001All right, good evening. If I could have everybody just uh remain quiet for a little bit so we can get this meeting called to order, it'd be great. Thank you. We got a lot to cover tonight. So, we'll start with u I'll call this meeting to order at 5 o'clock 5:00 pm on April 10th 225 2025 Alphabella Unified School District regular meeting with item two is roll call. So, um Amanda Buchanan here. Maria Opara I'm here. Renee Longshore here. Anita Tucker here. And I'm here as well. And um if we can have Amanda, if you could lead us in the pledge, please rise. All right. Sure. Right hand over your heart. Ready? Begin. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation
002under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. All right, moving right along. Item four is uh public comments uh pertaining to close session. So, um Kylie, do we have any cards reference close session? We do. We have seven. Okay, great. So, I just want to remind everyone that we limit it to three minutes up there and there's there'll be a timer up on the on on both walls there. If you can try to uh maintain that, that'd be great. So, first up is Bradley Curra. Did I pronounce it right? Yes, sir. Okay, great. Sir, sir, sit. I'm going to ask you to sit down or be escorted out. I'm not going to let you got a speaker right there. Remove officers. Remove him from the building. I'm not gonna let him disrupt
003the meeting when there's somebody standing there at the podium. Remove him, please. Uh, why is he being removed? Because he's disrupting the meeting. Okay. Criminal. Put the handcuffs on me. Um, no. [Music] So he's being asked to leave because he's being a disruption. Disrupting the meeting. You got a speaker up there. I know. I know. What's that? Yeah. Okay. Sorry, Bradley. Uh, you're you're uh That's okay. My name is Brad Cura. I'm speaking on behalf of JC Scott, the president of CSEA, Apple Valley Chapter 828. He wasn't able to make it today, so um he asked me to speak for him. Okay. So, good evening school board, district, cabinet, community members, President Sabers, my colleagues from Ava, and of course, my union brothers and sisters of CSEA. I apologize for not being able to attend
004tonight's meeting. I'm incredibly proud that my daughter will be graduating high school this year, and I didn't want to miss her final solo performance with her choir choir. So, first, I want to thank you for taking the step in the right direction regarding our health and welfare. While we are still far from reaching an agreement, I remain hopeful that if we continue working together, we can find a fair and reasonable compromise. However, expecting employees to settle for a subpar health plan is a difficult and unfair ask. Once again, I urge you to I urge you to direct the district to move closer to our request for a fully funded plan comparable to Kaiser. We all know that when it comes to negotiating their own health and welfare benefits, administration and management would accept nothing less
005than the best. They certainly wouldn't settle for the lowest plan available. Let's be honest, this isn't about just about health benefits. We haven't even begun to discuss the desperately needed wage increases yet. We are focused on resolving health health and welfare first. Please do the right thing because these rising health care costs are making us sick. No one should have to beg to afford to work here. Thank you. JC Scott, president of CSEA, Apple Valley Chapter [Applause] 8. Thank you for your comments. Next up is Candace James. And after Candace will be Rhonda Fox. Good evening members of the board, cabinet, and community members in the audience. Thank you for this opportunity to speak with you tonight. Thank you. My name is Candace James and I'm here tonight speaking as both a teacher at Vanguard
006Preparatory and a parent of two students in this district. I want to start by saying I love this district. I've spent a total of 10 years here as a parah, a sub, and now a teacher. I live here in Apple Valley. My kids go to school here. And this is the community I chose. And this is the district that I've always wanted to be a part of. I like all staff in the district take a lot of pride in what I do and I show up every day fully committed to my students, their families, Vanguard Preparatory, and this school district as a whole. But I'm coming to you tonight because I'm worried. Despite the deep commitment I've shown to this district, I'm not seeing that same commitment reflected back towards me or my colleagues. As
007an educator, I am worried about the future of ABUSD for my peers, myself, and most of all for my children, my students, and their families. The financial future of this district is looking less and less appealing to not just new hires, but to the experienced educators who set the standards and lead the way. The removal of instructional coaches in some LLI positions, for example, has left teachers with fewer resources, less support, and more on our plates. We're being asked to do more with less. Less time, less guidance, and less pay. It's not sustainable. The serious financial challenges in this district are undeniable, and it's making it harder and harder for staff to justify staying when other districts are offering significantly more support. Now, let me shift h shift hats for a moment to my most
008important role, parent. As a single inome household, I ultimately have to choose what is best for myself and my children. I could make up to $13,000 more per year in a neighboring district, some of which require fewer contracted hours than I currently work. And in many of these districts, my family's benefits would be fully paid. That's not just a small difference. That's thousands more in my pocket each year and many more hours spent with my children. For someone in my situation, that's huge. And I'm not alone. Many ABUSD families are feeling this strain. I'm deeply worried about the financial state of our district. I see the impact it's having already, and I'm scared of what's coming next if things don't change. So, tonight, I'm asking you all, how did we get here? What meaningful changes
009are being made? And who is responsible for this huge shift in such a short amount of time? But arguably the most important point I want to make tonight. I and thousands of other families send our own children to school here because we believe in what this district stands for. I'm growing more concerned that their education is at risk. Not because of curriculum or class size, but because we're going to keep losing talented, dedicated teachers and support staff to surrounding districts who can simply afford to treat them better. Our kids deserve stability. They deserve experienced teachers and support staff who want to stay. But unless we address the financial reality, we're going to lose exactly the people whose students need most. Thank you for your time. [Applause] Thank you, Candace. Uh Rhonda. Yes. Thank you. Good
010evening, board members. I'm so grateful for the services and support that the district offers our community. I know each Friday families pick up food from the district's food pantry. A father of a student at my school site was also offered supports the family center to help his family's financial struggle. With inflation and the rising cost of living, this family is quietly struggling to make ends meet. As educators, we go above and beyond to make sure our students and their families know they're not alone. We connect them to the resources through the family center, our discrete assistance, and remind them that seeking help is a sign of strength, not shame. How do I know this? I'm talking about my family. I'm a teacher with over a decade of experience. And like many of my colleagues, I'm
011I am dedicated to my students, their growth, and the well-being of their families. But behind the classroom door, I too am navigating the harsh realities of rising costs and stagnant wages. The decision to use a food pantry was not one my family made lightly. It was one made out of necessity because my salary as a teacher is no longer stretches far enough to cover basic costs. The cost of living has continued to rise. While teacher compensation has remained relatively flat. This growing disparity has placed a tremendous burden on educators who are trying to serve their students while also supporting their own families. Many are working second jobs, cutting back on essentials, and still falling short. We are not asking for extravagance. We are asking for fairness. Teachers deserve compensation that reflects the levels of professionalism,
012commitment, and care we bring to our work every single day. Without it, we risk losing not just talented educators, but also the morale and stability of our schools that are needed to thrive. Please understand that this is not an abstract or distant issue. It is personal. It is urgent and it is impacting the very people who are the heart of the district. I respect respectfully urge the board to take meaningful action to assure fair compensation for teachers. Our students depend on us and we need to know that the district stands behind us in return. Thank you for your time. [Applause] Up next is Tamara Aguire and after Tamra tomorrow will be Karen. I don't recall. I respectfully stand before you today to highlight the invaluable role teachers play in our community and to advocate for
013the recognition and support they so rightfully deserve. As a proud parent of students attending Vanguard Preparatory School, I have witnessed firsthand the profound impact that dedicated educators have in our children's lives. My husband, who was born in this very city, is a shining example about what our local teachers can inspire. He was the first in his family to attend college, a milestone achieved thanks to the guidance and encouragement of his teachers right here in the high desert. He attended BBC and was awarded the young alumni award from them for the impact that he in turn made in this community. Today he serves as a battalion chief for the fire department, a testament to the hard work, determination, and support he received along the way from his teachers. The sense of hometown pride is what keeps
014us anchored in this community. Our educators are not just instructors. They are mentors, role models, and the backbone of our society. They invest their time and energy to nurture the minds of our children, laying the groundwork for future generations. However, it is concerning to see that many talented teachers are considering leaving our community for better pay elsewhere. They chose to be a part of this district and somehow somehow are here to plead for a decent wage. This highlights the critical importance of negotiating fair salaries for our educators as it reflects not only their worth but also their commitment to quality education. We cannot afford to lose these dedicated professionals who shape the paths of our children and help instill the values that guide them. Teachers deserve better comp compensation for their unwavering commitment and their
015incredible influence on our community. Supporting salary negotiations is a vital step to ensuring that our schools remain vibrant and that our children continue to receive a quality education. We must advocate for a fair salary, not just as a matter of justice, but as a meaningful investment in our future. They have dedicated their lives to our children and our community, and it's time that we return the favor. Thank you. [Applause] Karen and after Karen will be I think it's good. Anyway, go ahead. We're okay. Good evening Superintendent Nelson, board members, cabinet, and audience. My name is Karen Sabers and I stand before you representing the Abuda members as their president. We were able to ratify theou for health and welfare with the understanding that we will open health and welfare back up after May reise to
016hopefully enhance what is in theou. We have also begun discussions on salary increase. Our latest comps from CTA include the 14 districts in the high desert are extremely disappointing. When looking at salary, AVUSD ranks ninth, but will move to 10th after Barstow receives their 11.25% 25% on salary, 7% on health and welfare, and 8% off schedule raise. Overall comps, which include salary and health and welfare, we are ranked low as well with Baker, Helenale, Needles, and Oral Grand being the ones lower than us. Silver Valley has now moved above us. When looking at career earnings which are from 2324 so this year has not even touched there yet. We are ranked ninth both at 20 and 30 years. Baker, Needles, Silver Valley and Trona are the districts that are below us. When we look back
017at the comps from 2018, 2019, and earlier, ABUSD was always ranked fourth in the desert. We have fallen significantly since 2019 2020 from fourth to 10th. Why are we not the priority? This brings me to ask why the board is voting on the issuance of tax and revenue anticipation notes tonight for million. Are we in that bad of a revenue shortfall? How will that benefit? How will that be beneficial? And what is the interest rate on that? We have heard different explanations for the reason behind this financial crisis, but no clear and coherent explanation. We have heard no plan for making sure this doesn't happen again. We hope this will come soon. Thank you. [Applause] I believe it's Shandon. I pronounced that wrong. I'm sorry. Yeah, it's Shandon. Good evening, members of the board. Thank
018you for the opportunity to speak tonight. My name is Shandon Lusendon and I teach seventh grade at Vanguard Preparatory School. I'm here because our teachers are exhausted and more importantly, they're discouraged. Our district has real financial challenges. We understand that. But the reality is that AVUSD, which offered competitive salaries relative to nearby districts just eight years ago, now ranks near the bottom. And while our pay has gone down relative to our peers, the expectations placed on us have only increased. California is asking schools to do more to keep students in the classroom by reducing suspensions and narrowing the types of behavior that can result in removal. Whether we agree with them or not, we do understand the purpose behind these policies. But in practice, they're placing even greater demands on teachers, demands for emotional labor,
019classroom management, soft skills, greater resilience, and the ability to meet every student where they are, no matter the circumstances. In any other profession, when more is asked, more is given. We're no different. Job satisfaction is a balance between the meaning we find in our work and how we are compensated for it. If one drops, the other must rise. Right now, both are falling. In the years following COVID, our district rightly responded to increased student needs by hiring more administrators, counselors, and support staff. These roles helped us get through a challenging time, and they still have value. But student enrollment has declined, and the elevated demand we saw is beginning to ease. It's time to reassess and rebalance our staffing ratios so that our limited resources more directly support the classroom because that is where the
020heart of our work takes place and our budget priorities should reflect that reality. Teachers in AUSD are facing a difficult decision. Stay here or move to a neighboring district where we can earn 15% more. That isn't about greed. It's about responsibility to our families, to our futures, and to the long-term sustainability of our careers. No teacher in our district should have to wonder if staying with AVUSD is an irresponsible financial decision for ourselves and our families. We don't want ABUSD to become just like every other district. We value the things that make us unique, but to preserve those strengths, we have to be willing to confront hard truths. We must shrink the pay gap, not just for the sake of teachers and administrators, but for the sake of all of our students as well. That's
021how we move forward together. Thank [Applause] you. Okay, that uh is it for the comments for close session. We have open session will be at 7 p.m. But prior to that, we're going to go into close, but I'm going to uh read off what we're going into close session for. It's quite lengthy, so bear with me. Um item one for close session is superintendent evaluation. Item two pupil personnel expulsion case STIP number 6 2425 and expungement of expulsion case STIP 222-23. Item three conference of litigation government code section 54956.9 subsection 8. Current litigation 12 cases CIVDS CIVDS2011183 CIV SB 2111303 220 303 221-8676 2322171 241 2359 2412687 and 232 211161 CI VVS24002894249 and 2500223 Government Code section 549 54.5 subsection C and 54 956.9 subsection D2 and E1 anticipated litigation one case 20242501 government code
022section 54954 4.5 subsection D and 54956.95 anticipated litigation two cases claimment Roa Zane claimment Marino Nathan Eli item four public employee discipline dismissal release reassignment transfer leave title certificated and classified employees item five public employee appointed resignation retirement reduction title certificated and classified employees. Item six, conference with labor negotiator agency negotiator Jeremiah Harrison. B, employee organization Apple Valley Unified Teachers Association. Seven, conference with labor negotiator agents negotiator Christian Dupri. B, employee organization, California School Employees Association. Item eight, conference with labor negotiator. A aegis negotiator Trenne Nelson employee organization unrepresentative. Nine conference with real property negotiator government code 54956.8. A negotiation parties Matthew Schillingberg Apple Valley Unified School. Item 10, security matters, government code section 54957, consol consolation with Apple Valley Unified School District Chief of Police. Uh with that, I'll need a motion to go
023into close. So moved. We have motion by um Amanda. Amanda. Second. And a second by Anita. Anita. All right. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Hearing them none. You opposed. Yes. Who's opposing? I'm sorry. I am. Oh, for close session. Uh yes, I'm opposing it because um this district stands for integrity and uh dignity and uh what I observed today was unacceptable and I want us to ride the boat uh so that we never ever as a district ever treat somebody and take away their dignity the way it just happened this this time. And I'm not happy about it. I want to be sure [Applause] Well, I disagree with you. Uh I know that gentleman and uh he is here to disrupt. He was rude to the speaker and as president, it's my authority to
