001foreign over your heart ready begin I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you you may be seated thank you very thank you very much Leah and now we move on to item 4.2 roll call board member Rodriguez Pena president board member Cruz Gonzalez here board member Ariana's present and board member Greer is absent today uh board member Beau is here item 4.3 approval of the agenda may have a motion motion to approve the agenda for today moved by board member Ariana's is there a second seconded by board member Rodriguez Pena any discussion seeing none let's vote and the agenda is approved by a vote of four yes to one absence
002moving to item agenda item 5.0 report of action taken during closed session there is no action taken in closed session to report now moving to item 6.0 recognition and awards um tonight we're going to be recognizing the Gladstone High School student Althea Ito and we have Mr Sam Perdomo online with the opening remarks and we do have Althea here in person Mr Perdomo hello good evening this is Mr predomo I am the proud very proud principal at Gladstone High School I am here to introduce one of gh's most aspiring students altheaito who so eloquently discussed at the grant makers for Education conference in Austin Texas this past October her involvement in diversity our narrative student initiative which included working collaborative ausd teachers to co-construct a high school English language arts curriculum that included more diverse
003literature as well as the Don students advocacy for the implementation of ethnic studies courses and the ausd diversity equity and inclusion committee without further Ado I present Althea Ito foreign chapter of diversify our narrative otherwise known as Dawn um first I would like to express my gratitude towards our very own superintendent Mr Ortega for extending such an opportunity I'm forever more grateful for your thought and consideration it truly means a lot to me and of course this goes without saying um my Everlasting Love and appreciation for Dr Dana Lynn Mitchell who quite frankly has served as my Polaris as I navigate my journey into adulthood this past question we call life though you know how much so yeah um to the teachers and Alum who have stood by our campaign on yieldingly thank you for
004giving us the strength support and conviction to carry onward and to my Dawn family all our organizers let us see this as a testament to Our Success struggling with you all has been nothing short if not an honor student voice and agency is a quintessential element when we think of the future of our pedagogy that being said I would like to remind the board today that as we move forward with our plans towards transition we must highlight the importance of history and contrary to popular belief history Remains Not in the past but in the present we carry our history with us we are nothing if not a grand Mosaic a grand amalgamation of history stories and people and as a student I know firsthand the fact that our students our children our future grow into
005the titles that they are given and that our first exposure to systemic change happens right here in this very room and incepting change may be daunting but it also means that there are plenty of places to start infinite possibilities to collaborate and endless imaginative interventions so again I want to thank you all for the district admin for giving me a space to continue dreaming I look forward to our continuous collaboration to expand the limits of both equity and Justice our movements mature along with us and this is nothing short if not the beginning so thank you all for your time and recognition I really appreciate it more more vice presidents uh if I may um I was having a conversation uh with someone outside the organization in another uh or Statewide organization um and we
006were talking and I noticed that they seem to be in a hotel room so I'm like oh are you traveling yeah I happen to be in Austin right now I'm like oh I'm like uh Dana Mitchell uh is there and one of our students is there he's all uh hello I know I went to the session I'm like really uh just let me say two words on Althea Ito Mike drop you could uh go back up to the podium board member aaronis would like to present you with a special recognition so this is from a City Unified and we couldn't be more proud that you her one of our own and you know you carry a Souza unified in your heart your mind and your soul and I know that this being your senior year
007I know that you are proud Azusa student and you are contagious and the love that you feel for your you know for the other students and for the administration and you are not as you're not scared to tell us like hey I think this is I see it this way and you know what it's okay it's okay that we don't agree on things or that you may see a blindspine said hey excuse me uh board members um I see a little um we need a little Equity inclusion and diver version here and for you to bring at the light and for all the other students that stood next to you right that you gathered and you were like hey we got to go to the district hey we have to do this hey I want
008to learn more about this standing up with your voice and I think that is what the mister that said to Mr Arturo Mike Rob your voice is a mic drop continue that continue that in your journey how you say you want to give back to your community I feel we feel I know a lot of us in this room feel your passion and your love for your community so I hope and pray that you continue on this journey and however we can be of service to you we're here so thank you and just to add on to that our campaign is nothing but a testament to community love Community organization Community solidarity so the fact that I have all of you guys standing with me this is not individualized this is representative of all of
009us and our achievements together so thank you of course of course and we are here to present you with a certificate the Azusa Unified School District certificate of recognition is proudly presented to Althea atillo for her involvement in the there's the diversify our narrative Dawn student initiative and advocacy for the ausd diversity equity and inclusion committee today November 1st 2022 we proudly recognize you Althea for everything that you continue to do have done and we can't wait to see what else you will do congratulations foreign congratulations once again from all of us at ausd mosquito moving on to item 7.0 items from the floor Public public comment on agenda or non-agenda items um this excuse me uh public comment is limited to three minutes per individual um hope do we have any members in person
010with a blue card and Ms Gloria Sanchez Romero good evening um I'm here because I was the told that uh you guys had made up your mind and decided um on the mascot for the high school and um I'm fine with that but um what I was upset about is the person that was taking us down was on the committee and him and his son were on the committee and I didn't think that was very right because um he no longer lives in the city of Azusa so I didn't think that he should have been even on the committee and I think only the residences that have been there on the committee to decide uh the future of this is the high school because it does have um what 66 years when the school opened
011up in 1956 going on their seventh year so I didn't think that um committee should have had somebody that was taking us down for our mascot and being on the committee should have been on the committee no longer lived and that's what I feel and I'm just wanted to express my feelings because I just didn't right at all and whatever your decisions is um I know with kind of late but um that's all I have to say but I do want to say congratulations to Gladstone's varsity football team because my grandson is on that team and I hope we make thank you Mr Romero are there any other members of the public wishing to make comment tonight online we have no hands raised online thank you Lika moving to item 8.0 comments reports and requests
012by the Board of Education board member Rodriguez Pena would you like to start us off course sure so um first of all I want to wish everyone the police Dia de los Madres sorry and this is the way we respect and honor our loved ones that have passed away and we usually have an altar in memory of that person our family members and um first I wanted to speak about I went to Azusa High School to the manufacturing week at Azusa High we had speed mentoring for 11th grade students participated in speed mentoring with mentors from Citrus College city of Azusa Parks and Recreation uh Toyota with Covina myself and uh as the Aus well I I actually was there in honor of the rotarians and students sat and spoke to us regarding um what
