001Okay. >> Is there Hello? Oh, >> here. >> Oh, thank you. sound. Okay. I want to welcome um community members, fellow board of trustees to our special board meeting uh where we'll be discussing the school board and with the upcoming election and this is a school board information session. It is May 11th and it is 6:04 p.m. I call to order. Now it's the flag salute to the United States of America to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Superintendent Duire, do we have any announcements? No. >> Uh, no announcements. Okay. So, now we go to item number four. Speakers wishing to address the board. Mrs. Ellinger, do we have any speakers at this time? >> Yes. >> Great. >> Welcome. >> Sorry. Yeah.
002Yeah. If you want to because we're no problem. Oh, even >> is that is that one on? >> Oh, great. >> Once again, my name is Charles Shagongan. Uh, this is my 10th year as a parent in the district. Uh, I want to say I'm grateful to the board for convening tonight's special board meeting. I looked ahead to the agenda and I saw some of the questions that the trustees will ask themselves and share with the rest of us. And I'd like to offer a few follow-up questions for your consideration. not as additional questions to formally answer, but rather as nuances I hope uh surface in your responses. So, first on what's rewarding about the role, I'd love to hear what's been more rewarding than you expected than when you ran and also perhaps what's
003been less rewarding than what you expected. I think it's a little helpful to understand that gap between expectation and reality. Second on advice for new candidates. My guess is this role has a tremendous personal cost that doesn't show up in the formal description. There's time away from family. There's public criticism. There's carrying things that you can't talk about. So, I'd appreciate hearing how each of you has navigated this. And lastly on the three adjectives question, I know every trustee will name aspirational qualities and they will all be 100% correct. And if you are willing to share, I would very much appreciate understanding which of your three adjectives is hardest to actually live up to in practice. Uh very much appreciate your willingness to consider these uh whatever the trustees choose to share tonight. I want
004to thank you all for your service to the board uh to the what you've given to the district and for making an effort to bring other people into this work. >> Thank you, Charles. And those are all the speakers. >> Great. Thank you. Um now we are on to the presentation, the school board information session, uh which is at item number five. Superintendent, do you want to give some cont? >> Uh good evening trustees. uh really excited to share a little bit of background uh to get us started over the next hour or so. Uh I hope that we'll engage in some really good conversation uh answer some really good questions that help our community uh understand what it means to be a school board uh trustee. So I'm going to start tonight uh with
005just a fewformational slides. Um really the bulk of tonight it comes at slide six um with questions for current board members where we'll just have uh some good conversation. A couple of trustees will take the lead um on each question. We'll make sure that we uh leave a little bit of time for some just anecdotal uh pieces, things that come to mind. Um and then we'll close with the logistical um elements of what does it mean to run and how do you do it. Um uh so I'll just go ahead and jump in uh with our first slide here. Um uh so the first few slides really come from the California School Boards Association. Uh this is how they define uh the role of school boards. Um California School Board Association really provides the guidance
006uh for school boards. um they provide the professional development for school boards um and really um give us a general overview of what it is like to be a school board member. Uh so they have five attributes. Uh the first one is the idea of setting direction. So as a trustee, our trustees set direction for um BRSSD schools. Uh really important to think especially now uh that we're by trustee areas that our trustees advocate for all of our schools. Not one particular school or one particular grade but all of our schools together uh through things that they do. Establishing vision, establishing mission, um working on our strategic plan as a big piece and then making sure the governance that happens behind the scenes um is in line with that vision and mission. Uh the second
007attribute uh is to establish um effective and efficient structures. Uh so we talk about setting um the vision the course. Uh trustees make sure that we do what we need to do to make sure that that happens. Uh they're ensuring that our budget is aligned to our LCAP, that our mission, our goals, everything that we say that we're going to do, that there's actual budget uh to go ahead and do that. uh they look at curriculum uh formally approve curriculum after teachers um have reviewed they approve course line uh course outlines actually that's coming up uh at our our uh future meetings here and then the trustees really are responsible for setting that positive climate in collective bargaining uh working with um our uh both classified and certificated unions. The third attribute that CSBA um
008mentions um is providing support. Um a trust's big role is to provide support in so many different areas. They are the essential link between the community and the school district. Um they govern on behalf of the public. Uh trustees represent the community to the district and advocate for the entire district in the community. So helping broaden uh what we do day in and day out uh and make it visible to the community. Uh they model positive work environment through their interactions in a public way. Uh they model open, straightforward and tactical communications. We have tough conversations in the public, right? Uh the fourth piece is accountability. Um ensuring accountability. So we uh set the vision, we put into play um ways to help our vision become reality. And then we look at indicators, we look
