Oct 28, 2025 AESD Regular Board of Education Meeting

001[music] Testing. 1 2 3. Testing. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. N. >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] Oh, there. Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. Heat. >> [music] [music] >> You are >> [music] >> H. [music] [music] Uh-huh. Testing one, two. Testing. [music] Test one, two. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. [music] Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> The time is 5:30. I'm going to call the Alanto Elementary School District meeting to order. It is October 28th, 2025. We're going to get started with roll call. Miss Leave >> Tricy Krauss. >> Krauss present. >> Trissy Kyer >> Ker present. Trissy Le French. >> Love French present. >> Trissy Stewart Stewart here. Trusty Sodto >> Sto present. We

002have a quorum. Pledge of allegiance. Uh, clerk hire, would you please lead us in the pledge of allegiance? >> Yes, sir. If I could please have everyone stand. Place your right hand over your heart. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and [clears throat] to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you, Madam Clerk. Moving [snorts] on to the adoption of the agenda. Are there any proposed additions, deletions, and adjustments in order of business? >> President Sto, I do ask on their consent items number 11 uh study trip. Um it's a clerical error. It should be San Bernardino Valley College, not San Bernardino College. For number 14 under the consent uh on the agenda, it's it has

003it twice for background and fiscal. It's just a clerical error on that. So that'll be noted also under consent item number 17 the fiscal impact uh that should be proposition 28 not community schools and then number five uh that one theou we need to change Dr. Doyen and uh we also need to um elementary school district not uh unified and Dr. Dozen will be replaced with Dr. Valdez. >> Awesome. Thank you, Miss L. Moving on to the adoption of the agenda. Trustees, I entertain a motion. >> Trusty Ker, I motion to adopt the agenda with the proposed uh adjustments. >> Is there a second? >> Krauss, I second. >> Any discussion? Miss Levey, the vote, please. >> Trusty Krauss. >> Krauss, I. >> Trusty Ker. Kaire I Tissy Lef French >> Le French I >>

004Tresy Stewart >> Stewart I Tressy Stoodto >> Sto I Motion pass 5 Z moving on to staff presentations Dr. Walker >> thank you at this time we have um Dr. Valdez with educational services. >> Good evening everyone. Very excited to be here tonight to hear our presentations from our school site administrators. Our first presenter will be Carrie Kosart, the principal from Columbia Middle School. [cheering] Good evening everyone. I'm Carrie Kosart, proud principal at Columbia Middle School. Um, tonight we will be providing an overview of our school plans for student achievement. We will provide our school site demographics, our current and past data, our data conclusions, our top three folky, and our goals and actions and strategies. I will present first for Colombia, and then we'll have Mrs. Valenuela from Bradock and Miss Peterson. Sorry, the

005switch up kind of threw me off a little bit. I'm sorry. Um, [clears throat] so, um, if Mr. Duran would kindly put the profile. There we go. All right. Good evening board members, friends, families, cabinet, community members, and superintendent Dr. Walker. As I said, I'm Carrie Kart, proud principal of Columbia Middle School, supported by an out our outstanding assistant principles, Alexia Marquez and Dana Elma Mood. Tonight, I'll be sharing key highlights from our school plan for student achievement and a little bit of our story. Thank you. >> To understand Colombia is to appreciate a journey of constant change, growth, and unwavering commitment to our students. Our school was named 20 years ago for a spirit of discovery and promise. As the years have passed, the landscape around us changed and so did Colombia. The surrounding

006community experienced significant rapid expansion and our school site naturally grew to reflect this. As the community diversified, so did the various needs of our students, requiring new resources and specialized support. This also brought significant challenges. The most recent years have revealed an unexpected vulnerability, a result of infrastructure instability, teacher capacity, and inconsistent staffing. The system instability resulted in our CAST scores dipping into the red zone. As you can see, our ELA scores are in the red for where we perform as it relates to the state indicators. And we could say the same of math, but every hero needs a comeback arc. We are now seeing a clear upward trend in those CASP scores. A visible sign that our capacity bars are being refilled. This turnaround was fueled by the power up of coaching and consulting

007which was which has led to a greater increase in teacher and student capacity across the board. Three years ago, we entered a crucial discovery period. We analyzed the challenges and used the PDSA cycle to devise a strategic map. Our goal was not just to return to our former glory, but to become something even better. Last year, our mantra was simple but but powerful. Be better. It was a rallying cry reminding every player on our campus that our vision is clear. We have many assets and that the continuous improve improvement is the only way to move forward. This year our mantra is to level up. We have made many proactive decisions for this year and rolled out a system update. We are instituting shared leadership among our staff and we have identified our top three areas

008of focus instruction, culture and climate and systems. We have six SIPA goals with strategies including building capacity in our staff through coaching, bringing on additional staff for intervention, and hiring mentor groups. We are ready to level up in our big three areas. We are proud to be a gold medal winning PBIS school, a clear metric that shows we have grown in multiple areas, even among our critical subgroups. To secure our future successes, our quest log includes reigniting our AVID program, building in dedicated time and resources for staff collaboration, bringing on additional staff for mentorship and intervention. While this year's deployment has had its glitches, challenges that haven't been completely ironed out, our staff is resilient and built of critical thinkers and problem solvers. We are committed to level up not only in our plans, but

009in our actions. Our administrative team leads through our value system that honors innovation, people, and accomplishment, ensuring every decision is aligned with our mission. The energy on campus right now is productive. Like when you hear the music, the heroic music kick in right before the final challenge. A unified return to the desire to meet the highest levels of learning. We know that change takes time to propagate through the system. And as you review our data and see the growth, we want to thank you for your support of our incredible staff and students. We no longer simply want to be better. We are leveling up. [applause] >> Thank you very much, Miss Kart. And now our next presentation for the school plan for student achievement will be by Dr. Christina Valenuela, principal of Donald F. Bradock

010Elementary School. >> Thank you. Thank you so much. Appreciate that. Good evening, Board President Sodto, Board of Trustees, Superintendent Walker, Executive Cabinet, AESD staff, and community members. My name is Christina Valenuela, and I am the principal of Radic Elementary. Tonight, I would like to take a few moments to share an overview of our student of our school's current demographics, our academic data highlights, and the intentional steps were taking through our school plan for student achievement. Bradic currently serves 381 students. Of these, 70% are Hispanic, representing 269 students. 14% are African-American, which includes 56 students, and 10.5% or 40 students identify as multi-thnic. Our student population reflects the cultural richness of Alolanto community and we remain dedicated to ensuring equitable access and achievement for all students. Our most recent data shows that we have increased our

011distance from standard in both English language arts and math when compared to last year except for fifth grade ELA where we observed a reduction. When we look closer at subgroup performance, the data shows growth and improvement among our English language learners, Hispanic and AfricanAmerican students, all of whom de demonstrated a reduction in their distance from standard. Some key takeaways emerged from our data analysis. We experienced growth in both ELA and science across all subgroups. We saw increases in distance from standard in all areas except fifth grade ELA. and math remains a significant area of concern and will continue to be a major focus for our instructional improvement efforts. These results highlight our continued progress which clearly identify areas where we must deepen our instructional supports. Our school plan for student achievement was de uh sorry

012was de developed intentionally to address these data trends and needs. Goal one and two focus on reducing our distance from standard in ELA and math through targeted literacy and math initiatives. Goal three and four were designed to support our English learners and our students with disabilities, ensuring that both groups receive the interventions and scaffolds necessary for success. Goal five and six center on increasing engagement, which we know is directly connected to attendance and student discipline outcomes. Through these aligned goals, our staff is working cohesively to ensure academic growth and holistic student success. Our top three areas of focus for 25 the 2526 school year are as follows. The implementation of literacy based strategies to strengthen reading comprehension, writing, and overall language development across all grade levels. implementation of evidence-based math math strategies to address learning

