001(general chatter) We now reconvene to open session. We'll start with the Pledge of Allegiance with Keith. May we have, uh, Ms. Kristen Merry at podium? (applause) We would like to recognize... You want this better position, there you go. (laughs) We would like to recognize Kristen Merry, principal of Yaquob A., Elementary School, for going above and beyond in, in supporting local families facing food insecurity. When news broke that SNAP benefits might no longer be available for local families, Ms. Merry immediately took action, organizing a food pantry at her school to assist prospective families in need. With the help of her dedicated team, hundreds of meals were distributed to local families. Wanting to extend support even further, Ms. Merry played a key role in organizing the expanded learning recipe box giveaway before Thanksgiving break. In partnership with
002the expanded learning and nutritional services teams, that effort provided 1,500 food boxes to families across the community. Thank you, Ms. Merry, for your compassion, leadership, and unwavering commitment to your students and our community. (applause) If everyone could stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. Place your right hand over your heart. 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. (general chatter) Okay, we're ready? Three, two, one. (laughs) Perfect, thank you guys. Thank you. Yay. (applause) So we just had a high and unfortunately, we have a little bit of a low. Um, we lost a member of our MUSD family, and I would like to take a moment, or we would like to take a
003moment during today's meeting to acknowledge a tragic loss in our community. A couple of weeks ago, we received the heartbreaking news that a student at Yaqua Valley High School, RJ, passed away in an accident. His loss has deeply affected our entire community, and our thoughts are with his family, friends, and all who knew him. RJ touched the lives of many n- throughout our district. He attended Yaqui Mesa Elementary, La Quintana Middle School, and Yaqua Valley High School, where he was known for his kindness, willingness to help others, and the smile he always shared. At this time, we'd like to take a moment of silence to honor RJ's memory and the lasting impact he made on all those that were around him. (silence) Thank you. Sorry, those are always hard for me to get through. Um,
004(clears throat) next up, can I get a motion to adopt tonight's agenda? So moved. Second. Moved by Bianca, second by Keith. All in favor? Aye. Aye? Any nays? Five-zero. Can I get a motion to adopt the minutes from the November 18th, 2025 regular board meeting? I move. Second. Moved by Jessie, second by Roberta. All in favor? Aye. Aye? Any nays? Five-zero. Next up is the actions resulting from closed session. Be it resolved that the Board of Education remit student 24-013 to MUSD, passed and adopted this 9th day of December, 2025 in the county of San Bernardino, California. The vote was five-to-zero. All right. Back to another one of our highlights for the evening. We're gonna start with the Twentynine Palms student representative. Good evening, everyone. I'm Twentynine Palms High School senior, William Asuncion, the ASB
005student representative to the Board of Education. There's a lot of exciting news to share about our Wildcat community this month, as we approach the end of the first semester and winter break. The California Department of Education Accountability Dashboard was released last week, and the Wildcat class of '26 did a great job-... on the, uh, CAASPP English and math tests as well as the CAST science test last spring as juniors. Our now Wildcat seniors showed significant growth over, over ... there we go. Uh, their eighth grade scores increased or maintained our school highest scores from last year. Most notably, our school's (door closes) overall math score increased by 19 points. And a special shout-out to our students with disabilities who increased six points in science, 21 points in English, and a whopping 63 points in math.
006The dashboard also reflected significant increases in graduation rate, college and career readiness, and a decrease in suspension rate. Way to go, Wildcats. Our sports recently wrapped up ... Uh, our fall sports recently wrapped up with the highlight being our girls' tennis team finishing third in the DVL and qualifying for an at-large bid to CIF Division seven playoffs. Congratulations to DVL girls' tennis season MVP, senior Aviana Lipkins, and the DVL singles champion and Wildcat senior, Kaitlyn Luke. The winter sports season is here and basketball and soccer are in full swing. Congratulations to our Lady Wildcats basketball team on being the champions of the Dudek Classic Tournament in Inland Empire, uh, where they went undefeated defeating, beating Barstow, Carter, Rialto, Palm Springs, and Montana on the way to the title. The girls are now 7-2 on the
007season and host Palm Desert tonight in the Casey Gym. Boys' basketball is now 3-5 on the season and are c- currently away at Moreno Valley tonight and they're home against La Quinta on Thursday. Boys' soccer is still searching for their first win of the season but are improving, and our girls are 1-1 and are currently away ... Uh, well not currently, away at Desert Mirage on Thursday. On Saturday before Thanksgiving, the TPHS Interact Club held their annual Thanksgiving food drive where they distribute Thanksgiving dinners, including free range turkeys to local families to ensure that everyone can have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. ASB held, held our annual Winterfest Food Festival today after school. This wonderful event celebrates the diversity of our school community with clubs and teams fundraising by selling ethnic foods and holiday treats. As
008always, the food was amazing. Traditional lumpia, spam musubi, and fried rice, as well as treats like cheesecake, waffles, cinnamon rolls, and cake pops were just some of the highlights. Speaking of delicious, on S- on December 2nd, students from our culinary arts program competed in the San Bernardino County Sweet Genius Baking Competition where the team finished second in a highly competitive cupcake category as well as second in choice dessert. In news from our co-curricular elective programs, you may have noticed recently from the same media coverage, our- our newly formed TPHS choir performing at community events and our California Cadet Corps, uh, Color Guard presenting the colors and marching in the City of Torrance Palmside Parade. TPHS is very proud to have these programs participating in our community. Finally, TPHS would like to wish the board and
009NBC leadership a wonderful winter break and happy New Year. That's all I have for now. Do you guys have any questions? No. Uh, the culinary thing stuck out to me. Uh, Mr. Ruggiero, we're expecting cupcakes at some point. (laughs) The board loves cupcakes. (laughs) I know we got it. (laughs) Okay. Thank you so much. Thank you. You're more than welcome. Excellent. Have a nice night. (applause) I wouldn't wanna follow that up either, so yep, it's not in attendance. (laughs) I'm kidding. I'm kidding. But a very nice job. Thank you so much. Thank you. Next up will be our legislative report. Oh, that's me. (laughs) It's still you. (laughs) I was just re-nominated, so forgive me. (laughs) No report. This is for me. (coughs) This is why I skipped her last meeting. (laughs) Um, just kidding.
