001I don't know why video unavailable oh great okay so it's live streaming I guess on YouTube okay can you make um since they're doing just this can you make the board the boardroom TV no the sound we're not going to use the sound I look I turn it on because no we have to have it on because they can't they're GNA be able to hear no they will the boardroom TV has a camera oh do want going to do it yeah can you hear us yes I can why is it have an echo like the public knows yes I can hears Saturday why can't I hear your here close you can't hear me yes I can hear youbody I'm um the microphone speak again can you hear me than so I unmuted myself oh can
002you unmute yourself no I did I unmuted myself is this sound you think it's on my end you can't hear me because I'm guess you know what L um is gonna have a [Music] presentation Lu can you hear me I think you should take this one over there too [Music] can you try now can you hear me Lis hello can you hear me yeah I can hear you now hey Lis you know I was G to tell you that um Ro is gonna have a presentation is that going to affect this TV or no why everybody going be be able to see it right yeah the board members will be able to see it yeah when he Ro does the presentation is he GNA share from remote he's right there's gonna be sharing remotely well
003he's here he's sitting there right there behind with Cesar do you GNA be presenting from the laptop do I need a podum laptop yeah I think so I didn't know I think I don't know if brought his I don't roio did you bring your laptop did I bring my laptop yes he did he did um Lis okay but as long as he joined the zoom meeting okay okay good morning everybody I'm calling to order the special board meeting the AL Elementary School District order Trustees for Saturday October 28 202 great I call the order this meeting at 9:05 a.m. uh tomorrow will you call roll today's a special board meeting of October 28th 2023 at 9:00 am members of the board in attendance president mfam president mfam uh vice president Corina Loa president clerk Andres
004Kinto present member Linda Chavez ch's present member Andrea Flor Shelton here and members of administration superintendent Dr Bower President we should move to the mics it's gonna be that problem screaming the whole time marel are you able to hear us yes I'm able to hear you as long as you guys speak a little louder I think we' be good you could want to come in here because it's a Saturday morning we don't have an issue of audiences and I should say okay and may I remind you marel there will be no presentations this is just going to be the for self evaluation okay and for president uh as our conversation last night do you wna tell the the rest of the board yes so I was in form last night that um based on advice
005from General Council that our board bylaw recording uh board bylaw 927 of interest is uh not current and at this time on the advis of General councel uh we will uh table the presentation until such time as general Council can advis us of being by law um not gonna be deal with but um I been a conversation with the administration as well and had the ability to talk to the general councel about um the idea of bringing a conflict of interest training not only for board members but also for any 700 filers in the district so that everybody's aware of what the requirements are for law the conflict of interest and even beyond that of of whatever other is issues might Rise um and so I've I talked to superintendent about the possibility of bringing
006that uh to not just the board but everybody who for District or has a authority to issue contract Pur so what that 3.02 on the agenda is and additionally I've communicated with the District Attorney's office about providing presentations on the matter and they very open presentation and they asked work with with so they can presentation as approprate for I just want to uh confirm I know that um probably in Reverse to you mentioned that the conflict of interest that board bylaw hasn't been updated I think was a word yes so um I mean and know our council's here um when we're ready for that presentation um are we able to present as is the board bylaw 9270 so we wa um so the the administ I'll be working with the administration to bring an update
007to that board bylaw that will be on legally outside thank you just to clarify the the the board's bylaw 9270 includes a list of designated filers that list needs to be updated to reflect some new positions in the district and then the vacancy over okay thank you for clarifying and then pres do you need a motion yes motion any questions comments board say none um I see you Shelton yes hi trusty sh hi trust I mean hi and mying I motion is passed unanimously I two is so with that with the r I'd like to do the land acknowledgement the element School District does hereby acknowled District school on TR people further acknowledges but respect and ref alone people TR San Francisco Bay area for their Steward to the the United States of America to
008the so having said all that we move to 2.01 discussion action board self evaluation I want to note that I have received all the paper evaluation from members of board so uh as I mentioned in my guidelines the way I see is that um you know this is you know more more like Open Session the board members of the board will Express their opinion on the their opinions on the performance of the board and how they believe that the board working at this time I made a clear that I leave evaluations as is they you know because um board members are you know individual board members you know this is reflected of the individual board members view of the board so it is not my place to uh modify or give the appearance of modification
009any opinions of individual CH fees and I also caution that you know in the event that there are e opinions I deserve the right to recess the board cool off and I want to further caution my my colleagues you know please be delicious in your language you know please also do not try to uh it sper any way indiv trustees so with that said I is there anything I need to do in regards to the board self evaluation would you like me to just give a brief overview okay so good morning board members um I I printed some materials for each of you and I put that in front of each of your places so I thought it would just be helpful real quick to just run through what lawyer like to call the ground