013gaps and improve students conceptual understanding and pro problem solving abilities. And finally, the reduction of chronic absenteeism through family engagement, consistent communication, and a schoolwide focus on attendance and positive behavior. In summary, our data reflects steady progress and meaningful gains in key academic areas while also reminding us of continued work ahead in academic achievement and student attendance. With a clear alignment between our data, our SIP goals, and our strategic focus areas, we are confident that we're moving in the right direction, ensuring that every Bradock student has the opportunity to thrive. Thank you for your time and your continued support, and thank you to our staff and teachers for their commitment to our students and our community. Have a great evening. >> [applause] >> Thank you, Miss Valenuela. And our next presentation will be by Principal

014Nicole Peterson for um Gus Franklin Elementary School ST repeat that Gus Franklin STEM Academy. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. Good evening, board of trustees, Dr. Walker, Cabinet, and our ASD family. I am um Nicole Peterson. and I am the proud principal of Gus Franklin along with Miss um Thornton who is our assistant principal. I want to take this time to thank you for the opportunity to um share a review of our SPSA. Okay, so our current enrollment we have 493 students. As you can see our highest population at 80% is our Hispanic and Latino. Our EO EL student population is 13% and our special educ education is 17.44%. We did grow by two um special ed classrooms this year. Here is our um cast uh for ELA. As you can see, um overall

015students are at 52.71% met or exceed. And if you go down to our grade levels this current year, we have 43% for our third grade, 53% for our fourth, and um fifth grade is 58%. I didn't go up points. Um, next page is our math and overall um, our percentage is 37.21%. And then if you break it down to our grade levels, third grade is at 35. Um, fourth grade is at 43 and then fifth grade is at 32. If you break it down into some of our subgroups, I'd like to highlight that our English learners in math are at 50%. and that our Hispanic and ELA are at 52.97. So is our African-American, they were at 56.67. And then if you go to our CASP, you can see that our Africanamean are at 33%.

016So our data conclusion is ELA is our area of strength. Third, fourth and fifth grade continue to show improvement or in growth, I mean growth in ELA. English learners students are showing growth as well as our Hispanic and African-American. Our top three areas of focus for this school year 25 26 is going to be mathematical practices. There's a big difference between our math scores and our ELA scores. So that's the primary focus this year. And we do have some PD scheduled and um a book um that we're looking at that about mathematical practices. We're also focusing on our English learners and that long-term English learner that we are making sure we're reclassifying all of our students. And then also we're highlighting our our writing which is our um sorry our top score writing and that

017every classroom will start to implement that as well. >> Okay. If you break it down to our SPS goals goals one and two are our ELA and our math. And then we also have our English learners. Small print. I can't quite read it very well. Sorry. [laughter] Um, but you can see that our overall is making sure that we gain at least 5% or five points every year we do that growth. It's getting a little more challenging because we're at that percentage already and it's really hard to make that growth. Um, sometimes so it shows us in the blue or the green and trying to jump to those levels it's get it's a little more points get more get higher and higher. Um, and then on the next page goals four, five and six. Um,

018again, our special ed, our special ed also did show some improvement this year as well. And then student engagement and our parent engagement. We're always trying to improve that and have as many opportunities for our parents and our families to be on campus. All right. I do want to say thank you very much board of trustees, Dr. Walker and cabinet for all of your support. I also want to thank our certificated staff, our classifi class classified staff, our parents, and especially our students. We couldn't do this without them. A special thanks to Miss Thornton and for all of her support and hard work as well. Um, I do have a special shout out. Um, last year we were asked to be a nominee for the national blue ribbon. I did all we did all the

019application process. We got to the very end. We had our press release blurb all ready to go and we were told that we were going to be a winner and then they discontinued the program. So lovely state of California decided to recognize us. So we are going to be um California uh blue ribbon school and uh so you guys should have all gotten the lovely press release. So this all just came out on Thursday. So we're really excited that we got it. We did get it for closing the achievement gap. Awesome. [applause] >> And again, I just have to thank my my teachers and my I'm going to get all emotional. My teachers, my students, the families, everybody who just does so much for our school and the expectations and just they're amazing and I

020am I can't take all the credit. I can't take any of the credit. It's my teachers and it's my students and it's my parents. So, thank you very much. >> [applause] >> Thank you. We'll open it up for comments or questions. Trusty Cross. >> Uh, no questions, but I just want to say thank you for your presentations, the three of you this evening. Thank you. >> Thank you, Trusty Stewart. >> Um, I just want want to say how how impressed I am with with the improve improvement. Um, Miss Miss Co Kosart, what what you've done with that school, with your team is amazing. Uh, I mean, I honestly I am com comfortable like in saying like, "Oh, you want want to go go there because they have an amazing team and it just shows each

021time I go on your C campus, the kids, you can't take three steps with without a hello." Um but that that that just shows the the clim climate that that you have create created and I am just so so impressed and so thankful for all you you are do doing there Mrs. Venuela what what you're do doing the dad dads for don donuts uh if I were I wish I was was a dad because I love don donuts and I would would have gone but what you're do doing with the school and of course I love the the ambass ambassadors those kids are just shine shining exam examples and I think that you are maximizing He's mising your your staff and you your team is doing a great great job and Mrs. Pete Peterson, your

022school is just your staff, the right writing I've seen from your stu students is incredible. >> Incredible. I'm jealous. I I I wish that I can go and learn how how to do do it in my my class. So, thank you. Thank you all for what what you you have done for our schools, for our kids, and I'm so proud and thank thankful. >> Thank you, Trusty. Trusty the French. >> I don't want to repeat exactly what she said because she sums it all up, right? She doesn't save anything for anyone else, but I do want to say that I hear it in your voice when you talk about Gus Franklin. when you say that you are the proud principal over there at Gus Franklin and all of the work that you guys are doing

023over there and I know to receive that award that you are very proud of your staff and your teachers and your parents and everybody and it wasn't something that was, you know, taken lightly. You know, I thank you and I'm proud of you guys over there as well. The ambassador program, yes, I've heard about it. I have not been over there, you know, to witness it, but I've heard about it and I thank you for all you're doing over there as well. without saying everything. And when it comes to Colombia, right, Colombia, Colombia soaring right about now. And we do appreciate you coming on board and making such a change between you and these little jackets that you guys have going on over there, right? Teamwork, right? Makes a dream work. And you know, hopefully

024anything that you know, any of you need, you know, when it comes to, you know, it's always interesting when it comes to test scores, right? People look at test scores and test scores are measured, right? And when they look at them and they say, you know, but test scores is only one level, right? A child always has to be happy and prepared. They have their bellies have to be full, you know, they have to be um engaged in order to be able to learn. So you have to start at the beginning and it starts in the morning having breakfast and being engaged, having a classroom, having a welcoming environment before you can start to learn. So by seeing you guys here and having those programs, the ambassador program, having teachers and having parents and having

025people involved, that's where children can start to begin to learn and to grow. Thank you for what you did. >> Thank you, Trustee Clair Kire. >> All righty. Good evening. I want to start by saying thank you to all three of you for your presentations, the rundown on the schools, and I just want to make comment um Kosart Since I've been here, Colombia always had its struggles. And since you've came, we've seen programs be built. We've seen culture um increase in such a positive way where those students have a reason to come to school and I thank you for that. Um Miss Venezuela, I want to say thank you for the garden. I want to say thank you for the engagement, the community schools project you've been heading. It speaks volumes to how much you