024have him removed. If he wants to come back at another time, another meeting and follow the the directions and he's fine to stay here. But um you know as well as I know that uh he's here to disrupt and he did a pretty good job of it. So with that, we do have a a majority that wants to go in the closed session. So we'll be back at 7 p.m. I just want to show Okay. Um we're going to move the agenda around a little bit so we can get um some people out of here early. So um with that, we'll call the meeting uh to order at 8:04 on um tonight. And with that, um, we'll do a roll call. Amanda Buchanan here. Maria Okara here. Okay. Renee Longshore here. Anita Tucker here. And
025Rick, I'm here. Uh, guys, please join me in the pledge of our flag. Please stand. Okay. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands. One nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. right along. So, Yakaloma, are you guys here? Where's Yakaloma? There you are. Right in front. Okay, head on up to the podium. There we have Leah Costa, Remy Aldridge, Bella Coronado, Nicholas Coronado, Alexa Cortez, and Lenani Nicholas. You guys are up. Nicholls, I'm sorry. Thanks for correcting me. Hello. Good evening board members, superintendent Nelson and assistant superintendent. My name is Nicholas and these are my fellow student council members Alexis, Alexis, Leah, Remy, Leilani, and Bella. Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to speak with you tonight. It is
026truly it is truly an honor for us as students of Yakaloma Elementary to stand before you and share all of the wonderful things that are happening at Yakaloma. This year we hosted a bingo night which was an overwhelming success. Families came together for an evening of friendly competition, laughter, and fun. The eternal was fantastic. Another stout event was our paint night. Some created true masterpieces while others, well, let's just say abstract art. It's very popular these days. But the most important thing was that everybody had a great time and we all left with a little more pain on us than when we arrived. One of our most exciting events was the 50 sneaker mother sund dance. It was an evening filled with classic rock and roll and retro outfits. The mom showed off their moves
027and actually showed they had better dance skills. We are really looking forward to watching the dads attempt the moonwalk at our upcoming fatherdaughter 80s neon dance. That is going to be entertainment in itself. In addition to these amazing events, we also are proud of our opportunities we have in sports. Our football, soccer, and cross country teams have given us the chance to compete with other schools, helping us build teamwork, resilience, and school spirit. Some of our games have been nailbiters, and let's just say our cross country runners have definitely learn how to pace themselves, especially when they realize the finish line is still really far away. [Music] We are also excited to announce two upcoming perform performances that showcase the talent the incredible talent within our school. Our drama club is preparing for a performance
028a production of Lion King Jr. Additionally, our hip-hop club is gearing up for an an electrifying hip-hop dance performance where they showcase their hard work, rhythm, and creativity. Trust us, they've been practicing nonstop. So, if you hear random beats and freestyle moves happening in the hallways, now you know why. Another meaningful initiative at Yakaloma Elementary is our buddy benches project. These benches are being placed in our playground to promote kindness, inclusion, and friendship. It's a simple idea, but it makes a huge difference. Because let's face it, sometimes finding a new friend can feel harder than finishing a math test before recess. And math tests are hard. Lastly, we want to share with you just how hard our students are working to get to grade level in reading and math. Our teachers and intervention paras believe
029in us and believe we can grow. Our grades are growing rapidly because of these interventions taking place. We're also so grateful for the many field trips, college tours, walkthroughs, and ACI trips given to us. We look forward to expanding our college and trade school field trip experiences next year. Thank you for your attention and time, but most importantly, make it a great day or not. The choice is yours. [Applause] Good job. Good job. Thank you. Good job. Good job. Good job. Very good question. Okay, not to be outdone, uh, next is Phoenix Academy, Natalie Flores, Angelica Himenez, Gimenez. Good evening. I'm Natalie Flores and I'm ASB president. And I'm Zululea Himenez, ASB vice president. We're thrilled to talk about our amazing school with you this evening. Uh before we start, we want to thank you
030all for support for we want to thank you for all the support you have shown to Phoenix this year. As you know, Phoenix Academy has students ranging from preschool to 8th grade, which allows uh for a lot of different opportunities with our students. ASB has hosted lots of fun events this year. We have had two middle school dances already and are really looking forward to our spring dance coming up soon. This year, we have added several family nights for our Phoenix families. We have hosted reindeer stars, STEM night, uh, math night, and family movie night. We hosted our annual fall festival, which had our largest turn of all of the events so far this year. It's great to see so many families supporting our school and community. We are looking forward to expand our family
031night opportunities next school year. AVID students went to Victor Valley Community College to learn what program they have to offer. Students in AVID in AVID were able to go to the fairgrounds earlier in March for a career fair. They are looking forward to seeing what other colleges we can visit next year. Our sixth grade Our sixth grade students created an anti-bullying presentation and held an assembly for our first and second grade students to help them with being kind and respectful to all students, staff, and parents. It was amazing to see all their hard work and how receptive everyone was to the presentation. And we are looking forward to what other assemblies to what other assemblies the middle school students can help present to our elementary students to improve how we all work together at school.
032During our career fair, our career fair, all students were able to see a medical helicopter land on the field and we had the opportunity to walk around and see what it looked like inside. It was a great experience. We have had some new addition to our elective class offerings this year. This year we have added an art elective which also serves as an art class for friends on lower campus. Miss Gloria, art teacher, has recently showcased student art at the Young Artist Gallery hosted by the county. Three of our Phoenix students art was represented and we are so proud of their hard work. We are we also offer music classes that allow for all students to learn different instruments, sing and learn to read music. This has allowed for our TK through sixth grade to
033have an ability to have art and music at least one time monthly and get the opportunity one day each week. Our elementary students are enjoying both having both of these classes as part of their routine. We also continue to grow our broadcasting elective where we feature students and teachers in fun activities and interviews. We are excited to show you a little of their hard work. with the clips being shown on the screen. Some of our teachers this year have uh started buddy reading groups where our older students pair with younger students to read. This has helped all of us improve our our reading skills. We have some fun activities planned to keep our students or to keep their wait to keep to help students keep their smile during state testing. And we started off with
034having all students attending our sword to heights BMX show encouraging students to try their best during state testing without giving up if they fall. On Tuesday we had rock paper scissors contest and today we did a relay. It was a lot of fun. Phoenix has been able to offer over 40 over 40 after school clubs to students this school year, including lots of last year favorites. Some of these include tutoring, yearbook, Lego club, Play-Doh cub club, esports, art club, and movie club. We've also added new clubs like graphic designs, chess club, choir club, and flag football. And we have had great success including our drama club with their very upcoming performance. We hope you will all come see the Beauty and the Beast uh junior on May 2nd at 5:30 p.m. or 7:00 p.m. Sports
035are back and more exciting than ever as we have added boys and girls soccer teams this spring. And if that wasn't enough, we have kept our grades and season up. We have also had our field trips to look forward to. We went to Top Golf at the end of first trimester. We recently ended the second trimester with a trip to Dave and Busters. Second grade is going to Mojave Narrow Park. Our students in Miss Poe and Miss Barber's class went to the Living Desert in Palm Springs and many grade levels were able to visit the center at AVCI. For the third trimester, we are all looking forward to having the end of the year assemblies and field days at all gradeal levels are able to participate in. Our elementary students will participate in a day
036of play and the middle school students will help lead their groups. This year has definitely been a lot of hard work, but also a lot of fun. We appreciate all the classes and activities we get the chance to experience while at Phoenix. It's hard to think that this school year is almost over, but that just means we have to set the stage for next year. Until then, please know that Phoenix rocks because we rock. [Applause] Okay, great ladies. Thank you. Up next is High Desert Premier Academy, Jasmine Bracie. [Applause] Yeah. Yeah. I just need to scoot back a little bit. Yes. Thank you. Okay. Hey guys. Um, good evening, President Raleigh. esteemed board members, Superintendent Nelson, Executive Cabinet, Apple Valley Unified Staff, and educational partners. I hope everyone had a I'm hope everyone had a
037nice spring break since our last meeting. Let me just restart. Okay. Since our last meeting, students have had the opportunity to participate in a few different field trips. The eighth graders were able to visit both high schools and get a tour on of the campus and activities that will be available for them. They also had the opportunity to go to Dave and Busters with Phoenix Academy to celebrate their accomplishments. Some seniors were able to visit VVC and see the nursing and welding program. And last but not least, some of us were able to go to Medieval Times to get a medieval experience. A quick update on some of our clubs. Our esports team just finished their Fortnite season. All of our teams won their final matches. Congratulations. Golf Club meets every Tuesday at the Apple
038Valley Golf Course. These golfers are dedicated and improving. They practice at the driving range and putting green before going on the course and playing three or four holes. students look forward to it every week. Shout out to all our paraprofessionals and the school librarian, Miss Butler. Last week was paraprofessional and school librarian appreciation day. This week is assistant principal appreciation week. Thank you to all the APS for all your hard work. Shout out to Miss Garcia. She's the best. Miss Aurora from the family center introduced Miss Janaa Shahid from the love program to Mr. Smith and I had the pleasure to meet her. The love program is a nonprofit organization that serves at risk young women of color ages 13 to 21 through Southern California. The organi the organization tools for success is a 10-week
039program where the w young women are called the love diamonds. This program consists of bi-weekly self-development, self-awareness, career development, leadership skills, and job readiness training. Thank you for your time. I hope you have an amazing rest of your week. See you next month. [Applause] Thank you, Jasmine. Good job, Granite Hills. Hannah. [Applause] Thank you. Good evening, executive cabinet, board members, and attendees. My name is Hannah Forier, and I'm the ASB governing council president at Garnell's High School. ASB has been very hard at work as the end of the year is very fast approaching. This Wednesday, we held our senior pep rally to help honor all of our seniors and it was a lot of fun. Tomorrow, April 11th, ASB is hosting a mini prom wear fashion show in partnership with our family center. The goal
040of our event is to help advertise the prom pop-up boutique that's taking place on April 15th. The senior class is also working very hard to finish prepping for grad night senior sunset and our seniors are picking up their cap gowns on April 15th. Very bittersweet, but very exciting. This week and next week, we are also hosting interviews for the incoming ASB students, and they've been going very good. Our theater class has been very busy. Over spring break, 22 of our theater students were able to attend a 4-day trip to New York. We experienced subways, real Broadway acting, and actors, as well as a lot of learning experiences like how the acting world works. I can confidently say that I learned that I do not like planes. But on a more serious note, I also left
041with a much more much more of an appreciation for the acting industry. We want to say thank you to all of our board members and district personnel because this wouldn't have been possible without you. I passed out papers earlier to you which have thank you notes from Miss Glisten as well as some of our students. Now, it's time to get ready for a night of drama, dreams, and a dash of revolution. Our theater program is hosting Lay Miz tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday at 2 and 7:00 p.m. So far, we've had record-breaking ticket sales, and it's going extremely good. Last weekend, I saw Miss Longworn, Miss Tucker, and Miss Buchanan, and I hope you guys enjoyed it. Last month, our chamber singers also took a great trip to New York, which Mr. Churchill will
042be talking to you all about later. 11th grade students began state testing upon returning to school from spring break, and we have already met our goal of 95% participation for English and math. Students will continue to help with scientists over the next week, and our student performance has increased year-over-year for the past 5 years, and we are hopeful in continuing this. As for CT, they're continuing to grow. This year we sent 53 students and six adviserss to compete at Skills USA at the state level and hope to return to nationals. Last year MedCore teacher and skills adviser Jennifer Hunt was recognized as a region 6 adviser of the year and goes on to nationals this year for national adviser of the year. This year we are also proud to recognize graphic design teacher and skills
043adviser Miss Wendy Temples who was recognized as a region six adviser of the year. We also have 11th grade student Matthew Lurley running for state officer. We have so much to be proud of and we look forward to giving you an update next month. I'm sure there will be a lot of great things. As for sports, they're doing great as always. I'll have a more detailed update next month, but we thank you guys for your support of Granite Hills High School. And as always, Maroon and Gray lead the way. Thank you, Hannah. Apple Valley High Eden. [Applause] Thank you. Good evening members of of the board and attendees. I'm Piola, Aba Valley High School's line president, and today I will share with you what our students and staff have been accomplishing lately and our plans
044for this month. Our athletes have been working and doing exceedingly well. The girls softball team has been doing so good and just had their lead games against Oak Hills and Sorrano. And the girls just had a game at Hespero High School on Tuesday. And the boys tennis won against Otana High School, beating them with 13 to 5. Our Apple Valley Golf Club shot 395, which I also don't know any much about like golf, so if this sounds wrong, I'm sorry, but they earned second place at the Homer Thompson Classic at Victoria Club. Brody Ernest led the team with a even par 72 and Brady Fonville shot at 75, Carson Hamilton 78, Kaden Atkins 80, Trisha Patel 90, Blake Yon at 83. The boys baseball team had a game on Tuesday against Toronto High School and
045the golf tea off against Sultana at Ashwood Golf Course on Tuesday. Our swim team just had a meet today at Silverado and I do have the scores. Um, I think our boys varsity placed second and then the girls placed third. And I literally just came from that meet. So that's why I look like I swam a mile. I did. So, but our team did amazing. And our swim has been getting a lot of CIF consideration times and almost every swimmer has dropped so much time on their events and we are so proud of our student athletes and how far they have come. And I want to thank our camp and yearbook students for capturing epic pictures and videos of our sports. And for our CTE pathways and elective, this month has been filled with so
046many things. On March 5th, we had an AVHS college and career fair or CTE and other programs with different careers like the Air Force, the Navy, um different companies um showcase their organization. And on March 10th and 11th, we welcome eighth graders to join us for a tour of our school. and show them what our CTA programs and electives are and to show what these future Sunundevils might want to pursue when coming in next year. The following day, we had an elective day in the gym for the current Sunundevils who are looking to get more involved in school. And that night, we did have a high school awareness night where our administrations and counselors talk to the eighth graders and families about what to expect when coming into school as a Sunundevil and a freshman.