010Next up will be our classified representative. Also not here. I should look up. Next will be our certificated representative. Good evening. Um, I took part in that Winterfest, so really good lumpia. (laughs) Um, MTA is looking forward to bargaining next week and sharing in that decision-making process. We hope to focus on salary and benefits that will help to recruit and retain highly qualified teachers. Also, on December 6th, the same day as bargui- bargaining, our MTA Special Education Committee will be meeting to work on special ed issues as seen by teachers. Uh, we definitely want to work with the distic- district ... It's been a long day, I'm sorry. Um, on finding viable solutions to impact, that impact this significant subgroup. On a different note, we are still hoping for an organizational chart from instructional services
011so that we can easily direct our questions and concerns. Um, and then in January, MTA is looking to meet with instructional services to start addressing concerns around discipline and safety. Any questions for me? Good job. Thank you. Thank you. Next up, Marine Corps representative. Nothing for tonight, thank you. Thank you. Appreciate it. Okay, that gets us to the reports by the superintendent's staff members. We will start with Dr. Daniel Snyder. Good evening, President Claire, board of trustees, Superintendent Dr. Vargas, and cabinet. Thank you for this opportunity for me to give you some information and a quick overview of the 2025 California Dashboard.The theme of this dashboard is moving with intention, as MUSD has spent the time moving with intention to ensure that we have continuous sustained growth. (paper rustles) This is Grandma Garnet. Grandma Garnet
012was a young widow, and she still had to work and so she had to go buy herself a new car. So, the car she bought is a 1968 green Camaro, named her McCree. (laughs) As time passed, grandma- Grandma Garnet passed as well, and this green Camaro was inherited by my husband. (laughs) Not quite in the same shape. So, he had two choices. He can just rip everything off and just go at it ad hoc and see what happens, or he could move with intention, create a plan and move forward. Which one do you think he did? (laughs) This is also true with the California dashboard. We need to move with intention in order to con- to create that sustained growth, that consistent small growth that go over time, and time, and time. And you'll see
013this in this year's California dashboard. In 2024, we saw a 3.5 growth in English language arts. And the intentional work that you saw in MUSD last year continued that growth with a 5.4 growth in 2025. You'll see this pattern again in math in 2024, where we grew 3.4 in 2024, and then we grew again, uh, th- this last year in 2.5 in 2025. English learner progress. We again saw continual growth with getting us to over 50% of our English language learners making progress on the LPAC, and progress towards English proficiency. Career and college readiness, we saw an increase in 2024 and then again in 2025, pushing us to the green metrics, showing that not only are we showing this growth academically, but we are graduating more students every year. Chronic absenteeism is an area that
014we noticed a decline. Actually an increase in chronic absenteeism and a decline on the dashboard. And we, we increased by 1.5% of our students being chronically absent this last year. But that is the only sad news. As our graduation increased, our CCI increased, and so we are graduating students college and career ready. Our suspension rate. So this re- reflects our school safety. How are our children doing at school? And we saw yet another decline in, in suspension rates, showing that fewer of our students are getting suspended. But how do these colors work on the dashboard? There's two things we look at. We look at the difference in standard, and that is up the vertical column. We match that with the, the horizontal row on the top, which compares year to year, and that tells us
015h- which column each indicator would be in. So we're gonna look at this from a district and school point of view. The object is to be in three right-hand columns, so maintained, increased or significantly increased. So in 2024, this is where our schools landed. Are you guys ready to watch this? In 2025, almost every single school moves over into those three columns. We did have a drop in Yucca Valley High School, but I would like to point out, they consistently had several years double-digit increase. And when you do that sometimes, you will also see a drop come eventually. Uh, w- with Yucca Valley High as well, they are still, they lost fewer points than they have gained in the last couple years. So now that 2024, this is where our school, and you can see
016our district in that low increased area. And in 2025, again, you see that movement towards those three columns. Graduation rate, we did really good last year and we were very proud because Blackrock was able to get out of CSI, which had never happened before. We saw a large increase last year, and again this year. You see every school moving forward with a, with an increase in graduation rate. So it wasn't just an increase for our district. (coughs) It was an increase for every single school. CCI, again when we go to 2025, we see every single school increase. So our kids are graduating college and career ready. Whereas change is inevitable, growth is only intentional. And it is through the intentional work that you have seen throughout the last year and the year previous that we
017have seen this sustained change, this continual growth. (coughs) And we project the continual growth for this next dashboard.... like Grandma got us at the Camaro. When you do things intentionally, it becomes beautiful. I didn't know that there were finances Any questions? (clears throat) Any questions from the board? I got two for you. I have one for you. Mm-hmm? I have some questions. Why is this stuff being held against us? Um ... Oh, just a moment. Let me find it. Here are your- Uh, oh, I'm so disappointed that on the, um, the little lever for 2025 in math, that even though it's sus- we sustained or maintained, that the lever went down. Yes. That's because when you look at the colors, if you had to get a certain number of points- Mm-hmm. ... to move over
018colors. Although the, i- we increased, we improved, uh- It's right there. ... we barely missed the three points necessary. So, we had a 2.5 growth. We needed a three point growth. So, we missed it by half a point to be able to stay in that yellow. Gotcha. Thank you. I wa- I, I knew it wasn't a bad thing, but I was just, like, bummed that we hadn't had it. It's not a good visual. Yeah. I as well- (laughing) ... and especially when you're looking at it. The real disappointment, you're looking at it half a point. Yeah. Oh, my goodness. Yes. Um, chronic absenteeism has increased this year. Is that correct? This was last year's dashboard, so this was- Oh, okay. ... uh, the data reflected from the '24/'25 school year. As we're looking at now,
