4/25/2023 - Azusa Unified School District Board Meeting

001very own Sierra senior Sebastian rorenzo um oh Sebastian can you turn on your mic oh hello good evening everyone 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 for liberty and things as well thank you thank you so much moving to item 5.0 report of action taken in closed session on behalf of the board I'd like to report that the board took no action on item 3.1 now moving to item 5.1 may have a motion make a motion to approve 5.1 and a second and we'll go to a vote motion passes unanimously item 5.2 may have a motion motion to approve 5.2 is there a second second moved and seconded let's go for a vote and the

002motion passes unanimously next moving on to item 6.1 Mr Mall good evening I'm happy to announce um for the last three years we've been taking part in having our students to design our budget book cover um for the last two years we utilized our Graphics Arts students and this year we partner with the fabulous ed services division who was doing the artwork for gratitude cards this year and so we reviewed all the cars who were happy to display this year's budget book winner Miss Yasmine from Slauson Middle School Miss Jasmine could not be here with us tonight but we will present her with her award he's not here but if you'd like to uh the certificate is there if you'd like to just read the certificate we make sure that we can uh deliver that

003to her so on behalf of the Azusa unified Board of Education we present this certificate of recognition probably presenting it to Yasmine Quintana inohos for the winning ausd budget book cover design contest on this day April 25th 2023 signed here by our superintendent and myself and Yasmine we also have a wonderful goodie bag for you thank you so much for all of your work and your artistic talent and now we move to the main event Mr rankio good evening Dr Beau board members Board of Education members cabinets and guests I have the honor of starting our formal recognition of our teachers of the year at this Board of Education meeting teaching is the profession that all other professions grow from and it is only fitting that we take time to honor all of our teachers

004of the year as we prepare for our teacher appreciation week in a couple weeks selecting the site's teacher of the year begins in February where sites are asked to begin this election process from their site teachers then in March our site teachers of the Year submit letters of recommendation and complete a questionnaire in April a committee of bargaining unit members managers and myself get the opportunity to interview each of our site teachers of the year it is a magical day one of the best days I have all year the days filled with laughter are felt genuine emotion and just an up uplifting feeling that our kids our students are in wonderful hands here at Azusa Unified School District at this panel interview teachers from each level and from all Sites spoke about what is important

005to them and what they value to ensure that all students learn teachers like Miss Terry Maharaj I'll intent teachers of the year who spoke eloquently about working with students and helping them be successful at Reading or Hodges teacher of the year Miss Michelle Velasco who felt uncomfortable being the center of attention but lit the room when she talked about her passion for the students and the families of Azusa and I could go on and on talking about how wonderful it was to participate in this process there's so much passion for teaching our students in our district I want to thank our administrators for their constant support and flexibility throughout this process I also want to thank Margaret McCann our HR Personnel technician who coordinated this teacher of the year process from February through today I

006also want to share a heartfelt thank you to our nutrition service staff for our wonderful reception thank you nutrition services and above all I want to thank all of our teachers for the work that they do throughout the school year for our students before I ask our principals to recognize their honorees I would like to invite principal of Sierra High School Kent Stout to welcome you all to Sierra High School and highlight the school's accomplishments Mr Stout thank you good evening Dr Beau Board of Education member superintendent Ortega cabinet and attendees I'd like to take some time to welcome you to Sierra's High School I've had the pleasure of working here for four years now and when I first came to Sierra I really didn't know too much about Sierra like you I get a

007lot of questions sometimes so I'd like to share some information about our school we are just like the other two high schools in many ways our students have six periods of the same curriculum we offer AP classes ROP program Dual enrollments for citrus the one difference is that we run a trimester system here where the students have an opportunity to earn 90 credits in a school year this allows the students to successfully graduate with their class on time or many of them will opt to go back to Azusa High School or Gladstone High School since we're celebrating teachers tonight let me tell you a little bit about our teaching staff here we have 15 teachers with four ROP program teachers now our average class size is 20 to 1 which allows our teachers to accelerate

008the learning opportunities and provide some individual instructional time the teachers here have a total of 279 years of experience teaching and of those years 188 of those years have been spent working at Sierra High School I think this quote from a student and our youth truth survey kind of sums up our teachers here I believe the teachers at my school are strong advocates in believing in US students each one may not do it in the same way but they express concern in whatever way they can it can be a simple thing like clarifying their presence is always there if needed or pointing out what days of the week they're most available even quieter Meeker students who are often left out in other school environments are made aware that they can seek out teachers at any

009time if necessary I have never had so many teachers who care about me and and the students in the ways like the teachers here tonight you guys are going to get the opportunity to hear some amazing stories about the teachers in Azusa we have some awesome teachers from every site and you're going to get an opportunity to hear about them tonight so I'd like to welcome you to Sierra High School tonight and our teacher of the year celebration so without further Ado congratulations teachers of the year I would now turn it over to our first principal to present Dalton Elementary principal Ms Laura Clark good evening Dr Beau Board of Education members cabinet and attendees my name is Laura Clark and I'm the principal of Dalton School during my time at Dalton and in the

010district I have come to realize how precious a teacher like Gina is to the students staff and Greater Community she has a heartfelt commitment and a very strong work ethic her contributions have had a powerful impact on so many lives I'd like to introduce Ms Gina Ramos our teacher of the year when students are new to the school and placed in kindergarten we don't often have enough information in advance about the students needs to plan ahead despite some extreme situations with student behaviors over the years Gina's focus and determination is informed by her love of students and how she can support them for success I cannot express enough how she has gone above and beyond with her patience and dedication to address their needs if you only knew Gina she's awesome Gina can always be

011counted on to volunteer and attend our PTA events even if they run late into the evening she even brings her family to help out she goes all in when it comes to rolling up her sleeves and supporting whenever and wherever she can Gina works so well with others and is highly collaborative with her grade level partner her Gentle Spirit and care for others has contributed greatly to an improved morale among staff which has been so very much appreciated she has spent a lot of time planning Gatherings and events to bring our school together always willing to Mentor she takes on student teachers to help guide the next generation of Educators her classroom is a wonderful place for new teachers to learn about effective strategies and instruction Gina is a lifelong learner and she openly shares

012her knowledge with others this recognition is so well deserved congratulations Gina Ramos you are so appreciated at Dalton School good evening Dr Beau Board of Education members cabinet and attendees I'm Dr Anna Kwok principal of Ellington school tonight I am honored to present Ellington's 2022-23 teacher of the year Mrs Terry monhoraz she is supported by her husband and her two daughters who are here tonight Terry was raised in Pasadena California she earned her bachelor's degree in the University of La Verne and her master's degree at Cal State Fullerton she and her husband moved to Azusa after they got married Terry has served in Azusa unified for 35 years she started her career at Ellington School in 1988 where she taught second grade through sixth grade for 26 years and has now been Ellington's resource teacher

013for nine years she likes being the resource teacher because she experiences The Best of Both Worlds she's able to support her students academically and be a support system for teachers and administrators two tips that Terry would like to share with new teachers are one be sure to ask for support and two it is important to be consistent with your classroom management strategies people who nominated Terry stated that Terry is a dedicated teacher she has been a beacon of strength positivity and consistency throughout the years at Ellington school she is truly a resource to students and teachers alike despite all the extra tasks that she has expected to handle she always makes supporting students and teachers her number one priority her leadership skills and ability to remain professional and are inspiring and she goes above and

014beyond in all that she does congratulations Mrs Terry monoraz on being Ellington's last teacher of the year good evening Dr Beau Board of Education members cabinet members and members of the audience my name is Jeanette Flores and I'm the proud principal at Hodge Elementary and it is with great pleasure that I introduce Michelle Velasco as Hodge Elementary's teacher of the year joining Michelle tonight is her husband Rob and her Hodge family Michelle and Azusa resident attended Mountain View Elementary Center Middle School and Azusa High School before she began her career at Hodge she worked for Azusa Parks and Recreation she married her high school sweetheart Rob Velasco ah and together they had four beautiful children who also attend and attended Azusa schools Michelle first began her career at Hodge Elementary back in 1995 when she

015joined the staff as a computer lab aide just a few years later she rejoined the hot staff but this time as a second grade teacher as a teacher Michelle is dynamic organized and structured she loves her students and demonstrates it by engaging them in fun and challenging lessons in a warm and vibrant classroom environment where all students are praised for and respected her love for Disney Mickey and Minnie can be found all around her her room which makes her class that much more special for her students whenever visiting Michelle's class her students are always excited to share what they have learned or are learning and she is always willing to stop what she is doing to allow her students to have a voice and share their seal chance their AR goals or their writing with

016me outside of the workday Michelle manages the busy the busy schedules of her family and somehow manages to find the time to design beautiful teacher t-shirts you know the ones with the sayings she has a knack for creativity and produces beautiful items that you will see if you walk into her classroom or anywhere around Hodge because she loves to share her creations with the staff Michelle is a beautiful person inside and out shares her talents with her colleagues and her students she is a team player if I need someone to join a committee I can count on Michelle is our person if I need someone to encourage a student or if I need someone to create something beautiful it is for these reasons and so many more that Michelle was selected as Hodge Elementary's teacher

017of the year and Michelle I would like to congratulate you on behalf of the entire Hodge staff for representing our school good evening Dr bull Board of Education members cabinet and attendees I'm Diana Rojas proud principal of Charles H Lee Elementary School and it is with the great pleasure that I present Mrs Angie Rubio as our teacher of the year up here although Miss Rubio has only worked for Azusa Unified District for seven years her impact has been extraordinary she exemplifies all the characteristics of an outstanding teacher professional hard-working collaborative compassionate personable flexible and dependable Mrs Rubio's passion commitment and Devotion to the success of all students is her number one priority Mrs Rubio joined our lead staff five years ago as our Upper Grade special day class teacher as an education specialist Mrs Rubio

018has admired and respected by all of her colleagues parents and students for her positive classroom environment and high expectations expectations due to her structure and the variety of learning strategies that she incorporates into her instruction her students always Thrive academically socially and emotionally in addition as she works hard to prepare them for middle school she inspires her students to believe in themselves by the support guidance and encouraging words that she provides them on a daily basis along with being an exceptional teacher Mrs Rubio serves on our read Across America committee which has established a partnership with Smart and Final their Associates have been guest readers at our school and have contributed donations to our school library another committee committee that Mrs Rubio has developed a countless hours to is our social media and yearbook she

019has been an essential part of running our lead Facebook page and has collaborated with another teacher to bring back our school year book to students to enjoy we are truly blessed to have Mrs Rubio as they teach our Charles H Lee Elementary School and we are excited to recognize her as our teacher of the year for 2022-2023 Resident Evil good evening Dr Beau Board of Education members cabinet and attendees my name is Jenny Lee the director for the early childhood education program and it is a pleasure to represent the Longfellow School community and recognizing and celebrating the School's teacher of the year Mrs Elisa Vargas Smith she is the school's resource teacher her family her tall friends in the back are here to support her dedicated to the success and growth of ausd's ECE programs

020Mrs Varga Smith performs a multitude of roles in supporting our preschool and TK programs in curriculum and instruction she is an instrumental coach and for ECE teachers she provides professional development and coaches teachers in a District's implementations of initiatives including the preschool to third grade coherence collaborations and seal Mrs Varga Smith is has work has greatly contributed to the success of this initiative which has led to increased staff Effectiveness and Student Success furthermore Mrs Marcus Smith is dedicated to supporting the daily functions and programs at Longfellow School she works with staff and families to help ensure student safety and achievement she coordinates assessment chairs IEP meetings and student study team meetings she also provides parent workshops where they learn strategies that they can effectively use to work with their children at home Mrs Varga Smith

021with her always ready to help approach can't shift between roles or even among different roles seamlessly one moment she may be working with the teacher on fine-tuning a teaching strategy the next moment she's off to cover a class she may be in if she may even stop on her way to help bring a student back to the classroom who tries yellow congratulations and thank you Mrs Marcus Smith for the many many things too many things to mention in this short speech that you do day in and day out to support our school and our program good evening Dr Beau Board of Education members cabinet and attendees I'm Marcelo Fonseca the principal at Magnolia School and it is a great honor and privilege to present to you Magnolia Schools teacher of the year Mrs Jeannie benhamfar

022Jeannie is a company tonight by her husband two daughters sister and many friends tonight is extra special for Jeannie because we not only recognize her as our teacher of the year but we celebrate a lifetime of dedication to education culminating in a well-deserved retirement though this may be Jeannie's final year in the classroom she has left an indelible mark on the Mustang community Mrs B as she is lovingly called by her TK students keeps her room abuzz with the littles engaged in learning and laughter there is always something great going on down in the TK classroom because you can hear them squeal with excitement with every new opportunity a new song a new dance a new story a new friend with each new day Mrs B brings the joy a child's first teacher in elementary