047Now, let's talk Skills USA and our CTE programs. The biggest event for some of our students. And as you know, Skills is happening the next few days. And we are so excited. We have about I think 205 students competing over 71 comps. And FFA just attended their state conference in Sacramento last week and they did a great job. Construction are at the CIE build since Tuesday in Huntington Beach. And this is our third year attending the build where we go against teams from different high schools, colleges in Southern California. And we have 11 construction students competing in those two full days, which is incredible. Our fair prep is still doing good and our students are doing well. Over 60 kids are raising animals from pigs, lambs, and to cattles. Another exciting news is that the
048Skill USA chapter launched the letters of love initiative. One of our students, Ronnie Davis Tolamantes, created a club this year called Letters of Love. This club has created 330 personaliz personalized cards for children with chronic illnesses. I have attended almost every meeting, and it's such an amazing club to be a part of. They engage over 200 students. The project emphasizes kindness, teamwork, and community service. And it showcases students growth and impact of small acts of compassion and bringing hope. We are getting ready and gearing up for our CTE awards. These awards are to recognize our completers and the v variety of awards for our seniors. So, as you can see, we are very proud of our students for making it this far with all what they have been working so hard towards. We can't wait
049to see how they do at skills and we are praying for some good news. I would like to mention Miss Pat, our CTE coordinator. I know with all these programs and events, she's been very busy and I would like to give her and all the many CTE teachers props for going above and beyond to getting these students prepared for Skills USA. And as for ASB, our students have been our seniors have been working every day during lunch for the past two weeks selling prom tickets. We have sold so many tickets filling out all of our buses available. Next week, we will be doing prom king and cringe nominations for the seniors during lunch. so they will have the opportunity to vote for whoever they like. April 19th is our prom day and as it is
050my last high school prom, I'm very excited, but also it feels bittersweet knowing that we only have a couple weeks until graduation. But speaking of graduation, April 17th is where our seniors will be receiving their caps and gowns. So, as the day p as the days passed, we were getting closer to all of our last senior events. Prom, senior awards, senior dinner, senior sunset, and all the graduation stuff. Our ASB seniors are going to be working hard this month and for in the next for sure. But enough about the seniors. We had ASB interviews for all of the students who are returning or joining us next year. It was very fun interviewing everyone, but also different because I wasn't the one getting interviewed. I was the one interviewing them. So, it was kind of different.
051But all of them did such an amazing job and I can't wait to see the great things they will do next year. And of course, there are many things happening at Aba Valley High School and I want to thank you all for your continued support. We couldn't give our students any of these amazing opportunities without you guys. And thank you for your time and have an amazing night and don't forget some of the pride is contagious. [Applause] Thank you. So, I'm going to take a couple things out of order here so that the students can just stay for a little bit longer. Um, we're going to we're going to do some recognitions on some presentations. TA, you want me to have everybody come up here that's on the list? Everybody? Um, actually board members. No,
052I want to call up the names. Oh, you're welcome to call this group first. Okay. All right. So, if Melissa Estrada, Wendy Johnson, Amber Oh, boy, that's a tough one. Mox. Yeah. Megan Salbury, Marina Torres can all come up to the front. front and center. Come on, don't be shy. Yeah, if the board would join in front. Okay, you guys come over here for right now. We're gonna we're gonna talk about you anywhere I want to stand. You're the honore. Not behind me. Amber, you nobody will ever see you. So, as the board is coming up, I want to just um share that we have made the decision that we do these outstanding representation of our district values. I usually call them living our values awards. And on the morning of March 1st, I re
053received a call from Mariana Torres. Um I could tell by the call that she was shook up and that there was something going on. It was shortly after 7:00 a.m. She along with several other staff members were arriving on this property for a community vision event co-hosted by the Lions Club representing our values of dignity, community authenticity, and service. All of these individuals jumped into action to support a car accident victim. They selflessly did whatever was needed. And while we talked about them last board meeting because many people were aware, today we wanted to formally thank them and honor and recognize their unwavering commitment to all of our district values. In this situation, they certainly highlighted the importance of service and community, no matter the need or situation. I am thankful for their action and
054dedication beyond the schools and the offices we all work at. in appreciation of being there in a time of need. So tonight we recognize you for your commitment and excellence in everything you do. So thank you. So we're gonna have them go across in front of the board. Melissa, thank you. shake hands and we'll take pictures. Thank you. We might need to do You're good. [Music] [Applause] Okay, I'm going to make the board stay. I'm putting Pat on a computer. Um, and I'd like to have Amber Abney from Rancho Verie come up, Dana Beller, and Sher Nelson. Everybody always wants to stand behind me. Come on, you're the honores. We have invited them to our board meeting under the guise of being an outstanding representative of our district core values. And while they do just
055that every single day, tonight we are hoping to surprise them with a new title, San Bernardino County classified employee of the year. All [Applause] three Here's the stats. And I did this because Dustin sat with me and said, "Tene, the math to this is just incredible." And I'm like, "Of course Dustin's going to bring up the math." So, here's the stats. 33 school districts, nine categories for school districts to nominate and send forward their district winners. We had eight categories submitted as our winners in the trades categories chose not to move on to the county competition this year. Our first team to participate this this year is our first time to participate for nominations for an ABUSD classified employee of the year. We had a celebration and now we have three county recipients. You heard
056me say it. 33 school districts. All could submit up to nine categories and these three were selected for the county and will be moving on to the state. [Applause] Sherry's gonna be really tired in the morning because she's our transportation router dispatcher and she like gets there gets up at like 3:30 with Kim and they're over at the office making sure kids get on routes. Um, and I didn't say this but Amber is one of our LVNs and um I love it and Dana is our um from our IT department. And so I love it. all the signs. You guys, this is what is magical. They were nominated by their peers. And so, there's a video getting ready to be played. And what we know is that they will be recognized at the end of
057May. And we are going to do everything in our power to get down to the county celebration um right before the HDPA graduation. We're going to make it to both And before we show the videos, I would like to thank Kristen Dri, director of human resources, who put the process together, coordinated our district event, and has been the cheerleader to get our winners into the county process. I would also like to thank Granite Hills High School teacher Rudy Sig Sigura and his video production students who created some of the videos and of course our own Zoe Widner who would a public information officer who created some of the other videos as well. We will now play the videos used at the county selection process and we'd like you to enjoy them. But I'm going to
058have the the the winners come in front of the board members so we can grab a quick picture and we'll play it as everybody's sitting down. So Amber a new one that doesn't say what the other one says and you'll get more for your [Applause] am a school uh nurse. So a senior health tech uh LVN and I do uh ambulatory care uh for the children just uh making sure that they are safe and uh taken care of as far as their day goes. I also administer medications as needed and respond to emergency situations. Amber is our LVN here at Rancho Verde. when we had the opportunity for her to um move into this position here, we were excited. And she's been able to come in, she's been able to get to know the kids
059really quickly. She has a wonderful balance between that motherly side of taking care of kids in the health office. She knows and understands that they're coming in, they're their tummies are aching, they're not feeling the best, something's going on. Um and she takes care of them and make sure they that they feel that love and that concern. And she also knows how to balance that out with um making sure that they don't repeatedly come in and always want to be in there and and abuse the um her services. I believe I should be selected uh because I always put my best foot forward. I'm always just try trying to do my best. Um I have compassion for the students as well as the staff because I am a good employee. I uh always try to
060be positive and try to find the solution to a problem. I believe Amber should be the county employee of the year because of her dedication to the health and safety of our students. Um she's worked at a a variety of school sites and every single site she's at. She builds this relationship of trust and safety with our students. Um it's not a job that's always for the uh faint of heart and she does it with such grace and dignity. Um it's it's a pleasure to see her [Applause] working. I am one of the student information technicians here at Apple Valley Unified School District. I love my job. I love what I do. I find lots of joy in helping others, whether it's a parent, student, or a staff member, finding ways to make their job
061easier, streamlining processes. I'm JC Buchanan, director of IT for Aba Valley Unified School District. She works so diligently, constantly with all of our sites, including training at the sites, moving out to make sure that our data is accurate, that people know how to use our systems. One of the best hires I've made here. My name is Andy Paige. I'm a data and project analyst for Sanernardino County Superintendent of Schools. Dana consistently goes above and beyond to support everyone that reaches out to her. I'm especially grateful for her expertise and willingness to collaborate on our region CTE data. Whether it's systems or breaking down complex calculations that have stumped me, Dana has always been there to help me and walk me through everything. Dana always makes me feel like I'm part of her team. Hi, my
062name is Gretchen Pratt. I'm the CT coordinator at Apple Valley High School. I am honored to nominate Dana Beller for this award because she is truly the backbone of our district's student data systems. Dana is incredibly smart, efficient, and willing to take any task on, no matter how big or small. She treats every request with professionalism and patience, making sure all people's needs are met. Her problem solving skills and dedication to service make a huge impact every day. Dana is not just a valuable team member, she is essential to our success. My name is Nicole and I am an administrative secretary too for technology services here at ABUSD. Dana's dedication to service and people goes far beyond the borders of ABUSD and into our surrounding communities of San Frernardino County. As secretary of the board
063for Integra Pathways, she plays a vital role in helping individuals on their career journeys. What makes Dana truly special is her ability to see the best in absolutely everyone. Offering encouragement, support, and a belief that every person has potential. I'm Sher Nelson. I am a router dispatcher with Apple Valley Transportation. I've been with transportation for over 32 years. I love my kids. I love driving the kids. I love routing. It's a challenge sometimes and I love that. I love greeting the the drivers every morning and seeing all their faces and it just makes my day to make them happy. Hi, I'm Chrissy Holt Grief. I'm one of the district nurses with Apple Valley Unified School District. Sherry is an invaluable asset to the AVUSD family. She plays a key role in making sure that our
064students have access to safe and reliable transportation to school. I'm always impressed by how quickly she can make adjustments when changes arise. She is proactive in keeping families informed about any changes in bus schedules. When the need arises, she even steps up to drive the bus routes herself, ensuring that students get to school on time, and she does it all with a warm and welcoming smile. It's clear that she's not only just doing her job, but she's truly invested in the well-being of the students in our community. My name is Jill Coburn, and I'm a router dispatcher at Apple Valley Transportation. Sherry's absolutely amazing. She comes in at 4:30 every day. She has an hour to piece together a puzzle to keep this department running as smoothly as it does on a daily basis. She's