009at student data, uh we monitor student progress. Um and the board establishes the criteria it's going to use uh to ensure uh success. Uh the board adopts a budget that provides stability, effective use of funds. Uh the board promotes safe and appropriate educational environment to all students. Again, I want to reiterate all students, each and every student, uh we are responsible for to ensure that they're um receiving the best education possible. Uh and then finally, the fifth attribute that CSBA identifies as providing community leadership as advocates for children, uh the school district, and public schools more broadly. So, uh, we want to make sure again each and every student is successful, that we're advocating, uh, for our school district and really advocating for public schools, the responsibility, uh, of public schools to educate, um, all
010children. I appreciate the diagram that helps um, CSBA and us kind of guide our work. This is a a diagram that anybody who's running who ends up being a board member will see uh pretty frequently through CSBA and it really helps us understand how the parts align. So the governance team which is the uh district superintendent and and school board um work together to establish beliefs, vision, mission, policies and uh priorities. Um the school district, the staff um are responsible for developing those action plans um implementing uh the vision of the board evaluation uh looking at progress reports and really there's that overlap where we do that work together um around strategic goals uh developing success indicators and that's how we uh continue to grow um as one. I've been talking a lot about CSBA
011and uh CSBA has an annual education conference. It's in early December at usually the first week of December every year. It alternates between usually San Diego, San Francisco, and Sacramento has been the last uh few conferences. And really CSBA provides that professional development uh to support boards um in their work. It's a several day conference. um our trustees uh do have a a history of attending together. It's one of what I would say the expectations uh for sitting on the board. Uh not a requirement. We encourage um uh sometimes some board members can go some years, other board members go others. Um uh occasionally we are all there at the same time which is fantastic. Um and the district does uh support um uh that expense. Uh the other thing that I think um all
012of our trustees do which is pretty remarkable for BRSSD is we um all participate in masters in governance through CSBA. It's five five modules. Five modules um that we take over the course of usually a year, sometimes it's a year and a half. Um usually they're two-day courses, sometimes they're hybrid. Um uh where trustees engage with one another to learn all about governance. And that's um masters in governance. Uh again, it's flexible. It's encouraged. Uh but do we do encourage um all trustees to participate in that with that? That's a really broad overview. I'd encourage and at the end of the presentation is links. Uh you can read all about uh school boards through uh California School Boards Association. I think the biggest piece um is the Q&A portion uh which we'll we'll go to
013now. So um again I I um identified board members we identified board members who would speak on each. Um of course um everybody's welcome to chime in. Yes. Yeah. Uh CSBA, just uh to reiterate, California School Boards Association uh is really the overarching um body that is responsible for guiding school districts. They provide model policies. They provide professional development. Um they um answer our need to know questions uh whenever we um have them. Uh and they actually uh facilitate um policy development. So they're they're oftentimes developing model policies for us. Uh so let's go with the first question. Let's just jump right in there. Uh first question is um what do you find most rewarding um about serving on the school board? Uh this question is for everybody and I think um it's a great
014um uh opportunity to weave in maybe what you thought it was going to be most rewarding versus uh what actually is. So, uh, I'll why don't we, Trusty Bruno, maybe start with you and, uh, work our way around the table. Okay. >> Um, sorry. Most rewarding. Um, I have two. Um impact is something that I've been kind of like always looking for in my life and I would say that's the most rewarding part that I find on being in the board. Um the nuance to it is is it nuance, right? So I I I sit in meetings and I make decisions, but I'm not swinging an ax or like putting the new roof on, right? So I'm I'm kind of detached. Uh, I really do care about like the experience students have, but numbers wise,
015when you think about parents, families, teachers, there's more of them actually than there are students. And I think I think I can up hitting more of that, which I wasn't thinking about. Um, as a PTA member, I was I was handing popcorn to seveny olds and I think I'm doing that less. Uh, but still, what I do recognize is the impact But yeah, just throw a binocular as opposed to by hand. >> Thank you. Yeah. Um I would say what I find um most rewarding is um when there is like a uh a fork in the road for the district to take is helping to be part of the group that makes that decision. Um and being able to listen to the community. um try to take in uh input from multiple stakeholders and try
016to come up with um the best decision. Um and then also another very specific is uh just whenever the whenever students um present to the board um I get choked up. That's that's amazing of just seeing um what the students have been learning, what our teachers and staff have been guiding them to do and grow in their skills. >> Um what's the most rewarding thing about being on the board? think there are so so many things like April said um you're in this very privileged position to see the incredible amount of good work that's being done across the district. We get we get to see every single school. We get to see what the teachers and what the principles and what the students find most amazing about their experience and you get to see all
017of that. That's something you don't get to see as a parent usually. Usually as a parent you see, oh my class is doing this. Whereas like in our position it it it is fed to us and we can we can see it and we can appreciate it and we can really see the impact of the work that we're doing. And also like April again, like April said, it's I find it rewarding, but I also find it the hardest part of the job is looking at that fork in the road, right? There are so many different things to think about, to choose, to listen to, and you have to sit there and you have to listen to every single person come and talk to you. Well, I I I feel like I have to, right? listening
