9/26/23 - Azusa Unified School District Board Meeting/Study Session

001the live stream has begun it's on now yes that is correct good evening and welcome to the Tuesday September 26 2023 meeting of the Azusa Unified School District Board of Education and study session I'm calling the meeting to order at 5 33. we'll begin our meeting with roll call a board member board vice president Rodriguez Pena president board member Greer for president uh board member benevis will be absent today and we are expecting board clerk Ariana's shortly moving to item 1.3 Pledge of Allegiance if you would rise and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance of the United States thank you moving on to item 1.4 approval of the agenda may have a motion make a motion to approve second one moved and seconded uh colleagues is there any discussion I'm seeing that I'll call

002for the vote and members of the public bear with us we're having some technical difficulties with our portal so if we're pausing for a second it's because we're waiting for our screen to come back up the motion the item passed uh three zero now moving on to item 2.1 public comment on agenda or non-agenda items individual speakers will be allowed three minutes to address the board on each agenda or non-agenda item and the board uh our general practice is that the board will limit the total time for public input on each item to 20 minutes I know we have a lot of familiar faces here today so I'll ask Hope blue cards for those members of the public who are here in person as well as Lika members of the public who wish to make

003public comment online okay and um hope I wanted to ask do we have uh categories so seeing as we have two agenda items so we have categories of members of the public who wish to make comment on agenda items versus non-agenda items sometimes it's easier to hear uh comments by theme if that is available agenda items on the agenda okay all right which is on the agenda oh uh sure we'll start with that person thank you and hope as we're doing that will we be able to see the and will the speaker be able to see the countdown clock is that going to be an option too hope if it um I know our technology is going seems to be going in and out if it's helpful I can just take the blue cards and

004we can go in that order and then go to people on Zoom out of respect of everyone's time if we think that that's uh the option we want to go with okay all right we'll begin public comment with Mickey Carpenter good evening Dr Beau members of the board staff and the community I'm Mickey Carpenter I'm director of Community Resources for the city of Azusa I just want to again congratulate you on the progress so far uh with the findings found that that have been presented to you from the 7-Eleven committee I know there have been recommendations for Community Center use potentially just want to remind everybody of the great work that the school district and the city are doing together with regard to our collaborative all in for Azusa and the work at the Youth

005and Family Center it aligns really really well if not perfectly I would say with your community schools initiative we're really proud of all of the work we've done together thus far I would encourage you to look at some examples out in the community where there have been fabulous Partnerships such as we have here with the school district and the city such as the Jeff Seymour family center out in Omani and there are others too that you could take a look at so thank you so much for having me tonight thank you thank you next we have Cecile delatorre good evening my name is Cecilia De la Torre and I am a member of aea and I'm here this evening representing aea to oppose the approval of any Charter School applications as a group of professional

006Educators we believe that allowing a charter school into our district will sanction the many negative socio-economic impacts that said Charters will have on our ausd Public Schools please consider the following negative effects that a charter will have on our children of Azusa community of Azusa and employees of Azusa before allowing this to happen first and foremost we will see resource diversion one of the primary concerns regarding Charter Schools is that they divert valuable resources away from traditional Public Schools when students enroll in charter schools the funding allocated to their education often follows them leaving fewer resources for the students who remain in public schools this can result in overcrowding classrooms outdated resources and reduced extracurricular activities in our Azusa schools second we will definitely see an increase in segregation critics argue that Charter Schools can

007exacerbate socioeconomic and racial segregation in the education system Charter Schools often have more autonomy in their admission processes and are accused of cherry-picking students which can lead to a concentration of disadvantage or special needs students in our Azusa Public Schools this segregation can perpetuate inequality in education I will be submitting a copy of my comments to be included in the minutes verbatim thank you so much thank you next we have Market Guillen good evening my name is Margaret Keon and I am a member of aea and I'm also here this evening representing aea to oppose the approval of any Charter School applications allowing a charter school in Azusa will definitely affect our teachers working conditions Charter Schools often have different labor agreements and working conditions for teachers compared to Public Schools some Charter Schools hire

008non-unionized staff offer lower salaries or provide fewer benefits this disparity can lead to challenges in recruiting and retaining high quality teachers in public schools negatively impacting the overall quality of Education Charter Schools definitely present accountability concerns Charter Schools while they are publicly funded often have significantly less stringent accountability measures compared to the traditional Public Schools this can result in varying quality among charter schools which with some providing subpar Education Without sufficient oversight when the charter schools fail it can create disruptions for students and families who then must re-enter our Public Schools after having fallen behind the responsibility and resources to help these children to catch up then falls on us I will submit a copy of my comments to be included in the minutes verbatim thank you so much next we have Ron Trussell good

009evening my name is Ron Trussell I'm a member of aea and I'm also here this evening representing aea to approach to oppose the approval of any Charter School applications Charter Schools also contribute to reduced Community engagement our public schools are governed by you our locally elected School Board which allows for Community input and engagement in decision making charter schools on the other hand are often managed by private organizations or non-profit boards that may not be as responsive to the needs and concerns of the local community this reduced Community involvement can lead to a sense of Detachment some from the education system and the community itself charter schools have no restrictions against cherry picking and attrition Charter Schools sometimes engage in practices like cherry picking High performing students or pushing out students who face academic or

010behavior challenges this can create a perception that public schools are responsible for educating the most challenging students making it difficult for them to demonstrate success in conclusion we will see an erosion of public education let's face it the proliferation of a charter school in Azusa will contribute to the erosion of the public education system as the charter school takes our children our Public Schools will face declining enrollment and reduce public support potentially leading to a vicious cycle of under I'm sorry underfunding and declining quality for the majority of the children in our community thank you I will submit a copy of my comments to be included in the minutes verbatim next we'll have Magna good evening board cabinet community members employees we're here today as partners partners with the district with the city with a

011strong commitment to our children to our families to each other and so we're here trying to educate you on a different perspective on a charter school coming into Azusa before I give you this resolution that we have signed along with CSEA our partners in labor our partners in educating our children I'd like to give you what I call the hundred dollar example imagine if we have 10 schools and each school has a hundred children so that's a thousand kids and a charter school comes in and only takes 10 kids from each school and you think well what's the big deal well by taking those 10 children away you're taking away a hundred of our kids 10 percent and you think wow that's still not that much but at every one of those elementary schools or

012schools that has a hundred kids now has 90 they still need a principal they still need a custodian they still have to pay the same water bill the electricity bill the gas bill it's not changed but instead they're operating on 90 cents 90 percent of the funding that they once had and so how are you going to make up for that 10 percent loss in funding you can't let go of the principal you can't let go the custodian you still need to operate at that same level at a minimum to operate your schools and so what gets sacrificed the things that are not absolutely required by the law and so it's the extras it's the extra programs the extra supports for our kids the extracurriculars the extra clubs the extra tutoring the things that are

013essential for our kids we as a group oppose having a charter school come into our community because we don't believe that it is the right place we have other needs in our community that are being well addressed by our school system and I think that as evidenced by what the other teacher said about segregation about the socioeconomic impacts um Azusa is not the place to have a charter school come in we have written this resolution between the Azusa Educators Association and the classified School Employees Association and ask that the district sign it as well and so after I read it we will submit it and ask you to put it as part of your board agenda for your next scheduled meeting in October um I do believe that I am going to run out of

014time before reading the resolution and so my colleague here is going to Stacy Munoz defer her minutes to me I will defer my minutes to next fall I'd like to read the resolution whereas the Azusa Educators Association a local chapter of the California Teachers Association and the California School Employees Association Local 299 of Azusa exists to protect and promote the well-being of its members to improve the conditions of teaching and learning to advance the cause of free Universal and quality public education to ensure that the human dignity and civil rights of all children and youth are protected and to secure a more just Equitable and Democratic Society whereas the Azusa Unified School District has just addressed significant financial pressures by implementing a reorganization plan which included but was not limited to school closures reductions in

015Workforce and optimized programs whereas all three parties aea CSEA and ausd recognize that a charter school in the city of Azusa does not afford its citizens school choice but rather limits opportunities by decreasing funds and thereby limiting the ability to offer resources and programs to all Azusa students including those in proposed charter schools whereas the Azusa Unified School District Board of Education like every other California school district is legally required to accept and review applications for new charter schools therefore be it resolved that aea CSEA and ausd collectively express our determination that the ausd Board of Education rejects any applications for Charter Schools prior to submission to the LA County Office of Education and or California State Board of Education be it further resolved that the Azusa Board of Education fully considers the fiscal implications

016and impacts on student outcomes for all constituents in the city of Azusa please please read it please consider it please hear our plea for the sake of all constituents in Azusa all stakeholders including our children our families our community and all of our employees thank you next we have Esther compost ball good evening board president vote members of the board superintendent Ortega and cabinet members and to my fellow colleagues and csca in the room and anybody or residents um I'd like to address you tonight not as a member of aea and not as a teacher but I'd like to address you as a constituent I am very proud to say that I live in the city of Azusa I'm blessed to live here because not only do I live here I work here I shop

