001we live stream have started good evening and welcome back the time is now seven o'clock and we are beginning with Open session for the Tuesday August 8th 2023 meeting of the Azusa Unified School District Board of Education moving to item 4.1 if you would please rise and join me for the Pledge of Allegiance [Music] right hand over your heart ready begin I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all moving to item 5.0 report action taken of closed session matters there are two actions to report for item the first item 3.1 by a vote of four to zero the board adopted final settlement for office administrative hearing case 2023-030808 student number 23240101 and
002the second matter on which the board check action was for item 3.2 by a vote of four to zero the board adopted the hearing officer's findings that cause exists to dismiss employee number j s 4987895 and recommendation for same and now moving to item 6.0 recognition and awards tonight we are recognizing Diana Ochoa a CSEA member of the year and Miss Camacho if you would kick us off thank you good evening Dr Beau Board of Education superintendent Ortega and cabinet it is my pleasure to introduce Diana Ochoa Diana was recognized by CSEA at their annual conference as one of their members of the year Diana has been a part of Azusa unified her entire life as a student a parent a volunteer and of course proud classified employee um we appreciate all that she does
003on behalf of Staff families and students we are so proud of Diana and the recognition that she earned and the representation of Azusa unified at the state level thank you for all that you do Diana and I will reiterate that not all heroes were capes this hero wears leopard [Applause] I would like to now introduce Miss Laurie Ray president of CSEA actually I'm the chapter president so not of all of csds anyway good evening everyone first of all I would like to thank Norma Camacho uh for joining us at the conference and uh accepting the plaque honoring Diana um as member of the year we really appreciate you uh coming all the way to Reno and we're sorry you couldn't stay longer um each year csca presents its member of the Year award to a
004small number of outstanding members members throughout the state of California they are recognized for their commitment and dedication to students their Community involvement and their csca involvement this year one of the recipients of the award was our very own proud member of Azusa chapter 299 Diana Ochoa Diana is our chapter secretary having served under four presidents including myself as secretary Diana is truly my right hand keeping me in on tasks and keeping the chapter informed she is a great promoter of events chapter meetings Communications and more she always completes her deadlines on time and is always there to help the executive board and our chapter members with any questions or concerns they might have Diana serves on the negotiation team and as a Union steward representing and fighting for our members with the tenacity of
005a little bulldog hence my little nickname for her my little bulldog Diana has lots of compassion and is very dedicated to the Azusa community and to the Azusa School District particularly Dalton school where she serves as PTA president she's the type of person you want on your team she is a great team player with a lot of creative ideas and is always offering a helping hand Diana I am so proud of you you are a wonderful co-worker CSEA team member but mostly and most importantly I should say you are an incredible person who my treasure and love as a friend and a sister congratulations on receiving this well-deserved honor good evening board president Dr Sabrina Beau board members superintendent Arturo Ortega cabinet family and friends I am honored today to stand before you to be
006recognized as the csca 2023 member of the year I'm so proud to be a part of this use of chapter 299 as you see Unified School District and the City of Azusa why because we have everything from A to Z in the USA this award is such a blessing to me but I can't take all the credit someone once told me I had a heart of gold and I owe that to my parents Tony and Esther Gallegos who are here today Mom and Dad thank you for all your continuous love and support and guidance I love you to all those used to chapter presidents and the leaders who have had the opportunity to work alongside and learned so much from over the years especially Amber Sanchez Francis mankaros Yvonne morillo Andy sunstrom and our current
007president Lori Ray thank you Lori for your leadership your commitment and all your endless hours you keep you put in to keep our chapter going but most importantly thank you for your friendship Patricia Sandra Noe Cecilia Robert and Kimberly we're an amazing team thank you for your dedication and commitment in the negotiations and on our eboard thank you for all you do for our students every day to Norma Camacho assistant superintendent of ed services thank you Norma for going to Reno to stand by my side and represent our district but most importantly thank you for all your support and dedication to our classifieds employees every day superintendent Ortega Board of educations thank you for continuing to improve our schools and give those students the best they deserve I look forward to seeing what the future
008holds two Americans always in the city council of Azusa thank you for your continuous support and are supporting our district and I know he should be watching today Gary kariel who believed in me and hired me to be part of the CWA team and yes Gary you are the best boss ever Laura Clark you're an amazing friend co-worker thank you for trusting and supporting me Stella from nutrition services you're always communicating with us and thank you for your continuous support to our members to Medea Laurie Patricia and Yvonne thank you for nominating me for this award all your kind words that you have sent to the awards committee are amazing and I'm truly appreciated and blessed to have you in my life to all my sisters family and friends especially those here today my brother
009my sister my sons my niece and nephews and for all who are looking down on us from Heaven thank you for all your love and support without you I'm nothing to my husband and my son to my husband David and my sons Little David and Dean who are here today thank you for sharing me with others even if it means sacrificing some of our time together David you would say what do others do for you because you're always doing for them well honey this word goes to show all I've done in life has not gone unnoticed I love you guys and you're my always be my number one lastly but never forgotten to classified employees my csca brothers and sisters thank you for all you do every day don't let anyone change you go out
010and make a difference use your voice because together we are stronger thank you good evening everyone it is my honor uh to give the certificate to one of my friends Diana Ochoa um Azusa Unified School District certificate of recognition is probably present to Diana Ochoa for receiving a 2023 California School employee Association member of the Year award August 18 2023 signed by superintendent Ortega and what president Dr Serena Beau we're going to take a picture now foreign honored to present the award to one of my sisters I was also and I'm still a CSA member a retired now but I had 40 years csca in chapter um I think I'm not sure I forgot the number what is in the Garvey school district I want to say 299 but it that's azus and um yeah
011and I'm proud I'm proud of Diana you know it's well deserved she's a great employee she is very involved in CSEA I see her everywhere always helping out and volunteering her time anyone if anyone in need when her son went to Azusa High School she's always volunteered at the snack bar so when he was in drama David over there I see him in the corner and that's how she got her name is drama mama right she was always selling popcorn and in the snack bar and sitting everybody down she was always there her with Patricia together and now I know that I see her at Dalton or their little boy doing the same thing now she's PTA president so I I just want to let her know how proud I am she also volunteers her