013their future careers are going to be and we let them know what our careers and how we got where we're at and um then we asked questions what is our skulls good to hear students to touch a young age knowing that they have dreams in there what they want to do in the future um I went to Paramount Elementary School think together lights on after school these students were so excited to write about their after school program students walking through showcasing of events that take place after school sports curriculum homework and things that they do a thing together I was very impressed with the little girl she was only a third grader and she was really excited and showing us everything and she memorized everything and I was very impressed with this young lady um
014Blackstone high school I went to the last homecoming game it was so great to be there there were so many Alum alums from there from Texas New York Wisconsin Alabama Peru Florida Chicago Colorado Kentucky Seattle Washington Kansas City and Puerto Rico and also the queen came um the first thing that was crowned in 1967 and may I say that's Mr Trio and that's Gabriela Ariana's mother-in-law she came and she crowned the last queen which is really beautiful it was a really beautiful scene I'm again I'm getting Goosebumps with that but it was very um memorable that day for everyone and um it was great um on Friday's game between this is a high in Glaston High School yes I want to graduate congratulate the students from Gladstone High School for for winning this game they
015worked very hard I want to congratulate both of the teams they both did a great job but as you know in everything we do there has to be a winner and a loser and that's just the way it is and and I want to congratulate the boys who working together and and having a great game and and I heard it was it was really good well attended and the voice did a great job but I want to wish him both good luck for the first round at the CIF playoffs I went to Lee school to judge the pumpkin contest and they called me to ask if I want a VTA mom asked if I wanted to go to judge some pumpkins I'm like sure I'll go judge some pumpkins I go on this room there's
01670 pumpkins in there I'm like oh my gosh and we have to pick the scariest the funniest the creative the creative one and I'm gonna congratulate all the students that got involved from kindergarten all the way up to um sixth grade I went to Slauson Middle School to judge the say no to drug doors and me also for the Halloween door contest Murray Elementary School I went to the Halloween Chris um uh costume parade with music dancing the principal Mr Adrian Acosta he was a big crayon box and all his staff members each of them had different crayon outfits on in different colors it was really cute but it's really nice to be out again at all the school sites and see everyone and everyone having a great time thank you thank you board member
017Rodriguez Pena board member Ariana good evening everyone here in attendance thank you for showing up today I like to see people out in the audience and for you guys um at home I would like to also congratulate um first uh Azusa for winning the first game and the second game that we had to we had um I want to congratulate Gladstone High School I was at the game and it was just you know half time it was 6-0 then towards the end it was like six six and they went into overtime people were going crazy it was like is this happening is this not it was just a really exciting game and the boys played hard on both teams I um for the first uh for the first game I sat on Gladstone's side and
018I remained there for this time I sat on a Souza side and remained there for for the rest of the game and so um for those of you guys that didn't see me I just you know had two games just instead of going back and forth but congratulations guys can't wait for Friday for you guys to go into CIF and just the excitement and for um Mark um I want to mention his last name pujian who John thank you so much for those pictures that you took of our boys they they were amazing um they are amazing and so thank you with that homecoming um last week for Gladstone High School it was a uh I I I'm not gonna I cried um when uh we had Mr Albert Sanchez organize a lot of the
019alumni to come and like uh my colleague board member Rodriguez Pena said that many came from many states out of the country just to come to this homecoming and it was uh you know it was organized there was a um we we uh alumni cheerleaders and football players uh we all went in one line to for the boys during half time to go to the locker room since this was going to be the last time the boys went into the locker room at Citrus College and so it was very very emotional for me um it was emotional throughout the whole homecoming uh got to see a lot of uh alumni a lot of friends uh Saturday there was the alumni picnic it was well attended about 50 people showed up and it was it was
020nice it was nice to you know to to see um see other people meet people um from there I got to share a few words um there at the picnic it was organized uh well and thank you to Asus that connects for for them being able to get involved in and help um with that organ to have that going on and organize that that day um this last Friday going back to this last game um everything was emotional for me as well um like the last time our Souza boys were going to go into that locker room right the last time it's like it was just I literally was sobbing and people were probably looking at me like why is this woman crying well you don't understand like this is the last time it at
021both of our schools you know are going to play against each other and and as soon as a resident and been here you know my my family that went to a Souza high they were in tears I went to Gladstone we were in tears just being able to be unified and moving together in collaborative approach of how we're going to move this forward and just being united is what I felt from Asus aside I do have to say that um and how well and cheerful they are oh my gosh I loved it loved the whole drum and stuff and so anyhow um thank you guys for for making it um a successful event it was very safe I do have to say that um and thank you to the administration and cabinet for making sure
022that our students and our parents and whoever attended the this last game was was safe um other than that I want to welcome our student board member Carolina Dominguez yes this is our first day here welcome and please feel free to let us know and give your opinion or you have questions that's what we're here for so welcome to our board thank you board member Cruz Gonzalez thank you um it's a couple things so I actually missed the last meeting and it happened to be because I was at a conference for work and it happened to be the grant makers for Education conference I was presenting there as well so as I got there just imagine my surprise when I started looking at the agenda and I saw Dana and althea's name on the agenda
023I was like what um so I was able actually able to go to the session and watch them present um and I mean I think I think others have have just talked about I mean the way they've talked about how Althea spoke I think I think about the way I was a senior in high school and I was like Wow right because um because just the way um I'll tell you you're able to express um and communicate with people I think um it's just it's very amazing so I was really blessed to be there um but I will also say we were we were well represented because I know you referenced vaguely California Ed Partners um and so I went to their session as well because I know we do a lot of part work
024with them especially with our looking at the dnf rates and then our early childhood stuff and so they actually they went through an exercise where they had some example some um example districts that were Anonymous but one was a Suburban district with around 7 500 students in L.A County doctors I wasn't up to and I was like is this and he's like he's like I don't know so um the thing about this conference is this is like philanthropy and education go and take pretty much like the programs they're most proud about and come to present didn't know that we were we were in two different sessions there I think is really amazing and a testament to the work that is happening in the in this District so I just want to express that that appreciation
025um and then um really excited about the dielos de los Muertos activities in Halloween to have a Halloween parade again at schools is really great to see that come back um and at a hodge dual immersion many of the kids may have made ofrendas so alters for the other smartos and so I think on Thursday they're going to have the gym the cafeteria is going to be open from one to two so people can come actually come and see all of your friends that the kids have done um so really excited about seeing the integration of culture in in what our students do so um just with those two things I think I will leave it at that I think and and then I'm going to be leaving a little early today because um it's
