001Good evening and welcome to tonight's meeting of the board of education. The meeting is called to order at 4:30 p.m. in open session. Roll call, please. >> Student member Chik, Miss Armstrong, >> present, >> to 21 minutes as per board bylaw 9322.2 unless otherwise waved by the board. We want the public to know that the board and superintendent will be listening carefully to each public comment. However, we will not be providing responses during the meeting. The superintendent or a designated representative will contact the parent, guardian, and or other community member if the comment may call for followup. And tonight we have one speaker, Mr. John Preer. Welcome. >> Hold on. Let me make sure your mic gets put on >> last time. Is it working now? Okay. um special session or close session items um
002have a fiscal impact. When I was a member of the board of trustees for college like how can we we have all these litigations you know like how can we prevent them? Can we have better training to prevent litigation for everyone to so we could save money so it can go to the classroom and room? How are we going to pay for this room? How are we going to pay for this? Like, can we brainstorm together? This is urgent, especially if we're in deficit spending, but we're doing better. I know we're improving. Um, >> thank you so much. Is there anyone else that would like to speak? All right. At this time, the board will recess to close session. Open session will resume at approximately 6 pm. I should still get her stuff. And right
003now perfect. It's okay. I'm glad order. Testing. Testing. I don't understand. Welcome back everyone. Tonight's meeting of the board of education was called to order at 4:30 p.m. in open session. We then adjourned to close session and will now reconvene the meeting in open session. Board clerks will update us on close session topics. >> Thank you, Madam President. Uh the topics discussed in close session were student matters, anticipated litigation, labor negotiations, and superintendent evaluation. No action was taken in close. Thank you. >> Thank you, Court Pritchfield. All right. Tonight, doing our pledge of allegiance, we have our amazing assistant principal, Miss Cathy Acavo, who's also celebrating her birthday. So, happy birthday. Thank you. uh changed the agenda and that's based on the item that you will pull later in consent. >> Okay. Thank you. Um
004recognitions Dr. Simon. >> Thank you so much board president Stewart. At this time I will ask the board to come down from the dis for the recognitions. Miss Carter will assist us with recognitions this evening. >> Recognized at the be recognized at the bronze, silver, gold or platinum level. We are proud to announce announce that the principal, teachers, staff, students, and community have come together to implement and sustain PBIS at the silver, gold, and platinum level. Our first recognition tonight is Belfflair Middle High School. They receive silver recognition. [applause] staff, as you come forward, please remain for a picture afterwards. Representing Belfflower Middle School is Principal Jessica Cummings, Ruby Gonzalez, Miss Ryerson, and Alexander Cortez. Let's give them all a round of applause and congratulations. ulations. Next, the board would like to recognize Ramona Elementary
005for earning silver. [applause] Tonight from Ramona Elementary, we have assistant principal Miss Lucesy, teachers Mr. Young, Miss Thomas, Mrs. Powell, and Miss Cerna, counselor. Congratulations, Ramona. Let's give them another round of applause. [applause] Also earning silver, let's please recognize Thomas Jefferson. Congratulations, [applause] Thomas Jefferson. The next school we would like to recognize earned a gold level for their PBIS recognition. Congratulations goes to Stephen Foster Elementary representing Steven Fost representing Frankie Woodruff. We have principal Dr. Tranguin, assistant principal Ashley Lucesy, Elaine Spner, and Julie Gimenez. Let's give them a round of applause. congratulations Frankie Woodruff. [applause] Also earning gold. Let's please put our hands together and recognize Albert Baxter Elementary. Representing Albert Baxter is principal Eddie Cruz, Cassandra Hernandez, Nancy Hua, Gina Weisner. Let's give a round of applause to Ernie Pile. [applause] Representing Ernie Pile
006is acting principal Katy Azavo Torres, counselor Camela Navarez, Rosalia Harris, Georgina. Congratulations, Ernie Pile. [applause] And our final school, also at the top level of platinum, please give a round of applause to Los Flores. [applause] Representing Los Flores is director Tammy Zilla, Stacy Abrago, student Isaac Abrego All right, congratulations to everyone again. Um, next we have our student spotlight and tonight we will be recognizing I'm gonna let you say her name, but it's Amelia from Ernie Pile. Thank you for being here, Amelia. Good evening everyone. Um, thank you u Stuart for the introduction. Um, my name is Katya Seedo Torres. I'm the acting proud principal uh at Ernie Pile and today I have the great honor of recognizing a truly remarkable student and that is Elmelia Bel Flor right here. Come on, come on up.
