255if you were to look at previous years because interest rates were higher and the cash balances were higher, the interest we were generating was much higher than what we're projecting now. So we do get to benefit from the interest except for the federal funds. Except for the federal funds. Um revolving cash on 167. Could you give me an example of what revolving cash should be used for? Yeah, so most districts will have just that it's usually 50,000, 75,000 and it's really just at the discretion if you need to have money on the spot. So if you think about it, just think about like a at a high school and you have the ASB office and you have those cash boxes, right? Cuz you there always needs to be some cash at hand. >> Okay. That

256makes sense. Exactly. And so it's replenished on a monthly basis and there are times where we need to issue a warrant cuz something somebody was not paid, there's an emergency, we can't wait for a cycle. And so you are using that fund and then replenishing it every month. You also mentioned the learning communities in the addition of a $5 million grant. Could you explain that in just a little briefly, a little bit more? I will need to get information on the specifics. Um though I believe Dr. Arcedeo, I don't know what the term is and what schools it covers on the learning um communities grant. On the LCSSP or community schools No, the LCS LCSP is $1.5 million and it covers um it's a 3-year grant. We are a grantee of cohort nine. Okay. And

257it covers the the biggest focus for that is PBIS. Oh, okay. And so you mentioned that our special education costs are going to increase 10% each year. Is that correct? Um just with that projection it seems like we're going to need to have, you know, money to cover that in those years if that keeps going up. Um and seeing how those are one of our high need um groups as well. So it just seems like we have to prepare now for what those increased costs are going to be. And if that means adding more to our reserves, I think we should really strongly consider doing just that to make sure that none of our students um are are not getting the same resources that their peers had in subsequent year or or previous years. Um

258So that's just a comment. And local revenue increase on slide 20, how did what what changed in local revenue? Is that just we So part of like local revenue would be interest but use of facilities. So on the unrestricted side, um anytime any outside organizations utilize any of our could be fields, could be buildings, >> Oh, wow. um we collect a use of facilities fee. And so, typically, the closer you get to the end of the year, um we don't budget for it completely cuz we can't predict normally. And so, you will see increases to an account. Perfect. And my last question would be, um going back to reserves, based on the forecasting that you're that you're uh that you and your team are working through, what would you recommend would be a sufficient reserve

259for us to consider? Putting Putting you on the spot there. >> All righty. I can take it to Susanna if you want to and then you can find notes out of that. So, we Susanna and I um talk about this often. And coming from different districts and really heating the advice of CSBA, Ficmat, School Services, Capital Advisors, I've heard three different answers. And one of one of the answers is it depends on how big your district is. Okay. The smaller the district, the higher reserve because you're more volatile to to market conditions. The second one is um how comfortable the board feels. That's not a very good answer. The third one is how comfortable the board feels to make sure that we're fulfilling our obligations um for at least one or two years forward. And

260I think that's the one that has best resonated with me cuz you can kind of put a number to that. Okay. If you think about 3% hand balance reserve covers three weeks of payroll, maybe? Probably a little less. >> Yeah? Yeah. So, you look at a 6% reserve is probably going to cover five weeks? Okay. Right? That's not a comfortable position to be in. >> I don't think so. Yeah. So, I think that that would be a good barometer of how comfortable does the board feel Mhm. knowing that 6% covers five week five weeks. >> Wow. So, 10% is going to cover maybe nine weeks. Right. Right. Is that more comfortable? Um I think having that as a as a gauge would kind of help with that conversation. Okay. Would this board be able to

261take action when when would this board be able to take action to change that formula? It comes in different ways. It can come as a directive from the board. It can come as the way we did it last time where the board actually put it into board policy. Okay. So, there's a lot of different ways of doing it. Thank you. >> Um one of the things that that Ms. Lopez mentioned was you know, this idea of what we're doing about making sure it doesn't happen. And she used the word hope and we talk about this in in the team a lot. Hope is not a strategy. Right? Um so, it's not about hope. It's we are committed. We're not going to have a negative certification. And I appreciate the conversation we're having now >> Thank

262you. cuz it's going to really help to make sure we don't have a negative certification. >> Okay. Thank you. Those are my questions. Thank you so much. Um moving on to Trustee Williams, but before I do, I I do have a comment. One of the things we need to do and and I think that we're doing that now is being very intentional with our budget. I would love to increase our, you know, our I just lost my train of thought. Thank you. I would love to increase our reserves, but when you have deficit spending and you have other things that we really need to ensure that when we do get ready to take action, we are completely aligned, right? In all categories. So, I would never want to um jump the gun and and say,

263"Hey, let's start saving when all of our other bills aren't paid, so to speak, right?" So, moving on to Mr. Trustee Williams. Let's just keep going in the direction we're going in. Um and uh you know, you got to save for a rainy day. That's all I have to say. Thank you. Ms. Lopez. Conservative conservative spending is definitely needed without sacrificing things that are very important to the district's success. So, I was here when we were in that qualified budget and it isn't pretty and it's an an astronomical amount of resources and work and we vowed to never get to that place again and if you saw I'm sure you all remember the devastation it with that budget and getting out of it and where we are now, we are definitely trending toward success. So,

