001We're going to reconvene to open session. Um roll uh recording secretary. Let's see. Flag salute. Veronica, would you lead us, please? >> Yes. >> Ready, begin. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. You may be seated. >> Our next item will be to adopt our agenda. We had a typo error on the December 16th board meeting minutes under consent agenda item J. It currently reads roll call vote to eliminate the housing/propy committee. Item J should read roll call vote to approve the superintendent's parent advisory committee. Do I need a motion? I have a motion to um adopt this agenda change. >> I move that we adopt the agenda
002with the correction. I second. Roll call vote. >> Mr. Arnold, >> yes. >> Mrs. Tracy Ellis White, >> yes. >> Mrs. Cosnik, >> yes. >> Mrs. Counley, >> yes. >> Mrs. President, Mcgru Kane, >> I. >> Mrs. Pierce, >> yes. >> Mrs. Taylor, >> yes. >> Thank you. Order of business. Is there any adjustments? >> Yes. I would like to um move we have two student recognition tonight and I would like to move them earlier um in our agenda to in the school related reports section. Is that correct? >> Yes. >> So we will we'll move those to um after our school related reports and we had a motion from V and a second from Rebecca. Can we get a roll call vote please? Mr. Arnold, >> yes. >> Mrs. Taylor, >> yes. >> Mrs.
003Pierce, >> yes. >> Mrs. President, Mcgru Kane, >> I Mrs. Counley, >> yes. >> Mrs. Cosnik, >> yes. >> Mrs. Ellis White, >> yes. >> Thank you. Thank you. Report of action taken in close session. We had no action taken in close session. Our next item is our school related reports. Um, and first up we have, do we have any representative from RCSEA? >> Nope. Okay. uh representative from ADTA, >> Andrew Wley, um association president, >> Janna Magcguire, vice president, >> and Mary Dunmar on negotiations. Good evening, board of trustees, um, superintendent Bennett and assistant superintendent. Uh, we understand that our district as well as surrounding districts and even districts across the state are in financial decline and budget concerns um due to need due to needs to be looked at. ad ADTA visited sites
004and wanted to share concerns uh presented to us by your teachers >> [snorts] >> um in order to move forward. [clears throat] Um a Zoom meeting was actually held yesterday. We met u Thursday and Friday uh sending out our uh negotiation team and some of our executive board u last week. Some of the concerns that came across and this is just to make you aware of them is not a not enough support in the classroom um that's being provided to teachers and students. Some teachers are required to purchase paper. This was a shocker to me. I was not aware of this, but some teachers are uh required to purchase paper for printing and limited on how many copies they can actually make at their site per month. Um, I've never heard of anything like this
005before. Um, that was never a past practice. Uh, why don't we get full state federal cola per year as the cost of living goes up and we are forced to bargain for smaller amounts? Uh, I believe San Diego is now um hitting that issue within their school districts. Uh, this leads to a larger question of the district budget budgeting. uh we will share the current budget meeting report with our teachers. However, other districts have found a cost of living increase for their teachers. So, um as of right now, I believe everybody in our county except for Lucia Maher that just went to impass and there's a possibility the past robels will go into impass this week if they haven't already done that and [clears throat] we have already gone into impass. Um how is the
006district advocating at the state level? This is the big concern is how is our district advocating um at the state um and lobbying at the state level for funding um that is solely surrounded by sped that is around cost of living cola um financial need everything that we are kind of going through right now and that was properly presented at the budget report um today Um, another concern was why are teachers covering the loss of ADA? That was an issue for last year. Um, we recognize that we can't repair the past and we have to repair the future and we have to make sure that we're repairing the future and looking forward to everything. Um, so we don't have these gaps. Uh, but why are the teachers actually having to take the burden of of
007that ADA loss? uh teachers feeling the district is supporting third-party. So this is a feeling by teachers not the association but a feeling by teachers that >> [clears throat] >> um the district is supporting the third party contracted individuals that we are bringing into the district. Um what is the district doing to resolve and hire individuals that will stay with us? Does the district have a plan to reduce the need of thirdparty contracted employees? So, it's a feeling of the people, not the association, but we definitely feel it. Um, culture and climate is suffering in AUSD, and this has been a hard year for everyone straight across the board. teachers feel money is being wasted on curriculum that sits on the shelves collecting dust. That was a comment that was made. And the computer programs
008um that we talked about in our um ask the superintendent meeting. We brought up computer software programs that we are using um that's being used that's not supporting student needs and there's no training. Um, we need smaller class sizes and case loads as an always. Uh, if we are making cuts, how will the monies um save? Let me read this again. If we are making cuts, how will monies saved be used to improve AUSD students, teachers, and community? So, those were the concerns that was being brought across to us. Now, this is in [clears throat] closing for Dr. Bennett. with your help. Um, can you help resolve the dark cloud over the district in conversations that are being provided to young teachers by student students in universities that are actually recommending that they do not
009apply at AUSD, [clears throat] that there is a shortfall on salary, that there There is no support. There is no guidance that is coming from AOSD and they're being discouraged from coming to us. This hits us very hard as we are trying to move forward in the future years and we want to make sure that we are actually hiring the best quality young individuals, bringing them to our community, keeping them with us. and how do we provide that support and get that dark cloud off of us? That is a request. Now, if I may, I would love to yield my time to the other teachers that are standing behind me if that's permitted. >> So, I think um we were at five minutes and um if they want to speak, if they want to fill
010out a form and bring it up here, then they can certainly do that. Okay. >> Thank you. Thank you. Does >> anyone need to fill out a form that has not already done so? Okay, >> perfect. Thank you so much. >> Okay, you're not Lucy. [laughter] You want to introduce yourself and give us an update? >> Yeah, my name is Harper Ruiz. I'm a Lucy's assistant at the Tuscaro High School. Um, so our update is that winter formal was a huge success. 370 students attended, which is way more than last year. Our powderpuff is this Friday after the reschedulement like a lot of times. During halftime, seniors will meet kindergarten students at the 50, which is a special um moment for them. Looking back on the past, uh our new junior lot parking lot will
