September 9, 2025 AESD Regular Board of Education Meeting

001[Music] That's me. [Music] Okay. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] One, two. Test test. [Music] Testing one, two. [Music] Testing one. [Music] Do you feel [Music] Yeah. [Music] Heat. [Music] here. See what you're doing. [Music] Heat. Heat. N. [Music] Hey [Music] you. Hey. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Oh, [Music] hey. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Ha. [Music] I don't [Music] Huh? [Music] Okay, cabinet and trustees. Um, it's currently 5:25. Okay. Cabinet, uh, trustees. Am I not loud enough or is it the mic? >> Am I not loud enough or is it the mic? Hello. Hello. It's a little better, right? >> Testing. >> You can hear me on YouTube. I'm like Cabinet members, it's currently 5:26. If you can please come back to the DIS

002so we can call the meeting to order. The time is 5:27. We're going to call the meeting to order in about 3 minutes. If we can please have cabinet members behind the dis so we can get started. Testing. One, two. Test. test. President Sto, the time is 5:30 M. Good evening. Welcome everyone. I would like to call the regular board meeting of the Alanto Elementary School District to order. It is currently uh September 9th, 2025. The time is 5:30 p.m. We're going to get started with roll call and quorum establishment. Before we begin, I'd like to make a quick comment that we will have trustee I'm sorry, clerk Kyer join us on Zoom. So, she will be here on Zoom. Uh, Miss Le roll call and quorum establishment. >> Trusty Krauss. >> Krauss present. >>

003Trusty Webster. She's on. >> Is she on Zoom? >> We're waiting for her to join the room. She is in the waiting room and we've already clicked admit. So something's loading on her end. >> Trusty La French. >> Le French present. >> Trusty Stewart. >> Stewart pre present. >> Trusty Stoodto present. >> Trusty Webster. >> I believe her. Okay, she's on now. We're going to go ahead and add her to the spotlight. She has no microphone at the minute, so we'll work with her on that. Is she on? >> She is in the room, but I believe her computer is still loading into Zoom, but she should be able to hear us. Can't hear you. Trusty Webster. I >> was going to say, >> Cler, can you hear us? >> I can hear you now.

004I heard that. >> Okay, >> perfect. All right. Um, Miss Le >> taking roll call. Trusty Webster. >> Webster present. >> All right. We have a quorum establishment. We're moving on to adoption of the agenda. Proposed additions, deletions, and adjustments in the order of business. Miss Levy, do we have any? >> President. Um, so I think we have the pledge of allegiance before we do the adoption of the agenda. >> I'm speeding through things here. Thank you, Miss Le. I will lead the pledge of allegiance. Everyone, please stand. Put your right hand over your heart. Ready? Begin. Aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. Moving on to adoption of the

005agenda now. Proposed additions, deletions, and adjustments in the order of business. Miss Lavey, >> we have none. >> Thank you. Moving on to the adoption of the agenda. Trustees, I'll entertain a motion at this time. >> Steuart, I I motion to adopt. >> There's a motion by trustee Stewart to adopt. Is there a second? >> Le French, I second. >> Lster, I second. >> There's a second by trustee Lef French. Any discussion hearing and seeing none miss >> Trese Krauss >> Krauss I >> Webster I >> Tresy Lef French >> Le French I Trese Stewart >> Stewart I >> Tresy Stoodto >> Sodto I motion pass 5-0 moving on to staff presentations Dr. Walker. >> Thank you, President Sodto. At this time, we have business services presentation of the fiscal year 2024 2025 unodudited actuals

006financial report. We have Mr. Mcelpen and Mr. Zack Clinish. >> Okay. Good evening, Board President Sodto, Board of Trustees, Superintendent Dr. Walker, cabinet members, staff members, and community members as well. Thank you uh for the introduction. My name is Craig McCelpin. I am currently serving as the business services consultant for the great Adalto Elementary School District. And myself along with the director of fiscal services, Zack Cleamesh, are here this evening to present the 2425 unudited actuals report. See if this works. There we go. Sorry for the delay. So this evening the discussion topics or agenda for this presentation we're going to share what the unodudited actuals report is and then we're going to follow that with the 2425 revenues the 2425 expenditures as well. So we're going to give some detail about what made up

007the numbers for the 2425 year for both of those categories and then number four will be next steps. So what are unodudited actuals? This is the district's annual financial report. This is again as just mentioned this is for the year that just ended for the year that began on July 1st of 2024 and ended on June 30th of 2025. This is going to represent all the transactions all the financial activity that happened for the year. Often the term how the books are closed is used. And so this evening what we'd like to do is is talk about how did the final revenues and expenditures for the fiscal year look. And so again this is going to be how the books are closed for the 2425 year. It identifies both restricted and unrestricted dollars. Then most

008importantly for this evening and why we're here, it is required to be approved by the board of trustees on or before September 15th of every single year. And one point I'd just like to make before we get into the numbers is this report. Is that better right there? >> Yes. >> Um this report is a little bit different than the interim reports that have been presented. The first in report, second report, and the annual budget. And what the difference is is this is really just kind of the closing of the books. So it's really the the finality of the numbers. There's not going to be any assumptions or projections based on student data. Anything that's going to be more of a projection that will be at first interrum. So tonight is really just a closure

009if you will of the numbers for the excuse me 2425 year. And if there's any questions please um jump in at any time and we'll answer any questions for you. So this next page uh this is the 2425 and please look at the top the unrestricted revenues. So this will be the next slide will show the restricted revenues but this is the unrestricted revenues and what I'd like to do is draw your attention to the left side which is the source and just like to go briefly through those but the LCFF local control funding formula. I'm sure that term has been used quite a bit in the board meetings over the last about 10 or 12 years or so but that is referencing the state aid that the district gets for the students that are

010um in the district. The next one is federal dollars. Often people hear title one, title two, title three. Other state, let's grab my notes here would be examples of ELOP um equity multiplier, art music block grant, different grants that are out there that are different than the LCFF state aid, but this is still money that comes from the state of California. And then local, that would represent I makes money on for leasing, for rentals, for interest that the district makes in interest for the year. So then moving from the left side over toward the right, the estimated that is referencing in June when the when the budget was presented, there's a term that was used that night called estimated actuals. That was an estimate of how the year was sort of projecting to end. And

011so that's what the estimated is referencing kind of how the things were looking. And now jumping one column over to the right, we're unodudited. That is how the year has completed for your district. And then the change. So the change is what was the difference that would was represented from estimated actuals to unodit actuals. Again this is just to clarify this is not talking about the 2526 budget in this presentation. This again is just the closure of the 2425 year. So a few just notes that I'd like to make and then again please let me know if there's any questions. At the top you'll see the change of $1.82 82 million. And what that was represented by and we talked to the auditor about that just to make sure that we had complete understanding. And

012really what this was was a recalculation of the prior year. The fund balance when all is said and done. If you take the revenue that was shown last year along with this year, it's really a fund balance neutral is what this was done. So that there were adjustments to the LCF last year and then this year they made the same. So when I say last year, meaning 2324. So this is really a fund balance neutral. So when all is said and done, your ending fund balance did not change per se by that 1.8. It just was a offset or a neutral um accounting entry for last year. And then in terms of um other state, the district also had some additional money that came in toward the in the middle in August, excuse me, and

013home to school transportation and some TK add-on money. So just given a quick um idea of how the numbers changed. So the total revenue for unrestricted dollars again from estimated actuals to unodudit actuals had an increase of $2.1. That's positive. Um and then again we'll talk about the restricted in one moment but I did want to add the contributions to the bottom of this slide. And so you can see the contributions were estimated in June to be $21 million contribution the district was going to make and to close out the year the contribution was $23 million. So it was a increase of $2.1 million. And overall um the the contributions and I believe that probably first in second in some of that information has been presented in a lot of districts in the state of

014California have the same issue with the contribution continuing to grow each and every year and a lot of that has to do with the uh SULPA in terms of the dollars that don't come in from the state to cover you know the expenses that the SUPA department would have and then also in transportation. So those are the two big um buckets if you will that make up the contribution. Okay, so the next slide is going to be the 2425 restricted revenues and again you can see same way that um we set the slide up the LCFF sources and and etc downwards. So we just like to simply go toward the right to the change you can see there were some changes in the overall restricted revenues. um all of them uh excuse me on the

015federal side the title one and title two projections when the the grants or the entitlements for the year were completed those did go down at the very end of the year. So that's what's represented by the change of $500,000. And then from the state side of the house was the expanded learning opportunity grant. That one also had a a decrease um at the very end of the year. So the total revenue for the district for the year had a decrease in restricted dollars of $831,000. When Zach is going to be presenting on the expenditures in a moment, but he will also be kind of sharing that there is a balance, a nice healthy balance that the district does have in restricted dollars. Okay, so this last slide is essentially just a combination of the two.

016Taking the restricted dollars and the unrestricted dollars for revenue and the district had a total revenue increase for the year of 2425 to close out the year of one almost $1.3 million. Okay. So, what I'd like to do now is um invite Zack Clemish to the podium to share about expenditures for the year. Good evening. Good evening everyone. Uh, okay. On this slide here, this will show the unrestricted expenditures for the year. Uh, similar to how Mr. McAlpin was discussing the categories on the left side. This will be the expenditure sites. We have classified and certificated salaries and the relevant benefits. Moving on down, we have books and supplies, services, which would be like utilities or repairs and contracted services, and then capital outlay, which for the most part is made up of uh equipment.

017The next one, other outgo entail services provided by county offices and other districts. And then the final row will be the total expenditures. So, a few notes on the change row over on the uh right side. So for certificated salaries, the increase was mostly due to sub costs throughout the year increasing and the same for classified salaries. As for benefits, the negative 1.2 million that shows the EPA adjustment based on the LCFF um adjustments throughout the year. Going down to books and supplies and services. That's mostly from closing out open POS or for contracted services that we did not use for capital outlay the negative $500,000 roughly. That was from moving the -ate project to the next year which would be this current year. And that brings our total expenditures to $94 million in total

018or a net change of or a net decrease of $499,000. One area of note on this slide is the district met the CA requirement of 60% at 60.48%. Okay. On this next slide, it will be the restricted side of everything. So, same categories over on the left side. Uh for certificate of salaries, we had an increase of $1.5 million. That relates to summer school costs that came in higher than expected. And for classified salaries, we were slightly overbudgeted in that for about $900,000. Uh books and supplies, same thing with that. We were closing out unused open POS. And same thing with services, the negative $1 million that will be for closing contracted services that we did not use for the year. This slide here will show both the unrestricted and restricted side of expenditures together.

019So overall, we had a decrease of $1.25 million. That will bring us to the unrestricted reserve amounts slide. So the categories on the left side, we begin with the be beginning balance which would be the ending balance from the prior year or 2324. We have an audit adjustment in there from 2324 that was related to the unduplicated pupil percentage. Then we come to the net increase or decrease which would be the summation of revenues and expenditures and the contributions. And that brings us to the ending balance. Now continuing on from there, we have the non-spendables which would be the prepaids uh inventory and revolving cash. We have a possible audit adjustment that we set aside as an assignment relating to another prior year. um finding and then we have the reserve for economic uncertainties. That's

020a state required 3% of our overall expenditures for the year that we have to set aside for emergencies. The final row there will be the unassigned and that's essentially the funds that are left over for the year. So looking at the unodudited actuals, we started the year at 19.3. After the audit adjustment and the net decrease of $10.5 million, that brings us to $6.2 2 million for the year. Subtracting the non-spendables, assignments, and economic reserve for uncertainties, that brings us to $326,000. By looking at estimated actuals and comparing it to the unodudited actuals, that is a net increase of $321,000. I'll pass it back off to Mr. McApin. >> Thank you, Zach. And the last slide we have this evening is next steps. And so again, as we mentioned here, this evening, we are here

021to approve the 2425 on actuals. And then the next part will be once that has been approved tomorrow, the report will be sent to the San Diego uh San Diego, excuse me, San Bernardino County Office of Education for review. And then the next part is what the next board meeting that um presenting on fiscal issues will be the first in report that will be done in December and that will assess as I mentioned really not discussing that in today's unodit actual report but talking about what is current enrollment what is current ADA the issues that are affecting the revenue that comes into this district how many students are are coming to the classroom and so that'll be a big part of that along with then as we just talked about tonight the revenues and expenditures

022and adjustments how are things looking how are are our are positions being filled what types of adjustments can be made in December and then there'll be another second interrum to make more adjustments and then again estimated actuals as we mentioned a little bit ago is kind of the final est uh changes if you will for the 25 26 year and then be back again here um next September to do the same type of report and then the last number five for next steps would simply be that the auditor will be coming out to um audit the unodudited actuals report for the 2425 year and then that is what becomes the annual audit report which will be presented to the board in probably December or January. So with that said, thank you for the time this

023evening. Are there any questions regarding the unodited actuals report? >> We'll start with uh trustee. >> Thank you for that presentation. I have no questions. >> Trustee Stewart, >> I have no no questions. Thank you. >> Thank you, Trusty Krauss. >> Yes. Thank you, President Sodto. Good evening, gentlemen, and thank you very much for your presentation this evening on the unodudited actuals. Uh I know Mr. McCalpin, you uh came in at the last minute as the CBO left us recently and uh but Zach, you've been here working with us, so I appreciate all of your diligence over the last many years. I did have two questions and comments. The first one is going back to the contributions. So on that slide uh where we saw the uh increase of 2.1 million on contributions historically uh

024I've seen that contribution amount rise uh over and over. A few years ago it was only around 17 million. I can't remember how many years but it wasn't uh it had not broken that 20 million barrier and now we see it up to potentially 23 million. Uh at estimated it was estimated at 21 and now it's at 23. And I think you mentioned that perhaps a lot of it has to do with special ed or perhaps the cost increasing of special ed. Is that a fair statement? >> Yes, absolutely. Yes. >> Okay. One of the other concerns, one of the ways that special ed cost rise is over identification. And in our district, I heard a story last week about a student who couldn't tie their shoes and they were identified as special ed because

025they could not tie their shoes. And I I I have to say that to me that's a little distressing because if you identify a student, our teachers are stellar enough to be able to teach our kids how to tie their shoes that they don't need to be overidentified. So I hope that our district can look into these matters and see why those costs are rising. I know that you can't speak to that, but um that 2.1 million could have potentially went towards negotiations this year uh for our staff classified and certificated. And so again, I think that we need to take a deeper dive into why contributions went up by $2 million. Um, my second uh question uh for you is um in your experience, and this has been my experience as well, you mentioned

026that we have a healthy restricted fund balance potentially, right? Uh allowable expenditures are able to be moved from unrestricted in I mean from uh unrestricted to restricted if the grant allows it. Correct. And so that would then free up money to fall into the ending fund balance if we took expenditures that are allowed say and move them into ELOP or years ago esser co funds and what have you to be able to be used for negotiations. Is that a fair statement to to say that potentially that's allowable by law? >> Yeah. I know it's absolutely allowable and and really um using the restricted dollars first would be a good practice for the district to do to really try to spend those dollars first and then excuse me that allows unrestricted dollars to be used for

027any other type purposes available >> including negotiations. >> Correct. >> Thank you. I appreciate your time. Thank you. That's all the questions. President Mr. McAlpin, did you want to respond to the first question that Trusty Krauss discussed about special ed and funding? I don't remember hearing you respond to his question. >> I I think it was kind of a yes no question and then he kind of shared the what was uh Trusty Krauss, what was the >> just the rise in contributions over the last several years. Uh I believe we were at 17 million a few years ago and now all of a sudden it jumped to 23 million. >> But my concern also is from estimated it was at 21 and then 2.1 million suddenly appeared in expenditures in the course of 3 months.