264Trustee Luna. Thank you for your presentation, Ms. Lopez. Um Trustee Jackson did ask some of the questions I was going to ask. Um but I I have a few. Um Can you explain the main drivers of the projected increase in deficit spending from 14 million to 40 million in 3 years? Yes. So, um when you take a look at the fact that we built in a 2% cola for 26-27, that is about $6 million. Um and so, that is the increase to our revenues, right? And when I walked through the assumptions and was mentioning that our step and column is alone over $6 million, our increase to special education is over $9 million. Um you know, we've we've built into the multi-year projections increases to our insurance premiums for liability. That alone is a million

265dollars. And so, it it really is the funding at the state level that is not sufficient to even cover your operational These are normal operational costs. I I do want to include in there that part of the increase to special ed is because there's a number of positions funded there. So, they also have step and step and column. So, it's not like we're just adding things to special ed. There's just operational costs again just to keep things status quo. So, it just at the state level, the funding that is being allocated to schools is not even sufficient enough to cover those operational increases. And then the fact that we're projected to lose 475 students and we lost 500 this year. So, 475 is not unrealistic. Um that that's the driving force that the decline in

266enrollment and and the low COLAs at the state level. Thank you. Um So, one of the questions that I have here which I was hesitating to ask but I'm going to ask. What at what point would we need to implement a fiscal stabilization plan to prevent reserves from declining further? I know we kind of touching on that already. >> So, Riverside County Office of Education would require it when a qualified is issued. Um and that's what happened to the district the last time we put together a plan. But having learned from that, I think internally even though it's not an official document that is submitted to RCOE, uh we're still looking at the different areas whether it's a position becomes vacant, um a program, um looking at even the monitoring of budgets, right? Where you're

267seeing there's there's projected fallout, money not being spent in an area. It's something that we need. Evaluation of anything from from contracts to purchase orders. I know that we during our operational meetings, we tend to issue guidelines, reminders, right? On things that were implemented years ago when we had to deal with this on on just a reminder of what it what are some good catering guidelines? What are best practices? You know, sub coverage for folks that are not in the classroom. What are the approvals necessary? When is overtime needed? Things to that nature. So, I think even though we don't have an official plan, I think in cabinet especially there is areas that we know we look at. We look at expenditures to date. We look at the positions. Is there a position that has

268been vacant for a period of time and then having those conversations, whether it be with with departments, school sites at our at our next upcoming meeting, we're going to, you know, be reviewing master schedules with our secondary principals. So, it's almost like we have a already a stabilization plan in place that's not official, but we're still going through that checklist of things we need to look at and monitor. Right. So, along with that would be aligning staffing levels, school capacity, and enrollment trends. So, that would that would all be Is this something that we could like have in writing that we're doing? Would it be Would it be helpful to our new trustees if we included the stabilization plan that was created in 2024? We can put that in the Friday memo. Okay. And that

269way you can kind of go through it and and identify, "Oh, yeah, we're still doing this. We're still doing this. We're still doing this." >> would be great. >> Cuz we've actually added some things that were not in that plan. One of the things that Ms. Lopez mentioned is we are we do have some healthy reserves and restricted and fund balances, Prop 28 ELOP, learning recovery block grant, things like that. As a cabinet and with as a team we've talked about how do we leverage those resources to offset some of the expenditures in our general fund. And there's this idea that the state we came up with somebody much smarter than I came up with, which is called braiding. Where you can't supplant, but you can kind of combine those funds and braid them together

270for the same purpose. And what it allows us to do is again, free up some general um fund ex uh money because we're using the restricted funds to pay for those same expenditures. So, we can definitely do that. We'll add the 24 stabilization plan into the Friday memo, and I think that will give the board a good idea. And we don't have to wait for a qualified budget to create one. If the board wants us to use that as a template to come up with a plan going forward, that's absolutely something we can do as long as we have the board approval. >> I'm all about being proactive. I don't want to wait till we're like last minute trying to figure out what are we going to do. I I definitely want to be proactive.

271So, that would be great. >> So, what we'll do, step one is we'll include the 24 plan in the Friday memo. And then at the next board meeting we'll add this as a discussion topic. Okay. That sounds good. All right. I'm done. Thank you, Ms. Lopez. Thank you, Trustee Luna. I just have a quick question on slide 24. Um the transfers out you mentioned the variance at 2 million was going to transportation. I know that we have a grant. Is that a match? Is like I thought that we had a grant to cover So, transportation um has been reset and Mr. Burleson will talk about it, but the state approved a couple years ago that's uh districts would be reimbursed 60%. >> Mhm. Um and so our allocation prior to that was less than 2