023school holds a holds a very special place in the memory and Mrs B has etched her place in the hearts of many her kind words when someone won't share a gentle hug because recess is over a quiet reminder that going to the potty is more important than finishing the block tower these are the important lessons that shape the character and set the foundation for our youngest Scholars a task Mrs B handles with great skill Grace and love not only is Mrs B A beloved teacher but she is a brilliant colleague and beautiful friend her warm smile and positivity permeate the campus and blessed are those who know her thank you Mrs benhamfar for your 34 years of service we celebrate you and the impact you have made on nearly 1 000 students directly over the

024course of your tenure but no your influence has reached beyond the classroom door two and that is why we are honored to have you represent Magnolia as our teacher of the year congratulations good evening Dr Beau Board of Education members cabinet and attendees who's this awesome teacher standing up right next to me j-a-o-a-n-n-i-s-l-e-y my name is Adrian Acosta and is a proud principal of Clifford D Murray Elementary School is with great honor that I present to you Murray's 22-23 teacher of the year Joanne Eisley joining us in tonight's celebration and Joe's is Joe's husband will her daughter Emily her mother Grace and Mary her mother-in-law you may be wondering so what's with the singing well anyone who knows Joe knows that she's a huge Disneyland fan that's right if you want to know where Joe

025goes after school you might want to try Disneyland if you want to know her jokes going for Thanksgiving break winter break spring break or summer break you might want to try Disneyland so when thinking about the theme for Joe's poster we came up with Tinkerbell why you guessed it Disneyland Joe is the positive playful enthusiastic teacher in room 18 as stated by her peers who greets everyone with the kind word from her heart and a smile that lights up your day for warm inviting classroom invites all students to feel comfortable to make mistakes because as Joe States the mistake is an opportunity to learn it even better Joe desires every student to achieve High rigor standards she will roll up her sleeves and learn new teaching strategies to spark her students learning from seal to

026words their way Joe's classes are passionate and showing school spirit as well as participating in school functions Joe has Grace Murray with fond memories of her Halloween costumes in the Murray Parade from Wednesday Adams to Harry Potter so how does she do all this to still be great at it well as Tinkerbell would say all it takes is faith trust in a little pixie dust thank you Joe for being our Tinkerbell for showing our Mountaineers as Tinkerbell would say that laughter is timeless imagination has no age and that Dreams Are Forever ladies and Gentlemen please join me in applauding once more Clifford D Murray's teacher of the year Joanne Eisley good evening Dr Beau Board of Education members cabinet and attendees my name is Patty abalo and I am the interim principal at Powell Elementary

027and it is my privilege privilege tonight to honor Renee everling Powell's teacher of the year Renee is celebrating tonight with her husband Jason who's in the audience um her daughter Juliet and her two boys Austin and Merrick are at home celebrating I'm sure without her there Renee teaches our most special population of students at Powell Elementary our life skill students these students require someone who is loving understanding caring and skilled in their craft all of these characteristics describe Renee Renee not only loves and cares for her students but also their families she cares for her students they like they are her own and the parents are very very appreciative of her she takes the time every morning to greet the students and parents to inquire about their mood how their night was how their morning

028is going she you will also see Renee talking with parents at the end of the school day for quite a while informing the parents how their day went any concerns throughout the day and any reasons that they might have to celebrate Renee also integrates her students into mainstream educational opportunities as much as possible her students have joined with the Champ Program special field trips PE and Robotics to name a few so to all of her family celebrating with her tonight be proud Renee is receiving a well-deserved honor and as we wind down our final year at Powell Elementary it seems fitting that our recipient is one who loves and cares for our most special students a quote that I found is if a child can't learn the way we teach maybe we should teach the

029way they learn this is Renee she meets the students where they are so please join me in honoring Renee everling house 22-23 teacher of the year I listen in the morning good evening Dr bull Board of Education members cabinet members and attendees my name is Horacio Trejo and I am the proud principal of Valleydale it is my pleasure and honor to present valleydale's teacher of the year Belen Pinedo Miss Pinedo is a remarkable teacher who has won the hearts of her students and colleagues alike her dedication kindness and passion for teaching are truly admirable in talking with her students they say that Miss Pinedo has an infectious laughter that lights up the room and makes everyone around her feel at ease her ability to make even the most challenging or boring topics fun is unparalleled

030and one of the many reasons why they look forward to her class one thing that every single student said about her is that she makes it easy to ask for help and for that thank you for creating that culture Miss pinatum this year Miss Pinedo has taken on a leadership role within our upper grade teachers and staff setting an excellent example for our newer teachers and that leadership has also made an impact in our dual immersion program as we work along with Hodge and Dr Fairley to make it not just a high quality program but a model for California schools she embodies the Viking spirit and is always willing to join the next Committee in lend a hand her fifth grade students benefit from her enthusiasm and knowledge in both languages and she continues to

031work with our gate students to provide fun and exciting learning activities to extend their learning Miss Pinedo is always willing to lend a helping hand to her fellow teachers whether it's less than ideas tutoring or just being a supportive partner to lean on she uses her creative and artistic talents to provide a rich learning environment in her classroom and she is always excited about new technology this ease with technology earned her a deep respect from our teachers because she became a mentor to all during distance learning she is an exceptional teacher who embodies everything we value at our school she's kind dedicated and passionate about teaching her students are lucky to have her as her teacher it is an honor to have her as a member of our teaching staff and we are grateful for

032everything she does for our Vikings so thank you Berlin I can't wait to see what magical accomplishments all of our Azusa kids will get to experience because of you thank you very much people today okay good evening Dr Beau Board of Education members cabinet and attendees Matthew Contreras principal at Center Middle School tonight is my distinct pleasure in presenting Center Middle School's 2022-2023 teacher of the year the Magnificent and extraordinary Mrs Kelly o'haney Blackburn Mr Haney is joined tonight by her husband Sean mom and the entire Spirit of the center family Kelly's Educational journey through school was not linear and smooth but these trials through multiple systems have forged an anchor teacher for schools and students her thirst for knowledge and ability to create is fostered in her love of teaching and learning in softball

033there's a term called a five-tool athlete that is the player that can hit for power hit for average run well throw and field Kelly is a five tool teacher she has been at center for the long run spending 30 years at CMS she hits for power as her lessons incorporate the most rigorous and accessible strategies for students she masterly Fields questions from students at times having to read their body language ensuring the highest degree of understanding she has thrown out all stereotypes as she was a diversity equity and inclusion proponent before this was a term and she has hit for average the last 32 years here in Azusa unified displaying consistency in the classroom that students year after year reach out to her or visit and thank her not only for Content but for life

034lessons for the past three decades Kelly has been an integral part of the education of approximately 4 112 students not including the players she has coached the center community cannot say enough positives about Mrs ohanie Blackburn her classroom or her interactions with kids and parents she would give anything to assist her students so I'm in the meantime while I was asking a few students to share a little bit about uh misohanian class one of them shared a story and I I feel this is a time to share to show the character and the person that she has always been so we had an unfortunate lockdown that was very sudden at school two weeks ago at that point we were not able to send a notification to teachers to tell him what it was so they

035went into our automatic protocol I asked the student hey how's my I was expecting oh she's great her lessons Etc the student let me know and said let me tell you Mr Haney when we had the lockdown we got kind of scared she moved us all into the corner though and she told us I'll stay there this is Middle School stay here and then she immediately moved herself in front of the door and placed herself right there and said they will have to get through me I've already lived my life you guys there will be fine so that sums up what the career Kelly has had um the whole entire year she is retiring this year the same way she started her career with the energy um the care for kids and the care for

036learning so Kelly is a champion for students she's a champion for life so please help me in congratulating Kelly o'haney Blackburn on Center's teacher of the year good evening Dr Beau Board of Education members cabinet and attendees I'm Miss Fury and I couldn't be prouder to be here with you to celebrate Foothill Middle School's teacher of the year Miss Alice fuelskamp Miss H serves as our seventh and 8th grade life skills teacher when you visit Miss Hills Camp's class you'll see her students love her and love being in her class you'll see her students socializing at breakfast engaging in energizing dance moves to work on agility and coordination creating beautiful watercolors and art projects that go with the seasons and building their computation skills in their math centers we particularly love Friday lessons where the

037students practice their culinary skills mixing and measuring and producing some wonderful eats and our personal favorite yeah Miss H's Puppy Chow okay don't leave the bag on your desk it won't be there it has been noted that Miss Hills Camp consistently seeks opportunities for her students to connect with other students and activities across the campus she has a program with the stem science classes known as stem Buddies hear students engage in Friendship activities such as Bingo and this past St Patrick's Day they applied some science knowledge and created the part of gold games saving their precious gold from the Michigan campus Miss H is beloved by her students and staff alike and here's what they say working with Alice is a joy it's a fun-filled adventure every single day she's dedicated hard-working always putting her

038team first and it's for these reasons Miss H and so many more that we thank you and we are proud to have you as our teacher of the year good evening Dr Beau Board of Education members cabinet and attendees I'm Yvette Walker the proud principal at Slauson Middle School it is my honor to introduce to you Mrs Peggy Harris slawson's teacher of the year she is joined this evening by her husband Ken her son Elle her daughter Shannon as well as other family members a quote from Peggy earlier today family is my life so thank you all for attending the celebration this evening what an honor it is to stand beside such a dedicated caring hard-working educator this is Peggy's 36th year in Azusa she began her career here in Azusa as an instructional aide

039at Gladstone Street and later moved to become the librarian at Slawson and today she currently teaches 7th and 8th grade English language arts Peggy's style of teaching is one in which he teaches from the heart her relationship with her students reflects a sincere desire to teach it is evident that students are not only learning but are engaged in her classroom Peggy's lessons are always well planned with her team member and partner in crime Miss Mary Nagy Peggy encourages her students to actively participate take risks collaborate ask questions share ideas learn and discover literature in a variety of ways when I asked Peggy what her favorite part about teaching is here's what she said every day is different and challenging and satisfying so it never gets old when I asked her students what they liked most

040about having her as their teacher a few responses we know she cares about us and one of her students said she makes me feel like I am really successful at writing because writing is difficult when Peggy is not teaching she enjoys cycling mountain biking dirt biking reading roasting coffee and one of her favorites craft beer tasting Peggy self-imposed standards of excellence have guided her through a successful 36 years here in Azusa Unified School District on behalf of the staff we've certainly saved the best for last as slawson's final year it is with pride and pleasure that we celebrate you this evening please join me in congratulating Miss Peggy Harris as saw since 2020 to 2013 for every year good evening Dr Beau Board of Education members cabinet and attendees thank you so much for putting

041on this event my name is Althea Zimmer and I am an assistant principal at Gladstone High School it's my great honor to present our 2023 and final Gladstone teacher of the year Mrs Terry Perdomo she's joined tonight by her husband Sam who is in the audience with us we are blessed to have such a talented art this who chose to share her gifts yes with the students of Azusa unified prior to teaching Terry worked in print media she spent three years in La unified and then made her way to Azusa Terry has been a department chair member or department chair at Gladstone High School Art Club advisor gate coordinator member of wask and so many more things she is on the district-wide PLC where they come together and put on these fabulous art shows in

042our ghs art gallery Ferry's built a strong relationship with Educators across the district and was recently selected to be department chair at Azusa High School next year she's loved and respected and is one of the kindest most professional people you will ever meet Mrs Perdomo teaches students that are in an art class for the first time all the way to those tackling the rigors of AP Terry's student-centered approach Fosters creativity expression and artistic growth she does this with empathy and compassion that the times demand and her students love her for it her greatness is seen in the success of her students and the awards they have received from ribbon winners at local fairs to Congressional winners and students passing AP exams just like my son Nicholas Terry's students have excelled year after year I thought

043I would end with a few of the things her students had to share about her the first one said she cares about everyone has a beautiful personality and always has a smile on her face the second said she takes time to work with each student individually to help them progress their art skills while providing a safe environment filled with the resources they need to succeed and she's doing a phenomenal job once again congratulations Terry Gladstone loves you and I love you sister all right good evening Dr Beau Board of Education members cabinet superintendent Ortega and attendees it's my pleasure to introduce to you to Sierra High School's teacher of the year Mr Charlie Callison tonight Charlie's wife of 27 years Cammy is here celebrating with him Charlie and Cami they love to spend time together