028And I'm not saying that's your fault because again you just came to our district to study and help out with the finances. But it is alarming that I can understand 200,000 potentially right in an increase. But 2.1 million on a hundred and some million dollar budget is is a little bit of alarming and I hope that at some point we can dig deeper into exactly why and tonight's not tonight but at some point figure out why that increase happened over the last 3 months. >> Right. And and I think um Superintendent Walker I think it was regarding was the the majority of the 2.1 regarded to SUPA and I just said yes. Zach, do you mind um just kind of sharing maybe a touch of detail? Was there anything that closed out at the end

029of the year that kind of made up that number? >> Uh, I know a large portion of it would relate to uh other services performed by uh counties or other districts that our students attend. Uh there was a a large increase in that this year. >> Thank you. >> Okay, Trustee Stewart. >> So the cont contributions have to do with sped, right? >> They don't necessarily have to. It's more the contribution of it. So >> and transportation both. >> So when we can't provide the serve ser services that you know students need they go to count county and then we have to pay count county for kids that we can't serve service that that that are in our dis district. Right. So that that could could lead to the in increase. >> Yeah. just that

030the cost of the services versus the money that the state provides um just don't don't equalize and that and the gap is continuing to grow growing more and more as as trusty Krauss mentioned too maybe it was 17 just again that variance just continues to grow and the revenue that comes in versus the cost to serve the students with those those needs >> okay and Zach um you know trusty crow said that sudd suddenly in three months it increased is that true that it's sudd suddenly ly increased in just the last 3 months or has has it been in inre increasing because I know as a board me member in the past I have been told that we do have a highsped population and that that's been for a w while so I've been told

031>> so overall through the um years I've been director the in the costs have increased for um the other district and county services. Uh as for the last 3 months, we were hoping and we were based uh our estimates on the trends throughout the year. We were really hoping it was not going to climb that much, but unfortunately it it did climb in the last few months. >> Okay. Thank Thank you. >> Uh Trusty Le French, >> I have a question. I don't know if maybe I miss and I if I didn't hear you uh correctly. We have teachers referring children because they can't tie their shoe to special ed. Is that what I heard? >> Okay. >> Order, please. Order. >> President Soda, I respectfully decline to answer such a question at this time.

032>> Oh, >> okay. Well, >> okay. Um, clerk, do we still have Clerk Cler on Zoom? Yeah, I'm back. I do not have many questions this time. I do you gentlemen with >> Clerk Ker I can you repeat that? Um just so you are are aware I'm being told that your connection's a little um iffy. Um, so, um, I don't know. C, can you speak? Cuz it was, um, kind of I see you now. It's a little bit laggy. I can't hear you. >> Is she unmuted? She muted. She's not muted. You're not muted. Cl, we can't hear you. Um I just >> Are you able to hear me? >> Yes. Yes. It's very laggy. >> Oh >> and delayed. >> Okay. I will try to get this out. Thank you gentlemen for being with

033us. I want to express my gratitude. I do not have any questions at this time. >> Thank you Clerk Ker. We heard that just well. Thank you. Okay. Uh thank you gentlemen. That's all for tonight. You're all set. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Moving on to uh educational services. Uh Dr. Walker. >> Thank you, President Sodto. At this time, we have Dr. Valdez to share what our new two new presentations are for this evening. Good evening everyone present today. Good evening um Miss um President Sto and trustee members. We are excited that we have two great presentations from two of our school administrators. We have um a presentation both of them on the Sipsa and the first one is for Victoria McGathan. [Applause] [Music] Good evening, President Sto, respected board members, executive cabinet,

034superintendent Dr. Walker, teachers, and community members. I'm Alex Verdusco, principal of Victoria McGathan Elementary School. It's an honor to present to you tonight an overview of our school plan for student achievement. As a proud dual immersion campus, I'll be sharing data from the CASP and I Ready assessments along with our goals and strategies focused on enhancing student achievement in English language arts, math, and science. I will also highlight our efforts to foster a positive school culture and meet the needs of our special education students and English language learners. Tonight, Victoria McGathan Elementary and Westside Park Elementary will present an overview of their school plan and for student achievement, the SIPA. The presentation will cover the following key areas. The 2025 school demographics as shown on this slide reflect our current enrollment at Victoria McGathan of

035438 students and of this population couple of the highlights are 83% are Hispanic 11% are African-American and we have 12% in special education. Additionally, approximately 197 students at Victoria McGathan Elementary are identified as socioeconomically disadvantaged. A key aspect you'll notice throughout the presentation of our goals and strategies is that our teachers actively use their collaboration time to analyze data, identify specific student groups, and set targeted goals for both their classes and individual students. So this slide presents language arts data for grades three through five over the past four years. It's important to note that CASP scores are lagging indicators offering a snapshot of the school year at its end. While our overall ELA score showed a slight decline, there are positive trends to build upon moving forward. Although third and fourth grade ELA data dipped

036in the three-year cycle, cohort data from 2022 to last year's preliminary results demonstrate improvement in both grades. Additionally, fifth grade continues to build on the fourth grade proficiency outcomes. The math data demonstrates a slight increase from 2021 to 2022 and to 2022 2023 and then a slight dip in 2023 and 24 followed by a notable improvement in 2024 25 preliminary data. The trend for distance from standard is relatively stable with a gradual increase overall highest being in 2024-25. The current data shows both the highest percent proficiency and best DFS uh distance from standard so far indicating positive growth in overall math achievement. The science data demonstrates a peak performance in 2223 at 15.38 and a drop in 2324 with a slight recovery in 2425 at 8.91 demonstrating signs of stabilization. The best DFS of 21.1

037was in 2223 and the highest DFS level in 25 of 25.1 in 23 and 24 and the preliminary data shows minimal improvement in DFS in a DFS of 25 and the DFS remained relatively steady with a gap of about 25 points between student performance and the standard. While this gap persists, the consistency may indicate a foundational progress is being made, albeit more slowly than desired. Through though challenges persist, the data shows moments of progress and offers clear direction of improvement. With targeted interventions and a focus on foundational skills, students can and will improve as they progress to higher grades. And by leveraging successful strategies and focusing on areas of growth, there's potential for continued recovery and movement toward proficiency in the coming years. Breaking down our student groups, ELA and math performance in many groups

038is showing consistent improvement, particularly particularly in Hispanic, McKenna, Vento, and foster youth students. indicated that targeted interventions and support are starting to show results. Science performance has been notable has seen notable recovery in several groups with McKini Vento and foster youth showing the most significant gains. This suggests that science initiatives are having a positive effect. and our English learners and African-American students still face challenges, but both have the potential for future growth, especially with tailored programs and continued focus. Overall, the data suggests that while the road to proficiency is still a work in progress, positive steps are being taken across various groups with clear opportunities for further improvement and sustained progress. With the continued commitment to targeted instruction, crosscurricular integration, and personalized support, the trends show that every student group has the potential to thrive

039in the coming years. There's momentum for positive change and with sustained effort, the gaps in performance can continue to close, bringing more students closer to grade level expectations. We'll now move to our I Ready data. The I Ready data reveals remarkable progress across both ELA and math with clear trends towards improved student performance. While many students initially started one or two grades below, the data shows significant growth by the end of the 2425 school year, students are not only closing the gap, but advancing to higher proficiency levels, particularly in ELA, where the early ongrade level group has seen continuous growth. In math, the shift from two grades below to more students performing at mid-above grade level is a strong indicator of the success of targeted instructional strategies and intervention programs. This steady progress highlights the

040impact of ongoing efforts and sets a positive trae trajectory for the future. These trends suggest that with sustained effort and focus, students will continue to make significant strides towards grade level proficiency and beyond demonstrating the effectiveness of current initiatives and the potential for continued academic success. The path forward looks bright with promising gains across across both subjects. And to conclude and wrap up that data po portion that we just went over, the data from CASP and I Ready shows significant growth with potential potential with a large portion of students in the yellow band position to advance to the green band. We must continue to monitor and support our African-American and English learner subgroups and also ensure equitable progress for all students by setting goals with them so they may also be active participants in their

041success. VME achieved gold award in PB PBIS which is another thing I'm very proud of and we are working toward platinum status this year and as part of our s our SIPA review I will walk through each goal highlight key strategies and provide updates on implementation so goal one which is our language arts focus on multi-tered systems of support go right there. So, there's a lot there, but I'll just kind of review a little bit and focus on some of the goals. For goal one in ELA, VME has adopted a structured MTSS framework designed to support all learners, including English learners. This system ensures students receive timely, targeted instruction and interventions based on identified needs. The MTSS approach reflects our commitment to equity, differentiation, and inclusive practices leading to measurable growth in literacy across all

042grade levels. Goal two, mathematics, focus on datadriven instruction. At VME, we are focused on strengthening math instruction through datadriven practices. Teachers engage in collaborative data discussions referred to as data chats and use ongoing assessments to inform both interventions and enrichment opportunities. These strategies support a reflective student- centered approach to teaching and foster continuous improvement. By working on instructional teams, we are taking proactive stance on raising student achievement in mathematics. Goal three are English learners. We focus on scaffolded language development. And at VME, our English learners receive daily designated EL instruction with a focus on explicit language development. Instruction is intentionally scaffolded using tools such as graphic organizers, student journals, and structured writing strategies. These supports are designed to build confidence and strengthen literacy skills, especially in writing and academic uh language. This work reflects our

043commitment to language equity and lays a strong foundation for students long-term communication and academic success. Goal four, special education. Our focus is on MTSS integration and team collaboration. So at VME, we are committed to embedding smallroup instruction within our MTSS framework supported by ongoing professional development and strong collaboration between general education and special education teams. These practices enhance inclusive teaching and strengthen individualized learning pathways for students with disabilities. This approach ensures every student has access to rigorous, supportive instruction tailored to their needs. In addition, our students receive special education services, fully participate in all aspects of our school life, including core curriculum, enrichment programs, extracurricular activities, study trips, and assemblies. Inclusion is not just a goal. It's a daily practice that reflects our belief that every student belongs. Goal number five, chronic absenteeism and suspensions.

044And our focus is on positive behavior supports PBIS. And at Victoria McGathan Elementary, our staff is committed to fostering a positive and inclusive school climate through the implementation of PBIS strategies and student incentive programs. These efforts are aimed at reducing chronic absenteeism and suspensions by creating a school environment that is safe, engaging, and motivating for all students. We actively moni monitor chronically absent students through consistent outreach, phone calls, emails, attendance, SSTs, excuse me, and home visits when needed to ensure no student is left behind. In addition, we host regular assemblies and schoolwide events that celebrate positive behavior and reinforce our core values of inclusion, respect, and community. Our culture of belonging and recognition plays a vital role in supporting students well-being and promoting daily attendance. Goal six, our final goal is parent engagement. And our

045focus is strengthening partnerships and advocacy. And at Victoria McGathan Elementary, we are deeply committed to building strong partnerships between families and the school. A variety of engagement opportunities are provided to encourage collaboration and two-way communication, including classroom volunteering, participation in PTA. regular updates and communication through parent square, coffee with the principal, school site council, ELAC meetings, family centered events like international night, administrator workshops that equip parents with strategies to support their child. This year, we are especially proud to focus on the launch of our African-American parent advisory council, AAPAC, led by Mrs. Griffith. This initiative is designed to elevate parent voice, strengthen advocacy, and ensure culturally responsive decisionmaking. Through these efforts, we are fostering deeper trust, strengthening school community relationships, and creating a shared commitment to student success. In closing, thank you for the opportunity

046to share the progress and priorities at Victoria McGathan Elementary School this evening. I am incredibly proud of the work that is happening at my site. I want to sincerely thank our dedicated teachers, truly the best in the field, whose passion and commitment make everything we do possible. I also want to recognize my amazing office staff for their patience and ongoing support and extend my heartfelt appreciation to my assistant principal, Mrs. Griffith, who plays a vital role in the success of our school. Lastly, thank you to the board and the cabinet for your continued support, your leadership and partnership which are essential to the work we do on behalf of our students. And at this time, I'd like to turn it over to Mrs. Pantoa, principal of Westside Park Elementary School. Good evening. Can you guys

047hear me? Good evening, board president Sto, trustees, Dr. Walker, cabinet members, ASD staff and community. My name is Adriana Pantoa and I am proud to be the principal at Westside Park Elementary School. I am pleased to present Westside Park Elementary School student plan for student achievement. As we transition into the presentation presentation overview, I will walk you through our comprehensive plan for advancing student achievement. This would include a review of our cast and I ready data, an outline of our six goals, and a look at the strategies we're implementing to reinforce performance in English language arts and math. I will also highlight our target supports for English language learners, two or more races, special education students, African and African-Americans, as well as the efforts to address chronic absentism. Finally, I'll share the initiatives we put

048in place to foster a positive, inclusive, and supportive school culture. At Westside Park Elementary School, the core priority is building a strong foundation in early literacy and mathematics. To ensure targeted instruction, our teachers engage in regular collaborative sessions where they analyze student data to identify specific learning needs. Based on these insights, they work closely with student groups to set meaningful goals and create personalized learning plans. We also cultivate a team of teacher leaders who share best practices, model high impact lessons, and collaborate in lesson planning and curriculum development. To further strengthen instructional practices, we partner with specialists to deliver ongoing professional development. This includes training in thinking maps for English language arts and math as well as evidence-based programs like Keey and UFly foundations to support comprehensive literacy program development. Sorry. The total enrollment for

049this school year is 453 students. Our student demographics are 59% Hispanic, 14% white, 31% African-American. Additionally, 14 are 14% are English learners, 13 are enrolled in special education programs, and 57% come from socially disadvantaged backgrounds. This slide represents Westside Park ELA data over the past four years, highlighting progress across specific grade levels. Notably, each grade level showed improvement. For example, the third grade cohort perform increased from 6.1% proficiency in the 2223 school year to 22.37% in 2324 and to two and to 26 25% in the 2425 school year representing a 20.15 increase in proficiency over the last three years. Similar growth has occured in the fourth and fifth cohorts. This slide represents Westside Park math data over the past four years, highlighting progress across specific grade levels. Notably, third and fourth grade levels showed improvement

050with some slight fluctuations. For example, the fourth grade cohort perform increased from 5.38% proficiency in the 2223 school year to 9.59% in 2425 school year representing a 4.21% increase in proficiency. Students in third, fourth, and fourth do not take the science assessment. This light represents Westside Park Science data over the past four years, highlighting progress for grade 5. The most significant increase was noted between the 2324 and the 2425 school year with a 9.8 growth toward proficiency. The following slide displays data from our individual student groups. The English language learners showed gains with some slight shifts in proficiency in LA and math. English learners showed the most fluctuation in proficiency in the area of science. The Hispanic subgroup saw gains in ELA math and science. The African-American subgroup saw gains in ELA math and science.