272million. Now our total allocation for transportation is almost 7 million, which is an increase and and that was part of when when that vision started about expanding transportation and some of those funds were identified and designated to be used for the expansion whether it was for equipment, infrastructure, parking lot and so forth. So those are those are transportation funds that were received by the state. Thank you. And then just a comment, we we always talk about the special ed fund that um we're not getting the proper amount from the state. We haven't in 4 years. I always say we're never going to get it. If they didn't give it to us in the last 4 years, let's stop counting on it. Like we shouldn't even talk about it. It's not going to happen. Don't expect

273it. Don't budget it. Don't don't think about it. It's not there. Right? So that's my comment on that. President Clark, if I may. Please. So uh several of us went to legislative action in Washington D.C. and we talked with our legislature legislators about this and one of them flat out said there is no appetite uh to be able to fund that to increase the level from 15% to anywhere close to 40%. >> Mhm. And that was sad to hear. It is. >> Right? Because this is another unfunded unfunded mandate that now we're held responsible for covering. >> Yes. So it's sad but you're right. At some point we just need to get past it and know we're on the hook for the money. >> hook for the money always until I don't know when but

274you know, we're on the hook. So thank you for a great presentation. Looking forward to your next one. We do need to take action to accept the second interim report. Just going down. So going down to item K2. Can I have a motion to certify the 2025-2026 second interim financial report as presented. So move. >> Okay. I'll second that. >> Thank you. Ms. Claudia, please call for the vote. Student board member Ewing. Aye. Ms. Leyva. Aye. Mr. Jackson. Aye. >> Mr. Williams. >> Aye. Ms. Luna. Aye. >> Ms. Clark. Aye. This motion is passed 6-0. Moving on to K3, the presentation of the transportation plan. Ms. Lopez. Yes, thank you, President Clark. And at this time, I'm going to turn it over to Mr. Burleson, and hopefully he has a much more exciting presentation than

275mine. There we go. Is that better? All right, thank you very much, President Clark, esteemed board members, Superintendent Dr. Rubalcaba, cabinet, and our amazing Moreno Valley Unified School students. My name is Jim Burleson, and I'm proudly serving this district as the director of transportation for Moreno Valley, and it's my honor tonight to present you with our annual transportation budget. Um, I'll try to go through somewhat quickly cuz I know we're pressed for time. Uh, the next slide is our vision, mission, and portrait of a graduate, uh, to empower students, become future ready, and positively impact the world. Is this mine? Sorry. And then the agenda for this evening will, uh, be presenting the background of AB 2933, we'll review our student ridership from last year, present the transportation plan, uh, provide a quick review of

276grant funding and transportation future proofing and beyond. The background for Assembly Bill 2933, commencing in fiscal year 2022-2023, Assembly Bill 2933 offered districts 60% reimbursement costs associated with providing home to school transportation for their students. One of the requirements to receive these funds is for districts to create a transportation plan with a focus on four key student groups, our English learners, our McKinney-Vento students, foster youth, and unduplicated students. This focus is to remove transportation as a barrier to educational services and programs to improve overall student attendance and support academic success. On this slide up here, you'll see a quick review of last year's daily student transportation ridership numbers for those important categories. Our English learners daily ridership count was 530. Our foster youth ridership count was 56. Our McKinney-Vento was 102. And our unduplicated student

277count was 3,278. And I really do want to highlight that number because it's very important. It's 99% of our total transportation ridership is unduplicated students, even though our district is only 87% unduplicated. So, what that really shows is that we're putting our effort, our equipment, and our transportation dollars to good use in supporting the right students. So, we're very excited about that piece. On this next slide, this is where I'm going to get in trouble for my boss cuz I'll probably explain this wrong. This is the state reimbursement calculation based on the 24-25 transportation expenditures. For 24-25, our expenditures were 14, just over 14.2 million. Our estimated reimbursement at 60% was 7 and a half, just over 7 and a half million dollars. And the 1,191,941 is subtracted because that's already the money that was

278already provided to the district to support our transportation efforts. So, it's subtracted from the 60% and it gives us our total reimbursement total at the bottom of 6,392,628 dollars. Um, which leaves about an 8 million dollar uh shortfall, which is covered by uh the district's unrestricted general fund. Does that if that makes sense? And then I also wanted to uh provide some transport to some briefly some transportation updates. This is a brief overview uh the transportation updates included in our transportation plan for this year. As a result of strategic efficiencies and reorganized operational savings, the district will be able to offer no cost transportation services to all students residing outside established walk distances next year. So, we will have free transportation for all students who qualify and we're very proud as a department for that.