007you could stand right here so you can hear all the amazing things we have to say about you. She is our Ernie Pile student spotlight. Um, Amelia is kind is a is the kind of student who reminds us why we love being educators. She walks into the classroom each day with a quiet confidence, a kind heart, a genuine love of learning. She is focused, responsible, and consistently gives her best effort in everything that she does. Emmelia, you shine in math, reading, and writing. Um, she's the kind of student who doesn't just complete an assignment, she elevates it. Her teacher shared that Amelia demonstrates academic excellence with genuine pride in her work. She not only meets expectations, but she goes above and beyond them. She seeks out challenges, voluntarily takes on extra reading and writing, and
008pushes herself to grow. That level of se self-motivation is rare and inspiring. But what truly stands out about Amelia is her character. She's known for her honesty, her thoughtfulness, um, or diving into science. She brings energy You fill our days with warmness. You fill our days with warmth and color. And you make every day a new adventure. Thank you for being such a thoughtful, kind, and hardworking girl. Your dedication and your willingness to help around the house means more to us than you will ever know. These things, while seem simple, say so much about your character, and it's a glimpse of the path of the person you are going to be. Always remember that big achievements and times when when you're in doubt when you doubt yourself that we love you deeply and will always
009be right by your side cheering you on supporting you and believing in you every step of the way with our love mom and dad your teachers your family and your school community we are so proud of you of you because of your um compassion and we know that you are going to achieve greatness. You truly represent what it means to be a Panther, which is responsible, respectful, and ready to learn. Congratulations, Amelia, on your on being the student spotlight for Ernie Pile. We can't see how the incredible things that you'll accomplish. And so, if you could please join me, let's give Amelia Amelia a big round of applause. >> Thank you very much. She's a little shy. I don't know if she'll share something. >> Okay. If she would like to, will you take a
010picture with us? >> Yeah, go. And I just want to say I went to Ernie Pile, too, and I am so proud of you. You're amazing. So, thank you. And we would love to have you guys take a picture with us as well. Uh, of course. Thank you Thank you again, Ameilia. We are very proud of you. All right, we do not have employee representative reports, but we do have PTA communications tonight. So, if we could have PTA president Alexandria Cortez, welcome and thank you. All right. Hi, good evening everyone. Good evening, President Stewart, board members, superintendent, BUD staff, and community members. Um, I'm very proud to share with you our community report. Let's start with the B USD PTA's community resource fair. It was a great success. We had 29 different vendors. Um, over
011125 attendees, and that doesn't include the people that were participating in the event. So, that was a lot of people there building relationships, growing our community, and strengthening those bonds. Um, now every month I'm featuring two schools. Not sure if the report got put in uh but there was a a report with pictures and stuff, but I'll go ahead and bring it on the next one as well. But we were highlighting uh two of our schools which was Esther Lindström. Uh they did a bubble run. They had uh what's it called? A sports day. And then we also had our first trunk or treat that happened at Thomas Jefferson. And then you're going to be seeing lots of pictures and videos from all these schools that are going to be doing their trunk or treats.
012Then a couple of our upcoming things is going to be Red Ribbon. You're going to see lots of pictures of Red Ribbon that's coming up. Our day that we're going to be touring the schools is going to be October 30th at uh 8:30. We're going to leave here from the district. And then we also have a table that we're going to be having at the cancer uh breast cancer awareness this Saturday. So, we'll be there. So, uh come on by, say hi, and we are looking forward to that. And uh there's lots of our social medias. Go ahead and continue to follow us. We have lots of stuff there. And we also have a newsletter that you guys are And so we had like the bellflower princesses were there. There was lots of food vendors.