051This subgroups experienced significant growth in proficiency in ELA and math. To address the needs of the English language subgroups and to continue to improve with the other subgroups, we have brought in expert trainers to support our English language development ELD teachers. All staff members are trained in strategies for designated and integrated EL to ensure consistent support across all classes. Teachers meet regularly with students for data discussions and goal setting sessions to help students understand their performance and objectives. In teacher collaboration meetings, teachers focus on student needs, plan lessons, and create preventive measures and targeted interventions to enhance students learning. Since I already begin in 23 24 school year, the number of students who tested early on grade level and mid above grade level has increased significantly. In ELA, there is an 11% increase in students

052who scored at mid above grade level. And in math, there is an 8% increase in students who scored mid grade level. We um we have we have a significant number of students currently performing one grade level below in both ELA and math indicating a strong potential for reaching proficiency. The intervention efforts focus heavily on the students utilizing IRA path lessons to provide the targeted supports they need. Students who are two or more grade levels behind receive intensive intervention through MTSS and additional support before and after school through tutoring and specialized sessions. The typical growth rate suggests that with continued targeted support, we anticipate an increase in our CAST scores. The data conclusion overall CAT scores have increased over the last three years with significant gains in proficiency over the last two years in ELA, math,

053and science. The Hispanic and African-American subgroups proficient grown has grown has increased over the last four years and most notable increased toward proficiency between 23 and 24 and the 2425 school year. English learners show most notable gains in proficiency in the area of English language arts. The top three areas of focus for the 2526 school year is to make sure the English learners meet are meeting proficiency and reclassification requirements, decreasing chronic absentism, and maintaining academic growth across grade levels in all core subject areas. The school plan for student achievement incorporates a framework for students as well as the 90 the challenge to thrive to 95% attendance. The goal is to follow the framework for the future and to strive for 95% attendance. The first goal in English language arts is to increase our scores by

054implementing the state adopted curriculum along with supplemental resources and tools. To achieve this, we are committed to providing targeted professional development and dedicated collaboration time for teachers to plan datadriven instruction effectively. The second goal focuses on mathematics aiming to improve our prof our performance by supporting with intervention teachers and pair professionals who will provide additional inschool support while tutors and proctors will offer personalized math interventions for struggling students. The third goal is focused on supporting our English language learners. To support this goal, we have implemented a schoolwide ELD block where students receive structured English language development daily. The ELD teachers reinforce language skills using the state adopted wander curriculum, supplemental resources, and practice alpaca assessments. ELD teachers also participate in professional development to strengthening their ability to meet the unique needs of English learners. The

055fourth goal centers on special education. We have three special day classes and one RSVP class. And the goal is to ensure all students are fully included in all activities. We aim to integrate them into mainstream subjects where they demonstrate strengths as indicated by their IEP progress goals. Special education classes have access to the same program, board adopted curriculum, and extracurricular events as all other students, supporting a well-rounded and inclusive education experience. The fifth goal addresses chronic absentism and suspensions. We are committed to fostering a welcoming, safe, and supportive learning environment. To support this goal, we monitor chronic absentism students weekly. Contact parents daily through calls and emails. Meet with students, conduct SST meetings, and include attendance goals in each student's personalized goal setting every four to six weeks. We also provide incentives to encourage positive

056attendance and behavior. We host monthly events to celebrate our students achievement and organize student study trips to broaden their experience beyond the classrooms. Additionally, we partner with afterchool programs like AYA and robotics to enrich our students extracurricular activities. Our dedication our dedication to positive behavior intervention and support PBIS has earned us recognition as a platinum level PBI school three consecutive years in a row. I was waiting for the Cisco is parent engagement. We provide numerous opportunities for parents to engage with our school community. Every three weeks we celebrate our model Wildcat students and their families. Host monthly coffee with administration gatherings, ELAC meetings, schoolside council meetings. Additionally, we organize literacy AVID and math nights to foster family involvement in academics. Thank you for the support to share Westside Park Elementary School Sipsa for students progress.

057I want to take this opportunity opportunity to recognize Miss Lada, an outstanding assistant principal and thank the amazing staff at Westside Park for their dedication and hard work. I would also like to thank the board of trustees, superintendent and cabinets for their support in everything we do. Thank you. Thank you. We'll open it up for questions. Trustee Krauss. >> No questions, just a comment. I want to thank uh Mr. Verdusco and Miss Pentoa and their teams for the presentation and all the work that they're doing with our staff, students, and families. So, thank you so much. >> Thank you, Trusty Stewart. >> Um I I just want one wanted to say thank thank you for for your hard hard work. I know you know first thing great great job on the growth we'll get get

058them net next year right because we'll get get them it's hard when you work so so hard but it's still a crapshoot sometimes you know so I I'm just so so proud proud of our schools thank thank you >> thank you >> trust the French >> I always hear the passion in your voice from Westside Park when you say I am the proud principal a website. Thank you. >> And you always ooze your proudness and I just want to say that your growth over there, you know, um it is um it is it's it's heartwarming to see how proud you are of your school and it shows and how um it shows with your staff how you waited for that applause, right? Uh I thank you for everything that you guys are doing over there

059in Westside Park and for uh Victoria McGaffen. It's always wonderful to see how um how you speak about your school. And a lot of times we look at scores, we look at growths, we look at numbers. Um I look at happy faces. I look at happy children. I look at um happy um parents because small small increments of growth is still growth. But you have to want to come to school. You have to be in an environment that is welcoming and caring and um I always uh notice that when you come to speak you know you are very you know you you will smile sometimes but when you get to talk about your school you will smile even more. And I just want to say I appreciate it. Thank you. >> Congratulations. >> Thank you,

060Clerk Cyer. >> Hi. Uh, good evening. I just want to briefly reiterate the gratitude that my fellow board members have shared tonight. It is a extremely impressive how both of you mentioned and highlighted your staff. I know that uh day-to-day is a team effort. So once again, it's great to see the growth in both schools and I look forward to seeing what far how much farther we can go next year. Thank you. [Applause] >> Thank you. I just want to also express my gratitude for the presentation and for the hard work that you guys are putting in to try and get those metrics and those data improved. So, thank you for the effort. And uh I guess that's it. You're all ready. You're all done. >> All right, we're moving on to the RFP presentations.

061Uh Dr. Walker. Um, I'm just going to make a brief comment. If we can do our best to try and keep uh the RFP presentations from 7 to 10 minutes, that would be very helpful. And uh just simply because the board did get the opportunity to look at the RFPs ahead of ahead of time. So, um just just as a as a request and ask Dr. Walker. >> Thank you, President Sto. At this time, we're going to start off with uh the proposal from BBK and I'm going to pull it up. One second. Okay. Can everyone hear me? Perfect. Thank you. Um thank you so much to uh everyone, the board, superintendent, assistant superintendent, cabinet staff, and all of our wonderful community members. This is wonderful to see everybody out here. Um, despite being an

062attorney, I will attempt to be brief. My name is Stephanie Vanet. I am a senior associate with Best in Creger. I'm part of our education services team. Um, and I am very proud um, and and very excited to be able to present for the board today. Um, and for our community members, thank you so much for your consideration for this RFP. Okay. Um, and you'll see me. I'm I'm right here. My name is Stephanie again. This is our core team that we propose for our legal services division. Christine Wood um is someone who frankly is is my mentor. I look up to her greatly. She is the proposed lead for our legal services team. She has a wealth of experience in education law. She worked with LUSD for years and years. Um she's been general

063counsel for several school districts. Um unfortunately she had another board meeting to attend to tonight and sent her deep condolences for not being able to be here. Um, I know she wanted to be. I also want to highlight our other partner, Joe Joseph Sanchez. I hesitate because I just know him as Joey. Um, he is very hands-on with our school district clients and he is always very proud to be a very hands-on GC. Um, and by hands-on, I don't mean micromanage because he is the opposite of that, but he makes himself available for whatever big or small issue comes up. Um, and so I put him on here as as a team leader backup because I know that he's going to be checking in with our team, checking in as needed with any of our

064clients that may have issues, may have questions. Um, unfortunately, I've seen him respond to my emails around 2 a.m. before, so I I know that he's always going to be hands-on in presence. Um, I'm also available for matter support. I have extensive background in special education, in labor negotiations. We're pretty proud of the practice uh that we have in terms of how we negotiate. That means with our parents, with our community members, with our labor partners, we try to make sure that we are encouraging everyone to come to the table. And we're always advising our clients to be at the table with open hands, open minds, and and making sure that we can resolve things for the community with the community the way that school districts are supposed to be. That's that's really our goal.

065We do a lot of ADR um excuse me, alternative dispute resolution. Um we do a lot of meetings whether it's with IEPs or with labor or any of our other um facilities, business contracts, any of our other other concerns that come up. Um that that's really how we like to run our practice is being collaborative and being open. Um and that's really what this team brings. Um I'll also mention uh Elise Taylor is another associate. uh I work with her closely on a lot of education matters and William Priest he's of council he's an expert uh in elections and ethics. We have several other practice areas that I'll briefly touch on. Uh but that's our core team that we're proud to to have um you rely on with our legal services. Um so why BBK?

066This is a lot of small language. So I'll kind of go over this. I would love for you to take a closer look at your leisure. Uh but we we are an all-inclusive legal services firm. We pride ourselves on our education work, but we are well known throughout the state of California for providing municipal services, water services. Really, we run the gamut with all kinds of public entity legal services. And that means that not only are we able to provide a dedicated team of attorneys who are able to work with you for your specific needs, but we also are not going to go second-guessing with other issues that come up. We have a very deep reservoir of legal knowledge with our team. We're very used to Brown Act questions, transparency questions, board governance questions, anything

067that you could think of to ask. If I don't know the answer, I'm not going to spend hours of research trying to find it. I'm positive that we have an expert that I would be able to connect you with. Um, that's also another why that I don't know if it's specifically up here, but we're we're pretty proud of being able to offer pretty low costs compared to a lot of other large firms. Um, and we are a large firm. We've this is a later slide. We've been around for over 130 years. We have our hub in Riverside. We are well known in the Inland Empire and in the high desert. We've worked with the city of Victorville for several years. We worked with Apple Valley for several years. Um, I live in Redlands. I was

068just saying I I'll come up the hill anytime you need me at a board meeting. It that's the kind of firm we are. We we offer our services and we're very happy to work in a way that's collaborative that makes sense and that keeps costs low. Um another reason why BBK personally we we keep our billable hours in increments of 0.1. That's changing a little bit. Uh but we still have 0.1 increments. Some other law firms have their bills set at 0.25 increments. And so while our rates may be higher or lower in other areas, maybe other firms have lower rates overall, but if they do, if they send an email, that's going to be build at 0.25. That will be build minimum 0.1 for us. And so a lot of our cost savings are

069built into the way that we build and the way that we pass those costs along to our clients. So that's that's also something that we're we're pretty proud of. We try to keep costs reasonable, especially with all of the unknowns in the education world right now. Um, again, we we are we really feel like we're the right team. We have our dedicated team of people to be able to be available for you for whatever the needs are. Um, whether it's labor, special ed, whether it's public records. Christine Wood um created and really pioneered our advanced records center or ARC at Best in Creger. It's frankly a one-of-a-kind team that does public records requests, subpoenas, any kind of public transparency. Um I know that a lot of P requests are get getting more and more latigious

070recently. So um we have a specific model with our advanced records team that um again keeps costs low, uses younger associates, uh and parallegals to be able to keep those costs down because we don't want to have all of our costs running up when we have those thousand P document requests coming in. Um BBK will be a partner with the district, but we're here for you. We're not stepping in. We're not coming in to tell you how to run things. We are here to be true partners in your educational endeavors and make sure that you understand the risks, the rewards of everything that you do. Um, and of course, everything comes with risks and rewards. So, we're here to the best of our abilities. We can be here at every board meeting or we can

071take a step back. It really is true to what the board needs and wants and what the community and students need and want. And as I mentioned before, we do have a very deep bench. Um, our our large legal firm comes with a lot of expertise. Um, again, our flagship office is in Riverside. I'm I'm assigned to the Ontario office. So, we we've got a strong presence in the IE. We do have a lot of different um community stakes in the area, but we also have a lot of our attorneys who are up north. Um, I know we have a very large uh robust public finance group. Um, I don't know that they're specifically in the IE, but we're we're excited because we know that we can draw on all of those resources to be

072able to give you the best possible services that we can. And again, this is a little bit about us. 12 offices, 250 attorneys, and over 130 years of service. Um, and started right here in in River, well, I won't say right here, but right here in the IE in Riverside. So, we're we're committed. Um, we would love to be able to serve this district in whatever way it needs to be able to better the outcomes for students. Um, and and ultimately make sure that AESD is successful. These are all the topics that I'll just mention briefly. Again, you'll see up there. Public finance, we do have a strong public finance team, facilities, business services, infrastructure. um that those are all sorts of things that we are able to offer. Um as our part part of

073our all-inclusive legal services offer and package um everything is done inhouse with us labor and employment again labor negotiations. We're very proud to be able to say we we come to the table. We always try to make sure that we maintain and strengthen our labor relationships and assist the district and the board with navigating those situations. Um, my expertise again is in student services and special education. Um, and same thing there. We really pride ourselves on being collaborative and and bringing the best to the table on both sides. Any questions? Um, Christine Wood again wish she could be here, but my name again is Stephanie Vignet. I'd be happy to answer any questions that you have. Thank you so much for the opportunity to be here. >> Thank you so much for being here. We'll

074start with trustee clerk. I have no questions at this time. Thank you. >> Um, Trusty Leaf French, thank you. >> I have no questions at this time, but thank you for coming. >> Thank you, >> Trusty Stewart. >> Um, I don't have any questions. Thank Thank you. >> Uh, Trusty Krauss. >> Yes. Thank you, President Stoodto. Thank you for your presentation and for being here. I did have an opportunity to look at uh the entire uh proposal, not only for you, but for the other firms as well. So, I only have to hopefully say that once, but uh did read them all. I appreciate it. And just for the sake of transparency, there was a questionnaire in there that maybe the public didn't get to see where it asked the question of are you related

