001We'll call the meeting to order at 5:02 p.m. Um, are there any public comments for close session? >> There are none. >> Okay. Uh with that, we will go to close session also at 5:02 p.m. Good evening everyone. Uh we are going to reconvene to public session at 6:13 p.m. Um and so members, this is uh members of the public who wish to remotely provide public comment during the meeting, you will use the raise hand feature during uh a particular agenda item. Uh speakers must raise their hand during agenda item 8.1, the public comment portion of the meeting, in order to comment on topics not included in the approved agenda. And to speak about an item on the agenda in person, please fill out a speaker card. They're available at the side of the room.
002Uh indicate the agenda item and hand the card to Laura at the dice. When the requested agenda item comes before the board, the speaker will be called forward. All right. So, moving on to roll call. Student trustee Chang >> present. >> Student trustee Kasani >> here. >> Uh, trustee Nory is absent. Trustee Cruz >> here. >> Trusty Thompson >> here. Vice President Gin here. >> President Coup here. >> A quorum is present. And on to approval of the agenda. Do I have a motion to approve? >> Motion to approve. >> Second. >> Okay. All in favor? >> I. Okay. And there is nothing to report out on close session. Uh next we'll go to special recognitions. >> Great. Thank you. Tonight we are proud to recognize the Ease Palatoto Academy leadership. Go Bulldogs students and
003teacher Haimeme Vasquez for their outstanding commitment to school spirit, inclusion, and student engagement. I would like to invite the lead Bulldog, EPA principal, Dr. Sabrina Silverman to the podium to share more details about this dear leadership team. >> Good evening, Superintendent Leech and Board of Trustees. EPA is a special school that encourages all students to achieve their best in the care of a small community. Not only are we here to provide our students with academic support, but also support them to the best of their abilities and make sure we care for the East Pala community and provide support for college and beyond. As we continue to push for a strong academic program, we also push for a strong school culture. I have seen firsthand the amount of time and effort our students and staff put
004into making the school great. Mr. Vasquez, our leadership teacher, took on the role of leadership at the beginning of the school year with enthusiasm. He believes in the greatness of East Po Alto Academy and works to ensure everyone sees and believes that as well. Together, the students in leadership and him have created a place of joy where students feel seen and engaged in the school community. They have led multiple rallies and spirit weeks to engage all students and staff in showing school culture and having a good time together. They have hosted ice cream socials for students who earn high GPA to honor all the work they do. They have decorated the campus for events and festivities and supported school multiple times throughout the year. They also support our schoolwide cultural events that families and students
005enjoy. I am so proud of our leadership students for showing up every day, being willing to try new things and bringing school spirit and being an integral part of EPA school culture. Together, students and staff create the school culture we all want to be a part of. And the leadership class exemplifies the spirit for all to see. I am so proud to be your principal. And congratulations to Mr. Vasquez and all the leadership students for your welldeserved recognition and honor. At this time, I would like to invite the some of the leadership students who are present here. So, leadership students, please come up. >> Okay. Yeah, he's right here. Are they gonna be able to >> picture first? >> Okay. So, do you have your speech ready? Come on. You have your speech ready? Right
006on. >> Good evening members of the Sequoia Union School District and community. My name is Ila and I'm a 10th grader at East Pala Academy. And personally, leadership is essential to me because it has taught me accountability, confidence, and the responsibility that comes with representing others. I take pride in what I have accomplished through leadership because it requires commitment, initiative, and consistency. Leadership had strengthened my voice, sharpened my character, and defined how I show up for my community. These experiences showed me that leadership is not just about a title, but about action and integrity that and making decisions that positively impact the school community. Being trusted to step up and contributed has shaped the way I lead and the standards I hold myself to. I am proud of the work I have done and grateful
007be to be a part of the school district that values a strong student leadership. I would also like to acknowledge Mr. Vasquez and Dr. Silverman for their support of student leadership and for helping foster an environment that students are encouraged to lean learn lean learn lead with purpose. Thank you for your time. >> Um, hello. I'm a 10th grader from Isa Academy High School. I would like to say some things about Isto Academy. EPA is a high EPA high is located in a small community where you could walk down the hall and recognize someone you live near or someone you went to middle school with. It's also a county as a 10-year promise that supports students from the moment they begin EPA through their college years. They offer financial support which enables our students to
008attend schools that they may not have the chance to attend. Even go all the way to LA to see top schools. APA feels like a family because teachers always create safe spaces for students and make us feel supported. And I also want to talk about uh leadership which our amazing leadership teacher Mr. Rascus has helped us help us help us create our school uh or build our uh our school spirit, you know, have having like amazing events that we never had in our school. So, thank you Hello. Good. Good evening, Seoia board members. My name is Lea Lopez and I am a sophomore at East Palatoto Academy. East Palo Alto Academy is special because it is more than just a school. It is a community built on high expectations, care, and opportunity. Our leadership class
009has played a critical role in shaping culture where students feel supported, challenged, and empowered to achieve their goals to succeed. By setting a clear vision, modeling integrity, and investing both in students and staff, our leaders have fostered a school environment rooted in respect, resilience, and continuous growth. This strong leadership has helped create a culture where every student is known, valued, and prepared to thrive for the for more than just in the classroom. I would also like to thank Vasquez, my leadership um teacher and my biology teacher, and principal, Miss Silverman, for always pushing us to do more than what we just want to do. Thank you. Good evening members of the Sequoia DI Sequoia Board District. My name is Michelle. I'm a 10th grader at East Palatoto Academy. What makes EPA special is the way
010leadership is built into our everyday experience. At EPA, students are just aren't just told to be leaders. We're given real opportunities to step up, speak out, and take responsibility. Whether it's in the classroom, clubs, or school events, students are trusted to learn to are trusted to learn and to lead from their mistakes. Our teachers and staff guide us to guide us, but they also empower us to make our own decisions and find our voices. Because of this, EPA EPA doesn't just create successful students, it creates confidence leaders who are prepared for college, careers, and life beyond high school. Thank you. Hello, good evening Sequoa board members. My name is Jose Feka. I'm a sophomore at East Poto Academy. I want to say that ever joining ever since joining leadership has been really fun. This class
011isn't just like a class. It's more like a family to me. It brings a lot of happiness and enjoyment to our school. Without leadership, I feel like our school wouldn't be as fun as it is. I want to shout out all the people that are here with me today. I want to shout out Miss Silverman and I want to shout out my favorite teacher ever, Mr. Vasquez. Without their support, none of us would be here today and none of us would have to find our own voices without their help. Thank you. Sorry, I'm a little bit emotional right now. I didn't I didn't expect embarrassing. Uh, good evening everyone. Um, distinguished members of the board, superintendent. Um, my name is Hame Vasquez and I'm the biology leadership teacher here at EPA. um with just a
012few moments that I have. I want to personally thank everyone here, awesome principal, um the staff members online looking at us right now, my precious students here for speaking from their hearts and uh highlighting some of the tremendously important work that we're doing here at APA. Um the big work that we're doing is only because we're a small school. Um, we have the ability to enact change at a scale where the only limiting factor is one's sense of imagination. Um, we don't lack imagination. We're doing great things at our school. So, thank you for that. Um, so this is the biology in me right now. So, I'm going to just tell you a little bit. Um, small schools are just as important as our larger counterparts as both fulfill necessary roles in the ecosystem call.
013So, I'm a proud member of SUHSD and I know that both EPA and TUD have much more to offer to the world as our leadership students have shown today. Thank you everyone for your time. What? Yeah, it's great to see the students so articulate and so proud of their school. Okay. All right. On to our next agenda item is 8.1 public comment. Uh the board does not act upon any matter that has not been agendaized except under limited circumstances as permitted by law. It is the policy of the board to refer matters raised in this forum to staff for investigation and or action where appropriate. Board policy ordinarily limits the time to be devoted to any single agenda topic to 10 minutes and individual speakers are ordinarily limited to three minutes. If the board decides
014to expand the amount of time to be allocated to a particular agenda item because many speakers wish to address that item, the board may reduce the time allocated to individual speakers to 2 minutes or to one minute as appropriate in order to permit more speakers to comment. The board will announce the amount of time to be allocated to each speaker before public comment on each particular agenda item. Uh when it begins we ask all speakers to keep within the time limits. Are there any public comments? >> Um I have one in person. I see one two hands online. Okay. These are this is the time for items that are not on the agenda. Okay. One hand just disappeared. So one in person, one online. >> Okay. >> So then each person can have three minutes.
015Yeah. >> Okay. Three minutes. Are Are we going with Zoom first or in person? >> Um, we could do Zoom first. >> All right. First up is Dan Malaryi. Yeah. I I love how you guys put this new system in place that you want names, but I don't have any problem saying what names. So great with that um new thingy you put in place. First of all, I want to commend those children and that principal for what they said. Um it brought a little bit of tears to my eyes actually and um I commend you all and I will tell you I appreciate all your phone calls all what you're asking us to from the outside force to actually hopefully make the change that I saw which was actually disgusting. You had children and a
016principal speak and all you five or four members, one of them was not there. Um cuz he's a coward. Um didn't even clap for those children. Didn't even clap, shake hands, do anything. And the reason why you guys can't do that is because you guys believe that those children and that principle doesn't matter. Well, I'm going to tell you right now straight forward. Dan Moleri and the lawyers we have in front of you. Your lawyers don't stand a chance against us. Your board has been destroyed step by step and you're now about to face the Mike Molier matter. The difference in this case with the matter that you're hiding secrets still because you're not being transparent is I'm not going to change this system until the friends that I have at the governor's office like
017Newsome and the state of California makes Sequoia High School not be an AI they call it not be known for being the most actually disgraceful full district in the in the whole state of California. Known for lawsuits, known for discrimination. Leech, Hansen, Bill, who knows where he's at. Scott Kirk, Jenna Carson, Charles. It's actually disgusting that you guys would jeopardize that little school because you guys are using taxpayers money to defend your criminal aspects. You guys should look at the Epstein files because you're no different than Epstein files. You guys all really should be in jail. And I hope the union takes this serious. You have a duty to protect those teachers and children. You're jeopardizing them. They have no right to destroy that little school just because you want to pay a superintendent to
018sit there and drink a bottle of vodka in the middle of the night and call us up with stupid emails. >> Okay, thank you. Um, our next speaker is in person, Kate Hyle. >> Hi, good evening, Superintendent Lee, um, board of trustees. Um, I'm Kate H. I'm the executive director of the East Ball Academy Foundation. And um you just got to hear um from some of our incredible students and um you're going to hear more from our wonderful principal Dr. Silverman later on in the agenda um about the LCAP. Um, but so I couldn't have said it really better myself, but I do I I did want to provide just a little bit of context for those accomplishments and all of the wonderful things that are happening at EPA um right now that you just
019heard a bit about. Um, EPA was founded 25 years ago to fill an education gap um that had existed for one of this area's most marginalized communities. Um, EPA was and still is an alternative to the large comprehensive high schools where students had been bust. Um, a small community school where students are known, seen, and cared for. Um, today EPA's student population is the most vulnerable in the district, almost 100% students of color, 80% economically disadvantaged, 74% firstgen high school grads, 86% first generation college students. And yet, EPA students consistently outperform students from East Palatoto and Bell Haven across the district on state tests, college readiness, and completion of college coursework in high school. Our average 95% graduation rate is incredible considering that about a third enter on grade level in reading and math. That's
020a lot of ground to make up in four years. Um, and the staff and the faculty work tirelessly to make up that ground. Um, once students graduate from EPA, we at EPAF are honored to provide staff support and scholarships for students to pursue college and vocational training, the 10-year promise that was mentioned earlier. Um, we're incredibly proud of that. Um, and I, as executive director, am proud of the work that we do and proud, um, that I still get to have a case load of students as a trained school counselor. Um, and over 80% of our university scholars are still persisting or have completed a career supporting degree or certificate um, over the course of our eight years as a foundation. Um, so I'm so excited that you got to hear directly from our students
021today. That's the most important thing. Their voice is way more important than mine. Um, but I wanted to just provide a little bit of that extra context because all of the incredible things that are happening in EPIA are happening despite some pretty difficult um a a difficult set of circumstances for the city, for the school, and for the families that go to East Walto Academy. So, all of that, all of the incredible work that's being done, all the incredible accomplishments, some of which we saw tonight, um are are happening in that context. Um that and that makes it even more incredible. So, thank you for listening to them and me. Have a good night. >> Thank you. Uh, concludes public comments. >> Thank you for the uh folks that shared public comment. Um, next up
022is agenda item nine, board of trustees correspondence. Uh, we do not have any uh correspondence to share. So, next up is item 10, board of trustees and superintendent comments and committee reports. So, any fellow trustees would like to share? Trusty Cruz, do you have anything? >> No, not right now. Thank you. >> Trusty Thompson, Trusty Gin, I know you know, Amy, because you were there, but we uh had a event at the uh county office of education this week about CTE pathways and got some good information. Um, so I'll just say that Amy was able to attend as well and I'll bring something up at future agenda items for us to talk about. Thank you, Trusty Gan. Uh, I did want to express my gratitude for helping to organize that CTE workshop. Uh, it was
023well attended and, uh, very very meaningful. Uh, I think that we we came away with a lot of good rubrics and checklists and things to look at to see how how our CTE programs are performing. So, look look forward to digging a little bit deeper. Um and then last Wednesday I had a chance to go to the first annual prevention and action conference. So this is schools, communities and youth voices conference. Um so it was hosted by the Sonteo County Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Commission uh in partnership with College of Sonteo. Um, so we started off the day with a review of the history and data in Sonteo County and then we broke into different workshops. So the first one I attended who was on financial literacy for teens and then I at the
024the workshop the speaker actually spoke about Carlmont using the program. I go wait Carl I didn't know Carl. So I I spoke with him afterwards and it turned out that uh the Carlmont AVID classes had used the the Monter financial literacy program for eight weeks and kind of incorporated into their their AVID classes. And then the second workshop I went to was on Pure Point where again our district was highlighted. So, um, SUSD was highlighted by Fly, which stands for a fresh lifelines for youth, uh, for pioneering a peer-led diversion to suspension program that is soon to go districtwide after 10 years. So, it's been a, you know, a long journey of piloting and then expanding. Um, and I thought that that was a very valuable workshop because I remember approving uh certain things on
025both the the school sips and even LCAPS, but not quite understanding what fly actually meant. And I got a much better appreciation for the program after attending that workshop. So, that's something that probably could benefit all of our board members to have a deeper dive into it. Um, and then the day wrapped up with a student panel and that was actually very enlightening. Um, because students who were in the juvenile justice system were really sharing their experiences. Um, and I I'd like to share one key advice um that that they said that I think is applicable to all students and maybe even adults too, not just those who are detained by the police. um their feedback was respect goes a long way. Don't yell and threaten. It can trigger students. Speak to them calmly and
026they're more likely to respond positively. And so I think that's good advice for all of us because we always go through difficult times. Um and just remember be respectful. All right. And with that, uh Superintendent Leech, do you have any comments? >> Okay. Uh, and then on to student trustee comments. >> Um, I just have one small comment to make regarding the last time I was at a meeting here. I know I brought up that there was a lack of a district-wide AI policy. And I after that meeting, I spoke to a a member of the board who told me that that um particular point of interest was brought up in a close session, I believe, or some other future agenda item agenda item. So, I was just curious to know if any progress has
027been made in developing a district-wide policy and AI because I noticed that that magic school program that I might have me that I mentioned last time I was here where teachers just use an AI program to teach their students instead of actually giving lessons and feedback. I noticed that's been adopted by a lot more teachers at Carmon at least. So I was just curious to know if any progress has been made on developing a policy regarding artificial intelligence >> regarding regarding the tide academy agenda item. Unfortunately, once more, the student advisory council has nothing to report. As I was informed yesterday morning that our meeting that was originally scheduled for yesterday night had been cancelled and moved to tomorrow night due to Superintendent Leech's schedule, thus preventing us once again from meeting. And once more,
028we will request that we be given sufficient time to craft and share input in a way that adequately recognizes our position as student trustees. We do apologize for this backto-back inconvenience. However, the issue is quite literally taken out of our hands. Thank you. Thank you to the student trustees for sharing their feedback. Um I don't know if we have uh any update on the AI policy. >> So we are um we do have a district-wide committee that is being formed. um a lot of the AI policy um we are working with um our labor partners um to look for language for the collective bargaining agreement and we have teachers on pol we have teachers on committee we also have principles on committee so those are both underway >> well thank you for that update uh
029any other comments um so now we're going to move to comments from the Sequoia District teachers Association. Hello. I want to begin my comments this evening with something that may seem a little strange for the union president and that is that I want to officially on the record thank um executive director of HR Bianca Forester who joined our district recently for hitting the ground running. Every interaction I've had with her, she has been centering employee wellness and interacting with our members with care and respect and we really appreciate. It's not to say we don't have that experience with other people, but with a new people, a new people, a new person, it's especially nice to see. Of course, that doesn't mean we will always agree, but in today's climate, we need to focus on being
030able to disagree with respect, find common goals, and work toward them. We have a common goal, the board, the district, and our members to serve the students and families of the Tide community with respect and care. To deal with the Tide staff with respect and care. They and their colleagues have written to you about their love for their school and their pride in their program. They're here tonight to reiterate that message. It is on you as members of the board to listen to them with care and respect. That means paying attention not only to what they say but also to what they cannot. Many of their comments may be emotional but beneath that I call on you to see the love, care and fear they carry. In a week and a half, you will be
031back in this room to discuss the data the district has prepared and hear the answers to the questions you've asked. You owe it to the people in this room to make sure not only your questions are answered, but that theirs are as well. Nine days after that, the superintendent will bring you her recommendation and you will deliberate and you will make your decision. You owe it to the people in this room, the people who have written to you, the people who have been showing up to work and learn every school day over the past nine weeks since the recommendation to study Tide was first made and will continue to show up to work and learn every school day for the next three weeks, even as waves of emotion crash over them and their imaginations batter
032them with the variations of whatifs. they may encounter. I do not envy you this decision, but I encourage you to be exhaustive in your investigation and deliberation so that whatever the outcome and whether or not we agree on it, we can all believe that it was made with care and respect. Thank you. Thank you for the comments. Uh, is there anyone from ASME here to make comments? No. Okay. All right. So, moving on to agenda item 13, approval of the consent agenda. >> I make a motion to approve the consent agenda. Second. Uh, does anything need to be >> Well, I don't think anything. Okay. Are there any public comments on items on the consent agenda? >> There are none in person. Are there any on online? Please raise your hand. >> Okay. There's a
033there's a hand up, but I don't. >> Mr. is your hand up for this for a comment on the consent agenda? >> I don't think so. >> Okay, we're going to assume that they're not for the consent agenda. All right. So, I I roll call vote, right? Okay. >> Okay. I'm sorry. That was seconded by Trusty Cruz. Okay. >> Yes. Uh, student trustee Chang to yes or no vote. >> Yes. >> Student trustee Consani, >> yes. >> Uh, Trusty Cruz, >> yes. >> Trusty Thompson, >> yes. >> Vice President Gin, >> yes. >> President Co, >> yes. >> Motion carried 401 absent. Trusty Nory. >> All right. And then moving next to agenda item 14.1, the demographer report. And are there any public comments for this agenda item? Uh public comments for the dem uh
034agenda item 14.1. >> There are none in person. Are there any online? Please raise your hand. >> Yeah, I think there's are there two? I see two. Are is is this for item 14.1? the demographer report. There's no response. >> I'm assuming they are. So, we can just call them. There's two. Well, now one of them disappeared. So, I wait, now it's back again. So, we'll just say the the two public comments are for the demographer report item. Uh we can give them three minutes each. >> Okay. First up is Dan Molari. >> I'm I'm only going to comment because you guys bypass that little comment about your uniform complaint and are playing games. So, stop playing games and let people speak where they got to speak. Okay, Crystal Leech, stop it. It's a g
035So yeah, I I think he was saying that it was related to the consent agenda. >> Yeah. Can let's let's ask them to clarify what agenda item they're they're planning to make public comment on. >> Oh, is he muted or >> Mr. Miller, can you can you clarify what agenda item you're speaking to? I was speaking to 13.3 the uniform complaint where you guys highlighted and you said you could not hear and you bypassed it intentionally. It was not intentionally. It was intentionally. And you did it because you realize that what you're trying to eliminate are discriminatory practices that Crystal Leech, Bonnie Hansen, and the rest of you are participating in multiple lawsuits in the district. You cannot continue to hurt teachers, teachers, children, and others. It's not right, and it's got to stop. So,
036you can't like play this game with mute and this unmute and all that stuff. Nor is running. You're all running in different directions. So, stop the games and understand 2026 this is going to get serious and you guys are going to have to pay a lot of money for a lot of people's lawsuits that are coming your direction because you guys have a corrupt criminal system in place. So, let's stop it. Okay, that's my story. And I'm not going away. And I'm coming at you guys harder and heavier with my lawyers. and we're not going to listen to your little lawyers that are milking you to death. So that's your story tonight. Good night. >> Okay. Thank you. Okay. For for the next public comment, can we confirm that this is for the demographer report?