279It's been an effort that we've been working on for 3 years now. Um, we'll also be creating a transportation task force to help identify student transportation needs and develop solutions to meet these students' needs and present options to the board and district leadership. And this is um directly in response to uh Ms. Clark's uh efforts to uh try to expand expand on transportation services. Um, we'll also continue to collaborate with Jessica Axis' team and technology innovation innovation and assessment. Um, we have been um taking information um regarding students that have chronic absenteeism or lower academic performance and taking that information and putting it into our routing software to provide a geographical map to show throughout the district where the areas of need um so the transportation is not a barrier for these uh for these

280students. So, we'll continue to work with her team. And then um today we had a resolution uh that recognized our drivers. So, I'd be amiss if I didn't make a comment for that. I not only am I very proud um to work with and serve that team, but um we're building tremendous capacity in this district and every time I talk about it, I get emotional. Um, the field trip efforts that we've made, we've brought almost all the work um, that we do within transportation to support our services. We do that in-house, uh, which is stark contrast to just a short six years ago. Uh, and I wanted to show, last year for example, we completed 3,287 um, field trips for our students, and we completed 94% of those in-house. And the thing that I really

281want to celebrate for our students is, um, each one of those trips that we provide in-house is a savings back to our school sites of approximately $1,300. So, not only is that a great multiplier because it gives our, uh, each one of our school sites more opportunities uh, to provide the students, but it also produces uh, a lot of extra work opportunities for our drivers. We're on track this year to bring in uh, an extra $1.3 million in payroll revenue um, that goes directly back to our uh, school bus drivers in the form of extra work. So, we're really proud of that effort. And then here, I'll make this quick, but it's a a little pet project of ours in transportation. This is our new transportation mobile app. We did a pilot program last year

282and worked with a number of parents uh, to make sure we had all the bugs worked out. Um, we rolled it out full um, full scale this year, and I'm proud to say we have more than 400 active parents utilizing this app. Uh, it's a great safety tool uh, not only for parents, but also for our department because at any given time, we know exactly which students are on which bus uh, all throughout the day because when they're scanning on and off, it provides students, and even if uh, if a general ed student who scans on the bus, their parents receive an alert of what time they got on the bus, and then also what time they got off. And then for our special needs students and our um, curb-to-curb students, um, parents are notified

283of bus arrival times, estimated a arrival times. So, you know, they're not calling the department asking for, you know, updates if a bus is running slightly behind or maybe a little bit early. Um, so it's a great tool for our parents and I'm very excited that we are able to roll that out this year. And then I'll quickly go over this. Um, another thing I'm very proud of with our department and I want to thank everybody uh, within the transportation department because we do a lot of new things and they have to adjust and flex often. Um, one of the things that we were able to do uh, with state and federal grant pursuits was federal and grant awards. We were discussing this uh, state and federal grant awards. Um, we touched on this earlier

284about costs. Um, just quickly phase one and two was for a total of 46 buses. Um, phase three which we're about to start construction on now is another 50. Um, phase four which I'm going to present a little bit on tonight was is going to be an additional 30 and that'll bring us to a grand total and complete our transition to uh, zero emission school buses uh, at 126 new buses that'll be three years or newer um, before we start next school year. And then the total amounts that we've been awarded over the course of the last four years is just over 55 million dollars between the state and federal grants. So we're very proud of that effort. And then quickly on here it just kind of shows um, there's been some questions about uh,

285dates. So for phase one there was 38 buses and we completed the construction on phase one for those 38 in 2023. Um, phase two became operational. That was a smaller phase of just eight buses and that was uh, completed in 2024. Um, phase three is just about to go under construction about the next month and we have an uh, completion a construction completion date of November 30th, 2026. And phase four which I'm about to discuss now um, could be um, with boards of, you know, further approval and work to be done could be finished as early as, uh, January of 2028. And I did put phase five on there cuz we're still dreaming, so I'm excited about still, uh, what's to come. And then also I just wanted to quickly, I won't go through all

286of this, but I'll touch on some of the highlights for EV project highlights and benefits back to our students. And that's what I really want to stress. Um, quickly I I got to say this is we do put a lot of innovation and come up with creative ideas uh, to try to save money and then take that money that's saved and bring that back directly to, um, for our students for expanded services. So, um, I'm very proud of some of the efforts that we've made in our department to, uh, to keep bringing value back to our kids. Um, all district transportation route services will be completed next year in zero emission school buses. So, all of our kids on route, sped and gen ed students will be transported in new school buses next year. Um,

287and that's been a almost a five-year uh, project for us to get to this point. So, it's a great milestone. Um, we've reduced operating cost and additional buses will allow for impactful discussions on how we can continue to expand these services and support our kids. So, I'm very excited about that. Um, the district will be able to offer, as I mentioned before, um, no cost transportation to all students residing outside the current walk distances. And then there's one thing I'd like to highlight and it is a little bit of data, but, um, electric school buses, a lot of people have questions about this and our current operating cost, the easiest way to figure this out is your cost per mile. So, every mile that a bus drives, how much does it cost you to operate

288that bus? Currently our CNG operates at a dollar 53, our propane at a dollar 94, and with part, you know, with our, uh, strategic partnership with Highland uh, and some of the other work that we've done, our fixed operational cost for the next 15 years for our electric buses is 37 cents a mile. And that's over a 400% savings operationally over the other fuel type. So, we're really proud of that part as well. Um just quickly touching base two on the phase three operation, we have uh a microgrid that's got solar um solar power and backup battery. So, solar solar panels and that array is collecting all of the energy from the sun, placing that in a large 5 MW battery, and then charging our buses overnight. So, 60% of uh the power used on