013We had characters. Bingo and Bluey were there taking pictures with the students. For Red Ribbon, we also got a recognition from the city of Bellflower. We got a proclamation from them. And then you're going to see pictures from the event that we were at. Yep. Right there. And then these are two schools. So this is Esther Lindström. There's their bubble run. So all the kids get to run through all these bubbles and foam pits and it's also to raise funds but more than anything they are having a great time. Um then we have the reflections art program where Esther Lindstöm created a program where students didn't have a way to do it at home. They were able to do it at the schools. They also had childhood cancer day and sports day at Lindstöm. Then
014Thomas Jefferson this is their trunk or treat. They had lots of great costumes and trunks that were decorated. And then Red Robin restaurant night. Those restaurant nights are fundraisers, but they're more of gathering together after school. And then, um, if you go up a little bit, this is our membership drive. We are at 2,122 members. Our goal is 3,000. So, we're very close. So, thank you to all for joining. Continue to join. And then these are the upcoming events along with reflections. All right. Thank you everybody. Have a great night. Thank you so much. >> Pleasure to witness the dynamic learning environments in the classrooms and to engage with both classified and certificated staff members who are dedicated to student success. On October 14th, I participated in the bellflower prayer breakfast held at the main
015event center at 7 a.m. 7 a.m. alongside members of cabinet um the principles from the bellflower area. We gathered for this meaningful event focused on prayer for those who serve and support the bellflower community. Alliance meeting with union leadership including president along with the cabinet which one Oh my god. Everything's fine. Just a a little friend visiting. [laughter] A big friend. Sorry. All right. Sorry. With enthusiastic students and having insightful conversations with dedicated staff members. Uh on October 17th, I joined the Lakewood Education Foundation for lunch and their annual fundraiser alongside Vice President Garza and Clerk Crutchfield. It was wonderful to be a part of this fundraising event that is instrumental in providing scholarships for students further investing in their educational journeys and future success. On October 21st, I attended the Bellflower Think Together Lights
016On afterchool showcase again with Clerk Pritchfield, Miss Bonnie Carter, and Dr. Einia Alvarez alongside Washington's elementary principal. um watching students showcase their projects including solar system models, food displays and various learning posters. Um watching our students speak about their our cafeterias, our boardrooms, our playgrounds. Each experience has reinforced my belief that Belfflower is not just a school district. It is a family united by a common purpose. I am immensely grateful to our students, to our staff, to our families, to our union leadership, to our community partners, to our board members who embody our shared promise. Every student known, every voice valued, and every school ready. So as we turn the page to the next chapter, we do so with unity, with love, and the strong conviction that together we can transform possibility into promise. Here's
017to the light we carry and the future we are building hand in hand. Thank you so much to the Bellflower Unified community. I appreciate you. Thank you so much to our union leadership. Um to Thank you so much to our union leadership. Um to our board and to our cabinet for being a part of the conversation. Thank you. >> All right. Are there any more updates? I know we did have a All right. Are there any more updates? I know we did have a Cal Apps meeting. LGBTQ themed story books and uh religious religious stuff and and health and health stuff. So, um he just gave me some um gave us some numbers to look at, but at the same time, he he's going to be the legal services are going to be at CSBA
018um this this year in December. And um they also talked about what some districts are doing uh regarding workforce housing. And um actually tomorrow there's going to be it it it cost like $575 for to get this information or workbook of what what's happening in West Coina, you know, but this it was it's regarding workforce housing. So, um, anyway, uh, Locka will be because we're all members, we we will be meeting on Wednesday morning for for coffee. So, all the members, if you want to come out, it's going to be they're going to be putting information out. Um, once we get it once we get in Sacramento. So, I'll let you guys know where we're supposed to be meeting. It's probably in the hotel lobby. So, uh, just to meet the other board members. So,