044and travel and this summer they're going to go on a cruise somewhere he's not sure where yet but he's going to take her somewhere Mr Collison began his teaching career in 2006 in Upland as a science teacher before moving to Azusa High School where he taught for four years and then transferred over to Sierra and and became a part of our staff in 2011. as our only science teacher Mr callison's lessons are well thought out and meaningful students are actively engaged using Cooperative conversations this year many of his lessons were Hands-On and students were excited about what they were learning it seems like almost every day as a week when I walk down the hallway he steps out of his room and says hey we're going to be doing an activity you may want to

045come by and get some pictures today so there I am taking pictures when I go in though I'm always really impressed to hear the students using academic language including scientific words that sometimes I don't even understand it feels like I've walked into a Big Bang Theory episode if you ever watch that Charlie has been a positive role model for for all of our students he treats the students with respect kindness and patience the students feel supported and are eager to learn when they're in his class at lunch time he opens his classroom for a as a place for students to just hang out and have lunch the room is often very full our nominations for Teacher of the Year came in and it was no surprise that Mr Callison was voted our teacher of the

046year one student on the nomination said Mr Callison is a sweet teacher and always greets me with a smile and helps me when I don't understand something his class is also very enjoyable staff and students are very proud that huge Charlie are our teacher of the year for 2022-23 congratulations good evening Dr Beau Board of Education members cabinet and attendees it is with great my name is Maury bordona interim principal director administrator at the Azusa adult education center and it's with great pleasure that I present to you the Azusa adult education centers teacher of the year Vivian Arteaga Vivian has been a nurse since 1977 working in a variety of places and in a variety of capacities she has worked in hospitals she has worked with development mentally disabled children with recovering alcoholics as a

047director of Staff Development as an instructor for ROP and for the past three years as the nurse's assistant training program instructor CNA at the Azusa adult education center lucky students lucky us many words describe Vivian wife mother friend teammate colleague cheerleader Advocate and learner as an educator she is knowledgeable tenacious meticulous Fair firm and flexible as an educator of adults she has those special qualities that her students need she meets them as they come Builds on their strengths and fosters a learning environment that respects and supports their needs her reputation for Student Success is well known in our Consortium among the member schools her students have the best passing rate on the state exam compared to member schools and in fact her last cohort had a 100 percent pass rate yeah Vivian is a model

048educator always on time present professional and prepared and I am proud of had the opportunity this year to call her my colleague Vivian has decided to retire after this year and she will be missed by the staff and certainly by the students who will not get to experience her expertise and caring spirit and with that on behalf of our staff and her students I happily present her as the Azusa education adult education center of the year good evening Dr Beau Board of Education members cabinet and audience my name is Adriana Garcia Medina director of educational services and it is my pleasure to congratulate Miss Amy Brady as as Services teacher of the year joining us to celebrate today is her husband Chris and her son Aaron who are right on the other side thank you

049for joining us miss Brady began her career in 2005 as a music teacher she taught at Center Gladstone and for the past six years she has been our elementary planning time music teacher for those of you who know Miss Brady you'll agree that she loves to share her passion for music and teaching she values the importance of building a community of Learners we're taking risks and trying new things is not only encouraged but also supported her positive attitude and excitement with students is contagious you can't help but smile when she's talking about the next activity the next song or the next performance that she's working on she recently stepped up to take on the elementary after-school choir club and has been busy working on costumes and partnering with parents to ensure that students have a

050six successful experience she has also supported the onboarding of many new staff members in their new roles any time that I have reached out to her it's always a yes sure no problem and it's that team player approach that makes working with Amy so great I thank Miss Brady for sharing her knowledge and passion of music with our students I know that she's made a strong impact in helping our students develop an appreciation for music have a safe space to express themselves and build their confidence please join me in congratulating Miss Amy Brady as ed services teacher of the year congratulations good evening Dr Beau Board of Education members cabinet and attendees my name is Lanae Musgrove and I am a coordinator of special education on behalf of the special education Resource Center special education

051programs we would like to recognize Crystal Lee assistive technology specialist for Teacher of the Year thank you Crystal began in Azusa unified as a student support aide at Azusa High School this is Crystal's eighth year as a member of the Azusa family she currently provides Technology support and services for our special education students Crystal attends California State University Los Angeles and is completing her Master's in special education then in conjunction with the moderate severe special education teaching credential she is a committed lifelong learner and she demonstrates this through her commitment to training others she has trained others in how to best utilize assistive technology and the educational environment as a presenter at the salpa-wide Open Access trainings and is the Open Access assistive technology Regional lead she stays on top of her educational research in

052areas such as Universal Design for Learning strategies and tools and inclusive practices Chris still has a continued interest in perfecting her craft and is a dedicated team player she has frequently found collaborating with District special education staff and administrators in order to offer continued support for our students and families Crystal has many outside interests some of which include being a coffee connoisseur and her love of Photography in 2002 Crystal entered a contest where one of her photos was showcased in an art studio in San Diego crystal also serves as a best buddies faculty advisor and art instructor at the Bowers art museum in Orange County it is because of this that we recognize Crystal Lee as a special education Resource Center teacher of the year thank you now I have the distinct honor of announcing

053our 2022-2023 district teacher of the year she is a genuine Champion for our students and staff and we are very proud and excited to announce that Esther Campos ball from Azusa High School is our 2022 2023 District teacher of the year congratulations now to say a few words about Miss Campbell's ball as her principal Mr Fernandez good evening Dr boo Board of Education members cabinet and attendees my name is Gabriel Fernandez the principal at Azusa High School it is my pleasure to introduce Esther Campos ball as Azusa High School and the district's uh teacher of the year for 2023. with her tonight is her mother Rina student teachers her bestie Cecilia her assistant principal Mr Rob Velasco and a room full of good friends that she's worked with over the years as a fellow Bruin

054I take pride in her accomplishments this year seeing the benefit of encouragement and support shown to her being passed on to student teachers she has worked with her colleagues and her students has been a blessing Esther has exhibited the Pinnacle of Excellence competitive greatness when the times have been tough she has brought her a game to Azusa and inspired her colleagues and students she has gone above and beyond to develop her curriculum and pedagogy to ensure student engagement the example she is setting this year is a path for many to follow in the midst of this transition and difficult return from the pandemic Miss compost ball has demonstrated competitive greatness and developing a new course called race and gender in U.S history with her peers from Azusa and Gladstone not only is she reimagining U.S

055history content but she is also in the midst of reimagining teaching strategies that put student voice and choice front and center in the classroom her commitment to equity is noticeable and makes a difference for kids in addition to her professional learning and leading in the ethnic studies area Esther is also a part of azusa's pilot group of teachers working with High-Tech high in San Diego to develop project-based learning experiences and teaching practices we are headed there in two days and Esther is ready with student work samples and a joy for learning to share with our peers from around the state Beyond curriculum development Miss compostball exhibits the competitive spirit in the example that she sets for her student teachers who she has mentored this year Lego has recognized the quality of her work developing new

056talent in the social science teachers at Azusa this year she has shown me the evaluations from professors who have observed her student teachers and they are exemplary not goes to the quality of work that Esther has done this year her Protege are learning the right way to engage students with the right pedagogy in the service of our students at Azusa High School the future is bright thanks to Esther's work with these members of the next generation of teachers in California above all Esther's greatness is found in the manner in which she seeks to listen and nurture student agency in her classroom she understands the importance of connections and community she cares deeply about her students and and keeps up with their lives After High School she frequently has alumni in a room encouraging her students

057to persist and make it to college these types of experiences do not show up in the pacing guide but she makes time so that all students are motivated to reach their potential ultimately this year has been a test for all of us on all of her fellow teachers of the year in Azusa unified life has not been easy for students teachers families anywhere but Esther has not been discouraged by hardship she has demonstrated resilience and determination and the future is bright next to Esther Campos ball and her brilliance thank you Esther you do a good job before I turn the mic over to miss Campos ball uh we have Julianne Hines from District director Susan Rubio's uh Senator Susan Rubio's office here well thank you so much for having me here tonight again my name

058is Julianne Heinz I'm here representing Senator Susan Rubio and it is um particularly this is one of the greatest nights she would agree with me she was a classroom teacher for 17 years herself and there's nothing more important um she knows how difficult how rewarding how challenging it is um and just has the greatest appreciation and is fighting for you up in Sacramento so on her behalf I know how proud she would be of you um to miss Esther Campos ball the 2022-12 2023 District teacher of the year Azusa High School on behalf of California state Senator Susan Rubio it is my privilege to congratulate you on your recognition as District teacher of the year I applaud your dedicated service and commitment to our students and community in the Azusa Unified School District your leadership

059in promoting academic Excellence has helped ensure the success of our future leaders and has left a lasting Legacy for others to follow congratulations thank you and now I'd like to call up um Miss Melissa alcantar from Foothill Credit Union to present Miss Campos ball with an award as well good evening board president board members cabinet and attendees um I'm so happy and honored to be here today these are my favorite kind of events because you really hear all of the passion and dedication from every single teacher here at Azusa and on behalf of Foothill Credit Union I am happy to present a hundred dollar check to Azusa unified's teacher of the year Esther campostball congratulations and lastly I'd like to welcome um up Miss Shauna Kirkland uh from School's First Credit Union to present Miss

060campus ball with an award but before I have Shauna present I want to formally thank Shana um and for School's First Credit Union for sharing 10 tickets to next Friday's Angels baseball game we gave the tickets to Miss Campbell's ball as well as our classified employee of the year Bobby Pinto from mot and our parent of the year uh Mr Pedro Palacios also from Gladstone High School so thank you schools first for helping us recognize on this year's ausd's All-Stars I'm always nervous at this part okay so good evening Dr Bo Board of Education members cabinet and amazing attendees I got it right okay so on behalf of schools first it's my absolute pleasure to provide you with the token of our appreciation for all that you've done and all that you are going to

061do I don't have a certificate but I do have a School's First Swag Box so let me tell you what's in here okay we've got School's First logo markers and light up um lanyards and carabiners and there's something else what is in here oh a hundred dollar Target gift card now miss couples ball you're welcome to say a couple words thank you Mr Onkyo um good evening board uh president Beau board members superintendent Ortega cabinet members members of the audience and a big congrats congratulations to my fellow teachers of the year for their respective School sites after listening to all the speeches made by our um principles on behalf of their teachers on this you know at their sites I am truly humbled this recognition I'd like to begin by sharing a story of an

062international student who was brought to this country at the age of eight and entered School in California as a third grader due to age prior to this move the student was a model student whose parents were told was a Bright Child as the student continued their education in this country the student began to display a learning deficit it is important to note that this learning deficit was a result of only having attended three months of second grade in their native country and their English language skills were non-existent when they started school here as the student progressed through our education system the learning Gap continued to grow it wasn't because a student wasn't able to learn it was because the older they got the more learning they were having to make up the students struggled to

063catch up in K-8 but in high school this student became English fluent or fluent English proficient and learning became easier for them however it wasn't without years of struggle and ridicule that often made them feel dumb once in high school the student's self-confidence grew and it was in part to some teachers who took and invested interest in the students education thanks to these teachers the teacher that you recognize tonight as ausd teacher of the year can share her experiences with all her students having gone through these experiences has made me more aware of my students with learning gaps in my classroom I use teaching methods and strategies to help close that Gap I am a firm believer in project-based learning as I have witnessed students of all learning levels have those aha moments and understand

064the content in summer of 2021 ausd offered High School teachers the opportunity to begin ethnic studies training and course development for classes to be taught at Azusa in Gladstone High Schools one of the greatest accomplishments in my career is ethnic studies U.S history course that I have co-written with my social science colleagues this course offers students U.S history knowledge taught through the ethnic studies lens and gives teachers the ability to implement Community circles and establish in the establishment of the community of community in our classrooms students in my class in my classes have a safe space where they feel love connection to community empowerment and have a voice I have learned through my ethnic studies training that Community is the heart of all learning Community will be essential next year as school mergers will be

065in place and more than ever we will need to we we will need that feeling of acceptance and inclusion within our school sites and Beyond in closing I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge a few people that have made a difference in my career Scott Magnuson Corey James inside of Valdez for taking a chance on me Sam Perdomo where are you Sam Perdomo for your assistance in helping me pass my dreaded math cset Chris Medina my ausd bits of Mentor for helping me make the transition into teaching as smooth as possible and being an excellent role model in this profession make Savella where are you where is she oh there you are okay um for guiding me on how to be a teacher Avid kid to all my colleagues and admin teams who have