026care about your staff and your students, and I want to deeply express my gratitude. >> Thank you. >> And Miss Peterson, as much as I enjoy seeing your face every day, [laughter] you took over August Franklin when my daughter was in kindergarten, and I've seen even that school grow. I've seen her grow. um and the achievements you, your staff and your teachers have achieved. Um even being one of the best reading uh teachers, it's fantastic to see the growth of every student. Um and congratulations. That is a award that I know you guys have been working towards and you completely deserve it. Thank you you all three and I look forward to visiting soon. >> Thank you. Thank you, Cler. Yeah, I don't want to say what everything's already been said. Um, I do love

027the jackets. Um, it's the first thing I noticed when you guys came in here. Um, you guys are doing great work. All of you guys have your different niches, culture, garden, community, and blue ribbon. So, congratulations to all the work that you guys are putting into our kids. >> Thank you. And you guys are all done. >> Thank you. >> [applause] >> All right, we're going to go to close session declarations. Before we do that, we're going to be taking items 2 through six into close session. Move, do we have any speakers for close session? >> Yes, we do. Um, President Soda, we need to do the reading. >> Okay. Thank you, Miss uh Clerk Hire. The public comments. >> Yes, sir. The [clears throat] public comment period is administered by state law and is

028the 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 AASD 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 cut off for exceeding the allotted time or for willfully causing an actual disruption to the meeting. Before cutting

029a person off or removing someone, the board will give at least one clear warning. If [snorts] 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. The bo 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, Clerk. Miss >> for ADTA. Uh, Miss Raider is here, but no, she will not be commenting

030tonight. Um, I will call on CSCA Rev. Diane Lit. Good evening, President Sodor, trustees, superintendent, Dr. Walker, cabinet, classified staff, certificated staff, and all of those present and on YouTube. I want to thank you for acknowledging the hardship many of our members were having financially due to the unexpected rise in costs for our health insurance. We appreciate our no cost plan, which will offset the ongoing cost of living which directly impacted many of us. Thank you, trustees and cabinet. We really didn't want to apply at other districts that have no cost out of pocket insurance. We have many loyal and long-term employees totally dedicated that would like to stay with AESD until we retire. On another note, we are looking forward to negotiations for this school year and the UN report regarding the job descriptions

031and compensation study. Thank you again and have a nice evening. >> Thank you. Next speaker, please. >> The board calls on Kim Smith. [applause] Good evening, President Sodto, trustees, Superintendent Dr. Terry Walker, and cabinet. My name is Kimberly Smith, and I'm a fifth grade teacher at Victoria McGathan Elementary School. Tonight, I'm once again standing before you, not as just a teacher, but as the Lorax. And I speak for the trees, the students, my colleagues, and our superintendent. Because sometimes the trees have no voice when the axes of agenda items keep swinging month after month. You see, the Lorax isn't against pruning. Evaluation and reflection are healthy. But when you keep trimming the same branch over and over, you risk stunting the very growth you want to see. That's what seems to be happening with the

032consistent appearance of public employee performance evaluation superintendent under government code 54957. Now, I know that code. It gives the board the right to evaluate a public employee like the superintendent in close session. But 54954.5 adds that when you do, the agenda must use safe harbor language, the exact phrase. So the public knows what's being discussed, even if the details stay private. And 54957.1 reminds us that when a reportable action happens like contract changes or compensation decisions, the board must report out to maintain transparency. What those codes don't say anywhere is that an evaluation should be on the agenda month after month, stretching on indefinitely. In fact, best practice under the Brown Act and the California School Board Association recommends a clear annual evaluation calendar, sometimes with a mid-year check-in, not an endless cycle of discussion.

033When it lingers for months, it doesn't look like oversight anymore. It looks like over evaluation, and that sends the wrong message to staff and to the community that's watching closely. Dr. Walker is our head tree, the one who gives shade, structure, and strength to all the other trees in this forest we call ASD. She's weathered the storm, grown new branches, and continues to lift the canopy higher so students can thrive underneath. So, if this ongoing evaluation is truly about growth, then let's make that process transparent, timely, and trust building, not a reoccurring shadow on every agenda. Excuse me. on every agenda. As the Lorax once said, and as I said two weeks ago, unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not. I care. We all do.

034And that's why I'm asking the board to clarify the evaluation timeline, use the proper safe harbor language, and report any actions as required. Let's protect our head tree, nurture this forest, and show our students what integrity and leadership really looks like. And after all, it's said that the Joshua tree was the inspiration for Dr. Seuss's truffle trees. So tonight, I'd like to honor that symbolism and present Dr. Walker with a Joshua tree of her own. >> And as a reminder that even in the desert, strong roots, faith, and purpose help every tree and every leader Miss Smith >> continue to rise. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next speaker, please. And just as a reminder to the public, whenever any public whenever want anyone wants to come out and approach the podium, it needs to we

035need to make sure that you do have permission to approach the podium just for safety reasons. Dr. Walker, um I mean uh Miss Le, next speaker, please. >> The board calls on Bev Tony. I meant to die. I apologize. Thank you. >> Okay, that's going to be hard to follow. Um, one, thank you everyone for coming out. Go Dodgers. They're playing. So, the fact that we are here, um, clearly the fact that I'm here, I can't speak. The fact that I'm here, it's important because it's game four and that's where I should be rooting on my Dodgers. Um, so board members, Dr. Walker, staff, community members, thank you for allowing me to speak tonight. Now, I didn't know much about the Brown Act. And in fact, I didn't even care about it um until I

036found out what it meant to me and my students. Um what it's about is keeping local government, not state and not federal, local, which is the most important um to us in our everyday life, honest and accountable to the people. So I teach ELA and history at Melbour Davis and I have to pay attention to words as well as actions. Words matter, context matters, and the truth matters. Now the word transparent is simply a word that people use when they want you to They're not hiding anything like that. They're being 100% truthful. And honesty, well, that's a funny word, too. Everyone loves to say they're honest right before they aren't. And it's like when my students say, um, to be honest, Miss Tony, and I stop them and I have to ask them, "Were you

037lying to me before?" Um, we all know how words soften the truth. Like the word thick is a word women use to disguise gaining weight. Transparent does the same thing. It disguises hiding the truth. So let's not sugarcoat anything. The truth does not need decoration and deception doesn't deserve defense. The Brown Act is about the truth, plain and simple, and not allowing people to twist it. The public's um business must be done in the public, not behind closed doors and not late night telephone calls. If it's public business, then it belongs to the public right here in the open, especially when those choices shape our classrooms, our paychecks, and ultimately our futures. From what I understand, and I could be wrong, I've been wrong before. Please correct me. But this board has already done two

038evaluations of our superintendent, Dr. Walker. Two. So if there's talk of a third, let's not pretend it's about accountability and truth because if it were, we'd talk about it openly, not behind closed doors. So I teach history as well, and I know that one day someone, maybe just an obscure human, is going to look back on today. And when they do, I'm going to be proud of what the record will show that I stood for the truth. Because comprehension isn't just reading words, it's understanding meaning. And the Brown Act was written to protect people from the transparency in the dark. We don't need buzzwords or spin. We need the truth. Because at the end of the day, this is about trust and not allowing people to twist it. So here I stand and I will

039stand therefore until I get what I'm standing there for. Thank you. Next speaker, please. >> Um, we have on Zoom Lauren Benson. Oh, Lauren Benson. Sorry, I wasn't sure if I was going to make it in time. So, good evening, President Sodto, trustees, cabinet, and everyone else here on YouTube and in the room. Um, first off, I have to say a huge congratulations to our amazing school, Gus Franklin. Even though we get the least amount of money. We never get our got our STEM teacher we were promised. Uh, we just got art after 11 years, which I want to say is fabulous. Our kids love it and it's amazing. We were the only school in the district for the last 11 years without it and so it's great to finally have it. Um, we don't

040often get any recognition from the board yet. We keep getting better and better. In fact, at our SIPA presentation last spring, the two other schools presenting were told they were awesome and doing an incredible job, while Gus Franklin heard none. I do want to say thank you for tonight. I did hear a lot of kind words and for recognizing us. Um, because our scores are so phenomenal, we don't meet the equity multiplier and therefore get less funding than all the other schools. Our little bit of lottery money was important and most of that we had taken away and given back in pieces. I bring this up because it doesn't matter. Our staff still makes our students have the best educational spir experience around. We find ways. We set high expectations and our students rise to

041the challenge. Now on to the issue at hand. Why is it every time we open an agenda, we see superintendent's evaluation? If any of us had to be evaluated as often as Dr. Walker, we would have walked a long time ago. Why are we doing this again? We have an amazing, dedicated, brilliant woman leading our district. And it seems that some of you are trying to find anything to pick at. Do you need a hobby? Is there something else that you can find to do with your time? Let her do her job. She is steering our district in the right direction. You are already stopping our district from conducting regular business in other areas every time you meet. Why are you going beyond to keep her from helping us become successful? Thank you, Dr. Walker.