010rules for this U these are not really rules per se because this is a very board driven process self-driven process um so why are we doing this why does the board do this well number one you have a byla that says you're going to do it every year it's board bylaw 9400 I put a copy of that uh in front of in front of each of you and it says that the board shall annually conduct a self evaluation in order to demonstrate accountability to the community and ensure that District governance effectively supports student achievement and the attainment of the district's vision and goals this is always an open session discussion board evaluation is not and never will be or at least under the current law a Clos session discussion I want to remind the board
011that um as you as you do you know you take care of this process that's warning it is a board self- evaluation it is not an evaluation of the super intendent or the staff it is specific as to the board as a governance team and how you all relate to each other um I also put in front of uh each of you a copy of the governance handbook that you all uh adopted as a board with the exception of truste FL Shelton who wasn't on the board at that time in December of 2021 hold on didn't you sign off our previous yes prior to Vintage version so and that that vintage version went through substantial change and modification over a series of many board meetings and and so what's interesting or I I think what's
012what's great about it is that if you look at the major headings in the governor's handbook um section B uh is roles and responsibilities section c is pos positive governance team culture and Norms section D is governance team protocols not surprising oh and then at the last uh on the second to the last page section e is a code of conduct that the board adopted did at that time not surprisingly they are very similar or align with your self- evaluation form that you all turn in this morning to the board president and so you know in one sense the the governance handbook is a is a continuing reminder uh for each of you uh about the values and about the governance protocols and everything like that so in terms of process there is no defined
013process you don't have to tell he votes numbers or anything like that um different boards handle this in many different ways sometimes for the most part they handle it as an open discussion about pluses and minuses what were the high points of the Year from a governance standpoint in terms of board relationships what were considered to be some of the lower points and what would you like to see different as between each other the five so I haven't seen any of your uh evaluation forms or or you're scoring on any of them so uh with that you know I I don't know if you need me to to manage the process or if you'd like the board president to do it um but uh it really should be in the form of a discussion um
014just regarding your relationships with each other and how you work together as governance students thank you so much for telling us okay yes I will open you know you know open it up for discussion so I see FL um yeah before we go into any of the procedures we wanted to go through um regarding the bylaw 9400 the third paragraph I just was hoping you could interpret something so obviously it's the board eval evaluation the board shall evaluate itself as a whole for the second line individual board members are also expected to use the evaluation process as an opportunity s that for their own personal performance suggestion like like just it's just a good practice I mean it's in a bylaw just wondering more about that so I I've always considered that to be a
015sort of a guideline for self-reflection listening to each other uh being willing to take criticism or maybe not even criticism but suggestion about how if someone says you know when you did this um you know I thought it could have been handled different um but there certainly is you know board members should not be required or feel compelled to um you know put in writing their own personal goals for first year the the the but you raised a very important point that re remember that in the in the context of this discussion you should not disclose any Clos session communication any at all so I hope that's helpful that I'll open the floor board president I'm wondering if um just to help the flow of this you know um and that we just don't go
016all over the place I don't know this is just suggestion that maybe all of us read off our answer um you know we go one by one and then if there's any conversation or even section I don't know again you know this is only a lot of 30 minutes so we read that up I'm just wondering right now we just open it up and might just go well I would say if you if you have any opinions you would like to share you um I will cut you off I after five minutes because I do want to have you know could you just let us you let me know so basically it's sort of like a little you know self evaluation rating sheet right how like you had all of ours and I will then
017turn it you know and then superintendent you know ask what what wanted because the previous one if you recall the LA the last one was done online and so csba sent the like a composite of all the answer so there is and we have that on in in our files and that that's where we got all the areas for the current one so I was going to at the end of this discussion I was going to ask the board how do you want because we don't have it electronically right this one is on paper how do you want us to safeguard that how want file that you just make a copy and put it in a PDF file and say 23 board self evaluation yes first yes I guess to vice president point or so
018we're not sharing that here today like I don't know how have a conversation yeah yeah this disc that and then I mean I think that would be just what was expectation the conversation each other or like close far apart guess I would say you this is your opportunity to give your opinion of the board's performance as it is right so it's s like do you really need to read through my you know my ratings or vice president's rating or something like so I'm just trying to close out like what I'm hearing is after this meeting it goes it gets compiled and then it comes back to I if you would like if you would like a copy of every you know I mean it's a public document so I mean I will give this to