017in the neighborhood I um see my students in the neighborhood and I'm really happy to say that those are my students and my alumni the reason I chose to address the board as a constituent is because I am not in favor and I'm telling you as a constituent I am not in favor of any charter school coming into our community I have seen what it has done to my school district that I went to Duarte Unified School District and I am not impressed with what has happened there so I am going to tell you that as a constituent I don't feel happy I that this is even being brought to our city I know that part of the reason is because you know are some of the community think that we don't offer great programs

018well I'd like to say to those community members that don't feel that our schools our Public Schools offer the best we have students going to Stanford we have students that have been accepted to Harvard USC UCLA all the UCS and some very private notable private schools like Notre Dame I have an alumni student at Notre Dame on a free scholarship her brother did the same thing these are all students that were products of Azusa Unified School District public school system so I really would hope and pray that you consider um not allowing any charter schools in we tried catering doing dual immersion programs from what I understand we tried having a dual immersion program in Mandarin and we only had one application so to the members of the community please come see what we're doing

019in the public school system a Susan unified has amazing schools you just need to come and visit and see the wonderful things that are occurring in our Public School System here in notices it Unified and once again as a constituent I implore you not to allow any Charter Schools come in thank you next we have Jeff Perkins Mr Perkins are you online Mr Perkins you may mute your mic hi can you hear me okay yes we can hear you now okay I'm sorry about that thank you hi everyone my name is Jeff Perkins and I'm a parent of two ausd students I want to thank all of our board members and superintendent Ortega for the time and the care that you give to addressing the needs of our students I have been following the discussion

020at recent board meetings regarding the district's vision and mission statement and the debates surrounding the continued use of diversity equity and inclusion as part of ausd's core values I'm calling to express my full support for diversity equity and inclusion remaining in the core values as I feel that our students and Community can only benefit from embracing diversity in all of its many forms whether it be diversity of cultures faiths languages gender physical ability or academic ability just an in sum as well as working to overcome inequities so that all of our students have access to the same opportunities I've gathered from the recent meetings that some community members have expressed concern with the term diversity equity and inclusion although there have been mentions of a general sense of discomfort with these stated values I've heard

021no mention of a specific component of diversity Equity or inclusion that has triggered this discomfort unless I missed it I hope that if our District's parents or students do have specific concerns about the promotion of diversity equity and inclusion that they share them for consideration if there is to be continued discussion about our District's core values I hope that we hear from all sides of this issue in the spirit of inclusiveness and diversity of opinions thank you for your time Lika do we have additional members of the public online that are here for public comment we have no additional hands raised on Zoom thank you and thank you to all of our community members who are here in person submitting their comment live on Zoom or just listening into the meeting your voices are heard

022and appreciated we will now move to item 3.1 approval of resolution in support of declaring September 15 through October 15 2023 Hispanic Heritage Month is there a motion motion to approve 3.1 second moved and seconded is there any discussion uh before we I call for the vote I just like to offer my comment on this item um I'm happy that this is the first time at least in the research that the super nintendent and I did online that azuz unified has been brought this resolution honoring Hispanic Heritage Month um I think given our community and our school district demographics and populations it's important to uplift um the rich Vibrant Community that we serve and that we are a part of without further Ado the item has been moved and seconded without any further discussion I

023will call for the vote and the merchant professors and the motion differences for uh to one absent thank you and next are on our agenda is item 4.1 discussion of surplus property Mr Ortega thank you uh board president Beau um as the Board of Education uh knows uh we have been on a journey of school reorganization uh and that Journey has led us to uh this point in time where the Board of Education uh today uh will have an opportunity to begin to discuss um Bates decisions um interest um and what to do with our Surplus property that we have here in Azusa uh we have a couple of things uh tonight uh that may assist that conversation uh the things that we have in front of you we have in the lobby as well

024available these are all items that have been agendized as attachments in previous uh board meetings uh the first one is a presentation by dcg strategies that is a PowerPoint packet that was presented uh here at a board meeting we have a plotted site map that outlines all of our schools in Azusa Unified School District and highlights the Surplus property in red we also have an estimated costs uh spreadsheet table that outlines potential estimated costs to modernize uh the six properties that we are discussing tonight and we also have the most recent document which is the report that you received and accepted from the Surplus property AKA 711 committee um with their conclusions and their recommendations for the Board of Education in addition to the hard copy documents that we have tonight we are also joined

025by Sarah Polito who is a member of our legal team who has been uh hand in hand with us navigating the 7-Eleven and that and that process and and helping with those meetings um and we also have uh with us from our developmental consultant strategies Miss Lauren Jennings uh who is here as well they are here uh as a resource as a support as a if we're stuck maybe to un stick us and move us in in in directions uh but they're here again as a resource as we begin uh the conversation around what to do uh with our six Surplus properties deductible thank you Mr ortegan uh thank you colleagues for engaging in this conversation and thank you to our partners here to provide additional contacts and information to help guide our discussion um

026as this is a study session this is there are no action items tonight this is an opportunity for us to focus on Surplus property and have a robust discussion in public around this opportunity to invest in our community according to our geography our current needs our future needs and some of the programmatic ideas and dreams that we represent here in Azusa unified um I think what might be beneficial to kick it off is to have each of our colleagues you know say some opening statements and then maybe that won't start shaping the discussion do we feel comfortable with that all right board vice president I'm looking at you okay so um as I I read the Surplus um recommendations from the 7-Eleven committee and um I I agree with them wanting to have one of

027our properties to be a um pretty much like a career center you know the top of the takeaway we so we can move it a little bit farther away can you hear me no perfect that's better yes okay so um talk to them anyway there's not really anything that has um for the community as Memorial Park you know they have the uh Girl Scouts they have a teen center they have well-being Center and um they have their Library over there and I I my focus was um and I'll say it you know Center Middle School because I I feel that it's a big campus and we could have students have sports there we can have a satellite Library they have a library there already but of course the books there because they moved them and

028I just think that would be a great location uh centralized in the community uh in in my second um idea was not Elementary I think Palm Elementary would be great to move to Sierra High School students Sierra High School is our continuation we moved in with Blackstone Street School uh Sears on one side and the adults goes on the other side and they're saying they don't fit you know and not only that they do not have a field they have football games they have basketball games just like the other high schools and they're they don't have a field I I don't know I I don't even know where they play but they it's like Glaston High School but I think that um Sierra High School the weight room is all crowded you know um our

029vision was that there have been a football and once you put them in they do not I think power is perfect the classrooms the field um the location so that's my recommendation that's what I I think we should do thank you so much for cook Ariana's good evening everyone I I just want to take also this time to thank the 7-Eleven committee for the members that have come together to to do this this this tough work right being able to um dissect being able to take a look at the future of our community this process that did not just start last year it did not start five years it started way long time ago where we knew we had declining enrollment and we as the board took the decision to close schools so that way

030we can focus on the future of this district and as we're moving forward now we're having to to speak about what we're going to do with these facilities one of the things that the report finds is that residential areas are needed in Azusa right but one another thing too that the district needs they they also need um to use some space we need some space so as I'm looking at the findings and I'm looking at the research I I do agree that we need to have these conversations too with res you know rezoning um some of these uh areas for residential and have a partnership with the city and be able to go ahead and also in these uh facilities be able to put some of the like um some of the services right we

031have no room here for here in our district that we can grow some departments right special education we have Covina offices right let's go ahead and centralize everything here in Azusa and use to the best of our ability what we do have and give back to our community and how do we do that well I think we have a prime example today we have a lot of teachers here thank you guys for coming and people out in the community hearing um this uh this meeting out through YouTube that you're your your community is going through a transition not only are you know the schools have been closed we've merged the high schools together the middle schools together there's a lot of people moving in I actually just uh met a few people yesterday um new

032to our community at Gladstone Middle School some new parents that have chosen to come here to a Souza right now they're living in apartments but they would like to buy a townhouse or you know a house here in Azusa the opportunities that come with this transition can be positive but going through transition it is painful and we as the board will have to make decisions and we will not make everybody happy but just know that I do stand uh I do stand in solidarity with my community and that is we we do need some residential areas and we do need to make use of those facilities for our district for our departments for our students and what that looks like is what we are here to do thank you thank you board member Greer um

033for the record I believe that clap was for you uh foreign so first first I do just want to yeah I would definitely want to thank the 7-Eleven committee and the work that was done this is not easy work and and that work was was done over several meetings and conversations and and work that took place and so grateful for our partners uh that we have doing that work as well also I want to say thank you to you superintendent Ortega because it wasn't that long ago that we sat at the dice it looked a little different then and we talked about really looking ahead more than just a year and really trying to understand what are what are the realities of the demographics in our community of the needs within our community and even