066supported me all these years I couldn't have done it without you say you know I couldn't have done it without you lastly to my family especially my parents for teaching me that hard work pays off in the end mommy gracias and to my sons who gave up many nights with moms so I could further my education but most of all thank you to my students past present and future and my student teachers My Hope Is that I have taught you or will teach you not only the lessons from the textbooks but lessons of life and the importance of community you my students matter you my students have a voice you my students don't let anyone tell you that you can't because you can see SE puede thank you one more big round of applause for

067Esther Campbell's balls in just a second I'm going to ask all of our teachers of the year to make their way up after the picture of all teachers of the year is taken we will have a short five-minute recess and then we will resume our board meeting teachers of the year can you please make your way up to the far please Board of Education members yes can you please join us for the picture foreign thank you foreign [Music] thank you [Music] foreign [Music] right right okay foreign they forgot to allow the Board of Education to speak to the local teachers we do it all the time yeah oh yeah we always do like we have any input and we're like yeah we want to congratulate you we want to you know yeah yeah go forward

068yes okay 7.0 okay welcome back everyone thank you so much for joining us for our lovely celebration of excellence and dedication we're going to continue our regular meeting with item 7.1 public comment on agenda or non-agenda items and hope do we have any blue cards we'll begin public comment with Lori Ray not on the red light needs to be on good evening Dr Bo on board and cabinet my name is Lori Ray and I am the chapter president of csca Azusa chapter 299 I am here tonight to follow up on an email that I had sent all of you asking to rescind the layoff notices and retain the two athletic peas for Gladstone Middle School as stated in the email the need for these positions is especially strong during this time of transition when staff

069and students are consolidating into a single Middle School as always student safety is our main concern athletic PE AIDS are essential as they are as a monitor and secure locker rooms to protect against safety hazards they also help prevent property damage equipment loss student fights in bullying my first vice president Patricia Patricia Sanchez and I visited all three of the current middle schools the locker rooms and the surrounding areas we also visited Gladstone High School campus at the current Middle School's site the locker rooms are small and close in proximity to the basketball courts and Fields allowing for monitoring by a PE teacher and that's in the graphic that my gave you however the layout of Gladstone Middle School is much different first Gladstone locker rooms are considerably larger and have many areas that cannot

070be easily viewed such as the enclosed shower stalls and the restroom areas and some other areas in there without proper monitoring of these areas there is potential for bullying fights loss of property graffiti and other damage to the school facilities although we have been told there will be a teacher president in the locker room PE teachers will be busy getting their students out to the fields and to the gym for a class they will not be able to adequately monitor all the areas on their own further the position of the locker rooms and the fields at Gladstone middle schools is much different than that of the current middle schools at Gladstone the locker rooms cannot be viewed from the fields if a class is in the gym there's no way for a teacher that that

071a teacher can keep track of who goes in and or in and out of the locker rooms again this creates student safety issue as it allows for situations where students can access the locker rooms unattended among the many duties of the athletic peas is helping students cleaning up after class dust them off the gym floor and wet mop it before games and events maintaining sports equipment issuing lockers and combinations issuing and selling PE uniforms washing sports uniforms setting up sports equipment for events and providing areas access excuse me to visiting teams I would like again to emphasize the importance of retaining our athletic PE AIDS above all the other reasons described these employees are invaluable in supporting the safety of our students I ask that you please reconsider laying off such vital members we only

072have one chance to get this right let's be sure we do thank you very much thank you Miss Ray Jenny armas good evening Dr Beau school board members and District dignitaries my name is Jenny armas I am the ASB High School ASB Clerk and I am here tonight to discuss agenda item 12.4 we are asking parents students and myself are asking for your support in approving that item it is for fireworks for Azusa High School graduation we are hoping that you will be approving that this evening and you will also give us support in acquiring the city of Azusa permits that we have that are necessary for it we're hoping you will support our students so that the 2023 graduating class of Azusa High School will have a spectacular fireworks display at their commencement thank

073you foreign Ratcliffe good evening superintendent Ortega board president Dr Bowl board vice president Yolanda Pena board member Sandra Benavides and board member uh Adrian Greer and board clerk Gabriella arianes and cabinet my name is trimo Ratcliffe and I am a field representative for just us for youth Justice buf is a mentoring and restorative justice nonprofit organization that serves at promise not at risk but at promise youth in their communities developed them as Scholars people and leaders Justice Phoebe has committed to providing quality interventions and restorative practices to improve students social emotional health educational performance and positive behaviors Justice hoop is based out of the City of Pomona but we serve across multiple counties including L.A County not only do we provide Direct Services to school districts and school sites through our programs but we also

074provide violence prevention and intervention on behalf of the County Supervisor Solis office District One we would love to meet with the Azusa Unified School District to Simply share more about our program so possibly to collaborate to continue to serve the needs of students in their Community a few years ago we were thankful to have a light introduction to the district from the county and we are looking forward to reconnecting I would love to end off by you know um just asking who I may be able to leave my contact information with to possibly um schedule a quick program or review meeting um so that you guys can learn more about our services as well and before I conclude as well I would like to thank you guys as well for tonight um seeing all the

075amazing teachers of the year uh being recognized and this is uh very Monumental because I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for my teachers in my school district I'm from Pomona Unified School District um you know I was born in Pomona and raised in Pomona and if it wasn't for my teachers I would not number one I've graduated and have been successful where I'm at today uh to this day I still go back to visit a lot of my my teachers at their school sites to provide mentoring to students that many of the teachers may not give the enough love and care to because they have a classroom full of students of 30 to 40. so I come in a lot of my free time to really provide that um you know quality mentoring

076and support to students and and just really uh guiding and motivating them to um get to where they want to be at and really encouraging them because I know a lot of them uh grow up fatherless and motherless as well and I uh I stand in the Gap as a surrogate for many of my students that I serve and I just want to end off by just mentioning that as well and thank you guys again for the teachers of the Year tonight have a great evening thank you Mr Radcliffe and you can leave your contact information with our superintendent Steve Scott good evening and uh my name is Steve Scott I'm a counselor at Foothill Middle School and I'm proud to say this is my 33rd year working in Azusa Unified School District in the

077past excuse me in the past I've given presentations to the board about the early college program or the bilingual program when I was at Azusa High School tonight I come to you with a sense of urgency about something different um I want to talk to you about the case load the caseloads for counselors that we are that we currently have even though we're not wearing masks we don't have to wear masks or we're not social distancing we still feel the effects of covid we came back in person in August of 21 and I remember when I came back a student came to me a couple months in and said I'm really angry and I'm disappointed in myself last night I went through a house and I took every pill that I could find in the

078house and you know this morning I woke up but today when I go home I'm not going to make that same mistake since coming back in August of 21 at Foothill Middle School I have done 26 risk assessments for suicidal ideation some of those students have been hospitalized other students deal with stress through self-mutilation one girl came to me and said mister I'm really sorry about what she pulled up her sleeves and showed me her arms it was like a butcher shop I promised you and I promised my mom I would never do this again but this is how I deal with the stress I feel a parent sent me an email called me I'm going through a divorce right now my daughter was a cutter before I did what you recommended I checked not

079just her arms I saw cuts on her belly and on her upper thighs one boy came to me suffering from anxiety explained it really well he said it's like I'm in a pool and I see the top I see the surface I just can't get up there so some of these students will come into the office and they kind of have to recalibrate some of them stay for five minutes ten minutes some a little bit longer every one of those students that described we come up with a safety plan okay now is not the time in my opinion to increase the caseload of our counselors okay because it's just going to make it a lot more difficult to get through and talk to each one of these students it's really really difficult we have to

080understand that the social emotional and the academics are interlocked they cannot be separated they're absolutely um running out of time we need to keep the case at a reasonable level and if I could just go over a little bit right 15 seconds Mr Scott 15 seconds thank you right now at the middle school the case loads would be about 450 to 1. that's better than the 800 to 1 that was originally proposed but it's far higher than the 250 to 1 which are the national standards for state for uh counselors thank you very much for indulging me I'm sorry I went over Dominique Perez pretty good evening Dr Beau Board of Education members cabinet and attendees I am Dominique Perez counselor at Slauson Middle School I'm here today to share with everyone the amount of

081work and dedication it takes to work with students that are struggling academically it is definitely a labor of love when working with dnf students there are so many factors to consider such as is the work too hard is a student lacking motivation does a student struggle with self-confidence is the student struggling with their own Mental Health these are just a few of the many questions that go through our mind and our job as a counselor is to help support them regardless of the reason we help them create next steps on their academic Journey but it's never an easy Road and there's never just one solution in most cases it takes the counselor being consistent which includes following through on a regular basis it takes many meetings to develop their trust which will include working lunches

082and after school tutoring ssts parents meetings referrals for counseling and so much more and even with all this time and effort we may not see results right away so we get back at it we are constantly there to catch them or to praise them when they do well what I've learned in my years as a counselor is the most effective way to reach a student is to develop a trusting relationship with them you can only hold them accountable as long as they know you truly care and they and that takes time so it's imperative that our caseloads not increase but rather decrease so we can provide this high quality of care to all our struggling students one of azusa's USD core values is being student centered and if we truly believe in meeting that core

083value we should support all our students and that can only happen with smaller case loads as well as our counseling team working together to provide the best service for them thank you next we have Cindy Crawford good evening I am my name is Cindy Crawford I am currently the Apex teacher at ghs and this is a high school in a time when other districts are adding counselors at not only the middle and high school level but also at the elementary school level Azusa unified is considering reducing the counselor support our students receive I'm here to ask that as a part of the reorganization of Azusa Unified School District that you also take some time to convene a meeting with all district counselors and board members everybody who's a part of making the decision not separate

084but together as one as a unit to determine the appropriate student to counselor ratio that will most effectively serve our student population in addition I also believe a clear delineation of appropriate roles and responsibilities of counselors that align with aska guidelines is long overdue in our district in order to effectively move our students towards graduation I must be in constant communication with counselors unfortunately there are many times when it is impossible because counselors are tied up in meetings for IEPs ssts 504s class coverage suspension detention I mean supervision detention and the most serious of all student a student in crisis when a student is in crisis it takes the counselor out the whole day when you have sometimes two three in one day you're out you have no counselors and that happens more than you

085think since covet our student population is not the same as it was five years ago our students need more social and emotional support and the number of students with special needs has increased resulting in increase in meetings there are many times when it takes more than 48 hours for a counselor and I to have the time to discuss the next steps for a student who's in danger of not graduating what is the next plan because I have some of the most vulnerable students they're the students that are in danger of not graduating the ones that have several credits to recover and after they finish a class we have to have time to see what is the next class that's more suitable what is the plan many of these times these things happen these discussions this

086is not with the student I mean the counselor is not willing to take the time to speak to me but because they have no time um as I said working with students who are inquiring recovery they can't afford a delay to start their next class the road to graduation takes many twists and turns for our students and they must have daily access to their counselor for more than five minutes likewise our counselors must have reasonable student to counselor ratios so that each student is afforded quality time to address their individual needs thank you for your time and consideration and please take the time to read the handouts I provided with you let's not continue to weigh such valuable resources as our counselors on class coverage for supervision when they could be using that time to

087support our most valuable student or most vulnerable students I left this with you thank you Miss Crawford thank you Miss conference speaker Vargas noches my name is foreign positive gracias noches Pedro Palacios Mr Ortega is organizations foreign Elementary foreign Boards of Education members cabinet members of the audience I am a senior at Gladstone High School and I'm here for the case of the cutoff of the counselors take it from me I've seen the consequences of putting both Azusa High School and Gladstone together I was there in the first game that we had with our bribery school and that was a complete disaster I can't imagine how the freshmen the sophomore this Juniors feel about having both schools being collided into one and the problems that's going to have having more counselors is needed for this

088situation I work as a TA for Gladstone High School's guidance um during fifth period I'm there with Miss Calderon and Mr Leon during that time period And I see that they have a lot of work every day when a student comes in worrying about a problem they dedicate their day to that student as Ms Crawford said she's also worried about the seniors that need like more credits to graduate when she needs to be in touch with Miss Calderon or Miss de Leon they're not available because they have other students to worry about yes we need more counselors because as our schools are being collided there's going to be more problems more suspensions more fights more I don't know bad things are going to happen probably and I'm asking you guys to reconsider your decisions of