065amazing and she is nothing but a pleasure to work with. This is Doug Smith. I'm the director of transportation for Apple Valley Unified School District. We have one simple job here and that's to get kids to and from school safely. It's like putting a puzzle together, a thousand piece puzzle together that we have to do every single morning, but the pieces move and they change direction and they go missing. And Sherry does it every single day without fail with a smile on her face and sometimes even even being part of the puzzle where she has to drive. She is the biggest reason the kids get to and from school safely. [Applause] Well, congratulations to all. So, I'm going to go ahead and uh we'll dismiss the students and I know that Sher has to get
066to work at 3:30. So, thank you everyone. Congratulations again. I almost got you and then I was like with this other kid and they'll be like All right. See you next month, Hannah. Two more to go and then what? Oh, good, good, good. Let me just tell you, be ready to grade for hours. Be ready to grade for hours. I love Right. Yeah. I'm just going to wait a couple What's that? Oh, I know. It's still late though. I didn't [Music] Kylie, is there more cards? Okay, so as everybody's heading out, we still have some business to attend to. So, we'll start with board member comments. And first up is Anita Tucker. Good evening. I'd like to begin by thanking our students that aren't here right now for their outstanding presentations tonight. Um, it's always
067a pleasure to hear directly from our schools and learn the exciting events and achievements. I'm finding there's two more plays I need to go and see. Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King. So, I'll be looking forward to seeing those. Uh special thanks to all the students, Yakaloma, Phoenix Academy, High Desert Premier Academy, Granite Hills, and Apple Valley High School for sharing with us this evening and for all the uh teachers and staff that help them. Um as we reflect on the end of March and look ahead towards April, we have a lot to celebrate and recognize. We closed March by honoring Cesar Chavez day on March 31st and that's a moment to reflect on his enduring legacy of social justice and community empowerment. In April we have quite a few important observances. We
068recognize National ArabAmerican Heritage Month celebrating the rich culture and contributions of Arabameans. We observe celebrate diversity month which began in 2004 to encourage understanding, inclusion, and appreciation for the unique backgrounds and experiences that surround us. April 23rd, which used to be my most important holiday, was administrative or is administrative professionals day. And I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge the hardworking individuals across our district who keep our schools running smoothly behind the scenes and also Kylie who does so much for us as a board. Uh April 24th, we solemnly observe both Holocaust Remembrance Day and Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, a time to honor the memory of the victims and the courage of the survivors and upstanders. Earth Days on April 25th reminds us of the urgent need to care for our planet, raise awareness
069for the environmental issues affecting our future generations. And then we also celebrate cultural and religious holidays including Cambodian New Year, um, Puthadu, Tamal New Year, and I apologize for butchering the pronunciation, Passover, Easter. And each celebration offers us a chance to learn more about the diverse traditions within our community. In recent weeks, I've had the pleasure of visiting several schools. Rio Vista, Sitting Bull Academy, Sandia, and my alma m on my alma matter Apple Valley High School. It was inspiring to see students actively engaged in learning and teachers creating meaningful hands-on lessons from art projects to STEM activities like building catapults for a March Madness tournament. Thank you to all the teachers and staff and administrators for your continued continued dedication. I also want to extend my appreciation to Superintendent Nelson and principles Mrs. Poff,
070Mrs. Heightman, Mrs. Watt, and Mr. Goodro for taking the time to walk with us and highlight the great work happening at our campuses. A particular highlight was attending Sitting Bull Academyy's first grade production of Once Upon a Lily Pad on March 12th. The performance was full of heart and talent. Uh, thank you to Mrs. Nelson and the entire City Bull team for your work supporting our young performers. I also had the opportunity to attend Granite Hills High School's production of Lelay Miser's. It was absolutely spectacular. Congratulations to Mrs. Gleason for her and her team and all the student performers. Their singing, acting, and overall stage presence were extraordinary. And if you haven't seen it yet, I encourage you to hurry and get your tickets for this Friday or Saturday. You won't be disappointed. And you'll
071get the chance to see our very own Hannah in the show. On April 2nd, I was able to attend the Greater High Desert Chamber State of Education Morning Insight event and I was really excited to see that three of our outstanding students were awarded scholarships. Pastino Gonzalez from Apple Valley High School and Fabian Carol and Miley Taylor Orin from Granite Hills. Congratulations to these scholars. We are proud of you and we wish you continued success. I also participated in the High Desert School Boards Association regroup and restart meeting which provided a great opportunity to collaborate and connect with fellow board members across our region. And finally, as we head into testing season, or maybe we're in the middle of it, I want to acknowledge the tremendous effort our students are putting into their academics as
072well as the support of their teachers, staff, and administrators and parents. Thank you for your commitment to preparing our students for success and let's continue to work together to support and uplift every student every day. And again, thank you to our honores. Um it's always really great to honor our staff and our employees. Thank you so much. [Applause] Uh Renee Long short. Um yes, good evening. I know it's u running into the later hours, so thank you for being here and uh an extended thanks to all of our students who spoke. It's so fun to watch them present and be so confident and add their humor. Um just I can see them being leaders as they continue on in their education. So it's a pleasure as always. Um I too had a great chance to
073attend many events this past month. um enjoyed the first grade play. I had heard so much about it. Um so it was just wonderful to be able to see there. Congrats to the talented performers and their teachers, Mrs. Cabrera, Mrs. Keith, Ms. Kelly, and Mrs. Nelson. What incredible talent we have in our district. Um I also enjoyed attending ABSD field day on March 13th at Granite Hills High School. What a wonderful event that was. Uh from basketball, my personal favorite, to bowling, uh students could be seen running events and participating. Many hands made light work. The smiles on their faces said it all. Um I enjoyed our time at the regroup and restart lunchon with the High Desert School Boards Association as well. It was nice getting together um as board members as we look
074to the future of all of our districts. Um, I also attended the Great High Desert Chamber of Commerce's Valley Morning Insight, the state of education, where we acknowledged the three students who got received those uh scholarships from our local businesses. Um, so well done and a big congrats to each of them. Uh, love, love, loved opening night of Granite Hills High School's theater dramatic performance of Lelay Miser School Edition. It was an inspiring performance by a brilliant cast led by an equally talented teacher and director Sherry Glisten and and other amazing staff that was there to support. I look forward to the next performance as I do love theater and music. I've had the pleasure of visiting all the schools in our district except our two high schools. I still need to make it out
075to you Granite Hills High School for that tour and Apple Valley High School. I look forward to coming and seeing all you have to offer our students. Um, thank you to all have taken the time to welcome us onto their campuses and into their classrooms. Many a time we happened upon teachers and it was like, "Yay, surprise." And they just handled it with such grace. Um, it has truly been a pleasure to see all of the wonderful ways you care for the social, emotional, and academic needs of our students every day. So, thank you. [Applause] Maria Oara. Okay. Um, thank you again uh for coming this evening to listen to us uh do your your business the do the business of the children. Uh but before I start, I need to extend a special thank
076you um to Kylie. Um, since I stepped away from being the board president, Kylie has never f uh um wavered in terms of getting um the task done to make our lives easy. Uh we're as we're getting ready to go to coast to coast. Once again, Kylie has made it possible for us to know exactly what we do, where the envelopes are, what we need to do with the envelopes, and that is above and beyond what she's supposed to be doing, but she is doing it so that we will not stress when we go out to do the people's work. Thank you, Kylie. Um I went to Yakaloma school uh today um for another business and I was really thrilled to see the children doing jump rope for heart and I know that uh some
077people uh some of the teachers wanted me to do it and I said at this age um I am not sure if I jump what will happen. Um but I thoroughly enjoyed the joy on the faces of the children and I really really anytime you put me in front of children I come on light. Uh so I enjoyed that. Um congratulations to the honores. Um it is not always easy in a sea of hundreds of people to be picked out in the group uh to go above and beyond the first group of honores. I thank you so much. I thank you for um going out of your way to be of service to somebody else that may or may not be able to say thank you to you, but those of us who are still
078on this side of earth can at least say thank you. Thank you for the service to be able to help somebody else. And in terms of the last three honores, I can't express how excited I am uh to see uh that out of 33 schools, 373 schools, 37 districts um that we came out came out on top. Um I can't begin to express to you how it feels when I I I come into town and I see a school bus and on the side of the school bus it says Apple Valley School District. I get so excited. I want to pull over and say, "Can I just ride?" Um because there's something about seeing that school bus and knowing that uh they come up early in the morning, pick up our children, and and most
079of them drive home after the children have already had their dinner. Uh because they're still trying to drop off that last kid who forgot to wake up on the bus and now the bus driver has to go back and drop them back out. Um, I I can't help but to say a special thank you uh to Sherry. I don't know if she's still in the room. Um, but Sherry is like that root that waters the plants so that the plants may look healthy. So, she gets up every morning and make sure that our campus our buses are healthy to get out there and the bus drivers are healthy enough to know where to pick up the kids. and the bus drivers are healthy enough to come back and drop off the buses and healthy enough
080to go home. So, I I don't usually pick up on things like that, but those that know me know that I pick up on the littlest of things. Um, so thank you uh Sherry and of course the computer. There's somebody who was good at computers. I tell you, if I forget my passcode, I'm going crazy. uh but to see somebody who actually knows how to work the system, I am always in awe of them. I do look forward to a great um next month coming up. I have been very busy as a grandmother and a as a parent this last month and but coming this coming next month, I will be showing up at some of your schools. I'll let the superintendent know what my schedule looks like uh so that I may stop stop
081by and begin to see some classrooms uh because I get a lot of joy in seeing the classrooms. I thank you all so much for coming this evening uh to indulge us and um just in case you haven't heard it enough, we do hear you. Thank you very much. [Applause] Amanda. All right. Good evening, everyone. Um, as always, I'd like to begin by thanking our incredible student representatives for sharing their campus updates with us this evening. Uh, it's always a joy to hear what's happening directly from our students and I appreciate the families and school staff for being here to support them. Um, when Phoenix was up there, I kept looking at Natalie and I was like, I know her. She played soccer with my daughter on Allstars last season, so I was like, "Oh,
082that's her." Um, I know many of my fellow trustees and I attended some of the same events. Um, the high desert breakfast, field day, um, the play at sitting bowl and granite hills, uh, present or performance of lay miz. So, um I'm not going to spend much time repeating what has been shared. Uh but I would like to highlight one very sweet moment from Lay. Um at the end of the performance that I attended Saturday night, uh there was an onstage prom posal between the two lead actors. Um and it absolutely stole the show. Like the show was amazing, but that was like a cute. Um the young lady's father did have a little bit of a heart attack. I think he she thought he thought it was going to be like a proposal proposal,
083but then it was promosal and it was all good, but it was a touching fun moment. Um, I also have to share that my daughter, my oldest, loves attending the Granite Hills Theater productions and I lovingly call her my great academy groupy. Um, so she even stayed, she's like, "Mom, we can't leave." And she had a program and she was like going to each actor getting them to autograph. It was total. So, thank you for all of that. Um, and I'm definitely grateful that our district offers these uh experiences uh for not only for the performers, but also for the students and families in our community. Uh, in addition to these wonderful events, I had the opportunity to speak with Senator Rosalisio Choaba recently and I invited her to come visit our phenomenal food pantry.