011be open for Powderpuff. And then on February 10th, it will be open for students to park in. Um top 30 is soon. The applications just recently opened which recognizes um top achieving seniors. Um our second semester academic letter which recognizes students who have a 3.7 GPA and higher will be happening next week. Um we are recognizing over 100 juniors and seniors altogether. Our pause leadership class is selling Valentine's grams to students across the campus. They're selling personalized stuffed monkeys and bears. Um our executive team on for ASB is currently working on our application for the outstanding leadership program award which we won first place last year. Um choir is preferring their show on February 20th at 6 p.m. at the Kuanas Clubhouse by Tascar Lake. Tickets are 40 per plate or 75 uh for two
012people. AHS is hosting a blood drive on February 10th and our winter sports are coming to an end and our spring sports are now beginning. >> Thank you so much. Lots happening out there. It's >> wonderful. Thank you. Okay, we are going to have our guests be honored. There we go. So, there's two things that we want to be able to cover tonight. Um, I want to be able to recognize our middle school robotics team. So, if we can start there and ask the students to be able to come forward. So, here's the background. January 24th, the Tascadero School Robotics team attended the Coast Fusion Robotics Invitational Competition in Santa Maria. 15 of our AMS students attended. They had four robots. All four of our teams qualified for the final round. We had Absolutely. Come
013on in, guys. [applause] So, all four of our teams qualified for the final rounds, which is fantastic. We had three robots placed in the top 10 in the driving skills event. Team 55906A, Eastston Spiller, Emma, Ella Bernett, and Porter Doyle won the prestigious excellence award for the robot design engineering notebook and dedication and teamwork. So, congratulations. [applause] And with that, I'm not sure if they're here tonight, but the adviserss, Mrs. Kelly Porterfield and Mr. Jack Bowen, are they here? [applause] And naturally, Mr. Jeff Spiller. So, um, Kelly, I know that if you could come up and just say a few words, that would be awesome to be able to share a little bit about the competition itself. >> Awesome. Perfect. Thank you. Hello members of the school board and superintendent Bennett. My name is Max
014Fgar and I'm the robotic I'm the robotics club president this year. We will be sharing a brief overview of who we are and what we do and what we have coming up this year. I would also like to express our sincere appreciation for the continued support of our program. Our robotics club is centered on teamwork, problem solving, creativity, and hands-on learning. Students collaborate to design, build, and program robots while developing skills in engineering, coding, leadership, and communication beyond technical skills that that the club encourages preservant, innovation, and collaboration qualities that benefit students both inside and outside the classroom. >> My name is Emma Moya and I'm the vice president for the robotics club. The game this year is called mix and match. The object of the game is to stack different colored pins in various
015places on the playing field trying to earn the most points. We recently attended a competition in Santa Maria on January 24th. We took 15 students and four robots. Two of our robots were partnered together to form an alliance and they tied for third place in the teamwork driving challenge. We had three robots placed in the top 10 in the skills event and team 55906A won the prestigious excellence award for their design, notebook dedication, and teamwork. Hello. Wait. [laughter] >> Hello. My name is Eston Spiller and I'm and I'm the club treasurer. We would like to thank Ann Little for our generous gen her for her generous donation. She made that be able to help us pay for the competition in January. In the coming months, our club is excited to participate in in two local
016practice masters with fine arts as well as a friendship tournament put on by Old Mission School in St. Louis. We will be taking 18 students and six robot robots to that event. We will finish our season with a a town throwdown that is put on by our our Tascadero Greybots in the AMS gym. These events pro provide valuable real world real world experiences and help foster interest in STEM fields among our members and the broader school community. >> No, it's fine. >> Hello, my name is Raphael Aoyo Nabaret. We are especially grateful to have two dedicated club adviserss who generously give their time, knowledge, and support. Their guidance plays a crucial role in the success of the club and in creating a positive, encouraging environment for all students involved. We are also so lucky to
017have several Greybot High School team members, CA, Kaden, Kira, and Trevor, who come to our weekly practices to provide their expertise, support, and guidance. This has been a highly valuable addition to our program this year. >> Hi, my name is Alina. Thank you for Thank you for your continued support of the robot of the robotics club and opportunities you provide that allows students to explore, learn, and grow. We truly appre appreciate your commitment to students student programs and innovations at our school. We would like to invite all board members and Dr. Bennett to allow to attend one of our upcoming events with fine arts. We will email you the details and hope to see you there. Thank you. [snorts] [applause] >> All right, come on over here, you guys. Come Okay, so that was just
018the first one. I'm Let me just say this. I'm really happy that you guys are here because you should see stuff like this. And I And the next one is I think I >> I understand, but it's nice to be able to recognize and it's nice to be able to have other people in here at a board meeting to be able to recognize our students. Um, I'd like to bring up another issue that really transpired out of Paloma Creek High School. Um, as all of you are very aware, AMS student Jose Gutierrez on March 14th, 2025, um, was killed by a car in front of, um, Paloma Creek. Um, since then, we had a group of students and one of our teachers from there, John Magcguire, a USD political science teacher in Paloma Creek High
019School, led five students, um, Aiden Alvarez, Addie Kaggle, uh, Andrea Graphanino, Isaac Salgado, and Jayla Scutter, and they ended up going to the city council at Tascadero Council meeting on October 14th of 2025. The students shared their concerns with uh about the student safety at the south end of town off of Elcomal near the Danish Care Center. The increase of housing we know is a contributing factor to more traffic congestion and vehicles traveling at a high speed in the area. So, we had students that took a concern to city council to be able to say, "Hey, something needs to be done." Students spoke about creating a school zone with a speed limit of 25 miles per hour, painting a red curb at corners, creating no parking zones for better visibility for pedestrians. And on November