019the superintendent you know for her staff to you know make a copy and you know put it in a PDF file and we can just Sate to all board members to pleasure in in the future I mean or but other than that I mean form of what you think the state of the board is then I like my form back I don't have I gave you all I think comfortable as that maybe to hear each other's feedback I feel one of the five that it's important to hear each other's feedback that's you know the only way that will grow I think that's a you know purpose of this evaluation um and so I mean I I I'm okay with everybody reading my answers because some of it is reflection of myself I gave a lower
020sport it didn't mean that I look like you or you like some of it is my own reflection on my own um so I'm okay and I think just for um purposes of keeping this discussion at 30 minutes I'm going to just read off my answers um and just keep it focused to the evaluation tool that we have here um otherwise I might go off on something else on another on a conversation of maybe an incident that happened that I might be holding on to so that's just um I know we have our something wrong yeah I know that we are able to you know say whatever we're GNA say in our own five minutes and probably can I say something you I agree with what you're saying because like you said um it it's
021not your place to I thank you okay are you minutes so board Unity um I the board is focused on achievement for all students I could apply an agreement the board is committed to ACC commodation for uh five is almost always and four is often so we just to say it out loud we got to rate from one being the lowest and five being the highest um the board stays focused on District priorities for the board works well together for the board commits the time to become informed for individual board members do not undermine board decisions four board members agree on the V and responsibilities of the board and the superintendent for board members follow board agreements regarding speaking for the board for board members keep confidential matters confidential for the board gives direction to
022the superintendent only at board meetings for individual board members do not intend to direct a superintendent for the board treats the superintendent with respect by the board manages internal conference and effective matter man for um conditions of effective governance I just went down board operations for board meetings for Board of development for and board responsibilities setting directions for structure five support and accountability five and Community leadership five thank you oh sounded like you read off my face and and just to finish up my five minutes um I think you know having been here from um a time where we were probably between ones um and maybe a couple of twos um in this short period of time I feel we've definitely um those of us that have been here longer and I know Andre were
023here before um but men you know I think uh being more in the middle we've definitely you know um shift and we have improved a lot as a board um I think always you know remembering correctly we all wanted obviously the best for our students and staff that we've never really wavered on but all these other areas you know thinking back it really helped me reflect on the um growth that we've had as a board over the years and so um this is great A great tool that help me reflect on the years and the growth some of it you know wasn't easy or or you know didn't feel good at the time but I think you know we're in a much better place and nothing but you know contining to grow on behalf of
024all those who represent um in this case our children and families of and our staff so thank you for thank you vice president so do use your time I use my time okay yeah three minutes oh nice [Music] I was just like yeah I would say given I've been on the board eight months um I I have almost all fours and fives I will say have some not shes which I don't think are like low scores I think they're just you know my window is more limited and our test less test to the board but I think I'm I would just say it's refreshing how much board Unity um and Clarity everybody has on their roles and responsibility they get a much different sense than the 2012 13 14 years um so board Unity I
025was in often um I scored often for almost all of them again individual board members do not undermine board decisions I said not sure I do not have a sense that people are doing that I'm not saying like I have you know I don't have suspicions or anything I just it's hard for me to to know that at this point eight month experience um and roles and responsibilities uh seven eight N I did almost always and often um again I feel like I I really I think back to sort of Rio's Point made a minute ago um the board members keep confidential matters confidential that is so important and I especially with what we've been facing and I felt really good about saying so because that that just one time you know makes can make
026all the difference um under 10 and 11 I just put not sure the board gives direction to that Superintendent at board meeting I'm just not sure you know um but I do appreciate how board members come back and and share the discussions and share the concerns that they're having and to get our Buy in like that that makes the most sense because we all have individual um concerns issues priorities right and but I do feel that then we come back and have a better we have a whole conversation about it um I just do probably need more clarity on we have that item at the end of the agenda that says if you want to add something to the agenda email it to the president I just you know I could maybe have a side
027conversation like how do you want that to happen or how soon does that need to happen before an agenda because I'm just really not clear on on how we get individual items on the agenda in a way that works for the superintendent the board president um and then board culture yeah I mean I think the relationship between the board and the superintendent is very healthy in in my estimate um I think you have productive hard discussions both public and private in ways that I think are um are thoughtful and not you know personal you know and that's the way it should be right so um again I I feel like a little bit of comparative analysis in my last time but only with an eight month so that's why I just have some notur but