289our new 50 buses that we'll be receiving will be powered by sunshine. So, that's another piece that we're very excited about. Um And then finally, um the proposed transportation yard. This is one thing I'm very excited about. Um we've talked um and presented a little bit on outside district services. Um currently right now at the POC, we're at a tight fit. Um everything that's over there right now is dedicated to the service of our students. All those buses will be new. All of those buses will be zero emission. Um we do have room for route expansions with the equipment there. Um the phase four yard um the proposed transportation yard over here at the district office would give us room for another 107 buses. Um we've already acquired we've applied for and are starting to

290acquire $11.6 million to try to help offset the cost of the construction of that yard. Um and that comes in the form of a microgrid, uh some bus 30 buses, and charging infrastructure. Uh let's see. Uh the next picture is another ren- it's uh is it a rendition? No. A rendition of uh of the yard that shows uh a little bit highlights a little bit more about how that yard would be orchestrated. You could see a small transportation office in the top left-hand corner of the screen uh with employee parking, bus parking below that. Uh another thing that I would like to point out, if you can see so, Alessandro Street would be at the bottom of that picture. There is public access charging with two superchargers that the public would be able to access

291and charge their vehicles. It would also encourage outside districts to utilize their electric fleet so that when they're bringing in kids to our events, they're also utilizing zero emission school buses. So we've been working in conjunction with a lot of neighboring districts on that to help support each other. So that extends the range and when and where we can use those buses. So we're excited about that piece. And then to bring back some value to our our team members at MVUSD and our membership, you can't see it here because it wasn't drawn in yet. But there's going to be a proposed walking path that goes around that facility. A manicured walking path. I know a lot of times when I come here and I park in the upper lot, I see people walking and doing

292loops in the upper lot. So we're really excited about the fact that we could bring some more health and wellness to our own our own folks in that capacity. That's just a quick picture of the transportation office. However, I would like to highlight a couple things with this picture. It would have a conference room. It does have room to dispatch out of that portion of the department. It would be dedicated outside district services for the most part. There would be room for expanded student services of our own at the same time. It would also house daily operational management folks. But the thing that I'm the most excited about is this will give us a clean slate and a new opportunity to provide some student jobs. So our shine kids and then also some CTE expansion

293programs that we're currently working with two of our vendors to help us secure some grant funding for maybe some possible expansion at a school site or two to work on EV and that could even be stem to do some of the the programming for the charging and those scheduled charging cycles. So we're excited about that piece as well. This is just another shot of that would be the two fueling stations that are just off of Alessandro that would have public access and then also access to outside school districts buses. And then one thing I'm very excited about as I wrap up is the MVUSD partnership with the LA 28 Olympic Summer Games. So through some of our strategic partnerships, one being Highland, they were selected for the transportation organization for the LA 28 Summer Games

294and based on our relationship with them, we became an official electric school bus provider for the Summer Games. So we'll be doing transporting coaches, athletes, media, essential workers, and other folks throughout the LA Basin during the LA 28 Games and then also um supporting the Paralympic athletes as well. So we're really excited about that. And then just some benefits to our district, I mean this honestly is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to support Olympic athletes and Paralympic athletes. And we're currently working on, I don't want to over promise and under deliver, but I was just on a couple of calls yesterday discussing how many opportunities we're going to be able to provide our students to attend these games. So we will be coming back forward to to discuss strategically how we make those selections and just how

295many students will be able to go. But my my opinion on it was bus loads is what I said. I don't want to hear ones and twos, we want bus loads. So we're excited about that piece and there's also going to be some extra work opportunities. I never want to forget my bus drivers. There'll be some extra work opportunities for them because you need a driver behind the wheel of these buses, so there'll be some opportunities for them as well. And then we did and thank you to the board because you did approve the consulta- the the consulting agreement for us to work. So we are strategically working on all of the, uh, the routing and just the, uh, the planning for all of the transportation for those pieces. So, as we're assisting them, then

296we're bringing offsetting revenue back to the department. So, I'm very excited about that. And with that, I hope I didn't rush through too quick, but if you have any questions, I'd be more than happy to, uh, address them. Great presentation. Great. I will share something you know, but I want to remind you of that Trustee Leiva, Trustee Luna, and I all have one-day transportation experience as we did our job shadow program, and we're happy to support you at the Olympic Games. >> We'll just keep going back to that slide, right? We did our job shadow. We learned so much. It's so So, I'd like to start off with student board member Healing. Do you have any questions? I don't have any questions, but thank you for your presentation. I just wanted to say that I

297love how intentional your department is being with everything down to how we're so we're so resourceful you're being, and how you're putting into consideration our neighboring districts and not just thinking of us, and then how you're also implementing ways to benefit the students in the Shine program. So, I just really appreciate that, and thank you. Absolutely. Thank you. Thank you, Trustee Leiva. Thank you for the great presentation. Um, you know, overall, um, I feel that you have think, and I see it, that you have think about everything. Not only, you know, about, um, providing transportation to more students, but also including them, like, you know, our student board member said, the Shine program. You're seeing all the possibilities and all the areas that, you know, um, employees and students can take advantage of all this