089cutting off counselors because counselors as um Miss Vargas said they're like a second mother Miss de Leon Miss Calderon like a second mother to me I can come to them when I have a problem they're like there for me and um taking in consideration that both schools are being collided there's gonna need to be more counselors and I like to thank you for the time thank you Nicole laface good evening ladies and gentlemen tonight I want to share with you an inspiring story of how my son with ADHD overcame his struggles thanks to his high school counselor my son was diagnosed with ADHD at a young age as he Grew Older he began to struggle more and more in school he found it difficult to focus stay organized and manage his time effectively despite his

090intelligence and potential he was falling behind in classes and becoming increasingly frustrated and discouraged it was at this point that we reached out to his high school counselor for help from the very beginning the counselor was supportive compassionate and understanding she recognized that my son's challenges were not due to lack of effort or intelligence but rather to a neurological difference that came with ADHD with the counselor's guidance my son learned a range of strategies for managing his symptoms he learned how to break down tasks into manageable chunks use visual aids to stay organized and set realistic goals for himself he also learned how to advocate for himself and to communicate his needs to his teachers and peers the counselor worked closely with my son's teachers to develop and accommodate and modifications that would help him

091succeed in the classroom she also connected us with outside resources such as tutors and support groups that could provide additional assistance and guidance the impact that this counselor has had on my son's life has been truly remarkable with her support he was able to turn his academic performance around he went from straight F's to Straight A's he now wants to attend college and to pursue a successful career in a field of his choice I am so grateful for the role that this counselor has paid in my son's life she not only provided him with strategies and accommodations that he needed to succeed academically but she also helped him build the confidence and self-esteem that he needed to thrive I stand before you today to address a grave concern that affects our educational system the issue

092at hand is the proposed cuts to the high school counselor's jobs I want to emphasize that cutting these jobs is a terrible idea and I will have negative and it will have negative consequences that will affect our students schools and community high school counselors play a crucial role in our students academic and personal success that guide students in choosing their classes provide career advice and help negative help them navigate the college application process counselors also address mental health concerns and provide support to students dealing with emotional and personal issues without counselors students may feel lost unsupported and may not receive the necessary guidance to make informed decisions about the future moreover the school counselors provide a valuable resource for parents and teachers they serve as Liaisons between parents teachers and students assuring that everyone is

093on the same page and the students needs are met counselors provide parents with guidance on how to support their children academic success and help teachers understand the unique challenges that students May face by cutting these positions we are losing an essential and essential resource that is integral to the functioning of our schools I believe that high school counselors are some of the most valuable and unappreciated resources please don't cut them thank you Griselda Berry good evening and thank you for the opportunity to speak in support of counselors in our district my name is Griselda Berry and I'm a middle school teacher at Foothill I'm here because I have seen over my 26 years in the district how hard counselors work two main things stand out as their priorities one is building relationships with students and

094the other is supporting academic progress I'd like to share two ways that our counselor Mr Steve Scott has demonstrated his passion for students in those two areas with regard to building relationships we had the opportunity to work with the Western Justice Center who asked for volunteers to consider implementing Community circles at our school Mr Scott was very adamant that this would be a valuable opportunity for us to build community and he encouraged us to attend I did so because Mr Scott shows such passion and I knew he would be there to guide me and support me and in this in this implementation the community circles were a huge success at Foothill many students who really didn't feel comfortable talking ever suddenly felt comfortable with the topics we discussed they were light-hearted we laugh we cried

095sometimes at some things that students shared and we saw the benefit that students were starting to build this community that before you know it led to increased academic success it led to more opportunities for them to seek extra counseling and it just made our school a more positive environment with regard to supporting academic progress Mr Scott has been instrumental in guiding our SST progresses at Foothill many students need ssds and with his ratio currently at about 250 to one we are barely able to squeeze in many ssts that are desperately needed through these ssts parents come together Mr Scott is valuable in helping parents understand that we're all there to support he guides these meetings effectively and from these meetings we've seen tremendous student growth I recently received an email from him as a matter

096of fact today regretting that he's unable to accommodate more desperate ssts that we need with less counselors opportunities like Community circles and ssts are going to become less and less and many more students will fall through the cracks we need more counselors please look at the ratios that are being suggested please be a leader in our district and show other districts that we value students and we're here to meet all of their needs academic and emotional thank you Perez buenas noches um my name is foreign Crystal Mejia good evening board members and cabinet my name is Crystal Mejia I am a counselor at Azusa High School I have been serving in my room now for eight years in the last two years I have witnessed the increase in students with anxiety and depression increase in

097substance use and increase in physical violence now more than ever the role of a counselor is so vital for our schools we are the key adults on campus that provide our students and their families with the support they need to navigate these prevalent issues currently Azusa has four counselors and Gladstone High School has two counselors in February we were told by our Union that six counselors would remain at the high school for the upcoming school year maintaining our current caseload this past Friday we were informed that the district is retracting the proposal and having less counselors for next school year any time where our students and families need us than ever before instead of adding additional support our district is deciding to decrease the number of counselors at the school sites which would increase our

098caseloads our students and families deserve better we need to maintain or decrease our caseloads to allow us to better serve our students thank you Christy Calderon good evening everyone my name is Christy Calderon I am currently a school counselor at Gladstone High School as an employee of the district for almost 22 years I am confident that you will respond to our call to action it takes a village to raise a child this especially holds true at a time when our community is dealing with the vast issues at hand such as lack of basic needs family challenges gang violence and social conflicts to name a few the development of an adolescent is sometimes taken for granted that being said as a counselor I am reminded day in and day out of the things that our high

099school students go through for example a breakup in the eyes of an adult may come across as cue or a phase however to that young person it can be devastating working through such emotions with students so they learn how to deal with pain hardship and breakups takes time this is just one example of the work we do that may not be considered at the top of our job description however it is just as important in order to support our students through their High through their High School Journey with that being said according to the American School Counselors Association the recommended student to school counselor ratio is 250 to 1. students continue to deal with societal struggles due to the quarantine where students were limited in interaction with their peers they should be able to come

100back to a school system that supports the social emotional and academic needs school counselors have been trained and are equipped to work with students in this capacity however it should not be made nearly impossible to school counselors to do this effectively it takes time if our school district provides our school with the adequate amount of school counselors we may be able to deal with all of the situations and students that come our way then our students will be provided the services and supports they need and deserve when you come across a decision regarding the number of school counselors needed at each site please keep in mind that you are not only dealing with the amount of money it costs the district but you are also dealing with the students lives we all contribute to their

101livelihood I am confident that you will make the best decision for our students provide our schools with the recommended school counselor to student ratio please make students a priority thank you for your time and congratulations Jacob you did it Laura Ortiz okay good evening everyone my name is Laura Ortiz and I am a counselor at Azusa High I have been in the district for about 25 years and have worked with different age groups ranging from elementary to middle and to high school many of you have already heard the world the importance of the role of a counselor throughout my years at Azusa unified the roles have remained the same but the needs of students have increased when I first started at Foothill the ratio was 900 to 1. I can still remember my long hours

102oftentimes arriving at 7 30 in the morning and leaving at about five o'clock in the afternoon the before and after school times was my catch-up time this was when I was able to document my daily activities of meeting with students for various reasons ranging from social emotional needs to just checking in with the students regarding their progress in school during the day I was oftentimes juggling conflict mediations ssts parent conferences assisting students with social emotional needs attending IEPs and much much more that I have not mentioned as the schools move into declining enrollment and the number of students dropped the needs of the students increase especially after the pandemic even though my ratio is much lower now than my earlier years I feel that the students need is much greater now I have lost count

103of the number of referrals that I have made to counseling service to mention counselors were informed by McKinley Children's Center that they will no longer be receiving new clients I am sure this is because of the high number of referrals that all of us have been making many times when parents do not follow through with the counseling services we're it we are the ones that offer the support that the students cannot receive how will we be able to meet the needs of our students if our caseloads are increased and how would having one counselor that is assigned to all those students with D's and F's and all those students struggling with emotional help how will they that be beneficial for only one person to deal with all that would I be obligated to say to

104a parent when I'm meeting with them if it was to be brought up that they their child needs a social emotional help or are struggling academically sorry but I can't talk to you any longer I need to refer you to someone else at that point I'm sure the parent might not say anything to me but I'm sure that parent might be thinking what was the point of me coming to see this counselor if now she's sending me to go see someone else okay we as counselors work with students to meet their needs as a whole we do not pick and choose what areas we want to work with thank you for your time thank you everyone um families parents who came to make public comment we are listening and we thank you very much for

105your comments we'll now continue our board agenda on item 8.1 Commons reports and requests by the Board of Education we'll begin with board member Benavides good evening everyone first of all I'd like to take this opportunity to congratulate all the teachers that were recognized here this evening and some of the words that really stuck out to me was structure dedication responsible caring passionate diligent but there was two phrases in particular that really struck a core with me it was championed for students and model Educators and from what I see here today every teacher at Azusa Unified School District encompasses these characteristics within them and thank you for your dedication and commitment to the Azusa School unified students um I would also like to share with everyone that um I was able to attend last Tuesday

106the think together champions for change and that just also uh highly emphasizes what I just said about the Azusa universe unified school district teachers and faculty and staff and the administrators the cabinet everyone here at the district including or hear our board members and that was a great event it was it was something that was new for me to attend I I congratulate the Azusa Unified School District for being nominated as the think together Champion for change for 2023 right 2023 and then on Thursday I did attend the all district concert at um Gladstone High School on Thursday and that was something new for me to experience and that just further emphasizes the talents that we have here at Azusa Unified School District the musicians the creativity and the passion that the children have and

107that the teachers their dedication to our students and then on Friday um with uh superintendent Ortega and um Cabinet member Camacho and vice president Yolanda Pena Rodriguez and myself we attended the awards banquet for think together champions for Change and I'd like to take this opportunity to thank president Beau for um I I attended in her place it was a lovely event and it was it was a nice event because it was they were honoring and recognizing Azusa Unified School District and I just think this whole week if we have to this past week we have to look back and then today with the teachers recognition it really just highlights that Azusa is on the map and I want to thank everybody for their hard work and efforts thank you board member Rodriguez Pena good

108evening everyone first of all I'd like to congratulate all the teachers that were nominated today for the teachers of the year I want to thank them for their dedication and to our students at ausd also their stories were so beautiful it's always good to hear what they do outside of their teaching job we couldn't have did it without them especially these last three years and um also I want to congratulations District teacher of the year 2023 to miss compost ball well deserved I've known Esther for many years and she goes out of her way to work with the students um I even have seen her in the community events um throughout the city of Azusa so I know because my granddaughter had her at Gosling high school and she loves her when I told her

109that she wanted she's like oh my God you know so she was really happy I just wanted to say that I say that to her but anyways um also moving forward I want to talk about the thing together we Azusa Unified School District received the award of champion of change award 2023 it was an honor to receive the award versus Unified School think together we had a partnership with them since 2006. think together is not only a before and after school daycare it's also tutoring Sports social emotional support team building so I want to thank things together and I want to show this award that we received from them am I too close to hear something so think together champion of change 2023 Azusa Unified School District in honor of the extraordinary partnership to change

110the odds for kids through trailblazing expanding learning prog programs that supports students achievement this is what this class of word says um I also want to announce that I did go to early School Rob fukazaki from ABC channel news has a family Foundation heads up youth the purpose is for him to give back to the community he and his wife were there they gave books to the students to the teacher and to the library so I want to thank them for choosing the school at Azusa Unified School District I went to Paramount Elementary Azusa Rotary Club delivered a steel piece from the World Trade Center that was this that is displayed in the library to open house also a freedom flag that will be flown um displayed during 9 11. so I want to thank

111teacher Christina Ramirez for making this possible I went to Gladstone High School the all district music concert it's also beautiful to hear all the bands when they come together the middle school and the high school Advanced Mariachi orchestra band chorus when Ensemble and they also I'm wonderful together thank you to the other wonderful music instructors I went to Sierra High School for the first time career day unlock your future they had many resources Azusa Police Department PD Mr Chief over there Citrus College tri-community fashion design just to name a few I also went to Sierra High School second trimester Awards assembly there was a total of 110 students that received an award for academic achievement students of Excellence PBIS citizenship outstanding attendance perfect attendance I was so proud of them all we should continue to

112give Awards to students even through High School thank you board member Ariana's hello good evening everyone I would like to thank every teacher in our district overall you were probably nominated you were probably think you know someone nominated you but um we do have we celebrated today all of one teacher for every school and the district uh teacher of the year Esther accompliceball I've actually had the pleasure in um working with her as well and I've known her for over 20 years and she rightly so deserves it you know a lot of the times we at here on the board or cabinet Administration don't see what's going on inside the classroom we don't see the teachers um work their magic right with with their students and who is the first person that they come in

