001to host the French and the Spanish. Then on May 5th and there may be some dates between there and but on May 5th the DI committee um secondary committee presented uh secondary DI recommendations to the board. That was May 5th of 25 or May 1st. May 15th, uh June 12th, and July 17th were all public input opportunities. And August 7th of 25, uh CCSD administration reviewed the DLI committee recommendations with uh with the with you as the board members. On August 15th of 2015, a public notice regarding the upcoming September 18th board meeting was sent to all parents. Uh September 18th of 25, approval of the following secondary DIY changes happened. Um the Chinese uh which is hosted at Cedar Ridge Elementary would go to Juniper Ridge Middle School and then on to Green Canyon
002High School. The Portuguese would go from Cedar Ridge to North Cash Middle School and then onto Sky View High School. The French would go from Spring Creek to Maple View Middle School and the Spanish from Spring Creek to South Cash Middle School. Also in that meeting, the decision was made to table the Spanish and French DI high school changes pending further review. Uh in November of November 20th, the board approved a 4-year transportation option for Nibbly Spanish DIY students attending South Cash. Um on December 22nd of this past year, a public notice regarding the upcoming or this um September uh sorry, this upcoming I guess this current meeting um was sent out to parents to all the DI parents. And so today, after quite a while and significant discussion, thought and careful evaluation by many
003and likely including you, uh, district administration is recommending that beginning with the 2627 school year to move the secondary Spanish DI program from Ridgeline High School to Mountain Crest High School and keep the French DI program at Ridgeline High School. >> Thank you, John. >> Questions? Anyone have questions for John? All right. Thank you for that introduction. That's awesome. Um, for this public hearing, we have uh five people who have requested to speak in the public hearing. And so if as I call your name, hopefully I don't slaughter them too much. Uh, you will come to the podium and you'll have three minutes to speak. And before you start, please state your name and let us know um uh and then you can start speaking about uh the things that you want to. And um
004we are super lucky tonight that we have a student here to speak and uh one of our brightest students. So um could we have Evelyn Darnell please come first? >> [clears throat] >> Hi, my name is Evelyn Darnell and I am a current eighth grader at South Cash Middle School in the DLI program. This program has played a really big role in my life. I've learned so many amazing things and have had experiences I wouldn't have gotten without it. Recently, after Spanish class, I was talking with some of my friends about what high school we would go to if the GLI program was moved to Mountain Crest. One friend and I are positive we want to go to Ridgeline for various reasons. But another friend told us that this situation has been really stressful for
005her because she feels like she has to choose between staying with her friends or continuing in Spanish. That's a really hard decision to make at our age. At Southkash we have a daily enrichment period where students can be called into a teacher's room. Last week I was called into an enrichment that was only for Mountain Crest students. I was confused especially because another student in DLI wasn't called. It made me feel like it was already being assumed where I was going, even though nothing has been decided. Another important reason this matters to me is my sister. She will be a senior when I start high school, and being at the same school would make things much easier for my family, especially for transportation. It would also mean a lot to me to be able to
006continue the DI program alongside her during her last year of high school. This possible change is already affecting students, not just in the future, but right now. We care about this program and just want clear communication and the chance to make the best decision for ourselves. Thank you for listening. >> Thank you, Evelyn. That takes a lot of courage. We appreciate you being brave. >> Uh, next we have Rob Phelps. So, my name is Rob Phelps. I'm a parent. Um, I also had the opportunity to serve on the DLI committee as we had those four meetings and discussed many of these changes and that takes a lot of courage but is also why it was such a arduous process um because it does affect people's lives. Um, like I said, I did get to serve
007on the committee. It was a good opportunity for me to work with other individuals in the community who um are passionate about our youth and willing to actively participate in the processes that ultimately decide the opportunities that they have in the future. Um and honestly I wanted to understand the program better. None of my four kids got to participate in the DLI program. we were in Wellsville and there just weren't any opportunities that made sense for our family at the time. So I I truly wanted to understand um also um it was important important for me to keep in mind that ultimately the DLI program is a privilege by its very nature. Um it caters to a reflective a relatively small percentage of our overall population of students in the valley. And so I felt