019we're seeing our attendance rate higher now than we did last year. So, we're anticipating an improvement in that area as well. But there has been a lot of focus on attendance and we're gonna continue focusing with that. Okay. Um, I don't think we have any other questions. We've got one here in the back. Do you want to move to the back or do you want me to move it? I, actually, I have two. Um, yeah, I noticed. I thought the maintained was kind of an odd word, but I know it was straight off the state dashboard. I get it. Um, but what I did, I used my little Google machine and I looked up the, uh, student groups. And one thing that stuck out to me when, I think, to me it's a fire alarm
020for the district. African American homeless students were 112 and 126 below, respectively. That's alarming for a district to be that low for a certain student group. Homelessness, I, those students, I get. And I had a conversation with Amy. I get it 'cause it's, it's hard to track that in there. It could be a nomadic situation where you can't have the same students all the time. But I think we need to focus on, on the African American students in our district. Um, next up would be E- ELA. I also checked those student groups. Homelessness and long-term English learner- learners were 141 perc- or 141 below, um, standards. So, I'd really like the district collectively to really start paying attention to that 'cause it's a concern. Um, and as far as the ELA and the math, is
021that third through eighth and eleventh? It's three, three-eighth. Three-eighth? So, all grades, three through eight and eleventh grade. Okay. And lastly, chronic absenteeism. I mean, that's ... So, we're saying one in four students is chronically absent? Is that- Yes, ma'am. Is that how I'm reading that? That's how you're reading it. Okay. Maybe we need to discuss that as a board a little further 'cause that's, that's really, really concerning. And I'm not saying, it's not an attack on you. I understand. I'm just saying, on whole, if one in four students isn't showing up, then it affects our funding, it affects their, their education, it affects their scores, everything. So- And, and- ... collectively, board, we need to, we need to do something. Just so we have a little bit more clarity on that. Yeah. Uh, the
022chronic absenteeism, chronic absenteeism rate is based on any student that a- attended 31 days or more. So, this, if you're looking at 10% and the k- and the child only attended 40 days, that means they missed four days. So, we're also including kids who are only here a short period of time. So, where, when you're looking at 28%, one in four, we're also looking at students who are very transient. They move in and out. That also count towards that rate. Okay. Maybe we need to get a better breakdown as to students that are in-house and not showing up. So, whatever that is, if that's some sort of intervention, whatever I, is that part of Nick's job? I'm not sure, but that's something we really got to look at 'cause that, for that to be in
023the red like that, and I see a lot of heads going in the crowd, so I think it's everybody in our MUSD community really needs to take this serious. So, but thank you. Thank you. Next up would be Marcella Zeluda. (footsteps) Good evening, Board President Claire, Dr. Vargas, board members and executive cabinet. I appreciate the opportunity to update you on our Gifted and Talented Education Program, highlighting our efforts to improve program consistency, support site liaisons, and offer enrichment opportunities to all our schools at Morenci Unified. The GATE program identifies and supports students by providing enriched, accelerated or specialized instruction to meet their advanced learning needs, ensuring that they are challenged and engaged beyond the curriculum. We have initiated a district-wide effort to, to enhance consistency and quality. Key accomplishments include the development of a GATE
024handbook, which outlines the following: program expectation-... liaisons roles, enrichment models, and communication systems. In order to provide equitable opportunities for all our students, we use a multi-identification system. We believe measuring a child as a whole will provide greater opportunities. We test all second grade students and also test students third through twelfth grade through teacher recommendation or parent recommendation. The GATE liaisons work with site administrators to create enrichment opportunities for students. Every school is responsible for drafting a school plan through their allocated budget. On the screen, you will see some common examples of opportunities sites may offer. As a district, we're currently planning a district-wide, district-wide event for all GATE students. To strengthen our GATE program district-wide, we conduct monthly collaborations with site liaisons. These meetings provide support to site leaders, ensuring alignment of expectations and
025fostering consistency across the program. Site liaisons' experience vary from site to site. These monthly collaborations allow liaisons to learn from one another. To enhance parent engagement, we have revised all communications directed towards parents to better support our families in understanding our GATE program and what we have to offer. We have streamlined our communication tools for the areas listed on the screen for consistency. Our current focus is finalizing our district GATE plan to align to our district... I'm sorry. Our current focus is finalizing our district mission statement that will align w- finalizing our district GATE mission statement that will align with our district mission statement. Uh, we will continue to strengthen our monitoring progress, and we will also continue to con- to build consistency through coaching and, um, coordinating support for our site liaisons. And most
026importantly, we plan on providing teachers with opportunities to provide differentiated instruction for our students in the classroom. Looking ahead to the coming months, we will continue to refine our identification process, collaborate and reflect our practices to improve our approaches. Does anyone have any questions? Pete? Yes. Uh, I... Are all our schools participating in this program? Yes. All our schools are participating. And they all have site liaisons? Yes. They all do. Thank you. Yeah. Um, have they all begun the program for this school year? So everyone, every school, they've had a meeting with their students at least once? It varies from site to site. So, um, we started meeting with our liaisons back in September. And the first step is creating a site plan. Through the site plan, we have identified different opportunities. Um, some of