298that, uh, that you are doing. But, uh, one thing that I, um, I want to say, you know, that that app that you have, uh it's amazing. I like it. And the one thing that I like the most is that your bus drivers are, you know, like telling parents, cuz that's something that they have that I've been told, you know, like, "Oh, I didn't know about this app." I'm like, "I didn't know either." But, you know, like, the bus drivers are taking that initiative to be sharing with the parents that there is a way that they can, you know, be connected and check to see, you know, uh if the if the bus is going to be late, if they're going to come earlier, you know, that and they parents love it. So, thank you

299for all that stuff that you are doing. I appreciate that. >> feedback. Thank you. Jim, there too many great things to to highlight. I have to be finite with our time, but if I could, um I would I would go on and on. I want to spotlight the incredible opportunity we have to bring a microgrid to our our school district. That is phenomenal. That is going to allow us to have complete authority of bringing not just electricity, but clean electricity. When we're utilizing the main grid, even for our electric school buses, that's a matrix of different energy sources coming from the main grid. So, the fact that we have autonomy over our own microgrid is incredible. 60% of electricity used to power our school buses, that's phenomenal. Um I'm assuming that last 40% is going

300to be coming from the main grid nonetheless. Yes, cuz strategically the return on investment on these things, because the backup batteries are so expensive, there is a cutoff where you're spending more than what you're actually making back on uh on that power usage. So, if you stay within a certain TOU tube, then it remains cheap, uh and cheaper than what you could actually do, you know, collecting it yourself with the battery. Great. And the when when you showed us the renderings for Alessandro, that public access that other folks are going to be able to use, um is that going to be those charging elements, is that going to be coming from our microgrid as well? Yes. Okay. Great. And lastly, I'm just looking forward to the expansion of the electric school bus fleet. And if

301there's an opportunity for us to invest in vehicle to grid buses where each one of our school buses become their own energy bank, their own power source, that would be phenomenal if we had that asset not only for our school district but for our local community as well. If there ever is a situation where we have a heat wave or a power outage, um outside of that, just all accolades, all praise. Thank you so much, Jim. And thank you for that question. I know it was I was reminded to bring that up and I failed to, so I apologize for that. There is the ability to do that and all of that would be as an infrastructure change at the school sites to where if there were blackouts or rolling blackouts, you could take buses

302there, plug those buses in and run those school sites off of those independently, so. That's amazing. >> Thanks. Thank you, Jim. Thank you, Jim. And when I was down there at the lot, I also got some clean energy pins for the rest of our board members here from Mr. Cox, so these are for all of you all. Thank you, Jim. Absolutely. Oh, here's so while we're asking questions, cuz I know we're short on time. Oh, thank you. Absolutely. You know, I >> Yes, sir. I'm amazed at what you're doing and and the sustainability and and the forward thinking that you have is is just amazing. And you said uh we get a 60% return on the plan. So, as of right now, you just showed us a return on the $14 million of $6 million

303for the plan, correct? Right. So, I think That's the state reimbursement. That's the state reimbursement. Yes. Okay. Yes. And we've been um Susanna can correct me if I'm wrong. The $14.2 million is well for our budget. We had a one-time purchases included in that to push this over the 12 million that we're getting refunded back once we get the grant money because we spent that money ahead. We've been able to do all of this work and maintain with the same 12 million dollar budget we've had in I think it's almost 8 years. So How long is this grant good for? Which this is ongoing. So there's no end date on this. Right. As of right now, yes. >> Wow. Wow. Okay. Yeah. That's all That's the only question. >> really want to get excited, that

304leaves about 8 million left and that is my target number as we are ramping up some of our outside district services. I do want to keep stressing the point is we do that in order to bring back offsetting revenue to continue to produce opportunities for our kids and cover that cost, but we would like to try to get to a point by 2029-2030 or 2030-2031 where we can completely offset our operating cost and be at zero. So be providing all of this for our kids and not be impacting the general fund. That would be the That's the goal. That was my only question. Thank you. Absolutely. Mr. Burleson, thank you for being so innovative. You're putting Moreno Valley on the map. We're already on the map, but you're you're putting us You're really Right. You're

305driving us around the map. Um It's It's amazing to think that we're going to have a fleet that, you know, is good doesn't negatively impact the environment. You know, we live in a city where we have a lot of warehouses, we have a lot of diesel trucks. Anything we can do to make our air cleaner here, um that's a huge huge thing to me for our students, for us, for our health. >> Absolutely. So, thank you for your your continued process of being innovative, and thank you for being such a kind person. We appreciate you. >> Thank you very much. Thank you. I echo everything they said. I just wanted to have the opportunity to say something, right? But, thank you. I do have just one question. You mentioned that we would have a charging