084Told her how awesome it was. um and she was very receptive. So, uh I'm thrilled to hear that Superintendent Nelson has already followed up with her staff. So, hopefully we'll be able to get her out. Um and I was also pleased to hear that she's supporting important legislation like AB65, which is going to provide up to 14 weeks of paid fraternity leave, and AB 1224, which would allow long-term substitutes to continue throughout the entirety of that leave. um helping to provide consistency for our students during those transitions. Uh lastly, this is um during the safe and civil schools training that many of us attended, uh I happened to win a free registration for future the future summer conference this year. Um, and so I wanted to ask the superintendent in light of our current budget
085freeze, uh, would it be possible to explore whether we can like roll it over for the next year so that one of our educators can hopefully still take advantage of it? Um, I don't know if they would be willing, but they will, but we do have a couple people that we have offered the training to. So if we No, I just mean so that it's paid for. Like not I'm not going to pick who, but just it's free for the district. Okay. But I wasn't sure if it had a deadline or if we could roll that over for Well, our hope was to use it for somebody this summer that would be attending. But if they w if we don't end up having those people attend, Safe and Civil is always willing to work with
086us to do that. I just want to make sure that if it can't be used this summer, we can take advantage of it next. Okay, perfect. Um because it'd be great to extend that value to our district. Um so again, let's see. Thank you all for the work you do to support uh our students and staff. And that is everything I have. Great. Well, thank you. [Applause] I want to comment a little bit about because most of the teachers that are here now were here. They're at 5:00 when we before we went into close session. So, there is a backstory to the person that was escorted out of the building tonight for creating what I create what I believe was a disturbance. And he was planning this. I had heads up that he was coming
087and I had heads up that he was here already before I even arrived here and that he was intimidating some staff members. He's well known to the district and um he uh is kind of a frequent flyer here to certain people and um I didn't take pleasure in removing him. He looks like somebody's grandfather. But we all work around people at different ages and um we live in a society today where people are unstable. And it's my responsibility uh at this meeting and my responsibility as a person and as an ex law enforcement officer to make sure that these that the people are safe. and um that's why he was escorted out and we're going to take appropriate action later on uh down the road, but uh I didn't take pleasure in that, but um
088I'm not going to let people get intimidated, staff members get intimidated and and have and and be threatened. So, we'll leave it at that. So, and that's all I have. So, thank you. Turn, you're up next. Um, I had several of the things board members have already stated, but I do want to share about a couple other um, award winners for um, scholarships. Cadence Hayes, Rotary winner, runner up for the ethics um, essay contest scholarship, and Sophia Fernandez, who was the winner of the eth ethics essay contest and scholarship earner, and she'll move on to the regional contest. And I believe the regional contest may have already happened, and I don't have the information yet. Um but we were excited that um two of our students um received that. And then I I know that
089um we did classified employee of the year in Apple Valley this year. Currently the nominations for certificated employee of the year for ABSD is out. And hopefully we can get some great um representatives. And while the county process is much different for certificated um if they are nominated this year and win as Apple Valley, we're hoping to encourage them to apply as a um county teacher of the year or certificated member of the year next year because it's a quite a lengthy process. Um Dana Beller, who was recognized tonight as a um county classified employee of the year, has been on the um award circuit. She's been collecting um recognitions since the beginning of the school year this year. And she's not done. So she will be at the end of the month receiving the
090MDCP profound impact award at the um gala. So, I know some board members um attend that have attended that in the past and I wanted you to know that she has been notified that she's a winner. Um the CTE competitions at Victor Valley College I attended for video production, welding, automotive, and construction. Um we took awards in automotive for an individual and a first place team in welding. So, it was wonderful to see that outcome. Um today our um construction trades um were down in at a CEI competition that involves high school and college students. Um they took the architectural award design as winners this time and I saw a picture of what they had because I couldn't make it down to Long Beach and back in time for the board meeting. Um but they
091designed a little like playhouse that has a Dr. Seuss kind of flare to it. So, strange angles, um, offset windows, and they took the design. So, that's I'm I'm proud of them for that. Um, field day. I just want to make a call out to Mr. Schlutter, Mr. Pal, and everyone that behind the scenes made that happen. And what a wonderful event for our students of exceptional needs. And they don't know that they have exceptional needs. They are just a student. They're having fun with everybody else. Um the first year that we did it, a young man walked up to me and he said, "You want to race?" And I he was little and I knew he could beat me. Um so I raced him, got in a lane, and he is now a sixth
092grader. And came up and um they made sure I knew who he was. And I said to him, "Do you want to race?" And of course he said, "Yes." We didn't, but um it was fun. And then I also attended um the SBA City Bull Academyy's Once Upon a Lily Pad um very near and dear to my heart because both my boys performed in that um play many many years ago. Um and they're now 24 and 20. So um it it just keeps happening and it's wonderful. Um student advisories, we concluded our student advisories for the year. We do have a high school group that's going to come together as soon as AP testing is over. Um but the elementary student advisory happened this week and um a couple of the students that spoke from
093Yakaloma are part of that advisory, Bella and um uh Leilani and they just have such a bright future with their ideas and thoughts and every principal attended the end of the meeting with us with um a task and a charge to go back and meet with their students and be prepared with a um set of goals and expectations for the start of next year's advisory teams. Skills USA um will be happening the next several days, over 200 students from Apple Valley Unified School District. We hope we will be sending some information um on Sunday, probably Monday, with the specifics of what kinds of awards were um achieved at that event. And then um since we're talking legislation, Miss Buchanan, I think I would like to ask the board to consider AB um 1111, which is
094people transportation, school bus zero emission. Um the current law takes effect January 1st, 2020 35, which requires 100% of all newly purchased buses to be zero emissions. Current law also allows for one-time five-year extension. This bill would revise those provisions and move the deadline 10 years to 20 45 which um because of the technology, because of the lack of charging stations, because of 200 square miles that we travel to transport students, it would be very difficult in our district to make that kind of a transition and replace our entire fleet. So um they at Sandabs yesterday I'm the co-chair there was a discussion about um supporting this bill and sending letters to um in support um Rim of the World School District has recently taken a um resolution in support and I would like to
095offer to bring up an a resolution um to one of our future board meetings um in that Yeah, I think that would be great. In fact, that is one of the ones we talked about and it was Cindy um who she took the the lead on that one and um she brought up a lot of good points for Yeah. Well, there's a fire hazard for them up in the mountains. There's all kinds of issues that have to do with this. So, and we reiterated the square footage of our district that it covers and there's just there's no way. Yeah. Well, Cindy is always the um spokesperson, but then she'll turn and say, "And Tray is in Apple Valley that has a ton of area to cover." So, I'm sure. Um, and then, um, graduations are
096coming and we tend to do things the same way every year, but I did want to reach out to the board and say if there's an interest in all board members being present um, shaking hands of the graduates and switching and having the um, principles hand out the diplomas, that is something for us to consider and I don't want to just keep doing things the way we've always done them without asking what your pleasure in that is. So, think about it and I'll come back around to that um at a future board meeting. Okay, that's it. Great. Thank you. Thank you. [Applause] So, we have some reports. Uh first up is California School Employees Association. I think Mr. Bradley, are you here still? Good evening. Um, I'm talking on behalf of JC Scott, president of
097CSEA, Apple Valley, Chapter 828. Thank you for your earlier consideration on giving further direction with health and welfare. President Ro, I must express my deep disappointment in your response and behavior towards my counterpart, President Sabers's last board meeting. blasting someone's personal business during a public meeting was not only unprofessional but borderline unethical. You asked her in response to student disciplinary issues. What do you want us to do? The answer is simple. Your job as an elected official instruct your administration team to actually issue disciplinary action and consequences. Thank you Mrs. Okra Oak Opara for standing up for President Sabers. You are absolutely right. There are several education codes available to discipline students. Yet administration chooses not to use them or they flat out ignore the behavior because they don't want to deal with it. I
098really appreciate you for doing the right thing and jumping into the the the defense of President Sabers. Clerk Buchanan, I sincerely appreciate all you do. It's a blessing getting to know you and I want to kindly and respectfully remind you as clerk you can intervene during President Ro's rants at any time. You don't have to put up with it. So, President Ro, I ask you, what makes Apple Valley Unified different from other high desert high desert districts when it comes to enforcing discipline? The fact that a student can blow vape smoke in a teacher's face and receive absolutely no consequences or throw an employee into a wall full force. That was me, by the way, sir. And I and only receive five days suspension because the administration doesn't want to send the student to manifest
099determination is asinine. Having an IEP for a learning disability does not give a student the right to put their hands on anybody else, including an adult. In my opinion, that student should have been up for expulsion. If it were you as a former law enforcement officer or any police officer for that matter, that student would have been charged with battery on a police officer and the consequences more severe. What makes me different or what makes me different? Hold on. I lost my spot. What makes me different or any of my many co-workers who have been recently assaulted. We are extremely sick and tired of it. We didn't ask for this and we certainly don't deserve it. Maybe it would be a good idea to instruct the district district to have administrators show more of a
100presence on campus instead of always in their office during c crucial times such as lunch, passing periods, recess, and dismissal, especially at middle and high schools. I have strong ties across the school system, including a snowline board member who once attended the church where I minister. No other district in our area has the same level of discipline issues as Apple Valley Unified. In my opinion, this has more to do with prioritizing average daily attendance over student discipline. Here are some perfect examples of that. During the recent wildfires, most districts, if not all, closed due to their air quality concerns, except Apple Valley Unified. When an entire school site lost power for an entire day, most districts would cancel school except Apple Valley Unified. When heavy rains or moderate snow causes flooded roadways or black ice
101make the travel extremely unsafe for staff, students, and their parents, most school districts have and would cancel school, not Apple Valley Unified. Should I provide provide more examples? I can dig up an email which pretty much made the staff feel like we are nothing but glorified babysitters. If you read it, you would probably feel the same way. So again, I ask you, why is it that assault and battery on staff is happening at a higher rate in Apple Valley than it is compared to other districts? President Sabers and I will be working close together on this issue as we have recently with our health and welfare because we will not put up with this and neither will our members. I would like to remind you you are an elected official President Ro. It is your
102duty to support your constituents. You took an oath and we expect you to uphold it. Thank you Mrs. Oak Para, Miss Buchanan, Miss Tucker, and Miss Longshore for your support and commitment to keep our staff safe. President Ro, when can we expect to have yours? I don't know what the solution is, but it's not my job to figure it out. That is the district burden. So, give them the instruction to do what it takes to protect our people. We deserve better. We deserve to feel safe. Thank you. JC Scott, president of CSEA, Apple Valley, Chapter [Applause] 828. Up next is Karen Sabers from Abuda. [Applause] technical difficulties so I had to bring a computer. Good evening, Superintendent Nelson, board members, cabinet, and audience. I want to thank everyone who once again came out to show
103support and solidarity and those watching online. After the last board meeting, I was approached and asked if I would listen to some advice. I told the person, "I'm always open for advice." This person brought to my attention that I only ever say teachers and do not say counselors. I explained that I was glad to hear their perspective and didn't realize this because when I say teachers, I'm thinking of our entire bargaining unit, which includes counselors. So, I'd like to take this time to apologize to the counselors and promise to get better at this. I would first like to invite board members to the CTA schoolboard member training on Wednesday, April 23rd. It is a virtual um event and I'll have to email you the flyers as obviously my printer was not wanting to connect to
104the internet. Um the topics include working with your local teachers, how to read a schoolboard budget, the Brown Act, and they will have a question and answer session. So I'll send those to your ABUSD email. At the last board meeting, I shared data about extreme behaviors, disruptive behaviors, violence, and threats our members and students are encountering every day. Honestly, I was taken aback when a board member asked, "What do you expect us to do about it?" I didn't have a quick answer at that moment, but I do now. We want the board to step up and lead. We want you to ask district leadership to get creative and find solutions. Solutions that make our staff feel safe when they walk into work every day. We want you to make it just as clear that students
105deserve the same level of safety when they walk into their schools. We want you to step stop accepting the idea that nothing can be done. That our hands are tied excuse isn't good enough anymore. We can't keep letting unsafe conditions slide. Trusty Aaparo said it best when she said just follow ED code. Yes, we care about suspensions. Sorry, it went too fast. Yes, we care about suspensions and expulsion numbers, but more than that, we care about keeping our schools safe for everyone, staff and students alike. The dashboard should not take precedence over suspensions. And let's not forget class sizes. Those limits exist for a reason. Overcrowded classrooms just make everything harder, especially when behavior is already an issue. Now, I understand that the state has changed the rules around suspensions and expulsions, but that doesn't
106mean we're stuck. At times, it can feel like some administrators believe our options are extremely limited, but the reality is there are still meaningful steps we can take. Some schools are being told to not send disruptive students to the office at all. We even had a special ed teacher who was told that she should expect to be hit by her students and that's outrageous. Here are some suggestions that have been sent to me to share. Behavior intervention teams create sitebased teams of educators chosen by their colleagues, counselors, and administrators who meet regularly to monitor students with ongoing behavior challenges and intervene early. Alternative learning spaces create calm-own rooms or alternative learning environments staffed with trained professional or personnel where students can take a break, reflect, and return to class ready to participate. Admin presence and
107support. Administrators should have a visible presence in hallways, lunch areas, and classrooms, not just in offices. Be available to support teachers, not dismiss concerns. Promptly follow up on referrals or incident reports and communicate outcome to staff. Datadriven decisionmaking. Track and analyze behavior referrals, suspensions, office visits, and teacher feedback. Identify patterns and adjust supervision or supports. Share data with staff regularly and involve them in planning response. Enforce class size limits and instructional support. Avoid overcrowded classrooms which increase stress and trigger misbehavior if class sizes are unavoidable. Provide instructional aids and behavior support personnel. Redefine the role of behavior support staff. shift BSBAs from a treat dispenser role to a behavioral coaching role. But here's the thing. You ran for this board because you wanted to make a difference. And when we're facing a crisis this big,
108saying there's nothing we can do just isn't good enough. We need you to be problem solvers. Teachers need to be able to teach and students need to be able to learn. And we're going to keep raising alarm until something changes. Our students deserve it. Our teachers deserve it. And honestly, our community deserves it, too. I'll leave you with this thought. You were able to easily remove someone from this very meeting because you felt he was disruptive. What a concept. Teachers have students in their classrooms every day, all day, doing the same thing and much worse, but cannot have them removed. Where are their rights? On a different note, members would also like to know why we are placing reader reading intervention teachers back into the classroom, but we are hiring another administrative secretary. Thanks for
109listening. In solidarity, [Applause] Karen. Okay, moving on to item seven. We have close session reports. Do we have a need to go back in? Are we done? Okay, so do we hold off on that? No, she go ahead and read what we've so far. All right. On a motion by Maria Akapara and seconded by Rick Raleigh, the board of trustees approve the following. Appoint Lindsay Bales as K through six principal, Rio Vista School of Applied Learning, range 14, column one on the certificated management salary schedule 205 base duty days effective July 1st, 2025. [Applause] On a motion by Maria Akara and seconded by Renee Longshore, the board of trustees approved the following. Appoint Zara Canola as director nutrition services range 59 step one on the classified management salary schedule 256 base duty days effective May
1105th [Applause] 2025 B6 conference with labor negotiator On a motion by Anita Tucker, seconded by Maria Akara, the board of trustees approved the following. Approved the memorandum of understanding with the Apple Valley Unified Teachers Association, AVUDA, dated March 10th, 2025 regarding health and welfare benefits. All right. And item B7, conference with labor negotiator on a motion by Amanda Buchanan. Seconded by Maria Akara. The board of trustees approved the following. Approve the tenative agreement with the California School Employees Association CSEA Chapter 828 dated February 7th, 2025 regarding the 2024, 2025, article 27 nominal fee schedule. That's it. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Item eight, adoption of the agenda. The board may approve the agenda as is or add and pull items from the consent calendar for discussion or action. So, do we have a motion to approve?