034that was very difficult but we put forward some some bold um interventions to try to maximize our resources and now we're at this place where we've determined that we do indeed have some Surplus property and as we're looking at what we might do with that Surplus I want to remind us to continue that same mindset of looking far enough out so that we're not finding ourselves in a situation where we're making short-term decisions with with assets and properties that we have uh that are that are are long term um because once we off-load properties it is next to impossible for us to to dream of acquiring properties again in in the future and so I agree that there are a number of creative options that we that are available to us for us to to

035consider um recognizing the realities of of the just general housing crisis that exists here within this the state and and specifically here in Azusa and in this region um that's something for us to also consider uh but I'd love to really have some serious conversation and really weigh if we are looking to offload properties um I am also strongly in favor of the idea of having some sort of centralized Community Center and looking at how can we partner and continue to work with the city and and other community organizations uh to be able to utilize uh those those properties and and also as we look ahead yeah what are the the offices and services that we have that are in other locations that can be relocated or how do we maximize again the the different

036sites we have I think about the adult transitional program and where it's located um and so do we use this as an opportunity for us to to Really find a fitting home for that program just like we're asking the same question in regards to uh Sierra High School or other offices as you mentioned board member arianis um that would that would be my hope that we have an opportunity right now and that we don't we don't make short-sighted uh decisions uh because of uh any any one factor but that we really consider all these factors thank you board member please I also want Brad I really liked with Mickey Cooper oh sorry that Nikki Carpenter mentioned um in El Monte and um also when we make our decision I would like to since we do

037have six Surplus properties I would like to visit maybe one or two at a time and not do all six at the same time to be sure that we are making the right decision and we're using our funds um adequately for the community and for our students thank you we're getting used to our new microphone so that's what we're trying to do um adding in some of my thoughts that I've been brewing on over the past uh year and a half I um I agree with um my colleagues in terms of not only thinking about what we can do here and now but uh what we will what we can do now and what we should do now that will benefit our community 30 years from now and 30 years from now is one will

038be judged for what we do today and in the coming coming months and years I think that it's appropriate that we also visit other cities and school districts right to see how they how they did it if they had to do it all over again what would they change I think that's kind of going slow so that we can go fast uh make sense um and there are some great examples of community centers wellness centers different types of housing options in the greater San Gabriel Valley that we can go on a listening and looking tour um so I very much support that idea and I also particularly support the idea of not doing it all at once because then you really don't have the chance to soak it all in so I think as we

039are as we can schedule those um I'd like to figure out how we we as an entire board can participate in those um in those site-based tours for centers and assets throughout the San Diego Valley I think I think in particular one of the um uh values and and um ideals that came up in our recent Mission Vision Values and goals Retreat and adoption at the last board meeting um was around safety and around Wellness and um if we're being so bold as to say maybe this campus you know naming them again we're not voting but we've got to start putting some things out there so that we can start shaping them um I I envisioned one of our campuses being a place where we can partner with our city to expand the existing Recreation

040and wellness for our community and in particular um I'm looking at Slauson Middle School and I see that as a natural partner it's one of the larger sites it's you know it's nice and flat and rectangular and to me it almost appears as like a mirror to the Memorial Park Center so if there could be a way that we could have an exploratory dialogue with our city Partners to figure out how that campus could be used as a and let's say a Wellness Center a soccer field a school district based food pantry you know food insecurity is something that really came to the Forefront during the pandemic a resource that is um uh run and and for the school district and it's the families that serves um even the idea of bringing in appropriate non-profit

041partners that would provide services for our families if it is uh again just ideating here like a medical clinic like uh vision and dental screening even starting off small where we could have pop-ups come in or you know the osmobile come in and that be a location that's very walkable that's very accessible it's in an existing neighborhood where we could build that to say this you know between Memorial Park and um and and the Slauson Middle School site this is our health Wellness Recreation Center where you can go to pray you can go to learn take a class you can go extra size and again building on some of the assets already within our within our city um the second idea I had was looking at looking forward and again I was inspired by some

042of the work around the mission and vision and what our job is you know what are we charged with um as as a school district and part of that is um to uh Empower students with skills that they need for life right and we know that students um are going to find their find what makes them tick right and we want to support whatever that is so giving them the options giving them the skills the opportunities and so I'm wondering if one of our sites we could explore the option of something like um uh like a CTE uh meaning a Career Technical education EMT fireplace Training Academy I'm bringing in those well hubs not only for our students to be able to have access to those um to those programs but also for the Greater

043Community as we look at a city being a place where we want to work live Play and Learn how do we create those assets to say you know this is as superintendent has said something that makes our city and our district attractive right people are uh programs are moving here and saying Roots um and that what can we do to create that long-term um those long-term assets where you go to school here you find your first job maybe you do the EMT training and that's how you enter into the workforce and then you buy your first home here and and your own kids come back in in 20 years and we do it all again um so those are my initial thoughts around possible Wellness Center at the Sloss insight and another site um seeing

044that looking at how what we can do to create a training center a Workforce Training Center to support our Workforce so um I need I need to disagree on that uh on Slauson Middle School we would be um with Memorial Park and with the city of Azusa if you know Memorial does pretty much which which you're mentioning that we need they do have a Wellness Center they do have a team Center and I feel the same way uh with this adult um workplace for you know for jobs we're competing then against the adult school you know the adult school has a great medical program where they have codeines a lot of this about when they return The Graduate they usually already have a job and we can give it to the adult school you know

045add these uh classes and the track Community is just down the street on on Arrow Highway because my grandson goes there and yes they he he does welding there he took the electronics he did welding he did um um mechanics so they do have it it's just down the street also so um I I I'm not saying you have a bad idea I just think the location may not be you know um where it should be I'm not I'm not sure where you mentioned the um The Adult School area for the for the um I don't know if you mentioned notification but I know you mentioned sauce in Middle School um and Memorial Park has a lot of the things that we're talking about already and I don't want to compete against him or I

046don't want someone to feel that um you know should I go over here to Azusa unified or I'm trying to Global here with the city of Azusa you know I don't want to compete against the city I'm trying to do a partnership with them you're not compete with them and I think just to clarify I wasn't suggesting a a competition but I was specifically suggesting a partnership where we are going to do is what I'm saying well uh what I'm saying if we could do more if we had if Memorial Park had another 25 000 square feet what would it like to do as an example right I'll also I'll Echo some of the the comments from board member Rodriguez Pena in that it would make sense to me as we as we look at

047just resource kind of saturation or lack thereof within our city it does seem as though there are resources lacking South in kind of More Southern regions and so it would make sense to me if we were looking to provide some some equity and access to resources that we would look to the southern part of the community um I while I recognize in addition to that while I recognize that there's a decision that the Board needs to make regarding these pieces I would love to engage our counterparts at the city about this conversation because as We're Dreaming and as we're lifting up things I wonder where there may be overlap um with with some of those dreams and so I up to this point we've we've spoken theoretically we haven't had properties that were officially deemed

048as Surplus now that we've crossed that threshold I wonder if that's something for the ad hoc committee uh to to begin in some conversation I know that we have talked in the past about just some sort of joint meeting between the city and uh and the school board I wonder if there's if there would be some value in in discussing this and allowing for some some shared dreams and shared ideas um yeah I just I just see an incredible opportunity to to partner and and really bring some um some incredible things to our community I think for from for many years we've been seeing with that we've want to partner with the city that we want to have conversations and I I as much as I want to agree with you um we as a

049board um I feel need to have those conversations with the five right with the other five in the room to be able to dialogue and what are the needs of our community right what is the city of Azusa what like you're saying to lacking what what is it having those conversations um it's it's it's nice that we have a committee of two that go in and speak with two other members of but I think it's about time that we put our words into action and really make this happen what do we have to do so that's can I can I add to so I because to be to be clear I'm totally in favor and would love to have some five on five conversation I just recognize how that complex and how and and all

050of the moving pieces that may be required in order to schedule an additional meeting and give the lead time and they're just they're just our pieces and so because we have ad hoc commit subcommittees of the board that are that are ad hoc in nature to be able to have some of these conversations it can allow things to start it can allow those conversations to begin um and that doesn't have to be the end-all be-all I'm so I'm I'm not saying either or I'm saying both okay which I like to just add to that that um since we have the ad hoc committee uh we can get recommendations from the other board members and we will bring that when we when we meet with them we can bring these recommendations and ideas that we all

051have together as a team but the the two uh members that are ad hoc members will and that's the points of having that ad hoc committee that that's the whole idea yeah I'm not in in uh against having the what I'm seeing is to also have to have make it a a thing we like I said we've been having a conversation for years that hey we want to talk about this we only come together it seems like when we have an emergency or a tragedy or something happen in our community right maybe this can be a catalyst for us to have a yearly uh meeting for us to come together and I would like to see that happen um I would like to see the you know ad hoc as well to continue but I

052think maybe yearly we should be able to sit down and have a conversation with our fellow um elected officials that also make decisions in our community and how we're servicing the same constituents the same Community the same students the same families right as we go through our changes go through these changes this transitions right are we whether we're going to um find some room to to build um some residential areas right or we are going to use the facilities for district use only right we are going to make sure that who benefits I think the most important thing here is our students you know what I heard I don't know who it was but um or a future Generations you know I've been living here for 45 years in this community and have seen the