027those enrichment opportunities may begin late win- um, early winter, late winter, into the spring. It varies from site to site. What has started is that they have started testing to increase, um, the opportunity for students to qualify for the GATE program. So, that has started now at all school sites. Okay. 'Cause the one concern that I had voiced before was the inconsistency with when the program actually started at the school. Sometimes the students would only get, start in March. Sometimes it was January. So, um, I just... I, I like the steps that you're doing in, in creating a unified plan and going forward. I'm just hoping that the program doesn't only leave the students with a month or two of access to this resource, this program. Absolutely. And the challenge is that, um, every site
028has her allocated budget. So, their plan is built on that budget. Now, and that budget is based on the number of students they have qualified for the GATE program. So, if they have a larger budget, of course they're going to be able to allow- you know, provide more enrichment opportunities after school. But I will have to say, a lot of schools are being very creative, where they may offer enrichment opportunities during the school day to provide them with multiple opportunities. And that's what we have found to be consistent across many schools this year. Thank you. Mm-hmm. So, this is based on testing. Um, so you have an exceptional student. They're a bad test taker. Is there any sort of process where the site admin or a teacher could be an advocate and they can still
029qualify for GATE? Absolutely. So, we do have, um... Students can qualify by two different ways. Here it is. So, there's different measures. It's not just through... Um, they could qu- qualify through the achievement, their achievements, you know, with test scores. Um, it's on a point system. So, there's different ways they can, um, qualify. It's either intellectually or academically. So, if they are a bad test taker, they may be very smart intellectually and may be, and may qualify that way. Okay. Great. Thank you very much. Appreciate the time. Thank you. (coughing) Next up is Amy. (coughing) (footsteps) Board President Claire, Superintendent Dr. Vargas, and board members, thank you for allowing time tonight for me to share some extraordinary data with you on our ninth grade high school success program, which is now in its second year.
030At the start of every school year, hundreds of hopeful ninth graders walk through the doors of our high schools. During my tenure as a secondary educator in this district, I have witnessed every year for way too many of them, that hope begins to- (coughing) ... fade before the first semester of high school ends. By the end of ninth grade, a significant number of students have already fallen behind, failing four classes, missing required credits, and slipping off the path to graduation. The A through G requirements essential for a four-year college eligibility become nearly impossible to recover by the end of their 10th grade year. The data had become undeniable. Our graduation rate was declining, and the number of students needing alternative pathways, like continuation schools, has exceeded the number of seats that we have available. (door
031slamming) We've come to rely heavily on summer school as a lifeline, but even that is no longer enough. This was not just a crisis of numbers. It was a crisis of opportunity. So, how do you take this very discouraging data and come up with an innovative idea that you can make a reality, one that will truly yield results, not just lip service? Well, both comprehensive high schools, the principals, and a group of dedicated teachers worked together and launched the High School Success Program, a proactive student-centered initiative designed to intervene early, to support consistently, and guide intentionally. Welcome to a class called High School Success. The hallmarks of the High School Success Program, and I will repeat, this is our second year. We started last year as a pilot with the ninth graders, and we have
032a second group this year of ninth graders. So our pilot group is now tenth graders, and we have a new group of ninth graders. For example, we have created a team of multi-disciplined teachers with High School Success sections, so they have their own PLC. What do I mean by that? Well, we have Jennifer Beesley, teacher extraordinaire. Any student would be lucky to have her, talk with her. English teacher. We have Jessica Montoya, foreign language teacher. We have Jean Carabella, social studies teacher. We have Jamie Culver, APE teacher. That's a team of 29 High. At Yucca High, Mary Keck, math teacher. Jennifer Youngworth, foreign language teacher. Christina Hines, an ELA teacher. On and on. They are multi-disciplinary teams that create their own PLC. Why is this important? A team approach is important, because that's where student
033buy-in comes from. High school, uh, High School Success teachers monitored and assisted with missing assignments. That's another hallmark of the High School Success Program. They're not left to their own devices. They also do lessons on time management, on organization, self-advocacy, and simple things, like email protocol. (coughing) They do SEL lessons and have guest speakers. They have small groups with peer tutors. We wrote a course that you approved last year. It was called Peer Tutors for a High School Success Class. And Lisa Ruggiero, our counselor on special assignment, does a year-long training with these tutors on soft skills, communication skills, collaborative learning skills, how to build a relationship as a mentor. So the tutors are getting trained all year long as well. And the thriving ninth graders that are enrolled in High School Success or that
034are there, the ones that are thriving, we then take them and some of them go on to the student development, the ICDB 65 College and Personal Success dual enrollment class, as well as the speech class, Public Speaking. So they have an opportunity to have one or more dual enrollment classes. Let me show you this data. The ninth grade class of 2024, that wasn't last year, it was the year before, 50% of them had at least one F at the end of their ninth grade year. After taking... So we had the next, the freshman class come in in 2025. 29 High was able to reduce that number to 26%. They reduced the failure rate by half. That's awesome. Yucca Valley High School had a 50% failure rate as well. Students with at least one F on