111Who is that? I'm sorry. Maria have a second. Okay. All in favor? I. Any any opposed? Hearing none. That'll be the order. Okay. Discussion items. going down to E, equitable access across high desert school campuses. And I believe that's uh Renee Longor. It is. Thank you, President Raleigh. Um I wanted to pass something out to the cabinet and board members. They know how I love charts. On Monday, April 7th, I emailed Superintendent Nelson to request data in preparation for this agenda item. Miss Nelson informed me that according to the governance handbook page 10, the superintendent takes directions from the board as a whole. Therefore, request for the generation of reports or information must be placed on a meeting agenda for board consideration and approval. At this point in time, I ask for board consideration and
112approval to get information related to inter and interd district transfers separated that were submitted for both Granite Hills High School and Apple Valley High School for the 2122 22 23 23 24 and 2425 school years. In addition, I believe it is also important to have the number of students whose inter and intra district transfers separated were approved and denied for each of these schools in each of these listed school years. It is with earnest intent to meet the distinct needs of our community that I bring this topic of equitable access across high school campuses up for information and discussion. To begin, I created an information table to provide a side-by-side comparison of Granite Hills and Apple Valley high schools. From the data I have gathered from US News in the California school dashboard, you can
113see that there is clear a clear discrepancy between the two campuses. Most notably, a 10% overall difference in the economically disadvantaged students they serve. Granite Hills High School also has a 13% more of its students on the free lunch program and a higher percentage of English learners and foster youth. This equates to a higher unduplicated student count. Studies have shown that it takes more money to equitably educate youth in these lower socioeconomic and linguistically diverse spaces. I know this at a very personal level having grown up struggling and then later in life teaching students there. We can see the effects of that through measures of academic proficiency, social engagement and graduation rates. As noted on the chart provided, it is apparent that Granite Hills High School needs more support than it is currently getting to
114properly care for and educate its students. Granite Hills High School students might be taking AP exams, but are falling 3% behind Apple Valley High School students in their pass rate. They also land a solid 4% behind in both math and reading proficiency. Graduation rate is down and suspension rate is up. In fact, Granite Hills High School is consistently two levels lower than Apple Valley High School when compared in both of these categories on the California school dashboard. I ask as a board that we continue to take a close look at the dynamics of our schools and strive to make decisions that help bring equitable access across campuses, properly supporting and fostering the potential of all youth as they strive to find their place in this wide world. Okay, I'll open it up for discussion. I
115can start down there with Anita. Do you have any comments? Um, yes. Thank you very much, um, Miss Long Shore for, uh, your chart. I love that it's orange and maroon, um, and for bringing these facts. And I definitely think this is something that we need to to look at, Maria. Well, this is a mouthful of information. Um, this is information that, um, you know, when we see it, sometimes we we kind of look away. Um but I I just want us to u pay attention to what the percentiles actually say. They talk about people. They talk about children. It is not a number. It is children. And and so if there's anything we as a board could do to make sure that those numbers that represent people are paid attention to a little closer
116and to be able to provide the services they need so that those children are not um they don't if they don't face an environment where they are not they don't have the equal stance. Um, and I give the example, um, many of us can afford to send our kids to college, but some of us cannot afford to send our kids to college. So, some of us that cannot afford to send our kids to college, if we haven't given them the the the information or the the the learning that they need so that they may find a way to get into college and be that first generation. because many students that we service are going to be that first generation if we haven't provided the service that they need to be that first generation to step
117into college or to step into a trade and I keep bringing up the college readiness and the trade red readiness um as I look at this and I'm you know this is the first I'm seeing a number to really represent what is really going on because we see the dashboard and when I see the dashboard what I tend to circle things but I have come to realize that those numbers represent people and we need to start looking at it that way that they represent the people who have given us their children to do the best we can and this is if this is what we call the best we can we need to do a little diff differently do something differently um I don't know what is coming out from those school sites or what
118is coming out from the other school site. But I do know that you don't have the same programs in the two schools. You don't. So if a student at Granite Hills wants to go and take um shop class, they don't have it at Granite Hills. What do we do? How do we service that kid? So these are the kinds of things that come full uh in full force to us. And now we're beginning to look at, okay, now look at these numbers. Do we have a different way because I'm not into the funding. Do we have a different way as a district to look at those schools who are servicing those kids who are from low socioeconomic uh status or background uh different funding model to help them along. I can name a few schools
119that are not at the top funding funding because they have the kids who are who come from that uh um uh societal income. Uh let's look at what we're doing with those families with those kids. You know, I look at a place like Mariana, they don't have a multi-purpose room. They have a they have a cafeteria that doubles up as multi-purpose room. I I go to some of the schools they have both. What are they doing? And we need to be able to, you know, look at our funding and and actually speak for those children who are not able to speak for themselves at this time. [Music] Amanda. All right. I will just say thank you for putting all of this side by side. It definitely makes it very easy to compare. I know personally
120I've always been a little reticent to look just at the colors because I know that if you are not const it's like a moving bar and if you're not improving each year then you won't even you can possibly drop color even if you're exactly where you were the year before. Um but I know like for graduation rate we do have that percentage. Um but for suspension rate it would be nice to see that um like in a percentage but I appreciate this. Do you have suggestions for what you would like to see? Well, bringing it to the table is just with the honest intent to bring discussion to this so that we as a board could um talk about it further um and hopefully um be able to think about it as a collective body
121in order to be able to give some direction. Renee, you asked you made a comment that you wanted more information um from the superintendent's office. Is that still the case? And you want board approval to or to specific information? Yes. Thank you, President Raleigh. I was asking for approval um for um the things I stated at the beginning. Um I don't know. Uh would you like me to restate it? Excuse me. Would you like me to restate the information? No, no, it's fine. I just um I think that u we can just give a verbal here of asking uh Superintendent Nelson's office to provide the information that Trusty Long was asking for. Yes, please. Okay, I'll approve it. Do everybody else agree? Yes. Oh, I'm sorry. Do you want it sent in an email to
122each board member or do you want it as a staff um presentation at the next board meeting? Just email it. Okay. Okay. It'll take a few days. It probably will be sometime at least next week because we've got um several data sets to pull. Yes. No worries. Thank you. Okay. Was there anything else Renee you wanted to add on that before we move on to item two? Um that was it on that topic. Okay. So we'll move on to item two uh which is Fmap and again that is Trustee Long. Sorry you all have to listen to me so much tonight. In an honest effort for fiscal transparency and a clear understanding of our district's current financial position, the board and superintendent Renee Nelson unanimously agreed to move forward with a fiscal crisis management and
123assistance team, otherwise known as Fikmat on Thursday, March 6th. Four days later, I followed up with Superintendent Nelson via email to provide contact details for FICMAT, and she let me know she had already reached out. Two weeks later, I had not received any update and again emailed Miss Nelson. Superintendent Nelson was given clear direction by the board to proceed with Fikmat. When Tne Nelson spoke with Shayen Hart, deputy deputy executive officer for FICMAT, Hart explained, "The FHA or fiscal health risk analysis is more of a global look in terms of looking at processes and procedures to identify areas of risk within 20 different areas we've seen lead districts down the road to insolveny. This is the most comprehensive review of finances that FICMAT offers." Uh but Superintendent Nelson did not proceed. For clarity, the board
124did not ask for a forensic audit which would give a historical look. Given the current financial state of the district, we asked to move forward with Fitmat. Somehow in over one month's time, we have yet to begin the process. Our district's legal representation, however, has reached out to me repeatedly. Superintendent Nelson, why did you ask Mark Thompson, a lawyer for Atkinson, Anderson, Loya, RDE, and Romo, who is not affiliated with FICMAT, to take initial steps to set up an outside investigation in response to the board's request. I'm uncomfortable having a conversation that came out of close session. This is a close session discussion. We have violated the Brown Act and I would like to go on record that I did follow direction of the board and I did not put Mark Thompson into an investigative
125role. Renee, we went over this in close session too and told you that I think more than one board member said this is closed session items, but you want to move forward. So, you can keep you can keep going, but it's up to you. Okay. It w it was per Mark Thompson's um information given to me um that I spoke on that Superintendent Nelson gave him direction. Just to be clear, I have not made a request or filed a complaint. The board gave direction to the superintendent and this legal detour has cost the district both time and money. Our staff have larger class sizes and lower wages than Hisp Unified School District, Victor Elementary School District, and Victor Valley Union School District. As noted by many classified and certificated staff members who have recently spoken
126in open session, even with this and according to the San Bernardino County's first interim report, we are in deficit spending of over $15 million. Tonight, we are even considering taking out a highinterest loan. As a member of a board elected by the people to help lead our district in financial solveny, this is unacceptable. When we ask financial questions and are not given clear answers, when our classrooms and programs lack supplies they need, as a district, we must respond. We need to be afforded clarity in regard to our current financial state and provide transparency in our management of taxpayer funds. In so doing, we the board can help give direction in the best interest of students, families, and the public we serve. in the spirit of truth and transparency and in light of our current spending
127freeze riffs of our entire classified and certificated staff and in agreement of the board. I ask that we move forward with FICMAT's most comprehensive fiscal health risk analysis otherwise known as the FH. Is that it? Yes. Okay. Anybody want to chime in? I would like to clarify one thing, but I do not want to violate the so probably best not to say anything. Okay, we'll move on to I'm sorry, Anita, you have anything? Um Is this something that we can move forward on? I believe at this time it'd be uh prudent not to move forward with this the way it was phrased from close session. That's my opinion. So I think that um it's pleasure of the board as a as a discussion item of the topic. I would not mind getting a quote on
128what it would cost or her request. Anybody else? Where is my view? Um well, as I think about about this, um the whole goal of Figma was not to bring up close session item. I I felt that we were going to discuss Figma in terms of how we are going to proceed from there. Um that was my understanding and um as you all know I am I'm always very uncomfortable when names are dropped um or when offices are mentioned I have some real discomfort um I don't like to do that uh ever. uh if I have those issues, I will contact the person privately and have the conversation. Um but in light of the fact that there's a budget conversation that goes that has been going on publicly um I am more inclined to say
129let us at least address what exactly can Figma do for us um so that we can take out the um take out the the spirit of doubt. out um and we can all say okay another agency when I was a board president um Nigro and Nigro did it and we got information and school services school services in California school services they did something and we we're satisfied but maybe another set of eyes to give us this information if it is the same information what do we have to lose so that's what the way I'm looking at it what do we have to lose if it's fake matt or if is smooth services. Just compare the two information and we can put all of this to rest and move on. Due to the cost of the
130contract that they have proposed, it would be anywhere between 20 and $30,000. Um it would be my recommendation to bring that to the board for approval. Okay. And is that for the forensic or is that for direct? They do not do a forensic audit which was what the direction I was provided. And I am um concerned that my due process rights have not been followed either. I have a right to due process. Thank you. Okay, we'll move on from this item for tonight. I just wanted to clarify real quick, President Raleigh, we did not say forensic audit as a board. We did specifically say move forward with Pikmat. Okay, fine. Uh, Kylie, we have any public comments? We do. We have three. Okay. First up is um Brenda Cops. After Brenda is Jennifer Taylor and
