Mar 10, 2026 AESD Regular Board of Education Meeting

001One, two, test. Heat. Heat. Oat. Yep. They are Heat. Heat. We're going to start the meeting in uh 60 seconds. 1 minute. All right. Ready? You ready? >> Oh, I didn't even see the timer. I'm just looking at the >> All right. Ready everyone? Looks like we're ready. All right. Good evening everyone. Good evening. >> Time is 5:30. I'm going to call to order the regular meeting of the Alanto Elementary School District. It is March the 10th, 2026. And again, the fi the time is 5:30. We're going to roll call and quorum establishment. Miss Lavey. >> Trusty Krauss. >> Krauss present. >> Trusty Ker. >> Kyer present. >> Trusty Lef French. >> Le French present. >> Trusty Stewart. >> Stewart present. >> Trusty Sodto >> Sto present. We have a quorum. Moving on to number

002two. The adoption of the agenda. Do we have any proposed additions, deletions, or revisions in the order of business? >> President Soda, did you want to do the pledge of allegiance first? Oh, yes I do actually. Uh BP Kyra, please you can lead us. >> If I could have everyone please stand and place your right hand over your heart. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the for it stands one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you, Miss Leave. Moving on to now number two. Uh, proposed additions, deletions, and adjustments in the order of business. >> Yes, we do. We do have an amendment this evening. Item 13.3 under new business, approval of Chromebooks. Uh, we need to amend this to say

003that the purchase of these Chromebooks will be done utilizing SEMAS. That's Cas number 3-20-70-3813A. >> Okay. I have done seas. Do we >> All right. We'll have that record be reflected then. Moving on to the adoption of the agenda. Trustees, I'll entertain a motion. I motion that we approve. Is there a second? >> Ker, I second. >> Uh, Miss Levy, the roll call, please. >> Trusty Krauss. >> Krauss. I. >> Trusty Ker. >> Ker. I. Trusty Le French. >> Le I. >> Trusty Stewart. >> Stewart. I. >> Trusty Stoodto. >> Sodto. I. Motion passes. 5-0. >> Oh. >> All right. Moving on to staff reports and presentations. Educational services. We have three schools for student showcases. Dr. Viegas. >> Absolutely. Thank you so much. This has got to be the favorite part of of the

004board meeting for for most of us. And good evening to all and members of the board and and the uh Elanto families. Uh tonight we have a chance to celebrate the creativity and dedication and hard work of our students. And we will begin like was said before uh we have three schools. We will begin with Adelanto Elementary School led by Principal Ramon Rizzo. uh where students will share some of their learning and practices uh they engage in every day and then after that we'll hear from uh Bradock Elementary School under the principal Christina Valenzuela and they'll share the students projects and finally we'll hear from El Marrage School with principal Kentra Johnson will highlight the creativity of their students. So please join them and please join us and give them a big round of applause

005as they come up. So, we'll start with Adoranto. >> Hi, good evening. Uh, we do have some handouts for you, but then let me go over the introduction first. So, good evening, board president. Um, and interim superintendent Dr. Viegas and executive board. My name is Mr. Rizzo. Um, I am the proud principal over at Atlanta Elementary School. I'd like to introduce to you Miss Fernandez. Miss Fernandez is with me today, a hope scholars teacher and our AES PBIS coach. All right, gold level. Um, she along with Miss Flores worked with at risk students in a very structured and instruct and instructional setting using various seal social emotional learning strategies. Today she is here to demonstrate to the board a restorative practice strategy. This strategy using social emotional learning circles helps build positive relationships by creating

006a safe and respectful space where students feel heard, valued, and connected through open dialogue and shared experiences. Students develop trust, empathy, and communication skills, which strengthens their sense of belonging and promotes a supportive classroom environment. So, I've walked in on on uh on a couple occasions to their um morning like um kind of check-in circles with uh the hope scholar students and it is amazing how students could open up about it could be anything how they're feeling how their morning's going maybe an issue that they're thinking about so I'm going to let um uh Miss Fernandez go over that with you but it's really exciting we're doing it not only with the hope scholar students but also our genet students as well Fernandez how about Miss Fernandez huh round of applause Do we have a

007slide? >> Okay, we got a slide, but it's okay. Um, so I'm just going to demonstrate um something that we do really quick. It can take like 30 seconds to a minute. I've done it from elementary to middle school. Um, we do it every day um at our Hope Scholars and we do it several times during the day for a check-in. Um, so I know you guys can't Can you guys say can you respond if I do an activity? We do the activity. >> Is that okay? >> That's fine. >> Is that okay? Yeah. Okay. So, um, just so we'll do it like with us if that's okay. All right. So, one thing that we do really quick to find out because um, if you've ever asked um some teenager or anybody like about their

008day or something to get like one word answers um, how they're feeling, I don't know. So, like there's not a lot of dialogue that happens. So, um, at our school, we use a one through five system. Um, one is low, so like I'm here. I'm present. Three is medium. I'm good. I'm okay. I'm I'm functioning. And five is like, woo, I'm ready to go. I'm excited. I'm happy to be here. Um, so I'm going to just do really quick and I'll explain it after. Yeah. Okay. So, um, uh, Mr. Cross, can I start with somebody? So, would you let me know one through five how you're feeling? So, one's low, three medium, five's five. >> Five. >> Well, I'm a four. >> Okay. >> Four. >> In good fashion, I am a five. >> Oh

009my god. >> Four. I'm a five. >> Yes. >> All right. So, in that sense, just a few seconds, I was able to kind of see where everybody's at. So, um, if you know me, I can have a lot of, uh, I get excited really easy, and sometimes I'll come in as a five and the kids are like, well, like, calm down. Bring that energy down. And sometimes, um, you know, life happens and I'll come in like a one or a two. I got some health issues going in. So, like, I'm coming in kind of low. And so, I it gives me a vibe of kind of where the kids are at. Or like even an adult and our my co-workers will ask like, "What's your number?" And so it kind of gives you like

010a 30 second idea of like where someone's at. And then through the day, I'll do a check-in. So like my ones, that might be someone that I kind of check in after. Um when I taught third grade, it was um there were some harder cases that came out of of looking at those numbers. So that's something that we do every day. It's really quick. It doesn't require a big response, but then they can come back and talk to us about it. And the next part of what we do also is um is ask uh questions. So um I already passed. >> Oh, you passed out. Oh, sorry. Um, so, uh, we'll ask questions. There's a bunch. So, I just gave a couple pages. So, it's to get to know you. So, um, so our job

011is education, but at the end of it, we have to reach these students, and they're they're humans. So, like I I don't know a student by their test score. I know who the student is, and that's a way to get to know you. So, getting to know about their favorite color, about their favorite snack, about things about them, getting to know something personal about them. So, like every day doing a quick check-in. Um, we also started would you rather um because sometimes the questions they don't want to answer right away. So we'll do like would you rather questions something silly so it kind of breaks it up and gets our day started. Um so we've been really implementing it at our school. We've been doing it with the PBIS and um it's interesting because a

012lot of the um a lot of the we had some girl groups on campus that kind of needed that conversation and so now they're asking for it and they're getting these conversations. Am I able to walk down the hall and be like, "Hey, what's your number?" and and see it. So, um that's just kind of explaining what we did and then is there anything you want to add to that? >> Oh, sorry. Um and I for time wise I want to ask you guys a question, but do you guys have any questions further with that? >> Mr. Krauss, >> no questions, but I want to thank you for this. This is a great uh starter I think for our students to look at and and uh do you do you allow them to pick a

013a question on here or do you pick it for them and then have them, you know, talk about that question because there's a lot of great questions on here. Sometimes we'll ask them if they want to. Uh, a lot we have a little um like a little card thing I have so they can submit their own questions or would you rather um everything we do on our campus is um as a whole. So I'm I'm never leading something. We do something with the students. So um so a lot of the questions and stuff they're they're choosing um so kind of and then they'll decide like are we doing a would you rather or we doing a circle question. Um and it's a lot of stuff we got from um being a because I'm a starter

014practice trainer. So it's from that too. >> Oh, thank you. I appreciate you being here. Thank you, Trusty Stewart. >> No, I I just want want to say thank thank you. I I I always enjoy the the the interactions with you because your p passion always come comes through and I think that this this is good to to kind of show the pub public what what's being being done in the classrooms. So it isn't just test math ELA test. It's like how are you feel feeling which can really really help the kids you know get get through with the day because some do have have a hard hard time and some just like like to share because they did have a great day. So it let lets them share and so thank thank you >>

015trusty Lef French. >> Well thank you for being here. I always enjoy hearing what's going on at the whole program and I'm going to use some of these for ice breakers at my next agenda for work. This is pretty good to say like if your pet could talk, what would they say? >> Thank you, >> Peer. >> All righty. I want to start this evening by saying thank you to both of you for being here highlighting Adalento Elementary School and then also kind of giving a giving us a glimpse of what goes on every day and the influence that our staff has on our students. It is essential we build those bridges and I I do have to give elementary school, you know, that gold star because you've always focused on the students and making

016them feel safe at at school so that they can thrive. So thank you again. >> Thank you colleagues and thank you for being here. Thanks for your presentation. These are great relationship building activities or questions. So thank you uh Dr. Vas did you want to add anything or no? I I really think especially this day and age the social emotional uh being and how students are is really important to make sure that that we we take u take note of those and that we we build on that. And I think we know that if students aren't engaged socially, emotionally, then they're not going to be engaged. So I I appreciate the the fact that you're considering that and you're making them uh get that that that basic social emotional learning happening uh to build for

017academic learning. So thank you for that. >> Thank you. And next we have Bradic. Bradic in the house. Oh, they're preparing. I wonder who I am. Good evening, board president stood, board of trustees, executive cabinet, interim superintendent, Dr. Viegas, AESD staff, students, families, and community members. My name is Christina Valenuela, and I'm the principal of Bradic Elementary School. I'm accompanied by my amazing staff and students, including my co-administrator and friend, Dr. Josephine Wade. Before we begin, we would like to start our presentation with a land acknowledgement presented by Theiago Abazon, who is one of our fifth grade safe school ambassadors. Before we begin our meeting, we would like to take a moment to acknowledge the land on which we gathered today. We are joining from Adilanto, which is a traditional, ancestral, and unseated territory of

018the Sorrano people. We honor and respect the many diverse indigenous people who continue to have a deep connection to this land. We thank them for their stewardship and care of these lands over countless generations. We pay our respects to their elders, past, present, and emerging, and extend that respect to all indigenous people who may be present with us today. As we move forward in our work together, let us remain mindful of our responsibility to respect, uplift, and support indigenous communities. May our work reflect a continued commitment to inclusivity, equity, and respect for all. The purpose of our land acknowledgement serves as a reminder of the importance of a strong foundation. A strong foundation ensur ensures stability as well as longevity. Our community school grant became the foundation that allowed us to envision a series of