035their transcript, they had a remarkable reduction of about 36% as well. Why is this important? Studies show that if you can have a fr- a freshman student get through their, their ninth grade year with no more than one F, one F, they will graduate. Why is this important? Because the 2024 freshmen, the year before the High School Success, uh, pilot program, 58% of them were not on track to graduate after their freshman year.We were able, as a district, to increase the rate of on track to graduate by, to 70% after the first pilot year. A through G, the A through G college, uh, classes you have to have before you're university eligible, the year before we started this program, only 32% of freshmen were on track for A to G. After our first year, 46%
036of them were on track for A through G. And lastly, and for me the most exciting, 0% of the freshmen were meeting CCI in 2024. In 2025, 27% of the freshman class were already CCI. Let me put that into perspective. That same year, the seniors who graduated only had 26% CCI. That same year- ... the freshmen were already at 20% CCI. Why? A lot of those freshmen were able to take a CTE course like culinary or criminal justice or building and construction trades along with a dual enrollment class that automatically made them college and career ready. High School Success progress, so we have implemented a second cohort of High School Success this year. And the interesting thing that we wa- that we learned was that consistency was really important for the kids. So on Mondays,
037they have a certain schedule. On Mondays, uh, academics, high school expectations. Tuesdays, digital skills. Wednesdays, group work time. Thursdays, tutoring time. Friday, the, uh, the high school counselors can come in. The collaborative activities can take place, the SEL activities can take place. The 10th grade students this year still have access to their ILP, their individualized learning plan through Exact Path that they started as ninth graders. And so does every other teacher in a core class at the high school, so they can continue supplemental instruction as they move forward as, uh, sophomores and juniors. The college and career advisors, uh, that you heard from last month, they have been hired for each high school. They do college and career exploration and they use the California Colleges Curriculum with the students. So we continue to increase dual
038enrollment and career technical education participation. The school counselors can visit this section of High School Success and hit almost all ninth graders, um, without interrupting core instruction like an English 9 class or an integrated math class. And through High School Success, we are now able to place a greater focus on college and career and backward map with the ninth graders their post-high school plans. This program is not a luxury, it is a necessity. (clears throat) It is our commitment to ensuring that every student, regardless of where they start, can finish strong because success in high school shouldn't be a privilege, it should be a promise. Thank you, Dr. Vargas and my fellow cabinet members and each member of the Board of Education for supporting and believing in the potential of every student in the Runway
039Unified School District. I thank you and I will happily answer any questions you have about the program. Thank you. Uh, I presume, uh, uh, and I like your program. I, I think it's great, what you just told us. I'm thinking that maybe you're thinking about eighth grade? We are thinking... We are making plans for next year to vertically articulate some of the concepts of High School Success into launching High School Success in the eighth grade, as well as I believe it's possible that we could offer a dual enrollment class as well in the eighth grade that would start them even stronger into our Early College Initiative program. Great. Mm-hmm. I had a- Yeah. (laughs) I had a similar question to Pete. I remember when I went to seventh grade at Wapakoneta, everybody got handed a
040planner and your teacher sat down with the class the first couple weeks and said, "This is how you use this planner so that you don't miss any assignments, so that you follow up on your work." And it was so great, um, so I'm really excited that you have something even better and more robust for our ninth graders. Um, but I want to know if we can do that for our sixth grade and seventh graders. Is that something that would be in the works? Certainly. (laughs) (laughs) Certainly anything is possible. Here's the thing, is, um, this program wasn't bought, it- it was put together- Right. ... by the principals of the comprehensive high schools and a group of dedicated teachers that says, "Okay, I'll try." The data that we gained from that first cohort led us
041into the next year and it will now lead us to vertically articulate down to eighth grade, and then it will lead us again to- to be able to, at some point, have a six through 12 vertically articulated program that is a college and career ready preparation program for students for any of their opportunities and options that they want to have. They should have those opportunities and options. And so this is for all ninth graders? Yes. They're all enrolled in this? Mm, pretty much. Yeah. Okay. I was just wondering if that... 'Cause you said cohort, which made it sound like it was only a select few. Ninth grade cohort. Gotcha. Okay. Mm-hmm. The entire grade. Yeah. Yes. Okay. Thank you, Jamie. Tremendous. It's great. Thanks. Thank you. Thank you for sharing that. (gavel taps) (applause) Now
042we will... I will... We'll have a motion to open the public hearing on the 2024/2025 statutory school facilities fees reports. May I get a motion? Yes. I make a motion. Second. Moved by Keith. Was that Bianca? Yes. Okay. Do we have any public comment on this? No? Board, any questions, any comments? So now I will take a motion to close the public hearing on statutory school facili-... Oh, you did? I'm sorry. Sorry, Pete. I, I did. I'm, I'm t-... I'm reading my question. I'm trying to think it through here so I can answer I currently, whatever I'm asking about. Um, when do we anticipate it being time to address increased statutory school fees as we are 10 years into the last resolution? I can answer that question for you, Pete. Um, so what we can
043do is we can go ahead and, and get with, uh, one of our consultants to do a few justification study to see if, if it's possible for us to adopt any new fees. There are several factors that need to be taken in consideration. Um, one thing that they'll look at is they'll look at the growth in your area. Um, it's a responsible thing to do, but it can also be a risky thing to do because you may end up, uh, qualifying for an increase in fees, but you may also qualify for a reduction in fees. And so, um, it's something to be aware of if that's the direction that the board wants to do. Uh, it has to really be looked at on whether or not we've experienced a lot of growth in our area