02019th of 2025, city manager Jim Lewis, Nick Debbar, public works director met the Paloma Creek students at the high school for a follow-up meeting. And one of the things that I'm really excited to be able to announce is that action was actually done as a result of our students actions and the leadership of our faculty there. And so what I would ask is that Janna and any of the students that are here, if you could come up and just share a little bit and then if we could get a picture, that would be great. >> [applause] [applause] >> They've already spoke to city council twice, so they're making me speak this time. At Paloma Creek, we really truly believe that we are creating citizens more than anything else, and we embrace the graduate profile, all
021six of them. We concentrate on one every week and so we run through them six times a year. So each graduate profile is done every what I like to call hex semester. Hasn't quite caught on yet but you know um and this one is the a wonderful example of them being um responsible and contributed citizens. It is incredible the visibility now that they've got that red curb there. Hopefully, Dr. Bennett is still working with city council for getting our crosswalk with razor a raised median. Um, unfortunately, the research and all that the city did is not allowing it to be a 25 mph zone, which would be a school zone. Um, we're still going to fight city hall on that. Uh but it is nice to see that these guys found out that you really
022can fight city hall and what a wonderful night for them to come and see showing case for all kinds of support for things and talking to elected officials uh when you have concern. So thank you for making space for us. >> Can I can I add something real quick? [applause] >> Um my my daughter was at floor with Special Olympics and they're practicing at Paloma Creek and um Mrs. Magcguire was there. Um, and so I got to she gave me a tour of her classroom. This was after hours and um I don't know if it was you, sir, that was going to it it was right you guys were this was >> uh maybe earlier in January, but you guys were going to a city council meeting. So, she's still taking her students down there
023and it's great. And I also the city manager also told me that it's the students are the reason why we're getting Chick-fil-A, too. So, thank you for that. >> We do what we can. [laughter] Yeah, we went for a follow-up time when it was uh when we got the curb painted. We went to go and say thank you. I think that's another lesson to teach adults is that you want to recognize and to remind them that we still want the crosswalk and maybe to put a little edge in there that maybe it should be 25 miles an hour. You can work that out. So, just being the sweetie will >> and if we get a picture that would be awesome. >> Thank you. >> [applause] [laughter] >> I need a dog on the floor. >>
024[applause] >> All right, >> that's it for me. >> Yes, almost came out. Thank you so much for those presentations. Okay. Our next item on the agenda is our oral communication from the public. Yes. I'd like to remind our audience that comments must be made 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 comments. When you come up to the podium, please u introduce yourself uh and restate your name. Our first speaker is Joe Davis. Um, I've, uh, been there 27 years. Um, I wanted to talk today, actually, I know there's a lot going on today, but I wanted to talk
025about primary PE. It's an 11th, 12th grade elective class that, um, I took from Kim Spinx, who started it 25 plus years ago. And I have 18 students, including last year, this lovely Harper Ruiz right here, who actually have come out and I get to try to grab some of the kids at this high school that I feel would be great mentors for kids. Um what they do is they kind of a crash course for about a month and a half. We talk about California state standards for physical education in first, second, and third grade. They build a curriculum together with that. They write lesson plans and they have 26 items of equipment that they use to teach these young kids. It is I want to invite everybody here to come and at least see
026it once. It's amazing what these high school students not only what they're doing when it comes to teaching if that's something that they're interested in. as we just got done talking about how it's such a hard place to find teachers that these kids have a chance to actually go out and teach and do it kind of uh what's the word I'm looking for? Uh without sitting down or reading about it, they actually get to put it to work. And I think that's what's um exciting. Um the mentorship to give you an idea, I think sometimes I lose the fact where I went to a basketball game and this little one comes and hugs my leg and I turn around and go, "Hey bud, I don't know who he is." and to have the parents walk
027up and say, "I heard you're coach Davis. We heard a lots about you." And I go, "Oh, I didn't know you had an older son that played at the high school." We don't. We had to come see coaches Isaiah play. So, he was such a mentor that he had to go see his coach play at the high school. Those are the times that I sometimes have to stand back and see how valuable this class is. And I think it's interesting that as we know that we're starting to restructure in our district to start to move programs and things of that sort that hopefully some of those that we take a chance to go look at and hopefully we don't lose those because those are very important. Um during that time it is a program that
028costs zero. With me working with AISO and other things and equipment and Monterey Road with principal Isbel and with the PTA we get all the equipment we need for these kids to go out and teach. We create six prep times for six teachers. We take 182 kids out for PE, including 10 from Miss Amy's class, the special day class that gets to integrate as well. And not only creating that prep, giving these kids the mentorship and the things that they get to do for zero is amazing. And I just wanted to invite you to come out. I know I got to talk to Mr. Bennett about it. He's going to come on out, check it out. And uh if you get a chance, come out and see us. We teach Tuesday, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at
02910:05 to 10:30. and uh we'll be out there. It it it looks almost like controlled chaos, but we we we do kind of know a little bit what we're doing. So, thank you very much for your time. [applause] >> Thank you. Um our next speaker is Robin Derry. [applause] Okay, can you hear me? Okay, my name is Robin Deiri. Most of you have seen me before. I am a community member and I am concerned about the quality of education AUSD can offer the community when its staffing has become a revolving door of temporary teachers and disaffected long haulers who feel they have been jilted and let down by their district. AUSD teachers are are at several disadvantages which the DO has done nothing to resolve. First, our teachers teach six out of seven periods each
030day. Most local districts teach five out of six periods. This results in less prep time for Atascadero teachers as 17th of the school day is smaller than 16th. Do the math and Atascadero teachers have 36 hours less prep time each year as a result. That's almost four hours less prep time per month. Teachers would kill for that. Second, this district seems to have become the county's dumping ground for IEPs. Teachers here have a higher percentage of special needs students compared to other local school districts and 36 fewer hours to prepare for them and differentiate curriculum. Third, teacher salaries at AUSD are consistently among the lowest in the county, appallingly low compared to the cost of living in this county. The state cola or cost of living allowance is 2.3%. Passing this percentage along to teachers