012time with the zoo Educational Foundation she's always saying if you need anything let me know I'll always volunteer my time and you wonder where she's always at right volunteering her time but it's well deserved in this award I feel is very special there's only five um people in United California right that received the award and she was one of them and I'm proud that she put a through z in the USA on the map right on Diana [Applause] congratulations Diana um you know I I don't know a lot about you but she's been here a resident for a long time group and this is and I believe every word she said about you your character speaks volumes so um that's a big you know award and it's nice to be that it is Statewide and
013that you are recognizing you're here in Azusa and congratulations again thank you for all you do Diana Ochoa actually I've known you for about 40 something years now and you know all that there's many things that I can say is they're all good um ever since we were in high school you were a go-getter and you truly love our community and it shows through your work and to your family your husband and your kids thank you for letting her come out and help our district and to show the love that she has for her community not just in the district but the community as a whole thank you for that and when she's absent you know where you can find her in Dalton or you know anywhere here in the district and everything that you
014do I I still remember when you're a booster uh in the booster club and we would come and sell each other you know Gladstone and Azusa High booster whatever we were selling and stuff and so being able to just be out in the committee and being there for our students you put our students first thank you for that congratulations again [Applause] thank you Diana for being a dedicated first and foremost parent and Civic volunteer and classified staff leader we can't do it without you and I would be remiss if we didn't organize all the blue chairs um to reflect CSEA blue we did that on purpose so thank you so much from all of us we appreciate you immensely thank you moving to item 7.0 public comments on agenda or non-agenda items we'll first take
015uh blue cards for members of the public wishing to make comment in person and we have two uh Mickey Carpenter good evening Dr Beau members of the Board of Education superintendent Ortega and staff I'm Mickey Carpenter I'm director of Community Resources for the city of Azusa and first and foremost I wanted to thank you all for your generous financial support for our summer programs because of that support it enabled hundreds of kids from ausd to attend day camp and swim lessons for free so we greatly appreciate that we will be back with a full report of what occurred over the summer but it was tremendous so thank you very much we also want to share our uh appreciation for your support for events like our teen Festival which is coming up you may have seen
016some items on social media please do check it out any youth who are 12 to 17 years old please come out and join us um there are no parents allowed um so it's a day designed for teens by teens and and some of the featured items include a DJ there will be performances there's mini golf a 360 selfie zone lawn games arts and crafts specialty coffees bobas tosti Locos esquitos candy bars snacks Raffles giveaways and much much more so please do check us out online you can find us on Facebook Instagram with the city but also I think ausd has been sharing those posts so we thank you very much for that if you prefer you can also call us at 626-430-8386 as well and then finally the Community Resources Department represents four divisions and
017that includes Recreation Senior Services transportation and Family Services on behalf of the department we congratulate the work of the 7-Eleven committee and as the board considers the options before you just know that you have our full support for all things that increase programs and services for Our Youth and families here in Azusa so thank you very much thank you Mickey and next we have Mark Gonzalez uh good evening Mark Gonzalez I don't know if I have to give my address sorry retired Recreation superintendents have been gone for a year trying to recharge my battery um I was invited to the alumni baseball game at Glasgow high school because obviously you're making changes and I noticed that the field is named after a coach I called and Azusa High to get the policy on it you
018don't name fields or anything after people until they pass on but the coach is still here they named the field after him and I'm fine with that but I'd like you to just kind of see to possibly considering changing the policy to name it after a person that's still here so they can be acknowledged with their families rather when they're gone there's a coach I have in mind and I don't I know you're moving on to new things but this is the highest 40th anniversary for winning today at baseball and that's a big deal back then it isn't as water CAF wasn't Waters down as it is now a lot tougher to win it back then I didn't play for just a high so I'm campaigning for Azusa I played at Gladstone but I had
019to play against those guys and they didn't rub it in my face every time I see them because they they show me their Rings fine I'm fine with that but I would like to possibly if you just would consider changing the policy to changing it to a name of a person and you don't have to accept everybody I know you can take it Case by case I understand that I brought up the coach whose name back in 2015 who retired they didn't feel that and everybody and I understand it wasn't under your watch it's a new board all those things but it was still a possibility that it could happen and the person I'm going to bring up if you just consider changing the policy uh is not doing well health-wise and I'd rather do
020it while he's still here then when he's gone and he doesn't get to get those accolades that he deserves um and I'll bring back to that person if you do consider changing that policy and like I said I know you can't act on it tonight but I'm just saying if you would consider looking into that policy and possibly be changing uh the NBA after three years you're allowed to go into the Hall of Fame Majors League Baseball at six years the NFL it's five years I just noticed that when I called different people it was when they're gone and they don't get to get that acceptance that something's been named after that so when you retire you get different passions unfortunately this is my passion right now is just to plant a seed with you
021to consider changing that posture or looking into the policy is all I'm asking I know you can't act on it tonight but just consider it that's all I'm asking thank you I appreciate your time sorry for the attire when you're in retired you're in summer retire all the time thank you Mark and Lika do we have anyone on Zoom for public comment remote we have no hands raised onto thank you now moving to item 8.1 comments reports and requests by the Board of Education we'll start with board member Ariana's testing okay there it goes um I would like to we have a few weeks left should I say a week or so um I know that teachers are back in the classroom and they're getting ready for the students that are ready to come back
022I know Glass Stone Middle School has an orientation tonight have they had one yesterday and they have one tomorrow and we will soon open the doors for our Gladstone middle school students and I'm really excited about that really excited about a Souza high as well when they open their doors to all of our high school students and the transition I would like to take this time to to thank our cabinet I knew that for the last year they've been working tirelessly um for CS I want to congratulate csca CTA um just work in the collaboration and being able to bring this forth and I know it was a lot of work a lot of time and effort and so and there'll be some hiccups I I know but the fact that we are here now
023and we're ready to open our doors is pretty exciting and I can't wait to go visit the schools so welcome back teachers and for next week welcome back students and we look forward to a great year thank you thank you board vice president okay so um good evening again and I want to welcome everyone happy New Year um I hope everyone had a great summer I wanted to congratulate um superintendent Ortega this morning he received Azusa beautiful impact award it was given to an individual business and organization that has been successful Stuart in public places um just a few things that I just said about him this morning that you know it's kind of like he came in during the pandemic to be superintendent I'm like who does that right that's like the hardest time