037>> Hello. This is for the This is for item 13.3, the uniform complaint. And then I also had my hand up for the public comment earlier. >> I apologize that we we passed that comment um or public comment. Um so you can send us your feedback via email. So given such it it appears that there is no feedback for 14 or public comment for 14.1. Is that correct? >> That is correct. >> Okay. >> Ready? >> Yes. >> Good evening, President Coup, Superintendent Leech, members of the board and community. I'm Jana Marking, assistant superintendent of administrative services. This is item 14.1, a presentation of the most recent demographers report. For the 2526 year, the district commissioned King Consulting to conduct an in-depth demographic analysis and enrollment projection study. The primary objective was to equip the
038district with accurate datadriven information regarding local demographics and enrollment trajectories to better inform facility planning, budget development, and resource allocation. A copy of the full report is provided in the agenda materials this evening. It is my pleasure to introduce Mr. Rob Murray, director of demographics at King Consulting. He joins us to provide an overall summary of the data and findings. Thank you so much for being here, Mr. Murray. >> Hey, thank you very much and good evening superintendent, board president, members of the board. I'm Rob Murray. I'm the director of demographics at King Consulting. Uh, without further ado though, I'm just going to jump in and give you a quick overview of the study. I'm obviously not going to touch on everything in the full report. That said, if you've read it, you have questions
039on anything that I don't specifically cover. Obviously, feel free to ask. I love talking about this stuff, and I'll stay here and talk about it for as long as you keep asking me questions, but let's give you a quick overview first. And what I'd like to do is immediately spoil the end of the book and jump straight to the conclusions. So hopefully uh I don't need to give too many spoiler alerts, but uh what we're looking at in a high school district such as Sequoia Union High is that your enrollment really can be seen much more in advance because you have these eight different elementary school district feeders. You can see exactly who's enrolled in them right now. And I will go over it in more detail. And there's going to be other factors beyond
040this and I'll talk about them and the extent to which they're significant. But the single biggest thing, the whale swimming in the ocean with all the other fish swimming around beside it that we look at, but the whale that's swimming through the ocean on this is that there are way fewer kids being born and living in your school district area. We can see this effect coming with who's enrolled in your feeder grades. And we can see the timing of when some of those, we call them cohorts, but groups of students in the same grade who generally progress on the same schedule, when we anticipate them reaching high school age and what those effects will be when those groups of students that we can see coming, particularly the current third graders and younger students, it's sight
041of a cliff that you're approaching year by year. And uh fall of 2031 should be when those groups of students reach high school. and we'll really see the impact of that and continuing impacts of some other trends that have been ongoing and that we're still in the middle of. So that's the big picture. Let's break into some details on how we get there and some other things that are significant that we've looked at so we can tell you what they mean. So first off, uh your enrollment trends, you were still growing in enrollment uh in the early part of the previous decade. you peaked in the 2020 2021 school year and then you've seen that total enrollment that bottom line number decrease for the last uh few years now different picture if we look at
042those feeder districts again we're I mean I'm here for Sequoia Union High but we are going to talk about these feeder elementary districts a fair bit because it's very important and you can see there on the top graph uh for the entire last decade that enrollment has been trending down and you say well Rob look it looks like it's stable ized the last few years at least, that has to be good news, right? But in case uh not something that you deal with here with the high school district directly much, but transitional kindergarten has over the last four years expanded from a partial program that really just served uh students born in the months of uh September, October, November, and now as of this year is effectively a new though non-compulsory grade level for all
043four-year-olds. And looking at that bottom chart, without that growth of over 900 additional TK students that have enrolled over the roll out of that program, that top chart would have actually been continuing to tick down. So just a quick reminder of those feeder elementary school districts and one question is uh while we've seen overall a decrease in the number of kids enrolled across grades TK through 8 in those feeder districts of 16% over the last decade you can see it is not evenly uh distributed in terms of which districts are seeing the most enrollment decrease though all of them have decreased to some extent over the last And I think this is the one that really ties everything together. And I love it when we can take an entirely different data source and we can
044bring it in and it's completely matching everything else that we're seeing. This is from US census data. The 202010 and 2020 numbers up here are from what they call the dennial census, i.e. the full headcount. Very reliable data. The 2024 numbers are from the most recently published what they call American Community Survey. Some of you may have gotten this in the mail at some point in your life, but it is a sample that is then extrapolated into uh data. We won't get full count numbers again until 2030, but in the meantime, ACS is the best we have. With those definitions aside, what we're looking at is if we start with 2010 uh and then look at 2020, you see the total population of people living in your district increased a fair amount. the top of
045that bar. A lot of that population growth was in older generations of people. The light blue bar there is what we generally call 5 to 17 year old roughly corresponds to the public school age population. That went up but only slightly and that corresponds with the time where that you know 2020 was right when your high school age enrollment was peaking. You look at that gold bar below it in 2020, that is the population who was under five years of age. And you see a loss of about 30 almost 3,500 students compared to 2010. And that's exactly what we had already seen at those elementary enrollments start to go down. Uh all those kids who were under five in 2020 by now have all reached school age. And we've certainly seen it is correlated exactly
046with what's happened at elementary enrollment with those incoming kindergarten cohorts over the last 5 years. And current estimates show continued decrease in that youngest population. But the school age population, I think some of these estimates you take with a grain of salt. This one looks pretty dead-on to me. The issue here, and I will keep hammering this point home, is uh it's it's Sequoia, it's the peninsula, it's the Bay Area, it's California, it's the United States, it's the entire world with a few exceptions. There are just birth rates are down. There are not as many kids as there were 10, 20 years ago. Now, there are some uniquely uh favorable things for this area, and I do want to touch on those. And one of those is residential development and families moving in to new
047housing, moving in, enrolling in schools, uh, partway through the high school experience. And we do see that and that does, and I'll show you a chart a little bit later that really shows the impact of that. But I'll kind of contextualize that for you, too. But first, uh, we have, you know, and the full report has pages of all the different projects that all the different cities in your district are tracking and managing and authorizing and scheduling and all of that. But what we do is we look backwards first. We look at recent projects in your district and we actually just look, it's exciting as it is as exciting as it sounds. We get the addresses of all those projects. We get your student address list and we just see how many students do you
048have who actually live in these projects when they're built. And we have different types of housing here. And I think I want to really focus on those two in the middle. The single family attached that would be for sale thing uh condos, town homes, uh that sort of project. And the market rate multif family tending to be rental properties. Those types of housing are the majority of what is currently being proposed and built in your district. And what those numbers there mean, we'll look at the multif family because that's a nice round one. 0.01. That means for every hundred housing units that are built, you will have a a student singular enrolled. A lot of these are not yet. These are not young families with school age kids who by and large are moving into
049this type of housing when it's built. to the extent that you have detached housing to the extent that you have especially affordable or below market rate housing and there is some of that coming in you'll see more students you see just I've to just screenshotted the very bottom line total of all those residential development charts getting close to 10,000 units that are on the books to some form some of them are under construction some of them are fully approved and will be developing over the next few years but we're really looking at across all these different types of housing and infusion of about 270 students during kind of the projection period that we're looking at. That's not nothing. But it really doesn't begin to offset what we're seeing with the simple calculus of who's enrolled
050right now that's going to graduate out over the next few years and who's waiting in the wings in the upper elementary and middle school grades of your feeder districts to come in and take their place. you would need even more development than this to really offset that or to see major major demographic shifts in terms of population movements and there's nothing that I see that's going to add a lot more students on top of the base trends that we're seeing. A quick uh just kind of getting some of these slides that don't directly deal with the projected enrollments. This one is the single most useful chart I think that's in the report for to answer a lot of questions. call this an attendance matrix and this just shows across the top looking down each column
051is where students live. So just taking that first column as an example with Carlmont you have 2173 enrolled students in SUSD who live in that boundary. The vast majority of them also are enrolled at Carlmont. you can see what other schools, including your other comprehensive high schools with boundaries, including all of your other program schools, uh, and where the students who live in each boundary are going. Your district is a little unique because you have a number of areas that aren't assigned to a single school. So, again, that throws the in migration numbers up because so many of the boundaries technically have kids coming in from outside the boundary because they're coming from option areas. But even with that, you can just uh again feel free to ask questions about this later on, but just
052wanted to make sure everyone knew how to read this and what it means, but you can pull a lot of information out of this. And so now the single most useful enrollment projection chart. This is the local birth totals. This is sourced from the California Department of Public Health. This is uh really just uh once you have an account with their data portal lags by only a few months though we don't quite have all of the 2025 births in yet. Hence the asterisk there. This is based on the lo the residence of the person giving birth regardless of where the birth occurred. So that does cut down some of the noise. Uh this is pretty reliable data going back over time. And what we see here is that red box roughly corresponds to who's enrolled
053in your high school grades right now. If we were to pull that back over time and move that red box over to the start of these uh bursts that are shown here, that peak, if you if the box was covering from 2002 to 2005, that was kind of that year of the 2020 enrollment year when your enrollment peaked. And you can see ever since then, the front of that red box as it moves over time, there's a small, you know, the population of kids coming into high school was based on a smaller and smaller and smaller pool of births. and you've already seen your enrollment taken down exactly when that red box uh covers the years where those kids are entering high school. The green box is your feeder elementary district enrollment and you can
054kind of look ahead and see uh you've seen what their enrollments have done over the last decade and you can see who's in right now and who's been born in the years coming up. The the pattern is at the elementary school level perhaps starting to level off a little bit. I'm seeing this throughout the state. There is definitely uh sort of that end in sight of uh at least we may not go down a lot more but you at the high school level with that remove of those additional nine years 9 10 years. All that enrollment decrease that the elementary school districts have weathered already is just beginning to reach you as that red box moves over and you absorb over the next 10 years all of those years of births. You can just see
055right now your senior class roughly corresponds with a birth cohort that started with over 3,000 kids born. You're dropping down into birth cohorts in the 26 2700 range. you're quickly going to be dropping below 2500 into the low 2000s by the we get to the period where of the kids who are just being born now. It's kind of a big cargo ship out in the ocean. It takes a while to turn around and you can see sort of what's coming. If and we need a few more years of birth to substantiate this. If things have leveled off in terms of birth rates now, we'll see what else happens with housing. We'll see what else happens with various economic factors and housing affordability. all the things that make young families more able to move into the
056district. We can track that. This is still the bedrock, the foundation of what's driving your future enrollment. >> Now, I mentioned, >> sorry, before you move past, did you say there was a cliff coming? >> Did you say like a third grade cliff? Did I hear that right? Or >> is that on the Can you just to show us where that is? >> Yeah. So the so the students who were in uh and and you will more see it with the uh full numbers because sometimes the birth rates don't exactly correspond to who's enrolled. But the uh third grade roughly would be uh you kind of have that peak with the 2015 births and then you really see uh you know aside from a little rebound to 2018 things really start to just slide down
057and that's roughly the period that we're talking about. But then we'll take this chart that just shows who was born. In a couple slides we'll get to who's actually enrolled in the feeder districts. And I think that one shows it a little bit more. And that's but again like just showing you a few different data sources and showing how a few different ways we can slice it and look at it and a lot of them are telling us the same thing. Yeah, you don't see the cliff quite as dramatically in this data. You do see it in who's enrolled in your feeders right now. So before we get to literally that on the next slide, the last one here is looking at of course, as I mentioned, part of this is also people are moving
058in and out constantly. They're not, if in case you didn't notice, on a small desert island where it's really hard to get on or off of your district. Uh any given year, you have kids moving in, kids moving out. You have people going to private or charter schools, coming back to you from private and charter schools. All kinds of things are baked into these numbers. The biggest theme baked into them though is that impact of residential development. And what this is really showing is taking all of your 9th to 11th grade students in one year, you send them home for the summer, they come back the next year, it's not exactly the same kids. And you typically tend to net more kids coming in than going out. And again, this is independent of new nth
059graders or graduating seniors. This is just the kids that you had last year that you expect to come back again. But you really had a period that coincided with a lot of the bigger developments that you've seen. Uh and you can just see exactly that you suddenly were uh netting 3 to 4% growth of your existing cohorts. But that's the key thing. Those are just within those existing cohorts and picking up an extra 3 to 4% at the same time that you're 12th graders who leave and you have hundreds fewer nth graders coming in the next year to take their place. In a sense, this is not nothing, but it's not the biggest story. So, I want to show you this and acknowledge this and all that development that you're seeing going on, it does
060have an impact. And I think this little drop back down below 1% is going to be an aberration. I think you're going to see this pick up at least closer to 2% on average going forward. That's going to help offset things a little bit, but it's not the biggest thing. So, here's really what we're looking at for the next few years. who is enrolled in your feeder elementaryaries is 23 to 2400 something students in there right now in grades four through eight. So five more years of somewhat consistently sized uh cohorts of kids coming into you. You have a drop of over a hundred students of the current third graders, a drop of almost another hundred to the current second graders and then a drop of almost another hundred between first and kinder. So there
061is a lot of kind of looking at the roller coaster ride coming up. You're kind of on one of those little catch your breath parts and then you are going to have a few more drops coming over the next few years. And you just go back looking at the eighth grade row over time. uh you really uh kind of just got through graduating out some of these cohorts where you had 2700 2800 kids waiting in the wings in 8th grade. Those cohorts have largely gotten through high school. But you're still kind of dipping from the 2400s down into the 2300s. Hence, we still think naturally just based on the pure simple brute force calculus of who's here right now, who's going to graduate, who's waiting to come in, there aren't as many of them. Some
062relatively smaller decreases. And then knowing that in about five to six years, you're really going to see, wow, there just really aren't as many kids coming to us for 9th grade. And it's not anything that you can control, unfortunately. It really is just how many kids were born here, how many kids are still here when they reach school age, how many are going through your elementary districts. And this is what I'm seeing as the net result of that. Uh, you know, the enrollment really starts to again in 2031 that kind of popping down by uh, you know, 100 to 200 uh, students from year to year. Potentially a bit slower than that right now. Uh but that really again is mostly driven by you'll see if you follow everything down into the right any given
063cohort is probably on net you know coming close to the same size are picking up a few kids over time the big story really is who's here right now graduating who's coming in the next year to take their place. So again I repeat myself a little but that really is if you're going to take away one thing from this that's what's driving the picture that we're seeing. So thank you. I'm happy to take questions. And that's all I have prepared for tonight though. >> Wanted to check uh with fellow trustees. Anyone have questions for the demographer? >> I just want to say thank you for that information. There is nothing we can do about birth right and procreation. >> So it is it's enlightening to see all these numbers. You know what I mean? just
064to see where that red mark especially how it's going to trickulate down and what that number might look like. >> No, it's >> in the future. It is pretty big. >> No, thank you. And and especially it's it's really for a high school district. It's >> uh there there's like I guess I mean 10 and now with TK 10 years of data that you see it happening to your elementary feeders first and >> to a large extent you can you at least have the foresight. you really have a good sense of what's coming. Like I said, but it does also make it see, you know, when you have a really long-term baked in trend like this, it it's going to take, you know, the elementary schools might see some turnaround first. It will take years
065to reach you. Yeah. >> Would you mind going back to the slide that showed um where students were coming from like which >> this this one um this is slightly for you. This might also be for you. Um, correct me if I'm wrong, but when students are coming from other districts, we do not receive funding for those students. That is correct. Okay. So, when we're looking at some of these total enrollments on the total attending side, when we take away the the eight from the 2,381 number, we're not getting paid from for ADA for attendance or any of that from those eight. And so, when we're talking about enrollment, we need to consider what I just want to make sure I'm getting this clear. We need to consider that there are enrollment numbers that are
066actually higher because those students aren't contributing to the funding. >> Say that one more time. >> So we have we have students enrolled but just because um at Carlmont 2381 of them are enrolled, eight of them we are not receiving funding for. >> Correct. So going down that line, >> pupil funding. >> Yeah. >> Okay. So going down that line, looking at all of our schools that have other district students there that there is a there is a money and enrollment question there too. Okay. Oh, yes. I have one more question. And partly this is because as a mother of a TK student, um I have been I've been hearing a lot as I've been talking to my constituents about enrollment and things. Um I've been hearing, well, we just got a new TK classroom,
067so there must be more TK students there. But that is because we have now my my son this is this is the year that we are now accepting all of those students and that's why they needed necessarily another classroom not because there were all of these children birth rate one up. >> And I'll put on King also does a lot of state funding work and I'll put on that hat for a second and say there was also dedicated funding for TK classrooms. The California Department of Education ideally wants to see TK students in larger 1350T classrooms. And if you were able to secure dedicated funding to build the, you know, current definition of what a TK classroom ought to look like, of course, districts ought to have done that if they've had the opportunity. >>
068Okay. >> So, so I guess some of my constituents have have talked to me about like, well, in 10 years we'll be back up again. But it doesn't based on what you're saying that that does not look like the case >> because particularly a lot of elementary schools would have a certain number of kindergarten classrooms. Now with TK you might need if not double certainly something close to double ideally the number of those smallest learner classrooms that you had. And so yes, the addition of TK classrooms just means you have more students all at once. But the size because you now you have the four-year-olds on top of everyone you had before. But the number of kids in that age slash birthgrade cohort, that's really what you have to look at is I'll say it