019different possibilities beginning with our community garden. Our community garden fostered by Mr. A, Miss Corona, Miss Navaro, and Miss Melanie has developed into a safe space for our students, a place where they can develop their life skills while contributing to the well-being of our community. Our dream to tackle food insecurity and instability has led us to the development of part partnerships within and outside of our district. We are presently working with Bing Turner, co-founder of Heritage Farmers Market to establish the first farmers market in Adalanto. We are excited to begin this new endeavor soon. With that said, we have extended our garden with the intention of creating outdoor calming areas for both our staff and students. Wellness continues to be at the forefront of our decision-making processes and we hope that these spaces when implemented

020will continue to see positive results in terms of student outcomes and staff productivity. In the vein of positive outcomes, we have seen the the our parent and student engagement increase with introduction of our art programs. Last year, Arts After Dark increased our parent involvement, selling out within the first 20 minutes of each session being announced. families just couldn't get enough. And after reflecting on our parents' feedback, we realized that art was the answer that we were looking for. This is why we developed an art specialist position at our site. The incorporation of an art program in our schedule has not only allowed allowed us to expose our students to local culture, but also clearly demonstrated the impact electives have on core subjects. Additionally, Mr. Perez and his third grade class have developed a 3D printing

021program, allowing students to create and learn at art on an entrepreneurial level. This has encouraged us to reach out to the CDE to see if we can become the first elementary CTE in the county. Thank you, Miss Chi, Miss Martin, and Mr. Perez for coming to us and sharing your magic. We truly appreciate you. Last but not least, our community school team has completely exceeded our expectations, developing partnership after partnership while providing new opportunities to parents, staff, and students districtwide. Our objective has always been to divide divide the odds. Simply put, we are only limited to that which we can dream. donuts with dads, our many farmers markets, beauty salons coming together to provide haircuts to students for for free, sped workshops, financial literacy training, and immigration support. The list goes on and on. We

022are grateful for what we've accomplished, but believe that the opportunity to have a building will allow us to expand our vision into something even better. The vision is shared by our governor who is propos proposing that community schools receive permanent funding. We are ecstatic about that possibility and all the good things we know will come as a result of it. Finally, we look forward to continued district support and financial backing to help us realize our dream. We could not have accomplished any of this without you. At this time, we would like to conclude our presentation with a gift for each of you. Again, thank you for your time and your consider uh your continued support. Have a great evening. Can we approach the dis? Thank you. Thank you guys. >> Thank you. Dr. Ves, uh,

023next we have our next presentation. >> Um, Elmarrage. >> Yes. So, now we have Elmarrage under Ker Johnson. Good evening uh to all the board members to cabinet uh Dr. Viegas uh the audience that are that are assembled here and online. I want to say good evening to everyone. Uh I just want to say my name is Ker Johnson. I'm the principal. I'm we like to say in Adilanto that we are the proud principal of our school. So I am the proud principal of uh El Mrage. And today I'm just going to go over a few highlights uh of what Elmarrage has been doing. The the objectives for tonight are to focus on the highlights of the school. Uh the month of March is dedicated to women's history month. So we've been focusing on uh

024honoring uh the women that are very famous uh and also the mothers that are a part of every child's life. We're going to be learning tonight about uh Belma Rudolph with some of the presentations that the students from Elmarrage have given to us and we want to connect the last but not least we want to connect to the power of perseverance uh through a student. So uh in this uh picture what we're seeing uh is are the kids in El Mar at El at Elm Marrage. You see us assembled and uh we have a campaign in Adilanto where we talk about uh Thrive 95 where we're the goal is to get 95% attendance uh in our in every month. We want to have kids coming to school and if we can't uh if they're not

025coming to school, we want to know why they're not coming and try to encourage them to come. So, this day here that you're seeing was just a simple uh assembly of us getting together and trying to encourage our kids to come to school and reminding them of the importance. I want to say that El Mrage uh is a small school, but we have mighty uh classrooms. The kids are learning coding. Coding is a skill where you are uh putting in a code to a computer and the computer is uh uh giving messages and whether it be a web page or whether it be uh movement and in some of these work samples you're seeing uh both of those. You're seeing uh I think in the upper left corner you might see in where it's you

026see a yellow picture here. those uh actually move and they were uh programmed by the students. You can see the students inside of the classroom working on their coding and that's what's going on at Elm Mirage. We also have a program called Future Business Leaders Association where we uh we it's also known as FBLA and in this picture what you're looking at is this was a day where students were able to go to officer and advisor training day and they're very proud of their positions as president, vice president, secretary, uh VP of vice president of events and historian and we have a lot of kids uh they were able to go to conferences. Uh recently went to Los Osos High School where they had competitions. We're very proud of the FBLA program and we do

027anticipate having uh more updates to the board on what's going on at Elm Mirage. We uh try to uh really incentivize the students to read. Um I'm proud to say that we have been improving in our uh in our measurements. Uh students have shown growth and we want to in we want to continue that growth. And so what we did was we invited the firefighters to come out and read to the students. The students really really enjoyed it. Uh and it just was a way to really get the young ones involved in reading and uh encouraging that. So, also to highlight on on another note, this last uh fall we had a fall literacy night where parents were able to come out. We had vendors uh and we had a great time. So, uh this

028is our FBA uh competition. Future B, excuse me, Future Business Leaders Association teaches our children uh how to dress for success. We teach them about uh career career opportunities. And so what you're seeing here is a photo of students that are dressing like future business. You see them in uh shirt and ties. You see them in suit coats. Uh the ladies are wearing uh dresses as if they are ready to go and choose a career. This is a message to the board members from El Mirage students. We have a student here. His name is Cody. I don't know if he's in the audience tonight. I don't see him, but um I did let him know him and his mom know that uh he would be giving a message to the board members. So, if we

029can press play, my name is and I'm about three gold medals. Wow, she's fast. So, uh, Cody is a first grader, and he did some research on Velma Rudolph. We have a lot of young researchers at our school. Uh, and what he discovered was that she was an Olympic champion. She won three gold medals, and that she was fast. I'm sorry about the audio issues. Excellent. So, we'd like for a board member to uh we want to get a little interactive here. We'd like for the board members to participate in reading and then we'd like for the audience to read a uh uh the next slide. So, if we could have one board member volunteer to read this first uh sentence, >> we can go whoever wants to read want to turn on their mic

030and read it out. Um or does it French? >> Wilma was born prematurely at 4.5 pounds. >> Isn't that amazing? She was born prematurely at 4.5 pounds. Audience, what do you read? >> Can we have the next slide? Board member, the second board member, can we read this? >> Wilma had several childhood illnesses including pneumonia, scarlet fever, and polio. >> Audience, can you please read >> next sentence? Board members Stewart Rudolph wore a leg brace from age 5 to 12 year years old. >> Audience, >> next sentence. Trusty Krauss. >> For two years, Wilma made weekly bus trips 50 miles from home to receive treatment to regain the strength of her weakened leg. >> Audience, >> last sentence. Rudolph wore an arthopedic shoe for two years. audience. >> So, this is a picture of from

031our student Jimmy who is uh research and he's basically saying that this same person that had all of these obstacles with pneumonia and polio and all of these other things that sometimes get us down. Uh Jimmy's showing us that uh she won three gold medals. >> Last but not least, we want to hear from Sadi, which is also a first grader. >> Hi, good morning members. My name is Satie. Today I am going to tell you about Rudolph is never gave up. >> So, she never gave up. And I want to let every student in Adilanto know, no matter what you're dealing with, you don't give up. You keep studying, keep doing your part, and you will succeed. Thank you, board members. Thank you. All right, moving on to educational services staff report of the

032Williams settlement second quarterly report 2025 2026. Dr. Viegas. >> Yes, I'd like to introduce Dr. Kay who's going to share a little bit of what we're going to see. >> I'm just going to tell you real quick, we didn't have any complaints for the second quarter and we're real proud of that. Thank you. >> Thank you. Moving on to number three, presentation of the community facilities development formation by Jesse Landry. Key analytics. >> So, Mr. Calpin, if you can speak to this just a bit. >> Thank you. >> Yes. We just uh thank Jesse Landry for coming tonight to discuss the CFDs in relation to some that have been in the past and then the upcoming CFDs uh that the district will be um working toward. Thank you, Jesse, for coming again tonight. >> Thank

033you, Mr. McCinen. And good evening, members of the board, uh, members of district staff and members of the public. My name is Jesse Landry, vice president at Key Analytics, and our firm assists the Adalanto Elementary School District with the administration of its community facilities districts or CFDs. So, I have a quick presentation I'm going to walk through. We're not taking any actions tonight. This is really to prep the board, answer any questions as we'll see a slew of items coming forward um over the next couple months very similar to processes that we've done over the last three or four years that I think the board's familiar with All right. So, just a little background again on community facilities districts. So, this is a specific area where a t a special tax is levied over the

034property. Um, it's done under the Mel Rouge Act and it must be formed by a school district or water district or a city. Really, for a school district, why do we do this? because our statutory school fees that we would collect from new residential development is not sufficient to build the school facilities needed to house the kids that come from these developments. It's a mechanism of a structure that was created back in 1998 um that has been updated through general construction costs that don't keep up keep up to date with the actual construction costs that school districts incur today. So that's why we enter into these um because it's an opportunity for the district to get additional funding to build schools. So a little background on the CFD program of the district. So right now

035you guys have nine distinct taxing entities that are out there. CFDs one through five with some various improvement areas. I referenced before this is going to be similar to the processes we've done in the past. Go back to TW 202122. We did a change proceeding for CFD number four. um that changed the tax rates to account for this uh account for a new development that Dr. Horton was putting in. They completed that project, the Santelina project. And then a couple years ago, we completed a very similar process for improvement area B and improvement area C of CFD number one that are no longer on the list. We got rid of those and then we created CFD number five with its four improvement areas. Dr. Horton completed that Santelina project. School district issued bonds, received funding

036for school facilities and then Dr. Horton moved across the street. This is all near West Creek um West Creek Elementary. Moved across the street and started developing that this year. So, we've just started to levy tax uh for the first year and we'll be back in front of the board um over the next several years as as they get enough development to issue bonds and fund more school facilities. So, this process is going to be very similar to that last one that we completed in 2024. Um where we're taking uh safety number three, taking a portion of portion of it, getting rid of it, and creating something new that fits it. This is the last one like this. I'll I'll I'll promise on that because all of these CFDs that had these issues were ones

037that were formed prior to the Great Recession projects were created. They were based on what was going to be get built back then. They were formed. They sat there some of these sat there dormant for you know 20 years and then once they once a developer came in was ready to start to build that old CFD didn't make any sense anymore. That's a similar process we'll talk about today. So a little background on CFD number three. Um this was originally formed again uh 2006. Uh they they set it up in two different areas. You'll see down there at the bottom right area one had 80 planned units and area two had 146 planned units. So area one built uh today you can see though what happened there. You'll see at the bottom left 34 units

038built in 0708 and then stalled out and and nothing happened for 13 years. Somebody came back and built the the last few units and now they have 80 units that are there. Currently that CFD number three will end in 201551. So what's happened is area two was purchased by Legacy Homes recently and they're coming in and wanting to build 142 homes on the property. As it stands right now, they would live within CFD number three. Couple issues with that. They're building much smaller units and the tax rates for CFD number three are based on things that would be larger units. Um, so they want to lower down the special tax amount that would be levied in these 142 units, extend out the special tax duration because right now if they end in 5051, it takes

039them five years to get developed, the district will not be in a position to issue 30-year special tax bonds, which was the original intention of the CFD back in 06. So because it sat dormant for so long for 20 years now, that CFD doesn't work with the timing constraints. and they also offered a mitigation payment that would be representative of 150% of statutory school fees. So, as I mentioned, this is the reason why uh the district engages in a CFD program. So, in order to align with those new developments, we've been they've we've been negotiating with that developer um to look for an opportunity to both lower down what the annual special tax would be on the property and then increase what they've uh what they offered with that 150%. So, we've had an agreement

040from Legacy Homes to move that mitigation premium up to 160% of statutory school fees. So, we'll get a little bit more money for the school district. Um, and then eliminate what they they had proposed, including JCFA partners. We've eliminated those. So, we actually kind of best of both worlds were able to lower the special tax that's going to be levied on the community and increase the funding for what Alanto would receive uh whenever it is time to issue bonds. So all in all, this project expected to generate based on um the minimum levels of funding about 1.7 million in funding in today's dollars. Based on current market conditions, I'm going to estimate it's about $2 million that the district would get for school facilities funding from this project. So a little bit about next steps.