028it's not an indication of me saying you know it's it's headed in the wrong direction just think I wanted to be a little more have a little more experience before I gave some go start thank you all right you have one more minute any other is there anything you like to say I okay I guess I will just wrap up I I you know I want to say that I when I evaluate I have to evaluate you know there's performance and there's also circumstance too uh you know it's not like uh I've always said that I am looking for growth as opposed to just like my you know my expectation for academic growth in this District just look for a growth Trend as oppos to picking this year and that year and that year because
029I understand that uh we've all lived through some interesting times I mean I myself didn't expect I know to be asked to put my put my name forward to be appointed to a vacancy while I'm waiting to have my too tooth filled in a dentist office so I wanted to say that my over I will say as an overall despite certain differences of opinions with individual members and that's to be that's to be accepted you know we may all great on ice cream and it you know sometimes the the debate is over strawberry ice cream and Rocky ice cream um when I want to you know stress you know the difference that that has been made in terms of radius boor and this current board majority which is in you know this is the second
030in it second iteration we've gone you know we've made it out Co intact for the most part we've been able to you know as a board oversee uh the implementation of new academic programs the expansion of academic programs Vietnamese language emersion the Cesar sh Early Learning [Music] Center um The Return of the return turn of districtwide events back to back to District night University M uh new maker space at Sheffer Middle School right the redesign of uh Russo Mente Academy um and also engaging in in big big projects once again right the the uh the accept the acceptance and the implementation of the well I call it teacher in s house Workforce housing the largest single investment in this District you know 50 years was it the the passage of long range facilities plan the
031upcoming installation of central heat and air in all our school with which is something that that I you know to me personally is a big big deal because I started out on the bond committee looking to rectify that right I I still remember that uh that headline in the Mercury News you know our children being intered melt you know saying that they're melting in the heat you know that you know we are you know I want to say that we are moving in a positive direction a balanced Direction uh uh was that while being mindful of our community's resources in a manner that you know we maintain a balance budget sizable you know a sizable Reserve you know in contingency all the while honoring honoring the commitment of those who served us we've been able
032to have and Implement fair just compensation packages that reflect the the hard work that our teachers and staff put in for uh our children and our community uh I you know so uh if we're looking you know looking at the big picture I believe that this board is in its current iteration is doing a good job you know an a job you know an a doesn't mean that there isn't there's still room to grow but you know but looking at you know what we've been able to do in the circumstances that we have we have to act under you know this board has done an effective job uh in the governance of this district U you know the only other I guess the only the only thing I would like to Le my colleagues is
033that one of the things I I've heard and that you know I came that you know we have had differences of opinions I'm sharp differences of opinion in terms of uh you know how we approach governing uh now I like to say for myself that you know um you know to you know each of us have our you know it is not my place to say how best approaches the the role of trustee and of course the role of the person which I'm privileged to serveing this year and uh you know but I would I would all I would urge my members to talk to us you know have the informal conversation first or you know uh so that you know we you know so that we all have a better idea of you know
034what what what we see is you know something that we can do in the district and as always within the bounds of the but if we could have inform you know start off you know throw off the idea and have the informal conversation first think that you know by the time snowball rolls you know it might be something you know they could put in the on the agenda in the future so uh you know I will leave my self evaluation board on that note so uh let's see here since we have input from all trustees who wish to make a statement and any questions or concerns from members of the board yes I comment one of the things you said yes and again thank you for laying out all the accomplishments I I will say
035I'll give you all credit right A lot of these things are just just phenomenal but big Li that been going on um so you ended president on sort of the informal conversation to get all going to get the snowball going so so what does that look like right what what would you suggest then because I was under the impression like I would bring an idea to the superintendent um potentially right because I don't know oh have you and two other board members already have this idea and talk about it if I bring it up to a to another board member then have I just like screwed it all up right so so if I have an idea is the appropriate thing to bring it to the superintendent you're like hey you know what two of
036your colleagues have that idea too so let's think about how we handle that so I'm looking to you I'm looking to you and I'm looking to you because you kind of kicked it off I just want to make sure I always condition that you know as long as it's within the within the bounds of the right but I don't know I don't know the other serial conversations that happened so would the best approach be to bring an idea to the superintendent to to test those Waters first or say hey I'm the whoa whoa whoa you know most of us know like oh I've already talked to two people about this so I don't or one person if I talk to a third then it's so again well I would say that you're always free to