018to all of that, digest it, digesting it, processing it, and really thinking about well, what do I what do I think is best? And it becomes really difficult because because it's great that I have a voice in making that decision, but you never know what the right decision is. You know what I mean? Like there's there's you you don't know like I'm making the best choice that I can make at the same time I am making one of five votes of what is going to happen and and I feel like that that's a real big weight and it's a burden. Um but at the same time it is what makes it so amazing. I I really do appreciate appreciate that about our particular role. And we get to see all the kids. Yay. and and
019they like you on campus. Like you go to campus and people are really nice to you. Okay. Yeah, that that's why I like to go first. Um because now all the things I was going to say have been said. Um you know, I do think it is really important. Um, and Jackie mentioned the word impact and then just hearing, you know, each each board trustee talk about when the students come in is is really um the the most rewarding part. And um, you know, Dan, you were saying like what did we think was going to be the most rewarding. And to be completely honest, I was not involved in the school at all before joining the board because um, my son was in TK when I joined the board. So, I didn't have that PTA
020experience or like a room parent experience. Um, I kind of just jumped right in. So, um, I didn't know what to expect. And, um, really being able to see each school come in and, um, they're always so prepared and so excited to share what they've been doing at their particular campus. And so, I think just being able to be part of that. Um, and then seeing them come in and I mean just this just just the other day, I can't remember which board meeting because there's been a lot this year. Um, but the kids like they came in and sang for us and did like a whole show and it was just um definitely for me uh the most rewarding. So, thank you. >> All great responses. I I made some notes so that it
021wouldn't be repetitive and I guess the the advocacy that we're able to do for students, families, and the broader community to to shape things that really matter really kind of makes me smile even and I think, you know, the joy the joy, curiosity, and energy of the students is definitely shown in this in the presentations that that's by far seeing the kids reciprocate from things that maybe we have an impact over is truly special. But I think to know that we as a board help shape those experiences in some small way. And I say small, I know it's it's large because we have curriculum adoption. But when I think about the teachers in the classroom, that's what I mean. Like who are doing the most amazing work, who are caring for our kiddos and if
022we can support them to make their jobs easier or provide them the material or everything. That's what I mean. Like that's that's to me is like our our blessing. They're the ones who are who are who I feel humbly speaking are doing the greatest impact um and being the first ones to shape our to work with our children. But I also just think that I really appreciate the most the relationships and conversations we had. I think um I wish one of the least I wish we did that were able to do that more and there's nothing stopping us. But for example, with the middle school alignment, we we got out there and we had the town hall meetings and a lot of us, I think all of us met one on-one and I felt very
023energized by that. Um, and that was really I think while it was a you know that part of the work was it was challenging I find that connecting sharing our purpose is very um is very rewarding um to further the work of the district. So, um, that is a thing. And I would say just one last thing about the least rewarding, uh, I would say is I came in I'm a kind of a I think we're all kind of like doers. Um, and three out of five of us are in the education realm and so and full-time. And so I wanted to kind of dive deep into the work. What I've realized is if you see back on that that shell, we're the strategy level. And so we have the trust in our superintendent and
024the leadership the cabinet to f to to do the work to do the work that's and to bring us the decisions that we need to then discuss as a group. Sometimes uh you know it's tough not to micromanage not to like get into the weeds but that's not our role as a board member and that's a little bit challenging because you know you want to be um furthering your your suggestions. We definitely get our input in, but it's in different ways and it's not grabbing and going into into the weeds. That's the trust that we have with the leadership team, the cabinet to do their work in at our direction. That's all. >> Thank you. Uh second question, uh and we'll uh put this one out for uh Trustee Deng and Trustee Bruno, Jackie and
025Anne. Um, how much time is typically required each week for board duties? Uh, in meetings, preparation and other responsibilities would you ballpark? >> This is a great question. Thanks, Dan. Um, so coming into joining the board, I didn't do a lot of like preparation and looking into what all of it entails. Um, and it's definitely quite a bit more than I had expected. Um, however, I think that it's it's all like good, right? So, it's like stuff I want to know. Um, so I would say if I had to ballpark, I mean, we're including everything though. Okay. So, the and this is like if you go to everything, right? Because there's a lot of events and things like that that we're all invited to participate in. I would probably say for me it's like 15
026to 18 hours a week I would say. Um similarly I yeah I think per week is a tough metric. I think per month is the easier way if people for anyone thinking about it is uh some months are a lot more and then and then some cycles also. So so should be a few months. So if you asked me three months ago I might I might say 20 hours a week just in in in emails and conversations and honestly just time sitting still just been like what's going to happen with this thing? Um, and there's sometimes where I feel like just with what with a with a board update and no bidding that week, I'd tell you four or five. Um, when you add depending on what committee you're in and if you're so I'm