024ever for all of us but he took the challenge and he did a very he's doing a very good job he has a great team that works behind him but like I said he is still the captain of the ship and and I want to congratulate him um so I went to the summer school visitation I want to thank assistant superintendent Norma Camacho and director Aaron Kramer for the tour we went to Longfellow Paul Magnolia Ellington Center I don't want it's not Center middle school anymore but it was Center High School the students are there the high school students are there doing summer school and Valleydale they had the CEO summer bridge program it was only a two weeks program and the students did so much they look so cute walking around with their little
025shark hats on and they had an octopus there and the fourth thing they were slapping the thing around and everything like oh my God and it was real too is that a real person but you know they they um were learning about dinosaurs and I guess animals under the ocean and it was really cute but I want to thank you for for taking on that tour um we had the summer Retreat Revisited the the vision mission and the values and goads and it was great to be included in this process superintendent Ortega did a great job as a facilitator there was 18 people that participated and represented uh represented were represented in the process which administrators Union aea csca AMA parents students people came together and discussed each topic it was great to hear everyone's
026input the last thing they looked over the last one was looked over was in 2015 and many things have changed in 20 since 2015 we are now in the 21st century we focused on the community parent and student survey we did we had great discussions and we did listen to the voices of the surveys we did a great job in Cecilia Ford was there with her son and it's great to hear the students you know I'm not in the school sites you know I'm making policy but I'm not there so I'm glad that we had we did have that's the first time I I believe that we always would make the statements or the goals and objectives through the Board of Education only this time we include it well Mr Ortega you know included the
027um the parents the students the the caca members you know staff and everyone in in his cabinet and I think was really great so um in the summer Library they all Ed uh we had a booth and I want to thank all the ladies and Christian Services that served over 200 children in the hot sun with delicious watermelons delicious meals and they really appreciate it uh last week I went to Northrop Grumman the annual leadership seminar it was nice to see everyone out of their work environment mrtega also he has the best icebreakers I think he has like the book of them or something because they're always really good you know and and you learn about each other while he puts you in teams all the time you could tell he was a teacher right
028put you together and then now you support together now you three together and and we discussed you know even our personal agendas and what we feel and it's really good because you learned to think about others that you didn't know nothing about and we had a really a great book it was um it was called um the great book was our profession we learned to make decisions that impact people's lives which we all do that that's what we all do so the question is do we do it with empathy do we do it with compassion well I want to stop there and you need to read the book and to go for further thank you so I just like to take another now back teachers and welcome back students and I hope that you're looking
029forward to the opportunities that change brings and I know with all the school mergers and things like that there will be challenges but never forget that with change there's opportunity and we need to keep that positive mindset so I hope that you know we welcome every student back and every teacher back and I'm I'm here to you know to look forward to that thank you thank you colleagues just wanted to share some of my highlights over the summer first and foremost welcome back I know um for me beginning of the school year always feels like this is our New Year's and so we're all very excited and we've done a lot of work over the summer um my my daughters uh were fortunate to attend the think together summer program which was held in concert
030with um District summer school so I'm really thankful that our district provides a multitude of opportunities for summer enrichment and continued summer learning um I was able to stop by national at night out last week and I'm grateful that we were able to adjust our Board calendar so we were able um to participate in National Night Out it was great to see all the Community Resources law enforcement take pictures with the trucks take pictures with all of the equipment and our our safety officers that was very impactful and the weather was very cool that night so I think we I think we lucked out um and then I I also was had the great Fortune to participate in the district Retreat for the reimagining Mission Vision Values and goals and I Echo uh my colleague
031here and I see a lot of familiar faces from The Retreat it was an amazing uh two and a half days of collaboration and just real authentic conversations about what we're about and where we're headed and so I look forward to having those discussions at our governance Workshop in a couple of weeks where we'll talk about those mission and vision statements with the entire board and move forward as a district for the next five years and possibly Beyond um so again I was grateful and very humbled to participate in that process as well now moving to item 9.1 comments reports by student board members we will start at next the next board meeting superintendent and cabinet Mr Ortega take it away thank you Dr Beau first and foremost um I want to send my congratulations
032uh to Diana Ochoa um I think um uh board vice president Yolanda Rodriguez Pena stated it but I'm going to State it once more um this is a big deal this is the state of California um and so I want to acknowledge the awesomeness of this award and how proud I am um because you represent uh the best of us in Azusa and you represent what we should all be aspiring to so thank you Diana for uh what you do for uh for our district uh number two I I want to show my appreciation to the 18 folks uh that went into uh the belly of the beasts in uh triple digit uh temperatures uh to uh Indian Wells um I'm appreciative of the students the parents uh the board members um the our labor
033Partners uh who were there um all I got to see was authentic conversation uh genuine conversation listening pushing our thinking um and just in awe of what this group was able to get through um like President um Dr Beau stated on August 22nd the entire Board of Education will be able to look at and consider the recommendations that came out of that Retreat um and then lastly I want to thank the 1200 voices that participated staff parents community and students around our vision mission values and goals uh so so thank you for that and then lastly of course I know it's not a welcome back for everybody some of us have been here uh but it is a new start of the school year and so just want to share that sentiment uh welcomeness and
034excitement uh to a brand a new year and just looking forward to a really powerful 23-24. thank you again I would like to congratulate Diana Ochoa so proud of your accomplishment and I'm so proud to be able to work alongside you in its services um I would also like to thank our summer administrators staff students and families for a successful summer school program we were able to serve over 1400 students this summer through various offerings and programs um and also looking forward to welcoming teachers and students next week back to our our reorganized schools good evening everyone I would like to continue to congratulations um for Miss Ochoa I want to thank you for your hard work your dedication and your support um throughout um my tenure here as well as your support to all