075to uh anybody on the dice? Has anybody on the dice ever worked for your firm or anything like that? And your answer was no. Is that a fair statement? >> It is. Um and I I can't personally speak to has anybody at my firm. Um, but I I did go through the the RFP with my RFP team and and go through everything thoroughly and I I relied on their answer. They do uh survey everybody at the firm and send out a pretty annoying email blast that everyone has to answer. So, yes, I'm I'll stand based on that. >> Well, I appreciate it. Thank you so much. That's all the questions. >> Okay. Um, I have none. Thank you for being here. >> Thank you very much. [Applause] At this time we will have a ARR

076r. Well, good evening uh President Sodto, trustees of the board, Dr. Walker and executive staff. I'm sorry I'm tripping over my briefcase here. My name is Mark Thompson and I come to you from the law firm of Atkinson and Anderson Lawyer Rud and Romo. Um, more frequently referred to as AAL RR, which is only a little bit shorter but a little easier to say. In a pinch, you can yell, "Hey lawyer," and we'll usually show up. Um, I'm very happy to be here tonight. and I appreciate the time to do a brief introduction of myself and of the board council services that we'd like to offer to Adalto Elementary School District. And I think I really should say um reintroduction because truth be told um if we look back quite a few years, I've been

077poking around the Adalanto Elementary School District. Uh pretty much back since I was a baby lawyer about 23 years ago. Um haven't done any work for the district in the last six years or so. I think my last major cases were perb cases uh in the uh employment arena. Uh but uh I do have a little history here. I remember before this building was here. I remember when this building was built. Um and I do kind of know my way around the neighborhood just a little bit. I am a senior partner with the firm. I'm also the partner in charge of our Riverside office and the team leader for the Riverside school law team which consists of 11 attorneys. Um we are a full-ervice law firm. You'll hear that probably from every law firm you

078talk to. Uh what does that mean? That means we offer every service, every legal service that ever comes before a school board. Um and we're not here to talk about that so much. We're here to talk about services to the board of education and I'll focus on that in the the time that you've allotted. Um the slide there says we have nine offices statewide. Uh I'm sorry, that's an error. We just added an office last week, so we're up to 10 offices statewide. We have uh between 225 and 230 attorneys. We just added a few. Um and about twothirds of those in one way or another represent school districts. Um we have a Southern California and a Northern California education law uh practice group that encompasses over a 100 attorneys. We also have special ed

079attorneys uh that are dedicated to that line of service, facilities and constructions attorneys, charter school attorneys. Uh and so a good twothirds of our firm is dedicated to advising school districts in one form or another. Um we are one of the first and I would say we are the preeminent school law firm in the state of California. We go back as far almost as far as the ERA goes back. Um, so I guess what I'm here to say is we do have experts that are available to consult with the board on any of the items or any of the matters that might come before the board. But again, for this proposal, I'm going to focus on board and governance advice. And so here's I assume this can't be an exhaustive list, but this is the

080list I came up with of the various areas of board and governance services that I personally am an expert in. Um we have a team of senior partners, junior partners, and even associates who regularly advise uh boards of education. But for the purposes of today, I'm going to go through uh kind of the list of services that I personally provide to boards of education uh as as the leader of the team that we're proposing for Adelaide Adalanto Elementary. U first and foremost for boards, it's the Brown Act. We all know what that that is. Uh I don't know if we've read it page to page. I probably have uh more than once, but uh Brown Act compliance is one of the most important things that I typically will advise a board of education on. um

081compliance agendas, uh advising on closed session items, advising on what can go into close session, making reports out of close session, um meeting conduct, teleconferencing, which is an everchanging uh aspect of schoolboard meetings, how to deal with disruptions, um dealing with uh questions regarding conflicts of interest, board member benefits and remuneration, uh dealing with uh board member election issues and vacancies. Um we help with board resolutions. We give boards litigation related advice. Uh and we advise boards on the appropriate method of taking action and reporting out action having to do with student and employee matters. >> We also pride ourselves on the >> Can I stop you real quick? I'm sorry, Mr. >> The noise in the back is a little bit distracting. I know we we're trying to leave the room, but if we

082can just keep it a little bit I've been kind of lenient with the noise, so just kind of keep it a little bit low. I can't really It's a bit distracting. Thank you. >> Thank you, President Sto. Uh we do very much believe in the opportunities to train with our clients, work with our clients proactively to learn and grow in areas of boardmanship and learning the Brown Act and and using the Brown Act to its full lawful extent uh to help the board get its business done. I mean, that's what we're all here for. is is to assist the board in lawfully, properly, effectively, efficiently getting its work done in governing the district. Uh we do trainings on conflict of interest and the mandate the state mandated the new ethics requirement uh for training for

083board members. Uh we've I've trained boards in areas of sexual harassment, mandated reporting. Uh I'm not a title N expert. I leave that to the young folk. Um, we have a whole crew of Title N experts that traditionally I mean I've given trainings to boards at a surface level, but we have experts in title N investigations and it uh it becomes frequently valuable to our board of education clients to have at least an overview of that process because it's so complicated and it keeps changing and it's so important to uh ensure that the board and the district are following the title N laws uh for obvious reasons. I threw in our proprietary Frisk uh progressive discipline model in there. Uh I have had I have had a couple of boards ask for that training or

084at least summaries of the Frisk training. And if you haven't heard about it, I'll tell you another time. Uh we assist uh boards and districts with media related uh issues um you know information uh requests and so forth. Uh that's becoming a more and more important part of our practice. uh making helping boards get their message out in a way that is received well by the media, the public, the constituents, all the stakeholders. Uh we communicate with our clients through alerts and blog posts um and and keep all of our clients a breast of uh new developments in the law. For example, the proposed change. There's proposed changes to the Brown Act coming up. We'll see if they pass. U but we'll be uh we'll be alerting our clients to all of those issues as

085they come up. Uh we're also involved sometimes both at CSBA but also San Bernardino uh county school boards associations trainings at and conferences. So you may see us there as well. Uh you've read or at least you have access to our proposal. Uh so I don't want to go through all of this. I want to be respectful of your time, but I do want to tell you a little bit about our philosophy and our style. Um, not many clients, some clients do want to be told yes or no, you can or you can't do it. But for the most part, we find that our clients want more than that. Uh, they want us to help them interpret the law because it's very rarely black and white. Very rarely as clear, crystal clear as we want

086it to be. Uh, we help them interpret the law in a way that the client is able to assess the risk and make decisions on how to apply that law to achieve its own vision and goals. Um, I've got a silly example that'll only take a second, and that is if a client asks me, "Hey, Mark, I need to drive the wrong way down the freeway. Can I do that?" Well, obviously I can say yes or no. Uh, but it's really not the question that's being proposed to me. The question is, if I really need to drive down that side of the freeway, how do I do it? How do I do it safely with the least amount of cost, risk, exposure, and so forth? And I'll tell you ultimately the answer is probably going

087to be please don't drive the wrong way down the freeway. But it's going to involve finding out what the goal is. Where where do you want to go? How soon do you want to get there? Is there another way to do this within the law that will get you where you want to go? Uh without incurring that much risk and exposure and liability and so forth. So that's the philosophy. If I may, I'm going to refer to that as the Ron Rude uh method. He's the mentor of my mentor of my mentor that really started the school business uh the school law business uh after the ERRA was put in place. Uh he was one of the fathers founding fathers of our firm. And and that was the Ronrooe approach. If you have to say

088no, it's going to be no but or no and or no, but let's talk about it. Let's figure out what it is you need. And even if the law tends to say no, let's find a way to get you there. And that's how we approach the law. That's how we advise our schoolboard clients. Uh and that's part of the services that we propose to provide to AESD. Um I'll skip most of this uh except for the last bullet point which we feel is very important. I'm here by myself. It's just me tonight. Uh we've only proposed a small team to advise the board. Uh what I want to make clear to this board and as well to all our clients is we have a large stable of attorneys from highly experienced basically inventing the school

089bargaining practice back in the 70s to the brand new attorneys who are great with the you know the lower level work um when they're just learning public records act issues with guidance of course subpoenas uh temporary restraining orders. We have a whole gamut of experienced school law attorneys at every level of experience. Our clients are told and strongly encouraged to select their own attorney. And that doesn't mean one time a year or one time ever. They select the attorney that best fits the matter as it may come up from day to day. I may be the best person for this matter uh or for advising the board on a conflict of issue question, conflict of interest question uh or a Brown Act issue. But there are going to be others in my firm who are

090more experienced in or at least more have more recent experience with labor negotiations for example if the board needs or or special education. And so we encourage we strongly encourage our clients to choose the right attorney for the job as it may change from day to day. Now again, we're proposing this evening board counsel services. That is a little bit more narrow. Uh and we're proposing me as the expert in that area. Uh but we always encourage our clients to be familiar with more than one attorney in the firm, have contact information so they can reach out to whichever attorney they feel is appropriate in a given situation. And so I think I'm going to wrap up there. You know, the goal is always that we establish a relationship with our clients so that we

091can become the trusted advisor. Uh if you don't trust your attorneys, um just like if you don't trust your cardiac surgeon and you don't trust your accountant, um you're not getting the value for your dollar. You're not getting the confidence and the services that you deserve. And so our number one goal is to to build that trust. And we do that by providing on-time realtime services. We're we're reachable literally 247. I tell my clients that you can get me unless I'm in an airplane or underwater or maybe if I'm really sound asleep, but other than that, call me 247 and you'll get somebody. We also do that by effectively communicating to our clients using perhaps the most important communication tool between attorney and client, and that's the legal bill. We pride ourselves on ethical billing.

092Billing that conveys to the client, here's the value, the good value of what you're getting for your money. And if we're not doing that, we're not doing our job. We're not building that trusted advisor relationship. So, you'll find that our bills are clear and um ethical and convey to you that you really want to pay for that pay for those services. you feel good about paying for that bill because you've got what you're paying for, you've got what you're expecting. And and again, our goal is to ensure that our clients have the highest confidence in the advice that we give uh and the services that we provide. So, I'm going to leave it there. I don't know if I went over 10 minutes, but u I'm going to ask if there are any questions. >>

093Thank you. Uh Trustee uh Krauss. >> Yes. Thank you, President Sto. And thank you, Mr. Thompson, for being here and presenting this evening. Uh the same question that I asked Bespess and Creger and I do apologize. I probably should have said where these forms are. They're in the RFP responses for anybody that wishes to see them uh towards the end of each legal firm's RFP response. There's a form called the conflict of interest form in there and it asks each firm a series of questions. Uh but for the sake of transparency, I'm only uh looking at one question uh for the public and for the sake of transparency. And I should have read it for best Besser so I do apologize. Are any of your former employees, consultants, presently employed by the district? >> So,

094the short answer to that is yes. We answered yes in the RFP. In the response to the RFP, uh the details are and it was actually news to me. Uh we found out that your superintendent, Dr. Walker was formerly uh I believe about five years ago consultant with a firm called ESS education support services which is an affiliation with my firm ALR. Um it's a little complicated when you ask if the person was employed with the firm because you you know one could argue that well what does employed mean? The the simple answer is yes. She was affiliated with the firm um uh back in about 2001, I'm sorry, 2021 for about 18 months, 16 months, something like that. And so uh she had that affiliation. That was before Dr. Walker was here in the

095district. Um that's of course before I was doing any work in the district. So that's the longer answer. The shorter answer is technically yes. >> No, I appreciate it, Mr. Thompson. Thank you very much. President Sto, that's all the questions I have. Trusty Stewart, >> a re real quick question which you know I just thought thought of it and I wish I would have asked you the same question but if we were to pick your your firm would we then have a choice of attorney like who we would want to work with the board or do you make that determination of who works with the board? >> Well, the answer is the client chooses the attorney. Um, that's that's period. That's the that's the answer to your question is you get to choose whoever you

096want. Doesn't have to be me. Doesn't have to be Mr. Robinette. I didn't introduce Mr. Robinette. He was supposed to be with me tonight, but because of the shift of the date of the uh the meeting with the board, he couldn't attend tonight. Um, it doesn't have to be either one of us. What we will do, however, is provide information to the board so that it can make an appropriate choice. So, if the board says, "Thompson, I want you in here to give us a full briefing on this special education case." I'm going to say, "I'm happy to do that, but let me suggest that you talk to one of my special education experts and we can bring them in." Uh, on the other hand, you could say, you know, Thompson, we don't think you're

097the guy for this particular case. Can we talk to somebody else? Can you recommend somebody else? I'll give you choices based on expertise and geography. You know, if you want to deal with one of our attorneys from Northern California, you can. Um, if you need somebody face tof face and you want to call them in from Northern California, there's costs involved with that that sometimes we can defay. So, we'll give you information to help you make the choice for the person that you believe is right for any given task as that may change from day to day. Uh, and so the answer is absolutely you can choose your own attorney with my firm. >> Okay. Thank Thank you. >> Thank you, Trusty Little French. >> Can I'm sorry. >> Yes, Trusty Stewart. >> I I

098I know she had her chance afterwards. Can she answer that qu question as well? >> Yeah. Um, we can bring her back up when we discuss after the other other presentation. >> Okay. >> Trusty French, >> thank you for coming and I don't have any questions at this time. Thank you for your presentation. >> Thank you for being here. I have none. >> Thank you. You're You're all done. >> Okay. There. >> Oh, I'm sorry. Clerk Ker, >> I do not. >> Okay. Thank you very much for your time. >> Thank you. [Applause] >> For our third RFP, Dolan, Tucker, Tierney, and Abraham. They withdrew their RFP. >> All right. So then um we're going to move back to um this discussion. Uh would you like to come back Miss uh Stephanie? Yes. >> Thank

099you. Yes. Um would you like to repeat your question? >> Well the qu question question was was if if we we choose your your firm could we pick the term term that works with the board? >> Yes. Um and I I will say um generally my answer is very similar to AAL RR. Um sorry I um yeah we we do have a proposed team and we do have certain educational experts in the firm. Um but generally if you guys hate working with me we don't take it personally right it really is whatever you need. Um, and I will be totally transparent in saying if you much prefer working with Christine Wood, um, and she has an education question, she'll probably discuss it with me. But if you only want to deal with one attorney, you'll

100deal with one attorney. Um, that's absolutely common and and we we generally as much as possible unless there's a huge conflict or something. Um, we'll we'll try to honor whoever you would prefer to be working with. >> Okay. Thank Thank you. >> Thank you. U, we're going to come back to discussion. Um this time trustees we're going to discuss uh the three proposals that are in front of us. Um at this time um I'll call on Trusty Stewart. Any discussion? Where are you at with the three RFPs? >> I'm sorry, two RFPs. >> Uh no, I really don't have any discuss discussion. Um just that we we we need some somebody who I believe will not be intim intimidate by the board and can give the board clear concise um ad advice. >> Thank you.