069one more time just for the memories. Who's there right now? Who's set to who's scheduled to leave soon? Who's coming in to take their place? >> Yeah. >> Thank you for that clarification. >> So, I know you had some in the report, but if you want to if you have any comments or things we should think about in terms of relative changes at each of the schools. I mean your your your pro your your your projections are for the district as a whole >> but we have boundary areas and correct the boundary areas were included in the report. um anything that we should think about or be aware of in how the global trend will reflect in the local trends for the boundary areas of the schools and and also the other I guess we
070have the option areas too but >> anything anything you want to point out that we should be aware of from that perspective >> I'll just say that uh the full report has now these are enrollment not resident projections but enrollment projections of each of your schools and programs in the district uh I don't recall uh I would say generally uh your schools to some degree are going to follow what's happening in the district which is largely enrollments are decreasing due to what's scheduled to be fewer nth grade students coming in year after year but uh off the top of my head and I did not study this right before the meeting though should have you know obviously planned for this test a little more. I do not recall seeing uh any schools that really stood
071out positively or negatively uh in relation to the district-wide trends that we've been mostly speaking to tonight. >> And this may be more of a question for Superintendent Leech. And can you explain the uh background of option areas just so everyone's on like what what why are there option areas and which which ones are they? >> Can you define optionart? >> Yeah, it's on the chart. So um when we go back to >> Yeah, I don't have Yeah, I was just saying I don't have any of the maps that show those, but you Yeah. And so but there are a number of Oh, yeah. Sorry. But like >> yeah, but >> the option I guess my understanding is in those particular areas there's more than one neighborhood school to choose from >> like trusty in
072your area where you can opt to Woodside or MA. I was I'm sorry I was not with the district when we drew the boundaries. So >> Okay. >> I don't know if anyone has that historical >> Yeah. Yeah. There's a map in the report and there's a number of you know some some of them are option areas of you know two you know there there's you know a Carl man sequoia option area >> and then a Woodside MA. >> Yeah. And then there are some of them that are uh because you can really tell I you know just for example with the uh EPA enrollment that technically the sort of that uh East Palo Alto area is not technically uh given an assignment. it has kind of its own designation. So I still called that
073an option area. But I think you see that reflected in where a lot of the students who live there are actually enrolled. >> Okay. >> But but this chart would have been wouldn't have fit on the page if I had >> put each option area as its own column. So I just made the executive decision to lump them all together. >> But that said, we you know again if there's any desire to see more detail on this again I love details. So can certainly give you more if you want it. Okay. Yeah. I was just trying to understand like uh because it just makes it harder to see some of the trends. Um because there's more than one. >> That was the first thing I thought when I was putting this together was whoa this
074is this isn't going to be quite as maybe not useful but as evocative as just because especially those end migration numbers like I said jump up. It's not necessarily that MA almost half the students are coming in from outside the boundary. that a lot of students who are enrolled there, their option area probably includes MA or another choice. >> And we're just showing those all as option areas in this report and as technically being enrollment that's coming in from outside of the exclusive boundary that says if you live here your school is MA. >> Okay. Um and then just one other question. Uh I know in the longer report there was inclusion of charter school numbers and I know Everest recently closed and uh when when Everest closed while some of the students went to
075summit others went to um our schools. So just wondering >> uh with with declining enrollment um what's happening with the charter schools? Yeah. And you know what? I can uh pull up the full report and double check that chart. I did again not one that I uh was anticipating questions on and didn't happen to look at that right before the meeting. So haven't looked that recently enough to tell you. But in general from from what I recall, uh I certainly don't you know and I will double check this but I don't believe that we are seeing much growth there. I think we're seeing uh generally the sort of the same tide is sort of carrying or lowering everyone's ship right now. >> Okay. I have a couple questions. I have a question. Can you go
076to the um I would refer to it as the student generation slide for the developments. Mhm. >> So on this one, can you um can you do are you able is it does in the large report is are you able to show a heat map on where these developments are happening because we could potentially overlay that to our district boundaries and then the option areas. >> Um and then what so it's it's hard, right? It's it's hard as we see the developments especially along the El Camino corridor to imagine that families are not going to move in there. And so can you just explain um one more time about how we get to especially with that um multifamily that we have one student for every hundred. Could you go over that again? >> Absolutely. So,
077and with multif family, that's actually in some ways the easier ones to do. But a new multif family, uh, typically apartment building is constructed once it has been occupied for a couple of years. We look at they because they tend to have one or maybe you know if it's multi-building a couple of addresses but we from your student uh information services team we just have a list that has all of the addresses of your students. No personal information or anything but we can just look at uh you know this apartment building that was built at 123 Main Street for instance. Uh there are 800 units in it and we look at your student list and you have eight students enrolled across all of your schools who live in 123 Main Street. So eight students out
078of 800 units would be that 0.01 ratio. And I will say this is not just you. I mean I've done work around the peninsula and other uh urban areas in Southern California as well. And that sort of 1 to2ish students per unit in a brand new market rate. And that's the key word because if you go on apartments.com, you can see the rents on these units and you can maybe understand why. And especially because a lot of them are one-bedrooms. Uh you know, so obviously if there was something that is deliberately building a bunch of, you know, three, fourbedroom units, you might see something different. Again, you see more difference immediately. you see more than 10 times as many students coming from dedicated affordable housing. That's more of what it is. It's sort of a
079combination of size but more of price and that if you are a family with young kids uh you know you're you're maybe not moving into the brand new luxury themed uh top of the market pricing and you know older apartments you know those generation rates might come up a little over time but when we're looking at what the immediate impact is going to be that's why we look at what and you have a fair number of things that have been built over the last few We're not having to use older units or guesstimate or use something from a neighboring district. We have several of those recently completed apartment buildings that are comparable to what we see under construction and proposed to be built in the next several years. And that's exactly I mean we literally
080just look how many of the how many housing units were in that project. How many kids once it was fully built and occupied and it settled down, how many kids did you actually have enrolled? Thank you. And then um because I am aware that you do work around around the state for a high school district um where we have our partner districts and so we we receive their data so we get that yearly and we can track their cohorts for through their grades. Um this is more so like on the development side for a district like ours with our partner districts and then the development going on in the area. What is your recommendation? Um or how how often do you see districts do uh the demographer reports? >> I mean, yeah. I mean, every
081couple of years is good. I mean, it's I mean, I do have people who want to see it every year. I'm always happy to do that, but I I I I think especially with sort of, you know, for a high school district, like I said, especially you have uh you have that information from your feeders, you kind of see uh things more. You can probably even go couple years in between them, but I every other year is usually a pretty good way to do it just because I mean as we goodness see in the world right now, things change pretty quickly. Uh if there are if there is anything happening with uh you know if we start seeing higher student generation rates from the things that are built in the next year or two we
082would want to account for how that changes things. if we start seeing that uh kind of ratio of how many eighth get one thing I didn't mention directly but there tends to be a little bit of a drop off of seven to n%ish of all the eighth graders and who actually shows up for nth grade that is that that hit of some of them are going to the charter schools to private schools that's you know that's been a fairly cons historically consistent thing but if we ever start seeing some changes in that it is good to have that pointed out and be aware of it as it's beginning to happen. And worst case, you get a confirmation that everything that we thought we knew, we still know. But yeah, that's yeah, there's no hard and
083fast rule. I would say acknowledge that as a high school district, you have a little bit more leeway just because you have that longer runway of things on the ground changing and all of it actually directly affecting you. So, can you go back to can you go back to the slide for the birth rates and so we can look at the year of our COVID babies? >> Yeah. Yeah. And >> Yep. And and and that's because I don't know if this is something that you were directly asking. I would just because I when people even just at parties I go to find out that I do this a lot of people are curious and it I it has been all over the board. It's not consistent from place to place. Sometimes there's a little bit
084there is a little baby boom during or right after co and other places you see it really tank down even more. I would say the most consistent thing that I have seen, not so much directly related to the birth rate, but related to who shows up for kindergarten 5 years later. And again, here we are talking about the kindergarteners again at your high school district meeting, but it's that we're just getting out of that period of about five years where the kids who were showing up for kindergarten were born pre-COVID and it was a whole lot more likely that they may have moved or you know, something big you some big life-changing event for the family happened in that time. And I think we're getting back now to a little bit more stable ratio of
085if you were born in the district, it's a lot more likely that in five, four to five years, you're still living there and going to enroll in school. But we had this period that we're just getting out of where the birth numbers didn't tell us as much as we would have liked because we knew a lot of those families. Just because you had a kid born in 2018 or 2019 didn't mean you were still living there. >> Thank you. >> Well, I appreciate your work on this. Um I I do like the idea of having that heat map and just kind of seeing where the new developments are coming in from. >> Um and and I guess some of it we need to keep track of how the economy is doing too because that that
086can change the uh influx or departure of people in the community as well. And just for the trustees, I'll follow up with the student services department so we can take a little bit deeper um of a dive on our uh uh outside transfers into the district. So that number was a little higher than what I had mentioned earlier. >> Yeah. And and to that point, especially just since you mentioned that number uh being a little bit higher or different is all I'm looking at is the address that was provided with that student record. I have seen it be the case when we really start digging into this that if you have say a student who jointly lives with two parents in different locations that one address might be provided with a student record that's outside
087the district but they actually spend more of their time in the district. There's once you start doing it case by case all kinds of stuff turns up. Yeah. >> All right. Thank you. >> All right. I'll advance myself up to here again and uh thank you very much. It was a pleasure being here. Uh and then with our next agenda item, uh we're at 14.2 tide information update. Uh do we have any public comments? >> Uh yes, we have 22 in person. If um you would like to comment online, please raise your hand now. Okay. for speaking to public. >> Sorry, it's 23 in person. >> Okay. >> And we have six online, >> six online. So 29 total. >> Okay. Um let's take a a five minute break and then we'll sort out like
088um public comment process and and give you guys a break as well. Yeah. So uh we'll restart at 7:36. So there are 24 inperson comments for this agenda item and six online. So a total of 30. Um, so I propose that we allow everyone to speak but for one minute each. Does that sound good? >> Okay. All right. So we everyone to speak for one minute and hear all 30 public comments. Uh, we will start. How about starting with the people online? Okay. First up is Ellen Jacobson. Hi, thank you so much board and trustees. Um, as a taxpayer, teacher, uh, parent and alum, there is a time when one can be throwing good money after bad, but the time is not now. Tide has not been given the time it deserves to determine its
089level of success and the ability to achieve that. It was built in 2019. 2019, sorry. Hasn't even been 10 years. That is throwing away money that I helped build that school with. So, I would like to keep tight open. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next is Jenny Elkins. Did we lose Jenny Elkins? All right. Next is Jenny Bloom. >> Hi, my name is Jenny Bloom. I am a school board trustee of the Ravenswood City School District and I am here to support Tide Academy. Um, I just want to say Sequoia Union High School District has many opportunities and has had many opportunities to be an example for innovation and a leader in centering student wellness, creating spaces and structures that disrupt disrupt a system that was not built for uplifting those who are marginalized. Instead,
090I have attended many long hours of meetings where people had to fight to keep innovation and equitable practices to that this district in initially spearheaded. So, I hope that SUHSD will center student achievement, student and staff contentment and innovative strategies and keep the spaces that they have created with taxpayer money to increase the wellness and growth. Um, so please keep Tide open. Thank you. Thank you. I see Jenny Elkins back. Jenny, you can go ahead now. >> Hi there. Can you hear me? >> Yes, we can. >> Great. Thank you. Why is the socioeconomically disadvantaged and Hispanic student population growing at Tide? Because Tide offers the strongest opportunity for these students. Compare Tai to Sequoia High School, the most demographically similar school. At Sequoia, students can get college credit through IB exams, but only 22%
091of socioeconomically disadvantaged students sit for those exams and just 16% pass. At Tide, students earn college credit through dual enrollment. 84% of socioeconomically disadvantaged students take dual enrollment classes and 93% of those complete it. TID's model is more accessible, more effective, and is giving students the best chance after high school. This is why families are choosing Tide. They are responding to outcomes. If the district is truly committed to equity, it cannot ignore the proven model that actually delivers it. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next is Daisy Velasquez. Hi, I'm here to speak on behalf of Daffany Posi McCann um on the process and governance. Um I the recruitment coordinator of TIDE formally invited trustees to visit the campus and observe current programs and recruitment efforts. Um that invitation was either ignored or declined. Yet recruitment
092effectiveness is being cited as a reason for closure. Respectfully, proximity to a school is not the same as being informed about its current programs and operations. Trustees are elected to independently evaluate information, not solely to receive conclusions formed elsewhere. Before moving forward, I urge the board to accept the open invitation to visit Tide and to request raw comparative data across all sites so trustees can engage in independent evaluation before deliberation. Thank you. >> You next is Ken Per. >> Yes. Hi. Thank you. Um, I want to echo a few of the comments that were made here already and validate uh that we just heard a a presentation about how enrollment is an issue districtwide and how is it that Tide is the one that's being uh identified or singled out uh for enrollment effectiveness. Um,
093you know, I think we just walked through a whole set of numbers that kind of said that this is a district-wide issue and why not take a more strategic approach at looking at establishing Tide as a center of excellence uh for uh for students that have neurodiversity and uh you know needs that small small school model might be much more effective in addressing and I think if there's a commitment made to do that with each of the schools that we have in our district we can optimize the enrollment and better leverage what we have already in on district and and recommend not closing tide or arbitrarily. Thank you. >> Thank you. Our last speaker online is Olga Zervasa. if you can unmute. >> Hi, if you're there, can you unmute? >> Um, hi. Hello. >>
094The committee, uh, tonight I want to be very clear. This board has been disengaged from this process. Trusty Coup, you acknowledge that alternatives should be explored. Yet parents and staff repeatedly told you too busy to review the information we have provided. Engagements require actually reading the materials. Trusty Cruz that is in your trusty area. Half of its families are your constituents. Yet you have been largely silent. After five emails, I received only one generic template style response that addressed nothing. Silence here is not neutrality. It's abandonment. I feel abandoned by you. Trusty Thompson. Your statements make it clear. You want our school closed. You have framed it as a burden. And during the last meeting, Reese says, "Members of this community heard you say the board should end the meeting early to teach them a
095lesson that shows contempt for the people you serve." Superintendent Leech, we're shocked that the beginning of your tenure has been defined by an effort to close our school rather than by listening and trust building. We expect >> I'm sorry, your time is up. We're going to switch to the inerson comments. I'm going to call you up three at a time and you're welcome to come up to the podium. Our first speaker is Aaron Rubin. Sorry. After Erin is Rebecca O'Brien and then Daphne Hia. One month ago, this board asked superintendent and her staff to prepare data to analyze possible closure of Tide Academy. What we saw yesterday online was an uneven and selective use of data. This chairpicked data deserves context and I'll go as far as I can with the time I have. Comparing
096Tide to the entire school district is a faulty comparison. TID's demographics are substantially dissimilar from the average district student. Only the only school similar is Sequoia High School and Tide closely tracks Sequoia in performance for both their A to G graduation rate and of similar combiner need exceeds standards for ELA, math and science. But their important differences TAI is comprised of 60% economically disadvantaged students and Sequoia 44. TAI is 80% Latino. Sequoia 60%. The superintendent confuses equity of outcome with equity of opportunity. economically diff disadvantaged kids struggle more in college of course because their families aren't used to those to the to the rigor but it gives them exposure. >> Thank you. >> You can start. >> Oh, hi all. Rebecca O'Brien. Um I want to take the opportunity to make some corrections to the
097data that was presented last night. Um I was truly surprised that the data was presented as raw proficiency without adjusting for confounding coariance such as race, SED, IEP. Uh it was presented that 58% of TIDE students completed A throughG requirements compared to a district average of 64%. As a reminder, TIDE students compos are composed of 80% Latinx students and 24% special ed. So comparing apples to apples, if you look at MA's data, it is only 30% of special ed students and 36% of Latin X students complete A throughG requirements. So TIDES 58% is actually truly amazing and should be a model to be expanded on. Um if this if these data were compared statistically weighted, you would find that actually TID's data is fantastic. Tide needs to be kept open. It is the right thing
098to do for our community. >> Thank you. Good evening. Because I know how much this board values AP programs, I'm speaking to you as a former AP Lang and composition teacher. When I was an AP teacher, students were taught to identify the purpose of a text before analyzing how the evidence is used. Last night's presentation was not a neutral presentation of data. It was a cherrypicked argument that selectively framed information towards the closure of tide disguised as key takeaways. For example, those 84% of SED students have strong outcomes with Tide. That framing, however, was uh those outcomes were framed as evidence of inequity. That framing misunderstands equitable access. The district does not report AP participation for SED students at all. And the closest available data point for our largest subgroup, Latinx students, whose AP participation
099is only 10%. Against that context, TID's dual enrollment model does not create inequity. It provides equitable access to rigorous courtworks. To reiterate, data presented to you is skewed against us without proper context. Please, I urge you to request >> all schools unframed and unfiltered. >> Can evaluate the evidence independently rather than relying on precess conclusions. >> I'd like to invite up Laura Sundura, Adriana Stone, and Hector Cornell. The demographers report has made it clear that overall there are and will be fewer students in district boundaries. Even with limited students, there is no one-sizefits-all. Tide provides a real choice, including for four nth graders who just chose to join us at Tide last week. This board has focused on the cost of staff. A cost I will point out that will not just evaporate simply by