035your colleagues and the fellow CCA and non-classified members as well um went to I'm looking forward to next week to seeing all the children faces so they see that beautiful Furniture um so I'm super excited about it um just um to be able to offer that to students um to me that's just huge I mean a lot of students um they're still using what we would call hand-me-downs or something that's broken something that's nice but to let our students to actually see and touch something that's new that was bought just for them I'm just overly excited to see that experience and how that changes the learning environment I'm also happy to report that we are continuing with our underground utilities at Lee Elementary um it's a lot it's a lot um and so um we're
036not where we're supposed to be we have brand new system challenges as far as connecting the new pipes with the old pipes under the classrooms but it's getting there it's getting there and I know the students are going to be excited they're going to have a new blacktop their new playground equipment has been installed so just allowing the lead Community to have um something fresh for the new year looking forward to that and then lastly want to invite everyone next Wednesday to our welcome back from 11 to 1 p.m we'll be having food games you can come watch the superintendent lose in a couple of games because we already we're gonna have food like we had last year we have a taco truck I believe we're having some kebabs and some barbecue but it's open
037to everyone so please come out minkle with the staff and get ready for our new fire 23-24 school year thank you and I also want to start by congratulating Diana Ochoa for her well-deserved award uh like has been said already um this is an enormous award for a Souza um and the school district um and being one of five employees to be recognized is absolutely great for not just csda's chapter 299 but the entire District I want to share that uh Mr choa is a fierce advocate for all things Azusa our students our district our and our employees especially our classified employees I know this firsthand because I happen to sit across from Mr choa and I get to hear that advocacy and I will say that at the heart of everything that miss Ochoa
038is advocating for I know it's a sincere care for our students our employees and really wanting to move our district forward so thank you for what you do I'm super happy that you've been recognized by the entire state in csca the entire csda at the state level that's wonderful news for all of us I'm also happy to report that the HR department has been really busy filling our new positions that we're bringing online and newly created vacant positions throughout the entire District so I want to publicly thank our HR team for all the hard work that they're doing to to make this a reality for next week when we have students come on board and lastly I want to share with the board that this Thursday um is our new teacher orientation I enjoy this
039opportunity to welcome our new teachers to our wonderful district and really introduce them to the Azusa unified way thank you thank you Mr inkyo and now moving to item 10.1 we do have a request to pull item 10.25 with that is there a motion to approve the consent agenda uh and pull 10.25 make a motion to approve with second moved and seconded I'll call for the vote moved by board vice president seconded by board member Benavides foreign should we take a hand Vote or should we give it a second okay so we'll vote online and the motion passes unanimously then if I am counting correctly we are moving to item 11.1 this is the approval of the agreement between Unified School District and the zoozat police department I may have a motion they have a
040question before we have a discussion I'm sorry you said Police Department you said 10.2 correct 10.25 the original item was 10.25 10.25 yes or 10.5 25 10.25 at the uh just making sure I just the last item in section A I just had heard 10.2 so I am just going to follow our uh protocol by asking for a first and a second and then discussion so is there a motion to improve second okay moved and seconded End discussion okay the discussion I have I like to table this item for the following reasons uh they are missing a very important uh paragraph on here if you look at um page three under prevention item R the sentence that states the precise responsibility of the sros shall be manually agreed upon between Azusa unified representatives and police
041department representative the srl should be assigned to Azusa School excuse me this is a high school and Sierra High School and elevated by his or her division Commander with input from ausd now they're missing a really important I'm not sure how that was missed but the there should be an addition a paragraph that's missing this is this is the police department is aware of the Unified School District board policy 5145.11 which states except in cases of child abuse or neglect the principal or designee shall notify students parents slash Guardians within 24 hours after law enforcement has interviewed the student on school premises the purpose to that was we did at one point um had a parent that was very upset at Azusa High School that her she was not notified for several days after or
042I don't even know she'll notify it at all and we made this provision at that time and I think I like to keep this on her um before we vote on it I would like it tabled and I'm not sure what the process is you talk to the police department I'm not sure what the process is before we um make a vote on it because this was a very important paragraph that is left out board vice president I um I just want to make sure I heard you correctly when your motion was to approve but then I'm hearing you say that your intention is to to table it to table yes to table it would you like to amend your emotion I would like to amend my motion and I would like to table this
043item 10 points okay 10.11 11.1 I like to table this item until we discuss this further or we can have this added back okay and is there a second for the amended motion second moved and seconded um I have a would we be able to bring this back August 22nd the table to August 22nd we can definitely work with the let's do the police department if that's the wishes of the board to bring back on August 22nd yes I think we'd like to be able to review the amended contract as soon as possible any further discussion thank you okay and so we will I'll Now call for the vote on 11.1 to table 11.1 possess the motion yes that is yes it is I make that motion yeah so moved with tabling seconded um discussion
044and now we'll vote and the motion passes four zero now moving to item 12.1 presentation of Azusa unified English learner progress Ms Camacho thank you [Music] Mr Sanchez is it possible to get the screen on the presentation on that screen as well does anyone need to see it from the board on that side or are you okay with looking on your computer okay Clicker okay thank you and for members of the audience and those in public as we load the presentation this is the soft opening of the renovated boardroom um so uh soon we'll have our screens up four screens mounted on the wall directly Miss Camacho while that is loading if you could go ahead good evening Dr Beau Board of Education superintendent Ortega and cabinet tonight I will be sharing a presentation and
045providing an update on our English learner progress we'll Begin by just looking at the enrollment of our English learner students over the last three years as you can see our English learner population has increased over the last three years and here on this table we are looking at um three years of our English learner proficiency assessment data this is the annual assess language proficiency assessment that all English Learners in the district are required to take um if you look along the bottom levels one two three and four level four is the overall score that students are English learner students are required to achieve in order to meet the criteria first criteria for reclassification so as you look along those colored bars the blue being 2021 the red B 2022 and the yellow being 2023 you
046will notice the trends at level one are decreasing which is what what we want to see we want to see that progression um um increase across proficiency levels so over the last three years our percentage of English Learners who are achieving that level four overall score has been increasing post pandemic and this year we have met um where we were pre-pandemic so we are are happy to see our English Learners continuing to progress along those positive con that positive Continuum we have made a lot of investments in our English learner programs through seal and a lot of professional learning and coaching with our teachers and we can see some some real positive outcomes through that work and support so I just want to just go over the reclassification criteria for our English learner students so
