AUSD Board Meeting 2/17/2026 - Open Session Board Meeting

001We're going to reconvene to open session. for our flag salute. I apologize, Felicia. I didn't ask you in advance. Would you lead us in the flag salute? Thank you. You may be seated. Our next item is to adopt our agenda. We will be pulling a few items off of our agenda tonight. Item 10A, 13A, and 13B are being pulled from the agenda for tonight. Any order of business? Okay. Report of action taken in close session. Uh we have no action taken in close session to report. Our next item is our school related reports. Do we have a report from CSCA? Thank you. Am I on? Thank you. Good evening. I'm Laney Hopper, CSEA chapter president. On behalf of our CSEA negotiations team, I would like to share a tenative agreement that we that we have

002reached with the district. After several meetings, beginning with a 0.59% increase for all classified staff, our negotiation team reached an agreement with the district securing a new step H, which is a 3.75% increase effective July 1st, 2026, and the deletion of step C. In addition, the bus the school bus driver position was rearranged from 28 to 34 on the pay scale and three permanent full-time bus driver positions were created. The process took many hours and much dedication from our negotiations team and the district. But reaching the most beneficial agreement for the classified staff was our goal. Through this agreement with the district, we have negotiated a step increase and remain untouched by layoffs. realizing that these are financially challenging times for our state and district. Thank you. >> Thank you, Laney. Do we have a

003report from ADTA? >> Right. Next will be our oral communication from the public. Yes. Yes. Thank you. So, oral communications comments must be limited to three minutes in length. The limit for any one topic is 20 minutes. You may speak on any item at this time or you may hold your comments on an agenda item until the board president asks for public comment. Due to the Brown Act, the board is not able to respond to any topic that is not on the agenda. Our first speakers are from CAPS, Felicia Imhof, Nicole Haidider, and Carrie White. Good evening. Um, for the record, my name is Carrie White and I'm here tonight as the president of CAPS, the committee for Atascadero Public Schools. For those who may not be familiar, CAPS is a nonprofit, all volunteer organization

004dedicated to raising money specifically for teacher grants across Atascadera Unified School District. Our mission is simple. To support innovative classroom ideas, enrich student learning, and provide funding for projects that fall outside traditional site and district budgets. In May of 2025, CAPS hosted our first annual bingo fundraiser. It was truly a community event. We had parents, staff, local businesses, and supporters coming together with one shared purpose, investing directly in our classrooms. Because of that event, we were able to award over $24,000 through 60 teacher grants across nearly every campus in the district. These grants supported classroom materials, enrichment supplies, technology enhancements, and professional development opportunities. All teacherdriven, all rooted in real instructional need, and all directly benefiting students. We are incredibly proud of that impact. But the most important part is not the dollar amount. It's

005who those dollars represent. They represent a community stepping up to expand learning opportunities for students across Atascadero Unified. Tonight, I've shared the big picture view of CAPS and what we've accomplished this year. And Nicole will walk you through the grant process and how it works. Thank you. I turn this. >> Is it on? >> It's on. Okay. Okay, thank you. Thanks, Carrie. Um, I'm Nicole Haidider and I'm here as the grant chair for CAPS. Um, as was mentioned, um, CAPS grants are intended to support learning opportunities beyond what is typically funded um, by school or district budgets. Um we prioritize creativity and outside the box um ideas uh projects that build meaningful skills and allow teachers to expand their passions in ways that directly affect the students. CAPS does not fund routine supplies, personnel costs,

006reimbursements or capital improvements. Um and this ensures that community donations truly enhance rather than replace district funded essentials. Um to ensure equity, we calculate our funds each year and allocate grant dollars based on the student enrollment at each school site. Um we take special care to support our smaller schools including Crestston, Karesa Plains, and Paloma Creek High Schools so they are not disadvantaged by enrollment based funding formulas. Um, this school year, the grant cycle began in September, and the teachers had two weeks to apply using an online form outlining what they were requesting, how it would be used, and how it benefit students. All applications also required principal approval. Um, grants were then reviewed anonymously by a committee of retired AUSD teachers, one each from the elementary, middle, and high school. Um this ensures fairness,

007impartiality and alignment with instructional goals. Um requests could be partially funded or denied if the guidelines were not followed. Um recipients were notified in early November and the CAPS grant committee worked directly with school sites as well as the AUSD business services and technology services to purchase and deliver the approved items. This partnership ensures accountability and alignment with district procedures. Through this transparent and equitable process, CAPS responsibly stewards community donations while expanding learning opportunities districtwide. While we're proud of how carefully and thoughtfully these funds are distributed, none of it happens without volunteers. Um Felicia is now going to speak about what's coming ahead for CAPS. Once again, my name is Felicia Shamhoff. I'm the secretary and a member of the CAPS grant committee. CAPS supports ASD teachers, which ultimately benefits all of our students. The

008four of us, our treasurer couldn't make it tonight. The four of us that comprise of the CAPS board are committed to continuing the support, but we need your help and the community's help. Three of us have had all of our children attend and graduate from AUSD. And our president has two children currently enrolled and attending ASD schools. We plan on hosting an 80s retro evening event this spring and our second annual bingo event this fall. But in order to be successful, we need additional members to join our CAPS team. New members will provide not only the physical assistance, but new ideas, new connections, new relationships within the school sites, and so much more. We hope to continue the success that CAPS has provided over the years. Without additional members, we won't be able to continue

009to raise funds, and we are looking for at least 12 new members. Many hands make light work, and the best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas. Please contact us at [email protected] with any questions to reach out to let us know that you're in to be part of our team and feel free to share this information to everyone. We have flyers in the back for you to take and share. Take pictures. Please spread the word. Please reach out to us. Thank you so much. We look forward to hearing from all of you. Let's continue to make CAPS successful for our students and teachers. Thank you. >> Um, our next speaker is Anthony Villanova. Hello, my name is Anthony Vueva and I'll be reading a letter on behalf of a parent

010that couldn't be here tonight. Good evening. My name is Lacy and I have two boys in the Atascadero district. I'm writing this letter because I'm concerned about the lack of support for special education and how the proposed 0% wage increase for teachers will make it worse. Last year, my three-year-old was diagnosed with autism, and we went through the process of getting him assessed through the district and getting him an IEP. Not even a year later, his days have already been reduced from five five days a week to four. The abuse that happened to Santa Rosa and the lack of transparency is also extremely concerning to me. My kid would not be able to tell me if he was being abused at school and that is terrifying because he might be going through going there for

011TK in August this year. Right now, I do not feel safe sending him there. In a local Facebook group, parents organized a boycott because of a safety issue involving a special needs child at their school. In this post, multiple parents said they were giving their kids the green light to do to be violent with this child. Imagine being the parent that has to read that. As a special needs parent, I know how hard you have to fight for support. It's exhausting and frustrating. And on top of that, now this parent has to worry about their kid being targeted. All students and teachers deserve to feel safe at school. And unless they are given more support, more situations like this will happen. Thank you. >> Thank you. Our next speaker is Lindseay Olivera. I'm representing myself

012and CAC. So, this is my CAC partner for um that part portion. Um hello everyone. My name is Lindsay Olivera. Tonight I'm here representing myself as well as community action committee. Um tonight I'm speaking behalf on all ADTA teachers, but especially special education teachers. As everyone knows, our experience last year at Santa Rosa was less than optimal with unqualified staff and untrained SMPPS. After exhausting all avenues we could, we were left with one option, file a due process complaint. That takes time and money away from the district. Per the board packets, the district has spent $96,000 in November and $84,000 in December in lawyer fees. But I also want to speak to when qualified and trained staff support our students. It is magnificent. My son is thriving this year. He has an aid who pushes

013him academically and teachers who understand his needs. He has been included in all events and has friends. To qualify this, a classmate invited him to dress up with them for twin day at Monterey Road and he even had his first playd date with this classmate. Special education and inclusion can work, but it is dependent on hiring qualified and trained staff. Now transitioning upcoming events for CACsulpa include special education report cards were released February 9th. That information can be found on calan.info. Secondary transition meetings happen tomorrow with the lunch hour with sulpa and evening meetings with community partners. Please reach out to slowsulpa.org for more information. Our special education impact awards are due February nominations are due February 20th. Please make sure to get your nominations in. For the link, please contact SULPA. The autism slow

014autism walk will be held April 26th in downtown slow. May 6th is legislative day. The C CAC is backing two bills fully funding the base funding rate for special education as well as allowing special education subs to be in the classroom for up to 60 days. The current law says 20. Um she's also going to legislative day. Um, and then we have an art gallery at Encore in Paso on May 15th and 16th. We will have a reception on the 15th where we will recognize special education impact award winners. These award winners will also be recognized at a future board meeting. Thank you. >> Thank you. And the next speaker is Heather Young. Hello, I'm Heather Young, a test resident, and I have a child at the high school, and I'm reading a letter on

015behalf of another parent who could not be here tonight. Oops, there he goes. Good evening, members of the board. My name is Christine Ree. I am a parent of an ILC intensive learning center kindergartener, kindergarten student, as well as a third grader with IEP supports. and speaking tonight to urge you to prioritize two critical commitments. Ensuring teachers receive at least a cost of living raise and fully fund our ILC special needs classes. Uh cost of living adjustment is not a raise. It simply prevents teachers from falling behind as housing, food, healthcare, and everyday expenses continue to rise. Our educators are already managing increased demands with larger class sizes, more responsibilities, and growing student needs. If we fail to provide at minimum a cost of living increase, we are effectively asking them to take a pay

016cut. That is not sustainable and it does not reflect the value they bring to our schools every day. Equally important is the continued sorry uh continued funding and staffing of our ILC classrooms. Uh these programs are essential not optional. They provide critical support, individualized instruction, and stability for students who rely in in who rely on structured environments and consistent staffing to succeed. Underfunding and cutting staff in these classes jeopardizes both student progress and family trust. Funding special needs education is not a discretionary spending. It is both a legal obligation and a moral responsibility. When we protect these programs, we protect some of the most vulnerable members of our school community and demonstrate to the next generation that these students deserve inclusive inclusion and equal opportunities. Budget challenges are real, but solutions do not come at

017the expense of teachers livelihoods or the funding that enables students with disabilities to receive the education they deserve. Strong schools require strong staffing and properly funded programs. weakening either will cost us far more in the long run in teacher turnover in student outcomes and community trust. I respectfully ask this board to ensure teachers receive their cost of living pay increase at minimum and that our ILC programs receive their full funding and staffing. Thank you for your time and cons and leadership. >> Thank you. >> Uh the next speaker is Tara Patterson. Hi board. Hi superintendent and assistant superintendent. Um my name is Tara Patterson. I am a teacher at Tascadero High School. I teach political science, economics, and AP psychology. Um and I want to speak brief briefly about teacher turnover and how it affects

018school culture and our students at Atascadero High School. My first day at AHS was actually as a student teacher in 2019 alongside my amazing mentor teacher Christine Williams. Um, and it was the back to school teacher day uh where all the staff is in the gym and our admin team led a really cool activity where they lined up our entire staff in order of seniority. And what was really amazing to me my first day ever at Tascadero was they had teachers that had taught at a Tascadero longer than I had been alive. Um they had sorry um they had teachers who had multiple kids go through the high school and whole school system um all the way down to the grandkids. There was teachers who were both parent and child. It was amazing. And I

019thought how impressive that school culture was. And you could see by the way that the administration conducted the activity that that was a really strong point of pride and a strength of the high school and something that we were bringing to our students and um like represented the unity that that I felt was really inviting. Um and I was a student teacher and here I am 5 years later um still working at the high school. Um, but I took a second this year to consider where I would be in that line now because I was in the line, but I was the very very very end. Um, and after looking at our master master schedule, master calendar, um, after five years at a Tascadero High School, there are only 30% uh, of the teachers at

020AHS that were hired before I was. Um, that is massive teacher turnover. Um when I was hired there was a small cohort of teachers who were newly credentialed like me and we were kind of little friend group and support system to one another. Um since then seven have left. Two of them were a Tascadero High School alumni who had left their own alma mater. Um high teacher turnover means that the student students experience less consistency. there's fewer stable relationships with their instructors um and consistency and expectations going throughout the school uh throughout the metriculation and our school culture is one that is constantly rebuilding rather than like strengthening and honing what we can do best. Um if we want to provide the highest education possible to our students, we have to prioritize retaining highquality instructors.