008even a heavier weight because of that and that we needed to make sure we were using such valuable resources as fairly inequities equitably as possible within that small group. Um as a committee member I'm proud of the work that we accomplished. There were options discussed that were systematically dismissed just because it became obvious that they were not viable um for logistical and financial reasons. There were other things that carried through um that we we turned our focus to. In the end, we're able to return to and remain grounded in a focus of our task, which was the council and make a recommendation to the board that would allow for long-term viability of the program while also ensuring optimal equity and access to the entire district student population. Um I believe that we accomplished that task
009within the parameters that we were given with the proposal that was that was given to the board. Although those although the proposed changes weren't convenient and optimal for some even some of the community me or committee members and their families the plan which ultimately was presented to the board was done so after a unanimous vote of of support of all committee members. I commend the commi those on the committee who were willing to and able to work through the process at times setting aside their personal feelings or the effect that it may have on their individual families um and recognize the need for change in order to to do what we were tasked to do and that was to ensure a more equitable and accessible DLI program throughout the district that was sustainable. Again, thank
010you for your time. I'm thankful to have been part of that committee and that process and I encourage you to vote in the affirmative for those changes. Thank you. >> Thank you, Rob. >> Next, we have Monica Tanel. Are you speaking at this one? >> I guess so. >> Okay. I speak with a little bit of hesitancy because I'm really not super well informed to be honest about how these decisions were made, but I will just stand here and tell you that my family has been blessed. Um, my two older boys have been part of the DLI program. I am a Spanish speaker. This has been an a valuable resource for my children to also learn the language that I love and want them to speak as well. So, I'm very grateful, but I am
011sad to say that they will likely not continue on after elementary school because of the proposed changes. And um it's it's just a challenge. I know we can't you can't please everyone in their in their personal situations, but um you know, in my mind, Spanish the Spanish DI program, I would assume it would be the most sought out program. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it it's challenging for me to think that it's going to now be at the furthest south school in the valley. And to me, that doesn't seem like the area that's more available for the majority. But I may be wrong. That's just my assumption. But again, I'm thankful for the effort here by so many. Um I wish my kids could see this through till the end. I have two younger
012children that will start at the new um uh Spring Creek Elementary School. So, I'm grateful for that. We'll see that through until we can't any longer. But it's just unfortunately unfortunate because what a wonderful resource and as a native Spanish speaker who still wants um additional support for my children. I value it, but it's just too sad for me that it will no longer work with our personal family situation. So, I just thought I'd share that. But again, thank you. Appreciate all you do. >> Thank you, Monica. Thanks for being here. Uh, next we have Mitch Sharp. Um, I guess my concern I guess my concern that I've got is not so much for the boundary changes. um just me and my wife were we signed up our daughter to go to the I guess
013the lottery for the DLI program and we've already been told many times that it's been full and that you know not everyone's going to be making into the program but we still see more and more emails saying like oh keep signing up for the program or we just why are we spending resources on advertising more for a program that more and more people will not get into? Why are we spending those resources on that instead of having a deadline and saying, "Okay, we're going to accomplish, you know, these or applications are for this time period." Cuz if I miss an application for a project at work or something like that, I don't get funding for my project. So why can't we apply a similar mentality to something like this for the DLI program? If you
014don't meet the deadline, you don't get to participate in the program. Would you like to speak with an administrator? >> I guess sure, why not? >> All right. Um, Derek is not in here. John, do you want to take this one? >> All right. Thank you for coming, Mr. Sharp. Uh, next we have Sandra Alanti. >> Are you sure? All right. Um that is the end of our list of people who have signed up for this uh public hearing about the um Spanish DLI program boundary change. And so um we uh I will take a motion to adjourn this public hearing. >> I move that we adjurnn. >> I second it. It's been moved and seconded that we adjourn this public hearing and that requires no discussion. So we will um adjourn and then we'll