100closing the school. We are a staff that is composed primarily of mid-career professionals. This staff including more than 20 tenur certificated staff will be owed jobs in the next many years whether tide is open or closed. With an average annual retirement of eight certificated staff per year, it will be years before retirement can account for these positions. But beyond the economic impact, I also want to highlight the value of our staff. In almost three decades in public education, I have never felt as undervalued by a district as I do now. These decisions are being imposed upon us, not made with us. With no disrespect to my colleagues, >> thank you. The time is up. Adriana Stone, social studies department chair at Tide Academy. The board has raised concerns about TID's demographics, particularly its Latinx enrollment
101without acknowledging geography or access. Tide is located next to East Palo Alto, a historically redline community. Neighborhoods like Bell Haven and North Fars have limited nearby public school options. Students attend Tide because is because it is accessible, not because of a demographic imbalance. Equity cannot be evaluated honestly without considering place, proximity, and historical context. Before the study session, I urged the board to request raw uh to request raw enrollment and outcome data across all sites paired with geographic context so equity is evaluated accurately, not selectively. >> Thank you. Uh, good evening everyone. Last time I didn't introduce myself, so I'm going to introduce myself. Uh, my name is Hector Corno. I'm the physical education teacher at Tide Academy. I'm also the nth grade nucleus lead and the uh adviser, sorry, and the athletic director. Um,
102we have a lot of hats at Tide. Um, and I personally love that. I love that we all have different hats and we do a little bit of everything. Um, I've been in the district for I think 13 years. Six of those I've been at TIDE and I've been through a lot of engagement or community engagement processes and to be honest, this does not feel like a community engagement where our community, parents, teachers, staff um are being literally heard. Uh, I feel like we're all being closed down. Even though you tell us that this is a community engagement, it does not feel like it is. And I want all of you to clarify what does that actually mean because yesterday and tomorrow like does that that did not feel like a community engagement for all
103of us. So I want to make sure that all of you give us that opportunity to do so. >> Thank you. I'd like to invite up Joan Yo, Christine Turk and Lauren Riser. Hi, I'm Joanne Yao. I teach nth grade English and journalism at Tide. It's no coincidence that Tide is the only school that achieves a 100% graduation rate for IEP students when the California average is 69%. I'm frankly haunted by the faces of the students who will struggle. 69 graduates out of a 100 means 31 kids left behind. 31 kids for whom a sense of inadequacy will be crystallized that day as they watch their peers graduate. How can the school board explain to those students that there was once a school for them with a 100% graduation rate for all students, but because
104of a forecasted structural deficit, they broke it like a piggy bank while other district schools were largely unharmed. At large public schools, I've seen students wait in lines for hours outside to talk to mental health professionals. At Tide, students wait in wellness in a waiting room with two chairs and get support quickly. They return and focus on academics. At large schools, students sit invisibly. At Tide, our student council sees students sitting sitting alone and sends other students to befriend them. >> Thank you. >> My name is Christine Turk and I teach dual credit English as both the high school teacher and the college professor. I'm also a PhD candidate at UC Santa Cruz. If I had to give the district's presentation last night a grade according to 12th grade standards, I would give it a
105one out of four on my rubrics, meaning it would get a D. It doesn't meet standards. First of all, you lost your thesis and didn't stay on topic. Throughout this process, you have reiterated that the district is not questioning Tide success as a school. The FAQ page states that directly. Yeah, at last night's informational presentation, district staff spent a great deal of time discussing elements of academic performance such as CASP data, dual enrollment success, and A throughG completion. Additionally, the presentation doesn't meet 12th grade standards related to selecting evidence to support a claim, providing appropriate context to frame that evidence in drawing logical conclusions. For example, the way that you manipulated our A throughG data, you did not disagregate it for uh socioeconomic status and race. Um, as other people have pointed out, you are
106outperforming students at other >> Thank you. Your time is up. Hi, my name is Lauren Riser and I'm a therapist at Tide. I've been witness to students tears and pain through this process, including students worrying that if forced to move schools, they'll experience resurgences of social anxiety, depression, bullying, and academic failure that they've been able to overcome it tied through our close-knit inclusive community and wraparound supports. And while our students are undoubtedly the number one priority, I'm also compelled to share how this closure process impacts staff. Heartbreak and waves of depression have been running through our start to staff who are normally the most joyful and optimistic educators you will meet. Many of us have imagined that we would be working at Tide and with our Tide family for the rest of our lives. And
107I feel nervous to share this because it has not felt like our opinions and experiences matter in this process. But I hope that what you hear is not selfishness for maintaining the status quo, but a group of educators that care so deeply about this young school that we've helped craft and innovate in partnership with our Thank you. Next. Next, we have Daniel Chain, Brian Leonard, and Andromeda Garcelon. >> Good evening, trustees, superintendent, and other guests. Uh we received a presentation last night from Superintendent Leech and her colleagues about a lot of metrics, a lot of data and I assume that took a huge amount of time. So, thank you for all putting in the effort, but I have to confess um I came away pretty confused. And the bottom line that my request to the
108board is I urge you to look deeper than just the metrics and the statistics provided to really understand what data they're trying to represent. I'll give a a fairly simple um easy example. I had a whole page full of numbers. That's not going to work tonight. Um, one of the conclusions drawn from the presentation last night was that TIDE as a whole has lower diversity compared to other schools in the district. This is several slides after presenting the fact that TA has a higher disproportionate portion of SED students and IEP students who are by definition. >> Thank you. At the December 10th board meeting, Trusty Nory uh you know may not make it tonight. Uh asked for alternatives to closing Tide and President Coup request an applesto apples review of that cost and outcome data.
109Uh like this might include the cost of providing services to IEP students which TIDE has a significant amount of. I've heard that's up to 2x. So maybe even 15% more for TIDE is not so bad. What we actually what I actually saw among other enlightening statistics was the the tide has a higher percentage of boys. I just don't know how that is relevant to the the situation. To make an informed decision, the board needs viable alternatives such as economically sustaining tide for a few years to allow that enrollment to stabilize. It's going down andor level much more than we saw earlier and accurate contextualized cost and outcome data. refocusing on these alternatives and proper data will allow the board to act in the best interests of students and equity. Thank you. >> Thank you. >>
110Hi, I'm Andromeda Garcelon and um good evening to the trustees and superintendent Leech. I want to raise a serious concern about the stakeholder input process. On December 10th, we were told that there would be two community meetings this week. Last week, those were changed to data presentations. at the data meeting which did not allow any comments even in chat. The superintendent apologized that she couldn't take questions and then ended the meeting 30 minutes early. Yesterday, student advisory council meeting was cancelled and rescheduled for Thursday which means the students on the council won't have the opportunity as heard earlier um to provide input about closing tide at the public board meetings before the vote since the December meeting was also cancelled. On top of that, meetings this week are scheduled three nights in a row, making
111it extremely difficult for families and staff to attend. All of this raises a fundamental question. Is this process truly designed to be student centered and meaningful stake with state meaningful stakeholder input or is it scheduled to be a format effectively limiting our >> Thank you. Your time is up. >> Excuse me. Time is up. Thank you. Next is and then Emily Cardona. I'm Mary Jane Leonard and I'm following up on my email on Monday night about the errors in the district's FAQ pages. I would like to ask that my email become part of the record of this meeting as I cannot address all of my points in this allotted speaker time. The most important correction is about class sizes, which I'll explain now. The FAQs state that currently TIDE has 14 classes with 10 or
112fewer students enrolled, including some classes with four to six students. This data represents a misunderstanding of TID's dual enrollment setup. In dual enrollment, one teacher has one classroom composed of two stu groups of students, some taking a high school course only and some who are dyed, that is taking the high school course and its related Foothill College course. The courses are listed separately because they are assigned different types of credit, but they do not represent two classrooms of students. The teacher is delivering the high school course and the college course at the same time in the same classroom. For example, it appears that there is one art one course in seventh period with four students and another at the same time with 19 students. There are 23 students together in one classroom. Again, I ask
113you >> Thank you. Your time is up. One minute a person. All right. Uh much has been said about a student centered process that our children aren't just numbers. And then last night we listened for over an hour to our children being turned into numbers. Numbers that both flatten their identities and diminish and disregard their successes. It was stated at last night's data session that Tide lacks diversity. Uh, one visit to TID's campus or even a look around this room would show how unrepresentative of the truth that assertion is. This process is obviously too rushed to responsibly capture nuance or do justice to the complex inclusive school that we all know tied to be. It is too reckless to continue at this pace when the consequences to our kids is this high. This process is
114a runaway train and our kids are the ones tied to the tracks. You are in a position to slow this down and actually look at alternatives and do the work you were hired. >> Thank you. I'm sorry. This is Emily Carduna and George Lopez. In last night's Zoom meeting, you claimed that Tide is less diverse compared to other four district schools. What is your definition of diversity? Our school is over 80% Latinx and about 20% white with smaller populations of other racial groups. Based on the makeup of the area Tide serves, smaller populations of Asian, Pacific Islander, and black students are expected. To say we are not diverse ignores the historical reality of redlinining and segregation. There is a reason why 80% of our students are Latinx. They were historically limited to the neighborhood our
115school now serves to uplift. Uh what do you define as diversity? Is Latin X just a label to stick on us? There is no other way to describe this besides ignorance. Stating in last meeting that there is small diversity at tight even when we are all clearly dominantly students of color. Just because we are dominantly Hispanic doesn't make us any less diverse. Yesterday you used the word Latin X which mainly focuses on Mexicans and the variable X represents other Hispanic groups undermining them. We may still legally be children, but we can't help but feel disappointed. Dr. Cruz, you were placed on the board in order to support minorities. Yet you turned your back on us. We are desperate to keep our Thank you. Next. Next we have B, Christopher Chang, and Christy G. I'm sorry.
116Uh, hi. I'm Vin, uh, also known as Mouse. I'm a Tide graduate and college freshman here to speak to my experience of being miserable at Sequoia High School for two years before switching to Tide. Um, big schools like Sequoia are really trying their best, but a lot of students, including me, were miserable and suicidal and scared to ask for help because we have been let down by the system too many times. Sequoia staff are constantly fighting to keep control of huge classes and don't have the time to check in on a student crying in the hallway or make sure that someone missing weeks of class is okay. The counselors are used to kids going into their office to ditch class and don't know how to help someone too suicidal to function. I know the larger
117schools are really trying, but some students like us need support that big schools can't give. Tide might not have been designed for us, but it has become our community. It's taught us how to dream and encouraged us to do our best instead of shaming us for not being good enough. If Tide closes, those who escaped larger schools by going to Tide will be sent back. So, I'm here to speak for the voiceless students like I was to say the costs you thousands of future students will find every moment of high school against Thank you. >> Okay. Uh good evening everyone. I'm just going to start this off by saying our school is very very small and very very young. Two things which makes it uh make its behavior incredibly volatile. meaning a couple of students,
118you know, here or there can shift averages by like five or 10 percent. And it's entirely normal to see like dramatic variation between years of classes. And so statistics that would be incredibly significant at a big school can effectively just fall to nothing at Tide because our sample size is 200 and not 2,000. Uh and just because we can vary so much so easily, it becomes very difficult to get accurate statistics because they might be flipped on their head the next year over. Furthermore, TIDE is a qualitative school, not a quantitative one. We operate on things like well-being and psychological safety, not just numbers. And so it is very hard to express Tide accurately through numbers because that's just not who we are. You really do need to be on Tide Campus to see um
119how we operate. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Good evening. I have spent time reading your bios and I'm moved by the experience you each bring to this district. I recognize that the path to financial solveny is difficult and that hard rights are often more painful than easy wrongs. I am struck by the power of the potential for you to use your collective brilliance to find creative solutions that keep the district financially solvent and not only save Tide but support it and hold it up as an exemplar in your district. By saving tide, you aren't just saving a school, you are championing the very definitions of equity and inclusion. Public service is about legacy. In a few years, a new board will sit in your seats. What a life affirming feeling it will be to
120know that because of your courage, generations of students will continue to experience the magic of Tide because you stood up for what is right and good and vital. You have the chance to show, not tell the community that you care about every student's unique journey. Now that the secret is out how profoundly special Tide is, please use the momentum to protect and nurture Tide Academy. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next we have Camela Underhar, Gary Guinski, and August Somerville. Hi, I'm Camela Umbenhower. After listening to last night's presentation on Tide, I came away very frustrated. How did the board approve a raise that put the district into a $12 million deficit? How did this come as a surprise and that the only answer the board could come up with was to close Tide Academy? Why
121would closing a school that supports so many marginalized students be the first and from what I can see only solution to a problem that the board partly made for themselves? My child, who is very below grade level going into Tide, he came home from his first month at Tide saying, "Did you know I could learn?" As a mom, that was heartbreaking. The San Carlo schools he had been to failed him, but Tide actually taught him. He went from a first a fifth grade level to now getting unmodified A's and B's. He is now looking at going to a four-year college, something that would not have been possible without the support of he received a tide. It is so sad to me that future students may not get a chance to learn what they are capable
122of if this school is closed due to poor planning on the board's part. >> Thank you. Hi, I'm Greg Rosinski. I'm the bargaining chair of the Sequoia District Teachers Association. I have been on the bargaining team for the teachers union for over two decades and I have been a teacher at Woodside High School for this uh 28 years. Um, I've seen the creation of of Tide Academy and um and I wish to speak against the closing of Tide Academy. Um the argument is made that uh that there are financial reasons for looking at the possible closure of the school, but the amount of money that this that the district has sunk into tight academy will have been wasted if it is closed in such a cursory f fashion. Thank you. >> Thank you. Hi, my
123name is Augusta Summerrfeld. I'm a husband to a Tide educator. Uh, eight years ago, Tide Academy was founded on a bold vision to design a high school around the future of learning. Nothing like the dis nothing like the district has ever provided. The community pro uh believed in this vision enough to invest $36 million in a facility specifically built to support it. The vision has delivered real results and continues to do so. 93% of TIDE students have benefited from dual enrollment, gaining college credit. While enrollment across the district itself has been shrinking uh because despite of the changing birth rates, TID's entering freshman class has been growing since 2023 thanks to efforts of Tide showing students an alternative that they are picking year after year. In fact, this year's freshman was the largest class of
124any year except the first initial opening class. While serving the demographics of historically marginalized group, TIDE has 99 to 100% graduation rates in the last three years, by far the highest in the entire district. These are tangible outcomes that reflect a school doing exactly what's intended to do. If we're coming to a budgetary shortfall on demographics we deal with with data analysis and building community trust doesn't mean closing down. Thank you. I'd like to invite Tim Okay, good evening everyone. Um, so this being the only way to exercise our opportunity to engage with the board and we are given one minute Seriously, last time we were double the amount. We got one minute. This time we are half the amount of people. One minute. This is when Superintendent Leech promises and you all support engagement
125with the community. One minute. So scrap speeches that I had. No point in that. I'll just ask what I have not heard until two three speakers ago asked the third grade question that I keep running into in my head when I look at this zoom in zoom out. You guys put us in this financial pit hole. You guys knew what the what the um outlook for the finances was and you signed off on the raises. Nobody asked how are we going to deal with this. Nobody looked Thank you. Time is up. >> Hi. Uh, my name is Sherman Tao and my son is a ninth grade student at Tide. He's never been happier in any other school. And I guess I have the same question that was raised by Superintendent Nory last week or last
126meeting, which was why is the closure of Tide the only thing being looked at? Why aren't other budgets at the other schools being looked at to be reduced to help make up for this loss? Why is the only solution close this school? He brought up the question, why isn't he not here today? Why are we not addressing this? Why are there no other options? I mean, it would seem obvious to me, easy enough to say, "Oh, let's look at all the schools and reduce all of their schools budgets and figure out how these schools can deal with that budget loss as opposed to 200 students immediately suffering and and the families and the teachers at these schools." I I pose that question to you. I mean, do you have an answer? >> Thank you. >>
127Hi. Uh, I'm Constaninov, a 10-year student at Tide. And I wasn't going to present today, but I do because I hope that every little thing someone does that maybe there's just a tiny smaller chance that you guys will keep the school open because you guys, the district, you put together a small school and that'll not naturally draw like draw in marginalized groups and stuff. uh students who get bullied, students who get bullied for being autistic, have ADHD or or are gay or anything else. But those are the things that I have experience of being harassed for. And I made a lot of friends here and I know a lot of kids that made friends here and now you're sending off those students to a bunch of different huge skulls schools where they have no community
128and they're going to get bullied and there's much less mental health support. and middle school. I went to a large middle school and that was a struggle to just keep myself from killing myself. And now I doubt a large high school will be any better than that and I don't think it'll be any better for any of my friends. Thank you. >> Thank you. That concludes public comments for it 14.2. >> I appreciate everyone sharing your feedback. Um I do want to note that normally we have 10 minutes for uh public comment. So we did extend it by 20 minutes today. And we um I to email us your full um speech or public comment that you were planning to share today if you did not get to all your key points because we do
129read every email and that will help to inform our decision- making as we go forward. Uh but with that, I'd like to transition to Superintendent Leech who will go through this agenda item. >> Thank you, President Coup. So, um I just want to uh kind of reiterate where we are uh as of today. So, what has happened since the December 12th board meeting before winter break? We created a TIDE information page on the district website that includes the background on the process to consider the future of TIDE, a copy of the process plan I presented uh to the trustees on December 12th. Um upcoming dates um as far as the data presentations both last night and scheduled for tomorrow along with board meetings, study sessions, and then um recommendation to the board. um an FAQ