019um, that's about it. >> Thank you. I know we have an athletic meeting we're scheduling right now. We're looking at December. And I know we had a culture and climate committee meeting. Um, basically looking at our agenda, looking at our dates in our calendar, Miss Uly, to each public comment. However, we will not be providing responses during the meeting. The superintendent or a designated representative will The superintendent or a designated representative will contact the parent, guardian, and or community member if the comment may call for followup. And we have two um cards tonight. So, first we're going to have Mr. John Paul Dreer. Thank you. It's gonna work this time, right? Uh John Paul Dreer. Hello to everyone. um alumni of Ramona, Albert Baxter, and Belelar High. Congratulations to them tonight. And my mom went
020to Ernie Pio Platinum. Um I want to thank board member Mar Myra Garza. We were on the same wavelength at the board last board meeting when she asked questions about the facilities master plan bidding process. When I looked in the board book, there was nothing to back it up. and and that's why I think she asked so many questions and that helps the public to make um a determination of what's going on. I'm used to um a thick backup board book as a college trustee at Sirius College to understand something ahead of time if we had that information might not have had to answer ask those questions of staff and it's good for the public for transparency. I fought so hard for transparency in this district winning the state audit request and along with other
021people that we can really know what's going on and and to know the process. How do we bid? Who is bidding m what was your rubric? Like we need to understand who are all the people applying for these bids because we really need the master plan to help us get the um the school bond going and to improve our schools. Does every school have a working um air conditioner. Does every school free as of asbestous? My mom's office in Mayfair was filled with asbestous. And then um later my mom developed cancer. We need to make sure that all employees and students and community members, volunteers are free of um harmful. It's not your fault. I probably wrote it. >> It's probably my fault. I'm a teacher. I should be able to read this. Sorry. >>
022But thank you for being here. We appreciate you. >> No worries. This has been delightful to be here. My name is Rosalyn Henderson and I just want to just say hello to all of you board members and cabinet. Uh I was a teacher for 30 years with Inglewood Unified School District and I burned out. I retired in 2019 and I have a mission to support educators when it comes to wellness. So my son and I, Dr. Email, put together a program and it's called self care basics, beyond self-care basics. And in it, we address six pillars of self-care where we're talking about mental health, emotional health, physical meaning, and relational and energetic health for educators specific to each school. Um, and what we're trying to do is help districts maintain the best and the brightest.
023We know that teachers are leaving in part due to burnout. We want to reduce absenteeism among professionals and we want to enhance educa educator engagement. So, I'd like to leave some materials for you, Dr. Simon to talk further about this because I know that the engine of academic success it will lay with us educators. Thanks. Thank you so much. >> All right. We appreciate that. Thank you again. Um, we do not have public hearing tonight and we do not have discussion items tonight. So, next we'll move on to our major action item, approval of agreement for lead labor negotiator services. And I'm going to kick this back to Dr. Simon, please. >> Thank you. Thank you, Board President Stewart. And at this time, I'm going to turn it over to um Clerk Critfield and also
024board member Centron to lead the discussion. >> Thank you so much. Um so I'll just be reporting out of the committee and the findings for the role of lead labor negotiate negotiation um for our upcoming negotiations with BTAflower Teachers Association. The criteria was we um the process was thoughtful and consistent using a clear set of criteria to guide our decision. We looked at um providing success negotiation on behalf of the school districts particular particularly with certified certificated units um strategies and approaches at the table including preparation costing communication and these three uh companies all three firms were interviewed um that all three companies that were interviewed were professional and wellqualified. However, Danis Wolver I'm going to always well Oliver Walver Wallver Dannis Wall so DWK I'm going to refer to DWK because that one stood
025in my head. Um stood out as the strongest fit to Belfflower Unified. Their proposal and interview reflected deep experience and a strong track record with negotiation on behalf of the California school districts. Clear and organized preparation plans including issue framing, cost models and comparison studies, balanced negotiation approach focus on meeting board objectives while supporting positive labor relations and minimizing disruption for students. And finally, immediate availability for an expert lead neg negotiator ready to begin work. Um, I will then uh open to discussion or questions. So, I'll leave my mic on, but if there's any questions or comments or anything like that. >> Um, one thing just Carrie really quickly, will you turn the podium off, please? Thank you. Anybody? Um, Vice President Garza, >> thank you. Um, I have about five questions, so if anyone