021I really appreciate all the support I've received from the board and the board has passed down to my students through their organizations and things and I'm so grateful for that. I'm imploring you to continue that support in a way that is conducive. Thank you. >> Thank you. Uh next speaker is Allison Casten Holtz. Hi, my name is Allison Casten Holtz. There are two different topics that I'd like to discuss. Teacher classified teacher wages or excuse me, certified teacher wages and class management. I'll outline current state district and private research material to elucidate teacher compensation. The average living wage in California for a single person with no dependence is about 62 grand. First year Tascaderoa teachers make 56 grand. That means our teachers live below the poverty line. The teachers have asked for a mere 2%.

022If the district were to grant this meager 2% increase, most teachers, especially the untenured, would still be 40 grand or four grand below the poverty line. Our educators are charged with fostering the success of the children that will eventually be your ER nurse during your next visit to Twin Cities. The mechanic that keeps your car running safely, getting your kids to school, the next middle school principal or board member. To ask our teachers, the very people who will mold the next leaders of our community to accept wages below the poverty line is preposterous and will almost certainly proved to be a self-inflicted wound in the future. My next concern is classroom management and expectations. In a 28 student class, a teacher can dedicate just 11 minutes to each student. But the learning environment has changed.

023So many extra demands are placed on each teacher. IEP assessments and implementation, behavior management, stu students, more compound medical and psychological diagnoses, more complex familiar constellations, balancing educational and personal technologies in the classroom. When just a few students require more than 11 minutes, what is left for the rest of each of our kids? Board members, your mission, your statement includes dedication to student success, staff collaboration, commitment to excellence. You are failing this community and you are failing those who implement the work you purport as district goals. By denying our teachers a fair living wage, you have implicitly chosen to put the future well-being of this community at risk. My closing thoughts are these. I am a mother of an AUSD first grader as well as a substitute teacher for this district. I teach TK through

024high school. Thus, I have a unique opportunity to see the modern landscape of our classrooms. As a substitute and a parent, I have a vested interest in creating an ideal learning environment. And I believe that begins with educators that feel valued, fulfilled, and financially stable. After reading your 141 pages of your current and your predictive budget, I realize there is very minimal fat to trim. However, with shrewdness and integrity, I hope this board will consider carefully what is right, what is possible, what is reasonable, and what is fair. >> Thank you. Our next speaker is Sarah Holland. Sorry. >> I stand before you or rather I'm sorry. I'm Sarah Holland. I teach kindergarten and I'm reading on behalf of someone else. I stand before you or rather I speak through these words as a dedicated

025staff member of Atascadero Unified for over a decade. I am remaining anonymous today because the current culture in our district is one of fear and distrust. There is a legitimate pervasive fear of retaliation from the cabinet and the superintendent for anyone who dares to question the new direction and restructuring of this district. I implore this board to address the unchecked spending that has occurred since July of 20125. It is no secret that this superintendent was the backup candidate, the second choice after leadership associates led this board through an expensive search only to botch the selection at the final hour. That failure embarrassed this board and delegitimatized the process. Yet at the last meeting, all but trustee Counley voted to use the same company again, dragging us into another unnecessary expense. Since July, Dr. Bennett and

026his inexperienced cabinet have treated the district budget like a personal checking account. It began with the start off kickoff, start of the year kickoff. Thousands of dollars were spent to bring in one of Dr. Bennett's personal friends as a guest speaker. We didn't get inspiration. We got a mediocre speech that cost our teachers and principles a half day of vital professional development and prep time. The reckless spending didn't stop there. You approved without discussion an ungodly amount of extra hours for our retired business assistant superintendent to bail out the inexperienced business department. You also approved extra hours for our retired technology director to fix the mess they couldn't clean up themselves. Both of these expenses passed by you easily without discussion by hiding them in the HR personnel portion of the board agendas. Some of

027us were paying attention and we urged this board to request a formal summary of the total cost of these hours. Furthermore, we paid an outrageous sum for another of Dr. Bennett's out of town friends to support our special education department. If you ask the directors in that department, as I have, they will tell you that this support has been largely unhelpful. We are also paying for a mentor for Dr. Bennett, yet another friend from yet another friend from out of town. Why are the district's funds being used to provide basic job training for a superintendent whose salary already costs more than our previous and who should have been prepared on day one? Most recently, the cabinet spent over $80,000 from the professional development discretionary block grant on an outoftown vendor to conduct surveys and write

028reports. In neighboring discountout districts, stakeholders were invited to the table to discuss how to spend those grant funds. Here, four people in a closed room decided what was best for all of us without a single consultation. It is time to audit this spending. I am asking this board to stop rubber stamping these contracts and start asking why we are pri prioritizing the comfort of the superintendent and his cabinet over the needs of our students and staff. Please look at the books. >> Thank you. Um, next speaker is Janine Wagner. Janine Wagner. So, I'll keep this short today. Um, I am Janine Wagner. I'm kindergarten teacher for many years now, currently at Monterey Road for the last 5 years. I have worked in the district for almost 30 years. And this is my community. I'm invested

029in this community. I'm invested in the families that live here in Atascadero. I know AUSD is a caring and dedicated school district. We have a history of teachers who love this community, worked hard, and created quality education for all the students of this community. They spent most of their careers right here in this town. I speak tonight as a teacher, a parent, a grandparent, and a community member. I am nearing my retirement, but while a raise is needed to help keep me from having a lower take-home income next year, that is not my focus tonight. I am concerned about the ability of a Tascadero school district to attain and retain quality teachers for our students that are coming. When we invest in the teachers of Atascadero, we are investing in the future and our students

030that are coming up through the the schools. I ask you to get creative and find ways to show the teachers and the community that you value your teachers and your other employees in the district. Thank you. Thank you. The next speaker is David Denady. >> Uh, good evening. I'm Dave Denady, teacher and citizen of Atasero Unified. Um, I'm here tonight to ask the board members, what are you doing as elected representatives to deal with the economic challenges of our district? I have listened to board reports uh where you guys present your school visits and you've gone to games and you gone into classrooms which is awesome and we love that and anybody's always welcome to come to my classroom and I would probably say every one of my colleagues would love to have you in

031our classroom but I also want to hear in those board reports what have you done to try to make our district more competitive financially as our elected representatives you our community's voice to Sacramento. Have any of you made contact with Don Addis, John Leairard, letting them know our situation? Here are a couple ideas to communicate with them. Just some ideas. Um, one, litigation reform. Schools shouldn't have to pay losing party legal fees when districts win. That wouldn't cost the state anything. So, that's one thing to consider. Local control funding formula. Um, is it possible talk to them about modifications to include special education as one of those special groups? Fully funding mandates that our district must follow. Again, reinforcing that. Have you communicated with the city and county officials to look into the construction of

032workforce housing for our staff? this housing would not only make it more affordable to for our staff but also help with retention which we've been you've heard over and over again. Um another idea when you talk with parents do you ask them if they have completed the first day packet in particular the free and reduced lunch form? Many parents don't complete this form is what I've been told since all students now get free meals. Uh this is not good because that is a huge way that we get LCFF funds. The more we can get we get a lot more funding for that in that formula. Now I know the tendency is for you to think that we can't fight Sacramento and just let the status quo continue. But you are our voice for our community.

033Use that voice to let other know others know that we need help. I look forward to hearing in your next board reports the actions you have taken. Thank you. >> Thank you. Our next speaker is Brook Ferrari Ferrari. >> Good evening board members. My name is Brooke Ferrari. I'm a PE and leadership teacher at AMS. I also serve on the social emotional behavioral team. I'm a TIP mentor and act as PE department head. I'm here tonight because I want you to understand what the reality of a 0% raise actually means for the educators of this district. This year, the state cola is 2.3%. As many others have said, a 0% increase is not neutral. It is a pay cut. While costs continue to rise, our compensation does not. This 0% salary pay cut sends a

034message whether intended or not. Because behind every percentage point is a real person trying to build a stable life. Last year alone, I spent thousands of dollars on basic medical care, not surgeries, not emergencies, just routine appointments. I'm a healthy PE teacher. That level of out-of- pocket expense for preventative care should not be normal. All of our district's insurance options are structured as family plans. I'm a single employee, yet I'm required to buy into coverage designed and priced at a family level. The plan that was originally described as free now costs 78.40 40 per month and offers virtually no meaningful coverage. It does not include dental. It does not include vision. And even with that limited coverage, routine medical visits still result in significant out-of- pocket costs. As a PE teacher, I stand in front

035of students every day teaching them the importance of taking care of their physical health, scheduling regular checkups, going to the dentist, and protecting their long-term well-being. Yet, I am placed in a position where following that same advice becomes a financial burden. The contradiction is difficult to comprehend and it raises a serious question about whether this district truly prioritizes the well-being of its teachers. I hold five stipen positions. I'm a volunteer coach for an attacker high school sport. I give my time, energy, and commitment beyond contract hours as many of my colleagues do because we believe in what we do. And even with all of that, I'm still struggling. We are struggling. This is not just about me. This is about retention. This is about sustainability. You will continue to lose strong, dedicated teachers to neighboring

036districts that offer competitive salaries and accessible healthcare. Passion does not pay medical bills. Commitment does not cover rent. If teachers cannot access basic health care services without financial strain, they will not remain here. If compensation does not keep pace with inflation, they will not remain here. At the middle school level, we have sat in meetings discussing strategies to improve teacher retention. It is difficult to reconcile those efforts with a compensation decision that moves in the opposite direction. When retention is a stated priority, it must be reflected in financial decisions. This district district will not function without teachers in classrooms. Compensation and benefits are not perks. They are foundational to district stability. A 0% raise in a 2.3 cola year sends us a message, whether intended or not, that educator sustainability is not a priority. I'm

037asking you to reconsider what long-term stability truly looks like for this district because this is not sustainable. I want to stay. I want to continue serving students here, but wanting to stay and being able to afford to stay are two very different things. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Our next speaker is Ellen Bau. Hi, I'm Ellen Burrow and I'm I showed up tonight because I um want to support our teachers in the district. I had two children come through and uh they've graduated from college and they're doing very well, but um I know that it's difficult as a as a young adult and as a new teacher to survive in in the current e economy. So, I want to support our teachers and I also want to commend uh the board for starting

038to reach out to our uh families that uh are becoming afraid about um the situation with ICE. And I believe you're reviewing a policy tonight to make that clear and I want to encourage you to do as much as you can to protect the families of our school district. Thank you. >> Thank you. Our next speaker is Erin Cotton. Uh hello everyone. My name is Aaron Cotton. I am the father of a student at Atascadero Middle School. Um I am here because parents are worried and right now we do not have clear answers. Students are hearing things, families are hearing things and in the absence of a clear policy about ICE from the school, fear fills the gap. The issue is of ICE was brought forward by Mr. Mr. Mazahi. Um, a teacher like that

039who is respected and loved at the school, a teacher should never have to risk his position simply to ask whether students are protected. The fact that his concern had to be raised in a way that cost him his job suggests that the school at best has not communicated a concrete plan and at worst is actively refusing to protect its children. State education law has mo was modified last October and districts receive guidance on December 1st, 2025. Schools are required to have uh new procedures in place by March 1st, 2026. This is not optional. It's not political. It's a legal requirement from the state. So, we want to know, the parents want to know what is the policy if ICE officers come on the campus? Uh who verifies their warrants? How are they verified? What training

040has been uh regarding ICE has staff received? Uh how can we be be guaranteed that the they're not getting info that they shouldn't like social security numbers or immigration status, whatever blood type. Uh how students be supported if ICE comes onto the campus? Um these are practical safety questions, not political statements. Without clear answers, families are left to assume that the school is unprepared. So tonight, I'm asking for transparency and a firm timeline for communicating these policies to families before the March 1st deadline. If the school cannot provide that assurance, then perance parents will have to make difficult decisions about whether their children can stay in this campus. Uh I already know what my decision would be. My daughter is at this school. She loves her school and but her safety is paramount to me.