130that is constantly being updated and will be updated uh with the feedback that and questions that we received last night as well as some of the emails asking for clarity um of some of the information that is uh already listed on the FAQ. Uh recaps of meetings that have occurred so far included copy of last night's presentation and the recording is currently up on the website. Um I do acknowledge that there was a lot of data. That is why it's presented um into two nights um and recorded so that people can watch and go through um the presentation and I welcome any questions that you may have. Um we have reviewed questions and comments made by community members in November and December along with your questions and comments from the last board meeting. Um I
131have asked staff in many departments to pull information so that we could come back with a comprehensive presentation um in January. What we have ended up with was a lot of information. Um it was um you know as this conversation started as noted earlier like the the the attention that was brought to Tide was primarily around per pupil expenditure which we have talked about also known as the PPE and then enrollment. Um and as questions have come in and uh directives from the board, we start diving deeper. And so that uh is why last night was the first part of the presentation where we present more on um the demographics of uh the school compared to the demographics of the school district and also around Caspor um and how they're doing academically. Um, last night
132we held the first of two data and information sessions to present the information we have pulled. Attendance last night was around 62. I want to thank the trustees for attending and listening. I think it will be quite helpful as you heard the presentation that night. I hope that you will also be able to attend tomorrow night and then you will be more prepared for good dialogue and discussion at the study session scheduled for January 26th. So, thank you for attending. Along with TIDE families, there were a few staff and former board members. Uh, last night we presented the financial information part one information on the district and tied enrollment trends, student demographic information, part one of the TIDE academic program, including dual enrollment. Um, and then at the end of the meeting, uh, there was
133a QR code for feedback. Uh tomorrow night uh we will present the financial information part two. Um and that will go more into the per pupil expenditure tied versus um or tied compared uh to the rest of the the district. Uh the tide academic program will dive into staffing and master schedules. Uh principal uh Rick Kennel will be reporting on the marketing and recruitment. There'll be a recap of the process and next steps. and then another opportunity um for um attendees to uh fill out forms for their questions so that we can return questions via the FAQ. So the next steps January 26th we have a board study session. This meeting will be held at Carrington Hall at Sequoia High School. It will not be in this boardroom. It will be at Carrington Hall. we
134will send an invitation uh through parent square to communicate with our tide community um of the location time um of that board meeting uh study session. The reason for that is is so there's plenty of room uh for people a little bit more comfortable seats and it provides a larger space uh for the board to come together with staff. There will be plenty of staff there. we're likely to have there's maybe a total of 17 to 20 of us um where the information will be presented and then we will be able to dialogue um so it provides a better space to do that. Uh February 4th we do have a special board meeting scheduled that will be in the boardroom um and that's where I will have my superintendent's recommendation and then the board consideration
135and potential vote. So ongoing communication and updates uh will continue to be shared with the board um and with our community. Well, thanks Superintendent Leech for the comments. Uh do my fellow trustees have any questions or or feedback about the process? I just want to confirm um we I want to confirm one of the when I met with my community um and met with some of our my constituents one of the things that they did say was like working with and I know that there are these I'm learning in my first year of governance that there are parameters around this what is um is I know after that meeting I emailed you you and I then sat down and that way is is that an what is the best way to continue to make sure
136that the questions that are coming to us on a on a one-on-one or as we have these small meetings get back to you. Did that work essentially? >> That that absolutely worked. Um as you continue to meet with constituents um I am copied on board emails so I I do read them um and when there are questions they get forwarded to staff and I get answers um that appear then on the FAQ. So that it it is quite I thought that worked great. We also do that with President Coup. Um, and as I just ask that as you engage with any constituents that I'm provided an update, it allows us to keep up to date, make sure that our themes are still representing and we're answering questions that work. Thank you. I'll confirm that the
137questions that we got tonight about disagregating data and comparing subgroups to subgroups would be something that would be updated on the FAQ, including the questions that we heard tonight. >> I will meet with staff and see what we can do, but we will address that question on the FAQ. So yes, it will be addressed on the FAQ. >> Any other feedback? >> No, just thank you everybody for your comments and we're doing our best to read every email. We do read every email and we do forward it to our superintendent and we try to get everything we can as clear as possible from staff and superintendent Leech. So thank you. And then as a point of clarification, I was only able to join for the first 30 minutes last night. So is the recording um
138where is the recording? So the recording and uh the presentation are on the district's website. Uh there's a dedicated tide page. Um and it is located also where the FAQ is. >> Okay. Yeah. because in the first 30 minutes there were some slides that went by really fast and I can imagine that if people were seeing that data for the very first time it would be very hard to digest because even I was like whoa that was fast and then I had to drop off. So I have not had a chance to see the rest of the presentation or watch the recording yet. Uh but it's good to know that it's up on the website. Um and certainly there's been a lot of feedback about the data that was presented yesterday. Um, and I I
139do agree that we we need to continue to disagregate the data and make sure we're looking apples to apples. Uh, but I definitely will take a closer look at that data and also be able to participate or join the entire meeting tomorrow. >> Okay. >> Oh, yes. >> Yeah, I do have a question for Superintendent Leech. Um coming from the student advisory council originally I was at the December 10th board uh excuse me board meeting. I intended to provide input from the student advisory council there. Didn't get a chance to because our meeting was canceled due to a lack of students. I intended to provide uh input from student advisory council once again today but this time it was canceled apparently due to your schedule. Would you be able to just give me and then
140the student advisory council just how we are going to be able to provide our input? So the meeting has the student advisory council has been scheduled for tomorrow from 4:00 to 5:00 and I saw an email that Miss Leay sent to the student advisory council secretary and they have on there I will be at that meeting. They have on there a 30 minute time spot for uh student body to discuss regarding Tide. Um there's a couple different ways that that can get back to our trustees. Um it will get back actually several different ways. I will be reporting back in my weekly update. Um as well as students would be you are welcome to join the study session scheduled on January 26 or representative for sack can join that study session and provide that feedback.
141>> Understood. Thank you. And I did want to make one uh final comment in terms of communication. Um there there were uh folks that shared with me concern about um this process creating um anxiety for new families who are potentially choosing Tide. um if there's a way to clarify either on the website or um however we're communicating with prospective ninth graders um that there they will be allowed to go back to their home school should something happen to Tide if they choose Tide first. I think that seems to make sense uh to make sure that people rest assured because particularly for those students that are slated for Carlmont which is highly impacted that is a question that is very concerning to that uh population. >> Thank you for that >> student trustee. Yep. Would it
142be prudent for me to share a couple of uh answers to a couple of questions that I got last meeting from the trustees? >> Yeah, >> thank you. Okay, so um I do have a couple of things written down from last meeting. Even though I haven't been able to meet with the student advisory council, these questions were more specifically directed towards TIDE students. And so I have been able to come up with some answers. Uh from Trusty Thompson, I believe regarding the original intent of TID and what it's kind of like to have these tiny classes. Uh to my understanding you're referencing Tide was originally like planned out to be an overflow for MA suitable for like a thousand to 2,000 students. Um and thus having these tiny class sizes doesn't really make sense for
143a school that was planned to be so big. But you have to understand that is not the school that was built. Like our our campus cannot fit that many people on it safely. Um that is simply not a reality. That is outdated data. Um, and as for what it's like to have these tiny classes, the short answer is we don't, or at the very least, I don't. I spoke with a whole bunch of students about this. Our class sizes are like 10, 15, 20 kids. We're not, you know, some weird little institution in the corner with three kids and a teacher in a classroom. Again, those are those statistics are artifacts of how the dual enrollment program is structured. There are a couple of students taking uh high school classes when everyone else the majority
144is taking the college version of the class. And those two are apparently categorized as separate leading to these, you know, four student classes when in reality it's still like 10 20 kids in the same class. Four of them are just taking a different course. Thank you. >> Thank you for um clarifying. Can we make sure to um if it's not on Thursday um because I know we're going going over master schedule and class sizes and all that things and I know the people brought up both in meetings I've had as well as tonight about like course numbers and all that. Can we get some clarification either on Thursday or on the study session? Thank you. >> All right. I think uh with that, thank you everyone for again sharing your feedback and as a reminder,
145please do send us emails if there was additional information you want to share with us that you didn't get to. Uh I know this is a very very important decision for all of us and we want to make sure all of the governing board members receive uh the information that you're trying to share with us. All right. So the next agenda item is 14.3 presentation of the 2025 California school dashboard sequoia union high school district results. Yes. And and uh if you wanted to leave after the tide um agenda item, feel free to leave at this time. Thanks. Sorry. >> Okay. So, and from this I from this I um I go back into want to open And then I just want to do one. Okay. And then this is my presentation which if I
146want to put it back in presentation mode I just Oh yeah, sorry, I almost forgot. Uh, are there any public comments for item 14.3? >> Uh, there are none in person. Are there any online? Please raise your hand now. This is for item 14.3. I see none online. All right. Thank you. >> Okay. Good evening, Board of Trustees, Superintendent Leech, President Coup. Fantastic. Um, so tonight I'm going to report on the California School Dashboard. Um before I do, I want to just uh direct you to a couple different ways to access the publicly available data both on our public dashboard as well as the California dashboard. So, um a lot of the data that I presented last night and I often use is on our website in this little box that says SUHSD data. And
147if you click on that website, it takes you to this interactive dashboard um where there are multiple dashboards to look at um where you could disagregate um by school and ethnicity and all of our program filters. The reason why we have this public dashboard is so that we could look at the nuances specifically related to our school. um if we want to look at our ARFAP students, if we want to look at our students who have 504s, if we want to look at students who are participating in AVID, etc., that does not sit on the California dashboard. That's just that kind of nuance does not exist. So, this was born out of um the our district's desire to really dig down deep into looking at our own district and looking at schools that are within
148our district. It's pretty easy to navigate. Um, specifically with the California dashboard, which is here, california dashboard.org, um, you all you need to do is type in a school name or a district to find what you need to do. This dashboard, California school dashboard, is related to accountability. So it takes all of the metrics and then turns it into a a story, a narrative which then falls into our LCAP which then plays out in terms of our relationship with the county office in terms of differentiated assistance and the federal and the state compliance around how our students perform. So that's kind of the difference the main difference between these two dashboards. So tonight I'm really focused on the California dashboard, but I did want to reference the public dashboard that exists on our website so
149people know how to access it and how to navigate it. And I'm happy to help anybody through that process. Okay. So, um, the California school dashboard comes out every year annually and this year it came out on November 20th. I'm presenting it to you tonight along with the LCAP later because they tie together. There are basically eight priorities on the California school dashboard, some of which we really highlight tonight because it's related to the state standards. It's related to um graduation and suspension and colors are all involved. So, I'm going to talk about the colors a little bit um and how they get determined. And when um all of these combine, this is how our the CDE, the California Department of Education determines whether or not our school needs to be um identified for differentiated
150assistance. And we have to write to all of those pieces in our LCAP. So, for context, I've included last year's color and this year's color just so you could see the change. And the reason why I'm showing you two years in a row is because the color is determined by both status, how our kids did in the given year and how they did the year the year prior. So, as an example, in English language arts, last year we were in the green and in 2025 we're still in the green. So you could see them side by side. Also of note is it'll tell you how many this this green is determined by two things. One is how many points above standard and it falls on a on a 5x5 matrix which I'm going to show
151you in a second and whether or not it went up or down from the year prior. So, we're in green for both and it's largely um due to the performance of our students in English language arts. And when we increased last year by 8.1 points, that solidly kept us in the green. And then this year we went down 6.9 points. Not enough to push us into the yellow. Um but those two metrics, the status of where we are above or below standard and then the difference from the prior year is what determines that. And the other piece that is also on this little chart is the equity report. And so you'll notice in 2024 we had two subgroups in the red and now there are one. And similarly last year we had two subgroups in
152the blue and those subgroups have moved to the green. So there's been some movement. The movement is generally related to how they fall on this 5x5. So I'm giving you this context on this slide and the next slide, but I'm not going to go into that level of detail on every single slide because I know we have places to go tonight and another presentation. So this is the 5x5. There's a 5x5 for every single indicator. Okay. So on all of them there is this status that is the first column. It tells you how did our kids do this year. So we all know um that if you know we've been talking about our cast performance in the past um students typically do around the 67 to 70% over the years. And so that's high. That's
153in the green. And you'll notice that we were in the we declined, which is why this all students district placement is in the high declined category. So it's we're likely not going to move into the yellow unless we, you know, dropped considerably into a different category or we, you know, even if we declined significantly, we would we would stay in the green. This is important because um this is also broken down by every single subgroup um in the um in the chart. So every subgroup is listed here. Um and in this this particular year, students with disabilities were in the red for English language arts and this and but not our English learners, our ELTs and our socioeconomically disadvantaged um were in the orange and that's because they increased from the prior year. Okay. All
154right. So I'm going to reference this chart similarly in all the other ones but I'm not going to go into that level of detail. So status in the first column and then across the top is the change over time. Okay, here's math. So math we moved from the green last year to the yellow this year and one of the reasons is because of the decline. We declined 10.1 points. Um we are 16.6 six below standard and we also had three students in the subgroup in the red. Last year we had none. So this is a big change for us in terms of looking at the changes in math. Um we lost subgroup we lost ground in math um for several subgroups um blue to green, some went from orange to red and it looks like
155we have two student two groups in the green. Um, you can see where those groups fall here. And the the the biggest thing to note is students with disabilities, African-American students, and long-term English learners were the students that fell in that red category that were not there uh prior last year. English learner progress indicator. Um, this is an interesting indicator. Um, as you know, we've been reclassifying a lot of students over the years. it's been a priority for us and you know the state um doesn't necessarily incentivize that um because they don't use the RFAP category as a as a subgroup. However, we we know the value of reclassification. We know that our students have better outcomes with reclassification. But what happens is we also know that when we are looking at our students who
156are English learners, the subgroup gets narrower and narrower focused on the true English learners. Um, as our as our students who have been English learners for a longer time get reclassified out of the subgroup, um, 33% of our students are making progress on the LPAC. Um, it's in the red. It was in the red last year and the LESS are in the orange. Um, one thing of note here I think that was uh really positive I wanted to share was Redwood High School's performance on the ELPAC and this English learner progress indicator in the blue. Two years ago they were in the red. Um, that really speaks to the work that has been happening around the English learners at Redwood High. California college and career indicator. This is around multiple factors which we'll bring up
157in the LCAP um in the next presentation. There's there's a a lot of different metrics that play into this, but it's basically what percent of our students are prepared in high school to go on to college um of our graduates. So, we this did increase by 2.7% from the prior year. Um, and you'll notice that we have no student subgroups in the red or the orange this year, whereas last year we had six student subgroups in the orange. And so this is showing a positive trend across the board. And here is the the 5x5 related to that if you wanted to see how the subgroups um performed. graduation rate. Uh we were in the green last year with 90.7% and we're in the yellow this year with 90%. Again, so if you look at that
1585 by5, what what made that change when we only went down by 7% to go from green to the yellow? Well, if we went to the green to the yellow, it means from the prior year we went down by.9 percentage points or fewer. So that's the because we went down by 0.9 percentage points. That's what puts us in the yellow. So it's not even one percentage point that made the difference from the green to the yellow. So each 5x5 has its own nuance of what changes the color. The California dashboard suspension rate, we went we were in the green last year, we're in the green this year. Um 2.6% last year, 2.4% 4% this year. Not much change. However, last year we had zero subgroups in the red and this year we have two and
159it is one of the reasons uh we are going to be identified for differentiated assistance and I'll talk about that in a second. So in this uh 5x5 you could see how the subgroups played out um and performed. uh our Pacific Islander students um and our African-American students both fell in the red category and that is because um they both their suspension rate increased from the prior year. So highlights from the California dashboard include we had improvement in our subgroup performance on the English language arts. Only one subgroup was in the red this year compared to prior years. And we had more LTEL students making progress on the ELPAC especially at Redwood where they moved up to the blue. Our students with disabilities improved graduation rate by 1.6% went to the green which is a
160hu which is also a progress from prior years and the college incur indicated improved the number of prepared graduates by 2.7% and no sub student subgroup was in the yellow or the red. So the things to be proud of and things to celebrate. And our greatest areas of growth from our dashboard results here are we did lose ground in math. We had three subgroups in the red. El African-American and students with disabilities. And there's an opportunity gap that still persists around graduation rates um with Asian, white, and two or more races in blue compared to African-American learn English learners, homeless, elacific, and socioeconomically disadvantaged students in orange and Hispanic in yellow. Um, and we also lost ground in suspension rates with African-American Pacific Islanders. Differentiated assistance looks at every subgroup and tries to identify if
161there's a particular subgroup that missed the mark essentially in two or more areas. And when you look at our subgroups all the way down and you look across, there is one subgroup where we hit red and red in um both the academic indicator of English and math. Red and math the the the rule is if it's red in math and yellow and and and orange in English language arts, that still counts as um a ding against us. And then uh red in suspension rate. And so because we were identified in both of those areas that will identify us for differentiated assistance from the Sanonteo County Office of Education um where we will be engaged with them on ways in which we can improve our outcomes for students. That is just some more data for you
