Regular Board Meeting - Thursday, September 11, 2025

001Okay, calling the meeting to order at 501. Miss Ellinger, are there speakers looking to address the board? >> No, there are none. >> Can you say that slower so that I can wait till 5? >> Seeing as there are none. Uh, we will adjourn to close at 5 0 2. Okay, we're reconvening from close at 619. We'll start with a flag salute. Join me. Pledge allegiance to the flag of United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. Item number six, um, a report from closed. During close session, the board conferred with the outside council and and authorized litigation in one case. That is a report item number seven. Are there any changes? >> Superintendent Dora. >> Yes. You're

002on >> rewind. >> I checked earlier. >> Okay. >> Sorry everyone. You're watching the sausage you made. Okay. That's why it felt weird. All right. Um, I'm back. >> We're going to talk about uh speakers wishing to address the board. The board appreciates and supports stakeholder input in our meetings. Engagement by members of the public in civic matters is a cornerstone of our democracy. The board has established guidelines for its meeting so that we are able to conduct the meeting effectively and efficiently. Within those guidelines, members of the public have the opportunity to address the board. To submit a question or comment, speakers are asked to com to complete the speaker card by the start of the open session at 6:15ish. If you have not already done so, you may see Miss Ellinger for a

003speaker card at this time. During the meeting, speakers will be called upon to make their comment. If you're addressing the board on the agenda item, we will call on you to provide your comment before the board discusses that item on the agenda. If you're addressing the board on a non-aggenda item, we will take those comments at this time. Please be aware that the provision of the Brown Act prohibit the board from acting on or discussing non-aggenda item matters at this meeting. Public comment are limited to three minutes per person per topic. Uh there will be a timer on the screen. Just know that as it approaches 3 minutes, I may have to interrupt you. I do so with love and respect. Um, Miss Ellinger, are there speakers wishing to address the board? >> Yes, sir.

004President Bruno. So, first we'll have Jessica Shmeir speaking on athletics. >> Is this on or do I touch? >> Okay. I'd like to start with the large disparity amongst Rston, Sam Piper, and Nesbbit and athletics. I would like to paint a picture for you for sixth grade girls volleyball alone. This is not flag football or anything else. Sixth grade girls volleyball at Rston had over 40 girls over 40 try out for volleyball. There are three teams at Rston. Sandpiper and Nesbbit had to join because they couldn't form one individual at each school. To me that is not fair to those at Sandpiper and it is not fair to those at Nesbbit. Our daughter we registered her for Rston tryyous as she was we were still unsure if Dan was going to allow her to be

005transferred into Rston. She made the A team as last meeting we showed you how important sports were to our daughter. She made the A team and had quite a I don't know the right term to use. Unfortunate issue with the Sandpiper athletic director and PE teacher. He was not thrilled that she tried out. She was not He was not thrilled that he made it. He promised us that she would play for the sixth seventh grade combo team. He promised us that she could play for the eighth grade team. What sixth grade girl would like to play with the eighth graders? She's young. She wants to play with the sixth graders amongst her peers. Make friendships that can then last for three years. There is a huge opportunity and achievement gap amongst athletics amongst the three

006schools. I also with athletics would like to quote from prop 28 for the music in 2024 when Dan quoted that if students were interested in music then rston is where they will find a comprehensive music program. We don't want to limit our students by any sense. I think that certainly each middle school offers something a little bit different and we have a track record of working with families to help them find the environment that is best for their kids. I will say that unfortunately if children are interested in athletics they should have the opportunity for rston and they are not getting it. We luckily will be on the volleyball team but we were told that we will not be on the basketball team. My daughter has every right as well as the Sandpiper and Nesbbit

007students. They all try out for one and then get dispersed amongst. There should be an A team for the district. There's not enough kids when there's only 36 children in the sixth grade class alone at Sandpiper and over 40 tried out at Rston. The numbers are not in favor for Nesbbit to thrive in athletics and the numbers are not there for Sandpiper. and I would hope you would take that into consideration moving forward. >> Thank you, Jessica. >> And next we have Nick Shmeir speaking on first enrollment. to continue. Uh we have obviously emails and multiple phone calls and many conversations made very clear two weeks ago with my conversation with Dan. Um that the doors closed on my daughter transfer into Rston this year for one reason or another. All I can hope for

008now is that unfortunately someone leaves. Sorry. Hopefully someone leaves. But I was also told the door's closing. If someone leaves, we're not going to fill that spot because we're overenrolled in the current sixth grade. I'm aware of the numbers. I also know the current seventh grade is sub 350, 340ish, whatever, plus or minus, which then means next year the seventh and eighth combined average to optimal enrollment, which then would hopefully allow my daughter to transfer in, but also then leads me to my son, who is currently in the fifth grade, not in the district. The only chance I have for him potentially to even get into Rston is for me to have to pull him from his fifth grade school right now before January. So, he is given the opportunity at first enrollment for Rston.