041Our students should should be focused on learning, not being worried about themselves or their family. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker is Selby. Hello everyone. My name is Selby Price and I am an eighth grader at Atascadero Middle School. I have been in AUSD my entire life. I'm here today because I fear for the safety of my immigrant friends and peers. US citizens and undocumented immigrants alike face the looming threat of arrest, detention, or deportation. This isn't about sending people back to where they came from. This is about fear-mongering and bigotry. It is your responsibility as board members to ensure the safety and well-being of all students in your district, regardless of their race or immigration status. That's why we're asking that you adopt BP1 1445, a policy guiding school staff on how to

042maximize the safety of immigrant students. As board members, you should set policy for responding to immigration enforcement proactively so immigrant students don't have to learn in fear. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um, next speaker is Lee Perkins. Good evening board and staff and superintendent. Uh I'm a member a longtime member of this community and both my children went through the Tescadero school district. At the last Tascad Atascadero school board meeting, Johan Mazari, I'm not sure about the pronunciation, reported he asked middle school administration to share the school's district policy in relation to students, parents, and ICE. He also said at the last board meeting because it was refused to be posted, he would be taking a leave from his teaching duties until the Atascadero district posted the policy. Now that the policy by law has

043posted its now that the district has posted its policy as per California law AB419 on website and to parents I ask Jan Mari be reinstated as the dedicated middle school teacher he is. Yahan, in the name of his students and parents and their families, was brave to come to his middle school administrator, board, and superintendent to ask for a ICE policy. On another note, the Atascadero District Teachers Association is asking for a 1% cola cost of living allowance, and the district has responded by offering 0%. At Tascadero's teachers are at the bottom of the pay scale for teachers in our area. On an on the other hand, the superintendence contract guarantees a raise of 4% yearly. We are in favor of the cost of living 1% teachers are asking for. We are against future future

044district cuts to include special education, a critical element of education for students with special needs. Thank you. >> Thank you. U next speaker is Vincent Regalado. >> Hi board members. My name is Vincent Regalado. I am the current technology coordinator of this wonderful district. I promised Morgan that I would be on my best behavior tonight. Um, so I will try my best to do that. Um, one thing I wanted to talk to you guys about is just in case you guys didn't know, um, I am the head coach of Atascadero High School junior varsity softball. Um, we've been putting in a lot of work to make the program better than what it has been in the years past. And so I came come to you guys here tonight um to invite you out to our

045first home game ne on um the 27th of February against Templeton which is a huge game for us because in case you guys didn't know um last year the JV team lost to Templeton 35 to4 in front of everyone um here in Atascadero and I promised those girls along with my assistant coaches that that would not happen and I would like you guys here to come and support us and I also would to invite the wonderful citizens behind us um to come and watch us too because the more support the better. Um I also would like to say that the assistant coach that just was up here talking to you guys is my assistant coach. Her name is Brooke. She works her tail off for not just me but for those kids every day. And

046knowing what is happening right now with the cost of living adjustment obviously is is troubling for me to hear cuz as somebody that works in technology, I know just as well as most about the budgetary issues that this district faces. Um so I would like to say that I truly hope that you guys can all come to an agreement that is satisfying for everybody. Um but yeah, the bottom line is I would like you guys to come out and watch us play against Templeton on the 27th. Thanks guys. >> Thank you. Next speaker is Howard Gillingham. >> Sorry, Hara. Can you push the button, please? >> I'm going to go home and watch the video. Uh, this is a this is this is really something where the district is at the time. uh both up

047there and out here and I need to think about it. Thanks. >> Right. Thank you. And our last speaker is Christine Perini. >> Board President and members of the board. Thank you for taking the opportunity to let me speak tonight. My name is Christine Pyini and I'm here representing teachers and parents who care deeply about the future of Atascadero Unified. I want to share a picture with you. This is my son Lorenzo in his class. He goes to St. Gabriel. But most importantly in this goofy person in the corner over here is his teacher Sarah. They call her Miss Holland. Our teachers help us raise our children. Our teachers help them with discipline, showing compassion and love towards others. They fill in gaps that they're not getting at home. Most importantly, they're building the foundational

048skills that they need to be productive members of our community. I didn't grow up here, but I grew up in a really unhealthy home. And when I went to school, my teachers were my safe space. I needed them to show up every day, maybe more than most kids. I needed to see their faces every day and and feel the stability that they provided me. I know unfortunately that there are probably kids in that same situation here in our own school district. We understand that school funding in California is complex and often insufficient. We understand that budgets require tradeoffs, but we are here because this moment is more than just a percentage. It is about priority priorities and long-term sustainability. Teachers are asking for a modest salary increase. Let me be clear that ask is modest.

049It is about keeping pace even slightly with rising housing, food, and healthcare costs so the people educating our children can afford to remain in this community. This is not just a compensation issue. This is a student success issue. When salaries stagnate while living costs rise, morale suffers. Quality teachers are only quality for Atascadero students if they can afford to come and they can afford to stay. So tonight, we respectfully ask not only for consideration of the modest salary increase, but for partnership and transparency. But we need a clear signal that retaining strong teachers is a priority. A modest salary increase is not simply a line item. It is a statement of value. It says that we see you. We want you here. We believe stability in classrooms matter. Our call to action tonight is this.

050Please work with teachers in this community. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Superintendent report. Okay, thank you. First of all, if I may be able to respond. Um, I took good notes and I want you to know that your concerns are are valid and I I hear and understand what it is that you're saying. I think one of the things that we had tonight was a second round of our board subcommittee task force and uh specific to the the budget and I know what I've been trying to be able to do since coming in is to get a good understanding of where we are and budget really needs to be one of those because it's from that that we're going to be able to ensure the stability of our district from a financial perspective

051as well as the stability of our faculty and staff. You know, one of the things that I had talked about in the very beginning when I first started was, you know, what it would look like. What are those things that we protected and in the very center of it was our faculty and staff. I mean, if you were to ask me who I think I am at the core is I I think of myself as a teacher. I have a heart of a teacher. I started as a teacher. My passion has always been with teachers and it remains that way. And so, you know, in particular, Christine, the things that you brought up, you know, it's our student success that's really the issue. You're asking for partnership and a signal, and you want to be

052able to see a desire for us to be able to work with teachers. And I hear you. I I want the exact same thing. And I I think it's about transparency. I think it's about communication. I think it's about us sitting together and having conversation and I would welcome that and I look I'm trying to be able to get my arms around, you know, what our budget looks like this year and and I want to be able to work together with you to be able to look at how do we move forward, how do we afford that, how do we reallocate resources. Um I mean the the challenges are there. It doesn't mean that we've reached the solution. It means that we're identifying the problem. Now we have to look at reallocation. And so what

053what I'm trying to be able to communicate is a desire for partnership. And I think that's true for every person that's up here with openness and transparency. I've communicated that since I first started and probably one of the most important things that I think we need to be able to have is that sense of community. I know before I started, one of the things that I asked and I continued to ask for my first semester was, you know, what are the key things that we need to be able to change, you know, in this district? What is it that we need to focus in on? And one of the things that consistently came back was the need and importance for us to be a family again that there was at some point early on there

054wasn't that feel. And that's one of the things that really attracts me here and to the people that I've talked to since starting at a task is that sense of a desire for us to be able to get there. I think that's us working together in transparency and openness to be able to say, "Look, this is our money. These are our kids. These are our faculty and staff. H how do we make best use of the resources that we have to be able to really take care of the students and and families that we serve and our faculty and staff that you know are the ones on the front lines being able to make that all happen. So no matter what happens, we have you know the amount of work that's out there and and

055we've got to best decide how do we accomplish that in a successful way that feels more like that sense of family. So the desire for us with this this subcommittee for our budget is specifically that and that's to be able to say let's talk about where we are where do we make cuts that will free up resources to allow us to be able to reallocate. And so what I what I hope that you take away from this conversation is that desire. you know, it's been a a piece for me to be able to come in and really try to get my arms around where are we? And so that's where I see us today. And and so my hope is that we can continue the conversation as, you know, a community where we're able to

056have open conversation and we can make decisions together in the best interest of not only our faculty and staff, but also as it relates to the people that we serve. The other pieces that came up here tonight was the issue of 1445. And I know that it's it is on our board agenda tonight. We have a lot of board policies that need revision. And so those pieces, you know, are on our uh on our agenda tonight and to be uh for first reading. and 1445 is being replaced from 54 uh 543 5if I'm sorry 5145.13 which is the current board policy that's in place and we are updating um with first reading tonight. The other piece that I want to be able to point out is to say thank you to our CAPS, you know,

057group for the support and the hard work and and and the partnership that comes from that and the ways in which you've been impacting our classrooms and our kids. So, thank you for that. I hope that we get the 12 that that we're looking for and that would be fantastic. And I just I want to again just end by saying well I got one other thing but but I want to be able to say thank you for your willingness to be able to come up here and to be open and transparent and to be able to share. I think it's important and so you know I'm sorry that you feel the need to be able to you know not that there's some feeling of a lack of transparency or you know or the need for

058anonymity. You know I'll work on that because I I don't want you to feel that way. I do want us to feel like we have a community where we can openly communicate and engage in partnership. So that's that's the idea. The last thing that I want to be able to share is I want to be able to shout out to um I can my notes an event that happened at a Tascadero High School uh with academic letters on February 11th to be able to be recognized. We honored the 2026 and 2027 list. Um, Veronica's daughter also was one of those and I was impressed by the laundry list of students that were able to achieve a 3.75 GPA and higher and it was phenomenal. We have upwards of 83 and 84 for each of the

059different classes which accounts for some 34% of our student body. And I want to be able to point that out because I think that's fantastic. It shows that our kids are learning and they're growing and they're doing good things. And uh I think sometimes we hear about, you know, the negative pieces and I just want to be able to say thank you and congratulations to our students. And just a shout out, this is quite a laundry list of students and it was put in the the weekly bla news blast eblast I think it's called that went out on Friday. And so thanks to all the people that are making an impact on our students into my report. >> Thank you. Be would you like to start us off with board members report? >> Sure. I'd

060be happy to. >> Um thank you. I wanted to say first say thank you to everyone who came out on this stormy night to speak with us and give you give us your um your input. We can't be everywhere and know everything. So I really value your your comments. Um, I attended the powderpuff game um a couple weeks ago. Congratulations to our senior girls for winning the annual powderpuff face off against the junior girls. Um, former student board representative and current senior class president Melissa Le Tonga was arguably the MVP as running back. Um, all the girls played intensely with many diving up to diving to pull the flags off the ball carrier. Uh, the meet me at the 50 halftime ceremony pulled at my heartstrings. Um the pep band entertained the crowd and cheered

061the teams on and the completed parking lot made it so convenient to attend the game. Um we were just missing our guide cheerleaders for the night. So I hope to see them back next year. Thank you to all the students, coaches, staff, and parents involved for a fun night and for supporting our grad night fundraiser. Um this weekend I checked out the Atascadora High School art showcase at the studios on the park in Paso Robels. We have some truly talented artists. I enjoyed an array of visual art pieces, including a ceramic sculpture titled A Horse with No Name and a pencil drawing of a guinea pig. Uh, thank you to Miss Bean and Miss McQuitty for their work with these students and for organizing this art show. The display will be there until the end

062of February if you would like to check it out and I would highly uh recommend that. Uh, and then lastly uh I just wanted to do a a PSA for our Lighthouse Tesco reality tour. I attended this event three years ago and it's a quite it's quite a powerful event that will help parents and teens to uh to have a conversation about substance abuse prevention. Um it features announcements of scenes and Dr. Libby Matting uh usually facilitates the the discussion and she's amazing. There are two dates, Monday, February 23rd and Monday, March 9th from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Um and it's at the Lake Pavilion. Dinner is provided. So families are asked to RSVP if they plan to attend. So uh you can go to lighthousecadero.org to get more information or to register. >> Bravo

063Pizza is is the dinner. >> Oh, thank you to Bravo Pizza for sponsoring the dinner. Thank you. Thank you. V Jody. >> Yep. >> Okay. Um I wanted to say thank you to the teachers and the parents for turning out and having your voices heard. We always appreciate um you guys coming out. Um I think that uh hearing your voices uh it makes an impact on us and so we do appreciate that. I am working on the budget task force committee with Kendall and um several diverse individuals that are from teachers and admin and some other board trustees and we are working hard um to try to figure out the district's financial issues. So, I want you to know that we are working hard to do that, but appreciate the input on your guys' end.