031wouldn't actually be a raise. It would just allow them to stay current with the act with their actual costs of living. Giving teachers 0% as the district has it suggested is a pay cut in terms of purchasing power. Teachers would actually have less than they currently do. Adding to the teacher disenchantment, when this district hired the new superintendent, they gave him a substantial raise on his base salary over the previous superintendent, and they also locked in a 4% raise for each year of his three-year contract. Consequently, next year he will receive a $9,327 raise, and it will be even higher the year after that. How is this fair to teachers? And how are you encouraging teacher retention? Teacher turnover has well doumented effects on educational outcomes, and they aren't positive. High teacher turnover is consistently
032linked to lower test scores and academic growth, especially in math and reading. So, are we really surprised by low test scores in this district? and do we really care? School climate suffers. Trust and consistency suffer. Relationships in curriculum coherence suffer. Our students suffer. As a community member, I want to know how is AUSD planning on retaining quality teachers. And I hope you will address this concern in your board member comments. Thank you. Thank you. [applause] OUR next speaker, our next [applause] speaker is Shauna Shim. Good evening. My name is Shauna Shemlenning and I'm a third grade teacher at Santa Rosa. It is truly disheartening to have to stand here tonight under these circumstances. There are many teachers impacted by salary cuts right now. And this is how it's impacting me. As I complete my 31st
033year of teaching in my 29th year here with AUSD, I find myself being rewarded not with recognition, but with another pay cut. My monthly paycheck is well over $100 less this year due to the absence of cola, no step, and cola movement opportunities on the salary schedule and increased benefits. This is cola, not a raise. This comes on top of raising property taxes from yet a third school bond while the cost of living continues to rapidly climb. I do not know of any other profession where experience, wisdom, and in and our seniority is met with reductions in pay, where salary advancement simply stop at 25 years and where compensation fails or refuses to keep up with the pace of inflation. It just starts going backwards until you retire. The district's most experienced teachers should be
034highly valued. We play a vital role in modeling best practices, supporting new teachers, and guiding them with knowledge that only comes from decades of experience. This in addition to providing a high quality education for our youth. If this pattern continues of no cola, I will retire in six years making approximately $700 to $900 less per month than I currently do. That does not account for inflation. That's simply salary. I have already opted for the lowest medical plan. I do not carry dental or vision. I pay extremely high deductibles and I'm not sure what else I should give up. Is this how the board wants to treat its dedicated staff? Do educators really continue to beg and fight just to earn a salary that keeps up with the cost of living to have our cola simply
035passed on to us or working two jobs? I hope not. But those are questions only you can answer. Thank you for your time. [applause] THANK YOU. Our next speaker is Katie Martin. [applause] Hi, I am Katie Martin. I am a parent at a of an AUSD student. I'm here to actually make a statement on behalf of an ausd teacher who is not able to be here this evening and this is their statement. I am a teacher who has moved out on the pay scale. If we don't get a raise due to the increasing cost of healthcare, I will actually take home less money next year. That doesn't seem acceptable to me. The state has provided the district with the funding to cover a 2.5% cost of living adjustment. Shouldn't that be used to cover the
036increased cost of living for us, the teachers? On a personal note, as a parent, I want to make sure that my child gets the best teachers they can. And how as a district do you expect to retain teachers when you're not giving them a acceptable cost of living increase? Thank you. Our teachers are worth more than zero. [applause] >> Thank you. Our next speaker is Sarah Holland. >> [applause] >> Hello, my name is Sarah Holland and I am here as a parent of a fifth grader in our district as well as a kindergarten teacher. My son has been in Atascadero SK schools from kindergarten through fifth grade. He is kind academically above grade level and not a student with behavior challenges. Unfortunately, despite having amazing teachers at his school, my son has rarely been pushed
037past grade level expectations to meet his potential. This is due to the amount of time and energy that teachers spend on students with difficult behaviors. Students who have been in his class and grade level since first grade. Elementary school teachers have been have seen an increase of students with disrespectful, disruptive, and apathetic behaviors and are being forced to spend the majority of their energy managing these behaviors rather than focus on the students who are at school to learn and become leaders. In spite of these challenges, AUSD teachers are working so hard to meet the needs of their students because we care so much. We have chosen to teach in Atascadero because of our commitment to the town, our children, and our community. But caring so much only goes so far, and the draw to be
038a teacher here lessens each year. With the proposed 0% salary increase, the commitment to be a teacher in AUSD is decreasing further. So, what does this mean for the future? What does this mean for my son who's going to the middle school next year? What does this mean for teacher and children in our community? Dedicated teachers may have to choose a higherp paying job and will be replaced by brand new teachers who are not equipped to handle the behaviors and academic rigor that currently exist. Students behaviors worsen, academic growth decreases. As a parent and teacher in the district, a proposed 0% salary increase says to me that the AUSD board does not value experienced teacher teachers. It is time for the board to demonstrate their commitment to teachers and prove their dedication to a Tascadero's
039students lives. And I want to hold applause because I have 45 seconds. And I I have several letters from teachers who wish to remain anonymous. Um, the cost of living has continued to rise in every area and as a new tenure teacher, I already earn a wage that is difficult to live on. Without a pay increase, it becomes harder to provide stability and security for my family. This while working a full-time in a profession that requires significant time, energy, and dedication beyond contracted hours. Raise your hand if you do that every day. Every day >> and sometimes weekends. >> Weekends. nights all the time. A 0% pay increase does not reflect the economic realities, nor does it demonstrate that the work we do is valued. And I have more, but I'll stop there. Thank you.