037talk to one other board member right it could be Kina it could be hre it could be myself you want to correct and then want you have that informal conversation always I would encourage you to talk to the superintendent you know you know I just you you've had the informal conversation right I guess then you know and of course you you can not my place to tell a member of the board not to speak with the superintendent they so I guess I'm going to look to you to about what does informality and right for so that again if I talk to one other board member it's on them to be like I've already had this conversation with two other people so the format that stops there right yes so so you're right so if you
038reach out to a one of your colleagues on the board on On Any Given subject it's incumbent upon that person you're speaking with to identify for you that they have already spoken to somebody else about and the conversation could end should end there that doesn't preclude you from having that conversation with the superintendent and I think it ties in with what you had said earlier uh trustee Floris Shelton about having Clarity on how get how to get something on the agenda uh the the the superintendent is in or could be within a what we call sometimes a brown a circle right um so once you reach out to the superintendent about it um it's also incumbent upon the superintendent to not share with you what other board members have uh discussed uh about the item
039but you are free to say this is an issue I would like on the agenda and under your board bylaw it's appropriate for you to have that discussion with the superintendent and with the board president because under your board bylaw they're tasked with the responsibility of putting together the the agenda um and then you can have the the discussion and open or closed session as appropriate but you're absolutely right um trying to have those conversations even with members of the community can sometimes raise Brown act issues so if you're engaging with a community member on the subject and say this is how I would like I I have this idea um and you may be a great partner for the district in this once that Community member says to you I you know it's funny
040you bring that up because I've been talking to other board members then you have to be mindful of that and and try to avoid getting that kind of information and it really is then about just approaching the superintendent the board president with the agenda request so I just want to thank you and I want to hear from on to I'm just trying to like I know we have the brown up rules I'm trying to get our Norms like what's the how does it flow around here like I'm I'm you know have I've been trying to like hang back and get help like you know let's get through the budget let's get you know and as the New Year comes along I just don't want to overwhelm this the more either with you know new ideas
041and new things I just wanted to understand just how how it feels so thank you and I I understand like the brown Act is interpreted you know so so differently at where I work right so that's the part too I'm trying to how how does this body do it like and so like round that groups and all that kind of stuff I need to like you know detach from that crazy and think about there are many cour of appeal decisions involved [Laughter] um no the only thing I want to point out is that would be a spoken wheel correct uh there's this idea there's two of your colleagues already asking about it it sounds like would that be construed spoken wheel um as long as you don't get into the substance of those Communications so
042she can say say the superintendent uh is the SPO is the Hub um as long as she says well I've already had two board members approach me on this subject and so um I could talk about putting it on the agenda but I can't talk to you about what they're talking to any other question comments yes I'm glad that you want you know because it might make it better for the kids me anything that's improve distri um even we don't go for it go for it you all [Music] right is if you have you know please your president can I can I make one final comment yes please yes so in your board bylaw it says following the evaluation the board shall set goals Define and refine protocols and establish priorities and objectives for the
043following years's evaluation so um you know trusty fla chelton raised the issue of of uh how how an individual board member gets something on the agenda you have a board bylaw that covers that issue but I think I I understand what she's saying is more as a practical matter how does this happen and so um we can have a follow-up discussion about that at a future time but i' like to make a recommendation in terms of the evaluation tool which you have and which follows cba's forms every December you have an organizational meeting and you elect new board officers so I'd like to recommend that at the time of the organizational meeting so whoever the super I'm sorry whoever the President and Vice President and clerk are for the coming year they know what they're
044going to be evaluated on so that you all adopt the evaluation form at the time of the organiz organizational meeting that you'll be using late the following December and that gives and that way you can make any changes to this form at the organizational meeting that you did so then my guess it'll be on the agenda and um between now and then whether we look at this one and decide to continue on this one or maybe look at other models and bring those forward at that time yes absolutely thank you so much so with that 2.01 board self evaluation concluded so with that with it 2.02 table we move to part three close session item 3.01 announc public regarding it to close in a close session uh superintend Power um item 3.03 Public Employee discipline
045on the the evaluation but at this time I would take uh take public comment I 2.01 see off close I will now take public comment on item 3.01 public com2 [Music] 949 uh take a 10 minute break open session will resume that I mean session the board will meet session at Thank you very [Music] spee fore speee what I h okay yeah there you go I never expected Portugal to be as expectacular it was yes has the board now open session a. section Rec Open Session uh item 4.01 report of action taking in Clos session uh um Mr Mr rues would you please report yes close session item 3.03 uh the board unanimously approved the amendment to a statement of charges for one certificated employee to reduce the unpaid suspension from 15 days to nine
046days and that was unanimous there are no further actions to report okay all righty thank you so much Mr Ruiz so with that we move on to Second side I turn this meeting at 10