064And I wanted to thank Laney um Hoppard, if she's still here, um for coming out and letting us know how we um can work together with her. That's important and a big deal that she came out. Um CAPS, thank you so much for what you do. You guys are very important um to our district. And I think that's it for my border. >> Uh I'd like to start off with uh CAP's represent representation. Thank you so much for coming. you have been a big part of this district for some time and um it's it's very rewarding working with our schools and seeing their needs and helping them with certain items. So, thank you very much for coming. Thank you uh for everyone coming uh supporting your teachers, supporting our staff. Uh that's that's what we're

065here for. We're we're supposed to be a community of solving problems and working together. So, thank you for coming this evening. Uh, and let's see. Howard, thank you for coming. I look forward to hearing. I know. >> Keeping quiet. >> No, you're always welcome. Thank you very much. That's all I have for this evening. Thank you. Um, I thank you guys for coming and I'm going to pass it on. >> Yeah, try not to cough. It's correct. Um, ladies, caps, thank you um very much. Uh, you've been a part of this district for a very long time. I have received many CAP grants back in the days um and um was very grateful for those dollars to help with uh field trips or supplies um etc etc. So I know what you guys do um

066is greatly appreciated and I got some ideas. I always have ideas. Um and and everyone else, thank you very much for coming out tonight, especially this rainy, stormy night. Um I really we do appreciate and we are listening and um I too sit on the board of budget the task force with Jody B and myself and a diverse um group of people and um we're brainstorming and that's it. Thank you. And I'll just say ditto. Okay. Uh consent agenda. Does anybody have anything that they would like to pull? >> Tom. >> No, we pulled that. We pulled it. >> Sorry. >> All right. Okay. Consent agenda. Anyone have anything to pull? No. If not, do I have a motion for approval? >> I move that we approve the consent agenda 11A through 11D. >> Second.

067>> Roll call vote. >> Mrs. Taylor, >> yes. >> Mrs. Pierce, >> yes. >> Mrs. President Mcgru Kane. >> I >> Mrs. Counley. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Ellis White. >> Yes. >> Mr. Arnold. >> Yes. >> Thank you. Uh item 13A and B were pulled from the agenda. Uh our next item up is item 16, which is our board policies and first readings. And I believe we have some public comments. Do we want to do those first? did them during public. >> Oh, they did do them. Okay. >> Um, turn it over to you. >> Thank you. Um, so what's going to be interesting is that we're going to be creating an ongoing cycle of board policy reviews. So, we ended up doing a review of our board policies to find out which ones were

068out of date and which ones needed to be updated. And it was overwhelming the percentage that was out of date. Um, we have well over 500 that we anticipate bringing through. It will be in a cycle in which we are creating to be able to bring it through um a process. And so with the formation of a the board subcommittee on board policy um being able to meet and pull them together have conversation about which ones go forward and then each board meeting we will have a first reading as well as a second reading. So because we're starting the cycle now this will be the first first reading and this is our first set. Again, it's identified as the ones that are timesensitive and urgent. And so those are the ones that are coming forward

069and what we're providing in the board packet um is a revision from where we currently are. And then those are the ones that are in black. We add in to those the changed the recommendations from CSBA and then we show what's being deleted off into the to this side. And so what we're doing tonight is to be able to look and identify with first reading, are there any questions or thoughts or concerns that we need to be able to bring back? And then we will then uh have make revisions and have conversations about if there's anything here. And then we will bring them forward to the next meeting for second reading as well vote. And so tonight you see a laundry list of board policies that are being brought forward as first reading. And um

070yes, >> does anybody have any questions or any discussion about any of the policies? I know that was quite a read to get through all of those. Is there any discussion or any thoughts? Everybody good with those for the first reading? Well, I just want to say that Rebecca, um, Tracy and I are on the board policy subcommittee. So, we we with cabinet sat down with cabinet to have a first read through it, >> right? >> And we appreciate you guys going through all that for us. >> Oh, yeah. >> Because just reading them was a lot. So, going through them fine tooth and comb was a lot. >> Um, okay. Well, then I guess there's no action being taken. We're >> We bring it forward for second. >> We'll bring it forward for second

071reading. >> We need to take a motion on that >> Next meeting. Okay. >> Information. >> Perfect. Okay. Uh and then we're going to move on to our study session topics. Um so we will move down to the floor and learn about our LCAP midyear update. Give us two seconds to move. These aren't as conversational. Yes. Anyway, >> good idea, guys. Good idea. I had the same thought. I was like, I'm so comfortable in my chair. Okay, great. All right, EJ, you're up. Do you need a second? >> Just one. Okay, we'll give you a second. >> Thank you, Madam President. So, each year before February 28th, every LEA is to bring an LCAP midyear update to their board as an information item. Um, in our district, we bring information to the board throughout the

072year. So um as we reflect back and we brought information about our ESPback results and our 5x5 grids from the California school dashboard and um so we talk about our LCAP throughout the entire year. Tonight we'll be going through a midyear update that covers some uh required components. So within each um update that the LEA's put out there's four areas that need to be covered. Uh first is any provide any available mid-year outcome data and as I said um much of the data that's in the LCAP we've started to cover already with the board and publicly. So tonight I'm only bringing any newly available data or mid-year comparatives that that have not been able to come to the board yet. So rather than bring information back for a second time, we'll just be covering any

073new information. uh we do a brief goal analysis as a midway check-in uh identifying if there were any substantive changes or differences in our planned actions and then how the actions were implemented. So if there's any changes, we'll go over those for every goal and then um if we're seeing how effective those actions are in making progress towards our three-year LCAP cycle and then discuss any potential changes for this year or the coming year that we might see as we're halfway through the year. Then in the areas of budget, we show any available mid-year expenditures um on the implementation and then discuss if there were any uh again material differences of what was budgeted and what's actually been spent. So tonight we'll go through each of our goals and go through those. Um we'll follow

074this pattern in the slides and the slides are reflective of the full report that um was also in the board backup. And as always, if you have any questions along the way, feel free to interrupt uh so we can have dialogue. So as we look at our first goal, uh again, we are in year two of our three-year plan. So this goal has been in place and continues to be in place. Our our first goal is around our academic achievement, looking at the academic and behavioral goals of our students. And with our LCAP being our supplemental um actions and services, many of the goal actions and services in our goal one are um tied to those tier 2 interventions, those additional supports and interventions that we we see in our schools and classrooms. And so

075as we go through and we get to that, you'll see that in the final slide on our budget where it shows the actions that we are um have in place. as we go through the data. Um, it's an interesting set of data to go through. So, when we presented when I presented the California school dashboards and the 5x5 grids, we talked about our much of the data you're going to see tonight um is reflective of the details and the indicators within our college and career indicators. So, at the time we talked about, you know, we have the college career indicators. has about eight different ways that you can obtain certification as a college meeting your college career indicators. Tonight, we're going to go through some of those. So, as you see these numbers, these are

076the specific ways that students may have met that college career indicator. So, just as a a reminder for our 5x5 grid, we had 42% of our graduates um who were prepared and 21% who were approaching prepared. So those are the two different major qualifiers that we look for um in our graduates. And so as we go through tonight, these are those details specific to those students. So it's not all of our graduates. This much of these first two three slides is specific to how students obtained their college career um qualifications. So it's just that subgroup. So on this first slide um and I I realize that our board members have it each on their devices. I I apologize to our cabinet team that I didn't print out a slide set for you guys. Um, as

077we go through our data, our first indicator is of our college and career completers. We're looking at the percentage of students who met that via an AP advanced placement. So these are students who either scored a three or higher on two AP tests or they completed two AP courses with a C or better or they have com combination of the two where they completed AP courses and pass their AP tests. And so when we look at that um we had 31% of our um college career completers who met the qualification this way. Um we saw an increase in each of our subgroups our our all of our students plus our low-inccome students. um we saw an increase of each of those. This is one of our um indicators that has a lower percentage, only 31

078of those students, but it's because in our district, we have put a much higher p um priority on our dual enrollment courses. This is a conversation we've had over the last few years as we've increased our dual enrollment programs. Uh primarily because our dual enrollment courses are direct transfers to um CSUs and UC's where sometimes the AP courses are at the discretion of the university. So a student can sometimes pass an AP course and the college or university can determine how they want to accept that. So if you took a an AP math course, they might give you math credit, some colleges might give you elective credit for it. Whereas dual enrollment, it is the college course, which is why we put a heavier emphasis on that. So it leads into our second indicator um

079of how you can be a CCI completer is by completing college credit courses. So, our students who um were a college had two or more semesters of a college course uh meet the CCNI qualifier that way. And that was 64% of our students. Um that was a a 5.9% increase from prior years. 65% of our low-income students who qualified did it through their college coursework. So, this has just been a great increase of what we've seen for our students and access uh to coursework that we we continue to see grow in our students. Um the indicator right below that is just a breakdown when they look at the difference between that college core um career indicator if you were prepared or approaching. So, you could be approaching if you completed one semester or prepared if

080you completed two semesters. And when you look at our students, um, you know, 64% of them completed two or more courses and only 6% completed one. So, the majority of our students are taking more than one college course, which is great for our students um, both while they're in school and as they they're looking ahead to their future. Um, continuing with our college career indicators, uh, that are aligned with our goal one, when we look at our students who, um, met that qualification through their A throughG coursework completion. This is a great um, I like this slide and I love that this is our highest indicator of how students qualified at 69% because it's not just A3G course completion. The way that CCI looks at it is you have to not only meet and pass

081with a C or better all your A throughG courses, which is rigorous courses, you need to do that and be a CTE completer or and be have a three or better on your ESPback scores or also take uh college coursework or get a three or higher on AP. So, it goes beyond just taking and passing our local A throughG courses, but you've also been a CT completer, passed an AP course, or taken a college course or scored high on your ESPback results. So, this is a multiple measures. And the fact that it's our highest way that our students meet that CCNI indicator is is great. And so, at 69% of our students, that was a 6.5% increase. And again, we saw an increase in each of our subgroups in that area for our low-income students

082with disabilities, ELEL's, LLESS, homeless, each group um had an increase and met that college career indicator in this way. So, it's a great um thing for our students. Um continuing down those college career indicators um on slide five where it goes into our CTE pathway completion. This is our one college career indicator that had a slight decrease where we decreased 2.8% 8% for all of our students. Um we saw an increase in our low income by 4% but a decrease in our students with disabilities. And this is an interesting one um because just as the the indicator before where it's not just your A throughG course completion but there's additional pieces um when you look at the percentage of students who qualify through CTE pathway completion there's an and also so you have finished your