044and that this is a, a popular or prime building area that would maybe justify that. It's gon-... it's gonna be a trend on that. Thank you. Mm-hmm. Thank you, Pete. May I get a motion to close the public hearing on statutory school facility fees for '24/'25? So moved. Second. Moved by Roberta, second by Pete. All in favor? Aye. Any nays? Five-zero. Public comment. I don't believe we have any cards in here. Oh, okay. That's first. Next up will be the adoption of the consent agenda. May I get a motion? Or... Sorry. Any items for... We'll get a motion to approve it and then pull the items. I move to approve. Okay. Second. Moved by Missy, second by Roberta. With... And then can I ask to pull- Yes. ... which ones I want? Yes. Yeah, you
045can. Yeah, you can ask those things. I got mine 'cause I wrote 'em down. Uh, 11D, five and six. Okay. Any others from the board? All right. Go ahead and take it away, Fiona. Can you turn your mic on? Yeah. There you go. What? Can't hear you. Oh. Thank you. Thank you, Jack. Okay. (laughing) Never shy. (laughs) Do I have the spotlight now? You do. Okay. (laughs) Um, uh... We did. Yeah, we already ... yeah. Okay. Um, 11D number five. I just have a couple general questions 'cause these are questions that I think that the public would want to know as well. Um, we're talking about the SPED portables that are going to select schools. Do we know what those portables are gonna look like? They're gonna be looking like the rest of our portables.
046(laughing) And I don't know if that's your question or if you're looking about the configuration. Um, I'm asking about the configuration because I know our SPED students- Yes, they do. ... have such specific needs just like our younger- Yeah. ... um, TK and kindergarten students. So I was wondering if they were gonna be, um, designed differently in that way. We haven't finalized any design yet. Right now, we're still conceptualizing this and we're still having conversations with, uh, Henry Burgett and South Bus. So once we're able to finalize a configuration that will work for that student population, then we're looking to duplicate that at each of the school sites. So the best thing that I can envision at this point is that it will look... based on early conversations, it will look similar to how it
047is at Yucca Valley High School. I'm not sure if you're familiar with the SPED room there. So depending on the population, which, uh, of the needs of that school, one of these five schools, uh, will depend whether or not it looks more closely to that or if it looks like a smaller version of that. Gotcha. And do you know if they're... We're not replacing any structures. We're adding structures to these sites. The intention is to add structures. Um, one of the, uh, action items coming up is to support an agreement with GEO Architects. And so when we get into further conversations with them and we a- analyze the sites more in depth and see where it's feasible to put the structures, that may necessitate either moving or replacing one of the structures to make way
048for one of these. Obviously we wouldn't sacrifice capacity or anything like that, but, um, that's, that's the goal. Okay. Hold on. Do you want to add additional details there? No. Carry on. (laughs) Last question about the, the portables. Do you know how many students each portable can accommodate? That again will depend on how the conversations go with South Bu... We do know what the need is at each of the school sites. Um, that's how these sites were particularly selected. Um, but if... obviously we don't want to overbuild. We want to make sure that we're able to meet the needs that, uh... ... but an exact number right now, I do not. Okay, thank you. I'll defer to Chris. Yeah. I would urge it be on the larger side, because we tend to build schools and
049do facilities, and the next thing you know, we have portables all over that have no building at all, um, and a lot of our school does it that way. But from my understanding, this is Measure C, Series A funding? Okay, so that's good. Um, and we're not gonna drag like a portable from old Joshua Tree over to- (laughs) It's nothing like... Nothing crazy like that. No, it's something new. Okay. It needs to be new facilities that our SPED students will enjoy. It'll be a dedicated- Okay. ... uh, specially designed for that student population. Great. Okay. Um, my next questions are about, uh, item... Oh, I'm sorry. Um, excuse me. One more question about that, because you talked about only building five, five portables per s- per, per school. Is that correct? No, no. It is
050five schools. So it's right now, initially we identified for five new rooms at those schools. Okay. Yeah, so one each. Okay. Um, my next questions re- are regarding, um, 11D item six, about the CSTC contract. Um, is it... Is this contract so that we can hire more people so that we can get those kids off the wait list for ELOFT? Yes. Um, right now, we are looking to start with 20, um, people, 16 of them being regular, consistent people, four of them being room and staffs. Awesome. 'Cause we had over four hund-... Was it 400? Um, it's a little bit better. We have 468 enrolled. Oh. And, and then we have 331 on the wait list, and 70 student tutors. So you would include the student tutors into that wait list, because they go into
051our ratios. So now we're at 404 on the wait list, technically. Okay. I'd li-... (laughs) That was confusing for me. Okay. (laughs) So the, the tutors are on the wait list because they need to fill out these student- They count into our student ratio, so they start- They count into that one to 20. So essentially, if I have... I have a one to 20 ratio, I'd have to have one employee, one classified employee, and then if I had a student tutor, they would count as one of the 20 students. Oh, I see. Got it. Thank you, 'cause that was confusing for me. (laughs) Um, um, I think that's all. Yeah, that's the only question I had. Thank you, Missy. Chair? I'll, I'll ask this question. Um, are any of these people that this talent agency
052goes out to get, will they be MUSD employees? They have the option to become MUSD employees if they should choose to do that. So they, they, they, they can become MUSD employees. But are, they are- But there would be kind of a, a supplement to- They're a supplement to our people. Okay. Thank This is all under the ELOFT funding, correct? Oh, yeah. Okay. Mm-hmm. Very good. Thank you very much. Thank you. All right. May I get a motion to approve item 11D5? So moved. Second. Moved by Bianca, second by Roberta. All in favor? Aye. Any nays? Five, zero. May I get a motion to approve item 11D6? So moved. So moved. Moved by Roberta, second by Pete. All in favor? Aye. Any nays? Five, zero. Action items. Resolution 26-04, statutory school facilities fees report 2024-2025.