042Oopsie. Uh, let's see. Sorry. Did it delete it? Oh, thank you, Dr. Walker. Um, for your persistence and for staying the course and putting up with their shenanigans. I know it can't be easy. I get angry for you. Stay strong and know you are supported. Board, some of you are showing yourselves for who you are and how you're stopping our district from moving forward. It is very transparent. Some of you, if you continue to stop our district from moving forward, may be gone from here sooner rather than later. >> 30 seconds. >> Thank you. Next speaker, please. >> Final speaker. Uh, the board calls on Christine Turner. >> We are asking them to unmute now. Good evening, board of trustees, Dr. Walker, superintendent, cabinet, staff, community members, and everyone attending via zoom. First, I would

043like to just I I heard the presentations from Bradock, Colombia, and Gus Franklin. I have to say that you guys are doing an awesome job. And extra congratulations to Gus Franklin for earning our first the district first what is it that blue ribbon award. Um congratulations. I would like to take this opportunity to address and correct a statement made at the last board meeting during public comment period before close session regarding the recall of Mr. Michael Krauss. It was stated that I initiated the recall effort. That statement is incorrect. I did not initiate the recall of Mr. Krauss. However, I want to be very clear. While I was not the initiator, I do support the recall effort. Sign I signed the recall petition as did my family members and several of my neighbors because we

044strongly believe that Mr. crowd sought elections to this board not to serve the students in the community but to intimidate and retaliate against the superintendent, cabinet members and employees. And this belief is based on actions and conduct even though the superintendent had no involvement in his departure. And with these multiple superintendent evaluations, it's clear if I had initiated the recall, the process would have been handled properly with all the legal procedural requirements met. The register of voters contacted me only because the person who filed the recall petition failed to provide their contact information and my name was the only name they recognized on the filing. This is the sole reason why I was addressed and received correspondence from their office. To reiterate, I did not initiate this this recall. I support it because I believe

045our district deserve leadership, motivation to the needs of our students. And we need a leader with high morale and integrity, not by personal vandettas and intimidation. I encourage whoever initiated this process to restart it and ensure that it is carried out correctly and transparent this time. Again, thank you to the staff of Adilanto. Um, I I'm here because I have served this district a long time and Dr. Walker, you're doing a fantastic job. That's why you were hired. And again, I wish this this head hunt against Dr. Walker stops. This is ridiculous. And good night everyone and have a great evening. >> Thank you. Um that's all the speakers, correct? >> That is correct. >> Just make a brief comment real quick. um when whenever it's close session, whenever we have to talk about anything

046regarding the superintendent, whether it's positive or negative, it needs to be on here. So, just want to make that comment. Moving on to public or recess to close session at this time, I'll entertain a motion. >> Excuse me. Uh President Sto, may I make comment? >> Yeah, sure. Clerk. >> Uh perfect. Um, due to time and the value of everyone's time, I wanted to take a moment and appreciate all of our leadership. It is, uh, principal month. Um, and I was hoping if it would be okay with Dr. Walker, we could get a picture with the principles prior to closing for close session. >> Thank you. Yes, I overlooked that. Thank you. So, if you can if we can have the principles please come up for a picture for the board with the board of

047trustees. And the reason why we're doing this is because the agenda item is open. We just want to you're all here already. What else? You're trying to hide. [laughter] >> [laughter] >> Let's go. All right, trustees. Now we'll go to close session. I'll entertain a motion. >> Ky, I motion to recess to close session. >> Is there a second? >> Stewart, I sec second. >> Uh, Miss Le the vote. >> Ty Krauss. Krauss I >> Trer I >> Ty Le French >> Le French I >> Tissy Stewart >> Stewart I >> Tissy Sto >> Sto I The time is 619. We're going to close session. Hey. Hey. Hey. >> [music] [music] >> Are you Heat. Heat. [music] Hey, hey, hey. >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. Heat up

048>> [music] >> for you. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Fire. >> [music] [music] >> Hey. >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] >> Hey. >> [music] [music] >> do. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Okay. We are reconvening to open session. The time is 8:28 p.m. We're going to roll call and quorum establishment. Miss Leave. >> Trissy Krauss. >> Krauss present. Ker >> Ker present. >> Trusty left French >> Le French present. >> Jesse Stewart >> Stewart pre present. >> Trusty Sodto >> Sodto present. We have a quorum established. Moving on to close session report announcements of reportable action. It was moved by trustee K or clerk hire and seconded by trustee Stewart to approve the recommendation of the administrative panel to expel for the remainder of the semester and the next semester of

049the 2025 2026 school year. This is case number ID number 345009. Further the the board accept accepted the administrative panel to accept the rehabilitation plan which includes the following anger management counseling individual counseling family counseling/supportg groupoup counseling and maintain satisfactory grades and attendance in an alternative educational setting. The votes were as follows. Trust the French I. Trustee Krauss I. Trusty Stewart I. clerk I and so do myself I fantastic. Moving on to public testimony. Miss Levy, do we have any speakers? >> Your mic is off. >> Lauren Benson on Zoom. But gentlemen, >> no, she's not on Zoom. That's all I have for tonight. >> Thank you. All right, moving on to the adoption of the minutes. At this time, trustees, I'll entertain a motion. >> Steuart, I motion to uh approve. >> Is there

050a second? >> Ker, I'll second. >> Any discussion? Miss Ly, the roll the vote, please. Trusty >> Krauss. Krauss abstain. Trusty Ker I. Trusty left French left I trusty Stewart >> Stewart I >> trusty stole >> subtle I motion passes with one extension trusty Krauss moving on to the consent agenda we're taking items 2 to 19 does any trustee want to pull an item >> trusty Ker I'd like to pull um 1110 >> okay any Other items trustees hearing and seeing none. Moving on to approval of the consent agenda. At this time, I'll take um this is all messed up here. Okay. Okay. So, I'll entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda with the exception of 10.10 or 11.10. >> I a motion to approve the remainder of the consent agenda with the exclusion.