027actually not talking about the board meetings at all. There's a given three to five hours on a board meeting in a month, but let's take that out. But a meeting like today and you add um just trying to be a good community member. And one of the things that is rewarding is we get to hear from all schools. But there's also, I will say, a now kind of I'm trying not to use any negative words. I'm going to use the word looming. And I don't mean it in a bad way, but uh responsibility to know what's going on at all seven sites to be like, you know what, if I can make that musical, I will drive up to Fox or Oak Shores. So add whatever you choose, which again can add a few more
028hours per week depending on the range. So going to a business fair and and it's a party and uh Central's bubble fest the the things like that again can on average add another three to six hours um and there's also additional interest that's I think a board member should be aware of what's going on in our district but also others so I get kind of spam emails from CSBA that I'm like I should click on these and see what's going on in Sacramento and Southern California and things like that a few there. So, I started to write and I was thinking I'll say 4 to 10 speaking right now. I might change that to six to 12 knowing that in general I don't really notice it and I'm intrigued and involved and then there's some
029months where it feels like 25 but yeah, I think those are they average out to a number that I would think closer to Great. Uh, and I will re uh I'll just add a couple of things. Um, uh, kind of to Ann's point when she uh, shared uh, joining the board. Um, uh, cabinet and I do provide um, all trustees uh, with an onboarding process that gives information about district departments kind of share. So we work um, with the team um, as well. And then as a governance team, right, lots of things happening, lots of places that we might be invited to. Um, and sharing the wealth like I always say million days of May. Um, there's u promotion ceremonies, there's celebrations, there's all those things happening at each one of our sites. Uh, so
030the third question uh will go uh uh to trustee costs and trustee Tang. Um, how does the board interact with the superintendent and other administrators? Um, Dan makes it really, really easy. Honestly, he he does an amaz and and Kirsten like these two people are the most amazing people in the world. They put time on your calendar. They are very flexible in moving things around. I've had coffee or the early morning Zoom at 7:30 with Dan because I had to cancel our meeting like last minute. Um, but they they do an amazing job of just setting it up and making it super easy to communicate. He provides board updates. He provides um answers to all of your questions. You can text message him and then the next minute there's like an answer and you go,
031"Wow, that's amazing." He honestly our staff is top-notch and um usually it's just it's all it takes for you to communicate with them is to reach out and they reach right back up. So I and I would say the same with other administrators like our principles, our teachers, they're all very responsive and very helpful. >> Yeah, I would I would I would agree. Um I think for for sure I would say that you know the the good the good thing is to to work through our superintendent. So we're not limited in seeing who we want to see. We want to have follow-up conversations with the CBO, with principles, with other administrators. Um, but it makes efficiency sense and certainly just for transparency to work through the superintendent so that he could set it up. Um,
032that doesn't mean that we're not grabbed for side conversations when we're on a school site picking up our kids or anything. And those are are are welcome, too. But I think if we do have a follow-up that comes out of something we've heard, uh, we work through Dan. It's just very simple and he and his cabinet are amazing. But I echo everything that Shel said. They bend over backwards to make sure that we have the information and they're always around. The first thing is is what can I get you any more information that you need to help you make the decision so you're most informed when you get to the monthly board meetings. Um, and we also have, I will say we also have to help with that, we have um one-on- ones during the
033leading up to that where we can share things with the superintendent that we can't with each other because we're prohibited by the Browns Act. So, if we have questions and that really helped me on board very much so, um, just kind of like how our district does things. And so, I will say you're not thrown out there. You're definitely not isolated, you know, without a paddle, so to speak, the proverbial paddle. You're you're really supported both with the information you need and the one-on- ones. Um I've never been denied uh more a one-on-one. Maybe he's one or two, but I've never been >> there's days I've had quite a bit of coffee in one day during our meetings. Um, next question uh will be for trustee Bruno and trustee Northrup. Um, how are decisions made
034within the board? Uh, is it generally through consensus, voting, or another method? >> Thank you. Um, yeah. So, um, one, um, one thing I'd like to mention, um, that relates to this, um, just in terms of it also goes back to expectations, um, is I think, um, before I joined the board, I really only knew about this part of the board meeting, right, is the is the public the public meeting. Um, and so I think in the public meetings we we have conversation. We're usually trying to I would say we're trying to get to consensus. Um, sometimes we need to do a roll call vote so that we know exactly how each individual trustee feels about it. Um but then yeah the other part of it that I don't think I really knew about as
035much before is the closed session um which um the state comes up with laws that govern us uh which uh President CS mentioned one of them is the Brown Act that we can't discuss with each other outside of the public meeting you know well what do you think about that well I heard from so and so yeah no you can't do that you can't do that. Um, however, the state does say that certain uh categories of discussion can be confidential. Negotiations with uh labor partners, um personnel issues, student discipline issues, and litigation. um and superintendent evaluation which is great. Um so those are things that um we generally then talk amongst ourselves with Superintendent Duara and then we kind of give direction to Superintendent Dwara. So we may not all agree um exactly but if