053transition that has come to our community some of it not favorable some of it you know it we had no choice and I can go back in history but I rather not go there um what we know is that we have the Surplus commit uh Surplus properties we know that our community is lacking resources one of the things that um I I just heard my colleagues say well um we need to bring like CTE uh we need to bring some other things well you know what that let's let's find out like what other districts are doing what other communities are doing and you're right we don't want to go ahead and and find out what the city is offering right we we don't fully understand what the city is offering I I don't know what

054the what the city's offering we also have another subject right another issue at hand that we have here in our community which is homelessness how many of our children how many of our children are homeless our families let's address that issue as well do we have housing here how about you know what some of that housing um only before our teachers you know for them to stay in our communities housing is going up so much we want to keep our you know our families here we want to keep our teachers here and what best way is to you know to offer those services to our own people who live here who work here who are invested in our community and I think that we need to take that in consideration as well you know I

055um so programs services housing and how do we keep our teachers here right on a teacher salary I'll tell you right now on a single teacher's salary a teacher cannot buy a house let alone raise a family is that to say but yes everything milk eggs bread tortillas beans rice everything is going up right but how do we invest as a district as a whole right and the people that are invested with us as partners and I think that we need to take that in consideration and not just bring somebody new or bring a new school you know or bring some no we already have enough in our plate for us to discuss and to think about our future Generations here and we at a Souza District I think you know I'm a product of

056a Souza and I'm proud to say I'm a product of a Souza there's great teachers here there's great families we can sit here and say well let's also you know I think it's time that we take in consideration what the city needs what the district needs and put that at our best one foot forward with public education in mind so I have a question uh superintendent and cabinet so in on page five of six of the 7-Eleven committee's recommendation page five number two it says the committee recommends that the board explore retention and or use of at least two of the properties for the following types of community benefit uses number one excuse me uh pardon me can you please repeat the page number page five five of the uh 7-Eleven committee reports page five

057uh item number two item number two number two okay the title is community committee's recommendation thank you um so for the following types of community benefit uses one Community Center slash Conference Center slash student Events Center number two extra parking Athletics and recreational space number three additional room for Central Kitchen expansion and number four reorganization of existing student programs um so this this gives us a great starting point right this case that went through the process and um so superintendent I'd like to hear from you um as superintendent you know CEO of our district how you see these lining up when you have discussions with a cabinet about existing programs and how you would want to expand them using these four touch points because I think what we're trying to do is we're trying to

058find alignment um so in previous board meetings and definitely during the Surplus property meeting we were asked does the district see any use for the properties uh and we came out and said that we do see two uh use two needs for properties that we would love to have one was to give Sierra High School their proper school and I'll explain that in a second and then number two was to have some kind of community slash Conference Center and I'll explain that in a second as well um right now we have the Sierra High School sharing a campus with the adult school um and although they technically both fit um it is not the most ideal situation um more space um would be wanted by both the adult school as they think about expansion as

059they think about bringing in other programs to attract adult learners um and then at the Sierra High School um site um as they look to have adequate facilities for the programs that they are offering uh the students for us ideally um if you wanted to hear um for us ideally one of the sites would be for Sierra High School we envisioned that at that site we would also either construct or expand the Central Kitchen to have a robust uh Central Kitchen where we can further expand the commitment to scratch cooking we think that Sierra High School would be a perfect location for a Central Kitchen um as we dream not saying that these things would happen for sure but if there's a Central Kitchen at the Sierra High School campus maybe that is the beginning

060of a culinary CTE pathway maybe this is an opportunity for a different student Workforce Development and opportunities uh maybe even just Standalone classes around nutrition and health and so we see Sierra High School as a as a great match for a Central Kitchen um to be housed in the same location the Community Conference Center um we believe we have had many conversations whether that's through my meetings with the city manager or as being at the table uh with um city um programs like all in for Azusa where we have discussed the possibility and the dreams of bringing some services that exist right now north of the 210 to the community south of the 210. we've discussed satellite libraries satellite police station um satellite health services and so we we would Envision that with the beginning

061of Community Schools as well that our schools would become community schools but that there are things that are essential and center and Central to the needs of a community where we can also have a central location where um our Southern Community could have access to some of these resources in our vision the city plays a an integral part in that but so does the county and so do non-profits um and maybe even faith-based organizations uh where where we create a hub for community community resources for our community we do have a Community Schools district director you met her at the last time um and so possibly even possibly like that would be the center of our community schools as a as a district um and then as we think about the possible location we also

062Envision much needed conference-based meeting rooms that could be for district use and or also some potential in terms of public use if we were to give Sierra its proper School than we too had envisioned right now we have adult Learners on an elementary campus and so what better place for adult Learners than to be with other adults and so if Sierra were to be moved away from their current location that offers up a lot of space where we can move the Magnolia adult transition program to that same campus and as we think about again opportunities for uh inclusion opportunities for uh some networking or you know doing things together the adults would be on an adult campus um by doing that this is our trickle effect then obviously that opens up that Magnolia section uh

063Magnolia Guru due to the reorganization and so again that offers some some some space for growth and or for other uh components that the school can use so as you think about these four things that's how we have preliminary preliminarily um have thought about if it was completely up to us there would be a site for Sierra with a Central Kitchen um and other potential uh opportunities we know that right now for example team artosa team because of space are not together um and so that's a possibility I know it was discussed earlier uh that we have team members Azusa team members who work out of what's called a Circ um and so that's a possibility as well as we think about unifying and centralizing uh some of the services that we provide uh our

064our district so we've definitely thought about it and in terms of what we think that we should use uh we we stand by needing or wanting two properties and we stand by those the uses that we originally had had thought about in terms of in terms of that um again we've thought out a little bit further if the board wanted to to hear but that I mean to answer your question that's that's what we're at with that Mr T I um I want to make sure I was tracking so I heard you say in summary two two campuses two sites and I heard site one Sierra past the expanded kitchen Central Kitchen Sierra new Central Kitchen uh so depending on the site for example uh we thought that Slauson might be a great location for

065the new Sierra High School um if we think about it's already a secondary school number one uh number two it has had uh modernization that some of our other schools have not received yet uh so in terms of quote unquote investment um that becomes a little bit minimal and the Central Kitchen already existed right now and so it would be about modernizing or expanding the Central Kitchen that already exists there so instead of constructing or building from the ground up we can think about how do we modernize and expand what's already there so that was site one and is the second site adult school plus Conference Center it was just Adult School by itself none of the above and I apologize for the confusion the second side would be a community slash Conference Center and

066so this is where we see uh bringing essential services to the south side of the district these are again just preliminary conversations and dreams that we've had with our city Partners in terms of some satellite opportunities um and bringing that to to some of the community in the South so that they have easier access to some of those things again um I um I think the the vision is that this would be yes in partnership with the city one thousand percent um but also in partnership with again County non-profits possibly faith-based organizations this is about bringing resources to our community uh where parents uh students community members can come and and get some of that much needed support that they may need but that this property would also be used for conference rooms meeting rooms

067you know that kind of nature for again District use and probably and possibly even public use as well if that were to happen to kind of pinpoint a little bit then that leaves the adult school without Sierra High School so the the west east side the east side of the campus would be vacant because Sierra would would move and then thinking about expansion at the adult school talked about uh you brought up Dr Beau you know fire police you brought up welding electrical I mean there's carpentry I mean there's so many things that we can think about uh but also taking that opportunity to to consider moving the Magnolia adult transition program to what would be vacant because Sierra leaves as part of allowing adults to be with adults and an adult on an adult

068campus thank you for that you got that clarification superintendent did you say that you would like to see the Community Conference Center at the former Sierra High School is um no I did not say that um again when we thought about Sierra High School to us it made sense that Slauson would be a great landing spot for that for some of the similar reasons that we have discussed we thought that the Community Conference Center uh The Perfect Landing location for that would be Central Middle School for some of the same reasons um there has been modernization there that hasn't been at all Sites it is called Center um I don't know if it's because it is the center of the city uh but if you look at the at the map I think it would

069be a perfect location when we think about our communities in the south in terms of easy access to those kinds of things and so that's that's what we thought would be a good landing spot for um the community slash Conference Center I have a question um just write off your idea the Community Conference Center if it would be at Center Middle School um what uh would it take to be able to go ahead and partner up with you know the wellness center as well from the city um to bring to open that up to our community for them to come and walk right for them to come and um uh or take and in the community uh the Community Resources right um like you said a library to partner with the Souza library and be

070able to bring some of some of those resources here um how about connecting with the DHS dmh and L.A County since it is in the LA County area as well bringing those resources to our community resource center yeah I I do not want to in any way shape or form speak for the city what I do know is that we have open dialogue we have collaboration these are not ideas that would be new to them we have had many conversations about opening up pop-ups or satellites in the south of some of the services that already exist in the north and again um we definitely Envision that we can have this great relationship with the city where we can work together to offer these these services to our community members but we don't also want to