026the last day for my my son Soccer League I haven't been to a single Tuesday game because they're always on Tuesday nights so tonight's last night so I'm going to be taking off a little early but I did want to make sure I was here especially for the important what we have coming up on the appointment thank you board member Cruz Gonzalez um I just wanted to encourage everyone here if you're here you're a parent you're a Community member you're a teacher you're a staff member you're an administrator and I know how hard the mid-autumn grind is um everyone's doing a great job at keeping our programs alive keeping our classrooms thriving keeping our kids and parents happy and I just want to wish everyone a safe fall as we move into daylight savings time
027also we're in the middle of cold and flu season so taking care of each other and taking care of ourselves and we'll get to the we'll get to the winter break soon enough but let's finish out this first semester strong so thank you everyone moving to item 9.0 I'm sorry um yes 9.0 comments and reports by student board members superintendent and cabinet we're going to lead off with our student board members Ms Carolina Dominguez she's here with us in person good evening everybody um for starters Mr padomo would like to thank the board member Ariana's Grier and Rodriguez Pena for their attendance and support at the Gladstone High School homecoming football game Mr padomo would also like to thank board member Ariana's and Rodriguez Pena for their support and attendance at the glassland high school
028homecoming rally the staff and students at Gladstone High School would like to recognize and congratulate Boston High School's last homecoming king and queen Ernesto duenos and Angelica Morales the staff and students would also like to thank Lori Madden for putting together a successful college fair at glassland high school last Tuesday evening there were over 50 colleges along with three branches of the military a big congratulations to the Gladiator varsity football team for their huge Club over 12 to 6 overtime win against the Azusa Aztecs last Friday night at Citrus College it was a storybook ending and the win the win made the Gladius Mountain View League co-champions the Gladiators will will play Linwood in the first round of the CIF playoffs on Friday night at seven o'clock P.M at Citrus College Mr padomo would like
029to personally invite all the board members and cabinet to this playoff game which could be the last varsity football game for Gladstone High School Mr padomo is hoping this won't be the last game go gladiators finally this stuff and finally the staff and students at Gladstone High School would like to wish the boys and girls cross country team good luck at League finals which will be held at Azusa High on Thursday November 3rd at 2PM good luck Gladiators thank you thank you so much Miss Dominguez uh next we have MS Natalie De la Torre hi here this is the high school's board report Azusa High School would like to thank the parents who engaged in a dialogue last week about our new ethnic study courses during coffee with the principal it was moving to see
030Miss Rodriguez and Miss Campo ball engage in an academic conversation and deepened understanding with our community about this vital program in Azusa unified the Azusa Aztec football team and the Gladstone Gladiator football team are co-champs of the Mountain View League in the final year of being separated we are proud of both teams and how they played on Friday night and are eager to see both teams succeed in CIF playoffs this month the Aztecs are traveling to harupa Valley high school on November 4th to play in their first round cross country is in League's finals on November 3rd at Azusa High School and getting ready for CIF competition on November 12th at Mount Sac go Aztecs the combined Azusa glassdo marching Alliance is at Rancho Verde and gar this week in the field show competitions we
031are eager to see the success that Unity brings our music program we would also like to thank Mr Ma and Mr McKenna and all the parents from Medusa and Gladstone for their support with the bands Azusa High School's counseling team is offering pasta workshops from four to six on November 2nd November 9th November 16th and December 7th 14th and the 21st we want to remind parents of all seniors that the state of California is requiring all the 12th graders to complete the FAFSA Azusa High School is proud of our Aztecs who will be serving as poll workers in next Tuesday's elections and we would like to thank Mr near for championing this work for over the years at Aziza high school thank you that is all thank you so much Miss De la Torre and
032now we have do we have Daphne Pineda on the line yes okay so this is Sierra's word report good evening board members our Red Cross blood drive was a big success this past Thursday seniors enjoyed their time watching the sunrise on our senior sunrise celebrating their times of their senior year lunchtime lunchtime activities continue to be fun engaging for example our mummy rap competition this past Monday Wednesday our co-ed basketball team will play their first game against Chaparral High School students are preparing for finals this week and are getting to start the second trimester on November 7th thank you thank you so much hi Mr rokio good evening Board of Education staff and Community I'll be brief with my comments this year I began by sharing with site administrators that it was my personal goal
033to be at school sites on a regular basis to visit classrooms where the magic happens watching our students and staff interact and also respond to site needs while I was there thus far I've been able to visit nine School sites and I'll be visiting another School site later this week among the many highlights that I've had thus far this school year this by far ranks as one of the highest thank you good evening all um the business services division continues with our listening meetings last week we walked Foothill Middle School with principal Ferrer where we were able to listen to the needs I'm addressing concerns and we also walked matp and we're able to see their setup the students were actually carving pumpkins that they bought at the pumpkin patch the day before I'm also
034want to thank nutrition services for their amazing spooky breakfast and lunch we continue to keep getting pictures of the kids enjoying it um noja they loved it that's what I'm going to say it looked spooky but they loved it both the breakfast and lunch um also want to announce that we completed the installation of our surveillance cameras at Lee Elementary and we're moving on to Dalton as well as Hodge and we've also completed another one of our asphalt projects and I was at Gladstone High School so I want to thank you can I just say one thing about what I've noticed at the school sites the um those speakers the new speakers that have a the have you seen it they have the speakers and the um the clock is so clear everything's really so
035do they answer the phone through there or does it just announcements or what so that is from our main amazing manual or a new intercom system that is being installed um so that was that's a PA system that will um we could use for alerts as well as to make announcement on our campuses oh thank you very nice I had the opportunity last week to attend Mr Coburn's uh Studio 26 suspense project screenings the students did an amazing job with some short suspense films that they developed in teams um so we got to watch their short films and um the students came up and shared how they developed their projects the process that they went through and the development and they also took questions from the audience so that was a wonderful event hosted by
036Mr Coburn's last I also had the chance to again be at Boston middle school with a board member Rodriguez Pena and we judged the Red Ribbon Week door competition and it was very difficult to select um a winner but they all did a wonderful job in translating the theme through their artwork so it was great opportunity to engage with this good evening uh last week I had the opportunity to go to Royal Oak Middle School in the Charter Oak Unified School District where the Salpa was hosting an art fair for all the students and all the district Partners so it was extremely extremely awesome to see our students and our staff interacting with other students and staffs from other districts being involved with art activities and projects uh it was just a really really awesome