036a majority is pointing in a particular way versus a different way then then that's what we do. >> Okay. Um trying to use words here. uh decisions consensus feels right like a word but it's not necessity so I think um in general we can agree a word that's not necessarily here um trusty cos brought up earlier is I think a lot of them or not I want to qualify many of them uh are made um through trust so um one of the things that I kind of scrolling back to one of the questions as far as like rewarding or not and again we mentioned and like whether I'm in the weeds is sometimes decisions are just presented to us and we get to ask questions and think about it. But most of the time whoever
037did the work to get to that recommendation did most of the work and is paid to do that thing and is great at it. And we just have to be like that makes sense. Um we can push, we can pride, we can ask more questions, we can ask before, we can ask after. And I think that's kind of what we get to do here. But I would say a healthy amount of the decisions that I can say that I made were made. Um, and then I I I get to like look under the hood and eventually just like approve them. And even then that doesn't have to necessarily be agreed. But I think that's where there's five of us in decisions are made. I will say 99.8 that I've experienced in the four years have
038been consensus has been the right word, but that was just a side effect of good work that was done. Um, some of it is done in thought partnering and you've heard a bit of people talking about like kind of our our limits. I would say inside of those limits, there is space for conversation and a lot of that happens. So whether I'm um depending on my role in this arc, I might be talking to one other board member or talking to Dan or um or kind of like again reading emails. But also um sometimes there's a a collective meeting. So if I'm if you're president or vice president and you're part of the agenda meetings, you might actually you might have some deeper conversations because you're going to try to scope out like how things
039might rise up or not. So I feel like I've had some pretty thorough conversations that were really helpful in the process. So thinking personally of how I made that decision, it was through that additional work. Um I think they're done through committee and then I think the word direction was used and I would say most of them kind of that same line of trust is again the word direction gives us credit for saying yes but again I think a lot of the work is done with not even just I'm going to say Dan but I think his team does a lot of the work that comes through us to make even some of the grander decisions you may have seen a lot of that work happened and came to us and then we got to
040do to do our job as representing the community and try to ask questions for people or dig a a little bit deeper or occasionally push and even sometimes create but I would say that part was a smaller part of the role. >> Great. >> Thank you. Uh next question is uh for president and trustee Northrup. Uh what are the current major challenges uh or challenges facing the board in the school district? And I think uh looking forward uh past past November. >> Okay. I made some so I think in general I would say and I that we are again I use the word blessed but I think our district is really a high functional district. And so a lot of the uh when when I looked at this, I really had to pause because I'm
041like major issues or challenges. I I don't I don't I think we're in we're in amazing shape and and we're going forward and and doing what we what we need to do. I will say um that just as a school district across California that one of our challenges that we just need to be mindful about is and and we've we've done some study work on is declining enrollment um which is affecting not only the nation but certainly again public school districts across California and what and and what that long-term impact has on staffing performing and financial sustainability. Um, and as we continue to have important conversations about maintaining high-quality programs across all our schools, we just have to keep that in mind with also being fiscally responsible. Um, I would say another challenge is um
042just balancing diverse perspectives in a passionate community. We have a passionate community and I think that people really care deeply about our schools which is an amazing strength. But it also means that the board has to listen carefully, evaluate data thoughtfully, and make decisions that both serve our current students and the long-term health of our district. So, um, and just navigate those challenges, um, ultimately, um, with transparency and good governance and and kind of keeping students in mind and at the center. Um, I think when we do that, we are doing what we're supposed to be doing. Um, I just think that's that's when those challenges, whatever they are, emerge, the cohesiveness of our district and our board um will will prevail. >> Thank you. Um, yeah, I totally agree with um, President CS. Um,
043also just wanted to again, you know, in the uh mention as president CS did in the realm of challenges um compared to other districts, I am very grateful uh for Superintendent Duara and his cabinet. Um in this in this particular instance for our financial health um related to our chief business official uh Matsumoto and uh his predecessors um who have helped guide the board to um how we could spread out uh funds that we received as a one-time fund and actually utilize them to improve students education for years and years at a time um and make it sustainable. Um I listen to the radio and hear on the news occasionally. Um again as uh President K said declining enrollment for most school districts in California that means your funding is going down if your enrollment