162for the appendix. And that is all I have. Thank you. >> Thank you for sharing all the data with us and showing us how to access it on the website as well. Uh any feedback from our or questions from our trustees? >> Just to clarify, the red that you said that went down less than 1% is because of uh I guess going back to it. >> I think it was the graduation rate. >> The graduation rate. >> Yeah. So the the um the graduation rate matrix here >> 0.9 I guess >> is if you move down from prior year if you declined by point 0.9 percentage points or fewer it's considered maintained but that still put you put us in the yellow. If we had moved up by one percentage point, we would have gone
163in the green, but we went from 90.7 to 90%. I I mean, so we we we were at the 0.7% difference is what put us in the yellow. >> Okay. >> We had to we three more we would have been in the green. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um California dashboard. Love it, hate it, do what you want with it. Um, I have a request and you can absolutely deny this request. Not this slide because this is great, but the slides before where you have uh Yeah, where you have that if at all possible. I would love to also see 2023. Like I'd love to see three years and not just two. um simply because we know that these are based so a lot some of these are based so much on on
164ESPback and that can when we're doing well in ESPback it's yay and when we're doing bad in ESPback it's well maybe next like it's just one year. Um so I would love to see that but again if it's too much work or no one else cares about that that's fine too. I had the same presentation from last year with 23 and 24 on it. So, it's not hard to do. >> Yes, please. More data. >> I like >> Yeah, >> question. I'll just comment that I've heard had comments from outside about the data dashboard and how it's somewhat opaque and I think you did a great job of making it as clear as it can be despite the 5x5 matrices and their different the different scales on the different matrices but explaining how some of
165it is based on absolute and some of it based on relative and then also showing us how to look at our own stuff. Really appreciate it. Thank you. And then um I did have one question about the the math 5 by5 or just the math progress because I know we called out that there's additional groups that fell into the red part. But I was also concerned about even like all across the board there seems to have been an impact on math. Even for last year, um there were two groups that were in the blue and it seems like the transition to the green was because um the scores define declined significantly. So is there something going on with math in general where you know every every student was impacted? Do we do we know or
166>> I will need to look into it. I'm I'm looking I mean there is a group up here in the blue in the top right corner two or more races that increased significantly which means that their distance from standard went up by 15 points or more. >> Um and our Asian and white students which were probably I think they were in the blue uh last year. Yeah, I think they were in the blue last year and then >> yeah, so if they if they dipped by three per three points, which means their their distance from standard um went down by three. I I can look up the exact number. We we can look it up. We could look it up right now. Um I could show you how to look it up. Um it's um
167that's what determined it. They're still in the very high category, >> but because the change from the prior year was three to 15 points decline for white and then by 15 points or more for our Asian students, they that's why they're both in these boxes here. Um, but as far as looking it up, um, it is pretty. So, it's pretty I go to English language arts. I go to more detail. I can look at the student subgroups that were in the green right here for English language arts. And so, >> yeah, I think we were looking at math. >> Oh, sorry. Okay. Um, uh, so we had green. So, Asian students declined 32.5 points. That's why they're in that declined significantly category um in the top left box. And white students declined 10.1 points. They
168were they're both still above standard um which kept them at the very top, which is why they're still in the green. Um and if we looked at the prior year um and a lot of it is cohort dependent, right? It is yearbyear. um and what students experienced. Um but if we wanted to change it to the say how did they do last year um and we look at math and we we I think we mentioned that we believe that they were in the blue last year we could look at that and so they were increased from the prior year 7.7 points and um 21.1 points. So the these kinds of things will tip the scale. Okay. But I that is a curiosity I had because it seemed like multiple groups declined all at the same
169time even though they were at different starting points, but I don't know if that's coincidence or if there was something else going on. Yeah, I'm trying to see um 25 points or more in the current year. And maybe that's something that uh we just have to look at if there were any practices that changed or is that's just coincidence or cohort specific. >> Yeah, worth looking into for sure >> any of it. >> I think that's it. Well, thank you for everything. Um, and I I'll definitely play around with the uh our dashboard a little more. >> Enjoy. Thank you. >> It's a rabbit. You get sucked in and you just keep poking. >> Just real quick point of clarification. Uh, Dr. Wilmont, um, on our internal dashboard, does it show all members or if
170the number is lower than a certain number, will it show zero? >> Thank you for asking. on our dashboard and the California dashboard we follow the same protocol which is if there's a subgroup that is less than 11 students we hide the data for furo reasons >> okay in the publicly available dashboard internally we have dashboards that let us go down to the student level but because this is we don't want to expose any students Great. Thank you. Yeah, >> you're welcome. >> And then next is agenda item 14.4. Uh this is the presentation of the 2526 LCAP annual midyear report and LCAP timeline for 2627 adoption. >> Look who came back to end services. >> Yes, I think that >> Oh, yes. Yes. I keep forgetting public comment. Sorry. Hen, are there any public
171comments on 14.4 online? Please raise your hand. >> I see none. Okay, thank you. >> Can't stay away from the LCAP. >> Can't stay away. 10 years of presenting the LCAP. New job where I don't present the LCAP, but like a bad penny, I am back. So, Dr. Shone tried really, really hard to be here tonight. admirably hard to be here tonight, but uh her body won. So, she is home and we all hope that she will be feeling better soon and not caught the hellacious flu that has been going around. Um but I am here to introduce the dream team in her absence to talk about the LCAP. Um Diana gave the first part Dr. Wilmont of the presentation where she talked about the tie between how we are performing and what we are
172expected to focus on on our LCAP. So there is a timeline that you can click on that shows what the processes that we follow and when we will be bringing various items to you getting input from our constituents and due dates. One of the items that we are required to do this time of year is to give you an update on the LCAP and how our progress is going for this year. And that update has to include any new data and where we are in the expenditures of um what we said we were going to spend for our various um goals um and actions. A couple things to keep in mind about um the midyear report. Uh it does not have to be turned into the state. it will not be included in the packet
173that is presented to you at the end of the year with our complete LCAP and there is no template for it. Um but it is required that we let you know how it's going which makes a lot of sense. Um and then it is the data that is most recently released. So usually it is the data from the year before at this point in the year but not always. And then with no further ado, the folks who are going to share all of that information with you about their particular goals are listed here and I thank them very much. Goal one is going to be Jared Douly and Steven Emmy. >> Thank you, Bonnie. And congratulations for still remaining with us for the LCAP. All right, we have um goal one uh focusing on it's
174a goal we've had for um several years in our LCAP as we continue and you'll see some of the data uh improving our English learners chronic absenteeism engagement uh well-being and connection as well as reducing our African-American Pacific Islander suspension rates and improving their uh engagement as well. And I thank Dr. Wilmont for setting the stage and helping to understand um some of this data because it can be a little confusing. Uh here is our action 1.1 focusing on our chronic absenteeism and and our engagement um facilitated as we have talked about several times uh with our wonderful community liaison that is the primary um budgeted funds there as you can see in the bottom basically our our community liaison um FTEES we are in ongoing implementation with this action as you can see in
175our data we have uh several metrics here uh the table to the right you can see um school attendance rates increasing over three years. I was glad that uh we got a a great plug for three years of data just purely on accident because I like to see not just year-over-year but a little bit longer out than that. Um you can see our school attendance rates 23 24 with um uh significant increases across all of the schools and slight decreases um over the last school year. Net changing over three years though in the positive for our schools with um big jumps at East Palo Alto Academy and Redwood high schools. Um you can see our chronic absenteeism uh table to the left. We call out our English learners and all students as a group. Um
176you can see all student chronic absenteeism rates uh decreased by almost 2% across the district. Again um 23 24 with a significant decrease over the previous year but then a slight bump up last year. We can really see that uh called out in our English learner um rates and percentage over the same time span. uh we had a I'll say a significant incident in January of last school year that resulted in what we can see in our attendance data not just anecdotally or or um qualitatively with our community leaison but a significant percentage of our students um struggled with attendance at the end of last school year. Um we also have as part of our metric for this action item our dropout rate which uh remained very steady to the tune of uh 0.01% over
177two years but then we see uh a little bit of climb last year with the net change uh in the wrong direction um of just under 1%. So that's our data for action 1.1. Obviously, we still have a lot of work to to continue doing as it relates to improving student attendance rates, uh reducing chronic absenteeism and engaging our students. Uh you can see action 1.2 reducing our suspension rates uh overall uh students, but calling out our African-American Pacific Islander subgroups as those uh continue to be our subgroups of focus. Uh this is where we are responding to interventions uh through our restorative practices. And so our budgeting here uh is primarily for as uh President Coup mentioned our new uh partnership with Fresh Lifelines for Youth as she called out at the Juvenile Justice
178uh Delinquency Prevention Commission. Got that right. Uh we are working with them with a brand new contract for this year. Uh bringing in restorative peer point and law programs as well um as our mental health and wellness contracts with our community partners, mental health case workers in a counselor and special assignment. That's the major funding here contributing to what we do see over three years as a net change for the positive and reducing our suspension rates. However, again, we see um changes in uh for our African-American Pacific Islander students last year being increased. So, we are in the red. I was glad I had uh a couple minutes to pull three years of those colors just while I had the time over there. Um 2024, African-American uh suspension rates were yellow, Pacific Islanders were blue.
179previous year both red. So we were in differentiated assistance at that time and we had a concerted effort. Uh actually there weren't colors the year before right in 22 it was very high and high I think were the titles and so we had a couple years of very high and high for those subgroups and then um through the work of differentiated assistance you can see the results in 23 24 uh I also pulled the n of the number of those two subgroup suspensions and we're talking um 14 and 13 suspensions ions respective respectively. So it's a very small number of suspensions that have a a real profound effect on the actual overall suspension rate for those subgroups, but still work to be done. Um our expulsion rate, you can see down one. Great. That's uh
180pretty rare in our district, which is which is good. In my nine years here, I'm I'm glad to see those numbers come um down significantly. And that's the work of um our schoolside administrators and our director of student services. Uh we have action 1.3 using student voice activities um to implement strategies to improve belonging. Uh we have a small budget here. Basically the facilitation of our um annual survey. That's our data here. Um some of these programs that contribute to the data include our wellness youth councils providing students with leadership and voice and wellness and school climate. Uh our community resiliency model otherwise known as crim um that training that we have put together with the team as well as the seal implementation embedding student voice into daily classroom practices as well as uh as
181as I just mentioned in a previous action item or fresh lifelines for youth. Uh we also run focus groups with them um twice annually to get student feedback on helping us improve our practice. So you can see this metric here uh shows a plus 10% plus 11 actually for Pacific Islander but really great um feedback as uh favorable results into student belonging. >> That was all for goal one. All right. So, uh, goal two addresses the academic performance of student subgroups who scored very low in English and math as indicated on the California dashboard. And this is, you know, this LCAP goal started several years ago. Um, and then we we we started to get colors. And so, we shared that already um, in the last presentation. Um, one of our actions around this particular
182goal is to increase effective student use of accommodations and accessibility tools on the CASSP. Last year, we uh did a pilot first year Canvas course for CASP uh to get students more comfortable with using the accommodations and the designated supports, reaching out to our case managers and our our ELD teachers and helping support students with these accommodations and accessibility tools. Uh, for example, um, some of our students with disabilities may have access to text to speech in their IEP and we want to make sure they know how to use it and access it when they actually take the test. And so we've been building out courses in Canvas to support the students to do that and also working with our teachers to um, dist distribute and uh, teach that to our students. Uh similarly for
183our our ELD students or students who are newcomers, there's sometimes translations available on the math and science test that they um you know need to get comfortable with how to access that. And so we've been building in these pieces into our um into our process. Uh and this is we just launched it this year. Uh this is the first week. Um we have prizes and incentives for students to participate and we're working on our communication um and we've been um heading out to do student focus groups as well uh to get feedback from last year's juniors. So we met with seniors over the course of December in the four high schools to find out how did the course work for you last year and what could we do to make it better. And so those
184are the some of the things we've been doing with this particular goal uh to improve students uh performance on the on the assessment. This data evidence here is just a um a repeat of what we just shared in the last presentation. This is one of the areas we talked about also talking to our proctors about assessment in the CASP and and thinking about is there anything we need to improve in the administration um or training for our proctors. Uh this is something we've been begun conversations with our IVPs, but we haven't yet had a chance to do focus groups with the actual proctors. And so this is an ongoing um implementation and it's still in progress and something we'd like to continue to work on. and this um test preparation and practice. um want to
185share that the seniors when they met with us in the focus group and they gave us their feedback about the Canvas course, they really they they shared with us how they were surprised um that the results from this assessment are um sh you know can be shared as basically the placement tests when you for English and math when you go to San Diego State or Calpali or any of the other 23 CSU schools. And so that was something that was really surprising to them. Um and so we've really been trying to highlight that in our communication with our families and our students this year as the kind of um major point. Um and also they told us that they really did like the prizes and so we're going to continue. They want more food though.
186They want more food. So we're gonna we're working on some some Yeah. We're working on some better prizes that are related to uh uh their bellies. And um and then also you know this this data when it says the students were prepared or conditionally prepared for the EAP um that means the early assessment program in the California State University system where students basically can can walk in um you know their freshman year of college and if they didn't take the SAT or if they didn't perform as well on the SAT this CAS score can essentially place them in grade level or college level English and math. So that was an important piece for them. This one is about our campaign to increase the awareness of of CASP's importance. And we did send out a parent
187square message last week, I think, to all juniors really highlighting this point. um letting them know about the importance of the EAP program for our juniors, letting them know that this can impact uh their state seal of bi literacy. And this is something that uh we have been seeing an increase in participation rates. And so we did include participation rates as our outcome variable here because as we've been working on this communication strategy, we are seeing an increase in our participation of our students over time, which we're happy about. All right. So, the other actions for the school have to do with preparing students to take the assessment to access accommodations, make students aware of the stakes and families aware. Um, and this goal uh presupposes that teaching the right things in the right way
188also supports student achievement on the assessment. Um, so the goal is to support standards aligned instruction and um evidence-based instructional practices. It's robust robustly ongoing this year and we've had um efforts to uh support standards alignment through common assessments and data analysis and application um across the district and across content areas. We've had um teachers have participated in um thousands uh 2500ish session attendances of um professional development this year. over a couple hundred uh professional development sessions. An area of particular focus is um as it has been integrated ELD. Uh so we continue to support and invest in our training for integrated ELD strategies constructing meaning or CM uh this fall. Uh I especially want to highlight one institute that focused on integrated ELD in mathematics and we had 19 amazing teachers participate in that
189effort and a really transformative um model for instru uh for professional learning um and the effort is ongoing. >> All right. Well, that's that's us. >> All right. Um, for goal three, uh, I, this is new this year. I'm doing all of goal three. Bonnie, if you're missing LCAP, feel free to jump in. Um, so our goal three is that the district would improve the school level results for student groups scoring very low um, or red on the college career readiness indicator and those groups scoring very low on graduation rates for the California dashboard. Um note there were we have no very low red groups for college career readiness or graduation at the district level. Um this chart just to refresh your memory this is all of the various combinations of ways that students are
190able to demonstrate college and career preparedness. Uh the update for 3.1 midyear um the news this year is that uh we have no subgroups that are in red or orange this year. Uh of the two sites we had two sites that had students in red uh for 2223. They moved into orange last year. Of those two sites only one remained in orange. The other site moved up into yellow. Uh for student graduation data reviews again for 2425 the district's gotten no subgroups in red. Um last year only our students with disabilities were in orange. This year we do have a couple of subgroups are African-American eel homeless el pacific islander and student socio socioeconomically disadvantaged uh groups are in orange. As Diana explained though very very small number changes can kind of shift for those
191colors. Um, we'll have to do a further data dive to kind of look at the nuances as to exactly why that happened. Um, and one site, we did have one site that had multiple student groups that were in red. And again, we'll have to do some more research and and look into the nuances of what's going on there. Um for our college and career readiness program completion supports um we continue this is something just ongoing creating and sharing lists of qualifying rising 10th graders um from our subgroups in orange and red on the CCR and recruiting them and doing intentional recruitment for them into our California partnershipmies or CTE pathways looking at ways of getting them their seal of biiteracy. again using that chart from the beginning and looking to see what kind of paths
192might work for those students to get them to meet the prepared um for graduation program completion supports. Once again, we had no subgroups in the red. Um again, students with disabilities were in orange. We now have, as I mentioned, those other subgroups um that are orange. We're going to examine that further. We do have one subgroup again in um or one site. We have one site this year that was read for EL graduation rates. So, we'll be working to provide additional supports for the newcomers um in particular with our Golden State Pathways Grant, which I'm sure there'll be more information coming later on that as we move towards implementation with that next year. Um for 9th and 10th grade participation in CTE, um there are currently 2387 students enrolled in CTE pathway. 769 of those
193are 9th or tth graders. That's an increase of 176 students from last year. Um, so we really prioritized 9th and tth graders, still prioritizing seniors that need it for graduation requirements, but then really looking at those ninth and tth graders and making sure that they got into the CTE courses so that they have a more opportunity to complete the full pathway. Um, most of those pathways also include a dual enrollment element which helps meet the college and career readiness. um prepared status. Um the career inventory and registration awareness. The school counselors presented the career exploration lesson in the fall and they will present a lesson on course selection and and talk about registration awareness that will include a review of A to G and graduation progress this spring. And finally, our credit recovery and enrichment.