040[applause] Thank you. Our next speaker is Carrie White. >> [applause] >> Good evening. Um, for the record, my name is Carrie White and I'm here tonight as president of CAPS, but also as a parent, a community member, and the daughter of a district employee. I want to acknowledge upfront that I'm well aware that approving a 0% wage increase is not a casual decision. Budgets are complex and I don't believe anyone on this board is indifferent to the people who work in our schools. But caring and impact are not the same thing. The impact of this decision would be very real. A 0% increase tells teachers and staff that while their work is appreciated, their compensation is not keeping pace with reality. This matters to me personally. After my dad passed away last year, my mom
041began working as an instructional aid in a Tascadera Unified School District. She earns $19 an hour. On paper, her hours end at 245, but in reality, like so many aids and teachers, she works well beyond that, supporting two teachers and students, filling gaps, and staying because kids need her. >> [cough and clears throat] >> She didn't take the job to get rich. She took it because she believes in public education and wanted to contribute in a meaningful way to this community we all love. But belief doesn't pay rent and dedication doesn't cover the cost of living in San Lucabispo County. Teachers are not optional. They are essential. They are the consistency our students rely on. These are professionals who are asked to do more and more year after year academically, emotionally, and logistically. A 0%
042increase doesn't just fail to keep up with inflation. It actively moves them backwards. [clears throat] As CAPS president, I hear from families who want stable classrooms and staff who feel respected to feel respected and supported. That stability comes from retention, from morale, from people being able to afford to stay here in the jobs they really love. I'm not here with any easy fix. Trust me. I'm asking you as the board to commit to transparency for our teachers and revisit the compensation as soon as possible. Even incremental steps matter because the people affected by this vote are not line items on a spreadsheet. They are the backbone of our district. Thank you. [applause] >> Thank you. Our last speaker is Jan Mzai. [applause] >> Hey, thank you. Uh my name is Jan Mirzai. I'm also I
043also go by Mr. M. I'm at AMS at Tascaro Middle School. Um recently one of my students confided in me that they felt unsafe with regards to ICE. Um the people who are in masks taking brown people off the streets. Uh this student knew that a person had been shot in the face uh January 9th. Sorry, they told me of this January 9th when we got back to school. They knew the killer was not held accountable and they knew that the group that that did this was known for targeting people of his own race. I validated what he was saying. I told him that I was also scared and later other staff members shared similar concerns with me. It made me realize that this is not an isolated incident and that our kids have plenty
044of internet access. They've seen things and they talk about what goes on in the outside world. I spoke to admin with the hope of helping to get something done schoolwide. Specifically, I wanted our admin to announce to staff and students that what our policy would be in regards to ICE and what we would do to keep our students safe. Uh, I did not want our students to suffer in silence and I wanted them to know that the adults around them see what they are seeing and explained to them that these are legitimate fears to have. I don't want students to think themselves crazy for not being able to understand how things could be business as usual here at school or on the news they see horrible things happening to people like them to kids like
045them. uh my argument and proposal was not acceptable because it was seen as political and the school would prefer to settle these issues on a student by student basis and wait for students to crack and cry out. Um there is not set to be any kind of announcement um because the adults in charge do not want to ruffle any feathers. Uh meanwhile, we're asking our kids to be brave in coming to school while not being brave enough ourselves to call it a legitimate threat to their well-being. And the adults are showing that their dis their their their discomfort in not telling talking politics weighs heavier than our students physical safety and mental well-being. Uh I feel I pull my weight at AMS. I've been there almost four years and I've taught every subject, English, history,
046science, and math. I'm doing three different subjects this year, uh including both core subjects of math and ELA. I run the D&D club and the art club again uh unpaid this year. Uh, my class is open in the mornings to hang out at 7:45. Doors open so kids can get warm. I talk to students wherever I am. And I can do a lot to help these kids, to give these kids a safe place. I can validate their fears about what they're seeing. I can talk to them about what racism, sexism looks like. But I can't do more than an admin that actually has a voice to all their students. And I can't be doing all of that if I'm not being supported by admin. So until the adults show that they can be braver with
047their voices than the students have to be with their physical selves, I'm not going to be working at AMS. And this is my last day. [applause] >> Thank you. I I want to be able to take the remainder of my of my uh report and I want to personally express my sincere thanks to all of you for being here tonight. You know, community to have you show up, moms and dads to have you show up to all of our teachers and staff. Thank you. You know, the one thing that I want you to understand is, you know, I've been in this district all of seven months and I'm really trying to understand what the issues are within this. And uh look, I can see that our budget is certainly an issue. The one thing that
048I also see is we need to be able to work together in transparency and open communication and collaboration. I've had conversations with many of you in this room about just that. And I've talked to, you know, members of our team and I can tell you we want to be able to partner with you. We hear you. We understand. We see the work that's being done. And what we want to be able to do is we want to find ways to substantively be able to move our district forward together as a family and as a team in a way that cares for one another and cares for the people that we serve. And so if there's anything else that I can share, it's thank you for coming out tonight. I want to make sure you know