113contact with in the sense in a classroom setting is the teacher and so I give you guys all kudos for putting up with their kids and for leading them guiding them mentoring loving them because it does take a village to raise our kids and regardless you know of how a student is um I I've actually worked with Miss Crawford side by side and I've got to tell you we have some of the most amazing teachers in this district and she's she's also an example of an amazing teacher um that goes out of her way and we don't see all the little things but I you can see it in your students and the parents that are thankful to our teachers and administrators that are thankful to our teachers so thank you teachers out there um

114congratulations to all the nominees um all the winners and Mrs Esther campus ball from Azusa High that's all I have for tonight thank you board member Greer good evening everyone yeah I I too just want to use this opportunity to pause and and also thank every teacher within our district we we do this thing every year where we identify one per school and then from from that we identify one within the district but the truth is we could do so many more per District per per school and so many more but but um we have the the staff and and everyone has has the hard task of of kind of identifying one and so do want to pause and just say thank you to all of the teachers um it's it's beautiful for me personally

115as I see some of the teachers that come forward um and are in the district they were my teachers and so I can speak firsthand uh to just the incredible teachers that we have here within the Azusa Unified School District and so thank you to all the teachers but uh tonight in particular I want to say congratulations to those teachers that were identified at each School site and to Esther campostball who was identified as the the district teacher of the year I too have been able to see the great work that she does firsthand and up close and and just want to affirm um her being identified as as Teacher of the Year this year but thank you again to all the teachers and and that's all I have for this evening thank you board

116board member Greer um I echo my colleague sentiments around recognizing the Excellence that happens every day in all of our classrooms throughout the district um it's heartwarming to hear the personal stories and the impact that our teachers have had and continue to have on the lives of thousands of students across many generations of the Azusa community um today I had the distinct pleasure as a parent to chaperone my daughter's field trip down to the Downey Memorial the Columbia Memorial Space Center in Downey as part of the Hodge Elementary field trip and so I'm excited to see what our district does in terms of investing and continuing its Steam and stem education and as a closing remark for for my comments tonight I also want to recognize the efforts of cabinet staff mot and nutrition services

117for putting together a beautiful event for all of us to enjoy tonight with that I'll turn it over to Mr Ortega sorry sorry um thank you president Beau um I'd like to start off with uh Miss uh Natalie De La Cruz from Azusa High School good evening everyone so this is a high school congratulates Esther campus ball for being named gives he's a unit by teacher of the year Azusa High School would like to thank all of the to thank the all foundation and the district office for allowing 10th and 11th grade students to participate in the Museum of Tolerance field trip on April 21st as the students look forward to connecting with their peers around the district Mr Fernandez would like to thank the student representatives from the CTE Pathways who Representatives high school

118at this is a community Fair on Saturday it was nice to hear students explaining our programs as benefits to Aziza community members Azusa High School is proud of our Aztec athletes engaged in League competitions and preliminaries this week badminton softball and track and field look to be eligible for playoff competitions this season and lastly the Student Union has begun meeting at Azusa in Gladstone High School to begin conversations about creating a welcoming and inclusive environment next year student leaders have worked with the wonderful Mr Rodriguez the intervention coordinator at Gladstone High School and Arturo magana from the Western Justice Center to develop student-led Community circles that help build empathy within our high school community that is all thank you Natalie I'd like to Now call up Carolina Dominguez from Gladstone High School hello can you

119guys hear me yes good evening everybody Mr padomo would like to thank the Azusa leaders for learning Education Foundation for sponsoring the field trip to the Museum of Tolerance this past Friday the students enjoyed the trip and learned so much about tolerance we still have two more trips on May 16th and May 24th and we are looking forward to having our students inspired and enlightened congratulations to the 10 Medical Academy students who won Top tap top honors at the state leadership conference in Sacramento they took home three gold medals three silver medals four bronze medals as well as served top 10 International top 10 Awards that will not be representing Gladstone at the International Leadership Conference against Mexico China Canada and all the United States and Dallas on June 20th yeah another congratulations to the

120four students from glassland high school who participated in the skills USA state competition one student won silver and another bronze for the facility cheese management competition the medal winners will be headed to Atlanta to compete in the Nationals all our sports teams are ending their league play with the ghs varsity baseball team in the Humphrey Mountain View League Championship they play Nogales on Thursday to determine their place also this week the league final for softball will be on Thursday at Duarte High School boys and girls tracking field will be competing in the Mountain View League finals at Azusa on Thursday the Glaston High School swim team will be competing at Edgewood High School for Mountain View League finals as well glassland High School Batman and will play will end the season at home against Pasadena

121Paulie and a special shout out to the ghs varsity baseball player Ernesto dueños who threw a no-hitter last week against Sierra Vista striking out 18 batters Ernesto's feet was spotlighted in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune highlights this week Thursday 427 Spring rally ghs gem 11 15 to 12 o'clock P.M Friday 4 28 ASB oh I don't think that's nevermind okay I'm sorry Friday 428 senior Sunset Gladstone High School football field 6 30 pm to 8 o'clock P.M thank you thank you Carolina um now I'd like to turn my attention to Daphne bennetta from Sierra High School good evening board members last Thursday at Sierra we hosted an open house and report card night parents met with teachers to discuss student grades the senior parents attended a graduation meeting with Mr Stout our softball team played

122their last game of the season and next week our volleyball team will play a makeup game on May 2nd at 9 30 A.M this our junior class went on a field trip to the Museum of Tolerance and at the end of the tour they had an opportunity to work in groups and discuss how they could have a positive impact on global topics next week on May 1st through May 3rd we will have our wasp visit that's all thank you thank you Miss Stephanie I have a couple of uh announcements as well first and foremost to all of our teachers of the year um one of the distinct Pleasures that I have in this seat is to be able to go to schools walk into classrooms um and witness firsthand the things that are happening in

123our classrooms with our students um all you need to do is focus on the on the students and on their work and on their expressions and what they're saying and that tells you everything about the work that teachers do day in and day out I also want to uh say that I was uh at the uh benefit for Azusa Unified School District I think together uh put on a um really amazing video uh had amazing things to say about Azusa and what we have been doing in our district in partnership with things together uh and it was great to see a night dedicated uh to the district and everybody that was there to support that um on Saturday we partnered with the city and we were at the community Fair uh that was hosted by

124the city at Memorial Park I wanted to be thankful to everybody that showed up there we were represented from the little itty Bitties early childhood education all the way to the to to to to the adults in Adult School our nutrition services brought their a game and against all the show uh all the feedback that we got they could not believe that students were eating that in the cafeteria um one of the highlights is we had a local farmer there uh to highlight how we are doing Farm to Table um fruits and so uh it was good to be out there with the community engaging with the community and then lastly uh to Echo what our student board members said just want to show thanks and gratitude to the all Foundation that partnered with the

125district to be able to provide all of our 10th and 11th grade students from Sierra High School Azusa High School and Gladstone High School an opportunity to experience the Museum of Tolerance together so not Gladstone High School one day it was a high school another day Sierra High School another day but together um and so reports back have been um really positive and just want to give a special shout out to the students who are really taking ownership of this process and being student leaders in this in this Arena thank you I I too would like to congratulate all of the district teachers of the year um on this recognition but especially for their commitment to their students and to the community I also want to acknowledge the students who uh performed at the all

126district concert they did an amazing job and also thank all of the teachers who supported them and prepared them and helped to organize this wonderful event um I also too want to highlight ausd being selected for think together as champion of change for all of the Innovative and expansion of our after school and before school programming that we are able to offer our community thank you good evening um Dr Beau and the fellow board members first I want to congratulate all the teachers that were nominated tonight as well as those other one and thank them for their continued hard work and commitment to our students and also want to share them participate in all district um [Music] concert thank you and I was just more impressed with how shiny the instruments are because there's remind

127me of that big investment that the board approved a couple years ago to ensure that all of our students actually had an instrument if they had a desire to play so I wanted to say thank you and I also want to follow in the chorus of congratulations to all of our teachers of the year and really um acknowledge all the work and effort by a variety of different departments um to make tonight a special night so thank you all and congratulations to all our teachers of the year I also want to note that on our agenda we have resolutions to declare May 8th through May 12th as certificated employee week actually it's a whole weekend I want to make sure we highlight that we're recognizing our teachers for an entire week so it's a it's

128a big deal for for us so um and then also on the agenda is recognizing our classified employees in uh in the resolution so um Board of Education we have that on our agenda I also want to note that on Friday night I attended the AXA award event I attended the event with AMA president um Aaron Kramer and we're able able to honor our some of our administrators Diana Rojas Adrian Acosta Sam perdoma Sanford Domo and Althea Zimmer and then I also want to thank Lika Juarez and Oscar oyama who were also present at that event and lastly I also got an opportunity to interact with our community on Saturday afternoon representing Human Resources uh trying to fill our our positions with some of the community members that attended that event so that was really

129neat to be a part of thank you moving to item 10.1 Mr Ortega did you have a request on the agenda yes Dr Beau I would like to pull item 10.12 and I would like to pull it not for reconsideration in 11.0 but just to pull it completely off the agenda thank you for that request may have a motion make a motion to approve I second that motion with the exception of um 10.12 I second that motion thank you any discussion seeing none hope are we ready to vote and the motion passes unanimously moving to item is it 12.1 um that is correct 12.1 may have a motion or I'm sorry this is an info item chief I would like to introduce our Azusa police chief um police chief Renwick who is here to provide

130an update to the board on our partnership and how they support our community as well thank you good evening everybody it was a great night of honoring all the teachers so I was glad I was able to see that I'm here really just to give you kind of an update of where we've gone since our last town hall meeting and this year um we have struggled with Staffing which has made our a challenge for my staff and myself to to fill SRO spots but we have been able to do with overtime spots and additional people every week to be there we do recognize the importance of as the the schools merge the issues that are going to come around and we want to be there so since the town hall meeting we've made it uh

131I've had my staff make sure it's a priority of our men and women out in the field to get by and visit and do the site visits at the schools as much as possible to get the visibility I recognize as as the chief that the youth we've often been in the high schools but we haven't been as visible in the junior high schools or the elementary schools and as I've seen this gang violence tick up and and pick up which is cyclical but we are on a downslide right now we're doing good we do recognize that the kids are getting younger and we would like to be there when this occurs so uh the plan for the department and when we discuss it with with the the school district is to hopefully have two sros

132at Azusa High School next year to increase it by one Staffing um would will make the ultimate decision but we will have it at least one full time and then some overtime as often as we can so that you you will see a bigger presence of uh law enforcement on the campus just to make the kids feel safer as the young lady who spoke earlier you could tell she had some apprehension of the schools coming together and we we can't have that so we will have as many officers on campus as possible all the time just so they get that Comfort level especially in the beginning of the school year um and I will try to hit it hard this year too as we fade out into the year we usually have a lot of

133incidents occur as the school year comes to an end um but back to the elementary schools my my goal this coming year is when I started back uh as a young officer we had an officer on campus program in the city where I started and what it allowed is an officer to be assigned to each elementary school and have um anywhere between four and eight hours of of time a month to spend at the school to attend events award ceremonies Red Ribbon events any kind of um events that go on at the school be there so they have a visible presence meet the teachers and we're never take the place of the counselors or anybody or the teachers but have another Voice or another ear that kids can come to and give us a different

134uh picture in light so that's my goal of this upcoming year hopefully we can kick this program off and it'll be successful it'll help with our one visual but the safety of the campuses as well and help us build um since this town hall meeting we have worked with the sheriff's department I think the the incident that Center there was an incident a domestic incident A Center Middle School that really highlights the the collaboration we have with the sheriff's department um it's Center Middle School Falls within the county jurisdiction although it's the city of Azusa but we were first on scene as they call us when some people picked up their phones down one and went to the Sheriff's in San Dimas who then called us because they know our response time is much quicker

135and we get there um and then we work together to finish the investigation of hey we saw this we'll take this you guys take that the collaboration is great um we've since that meeting we've had a breakfast our detectives have gotten together and met to discuss cases and discuss how we're going to go forward in the summer time they're getting some extra deputies to come out and how they can work with us and we can work with them just to be a force multiplier and more visibility for for the community our ultimate goal will be the safety of the kids and the community so with that any questions I can discuss we're here to collaborate with the school district I talked to the superintendent as often as possible and he he'll send me text messages