026else has any more, please jump in and I will stop and then I'll return to mine. Um, the first question is, how will the lead negotiator keep the board informed during the negotiation process? And, uh, what regular updates can we expect? >> Should I take that on or >> Andrew? >> Um, so Due to the nature of labor negotiations, most of the information that the board will receive will be in close session. Um that information will not be publicly available. However, um it had been asked of the firm if they'd be willing to come in and present that information and keep the board up to date with what's going on. And they did clarify that their top priority is to make sure that the board is informed [laughter] of how negotiations are proceeding, to make
027sure that they have clear direction from the board, and that anything that they do at the table is at the direction of the board of education. So they're very um focused on the roles and responsibilities that they will undertake and more importantly they're also very much willing and looking forward to working with the negotiation team currently and helping them develop their skills at at that uh negotiation table to be able to lead future negotiations with less input from legal counsel but more of a collaborative approach between the two entities. >> Great. Thank you. Um my second question is what specific decisions will the lead negotiator be authorized to make independently if any and which will require board approval? >> Um so in terms of their discretion is only going to be within the parameters that
028are given to them by the board. So they cannot go outside what the board allows them to do. um it would be a violation of their uh legal duties to the board and to the district. So, anything that the board authorizes they can do. Anything else they have to come back to the board for approval and even if there are let's say certain proposals that are made to go and from there they will just basically consistently update the board as to the progress being made on whatever sections of the collective bargain agreement are being discussed. So they will come to one of our close sessions, introduce themselves, have a conversation with us. >> Of course, without those parameters, they wouldn't be able to do anything really. >> Um see uh what process will be in
029place for the board to provide feedback? Will it be in close session only or are we able to give feedback through you? How would how does that look? Uh so generally it be in close session but because board meetings are twice monthly >> and then if there are any disagreements between um the lead negotiator and the board for some reason um what steps will be taken to resolve those issues. >> Uh there are no disagreements between the board and lead negotiator because the board makes all the decisions. So um whatever you direct them to do that is what um whatever you direct them to do that is what they will do and if for some they will do and for some reason they take it upon themselves to act outside the scope of their um
030at that point there will be an immediate discussion as to a replacement. Um at that point there will be an immediate discussion as to a replacement because ultimately they are not authorized to make any decisions that the board hasn't previously authorized them to make. >> Perfect. Thank you so much. Any other questions? >> No. Okay. Can I get a No. Go ahead. >> Oh, I was just going to um based Well, I was going to I'll just read it. Um so, based on the committee's review and and discussion, um I am recommending that the board select DWK to serve as the USD's uh lead labor negotiator. Um, I move for the adoption of the recommendation that the board select DWK as the um district's lead labor negotiation or negotiation negotiator for negotiations with um BTA
031and authorize a superintendent to execute an agreement with this firm. >> I'm sorry. Just really Okay, I'll second. Roll call, please. Student member Chibik >> I >> Miss Armstrong >> I >> Mrs. Cron >> I >> Mr. Critzfield >> I >> Mrs. Garza >> I >> Miss Stewart >> I All right. Do we have any items to withhold from the consent agenda this evening? I'm going to pull item 13.7, please. And do we have any others? Vice President Garza. >> 13.10, please. All right. Okay. So, we have 13.7 13.10. Do we have any others? All right. Can I get a motion to approve the consent agenda this evening withholding items 13.7 and 13.10? >> You have that motion. >> Can I get a second? >> Second. >> Roll call, please. >> Student member Chik. >>