047there are four criterions that the students need to achieve in order to reclassify the first one being as I shared previously achieving that level four on the English learner proficiency assessment the second criteria is the teacher evaluation our teachers are required to evaluate the students in order to make a recommendation and to support their reclassification third criteria is the parent consultation this criteria requires us to meet with parents and families to share with them the criteria the reclassification criteria that the students have met and to give the parents an opportunity to ask questions about the reclassification and to share their thoughts and opinions and the fourth criteria is basic skills in relation to our English proficient students so this criteria is in place to demonstrate that our English learner students are achieving in a similar
048proficiency rate as our English only students and can continue on without the support of English language development you know it was it was really great to see the students getting the certificates so many students from the high school to the middle schools that are reclassifying it's really it's really great to see that we are really proud of that and you know as you can see the request reclassification criteria students have to achieve all four of those in order to reclassify and the trends that we see um um in other areas is that our reclassified students um actually um sometimes surpass um their achievement level surpass um other students so we are very proud of of what our English Learners are achieving and so um just the reclassification rates that we've had since 2021 post pandemic
049we um we're at about a nine percent and last year we had a significant increase to 14 and this year is to be determined because the students have the entire uh year to meet all those four criterias so as we provide rlcap updates we will be providing the Board of Education updates on where we are on on that trajectory so I have two questions um what's the expectation of the time it takes to reclassify and does that vary based on age or grade level of student um it varies um by student when we think about language development research shows us that students who are learning an additional language can take anywhere from four to six years to develop language proficiency so um when we talk about language proficiency it's not just oral language there's four
050domains that the students are assessed in um oral language so listening speaking reading and writing so we're looking at proficiency across those four domains so typically the goal is for students who have entered at kindergarten or TK as English Learners if we're considering that four to six years that they would reclassify within that time frame I'm just asking my second question and then make sure that my colleagues also have time to ask a question my second question is um can you tell us just a little bit about our process for monitoring long-term Els yes after they're reclassified so when students are reclassified they're no longer in that category of uh being English Learners they are now considered reclassified but are students who don't reclassify when they um exceed six years as being English Learners we
051then categorize them in what is referred to as a long-term English learner and so what happens is we actually take a previous year and we begin to to identify students who are at risk of being long-term English Learners so we look at students who have been English Learners between four and five years and are not progressing on the Alpac if they are progressing on the lpac we are monitoring that to ensure that they are going to meet the reclassification criteria if we see that a student is stuck somewhere on one of those proficiency levels either a one or two and a three and are not able to kind of make it over some of those humps we want to make sure that we are providing some interventions and supports in order to move them along
052so that they don't fall into that criteria of being long-term English Learners we know that students when they begin to move into that category becomes a little more difficult for them to to reclassify yeah you just answered my question that was my my next question the intervention if they do not reach that goal thank you yeah that's exactly does that intervention what can you explain what it includes so there are different um interventions obviously based on whatever the students needs are so we look um the Alpac is one measure right that is one assessment that they take per year we also have internal assessments um that students take our English Learners take that measure similar the similar domains it's called the the tell um and we use that to monitor the progress of our English
053Learners at intervals um before they take the lpac so we look at where are the areas of need do they need some support in writing do they need some support in Reading is it listening is it speaking is it all four domains and then we're able to intervene um in order to help the students increase in those areas that are still deficient thank you Miss Camacho I just wanted to say thank you um I seen you work with and working with you with English language learners for the last 25 years I've seen the progress in collecting the data and being able to to see students reclassify um thank you for sharing that experience and how well we've come along to be able to provide those interventions um with our district you know for our students
054and keep up the good work thank you thank you and moving to item 12.2 the fourth quarter Williams uniform complaint report again Ms Camacho no items to report for this quarter thank you and Mr Ortega item 13.1 is an info action item thank you Dr Beau um tonight uh we're gonna have the pleasure of listening to some committee members that sat on the Surplus property committee also known as the 711 committee um our chairperson um Miss Vanessa Jones uh had planned uh to be here tonight but unfortunately uh some things got in the way and so she could not be here tonight uh but I am happy to announce uh that our uh Karen uh rugley is here uh tonight and is Karen going first or is all right and so I'd like to call
055her up uh to the microphone thank you hello thank you so much try it now check good evening okay better good evening board ausd family and Community it has been a pleasure to serve on this committee as a representation from the community this committee was formed through a public application process in which applicants were chosen in an anonymous process names were redacted and members were chosen based on the information provided in the application our committee met once a month from March through July of this year where we were given the overall purpose and process of the committee and we were presented with data and information to make a decision about the six School sites and properties that have been vacated through the school district's reorganization process the six properties that have been the focus of
056this committee are Center Middle School Ellington Elementary School Mountain View Elementary School Howell Elementary School the former Sierra High School and adult education center and Slauson Middle School we were also tasked to decide if these properties are Surplus to the current needs of the district current needs are the basic academic programs of the student population during our meetings the committee was given a presentation on the district's historical and projected enrollment numbers and any legal obligations and we were given the opportunity to request more information and data that would help us in the decision-making process the committee received a presentation as well from dcg strategies which is a consulting firm that provided us information about each site including maps and location overviews zoning and land use designation and estimated cost of facility retention including upgrades where