051>> Is there a second? >> Steuart. I sec second. >> Any discussion? Hearing and seeing none. We'll take the vote. Miss Ley Krauss. >> Krauss. I >> trusty ker. I >> trusty left French. >> Leanch. I trusty Stewart >> Stewart I >> Trusty Sto I motion passes 5-0 moving on to number 12 items removed from the consent agenda at this time I entertain a motion for 11.10 Steuart I mo motion that we uh approve. >> Is there a second? >> Ker I'll second. >> Okay, we'll open it up for discussion since it was pulled by Trusty Ker. >> Thank you, President Sodto. Um I do have numerous questions on here for this uh warrant report. Um starting with page. Okay. So, I noticed that there's numerous Cal card payments on this warrant report. So, I'm

052dating as far as last fiscal year. Um I'm going to need some clarity as to a why um these are now just being rectified and then b uh what is the hold up or breakdown as to why we have cal cards from July August September coming to us at the end of October. Thank you for that question. Um, so at any point in time, um, we, so I'll just take it back to the the county cannot pay the cow card bill until we receive the receipts. So any items that you see that are being paid from July uh or any other time period is tied to when the receipts were turned in and then they are submitted to the county in order for the county to pay the cow card bill. So anything that you

053see from July or any other month, all of it is tied to the receipts when they returned it. So are, if I'm understanding you correctly, all of these employees failed to turn in their Cal card receipts until recently. >> That is correct. >> That goes for all the board members, uh, assistant soups, everything. >> It depends on the date. Um, and I'll ask Mr. McAlpin if he can add any more color to that, but From my understanding, it's based upon when the receipts are turned in. >> Yes, that is correct, Dr. Walker. And and to answer the question, um, Trusty Ker, yes, it would be it could be any of those, but obviously from the warrant report, it's just giving a a summary of the different payments, but it's not going to specify in the

054warrant report of who who that was, if they were an assistant superintendent or principal, etc. Okay. So, I'm a little confused because on warrant report page 15, we've got numerous individuals, Walker, Love, French, Stewart, Sodto with um Calard payments going back to July um and August and September. And I I'm having a difficult time understanding how all of these receipts have now just been turned in. So, okay. Um, again, the cow cards when the receipts are turned in or whatever the documentation is needed to be turned in, that is exactly what you're going to see. All right. Thank you. You're welcome. >> Thank you, trustee. Any other trustees? Trustees, >> I just want to go on the record. >> Yeah. >> Go ahead. >> I just want to go on the record to say that

055if I use a cow card and I turn in my receipt, my return, my receipt is turned in with a week of me using it. So, if the cow card is saying that or the receipt I don't have pulled up in front of me, >> president just for clarification because we do process all the cal cards. Those cal cards were audited and they were pulled. That's the reason why you see those on that pit statement. Can you elaborate, Miss Le? What do you mean by audited and pulled? I don't understand that. >> So, um, the auditors, I believe that's who pulls the u any cow card usage. the auditors may pull it and use it to review to see um how we're spending the money, making sure we're following the appropriate process for spending. And

056so it may not be because of turning in the cow card or the receipt late. It may have just been processed at this particular time. >> Is that correct, Mr. McAl? >> Correct. >> And so because I know the fact that I don't I didn't have anything that was late. So, it had to be tied to some other factor. >> Okay. So, for the record, we are correcting the everyone just turned in their receipts. It just hasn't been processed. >> Wow. >> Mr. Mcelin, can you add to that? >> Apologize. I believe in looking at this warrant report, what is going on um as um as as was noted a moment ago, I think there was so many activity that happened at once. They audited because what they want to do is make sure they're

057all correct. So, they were probably all turned in at the same exact time, but they have to review them all. So, that's why it took a little while and some someone probably got pulled. So, that caused the delay in the payment. So yes, some of these could absolutely have been turned in on time, but because they're going to audit because there were so many different charges, um the the delay in the processing of the payment was due to as as was mentioned the auditing of those of those payments. >> And who pulled the audit? >> That would that would be done by the auditor or it could have been done as well by the county. Could this have any correlation to the issue that the district is facing currently? >> I think you're saying with

058regards to the cow card and the bill that needs that needed to be paid. >> Is that what you're referring to? Yes. Um, I can't speak specifically to these being the reason why again because if they were tied to the auditors being pulling them, then that might not be the case. So, we would just need to again um check to see the reason behind these cards actually um being because I see you see something from July. Um, >> in fact, >> I can't speak to that. >> There's ones back to last fiscal year. How does that impact our district? >> How does what impact our district? >> Um, Cal card receipts being processed in a new fiscal year. >> I can't answer that question. What what that'll be done is they'll know the activity that

059occurred last year and so they'll create a receivable. So they'll know that a payment has to be made. So receivable be created and once it's ready to be processed then that receivable is what the the accounting if you will that is in the system. So it's not going to affect this year in terms of if there's any auditable issues. The receivable is what is done so that it allows a payment from last year to occur this year. A receivable has to be set up so the so the fiscal team would know that there was activity last year that has not been processed yet. So they'll create a receivable. >> Okay. Um then I I have no further questions. Thank you, Trusty Krauss. >> Yes. Thank you, President Stoodto. On the purchase order listing, I did

060have a question on page two. Page two, uh, item number 260699, it's about midway down and starts with first student. Uh, the very first one on that page also says for student contracted services, but then I'm looking at the middle one, transportation for AY student. And First Student is a transportation company that runs school buses. I may have missed it. Um but I don't recall a contract number one with First Student to provide transportation services. And secondly, it says transportation for an AYA student. Um are we providing transportation for individual students, all students, select few students? I'm I'm just not clear why we hired a company to transport one student. Uh and again, I don't recall a contract. So if I if there's any way I could get clarification, I appreciate it. Thank you, President

061Sodto. >> Thank you, Dr. Walker. >> So I am not aware of us um doing service with first student, so I would have to check and find out what this is tied to and I'll get back to you. >> Okay. Thank you. Any other comments, trustees? Okay. Um, I'll just finish off with saying that yeah, there there are concerns about the cow card situation and what the correlation is that we're I think is trying to be made is that receipts weren't so I'm hearing that receipts may have been turned in on time, but the majority of them weren't processed. And so that's why we're here today. And it's based on this report. Oops. Based on this report, it correlates to how far behind we may have been, whether it been the 30 days, 60 days,

06290 days, because like as our clerk said, we have a we have a line item here from all the ways from 7225. And so we're it's that correlation is this is what's happening. So, it's very concerning. I would just share that this is where we're at and this is >> with in regard to the cow card situation. It's not the first time. So, >> I'll leave it at that. >> So, can I as you leave it at that? Sure. >> Try to color that picture a little bit more. Um so um we all have a concern about the use of the cow card by um district employees, our management and um as well as the board. And so we are working to address that through uh procedures that we're putting in place um because there

063has been um there hasn't really been a a true system for uh turning in receipts and things of that nature. So we are working on that as a team to have um a system that can be followed by everyone involved. And thank you for those questions. Um Trusty Ker, >> thank you Trusty French. >> Dr. Uh Walker, can you walk us through currently what the um system is in place for um turning in receipts after using a cow court card and what happens if a person does not turn in their receipt? So there really wasn't any process that was put in place. Uh the goal was from what I was told um after I found out that there is a problem is that they receipts are supposed to be turned in within 5 days of

064the actual after the event or after the use of the card. And um unfortunately there was no system in place for ensuring that those receipts were turned in. And so having um that being brought to my attention um we are working to address it so that there is um a system in place for checks and balances basically that if receipts are not turned in cards are not able to be used and and following a process of that nature so that they're not just consistently using cards and are making purchases with the cow card and then not turning in the receipts, but then they're still able to use the card. Well, that will not continue going forward based upon um the understanding of no real procedures in place for that. >> Thank you, Trust the French.