037uh day there at the South art fair I too had the opportunity to go to the football game on Friday it was a nail biter it was exciting it went this way then that way uh it was like an NFL game right before right before our eyes I do want to thank all of the Azusa High School and Gladstone High School staff that was there helping and assisting I also want to thank uh the Azusa Police Department for their partnership uh and um and their uh collaboration on this night uh it was a a very celebratory night and a very safe night uh so I just want to say to say thank you thank you so much Mr Ortega we now come to item 10.0 on the agenda appointment of governing board member from trustee
038area one due to failure to a lack I'm sorry due to failure to elect lack of candidates appointee to be seated at the organizational meeting in December I'm reporting out to the community the only eligible applicant was Mr Adrian Greer Mr Grier had some uh he provided written responses to the questions that we posed to all applicants um and I would like the opportunity to read his responses so that our community is informed about Mr Greer's uh interest in serving as the appointed trustee question one do you have any prior experience serving as a school board member if so where and have you held any other elected position Mr Greer replied I am currently seated as the president of the Azusa Unified School District Board of Education this is the first and only elected position
039I have held number two please list any school committees or school activities you have participated in within the past five years Mr Greer replied just prior to my election on the ausd board of education four years ago I served on the following committees number one Pac plus committee number two superintendent's Roundtable number three citizens oversight committee number four Azusa leaders for Learning Foundation Board number five Charles H Lee Elementary PTA and number six Charles H Lee Elementary School site Council the third question describe any other community or business activities in which you have participated in describe your role and whether your work was volunteer or employment related Mr Greer replied I have remained fairly engaged in numerous community events and activities through the years since I graduated from Gladstone High School in 2004. I am
040currently employed as the lead pastor of Foothill Community Church as well as executive director of my third place both of these organizations serve individuals families and students within the Azusa community and number four please describe while why you would like to be an ausd School Board member why do you believe you would be a great addition to the ausd Board of Education and Mr Greer replied though I did not initially intend to retain a seat on the Azusa Unified School District Board of Education a combination of factors has had has led me to apply for this appointment I would like to remain a member of this governing body at this time due to a deep conviction and strong sense of Duty and commitment to the Azusa Community ausd by past present and future colleagues on
041the board and to the work that is currently before us all this conviction has been has been magnified due to the lack of other candidates seeking to be elected by the August 12 2022 filing deadline as well as the lack of other candidates seeking to be appointed by October 11 2022 the original application deadline I am confident that I can continue to be an asset to the ausd board of education and can continue to leverage my strengths toward our forward progress as a district in ways I've had the ability to display throughout the previous four years and then finally uh Mr Grier signs that he is he certifies that he is not disqualified by the Constitution or laws of the state from holding a civil office at this time as a board of education we
042will consider the appointment of our only eligible applicant Mr Adrian Greer by motion and second is there a motion for appointment of Adrian Greer to fill the existing board vacancy due to failure to elect motion to approve 10.1 so moved by board member Rodriguez Pena is there a second and seconded seconded by board member Ariana's a motion has been made to appoint Adrian Greer to fill the existing board vacancy due to failure to elect is there any discussion I'll sit so I think um you know um on the appearance pool you're like well this is kind of weird why are you appointing the same person who was in that state um but I but I will just say I know Adrian um had made a decision not to run again so I think this is
043a testament to his commitment to the work of the district and focused on our community and so I appreciate that he's willing to commit more time to be on this board um and so um um I think I would love to see a future where we have lots of candidates running for every position um I think this that having open seats and no contested races is actually happening very is very common across the whole state and part of it probably due to the pandemic and what we've seen in terms of what happened in local school board meetings um so I just really want to express my appreciation for Adrian to make that commitment to continue serving um on the sport yeah and I would like to congratulate Mr Greer also but you know if you
044know uh this is the first time we ever went into districting so it is kind of hard because districts we have five districts now so the person is going to run for rec it's not at large it's you have to live in that district one two one through five in order to run so it's kind of hard um this is the first time it's happened so hopefully next next time next time around we have more more people running um once they get more familiar with with the process and I'll um conclude the discussion by sharing my thoughts um I have thoroughly enjoyed Mr gear as a colleague and for his leadership as board president um I I just would like to share my my slight reservation um when uh Mr Greer expressed that he may
045not um be able to fulfill his four-year term if appointed um it's a big job or whether elected or appointed and um I I do hope that he will be able to stay the course if appointed I think that can if there's no further discussion um we'll take a hand vote can we uh Ms Dominguez what your preferential student vote yes yes thank you and so we'll take a hand vote it's on the screen you still want to take that I would like to take okay yes remember where is Pena board member Ariana's yes board member Cruz Gonzalez yes and board member Beau yes the motion passes uh the motion passes four four zero and um I speak for the entire Board of Education when we say that we congratulate Mr Adrian Greer and welcome
046him back as an employee as an appointee to the governing board of the Azusa Unified School District in accordance with the Education Code and board bylaw Mr Greer will be seated at the board's annual organizational meeting in December as if elected thank you very much vice president I have a question yes was there a reason why we didn't vote electronically um as chair of the meeting that was at my discretion okay and hope can we advance to the next agenda item we now move to item 10.2 acceptance of the new Azusa High School mascot uh board vice president Board of Education I'm thrilled tonight uh to introduce uh some members of the Azusa High School mascot committee uh one of which or some of which will come up to the podium and make the announcement
047but I do want to take the time to introduce them we have to Diana benavidez with us today we have Cecilia Ford we have Kimberly C we have Nathan Nunez we have Natalie Natalie De La Cruz Carolina Dominguez Daphne Pineda and Mariah Santos and so I just want to thank everyone that took time out of their schedules to be here tonight uh in person and with that I'm going to call Diana up to the podium to um to address the Board of Education foreign good evening everyone the Azusa High School High School mascot committee has been meeting since December 28th we are a combination of alumni like myself um current high school students parents teachers and staff together we agreed that Our intention and agreement is to choose a mascot that respectfully unifies Gladstone and
048Azusa High students making it culturally appropriate that offers a sense of belonging and representation also a mascot that students can be proud of honoring the current Aztec name and culture as well as our native tongva gabriellino Brothers and Sisters of the current land known as Azusa and Los Angeles areas we all agreed to be transparent vulnerable and honest to agree on a mascot that United all people it was not easy and there was much emotion history and beliefs that were all shared we came to the last few meetings with mascot ideas to present gathered from committee members and we discussed them we also discussed even not having a mascot in the weeks we brought more mascot ideas discussed those as well and voted on them never losing the original intention for Unity and respect for