057applicable the committee had also discussed discussions and feedback from the public as well as the district about potential site uses and District needs so at this time we're prepared to present the findings of our committee and our recommendations of the Surplus property committee for the Azusa Unified School District so I'm going to turn it over to my fellow Committee Member Mr Liu who will be presenting to our findings um everyone thank you so much my name is Johnny Liu I am one of the members of the Surplus committee um I hear that you all also have copies of this so um I won't be reading directly from it but what I will say is that um there are four basic points the first point is the committee finds the properties are not necessary to house
058existing and in future uh protected District student enrollment for ongoing essential instructional needs of the district um the committee finds that the properties will have will have the potential to generate one-time or ongoing Revenue to help pay for other District properties um and also the con the committee fines that do to the uh number of properties they provide the opportunity for facilitation for district and Community benefit uses and number four is based on the community's review of this information and after studying the real property owned by the district that issued the committee came to the following recommendations that all of the six properties are indeed Surplus for us it was really important to wrestle through that main question right the question asked us was are these properties still needed for continual educational use from the
059school district and all all of us agreed that they would all be deemed Surplus with given that that we have found that all of these are deemed Surplus we do have recommendations for you as the Board of Education to consider we have six recommendations that we would like to present to you the first is that based on the findings we recommend that the properties that you do declare them Surplus our second recommendation is that you would explore the retention or use of at least two of these sites for the following types of community benefit uses things like a community center or a conference center Student Services Center maybe something like extra parking Athletics or recreational space for the district potentially an additional room for Central Kitchen expansion or the reorganization of existing programs that are
060currently housed within the Board of Education our third recommendation is that we desire for you as the Board of Education to have the flexibility to select specific sites thinking about what these retention or use of at least two of these properties are but we do ask that you take into consideration things like neighborhood preference and Aesthetics surrounding amenities and access the land value the existing zoning and the general plan designations we ask that you look at market conditions and interests the relative facility Improvement costs administrative and ongoing operation costs as well as the location of your existing programs in our open forums particularly the community from surrounding Ellington Elementary School was very concerned about how they might use this property or how the Board of Education would use this property moving forward so they expressed
061significant concern particularly about their neighborhood preference and Aesthetics as well as existing zoning how people would come in and out of the area our fourth recommendation to you the board of education is that you would at least sell or otherwise leverage some of these properties to generate Revenue that could be used towards the Improvement of other properties within the district our fifth recommendation is that we would like for you to consider the following non-exhaustive list of factors when you choose which School site you might choose to give up or sell or lease or otherwise Leverage we would ask that you choose or look at The District's interests we ask that you look at the needs of students staff and the community we ask that you look at surrounding neighborhood conditions existing zoning and general plan
062designations Market interest lease rates and land value our last recommendation to you is that we support the flexibility that you need as the Board of Education to make these decisions and in those decisions that might require you to file for a waiver of certain Surplus property procedures that would otherwise be applicable to the potential sale of one of these properties we do ask that you consider other factors than just the price that these particular properties would benefit for the district in general as a committee we really appreciated the opportunity to serve our community as well as our Board of Education in this way as this is and info action item Mr Ortega is the action to receive this but we're so we're not voting but are we voting to receive it or that is correct
063the action that we're actually taken for 13.1 that is correct the action and the vote is to receive the um the report okay hearing that is there a motion for 13.1 I make a motion to receive 13.1 or 13.2 because that's where the vote comes in right 13.1 one okay I make a motion to receive 13.1 the findings report of a zoo Unified School District facilitate advisory 7-Eleven committee with findings and recommendations a second moved and seconded is there any discussion seeing none I'll call for the vote and the motion passes 4-0 thank you so much to our Surplus property committee members for your sustained and thoughtful work in preparing this report moving to item 13.2 approval of resolution 23 2402 declaring real properties as Surplus this is an action item may have a motion
064make a motion to approve 13.2 second moved and seconded is there any discussion seeing none I'll call for the vote and the motion passes 4-0 moving to item 14.1 this is an action item approval of bid award for me products may have a motion motion to approve 14.1 second moved and seconded any discussion seeing none I'll call for the vote the motion passes 4-0 14.2 action item may have a motion to approved 14.2 second moved and seconded any discussion seeing none I'll call for the vote and the motion passes four zero fourteen point three may have a motion make a motion to approve 14.3 second moved and seconded any discussion and seeing none I'll call for the vote the motion passes you uh 4-0 14.4 may have a motion motion to approve second moved by
065board member benavida seconded by board vice president Rodriguez Pena is there any discussion seeing none call for the vote it was a photo finish on the seconding so the sound waves came this way so that's the one I had to hear first um and the motion passes four zero fourteen point five may have a motion motion to approve come on guys second and you see anything moved by board clerk Ariana's seconded by board member Benavides is there any discussion seeing 90 call for the vote and the item passes for zero now moving to item 15.1 presentation of CSEA 2324 fiscal year negotiate negotiations with the district this is an info item Mr runkio yes thank you Dr Beau uh before the Board of Education are the um articles in the collective bargaining agreement that will
066be open by csda for negotiations this year uh government code requires that the board presents these uh articles in Open Session and um following this would be a hearing to hear any public comment on the articles that will be negotiated are there any questions or comments for Mr ankio thank you we'll now move to item 15.2 this is a public hearing and action item so may I have a motion to open the public hearing make a motion through 15.2 is there a second second okay any discussion on this okay I'll call for the vote and again the vote is to open the public hearing and the item passes four zero hope is there any public comment on this item during now that the public hearing is open at 807. there are no blue cards for
067members of the public in person and Lika are there any members of the public online who wish to make public comment uh or participate in this public hearing we have no public comment on Zoom thank you and since uh We've exhausted our list of members of the public who wish to participate I will now call the public hearing to a close at 807. moving to item 15.3 presentation of the sun Sunshine proposal for 2324 fiscal year negotiations with csca again Mr encio this is an info item yes Dr vote thank you again uh 15.3 are the Articles uh that are that the district will be presenting for negotiations with csca and um similarly uh what follows is a public hearing um and then ultimately an approval by the Board of Education thank you are there