053May I get a motion for approval? So moved. Moved by Missy, second by Pete. All in favor? Aye. Any nays? Five, zero. Next up is the first interim financial report. May I get an approval. Or excuse me, a motion? So moved. Second. Moved by Roberta, second by... Was that Bianca again? Yes. Okay. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Any nays? Five, zero. Next up is the authorization to form an enrollment 711 committee. May I get a motion? I so move. Moved by Pete. Second. Second by Bianca. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Any nays? Five, zero. Is there an opportunity to explain to the public what a 711 committee is? Yes, I can do that now. So the... That, that particular committee is going to be tasked with reviewing current and projected student enrollment data, analyzing factors
054that impact enrollment, and developing recommendations to support strategic planning, staffing needs, and resource allocation across the district. So it's a wholesale look at everything. School boundaries, et cetera. Do... Does... Well, the 711 part, 'cause that's very specific part of... It's a special kind of committee? Yes, it is. So it's a special committee that requires different members of the community to represent this committee and they come to represent the district. And there, it will be between seven and 11 members that we have to, uh... That you'll be getting those applications and you'll be selecting this committee. The committee will review all this data and they'll come back and make a recommendation for you to move forward. Do we know when we plan to, um, appoint the members? Is it a 30 day application process or? So,
055uh, it's, it's not... It's not requiring any, uh, specific number of days, but it's gonna be open tomorrow. So it's gonna be posted online. We're gonna have it active and people can apply. I mean, they have the application. And it... We're gonna close it by January 5.Yes. So by January 5, we will close the window of applications. And at that time, I mean, we'll bring it to the board so that you can make a decision. Great point. Thank you, Bianca. Items for review, second review would be board policy 5113, board policy 5113.2. First read, second... or first read and review, board policy 3100, 5125, 5141.5, 5145.3, and then the bylaws 9200, limits of board member authority. Information items were attached for the 2025... or 2024, 2025 Williams annual report. So that was a overall summary.
056Accounts receivable, cash receipts and the budget transfer transaction report. From the board, do we have any recommendations for future agenda items? I would like to, um... I would like to, um, look at the LCAP, and that's coming up pretty soon, isn't it? And, uh, get some- We have the midyear review coming up in January, and so we'll be providing, um, an... an update on our expenditure as well as go a little bit more in depth with our data. Okay. Fantastic. Anything... anyone else? Missy? No. No? No. Okay, board calendar. Semester ends December 19th, 2025. Winter break this year will be December 22nd, 2025 to January 2nd, 2026. Our next regular board meeting will be January 13th, 2026. We will also be having a board study session January 27th, 2026. And that leads us to the
057board comments. We'll start with Roberta this evening. Thank you all for being here. We had a... We are returning from our annual education conference up in Sacramento, which was a very bonding experience. And for me, an eye-opening experience as to how well our board, um, is... gets along and is respectful and, and respects each other. And I was just really impressed by that because that's not the case with a lot of boards. (laughs) And how well we work with our superintendent. Um, and we respect each other's opinions, and that really counts for a lot. It did wear me out. (laughs) I... I went with the notion that I was gonna have to keep up with all the young'uns. But it was actually Pete that kind of led the charge there. (laughs) We had to keep
058up with Pete. It was- (laughing) ... quite a, quite a feat. But it was, um, something I needed to do. But it... I was exhausted coming back. I, I, um, came into my house, laid down for a nap for three hours, and then slept 10 and a half hours that night- (laughing) ... which I never do. So- (laughs) ... it was, um, a very good experience and bonding experience for all of us. Um, other than that, thank you for your presentations tonight, everyone. And that's it for me. Thank you, Roberta. Pete was running around Sacramento with the Marine Corps flag in one hand- (laughs) ... US flag in the other. (laughs) We were just trying to keep up with him. (laughing) It was quite the sight. Pete, that brings it up to you. (laughs) No
059comment on all that other stuff. (laughing) Well, you... you know, I, I just continue to say there's just like a lot of fine things going on in, in our district. How you r- you read out there that, uh, I think we mentioned it earlier with our student, uh, uh, from 29 Palms High School, talking about the Cadet Corps at, at the holiday light parade here in town. You know, th- they're really looking sharp, really great. And, and that makes me feel pretty good. Uh, I saw where we've got furniture going out in truckloads to people that could use it. Now, you know, I re- I really think that's great 'cause we're getting rid of it. And I think it's just like what Troy did, trying to, uh, make use out of all those laptops. I,
060I think those kind of things are great. You know, maybe some of our old portables, we could find a home for that. (laughing) Um- I would remember. They just are going to have a lot of firewood to sell. Yeah. (laughs) Um, w- we had a couple teachers out there giving a class to, to some other teachers at the CTA, at a conference, pre-K gals, teachers from art, community, doing that. Kelly McGinn and, and, uh, Ms. Estrada, fantastic teachers out there doing things like that. Then we have, you know, uh, Mr. Rauch out there doing his thing. Just a lot of people doing a lot of fine things. Um, culinary folks, wow, they're making a great name for themselves. Uh, cupcakes are fantastic. Girls basketball team, wow, they're really going great guns at 29 Palms, uh,