049we hear you. You've spoken very loudly and clear. [cough] I want to ensure that we need to be able to work together to be able to get through our ongoing structural deficit that we face because it's real. And we'll be as open and transparent about all of that. And we're going to have to be able to in fact today we had a um a budget subcommittee task force that's was specifically designed to be able to look at how do we reduce our expenses. We have two levers. We increase revenue and we decrease expenses. And so it was a great showing. I mean I see some of you that were that are in this room tonight that were also a part of that. Thank you. And how do we continue to be able to move this
050Neil forward? What I want you to hear from me as your superintendent is I want to be able to partner with you and I want us to be able to make progress together because that's the only way that we're going to be successful and we'll need to be able to all have conversations about where we're at and what the needs are and to be able to make good and informed decisions. And so with that, I just say thank you. >> Thank you. All right. Board members report. Mr. Arnold, would you like to go first? >> Sure. Um I I'll echo all of >> you have to fill out a form to be able to speak and this we went through all the speakers. >> Was there am I missing anything? >> Explain that to speak
051on >> So that would be on an agenda item >> that we're speaking on. No, >> no. >> If would you like to fill out a form? You're welcome to come speak. >> Well, everyone has the same opportunity to speak with a form. >> I I don't understand. >> Okay, we are moving on. Um board members report. Uh Mr. Arnold. Yeah, I will uh I'll ech e echo everything Dr. Bennett said. The uh the budget is it's tough and everybody here wants the best for our district and that obviously includes all our teachers and supporting staff. So that's where I stand on. I appreciate you guys being here. >> Mrs. Conley, it was nice to see some familiar faces here this evening. Uh I I would hope that we are a team a team for
052education and we do have a statemandated budget that we have to be responsible to also. So but welcome. Thank you very much for uh coming this evening, voicing your concerns, and let's work together for those children. >> Mrs. Taylor, so I wanted to say thank you guys for coming. I felt like you guys were very civil and communicated well. I appreciate that. Um, I was on the budget advisory task force today. It gave us a lot of enlightenment where we are. I see some of some of you that were here too. Kendall did a very good job explaining things. Um, and I do know that they are working very hard to try to solve this problem, but it's not easy. So, um, again, thank you and probably not the time and the place to say
053how proud of our students that, um, the presentations were for, but I'm going to say it anyways. Um, the middle school robotics team, awesome. Um, and, uh, Paloma Creek uh, high school, that was an amazing collaboration with the city, and it really proves that we can get things done when we work together. So, it's a good example for all of us. And that's the end of mine. >> Um I'm going to start off with um acknowledging the students and the robotics team. I know that even at the high school, our robotics team is amazing and that just um shows you the care and passion of the teachers that are leading those uh the teams. Um not just robotics, but you know, all all of the extracurricular teams like that. Um and then the Paloma Creek
054students. That takes a lot of guts to go up in front of your city council and just the love and the passion that uh Janna has for her students. It really shines in them, you know, giving them the confidence and and her and and creating helping create um upstanding citizens that speak up for themselves. So, um and then kind of the same thing. Uh we hear you guys. I've been in a lot of your classrooms and um we honestly do what what is best for for our all of our teachers and our staff. So um it there's been long conversations and um we think about it a lot. So we hear you. >> Um I just want to thank our teachers, parents, community members for coming out this evening. I know after a long day
055at school, it takes a lot for you to come out to attend our board meetings and to share your concerns and we hear you. Um I am going to trust that the process um is going to work and um uh onto my other remarks. I want to commend our AMS robotics team um particularly Max Vgera and the other returning students from last year. Uh Dr. Bennett, you weren't here, but um that those groups of students, that group of students um was disappointed when last year's VEX IQ Robotics Tournament tournament plans were cancelled. Um but they are to be commended for not letting that stop them. Um and I'm just so proud of their grit and excellence um that they've demonstrated. I look forward to seeing what they accomplish in the future. And I thank Mrs.
056Porterfield and Mr. Bowen and the Greybots mentors um for their support of our students. On Friday, January 30th, um I attended the San Bonito Elementary fifth grade state float showcase. Um I learned a lot of interesting facts about our 50 states. Uh I wanted to showcase um a couple of students, Isaac, who researched um did his project about Washington and he built a Lego model of the Seattle Space Needle as part of his float. Um Kate who researched her research project was about Maryland and told me about these islands that had wild ponies on them. Um Myra did a wonderful float of Massachusetts and had a model of a masted ship. Um and Wall-E >> It was the Mayflower. Thank you, Mrs. Ellis White. It was a model of the Mayflower. And then Wall-E um
057his project was on Alaska and he had these wonderful 3D forget me not um flowers on his uh on his float. Um I thought it was an excellent project. I love the dynamics of engineering research art um involved and then the oral communication skills that these students um develop to deliver their speeches and then answer questions afterwards. Um, uh, our Lighthouse team members did a great job of greeting our guests. Uh, so I want to thank Mrs. McGee and Miss Felix for the inviting us to this event and for allowing us to appreciate some fantastic student work from their scholars. Um, I attended the Tascadero Strategic Plan Update this past Friday and Saturday. Um it was a city and schools committee meeting on steroids from my fellow trustees um with presentations and updates from city
058staff including police, fire, public works, planning and development um as well as discussion with the mayor and city city council members. It was very informative um and it was a good opportunity for me to observe and learn how another elected body operates. Um, some similarities with our district are that we have a lot of caring professionals working to do um the most with most good with our dollars. Uh, I look forward to continue to working together with them as they work on the renovations to fire station 1. Uh, that will get underway in June. Um, and then this weekend, this past weekend, there was the 19th annual Sliv County High School Honor Jazz Band uh concert. So, four of our Tascadero High School students were selected and represented our district, Troy, Owen, Oliver, and PJ.