041So we'd be looking at the April meeting to come again with that slew of documents. This is the what we call a resolution of intention action where we start the process for forming the new CFD number six and dissolving at least the 142 units dissolving CFD number three for them. Um we'd set a public hearing and come back on May 26 where we'd hold a landowner election and finalize the process. The timing is important in this one because Legacy Homes has already begun to pull building permits for properties. And this process, if we are going to do a fix of this process, it needs to be completed before they start to sell homes. And that's projected for this summer. So, we're they're moving out there. They're moving uh dirt and and going vertical on homes

042on the model units right now. Um once we complete that May 26 meeting, we basically wrapped up any of the board actions that would be needed for this uh reconfiguration process. We'd record the leans uh for the new safety number six and then dissolve the leans for safety number three off the property and fulfill that replacement. What happens then? As the property develops, we'll levy a special tax. Once so much development happens, then we'd be in a position to issue bonds and access that $1.7 to$2 million for school facilities funding. Awesome. Thank you. Uh, any questions, trustees? Trusty Krauss? >> Yes. Thank you, President Sto. Uh, thank you, Mr. Landry. I do have a question. If we can go back to slide three uh in your presentation, if staff are able to pull back up

043slide three, um, it's called CFD number three, background. And looking at the map, while they're pulling that up on there in the bottom right, uh it's my understanding when I looked at this on Google Maps, this is south of currently uh the closest schools will be West Creek, uh Milva Davis, and uh uh Gus Franklin that are up there. >> I believe West Creek and then I know Mojave is the border for the middle school. So >> So what schools would be in CFD6 or what could potentially benefit from that 1.7 to 2 million? That's what I was just curious about because there's no schools directly in that CFD rectangle that's there and so I believe West Creek is the elementary school on the middle school I'm not sure if it's Col I think the

044border is right on Mojave if I recall correctly I could be wrong on that >> uh it's Mel so Melva Davis okay so in addition to the direct attendance uh areas that can be affected the CFD can also be utilized to support uh central support and admin so you do have any programs or projects that are going to benefit districtwide. Um, say for instance like a at a Gus Franklin or something where it's it's something that's open. I believe that's open to the entire district to go to those school. You would have the opportunity to utilize funding at those places. Then in addition, if you have overcrowding at the specific direct attendance boundary area, you can sometimes build classrooms at the next school over in order alleviate overcrowding to free up seats for this these

045folks and these children to go to those direct schools. >> Well, I appreciate you segueing into my last question on that. So, we do a developer fee study every year, which basically uh looks at any the enrollment trends. Um, do you know if the 146 houses in here have been calculated into our latest developer fee study because that could affect enrollment at either West Creek or to the east we have Bradock and uh, Victoria McGathan. So, um, I'm just curious to know if there's been an opportunity to explore what that might 146 could be 146 new students. Not saying that every family is going to have children, but um, what are your thoughts on that? >> Yeah, this would definitely be incorporated into the next V study justification report. I think currently um we're we're

046working on that right now. So I think we'll be coming back probably at that May I think is our target date. So when we'd be taking the election action, we'd be coming back with a an updated fee justification study. Um back in late January, the state allocation board increased the fee levels um for unified school districts and we would be a beneficiary of that. I believe my estimate was at Alanto would be up to $3.51 per square foot. Don't quote me on that. Um, but I think that's going to be the next B level that the district will be able to justify. >> All right. Thank you. That's all the questions I have. Thank you for your presentation. >> Trusty Stewart. >> I have none. Thank Thank you. >> Trusty the French Ker. >> I

047I do need some clarification because if I recollect the last one which represented the West Creek, certain funds went to Colombia as well. Does it matter if it's a parent choice versus a a full public school? >> Yeah, I think in my view the parent choice schools would be open for any CFD to fund because they provide a service that's really districtwide. So, anything that we can make the claim that any child could go to that it it would we need to draw a direct line of benefit from how we're spending the dollars and and the services that are available to the community members within this specific area. So, if we can make that case that uh you know there's a a classroom or a educational program that's provided on a district-wide basis, then that

048would be something the facilities of which would be eligible to be funded. With CFDs, they have to fun that's tangible, that has a real life of at least five years or more, a useful life of five years or more. >> Okay. So, because we have two parent choice schools right near this, and I was just curious how that works. So, they both would be eligible to receive funding. Perfect. >> Yeah. So really you have your direct attendance boundaries, all those uh district-wide kind of service facilities, central support and admin uh that support those classrooms. And then that other mention that I had said about alleviation of overcrowding at the direct school site can allow the ability to fund a classroom or two across at the next uh school district to alleviate overcrowding. >> Perfect. Thank

049you. >> Thank you. And I had one question. Something came up. What is a landowner election? >> So, a landowner election is one if there's less than 12 registered voters in an area, you can run a landowner election. And that's how these CFDs or community facilities districts are typically formed. They're typically formed by a developer who is a single landowner entity. And so, the way that the way that works is because in order to levy a tax here in the state of California, you need voter approval. In order to issue bonds, you need voter approval. Um, so that process for a CFD is done through a landowner election where they grant the CFD, which is a separate government governmental entity from the board and from the school district allows that CFD uh the ability to

050levy a tax and to issue bonds. And so that's the frequent u mechanism that's used to form CFDs is through a single ownership entity, a land owner. And then as homeowners purchase those properties, they have to be notified of that. They sign a notice of special tax detailing the dollar amount. the length of the tax and what types of facilities can be funded before they can purchase the home. >> Thank you. That's all I have. Thank you for the pres presentation. >> Appreciate it. Thank you everyone. >> All right, moving on to number four, presentation of fiscal year 2025 2026 second interim report. Dr. Viegas. >> Yes, thank you so much. And uh this is a really important presentation as it really uh provides us a a sense of of our fiscal health and where

051we are at this point in the year. Part of uh regulations for school districts are that they they report first interum, second interum, third interim uh during the school year and uh this is part of the second interim. So today we're going to look at at current year and projecting out two years ahead to see where we are. um you know one of the things you know you'll see some difference between what was projected in first uh first interim to the second interim because some assumptions have changed and so you know and that's what the the team is going to go through. So I'd like to introduce to you Mr. McCauin who's going to lead and and his team. So welcome and thank you. >> All right thank you interim superintendent uh Dr. Vegas and

052then good evening uh president stood board of trustees executive cabinet and then community staff and I don't know if there's any students left but uh thank you all for being here this evening so myself and then excuse me one second I just need to do my screen's blocked it's it's a popup there we go pop-ups at a board meeting um so myself and then uh we also have Mr. Zack Clemish, the director of fiscal services, is here to present on the second interim fiscal report for 2526. And again, this report tonight will be sharing some of the timeline overall of what second interim is, the certification process, and then we're going to kind of dig into the data about um that made up the numbers of second interim, and then we're going to complete it

053with some of the next steps uh that we're going to be talking about in terms of uh going forward for the rest of this year and the two um outy years. But the first slide I would like to share is we were talking about this in cabinet this morning and just wanted to include this because sometimes I think we get so caught up in the numbers and all these other things, but we just wanted to bring tonight just the mission, vision, and value statement that is on the district's website. We just want to make sure that we never lose track of what that is. And I really appreciated this part of the mission statement where it says to equip our students with the skills and knowledge to thrive in a diverse world. So just kind

054of want to share that as we begin talking about the numbers. And the first slide we'd like to talk about in terms of what the second interim is the overall reporting cycle. And you can see from this slide, these are all the different reports that we have provided this year. And as you can see based on the big circle, uh we are currently at the second interrum for 2526 in March. And this will be followed now by three additional reports that will be um progressing throughout the rest of this fiscal year. And again, a fiscal year for school districts is July 1st through June June 30th of every year. So just to keep that in mind, it's not similar not not the same as a calendar year. So again a fiscal year July 1st to

055June 30th but in May we will be presenting on the third interim report for 2526 followed then in June by both the budget public hearing and budget adoption. So in terms of a timeline for second interim this again is the actual financial data through January 31st 2026 with revised projections for the remainder of the fiscal year along with updates to the multi-year projection. And why I just wanted to read that bullet point specifically is just draw your eyes because I think it's important to remember that what makes up the second interim are the actual data. So the word actual is in there and then as well as projections. So again it's kind of both. It's not specific to just projections or actuals. Both of those are incorporated throughout this um second inim report. Ve very

056similar as well to the first in report in terms of what the data and what makes it up. Again the first in report was through October 31st. So again, second in is just giving us a um an updated um through a timeline of January 31st and as we're going to talk about in a moment, but it requires a certification for the district's ability to meet its financial obligations for the current year and two subsequent years, which again is the multi-year projection. And the board will approve this honor before March 15th. So, in terms of a certification, and we've gone over this before in the past, um so some of these should be um look familiar, but in terms of the three different types of possible certifications that a public unified school district like AESD can

057have would be a positive, a qualified, or a negative. So, in terms of the second uh excuse me, for second interim, the result is going to be a qualified certification. We're going to go through that tonight of why it's a qualified versus a positive, but just wanted to kind of read the sentence as well. the district may or may not meet its financial obligations for the current fiscal year to subsequent fiscal years. And that's why on the prior slide where we talked about some of the different reporting times that are going to be done that will now um require the district to to do a third in report again by the end of May. So what does all this mean in terms of you know we have some data down here at the bottom. So

058in terms of having a positive certification that would be that you the district maintains a reserve level or a total available reserve percentage of 3% or higher and where that 3% comes from is based on the student size of the district. So again aes based on its size to be positive would need to be at 3% or higher. So these three um data points down here at the bottom of the slide for 2526 the total available reserves as of now for second inim are going to be at 1.75 for 2627 for next fiscal year will be at 0.65 and then in 2728 positive would be at back above 3% which would be at 3.02. So again, we're going to give you the some of the data as to why those numbers are what they are