101Trusty French. >> No discussion. >> Trustee Krauss. >> No discussion. Thank you. Okay, Trusty Cer, >> I want to start by saying I think both presentations were very informational um and provided some feelood answers to our board. I would like to ask the board's consensus to move forward with BBK and see if we can't um and you know get something rolling on that. >> Okay. Any comments trustees? >> I believe this is just a presentation. This this is not listed as an action item. >> No, we wouldn't be voting. >> One second. I'm sorry. Uh yes, this is a discussion. Um we are just discussing to create a consensus. As clerk hyer has mentioned, there's no vote. Um just a discussion for a consensus. Uh clerk hire. >> I was just reiterating reiterating what you

102just said. I'm just asking for consensus. I'm not asking for a vote at this time. >> Okay. Uh thank you. Any other comments? Trustees. Trusty Krauss. >> Yes. Thank you, President Sto. I concur with the consensus to bring BBK back potentially at a future board meeting with a contract for the board to potentially take action on. >> Okay. Um Trusty Leaf Franch, >> I don't have any comments. >> Okay. Um yeah, I want to thank both um firms for being here and for presenting. Um both firms have their their ex their own um advantages and expertise and I would just say that for for right now for the conditions that we are as a board um I think it would be helpful for us to go with BPK. >> Any other discussion trustees? President Sto,

103just for clarification. So, uh, with the majority of the board giving consensus for BBK, does that, uh, would that mean that we would potentially see a contract for them at the September 26th board meeting for potential action? >> I have confirmed that. Yes, >> I'm a little confused. >> Trusty French, >> if this is a presentation, then how do we get to moving towards u moving towards a contract or, you know, this was a presentation? We we really need some help. you know, probably like tonight because I don't understand how we went from having a presentation to just completely saying the majority of the board. I didn't say no. I thought it was a discussion. I thought I was listening to a presentation. After we listen to the presentation, then we decide whether or not

104if it's put on the agenda to be able to move forward. So, I'm not understanding between the three. Is this something once again that I'm not quite understanding what's going on, which is the same thing I said last time. >> Thank you. >> So, >> um on the agenda that we have publicly >> it has information slashd discussion. So we are in we get the information the presentations and the board discusses during the discussion if there is a consensus then the board there is a consensus no action has been taken but that's this is the discussion do we want to move which one do we want to move forward that's why I'm I'm calling on each trustee where you guys at how do you feel about the firms there's no you know I don't know

105the perception of the 3-2 vote we're doing what we're doing discussing and >> yeah hold on discuss discussing and we're agreeing >> and and if you and that's why I want to hear from you um you know what are the concerns because this is a discussion and we're not giving any we're not taking any action just how we set agenda items at the end we say we want what we want if there's a consensus then the superintendent will put it on the agenda with the board president but no action is being taken we're simply just giving a consensus and as board president I did confirm confirm that the the contract if there's a consensus today will will be brought back at the next regular board meeting and that's whatever we decide. What do you guys

106want to do? I mean that's that that's part of this discussion. >> It just doesn't sound right. It sounds very muddy because it's like we're saying or some uh I just heard well the majority of the board I never said yes or no. It's not about the majority of what the board is saying. If this is something that is being brought as a presentation, it is not something that we vote on. If we choose to say, "Okay, well, hey, let's put this on the agenda um for next time, then okay, that's one thing." But the perception when we talk about transparency, the perception once again and is that there is a three to two vote here when I haven't even voted on anything because there's nothing to vote on. There was a presentation. I just

107heard though that the majority of the board said XYZ just I that's that's the perception that I'm hearing. >> Okay. Well, the perception is accurate. >> And and also one more thing one more thing too when you say let you finish. You said hold on hold on hold on. I am a board member as well that can speak. Um I think that um when I'm done speaking then it goes on. Just because that you're the president doesn't mean that LSA La French does not get to speak. But what I'm saying is that when someone says that it is the perception of what's going on here, it's the perception that this is now three to two. We are we I have not voted on anything and now I am done. >> Okay. Thank you. So to

108address the concerns, so what I just did just now a minute ago, I called on every single trustee to get your opinion, to get a discussion. Where do you stand? That is a process. Where do you stand? Which one do you want? That I called on every single trustee and we had two, I'm not going to call that out, who just said, "I'm not going to discuss. I have nothing." And then we have another two who actually said what they want or what they agree with. So I don't understand that we're being transparent. We're talking about it here. >> One second. One second. >> Question. >> So the perception of the three to go, I understand that's accurate, but we're the only ones that are actually like saying what we want. I mean, I want

109to hear why. Which one do you want? I mean so it's not about taking away anyone's voice either. Um like I said we follow the process has been followed. Okay we have it on the agenda as a presentation and as a discussion. I just opened it up for a discussion. So if you want to go with aa a a lr r then you can just you can state that and we can discuss that. If you want to go with um uh BBK, then you can state that and we'll discuss that. That is the point of this discussion. The 3-2 vote. Okay, you're right. It's there. But I'm still allowing you to to have your voice. I'm giving you that door to say what you want to say. If you agree or not, that's that's okay.

110But um I mean, I'm not sure what else how I can kind of address that. I'm it's open for discussion. Each trustee gets to express their opinion, gets to express their how they want where we want to go. And we had two trustees who say they want BBK and I say okay that's fine. So there was no vote. There was no vote. It is just a consensus. So it sounds like the public wants us to move on. I think I've been very okay. Thank you. But let's please I think I've made it very clear. I hope I'm clear that this is being transparent. I called on every single trustee. Where do you stand? Where do you guys want to where do you want? But no discussion. And that's why I was a little bit frustrated.

111But clerk Kyer took the initiative and said, "Let's go with BBK." Then Trusty Krauss said, "You know what? I agree. Let's go with BBK. Then I say, "Okay, I agree. Let's go to BBK." If you disagree, that's exactly the the the point of the discussion. You say, "No, I want to go with ALR." And then we discuss and we figure it out. But let's we're going to move on. Um so it sounds like there's a consensus. >> So should this thing not be uh agendaized on the next board so that we actually can vote? >> We're voting right now. No, we're not. So, >> President Sodto, just so that um to make it clear that this matter should be agendaized for action to determine which firm the board should hire. And so, that would uh

112be um in accordance to the rules. >> Okay. So, this is what we're going to do. We're going to discuss this. We're going to C can we have some order, please? >> We're going to discuss this. If you guys oppose, let us know. Let the public know, let the board know you want AALR or if you want BBK. That's an opportunity. Now, what's going to happen is Yes, you're correct. It does need to go to to the ne it needs to go to the next meeting as an agenda action item. Yes. So, it will it will be an action item at the next meeting once we tell Dr. Walker, hey, there's a consensus that this is a law firm we want to go with. and she brings the contract back to the next meeting for

113an action item for us to approve it. Okay, so let's move on. Close session declarations. We'll be taking items two to four into close session. Before we do that, we're going to open it up for public comment period for close session items only. Miss L, do we have any speakers? >> We do need to read. >> Yes. The public comment period is administered by state law and it is a it and is a point in the meeting set aside for members of the public to share their opinions with the board. We want to hear from you. So, please come and share your opinions. Open meetings laws do not permit the board to engage in dialogue or answer questions. So we cannot engage or answer any questions if you come to the podium. Any person who

114wishes to address the governing board on close session item agenda items must complete and submit an ASD speaker request form five minutes before coming the meet before the meeting is called to order. The speaker um request forms are by our executive assistant down by the dis. The board values public comments. We value them and although the board of trustees cannot take action or discuss items on not on the agenda, the board of trustees we listen carefully and we appreciate the input that the public has. Additionally, a public speaker can be cut off for exceeding the allotted time or for willfully 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

115consider that your warning. Individual speakers are allowed three minutes to address the board on each close session agenda item only for this topic. The board limits the time for public input on each item to 20 minutes. With board consent, the president may increase or decrease the time allowed for public perception. 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 speakers, additional persons speak only if they have something new to add. So, um yes. So, moving on to speakers. Um ADTA, >> the board calls on Jennifer Raider. [Music] [Applause] Good evening, President Stoodto, Superintendent Dr. Walker, members of the board and cabinet, teachers, staff, and community. I come to you tonight not only

116as an educator, but as a voice for so many of my colleagues who are struggling in silence. We are now 15 months without a contract. 15 months of waiting. 15 months of uncertainty. 15 months of showing up every single day for our students while the basic needs of our own families hang in the balance. 15 months. Think about that. That's a child's entire school year and then some. That is 15 months of rising costs of inflation outpacing wages. 15 months of skyrocketing health care premiums that are draining paychecks before they even reach our families. And let's be clear, these are not small inconveniences. These are crippling burdens. I hear stories every day from our members. Families are making impossible choices. Do we pay the mortgage or do we cover the medical bill? Do we re

117refill that prescription or do we make sure the lights stay on this month? Some of our teachers and staff are forced into highinterest debt just to stay ahead of their bills. And all the while, the cost of living adjustment, money intended for the very people who keep the district running, has been held back. For over a year, those funds have sat while teachers and staff have watched groceries, gas, rent, and utilities climb higher and higher. That cola wasn't meant to gather dust. It was meant to give us a fighting chance to keep up with rising costs. Colleagues, board members, community, 15 months is long enough. The truth is this. Teachers and staff can't give our full energy and focus to our students. When we are consumed with worry over health care bills, when we are

118exhausted from juggling second jobs, when we are the car carrying the weight of a district that won't settle a contract. We give our hearts to the students, but our hearts are heavy. This stalemate, this impass has strained trust. It has deepened the divide between management and staff. And the longer it drags on, the more it hurts not just educators, but the students who depend on us. Because make no mistake, students feel this. They might not know the details of negotiation or contracts, but they see the stress in our eyes. They hear the worry in our voices. They sense the tension that has no place in their classrooms. We did not enter this profession for wealth or recognition. We became educators because we believe in children. We believe in their potential, in their futures, and in

119the power of education to transform lives. But believing in children shouldn't mean sacrificing our own family's well-being. Supporting students shouldn't mean neglecting the health and security of the very people in entrusted to teach them. We are not asking for luxuries. We are asking for dignity. We are asking for fairness. We are asking for the district to honor its responsibility to the educators who dedicate their lives to these children and the community. 15 months is long enough. The time for delay is over. The time for excuses is over. Our students need stability. Our families need relief. And our educators need a contract that allows us to live with dignity and teach with focus. So tonight, I call on you, not just the board, but our parents, our families, the community to stand with us, to raise

120your voices with ours. To say with one voice that our educators matter, our students matter, and our future matters. Because when our teachers and staff are respected, supported, and valued, our students thrive. And that is something we can all rally behind. It's time. settle this contract. Let's move forwards together stronger for our educators, stronger for our children, and stronger for our community. Thank you. [Applause] >> Next speaker, please. >> The board calls on Diane Lynn. [Music] [Applause] Good evening, President Stoodto, trustees, superintendent Dr. Walker, cabinet, classified staff, certificated staff, and everyone present and on YouTube. I want to first say that we are here in solidarity with our ADTA union. [Music] Thank you, Miss Raider. That was excellent. Thank you. We too are suffering. We many of our members are working two jobs. They were

121working two jobs before this hit this year. Well, last year. It is sad to know that many of our classified staff had to stop their life insurance, cancer insurance, critical illness so they can try and make ends meet with the raising costs of our health care and for not having settled. Um, CSCA, we have our negotiations this Friday. Um, I'm hoping for good results and you have the power to stop this and settle. With that being said, um, I have some facts about the grant for our community school, which was written so that classified staff could be hired. This is the reason I've decided to raise awareness about this project because it directly affects classified staff and our students. The amount that was approved is 1,425,000 for this year 202526 school year. The district has

122already encumbered 235,000 743. The district has allotted 2,39,743 for two classified employees. One is for the community resource coordinator and the other is for the community school secretary and possibly two desks to computers and a printer. Our salaries are not that high. This 1,425 million dollar is not being spent on our classified staff or the project as a grant was written for. As of August 5th, there is a balance of 11,422 from 1,425,000. So where is the rest of the money? Is it in reserves or restricted funds or unrestricted funds? Why was the money moved to a different count? I'm asking that you, the board, please look into this. I have I have a huge feeling that these are not the only funds that have been moved. Thank you for acknowledging my request. [Applause] Thank

123you. Next speaker, please. >> I have a William. >> Good afternoon. I'm a member of the community. Um, and Mr. Russell Have a good afternoon. >> Okay, next speaker, please. >> The board calls on Kim Smith. [Applause] >> Put my glasses on. All right. Good evening, board president, sodto, board members, superintendent Dr. Walker, cabinet colleagues, friends, and community members. Um, I also want to take a moment to welcome our new assistant superintendent of educational services, Dr. Valdez. We can clap for her. Thank you. I just spoke with her earlier and I'm sure we'll be speaking more um later on. Tonight, I want to speak directly to the heart of what matters, a fair contract for both classified and certificated employees. Right now, we are all working without a contract. That reality weighs on us. Not

124because we have lost our passion or our drive, but because we know we are giving our very best each day without the security and respect that comes with a fair agreement. Many of us continue to go above and beyond our duties, organizing, taking on extra responsibilities, and investing time and energy because our students deserve nothing less. But while we give our all, the truth is clear. Health benefits should be fully paid. Any increase in them is unacceptable and it is also infeasible for the very people who keep this district moving forward. For many families, these increases are impossible to carry and no one should have to choose between their health and their necessities. You know, like food, water, shelter, and clothing, just to name a few. If we are genuinely here to take care of

125students, then we must also take care of the people on the front lines. the teachers, the pareducators, the clerks, the custodians, the aids, the office staff, the bus drivers, all of us who make sure that classrooms run, campuses are safe, and learning happens every single day. Recently, I lost my old track coach, Skip Stole. He was a man of integrity and a true lover of the sport. He would do anything to ensure we had opportunities to win through his coaching, our talent, and by working behind the scenes to get us into races, both as individuals and as a team. We never realized until much later all the hoops he had to jump through to give us the best opportunities to succeed. And in fact, it is through Skip's team that I met my husband. Together

126we are now building a legacy not just through our own children but through the athletes that we have coached and continue to coach and the educators who we have mentored and continue to mentor. I have two of my student teachers teaching on my campus right now. Future stu educators and future runners. That is precisely what we the frontlininers do for our students every single day. Paving the way, overcoming obstacles and ensuring they have every chance to succeed. And that is what this district should be doing for us. So my message is simple. Let's honor that same spirit of integrity that Skip Stoley had and commitment by ensuring that those who give everything to students are given the respect, support, and fair contract they deserve. Because when you take care of us, we can take care

127of the students who are the reason we are all here. Thank you. Next speaker, please. >> The board calls on Bev Tony. [Applause] >> Good evening, members of the board, Dr. Walker, fellow teachers, CSEA, and community members. My name is Bev Tony and I teach sixth grade ELA and history at Melba Davis Academy of Excellence. Teachers across this district are doing more than just lesson planning. We mentor, we coach, we nurture, we inspire, recreate classrooms that are safe, welcoming, and student centered. But here's the truth. We're doing all this without a contract. We are in mediation right now asking for what's fair compensation and working conditions that reflect the full weight of what teaching has become. I serve 140 students every day. And next month I will be paying $57 out of my check for