065And if I just may may add a correction real quick. My understanding is the policy that we passed, I'm trying to pull it up now, last year was 10 days uh 10 business days after the the meeting. So, just so that that is clear and I'm trying to find the here we go. Oh, that's an old one. Um, but I just wanted to just add that so on the record that my understanding is that we have 10 days after the conference to turn in those those receipts, business days. From my understanding and um from Zach, our fiscal person, it was five days, but um we can also verify that as well. But in in addition to that um making sure that whatever those days are they haven't been applied and followed >> yes >> I

066did have an additional question if we have time on page 13 of the warrant report we have numerous uh charges from Sunburst Work Advisors LL LLC. Um, and I just wanted to verify that we have an active contract with them. >> Dr. Walker, >> Sunburst Work Advisors. >> Yes, we do. What was the initial question? Do we have a contract with them? Is that what the question is? >> Yeah, I don't recollect a contract with them. So, I just wanted to verify that we do have that uh contract um in place where we are able to use them. Is there uh any way that I could request that be forwarded to me? Um hold on a second. So, um, just as a correction, we had a contract with Sunburst as of June 2025, and these

067are just the fees that we are we still needed to pay. >> Okay. >> Thank you. And can I just add more to that? So just so we're clear. So we had a contract with them and it contracted into June 2025. U because those fees were not paid. That's why you're seeing them on the warrant list now. Okay. Okay. So, I have regulation 4131.33 conference workshop attendance within 10 days after returning from a conference or workshop. A written and oral uh report must be submitted to district or public personnel perhaps to the board. >> Thank you for sharing that, President Stoodto. Again, they're not even people are not even following the 10 days. So, at the end of the day, whatever is written is not being followed, >> right? [sighs] Yeah. [gasps] Okay. Any other

068things before we move on? >> All right. Um, so we have a first by Trusty Stewart and a second by Trusty Ker. We'll we'll close discussion. We'll take the vote. Miss L. >> Trusty Krauss. >> Krauss. Nay. >> Trusty Ker. Ker I >> Trusty Lef French >> Le French I >> Trusty Stewart >> Stewart I >> Trusty Sodto I motion passes with trusty cross voting no 41 okay sounds good we're moving on to now um new business at this time trustees I'll invite a motion for the business services and transportation >> I motion to approve approve and ratify the agreement with JFK transportation for supplemental transportation services. Steuart I sec second. >> Any discussion? >> Yes, President I did have a question just for clarification. >> Okay. >> So in the memo itself and on

069the contract it states if you look at the coverage home to school route coverage so under description of services there school bus ambulatory transportation at 91 a day. School bus transit transportation at 1356 a day. Um, do we know what the difference is between ambulatory, which I'm assuming are all walkers, versus transit, which I'm assuming are all walkers as well? Um, I was just curious because I couldn't find the difference in those two, but the cost difference is about, you know, about $350 difference per route. But if they're all walkers, wouldn't they be the same amount on the route? That was just my my my question, but I'm not sure that, you know, we can get an answer tonight. Um, but again, that was just my question. Thank you. >> Thank you, Trustee. Dr. Walker,

070did you have >> So, it could it could be a variety of things. One, it could be the size of the bus as well. So, some are definitely smaller than others. That could be one and I would have to get more information besides that. >> Great. Thank you. >> Okay. Anything else? Trustees take to vote. >> Trusty Krauss. >> Krauss. I >> trusty >> Ker I. >> Trusty Le French. >> Le French I. >> Trusty Stewart >> Stewart. I >> trusty stood >> stood I. Motion passes 5-0. Moving on to number 14. policy introductions, updates, and readings. I'll entertain a motion at this time. Trustees >> prior I motion to approve and adopt the first read revision of board policy 5116.2 involuntary student transfer. >> Is there a second? >> Steuart. I sec second. >>

071Any discussion hearing and seeing none will take the vote. >> Trusty Krauss. >> Krauss. I >> trusty Ker. >> Ker I. >> Trusty Le French. Black French. I >> trusty Stewart. >> Stewart. I >> trusty stood >> Sodto I. Motion pass 5-0. Moving on to governing board members reports and announcements. We'll go down the line. Trusty Krauss. >> Thank you, President Stoodto. Good evening everyone. Thank you for being here with us uh on YouTube or on Zoom or in person this evening. So, I hope that everybody had a wonderful fall break. time to uh rest, relax, and rejuvenate and come back and uh work on our way towards our winter break or our Thanksgiving break first and then our winter break coming up. So, uh hopefully everyone had a very uh relaxing time. Also wanted

072to give a shout out to all the schools doing Red Ribbon Week activities this week. I think it's great to see all of the activities they're posting to their social medias uh related to uh Red Ribbon Week and drug free. And so again, thank you to all of our administrators and principles and teachers and classified staff that are all taking part uh in the Red Ribbon Week activities at all of our school sites. I did want to uh just mention that this Friday uh on a Friday night is Halloween. So any of our students out there trick-or-treating, please be safe. Uh use best practices out there. We're excited that you uh are dressing up and going out there and getting all of that sugar candy, but make sure you're wearing reflective clothing and maybe some

073flashlights uh to help out uh in our neighborhoods. I know that there's a big showing in Adelanto and Victorville for a lot of our uh students. And since it's on a night before a Saturday, uh they'll probably be pretty late on that. Uh congratulations to Gus Franklin for their blue ribbon nomination. I know they do a lot of great work over there. excited uh for uh uh principal Peterson, assistant principal Thoron and all the team over there for all the hard work they do. They do deserve that as well. Uh speaking of Gus Franklin, this past uh month, one of the things that was a little concerning, uh if you have not seen it yet, uh our students attend a outdoor science camp every year. Uh Gus Franklin participates in that event. Um I'm not

074sure all of the specifics, but apparently the students were told that there was not enough funding. And so they did go to the Edelanto City Council and ask for funding uh to u support the outdoor science camp. And I I just have to say I I know our district has enough funding to be able to send our students to science camp that they don't have to go gravel in front of a city council or other entity. So it just these were our students and their parents and families. And so it is a little disappointing to see that. So, I hope in the future that uh they will not be told that they can't go to outdoor science camp and then have to go around and do something like that where uh it is sort of

075embarrassing for our district to have another government entity be asked publicly and on record, hey, our district's not paying for our stuff. Do you have any money that you can give us to help pay for science camp? I do want to applaud the Adel City Council for stepping up and and funding uh some of the students that are going to the science camp. So, I do appreciate their uh collaboration with that, but again, it's just something that I hope that we don't have to do uh again in the future. Um, Veterans Day is coming up between now and the next board meeting, November 11th. I want to wish all of our veterans in the district a happy Veterans Day. I'm a veteran myself and I will be marching in the parade like I do every

076year, Victorville Veterans Parade. So, again, thank you to all of our veterans that are in our district and in our community out there. We appreciate your service to our country. Um, and then finally, uh, President Sodto, we are following Rosenberg's rules of orders. And, uh, I was not at the last, uh, board meeting, but I would like to, uh, renew a couple agenda items and get consensus to bring them back on the next board agenda on November 18th. And that would be the student, uh, trustee, uh, agenda item and renew the resolution uh, per Rosenberg's rules of orders. And so this evening, I would like to request consensus to renew those agenda items and bring them back on November 18th. >> Well, thank you for my support. >> Me, too. Thank you, Trusty Cross. Trusty

077Stewart. Um, President Stole, I need clarification as to what it is that we're you were agreeing to and that is the direction for me. >> Thank you, Dr. Walker. So, based on the comments made and what the board has is con giving consensus on is that we would like to see the resolution brought back and as well as was there was there another part to >> the student trustee. the student trustee >> for action both items for action >> as an action item so it's the student board member and the resolution as well >> um pre president so stood >> trusty Stewart >> I believe there is a uh process to put things on the agenda trustee is to f fill out the form and turn that that in and they they could add you

078know turn turn it into you, you know, to have things agendaized. >> So, my understanding based on our board policies that it does need to be in writing or you can go to the board president and then to the superintendent. Um, I have also been told in close session that we could make comments out here and if there's a majority, the board agrees, then, you know, that's what the board wants and so we just move forward with that. Um, >> President Stoodto, just as a clarification, under the Robert rules, uh, the president or majority of the board can agree to consider it for a future agenda, but no motion or vote should happen at that time. That's not allowed. >> I appreciate that there. Thank you, Miss Levade. Yeah, there was no motion, no vote,