059right now. But also wanted to just um remember back if you will to first interrum and that was the district was positive for all three years. But if you remember it was at I believe 3.06 for two years and 3.61 for the third year out. So simply just want to share that the district was just above that kind of that median line for being positive or qualified at first in. So again we are below the line now but just want to share it wasn't as the reserve was at let's say 10% or something very high at first in terum. So again in a moment Zach is going to present what drew some of those numbers down. What is some of the data points as to why the district is going to be at a qualified

060certification for second interim. So again it's I think it's always very important to share what the attendance numbers are going to be in terms of enrollment and then average daily attendance or ADA as it's called. So just wanted to quickly give highlights about where the enrollment is. So you can see for 24257668 and then again has a drop from 2526 down to 7,452. But on a positive note and again these are projections based on where the students are at right now but has a slight increase of 7,463 students. So again, um, positive that overall enrollment's gone up a little bit or projected, I should say, projected to go up. And then ADA, which is really, you know, these are the percentage that are really important because this is what really drives the local control funding

061formula, the LCFF formula, and that's based on how often the enrolled students are sitting in the classroom, sitting in the seats in the classroom. So again, for 2425, that number was pretty low at 90.5%. And then on a positive note for 2526 the first interimm average daily attendance was um projected to be around 93.9. Now you can see we've dropped it down a little bit and that is because again maybe that was a little bit high based on the beginning of the year and a lot of times that happens if you will right students are always coming to school at the beginning and then as time goes on they kind of drop down. So, we just want to make sure that we're following those that the trend of what it looks like it's gone down

062a little bit and obviously we'll keep the board updated because these numbers are truly what really drives the overall overall revenue of the school district. So, these are very important. So, just want to say um you know the thrive for 95 I know um Mr. Johnson referenced that again. This is positive overall that if you look back at 2425 it's obviously gone up. So, that's um a a good thing overall for the district. And then before we talk about some of the numbers, just wanted to give a a quick update if you will just in terms of some of the terminology that we use. And this slide is just referencing again we use the term unrestricted funds and restricted funds. We gave some examples on here, but again unrestricted or dollars the district can allocate

063at its discretion to support general op operations, excuse me, and needs. And then restricted dollars that are legally required to be spent only on designated programs or activities following strict usage guidelines. So again, just wanted to reiterate those terms again as we're going to be talking about those on a few of the next slides. So at this time, we'd like to introduce Zack Clemish. Good evening everyone. Okay, this slide shows our projected combined revenues totaling $147 million. As you can see on the pie chart, the vast majority, $96.4 million, comes from LCFF funds. We also receive about $34.3 million in state funds like ELP and equity multiplier, $7 million in federal funds like all of our title dollars, title one, two, three, and four, and $9.1 million in local revenue such as redevelopment funds and

064various grants that we receive. This slide will be the opposite side, so it's going to be the expenditures and it totals $160 million. Of that amount, $120.9 million is tied to salaries and benefits. The remaining $39.1 million is spread across operational costs such as books and supplies, services such as utilities, capital outlay, which is equipment and facility improvements, and other and and other outgo such as payments to other agencies, as well as indirect such as district overhead charges. By combining the numbers from this slide and the previous slide, we show nearly a $13 million deficit. Here we are comparing the unrestricted ending balance from first interim to second interm updating revenues and making other adjustments such as revised colas and updated enrollment in ADA. We start with a lower beginning fund balance as second interim

065due to entering the 2425 audit adjustments. By combining the updated revenues, contributions and expenditures as shown with the arrow, we are left with a deficit of about $2.1 million at second interimm compared to the lesser deficit at first interim. This is due in part to increases in contributions and slightly lower revenue estimates from ADA and interest income. After applying the deficit to the beginning uh beginning balance, the ending fund balance is our total projected cash at year end. This slide compares a restricted ending fund balance from first interim to second interim. At second interim, our beginning fund balance remains the same. Revenues have increased after adding in a SUPA out of home refund to spend as well as adding in additional learning recovery block grant funds. Expenditures have decreased mostly due to dropping out dollars

066that look to be future fallout in equity multiplier funds. A fair amount of our restricted funds are categorized as unearned revenue, meaning the revenue and expenditures must match at the end of the year. In other words, they net to zero. After all restricted activity is accounted for, our ending fund balance is projected to increase to $27.8 million at the second interim compared to $21.4 million at first interim. Because these funds are restricted, the ending balance is not money we can re redirect elsewhere. It must stay within each categorical program and follow it as specific rules. This slide combines the previous two slides, the unrestricted and restricted fund balances into our full general fund picture. For 2526, we show a $12.9 million deficit. This deficit is largely due to spending down restricted program reserves for the

067current year, which is intentional and expected as these funds are used for their designated purposes before any possible expiration dates. For 2627, we project a $3.5 million deficit. And this accounts for natural attrition and resignations of positions along with a reduction of expenditures in supplies and services while also factoring in a textbook adoption and Chromebook leases. With these reductions compounding and further expenditure decreases in 2728, we see that we are no longer deficit spending. Here we will be discussing next steps. Firstly, in preparing for second interim, we started taking a deep dive at all department and site budgets. Moving forward, we will continue doing so and plan to collaborate with all department and site leaders, ensuring all expenditures are necessary and fully utilized. I will pass it back to Craig now. >> Thank you, Zach.

068And just wanted to um share from my prior experience in terms of this first bullet point about excuse me, reviewing all department budgets. What we want to do is talk to all the leaders of all the different departments and just make sure that we are utilizing all the the money that is being spent on different programs, whatever it might be. When I was a CBO years ago, I walked around, I was going to um sign a contract for a program that we were using. I walked around, started with a few conversations and started feeling like nobody's using this. Every single teacher in our district, one person was the only one using it anymore. So what we want to do is just be proactive and not just sign up for new contracts just because that's the

069way it's always been is start looking at all the dollars to make sure they're actually being utilized by staff members regardless of what that person would be or department they're in. We just want to make sure that everything is being maximized because again we really need to look at ways to save dollars for the district. Number two in terms of next steps we we just referenced again as we talked about earlier would be the third in report. Again, that will be updated revenue and expendure projections just as we've done today and at first interrum, but it'll be a third interrum type report along with all the multi-year projections, excuse me, will be updated. Now, the third bullet point and um myself and Dr. Viegas are going to share on this and he'll follow up um

070to kind of wrap up the conversation on this in a moment, but we would like to make a recommendation to the board of creating a budget stabilization committee. And what that means is to um have different parts of the community involved in this conversation. What I mean by community would be community members but also parents, staff, the different unions from CSEA, from ADTA, from management and have lots of different um folks being brought into the room and start with looking at the budget. And what what I mean by looking at the budget would be to start with kind of a budget 101, if you will, and talk about how do the revenues, how the expenditures, what do all the object codes, you know, kind of really talk about what makes up the budget, what does

071it all mean? so that everybody kind of has an understanding in terms of the projections, all the things we've sort of talked about tonight, today, excuse me. Um, but bringing everybody into the room to start collaboratively looking at everything and then allow to start having conversations about, hey, let's talk about travel and conference. Let's talk about different types of fees or different types of things the district signed up for and come together as a group to then as mentioned on here provide fiscal improvement recommendations to the board about ideas of maybe that the group has come together and looked at all the different type of solutions that we can bring to try to knock down the overall uh fiscal issues that the district is currently dealing with. So Dr. Vas, do you want to add

072anything? >> Absolutely. Thank you so much for that Mr. McCelp and Mr. Mr. Clemish uh for this the um I think one of the one of the main things that you know I want everyone to get out of this is like this is exactly why we have these types of uh presentations you know in the second so that we can take a good strong look some assumptions are made early on and then as a year goes on assumptions sometimes change you mentioned the ADA there was an expectation I thought that maybe the ADA was going to be a little bit higher turns out that it's not quite there consequently the the revenue is not going to be the same so uh this This is something that I think is really important that we take a

073moment in time and say at this moment in time, this is what it looks like. Uh and and the way the budget looks right now, we are going to have to take a strong look at um all the dollars and where we are. And I think the the idea of a committee would be to have all stakeholders really fully be aware and it's going to be a a standing committee of specific people that that come. So it's not a revolving door of different people but it is members from the community uh from all stakeholders from educational partners uh but it will be uh the same people that come together is is the proposed idea so that then we can look at what are the areas that would best uh most impact our students and one

074of the commitments that I think we all have is that the the dollars that we we use are impacting our students you know because that that really at the end of the day is why we're And so as we continue to look at the budget and we look at what outcomes we uh we want to accomplish, we want to make sure that we we look at how will these dollars impact uh the the students that we serve the most. But we're looking forward to uh taking this on. I think when when these kind of situations happen, it's an opportunity to uh look at various things, reevaluate and and rep prioritize certain things. Uh as was said earlier, >> thank you for >> Thank you guys for the presentation questions. We'll begin. Trusty Krauss. >> Yes.

075Thank you and thank you Mr. McGelp and Mr. Clemish. And uh on the very last page, we are thanking Sylvia Marin. I know that she works in the budget office and has worked with your team as well uh on this presentation. So thank you to all three of you. I did have some questions on if we want to turn back or you want to reference. >> Sure. >> Slide number six. Slide number six, local control funding formula attendance numbers. So, when we're looking at the enrollment from 24 to 25, it went down by about 216 students. Um, you may not have the answers tonight, but I think that might be something to look into where those 216 went, uh, why they left and how we could possibly bring them back. Um, because we see a

076big decline there, but then the next year it goes up by 11, which is positive, at least projection wise, right? uh on there. So, uh maybe perhaps as we move forward on looking at third interim, that could be something to bring those students back. Even though we're based on ADA funding, uh enrollment contributes to that ADA number. Um the 93.9% there for the first interim you have, was that P1? Do you know was that the P1 number right around there that we uh >> the 93.9? >> So 93.9 would have been right before P1. That's what we were hoping we were going to get, right? >> But, um, ADA is based on P2, which will be end of March, beginning of April. >> So, looking at the future months, that's why we're dropping it down

077to the 92.7 where we're currently projecting. >> Got it. Thank you for that. And I know that the district had been doing Saturday school and somehow it sort of went by the wayside, but I I would hope that as we move forward, uh, there's probably not much time between now and P2 and April to bring that back. But for next year, the years as we move forward, perhaps something we can look at, you know, bringing back to recapture that revenue uh for our ADA, but also for the children's education that has missed. All right, moving along to slide number 12, the general fund combined multi-year projections. So, one of the things we see there from uh uh the general fund on there, we've got uh a drop of about three million in revenues from 2526,

078but then it goes back up 4 million in 2728. Um and if you have any information on why you think the revenues dropped so drastically in uh 2627, but then go back up in 2728. So, a majority of that's going to be factoring in the strive for 95 uh the um campaign. That's the word I'm looking for. Uh so, in that third year out, we're not quite up to the 95 that we're projecting, but we are steadily increasing it, hoping to get closer to the 95%. >> Great. I appreciate that. And I do apologize. I missed one of my other questions. Let me find the slide about the deficit spending. Um back on slide number 10, this was my last question. I do appreciate your your time, gentlemen, on this. On the slide, when we