049the past the present and the future generations of students to walk and learn through our only High School in Azusa I really want to thank Arturo Ortega and Jessica Wong from Azusa Pacific University as facilitator for truly respecting and allowing us the space and the freedom to discuss Express and decide on this difficult decision together always with the clear intention to do what's best for our students and families of Azusa I also want to thank everyone involved in this um committee for being real honest passionate and professional as well as careful and humble and respectful of this process I'm honored to have been a part of this committee I'm proud to announce as a committee thinking about diverse community that we have chosen Azusa High School to be the home of the Jaguar the Jaguar
050more than a mouse got is a revered symbol and power animal for many cultures as its characteristics represent courage confidence leadership and wisdom and to do our best at all times Jaguars rule the wild they inhabit due to their strength their speed excuse me agility and fearlessness they are the largest and most powerful cat on this side of the planet we know that the Jaguar will bring Unity the unity that we intended for pride and school spirit to our students and community thank you I just want to um just express my gratitude to the committee I think uh Diana could not have encapsulated uh what happened uh during that time um and every single member from students to staff to um our parents and our alumni our mem uh representatives of the indigenous Community uh
051I just really uh in awe of the work that they did the difficult or work that they did and so I just wanted to share my appreciation to them and like Miss benavida said also show appreciation to Dr Jessica Wong from Apu uh who helped facilitate this process along thank you thank you Mr Ortega and so as this is an info action item we have the staff recommendation that the Board of Education accept the new Azusa High School mascot is there a motion motion to approve the acceptance of the newest Souza High School mascot which is just info item or doesn't have a action item it says I second for clarification okay the current agenda is the info action item updated so we have a first from uh moved by board member um Ariana and
052seconded by board member Rodriguez Pena I thought I seconded I'm not trying to cut anyone out so a first bite moved by board member Ariana's and a second by board member Cruz Gonzalez please let the record reflect that is there any discussion yes I'd like to thank the committee I know that it you know took a while and you know like at some point you decided you know not to even have one at all and then to have one but I really appreciate that you really look deep into the culture and look into you know what does it stand for you know culturally right and and I really appreciate your time and and all you getting together and doing that thank you any further discussion uh no I think I think Diana I think perfectly
053encapsulated it but I think it's a great choice I would just like to thank all the volunteers that um that submitted their names and the ones that were selected and how your heart and your love for our community was at those meetings is it how you express yourself and how you researched and you all came together collaboratively to to make our one high school strong so thank you so much I truly appreciate you guys is that concludes our discussion we'll move to a vote uh first with our student preferential vote by Ms Dominguez yes thank you and now Board of Education won't move to our vote and the motion passes for yes to one absent congratulations everyone moving to item 10.3 presentation of update regarding Surplus property process Mr Ortega thank you Lord uh vice
054president Dr Beau uh tonight um I'd like to introduce uh Jessica Ehrlich and Sarah Polito uh who are with us um and we are going to be updating uh the board of education on our Surplus property uh process and so I'd like to turn it over to to them good evening everyone thank you so much for having us and thank you superintendent Ortega as you may recall Sarah and I previously visited the board to discuss this issue so tonight our focus is really just to give you a general update of the process and how um both the legal and District teams have been hard at work to move this forward okay okay I'm going to jump in here good evening everyone I'm Sarah Polito um we did just want to do A Brief Review you
055know just to remind folks in the community and the board as well of the six sites that are up for um you know for review that are being reviewed by um the district to be a part of the Surplus uh the Surplus process um so we have six sites here the uh the Mountain View Elementary uh Powell Ellington Center Slauson and the uh the formal the former um adult school so again all six of these sites are a part of the Surplus property process as we move forward foreign and as you all may recall we conducted an RFP process to find a development consultant to really assist the district in evaluating the properties and giving us the best options for each of the property and so through that RFP process um the district and the
056board selected dcg strategies we have conducted along with District staff multiple kickoff meetings with dcg and they are hard at work gathering information about each site they're analyzing the market and potential options that will be proposed related to each site at some point dcg will also come before the board to give a presentation of their analysis and findings and dcg will also present to the 7-Eleven committee which we're going to talk about a little bit more in detail next [Applause] yeah and so Sarah's going to get into the specifics of the 7-Eleven committee but just as a recap the board recently uh passed a resolution to allow staff to proceed to appoint a 7-Eleven committee and the 7-11 committee's purpose is going to be to review the six Surplus sites our next steps regarding the
0577-Eleven committee are to solicit applications for committee members select the committee members and then we'll commence scheduling the meetings and hosting the 7-Eleven committee meetings foreign so we we are very um excited tonight because the application uh to be a part of the 7-Eleven committee will officially be live in the community um as of tomorrow I believe a copy of the application has also been made available to the board and to the public at tonight's meeting as a part of the agenda um and that has been developed again to go live tomorrow and then that application will be open until December the 7th um and that will be available online on social media outlets at the district office and then throughout locations in the community the goal here is to make the application available to
058everyone in the community so that those that are interested in um in being on the committee and having their voice heard about these properties have the opportunity to apply um once the application period is finished on December the 7th um then staff will look at all those applications ensure that each of the folks that are noted in the statute as having to be on the committee um have been selected and then a copy um or a rather a list of all those members is going to be brought back for approval by the Board of Education once those members have been selected um so for anyone that is interested please do you know follow through with finding that application or reach out um to any board member or anyone um on the staff and I'm sure
059we can find you an application yes Sarah oh sorry go ahead yeah if I can just add in addition to all the marketing that you have heard right now uh we will also be sending a mailer uh to all of the residents of Azusa as well so it's everything that Sarah outlined but in addition to that we'll also be sending a mailer out I have a mail or to invite a the individuals to come and apply for this position will this application um like I just heard ask a board member I have no idea where this application's at um do we have it on our website where can someone obtain this application yep download it absolutely starting tomorrow uh we'll start canvassing um currently right now it is on the board agenda item so a
060copy of the of the applications on the board agenda item but yes beginning tomorrow it'll be on our website it'll be on our social media platforms uh and again we will advertise this on a flyer as well you see campusing so does this mean not only are we going to deliver uh mailers to let our community and residents know the ones that don't have kids here um to also apply for that are we going to be knocking on doors letting them know hey um I'm not We're not gonna be knocking on doors but we are sending a mailer to all residents so it's not to the parents of business Unified School District it's to all residents uh in addition uh we will have uh hard copies of the application in locations around the city as