044is declining. Um and that's a problem. Um so we are very fortunate thanks to our community um where we live um that the property taxes are more than what the state guarantees as a minimum. Um so when our enrollment declines, we actually don't lose money. we still have the same amount of money um because it's from the property taxes as well as um parent and business donations through school force and um the parcel taxes and bond measures that voters have approved. Um which again we're also very thankful for. Um so as I said that was mostly saying uh we really don't have a financial challenge. We still need to raise money uh because we still want to provide a wonderful education for our students that includes art and music and science. And even with the
045property taxes, those are not enough to cover everything that a well-rounded education um requires. But um so I would say our challenges um are are fairly minor. I would say um just making sure that we're um thinking of the most vulnerable members of our community um and you know making sure that um we're making decisions for the good of the entire community of course but definitely looking to see um how things may affect uh the most vulnerable members of our community. Thank you. Our next question, uh, Trustee Tang and Trustee Deng, uh, what advice would you give someone, uh, someone considering whether or not to join the school board? I think the most important thing is to make sure your family is on board because it's it's the school board is I would say time
046commitment wise would be on par with like a PTA president or something, right? It's a ton of work. Yes. But it comes with a lot of tradeoffs. We have a lot of meetings that can't be moved. We have things that we need to go to. Making sure that your family is 100% on board with you. I had a whole vote in my house, you know, and it came down to if mommy is at a schoolboard meeting, I can watch more TV, >> literally. Um, and even tonight I left my child at a track meet for my husband to pick up and I didn't even get to see his event because he didn't go fast enough to be here, right? And in that process, my husband had to go up to Rston, drop off my girl
047to do soccer, go down to Carlmont to pick up my my track meetat boy, and then my little guy is at home watching TV. So understanding that that is a trade-off that happens and that is sometimes required is I think the most difficult part for me. So really thinking about that piece of it. Um at the same time your kids can go to school and say I'm very proud I have a little sign. I'm very proud of my I love my mommy because she's the best school board member ever. Like what? So and I am you know, but and so >> so so on Mother's Day and Father's Day, from now on, you're going to get little signs. >> Yeah. But I don't know if he knew what he was thinking, but he that's what
048he wrote. So >> that's great. Um I would say advice um to someone considering joining the school board. Um I would say you need to come in with an open mind. um because there are going to be a lot of diverse um opinions and that's what makes this work really good. Um and I think that through you know our conversations and the presentations from the cabinet um you learn a lot. So you need you know I would say make sure that you understand that this job of the board the duty of the board is um to ensure the well-being of each and every student. So sometimes it's hard right because we have our own kids and we want to like make sure because my son has special needs I want to make sure that you
049know these certain things are happening but you really need to be open to each and every child. Um, and so I think that's that's very important. Um, and also just with the open mind. Um, also understanding, you know, there's difficult conversations and you're not always going to agree with everyone and that's okay and it's it's it's fine to have a different opinion. We don't always have to all agree on the same thing. Um, yeah, that's it. Thank you. >> Great. Uh, last question. Uh, so what three adjectives would you use to describe an effective uh schoolboard member? And I'll channel Charles uh uh and the hardest of those three to live up to in practice. I'm I'm not going to pick on anybody in particular. Uh, whoever's ready first. I'll go first. Um, okay. So
050my three adjectives are accountable, prepared, and equitable. So I think we we all kind of mentioned those already. Um but I think making sure that you hold yourself accountable. Um it's really important to me. Um and I think transparency is a big part of that. like the you know all of our meetings are in public and I think that's really important that we're also um making an effort to inform the community about the decisions that we're making. Um and I think it's really great that we have so many people in our community that come to our meetings and that speak at our meetings. Um, and so I think that's that's a really great part of this community. Um, for prepared. So this one I think is the hardest one. So um, I am definitely guilty
051as um, it may show tonight that um, I didn't quite come prepared enough for this particular meeting. Um, and I apologize. Um, but I think being prepared is really important. Uh, and I do think that I would say Superintendent Duara and his cabinet make that really easy for us because they just deliver it all in a nice little package and you just have to open everything and take a look. Um, and they do great work. So, um, I think a lot of the time we look at things and it's like everything is great. Um and my third one is equitable and I think it's really important um the word equitable and how it's different from being from like equality. So um I think we actually do a really good job here of being equitable and
052I think everyone takes it very seriously and um I think that's one of the things that makes this community great. I'll give my adjectives. Um, what three adjectives would I use to describe an effective school board member? I would say collaborative because we need to collaborate. I would say um transparent along the lines of what Ann was saying, being accountable and being transparent and being open with the community. I think that that's super important. Um just to make sure that people are in line and they understand where you're coming from when you make any given decision. And then the last one I would say is student centered. I think it's really important to keep for me at least my north star is is this what is the best that we can give to our kids?