032I. >> Miss Armstrong. >> I. >> Miss Cron. >> I. >> Mr. Critchfield. >> I. >> Mrs. Garza. >> I. >> Miss Stewart. >> I. All right. regarding 13.7. I make a motion to table that item tonight. Can I get a second? >> You got that second um with certainty there's one um a with certainty there's one agency that we're going to pull right for next year in regards to staffing and we we are also looking at a more comprehensive evaluation system right for our contract. So we are in deep conversations. We're in conversations also with an agency that can help us um provide even better metrics for us to determine prior to renewal or engaging into a new um contract if it will fit our needs. >> Do we know more or less when
033we will have like maybe a draft of that metric system? >> Um conversations are being had now. Um and so we have a meeting I think next week or in the next two weeks with an agency to see if they fit our needs. If not, we have to move to another one or we may just build a metric system um with the hands of cabinet to move forward right to bring. But the importance is we want to make sure that it shows efficacy, efficiency and the metrics um are are are true to what we >> Okay, so good evening every Okay, so good evening everybody. Seeing as there aren't any student representatives, I figured I might as well take up the role a little bit. Um, nothing much to report. Um, tomorrow Mayfair is going
034to have their Hispanic Heritage Fiesta and Spooktacular. They're going to be a bunch of clubs. They're going to be fundraising. They're going to be uh vending a bunch of stuff outside the Steam building and outside the MPB. So, there's that. Um, Friday is also going to be senior seminar. I'm not really too familiar on all the details, but from what I hear, a lot of people are going to say it's emotional. We'll have we'll just have to see. And then Saturday, Mayfair is hosting Eye of the Storm number 14. It's our fighting game tournament. Right now, we have um over 50 pre-registered players, so it's probably going to be about 70 or 80. We have SM. >> Uh it was well attended, and I truly appreciate everybody that came out and and shared their time
035and thoughts with me. Um it it's it was a really good opportunity to get to know more members of the community. Um, you know, I I do live on, you know, that is the area in which I live and so just to meet everybody and even those that I didn't know and so just to meet everybody and even those that I didn't know. So anyway, I'm hoping to do more about that. I really love I really loved how how everyone felt welcomed and and comfortable enough to meet new people in the room and and hold solid conversations. um so much that one friend uh was invited to a community event by my other friend. Like they didn't even know each other. So, but um my next event, I'll be sure to make sure I announce
036it. Um and you know, you just never know who you who you you know, what you may have in common with a fellow community member or like-minded individuals. And uh that same night I had to rush over to Belfflower High School because it was Belfflower High School's homecoming game. And uh board president um and all the handsome men all dressed up. It was fun. And all the parents just taking all the pictures and everything. I still do it. So, but anyway, and then on the 11th, I attended the the Mayfair High School's uh uh the resource fair that was held there. And the the highlight for me and um I I didn't cry or anything, but you know, my eyes did get a little watered. Just successful beginning with the love and relationships within their
037family. Her brother strided developed. I can't speak on all of them. And then on the 13th um I already talked about um locka. I also attended the CASPY conference uh with my uh with my board president um Stewart uh and the theme was the great tap in. You know, there was a great focus on mathematical practice and thinking and and they talked about the math behind the math and how to infuse real life real life math concept, real life math concepts in the home just to be more comfortable. But they in the home just to be more comfortable. But they they went really went in deep on it. Um and also um there was another conference where um they were talking about you know what are we doing to uniquely support small populations of students
038such as you know uh like say for instance our we have a low population of African-American students like what are we doing in the schools to make sure that we're supporting them and trying to you know get get them into dual enrollment and an advanced placement classes, etc., etc., like what are we doing different to make the small population of students um feel like a big part of the school. Um um and that was about it. It was a lot more, but that's all I'm going to talk about. Thank you. Thank you. >> October 10th, I met with our superintendent, Dr. Simon. Um and we had a great chat about um enrollment safety, really understanding the commitments that we have um for the district. It was just a really great conversation and we'll be meeting
