001School District Board of Trustees for uh so uh part one Open Session uh I'll call this meeting to order at 7 15 pm I'll move on to roll call Maribel will you please call the roll today is a special board meeting of April 20th 20th 23 at 7 15 p.m members of the board in attendance president Memphis vice president Karina de Alara present Kirk Andres Quintero uh I I was informed by Club Quintero that he is unable to attend this evening member Linda Chavez president member Andrea Laura Shelton present members of administration superintendent Dr Bauer superintendent Bauer is not available this evening assistant superintendent Chang is uh uh Acting Superintendent okay is that is that it or I'll call there Maribel yes let me hear what um Culver said present yeah I'm here Marabella we
002finished with roll call yes we are okay thank you so we'll move on to uh the land acknowledgment uh the Board of Trustees at the Alamo Union Elementary School District uh does hereby acknowledge that the district schools and Facilities sit on the traditional lands at the muekma Ohlone people and the Board of Trustees further acknowledges with respect and reference the welcome people tribe of San Francisco Bay area for their Stu for their stewardship of these lands uh so with that if you would please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance [Music] what's wrong okay uh with that uh Carlos would you provide a kindly provide explanation to our audience please okay so um good evening trustees and general public in our community is so for those members of the public who wish to address the
003board in Spanish we have life interpretation in person tonight thank you so much hey thanks so much Carlos so with that we move to part two uh closed session uh the board will recess to close session at approximately 7 20 p.m Open Session will resume at the conclusion of closed session so I am 2.02 announcement in public comments regarding items to be discussed in closed sessions uh uh Mr Chen would you please make the announcement regarding items to be discussed sure thank you for president um items related to existing litigations are Alum Rock Union Elementary School District versus Delores Marquez um item number two Jane Row one at all uh versus Alum Rock Union Elementary School District and item number three um Alum Rock Union Elementary School District versus Esau Herrera thank you okay thank
004you so much Mr Chang uh at this time I will open it up to public comment uh on items and to be covered in closed session all right see no further demand for public comment I will uh the board will now recess to close session at 7 19 pm and we will resume oh we will uh resume in Open session at the uh when closed session is finished how to use an orange TV with this new little piece wow okay you know what I talked to him about the Wi-Fi okay so with that the board is reconvening an open session at 7 39 pm okay uh section three uh 3.01 report of action taken in closed session there was no action taking in closed session to be reported okay thank you very much moving on
005to section four board business item 4.01 uh approved resolution number 58-22-23 climate change in Green School yards uh this uh so I will start uh this is my supposedly it should have been the second resolution at the regular meeting but it didn't get in on time but it's sort of a apropos because uh you know because this segment yeah and a little opportunity to uh you know uh commend Russo mcentee on its redesign today and uh this resolution uh you know uh as we're offering uh new programs for today's needs uh this commit you know this resolution recognizes that you know the importance of the environment the opportunities that come with providing environmental science uh curriculum to our children and to commemorate the uh today's launch of the redesigned Russo mcentee as Alan walks's environmental
006science and Justice elementary school so uh it's in you know it it is with that in mind and I bring this resolution uh or consideration by my colleagues today uh I'll open uh item 4.01 to public comment seeing none I'll move to questions and comments by members of the board yes trustee Chavez so I have a [Music] there's so much debate about um global warming and a lot of the data um is inconsistent um how do you see Alum Rock only teaching one side and not teaching both sides well it's not just one sign I mean uh you know it would be a you know uh it would be a you know uh experience that's specific to Russell mcninty uh there's a lot of you know environmental science is not just climate change it's also
007drought prevention it's also about conservation uh you know we uh yeah what let me finish okay but the thing is that uh you know I I have visited our schools and I I've seen our teachers in action and our teachers are generally they're in balanced uh you know this isn't about teaching one sign or anything it's about teaching a basic you know a set of available facts but also providing our children opportunities and outdoor education uh plant science uh earth science uh and in the Life Sciences and uh and the possible career opportunities that are uh available in in these fields and as well as to commemorate the good work that the uh teachers and staff and administration and parents of Russo mcentee so like you know I you know I we want to be
008careful before we accuse you know I shouldn't say accused but I don't really see uh our teachers you know um teaching something bias to our students here uh vice president I think I was next uh you said that wait yes yes so you you you all right so there's a lot of measures that they can take as far as the drought goes especially since they didn't prepare um a lot of a lot of the uh things that could have held the water so that we wouldn't have just let it go out to the sea to the ocean and as far as conserve conservation goes a lot of the wildfires is due to the fact that they no longer do controlled Burns so I'm just saying I mean this is a good item um I'm just
009saying that both sides need to be taught as follow as far as maintaining everything yes and and I'm kind of confident that both both sides of the argument will be taught in Alum Rock schools and uh you know this is uh you know this program is in line with uh you know State of California grade level science grade level expectations uh in this subject matter uh vice president Herrero thank you so much and um thank you so much uh trustee Chavez I think what the point you make in regards to making sure that it's not one-sided our education it's not what one side it is very important um and as somebody um who's gone through K through 12th in college and you know has my daughter um and also have um lived um historical um