083your three path your three course pathway for CTE. So introduction and concentration capstone. So you passed that capstone. You need to also have had a three or better on your ESPback andor completed a college course. So what is happening that that we are finding that is lowering our CCNI indicator specific to CTE is the way the state identifies that college course is if in your three course pathway introduction, concentration, capstone. If that capstone course is a college course, you count you can't count it as your secondary indicator. And many of our CT courses are dual enrollment courses. So some of our students who are completing the pathway and are getting college credit because of the way the state identifies it might not make it under this CCNI indicator. And to be honest, we're okay with

084that. Like this is what's better for kids that they're finishing their pathways or getting college credits. We want to do what's best for kids first before we try and say, "Well, let's change that course because then our CCI indicator might go up." We really want to do what's best for kids. So, that's the one of the um hurdles that we see and and honestly, we're okay with that. Um the last indicator on slide five um goes into how many of your students met your A throughG again with a coursework and one of the other indicators as well as a CTE. So 32% of our college career completers had both their A throughG academic components and a CTE pathway which is great indicator of well- balanced students being exposed to a broad range of courses. >>

085Can I ask a question? So on the CCI indicators on for some of those um subgroups the ELEL's LTL EL's homeless it's 100%. from last year like can you explain the 100% does that mean all those students qualified >> all the students who qualified for CCNI who were also in LTEL made it in that way >> okay >> so um >> you could had one >> you could have had three you could had five so this is where the the end the number of those really starts to vary and it's almost hard to put in each of these categories because it varies so much because it's not just the 350 graduates it's just those who are CCNI I and um so the the numbers start to get really low. We run into that with our

086Carissa plane schools, our Crestston schools even and then depending on the the group that's being measured. >> Um and can you explain like why why are we seeing these inc like wonderful increases in some of these groups? So what are we doing differently this year? >> And so this would be end of last year. And so I think what we've what I know what we've seen at the high school is over the last four and five years um an increased emphasis on dual enrollment opportunities A throughG coursework. I was going to talk about it in one of our next slides where we have increased um to almost every course being an A throughG completer course at that level of rigor. So outside of PE intervention courses um special education courses every other course we offer

087is now an A throughG course. So we've really tried to broaden the the range of what we offer students so that more kids have access to it. So in the past if you go back a few years more a student who was in an EL class that class might not have counted for English or might be might not be A throughG but by increasing the rigor of that course submitting it to the UC pathways um we're able to get that course now A throughG and so it's expanding opportunities instead of restricting students. So some of what you're seeing is the culmination of work that's happened over the few years. So these students took four years to to get that. So we should continue to see those increases. >> Thank you. >> And then our last

088um set of data for um goal one uh goes into um as we talked about we we showed our aspect results um earlier this year. One of the additional measurements that the state looks at is um if they if you qualify for the EE which is the um early early advanced placement. So this um determines whether as you go into college um if you need to take an introductory level course or not. And so they the what the state looks at is did you not only did you get a three if you got a three or above on your English language arts or math and you don't you're not required to take an intro course when you transfer to college. But then they also have a conditionally ready so that if you got a two

089on math or ELA section of it, you can take coursework to offset that. So, if you got below a three on your ESPback, your 11th grade year, but then as a senior you took math analysis, pre-calc um pre-calculus or higher, then that offsets. So, so there's multiple ways to get the EAP ready. Um and here again, we saw an increase in each of our subgroups in our students specifically in um ELA and math for both subjects uh with, you know, a 2% increase in ELA and a 7% increase in math. Um, so we're seeing that as we're as we talked about students getting access to those higher level courses being more successful. When we looked at our ASPback results, the high school in particular had large increases in those results. So, um, we're seeing that

090continued growth uh, in each of these areas. Um, the one area, our English laner English learner reclassification rate is one that we're we've seen be flat over the last few years. So if we go back to 22 23 our reclassification rate was um 4.7 then two years ago 4.5 and last year 4.1. And as we look at um what it takes to be reclassified as a fluent English speaker um there's two pieces. One is there's a specific ELPAC assessment that our students take for English language um proficiency examination. And so you have to get a four on that overall. So it goes over reading, writing, listening. So if you score an overall four, then you've shown that you have the English language development, English fluency in those areas. Then there's the academic side. So it

091gets um balanced out with you also have to be perform at or grade level on your ESPback. So get a three or four. What we're finding is we have students who um will pass the LPAC, but then they haven't got that three or four in the SBA. We have some kids who've passed the SPback with a three or four and didn't pass the LPAC. And so we've had lots of conversations with kids about the importance of those two tests and how they go together because some of our kids who are scoring well on the SPACK are like, "Why am I still taking the LPAC?" Well, if you get a four on this and you continue to do well, you won't have to take those anymore. You'll be reclassified. So, we're continuing to work with that.

092The middle school's been a great example of that where they brought in each student, had conversations about that, did goal setting with them, did interventions specifically targeted them. they've targeted towards those students and they've had a high um significant increase in their percentage of redes reclassified students. So something we continue to work on. It has been flat um and really is trying to balance out that academic side for our English learners. And then the last indicator for goal one to come to the board that you haven't seen is really about um offering that broad course of study. And so this is the one that um thank you V for asking that question earlier. We've really tried to increase um our offerings, the level of rigor to be have our courses meet the A3G requirements. We're

093increasing our pathways through patient care and ornamental horiculture. Um we did drop one AP course over the last few years um where we um had a computer science class that we didn't we no longer offer. It just it had seven kids in it. We weren't haven't seen a lot of kids go through that and so that was when we did drop. But as we saw looking at the rest of the college career indicators, we have students in each of our subgroups finding success through multiple ways. So it's it's I like it's an interesting set of data to bring back because it is so specific, but I like to be able to touch on those because a month or two ago when we talked about the 5x5 grids and the California school dashboard results, we can

094say our kids are meeting the college career indicators and we saw an increase of half a percent in that. I'd like to be able to go through and see where we're seeing it. So to see in that hardest one I think to get where you pass your A3G courses and you do one of those others is to for to be our highest indicator really is um something that reflects well on our our students and our staff. So as we continue looking through the required pieces to report on um that is our available data for goal one that is is new to the board that hasn't been brought to you. As we look at our goal analysis, um all of our actions and services have been implemented as intended with no substantive differences. Uh again, um

095we we've seen an increase in our fastbridge assessments and our ESPback results, which we've talked about. Um we've saw tonight we talked about increases we've seen in our A throughG, CTE, AP, visual access to rigorous courses. Um and so we're we're seeing a um impact of the interventions that are in place when we look at are there potential changes for this year coming up. We want to continue this year with our targeted interventions, our walk to learn, our intervention classes, our EL supports. Um, as we start to look at potential adjustments for this year or going into the future year, um, we really want to intensify and look at the review of our specific actions as we address our structural budget constraints. Um, there's lots of conversations, tonight included, about our budget. And as we

096do that, we want to really look at how are we looking at the supports that are provided through LCAP and making sure that we continue those that are directly targeted to students. And so as we go through the rest of this year and planning for next year, that's the review that we'll be doing within our goal one. If there are if we're looking to make any adjustments, we want to continue the ones that are most tightly aligned and touching our students uh with intervention. As we look towards next year, uh we really want to provide our direct services to those unduplicated students like we're talking about and then start to prioritize our tier one. We've we've had conversations with the board this year. We're seeing that need. Many of our services here are almost at

097that tier 2 level. So now do we how do we continue to get direct services to our students and include that tier one level? We're we're finding some importance there. So in our L our LCAP, if we have supplemental ways to start to adjust that, that will help our academic achievement, that's something that we want to look into for next year. Also, um the last required component for goal one is our budget. Um, so far this year, all of our budgets, um, budgeted actions for services have been implemented as intended. There's been a few differences with staffing. Um, most of our, as you look at the personnel versus non-personnel column, almost all of our funds go towards personnel because we're providing additional supports and resources to students. And as we've seen throughout the year, we've

098we've hired people at different times. We've we've had vacancies that might have stayed open. um as we brought new people in. So everything's been implemented as intended. If there's been any variance, it's it's because of just some of those different hiring pieces, but nothing that is impacting um goal one itself overall. So I'm going to pause. Goal one's our biggest um that's that pattern of going through and were there any implementation differences? What's the new data that you have? Do you see effectiveness? And do you have any budget? Um, we'll follow that same pattern for goals two, three, and four. But before we move on, I want to take a a quick break. I'm going to take a drink of water and give you a chance for any questions on goal one. >> I'll give

099you a question, >> please. our um so looks like our biggest FTE that we have in our ELCAT plan under goal one um is with our MTSS targeted intervention staffing um we have two items there with two different amounts and so that would be our we have our different levels of intervention are those at which level are those intervention staffing >> all at tier 2 and the TK through 12 so much of our walk to learn so this is where you'll see additional certificated staff, instructional aids that are providing the small group, um some of our intervention coordinators who are making the groups, even some of our special ed staff who's providing some of those. So, pretty much anywhere where you think of an extra intervention happening, this is where we have intervention teachers at

100the middle school and high school who are providing courses. All of those additional staff for that tier 2 level, most of them are covered in that 24.78 um staff there. And so this is for level two and level three interventions >> mostly two. Once we get to three that's predominantly special ed which um >> isn't covered in no cap. >> Sure. Is when we had our um round table um with our special education and she was talking about our MTSS and and getting more of those interventions earlier in time. That's not included in that. That's not these people are not doing that right now. Wow, that's what we're that's what I was alluding to for what we're looking towards next year is how do we get that tier one? So, it's happening in the classroom,

101right? >> And that's a diff that's an interesting piece in LCAP >> because LCAP's supplemental. So, the the idea of supplemental funding in LCAP is if that went away, your school would still maintain. So, so Mrs. Darnell, the third grade teacher, she's going to remain no matter what, right? >> But that's where tier one is happening. So when we look at how do we support tier one, is it through additional staff? Is it through additional training, which I'll talk about under goal three? Is it under additional programs? How do we get better information to our teachers? That's where we look at how do we start to shift those supplemental pieces down to tier one that's happening in the classroom. >> So then if they're tier one, then they do they fall out of LCAP? >>

102Nope. There's ways that we can blend both. That's what we're looking into. >> Okay, great. Thanks. >> Great question. Goal two is our goal on climate and culture. This is our our biggest actions here are around our um character education with leader and me and PBIS work that we're doing. Um as we go through will follow the same pattern. So we don't have a lot of new data. Um most of the data here we've we've talked about or presented when we talked about our suspension rates. Um and I'll allude to that in our next slide. The only new data we really have um came from CalPADS um and data quest and it's some interesting two interesting data pieces. So the first data piece talks about middle school and high school dropout rates and these are

103calculated over a five-year cohort for high school and a two or three year for middle school. Our middle school dropout rate is zero. High school dropout rate is gone from 8.9 to 6.0 0 to 7.5 fluctuates um and is really one of the hardest pieces to track um as we think about you know our our high school isn't huge and for the most part we know our kids and we know students that would be a traditional dropout that we think the way that data and cowpads calculates a dropout is if they um if they stop attending and so they look at that that the student wasn't transferred or picked up by another school district. And so if a student stopped attendance, they would be considered a dropout. What we have found in our conversations and

104our data analysis, as we talked with Calpads, we've gone to different data trainings. What has happened the most um as we've talked to other districts is really how Cal now that Calpads and all of our student information systems talk to each other. So there's uploads every night between Aries and Calpads is um when a student just doesn't get picked up. They might leave a district and go to a private school or the family does a homechool private school affidavit or most often when it happens is when they move out of state because those other states don't have to communicate with our California systems. And so when a student doesn't get picked up in one of those areas, they would be considered a dropout. I think for us, we think of dropout where little EJ chose