128health insurance while still providing the same extras for those students. We obviously do not do this for the money. We don't do it for the glory. We do it because our students deserve heroes in the classroom. And most heroes don't wear capes. Some pull wagons. Here are composition notebooks because the aotment that I receive isn't enough for all the interactive notebooks and journal writings my students are going to do. Here are deodorant and feminine hygiene products because no child should have to miss a class or feel embarrassed over basic needs. Here is candy because sometimes a small piece of candy can motivate a student to try to participate or even to celebrate a success. Here's some games. If you know, you know. Because social and emotional learning happens only when kids laugh. problem solve and

129build community together. Here is a picture box case because organization matters and I use it for learning centers that keep students engaged and on task. And then we have clay because when you study ancient Mesopotamia, you have to have your students press those symbols into this clay to learn about the first ever written language, ununiform. And that experience makes history come alive right in their hands. Each of these items represents money from my paycheck. Time I've given and the ways I give of myself so that my students have what they need. And I'm not unique. >> 30 seconds. [Applause] Teachers all over this district are pulling wagons of their own, filling the gaps so students don't go without. Please, as you consider our contract, remember this wagon. Remember that behind every item is a teacher

130that goes the extra mile for our students. And we're asking you to meet us halfway so we can keep giving our students the best without breaking under the weight. So I asked the board tonight, what's in your wagon? Thank you for your time and thank you for hearing me out. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] >> Thank you. Next speaker, please. >> The board calls on Andrea Rogers. [Applause] All right. Good evening board members, district leaders, and members of our community. My name is Andrea Rogers. I am the health clerk at Westside Park Elementary School and the newly appointed secretary of CSEA. This is my third school year, and I am more involved, dedicated, and passionate than ever before. While I while I am going above and beyond every day for my students, my school site and my

131community, my paycheck is significant significantly getting lower and lower every month. Every day I am surrounded by amazing colleagues who are sacrificing to support our students the best way we possibly can while being overworked, under supported, and underpaid. I am forced to work a second job while also attending classes to become a teacher. All because I can barely afford the cost of living from my salary alone in from this district. I am fairly new to the district and would love to remain here simply because this is my community. I shop in the same stores as my students. I walk down the same sidewalk as my students. I even live in the same complex as some of my students. They see me representing them and advocating for them every single day. And that's what keeps me

132going. As much as I love to be here, I have to consider other districts where my basic needs can be met. Please don't force me to do that cuz I don't want to go elsewhere. Please do what's right and pay us what we deserve. Thank you for your time. [Applause] >> Thank you. The next speaker, please. >> The board calls on Cararissa Ko. [Applause] Good evening, President Sodto and board, Dr. Walker and cabinet. My name is Karesa Ko and this is Rosco. I have been a teacher at Melva Davis since its founding and I am here to attest to the financial hardships I have faced due to the increased healthcare costs, increased cost of living overall and no cost of living increase for 15 months. As you can see, I have a preschooler which means

133child care costs without recent pay cut. And with a recent pay cut in July when healthcare increases hit our paycheck, I had to make the tough decision to remove my daughter from a private school she loved. She cried when she saw the new playground they installed that she wouldn't be able to play on. Despite all this, I spent hundreds of dollars on binders and snacks for my students this August and practice activities for when the internet goes down. I buy my own case of paper because we only get one every semester and print most of my copies with my own ink at home. At the very least, the full cost of living from the state should be passed along to your employees whose cost of living has greatly increased. >> We are asking for dignity,

134not luxury. Thank you for your time. [Applause] >> Thank you. Next speaker, please. >> The next speaker is Bob Zupia. [Applause] Good evening everybody. Thanks for coming up for coming out tonight. Let me see. Here I go. Uh from the very start of this school year, I've been filling my fourth graders with a great deal of positivity and curriculum. And of course, parents have been asking my students, "How's your new teacher?" In addition to this, my site held its back to school night near the end of August. This gave parents ample time to hear and learn about the kind of teacher that I am. On that special night, I had a great turnout, the best I've had in years. At the end of my presentation, various parents wanted to discuss their child's upcoming year with

135me in private. and I answered everything they wanted to know and one of the parents stated, "I am so glad you are my nephew and my daughter's teacher. I can already tell that you're a magnificent teacher." That indeed was a very kind statement. And of course, it's nice to be appreciated. But I need to say that I currently do not believe that I or the majority of the teachers of this district are not fully appreciated by various members of the board. If we were, we would be treated better than we've been over the previous year. What comes to mind is the doubling up of our target solution expectations for this year. I mean, how can that additional work be expected or demanded of us when last year's contract still has not been finalized? Where is

136the empathy and fairness in that? I, for one, certainly do not see it. I wanted to delve deeper into that topic, but I was asked nice to. I was asked to play nice. Finally, during our lunchon on the first day back of summer break, I recall hearing the words to the best of my ability as yes, we are at impass, be patient. I am working through this. Respectfully, we've been very, very patient. >> I I believe now is the time for these words to come to fruition. The teachers of this district have been carrying the burden of paying increased health care costs and stretching our funds without receiving an increase in cola for quite some time now. This is hindering myself and probably several others in this district from preparing for retirement sufficiently. But I

137believe now is the time to rectify this incredibly burdensome conundrum. It's been long enough and I strongly support dignity over luxury. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. Next speaker, please. >> The board calls on Angelique Jolly. [Applause] You guys know I have a hard time with my computer, but this isn't the first rodeo up here. Okay, I want to say thank you. This is the best turnout. I appreciate each and every one of you. Thank Thank you. And good evening, President Sodto. Good evening, trustees, Dr. Walker, and cabinet. I come before you tonight with just a simple message. Our students, our teachers, and our classified staff deserve better. Look at us now. All the stories you're hearing heartfelt. And the unodituded actuals show we have to deliver. It is now September of 2025. And

138the contract from the 2425 school year remains unsettled. This is not just a labor issue. It is a daily burden on the very people who carry our students education and well-being. From our bus drivers to our secretaries to our clerks to the janitors to everybody in our district that work hard to keep it afloat. Teachers are working evenings, me, and weekends to make ends meet. Instructional aids arrive early, leave late, and still struggle struggle with rising costs of health care health care. Bus drivers and custodians worry each month about their bills, groceries, and insurance premiums. And our students feel it. When staff are stressed, overworked, or underpaid, students lose stability, focus, and support. When positions go unfilled because we can't compete with neighboring districts, students lose relationships, and continuity. Every day we de delay a

139fair settlement, our children pay the price. The fact that we are so backed up with Selpa funding is e egregious. Why has the fund? Okay. Why has the funding not gone to special education students and staff to provide effective supplies, technology, and services? I had a special ed student last year and I had nothing for him. That was home hospital, not in the classroom. Sorry, I'm a fifth grade teacher. According to IDA, allowable uses for this these funds include IEP related services, mental health services, preschool activities, extraordinary costs for special education students, regionalized programs, and professional development costs for special educators by stating that these funds can be used for anything else or attempting to use it for anything else is not researchbased. Should you be uninformed, but it stands to further aggravate staff in

140this situation. Please do not make assumptions unless you are aware of IDA and distribute funds accordingly. Now let's look at facts from the unodudit actuals. Unrestricted revenues exceed expenditures by 12.6 million in 2425. Our unrestricted ending balance was 6.2 2 million of which 4.7 million is reserved for economic uncertainties, leaving over 1.1 million in discretionary funds assigned and unassigned that could be used for COLA and benefits. For 2526, projections show an unrestricted surplus of $20 million. Confirming our district's financial stability, some people wonder about fund 14. Why is there fluctuations fluctuations and in certain areas? Over six million moved in and out of fund 14. I'm not sure what are these funds set aside for contributions to that jump 21 million in estimated actuals. Okay, I'll let someone else. >> Thank you, Miss Dolly. [Applause]

141>> Next speaker, please. >> The board calls on Lisa Marinelli. [Applause] Hi everyone. Good evening, esteemed members of the school board, fellow educators and community members. You know my name and I've spent the last 32 years shaping young minds and fostering a love of learning. Tonight, I stand before you not just as an individual, but as a voice for my colleagues, teachers, support staff, and all those who pour their hearts into our students futures. We come to you with an urgent plea. The need for a fair and timely contract are already too late that protects our livelihoods amid unprecedented challenges. This year, we face a stark reality, a de facto play pay cut that erodess the value of our hard-earned salaries. Rising insurance premiums are not an abstract line item on a budget sheet. They

142are a direct assault on our financial stability. For many of us, these increases mean choosing between covering rising health care costs for our families or dipping into savings meant for our children's education or our own retirement. As educators already stretched thin by the demands of our profession, long hours, emotional labor, and the constant evolution of teaching standards, this pay cut feels like a betrayal of the commitment we make every day. But for the profound impact we have on our students, yet without fair compensation, how can we sustain that passion? How can we attract and retain the talented professionals our schools deserve? But our concern extends beyond our own classrooms. We stand in unwavering solidarity with our brothers and sisters in the CSEA, [Music] >> who are bearing the brunt of this cut even more deeply.

143These are the unsung heroes, the custodians who keep our buildings safe and welcoming, the bus drivers who ensure our kids arrive on time, the cafeteria workers who nourish growing bodies and minds. and the office staff who keep the administrative heartbeat strong. Their roles are essential, yet their wages often have hover closer to the minimum, making these insurance hikes a devastating blow. While we all feel the pinch, for sea members, it could mean the difference between putting food on the table and falling into hardship. We are one team, united in our mission to educate and support our community. Their struggle is our struggle, and we will not accept a contract that divides us or diminishes any of us. Members of the board, you hold the power to write this course. We implore you to negotiate a

144contract that addresses these rising costs head-on. Perhaps through shared premium contributions, cost of living adjustments, or innovative budgeting that prioritizes people over padding. Our student success depends on a stable, motivated workforce. Let us emerge from these talks stronger, more united, and ready to serve. Thank you for your time and attention. [Applause] Thank you. Next speaker, please. >> The board calls on Asia Lopez. >> Sorry. [Applause] >> Good evening board and cabinet and members of the audience. Thank you for being here tonight. Um I have been with Adalanto district for 18 years. In those 18 years I have watched year after year after year uh uh amongst the board members and a multitude of cabinet members claim they want to repair and restore the working relationships with the unions of this district. Yet here we are

145again with an expired contract and the district claiming broke. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result. So it saddens me to stand here knowing we are going through this insanity again. Consistency is critical for education. However, the in consistent inability for this district to settle a contract in a timely manner benefits no one. It does not benefit the students who get teachers that are distracted by worrying about their finances. It does not benefit bargaining unit members who spend hours out of class and into the evening prepping for bargaining sessions to just see a lack of progress week after week. It does not benefit parents that are here this evening supporting their child's teacher rather than spending quality time with their children. Every district in this region seems to

146find a way to get to a settlement before year after year. My question for the board to consider this evening is this. Do you want this room full of people to be focused on the education of the students they serve and to prioritize our thrive for 95 program or do you want to continue this consistent fight over what is a fair contract settlement? We are asking for dignity not luxury. So please make the insanity stop. Thank you. [Applause] Thank you. Next speaker, please. >> President Soda, we are at 19 minutes. I do have two more speakers. Our next speaker is Cynthia Rodriguez. [Applause] >> Good evening. Um, I have a headache. I have a headache from all this. But, um, good evening. My name is Cynthia Rodriguez. I am a par professional in the moderate

147to severe special education class at West Creek. I got hired when I was 18 years old. Every year, I feel less and less appreciated. And I'm not I'm just not going to beat around the bush. I'm here to ask the board, the district, whoever has the authority to give us an increase of salary and increase the cap of our insurance. Do the right thing. Treat us with dignity. Instead of focusing on rumors and cheese, which is aka gossip, focus on the well-being of your students and your employees. A decent salary is welld deserved. Having insurance is a necessity. Please understand the financial burden you guys have put on us. Example, last year I had a kidney infection. Luckily, I had insurance, but I was out of sick leave. I don't know why, but five, six

148months later, I'm being docked. So now, on top of that, I'm gonna pay $5 and like $50 for my Kaiser insurance. That's a financial burden on me. I know I'm not alone. This is a financial burden because we're all bringing less income home. I ask the board to please focus on the equity of education, on making sure you meet every student's need. Focus on the facts and the numbers because they don't lie. Focus on settling our contracts, on hiring crosswalks, crosswalks, on h on having AC on all buses, hiring enough staff, on providing adequate training for teachers and classified members, on buying and repairing uh repairing playground equipment, having good internet. Those are just a few things that students need to thrive. Like Dr. Walker always says, be big, be bold, and be brave. Let's

149settle this contract together. Thank you. [Applause] >> Thank you. Next speaker, please. Next speaker is Michael Krauss. >> President Sto, I decline this evening. It was on the same topic of negotiations and I believe we've heard a lot of great information from the staff that are here this evening. So I'll defer my comments on negotiations as a private citizen to another time. Thank you. >> Thank you, Trusty Krauss. Okay. Is that all the speakers? >> That concludes the speakers for tonight. >> All right. Moving on to recess to close sessions. At this time, I'll enter entertain a motion to go to close session. Steward I I I'm mo mo motion to recess to close session. >> There's a motion by Stewart of recess to close session. Is there a second? >> Krauss I second. Any

150discussion? Let's take the vote. >> Trusty Krauss. >> Krauss. I >> trusty Webster. I >> Tissy Le French I Tissy Stewart Stewart I Tricy Stoodto >> So do I. The time is uh 7:49. Where are we? Close session. [Music] Okay. [Music] Come on. [Music] Oh yeah. [Music] Yeah. [Music] Down. [Music] Hey, [Music] hey, hey. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] I feel [Music] you. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Thank you. [Music] is ready. [Music] Hello. [Music] Hey. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Okay. [Music] Okay. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] D. [Music] D. [Music] Heat. [Music] Hey, Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] for you. Feel [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Hey, Heat. [Music] Sorry. [Music] Wow. [Music] Ha. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. [Music] Hey. [Music] Oh yeah.