061well board member Eric Espana and uh so you would also announcing at the city council meeting and if you can ask them to put it on their website because I've noticed they had more they have more items on their channel uh regarding Azusa Unified School District we'll definitely make that request yes um Ms erlich and Ms Polito I have a question um are there any disc qualifying conditions that would prevent an applicant from sitting or serving on the committee um yes that's a really good question oh sorry sir go ahead I was gonna say that's a great question go ahead sir yeah uh the one I could think of off the top of my head is just if there's a conflict of interest that would prevent them from being on the committee if they also
062serve on another um another committee or in some other capacity within the district or within the city for example that would disqualify them um outside of that there aren't any that are top of mind is that something that we can note on the application or put in in part of the application if you currently serve on a committee such as x y and z um you would not be qualified to sit on the 7-Eleven committee yeah we could provide some additional value um sure and I have a second question um have to do okay we do have a 7 11 committee at this time can those people reapply for this this committee also or not do they qualify or or because some of them I know their term is up at too many years right
063the first 7-Eleven committee we have so are they able to apply if they've been in a saving them committee can they be on this committee also yes so so those that were members of a prior 7-Eleven committee I don't believe there is one that is current that has reviewed properties in the past few years but you know to the extent there are there are existing members of a prior committee they are not disqualified from applying to be on the committee again you got no I didn't mean I I know there's not one for the properties but we do have a 7-Eleven committee for uh school closures and other things that we had in the past that that's they can still apply for this one this is yes yes they can still apply and I you
064know on a case-by-case basis if there's a conflict you know we can certainly identify that as the applications come in but being a member of a prior committee is not in and of itself a disqualifier and I think we really want to encourage as many applications as we can so we have the opportunity to create a really well-rounded community and uh committee excuse me and on our next slide Sarah will get a little more into we have certain you know requirements of who we're trying to put in to those certain committee roles that are you know outside of some of those are outside of the district the direct District community so the idea is really to have an expansive application process and the Outreach that superintendent Ortega and his team are undertaking I think will
065really result in you know hopefully a lot of applications for the district to review and comprise the committee so let me ask a question yeah so Mr Tasha so we do have a similar committee right now in process not no we currently they're not seen any longer because I've been seen on on the calendar they've been having meetings no I know we've had the CLC meeting which is the citizens oversight for Bond projects but we haven't had it since 11. yes ma'am thank you you're welcome okay got it uh for clarity purposes and before we move on to the next slide just to make sure because we're looking to launch this ASAP uh Sarah did I hear you correctly that you will send us a a line that we will add to the application around
066the conflict of interest um I'm happy to do that although although I love the website I think there's a there's a plan to set up a separate page potentially for the 7-Eleven committee that may be a good place for any additional clarifications just so that you know so the application stays a single page and is as accessible you know for the community as possible um if that's acceptable to the board I think that might be the best option that makes sense and just for clarity we do have a page ready to go uh after today uh to open up around um the the Surplus property I think um while many residents and stakeholders access information online we know that we need to continue to publish and distribute information on paper and in looking at the
067application as it stands in one page I feel as if there's room for one line about any disqualifying um uh consideration in terms of a conflict of interest only because if you have someone take the time to fill out the application and at the end find out oh I wasn't I'm not eligible because I'm on this other committee or this other body I think we want to respect people's time and giving them that information up front and I think there's room to fit it on this single page okay we can certainly work on a on a line to add to the bottom of the application and um you know knowing that there is a time pressure on this to get the application out by tomorrow we'll you know certainly be respectful of that for my
068very honest one of the things that I noticed I just noticed on the application when people are applying I think it's important for them to also know the commitment the time frame right um so for example it's gonna be once a week right the meetings you know for several months because I remember last time it was like two three months that they met right and so that way they know they're going to be committed to to this um 7-Eleven committee to it's a decision right that they're going to collaboratively come to and present to the board so I think it's important that the cohort starts strong and know their commitment level instead of just applying and then after two three months okay I can't do this anymore so I'm gonna suggest and request that that
069also be um on our website um that way they know what commitment they're getting themselves into yeah and Sarah I don't know if that's part of your presentation coming up about them coming together as a group first and then talking about okay all right then I won't steal your thunder laughs yeah I mean I'm certainly happy to address it now so the way that we usually go about doing that is um you know we can provide some initial information to those that are interested in applying um there's no you know set number of meetings to be exact with this many properties you know there may be a number of rounds of review that happen uh but generally you know for a single site for example and you know this this this process may work you
070know for three sites that are all reviewed at the same time for example but we usually have about um four meetings to start um they they usually happen about a month apart um and we really work hard to base the scheduling of those meetings on the availability of the committee members um so we you know reach out in advance and ensure that they're going to be available that we can get a quorum on that day so that you know the work is all going towards those efforts um and so there is a lot of flexibility to ensure that we can make the scheduling work for those members um and you know we can certainly provide some additional information on the application or on the website about an approximate number of meetings and how they're scheduled
071thank you board member Rodriguez Pena and also is there a job description or what are they not what what the description what would they be doing um I think yeah that would be helpful for them to know right um yes absolutely so I actually um I'm gonna um if we can move forward in the slide presentation I do want to go over that um because we do have a bit more detail about their their job descriptions and um also you know who we're looking for to be on the committee um so I'll start there they're um who you know who are the members of the committee and just to go over I don't know that I've mentioned this tonight but a 7-Eleven committee is called that because the statute requires that the committee have no
072less than seven but no more than 11 members um and there are six particular criteria that we see in the Ed code um that mention you know six six categories of folks that have to be on the committee um and that is uh you know someone from the business Community Like A store owner manager or a supervisor I'm an administrator from the district um a person with expertise in environmental legal construction or land use or other land use restriction like things a landowner or a renter and then in particular someone from a neighborhood organization or Association also a parent or guardian of a student a teacher and then finally the district feels that it's also important to have a classified employee on the committee um so those are those are the categories that are listed