061High School. And, uh, yeah, they won that tournament. Yeah, I saw that. And they got three, uh, I think three freshmen on that team, which great. So anyway, great job. Thanks for the, the, uh, uh, presentations today. Learned a lot. Um, I'll turn it over to somebody else. Thank you, Pete. Bianca? Um, I wanna start off by... Oh, that's really loud. Um, by thanking our, um, Janet for inviting us to serve Thanksgiving, uh, lunch at all the schools. That was a real highlight of, um, the past month. Um, anytime we can just interact with the kids in a, in a, uh, environment where they don't know where we are or some of them do, so I was recognized as Holden's mom and got a few double takes and some awkward glances. But, um, it was
062a lot of fun to be able to do that at the school and, and to get to know the staff there and just kind of learn about how their, um, duties go from day to day 'cause I don't get to see that. Um, the conference was... It was my first time at the Sacramento Conference. Uh, I was a little overwhelmed, but it was a great time, I'm really glad that I got the chance to go with the board. So thank you so much for that opportunity. Um, thank you so much for those wonderful presentations today. I can tell everyone put a lot of work into those. And I just want to say thank you so much to our cabinet and our... everyone at the district office. Um, happy holidays and, um, good work. Thank you
063so much for everyone who's been here. Thank you, Bianca. Missy. How do you beat that? Um, at the conference, guys, I went and I was... I was overwhelmed, but I learned so much. I- I'm worried about your job, Mr. Daniels. (laughs) I think I could take on even me pretty soon. (laughs) (laughing) I did go to (laughs) ... and it really helped me 'cause when I'm listening to you talk tonight, I really understood a lot more. So that was awesome. I- it was amazing. I mean, I- I- I was exhausted like Roberta when we came home. We walked a ton and I learned even more. So thank you for that. Amy, I am so proud of what you are doing with these high school kids. It is... It's awesome. What an awesome deal. I- I...
064It makes me get goosebumps inside to hear how wonderful these kids are doing, um, knowing that I have some that are gonna be coming up and, and they get to be involved in this. Um, thank you. Again, everybody happy holidays, and thank you so much for everything that you do. You guys are very, very important to what we do. So thank you. Thank you, Missy. Uh, first off, I would like to share my appreciation to the board for having confidence in me being the board president for another year. I appreciate all four of you. That's, uh... That was humbling. So, thank you. Um, congrats to 29 High. I see Mike left, so maybe somebody can tell him tomorrow. Uh, and Friendly Hills for their outstanding results in the California dashboard. I mean, to see those
065two schools in the green, oh, it gives me chills. I love it. So thank you for hanging out, Elise, I appreciate that. Well done to you and your staff. Um, selfless act by Ms. Mary. I mean, how many families may not have had any food over the break? I mean, that... What she did for all those families during Thanksgiving is tremendous. And that's, that's on her time. That's... She didn't have to do that. So, um, I guess it kind of shows what MUSD is all about, right? We're a community. We all are pushing to make our students be better human beings and have equal opportunity, and that includes nutrition. We, we know that for sure. Um, my heart goes out to RJ and his family. May he rest in peace. Um, like I said, I
066struggled getting through that, so I apologize, but, you know, that's... It's a tough deal. Um, it's already been said, thank you to everybody in this room. You guys all... Even Janay, we never re- we never recognize Janay. She does so much stuff behind the scenes. Thank you, (clapping) Um, and, uh, not that I didn't appreciate her, but Maria kept all these knuckleheads, including myself, on track during our TSBA conference. And she was texting us like, "Hey, it's breakfast time." Like, "Where are you?" (laughs) "Let's... Where were you last night?" Like... (laughs) So, uh, just she's tremendous. She's a leader amongst, amongst the district and, uh, I know all the board really appreciates her. But thank you for everybody. Have a wonderful holiday. Have a happy new year, and I look forward to seeing everybody in
0672026. Wait, wait, wait. Uh, I forgot one thing. Yes, we're g- That was huge. Yes. The golden bell. Oh. We didn't even recognize him. So sorry, Amy. This is what? Our third year getting a golden bell. I'm sorry, not us, you. No, The whole team here, not us, the board, the team. So- Toronto Unified School District has won the b- has won the bell every year since Dr. Vargas has been here because he alluded us to the fact that there was such a thing as a bell. (laughs) So, a different kind of bell. Correct. (laughs) Correct. And I believe in January, we'll be, uh- Close to it. ... doing a formal thing about the golden bell with the fine doctors, because it's, it's a group effort. Awesome. I concur. (laughs) Really tremendous. That, that was
068great to see, you know, Amy up on the stage with Dr. Vargas smiling and, you know, with all these yucky mucks. Uh, truly an honor for our district to be recognized at that level. And we're, we're going up, up against massive districts with much bigger, um, opportunity, dollars, everything. So to be recognized in that manner was, was fantastic. So with that, I do wish you all a happy Christmas, merry Christmas, Kwanzaa, and happy New Year, and I hope to see everybody in 2026. So with that, we will adjourn at 7:08. (gavel bangs) (clapping)