105not to go to school and isn't going to school anymore, but we know little EJ and we can't convince him to come back. He's dropped out. What we're finding is most of the times when we're looking at dropouts, there's either a cowpads error or they've moved out of state or sometimes it's a a private home school affidavit where they're just not getting picked back up by the system. So, this is a tough one to find actions to provide resources to students to make improvements. Really, we're trying to do the best we can working with um our tech department um to make sure we get our data clean as possible. >> Right. So, do we know what our actuals are? >> It it's we're >> like if if CalPads is saying we're at 7 and a

106half%, what is our actuals? Do we track that? Do we have a way of tracking that? And so, you know, I just wanted to make sure that we're looking at accurate facts and not just like, well, we know in the past it's this has happened, but like do we actually have 7% of our high school dropping out? >> No. And that's the part we're trying to clean up and find through that information is is and it's hard to find out because a student might say and a family might say we're moving out of state and we hold on to that information and and to find out the exact difference, we would have to find out. Yes, this because two things might happen. So the the if another school, we're moving to Arizona, Texas. If another

107school doesn't request that student's information, then we still hold on to it. That would be a student where we might think like they might have dropped out and just told us they were moving out of state. What we would have to do is we send that information, identify who these kids are, go back, try and identify, did they move to another state, did we send the information and track that down. That's we we're try, we'd have to really drill down. We're working on that. We have not been able to get that clear piece yet. And a lot of it is because of the errors within Calpads. So we don't have those exact numbers working on it, looking into it. We absolutely are. >> So are sorry. >> Do you know who the students are? >>

108I mean when >> Yeah, they should have a list. >> I mean it has a name of some so and so because you're looking at 7.5%. >> I was just doing the math less than what 12. >> That's 20. Well, what's our class this year? 300. >> Usually about 350 is a good average. >> 350. So that's probably 25 students >> going back over the the part where it becomes difficult is going back over the five-year cohort to find out which kid because it could be a student from five years ago that was that and so we have to go back was it that student go back each year and identify it. So not impossible we just of the areas we're cleaning up this is one of them we're working on. >> Okay. Okay. >>

109And then the last piece under goal two is expulsion rate which our ours is incredibly low. we're we're below we're at, you know, 0.1% of our students expelled. Um so we've maintained that low percentage. So in goal two, again, not a lot of new information. Um in our goal analysis, uh again, our actions were all implemented as intended with no substantive differences or challenges. uh as as we shared when we talked about the dashboards um in the school yeartoyear comparison from 23 24 to 24 25 we had a a 0.7% increase in suspensions but as I discussed uh during that presentation our year-to-ate comparisons when we looked um first semester last year to first semester of this year we already have a 24% decrease overall with a 26% 26.3% decrease for eels and a 34%

110% decrease for students with disabilities. So, we're seeing great improvements already um in our local information. And then again, our expulsions are are still below 0.1%. Um our chronic absenteeism continues to to remain um an area that we're working on. Our our staff and students or I mean our staff across our different grades spans are doing great work on that. um we saw a slight increase but uh we saw improvements uh with a few subre uh subgroups with foster homeless long-term eels. So as we look at the things we want to continue this year and potential adjustments uh this year we definitely want to continue our our PBIS and our leader and me and our SRO contract which is in our goal too. um potential adjustments um won't be two act adjustments to our actions

111um in our PBIS work. We've partnered with um St. Louis County Office of Education and they have helped each of our school teams and guided them and really our next step for this year is with the work they've done with each school team is bringing that information together as a district coming up with now our district overall piece since everybody's doing that same work. And then as we look into next year, we want to just continue to institutionalize the things we're doing at all three tiers of that MTS system. So our our schools have done great work on our classrooms. They're building their tier 2 and they're going into their tier three strategies in behaviors. We're seeing those improvements. We just want to keep doing that work um in goal two as we go into

112the last year of this LCAP cycle. EJ, how do we um we've had a significant investment in later in me, we're in year three now. >> How are we what kind of data are we using to see the effectiveness of that program? >> So part of it is that suspension data. Um our school sites also look at minors, so minor incidences that come up. And then there's a assessment and survey that goes out. one is a TFI and that's specific to PBIS and then there's the MRA that's specific to leader and me and so in that it looks at the implementation of that and the effectiveness of that. So our schools do that each year and much of that gets reported out um in the spring uh from a district lens in our LCAP and

113so then that shows at our schools is it being implemented well is it being effective what's the evidence the MRA goes through that and then when it comes specific to climate culture the pieces that we report out on have to a lot to do with that our suspension's going down um what other interventions are we putting into place and so we added some indicators that will have results at the end of the year where we look at not only suspensions go down, but are we looking at the number of students who received an alternative to suspension instead of suspension because that's part of building these systems. And so we did put in measurement pieces for that that will have at the end of the year. >> And are teachers and staff uh they're also getting

114these questionnaires to see what is the impact in the classroom. >> Yes. So those surveys go to students, staff and parents. um the school each school uses those MRA results actually for their single school plans for their SIPAS and so when when those come in the spring you'll see many of our school goals specific to the MRA and seeing improvements in there >> would you say just overall is it things going the right direction >> definitely I think especially at our elementary schools um where a lot of the lessons the daily lessons are built really well and integrated into what happens regularly. So, I've been in kindergarten classes and heard the most amazing conversations where the kids are talking about, yep, this is um the habit for this week and this is how I'm modeling

115that. Um tomorrow at San Bonito, there's a showcase of that school where other schools are coming around to see the great things that they're doing. Elementary school specifically going really well. Middle school has it implemented into their um advisory period. there. They um also have it built into their um things they do around campus, their recognitions um each week on how they recognize students gets harder at the high school level. And so I think that's where it's becau and and and leader and me is not shy about this. That is always the hardest spot. So um I know Mrs. Vodka has worked with the leader and me team of how to implement at the high school. the one of the benefits in um when the board really decided like hey we were going to do

116a phase roll out and the board said no we want everybody to do this all at once if it's good for everybody let's do it for everyone. One of the pieces that's going to have that nice impact when the students get to high school is they will have heard all those lessons. They will have learned all that information. High school is really where you need to apply that now. And so that's the the track that Mrs. Baka is working on there to where they will have um instead of having to do the daily instruction, they do um micro units on each of these, they're building them into freshman health class, leadership class, and then they're doing lighthouse teams that will go do the application of that. And so, um they see that um implementation slightly

117different than at an elementary school where all the teachers are going over it. But I think districtwide looking at that progression and release of control so that the students become the doers of it at the high school level is is really good. >> But the teachers need to have the language >> because it won't make it won't make any sense. You have the kids have gone through elementary, middle school, come up to the high school using the language and you have high school teachers. You know >> I know Mrs. B is working on that. I was actually I sat in on her last meeting with her um >> um leader and me person for their school and they did talk about and she was um going over how they do talk about that. They use

118that language regularly across the campus. It's just not the direct lessons to the students but she talked about the staff using >> right because it's it's it's the language. I mean the kids already know what when they get to the middle school they already know it because they've been practicing especially you know that uh s sand and >> Bonito. >> I can't think of the teacher that um that we keep going to see her class. So, those kids roll over. They come into the middle school and they're all just talking about this and this and just going, "Yeah, I know where you came from." Yeah. >> Um >> and it's just the language that uh uh that the high school has to understand >> uh um to get on board because the kids are already

119there. But the kids will break down >> if teachers don't understand. >> Yes. >> Yep. And I like I said, I I I know she was talking about that during her last meeting and how they're doing that. >> And so then looking at the budget for goal two, again, all funds were budgeted and used as intended. Um much of it goes around those two areas. like there's we provide additional counseling and so that's where you see about half of that has occurred and then the climate culture um program coordinator and PBIS is that leader in me PBIS and then our district support for that and our school resource officer >> who's the coordinator is oh each school has a coordinator >> no so originally when um we were implementing this we had one coordinator who

120was going to help with that across the district um that was Mrs. is our game when she originally came. And then when um she took the role and um applied for and um was and earned the role for assistant soup for human resources, we looked at those duties and shifted them to our two directors. And so they go out and work with the teams and work with a leader in me. So between um Colleen Matson and Josh Aston, they took that role on to help our sites with that. Um, so they've continued that on, but much of that cost is our leader and me and our county support for our PBIS and then our school resource officer. So then going into goal three, our goal three is um one specific broad goal around professional development.

121Our professional development um covers all of our areas. our our state standards, our curriculum implementation in instructional strategies, English language development, additional PBIS support. And so really, it is a broad goal of how we're able to support our teachers to best support our students. Um looking at new data around this um uh there's one piece of new data and one midcycle data. And so, um, with that blue plus sign, it talks about, um, the new data for 2526, um, really has to do with our Williams, um, audit and review. And so, um, our that happens in the fall. Uh, we did have 100% of our students have access to standards align instructional materials, no facility complaints, um, or instructional um, credential complaints. So, that is updated information. And then the midcycle information here is um

122with our professional development satisfaction. And so when we provide professional development to our teachers across our district, at the end of each one of those sessions, we have a survey for the teachers to complete on their satisfaction of that professional development that was provided and it's on a fivepoint liyker scale. And so far halfway through the year, um our results have gleaned a 4.55 satisfaction. Uh it's a midcycle because we're still giving PD, but we'll have a final at the end of the year. Uh but that is a nice increase uh from our prior years. Looking at our um goal analysis, uh all our actions were implemented with no substances, differences, or challenges. Uh again, we've had positive responses as I just noted with our midcycle um of a 4.5. Uh things we want to

123continue this year is focusing our PD on curriculum climate and culture as we adjust this year and we we've started this adjustment already is pride starting to provide professional development on more rigorous assessments. And so we've talked as a board in the past where we have our fastbridge assessments which measure um really those um foundational skills. And so we want to start utilizing um assessments that are more aligned to the standards and the level of rigor of our ESPback assessments. And so we are starting to um work with and support teachers to utilize within the ESPback system, the CASP system. There's the ESBAC assessment that students take at the end of the year and it's a multi-our multi-day test. They have shorter versions of that um three levels. They have one called an which is

124a almost the same version of that. It's a pretty long um and strenuous for students. They have a um IAB which is an interim assessment block which takes a a group of standards and gives you a few questions around those group of standards. And then they have FIABS a focused interim assessment block which would say here is an assessment on multiplication of fractions which is great because that's something that I will have just taught in my class. It's one of our California standards. Now I can take this FIAB free assessment also that's at the level of rigor which is the expectation of the ESPback at the end of the year and start to utilize that to measure how are our kids doing on something I just taught. So we're starting to introduce those to our

125teachers. Uh we we did professional devel Mrs. Madson did professional development on that with our elementary and Mr. Aston is um working on our secondary in those core subjects that offer those. So that's part of the adjustment we're starting to make is to start to look at those use our professional development opportunities to start to take advantage of some of those assessments that are available that are at a higher level of rigor as we look towards next year. And we alluded to this earlier, we really want to look at that PD and how are we utilizing that PD to support our MTSS at that tier one academic instruction intervention curriculum and assessment level. That's that's an area we really want to work on going into next year. Um and this is an area specifically around

126professional development that can help that in that classroom area. >> Question. >> Yes ma'am. >> So um are we getting rid of the fastbridge testing because we have this uh the SPAC >> the IABS and the FABS. >> Yes. >> They measure two different pieces but that is definitely one of the conversations that we want to look at. So, FastFridge does provide us information as a screener identifying students who need intervention in foundational skills, but if a student has shown proficiency multiple times, do we need to keep assessing them? So, these are conversations we're looking to have with our leaders and our staff. And then, how do we use this other one? So, we've talked about surface deep and transfer. If fast bridge is giving us that surface knowledge information, how do we also use

127IABS, FABS for that deepen transfer? So they wouldn't be a direct replacement because they measure two things. But as we're looking at our resources, how are we narrowing down and utilizing the right way? If FastBridge has FastBridge has a cost for all the students who take it. If we decide to narrow down, that could be a cost reduction because we're only giving it to students the primary grades who might need that or students who continue to need that level intervention should be something that we consider and talk about. So we're starting those conversations. Great question. our last goal. Oh, so yes, for our budget for goal three, um everything has been implemented as intended. No major material differences. And then for goal four, um goal four is a focused goal. It is specific to Caresa

