001Good evening. This is a special meeting of the finance committee. Today is Monday, September 8th, 2025, and it's 61 p.m. Um, in attendance, I'm Jennifer Perez, committee chair. Marissa Esther, Mayor Jimenez, committee member, and Willie Medina's online. Uh we also have board members Albert Benahan, Joseph Saliv. That's all. Um the first item on agenda is referral to the full board approval of the reallocation of grant funds to support special education corrective action plan position for community uh specialists for learner engagement and attendance. And Miss McKinley, go ahead. Good evening. I am coming to you this evening to request to take before the full board approval to establish the community specialist for learning engagement and attendance position. Uh this is authorized to and to seek authorization to allocate idea funds for salary and program implementation of
002this position. uh and for support for integrating this position into the district's corrective action plan. Um as we all know, chronic absenteeism among students with disabilities is disproportionately high and directly impacts academic progress, IEP goal attainment and long-term outcomes. Basically, if students are not in school, they cannot learn. The district's corrective action plan requires targeted interventions to reduce absenteeism, especially among our most vulnerable population, our students with disabilities. This position aligns with the IDA um mandate to ensure access to free appropriate public education and address barriers to attendance. Um, this position is somewhat modeled after our current LEAP positions, but it will exclusively be focused on students with IEPs. Um, year one will address BLC and the transition academy where currently there are not LEAP coordinators assigned to um these programs. And as I stated,
003um, we currently are are have a corrective action plan item with the state to address chronic absenteeism. And as a part of that corrective action, you have to use IDA funds to address how you're going to uh to move forward with addressing chronic absenteeism. And that's why uh we're going to use the IDA funds for this position. Um the expected outcomes is improved attendance rates among those students with disabilities who are currently at uh BLC and our transition academy who are on the ROS but are not attending. Um increased IEP engagement and services. uh better collaboration between families, schools, and support agencies, and to actually use the data to eventually expand into our other uh schools where we're showing a high percentage of chronic absenteeism. >> Thank you. Dr. C, >> can you speak to
004the point of the corrective action plan? Why does the state provide corrective action plans for districts in different areas? And explain the area that our district has been in. Is this corrective action plan recent or is this a corrective action plan that been ongoing for the last couple years? >> So currently the the correct the corrective action plan that we currently have in place is is current, but there are some items on the corrective action plan that have been longstanding. For instance, uh timely correction of non-compliance goes refers back to a systemic complaint from 202122. Um also on the corrective action plan, suspension and expulsion rates for students with disabilities, which has also been an ongoing um concern. And then the chronic absenteeism for students with IEPs is also another area on the corrective action
005plan. So, it's those three areas that we have to address. >> Thank you. I'll take questions from the committee members. >> Mr. Medina, >> thank you, ma'am. Yes, Madam Chair. Thank you. I was trying to get my hand raised before, but I couldn't get it. So, I apologize on my absence. Um, do we have um I've always asked this question. Do we have the community specialist for learning learner engagement and attendance? Uh, kind of like their their role, their um what would they be doing like their their duties? >> Yes, sir. There is a job description. >> Thank you. That's the word I was looking for. I apologize. Uh, so there is a job description. Are we going to be able to have that for Well, actually, the board meeting is tonight. Um, do we
006have that available now? Because I don't see it in our portal. >> We have it. >> Yes. If it's approved to move to the full board, yes, you will have it. >> Okay. >> If you don't already, >> I'm sorry, I heard somebody say we have it. >> We have it here in um in the meeting in person and it's on board book. >> Okay. Thank you. What is the allocation of funds? How much funds are we looking to allocate for this position? >> So, right now the the range that we're looking at is between 60 to to 70,000 and it's coming out of funds. >> Okay, that's all for now, Madam Chair. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayz. I I also have financial related questions. So, this is coming from IDA. I'm assuming