079look at the uh contributions 2526, we have 20.5 million, but then then it jumps up in 2526, a second interim, by about uh 1.9 million. uh that's a huge increase in the contributions which means that we're moving money from unrestricted general fund to a program or to sources on the restricted side that are incurring those expenditures. So from second interimm I mean from first interim in December till now has only been a few short months. Uh is there any way you could elaborate on where that 1.9 or the bulk of it perhaps is being contributed to what program or programs? uh because that again is a big chunk of money from December till till now to March uh as a contribution much majority of that's going to be related to SULPA contracted services uh increases

080uh with inflation and rates across the street everything um is climbing majority of that's going to be SUPPA related >> and SUPA is uh special education >> got it thank you so much. I appreciate it. Thank you for your time this evening, gentlemen. >> Thank you, Trusty Stewart. >> Um I I know in in the past we um things were being look looked at to move p personnel from the gen general unrestricted to re restricted based on their ti title and their job per you know things that they they did. Have we already done the M maximum and been a able to move, you know, employ employees from one to the the other? Are are we going to look at that more to see if more of that can be be done? Uh yes, we

081are always uh re reviewing all positions and funding types and uh when we start diving deeper in we'll look at uh seeing if we can rearrange some of the positions but um in the past we've always done that on like a quarterly basis. We review all positions and funding. But yes. >> Okay. Thank thank you. >> And the goal is obviously always to use restricted dollars first because again those are you know the money is given for the students of this year for the 25 26 year. So we always want to utilize those as best we can maximize those first before the unrestricted dollars. >> Okay. Thank thank you >> trusty French. >> Okay. I want to start off by saying thank you for your presentation and I want to thank all three of you

082intro superintendent everyone for meeting with me on Monday because it provided me with so much clarification that I greatly appreciate it. Um I was included. I appreciate that. So, one of the questions, a couple of questions that I do have is as far as what we talked about, um, I was asking about advertisement for us. I think that sometimes without having advertisement of what it that we're doing in adalanto that it doesn't get to the entire community or the entire um public because sometimes uh parents you know being a parent myself you move your children according to where you think that they're going to get the best education and I think that if we advertise more of the successful things that we are doing here in Adelanto then that will keep our children here and

083want other parents to bring their children here when we're advertising for our cho our choice schools or um you know our community um school you know for Bradock I think that the more advertisement that we do for the success of you know when our children move on a lot of our children um leave here you know and they go to um high school you know and they're going to high school and they're very successful in high school maybe those are some of the things that we need to um touch bases on and let the community know what it is that we have to offer, you know, here in Adelanto. Um let me see, I had another one. Um when it comes to understanding what what's going to be our timeline, I know that you guys

084touch based on a lot of things that I was going to ask, but I knew the answers anyway, but then you had the presentation. Um, what do you think our timeline is as far as what does it look like trying to get I know we say thrive, thrive, thrive, thrive, right? What else are we looking into? Because I do think that the meeting um of getting everyone together. That's an excellent idea. So, everyone is gets a clear understanding on where we are and how we got here and how we're going to move forward. Um, but what do you think that do you have something else that you're thinking that would help us besides the thrive to be able to bring our enrollment up? I know that we talked about uh maybe if there's um some

085other type of platform. What What do you have any other idea? One of the things that uh we we've talked about just uh tangently and I know it was it was mentioned just a little a little bit ago is ways of making up for our attendance. So like you know the Saturday makeupmies that would that would help u make that um make up attendance ongoing on an ongoing basis. you know, there's different legislation now that allows students to to be able to make up their their absences through an independent study process that is relatively new that uh we we could be able to tap into. But I think the the other pieces is also perhaps looking at other services that that help us market what we have at at a elevated level. And so we're

086looking into that to see uh cost analysis, whether or not the investment in in uh putting some money towards a company that would help us uh not necessarily market the schools, but but being able to monitor the attendance and and support the idea of increasing u the the attendance rates, through incentives, through u pushing the the messages out there by making sure they follow up. uh there's there's some companies out there that do that and we're we're looking into that as well and mechanisms that we can put in place to to help uh lift that. But overall, I think messaging to the entire community that uh attendance matters and it's important and that we need to have our students in school that that'll really make a big uh benefit. And so I it's I don't

087think it's one answer. I think it's a multiple answers. And I think that if we all commit and that's us at the district level, our board, school sites, and we say, you know, we all need to make sure our students come to school, not only because it helps us with with these types of matters, but because that's when they learn, and we and we make sure that students are able to come to school on a regular basis. That's going to help us in the long run. But all of those pieces together is what we're we're talking about. But I think part of the idea is uh coming together as a team and that stabilization committee will also come up with some ideas not only to say where are we going to reduce but how do

088we generate more revenue and that's one of the ways. >> Thank you BP Ker. >> All righty. Good evening. I will keep my comments short. I too had a meeting with these two fine gentlemen and Dr. Viegas last Friday. I wanted to take a moment and, you know, express my gratitude for we were able to sit down and have those tough questions answered. Not to mention also give us the idea of the next steps moving forward. I think your budget stabilization committee is a fantastic idea. We're bringing everyone together at the same table. So, not only do we get the real picture of what's going on, but we have the ideas uh that our community can instill for us to move forward and be proactive. I think that is a massive step forward with the

089inclusion of community along with us as the board giving us a a better understanding of where we are, what um trials and tribulations we will be facing, but also the hope that we know that we're going to get through it and we're going to go ahead and stabilize it and then we will thrive. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. Thank you. Um, I didn't have much questions, but I did something did come up I wanted to touch on real quick. Oh, at the last interim it was shared that we were taking money from our reserves and that the district has been doing that for years. So, I'm wondering if that was something that uh came up during the budget review, what the district is doing to stop taking money from the reserves and if

090that So, my question is what is the district doing to make sure that we no longer are taking money from our reserves? >> I wasn't here at the first in report. So, I don't do you have any clarification on >> uh I think that relates to the deficit spending. So that goes into reviewing all expenditures, trying to increase revenues with ADA enrollments and stuff like that. Uh but uh if we can eliminate the deficit, then we can start building up reserves again. >> Okay. And then um Oh, Dr. Vas. >> No, actually I was just going to say exactly what he said, which it has to do with if if we are spending more money than it's coming in, then it it's going to naturally be coming from from the reserves. uh in facto and

091and the ending balance. >> Okay. So, I'm hear what I'm hearing you guys say is that um addressing this budget, we're also going to address the the reserves as well. >> Correct. Yeah. If we're not deficit spending, then the reserve will will obviously go up. So, that's the goal is to start looking are there some structural deficits involved in the overall budget of the district and start figuring out ways to change those so that again the reserve level goes up and again more more money can be put into the classroom. I do support the uh budget stabilization committee. Um so I hope that at some point we can work um to make sure that you know it doesn't interfere with our budget committee. Thank you for your present. Oh, go ahead. Sorry. >> No, I

092was just going to say in and just in terms of the to piggyback on what Dr. Vega said, this is a committee as well though that's not just going to meet once or twice like it's going to be an ongoing for a handful of months. So just want to kind of make that to the to the board as well. This is not just kind of a I don't want to say a quick fix, but a quick uh meet once or twice and we're good to go. This is again um kind of really dig into the budget and spend some time on it. >> Awesome. Thank you so much. All right, >> moving on to Oh, um you guys you guys um Dr. Vas, this is just a presentation, but it's asking here for recommendation. Um

093it's just uh informationational. Can you clarify for the board? >> Yeah, certainly. the uh we're we're making we were making that recommendation and we I'm hearing from the board uh that that that's something that that seems to be something we want to do. So I think we will be going forward with that and just start putting that together. What we'll bring together is a a plan more specific plan with who and all would be invited exactly and and be part of the stabilization committee and and how often it would meet and we will bring that to the board and keep you informed every step of the way. And as you had indicated earlier, President Sto was it's not meant to uh have any connection with the board's um budget meeting committee. You know, I know

094that there was a selection of board members to be part of a budget committee. And I think what we will do is we'll meet with a stabilization committee and feed information to the board budget committee so that there could be more conversations from the board level and then it'll come to the board as well. But uh okay by the very by by our next board meeting we will bring a plan that demonstrates um who's going to be part of this committee and how often we will meet. That's that's the idea. Okay. Awesome. Thank you Dr. Viegas and thank you AP car for clarification. Moving on to now close session declaration. We'll be taking items two through five into close session. Before we go into close session, we're going to have the our vice president read

095the public comment speaker card. Thank you, president. The public comment period is administered by state law and is the point in the meeting set aside for members of the public to share their opinions with the board. Open meeting laws do not permit the board to engage in dialogue or answer questions. Any person who wishes to address the governing board on close session agenda items only must complete and submit an AESD speaker request form five minutes before the meeting is called to order. Public comments will only be taken on agenda items during the discussion of those items. The board values public comments and although the board of trustees cannot take action or discuss items not on the agenda, the board of trustees listens carefully and appreciates input from the public. Additionally, a public speaker can be

096cut off for exceeding the allotted time or for willfully causing an actual disruption to the meeting. Before cutting a person off or removing someone, the board will give at least one clear warning. If you were cut off or warned last time, please consider that your warning. Individual speakers are allowed three minutes to address the board on each closed session agenda item. The board limits the total time for public input on each item to 20 minutes. With board consent, the president may increase or decrease the time allowed for public presentation depending on the topic and the number of persons wishing to be heard. The president may take a poll of speakers for or against a particular issue and may ask that additional persons speak only if they have something new to add. Thank you VP card.