128Plains. Um and this is Caresa Plains qualified in the eyes of the state as an equity multiplier school. So any school um within a district and almost every district has at least one. The way the state set it up, they said everyone gets one pretty much. Um to qualify as an equity multiplier, if you qualify as a equity multiplier, you have to have a specific goal and address it in the LCAP. In order to qualify um it's the school has to have 70% or higher of their students who are low income and then 25% or high of or higher of mobility. I'm going to describe mobility afterwards. So um first um Karesa Plains their low income percentage is 90%. So they're over that. But the high mobility um when this first came out, people thought

129like immigrant students where immigrant students travel from school to school or they leave. Mobility is defined by the state of a student who did not finish that school year in that school. So when we look at Karesa Plains last year, they you know they have 19 students. It didn't fluctuate. They had 19 students pretty much throughout the year, but they had a family or two who left and then others that came in. So, while their enrollment stayed somewhat flat, it's not hard for them at 19 students to have 25% move out. It's it's like maybe two families moved and two families moved in. And so, they hit that mobility percentage. And so when you qualify as an equity multiplier school, you you have additional state funding specific to that. Um because of their size, Karisa

130Plains qualifies for the lowest amount, which is about $50,000. And so when we looked at and talked with the school and the comm the staff and the community as their needs, it really came down to how are we providing additional interventions and small groupoup instructions at that school similar that we do at other schools. And so that's what um our goal for it was about. Um, we don't have any official new data. We just have um some FastBridge results. These aren't the official FastBridge results that we'll see at the end of the year. What these results are are our fall assessments compared to where the students left off in the spring. In the LCAP, we measure spring to spring, but to look at and give updated information now, um we pulled our fall results to

131compare, um against the spring, and we see an increase across our English language arts, uh 4.7% for all students, 12 for low income. Our students with disabilities went down, um but our English learners went up. In our math, we did see a drop. And so we we we are eager to see how those results go for our winter and spring results. Um it is promising to see especially in English language arts an increase from where students started the school year compared to where they left. So we anticipate those to increase and we know the schools um has reviewed these results and is looking at their math results. Also as we um look at the goal analysis the actions were implemented as intended. there was no major differences or challenges. Uh again, we've seen improvements um

132in our ELA and math scores. Um in our ELA each year for FastBridge overall in math, we did see a drop this year. We've seen an increase compared to the last two years when equity multiplier started last year and this year. Um so that we have seen an increase from prior to not having the equity multiplier support. Um we've seen an increase in our ESPbacker results um at Karesa Plains as well. So when we think about the actions and services provided by the school, we want to continue that work, the small group intervention that's happened for the rest of this year. And then as we go into next year, similar as our other sites, how do we continue to adjust those interventions to include that deep and transfer learning as well so that we're sure

133to see that um growth in the ESPback continue to happen. Um budgetarily for goal 4, uh again it's $50,000. All the bud funds were budgeted uh they were implemented as intended and um we see those continuing without interruption for this year. So those are our four goals and the required areas that um we were supposed to update on as we continue to move forward um to prepare our LCAP. Again, we're at the end of year two. Um we don't see major changes going into the final year of year three. Um, our district's doing a lot of work and as we I think the timing works out really well because this year we'll be writing to continue and close out year three next year and we'll also be going through strategic planning, gathering additional information and

134being able to apply that to a new LCAP cycle. The timing works out really well. Um, so we between now and the end of this year, we'll continue to review our local data, gather input from our educational partners, review our progress, bring that information back to the board, and then present a final LCAP draft in June. >> Does anybody have any questions? >> Mr. Um, >> Mike, >> uh, so all of the nuts and the bolts that were put into this for the LCAP and putting all of this in together for the last Well, we're starting our third. This is the third. >> Well, we're finishing year two of this LCAP cycle. We've had the LCAP. Um, this is our 10th year with an LCAP. >> The 10th year. Yeah. But but your reports here

135that you presented tonight and everything, are you feeling like finally because I know it was such a challenge after co implementing all of this getting this all together. Do you feel as a whole districtwide that our staff because Tracy mentioned that the students understand the language >> up until the high school, but our staff is catching on and you know are they becoming more confident in in uh pushing forward with this with all of these plans and um have a better understanding of what we're trying to do here. I think the thing I like about especially the LCAP cycle we're in now like it for the first few years and and Mrs. Kunley, you'll remember this probably the more than anyone like it changed every year. They change the template. They change the requirements. They

136change how they measure. And so it was it was shooting for a moving target all the time. In this three-year cycle, I I like the consistency to be able to continue to work forward in key areas. And so for our goals, specifically our three goals again, equity multiplier separate just for Karesa Plains to have a goal around academics, a goal around climate and culture, and then a goal with PD to support those, I think has been a good balance. I think our staff has, if we were, as we go through each of these pieces and we talk about the additional staff and interventions for goal one, like they see it. They know who those extra people are and the small groups interventions that they provide. looking at goal two, you walk on an elementary campus,

137we're seeing those things happening. We're seeing it happen up to the middle school and then how they apply that at the high school. I think people see those things happening. And then goal three around PD, we're seeing um um positive results in our surveys. And so that means that the teachers like it and that they're applying it to what they do. So I think alto together it's coming together well. I think the as we continue into our last year and the years after, it really comes down to we've looked at these extra pieces. How do we now, and we've talked about this as a as a board and and many conversations as a cabinet and with our leadership teams, how do we get to that tier one piece? If we're doing these extra pieces, how

138do we really get to what's happening in the classroom? and how do we prioritize services directly to our students and our and our staff most directly and connected to our students as we're looking at those budgetary constraints. So, I think that'll be that piece. I think structurally it's good. And then how do we continue to fine-tune it towards that need of tier one and how do we really fine-tune and and maybe move away from some centralized services to direct services as we look at those budget constraints. So, I think we're in a good spot to continue to do that work. And timing wise, again, with where our district and where it's going, I think it it matches well. >> I just curious because I know that first people aren't so Yeah. >> Any other questions?

139>> Um, one question. So, since we're looking at we're in the budget um task force, the funds in LCAP, are they flexible to help us with our budget issues or are they because they're written in a plan, they're pretty much static, like these are the things we have to use the LCAP funding for? >> That's a great question, but not the easiest answer. Um things that remain the same would be the goals we're working towards, how we measure them, the metrics. So those pieces remain the same, the actions and services that we employ to reach those is where we have flexibility. Um as we look at those, you have to look at first what is that identified need? What's the identified pupil group that has that need? And then what are the researchbased strategies that

140are best matched to meet that need is the way the LCAP looks at it. So how you employ those is the discretion of the district. So if we were to make an adjustment in the action of services we provide, if we're still working towards that same goal, we have fluidity to do that. Um I think the biggest so that's the that's the that's the official answer. I think one of the things that is difficult is um prelfcap when categorical funds were just categorical districts received funds for English learners for foster homeless for fill in the blank and we would talk about it as if you had a grocery list and you had a certain amount of money for your dairy products and your meat products and your vegetable products and whether your meat product was

141a fish or a protein or poultry or whatever it was. You can make that choice as long as it fit in there and you would provide services or actions that just fit into those categories. The change with LCAP is what's the identified need? What's the unduplicated pupil group that this action is principally directed towards and what's a researchbased strategy that matches that. So I think the when we get into tough budget times sometimes there's that we go back to that prior thinking. It's like well we have English I'll just say as an example we have English learners. this is something that could help English learners, let's just do that. Or we try and fit things into the categories. We just as long as we which is the old way of thinking. But we have goals

142that we're working towards which are great goals. Academic climate culture and professional development those are there's a lot that can go in there. How we identify the need with the unduplicated people group and the researchbased strategies to support it. If those are there, we just have to pick the most effective ones and prioritize those. So there some of the things we're looking at potentially could be some of those do we decentralize services. Um there was a question about the um under PBIS who those program coordinators were that would be a centralized service where as a district we're providing services across and we might try and prioritize a direct service to students. Is there a service that is more directly impacting students that is a higher priority than a centralized? So that's where we would want

143to review and look at those so that we're working towards the same goal. We're meeting that same need, but we're doing it in the most effective way that has the highest impact on our students. >> Thank you for that explanation. >> Any other questions? >> Thank you, EJ. Appreciate it. Okay, our next topic is talking about our CSBA annual education conference from 2025. We went in December up to Sacramento and had a very educational time learning from others. No point in recreating the wheel when you can look what other people are doing successfully in other districts. And um so I think our point tonight was to come together and talk about what we learned. And Dr. Bennett, do you want to tell a little bit more? So trustees, we've had conversations, as you know, about

144uh the desire for us to be able to have open conversation collectively post um our uh our time in Sacramento um at CSBA to ensure that the information that we learned and gathered from it. We thought that it would be a good idea for each one to take a few minutes, you know, I'd say, and be able to share a little bit about like your experience, what things you went to, what you took away from it, and then things that we might want to actually put into actionable types of items. I mean, what's the so what from it? Um, and so I'm I'm not really sure how we want to do it, whether we do it just popcorn style or kind of go around the the way. and and if we can just share a

145bit about um about the conver about the uh the sessions that we went to and the things that we all gathered and took away from it. So unless anybody else has other input in terms of things specific that you're interested in being able to to gain from that, that was the conversation that we had leading up. >> Thank you. Uh do you want to go first? >> Okay. Um, as this group knows, um, I liked, um, policies. Um, I went and and concentrated on policies because I knew that we were not doing something something was missing. And I kept on bringing it up and couldn't figure out what until we I sat down with my partner over there and realized uh you know we had the webs quarterly web um C CSBA uh webinars and

146learning that policies were very important. that that was one of our one of the biggest jobs that we needed to do besides keeping our the district financially solvent and hiring a superintendent. um but policies and we were we really found out that we were behind and how far behind we were um uh I'm glad that we were able and at our January uh meeting come up with a subcommittee and I sit on that subcommittee because I believe in in what we're doing and we have a lot of work ahead of us but I know we can do it. I have faith in us. Um, and so that's what I learned. I learned that policies was one of the major jobs of trustees and that um um besides learning, you know, learning as you did as

147you sit sit up here that you can't let that go by. So, thank you very much and thank you. >> Thank you for keeping us in line. >> Oh, yes. >> All right. All right. Well, I will go next. Um, anybody who has knows me a little bit up here knows what I concentrated on at the CSBA conference, and it was it was college, career, and beyond. Not just CTE, but really concentrating on how are we preparing our children for their future. Um, that is my passion. That is why I chose to be on the board was because, um, that's something I feel strongly about. So, um, a couple of my takeaways from that in the summary was, um, watching other districts and learning, not really, of course, I don't know the ins and outs,

148but hearing how they were creative and how they have served their students well and preparing them for their future. So, um, some of the things that they talked about was expanding college and career exposure. Um so they have workshops um that explored how districts were increasing student access to dual or concurrent enrollment which I know we're doing well at. Um CTE programs um how they implemented real work real world work experiences internships linking classroom learning with post-secary options. Um, one of the things I was really impressed that seemed to be pretty consistent across all of the workshops was how they used data to drive their decisions. Um, which I think is really important. Um, they had purposeful that was I could underline this a thousand times. Everything they do is purposeful. They don't just fall

149into it. Um, they have informed pathways and offerings. Um, it's based on local information. What is the viability of what they're offering? what is the interest? They take all these different pieces of data to help design their programs and their offerings to their students. Um how they've um worked in these challenging times of funding and how they've aligned their funding and their local plans and the different ways they've been able to um get partnerships with um you know colleges and local business and all these different groups to really be able to fun help fund these things and how they were able to get creative with that. One of the things that I really liked was um how a lot of them started their kids exploring in K8 um and basically exposing their children to a