071just say this is a city district thing we know that we want to leverage our partners our County Partners our non-profit Partners our faith-based partners to think about um together right when when you think about the all in for Azusa it's all in for Azusa and so again I do not want to speak for the city but I know that we have had uh conversations about things like this and I think it would be a perfect opportunity to together come together and say how do we for our city right that we all serve and love what can we do uh to to bring some of those things uh to to that neighborhood that we think uh would be a good match and I wanted to add you know besides you know what we want and

072with the 711 committee wants we were an outcry in December when we had a community meeting with the city the school district the police department um when we had those killings in Azusa and that was the out crowd of the community that there's nothing on the other side of town you know there's nothing for the kids to do this is like the big thing so this is my concern I live another side and and I see it I live there so I I feel that you know we don't have a park the closest park is well they have to cross the street to go to um Gladstone Park then you got to go to Valleydale which is also far away you know if you don't have a car you have to walk there so um

073that was the outcry of the people in that Community because that's where the tragedy was going on I just wanted to reiterate that it's it was the community after it during during the big meeting I have three thoughts slash questions so one referring back to the board president's question around overlap and alignment with these three areas under the the keeping of the two properties that it's not only is it an alignment it seems like through conversation that the district ideas were the source material for where these ideas made their way onto the to the paper I heard you speak to each of these pieces but not specifically to Athletics can can you speak to that portion of the thinking from the district I'll begin and then I think Sarah wants to uh jump in uh

074on that as well um and uh board member Rodriguez Pena in her comments reminded me of something that you know when we talk about um a a community center and we think about uh all of our partners um there are organizations like the boys and girls club that could bring a recreation but we also know that the city does Recreation as well and so if you have a community center where there's not a quote unquote school right and now you have these fields and you have the you know these big play areas then that becomes Prime opportunities for uh Recreation uh as well not only for kids but maybe even for uh adults but they're Sarah you want to talk about the I believe there was some conversation about maybe like some Central all right

075well it's green okay there you go okay hello um I just wanted to speak to the question about um specifically where did the idea in the 7-Eleven report about athletic fields come from um and I think it came from two different places when we spoke with the board originally I I think it was a few months ago now probably early to mid-summer um just to get some general ideas about you know what should we bring to the 7-Eleven are there additional thoughts that you want to share I think there was some discussion about Athletics and additional fields and how some schools didn't have the um the extent of facilities that maybe the board was looking for and so we took all those comments back to the 7-Eleven and they wanted to incorporate um we also

076had a couple 7-Eleven members that had seen other projects or ideas in other communities and and um kind of use that to reinforce ideas from the board and so that's how it kind of filtered into that that list of four things that you're seeing in the report and then I will additionally add just continue I want to continue to Echo and speak of speak about different Community organizations and and whatnot and what comes to mind for me um for example is uh the homework house and so the homework house happens to to have space on the church that I'm a pastor at and and just recognizing some of their needs um for for expansion as as they're offering services I I can't help it but as I as I look at some of these things

077just just see opportunities to some of the the resources that already exist in our community and I'll already have a proven track record of of um just just fruitfulness and and and finding ways to um to to be all in and utilize some of our some of our sites for for organizations and programs uh like like that for example and what are the others uh what what are ways that like you said we can almost almost immediately I mean if we were to look at something like Center I know we're being kind of hypothetical and theoretical here but if we look at something like Center Middle School by opening up space there we are are able to partner with with the the city and other organizations to immediately provide resources I mean in in a

078very quick um uh duration of time I just wanted to add to a board member Greer since you mentioned the homework house um I've got the director's name Jennifer Jennifer excuse me yeah she did at one point ask me why the students at Murray School did not go to to the homework house but the homework cost is way by the foothill Shopping Center you know and she did ask me that and and I told her that we need we did need a satellite um and maybe they would come then but she was trying to ask them you know you know I mean I'm not going to drive everyone there right right but you know she's asking me I'm like well I don't know I mean you know we have things together in our community so

079they're in school they go to think together and they're good with that but if they had a satellite homework house maybe they would attend so we did have that discussion at one point um and I think that would be great I wanted to um touch on a point that you brought up Mr Ortega about um that the city may already have programs that nonprofits may already have and I I want to just share my thoughts on not seeing this opportunity as we're replacing or competing necessarily but making sure that there's access right so we know we have our robust after school partner and think together and we know that there's a waiting list at many of the campuses we know that homework house serves hundreds of kids and could probably serve more if they had

080more space more teachers more staff so I just want to bring that lens of you know you win the lottery what would you like to do with it not to replace or displace Partners but spread the wealth literally spread the wealth create opportunities so that families can choose between those based on Transportation age of the student facility recreational facilities that are age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate I just want the lens of positivity to how we can build on the assets and I like what you said board member about kind of the tried and true Partners or those organizations that have track records right and and saying yeah this is something that we want to continue my last thought on this is um as we consider for example the idea of a conference center and we'd have

081multiple partners uh are we saying that these would these would be lease agreements so in in a sense that these would be um some type of Revenue centers we would have a lease agreement with on a lease agreement with the city a lease agreement with a faith-based organization kind of a you know vetted and trusted partners that would be occupying the space is that what we're talking about uh that is definitely a possibility I think uh I don't know if it was Dr Beau or um board vice president Rodriguez Pena we have it on our particular file uh we know that Pomona Roland and Armani already have community centers they all differ and so learning about their approaches learning about how they handle City partner versus non-profits versus County um and I think those are

082opportunities for us to learn about how they go about doing those things and so it is on our to-do list to get out to those three sites first again just to learn right they all have one but just to learn about how they went about it how do they handle uh the space What are the Agreements are they formal informal are they Revenue generating um are they are there waivers you know those kinds of things so that we can learn from from those who've already gone before us and and have built uh items so um don't know 100 and Sarah if you can get the um the podium mic volume okay let's try now there we go um I just I wanted to add from kind of a mechanic's perspective um to your question about

083uh does it does it have to be a lease or would it be a lease there's a um a number of different options we have under the education code for how we can allow uh for joint use of the facility um so we certainly could do a a more formal lease there's also sections of the code that allow us to do joint use between the district and other Community Partners um so instead of them being more formal leases it would be like a facility use agreement for example um you know there are various options and permutations about uh how much you charge and what the uh the terms are under those um under those joint use or facility use agreements but I just wanted to note there's um lots of options outside of a more

084formal lease about how we could go about um jointly using one facility with two three four five or more partners for example board vice president and then board member Greer and then board member Ariana so um I did go to Ona they actually I don't know they just the the Indian Hill the mall I went over there to to go to one of the buildings right on like you know I mean I don't want to get that big okay because there was a lot of a lot of empty rooms and where I had to go the garage come out and get me and take me you know because it's very huge um but I guess that's an idea but I also wanted to ask um so can they rent a room is that a possibility

085also you can like this I want to rent this room yes yes um so that is definitely a feature of a joint use our facility use agreement we could designate particular spaces rooms and outdoor spaces usually we're pretty diligent about ensuring there's you know outdoor space and restroom space for example that can be shared at a single facility but uh but we would designate various um you know uh kind of small spaces like I would think of like a beehive for example right if there are like little little clusters um and and you can have as many agreements as you think makes sense to have various groups use use the same facility but they would also need to get insurance right their own insurance is that that's that is definitely a feature of those agreements

086we would have insurance and indemnity and all types of other Provisions to make sure that um the school district is um is protected right in in having all those uses on the same site okay thank you and I want to add I love the idea of contacting these other districts to kind of understand what is in essence their their business model for for how they go about partnering with some of these different Community Partners and other organizations I wanna I also want to throw out there and just just put this on the the table for the the board I personally as I think about some of these things am less concerned about Revenue generation when it comes to a community resource center of sorts I'm I'm less concerned about it Revenue generation and instead see

087an opportunity for for um the what what is being generated is resources and and by having space that we have available and and partnering with again trusted proven uh organizations to be able to offer services I personally am I just just want to say that I'm less interested in in making making a dollar from that and instead saturating a region with uh with resources there are other properties that we can look at as we consider Revenue generation and and what is the means through which we can best accomplish that goal but I just want to want to throw that out so some sort of joint use agreement or or finding ways to offer services even if it doesn't put money in the district it still it still serves the uh our community I was gonna

088ask or just to the extent that it would help kind of guide the discussion um I know on that same page five of the report that we looked at earlier um the recommendations um four and five on that page um spoke to the potential use lease sale or otherwise like leveraging some of the other properties to help to generate Revenue that could be used towards you know bringing forward some of these really exciting ideas that we've talked about tonight I wonder if the board has any additional thoughts on those recommendations just as we as I work with staff to to try and put forward some um some next steps that we can bring back to you all I I would like to respond to that but I also want to honor my colleagues uh point