097The board does welcome public input, criticism, and differing viewpoints. However, public comment is not a forum for personal attacks, disruptive conduct, or commentary directed at individual trustees, staff, or audience members. Please direct your comments to the board as a as a whole. Speakers are expected to address the body, the board as a body, remain within the established time limits and conduct themselves in a respectful and orderly manner. As presiding officer, I have a responsibility under the Brown Act and the board policy to ensure meetings are conducted professionally and without disruption so the board can carry out its duties. The speaker engage in conduct engages in conduct that disrupts the public meeting or violates these standards. I will issue a warning and if necessary conclude the speaker's remarks with that understanding we will proceed with public

098comment. Miss Leave, do we have representative from ADTA? >> Yes, we do. Uh Stevian Tapia, please. Steven Tapia. So thank you um President Sto trustees Dr. Viegas cabinet CSA members ADTA members parents and students my name is Steven Tapia Steven Tapia I am president of ADTA. Um so I'll touch on some of the things that were presented today in regards to the budget committee. Um, I'd hope to be included in that and my budget watchdog has already sent me a text um, Debbie Thomas that she would like to be included in that as well. And we was mention about we don't do enough to advertise. We used to we used to get together all the sites of those of you who were around and we meet like at a middle school I think Columbia was

099at the time and we'd showcase what each school had to offer to the community. We do that about March, April, probably around this time. And we get it was it was fun. We showcase George. We have props. I remember doing a whole Lion King skit. And what we used to do that because not all the community knows us. Some have students here that or some have some live in the area, but students go elsewhere. So, we did have that available. So, maybe that's something we'd like to revisit. Um we were invited um I was invited yesterday um to meet with the directors at a meeting. Um Dr. Kazora, uh Mr. Sinatra, Dr. Lee, and Dr. Vith um were there. It was a very productive meeting. Um thank you for those. Thank you for that. It

100was a lot of open discussion about things that matter to our students and to our teachers and staff. Um, our teachers look forward to learning more about the upcoming summer school session and perhaps even some end of the year Saturday school sessions. Remember, our attendance matters right now and it matters to about April something. There's a date as far ADA. We all know that. So, we can do some Saturday school sessions now. We can do one. We can do two. Get the staff involved. We'll get our numbers up. Let's do this. So, we're committed to improving attendance and we understand that's one way that affects our budget. Let's do this. Let's get those kids. Let's get the teachers motivated. Let's get the community motivated. Dr. Lee, thank you. Thank you for inviting me to the

101meeting um and having several of us uh talk about upcoming um elot meetings. Um I think that's important, too. I believe that many good things could happen for ADTA and CSA members. Um lots lots of room for improvement. I I like the idea of us forming committees. Things that we should have already been doing just haven't happened for whatever reason, but I like the idea of things moving forward. Thank you, Mr. Shifflet, um, for having open discussions with me. We have a lot to tackle this year in bargaining, especially in our sped department that eats a lot of our budget up. Um, so I'm thank you for that open dialogue and that we're having and hope that helps us conquer that beast. Thank you to Yedi Peralta for helping me as presidents navigate the district

102office. I'm new here again. I'm discovering things. Know doors uh lead different places now. I don't know. Maybe I just don't remember. But thank you for answering all my questions that come your way. Once again, I'm here to build with you. We can and may turn each other down at times, but in order or tear each other down at times, but in order for us to grow, in order for us as a district to grow, we have to build. And that is what I will devote my time to do. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Next speaker, please. The board calls on CSCA and Jason Turks will be representing Diane Lynn this evening. >> Um, good evening, President Sodto, board members, interim superintendent Dr. Viegas, um, cabinet members, staff, and community members. My name is

103Jason Triggers and I'm a CSEA representative assigned to work with CSEA's Adelento Chapter 451. I'm here tonight to let you know about some concerns that CSEA and the classified employees we we represent are having. Last time I was here and spoke to you, it was to discuss two agenda items that had been approved that were contracts with outside companies to perform the same work done by classified employees. This is called contracting out and is also considered transferring duties. As I said previously, CSEA learned about these contracts. Um, and CSEA sent the district a letter demanding the district to cease and desist. And since then, CSEA has sent a second letter demanding the district to cease and desist. If the district is not willing to cease and desist, then CSA will file another unfair practice complaint

104with the public employment relations board. To give another update, as I previously stated, CSEA already has a case just like this with PERB because of a contract the board approved last year. That issue is still going on going to hearing next week. And that is very disappointing uh to CSEA because the only thing that CSEA wants is for the district to stop using contracted employees. Again, the district and some of its representatives would tell you we did. But you just heard tonight, no, they just shifted how they're contracting it. They shifted it to using SULPA. the SULPA. They're now paying for these same contract employees by having the money go to the SULPA and the SULPA's paying for them. What does that mean? The district is paying more than double had they only just hired

105employees to do this work. More than double. Um, the district has very talented and devoted employees that already do the exact same work and they are actually more qualified. We are very confident that CSA will prevail, but it should have never had to get to this point. The case is costing the district a lot of money because the district is having to pay the law firm it is using and that is not what CSE or its members want. But we are going to protect our rights. I also want to be very transparent that I don't think you may have been given all of the full information because the law firm the district is using in this case was only assigned this case in October the date actually October 14th 2025. This is part of the

106public record. You don't have to believe me. Perb's website has all the documents. You will see that is when the law firm informed PERB that they were representing the district. That is the date, October 14th, 2025. As I stated, CSA has offered reasonable settlement to this case and yet the district wants to continue to fight. Alls we want is for the district to stop contracting out classified work. outside people don't care about this community and the students the employees that work here do I would also like to make the board aware that CSEA and the district have started negotiations csea is hoping to get ne negotiations done quickly but after our first se session we are not confident that that will be able to that we will be able to do that csea thinks that

107equality matters and that will be represented in many of are proposals that will will be made in these negotiations. However, we are concerned that the district does not feel the same. Classified employees are an important essential piece to the district and our members feel that the contract needs to reflect that. There is no reason for one group of employees to be treated different. CSA will provide more updates in the future on how negotiations is going to make sure that you get the full picture since the agenda says that you will be getting updates at every meeting. Thank you and I look forward to speaking with you again soon. >> Thank you. >> Next speaker, please. >> The board calls on Sophia Miranda. She'll be speaking on item 4.2. It's on now. Oh, okay. Hi, I'm

108Sophia Miranda and I wanted to speak to the board directly because currently I have a resignation pending that I would love to have pulled because I've been put in a situation where the data in my employee file is not matching my request to leave our district. When we talk about students and we talk about outcomes, we talk a lot about the data that supports their outcomes. And we don't just talk about testing data, we also talk about portfolios and how we want to move more towards that. And I want to give you a little bit of my portfolio. I started here in AESD as a student at the school that I now teach at at Mesa Linda. Um I've come back full circle. I'm a parent in our district. I attend these meetings not just

109as a staff member. Sometimes I attend as a parent. And during my time here, I've received nothing but positive evaluations. I may have received a progressing towards on one or two items um or a few, but I started as an intern and I've built from that and I've grown. And what's happened this year is that all four of my evaluations were shoved into one single month. Um I was given just for example, one of my evaluations was on a Wednesday. I was given that feedback on Friday and without a single school day passing in between to show that improvement that our contract says these evaluations are in place to give employees the opportunity to improve. My very next evaluation was on that Monday. I've given my heart and soul to this district. I, like I

110said, I've come back. I have um served on the ELAC committee this year. I started the year as a co-director of ASB. I was on the AVID site team. I've um put together the very first Hispanic Heritage Month that Mesa Linda has ever had in the history of that school. I've stayed late for adjunct duties that weren't even mine. If they were short on teachers who needed um to be at the games, I've stepped in and I've helped them wherever they have needed help. And I did that while I was still an intern. I did not turn into my induction program until January of this year. While I was in that internship, I went through seven different intern coaches. While I was in that internship, I was given duty after duty after duty. And not

111only did I perform them, I still did my job as a teacher. And I'm currently the writing and arts fair coordinator who even as I stand here right now, I am still performing my duty. >> Thank you. >> Next speaker, please. The board calls as Jasine Fernandez. >> Hello, my name is Jaclyn Fernandez. I'm currently a teacher at Westside Park for TK and I'm here because I was pulled for res or I would like to be pulled for resation because All of my evaluations were good. I had no negative feedback the whole year. And to prove all that, I did get letters from parents. I got videos from students to prove the kind of teacher that I am for them. And ever since I stepped in Atlanta school district, I've always been valued. I was

112told, "You have the background knowledge. you have everything that you need to teach these little students to grow up to be successful. And I can honestly say I do have that. I have eight years of teaching from preschool all the way up. And I know my kids value me. I know the parents value me. My co- um my colleagues value me at that school. So I am just asking that my resonation gets pulled because I am a valuable source for this district and this is where I feel that I need to be to help these students. >> Thank you. >> Next speaker, please. >> That concludes tonight's speakers. >> All right. Thank you. Moving on to close session declarations. We'll take we'll be taking items two to five. You said that. All right. I'll motion

113motion that we go to close session. Is there a second? >> Ker I second. >> Take the roll call. Miss Ley Krauss. >> Krauss. I >> ker I. Trusty Le French. >> Le French. I trusty Stewart. >> Stewart. I >> Trusty Sodto. >> So do I. The time is 7:03. We're now in close session. Okay. Oh yeah. Hey feel down. Heat. Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. purple. Wow. Hey. Hey. Hey. Okay. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey, hey. Heat. Heat. Ha. Everybody. Oh yeah. Hey, hey, hey. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Wow. Ha. Papa Hey. up. Oh. Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. Good evening. The time is 8:35. We are going to reconvene to open session. M call to order. The time is 8:35. >> Trusty Krauss >> Krauss present. >> Trusty Ker >> Ker present. >> Trusty Le

114French Le French present. >> Trusty Stewart >> Stewart present. >> Sto present. We have a quorum. Announcements taken during close session. I'm going to report out ID number 334014. The board. It was moved by myself and seconded by VP Kire to approve the recommendation of the administrative panel for case number 2025 through 2026-9 ID number 334 014 to suspend the enforcement of the expulsion to expel for the remainder of the second semester of the 2025 through 2026 school year and the first semester of the 2026 and 2027 school year. In addition, the board accepts the rehabilitation plan which includes the following. Maintain a satisfactory grades and attendance in an alternative educational setting. Attend individual family counseling group support counseling. Attend division decisionmaking program. Provide evidence of significant change in his attitude or or her attitude

115and behavior as verified by evidentiary effects or by some rehabilitation authority. meet with the director of state student services after December 30th, 2026 to show proof of completion of the above conditions and to determine the most appropriate educational placement. The votes were 4 to one with Trust French voting name and then to report out the other one which is ID number 347674. It was moved by myself, seconded by VP Kire to approve the recommendation of the administrative panel for case number 2025-2026-23 ID number 347674 to suspend the enforcement of the expulsion to suspend the enforcement of the expulsion with contingencies for the remainder of second semester of the 2025 2026 school year. Contingencies include attend Hope Scholars Program or another alternative educational setting. Attend individual counseling/family counseling/support group counseling. Maintain satisfactory grades 70% of work

116completion rate and attendance 75 through 80%. in an alternative educational setting. The votes for four to one with trust of the French voting name. All right, moving on to public testimony at this time. Do we have any public comments, speakers? Miss Le, >> we do not. >> Moving on to the adoption of the minutes. I move that we approve. Is there a second? >> I second. >> We'll take the vote. Miss Leane. Krauss. I >> I French. I >> trusty Stewart. >> Stewart. I >> trusty stood. >> So do I. Motion passes. 5-0. Moving on to the consent agenda. We're taking items 2 through 20. Does any trustee want to pull an item? Trusty Krauss. >> Yes. 11.1 to 112. Please. Certificate of personnel accept the sub certificate employee resignation. That's all. Thank you. 11.12

117trustee the French >> trusty Stewart >> um I think I have to pull number two >> okay and uh BP K >> I have none thank you >> and I have none um at this time I motion that we approve the rest of the consent calendar with the exceptions of two and 10 or 12 Krauss I second. >> Miss Le will take the vote please. >> Trusty Krauss >> Krauss I. >> Trusty Ker >> Ker I. >> Trusty Lef French >> Le French I. >> Trusty Stewart >> Stewart I. >> Trusty Sodto. >> So do I. Motion passes 5-0. Items removed from the consent. Um number two. At this time I motion that we approve. Is there a second? >> Okay. A second to approve. >> Open up for discussion. Trustee Stewart since you pulled