079just uh, sh not we agree. Anything else? Trustees, >> could I add a quick comment to that? It's my understanding that because these have already came in front of the board and were voted down, it required an appeal to the board with a dis dissenting or non- voting member bringing it back for consideration. Um, please do clarify. You are looking for consensus to have it brought back. Is that what I'm understanding? >> That is correct. under Rosenberg's rules, it's called a renewal of agenda items that were either voted down or died on DAS on the 2 to2. And so uh with the request uh because I was not here and I did not vote positive or negative on it um that I'm able to bring this item back. I was not aware of that um

080clerk hire, but uh I just did my homework on Rosenberg's rules in order to uh bring up this item uh here this evening. >> Yeah. And I believe a trustee had done that in the past where they were miss they were not here and then they came back and brought an agenda item back. >> Yes, that was that was me. And I did fill out the form and send an email to the board per president at the time. So I don't we don't have to beat this thing around the bush. You're going to do what you want to do. So go ahead and do what you want to do. That's it. Let's go on. >> Click higher. No, I I'm not even going to respond to that. Thank you. >> All right. So, you have

081been given direction, Dr. Walker, with those two agenda items. Um, going back to the reports and announcements, Trusty Stewart. >> All right. Good evening. Um, I'm just going to stick to the point. Here we go. So, for first thing, I had a wonderful time with Doc Dr. Walk Walker. We went to viz visit Elmer Mur Mirage West Westside Park um Adelanto Elry and George Vap Vapa and as all always it's so great to see the kids and the staff they're always so well welcoming and I just do have to share that when we walked into a class classroom at Westside Park and a stu student student saw doc Dr. Walk Walker his jaw dropped. She's like like a c celeb celebrity in the classrooms and students all always come to to her and ask her

082when are they go going to get get to meet again for the student student advisory com committee. Um we we always go on f Fridays and so it's always fun Friday and it's it's fun to see see the kids take take part in the re rewards that they they have have earned. Um, the mir mural at Odd Adilanto El Elementary School is looking amazing and I can't wait to see when when when it's done. And I'm wondering one wondering at at George if that bag of candy accidentally broke open because accidents happen. though I've heard um I also want to thank Dr. Walk Walker. I appre appreciate her and the things that she's done for our dis district. She always tries to put a posit positive spin on things. She is transparent. when things do

083come come up, she tries to deal with them as they come across. You know, a dis district has a lot of work working parts and you can't just say, "Okay, we're going to fix fix this blink an eye and it's fixed." And I trust that she will set pro processes in place for our school. Um, you know, I just hope that our board gives her a chance to do the things that she's trying trying to do for our district. It's sad to know that, you know, our our dis district is known for go going through uh s superintendants and we have a good one here. I have been told from outside the source that we have some someone good and the board needs to I feel support their one employee because it trickles down you

084know um again words are just words actions speak loud laughter and though the word transparency is being being used. It really is transparent. Um the the direction the board is t taking I I don't think it's fair for Dr. Walker to be blamed for things that have been happening in the board for years. for years. She was appointed superintendent attendant in December the end of November. Okay. So that's when she was appointed and I think as good employers the board should give her a chance and not put so much scrut scrutiny on everything she she does because if I worked for some someone like like that I would have up and quit but she's dead dedicated to our district to our kids and to our te teachers and she should be give given a chance

085to do her job. Thank you. >> Thank you, Trusty French. >> Very well said. Thank you very much. I just want to start off by saying that um thank you for saying that. I appreciate that because I'm going down that same road. You know, it was interesting. Last week I had a conversation with someone, a couple of people, and they talked about I've always talked about the fact that I come from Los Angeles and how proud I am of the high desert, that I live in the high desert. Um, and that I sit on the board here in the high desert for Adalanto Elementary School District. And everyone that I talked to, three different people I talked to last week, they said, "You have an awesome superintendent. She is wonderful. When she shows up, she

086shows out. Highly intelligent. Um, a wonderful person. Um, very experienced. Her intelligence to speak with her. Um, I've gone out on uh conferences with her. I watch people come up, the people that know her. Um, I talk to teachers here in this district. I watch her timelessly when she's going inside of the classrooms, when I've been out with her, um the teachers, the children, um the principles, I watch her. I've done many, many, many, many, many WPEs, work performance evaluations. Um, I have sat on many different panels and I haven't experienced um things that I have been experiencing lately and I'm just not understanding what's going on. Um, I can see if this woman had not been walking the pavement and making changes in this district. And thank you for the way from saying that

087she just got here in November. I've been on this board quite some time now and I've seen a lot of things in this district and never has I seen or heard the teachers and the children say that they want, you know, someone that they rally for someone that they talk about someone. I want to thank Dr. Walker for all it is that she does. I want to thank her for taking the time to [sighs and gasps] to do the things that we haven't seen before. When you talk about someone that is approachable, someone that has an understanding, someone that is trying to put systems in place, have checks and balances, have accountabilities. This is what she's trying to do. She's coming into a place where she's working together with people, working with the board. You

088know, it's hard to work when someone is being um rude or are constantly, you know, if I was at a job where I'm being pulled away in many different directions instead of at my focal point, it's hard to go through your day knowing that you have your day planned out, but now you have 20 other things that someone is asking you to do. You're just going around trying to please um so many different personalities. It's not easy. I hope that um with any other with any with any other I don't know when you think about it. I don't know of any as a teacher I'd never had work performances down on me every five minutes. I did not I didn't I wasn't pulled into the principal's office. I wasn't I wasn't um experiencing anything like

089that. Another thing that I wanted to um say to uh Dr. Walker. I just want to thank her for being here with us and staying in the trenches with us. And she was appointed. She um came into this district and you know it's one thing that that she has done is always been respectful, always been kind, always, you know, showing that she's here to support supporting the children. I want to um also say that I sent out an email myself and I'm noticing that when we're talking about I don't even want to even use the word the T word, right? Because that means nothing. But I do want to know um about the usage of taxpayers funds to take these trips that uh board members are out taking like you know they're going on vacations

090or something you know spending 10 $15,000 you know going on vacations when I thought we had a limit on um how many times that we can go and what and what are we why why is it that some get to spend 105,000 dollars on going on conferences and what are these conferences for? You know, I don't know if um what the limit is, but I think that, you know, I did request it and I do want to know because I want the public to know what conferences that my fellow board members have gone on and how much it's cost the district. And we could pay for our children to go on field trips with some of that money as well. So, let me see. I don't want to make sure I miss anything. Micromanaging, right?

091As a as a manager myself, right? I would not micromanage any of my staff. You know, I give people the opportunity to um to see what it is that they need to do, set expectations for them, and allow them to move forward. Um, everyone have a nice evening. Thank you, Dr. Walker, for all you're doing for us. And as usual, I say my prayers. I'm done. [sighs] >> Thank you, Trusty Stewart. Trusty the French. Thank you. And >> love French. Thank you. But we do kind of look alike. >> Clerk Kire, please. >> Alrighty. Good evening, AESD friends and family. I would love to address the board on the amazing things going on in and around our district. As we gear up towards the end of October, we see numerous fall festivals being held at

092all of our different school sites. I want to make a massive shout out to our uh parent teacher associations, PTAs, and all of the hard work and dedication they uh put into making these years so memorable for our students and our parents. I want to take a moment. I attended Gus Franklin's last Friday and I loved the tricker uh trunk or treat. You saw teachers, you saw parents, you saw community members uh coming out turning out for our students. And I just thought that was epic. Another uh shout out is um to the festivals and the raising of the monies to supplement the budget cuts to our schools. I would like to again um plead to the district to please consider uh releasing the ELOP funds back to our students. I would also like to