073on the application so that it's clear to those uh to those individuals you know who in particular we have to have to fill the committee's role and then certainly you know because that's only I think seven individuals you know if there are others that are interested we can fill additional spots on the committee as well as long as we don't go over that 11 number and um just to add uh there's a note here on the slide but the goal here is to really have the committee be be like um a cross-section of the community and you know you'll see here it's you know folks are related to the school district you know teachers parents but also people that are just related to the community and you know have some expertise about the um you
074know sale of property um so that's that's that really is the goal to get a you know a broad swath of the community and have everyone uh that's a stakeholder be a part of the conversation Miss Pluto I have a question so on slide um we indicate that we're seeking a cross-section of the community that's representative of this ethnicity age and socioeconomic status um how would we capture that information um only because I'm looking at the one-page application and I don't see any type of checkbox where one could identify those characteristics yeah that that part of the process is usually done in a more informal way um once the applications are submitted sometimes there's discussion with those individuals by administrators um and you know there's further process that goes on uh after after the application
075itself is submitted um so we usually try and stay away from having those identifiers be provided on the initial application you know because we don't want folks to feel like there's any any other reason why that information is being used um for example but you know this this is really um you know in the in the spirit and the goal of when we're selecting members you know is that but ultimately we're looking you know to those six categories as the most important factors and remind us that you know honestly sometimes when I fill applications often they ask my age I don't put my age they ask how much I make I don't I don't answer to those I just don't but you know some people may do the same thing and and we want to
076make it a supportive you know process where people don't like Sarah said think we're we're you know asking invasive questions and uh you know the ultimate goal of the committee is to really get a represent is to comply with the statutory requirements but also um get a good representation of the community so the community can be involved in the decision regarding these sites remind me who is the body or group of people or person that is talking with applicants to get a sense of who they are and what groups they may represent that's not on the application well it's usually done by staff members um here I would anticipate it would be superintendent Ortega um and you know other designees from The District staff that he feels are appropriate to have those conversations Mr Ortega
077do you have a plan uh right now um it would probably be in collaboration with myself and Latasha and then we can think about who who else makes sense to be uh part of that depending on what we get right um so depending on the number of applications and in the sections uh we can kind of pivot in those directions but right now uh Natasha and I would lead that work and then decide who else might be beneficial to be in that part of that thank you okay so moving forward covered this one right so I think I think this one we we've got uh we've reviewed and explained in detail so we can move to the next one um so getting back to the question that came up earlier about the duties and the
078responsibilities that of the committee members um ultimately from a work product perspective what they result in after the four meetings or the um you know the number of meetings that we have to review the property is a report with recommendations that comes back to the Board of Education um so all of all of what happens essentially at those meetings um is is done in in order to support the drafting of the report uh which is which is usually done by District staff or by legal counsel you know we provide drafts so that it's not um you know there's no burden of drafting documents on behalf of the committee they're really just there to provide the ideas and the content and suggestions and updates and recommendations to that document um but uh the first actually I
079think it might be helpful to kind of run through those those four meetings and the content of what they contain just to give anyone that's interested in idea um so the first meeting is really just introductory we introduce everyone to each other and the various staff members that will be providing data and information to the committee we you know provide them with information about the the brown act and conflicts of interest um and like Robert's Rules of Order for example so that they know how the meetings will be conducted and how they're expected to you know to work as part of the committee these are public sorry sure just to yes so everyone's clear these are uh public meetings subject to brow neck requirements just as the board's meetings are and so they will be
080agendized in the in the same manner and um the 7-Eleven committee is held all the same brown act requirements conflict of interest requirements public records act requirements so Sarah and I usually like to give an introductory presentation to any 7-Eleven committee at the outset at that first meeting just so everyone's clear about their rules and responsibilities and the requirements yes and we uh we also take an opportunity in that first meeting to introduce the properties we provide basic property information you know the uh the size of the site um you know what it's been used for before whether it has a particular like zoning designation uh you know things like that that would help someone with you know particular expertise About Properties to understand what the site could be used for and you know what
081it's been used for before um we also anticipate that we would have a lot of participation you know from the team at dcg you know they're they're doing all their work to evaluate the options for the sites and they they will have a lot of helpful information to provide the committee first meeting potentially also I see a majority of that happening at the second meeting which is where we usually you know come back and explain you know options for sale or lease or exchange of property all of the various options that we have when the district decides ultimately when the board decides what it wants to do with those sites um at that time we we also usually ask if there are you know questions or requests for documents from the committee and then you
082know from there on staff and legal counsel can go back and make sure to find all that information to present it um to present it you know for the committee's review at the next meeting um then at the third meeting we have an initial draft of the report and we go through that very thoroughly with the committee members ask them for you know feedback or recommendations about language they want to add or subtract from that draft report and then finally at the fourth meeting um oh uh sorry before I go to the fourth meeting at the third meeting we also have a public hearing and that's you know something that we take from the Ed code requirements um while we accept you know comments from the public at every meeting because they are public meetings
083subject to the brown act we have a um a specific public hearing at the third meeting to really invite the community in right to look at the report um as a you know along with the committee to provide recommendations and um thoughts uh and then finally you know during the fourth meeting um the committee approves the report uh the chairperson signs it and they prepare um for when they will come back to the board of education to present it for you all to see um and so that's that is kind of the result of all of those meetings is you'll have a member of the committee or a staff member that will come to a uh to a board meeting like this and provide uh the report that has the recommendations for your review so
084that's that's kind of a brief summary of how those meetings go and again we don't know if um you know the committee will be able to review all six properties you know during those four meetings we may break those up into you know three and three for example just so that everyone feels like they have a you know a thorough opportunity to review all of the options and all the sites individually um to to send just a couple more specifics about the content of that of of those meetings you know we usually provide data from the district side about uh the amount of you know Surplus um space that's currently at the district enrollment numbers you know if the district's experiencing declining enrollment that's something that will be covered with the committee uh again we