136hey can you take care of this can you do that and most of you are the same thing I see you guys all the time and you can send me the same text message and ask me questions but our goal honestly is to continue with great teaching lowering crime and making it safe for the kids to to flourish and be successful thank you so much Chief board members yes I want to thank you Chief Rocky for staying this whole time but also I've also heard from the sheriff's department same thing great partnership and we do appreciate that and I know that you are working as hard as you can in your um detectives and everyone else trying to make Azusa a safer place to end the community you know so thank you very much for

137all that yes I have a question you said that um kazuza PD would be one of your goals is to try to get and correct me if I'm mistaken but four to eight hours per month at the elementary schools is that correct yes oh okay and and that would start that would I'm hopefully at the beginning of the year so what I'd have to do is you know I put up a list and officers will volunteer to pick a school um that first month will be okay you're assigned to Longfellow you go out there you'll meet the principal meet the staff hopefully they have an introductory um what's the word I just went blank um where everybody comes in the auditorium the beginning of this assembly so anytime there's a similar like that I'd love

138for our officers to be there just to to be able to say hi to the to the the boys and girls um then if the principal or teachers have any issues or if they want to give a presentation that day just schedule with them throughout the month it'll be a collateral assignment for them because these will be Patrol officers that'll have six six yeah I'm usually between four and eight hours of overtime to spend um at this school so they'll make their schedule with the principal or other teachers do we have anything planned this week um I can stop by on Tuesday and and spend a couple hours either playing at recess or if there is an assembly they can be at the assembly just an opportunity to get a foot in the door and

139have a uniform on the campus for a couple hours it would be great if I had you know 14 to 16 extra officers to to make it a daily you know that's their assignment um but I think I just want to get that initial when you're talking the first greater than greater when they first go to school is to be able to see an officer there smile give them a high five shoot a basket do the Pledge of Allegiance and just be there even if it's just for a couple hours park a car out front and let the parents know that if something really happens we'll be there definitely we appreciate the um the effort and and the visibility at the schools sites are is very important nowadays but I also wanted to say thank

140you for your collaboration with the sheriff's department at um here in San Dimas and the response time and just being there for the students and the staff here and teachers I think that's really critical and I appreciate everything that the PD does and thank you for your time thank you just want to say thank you for the continued partnership um and and for the the opportunities that we see time and time again to partner with the city partnering with PD um and so and thank you to part you personally for uh just your presence uh out and about and even here sharing with us this evening thanks for having me I just want to thank the whole entire team of Azusa police department and you're the leader so thank you for leading your team in

141making sure that our city and our our students especially in our school district you know our schools that they feel safe and that right there is our main priority and again I just Echo all of my colleagues and everything and so thank you again we're in it together so uh we'll be here you guys know where I'm at and you can reach out anytime and thanks for giving me the opportunity to speak thank you so much Chief have a great night thank you moving to item 12.2 Ms Camacho this is our third quarter Williams uh report we did have um one complaint that we received that has been since result are there any questions from board members thank you moving to item 12.3 may have a motion make motion make a motion to approve 12.3

142like in 12.3 moved and seconded any discussion seeing none will call for a vote and the motion passes unanimously item 12.4 may have a motion motion to approve 12.4 is there a second I'll second it moved and seconded to approve 12.4 discussion yes I would like to discuss this item um or so I want to know what was the rationale behind um Azusa High School wanted to have the fireworks I know the rationale behind Gladstone High School that can be their last graduation at Glaston High School and you know because we won't change it changing to the Middle School Glaston high school was open in 1964 which is 67 years ago and that will be their last graduation um Azusa High will continue having graduations moving forward I want I don't want to open a

143can of worms and all of a sudden next maybe Sierra Heist is going to want um fireworks and then maybe next year someone else is going to want to fire fireworks I think the purpose of it for Gladstone High School is because it is the last graduating class at Glaston high school after 67 years that they had been a high school other comments Mr Ortega could you provide some additional information around the uh the origination of this request by Azusa High School oh absolutely um it is my understanding uh that this is a high school was made aware that glass on high school was going to be having a fireworks show at their graduation via the board agenda being published um for the for the the month that we approved the Gladstone High School uh

144pyro contract uh when they found out that it was a my understanding when they found out Glaston high school was going to have a fireworks show uh they began to inquire work discuss and talk about having a fireworks show at their uh graduation uh as well uh I'll ultimately uh the associated student body uh decided that that's what they wanted to do at Azusa High School um and elected to move in this direction and that's why that contract is here tonight Mr take it just to be um very clear so it's the azuzahai ASB so the students have developed this proposal and are putting forward the request does that mean that this firework expenditure would be funded by ASB and not by the district that is correct on both fronts uh this is Azusa High

145School ASB Associated student body decision and they're using their funds for the show and this is a class of 23 expenditure that is correct so if if this were to move forward um is there an obligation for a fireworks show at azu's high school for class of 24 to continue or that be a decision driven by and approved by the students of the ASB for class of 24. um it would not be an obligation it would not be mandatory uh and if we were going to continue to expect ASB funds then yes that would have to be their decision to make uh next year with within our report noted that there was a request for information that that was not able to be filled prior to this to this meeting do we have a general

146sense I I I want to acknowledge that this correct me if I'm wrong this is unprecedented to have fireworks at a graduation event and and so an exception is be was was presented and was made for for Gladstone High School um and that they were would in essence be expending the entirety of their funds because they're there is there is no need to be mindful of those funds for subsequent years um and so yeah it does um want to be careful in that if they're if if they're looking to make this decision but but there's an aspect of it where where it seems like um there's there's a a an attempt at parity that that just isn't quite as as relevant in this situation as one school continues and one school does not um Natasha

147I am not sure if you were able to collect any information around uh the ASB uh funds but as she prepares for that um in terms of is this unprecedented I believe it is unprecedented for Azusa is it unprecedented presented for graduations uh maybe not I don't think it's common but there are districts that routinely use fireworks at their graduations yes so we're currently Gathering um and reconciling the ASB accounts by grade level um to see exactly what each balance um has and then I'll be reporting that out in the board update Mr Ma I have a question um related to ASB rules and thick Matt accounting so is it the case that um when there's a graduating class and there there are funds left over in that senior class account for example that the

148class that class can distribute their funds um can decide how to distribute their funds either going back to ASB general or or a designated club and in the event of the sunset well we know that Gladstone High School will sunset those funds if not expended would go back to either as he's a High School general or to uh designated class or Club fund for ASB yes according to the pick back manual um they have two options one is designated and typically one is designated is going to the incoming freshman class so their balance does not start at a zero our two is designated to go if there has not been a destination it goes directly into the ASB General whereas divided among the entire student body not just the grade I think my position on

149this um so so for Gladstone High School who was it that um who is the appropriate person that um Aston was designated to to bring the fireworks to the graduation was it administrator the student body um again just like in the Azusa High School example uh the student body at ASB at Glaston High School I decided that it would be a good use of their funds and to honor uh the last graduating class of glasswood high school to have fireworks at the show now once that decision I'm sorry at the graduation once that decision is made then yes administrators pick up from there to do the contracts and you know permits and all that other all that other stuff but the decision was by the students and paid for by the students yeah I would

150have to agree with board member Greer um we are making an exception for Gladstone High School it is their last year um and I really feel that we should honor at least give them that and we should honor Gladstone High School as it's being closed this year and I I feel that um since you know they found out kind of like what you had said kind of like going on the bandwagon um it's it's it's a great idea overall but at the same time looking at from a view of the students at Gladstone High School how their High School's in a close forever I I cannot stand behind this this agenda item thank you any further comments from my colleagues so I'd also like to share my thoughts um I recognize the uh emotion around

151closing any school especially closing a high school that's been a long-standing part of community for over 60 years as a parent of a student who's owned school closed last year I can understand that personally as well and as an educator I believe that I believe in student choice and student advocacy and I believe that our students are capable and experienced enough and I think that we've done a great job and Isuzu unified to teach our students about financial literacy and decision making and that they have a voice and that by bringing this proposal and advocating for it I am a proponent of that and I say this because the class of 24 25 26 32 I want to give those students the same autonomy right without prescribing or conscribing their choices if they would like

152to raise funds to do anything else or to do fireworks or whatever it is um as long as it's legal and compliant and safe I want to support that and so this is notwithstanding um elevating or or minimizing any of the emotion and celebration of the end of a school year and the end of the era of Gladstone High School but it is for me about honoring student choice and advocacy and letting students know that their voice matters and we've said that many times here on the diocese that student voice matters and so I am uh inclined to support this item is Benavides yes um president Beau and and um board members I I'd like to just share that you know I sit here and I hear Equity all the time and I would hate

153to to sit here and say no we're not going to give the other students an opportunity because then we're not standing by the word equity I mean yes I understand there's a lot of emotion that goes behind the fact that the school is closing but I think I had the same concern and I shared it with um superintendent Ortega what my concerns were safety and yes it's going to set a precedence but were other schools doing it and he shared the same thing he just shared with the board so I I'm going to be a proponent for this because I believe that if we're going to be equal we should be equal across the board to all the students regardless of the closure of the schools that's just my preference see the item has 12.4

154has been moved seconded we've had our discussion any further discussion and I just want to be my I'm very respectful of our time and this decision so I'm looking up and down the dice if there's any further discussion yeah just can I just ask is is there a is is there any does this come with any staff perspective that uh additional staff perspective or is is Staff kind of uh taking more of a neutral stance on this particular item third time I do that um yeah well we brought it we brought it forth um we definitely understand that there's two sides uh to this um conversation um not from a staff perspective but just from listening um I think one of the things that hasn't been said today that fell into my ears is that

155allowing Azusa High School to have a fireworks show does not diminish the specialness or the the specialty of the last Gladstone graduation uh so just throwing that out there just because I haven't heard that tonight everything else we have heard um and it's we completely understand um both sides of this of this uh this argument 100 and so yeah we're neutral in the sense of um whichever way the board wants to uh move thank you the item has been thoroughly discussed and I will call for the vote oh I'm sorry We're Gonna Roll that one back Miss Pineda on this um important item what is your vote yes and I'm sorry I didn't include you in the discussion do you have any comments that you'd like to share with us um I was just gonna

156say that before when we had the five minute break after the teacher ceremony um one of the students from Azusa came up to me and she was like talking about this she was because I asked her why she was here and she told us she told me that because one of the teachers that she has are going to speak about this and that she basically found it unfair that Gladstone was gonna have fireworks and azuzah didn't and at the time I was like oh my God like that's so unfair and then I realized like oh it's like Gladstone's last graduation and so to me now it just like makes sense whether Azusa has theirs or not and they are um it's the students paying for it and I did think about it before that um

157Sierra would probably see Azusa and Gladstone have this type of ceremony and um they would be kind of like jealous because we don't have like that money and with um our ASB but um I'm not sure about the whole Azusa thing with their fireworks I don't think that it makes Gladstone's graduation any less special but I would understand if Gladstone was the only School allowed to have the only School approved for the fireworks because it is their last graduation and it does make sense that it is very special thank you so much Daphne and so your vote is on this item what is your vote yes okay thank you I'm sorry for that and the item passes three to two moving to item 13.1 Mr Ortega thank you Dr Beau um just want to give

158a quick update on our subplus property and the process that we're going through there the 711 committee met for a second time um in their Journey uh this was an opportunity for our new chairperson Vanessa Jones uh to moderate and facilitate the meeting she did an exceptional job of doing that at this second meeting uh the 7-Eleven committee uh received a lot of information about the six properties that mirrored um what the board received during their study session uh at this meeting we said that we were responding to their request for data about the district and what they they feel that they if there's any interest in the properties uh we did share that in some initial thoughts about Sierra High School and possibly a community community school a community and Conference Center but we

159did say that the next time we meet uh in May that we would bring some board perspective uh to that as well so at our May meeting which is prior to the third 7-Eleven committee meeting I am inviting the board to have a discussion this is initial we're not deciding anything we're not you know going to be held liable for anything but this will be an opportunity for the board members to begin to share their ideas or their dreams or their visions of what we might uh be using these six properties for again this will happen we'll have that opportunity in that space at our next board meeting in May thank you Mr Ortega are there any questions moving to item 13.2 Mr runkio yes uh this is the resolution to declare May 8th through

160May 12th as the certificated employee week the following um the resolution of approval we will be setting the resolution to school sides and um and sites will be celebrating this event or this week to uplift and recognize our teachers and certificated staff members thank you so much you may have a motion promotion to approve 13. moved and seconded oh pick one uh I'll call for a vote item 13.3 uh Mr ankio their mother generally uh this uh resolution I will be declaring um May 21st through May 27th as classified school employee week and similarly I will be sharing this resolution with sites to post and uh there will be events for um for classified employees throughout this week may I have a motion motion to approve 13.3 second moved and seconded uh Miss Pineda your