053Is it what what will give them the best education? Is what it what will it be what will keep them the most healthy? Will it be any of those? It has to be student centered. It's about the kids. It's not about us. Um which one's the hardest? I I feel like all of those are pretty like I'm in line with all of those. I don't I will say none of those are hard for me. Um, all right. I'm going to follow the rules and then I'm going to cheat. My three are discerning, dedicated, and capacious is the word I wrote. Uh, I'll explain. I know. >> Can I have a definition, please? >> Uh, and I'm not sure I agree with it. targeted capacity. But um anyway, I'll I'll explain backwards. I think an effective
054board member should be like somewhat genuinely interested in more than one thing and being able to like let go of the one things if you come in really thinking about I won't talk about transportation but this month's focus is budget. You have to gain some skills there to be you know and you have to be able to like open to all the things and I guess you think it is important for every board member to bring a skill or a passion to the board to the part where you're like I'm really interested in in in this this reading curriculum. I think there's something good that of the five a person with that thing can have while also being willing to listen to and ask questions and dig into other things. So, um, I wrote like
055willing/dedicated and I think that one was probably the hardest to live up to for me. Um, I took onto the board knowing that I wanted to do something bigger than like my two kids in their bedrooms and their path to school and then their school site. And so being bigger than that came with responsibilities like staying prepared and going to events. And I will say in my four years there were ups and downs. There were times where I was willing to look at all the calendars and think of events and go to the brown bags and there was times where I was tired and I do think like on a grand scale there were moments where I wish I had been stronger there actually and maybe out more invisible and I think that one was
056the hardest for me to stick with of like I will be a known entity at seven sites in some way. I would say there's times where that was easy and there was times where I slipped. Um, and then discerning. I I think there is space to like I talked about the trust and things like that, but I think there's space where an effective board member will ask questions that might even make them uncomfortable sometimes to be like, "Hold on. I know we think we're done, but I want to dig a little bit harder." Um, and and I think any institutional entity, including a bureaucratic one like this, I say that not as a truth. I think there's space for an effective board member to say, "Hold on, is that equitable?" or are we sure? >>
057That was really good. Um hard following that for heart following everybody. I my three adjectives. Um I think trustees need to be thoughtful, empathetic and principled. So I I think thoughtful for me also like what you're saying goes with flexibility and openness. thoughtful in evaluating information. We get a lot of information that we have to kind of make decisions on but un but also understand the different perspectives. A lot of times I have certainly we all have opinions and we come in and I it's it's not it's been more robust my my thoughts process by listening to my fellow trustees or I'll come in and I think oh I have this perspective and then I'll hear a different perspective from their backgrounds and I'll be like oh that's really really interesting or I'll come up
058with another set of questions based upon a line of questioning from others. So I think you have to be flexible and openness not just the perspectives that maybe community members are sharing but also um fellow trustees which has kind of been very enriching for me. empathetic certainly I think you listen to students, family, staff, broader community kind of keeping in the center for me has always been like decisions impact real people and we we we are designated as the representative of the broader community and so I'm always want to be mindful am I representing those interests you know in the in the best way and so being also empathetic to make sure that we're listening because they are real people behind those decisions and finally and lastly that gets principled as we were talking about
059before I I think we tend um to come to a consensus and I think we are are aligned uh but it's okay that you know if we are decisions on there's no universal agreement I think um principled enough to make decisions with integrity with conviction even when issues are difficult and there isn't universal agreement I think and I I would expect and and that the board does bring that um that they have a conviction that there is integrity and and that's great that's great for our debate. Right. So those are my three. >> Thank you. Um so um I figured I would go last because I did not actually prepare for this one at all. So I think Trusty Deng is doing an amazing job preparing for everything. Um, so, um, and to help me
060remember, just like our students do, I decided, um, while I was listening to everything that I was probably going to go with three words that all start with the same letter, alliteration, so that that would help me. So, um, also I was thinking, um, right, we of course we want, uh, very dedicated people to, um, run for school board. I also want it to not be intimidating to run for school board. Um, so I'm trying to have um the adjectives I'm I'm saying thing be things that I think most people are. So um, one is curious, right? You want to find out more. Okay, I'll I'll be pretty brief. Um, second one is collaborative, right? Um, and what I would say in regards to that is I think going into the board, um, I thought
061I would be able to accomplish a lot as an individual and I've probably accomplished very little as an individual. Um, but working with the board and the superintendent through collaboration, that's where I actually feel like I've been able to uh accomplish things as part of the team. Um and then the third one, you don't have to be this. It it comes I I think you can develop it as it uh as you take on the role is confident. At the same time that I think the only things I've really accomplished um personally have been as part of the team. Uh, at the same time, I think that I've needed to have the confidence to say what I'm thinking and um and you know um know that like even if the decision is not what I'm
062suggesting is the decision that it was good for me to say my opinion. Thank you. >> Super. Uh so I just want to thank our trustees for their open and honest reflections. Uh and I will just say you're a little hard on yourselves. Uh yes, there's a lot uh that comes into play and just kind of what I'm I'm kind of thinking through um we are a governance team. So the governance team defined by trustees and the superintendent um a team, right? We um look at things from multiple perspectives. We um help one another. we collaborate with each other. Um for the public out there, I'll share that our trustees every year um agree to be a primary representative for a school or two, we typically tend to align that where our kids go. So
063that um it's a little bit easier. Um but in the idea of a team, um when one member can go and one member can't, um that's okay. when one member has something happening in their their personal life or work life um other members are are able to cover. So I just want to um thank you uh for uh the grace that you give one another and how you support each other. And then I'll just share um with Trustee Northrup's point. Um part of being um a governance team is sharing your perspective. Um advocating for what you see, what you believe. Um recognizing um that uh a decision may or may not go your way, but collectively um we find our way uh to to the right answer. Um and as a team, as a governance
064team, we support um our collective decision. So, I just want to say thank you for, uh, sharing those thoughts tonight. Um, the last few slides are logistical slides that I'll go through. Um, uh, a lot of folks, uh, so, uh, I think one of our trustees mentioned that being a trustee is kind of similar to PTA. You, you invest lots of hours, you do lots of good work in support of, um, our kiddos. Um and um uh the difference is while you're elected for PTA um you're elected in a little bit different way. Um you are um uh uh you are elected um uh by our community. So it's a very formal process that actually doesn't go through the district. It goes through uh the registar of voters in the county. Um I'm going to
065go my slide there. There we go. Um we are a by trustee area. We went to by trustee area a couple of years ago. Um this year we are electing trustees from uh our oddnumbered areas. Um areas one uh three and five. Uh the brown area, the orange area uh and the red area. Um you physically have to live within those boundaries to run for those uh trustee areas. So uh currently uh trustee Bruno and trustee uh CS live in the same area um and uh trustee Northrup is different. They were um elected at large um under the previous model um and were uh formally transitioning into the by trustee area. So uh there's a website up there. Uh I do encourage anybody that's um running click on that link. It's on our district website.