085have a public hearing as I mentioned as these meetings are all about you know having the public and inviting them in to be a part of the process um and then finally like I noted before you know the ultimate work product are the recommendations that go into that report that come back to the board is there anything else to share out thank you so much thank you thanks moving to agenda item 11.0 consent calendar and 11.1 approval of consent calendar May have a motion make a motion to approve 11.1 to through 11.10 second moved by board member Rodriguez Pina and seconded by board member Ariana's let's take our uh sorry student preferential vote is um Dominguez yes thank you so much and board members let's vote and uh the board the motion passes uh three
086yes to to absent and please let the record reflect that board member Cruz Gonzalez exited the meeting at um 753 she is um four times she was participating as a member of the public but she's not going to be voting for the rest of the meeting this brings us to item 13 point zero curriculum and instruction 13.1 approval of agreement between azuz Unified School District and thought exchange is there a motion motion to approve second moved by board member arianis and seconded by board member Rodriguez Pena is there any discussion being nine will take a vote I'm sorry I have to get used to it too Ms Dominguez student preferential vote Yes thank you and the motion passed is three zero to two absent moving to item 13.2 approval of agreement for Professional Services between
087Azusa Unified School District and campus safety group is there a motion make a motion to approve 13.2 second moved by board member Rodriguez Pena and seconded by board member Ariana's is there any discussion and our student preferential vote yes and board members will take our vote and the motion passes three yes to two absent moving to item 14.0 Human Resources an item 14.1 approval of tentative agreement between Azusa Unified School District and California School Employees Association is there a motion motion to approve 14.1 second move by board member Ariana's and seconded by board member Rodriguez Pena any discussion being none Miss Dominguez yes thank you so much and board members let's take a vote and the motion passes three yes to two absent item 14.2 approval of tentative agreement between azuz Unified School District and
088Azusa Federation of adult Educators local 6098 CFT afl-c-i-o-afay make a motion to approve 14.2 second move by board member Rodriguez Pena and seconded by board member Ariana's is there any discussion being none Miss Dominguez yes thank you let's have our vote and the motion passes three yes two two absent moving to item 14.3 approval of compensation increase for management supervisory confidential and unrepresented employees is there a motion make a motion to approve 14.3 second moved by board member Rodriguez Pena and seconded by board member Ariana's any discussion being none Ms Dominguez yes thank you board members and the and the motion passes through yes to two absent we now come to item 14.4 on the agenda approval of amendment amended Employment contract of the superintendent prior to taking final action on an employment agreement the
089brown act requires the governing board to orally report a summary of the recommendation for the salaries salary schedules or compensation paid in the form of fringe benefits for local agency executive the superintendent assistant superintendent of Human Resources assistant superintendent of business services and assistant superintendent of educational services are all local agency Executives and a proposed contract Amendment for each of them is before us this evening the amendment to the superintendent's contract increases the superintendent's base salary to 266 684 thousand dollars effective July 1 2022 the district shall also increase its annual contribution to the superintendent's health benefits by one thousand dollars these salary and health benefit increases are consistent with the salary and health benefits increases approved for the district's certificated management and represented certificated employees there are no other there are no other changes
090to the superintendent's contract is there a motion make a motion to approve 14.4 second moved by board member Rodriguez Pena and seconded by board member Ariana's is there any discussion being none Miss Dominguez yes board members and the motion passes three yes to two absent moving to item 14.5 approval of amended Employment contract of assistant superintendent of Business Services the amendment to the assistant superintendent of Business Services contract increases the assistant superintendent's base salary to 202 thousand forty nine dollars effective July 1 2022. effective July 1 2022 the district shall also increase its annual contribution to the assistant superintendent's health benefits by one thousand dollars these salary and health benefit benefits increases are consistent with the salary and health benefits increases approved for the district certificated management and represented certificated employees there are no other
091changes to the assistant superintendent's contract is there a motion option to approve 14.5 second moved by board member Ariana's and seconded by board member Rodriguez Pena any discussion being none Ms Dominguez yes board members and the motion passes three yes to two absent moving to item 14.6 on the agenda the amendment to the assistant superintendent of Educational Services contract increases the assistant superintendent's base salary to two hundred two thousand forty nine dollars effective July 1 2022 the district shall also increase its annual contribution to the assistant superintendent's health benefits by one thousand dollars these salary and health benefits increases are consistent with the salary and health benefits increases approved for the district's certificated management and represented certificated employees there are no other changes to the assistant superintendent's contract is there a motion make a motion
092to approve 14.6 second moved by board member Rodriguez Pena and seconded by board member Ariana's is there any discussion being none Miss Dominguez yes board members and the motion passes three yes to two absent now item 14.7 on the agenda the amendment to the assistant superintendent of Human Resources contract increases the assistant superintendent's base salary to two hundred two thousand forty nine dollars effective July 1 2022 the district shall also increase its annual contribution to the assistant superintendent's health benefits by one thousand dollars these salary and health benefits increases are consistent with the salary and health benefits increases approved for the district's certificated management and represented certificated employees there are no other changes to the assistant superintendent's contract is there a motion motion to approve 14.7 second move by board member Ariana's and seconded by
093board member Rodriguez Pena Ms Dominguez yes I'm sorry is there any discussion I think no discussion Ms Dominguez yes thank you board members and the motion passes three zero to two absent this brings us to item 15.0 policies and bylaws 15.1 first reading of the amended board bylaw regarding board bylaws Mr Ortega this is an info item thank you board vice president uh per our conversation and Direction um from our board governance meeting um it was there was a request uh to look at uh possibly uh changing uh the wording of our board by law on 9100 and so um we went ahead and tried to capture what that conversation was about at the board governance meeting um I sort of the direction of the board I showed that uh uh wording with a board
094member arianis and board member Rodriguez Pena uh both Who provided feedback I then shared this information with our facilitator um Miss Angelina Pride uh who also shared feedback and said that this was very detailed and very good um in addition to trying to capture uh how we're going to do officers there was a request to bring back the sentence about deviation and so that has been been reinserted into board by law 9100 as well thank you Mr Ortega this is an info item but I did want to give my colleagues the opportunity for any questions at this time no questions thank you moving to our last item on the agenda adjournment 16.1 is there a motion make a motion to adjourn 16.1 I second that motion moved by board member Rodriguez Pena and seconded by
095board member Ariana's any discussion but practice is Dominguez no question your vote Yes how was your first meeting yes thank you and board members one one more click of the button I promise I'm just gonna ask her how's your first meeting how did she like it it was great this is like so fun and informational yeah and the motion passes three yes to to absent uh the meeting is adjourned as of 8 29 pm thank you and good night