089in the line so Boardman Marianas as we're talking it seems like we're fully invested in this community resource center because it's it's been a good minute that we've been talking about this because it's exciting right to be able to to have some type of space um one of the things um that Parks and Recreations uh used to do with the cbdg grants was uh they were able to um have coaches come out to the elementaries and uh be able to provide athletic services and those students that were not in thing together were able to participate and um were able to to compete at this time um I don't think we have any uh Parks and Recreations in any of our schools I also think that um you know when we talk about the city we

090need to also um incorporate the resources that they provide right most of them are above the 210 right the the um the senior center um Memorial Park and so forth uh what's the other one um library right I think it's a variety of things that that we are um sharing today that um like that's why I stayed staring at you because it's it's yes it is important right um that we don't make Revenue but at the same time there's grants out there um there's grants that we can tap into um with the non-profits that we can partner up with you know there's a there's a lot of money out there in L.A County um that we can tap into right that would benefit our students so I think looking at the um at the resources

091right but also looking at how can we provide these resources and and where's the money coming from as well because there is Grants out there for the libraries for you know after school programs other than think together meaning that like the homework house right um Apu is another resource too that we can actually um tap into as well to bring into um you know more in-depth and uh with with our uh as we're processing this and trying to figure out our Community Conference Center um and not just that but also um the um the adults called The Magnolia adults Adult Day transitional program right I I think it it's important too that you know the life skills we have we have the adult life skills about the students that for example that have you know

092more and more we have more students with IEPs and 504s students with special needs right what are we providing for them I think that we also need to ask ourselves what resources are we providing for them regional center right can can we tap into that um I think it's important because um even though that we know um that there's no way around about what's happening in our society that more and more students are being identified um I think it's that we should be proactive in being able to tap into that as well um because there's a lot of grants for for that too so just wanted to share that with you um Sarah your question to to the board was uh does the board want to give any uh making requests for information so that

093you could come back to inform our conversation specifically around um monetization or sale or lease of properties that is that your um your suggestion or a request asking us if we had requests for specific information so your team can prepare that yeah I think to to to be more specific um I would I would pose it and kind of a kind of two separate ways I think we've we've we've talked a lot tonight and I've heard some great ideas from the board about ways to use existing facilities and some Community uses that we're excited about and I just um I guess as my as my first as my first point or first you know request or suggestion didn't know if there was any need for additional discussion about trying to leverage some of those other

094sites for the purposes of of funding some of the ideas that we have um that we've talked about and then um outside of just additional you know discussion on that point from the from the five board members whether there's additional uh like specific action items that you would like staff to to take from tonight so that we can explore those things further and bring you more information whether that be on use of sites for revenue or some of the ideas that we've already talked about I just want to I just want to ask for a break I got off work at four it's like seven o'clock and I I really want to be here for this discussion we'll take a five minute recess welcome back uh we are reconvening from our short recess um Barbara

095Baron is where are you going to make a comment before before recess no I just wanted to make sure that we had plenty of time to discuss the question that um she was asking so I I'd like to um offer a thought to my colleagues um I'm hearing a lot of synergy around the ideas of conference center and also to lesser extent but I think what we're getting there about Sierra High School and uh expanding the Central Kitchen I I'm wondering um how we can move forward in phases right because it sounds like we want to do the the walking tours of the different sites at different districts and cities we want to get more information have the two by two have some sort of broader meeting with the city to better and clearly understand

096current city priorities um so I'm not sure that we can go forward with recommending or diving into a disposition of all of the properties before we have at least those big pieces of data and I'm also suggesting that I'd like to drill down on these two concepts of the conference center conference Community Center and then Sierra and and kitchen being extensions of current programs um and also specifically looking at the idea of these two Slawson and Center being sites that are um most recently modernized in terms of the the lift it will take to bring them up to where we want them those being the most affordable on the list so that was kind of my reaction to are we ready to talk about sale release I'm not ready to talk about Sarah Elise I'd

097like to focus on this part and understand that we can do things in phases um and give it that deep thought and more research and so I'd like to hear what my colleagues think about that approach the only I I mostly agree with that and the idea that we would focus our efforts in a particular like there's there's plenty to do just with what with what you mentioned at the same time I recognize that considering what we would do with our with those other properties takes a considerable amount of time um I my concern is that without giving some direction to at least start pulling on some strings that by the time we get around to that so much time will have been passed uh that that really might have been unnecessary so so I

098do agree how can we focus the majority of our energies on on these things that you're that you're mentioning that makes sense to me but still reserving some some bandwidth for for starting the process of looking at some of these other sites board member I understand you want to just go in order yes as uh I mean hypothetically it sounds uh it sounds what we just shared uh board member Beau but I do agree I think that what will happen is kind of what happened with Mountain View and um thank you thank you yes you know empty buildings the grass is growing and so forth so we simultaneously I can't say simultaneously I think that we have to be able to approach this simultaneously to be able to go ahead and yes you know maybe

099perhaps divide and conquer like you know maybe the cabinet can you know some of them focus on this and some of them can focus on that project and so forth um I I know that that's a lot a lot but at the same time you know if you you guys have proven to to us that you guys uh can handle it and we believe in you and there might be a little hiccups but again I mean being able to just make this transition into to a dream that we've never had before here in Azusa the possibilities that may come so I do agree that some things need some attention right away but I also feel that simultaneously we have to be able to move and walk forward with this and not leave any empty buildings

100for any you know for any long periods of time so um what I would like to add I think that um we do need to concentrate on we are already discussing um but we should also discuss what property can we get revenue on since we are not focusing on revenue on on we'll say the community center I'm just calling it that um but we need to still continue we don't want to leave empty buildings what happens is we get vandalism vandalized and we end up getting more than what we started right so I think it's important that we start talking about I mean it's a hard it's going to be hard I understand but when you start talking about the sales what what properties out of the six when do we feel that um we

101can get Revenue I mean because that's what it's all about in order um when we get Revenue we can work on the other schools that are that are still um standing right so I think that we need to focus and and just come right out and feel you know which properties should we sell I mean what ideas do we have so we can that's the whole idea of closing the schools was to get Revenue that's my input so I'd like to add on that I think um for me that the piece that I feel like I would need as an individual trustee to start exploring sales of property is understanding very clearly the city's vision of where it wants to build housing build program centers um because I wouldn't want to say School site x

102yet we're going to move forward with that sale and come to find out maybe that's not the place where the city would want to build housing as an example um so I'm not saying that we shouldn't um explore and get more information you know follow those simultaneous overlapping paths I just feel like I would not be I don't feel well equipped to do that without understanding what the city's plans are and so maybe my request is how can we with you as a partner facilitate getting information from the city I know that I believe we asked that question about the the arena quota and we I don't think we got an answer is that now are we able to get some of that information from the city about how it's planning on meeting it's you

103know doing its its part in filling out uh housing for the community yeah so I can address this in a number of different ways I think to to start with maybe kind of re reframing my question a little bit in a way that that gets to what you all are saying um I'm I'm not necessarily saying that you know I would expect you tonight to say we want to sell this site you know go do it um instead I'm thinking you know if if maybe the direction looks like we would consider selling one or two sites let's have staff explore which sites have the most value for sale potentially which could generate the most Revenue that we can put back into these programs um which you know upon additional discussion with the city would they

104be would they be more likely or um would they want the school district to designate or use for the community center as opposed to a site a site that could be sold to generate Revenue um just hearing if if the board is even open to those discussions about you know bringing forward more information about which sites have more value for example or some of those other factors that I mentioned I think even just that would give staff some instruction that we could go bring back more information for you all between the two of you who had their hand up first yes um what I would like to see just like what you mentioned the worth of the property you know the value of the property and of course the location is really important uh so

105we can have something to go by financially you know if um if that's what we want to do with with that particular property not necessarily a location do you need a location or you're just going to look at all of them or how how are you going to go about that well so we um we currently have some values that uh the dcg has been able to help us generate for for each of the properties and that's something that we would discuss with the board in closed session if we wanted to talk about specific numbers just so we wouldn't have any uh you know ability to compromise negotiation with some future party at some future point if that's what the board decides um but I think probably what we would look at doing is if

106the board said we we want to explore you know sale or like long-term lease of you know say for example you say of two sites then we would go back to some of those numbers and we would look at those that have the highest value potentially to generate Revenue so that we're getting the most most bang for the buck right in in disposing of a single site with higher value um and then also compare that to you know feedback from the city and then also um you know potentially excluding the sites that you've already said you want to explore for the community center or for other existing District uses also I also wanted to add that I'm not sure if board member adirondis knows I know she spoke about this um homes for the homeless

107and the last thing the city of Azusa they decided on the area on used to be the d-cub they are going to make um housing for the homeless a shelter and it would be done by December so it's just to give you a heads up on that they are the city is working at that at this time where is that again by the D club I'm not sure what the question but going to buy Costco in the in the uh-huh right yeah yeah and and well if you you can see the meeting online and hear the discussion that's what I'm a great board member Greer I want to say again I I want to express it's it's not it's not so much a hesitant to offload and sell property but maybe it is but it