059Um, because of the audition process, Mr. McCarly, who is the director of jazz studies at Quester College, called these students arguably the best jazz students in our county. Um, they had three rehearsals, including two full day rehearsals at college, Qua College. On the second day of rehearsal, which was a Friday, the students got to sit in on several QuUa music classes. It was a great experience for them to see what it was like to be on a college campus to take these classes um and what they what they'd learn. Um the concert on Saturday at Questa Pack was really fantastic and you could see how much joy it brought everyone involved. It was such a wonderful experience. I'm looking forward to the Slow County Honor Band concert on Wednesday, February 18th at 7 p.m. at
060the Cal Poly PAC and I invite my fellow trustees and cabinet to attend as well. Uh and lastly, I just want to u make a public service announcement about our junior CEO program that is sponsored by our Tascadero Chamber of Commerce. It's an fourth it's this uh this year is the fourth annual. It's a six week online course about how to start your own business. Um it's a $30 per student fee or $50 per family and open to all kids in Slow County. The first meeting is on February 11th and it culminates in a junior CEO business day where the students get to sell their products. Um, you can go to attachchamber.org for more information and to register. Thank you. I will echo what everybody else said. Um, thank you genuinely for being here and
061I know you guys have sometimes thankless jobs and um I'm we're in a process. I'll just repeat that. Um, and um, I hope we can get through it and um, that everybody will feel appreciated and and not the way you're feeling right now. So, thank you for being here. Um, okay. We are going to move on to our minutes. Do I have do I have um a motion for approval from the minutes of the regular board meeting from December 16th? I'll second. Roll call vote. >> Mrs. Pierce, >> yes. >> Mrs. President, Mcgru Kane, >> I. >> Mr. Arnold, >> yes. >> Mrs. Cosnik, >> yes. >> Mrs. Ellis White, >> yes. >> Mrs. Counley, >> yes. Mrs. Taylor. >> Yes. >> Thank you. Do I have a motion for approval from our regular board
062meetings for January 20th? >> I move to approve the minutes from January 20th. >> I second. >> Roll call vote. >> Mrs. Ta. Mrs. Taylor, excuse me. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Pierce. >> Yes. >> Mrs. President Mcruine. >> I Mrs. Counley. >> Yes. Mrs. Cosnik, >> yes. >> Mrs. Ellis White, >> yes. >> Mr. Arnold, >> yes. >> Thank you. Item 11 is our consent agenda. Does anybody have anything to pull >> or questions? >> Okay, pulling E. Uh, pull it or for You have a quick question about it. You want to pull it? Okay, we're pulling E. Do I have a motion for approval for items A through D and F? >> I move to approve A through E through D, sorry, and F. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Roll call
063vote. >> Mrs. Conley, >> yes. >> Mr. Arnold, >> yes. >> Mrs. Taylor, >> yes. >> Mrs. Pierce, >> yes. Mrs. Ellis White. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Cosnik. >> Yes. >> Mrs. President Mcgru Kane. >> I. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Item E. Green. Would you like to uh I appreciate Dr. in it and your conversation about this item and um I still am struggling with it in the fact that to my knowledge we've never ever done this for that position. It's always been superintendent position to put that to hire a company to do this. And what was making me nervous too is this letter from the county from Dr. uh Brussia or Jim Brussia stating that uh AUSD's multi-year projections indicates the district is deficit spending in the unrestricted general fund in the current
064year and the two outy years and I understood that that's where the money was coming from. That's what you told me on Saturday. >> No, what I indicated was that it was coming from one-time funds which is a restricted fund. And so if Kendall can share with you a little bit of information because that's what was communicated. >> Yeah. Hi. Um so we've spoken about this particular uh one-time allocation before. It was part of um the governor's budget last year. Um it is a discretionary block grant. Um the full title is the student support and professional development discretionary block grant. Atascadero was awarded $1.2 million. Um it is onetime money that will expire in three years. And that's where that money will come from. >> So is this our first first spend? >> Well, we
065had also planned at the last meeting um we received approval for the academic um >> uh assessment that that's going to come through um that's set to come from this grant as well. So, this isn't our first time dipping into this um savings account or that account. >> Thank you. >> So, [clears throat] so that that was those were my concerns and I and I still just feel like I have confidence in our HR department to handle that without having to put money out that way. But, >> so if I can just elaborate a little bit on the reason why I put it forward is because I I think this is a really important position for the school district. you know, I mean, our our bread and butter is our academics, and I think it's
066imperative that we find the right fit for where it is that we're trying to be able to go. Um, you know, as you know, with EJ stepping down, we're needing to really be able to fit the right person to help the team to be able to get where we need to. I think academics is one of the areas that we really need to be able to make good progress with. And what I'm hoping is that because we have a firm that would help us to be able to go after they have a deep rolodex would be able to help send email messages to people that are currently in positions that hopefully would be able to attract the right person, you know, beyond just our county. And uh I think that would be important for us.