151[Music] Oh yeah. Heat. Heat. [Music] Hey. [Music] Hey. Hey. [Music] Oh, you want [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. N. [Music] Hey. [Music] Hey. Hey. [Music] Hey, [Music] hey, hey. [Music] Wow. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Hello. [Music] Hey. [Music] Oh my god. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] reconvening from close session. Um at this time trustees we're going to need to extend the meeting um by a motion. >> I motion to extend the meet me meeting to no late later than 10:30. >> I think there's a motion by trustee Webster I'm sorry trustee Stewart to motion to no later than 10:30 to go no later than 10:30. Is there a second? Krauss. I second. >> There's a second by Trusty Krauss. We'll take the vote. Miss Le >> Trusty Krauss. >>

152Krauss. I >> trusty Webster. >> Okay. Trusty Leaf French. >> Trusty Stewart. >> Stewart. I >> Trusty Stoodto >> Sto I We've extended the meeting till 10:30. We're going to go on a fivem minute recess to wait for the other two trustees. [Music] All right, the time is 9:39. We're reconvening to open session after taking a fivem minute recess. We're going to go ahead and take the roll call again for a corum establishment. Miss Leave >> Trusty Krauss. Krauss present. >> Trusty Webster. >> She's joining now. We're just waiting for her to get into the room. >> Trusty Le French. >> Le French present. Trusty Stewart >> pre present. >> Trusty Sodto >> present. >> Trusty Webster. I think she's still waiting for it to load into Zoom. Does it say that she's joining? >>

153Yes, it still just says joining and she just is waiting to get into the room and I think it's a there she is. >> Thank you, >> Trusty Webster. >> Still connecting to audio. Okay, >> Trusty Webster. >> There we go. All right. Thank you. Moving on to close session report. Announcements of reportable action taken during closed sessions. There were none. Moving on to public testimony. Miss Levey, do we have any speakers? >> Yes, we do. Angelique Jolly. >> She on Zoom. Okay. Moving. Next speaker, >> I have Lisa Marelli. >> Ladies and gentlemen of the Adalo School Board, ex esteemed educators, parents, and community members, listen up. We stand here today not just as voices in the wilderness, but as the fiery guardians of our children's future, demanding accountability for every single dollar in

154this district. Our kids in Atlanta deserve worldclass education, not excuses wrapped in wasteful spending. Let's cut to the chase. Why in the world are we pouring and staggering $1 million into epic staffing for special education services? That's right. one million bucks vanishing into a black hole of outsourced people while our own teachers drown in paperwork and our special needs students wait in limbo. This is not fiscal responsibility. It's fiscal recklessness. We're talking about real money, taxpayer dollars scraped from hardworking families in our desert community. That million could transform lives, but instead it's fueling a cycle of dependency on external agencies that treat our schools like a revolving door for underpaid contractors. Enough is enough. It's time to ignite change and reclaim our budget for what truly matters, our kids and our staff. Imagine this. Instead

155of handing over a fortune to Epic Staffing, hire a full-time spetake specialist right here in Atlanta. We need to assess and assess needs swiftly, reduce weight times, and ensure that no child slips through the CL cracks. That's not just smart, it's essential. Our special ed referrals are skyrocketing and families are suffering from delays that have already derailed several children's entire trajectory. A full-time specialist um it would be a fraction of that million, say $80,000 a year would pay dividends in efficiency, compliance and outcomes. Why outsource when we can invest in homegrown expertise? And let's talk about our incredible teachers, the heart and soul of this district. Why not launch an intern program that empowers willing educators to earn their special education certification on the district's dime? Offer stipens, training, and mentorship, turning our general ed

156rock stars into special ed heroes without breaking the bank. This isn't charity. This it's strategy. We'd build a sustainable pipeline of qualified staff loyal to Atlanta, reducing turnover and those exorbitant agencies for a modest $100,000 investment. We could certify a dozen teachers, saving hundreds of thousands long term. Empower our own. Don't line the pockets of outsiders. Finally, our overburden RSP teachers buried under mountains of IEPs. You're writing epics of your own just to keep up. Provide support, pair of professionals, administrative aids, and even software tools to automate the grunt work. That remaining chunk of the million could fund a team of assistants easing the load so you can focus on teaching, not typing. Burnout is real and is stealing from our students. With targeted support, we boost morale, retention, and most importantly, educational quality. Thank

157you. >> Thank you. Next speaker, please. >> On Zoom, Susan Garcia. >> She is not on Zoom at the moment. She's not. Our next speaker is Mrs. Wells. >> We do not have a Wells on Zoom. >> Our next speaker is Steven Ko. >> Steven Ko is not on Zoom. Our next speaker is Lauren Vincent. Lauren is on Zoom. We'll ask her to unmute now. >> Good evening, trustees, cabinet, Dr. Walker. I'm here because I wanted to go out to the public on record um in a way that we can go back and look at. Um, I wanted to point out how ridiculous some actions that were taken last board of uh last board meeting. Some of you should be ashamed of yourselves. Your job is to keep this district running. I can't believe you

158had the nerve to not pass the purchase orders and warrants. So, not only did you vote to spend 50,000 $50,000 to have someone teach you how to go get along, I know some TK teachers that could teach you that. You didn't allow AES to pay their bills. You didn't pay people who were expecting reimbursement. You hung those people out to dry. You embarrassed this district by withholding money we owe. Do we want the reputation of a district that doesn't pay their bills? Beyond that, I'm sure there will be late penalties on some of these things. So, once again, you're wasting money that you claim is important for not only your staff and your students. your classified and certificated staff are here again in year two without a contract where you're here spending money where your

159employees are when your employees are struggling for basic health care. I think the worst part about it is that you had this agenda what like a week in advance. You couldn't get your questions answered. You couldn't even ask in close session. You had to wait till you came to open session to suddenly make a motion to not pass these basic things. You absolutely could have, yet you decided for some unknown reason to stop the district from doing business. How sad and disappointing for all of us. On a separate note, I noticed how Trusty Krauss was pointing out uh some that Miss Turner, Trustee Turner when she was a trustee, um had some conflict of interest or was accusing her of things. Um, I'm wondering how we are going to be spending nearly $28,000 on a

160program for a company that he is now working for. Do we not see any problems with that? Um, I'm sure Knowledge Save Lives Inc. probably didn't know what they were getting into when hiring Trustee Krauss, but I don't think there's any kind of knowledge that he could give that would save lives. Have a good evening. >> Thank you. Next speaker, please. That concludes tonight's speakers. >> Thank you. Moving on to a close session, I'm sorry, public hearing. Open. We're going to open the public hearing for educational services. It's the approval of public hearing to approve resolution number 25.26.01, sufficiency of instructional materials. I'm going to open the hearing at 9:49 p.m. >> It's time for discussion if anyone would like to discuss. >> Just going to wait until 9:50 so I can close it if

161All right. The time is 9:50. I'm going to close it at that time. All right. Um, I'll need I'll entertain a motion to approve resolution number 25.26.01 certifying that each student in the Odalanto Elementary School District has a standards aligned textbook or instructional materials in the subject areas of English language arts, math, science, history, social science, and foreign language Spanish. >> Trusty stored. I move move to uh approve. >> There's a motion to approve by Trusty Stewart. Is there a second? Second. >> I want to give this one to Webster. I give you the French last time. All right. There's a second by >> Ky Kyra. >> Ky I added a eight a to it this time. >> Thank you. All right. Any discussion? Seeing and hearing none. Miss Le. >> Trusty Krauss. >> Krauss.

162I >> trusty Webster. >> Webster. I >> trusty Lef French. >> Le French. I >> trusty Stewart. >> Stewart I. >> Trusty Sodto >> and Sodto I. Motion passes. 5-0. Moving on to adoption of the minutes. At this time I entertain a motion. >> Stewart. I mo motion to uh approve. >> There's a motion to approve by Trusty Stewart. Is there a second? >> Love French. I second. There's a second by trusty the French opening it up for discussion. >> I just want want to say that >> Steuart. >> Oh, okay. I just want to say that we need these men minutes um of approved because they they go to the count county and they use these minute minutes and it kind of looks like we're not doing any anything here here on the board.

163Thank you. Trust the French. >> Trusty Stewart, >> I just gave >> I'm sorry, Trusty Krauss. Thank you. I apologize. >> Yes, President Stoodto. Thank you. Just a quick comment uh for the public. So, if there's any point in time that I vote no or vote to potentially table the minutes, it's because there are questions in my mind that have not been answered before the vote and I want to make sure that every vote that is taken is done with the most information, accurate information available. Thank you, President. >> Thank you, Trusty Krauss. Clerk Ker, >> no comment at this time. >> We'll take the vote, Miss Le. >> Trusty Krauss. Krauss I >> Trusty Webster >> Webster I >> trusty Le French >> Le French I >> trusty Stewart >> Stewart I trusty stood

164>> stood I motion passes 5-0 moving on to the consent agenda at this time trustees are there any items that you would like to remove trustee French >> none >> trusty Stewart um >> none Trustee >> Krauss, >> sorry. President Sto 17 >> 17. >> That's that's all. >> Not at this time. Okay, sounds good. Um, looks like we're going to pull number 17. And, um, I'm just trying to see if I want to pull any. >> Okay. All right. >> Um, >> Trusty Stewart, >> I do have a question. So, I I item 15, which is the porch uh purchase order and listing. There is one up here that is paying knowledge save saves lives. So I don't know if it should be pulled so that trust trustee Krauss can abstain from that that

165vote. >> Okay, >> I'll pull number >> trusty clerk is pulling second. I'm sorry. One second. Trusty uh clerk is pulling um the purchase order and listing. Um okay. Did and then we'll once we get there we'll open it up for discussion and trusty cuss if you wanted to add anything that that'll be a great time to do so. All right. Trust trustees, if you'd like to. Trustees, at this time, I'll invite the rest of the agenda. >> Trusty Webster, I motion to approve. >> Kyler. >> Okay. Um, trustes, I'm going to I'm going to interject really quick just so that I'm on the record. I'm going to pull number 31. I apologize. I'm being told that um that shouldn't be there. We're not hiring anyone. Um for 31 there is no administrative new hire.

166That was a clerical error. So I'm going to pull that. Um so I believe there I didn't get there is an overlap. >> Uh Kai Ker mo motion to to approve the remaining of the consent agenda. >> Thank you. Trusty Stewart is there. I sec second Trusty Stewart seconds it. We're going to open up for discussion. >> No discussion. Miss Le >> Trusty Krauss. >> I >> trusty Webster. >> I just lost one. >> Trusty Lef French. >> Lef French. I >> trusty Stewart. >> Stewart. I >> trusty stood >> I. We still have Trusty Ky on Zoom. No more. All right. Well, just let the record reflect that around. >> She's back. We're asking her to >> Miss Le >> camera back on. >> Mr. Webster. >> I >> Okay, motion passes. 5-0. Moving

167on to the items removed from the consent agenda. We're going to start with the first one, which is number 15. Um, this was pulled by Trustee Webster. At this time, I'll entertain a motion to approve or entertain a motion. >> Um, she pulled it. I I um I I sec second to to approve it. >> Okay. Um I don't think there was a first. I >> There wasn't a mo motion yet. Okay. Then Steuart, I mo motion to approve. >> Is there a second? >> Webster, I'll second. Or Kyle, I'll second. >> See, that's why I got it mixed up, too. Everyone's saying it. All right, there's a second by Trusty Ker opening it up for discussion. >> Yes, thank you, President Soda. I appreciate uh very much so uh Trusty Stewart bringing this to

168my attention. I had abstained from the original contract a few board meetings ago uh for the record and I did this was an oversight, but I uh would expect any trustee at any time to call me out on something that I did miss and this is something that was an honest uh miss. I do appreciate again uh Trusty Stewart bringing that to the attention of the board this evening and I will be abstaining on this vote. Thank you. Thank you, Trusty Krauss. Trustee Stewart, >> no. >> Trusty Leaf French, >> can I get some clarity on what we're talking about? >> We're talking about uh business services, fiscal services number 14. >> No, 15 >> 15, excuse me. Approval of purchase order listing and warrant report listing. Wait a second. >> 14 and 15 are

169exactly the same. >> I know. Yeah. one. But but but I I'm really sure it was on one on on on fif 15 because I wrote wrote it down because I went through through it. I hope I didn't pull the wrong one. >> Got it. Okay. So, we're on 15 with the first with trust a motion to approve by Trusty Stewart. A second by Trusty Ker. We're we're discussing the approval of purchase order listing and war listing. Basically the topic right now is um trusty Krauss um has uh perhaps a financial conflict so he will be um not voting. >> Okay. >> Trust clerk >> no comment >> and I have none. Miss Le >> trusty Krauss abstain. Tissy Webster. >> Hi, >> Tricy Le French. >> This is one that's inside of the purchase

170orders. >> This is the uh uh purchase orders. Um I can pull it up because I I thought they were the same, too, because they're exactly the same on the agenda, but I'm being told that they're different ones. So, let me pull up 15 and let me show let me see what we're talking about here. So, we're talking about the purchase orders that start from >> Yeah, I guess you'd have to >> It's not 215s on here though. >> No, it's it's 14 and 15 that look that the wording is is exactly the same, but if you click on it, they're two different agenda items. So, President Sodto, for clarification and transparency, uh, item 15, at the August 26 regular board meeting, the trustees table this item. So, that's why you have two separate warrant

171reporting listings. >> That makes a lot of sense. Thank you, Miss Ly. Did you have any other questions, Trusty Lech? So basically the one that's on the one that we're talking about right now is the one we tabled at the last board meeting and now we're voting to approve it >> with trusty cross abstaining. >> Well the motion is to approve. >> Okay I approve. >> Trusty Stewart >> I. >> Trusty stood >> and so do I. Motion passes 41 with trusty cross abstaining. Moving on to 17, business services approval of the hybrid agreement renewal for AALR for legal services fiscal year 2025 2026. I'll entertain a motion. >> I'll sign motion to approve a discussion. >> Because of the um the Rosenber Rosenberg rules of orders, we typically do discuss after an action motion.

172Um, did you want to approve to perhaps approve table? That way we can open up discussion. Typically there's no motion for discussion. >> Uh, I'll amend my motion. President Sto, uh, motion to approve. >> Trusty cross motions to approve. Is there a second? >> Uh, Stewart, I sec second. >> Okay, I'll open it for discussion. Trusty Cross. >> Yes. Thank you, President Sto. I as we've heard this evening uh from our classified and certificated staff about negotiations and we're right in the middle of that. Um it's my understanding that we already have Fagan Freeman and Full Frost 3fs. We approved a contract with them for legal services back in May I believe for over 150,000 and then Lozano Smith uh another legal firm back in the spring uh for this current year as well. And

173it's just my uh contention as one board member that we shouldn't continue to keep approving legal counsel um at this cost until perhaps negotiations is settled. >> Thank you, Trusty Krauss. Trustee uh the French, >> I have no comment. >> Trusty Stewart, >> I have no com comment. Trustee Clark. >> No comment at this time. >> And I have none. We'll take the vote. >> Trusty Krauss. >> Krauss. Nay. >> Trusty Webster. >> Nay. >> Tricy left French. >> Left French. I. >> Trusty Stewart. >> Stewart. I. >> Trusty Sto. >> Stole. Nay. Okay. Moving. Uh. Motion passes 32 with trust of the French. Trusty Stewart. >> Oh, motion did not pass. I'm sorry. getting ahead of myself here. Motion did not well actually yes. The motion did not pass for approval. Trustee Leaf French

174and Trustee Stewart voting yes. Moving on to new business. Trustees on a motion for the renewal. >> May trustee soda or >> cler. >> Did you pull 31? >> Um I did. Um >> we we we Okay, let's let's do that actually. I just thought maybe would go under revisions and deletions, but let's just do it for procedural purposes. I'll entertain a motion at this time for 31. >> Trusty Webster, I motion to table. >> There's a motion to table by Trusty Webster. Is there a second? >> Trusty Krauss. I second. >> There's a second by Trusty Krauss. Any discussion? >> Take the vote. We'll take the vote, Miss Le. >> Trusty Krauss. >> Krauss. I >> trusty Webster. >> Webster. I >> love Lef French. I trusty Stewart >> Stewart. I >> Trusty Sodto

175I. Motion passed. 5-0. Now we're moving on to new business. I'll entertain a motion for the renewal membership agreement with Sanino County District Advocates for Better School for FIS for fiscal year 2025 2026. >> Steward. I mo motion to uh approve. >> There's a motion to approve by trusty Stewart. Is there a second? >> Ker a second. >> There's a second by trusty clerk. We're open up for discussion. >> Seeing and hearing no, we'll take the vote. >> Trusty Krauss. >> Krauss I. >> Trusty Webster. >> Ker I. >> Trusty Le French. Love French. I >> Jesse Stewart >> Stewart I >> Jesse Sto I. Motion pass 5-0. Moving on to number two under new business. At this time I'll entertain a motion for the fiscal year 2025 2020 2024 2025 unodudited actuals financial report.