007that's a grant. Is that correct? >> That's correct. >> Are we taking anything off the table in order to provide these services or did we have the funding already available in order to to have this role? the funding is already available and because it is a part of the corrective action, we would still have to amend our budget to to show that we are using a part of our IDA funds to address the chronic absenteeism. >> Okay. Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Mr. Sako, >> excuse me. Yes. Thank you. Um, please be represented or non-represented employees. >> I'm sorry. >> Represented or non-represented? >> Represented. >> Which bargaining unit? >> Uh, it's right now uh a non union affiliated position. >> But if it was represent if it was going to be a representative
008employee, wouldn't the contract terms guide the compensation value package? >> Yes. If it's if it's if it's going to be a union represented position, it it is governed by the actual approval of the union for the position and salary. >> And um you me you mentioned 60 to $70,000 a year and it it seems like some astronomical um responsibilities people had. Yet the minimum training experience is a high school diploma, associate or bachelor degree preferred. experience working in urban education setting and knowledge of truency and attendance laws seems kind of kind of very very low bar to set for somebody in an education system. Now, when I've seen this before in other cases, they not to cast shade on anybody here, it's been targeted for somebody with these qualifications to get the position and casting
009a wider net and asking for more experience, especially something like this with the state watching us. If we're going to correct something that the professionals so-called have been getting wrong for all this time, we should have somebody with at least a minimum of a master's degree, I think. >> And just in speaking, so I currently just finished um coursework where it specifically talked about um improving literacy while decreasing your chronic absenteeism. And the research that's out there is basically it's about family engagement. It's getting to the root cause of why students are not coming to school. So currently at BLC and at transition academy, we know these were students that were specifically target to go to these specific campuses and programs. So, one of the things that we're looking at is is whomever to be
010able to establish working relationships and partnerships with parents to understand the community to know resources and outreach abilities for the parents to be able to make that connection with students to be able to engage with them to learn why they are not coming to to school. And you can have a degree or you don't necessarily have to have a degree in order to do that. It's about relationships and partnerships with our parents and with our students because without getting to the root cause and really being able to work with them, then really and truly is going to be a moot point in trying to in to improve our chronic absenteeism because we have to listen to students. We have to listen to our parents as to what are the barriers to keep them from not
011coming to school. >> Understood. This hits me a strange um just because what's the starting salary of a first year teacher? Is it even at $60,000 a year? >> Less than and that that that requires a bachelor's to a master's degree and years experience to get certified for the position. I just >> and that's something that we can go back and look at. I don't have a problem with that. >> This is Yeah. And um Yeah. And that um can you tell me what the transition academy is? I've heard it banded about a couple of times. I'm not quite sure. >> So the transition academy is for our students who have completed all of their graduation requirements but still need specific uh instruction goals and objectives for uh postsecary employability skills. So, it's for those
012students that are basically 18 to 22 who still need special education support in regards to uh becoming employable or who aren't quite there as far as even the employability skills, but we're still providing services for them >> and they're located throughout the district, not one particular. >> So, the transition academy is located at Central High School. It's not technically a part of central because it is a camp. It is a program where the students have completed all of their graduation requirements. >> And what what's the total universal students that will be served? >> I'm sorry. >> The total number of students that will be served. >> Uh the last count I believe it was about 40 students, but we have about 20 of those students that are attending. Is that were you talking I'm sorry.