067I want to make sure that we that we go after it with vigor um that we to be able to ensure that we find the right person because for us to be behind the eightball I think isn't where we want to be you know in terms of the calendar. Well, um, we have we have flown positions statewide, previous previous positions. That's what I just >> and if I may just say that I want to do everything that we can to ensure the most successful search because I don't want to be on the other end, which would be at the end of the search season to find out >> we don't have anybody. >> That's where I want to ensure. >> Well, and that's where I'm confident in that it's February. I just >> and I
068had a question. Those are one-time funds. Are they able to be used on salaries for teachers or that's not I mean I want to make sure we have clarity there since we've been discussing that absolutely a lot tonight. >> Um so it is a discretionary block grant so it's at the district's discretion. The challenge with using one-time funds for salaries is that salaries continue and onetime funds expire. >> That makes sense. Thank you. >> Yeah. and they're not on. >> Uh this was released um last fiscal uh or approved last fiscal year for this fiscal year. It is the student support and professional development discretionary block grant. >> Thank you. Does anyone else have any questions or discussion? Um, do >> you just clarify? >> No. Assistant assistant super. >> Okay. >> Um, do I
069have a motion for approval? >> I move that we approve um E. Approval of agreement with Leadership Associates to conduct search for assistant superintendent of education services. >> Do I have a second? >> I'll second. >> Roll call vote. >> Mrs. Taylor, >> yes. >> Mr. Arnold, >> yes. >> Mrs. President, Mcgru Kane, >> yes. >> Mrs. Ellis White, >> yes. >> Mrs. Counley, >> no. Mrs. Cosnik. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Pierce. >> Yes. >> Thank you. Our next item is our board governance handbook for um adoption. >> So trustees, as you know, we've been uh consistently working through the development of a board governance handbook, something that we actually started on July 8th, our very first retreat. And the purpose and function of that is for us to be able to pull together our
070our policies, procedures, and protocols in terms of how we want to be able to operate, ensuring clarity of roles and responsibilities of the board as well as uh members of um of the leadership team. And so what I would ask, it's been pulled together in its entirety based on the conversation that we've had for each one of those sections. and I'm bringing it forward asking for adoption to be able to serve as a living document that we continue to be able to update um as things change and as policies change. But it it should serve as the backbone for how we do business, what we're trying to be able to to do together. Um and and I think it's an important element for us to adopt uh as it relates to governance and guiding our
071practices. >> Does anybody have any questions? No, I I was just going to uh say thank you for I mean you put in a lot of time doing this and there was quite a bit of discussion around it. Um and you took a lot of our feedback and and so thank you very much. >> Are you going to publish this so that >> be on the board board? >> I'm sorry. It'll be on the board uh board tab. >> Great. With that, do I have a motion for approval? >> I move to approve. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Roll call vote. >> Mrs. Cosnik, >> yes. >> Mrs. Pierce, >> yes. >> Mrs. Taylor, >> yes. >> Mr. Arnold, >> yes. >> Mrs. Counley, >> yes. [snorts] >> Mrs. Ellis White, >>
072yes. >> Mrs. President Mcgru Kane, I thank you. Okay. Our next agenda item is approval of revised job description for assistant superintendent of educational services. Renee. >> Thank you, Madame President. Good evening, trustees. In your board backup, you will see an updated job description for the assistant superintendent of educational services. This was our opportunity to take a look at it uh because of our current assistant superintendent uh being in this position for many years. Uh it was an opportunity for us to to really look at it to align with our district priorities and ensuring that during the successful search that we are going to have that Dr. Bennett has um spoken about. We wanted to make sure that the qualifications, the knowledge and abilities, the essential functions were all um items that we were really
073going to dig into in our search. And so we uh went through and really put a lot of time into ensuring that this was um the design for our next assistant superintendent. Does anybody have any questions or comments? No. Um I guess my question is about um the salary schedule for this position. Is it remaining the same? Um >> the salary schedule remains the same. >> Okay. Thank you. >> May I have a motion for approval? >> I'll move to approve. >> Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Thank you. Roll call vote. Mrs. Ellis White. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Counley. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Cos. >> Yes. >> Mr. Arnold. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Taylor. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Pierce. >> Yes. >> Mrs. McGru Kaine. President. Hi. >> Thank you. You're all
074good. Great. Thank you guys. Our next agenda item is resolution 10-25-26 with exhibit A, which is a resolution in the matter of releasing temporary certificated employees. Mrs. Arg. >> Yes. This is an annual um item that comes up in which we have a obligation to the state and to our employees that by March 15th we will release any temporary contract, excuse me, any teachers that are on a temporary contract for the year. uh when they sign their contracts, they are notified and they do um recognize that this is a one-year contract. And so with um that the list that was provided to you in the board backup, these um educators have already been notified, attended a meeting um last week uh to have a conversation about exactly um what this means and how to move
075forward in our organization and and um we had ADTA there to represent as well. It was a partnered meeting and so we wanted to ensure that we met our obligation to the state and so I wanted to bring it forward to you as early as possible. >> Thank you. Does anybody have any questions, comments? >> Oops, I did. >> So you did this as a um as a group all at one one time after school. >> We did. We had them here as a group. Uh we paid them for their time. Uh again, ADTA was here. Amanda uh Renoso was here. So we we had a nice meeting in here to answer questions to be of support. >> I will have to uh I will comment that um and this never gets easy to see
076yeah our our great staff members um released u but it's part of the process and um I know our school sites some of them have uh worked to show appreciation and support for our teachers by doing a pink day or pink drink something like that I saw. So, uh, thank you to those, uh, staff members. With that, I will, uh, motion to approve resolution 10-25-26. >> Second. >> Roll call vote. >> Mrs. Ellis White, >> yes. >> Mrs. Culie, >> yes. >> Mrs. President Mcruine, >> hi. >> Mrs. Cosnik, >> yes. >> Mrs. Taylor, >> yes. >> Mrs. Pierce, >> yes. >> Mr. Arnold, >> yes. >> Thank you. Announcement. Our next meeting will be Tuesday, February 17th. Our close session will be at 5:30 and our regular session will begin at 700 p.m. And
077we will adjourn.