039more frequently or as frequently as we have scheduled. Uh and on Saturday, I also attended the special education conference and community resource fair, the very first one. Um and it was so the the I'll just try to make this short. So the after um of a district addressing students and why we do the work that we do, but also how parents we do the work that we do, but also how parents and community really reflect and really hold up everything all together and um what it means to actually have these kind of conferences for the community. So, I thought that was great. Uh, I attended with, uh, board clerk Critfield and Vice Chair Garza. Um, one of the workshops, I left my notes at home, but um, it was about the it was about the
040Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools and where we are in our district and how we have partnered with other school districts to make this happen. Um, so we do flag football, we do basketball tournaments, soccer tournaments, track and field tournaments, and how involved not only did teachers were also there speaking um on how it has reflected and resonated with general um general ed students to be able to be involved and have a commitment to all students on campuses and what that actually looks like and what that means. Um we had great pro uh a great little performance from our cheerleader Owen cheerleaders as well. Um and the students were there presenting um that are participating in this program and how what they look forward to and their parents guardians were able to also give us insight
041on how um this involvement on our campuses has really flourished in our students. and I just it was it was a great presentation. So, thank you for the experience. It was really really great. Um, with that, congratulations to our superintendent for 101 days with us. Honestly, [applause] keep up the patience with your board. [laughter] I'll just say that. Um, also, uh, I just wanted to do a shout out, and I'm sure people have seen this, heard this, and it was also presented by the PTA about our first, uh, I'm going to get this right. BUSD's first annual counselor cancer awareness walk is Saturday, this Saturday from 9 to 11. 9. and people can register, show up. Um, there's going to be free breast exam referrals, free resources, support, and education around it. Um, it's really
042just a walk and getting to know your community and being another resource and outreach. So, I look forward to this walk. Um, and I'm going to say that's it for me. Thank you. >> Thank you, board member Centron. Um, Clark, >> thank you, Madam President. Uh most of the things I I did uh were already mentioned, so I won't go into her fields. Um and I I want to say thank you to Patrick >> [clears throat] >> uh and staff that there's a a lot of eyes on on that project and I'm very confident that we're going to get it done. We're going to get it done right. Uh so I feel I feel so much better after getting some clarity on some things that day. So thank um very excited about that. uh Lakewood
043Education Golf Tournament, uh Mayfair Homecoming game. My daughter got to meet and take pictures with the uh the the crowned queen. So, she was I've have done that have proven to be uh very useful in the community. So, I'm glad we're going that direction and doing more of that. Then also uh on one thing that wasn't on October 10th, I had this really cool podcast guest. Super cool. Uh, >> thank you, President Stewart. Um, I'm also gonna just move over uh jump over some of those events as well that we both attended. Um, some of my board members and myself. The, um, Lakewood Education Foundation golf tournament. Um, I was there as well. Great time. Um, also the special education conference and community resource fair. Great job. Thank you so much staff for putting that
044on. Um there were a lot of resources for our community. It was amazing and I'm sure that it's going to get even bigger um as we get, you know, to start this a little bit earlier and then get all those um little pieces that we want to add on. Um so thank you so much to your superintendent. We can see that you're working so hard. There are so many things on our calendar. We see it. [laughter] So keep them coming. We are excited, you know, to continue to support everything that you are doing. Thank you. >> Thank you, Vice President Garza. Good evening. On October 10th, I attended the Belfar High School football game. It was homecoming. Congrats on a big win over Fireball. I think it was 340 at half. I think it ended
045570, so it was a really big win. But I want to thank so many of my friends and alumni who just came out to support our next generation of kids. And the boys that were playing, they're just amazing. So, it was I want to thank Shannon, the ASB director. I commented on how much I loved the jersey of the student representative last border report and she gave me one and I wanted to say thank you because I appreciate that and all my friends were jealous of that. October 13th, I attended a professional development at my district and only reason I'm talking about it is because I really like the way that they structured our PD. So, this was the first time as a PE teacher I had actual like specialized uh professional development. They sent