131then Shane Churchill. Hello. I don't think so. [Music] Sorry about that. No, you're good. Thank you. It is on and it's out loud. Hello. My name is Brenda Cobbs and I'm a reading intervention teacher for grades three, third through sixth grade at my school. I'd like to begin with thanking Mrs. Nelson for coming to my school to talk about the cuts with reading intervention. I am here tonight to ask you to reconsider the vote you took during the last board meeting which resulted in terminating some of the reading intervention programs. We have many students moving on to the next grade level who are reading far below level. There are too many students for just one reading intervention teacher at each school. This year I began with 84 students just in third through sixth grade. We
132have a wellorganized program that allows each grade level to have a 50inute block of time to work with students who are struggling with reading. In our program, students are focusing on growing in their reading, spelling, vocabulary, background knowledge, writing, comprehension, self-confidence, as well as goal setting for their education. Many students have told me that their parents are noticing the improvement in reading. Students have told me that their class grades are improving. Several students have told me this year that they're now enjoying reading. Many students are noticing their I Ready diagnostic results are improving and students are telling me that they are more confident in their reading and now are more willing to raise their hand in reading class. Here are some quotes of my students. My friends can now read my own writing. Um when
133I am in class and I cannot hear a student read the text, I am now able to read the text on my own. And another one said, "When I am reading on my own and I don't know a word, I use salabication." Many of the students who struggle with reading have mastered the art of avoidance and hiding in plain sight in the classroom. They work hard at avoiding work, avoiding being called on, and avoiding being noticed throughout the day. None of these habits can happen when working in a small group and reading intervention. When students are in intervention, they work in small groups based on their needs. Students are not just improving their reading skills, but their self-confidence is growing as well. Teachers in the classroom are not able to work with a small group
134of students five days a week for 50 minutes to close the gap of where students are with their reading and where they need to be. I would like to invite any board member to come and see our program. Everything we do is aligned with the science of reading. It is a systematic program with direct instruction and students are receiving instant feed feedback. I understand that our school district is struggling financially at this time, but I urge you not to terminate programs that are directly impacting students and helping students with skills they need to be successful in school and life. John Hadtie's famous quote is know thy impact. We are definitely seeing the impact in reading intervention and having our own students um is having on our own students with our datadriven intervention program. Again, I
135ask you to reconsider the vote last week and to keep two reading intervention teachers in each of the elementary schools. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Brenda. Jennifer Taylor. [Applause] Good evening, superintendent, board members, staff, and colleagues. First, I want to thank you for allowing me to speak tonight. I am here tonight to answer a question that a member of the board asked concerning workplace violence. I was shocked and saddened that it was even asked, but here is what I would like to see done. First, hold parents accountable. Make them come to school every time their student is causing trouble. Have them sit with their student in class. I'm talking about the students that are constantly in the office or running around campus. The students that say, "I can do whatever I want." And
136the sad fact is they are proven right. Next, make parents pay for the damages done by their students such as broken windows and broken Chromebooks. I think that the contract they signed at the start of the school should be enforced. Finally, send school police to get parents that do not answer the school's calls or when parents say they can't come because they don't have a car. These are just a few suggestions that to the questions, what do you want us to do about it? We want guidance to know what we can do. Thank you, [Applause] Shane. All right. A little bit. Yeah. Uh, I want to end um this with a bit of positivity um by sharing a bit about the wonderful young humans and the Granite Hills High School Chamber Singers in regards to
137their Carnegie Hall trip that we took before spring break. Um, and the once in a-lifetime opportunities I got to take a part of. um due no small part to all the offices at the district level between accounting and risk management everywhere in between all the work they put in the um the allowance of the trip by a supportive principal um Adam Powell our executive cabinet our board members some of which even offered suggestions on places to eat we appreciate while the students um had opportunities to do things that they wouldn't have got to do on their own um such as like singing the national anthem in front of the Statue of Liberty singing a beautiful song of hope in the center of Grand Central Station. Um, a majority of the students, their favorite part of
138the trip was the um nine hours of learning and rehearsing and practicing leading up to their performance. Imagine like students actually appreciating the educational aspect about a field trip. Crazy. Um, speaking of educational, one of the things I wanted to share was um, as those of you who have seen the videos I sent out um, of the performances, it's a mass choir. students from across the nation um had uh had to go ahead and qualify to be part of this mass choir. One of the schools never learned one of the songs and uh that we were performing and our students took it upon themselves to go ahead and train their fellow students in learning the notes, learning the movements, getting them prepared in three days for a song that they had never seen before. and
139just it was it warmed my heart to see our own students just taking that leadership role and saying, you know, we're going to go ahead and make sure you guys feel prepared. I was so so grateful for those kids to go ahead just have that be an aspect about them. Um to that end, um these same wonderful kids that um that I've been talking about, you'll get a chance one more time to see them before most of them graduate um at our final concert um which everyone is invited to. Um it's going to be spectacular one. It's uh called Oh, the Places You'll Go where all the songs are locations, cities, states, and uh and it's going to go end with a large uh senior song that um many of you will see when we
140have graduation um later on in in May. But uh I just want to thank everyone for the opportunity you gave these kids. This is something not only they won't ever forget, but something that'll they'll carry with them for the rest of their life. And thank you guys for giving them that opportunity. I can't believe I didn't tell you. The concert is on Friday 6:30. It is um May the 16th if I'm not mistaken. Yes, that is a Friday. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. We have no public hearings, no special meetings, discussion items. Uh it's recommended the board of trustees discuss take action on the following items. Item one, approve the updated Alpha Valley Unified School District governance handbook. Any discussion on that? If not, we need a motion to approve. I do have some
141discussion. Okay. Rene. Um I think we have the motion to approve first. Okay. Go ahead. And do I have a motion to approve? Maria, a second by uh Amanda. Okay. U we'll start with Rene. She raised she spoke up first. Okay. Thank you. Um, as a private citizen, I have a right to access public records according to public California public records act and government code section 7920.0000. In reference to the governance handbook, as a board member, I am expected to ask permission from the body. On Monday, March 24th, I verbally requested data from our business office and per their request, followed up with an email the following day. When I did not receive a response to the inquiry, I requested the information from our superintendent and was informed that the superintendent takes directions from the
142board as a whole. Therefore, requests for generation of reports of information must be placed on a meeting agenda for board consideration and approval. Governance handbook page 10 and board bylaw 9200 for reference. The board of quote the board of trustees recognizes that the board is a unit of authority over the district and that a board member has no individual authority unless agreed to by the board as a whole. Individual members of the board shall not exercise any administrative responsibility with respect to the schools or command the services of any school employee. Just to be clear, I'm not exercising any administrative responsibility in asking for data. It is my duly elected job to help make decisions for the good of our district. In order to do that, I must be properly informed. Um, I'm going to
143ask real quick, what is our district's hesitant hesitancy in honoring a request for information more quickly than waiting for the next board meeting? Anybody want to respond to our next question? Um, Panita, do you have No, we don't. Well, I'm it's for discussion. So, we'll start at the botto. Maria, you raise your hand or I I I don't have a a response to that that question, but it seems if we need information to meet together, I realize as a board member, an individual board member, we have absolutely no power. But as a group we do and as we we get together to discuss things sometimes having information is helpful to make our decisions or bring forth information and just to do our job. Okay. Maria, anything? Well, we have a board a board handbook for
144for a reason and the reason is so that we can follow it just like we follow uh what's on the ed code. Um when we make a request to the district, the the challenge that we tend to have is that the the request is now going to take somebody away from whatever assignment they are supposed to have to be able to meet our request. So, if I have to suggest, I would say make the request, send it out in writing so that somebody can begin to address it um quicker. Um but I don't think we should wait for another board meeting to make a decision to get the documents. I think if we can send the paperwork or the request in writing, then we can get the information quicker. uh I'm kind of concerned that
145if we begin to ask for information every time that people will will not be able to do the work for which they are supposed to be doing at that on that particular day. Um but we can do it in a very systematic systematic way. Uh so that we can have whatever is required for that board member to do what they need to do because sometimes a question a board member is asking is not a question all five of us are asking. So just get the answer to the one that needs the qu question answered. And if it requires that we all get to know about it then find a forest and cut up some trees. That's the way I look at it. Okay, Amanda. Yeah, I'm good, too. I think it's worked so well well
146for us. I mean, I I understand what you're saying, Maria. Maybe asking a question is one thing, but asking for hundreds of pages of documents um should be um up to this to the board. So, I just believe we leave it as is for now. I think um you know you can pick up the phone and you can call the superintendent say hey you know I got a question about this is you know that's that's our right to do that but to be asking for documents and and work that takes hours to um to do should be left up to the board. So I think we should just leave it as is. Any further discussion? Yes. So when we are in d in need of facts that drive decisions in regards to fiscal solveny is
147imperative that we as the board have access to it. As a board member I should not have to file a public records request in order to access data that properly informs me and my fellow trustees. I also requested information about the inter interd district transfers. It was on a need to- know basis for an agendaized item up for information and discussion tonight. Unfortunately, this practice has delayed it. I believe it is in the best interest of the public that we remove the paragraph. The superintendent takes directions from the board as a whole. Therefore, requests the generations of reports and information must be placed on the meeting agenda for board consideration and approval from the governance handbook. In doing so, the board will have the ability to access data in the same timely manner that is
148already granted to the general public. Okay. Any other discussion from any other board members? Yeah, I have. Go ahead, Maria. First, uh, I have I, you know, as I'm listening to it, because obviously I haven't been privy to the information. uh as I listen to it, the only person that we we supervise here is a superintendent. And we don't supervise her or we don't evaluate her individually. We evaluate her as a group, as a team. And and so if if we begin to make evaluative statements on our own, we are now deciding that we are um we don't work as a group. We are one body. All five of us are is one. When you look at five of us, we are one body. And um we all carry one vote. And so it's very
149important um that we don't go through that slippery slope. And I have said it se several times. Took me a while to figure out what a slippery slope was because I've never seen one. Um but we're going through a slippery slope where we begin to make those evaluative statements as individuals on a superintendent and the superintendent answers to us as a group, as a body. So if a request is made to a superintendent and the superintendent says I need to get it as from the body as a board. I'm a member of the board but I'm not the board. If she says I need to get it from the board it would I my suggestion will be that the superintendent can put out a memo to all of us which he does on a regular
150basis. A memo to all of us and say the board member is requesting this. What do you think to the president? the president will say, "Yeah, put it out." And then we will all say, "Yeah, and and go forward with it." Um, but I just I don't I don't know if I am comfortable with um making sure that the superintendent does everything we ask of her to do when we ask of her because we are individuals asking of her some things. But if we begin to ask our things, we need to ask it as a body, as a a um a general body. I have been a pres president of the board obviously second time around and I know that there are some boundaries that I don't cross. The speaker of the board is the