108it what it really is is that if we do sell a property I I would really want to make sure that we're having conversations with the city and with what are what are the needs and and the what and how because we we don't get the property back I know that there have been conversations the last time we met and we talked about some properties if I'm if I'm not mistaken can be segmented or or parceled out so if we were to say we're gonna We want to sell a portion of the property but still retain a portion of the of the property and ask yourself and then then explore what might we be able to do with a smaller portion of the of that of that property um another thing that I heard suggested

109by I believe board member Ariana's but I don't I don't know that we spoke to it is we we do have other like in here off off of Arrow um the the circuit so even thinking about that and I and I don't know if because that's Regional if there's if they're what kind of issues there would or wouldn't be with looking to relocate that um another thing I I wonder is where are we if anywhere at all with any leases long-term or short-term leases that we currently have with any partners and would it be the intention at this moment to not renew those or to renew those on on shorter term leases as we're exploring some of these options that would be something to keep in mind I I like the idea of in some

110of these instances or or properties where we can engage in long-term leases so that 20-year lease or you know or more so that in 20 years whoever is sitting at in these seats have options available to them as opposed to where we've made decisions now that that limit uh additional expansion options into the future so the thought of selling some I'll confess that I will be I will have a lot of questions and and I will I will there will be some pushback that comes from me to pressure test some of some of those those ideas um but my hope would be that if we did offload some that we would find some creative ways of of still retaining other properties board member awareness and then I will I'd like to offer a comment too

111as um I'm sorry uh Sarah had shared there's a few sites that we have already um kind of already spoken about today and those are three so that leaves us three other sites right being able to that there was a conference that I went to a few years ago and I I was speaking to the superintendent and the board members that were at my table and one of the things that they did in their District to speak on uh what just board member Greer spoke about was that they leased their property to a housing developer and so that basically the land continued to be part of the district and they collected Revenue infinite so they never sold but yet was serving the purpose of what the community needed and so I know that and pre

112when I came back from the dish from that conference I had asked um cabinet to look into it did we did we find out what they how they did it do you remember the okay let's let's Circle back on that um because I knew that they were actually the community was really happy that they were um not only did the district keep the revenue of the lease for um for the developing uh townhouses that went up one of uh the other um uh uh sites was one of them went to uh like I said earlier to um employees that were only going to be um uh allowed to you know the people that were uh that were tenants that were going to be able to come in were employees um the other one was uh

113uh what is it called for the L uh the retired like a retired community and then the third one was like um police officers or emergency responders so to be able to you know continue to bring um to our community uh the individuals that will be able to bring their kids to our schools you know and that would um I would like to see that happen um so perhaps a site or two you know we can discuss about maybe not selling but leasing but only to residential and looking what that looks like can I request for you to please I'm um I find out what school district that was and um see what they did I can I can add to that too if it's helpful just kind of some of the things that we've

114seen with with other districts um there is definitely a trend towards looking uh towards building Workforce housing um there there are some State programs that have helped facilitate ways for districts to do this in a in a I would say a faster or like easier way um so we can certainly bring forward some additional materials about that site that school or other other schools that have explored it um the other thing to keep in mind and we we talked about this extensively extensively with the 7-Eleven committee was just you can certainly do a like a long-term ground lease right and it would it would be really long term for the developer to to want to build infrastructure that they knew wouldn't ultimately belong to them at the end of the term um but uh one

115thing to think about from a from a practical perspective is you know I I've I've spoken with some boards that just say we we are really hesitant to become landlords right there's such a scope of work that we already do as a school district and our our staff already kind of has their has their plates full to to take on the job of becoming a commercial landlord right and and all of the responsibilities um associated with that and and the headaches of you know of evictions and and all of those pieces that come along with it um certainly doesn't have to be a deterrent from this idea of of you know Workforce housing but it's just kind of one more practical piece to keep in mind so um just to your point since you're going

116to do the research I would like to see the pros and cons and what you say and what were the um what were the issues that you know uh that came about and in reality I mean was it the school district that was actually the what do you call it uh when someone's um uh like the managing company right this is from what the dis the superintendent said to me they actually had a managing company do that not the actual district and so if you could please provide that information um I I'd really like to read what they've what they've done the pros cons and management companies and um and so forth and for how long my question um dovetails off of yours around the um would it be called like a housing corporation that

117manages the lease properties and is that so if we could get more information about that what that corporate structure looks like and if the district is if that's an LLC and if the district controls that what what what the relationship would be between the district and a separate entity and I I wanted to bring the um idea about long-term growth and capacity uh to you know the idea of when when a district sells a property we never get it back right so at some point right there's there are population brooms and Ebbs right now and I want so superintendent if you could um send us again I know we did this a year ago um send us a sheet on each of our current sites Uh current schools active School sites the number of seats

118and the current capacity so for example if Azusa High is if the current capacity is 2 000 seats are we at 1800 seats right just to see where if we didn't build any additional buildings on campus where at what point could we get if we have an influx of families right and then we would need how many more new seats for elementary and as that population floated up just to kind of level set on the existing capacity and how much capacity we would want to retain um for flexibility into the future and my question in the district that I came here in the garbage School District they um East Delhi College was in the area and they leased out one of the schools and used it as a satellite schools the people in the community

119I don't know of Apu or Citrus College has reached out to us at all but I think that would be a great idea also um Longfellow State School their their school is so small they don't have a parking area or if you park at the wrong side you get a ticket because you're in the wrong side I mean it's like around you know you'd never really know what which side to right side so I I would like to see Longfellow relocated um where they have a parking place they're just like they're in the corner do they do they have a cafeteria there I I did they I've never been um in their cafeteria but um I think it's a state program also so I just denied just an idea in my mind me that I

120would love to see some creative options and I know that's that's so vague and I'm throwing that out there but it's really easy to just say we have properties how much can we get for them let's let's sell them and now how much money do we have and let's let's just throw that money in another place but but really thinking about creative options and so if if we were going to offload how do we offload properties if we were going to retain how can we creatively retain those properties we have ever had conversations here about property swaps and and what how what what are the potential that can happen with property swaps and would that be advantageous for us as a district um I want to say I think some of the creative things I've

121heard from here just at this point at this stage just considering them that what if there was housing that would be provided you know Workforce housing what if we did do that what um what goes on there or if there was do we have any kind of housing that we can get into for for families or whatnot in the region um my hope would be that whatever comes our way is not just cookie cutter in nature but really taking into consideration who are we as the Azusa Community plus um and and and how how might we utilize these these resources and property retain them uh generate Revenue in the long term just just really being creative about how we would approach that that's something that I would appreciate hearing back from uh your team further

122comments are we getting toward the end okay board vice president I think we do yeah yeah I think we have some things we can look at and bring back and I think to to confirm it sounds like we're really gonna gonna focus our exploration about sites not used for one of the purposes that we talked about tonight on um other options outside of sale potentially some Workforce housing some uh some long-term ground leases bring that forward first for discussion before we talk about any any other options with the addition very much with the addition of uh what president you spoke to the need for us to gather gather data um in concert with our city and and um County Partners uh that that'd be another thing that would be I think helpful for us to

123to have some action kind of steps lined up uh to to be able to gather that that information could I add a Nuance because I'm not I I think I heard 90 Sarah what you said but I didn't hear that we would leave off because I'm envisioning like a t-chart like here's options that you can consider for properties from ground leases to leases I did not hear that we leave out the option of sell like that should be part of of a robust conversation about Saline may or may not be an option but we should include that information as well yes including it um just with the emphasis so I think the emphasis was on the only option should not be just sell correct other creative Revenue generating options correct and even those parents said

124that she has everything that she needs to move forward um I I would like um for the board to weigh in on providing Direction in terms of how we see this uh playing now so for example um we want now for every regular Board of Education meeting moving forward to have space to have this conversation now keep in mind that that now is part of a regular board meeting with everything else that happens with that no we have study sessions already built into the calendar the board of of Education would like to direct that moving forward study sessions are now going to be focused on this so that it's not in between other things and we have ample time to discuss or something else that the that the board I think uh we we would

125really love to hear how how you see this moving forward and what the direction would be in terms of continuing this conversation and having opportunities to discuss uh what we are doing at every meeting at every meeting I would like to see an update because um one of other things to discuss during our study sessions uh and you know Financial that we need to hear also I don't want to just focus on on just just consider going for years I have a feeling and um I think like you give the word update that we had the reorganization you know we had big topics and you'd give us an update and we'd ask questions or go back to it um because also that would you have an update everybody would you think I believe for sure

126for the first one for the first couple of ones I think there's enough to to continue this this well that's what I would like to see I would agree um an update but for a discussion I would I would personally like to schedule a study session for us to freely speak about this and not have other pressures of pressure pressures of time and you know impeding us to be able to have this open dialogue um in conversation and to only focus on on this but an update I would agree on at every meeting but I would like to continue also setting time aside for a study session make perhaps quarterly or you know something like that that we can um agree on for us to be able to have a robust conversation I'm in agreement