306station for the other school districts or the community. Would we charge for that, or how does that work, or would it be free? Yeah, you could that would be a, you know, a group decision collectively for the district to make. But, yes, we could um that could be a a charge a charge to charge. A charge A charge to charge. >> Um and you can, you know, fix that rate accordingly. There were The great thing about that is, and the way I think we could even be competitive with it is, a large portion of that power is going to be coming from solar generation. So, that's another uh another great thing for the community. Um but, also it will allow us to even expand on some of our white fleet vehicles, because they are superchargers,

307so they do charge quickly. Um and that that could help us support, whether it's safety and security, M&O, or other uh other vehicles within the district as we transition. Thank you. A great presentation. I look forward to your buses of students at the Olympics. Please be their chaperone, so But, you know, thank you. I appreciate the great presentation, and most of all, I appreciate the great work. So, Thank you. Thank you very much. Good. Okay. Yeah. Thank you. >> Okay. Moving on to the consent agenda. Can I have a motion to approve the following consent agenda as presented? So moved. Thank you, Trustee Luna. Can I get a second? I'll second. Thank you, Trustee Leyva. Miss Claudia, please call for the vote. Student board member Ewing. Aye. Trustee Leyva. Aye. Mr. Jackson. Aye. Mr. Williams.

308Aye. Miss Luna. Aye. Miss Clark. Aye. This motion has passed 6-0. Moving down to item M. Discussion on in informational items, which we have zero. Moving on to item N. Action items. Dr. Rubalcaba. Thank you, President Clark. So, this is our annual CSBA Delegate Assembly election. Before you are the candidates. Uh the board may nominate one, two, all, or none. It's a complete the complete at the board's discretion. But, all know that you may only vote up to six candidates. You can also write in any candidate as well. Thank you, Dr. Rubalcaba. Um, I Any questions or concerns about this particular action item? I have a um a proposal. I have a question, Ms. Clark. Oh, please. We don't have anybody from Moreno Valley. I'm I'm already on it, and I think my term is

309up in I don't know what. Ms. Clark, 3 years or 2027 2027 >> Okay. Yeah, cuz I'm like, where's where's Luna? So, if you look at the attachment, you can see there is um Sam Sammy Luna is there, but during agenda review, and maybe oh, here we go. If you scroll up, if you scroll up, you can see what we're who we're approving. So, Eleanor Briggs, Joseph Kamrosky on down to Melissa Williamson. I would like to remove I would ask that we amend this. So, I'd like to make a motion to amend this removing Joseph Kamrosky, Steven Shorts, and adding someone from Moreno Valley. Can we add someone? I thought we only had one position, Ms. Claudia. Don't we only have one position? Wait. To this element? We can write anybody in, but just know

310that there there are eight people here, and we can only vote up to six. So, So, we only remove two, two, then we're we're at the capacity that we can nominate. Well, I'd like to >> she's saying she wants to add a Moreno Valley person. Right. >> the USD. I don't Don't we only Aren't we Aren't we only able to have like certain amount of representatives based on our >> number of enrollment? No, yeah. That was my understanding. >> We are no longer an appointed district, so now you have to make nominations if you want to nominate another Moreno Valley Unified trustee. You could write in another Moreno Valley Unified trustee. Mhm. You are allowed to do that, but just keep in mind you can only do up to six names. So, let me be

311clear. I would like to then make a motion to remove Temecula Valley Joseph Kamroski and Steven Shorts and then approve as presented as amended. That's my motion. Can I get a second? So, Ms. Clark, you're not amending per se, you're just choosing six. Okay. Does that make sense? >> Yes, it does. You're only choosing those six. So, you're you're removing those other two. Those are not your Those are two that you're removing are the two Temecula Valley USD trustees. Mhm. as presented as presented, yes. Can I get a second? I'm happy to second. Thank you. Ms. Claudia, call for the vote. Student board member Ewing Aye. Trustee Leyva Aye. Trustee Jackson Aye. Trustee Williams Aye. Trustee Luna Aye. Trustee Clark Aye. This motion has passed 6-0. Okay. Quick point of parliamentary procedure. Do we usually

312go into discussion after we do our second? Yes, you can if you choose. If we choose, okay. We have to know what to thank you for future reference. Thank you. Thank you. Moving on to action item B, approval of the board governance calendar. Thank you, President Clark. So, at our last governance workshop with um LuAnn, she gave us some homework. And the homework was to develop and approve a governance calendar. And so, it's being presented here for you um as uh a first draft and approval. But, knowing that we know we're going to probably revise it as the year progresses. Um so, there may be some additions later on, but this is a first version of it to get it approved and then we can go from there. I have a question, Dr. Ruvalcaba. If

313we approve it, then this would just be included in the Friday memo every every Friday? Correct. And actually, we can add calendar invites for all of the the milestones that we have to complete. Okay. Awesome. Can I get a motion to approve, unless you have questions or concerns? So moved. I'll second that. I'm sorry, who who motioned? Mr. Jackson. Thank you. And second was Ms. Leyva? Ms. Claudia, please call for the vote. >> Student board member Hearing? Aye. Ms. Leyva? Aye. Mr. Jackson? Aye. Mr. Williams? Aye. Ms. Luna? Aye. Ms. Clark? Aye. This motion is passed 6-0. On to business items um business service action items, approval of the authorization of parent and community booster clubs for the period from March 11, 2026 to December 31st, 2026. Ms. Lopez. Yes, thank you, President Clark. So,