068any questions for Mr rankio okay then we will um move to 15.4 this is an action item to open the public hearing may have a motion motion to approve second is there any discussion okay seeing none we are voting to open the public hearing and the motion passes 4-0 the time is now 808 pm hope are there any members of the public in person no members of public in person for participation in the public hearing and Lika are the members of the public who wish to participate in this public hearing online we have no public comment on Zoom thank you seeing that we've exhausted our list of public participation this public hearing is now closed at 809 pm moving to item 15.5 action item may have a motion make a motion to your full 15.5
069second moved and seconded is there any discussion seeing none I will call for the vote and the item passes four zero item 15.6 action item to establish a nutrition services cook position and job description may I have a motion motion to approve second moved and seconded is there any discussion I'm seeing none I will call for the vote and the item passes four zero item 15.7 action item approval of 2324 amended compensation rates for substitute teachers they have a motion motion to approve second moved and seconded is there any discussion I just want you to know um I would like to have seen what our surrounding cities are offering school districts on substitute absolutely I I can provide that to the Board of Education in an upcoming board member thank you board vice president any
070further discussion seeing none I will call for the vote and the item passes 4-0 item 15.8 approval of short-term library clerk and high school library technician assignments this is an action item may have a motion motion to approve 15.8 second moved and seconded is there any discussion I would like an explanation please on a I've never heard of a short-term Library Clerk absolutely and great question and um it's important for uh as we transition from the schools that were closed last year to uh what will be our Middle School Gladstone Middle School one comprehensive middle school and then one Comprehensive High School we are in and continue to be in a period of transition so um we are looking to have a temporary position created for a short-term period to help with that transition um
071the employees who would be um in these positions these temporary positions are employees who were affected by the layoffs so they uh will help us with this transition uh the Education Code does require that the Board of Education to take action on these temporary positions uh before they actually are utilized um and so we have to uh set the time frame that we will be using or needing these temporary positions so that's why this um the rationale states that it will be through October 27th 2023 and they they're aware of that and they agree to that yes we'll be communicating the time frame now if needed we can extend the the time frame so in the course of these next couple weeks we see the need to extend it we can extend it uh for
072for a period of of a couple more uh months and do you bring that back to the board if you have an extension correct we will need to have the board take further action what would the process be if we determined that there's continued need and continue need at what point would these positions become permanent uh once we exceed 70 of the school year um in in having these temporary positions are needing to have these temporary positions these positions will become permanent after that 70 percent of the school year is reached any other questions or comments by the board Okay so we've moved with we've moved seconded we've had a discussion I'll Now call for the vote on item 15.8 and the item passes four zero moving to item 15.9 approval to establish risk manager
073position and job description this is an action item may have a motion make a motion to approve 15.9 and is there a second moved and seconded is there any discussion I I have a quick question so is this so this is a new position for the district yes we didn't have a risk manager before we did not have this position um as as we're establishing through this action uh the risk management work was coming out of Miss LaTasha Mr Jamal's office and if she wants to explain she can if you have further questions so Mr Mall could we have some contact so what I'm hearing is that we didn't have this position but of course we engage in risk management work so where what how is that work being addressed before or up until now
074so up until now um primarily for workers comp it's been handled by my admin on Miss Melissa Vera um and it's become a full-time job for her historically if you um when we look at sorority districts that work is actually assigned to a person and this risk manager will not only assist take over risk workers comp they will also do our health benefits as well as help with safety and just for context uh prior to what Miss gemologists shared right now uh previous uh uh assistant super assistant superintendents of business services this has been a pattern that the assistant uh has been the one that has been taking care of workers comp I just want to clarify that this has become a position just because we have you know more workers comps claims and things
075like that just so the public is aware that you know if you could just clarify that for us yes ma'am so this is um positions to align so we can have a person that can solely focus on our workers comp benefits and um safety um but this is not due to a spike in workers comp claims thank you I think it's great because it also looks we're also being proactive and preventative you know liabilities and things like that thank you thank you any further discussion thank you we've moved and seconded the item and engaged our discussion I will now call for the vote on 15.9 and the item passes four zero moving to item item 16.1 through 16.7 these are info items um Mr Ortega uh if you could just give us an overview and
076I think we have at least one question about 16.5 but is there an overview overview you could provide for us for this section yes um so on a quarterly quarterly basis uh csba the California school boards Association um sends to districts recommendations for updating certain policies board bylaws administrative regulations and or exhibits uh typically those are in response to New Ed code new laws uh new um changes in the California Department of Education so this is to align us to help us align uh and stay current in these policies and so we look at those quarterly reports from csba we looked through every single policy that they're that they're asking us to review and then we bring to the board those records recommendations um on a quarterly basis at least so this is this quarter's
077uh batch of policies uh from csba thank you and um I know board vice president you had a comment yes I have a question um questions on on item 16.5 the first reading of AAR 5132 dress and Grooming the um the following guidelines shall apply to all regular school activities now my question is it states on item number three hats caps and other hit coverings shall not be worn indoors so the question is head coverings are we talking about VDS are we talking about hoodies are we talking about scars what does that really mean and why can't we just spell out exactly what we're talking about or at at um but we're talking about head covering what does that mean to to me I I don't know so students the language comes directly from csba
078so we use that in our policy um head coverings would entail things like beanies hoodies hair net any of those kinds of things further down it does discuss um religious and cultural kinds of head coverings that are excluded from that definition so so can we add or change it correct we can do that yes it's definitely the purview but you know exactly what had coverage you're talking about like I said you know scars hoodies hats I mean um beanies yeah if it's the wish of the more we could add so that is my question if it is the wishes of the board for number three we could add beanies and hoodies and keep hats keep hats and also keep and other head coverings as well but we could add those two items if if the