010let's see so whose grandparents have unfortunately and parents um had a very one-sided uh education and still continues to be and barely here in Alum Rock do I feel that we're finally having both sides so I agree with you trustee Chavez education should be but you know two sides um so I think we have been one-sided for far too long and I'm just saying public education for centuries and finally we have um two sides so thank you uh board president for bringing this resolution forward for me it's important as trustee Chavez mentioned to have two-sided education um and you know we can't be oblivious to the realities right that we are living you know whether it's fires us trustee Chavez mentioned you know the uh uh water river I can't even think of the word
011but that we've all been affected with um in the last three months atmospheric River how could I forget that I call it a lot of rain but they call it atmosphere thank you yes I mean we would be just you know we're all intelligent here like it's obviously impacting us um so I am happy that our children are going to be able to learn um and be exposed to you know some ways that maybe our our Earth has been taken care of for many years right I know we'll be celebrating um Earth Day on Saturday uh as a community and we have a lot of events coming up um and for my culture specifically um as I um I think mentioned that the last time you know making sure that we're always honoring all four
012elements of Life earth wind water and fire um I know that this resolution will ensure that you know we're learning about that too and that our children are exposed um and that you know maybe we're even reconnecting right to some of our indigenous ways ways that we used to care take for our Mother Earth or the wind the water the fire and that some of us continue to do um so I'm really excited and um thank you trustee Chavez for pointing out some good points and I will be supporting this resolution thank you uh crusty Flores shell so thank you to president Pham for bringing this to our attention um always find these resolutions you know it's like we want to make sure they don't like sit on a shelf right but I think this
013is saying a lot and I agree with all the comments of my fellow um trustees about how frankly complicated um the environment has become for all of us but I think we do know that our young people are engaged in this conversation about sort of the Earth's future and the environment that they um that they live in and are schooled in so I'm super excited for mcatee Russo um and for Alum Rock to sort of plant this flag and say that we have an environmental justice focused school that's very exciting and I think our young people are really going to benefit and their families from learning about all of the um sort of again complicated issues that are related to not just taking care and being good stewards of the Earth but what are the
014choices that we all make um to help keep our Earth um locally as well as globally um as healthy as we can for future generation so um appreciate this and excited for Mac into yourself thank you okay you know I just wanted to wrap up you know and thank you uh uh trustee Chavez for bringing up the um always Salient point of being fair and balanced in education and uh you know it is certainly uh you know I I'm confident and my hope is that you know our our teachers are fair and balanced uh uh when when teaching you know in the teaching of our children you know the other part is you know I always you know uh uh the uh you know uh Land Management and Water Resources management that that's all that's
015the you know that uh you know those are issues dealt with agencies at at different levels of government government but you know I think that for for for the purposes of uh Alan Walker you know it it's an opportunity to uh give our our students valuable experience in The Sciences in at the K5 level which prepares them for the beginnings of lab science in their middle school videos and then finally as they go on to high school you know giving them a a foundation for uh College Prep life science later on and also uh you know a fun and a fun and attractive way to uh think about uh career that's never too early to think about careers in this day and age now so uh you know so it is good that that uh
016you know thank my colleagues for considering this resolution and I see Rusty Chavez okay one last thing aside from the difficulty often perplexing scientific issues related to climate change the topic is smart and uh a few minutes ago you said that you guarantee that they are being taught like that but I I don't want to say that they are or they aren't but to make an absolute like that you guarantee especially since the kids aren't being taught that they didn't uh prepare the reservoirs for all this rain um they don't do the conservation the way they they should um and we seem to be the only state having this difficulty whereas the other ones the Land Management uh is there they do a better job than California so um I just wanted to put that
017out there thank you okay uh seeing no personal questions and comments by members of the board uh having a motion and a second will call her a vote I apologize as I see you Preston Chavez no uh vice president Herrera loera hi uh trustee Flores Shelton yes and myself voting eye item passes a via vote of uh three to one with uh trustee Chavez dissenting and Kirk Quintero grow absent moving on to items 4.02 approved legal services with Davis Benson and young uh motion to approve a motion to approve by vice president Herrera loera second second by uh trustee Flora Shelton uh Mr Chang will you present the item thank you brother president um staff is respectfully requesting approval of this service agreement with Davis Bankston and youngsten to support the district with certain litigation
018thank you okay I'll open item 4.02 up to out to public comment uh seeing no desire for public comment I'll move to a vote I'll call you as I see you trustee Chavez no uh vice president Herrero loera aye um trustee Flores Shelton yes and my self-voting eye the item passes uh three to one uh with trustee Chavez dissenting and trustee uh I mean Quintero absence so with them part five internment uh you know on the meeting is adjourned at 7 53