176I'll entertain a motion. >> Steuart I mo motion to uh approve. >> There's a motion to approve by trusty Stewart. Is there a second? >> French second. >> Second by trustee Lef French. We'll open it up for discussion. >> Trusty Krauss. >> Yes, President Sto. Thank you. I appreciate again the staff's presentation this evening. It is my hope that uh before first interim in December, which is a long way off, uh that perhaps the board could get an updated budget presentation uh in the next few uh board meetings as we go through impass with our associations, but also uh as the revenues and expenditures perhaps may change um between now and December uh to at least get some uh updated information for the public. >> Thank you, Trusty Krauss. Trustee Stewart, >> I have none.

177>> Trusty Lef French, >> clerk hire, >> I have none. We'll take the vote. Miss Le, >> just for clarification, this is just to approve the fiscal year 202425. Correct. >> Correct. >> Trusty Krauss. >> Krauss. I >> Webster. >> I. >> Tricy Leaf French. >> I. >> Trissy Stewart. >> Stewart. I. >> Trissy Stoodto. >> Sodto I. Motion pass. 5-0. Moving on to number 15, governing board members reports and announcements. Clerk hire >> because can can everyone hear me? Okay. >> Yes. >> Um I just want to take a brief moment and touch on a few different topics. Recently I got the pleasure of visiting sites with President Sodto where we had a very enjoying afternoon slashmorning uh playing some basketball with our Mesa Linda Bulldogs going to see our Morgan King Cade kids

178where I'm going to say it. So Sodto had so much fun playing with Legos. Um, I also got to go over to Gus Franklin and help uh serve the PBIS Star student ice cream sundaes. So, our adventures have kicked off very nicely. Um, I do want to make mention on our negotiations. I am looking forward to hopefully closing these quickly. I know that our staff has been extremely patient and I I do hope that we're able to find a remedy to the situations we're facing now. Um, with that being said, I know my audio is not super great, so I'll keep it short tonight, but I hope everyone who is still in the boardroom drives safe. >> Thank you so much, Clar Kire was uh Trusty Leaf French. >> Thank you. So, I just want

179to talk to uh talk about over the last couple of weeks um I've had the pleasure of going out with um Dr. Walker and um Bins. Um I was very excited. Um I had a vacation day at work, so I was able to go out and visit um Mesa Linda. Um it was nice to be there. The staff, the front staff at Mesa Linda um were very um warm. They were uh we were greeted with um smiles. Um I enjoyed popcorn in one of the children's classrooms. Um the children were engaged. They were smiling. They were happy. Um I saw children on task. Um they were in classrooms attentive. Uh teachers smiling. It was um very nice to um visit over at Mesa Linda. Um I also had the opportunity to go over to um

180Eagle Ranch. Um Eagle Ranch. Um I had a really good time over there too as well. Um they had music on the playground. Um the children were dancing. Um we were able to visit um a few classrooms um at um Eagle Ranch. they were engaged there as well. Um the campus was you know flowing on its own. It was very nice. The office staff over there was also very kind and greeting with smiles and you know um having small talk. Um it was a very nice warm environment over there as well. And um I also had the opportunity to go to um Morgan Concaid Morgan King. Um it was a nice visit there. I always um love going to Morgan Concaid. Um Morgan Cancade is where uh two of my daughters went to. I was

181actually the um president of the PTA over there for three years. So I always enjoy going to Oregon and seeing um proctors that I hadn't seen in quite some time. Um being able to I had the opportunity to go and visit Miss Rder's classroom. Uh that was nice. And um it was uh nice as well to see that front staff too. Whenever you enter a school, I think about you know um being a teacher myself and having schools that I have overseen the staff that you see when you first walk into the school makes such an impact on you. when you walk into the school and you see secretaries and you see um principles or vice principles or the nurse or whoever that's in there and that first the first person that you make contact

182with leaves an impression on you and they were at each site that I visited they were smiling they had mints they were talking um it was very nice to be able to go out and um visit the schools I had a great time um I also wanted to say that you know um I'm looking forward to um continuing, you know, my um school visits. And um I wanted to uh end with um a little quote tonight. I wanted to be able to say that, you know, I love um um Maya Angelo's quote where she says, "I look forward um um it's not I want to um let me see. I've learned I've learned that people will forget what you said, but people um will not forget how you made them feel. So, I don't know

183it exactly. So, you know, but that's what it is on how I feel. You can walk into a place what you say to people. People don't forget. People don't Wait a minute. Let me get it right because I wrote it down so I'm not mumbling over it at 10 o'clock at night. It says, um, "I've learned that people will forget what you said. People will forget what you did, but people will not forget how you made them feel." And to me, that's always been impactful because I even have it up on my board at work. People never forget how you make them feel. So, as you go along your day tomorrow, just keep in mind of the impact that you have on children, families, your co-workers, people that you come into contact on how you

184leave them and what they feel like after they've made contact with you. It'll be interesting on how you look at when you have conversations or smiles or how you look at your coworker or the children tomorrow. Thank you. Drive safe. Thank you, Trusty Lef French. Trustee Stewart. >> Um, well, you know, I I did enjoy our vis visit to Eagle Ranch Morg and Kin Cade and May Mesa Lyn Linda. And when when I go go to to a school school site, I'm not look looking for what's wrong. I just want want to see see the day. So if it's fun Friday, if the kids earned fun Friday, have fun Friday that they earned it. You know, I'm not there to pick or look for what what's wrong. Um so I enjoy when the kids get

185get to eat their pop popcorn though. I was off Al offered I cannot I was full but and it I just enjoy to go to two of the schools when I can because as I am in the CL classroom as well I can't leave that that much. So, and also I want to say that there have been many accusations that trustee Love French, myself and Christine Turner misman managed tax payer funds somehow which I don't know how because we have to account for all all of our purchases with the Cal card. In fact, I remember two years ago, about two years ago, may maybe a little more. Um, actually, the the boardroom was was full with a bunch bunch of red red shirts cuz here we are again, right? No con contract. Um, and you

186know, of course, we get the you are corrupt. You're lying lining your pock pockets. And I asked the s superintendent attendant at the time um you know can we go out and buy ourselves things with our Cal Cal card? Can we go and take um district funds to spend on ourselves? And I was told that no that there are many many checks and bal balances within the dis district and that is imp possible. And not only that, uh, the count county goes through and has their own checks and bal balances. Um, but now it just seems to be non-stop accusation about misman management of tax payer funds. And the these are not true. These are false. and say saying them a lot will not make them true. So I am right now saying that I

187am not I am not and I have not ever mismanaged funds and I have been accused of this. Um my employer was writen a letter letter about about this. Of course we both both laughed at it. Um, but I would love an in an investigation if you have proof. I I'm still waiting for the call, which I haven't got gotten yet, but I have done nothing wrong at all. I account for when I use the cow cow card. And there are times that I can and I don't. I will use my own money money to get an ubo Uber though I'm within the rights to get use the cow cal card but I don't so have a good good night. >> Thank you Trusty Stewart Trusty Krauss. >> Yes. Thank you President Sodto and good

188evening everybody that's still with us this evening. Again I want to thank our presenters uh Miss Pantoha and Mr. Perdugo for the wonderful SYPA presentations. Look forward to the other school sites. Uh they've set the bar for the presentations. So now as we move forward, we look forward to additional SIPA presentations as we move forward. So I'm excited about that. Uh I do appreciate uh CSEA bringing up their comments about the community schools funds and what potentially has happened to those and I hope that uh the board potentially or uh the public will get an update at some point uh where we are at. It's a great program at Bradock Elementary School. Uh it is underutilized and it's under marketed at this time. I think that it's a gem over there in that area for

189a lot of the families. Uh but I think we need to really uh find out what it happened as as Miss Lynn had stated uh to the money that potentially was there where it did go. On the same token, it was brought to my attention that the school sites, all 14 of them, uh had their lottery money, their discretionary lottery and site funds pulled back in July. Uh they use this money for field trips, study trips, uh curriculum, uh school supplies for their teachers. This evening, we saw our teachers come up here and say that they had to pay for stuff out of their own pocket. I hope that the school sites are not telling their teachers that they don't have the money because somehow the district pulled it all back to the district office.

190Uh this was verified and I'm not sure exactly why, but hopefully the public and the teachers and classified staff can find out why that has happened uh this current fiscal year. Uh last Friday I was made aware by social media that there was a couple parents fighting at Mesa Linda Elementary School and the police were called uh in the middle of drop off I believe. Uh we are following that. I do though have to say that I was a little bit dismayed that our superintendent did not let the board know that that was going on. I did not receive any indication except from social media that that had happened. Uh, and I want to let the staff over there know you are in our thoughts and I cons consistently advocate uh for making your site

191a better site, but in the absence of information coming from the superintendent's office, it's quite difficult to know when these uh things happen, whether they're fights between students, parents, or others. And so, I hope that that uh in the in the future uh the communication from the superintendent, at least to me as a board member, uh improves dramatically. Uh also, I want to clarify my comments earlier this evening. And I do appreciate all of you that reached out to me uh when I was on break about the comments with sped. And let me I guess I should have told you there was a report done by a company called Fikmat in 2016 I believe and they studied the sped department and 10 years later we are still under the same uh things that they identified.

192This is a public report back then that they did in sped. And so I suppose to clarify my my comments were not geared towards any classified members or teachers. It was geared towards management in the sped department that are no longer here. But that report will tell you exactly what they were talking about related to overidentification. So I I highly recommend that you request that from the district. Uh they should be able to provide that to you and any members of the public to see. But I do apologize if at any time I might have misspoke or misstated what I was trying to convey about our contribution going from 20 million to 23 million. uh perhaps due to some of the things that the FICMAT study had identified in the sped department 10 years ago

193at least and potentially still uh to this day. Uh and with that that concludes my comments. Thank you, President Sto. >> Thank you, Trusty Krauss. All right, I just want to start by expressing my deep support for our teachers and staff as we continue navigating negotiations uh with both the teachers association and CSBA. I do hope that we can reach a swift and fair resolution. As some of my colleagues have already stated, our educators and classified staff are the backbone of our district and they deserve clarity, stability, and respect. over the past um on on a much different note um on the over the it's very disheartening and I'm trying not to be negative right now but um one day on a positive note over the past few months um we've also faced a troubling

194pattern systemic targeting of certain trustees and even their families these coordinated efforts efforts create division, fear, and dysfunction within our district. That's why at our next meeting, I will be introducing a resolution to protect the independence of this board and restore focus on our students free from outside interference and hidden agendas. At the same meeting, I will also bring forward two proactive steps align with today's needs and to strengthen our board's work moving forward. A policy committee made up of two trustees to ensure our policies are current and aligned with today's needs. a budget committee made up of two trustees to ensure transparency and accountability and how we manage our resources. These steps are especially important as we continue negotiations and work to rebuild trust. They demonstrate to the public that this board takes its

195role seriously and is prepared to act responsibly for both students and staff. Finally, I want to end on a note of gratitude. This district has challenges that are truly unique. And yet so many of you, our staff, parents and community members and colleagues have kept moving forward with positivity and p perseverance. Thank you for holding your heads high and staying focused on what matters most, students. and together we'll get through this and come out stronger. That's all I have to say. All right, moving on to superintendent reports and announcements. Dr. Walker, thank you, President Sodto. Good evening to the board of trustees, to our executive cabinet, AESD staff, students, and our community. We've just completed a little bit over 20 days of school this year and already we do have a lot to celebrate in

196the midst of us being at an impass. Our strive for 95 campaign is building a culture where every student matters. Next week, our first guiding coalition will come together to align our vision and actions. We received new grants that will expand opportunities and our new assistant uh superintendent of educational services has already rolled up her sleeves engaging with leaders and departments to strengthen teaching and learning. Our trustees are out visiting schools, which is a vision that I I like to continue seeing. Our teachers are inspiring students and I was moved by a writing wall where students work and rubrics proudly showed not only what students have achieved but what they are becoming. This is the promise of education revealing the possibilities. This is who we are. Big, bold, and brave together. Living out our thrive

1972030 and bring our framework for the future to life. I leave you with the words of Jane Gle. Hope is what enables us to keep going in the face of adversity. Without hope, all is lost. With hope, we can work together and make a difference. And that's exactly what we're doing, working together to make a difference for every student in AES. And I close with this video. Let's take a moment to share some highlights that really show the great things happening across our district. In our recent leadership meeting, we dug into multipliers by Liz Wisman. We reflected on the difference between leaders who bring out the best in others and those who unintentionally hold people back. It was a powerful reminder of the kind of leaders we want to be for our teams, our schools,

198and our students. We also have some wonderful celebrations. Five of our schools earned platinum recognition for PBIS, eight earned gold, and one earned silver. That's a huge achievement and it shows how committed our staff is to creating positive, supportive environments for our kids. Since September is attendance awareness month, we recognize the very first school at the top of our stride for 95 leaderboard, Melva Davis Academy of Excellence, with an incredible 95.95% attendance. That's the kind of momentum that lifts the whole district. We also want to recognize Bradock Elementary School. Their donuts for dads event was a wonderful example of family engagement. Research tells us that when fathers are involved, students attend more, achieve more, and thrive socially. And that connection was clear at their event. On top of that, Bradock Elementary earned another Sprouts grant

199for their school garden, giving students more hands-on opportunities to learn and grow. These remind us that when our staff, families, and community come together, we can do amazing things for kids. And together, we're building the momentum to keep striving for more. Thank you, Dr. Walker. Moving on to German. At this time, I'll entertain a motion. Trustees >> Stewart. I I motion to adjourn. >> There's a motion to adjourn. Vice Trusty Stewart. Is there a second? >> Ker I second. >> Kyer seconds. No discussion. We'll take the vote. >> Trusty Krauss. K. I. >> Trusty Webster. Webster I >> Trusty >> Le French I >> Trusty Stewart >> Stewart I >> Trusty Stoodto >> Sodto I motion pass 50 the time is 10:29 we're joined