046someone from LEO and they taught us a bunch of games and activities and I really like the way that they did that. So what they did was they had three two-hour time slots and so we were put into two slots for our specialty and then we were able to choose the last one and there was a variety of topics and it was really cool and the teachers really like that they had a lot of different presenters so I just wanted to give that out just as an idea for possible PD. Um October 14th, I attended my last alliance meeting as president. I will no longer be a part of that committee as it is designated for the president and the vice president. But I have really enjoyed u meeting with our union leaders and I'm
047very thankful that we're continuing to collaborate on just such critical topics. It was really a good meeting and you have some great topics going forward. So I know you guys will have great representation in December. Um October 15th to 18th I attended the CAPSY conference. I have a lot but again I this is the only way I feel we can report out. So I'm going to just talk about some of the things that I did when I was in Carlsbad. Um my first breakout session it discussed a sevenstep transformational leadership and I'm just going to go over those really quickly. The seven steps were to mirror leaders examine their personal beliefs their biases and their history to map leaders identify patterns and systems to mobilize. Leaders actively organize people, resources, and time to make visible.
048Leaders elevate and affirm student identities, cultures, and achievements in curriculum, policy, and school culture. To mend, leaders repair harm by addressing past practices in making adjustments. Measure and message. Leaders use multiple forms of evidence and data to assess progress and make adjustments as well. And last is to maintain. Once you have those systems in place, leaders embed practices into school systems so they are sustained over time. My next to power equity starts early. And the main focus question that I would like to ask all of you is how does exclusionary punishment and early education contribute to preschool to pipeline or to prison pipeline epidemic amongst our black and brown students. And we thought about that and we had partner work and we talked with people and there was a lot of great We need to
049remember that feelings are okay. We all have biases and that's okay. But our be we need to remember that feelings are okay. We all have biases and that's okay. But our behaviors are not. And that's why we need to continue to have training for our staff on this. I attended a breakout session on the benefits of speech and debate. It was presented by one of our Paramount High School teachers and it was really awesome. I hope that all of our schools, middle schools, high schools have speech and debate. It helps confidence, public speaking, problem solving, and critical thinking skills and just there's so many things that it has to offer. So, speech and debate is an excellent class or a club, ELOP, something that we can do for our students and I hope that we're
050doing that. Um, we heard from a panel regarding the IYC. If you have not heard, those are the INE and Young Centers that are being created around the United States. They're founded by Jimmy Ivine and Andre Young, better known as Dr. Dre. And the thing that I really enjoyed about their presentations was it was just really interesting how these specific leaders. So what we did was we analyzed the difference between leaders. So what we did was we analyzed the difference between a leader and a manager. And what we learned was that leaders create positive change through their vision and strategy. It's basically the who and the what. But a manager is the planning, the organizing and controlling aspects of the job. So, it's basically the how and the when and what we do to make
051it happen. The managers are dealing with day-to-day operations checklists, outlines, and job descriptions. So, what I learned and I know we're doing here, which I love, is we're hiring, I think, better leaders, and we should be aspiring to hire leaders that have a combination of both leaders and managers. Both need to be effective listeners. Both need to communicate well. Both gather data. They problem solve. They're solutionoriented. and they make decision decisions that benefit a team. So that was a really thing u a cool thing and I do think we're being you know to myself and selfish it's not we do a lot of work for what we get paid. Secondly, I just want to say please join PTA because I know they're trying to hit 3,000. So I hope that happens. Third, go Dodgers. We
052have to win it all. So I'm hoping that the Dodgers win. And lastly, please join us for our state of education. Excited. We're very excited to that and we're looking forward to that. So, thank you. All right, informationational items. Does the board have any questions regarding theformational items this evening? All right, I love the time. 7:21. If there is no objection, this meeting is adjourned at 7:21 until the next regular board meeting held on November 13, 2025.