151president of of the board. But even then, the speaker of the board does not have the f final say. Five of us have to have that final say. Um, so I think we need to find, you know, I think we're getting to a portion where we are forgetting the the board is a a what and you are the how. We know what we need done and we pass it on to the management. This is how they're going to do it. Uh, we just need to, you know, find a, you know, happy place to be able to do this job. But I don't believe we should wait for a whole month to have the information. If information is that critical, then just let us know and we'll give you the authorization to give it out. That's
152in conflict with your board bylaw 9200. So I'm following the board bylaw which indicates that it will be then appropriately agendaized for board direction at the next board meeting. That's California School Boards Association language. So I just want you to be aware that that would be in conflict with our current board bylaw. Which brings me to my question. Would removing that section go against CSBA best practices and the CSBA legal recommendations? That's correct. The language was not made up by our district. This is adopted from California Schoolports Association. Thank you. Okay. Okay. I think that there's no consensus to change it. Maybe I'm wrong. Um but uh Okay. All right. So, um, thank you for bringing this forward, Renee. We'll move on. Um, I believe we need to take Yeah, we have a we have
153a motion. I'm sorry. We have a We don't even have a motion on it. We just uh No, we didn't. We have a motion and a second to as amended, which was a totally different. Okay. So, all in favor of uh changing 9200. Oh, it's not. We're not changing it. All we did was update um managing difficult conversations. That was the only one. Um and we added the comment that um board members could state that they had um thank you to the person at the podium and they had been hurt. Okay. All in favor? I I I Oh, I Okay. Um Motion passes. No opposition. Okay. Okay. Lost my place here. Yeah. Number two. Approve the certificated and classified personnel actions as listed. So with that, we'll we'll go for a motion then we'll go
154for discussion. So moved. Second. I'm sorry. Can second. Maria. Okay. Discussion on approve this certificated classified personnel action as listed. Any discussion? No. Hearing none. And we'll just go ahead and vote then. All in favor? I I. Any opposed? Hearing none. That'll be the order. Okay. Item three. Microphone. Approve the recommendation. request to leave as Thank you, sir. Motion making second. Amanda second by Anita. Any discussion? Not we'll go ahead and vote. All in favor? I I Any opposed? Hearing none. That'll be the order. Okay. Item four, approve the recommendation of the administrative hearing. Shared person effective immediately. Oh, we haven't gone. Have we done that in close? Yes, that's right. Okay, we did that. We made it through the expulsion explosion case STIP number 6202425. So moved. Second. Second. Anita and a motion by
155Amanda. All in favor? Any opposed? Hearing none, that'll be the order. Expunge expulsion case stip number two 2022 two3. So moved motion a second. Second. Any discussion? Um all in favor? I. Any opposed? Hearing none. That'll be the order. Okay. Uh item five, adopt resolution 242521 authorizing the issuance of 2025 2026 tax and revenue anticipation notes to the Alpha Valley Unified School District requesting the board of supervisors of San Bernardino County to issue said notes. So let's go with a motion first and then we'll go open for discussion. So moved. Amanda, second. Second and Okay. Yeah. Okay. We'll start with uh Amanda since you made the motion. go ahead and um Okay, so looking into this um we have applied for it before and we have applied for it before and not needed it um
156in my research back it looks like the last time we actually took it and Mr. Schulenberg, you can correct me. Um, was 2020 and it was because of the shortfall at that time with making our payments. So, we had it just the way I thought about it when I was reading was it's like a payday loan. Like, it's just kind of to get you only maybe not as awful a connotation. Not with that connot. Yeah. But like it it if if something were to happen federally or statewide that took away some of our funding that we were expecting to get, then we would have that as an option to kind of get us until the funds came in. Um it I also found that district that we don't talk about in uh Victorville, they did
157it recently as did San Bernardino City Unified. Um, and then I also read that and I forget the second one, but Lucern and another district near us do this almost every year because they don't have a large um reserve. So do we. That was what I found. We do it every year. Okay. For the most part, it is this time of year it is a resolution and yes, so that we're in line if there was a problem with a delay. Mr. Schlenberg, anything to add? Yeah, just to add this. Uh, a TR is for cash flow purposes. It is not something it's not more funding for your budget to make more expenditures available to a school district. Um, typically TR are issued and utilized by school districts during uh revenue shortfalls due to state of
158California deferrals. You've probably heard of those in recent years. um when they don't give us our cash when they're supposed to. Because keep in mind um the major major source of cash for us is our um state aortionment which flows on a monthly basis. Um but a portion of that the education protection account flows on a quarterly basis. And if any of those cash payments are delayed significantly, which the state has done in the past in times of fiscal crisis at the state level, districts borrow this to have cash on hand to pay our bills. And when those cash payments come in from the state, the TR is paid off. It is a short-term um payday loan. It's a good analogy. I have a question there. um when you take out that loan um and
159you don't use it, how much interest do you pay on money you didn't get to use? Well, that's going to depend on the uh the uh rates as the TR is um offered and issued in June and July. I wouldn't be able to quote interest rates on it until after the fact. Um the next process for us as listed um you'll see in the board item we do a cash flow analysis. We work with uh the financial adviser that teams up with CSBA in this TR. We'll do a cash flow analysis and we have to show a negative cash balance at some point during the year to even qualify for the TR. So mere this resolution merely the timing is to get us into the pool as we analyze our cash flow and if we
160don't show a cash deficit at any time during next fiscal year we don't take the loan. Okay. So as a district when when we filed our papers with the county we said that we are able to manage our finances for the next three years. That's budget. the budget we are able to the budget will carry us for the next three years. So I'm trying to understand if we say that we are going we have we get a passing score for three years based on the submission. Why are we trying to get money then when we've already said we are able to hold have money in the next three years. I'm just trying to understand I'm not into finances. I don't know much about money. I spend it when I get it. So do we. Um,
161budget is spending authority. The state says we're going to get $184 million this year in LCFF. That's the authority we have to spend. That's our budget. Um, then we project next year's budget and the following year's budget. Cash flows little bits at a time. And if the state defers those cash payments to us and we're unable to make our payroll or pay our bills, that's what a TR is. It's a temporary cash loan to make your payments until the state pays us and then we pay it back. Cash and budget are very different. our our cash does not um our ending fund balances budget authority. Our cash balance on hand with the treasury um is very different and can vary depending on when the state makes those payments or when the federal money is uh
162paid to us. Thank you. Um I'd just like to say thank you very much for explaining that to us. It reassures me and uh to Mrs. Nelson also for giving me the information when I asked earlier on that. Thanks. Any further discussion, comments? Okay, we do have a motion on the table and the second. All in favor? I I Any opposed? Hearing none. That'll be the order. Item six, approved the Calshape Hback Assessment Maintenance Pathway Professional Services Agreement with Mesa Energy Systems, Inc. Go ahead and ask for a motion first discussion. So moved. Second. Was that move? Was that Anita or Rene? That was me. Have a second. Anita. Oh, Maria. Okay. I move second. Okay. Okay. Any discussion on item six? Hearing none. That'll um we all in favor? I I Any opposed? Hearing
163none. And that'll be the order. Okay. Consent item J. So we have 1 through 46 for consent. So um let's go ahead and um I'm going to pull um Sorry. Which one you want to pull? I'm going to pull five and 15 to 23. Okay. 15 15 through 23. Oh, through 23. Yes. Okay. Anybody else? Okay. So, let's go ahead and a motion to approve one uh of all items except for item five and 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23. So, the motion is to approve all of those that other than the ones I just um noted. Do we have a motion? So, moved. I'll second it. Motion by Amanda, second by Maria. All in favor? I any opposed? Hearing none. Okay. So say do we need to recuse? No because
164it's not a discussion item. Okay. So item five u we'll pull that one first. Item five. I am going to recuse myself from uh voting because I'm an instructor for um uh UMass Global. But you just pulled it. Yes, that's what I'm I'm I'm recusing myself. I want You want to hear it? No, she No, there's no discussion. Oh, I got you. There could be discussion because you pulled it. I pulled it. I'm just But we can't have the discussion with you in the room. Well, there will be no discussion. Okay. So, we'll just go ahead and uh Can we vote with her? We can mo vote with her in the room. Yes. All in favor of um approving item five. Maria is going to abstain from this. Um all in favor? I do. We
165need a motion first. Um no, you've already had the motion. Yeah. All in favor? Any opposed? None. Okay. That'll be the order approving five. So we have 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23. Those all of those fall into the same block. Um I think the the board is supposed to be the final signature on these documents and there were no do signatures on the back of any one of those documents. And I feel a little bit uncomfortable uh signing off on a budget uh that is they've the the the vendor should have been able to sign that they this is what they are sending to us and the receip receiving district should be able to also sign. They've received it so that the board's signature is the last signature on this
166document. And all of these ones that I just pulled had no signatures. So that's why I pulled them. Mrs. Nelson, you want to say something? I'll just clarify that typically that they do not become enacted until the board takes action. Once the board takes action, some companies do send them with a signature hoping that the board will take action and get our signature. But the practice has been that once the board approves it, then it goes um back to both parties, including um me for signature on that contract and the other company. And so that's how it has has worked. Well, the the challenge that I have there is that our signature has a date. And so on the date that we will finally sign it is today's date and it will have that date.
167So when you But this is our agreement. This is not their contract. This is our agreement. I agree. Okay. You know, this is their contract they're sending to us and it shows that the board approved it on um what's today? April 10th. That's the date it will show. So, if they should sign it after the board has said it's April 10th and then they sign it on April 20th, then they sign it after we have already said yes. is like having a blank check and giving to somebody a blank check and say just sign whatever you can and bring it up for for us. So I'm a little bit this is my discomfort and please help me understand uh why we can't do it the other way. Bring everybody's signature in and we can sign
168it and be done. Well, if that's the desire of the board, I can request that in the future. Um it may delay some contracts because they typically will send them and we return them with um your signature. The contract is posted. It gives all of the details of what we are um going under contract for. It's public um public can see it. It does not cause them to have a blank check to go spend money because you have already defined within the contract what is um allowable. Okay. Okay. Okay. So, um is there any other discussion? Okay. So, um, it was explained by staff. Um, so I'm going to make a motion. I make a motion that we approve 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23. Do I have a second to
169approve? Second. Anita did. Okay. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Maria, did you vote? No. Okay. Okay. So, uh, Maria, so it's a four four to one vote to approve with Maria Opara voting. No. Okay, that takes us all the way to the end here for a second close session. So, we need a motion to go back into close session. So, move. We need a motion that we just go. Oh, yeah. We do have all in favor. We have a second. Second. Second so we can get Okay. All in favor? I All right. I'm going to um from close session. See here. Okay, let's do a real quick roll call. Amanda here. Maria. Maria here. Renee here. Anita here. I'm here. So, close session. The clerk of the board will report on any action taken
170in close session. So, Amanda, you can go ahead and Okay. In closed session, the board of trustees took action in support of the following recommendation from the superintendent B8 conference with labor negotiator unrepresented. On a motion by Maria Apara, seconded by Rick Raleigh, the board of trustees approved the following. approved the district's contribution towards health, dental, vision, and life insurance coverage for all unrepresented employees chosen providers. Effective July 1st, 2025, the district shall contribute annually for the health and welfare benefits of an eligible full-time unit member at the following fixed rates. Employee only, $10,215. Employee plus one, $19,072. Employee plus two or more, $24,387. uh conference B2 conference on litigation government code section 54954.5D and 54956.95Z ROA versus ABUSD on a motion by Maria Akarez seconded by Rick Raleigh the board voted unanimously to deny
171the amended claim of Zane Roka Item B2, conference on litigation, government code section 54954.5D and 54956.95N Marino versus ABUSD. On a motion by Maria Akara, seconded by Rick Raleigh, the board voted unanimously to deny the claim of Nathan Eli Mareno. And that is it. Okay, great. Okay, one more item. Next regular board meeting, May 8th, 2025 at 5:00 pm. Does anybody have any future items for the agenda? Okay. A motion to adjurnn. So moved. Second. Second. All in favor? I. Any opposed? That'll be the order. We are adjourned [Music] at 11:49.