314we have one more booster club that has met all of the requirements, submitted all of the paperwork um that meets the qualifications or the requirements that we put in place and that is the Rams Booster Club from Ridgecrest Elementary School, which we are recommending is approved this evening. Thank you. Any questions, comments, or concerns? I'd like to make a motion to approve. I'd like to second. >> It was motioned by Ms. Luna, seconded by Ms. Leyva. Can I please um call for the vote? Student board member Ewing? I. Ms. Leyva? I. Mr. Jackson? I. Mr. Williams? I. Ms. Luna? I. Ms. Clark? I. This motion has passed 6-0. Moving on to Human Resources action items, the approval of the variable waiver, English learner authorization class for the 2025-2026 school year. Dr. Verdi. Thank you, Ms.

315Clark. With this item, uh the district is asking that we approve the variable waiver for the impacted employee while they finish up in their credentialing program to get that class certificate completed. Thank you. That's for our CTE and entertainment teacher. Any questions, comments, or concerns? I'd like to make a motion to make Thank you, Ms. Leyva. Can I get a second? I'll second. Thank you, Ms. Luna. Ms. Claudia, please call for the vote. Student board member Ewing? I. Ms. Leyva? I. Mr. Jackson? I. Mr. Williams? I. Ms. Luna? I. >> Ms. Clark? I. This motion has passed 6-0. Approval of the new classified job description, instructional assistant, intensive behavior intervention IBI, wellness advisor, transitional age youth peer specialist, and updated certificated job descriptions, program specialist, and dual language immersion DLI, and multilingual department. And this

316is, by the way, item 3B. Dr. Verdi. Thank you, President Clark. I'll I'll do a brief run down of these three positions that we are seeking approval on tonight from our board. The wellness advisor, uh this is going to be a position that's going to provide critical information, advocacy, referrals, and work with our students and families in need of behavioral and mental health services connected to our wellness center. We're really excited to bring that position forward to support the great work that's happening there. The instructional assistant position, the intensive behavioral intervention person or the IBI, we are requesting to establish 14 new IA positions in this area. And this group of individuals will be itinerant and they will be assigned through our SELPA and deployed to support students with significant behavioral needs at sites across

317the district. So, they'll be specially trained to really support in a a very critical area to help support our sites. And last but not least, we have a an update on the program specialist, the DLI and multilingual department job descriptions are being updated. Uh work hours and work year are the only changes for that one, folks. And that is to just create parity and align them with the needs of the department. Thank you. Any comments, questions, or concerns? No, I'd like to make a motion to approve. >> Just one one quick question. Um for the instructional assistants, 14 of those, I know the um you were mentioning that March 5th they were going to you were going to be attending a job fair for Moreno Valley City. Um how did that go? How did that

318job fair go? >> Yes. Well, we we have folks on a an interest pool at this point, but we're hoping, Mr. Jackson, once we get some of these positions uh freed up and and approved that we can start to recruit from there. That's the goal. The IA positions, as we discussed, are always challenging to to fill. One thing that does help us with positions like this is when folks do receive the right support and training, they're more successful in those roles. And so, we can grab some new folks from the community that might be interested in a position like this. Perfect. Thank you. Thank you. Any Can I Can I get a motion, please? >> I'd like to make a motion to approve. Thank you, Ms. Leyva. Is there a second. I'd like to thank

319Student Board Member Hearing. Ms. Claudia, please call for the vote. Student Board Member Hearing. I. Ms. Leyva. I. Mr. Jackson. I. Mr. Williams. >> I. Ms. Luna. I. Ms. Clark. I. This motion has passed 6-0. Moving on to all acknowledgement items. Acknowledgement of the notice of intent to operate a countywide charter school. Altus School, Riverside County, and Options for Youth, the San Bernardino chapter. Dr. Orsay. Thank you very much, President Clark. We have two petitions that were submitted to our district. One for Altus, uh which is you'll probably remember it more from Moreno Valley, and they have an operating charter here in Moreno Valley, but they are stationed in San Diego, their headquarters. And the other one is Options for Youth. They have a charter, which formerly known as Satellites, operating in San Bernardino. Um

320per Assembly Bill 1507, that was enacted in 2020, charter schools, when they reach their expiration date, they have to petition for a renewal in the residing district. So, both of these charters got permission from outside districts, and now with this new law, they have to request for us. So, this is the preliminary petition. We will request for petition. We will get the official petition. Then the board will have um 60 days, well, we will have 60 days to review, and then 90 days to vote. We will have to have a public hearing within 60 days. We don't anticipate to get the first petition until August of 2026. Um so, we will bring you more information on that. Thank you. Any questions? Thank you, Dr. Orsay. We decided to forego uh future agenda topics. With no

321further business to come before the Board of Education, this meeting is adjourned at 10:22 p.m.