127with board member um Rodriguez in that the idea that we not Reserve all of our we don't just kind of call dibs on all of our study session you know henceforth that they're on this particular topic I I can't imagine that there won't be another study session where we're talking about this because there are items that we need to discuss as a matter of fact I would recommend since we heard a lot of synergy around the concept of these these two items of of what do we what do we say the Sierra High School in a centralized kitchen and you know all that can go into that as well as a Community Conference Center it would make sense to me that maybe we have a a conversation in a study session where we're focused on

128those two items I think that speaks to board board president's uh suggestion that we divert a good majority of our attention to these while other things continue to happen in the background I think that there is work for us to do um quickly around that there's there I don't see a reason for us to to delay that um I would hope that and would really love to see us work towards a joint session I know that we've between us and the city to to discuss some of these things again I know that it's something that we have talked about and we've dreamed about as we've already stated here how do we work that into a timeline and say that as part of this process where we are wanting to hurry up and take the time

129that's needed uh to do it right but recognizing that uh one part of that process is to have some some joint conversation around that so how do can can we put a date on the calendar and start working toward that closer to you know at this point as opposed to just continuing to Kick the Can down the road uh and I think that there continues to be work for the ad hoc committee to do in the interim uh to engage in some of these initial conversations and would love to hear some of that reporting back to the the rest of the the board um would be open to having updates especially due to the the frequency of meetings that we have at this point uh that it would be helpful to have at least some

130space to be provided with some update my hope is that we don't allow find ourselves in a situation where years down the road we're still just talking about this but that instead we we can actually some targets have some goals and have some measurable progress toward toward moving these these items forward one thing that I did forget that board member just um address was that that joint uh meeting with the city council I think it I would like to request um for our superintendent to sit down with city manager and get possible dates and that way we can um uh decide and I would like to see that in the next or in October in the next couple months I think I'm going to Echo pretty much the sentiment of regular updates during regular board

131meetings right so that we can take bites right because we'll we'll have to schedule a tour go on tours right get do the research on um other business models um and I think what we will also need some dedicated time and it sounds like that's going to be an additional meeting because is our next study session January or when is our next scheduled study session our next scheduled study session is December 5th okay which is also a reorganization meeting that's not a reorganization meeting that's not our reorganization um well so given that do we want to have a separate study session or use some of the time is there a proposed theme for the December study session already no I am comfortable with using December 5th that's that seems to be a fitting timeline as

132a matter of fact I know you talked about looking at a joint session in the next couple of months it would actually make sense to me if we had some updates if there were some ad hoc conversations if we set December 5th as a Target date for us to have another robust conversation about these things and then if we look first quarter of next year maybe earlier as opposed to later in the in the first quarter if we were able to have a joint session we will have then had some time to discuss some of these items further uh before we we met with uh our counterparts with at the city so I don't think there's a need to schedule an additional study session I think that I would recommend I would suggest that we

133utilize this the already scheduled December 5th meeting for this topic quick question for Sarah when will we have the information that we've asked for because that would play an important role by December 5th can we get this is what I'm what I'm asking since we are going to start having discussions and being able to at every October we're going to have a board meeting November and they said so we only have like two board meetings before we have another meeting when do you think you'd be able to provide that information I I certainly think we could provide some preliminary information about the the questions about like Workforce housing and long-term ground leases um on or before the December meeting and and then certainly if you want to do a deeper dive into any of the

134components of that because it's a big idea right and there's there's lots of lots of pieces but we could bring some preliminary information to that December 5th meeting and then you know do a deeper dive into any aspects that you want to know more about I'm gonna get myself in trouble and the staff's gonna growl at me um so maybe uh when we think about this systematically maybe October so 10 10 in a regular Board of Education meeting we provide X information that X information that is going to be information that the Board of Education can digest think about in November we bring another valuable piece of information that again the board can think about and digest not an open you know but then that those two things in conjunction with anything new can then

135be part of that big conversation that's going to happen December 5th so that we're not you're not waiting until December 5th for information but that we can chunk out for example at the October meeting we'll bring you a better understanding of the vision of why Slauson or Sierra Central Kitchen blah blah and center right and and some information about that and maybe more requests can can we do this and then maybe at the November meeting it's hey here here are a lot of things to consider regarding properties that you might do work for hot Workforce housing blah blah blah blah like again some kind of T chart we have Lauren here and they have uh a lot of experience with a lot of districts throughout the state of California with some of these things so

136that when you come to December like we've already giving you like a lot of things to consider to say okay to process and and to and to think about so in December now let's let's create that space to now have real conversations about those things and I think that that sounds right because at the October and November we will have additional questions right it will have an additional request for information so does that sound right also could I also request that for I appreciate space like this for us to talk and and there's there's space for us just to explore all the options can I ask that for the December fifth meeting that we have some targeted outcomes or or hoped for outcomes even if it's even if it's rough um so that there is

137room for us to have open discussion but also more clearly understand what what is it that we would be working toward and and looking to accomplish within that meeting so you like defining the goal you that you would like to have for the December meeting is that what I'm hearing yeah and it doesn't I'm not I'm not concerned that it's tremendously specific but just just to give some structure to our to our conversation so with that being said I think that we need the information before December 5th so we'd be able to go ahead and read it process it and be able to have our you know a a conversation be able to go ahead and then create some structure what do you guys think sure um also I I would like to know timeline

138wise regarding you know police sale um what we did we already took into for the community center you know time wise you know how long would it take we'll just you know if it took a year six months do can you do that would that be possible to just like I know where we're going with each um item yeah so I can I can certainly come back with um kind of a rough timeline we can't know exactly until we know what we're doing right but um I can certainly speak to you know there are certain procedures in the Education Code that we have to take before we could sell or or lease a property and those um just to kind of throw a couple out there for example there are certain like statutory offers that

139we have to make to uh nonprofits and uh to government entities and they have uh they have it designated like a series of like waiting periods right so we know that we would have to wait at least that long to be able to decide how to move forward with with you know some other option well because we uh I'm familiar when we had the the um you know we didn't know about the DSA approval they need approvals you know how long does it take to have this approvals and people so well you're taking so long but they have to realize it's like sitting at home and you have to get permits and and so forth and you're not the only one they're looking at so if we have a rough time like what I think

140would help us move forward sure sure yeah the only thing I will say is you know uh the timeline for a sale is going to look a little different than the timeline for for a lease right and if we're doing um entitlements of a property you know for whatever reason you know that's going to extend the timeline for a sale so we can I think though that you know we can pull together kind of a rough timeline that um helps to kind of accommodate or give you an idea of what some of the various options could look like so that you have something in mind when you're when you're considering great thank you very much board member uh boardwise it wasn't it can I ask a clarifying question to your request um the way I

141hear your question I'm thinking that you're asking about a timeline for like a remodel not a lease in sale or either one okay I mean it really do we have a time I mean if we're going to sell like we're going to remodel just so we can go something to go to go by yeah where I was going was let's say conference center right yeah as we know if we're going to make improvements what does that look like right with DSA with improving things that are already on this list so that we know if we're good with that are we 18 months out just based on approvals yeah I think it's the only thing I'll I'll say to that is again I think we can get a a rough timeline but until we know specifically

142what we would be updating how much square footage we would be adding what types of additional you know improvements we would be making to the building it's really hard to get you a specific timeline right that they can nail down some of those some of those pieces but I think we can look at um you know if we throw some ideas out there about what what what the community center would would would look like um we could try to you know pull together kind of a rough timeline you know without going as far as working with an architect to to draft initial plan options or doing anything like that that would definitely allow us to get a more precise timeline right yes I have a clarifying question um would you like a staff to present

143some draft objectives for the December meeting was that the Board of Education that's coming up with the object on the run the objectives for December I'll say me personally I'm comfortable if if staff were to look at that of course in conjunction with board the board president to look at some some of those things to speak on behalf of of these things but the structure that we already have in place where where combination of staff and the board work on the agenda I'm I'm comfortable with with that um and I don't even have any recommendations right now other than uh just having some some structure for the conversation thank you I agree final thoughts colleague I just want to thank my colleagues tonight um I I this is uh definitely we're ripping off the Band-Aid

144that has been in this district for a while and so being able to be on the what would you call this level second level third what level are we on um you know phase three a school reorganization okay phase three of this art reorganization and I just want to thank my colleagues for being open and uh creating a safe space for us to share our thoughts um and where uh we all agree and this is what I want to thank you on that we don't just want to make a decision on now we want to make a decision for our future posterity here in Azusa Unified School District and with that being said Thank You colleagues thank you cabinet and thank you who all attended um thank you have a good night and I bring

145it back to our board president awesome so it is uh now 753 is there a motion to adjourn second all right and I don't know if I'm still on logged in hold on um what was it coming up for you okay so we'll take hand motion to adjourn yes yes and yes um this meeting is adjourned at 7 54. thank you so