093emphasize the need for our lottery funding to be considered um found and returned to our students. Um [snorts] and then I'm going to go into talking about how great our teachers are. It's my understanding that we are wrapping up parent teacher conferences for our su uh school sites this Thursday and Friday. I want to thank all of our parents for coming in, listening to what our teachers have to say, understanding the different areas that our students need support, and then also bridging that gap to building a partnership with the teacher that your student is in for um and working with this year as their growth is determined on a village. It is not a single individual. [snorts] Um to close my comments tonight, I would really like to highlight and maybe plant a seed that

094we would get more work done on this dispending so much time attacking each other and trying to hurt each other. if we could stop being so firm in our stances and even take a inkling of time to see how other people are feeling and enduring. Um, I will close tonight with a happy Veterans Day to all the veterans within our district and I do hope everyone kicks off November in style. Thank you and have a great night. Thank you, Clerk Kyer. Amazing comments, colleagues. I just want to begin by saying that over the last few months, the board has made some some of the most impactful governance moves that the district has seen in years. So, we brought in a fractional chief of staff. He is the first in the state and he is to

095support us with independent governance guidance. And so this role has already is helping us better align ourselves and communicate amongst ourselves with our goals. We also saved the district I have to check the number but hundreds of thousands of dollars when the board unanimously turned down outsourcing um crosswalk uh what is it uh our crosswalk or crosswalk thank you crossing guards. Um, so I I wanted to also highlight that the the board unanimously turned down hundreds of thousands of dollars to outsource our crossing uh guards. And now because of this, which I want to highlight Dr. Walker and her staff who took action to provide a contract with CSEA. So now our own people are actually walking our own students. I also want to highlight the uh budget and policy committee that was established for

096the first time. The the district now has a standing budget committee and a policy committee to ensure transparency, accountability and financial and governance processes. something that was that is being brought up quite frequent frequent frequently um that I I really want to highlight that this board has done and taken action on. For the first time in our district's history, we established clear superintendent goals tied to measurable outcomes. And for the first time, we have a formal evaluation system with scheduled check-ins. This brings long-term stability and sets the standard for future boards. In just a few months, we've shown what is possible when we focus on solutions and governance instead of personalities and politics. So I also want to speak directly and transparently about my travel conference because I believe in owning things openly rather than

097waiting for rumors or narratives to be create created. Yes, last year I exceeded my travel allocation by a few thousand dollars. I should have monitored it more closely and I take full responsibility for that. What I also want the public to know is that before traveling, I contacted district staff and the issuing bank to confirm those funds were available. My intention was to never be careless. It was to bring back resources, solutions, and connections that could directly benefit the district. Almost every major initiative we have launched including the fractional chief of staff role with Adam Lechner came directly from those conferences. What this showed me is that we need better systems in place to ensure trustees are notified clearly and in real time when they are approaching their limits. So no one present or future

098is over in this position again is ever in this position again. This is not just about accountability. It's about improving our governance systems. So while I I acknowledge my overage, I stand firm in this truth. My travel resulted in solutions that are now saving this district money and improving its governance. And moving forward, I will continue to be transparent, accountable, and committed to bringing back results, not excuses. I als I will also be requesting an agenda item to bring our trustee stipend into alignment with a new cap authorized by the state of California effective January 1st. Let me just be clear, this is not a raise. This is catching up to levels that have not been adjusted in decades, over 40 years. This law was sponsored by the California School Boards Association because low stipens

099make it harder for workingclass trustees, young parents, and community members to serve. The California Teachers Associ association took a neutral stand, which signals that this is not controversial. It's not political. It's a governance update that supports board stability and accessibility. So, if we value diverse representation and long-term retention, as we talk about, aligning with state law is not just reasonable, it is responsible. So, this just ensures that the public service is accessible to all, not just to those who can afford it. Um, I just want to also finish that I'm proud of this board, not because we agree on everything, but because we are willing to do the work. My commitment is simple. I will always be honest with the public. When I get it right, you will hear it. When I fall short, I

100will own it. And in both cases, I will keep fighting for outcomes that serve students, protect taxpayers, and strengthen this board. Our community doesn't need perfect leaders. It needs honest leaders who keep moving forward. And that is exactly what this board is doing. Moving on to superintendent reports and announcements. Dr. Walker. >> Thank you, President Sodto. Good evening, board of trustees, executive cabinet, AESD staff, students, and community. As we move further into this school year, I'm inspired by how our district continues to live out Thrive 2030, our framework for the future across all of our schools. I've seen powerful examples of our focus coming into life, our coming to life. From classrooms where students are engaged in deeper learning to site visits that highlight the dedication of our teachers, staff, and leaders working big, bold,

101and brave. And the main part is together. Earlier this month, our professional development brought both classified and certificated employees together in learning that strengthens our collective capacity to serve students. We also held our first new teacher check-in session, creating space for reflection, support, and connection as we invest in those new to our district family. In addition, our district first African-American parent advisory council met for the first time and our district English learn English learner advisory committee continues to regularly meet monthly both providing critical input and ensuring that family voices guide our work and our LCAP goals. We are thrilled to share that we received a letter from the state superintendent of public instruction Tony Thurman of the California Department of Education recognizing Gus Franklin as a 2025 blue ribbon school. This is a testament to

102the dedication, innovation, and excellence of our staff, students, and families. In addition to the principles, the national principal month, I am in awe of the work that our principles are doing. They are really being very innovative, creative, and thoughtful leaders at each of our sites. And so I want to thank the board for um approving the resolution that recognizes them. And I am again so proud to have these leaders at our school sites leading our schools. Our future is bright because of the people who show up every day with purpose and heart. As we continue the work, I'm reminded of a quote by Desmond Tutu. Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness. Together we are the light moving forward with hope, courage, and unity. And I end

103with this video. With the season turning and leaves changing, we embrace new opportunities to grow together, grounded in care, learning, and community spirit. Before returning from fall [music] break, our staff came together for project-based learning and professional development sessions, ensuring we're always learning and [music] growing for our students. These moments of collaboration reflect the heart of our district, a shared commitment [music] to doing our best for every child every day. We introduce Leaders Giving [music] in celebration of National Principles Month, a special way to honor the heart and strength behind our schools. Thank you for leading with compassion, vision, and unwavering dedication. Because of you, our schools continue to thrive and inspire [music] every day. We are also so proud of our transportation [music] department for leading a meaningful walk in honor of those affected

104by cancer. What started with just six participants [music] three years ago has grown into a powerful symbol of unity, strength, [music] and hope. Every step taken reminds us that no one walks this journey alone. Our community truly shows up for one another. We also continue to strengthen [music] our partnerships with families through our regular district English learner advisory committee and district parent [music] advisory committee meetings. and we proudly launched our very first district AfricanAmerican parent advisory [music] council led by two of our amazing assistant principles. It's inspiring to see parents taking initiative and collaborating with our AESD [music] family and local community partners to help shape brighter futures for our students. And of course, October would not be complete without celebrating the season itself. Across our schools, students are enjoying [music] fun and festive fall

105activities. Moments that build connection, joy, and belonging. Being at our school sites, witnessing, listening, and experiencing the environments our students live and learn in every day gives us a firsthand understanding [music] of what works and where we can grow. It also deepens our appreciation for how our employees [music] influence student success in countless ways, often through the simplest acts of care and consistency. Let's continue to lead with heart, hope, and unity. Big, bold, and brave together. >> Awesome. Thank you, Dr. Walker. Moving on to the adjournment. At this time, I'll entertain a motion. >> I motion to adjurnn. >> Is there a second? >> Stewart, I sec second. >> Miss Levy, the vote, please. Tristy Krauss. >> Krauss. I >> Tristy Ker. >> Kaire. I >> Trusty Lef French. >> Lef French. I >> Trusty

106Stewart. >> Stewart. I >> stood I. Motion passes. The time is 39:26 p.m. Have a good night, everyone.