013Were you speaking of the transition academy or >> combi? Combined with BLC and the transition. >> So on BLC um roster I want to say that there's 50 to 60 students and I can get you that exact number and the last count was that um they were at 60% chronic absenteeism. >> Okay. Thank you. That's all I have. >> Sorry. I want to acknowledge Mr. Travers in the meeting and Mr. Libson, do you have any questions for Miss McKinley? >> Yes. I'm not seeing the salary data that y'all are referring to in the information we have. So, >> it is it's not in u it's not in it's not on the the sheet, but it is I had spoken to Mr. Nequa today, Nester, and we came up with the range between 60 and 70,
014but based on Mr. Sakalovic's input, we're going to go back and revisit that. >> Is there anything else that's not on here? >> Okay, thank you. That's it for now. I have a follow-up question. The job description says it's a 10-month position, but we've been having chronic absenteeism for quite some time. What's going to happen after 10 months? Um, my concern is that we're providing resources to get students back into the schools and then after 10 months is this position go away? They get laid off. And if that's the case, then we're going to see our numbers come up. So what's the long-term plan for this role? >> And when with that 10 month it would be ver versus a 12 month meaning this person they would still come back uh but it would be
015that they would work 10 months not necessarily work the summer but um also in rethinking this you know sometimes we can catch students and develop a plan for them to return during the summer months as well. Gotcha. Thank you, >> Mr. Chabber. Hey, >> so I I heard the question a moment ago. If I understood correctly, this is a non-m bargaining unit position, a non-certified position. Is that correct? >> It doesn't have to be certified. Am I correct, Michelle? >> I'm sorry. >> Certification. >> They do not have to have certification >> and it's non-bargain. >> It is a non-unffiliated position. Yes. time, >> but we're but she said that she was going to consider adding that as a but she has to go back to the union to add that to a union position.
016So, if it's a union position, then it's going to be the salary will be included in a position that they want to use in their bargaining. So we would have to follow their their their salary schedule and add that to the job description as an you know a union affiliated position that also includes the salary that will go along with it as well. But I think her her task was to be able to get permission for position. That's why she's coming to the finance committee for that option. uh in between between if if the board is allowing her to do it based on the conversation this evening, she'll go back and tweak it and provide that recommendation uh to the board, the full board for consideration. >> You have a followup? >> No, I I
017I I have a a curiosity. I'm I I apologize. I'm not I'm not up to date on exactly what this is and I'm not going to vote on it tonight anyway. So, I'm not um but I just I'm I'm sort of trying to get my head head wrapped around we used to have physicians um that were trying to deal with um chronic absenteeism. We had people employed um we would have called them truency officers in the past um who were running around the city trying to figure out what was going on. Um, and you know, they've disappeared, I guess. Um, I don't know what happened to them. I remember running into them around the city as I drove around the city. Um, but this is obviously different and I I understand how it's different and
018what you're trying to do with it, but I also um am trying to understand the difference and what we're trying to do with it. And so I'm just beginning >> similar similar position, but it's targeted to the corrective action plan that the district is under right now. The state has to approve it. Yes, >> the board has to approve it. Then the state's going to have to approve it as well in order to make sure that we're in compliance with the corrective action plan. Uh and so that's the procedure. That report back to the state is due on the 17th of September. uh and we won't have we will have to come back to if if the committee uh refers it to the full board, we were we would have to come back to a
019special call meeting before the 17th to get it approved uh for the entire board. So, that's kind of where we are. We may not be able to do it tonight unless you guys do I think there's a an option to add it to the agenda for tonight, but we don't have it's not fully vetted well enough for you guys to to vote as a full board on it. So, uh that's kind of where we are is basically just need a referral to the full board and then we can work with uh madam chair to decide on uh for that one item to come back to the full board for uh consideration. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. >> Any further questions? >> Is there a referral for this to the full board? Is there a motion
020to refer it? Motion to refer to the full board for approval of the reallocation of grant funds to support a special education corrective action plan position community specialists for learner engagement and attendance. >> I'll second that motion. Any further debate on that from committee members? Uh, I would just like to say that I'm, you know, my, uh, I will be voting no to move it forward because I think we need more information and more data on what we're doing and why we need this position in our district. Um, I think this is a little bit moving too quickly for me personally and also for our district. We need to have more uh, you know, make more responsible decisions not withstanding of the finances and finding out more details. So, I'm definitely going to be voting
021no because I need more information. So, that'll be all for me. Thank you. >> Any further debate? Seeing none, um, all in favor to move it to the full board say I. >> I. Any opposed? >> Yes. Opposed? >> You're opposed. >> For the reason I stated before. >> All right. So, it's going to move forward to the full board. Is there a motion to adjurnn? >> So moved. Second. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Uh client is adjourned at 6:20. Thank you.