118it. Well, because I'm on here, so I believe I have to recuse myself because my my um I'm on here. That's that's why. >> Okay. U any more discussion? Trusty Krauss. Trust French. A BP Ker. >> No, >> I have none. We'll take the vote. Miss Le >> Trusty Krauss >> Krauss. I >> trusty Ker >> Ker I. >> Trusty Le French. >> Le French. I trusty stood >> stood I and >> Stewart abstains. Trusty Stewart >> recuse or are you going to recuse or >> abstain? >> All right. It passes four to one with trusty Stewart abstaining. Moving on to number 12. I motion that we approve with the exception of >> um >> President can I make an additional motion? Can we motion to table at this time for further information? >> Um,

119I'd make an So, I would make a substitute motion that we approve the acceptance of these resignations with the exceptions of Sophia Miranda and Jaclyn Fernandez. Is there a second on that substitute motion? >> No second. Motion dies. Moving back to the original motion to table the whole agenda item. Is there a second? So I'll second. >> Um I'm sorry. >> We'll open up for discussion. Trust the French. >> I'm going back to the um one that >> I'm sorry. I actually it is being tabled. It was a motion to table. I second it. So, we actually can't discuss it is my understanding. That's actually been corrected several times towards me. So, just want to follow be consistent. Um, so we'll take the vote, Miss Le. >> I'm sorry, I'm confused. Can you tell me

120what the vote is for and who? >> So, we have a motion by Trusty Stewart to table this item. >> I mean, sorry, PP Ker, I apologize, to table this item. And then I seconded that motion. >> I'll take the vote. Trusty Krauss. >> Krauss. I >> trusty >> Per I. >> Trusty Le French. thinking I don't know what happened to the first one. That's what I'm saying. Everything's the first one that you started. >> So the whole we are the whole uh we're tableabling 12 completely. >> That's the motion on the table. Yes, ma'am. I >> trusty Stewart. >> Nay. Trusty Sodto. >> So I motion passes 41. Moving on to new business. Number one, discussion and approval of extending time RFP. I motion that we approve. Is there a second? >> I second.

121>> We'll open up for discussion. Trusty Krauss. >> Yes. Thank you. I uh appreciate the opportunity to bring this item to the board uh to extend it. I think that uh we want to be in compliance with everything we do and it's my understanding uh that in order to do so, extending it would keep us in compliance and offer again the existing uh vendors that had applied to remain in uh the queue so to speak. if if somebody could clarify that for me. I just want to make sure that uh the existing people that did submit their RFP even though we're extending this um would not have to uh submit again their RFP that they were already basically in the queue so to speak. >> They would not have to if I may um they

122would not have to resubmit. They would have an opportunity if there's a there's a rubric that that is given so that they would know that there will be a rubric that's used for the process. then they would have access to that rubric and they would be given the opportunity to update their have an addendum to their application if that was the case or they can leave it as is. >> Great. Thank you, Dr. Vegas. That's the only question I have present. So, thank you. >> Thank you, Trusty Stewart. >> Uh, yes. I do not remember the board vote voting on the first R RFP. this was not brought to the board to discuss and then vote for the the RFP so that the rubric could could be be out there in first place. Um, so

123and then we've got all these timeline lines here and then it's going to we're going to have to have another special board meet meeting on a April se 7th. Um, I don't understand what the rush is that um the the RFP was not approved or a a genendized or dis discussed in the fir first place. It was just pushed through. Uh President Sodo direct directed an employee to put put out an RFP. Um >> Trusty Stewart, can we stay on the topic? >> I'm staying on the top topic. We didn't vote on this first published R RFP. The board did not. It wasn't agendaized and it's gone gone through. So, >> trusting the French. >> I have a question about um who are the people that have already submitted proposals. Why we don't know who

124those are? >> I we do have a set of 10 different vendors that have done that. Uh I do have a list of those that I can provide to the board. Um I don't have that at this very moment, but I especi especially as I thought we it was going to be reopened again potentially. Then uh we would we would then uh give you a complete list, but I can certainly provide that to the board to see what the actual 10 vendors that that have um submitted. >> Do any board members know who these vendors are? I I can get that momentarily if you hold on. >> So, out of transparency, I don't know um the vendors specifically, but I do have an idea of some of the vendors that reached out uh via email

125and uh also via letter expressing interest and also wanting to uh putting their hat in the ring. Did did they email you? >> They did. Yes. >> And I don't know if that's helpful, Dr. Vas. I think we can come back to that, but trustees. Um, >> no, I just want to know if they emailed you as the as a board member why the rest of the board wasn't informed. Fair point. Thank you. Is Was that everything? Trust the French. >> No, it's not. Um, I do think that we need to um to extend this timeline because I don't see what the rush is. >> Is that everything? interest of the French >> for now. BP car. >> All right. Good evening everyone. Um I just want to kind of shed some light on what

126we're discussing up here on the board. This is an RFP to uh seek a executive search consultant service to help us launch our next superintendent permanent search. With this being said, um my understanding is we were working with legal uh who directed us that we could put this out. I'm not quite sure what the final land on that was, but as this board steps forth on this new chapter that we are on, we are going to need guidance and assistance in in seeking this new superintendent. My understanding is we have committees that uh we're attempting to form so that we have consideration from staff, students, parents and community regarding the next leader of our district. I wanted to emphasize this with this RFP discussion as you know I have expressed to President Zodto and Dr.

127Vieas the importance of including everybody right no more you know just pulling shotgun on this. we we really need to have a strong conversation about the direction of Atlanta and um with that I will conclude my comments. I just wanted to shed some light on the discussion we are having this evening. Thank you. >> Uh thank you uh VP K and excellent questions uh colleagues. Uh very good points um about the timeline. Why is this being rushed? Um, first of all, I want to acknowledge Trusty Stewart, you had a good point about that the board did not have input on this um, agenda item and that's why it's being brought back tonight with the question about what's the rush. In my mind, there is a set timeline that we have um, you know, and this

128is a timeline that is not a formal timeline, but it's it's in my view, um, what I did was just trying to figure out what if we're looking to as some of us are trying have expressed that interest in having an inter room um until you know basically we're we're in a tight we're at a tight window and that's why it's being rushed um and let me just pull up the calendar so I can be transparent about where I'm coming from what's my what's going on what is what's I guess the question what's the rush So all right. So we're already we're looking at the attachment by itself on its on its own document. Special board meeting to review proposals in April 7th. So we haven't even approved the search firm on April 7th. And

129then we have to approve. Then we approve. Then they start the community engagement piece which is like two to three weeks. We're already at the end of April. Now we're in May and we have only done the community engagement part. Once the community engagement part is completed, then they're going to do the district leadership profile for that for that superintendent. That's going to take another week or two, maybe at most two weeks. After we do that, then we're going to post it. And that's another what, 30 to 45 days. So, we're already in May, May, June. We're already in June and it's barely being posted. And um so that that's just hopefully that helps out that we're already in June and and so that's that's to answer the question. Nonetheless, I I agree with my

130colleagues that um we need to extend this. So, we'll take the vote. >> Oh, trusted Krauss. >> I did have a clarifying question. I appreciate it. Uh, related to this matter, um, it's my understanding, and I wasn't on the board, but most of you all were. Correct me if I'm wrong. In November of 2024, well, let me go back. October 29th of 2024, Leadership Associates was approved as the superintendent search firm back then. And I do not believe, and this is why I need clarification, that an RFP was ever submitted to hire leadership associates in October 29th of 2024. Is that your understanding or is there a way that we could get clarification on that? Because we're going to talk about we did know about an RFP. The board never approved it. I don't think

131the board approved an RFP back in October of 2024 to hire leadership associates when they were hired to do the superintendent search fund. >> Thank you, Trusty Krauss. So, I will address that. Um, so the board gave direction and it was reported at a close session 50-0 that we would that we directed our board attorney to to conduct the national search firm. That's what I recall. And so your to answer your question, no, no, not an RFP was wassued. Any other questions? Trustees, >> I have a question. My question goes back to um who knew about um the proposals because we can remember stuff back in 2024. Can we can someone tell me you've already admitted that you knew who else knew? >> I believe I was in the meeting with the attorney as well.

132>> Okay. So the information that's been given to one board member is the information that needs to be filtered to every board member. one board member does not hold any more weight than the other four or the other three or the other two. And I think that you know for transparency we keep saying I keep saying that one board member the board president doesn't hold any more weight than any of the other board members. So if you have information that information should be shared with the rest of us. >> VP K. >> Yes. I would like just a moment to respond to that. We have not taken any official action. We have not taken any vote. We haven't given any direction. My understanding this proposal is to collect the companies to bring to this board

133for final decision after the community committees vet and pick theirs. There's been no action taken by either of us. It was just so that we could get the proposals in front of the board so we can start this search. Thank you. >> Thank you, VP Car. And I'll just add um to that that the board president, whoever is in this role, it doesn't necessarily have to be me as some of my colleagues have served in this role. We typically sometimes get emails because of our roles. But however, I do believe and I do agree with your point, Trusty of French, that there needs to be a board president to board communication protocol and plans. And I believe that having that retreat that we're we're planning to want to have, it's going to address a lot

134of these governance issues. We'll take the vote. Miss Le. >> And what are we voting on? We're on number one for new business discussion and approval of extending for RFP. So we're extending the RFP with the timeline the addendum that is attached here. >> Just K >> I >> Jesse the French >> I. >> Jesse Stewart >> nay. >> Just sodto. >> So do I. Motion passes 41. Moving on to approval of the fiscal year. I motion that we approve. Is there a second? Ker I second. >> Any discussion? Trusty Krauss. >> No discussion. >> Trusty Stewart. >> I have none. >> Trusty Le French. >> None. >> BP Ker. >> None. >> I have none. Miss Le will take the vote. >> Trusty Krauss. >> Krauss. I >> trusty Ker. I >> trusty Lef

135French. >> Le I. >> Trusty Stewart. >> Stewart. I. >> Trusty Stoodto. >> Sodto. I. Motion passes. 5 Z. >> Moving on to number. So I know there was an amendment to this item. Um, and so please correct me if I need to clarify, but it's approval of the Chromebook re refresh leasing agreement with Viva City Tech Public Benefit Corporation and something about CES and there's like a number that's followed. Can we get that right into the record? Because I did not write I couldn't catch up to that. >> Yes, it was CMS number 3-20-70-3813A as in Apple. >> Okay, it's on record. Um, any discussion? Trustee Krauss. >> No discussion. Thank you. >> Trusty Stewart. >> No, thank thank you. >> Trusty Le French. >> No, thank you. >> VP K. >> I just

136like to ask a couple uh verifying questions. Dr. Vegas, could you shed just a >> I'm sorry for the interruption, uh, Trustee Ker, but we don't have uh and no one moved or second this, so there's no discussion yet. >> Oh. Oh, I motion that we approve. Is there a second? >> Ker, I second. >> Thank you. >> Ker. >> Um, just a brief overview on it. I do understand this is a leasing company that is going to upgrade some of our technology for our students and provides uh charging carts throughout our district. Is there a way to just provide a brief overview for our district to to know what we are trying to bring in for them? >> Absolutely. So during during the pandemic, there was a large purchase of Chromebooks that our students

137needed and clearly because of of the needs to to go virtual. Um those have have now starting to deteriorate and are breaking down. And so one option for us to do rather than having a huge expenditure of buying Chromebooks for the entire district is the option of leasing. This gives us an opportunity to to get the Chromebooks for everyone to get updated. It supports the uh all the instructional pieces that are in place. Um it also helps with our technology department because they're busy uh dealing with issues that they're breaking down and they can't keep up with those types of matters. This will be Chromebooks that will be under warranty that will be u fixed if something goes wrong. We can make those exchanges and it allows us not to have to pay all the

138money up front. It allows us to have some level of of leasing. So we we're paying the the amount which I believe is about $800,000 on a yearly basis for five years. And so that is um really at this moment in time uh uh the cost of having that large amount at one time would be deletterious to our budget at this moment in time and this where we get the benefit of having the Chromebooks and we are able to afford it in in a more reasonable way. >> Thank you. I appreciate that. And I do want to extend my gratitude to technology. I know you guys have suffered a hard loss recently, but I commend you for continuing to put our students first and looking for those solutions to bring that education to the classroom.