079board wishes to do that um I I very much appreciate the the question and also um in looking at where it says dress code underneath the enumerated list um the dress code shall be modified as appropriate to accommodate a student's religious or cultural observance health condition or other circumstance deem necessary by the principle or designee so does that mean that if we have a student of the Jewish faith and he is wearing a yamaka the principal is making that determination or if we have a young lady who's wearing a hijab that needs to go through the principal or the principal's designee so so or can we add you know head beanies um or scarves other than you know um not for religious reasons I mean there's even some children that may have um a pashia
080I don't know when you're losing your hair right sometimes that that happens I get it but you know of course if if they have and feel uncomfortable I do not want to make them take it off but I just feel that we should specify what we're talking about but we do we must admit we do have students that do wear hoodies a lot and they're wearing their earphones and they're not even listening in class I've seen it happen and beanies also but um other than for health reasons or religious reasons we can specify that yes we can so I do feel that just to finalize my point I feel that I'm getting a sign up from the principal or designee for religious head covering seems overly burdensome for the student if I may add actually
081the protocol at the high school when there is a dress code it is addressed with the with the principal right away he's the one that gets the referral so it does go to the principal and it has been and when you say it's a referral so that is a teacher or staff member that says um student you're out of dress code and so if I'm wearing a hijab for example then I am sent to the principal's office to have a discussion about my hijab that has never happened when we were in the classroom because we at the not we now I'm the teachers would definitely understand that if it's a religious thing they would not be sending the student to the principal's office it's probably in terms of real implementation um it's probably the opposite
082of what it says here in terms like it's not like you're requesting or may I um I think in in in practice um it would be the opposite if a student was to be discriminated or told no then the principal would step in and say well yes if it's something cultural or health-wise or what not to to be able to be the the one to voice that this student it is appropriate for them to have I had to cover it in class so is there a way because as we are continuously updating our policies is there a way to align our open our practice which seems accepting and Equitable to what is written here or I mean have have the written policy reflect what we actually do and I'm thinking of new teachers coming in
083new staff members and they're going to say oh these These are the guidelines by my district and I'm following what's written and that could be could be a conflict you know maybe maybe not but it would be easier if the policies were um or aligned with our practice yes just for clarity uh we're adding to number three uh beanies and hoodies we will look at how we might reword paragraph after number six and then those changes will come to our next board meeting um there'll be an action I there'll be an action but those changes will be there for the board to to see and I also have a question a second question on item number four uh clothes shall be worn sufficient to conceal undergarments and bare abdomens are prohibited I I I feel
084that the um the dress code has not been enforced by administrators or Security in the high schools or the middle schools I have had many concerns some parents staff even administrators approach me and and I I feel that after the pandemic because I know it was um always looked upon you you can't show your skin you can't you know wear this and wear that but it seemed like after the pandemic it got real lenient and now they just were whatever they wanted were and and I'm having like I said staff parents and administration telling me why are we allowing these students to dress inappropriately and um they're afraid to say anything to them because they're the girl why are you looking at me or you know um why are you looking at my trial and
085I think we have to I see it's written here I don't think it's being followed that's what it is because at first I was thinking you know we need to change this but I start to read it and I'm like well it is here but it doesn't seem like anyone's following um these um policies at all and and I think we need to um either you know security um would approach them hey you know you shouldn't be wearing that or you should cover it up or what have you it's that's not happening at this time so I'm very concerned about that because I know we're starting a new year new kids kids coming together and I think we just need to be um I mean we want people to go by our schools and say
086yeah that's a good school look how nice the kids are and how they're dressed because believe me perception is very very important when you go by as a parent and you look at the school and you see who's there how many even staff members I'm not only talking about students you know boys girls whoever but I think that we need to enforce this um item on the dress code and bring it back to the way it used to be so those are my um concerns just ask for clarification does this does this policy also it's um it applies to staff right this policy is for students for students do we have one for staff yes just yeah because I heard you say staff but well I'm just talking about again School in general you're driving
087by you see staff you see but today we're talking about students is what I'm just stressing the point that's all just for clarification you're stressing a point that it hasn't been um uh implemented by Administration um and I feel Capital Security because they're like their first approach they walk into school they see them right there the kids coming in thank you yeah that's right I'm I'm not sure is that part of the job description I don't know I haven't seen a job description and I know we have a different title now on our Capital Security did that change their um job description yes the job description for uh campus security is different than the job description for campus AIDS and and then I second question so what I don't know is are they supposed to
088approach a trial or tell someone or is that what they do I mean I know they did when my daughter went to Gladstone my grandchildren went there the Catholic security did if I uh recall the job description uh correctly it uses language like enforcing the policy and the rules um of the school and this would fall under that umbrella statement as far as enforcing dress code policy that's being discussed here mm-hmm no I have a few comments so I agree with um vice president um Yolanda Pena and I do agree that perception is is something that we need to keep in mind and because everybody's watching right so and I also think that um that we need to start enforcing it if we haven't been I have a another question too when we talk about
089caps because I know we talked in a previous board meeting regarding caps for you know with the new logo and things like that does that mean they students can't wear that I just need clarification on that and then also let's say we do start enforcing it what what does enforcing mean does it mean we send the child home you know we have called a parent I mean what's the procedure yes so the um portion regarding caps um speaks to indoors so if the students are Outdoors they can wear their cap the policy that accompanies the regulation that we're discussing to speak to how the policy should be enforced it is a new section it's bold and highlighted and it speaks to um you know that the policy um you know should be shouldn't discriminate against
090particular genders um you know uh ethnicities uh body types and you know also speaks to that school administrators teachers and other staff staff will be notified of appropriate and Equitable enforcement of the dress code so our director of student services would be working with the staff to ensure that that they would be meeting back yeah thank you uh colleagues is there any further discussion on any of the items in um section 16 . thank you and the much anticipated item 17.1 adjournment may have a motion I make a motion to adjourn bye that was clear is there a second I second that motion before you log out vote online otherwise we're taking a hand thank you and the motion passes for zero we are adjourned at 8 31 PM have an awesome evening thank you