150plethora of different careers um through K8 so that way they can kind of like they said like kick the tires um and get some exposure so that way by the time they get into middle school or we have the wheel or we have the high school CTE programs that they could really know what their interested in and that way then you have more CTE pathway completers because they already know what they want to be into. Um so some of their goals we're talking about you know creating living wage careers um college cert certifications where they can walk away with high school with some job skills if that's where they want to go. Um, so anyway, so um I feel very passionate about this and I spent a lot of time and have a lot of

151um and it's not I know it's not our our job as a board member to to do this but I would like to have more conversation about it. Um so we may potentially direct our wonderful staff to um to look into these things. >> That's it. So, this was my third year attending the CSBA convention, and every year I come out feeling just um inspired and um grateful for the the opportunity to learn and to try to do my job better. Um this year, my focus was on finance and budgets. Um, budget concerns and reductions were a very common topic at CSPA. And I learned that the role of the trustee is to give the superintendent and staff a list of priorities and give them then give staff room to come back with a plan

152to support the outcomes that we want. Um, it requires that we have trust. It requires that we as trustees analyze and ask questions about how staff got to their recommendations. It requires us to be constructively challen challenge to constructively challenge uh to be thought partners as Dr. Bennett likes to use that term. Um disagreement is necessary but we need to be together and indivisible by a common shared value. Um we can disagree on how but not why. Um we need to ensure the equitable and efficient allocation of resources. And then finally we need to decide. We need to make the right decisions to ensure the strong and sustainable finances in support of our district priorities. Uh, one really good workshop I attended was called budgets, bargaining, and boards. It's all about the Benjamins. And this

153featured a superintendent from the San Ramon Valley Unified School District um who talked about their process in the 2425 school um school year to implement $24 million in budget reductions after already reducing 13.5 million in the previous 10 months. Um so this superintendent was had just been hired and inherited this. Um San San Ramon Valley Unified has 30,000 students and 35 schools. They're recognized for high academic performance and among are among is among the top ranking uh district in California. So eight in the state and third in North um Northern California. Um so as I mentioned the superintendent got hired in July of 2024 and immediately had to make further reductions. Uh San Ramon Valley Unified went through a comprehensive process that included input from budget advisory committee, community surveys, multiple town hall meetings. Um

154and then there was lots of communications from communications out from the superintendent including just FAQ and then like all these pages and pages of how the budget is broken down, um reductions and so forth. Um so in the end the board unanimously approved $26 million in reduction to make sure that they could make make their target of 24 million and not have to go through the process again. Um knowing that cuts can be reinstated if there are additional funds or if you know things look better than um than expected. Early reductions help to minimize deep cuts in the future. Um, and then sometimes experts can help assess numbers and see if anything is missing. And I'm grateful that on our budget advisory task force, we have Erin uh Asplund, thank you, Erin Aspund from our

155Sliv County Office of Education, who was formerly um up at Templeton Unified School District um helping us with with our process and making sure that we we are being thorough. Um we have to acknowledge that what we have to do isn't going to be good for students. Um but we have to face the facts and this is an opportunity to look at real efficiencies uh look at what's essential uh identify priorities and identify what's effective both programmatic and through performance evaluation. Um, so I feel I mean it's very troubling time and unsettling and um but I think there's a silver lining out there that we can make it through and we can be stronger um because of this. So, uh, and then I'll also speak about a strategic plan, uh, workshop that I went through

156because I know we're working towards, um, going through a strategic plan planning process and, uh, Napa Valley Unified School District did a workshop for their strategic planning process in 2324. Um, they had previously adopted a five-year strategic plan um, in 2018. Um, and then they faced a $32 million deficit. So they did a fast and furious strategic planning. Um they asked their committee stakeholders what they would like to see in 10 years and they collected 70,000 inputs of data from students um via a student summit board many sessions where they worked with community members to also kind of educate them about how boards operate, what boards do and then it culminated in a community installation event which unveiled their new five-year strategic plan. So it was a celebration. Um the takeaway from that was um

157board governance is the invisible force. No one notices if there's effective governance but work stops if there isn't effective governance. So they included strategic they include governance in their strategic plan because it's critical or the work won't advance. Yeah. Um so yeah thank you very much. >> Thanks V Jody. I get to follow V. I love it. You guys aren't >> There was a reason I went this way. >> Okay. Strategic. Strategic. Okay. So, um >> the CSBA conference was my first and it was recommended by Dr. Bennett and the rest of you guys that had been before and I was pleasantly surprised. It was run very well administratively and um I had the opportunity to go to six of the breakout sessions. So, there was a lot of information there. Um, I thought that

158two of them were excellent. Um, I kind of got good on two. One I didn't really care for. So, I'll let you know um about the ones I really liked. So, the first one um that I really liked was let's talk about AI um discussion reimagining teaching in the age of AI challenges, opportunities and ethical frontiers. and they had really good speakers because this is something that I think education is going to face um uh critically and people teachers seem to be afraid of it. But this their their speakers were really good and made me very confident that we need to embrace it and incorporate it in um our teaching and our programs because it it is the future and it is here. Um the second one was one V touched on pretty extensively but

159I'll give you my thoughts on it where it was uh the strategic plan input uh how to do it and why it matters and it was Napa Valley and I thought it was very um important then and even more so now because they basically had to rightsize their district with their financial deficits and that's something that we're kind of going through ourselves and then they did their strategic planning after and were very successful with it. So that one I enjoyed a lot too. Was had very good speakers and put together well. Um I went to the innovative uh CTE programs launch student careers. That one was good as well. Um it it shared I don't know if you went to this one Denise or not, but how they started their programs a little earlier on.

160So I thought it had a lot of good information there. Um I went to the bargaining um one, the long-term bargain preparing board members for negotiations. Um, it was good as well. It kind of gave us an outline of our lane and where we, you know, our position is as board members versus cabinet or admin. So, um, that had a lot of good information and I do have reference notes, but I'm not going to go into those quite as as detailed as you be. Um, and then, uh, the the one that was just fair was the bylaws. Um, I just thought the speaker wasn't as good. Um, I don't know if I was there by myself on that one or not, but um, that one there was only one that disappointed me and um, I

161haven't heard this one talked about yet or not, but it was the latest development on Title 9 and it was just because they didn't have the information yet. The lawyers didn't have it and they were waiting on some sort of federal ruling. So, there was only one out of that six that I really didn't care for. So, that was that was u money well spent, I think, going for us. Um, and I'm glad you guys recommended it. Glad I got to participate. So Joey's probably going to be longer than me, so I'll let him get to it. >> All right. I agree. Jody hit on uh a lot of what I would have said that the title n one I was disappointed. We got a lot of uh see legal talk to your legal team.

162We don't know the answer to this, which it I walked out thinking, well, that was kind of a waste of time. But um it still had some interesting aspects to it. I too gravitated towards the CTE programs which are the sessions which did give me hope because you know listening to the discussions uh from people in other districts I do think that it it can be done. I left not a 100% confident in our infrastructure that we have set up here uh to go out and get the necessary partners we need to really give these kids what they need to be successful going through these programs. But like I said, I did leave with hope listening to uh to other examples and other districts that have made it work and are currently making it work.

163So, um, I will say one of the biggest things I left with is, uh, you know, having conversations with you guys outside of this room. I thought that was that was great for all of us to get to know each other a little bit better. And that might even be at the top of my list. So, >> that was it. >> Wow, Joey. >> I love it. That was I will agree. I will say um this is my second year going and I feel like building those just personal relationships um is incurring you're going next year. Well, I I I have to agree that when I whenever I would go, it was always what we established amongst ourselves, talking about what we had seen and and uh just throwing ideas around and then just sitting,

164you know, and visiting at dinner and >> Team building. Exactly. and and that meant a lot >> to me >> because it it uh helped when we came back to this setting, you know, looking at people, communicating better. >> You build relationships and um >> where we going next year? >> San Diego. I'm in. >> Oh, well, I guess there's an election before then, but >> um so how do we want to wrap this up as far as um I know this is just an information only item, but was there a do we want to discuss if there was stuff we wanted to bring back at a future date? >> Well, I think a lot of us I got it. I think a lot of us were um had CTE um we're doing negotiations right

165you know negotiations finance with the budget but maybe CTE might be something that we could come back and just talk about um we do have a bond um you know infrastructure you know that kind of stuff I I I think that would be something that um would be interesting to us. Well, I I'm speaking for all of you as I summed it up um because we are working on the budget. We are working on policy and I think the third thing that we all liked or ca you know came away with high hopes or wanting discussion was the CTE. How can we >> Let's not pigeon hole it just a CTE though. No, but how do you Well, I'm just going to say that's the that that's >> college career, >> right? That's the topic

166or that's the header it comes under. But you can brainstorm what does that look like? What does what does it look like now? What could it look like in three years from now? You know, we we have, you know, we have money that we haven't really da da da da da said, you know, prioritized, you know, all of those kind of things. But it it needs to have a a a conversation. Um and I think if we could, you know, get some information, you know, what is being offered at the middle school, how many students are, you know, going through the wheels of the middle school that leads to the high school, you know, what are the different program? And this, you know, EJ had some of that stuff in our uh LCAP. Well, I

167think we I mean, it's good to know what we're doing, too, but >> I want to go outside. >> I want to >> I'm grateful for what we have. >> Mhm. >> But I think we can do better. >> Oh, true. And that's the conversation. >> I want to have the conversation. >> Yeah. Once you get because we we can all look at those folders and pull back. I mean, we all there were tons of handouts and slides that we all um put into that folder um that we can pull out and say, "Hey, this is what so and so is doing." And you know, they're partner uh you know, uh they were one was partnering up with their college community college. I'm like, "Hey, Joey, don't we have two of them in our county?"

168Um one so far down, but the other one we got, you know, Qua, how do how could we reach out? >> The partnerships that people were able to make was was wonderful. I would love to explore more of that and how can we utilize those but yeah >> so is that could we bring that back at some point? >> Well that sounds like a strategic plan. I mean >> that could be a part of that too. >> Yeah I mean part of the strategic plan is to understand what we have currently and then what we want to build out to in the in five years. What are the how do we get to that point? >> Sure. So, >> so perhaps your recommendation would be for um for us to be able to bring back

169for one of our study sessions a conversation about what we currently have in place. Maybe being able to EJ and I, we've had conversations about about what kind of a presentation report that we can provide. I I think it's a worthwhile conversation, but I agree with V that it's ultimately a strategic planning piece in terms of where we want to be able to go. I think one of the big challenges that we face and it's been you know the topic of the night um is really our budget right and so I think I think one of the big challenges for us is going to be strategic allocation of resources there are unlimited needs out there it's abundantly clear we have a lot of needs there's a lot of place where we could spend money but

170the issue is that it's going to have to bump up against other things and then allow us to be able to make strategic decisions about how to be able to allocate limited resources and So, I think all of those piece are going to have to be able to come together, you know, um and you know, much like uh was discussed here from, you know, your um your opportunities at CSBA is the importance of us really being able to look at our budget and to be able to rightsize where we currently are because we're way out of whack right now and there are a lot of needs and we've got to be able to make some adjustments and Um but I think in terms of CTE, you know, the way that we do that is we

171can start at least having some background conversation to understand what we currently have, you know, be able to partner with some of our faculty as well and having them come in and participate with it to, you know, to be able to share, you know, their thoughts about the programs and the like. And so if you have ideas and thoughts, if you would send those to me as well about, you know, about CTE types of information that you'd be interested in, then we can engage in conversations and then and then we can look to schedule something, you know, at an upcoming meeting. >> Thank you. Our next meeting will be Tuesday, March 3rd, close session at 5:30 p.m. and our regular meeting will be at 7 p.m. And I will adjourn the meeting.