161vote your student preferential vote yes thank you we'll call for a vote among the board and motion passes unanimously Miss Ortega 13.4 uh thank you Dr Beau this is a resolution uh to declare the month of April as Armenian Genocide commemorative month uh The Armenian Genocide is covered in our California State Standards uh in 10th Grade and so in our curriculum we covered the Armenian Genocide uh in 10th Grade and then on the actual Remembrance Day which was yesterday we dedicate a lesson uh on the genocide as well thank you so much may I have a motion promotion to prove 13.4 student preferential vote yes thank you all for the vote and the motion passes unanimously 13.5 Mr Ortega uh 13.5 um we were able to engage our students from eighth grade to 12th grade

162um Daphne Carolina and Natalie who sit on the student advisory Council uh gave us some really specific uh instructions on how we are to do this uh if this is if this was truly going to be forged for the students and by the students and so we followed uh their lead they gave some feedback on the initial drafts of the mascots uh it then went to a vote we did not have a majority so the top two mascots went for a second vote and before you today is the student's Choice uh for the new Azusa High School mascots and logos for the board to accept may have a motion motion to approve and a second second student preferential vote Miss Pinella yes thank you board members I have a discussion I'm sorry I'm sorry um

163I have a question regarding if you can remind us which one uh which one is through like for the Hat watching for the shirt I know we had that before way at the beginning yeah so uh one of the things that the students might have been surprised and the board is that we added a fourth option uh we reached out to our designers and we said you know one of the things that we're missing is AHS and so to the bottom right you'll see an AHS uh spirit icon there as well and so the reason we have four of them is because some of these will be more appropriate for things like stationary or official uh uh School related items so that might be number one uh that's the official School logo other things you

164we might need for a wall or for a banner or to go uh across a table skirt and so maybe that's Spirit logo number c uh and then for a patch or a hat uh spirit icon number one just with the a makes the more sense but then something across the Jersey the fourth one with just the HS makes sense and so as we now uh Azusa High School has been itching for this uh as now we have uh if the board accepts this um we will start beginning to work with our schools uh for things like uniforms uh the buildings um the um fields and the gym floors the Marquis things like that uh but this gives us a lot of flexibility uh depending on where and for what we need it for uh

165to use these these particular items um I want to follow through because I do have a concern with the um just the a being on the hat because I know that we've had situations that were going on with um um wearing the Hat they assume they're from Azusa 13 right right thank you and um I'm very concerned about that I think this is the time that we can change that image um I I like the the round on the first one to be in the head without just having the a because right away they say the a I mean they can be a student coming from school and I've heard it from parents stating that their their son was going home from baseball and they were in the A and they've been approached by the

166opposite gang member and have asked them hey where are you from because they assumed this because they have the a that they're from Azusa 13. I mean do you have any input on them yeah yeah I think I did bring that up when we talked about it we um I talked about how logos with tats I really didn't want just an A on the hat because of that that exact thing because whether or not it has a school on it or anything kids wear hats and they're walking home hats that are like just baseball or even designed like just design like patched up and everything and they still get stopped no matter what's on the logo if there's an A on it like and you're especially like someone just walking home or since the both

167schools are combining and like a lot of them are from rival gangs on each side um they would probably say someone purchased the Hat oh why would you get that hat like it would it would kind of spark up things I think yeah we had that parent with that concern when we had the community meeting um he stated his son was from um a baseball team at azuzahai and that's how that's what happened to his son and I've heard it other times but I'm very concerned just having the a by itself board member of his pain at is your concern only with the A on the hat or would you be have the same concern if the a was on a polo shirt I'm talking about the A and the hat because that's what they

168kind of wear more uh you know like again like I said the the top emblem if that was kind of on the hat it may be um better perceive hopefully um than just the a by itself I have a question um as we're moving forward um to either approving not approving this can't since we have a first and second can we make a um emotion with the accept of the letter A by itself we can ask the person who made the motion to amend their motion that's a request yeah I would like to request that the person the board member who made the first motion to um retract the motion and to be able to go ahead and motion again with the changes that um that have been discussed just some points of clarity um

169so I hear board board vice president Rodriguez Pena saying that she has concerned that this a with the Jaguar on a hat um might stir up unnecessary trouble or cause trouble but I also heard her say that it's not completely eliminating that emblem that that emblem might be on a polo shirt or like on a patch on a jersey um and obviously whichever way the Board of Education wants to go is 100 okay uh the only other thing that I do want to um uh remind us is that the Board of Education um put the decision in the hands of the students and that's why uh it is worded acceptance of but that doesn't mean that you can't change I just wanted to throw those those things out just as as reminders and as clarifications

170that's all for my clarification it's not the a um per se I'm talking about the A on the hat I mean the the emblem on the top may be used in this other like um what president Beau mentioned you know on a shirt or something you know um just to change where they're going to be not necessarily to change itself because yeah this this was voted by the students so I want to respect that I don't want to change it I don't want to take it away I just think um changing where they're being placed that that's it that's what I'm talking about not to remove it because then you have to go through the vote all over again in which state much time when they did a well job I mean I like it

171but I don't want to take it all away from it that that's not wasn't um my question two quick clarifications um so again I think I hear board vice president saying the the concern or the wish would be that this a by itself right here with the Jaguar not be placed on a hat that's number one and then number two um I think that if the board decided to say we're going to go with the three but we're not going to go with the a um I think that is that is the board's right to do that if that's what they want to do just have a question is it possible to adopt all four and with the exception of the a standalone not being on a hat yeah that's all I'm asking yeah is

172that I'm not I'm right yeah so when um the the point of control for um the patches or designs is that with our contracted um print uh embroiderer so I guess a direct question is if I'm a student or a parent can I buy the patch and then can I put the patch on any item of clothing or backpack that I want um and maybe our high school students are staff can chime in here I don't know that we sell the patches by themselves um I think they're already on stuff but I I could be wrong but yes if they bought the patch then obviously they can put that wherever they want to put put it I do want to stress the fact that um once these you know we approve it and to become

173public and what happens is we we can say all we want is that we don't want them on a hat but but at the same time you know what is it that a student um can take that you know that and make his own hat and not go through the you know through the school so then what so then what do we do right we have no no overall control of of that and that and that is why the reason I did suggest to remove it that way it is not there and that way they cannot take it and make a hat from that so that's my stance on that um I I personally would like to go ahead and remove it that way we do not have an issue because if we start putting

174contingencies right you can't wear it on a hat but you can wear it on a shirt and you can wear it it you know what it we've opened a can of worms so I would like to ask my colleague a little feedback on this because any student you're looking at me weird oh okay um any student can just take the logo even now it's published and they can go to their nearest um right nearest silk screening shop and guess what they made themselves house so we have to look at it from both ways so I'm asking you know my colleagues here to take that in consideration that you know we approve it with the exception of again we have no control over that but if we remove it completely now there's no option so so

175recognizing that anyone in any one student child you know student or adult is able to to go to a print shop and order something there's there's nothing stopping anyone from getting even to your point even if we were to accept three out of the four logos these already here there's nothing that stops a student from still taking that um and doing regardless of what of what we we vote here I'm not sure I'll say I I wondered like where you because because we have why wasn't it there just an A and there was a Jaguar attached to the A and I didn't think about that until until you shared what you uh shared Yolanda so so I think that that kind of was helpful for from from me to see I'm not I don't I

176don't I think having more logos available for the for the school to be nimble to determine where to best place something um and I think that there's been sufficient conversation here that may not last into the future and so I don't know if there are ways to memorialize this with just branding etiquette or whatnot but um if we were able to do that but I no matter what we do there's there's not whether we accept this or not we can't prevent um what what you're suggesting so therefore I don't see the the point in preventing it from being accepted as one before a couple of other things if I may for the board to consider um we will have to do the field and we will have to do the gym floors um and we

177were going to speak to those companies to say these are the four that we have like what makes the most sense uh as you know the first one has a lot of detail and so being in the center of a field may or may not be the best thing to do and so something more simple which is why right now you have the Aztec current mascot and only the the Gladiator head because again you need something simple to pop the Gladiator at the uh Gladstone High School yeah and so I'm not I'm not a designer or that but I I must I'm assuming that when you when you're looking at those things the simpler the better so so that it pops um and then number two if if if anyone can put this a on

178a hat do we prefer then that now certain people can put it or that it's some like we just we stripe that away from being something exclusive and would you say well this is this is our this is our emblem um so I mean just again either way just throwing out some just different perspectives on that the board never growing his Pena I really appreciate your um bringing this issue to as a discussion point I know it's been heard by um my colleagues who have lived in Azusa longer than I have and um I think it puts us in a tough spot right yeah with what can you wear well and and keeping our our young people safe um and and I also share the sentiment about student voice and it went through a rigorous

179process of you know even the students narrowed it down right um and so it and and and and our student voice here um I think there won't be one Perfect Choice in the implementation but I I also think that we're not going to be able to control everything that happened well all I'm saying is okay so I know this is the Unified School District when you make the um because that's in our hands right when you when you make the hats that they're going to sell when you make the shirt so you know where you're going to put it put the emblems I'm talking about this is Unified I mean would it again if someone else does it off the street or copied or that we have no control that's correct but we do have

180the control of making these football uniforms or these um baseball uniforms and and softball whatever anything in our Sports so I'm talking about our district not the outside because of course we don't have control you know so that that's just you know what I mean can I ask for just clarification so so then the motion um there would be to um motion to pass this with the exception of a Souza Unified School District not using this a on acap no that's what I'm saying but I want to keep them I'm just saying to rearrange word like you said you know this is where the shirt this is where the Hat this is where the you know just to change it up but not to remove the a or not to remove any of that and

181it could be in a shirt it could be in a patch you know on a t-shirt or here or I'm just saying not in the middle of a hat that that's all I'm saying but I'm not saying to remove anything to change anything because again students took a long time and Community to make this happen and I want to respect that I want to take it away from them a hundred percent so I'm hearing um that uh the idea of to accept these four logos and icons as is and then give guidance to the superintendent that for district apparel that the single a would not appear on a hat that's that's simple as that yes and and so that guidance is not part of the motion but it's guidance from the board and that we

182are setting a precedent new logo new school and every year that we continue it's likely that that precedent would be followed so it's more and more likely as years go on that our caps have not the single a but something else yes I would like to go ahead and uh um is it Sandra who Moved originally Sandra did the staff point of order okay so Sandra so what is the original motion hope to uh accept as presented right okay so to accept as presented and that was seconded by oh is Yolanda pink oh was it okay so it was moved by benefited by board member Ariana's we've had discussion are we prepared to vote on the motion that's on the floor all right and daphneal thank you for leading Us in this discussion and providing

183your input so with the motion that's on the floor remember Ariana said you have a yeah I'm sorry so the motion was um can you please repeat the item the the motion just so I'm clear the motion on the floor is to accept the new Azusa High School mascot logo logos as presented as presented these four right here and so I think that's the motion that's on the floor and what we have discussed is depending if that motion passes or fails then giving this superintendent and District direction to around the use of the single a not to appear on District caps can I ask point of clarification point of order I did she retract no she no the original motion stands that she did not retract her emotion stanzas okay gotcha so is the original

184motion oh okay um yes thank you Miss Pineda board members and the motion passes unanimously thank you for all the energy and thought into that process it is um setting us up for the future more president if I may I just want to remind the board that we are five minutes away from our official end time unless the board takes action to extend we do only have uh three additional items but uh per the board policy uh our end time is 10 30 unless the board takes a vote to end it uh later well maybe we can do this in four minutes yes this is the award the bid to three Architects we currently have MSP as our district architect and they will continue with us on our current projects um this will be for

185any future projects in the future motion to approve 14.1 second any discussion seeing none um I'm Sorry Miss Pineda your vote yeah yes thank you board members the motion passes unanimously moving to item 14.2 Mr Mall yes this item is for um the third phase of our camera and surveillance installation this will cover some of the perimeter areas such as our in inside the offices and our NPR rooms make a motion to approve 14.2 second moved and seconded any discussion Ada yes thank you board members 15.1 may have a motion motion to approve 15.1 second and board members are moving to adjourn no discussions no discussion uh Ms Pineda are you on board do you want to um adjourn yes yeah thank you board members don't log out yet and the motion passes unanimously um

186we're adjourning at 10 27 pm thank you for