139Thank you. >> Thank you. And I have none. We'll take the vote, Miss Le. >> Trusty Krauss. >> Krauss. I >> trusty Ker I. >> Trusty Le French. >> Le French. I trusty Stewart. >> Stewart I. >> Trusty Stoodto >> Sto I. Motion passes 5. Moving on to governing boards reports, announcements. Trusty Krauss. Yes, thank you, President Sto. Good evening, everybody, and thank you for being with us this evening. Um, I'm proud to say that I participated in Read Across America, which was this past month since our last board meeting, where uh we honor Dr. Seuss and a lot of the books that he wrote, but also many of the other authors out there. So, hopefully your your students had a chance to participate with a lot of the ReadAcross America events at our schools.

140I wanted to thank this evening uh our staff uh from the school sites of Bradic, Elmarrage, and Atlanta Elementary School for the presentations. And I want to thank the students of Bradic for whatever's in this goodie bag. I haven't had a chance to look at it, but it talks about spinach, radish, rosemary, some of my favorite vegetables. Everybody knows how much I love green things, so not really, but appreciate the seeds. I will make sure they go to good use. Um, so I want to thank you everybody for that. All the hard work that goes into those presentations. Also, this evening, we talked about the budget committee when we heard about second interim, and I hope that uh at some point we can involve students in that. I think it would be great to have

141our students sit on those budget committees as well because who else has some great ideas other than our students. So hopefully they are on there. Uh we also had an opportunity to participate in the Melba Davis uh Academy of Excellence Schools to watch presentation. Congratulations to them and their team uh Dr. Viegas and some of us went down to Long Beach and was at the award ceremony down there. So again, congratulations to Mela Davis for all the hard work they do to maintain that schools to watch designation. Um, as we look at our board agendas, one of the things that I would hope, uh, again, I keep hearing, I can't find the link to the agenda. I can't find the link to the agenda. They find the meeting, but the agenda itself is something that

142the public, um, I I continue to hear. So, I hope that maybe we can revisit our website and look at where we can put that board agenda prominently on there uh, for our board meetings. Also, I do know that at the last board meeting, we approved a agreement to migrate all of our board docs from the old board doc system to the new assembly system. So, I hope that that happens at some point so people don't have to play back and forth in one uh one area or another on there because uh have it all centralized would be great. Uh spring break's coming up. So, I want to uh extend an invitation to everybody on spring break, all of our students to read a book or read many books. Uh do something productive while you're

143not in school. So, again, that's coming up this month. So, I wanted to uh uh encourage you to do that. Our next board meeting is not till uh late April. So, I want to wish everybody a happy Easter, which is around the 2nd. Uh we have Pi Day coming up 3.14 coming up Saturday. We have the ides of March 3.15 on Sunday and then St. Patty's Day before our next board meeting. So again all of you that like to celebrate all of those wonderful and fun exciting times. Uh thank you for that. Again, thank you to all of our staff, students, and uh families that participate in our district. Thank you. >> Thank you, Trusty Krauss. Trusty Stewart. Uh yes, I first want want to say how I was a able to come to the

144the LCAP meet meeting and the room was full with um parents com community members uh classified certificate and student students as as well. They were a able to collab collaborate, give their their input, you know, they they they wrote wrote it down. There was great dis discuss discussion and it was good to to hear from from all them and they gave the the input which is good for the dis district. So I was you know on honor to to be be part of that. I also came to the uh black history history the meet meeting that that was here. We had parents the kids did did the fan dance. It was really cute. Um and it it was just great to see the parent parents in engaged with the kids and the disc district and

145the te teachers and um again I'm I'm glad that that I was a able to make it and I just want to point out some things how uncomfortable I am with how things are going. Um I do not feel things are being transparent. I feel board me members do not know their role as a board me member. We want want to do do a lot but there's only so many things that we can do. Um we are to be trans transparent. Um when contract tracks are are made for like the the interim s superer his cont contracts should should have been call called out the s salary the health and b benefits we've always done done that when a when a sup superintendent goes out things are and there there's an agree agreement things should

146be called out. Um that's just that's part of the board being transparent. Um also just to clarify re real quick when um what's the name of that? The lead leaders assoc association uh they didn't need an RFP because that that was part of doc do Dr. walker's con contract for men me mentorship and so didn't need need that. So um but I just want to remind the dis district district that you know we'll keep keep trying trying to do thing things right. Uh just know that there are li limits to board members and please have a good good night. >> Thank you trust French. >> Okay. First I would like to begin by congratulating Melba Davis Academy of Excellence for being um re re designated as the California school to watch school. Um, this is

147a tremendous accomplishment and reflection of the hard work and dedication of the student, staff, and families and leadership at Melva Davis. I am incredibly proud of the school community and all that they have achieved. I would have loved the opportunity to attend the celebration in support of the school. However, um, it was my understanding from an email that I received that there was a new way of picking board members to go. the president was going automatically and then it would need to go down the chain from the vice president to this person to that person and then some kind of way Krauss got to go um rather than me because he's up underneath me on that chain. That's another story. I don't know where that came from but I thought that we just asked to

148go. Um, I would also like to take a moment to address some concerns I have been experiencing related to board governance. As the role of a trustee as elected trustees, our authority rests with the board as a whole, not with individual members acting indep independently. Recently, I have observed situations where directions appears to be given directly to district staff by individual trustees. This raises concern for me because board policy 2120 is very clear that the board governs collectively and operational direction should go through the superintendent. In addition, there have been instances where actions appear to move forward without all trustees being informed or included in the discussions. This includes matter which is related to the RFP that is currently that was on the agenda. Um, for the board to function effectively and maintain the public's

149trust, it is important that all trustees receive the same information and have the opportunity to participate in discussions that impact this district. I also want to emphasize the importance of maintaining the appropriate boundaries between governance and administration as well as respecting the confidentiality of close session discussions as required under the Brown Act. My intentions in sharing these concerns is not to create division, but to ensure that we are operating in a way that is transparent, aligned with our policies, and respectful of the governance structure that protects the integrity of this board and this district. Lastly, I want to thank the community and families who continue to support our schools and our district. Your partnership and encouragement means a great deal. I also want to personally thank the parents who have reached out to me in

150support. Your voices matter and I appreciate your engagement and commitment to our students. I want to give a shout out to West Creek and to um Mrs. Phyllis over there. Every year she invites me to come and read to her students and I enjoy enjoy enjoy. And it's funny how even though I may have um books that are normally for ages zero to five, even though that they're older children, they enjoy the feedback of going back and forth. Normally she has chicken noodle soup. We didn't enjoy any this year. So I just put that out for you, Miss Phyllis. So next year maybe we could have chicken noodle soup. But thank you very much and everyone drive home safe. Thank you. Thank you VP. >> I'm going to keep my comment short this evening. I

151just want to make a brief one where as I find it extremely entertaining how others expect you to accept what has been done but refuse to accept or how do I want to say this? It's entertaining to find out that others want you to accept what can be done to you but will not accept if it was done to them. And it it really speaks volumes to the maturity and the focus of our district. Moving forward, I hope we are able to build a foundation where unions and students and staff community can be involved so we can build the stability that Atlanta deserves even since I was a kid in school. And so that's where I will close my remark since you were a kid in school. So I will close my remarks then. >>

152Um and thank you. Thank you. Um, I'm not going to say I'm not going to keep my comments short. What I will say is that I'm I'm dedicated and I will continue to be dedicated for us to continue to work as a governance team, as a group, as five. And that is my dedication, my commitment as board president. Moving on to superintendent reports and announcements. Uh, Dr. Viegas, >> thank you so much. Um, I I want to just start by saying how thankful I am for the welcome that I've received by so so many people in in uh the community and the schools. Uh, I've been able to attend a lot of different events. Some of the ones that have been said, the ELCAT meeting, the uh black history um meeting that we had here.

153I've been able to visit half of our schools and Miss Linda, Eagle Ranch, Morgan K, George, Westside Park, Atlanta, and the pool. I got to see the pool actually and I didn't get in the pool, but I got to see the pool and and I was able to uh see that, hey, there's good good times coming in the summer. Um I I also want to put out a message of unity. I understand that there's feelings. I understand that there's uh a lot of hurt in our community, you know, but we it the kids, our students deserve for us to come together and to be focused on tomorrow. You know, the the there's may have been some things that have happened in the past. I don't know. But my role here as your superintendent for the

154next six months is to make sure that we move forward, that we look at that vision and we say, you know, we are all every one of us is here for the students. We're here to make sure that they have the best possible chance for for achievement at all levels. We want to make sure that they leave our buildings with all the prerequisite skills to be successful in life, to be successful in the next grade level, to be successful in high school, and consequently to be successful in whatever they choose to be. And that comes when a group of people come together to make that happen. It's not individuals. I'd love to say that I could make it happen and I can't. But together we can make a difference to all. And so I look

155forward to that challenge. And I'm going to challenge each of us. I had other things here that I wanted to say, but I'm going to challenge each of us to work hard to make sure that we can work as a team to achieve the greatness that this Adilanto community deserves for all of us. So, as we move forward, let's ask ourselves, what can we do differently to make sure that kids get the best education possible? In the next few weeks, there's going to be some testing happening, the CAPS testing. I'm I'm challenging all the families out there to help their kids make sure that they know that these assessments are important, that they prepare themselves, that they come to school every single day prepared so that they can learn in preparation for those assessments that

156are coming. I I ask that everybody come to school uh also to make sure that every day they're learning and that also will help us with our ADA. But together I do believe we can make a a strong impact on on the achievement of the in the future of our community and I thank you for that opportunity. >> Thank you Dr. Vas. I'm moving on to adjournment. I'll move to adjourn. Is there a second? >> Ker I second. >> We'll take the roll call. Miss Le >> Trusty Krauss I. >> Trusty Ker I. Trusty Le. Trusty Stewart >> Stewart I >> Trusty Stood >> So do I. Motion passes. The time is 9:15. We're adjourned. Have a good night everyone.