194Um summer school 2024 credit 24. Yes. Um enrichment is complete. So 2025 is what that should say. Um a team is currently piloting a new credit recovery online platform to ensure that we have the best available for online credit recovery. All right. Here we are working to recruit and retain a diverse and qualified workforce. Um the first uh action is about some of the things that are in progress now to that end. The first two bullets are the job fairs that we attend. The third one is our developing our own cohort which is on uh cohort number eight and they are in the second semester of that and that has been one of um our best helps as far as diversifying our staff. Um, and when I see d say diversify, I mean diversify in
195the sense of um, uh, having a staff that reflects our students. Um, and um, that represents a lot of different experiences and backgrounds. Um, and then the utilization of more than just the standard edjoin platform when we are looking to hire staff. The second one is diversity outreach and this goal has to be rewritten and is being rewritten because it was a partnership with Lyola Marry Mount, but the the guidelines for that have changed and we're not eligible for it. So, we are in the process of writing anou with reach university um to reach the same goals. Um and we are hoping to extend I know tired. Um and we're hoping to extend to offer that to more I know to uh people in our district employees who are not just working towards their teaching
196credential but working towards their bachelor so that they can then work towards teaching credentials because we can't get enough of our own. And then the third one is our retention and recruitment committee um that has been formed with members of SDTA and I'm excited about the goals that we are working towards this year and the ones we are setting for next year. More on that coming. Um but that's in progress. And then finally a survey a base survey was given last year to get uh employee opinions about our uh recruitment and retention. And we have not yet done that survey. That survey is happening in February. Um so we'll have the results of that to share with you after that. Goal five. Good evening everyone. Um goal five focuses on the increasing on increasing the
197number of English learners who are reclassified and strengthening the um how we monitor the academic progress of both English learners and an RFIP students. Um the goal is supported by eight action items. Um really center around clarifying systems, ensuring systems are supported, ensuring students are supported academically as they move towards and beyond reclassification and also removing barriers and improving collaboration amongst different groups. Um for action 5.1 is fully implemented. The reclassification bulletin provides um clear guidelines and procedures for reclassifying English learners including our duly classified students. Um so far this year we have reclassified 123 um students um which is 10.1% of our EL population. And we really work really hard to make sure we reclassify as many students as we can that have met all the criteria before the testing window opens up again
198for the alpac um this upcoming February. Um we also continue to support our long-term English learners through the get our feeb canvas course. Um we want to continue to improve our alpaca participation rates and continue to um really celebrate the students who reclassified every year and hopefully we'll be back here again in May to celebrate and recognize our students who classified. Um for action 5.2 oops 5.2 part is partially implemented and focuses on documenting the reclassification process for duly classified students. So we've also created a um a bulletin to help with that. But at this moment, uh, 12.1 of duly classified students have reached the ELPAC proficiency. Um, our continued collaboration really is between our EL and special education departments. Um, we want to continue to lead to better alignment of systems and share practices
199to ensure eligible students are identified and supported through the reclassification process. Goal 5.3 is ongoing through our Stanford Sequoia collaborative. We're working across our eight um feed feeder districts to align local criteria and support students in reclassifying before entering high school. We are also continuing to build and share the schoolics dashboards that um with our feeder district so they can better understand the impact of early reclassification and really make informed instructional decisions. 5.4 4 also addresses um um it's still an ongoing implementation but really talks about the the bulletin that streamlines the procedures for tracking our academic progress and reclassification for duly classified students. Uh we've replaced the panorama survey with now the school dash dashboard which allows us to monitor access to support services. Um we've expanded internal dashboards to include attendance and behavior
200and we're also training our teachers to use these tools to better understand the student needs. Um, our bilingual resource teachers also work closely with our school staff to connect students to academic resources and facilitate parenting meetings when when needed to continue the monitoring process. For um, our goal 5.5 is partially implemented and focuses on students who qualify for the alternate alpac. Um, this year 21 of 28 out of 28 eligible students participated in the alternate alpac. Um, four point 14.3 achieved a level of three which qualifies them for reclassification under pathway two. Um but we continue to train new case managers and support special education staff in administering the alternate alpac and implementing the recl classification procedures for our pathway um three students who qualify under that 5.6 is also partially implemented and centers um
201on building capacity among IEP teams and ensuring appropriate accommodations and domain exemptions are in place. Diana mentioned some of that earlier um in the presentation earlier, but making sure that students know how to not just only access, but how to feel comfortable in taking the test when their their accommodations are in place so that they get enough enough practice with that. We have created training materials for case managers, BRTs, and EML teachers to support accommodations and designated supports that students are eligible for. For action 5.7 um is it's still in the plan phase. We're looking at the California dashboard that um the LPI data we have reduced the percentage of students decreasing at least one level from 15 to 8% over the past three years. We've reduced the students who have stayed at the level
202four uh from 4.6 to 1% but we have um continue to have this growth opportunity to increase the number of students in levels one two and three uh particularly our newcomers and long-term English learners who have to progress at least one level. So we can we are gonna um as I said we're on the facing on the on the planning stage of this because we need to like now create um use some analytics create some focus groups and target interventions to address the the progress of our students in that in the in the red zone. Um but as mentioned earlier um we Redwood did um improved greatly from being in the red to the blue in the um in the long-term English learners here. So the students in 60.8% of all English learners are making
203progress on the summit of LPAC and um so overall Redwood only has long-term English learners. We don't have a newcomer breakdown. So it's overall their students are 6 point 60.8% of the students are doing a lot better and this is really continuing to bring a a strong foundation as we refine supports and instruction figure out what their needs are. And just overall for the goal five um it just reflects a coordinated systemwide effort to align practices, remove barriers, and ensure English learners and RFP students are supported on their path to proficiency and reclassification. Good evening everyone. Guess I'm last and I get to brag about Redwood and how actually really brag about how the LCAP is being used to support uh the students at Redwood. Uh goal six is to support uh graduation for students
204at Redwood, but specifically around our EL students. Um goal 6.1 6.3 community liaison and counseling support. through the goals. The funding allows us to provide targeted relationshipbased support through our community liaison and counseling services. This could be something as quick uh easy as making phone calls in the morning, following up with students, and really making sure we're um building relationships with our students so they're coming to school on time. Our counseling support has given us the ability to uh serve 63 students this year through the relationships that we've built um through this um uh goal goal uh 6.4 6.5 our bilingual resource teacher. I would like to specifically uh acknowledge Evelyn Valencia. She's our BRT and uh we all should give her a round of applause. Uh this goal has been mentioned a lot tonight
205and it's really about the work she does with talking to our students getting them to understand the value of the um the ELPAC and and why this isn't just a test that sits there. This is a test that you know when you get reclassified that helps kind of put you on a path um to getting on grade level. So she does great jobs with meeting with students, explaining that meeting with families. So this goal is a testament to her and our also our teachers in helping to support our students. Next is our afterchool hub. Our uh afterchool hub uh is a central space for academic and post-secary support. Students use the hub for tutoring during finals, credit completion, resume development, interview preparation, and job searching. The hub reflects our belief that academic success and career
206readiness must be addressed together, especially for students who may not have access to these supports outside of school. And goal 6.7, uh we've been able to um with this funding have a uh added study hall periods. These periods have helped students to be able to um maintain egeneuity classes um and not do you know rely on working outside. A lot of our students are working um doing family obligations. So having a study hall course um in during the day helps them able to complete these courses on time. And the culmination uh impact of goal six, the biggest outcome that I could brag about is at the end of our fall semester, we've graduated 39 students from Redwood. This represents a significant increase compared to 19 graduates at this time last year and 23 uh the
207two years prior. So this uh this LCAP goal is really working and I just wanted to see it continue. So thank you. Good evening everyone. This is the last slide and this is budget overview for parent. Budget overview for parent is the summary or the snapshot of revenue expenses and the budget amount that is included in the LCAP. So at budget overview for parent is as of first interim and what is included in the general fund for the district. Total projected revenue was $262 million. This comprised of different funding sources L LCFF funds, state funds, local and federal funds. 6.5 million was generated from high need students which are the English learners, foster youth and homeless students. Total budgeted general fund expenditure was $269 billion. expenditure that was included in the LCAP when LCAP was
208developed in June was $16.9 million and midyear actual expenditure was $8.6 million. Thank you. >> Thank you, Venita. And thank you for the fact that you go in and put our budget totals for us on our slides. That is just above and beyond. Uh any questions? If not, we look forward. Stay tuned. We'll be back. >> Yeah. >> I just had one question. I was curious. How are nth grade students taking CTE and how many are doing that? >> Um CTE is not a part of Do you want to answer it or Tiffany or do you want me to do it? >> I just thought I thought I heard the goal was ninth and tth graders taking CTE and I was curious how a nth grade student fits a CTE course into their schedule. >>
209They don't. they have to take it as a seventh class. So that's why we provide extra funding to sites for CTE classes so that we have more kids who will reach the capstone level. So they take it as a seventh class if they take it. There is funding available to fund extra sections of CTE. We also don't always have full CTE classes so a student who's a freshman can take it. It's one of the things we let them take as a seventh class if there's a room. You have an idea of how many freshmen do it? >> Not at the top of my >> There's something like seven or 800. >> It's a very small. >> That's a Okay. >> It's a lot more intense. >> Any other questions? >> Um, thank you. That is
210a lot of information. Um, I know the LCAP is one of those tricky things that has morphed into this crazy thing. So, thank you for all of that. Um, one I I just yeah, I wanted to really call out that we do likeund that 176 number nth and tth graders I thought was was huge. Um, and just another shout out to Redwood like just that was such a bright spot of reading through this data. Um, and really seeing the the graduation rates, the there was a lot of there was a lot of good things to celebrate. So, wanted to shout that out. Um, just a quick question going back to goal 3.73.8. There was a there was a around a $20,000 budget versus spent to date difference. And I'm just curious on that number. >>
211Tiffany, this was a question for you. It's okay. It's a the Do You Do You Do You Do You Do You Do You Do You Do You Do You Do You Do You You want to repeat it, please? >> Yeah. Um it said there was a five grand budget and so far we spent about 24,000 >> 3.7 3.8 eight. >> Okay. But we have a plan. >> Yes. >> Just checking. I'm very into budgets these days. >> Yeah. >> Wait, that's >> Oh, okay. out of the 769 total. >> We need to be able to talk into mics. So, if we have staff, please come to the podium to talk into the mic, please. >> 209 students are currently enrolled in a CTE course. >> Ninth graders, yes, them stop laughing at me. >> Venita,
212Venita, quick question about the overage on the budget. Is that also include uh CTE funds that are carryover that we can spend? >> Yes. Yes. So, the money is there, Trusty Thompson. >> All right. >> Yeah. I wanted to again uh thank everyone for their hard work in really trying to focus on our students that need the most support and making sure that they they are successful. And uh I I I do also want to recognize when I first joined the board the LCAP was really hard to understand and now we are much more streamlined. So I really appreciate that. Um and we're really just focused on where the highest needs are and trying to make a difference. So appreciate that. Um and then on to our next agenda item is 14.5 presentation of the
213East PaloAlto Academy Local Control and Accountability Plan annual midyear report. Oh yes, public comment. There are none in person. Are there any online? Please raise your hand now >> for item 14.5. I see none online. I can go. >> All right. >> You can go. Yeah. >> Okay. I know it is late, so I'm going to try to highlight this step for everyone. Um, so our mission is all students will graduate college ready, empowered with the knowledge, skills, and passion to positively impact their own lives, their community, and the global society. So we have five goals. Goal one is around rigorous, supportive and equitydriven programs, highly effective teachers, ensuring that teachers are teaching well and they have the materials to do so. Uh so 1.1 is just focused around uh curriculum materials. So the common
214core standards, NGSS, the science curriculum, making sure teachers have all those things which they do. They have all the curriculum and so it is fully implemented standards met. Uh 1.2 is highly qualified staff. Um so from not this year's data but last year's data from our staff uh 89.3% had a clear credential, 1.6 intern, 4.1% in effective, 3.8 incomplete and 1.2 non-op applicable. Um, and for returning staff, 77% of our highly qualified teachers return this school year with 70% of those teachers being uh bipok teachers. And I will also highlight that all of the teachers that we hired this school year are bipok teachers. So 100% higher uh for our master schedule 1.3. Again, we are always looking at master schedule as a small school to make sure that it is equity based and our
215students are getting all the support that they need. So our students have access to a broad course of study. Uh 1.4 is professional development. So our teachers meet every Wednesday and so we have staff meetings every Wednesday. Uh we have a leadership team as well and advisory team. All of that is supportive of teacher professional development and their work to support our students. Uh for classified staff, we do have all fully staffed with the classified positions that are required. uh our staff classified staff also have their own separate PD at the beginning of the year and then they join the certificated every Wednesday as well. Um and then they have again their own separate PD. Uh so we do have a partnership with Stanford and PCRC is the the local community group based out of
216Satel um that focus on restorative justice and restorative practices. And so we partner with them to provide onampus drug and alcohol programs. Uh and then we also have local partners in the East Palo Alto community and they also come to campus to host uh drug and alcohol prevention programs. So we currently have two from PCRC and then others from our local community members and we have family workshops as well and those organizations present at the family workshops so that parents are also informed on how to support their students. And so for 1.7 again our Stanford partnership they are the people that present that serve our students for mental health. So we have all fully licensed mental health clinicians on campus and we have interns on campus as well all credentialed through Stanford and we have
217many students that see mental health services. So for this past semester, it was 37 students that had on health onampus mental health services, but we also have group services and individual check-ins and we refer out um if we feel that we can't serve those individual needs. So about 85% of our students are receiving some form of services um which I kind of went into right now. So that is also 1.8 and 85% of our students receiving mental health services on and off campus. Uh we also have the advisory program. So we use the advisory program as a way to ensure that there's group lessons around mental health um neuroscience of addiction, uh depression. So all those things students are also getting lessons in their daily lessons. Um, and we have a manager of social services
218who designs and implements our counseling programs and also oversees our Stanford partnership and works with the advisory team to make sure students are getting in classroom support. Okay, so that was goal one. All right, goal two. Um, goal two. So this one I'm actually this All right. Um, we'll focus on again the assessments. So you you saw the assessment breakdown for the district. um from Dr. Wilmont. So this is our assessment breakdown for just EPA. And so we do have afterchool tutoring from our classified staff. Um they have tutoring four days a week. And so there is an average daily attendance of four to 10 students that attend tutoring after school. And because our staffing is two staff members, they get very individualized support to support them in their homework and also better understanding in
219the class. Um, we also do look at our math grades and completion rates. And so 81% of our seniors are enrolled in algebra 2 or higher. And 84% of those seniors earned a D or higher in the first semester of the class. Um, for staffing for math and English interventions, we do have English intervention support. We have math support as well. And we have co-taught classes with gen ed and sped. Um so this is our cast data for math. Um and this is a percent that met or exceeded standards. So for math it was mentioned in the district data but our district the district data does match what we are showing with our math scores that did decrease and that are lower rates. And so it is something we're looking at as a school for
220what can we better do to support our math teachers. They have a new training this year um NWA map. So that is not an assessment that the district uses. It is an assessment that EPA uses. Um and it is so it is something I used in my previous district and it is a way to make sure that there's measures three times a year to see where the students are at in their progress. And then the teachers have training to better understand those scores to know how they can uh adjust their instruction and then make those adjustments throughout the year and see where students are at. and then at the end of the year they can see the progress throughout the year um and celebrate that progress with the students. So we are doing a much
221more focused data dive and also assessment measures um at EPA with NWA um for English this is uh this is our ELA scores so our ELA scores for met or exceeded is 39.4% 4% of students met or exceeded our Latinx population, which is our biggest population, uh 40.91% and our SED 33.9%. Um and then for the A, the district assessment um nearer meeting standards essentially is 44% for 9th graders, 57% for the 10, 83% for the 11, and 82% for the 12. Uh so one of the highlights for EPA is our advisory program. It is how we serve the students with mental health. It's how they get their lessons on mental health, but it is also how we have a small school connection. And so for goal 2.3, the focus of our advisory program is
222SEAL, college and career and academic monitoring. And we do also have something called the defense of learning. And so at the end of every school year, students have to pass the defense of learning in order to graduate. And it essentially them showing all that they've learned all year in front of a panel of adults that they do not know. And it is the test of their knowledge and their presentation skills as well. So um 81% of students passed the first time, 5% passed with contingencies, which just means there was like a small edit. it it was passable but just a minor edit. Um and then 14% did not pass or was not present and so they passed the second time. So all of our students last year did pass their defense. Um and again it
223is something we work on all year and with our advisory program and and circuits. All those are ways that we make sure that students are supported academically throughout the year but also with their check-ins and everything else. Um, so for standardized testing, we do have school site test days. Um, so all of our 11th grade students complete the PSAT on campus. They they do it as part of the school program. Um, and the 12th graders all offered a chance to take the SAT in the fall and then on campus in the spring as well. So again, to ensure that our students have the availability to take the tests that they would otherwise have to take on a Saturday or just not be able to take due to cost. So we as a school also supplement
224that. All right. So goal three is our English learner success. Um so again, just making sure our EL students or multilingual learners as I like to call them, um that they are on track to success. So we have 3 through 0.1 staffing English language development teacher. Um so we have a TOSA um BRT and so that person supports our students in taking the LPAC and u making progress and so our students 13.8% are welldeveloped from the ELPAC last year and 39.1% are making progress to the EL and a 15% reclassification rate. And so we do have an EL class on campus. We have the the TOSA support to support all of our teachers in making sure our students are getting support in all their classes. Oops. Um for goal 3.2 uh professional development around EL
225standards integration and constructed meaning. Constructed meaning was mentioned earlier. Um but so our for our staff 50% of our teachers have attended constructed meeting uh PD as of January and um and also as was mentioned earlier with our math department our math department also attended study lessons around supporting students in math and um with constructive meaning as well. uh for goal 3.3 that is the curriculum that we use in EL and so our teacher uses EL achieve as well as other other supplements to support the students. For goal 3.4, we have an instructional aid focused on supporting our multilingual learners, our ELS. Um, and as I mentioned earlier with our ELA scores, the ESPback scores are not necessarily the only piece of data. Um, I would say the A is also another piece of data,
226but he the instructional A goes into the EL classes because we have many on our campus and supports in the classroom. So, the students get additional support onetoone in the classroom and the teacher gets that support as well for our EL specific core content classes. Okay. All right. Uh, goal four, community engagement. So, promote and increase school and community connectedness by providing quality sitewide student, family, and community engagement and education opportunities, and shorter practices and authentic values. So, goal 4.1 is around our family university. We do have um parent meeting nights. So, every grade level has a parent meeting night. In the fall, we do the 9th and 12th. In the spring, we do the 10 and 11. And so, in the fall, 20% of parents for the 9th and 12th um attended the annual