066Make sure the area um make sure you're in the area that you think you're in um prior to to jumping in. Um and uh then it's all through the county. Uh the let's see here uh through uh San Mo Sanonteo County I I say register our voters, but it's uh a few other acronyms and services that are provided to the county. SMC A SMC AR E there's the website there. Um they have very specific timelines um for filing. So um it's uh you can start filing period 113 days before the election which we calculated as July 13th. Uh and it closes 88 days before uh which is August 7th. Again very formal. Um, I always tell folks you need to verify through the county uh that those dates um are are correct, but uh 113
067to 88 days. Um and um if you are not running unopposed, meaning if there's two or more candidates, your name will be on the ballot. Uh just like um representatives for Congress and president and all those those pieces, um it is a formal election. So, um, please visit SMC Accre, uh, to find out more information there. >> Could I add, could I add a little, please? Um, I will say, can I there's a cost. >> Uh, if you are running, if you're not running an oppose, there's a cost um to be in the information booklet and then you write out a statement. It that's what it's for. It's like your candidate statement being printed. Um, but also when you file at the office, um, the people are very nice and they're very helpful and they
068literally just like hold your hand through the whole thing. So, it's not an I feel like Dan made it seem like very intimidating. Like, it's totally not like that. You just walk in, they're very nice. You sit at the desk and they like take you through the whole thing. >> That is true. They are very nice. Uh, they are very supportive. They support us when we have questions. Um uh and they always encourage you uh to file early so that if there's a little bump, you have plenty of time and it's it's low stress. So um it is formal uh but it is definitely doable and um we're here I'm here uh to assist. Um for for folks in our audience, for folks who are listening or may be watching later, um I always encourage
069uh reaching out to me personally. I'm happy to uh talk one- on- one, answer any questions. uh provide any or uh other details as I know our our trustees are as well. So um we're here to answer questions. Uh you can feel free to reach out to us. Um and then finally the last slide is just a a a resource slide um uh from California School Boards Association roles and responsibilities. Uh schoolboard leadership honestly just poking around CSBA um website uh csba.org or correct um has all kinds of stuff there. Uh Sanonteo County Elections Office, 10 things you need to know uh to declare your campaign. There is some technicalities and and peace uh things you need to file there. Um Tower Road is is where you go. Um if you drive all the way
070up Rston, go over 92, um it's I think your first uh left and it's down there in the canyon off of Tower Road. Um, and then uh please please reach out to schedule time with me uh to talk about those options. Uh, trustees, please feel free any closing thoughts um or added added ideas. >> I was just going to say that um Dan has his email here and then so all of our emails are the same format. So it's just the first letter and then the la our first letter of our first name and our last name. So if you want to reach out to us, there's also one that you can do like board at I think which goes to all of us. >> I just wanted to offer a tip uh for the
071elections office um which is that there is the primary happening in first week of June. Um so please if you're interested by all means reach out to the elections office as soon as you're thinking about it. Um but uh just be in keep it keep it in mind please that um like you know the last few days before the primary and then probably at least a week after the primary they're going to be focused on the primary election. Um so if you want to talk to them before that or after it um because their their staff um will be counting all the ballots after after the primary. I I'll add another tip. Um I wasn't ready for it. They're going to ask you for three adjectives >> for yourself. It's a real thing and I
072panicked. Uh so think about that before you go. >> Actually, I don't know that I realized that. Trusty Brown >> is is I'm assuming is all of this on the >> Yeah. website. >> Uh so all this is is linked in our board agenda and it is on our website uh live. Uh we will make sure that we um post this at the end of the week. I will send out the recording with additional information to the broader community. I know it's the million days of May, so we we did have a few uh uh community events tonight that were in conflict. So, we'll make sure people get the information. >> Great. >> Think that's it. We No, let's go back there. >> Okay. Well, we can make >> Now we're done. No, no, no.
073>> Uh, we do have a >> I know. No, I know. I was She told me to paint again. >> And we have fun. So I want to thank um Superintendent Gu, my fellow trustees for putting a excellent informational session um out there. Um and so with that we u formally kind of conclude the open session. We're going to convene to close session for and then uh we reconvene to open session. >> Uh there will not be a a report out of close session tonight. So uh we won't be reconvening. >> Okay. So, we're going to adjourn the open session part at 7:10 p.m.