227mandatory counselor meeting. 26% of students attended the studentled fall conferences, which is a part of our advisory program where parents meet with the students, meet with the adviserss, and talk about student progress. So, they do one in the fall and one in the spring. And then on average we have 13 parents each month. Of those only 3 to eight are regular attendants for SSC elac which we host at night and also in the morning for parents who can't attend one or the other. For goal 4.2 or after school program. So we do run a full sports program. We have basketball, soccer, volleyball, track and field and cross country. Um and so 51% of our students, this is from last year's survey reported that uh 51% of students responded. Uh 29% of students reported that they
228participate in school sponsored events such as sports, student leadership, and other clubs. Um 14.3% of parents responded to the survey last year and 36% of those responded that their child is involved in school sponsored activities. Um, and so as I mentioned, we have two athletic directors on staff and we have 10 sports throughout the school year, boys and girls. The goal 4.3 is restorative justice, which is a cornerstone of our school. Um and so from our student responses last year's survey, 56% of respondents felt that they belong at the school. 60% felt safe at school. And of families, 70% said their child is safe at school. Um for our suspension rate, it is in the orange. Uh 7.3% suspended at least one day as of last year's data with a 0% expulsion rate. Um and
229so last year we had the restorative justice coordinator only two times a week. Now we have the restorative justice coordinator four times a week. Um and we have seen a decrease in suspensions. I don't know if it's directly related to that but I can tell you there is a correlation. Uh so the correlation of having more support on campus on a daily basis addresses the conflict and there's less conflict on campus. So goal 4.4 staffing attendance. uh we do have an attendance person and you know our we are our goal is always to increase our attendance. So as of last semester 91.75% attendance rate for last semester. Um and as of last semester as well uh 22.6% were chronically absent. Uh for goal 4.5 positive attendance support team. So outside of our attendance clerk, we
230have our manager of social services and vice principal who all work together to make sure our students are being checked on if they're not at school and hold meetings with parents to address whatever reasons the students are not at school. Um, and we also work with our family liaison to make sure that connection is happening with families. And so those meetings are happening to address the dropout weight, which I will note for us, our students are moving to different countries. So, we've already had multiple students move to Mexico this semester. They will count as dropouts for us, but they're not dropping out. They're moving to a different country. So, I would like to note that for EPA in terms of our rate. Um, and so there is that. Um, for goal 4.6, technology, we have
231an on tech site person who supports us. Um, goal 4.7, I mean, you heard it earlier today from our students. it's our leadership class and you can see how impactful it is to our students um and just our entire community and so it does impact their sense of belonging um and as of last year's data 56% of respondents felt like they belong at school um and again our advisory program I mentioned it earlier but it does ensure that we have maintain our our small school environment we have wraparound support and every student has an adviser who cares for and meets with them every day. All right. And then my last goal is goal five. So post-secary success. Um just making sure students graduate high school and then are successful after high school. Goal 5.1 um
232we have school counselors, we have senior seminar teacher, college career specialist. So what is unique to us is we do have a senior seminar teacher and what he does is he holds his own sections just for students who are applying to four-year colleges in the fall. They work on a college applications. They meet with parents FASA kata and then in the spring he works with students that are either two-year bound or trade school bound to help them with their with their applications parents like uh all the meetings and everything too. So, um that is what that is referencing and as of last semester 47% of students complete their FASA with more to come because the class is still in session this semester. Um our advisory curriculum this is just in reference to our supplies. Um
233so and then senior seminar again that's the class I just mentioned but 100 all students are enrolled in senior seminar which does impact our graduation rate because again they have someone working on them with their future and not focused on each class but focus on preparing them to graduate and go to college and beyond. Um goal 5.4 before. We do have a college and career specialist and um they are also included in those meetings to make sure that students are getting the support and families are getting support they need to apply to college or career. Um and then goal 5.5 in order to help our graduation rate and also just make sure students are A throughG ready. We do have summer school for students who need to repeat a class or or multiple classes. Um
234and then we also have summerbridge which is important part of our school and making sure that students are integrated from the incoming nth graders so they feel a sense of belonging they're met with our older students and they just get a you know entrance to the culture. Um credit 5.6 Six is credit recovery opportunities which is what I mentioned with our summer school but we also do host an edge class during the day so students have the opportunity to take credit recovery during their school day for students who are unable to stay either after school or who can't take summer school for whatever reason. Um goal 5.7 early college. So we also partner with Foothill College. Our students are enrolled in community college classes. 43% of our juniors and seniors are or have been enrolled
235in at least one Foothill College by the time they graduate. And this year we also opened it to sophomores and there are currently four sophomores enrolled in comm in the college class and we hope we will plan to continue the 10 to 12th grade college enrollment uh for next year as well. Um goal 5.8 college visits. So, one of my students didn't mention it earlier, but there are many colleges that the school has. We do one in the fall for all the students and they go to local colleges. We do one in the spring, which has historically been to LA for students to see other colleges outside of the Bay Area. Um, and we do hope again that that impacts our graduation rate so students can see themselves at college where maybe they don't have
236access or they haven't had family to have access to college. Um and then goal 5.9 I mentioned this earlier around we as a school hosting SAT and PSAT to ensure our students have the opportunity. Goal 5.9 uh 5.10 ongoing professional development for the counselors. Um our counselors do attend uh the the college conferences so they're well informed of current practices or any changes with college acceptance or anything like that. All right, >> this slide shows the budget overview for parent for EPA which is reflected in fund 09 of the district's books. Total revenue as of first interim was $5.27 27 million and total gen uh expenditure in fund 09 was $7.2 million. The difference which is $2 million is the contribution from general fund to EPA fund 09. Budgeted expenditure in the LCAP was $5.9
237million and midyear actual expenditure was $2.8 million. Any question? Any question? >> Hi, thank you. Thank you for the presentation. I think going back to goal two, I it was the u um intervention for the math. >> Is that something new that you're trying this year or has it been tried before? or like the one you said you were doing the one two three intervention for the math and the low scores >> around 2.2 too. >> Yeah, I think >> um yeah, so previously the district has a um a for the math and for reasons um the district isn't holding the A for the math. So each school gets to decide are they going to participate in or not >> um you know as our own LEA. This is something that that has been used
238is proven to be effective, right? >> Um and so our teachers are trying it this year. They haven't ever tried it which is why it goes along with their professional development. um so they can make sure they know how to use it and read the data well. >> And they're going to start doing it. When like when is this going to is this happen? >> They've already started. Yeah, they start they had their first training in August. So they've done one round, they've done two sessions um two testing sessions already. >> Okay. Yeah, that was one of my questions because I was like math scores, you know. Yeah, they need help. And I was just wondering also about the factors of the math scores like what else is happening with students, right? if the majority
239are Latinx and what's happening, you know, with uh I guess external forces, right? That can affect any kind of grades, not just math, but any kind of grades. So, that was one of the things that I was thinking about. And the other thing I was going to say, oh, um I love that you do the midyear uh defense. So, thank you for doing that and you know, illustrating to our students how to, you know, utilize um presentation and what presentation means and what that looks like. So, um thank you for doing that. Thank you. I have a few questions. Um, one of them does have to do with math. So, is So, I'm going to tie math with PD. So, on 1.4 you have PD on Wednesday. We have gotten quite a bit of feedback
240about PD on Wednesday. >> Um, and and you are a charter school. So, that's your schedule is admin puts that together. So, I'm just curious um was this is this PD necessary because that you're implementing MAP and those have required trainings that you need to go through or can you help me determine some like what are your metrics for success or necess necessities for those PDs on Wednesday? >> Yeah, so the math PDS are separate from the the all staff PDs. Okay. Um when our teachers do the math PD, they attend it separately than the rest. Um but it is the same time frame. It is 2 hours for the math PD and two hours for the all staff PD. Um in terms of our goals for our goals for PD is around uh academic
241literacy, instructional literacy for the school year. We have a very high population of English learners, LTELs, RFIPS. Um if you look at our data, they also may have a lower graduation rate. And so we're trying to address that as well. And so our focus this year has been instructional literacy and also making sure that we are connected as a staff because we do want to increase our retention rate for staff to go above the 77%. >> Which is great. 77 still good. >> Um yes, but also we you know we do want to mimic our make sure our staff mimics our students, right? And so the more support that we can offer our staff then the more support they can offer our students. And training takes time, right? and for us all to be on
242the same page as a staff and for us all to be instructionally focused to change some of these numbers, right? We want to increase our our ELA scores in ESPback and in ICA. We we definitely need to increase our math scores in in NWA even though this is our first year of implementation, but also in ESPback, right? So our data shows that we do have a need to support our teachers in instructional practices and restorative justice because if past year we had 8% of a suspension rate 7% I believe I have to go back exactly but if we have that p that suspension rate that is relatively high for a small school and so to address that we also need to make sure we are training all of our staff in restorative practices and we're
243doing the instructional piece both things implement a school like affect a school culture And both things are very important. >> Okay. Thank you for letting for filling in that context. Um, another question that I have when you showed the score for the map since you've imple implemented it twice or is that like 17% for example was a number that I saw. Was that coming from the first round of map or the second round of map? >> The first round of map. So they just took their second round this week. >> Okay. And is that being implemented not just in like math classes but also like in advisories of like what they can be doing and why those numbers matter >> for the maths? >> Yeah. To talk about it in terms of like the whole
244picture and not just as a as a solo. >> They talk about it in the math classes but advisory itself is meant to be more of like a wraparound mental health wrap around academic overview attendance that piece. >> I Yes. And with someone who has a a lot of experience with map, I would put that you get you do you, but I'm just curious of what other places that it might be around because that data for map is really great and useful. Um, another question I have um is coming from the the survey data one applaud that it's going from the 51 to 56% sense of belonging. Um, so it did improve which is great. Um I think that was 4.3. Listening to the to your students and them praise their teacher today was just
245beautiful. I mean it was it was gorgeous and I would have been like 90% sense of belonging like listening to that. Um and that is one of the draws of a small school is that you can create that. So, I'm curious of like what are yes, you've improved, but like how do we get that beyond just like a little more than half the student body to to really feel like they belong in that school and hopefully that would help with the chronic absenteeism as well. >> Yeah. I mean, I would also hope that the percentage of students who took this survey would be higher because I think that would be a more representative percent, right? Like 39 out of 22 273 is >> such a low percent. Um >> okay. >> So that explains that
246data a little bit is like is and then so are you will you do that survey again? Will you have incentives for for taking it or >> Yeah, we will do the survey again and we are still thinking about how do we make sure that all of our students participate so we get an accurate representation of how our students feel. >> Okay. Um and then my last one and I know I literally just went on record saying that CASP is and dashboard is take what you will. Um but EPA was here a year ago asking for renewal and one of the things that I did was really look into the dashboard for those renewal datas. Um that we the dashboard has decreased in say decreased in all but two categories and not just by one
247but quite a bit. And so I'm curious um like yeah I'm just kind of curious what happened from last year to this year when we were looking from the data. Um, ELLL went from blue to red or I'm sorry, not ELL. Um, English language English learner progress went from blue to red. Um, gradu uh graduation went went from blue to orange. >> So, I'm just wondering if if you have any insights or if that's potentially built into some of these goals. I know for the graduation rate specifically, the vice principal as part of that behavior positive support attendance team is working and making sure we have a better understanding of why. Um because we did see that I mean the dropout rate again is is a caveat but we did see that that our graduation
248rate was lower as well as our we have the dropout rate or attendance and so we're looking at what we can do better as a system to address those things. I can't give you an answer. I can just tell you we are looking at it to see what we can do better. >> Okay. >> I'm glad. Yeah, that that would be something as you um as you come back and present the LCAP in the next cycle, that would be definitely something that I would want to to hear. >> Dr. Dr. Silverman, um because you mentioned the students who are moving to Mexico and then that affects the dropout rate, I'd be interested to see like if you work with Dr. Wilmont if there's a way on the school litics dashboard to potentially isolate those to
249get a different picture >> than what we see on the state dashboard. >> Yeah, I'll ask because I'm curious myself. Yeah, >> thank you. >> All right. And before we move on to additional questions, it is already past 10 p.m. Um, so we do have a board policy of calling for a vote to make sure everyone is good um with continuing past 10 p.m. So if someone can make a >> I wonder if we can push the discussion item to a future meeting and just finish with the action item or if we need to do the discussion item tonight. Oh, that's the uh board policies. The first reading. >> There's a whole lot of them. I don't know how long you wanted to talk about them. >> I can do them in five minutes and
250I can do them at the next meeting. >> Five minutes is good. >> I move to continue with the meeting. >> Well, I need a second. >> A second. >> Okay. All in favor? >> I I Okay. >> All right. Trusty Gin, did you have any questions or feedback? Um I just had one um question related to the sports. Is that also um is that in partnership with MA or is that your own? >> We run our own sports program. >> Okay. So, um it seemed like a lot of sports for such a small school. So, I was curious how how that's structured and how many maybe students are doing multiple sports or >> Yeah, we have a lot of multiport students. Um, partially because yes, we have a smaller school population, but we also
251have students that focus on one sport in particular and that is what they come out for. Um, but yeah, also multiport students. >> Yeah, that's impressive. Yeah, that's very impressive. All right. Well, thank you for sharing um the the updates on EPA and uh I hope we can separate out some of that dropout data because that'll be a much clearer picture. >> Thank you. >> All right. And then next up, um we have 15.1 first reading of revised board policies and administrative regulations in human resources and student services. Five minutes. No, I'm just kidding. >> Oh, yes. Public comment is >> there are none in person. Are there any online? Please raise your hand. >> 911. >> All right. Thank you. >> All right. So, the 4,000s concepts and roles. Some of what is before
252you tonight at night is not because of changes in laws or ed codes. It's because about this time of year, CBA goes through SPA goes through and updates things that just should be updated even though nothing's happened legally. So, board 4000 concepts and roles is an example of this. It's reminding us that we are not just responsible for programs, but we are responsible for students. It also tells us to please be nice to our different labor groups. The next one is about uh title nine. In case I haven't told you this a million times, we're now back to August uh sorry, yeah, August 1st, 2024 prior to that to those ARs and BPs. This is my least favorite one to have to present. Uh kid uh sorry, we have to make it possible for people
253to express breast milk for a year after having a child. And it is not just about the actual breastfeeding of a child. Things I never thought I'd have to say in education. And oh, by the way, when it comes to rules about lactation accommodation, we're back to Title 9 before August 1st, 2024. This is a list of new notifications and also notifications that have gone away. I want to point out that the requirement that we let staff know when there is a COVID 19 case is going away. More concepts and roles not about policy changes. We need to remember that we're responsible for mental health of students and for them feeling safe. People are geniuses. This one 50/20. We need to be nice to our parents and their guardians and and guardians. We need to
254make sure that we give annual notifications around Furpa. We need to make sure that um that uh sorry that we we need to know that we can establish student centers and parent centers to help with family engagement for second language learner families. Parents have the right to opt their students out of certain curriculum if it goes against their religious beliefs and they have the right the right to opt their students out of psychological testing and evaluations of their home lives by the school not by CPS. We need to send parents required notifications in their home language and we need to um make we need to encourage parents to support. They took out basically the word television and changed it to social media that families should be more I love how this is like a historical
255like here's what's happening in the world with policies updating uh excusing absences. If you have a parent who is going away on military duty, it no longer has to be for active combat. It's just if they're going away, we have to let you spend time with them and excuse that absence. We also have to excuse it if you're going for a military exam or if you're shi signing up to be a part of the military. Um you can have attendance recovery programs if you've got kids who have very low attendance. That's mostly for ADA districts who are trying to recoup funds that they lose. Um work permits. We now have to let hand students when we give them their work permit what their labor rights are as uh workers and we need to keep a
256record of our work permits which we already do. Uh school choice lives especially for foster youth and students experiencing homelessness and there are all kinds of rules on the processes to do that. We're already following them. conflict resolution, peer mediation. They have clarified when they're talking about students, what parts they're talking about, the students receiving the mediation and the mediators who are also students. And we have to train students who are going to be mediators, which seems like a really good idea. Uh defibrillators, somebody at the state level is in love with defibrillators, which is fine. It's a good thing. You need to have them if you have more than 200 students on a campus. We have them anyways. you have to train staff on the location of the defibrillators and how to use them.
257Uh emergency contact, it does just does just not apply to when a kid has to go to the hospital. It also applies to if you have to send students home for the day. Um if a kid needs to be picked up, it can be by the some person who used to be called the emergency contact. Now they're calling them something else. Um this is ARS with details about that. And I'm done. >> All right. >> Three seconds. >> That was a lot of documents to go through. Did anyone have any feedback on the the draft or the first reading of the policies? >> You're welcome. Please don't ask me about lactation. It makes me very uncomfortable. >> Eat us up for the challenge. >> All right. Seeing no feedback, uh we can bring these back
258then on consent for the second reading. Okay. Uh okay. And we have an action item 16.1 uh approval of contract with CAW for architectural services for the B-wing moni modernization project at Memo Athetherton. >> Any questions, public comments? >> None. There are none in person. Are there any online? Please raise your hand for item 16.1. There are none online. >> In that case, I make a motion to approve uh 16.1 the contract with CAW. >> Second. >> Okay. And then all in favor? >> I. >> All right. Uh lastly, before we adjourn, we have future agenda items. I have one. I'll be super quick. Um, we have received quite a few I have received quite a few emails regarding cell phone policy and I'm just curious if anybody would like just an update of where
259we are as a district in that process. >> Yes. Is that Yes. I would like >> Friday update or or are you add update is fine if that makes it easier. I I do want this at some point letting the public know though. So I I actually would push more that >> um we could start with a Friday update and then in our next external newsletter we can communicate where we are in the cell phone policy. Would that be good? Because it will be coming to you guys shortly. >> I concur. I mean I I mean that sounds great. Is that okay? >> I support that. >> Fabulous. Okay. >> And also ask President Coup to whatever you and the superintendent think is best regarding what we the recent training at the county office of
260>> CTE. I'm interested in something whatever you two think is best. >> Sounds like there's some interest at some point. >> Yeah. And I think they were going to share out the materials so we could probably wait until they >> Oh, you have the all the materials. So, I mean, feel free to share the materials with all of us because not everyone attended and then we can just kind of go from there. >> Yeah. >> All right. Um, if there's no further comments, then uh can we have a move to adjourn? >> I will make a motion to adjourn this meeting. >> Second. >> All in favor? I >> I So this uh meeting is now adjourned at 10:14.