009How does that make any sense that a family, a parent has to pull their child out of the school they're in halfway through the year just for the opportunity to go to Rston and it's not even a guarantee which then leads me to I know the current fifth grade is a lower number by much but is a lower number. So if we do the math in 78 average to optimal pretty clear that probably 95% of the current fifth graders can probably go to Rston next year. Um I just I'm stuck on having to pull my kid out of his school with no guarantee of Rston. You can imagine parents just struggle with this on whether or not it's the right thing. I know a couple of you have and had kids at Nesvit. They're not

010there for middle school or they won't be or who knows what. I don't want my kids at Nesbbit for middle school. And the reason I say Nesbbit is unfortunately I'm aware of the unofficial official plan for San Piper Middle School. Um, it's a small world. I've been in Belmont for a long time. Word gets out. If that is phasing out, why are we fighting over this? Why are we fighting over transfers? Why is my daughter being argued over and fought for by the PE teacher when it's a it's a moot point? It's it's going away. I I just don't understand. I don't understand. So, >> okay. Next, we'll have Lisa Fehee from Bureau of Faith. Hi guys. I'm sure you missed me since I didn't come to the last meeting, back to school night. I'm

011honored to step into my new role as president at BRSFA. I'd like to begin to acknowledging by acknowledging Barbara who is such an incredible asset to our team and community. Unfortunately, many of our educators and specialty roles are leaving our district for higher pay elsewhere. While that remains a challenge, tonight is not that's not what I want to focus on tonight. I want to focus on the work ahead. Last year, we began sharing our glows and grows at board meetings, and I'd like to continue that practice. Having taught now at two sites in our district, I've seen firsthand how community and unity shape our work. The community at each school is strong and inspiring. Each site meets the needs of its students that are there in that unique way. No school is better than another,

012just different. That's the glow. Our schools reflect the communities that they currently serve. But the grow is that we lack unity across sites. Too often schools are compared to the by their shortcomings instead of learning from one another's strengths. At Fox, for example, the principal has used site funds to begin um a writing specialist that has partnered with Central. That collaboration is working well, but it's not something we see consistently across the district where sites are coming together to improve. Um imagine if every site's strengths could support another site's need. Just like when we pair students strategically during readers and writers so they can both grow. We should be doing the same across our schools. Not to highlight the differences but to lift each other up. As the saying goes, a rising tide lift all

013boats. So that is my vision for this year. to raise the bar for the students, for the teachers, for our district as a whole by sharing strengths, supporting one another, and striving for consistency so we can ensure that excellence is not limited to a spread across all of our sites to have a more thriving school community. Thank you. All right, next we'll have Pamela Miller from BRSFA speaking on ELA curriculum. Good evening. Um, and thank you. Um, Pamela Miller. I'm the vice president of BRCFA and I teach fifth grade at Cypriyani. And I'm going to piggyback on something Lisa said about writing and reading uh, curriculum. So, I'm here tonight to speak on behalf of teachers about the writing and reading curriculum. Many of our sites are still using Lucy Caulkins materials for fourth and

014fifth grade. As you know, this has been widely uh, nationally criticized for its ineffectiveness. Some sites, however, have spent site funds to move away from it and to do different things like Central and Fox. This inconsistency has created inequity across our district. Some sites, principles have paid for supplemental curriculum, and at others, teachers are left to fund and find their own resources. They spend their own time, their own money to provide students with what they need. That means the quality of writing instruction a student receives can depend not just on the school they attend, but on whether their teacher can afford to purchase materials out of pocket. That's not equity and it's not sustainable. Upper elementary teachers have spoken about this issue many times at brown bag lunches, release days, and in conversation with district

015leaders. The answer has consistently been wait. It's our understanding that California is in the process of adopting and approving a new ELA curriculum and that BRSSD plans to pilot in 2627. We understand that there's a process, but we need equality and equity across our school sites. Our students deserve consistent writing instruction that is researchbased, relevant, and effective today, not two years from now. Teachers are doing everything we can with what we have, but our students deserve better tools and our educators should not shoulder this burden alone. We believe BRSSD's mission uh in BRSSD's mission and in the strength of our schools. By addressing this gap now, we can ensure every student and teacher, regardless of their site or grade, has the resources they need. Thank you. All right. And our last speaker will be Da

016Oi from the Santo County Office of Education. >> Good evening. My name is Da Uni and I'm the executive director of district business services at San Matio County Office of Education. I'm here this evening to communicate SMCA's appreciation to the administrative and support staff at Belmont Redwood Shore School Districts for their work in implementing the enterprise resource planning system which is the financial system called uh frontline California ERP. So, we have been working on implementing the system since March of uh 2024 and it has been a tremendous um endeavor throughout this county and uh we understand that BRSD staff have full-time jobs. So taking on this change was on top of their already four workloads and we believe that the implementation has been successful because SMCE has not received any complaints that your July and

017pay August payrolls are incorrect. So we think it's successful and uh making sure that your employees are paid correctly was one of our top priorities. SMCA paid for the implementation costs of approximately $5.6 6 million and this included paying for the licensing cost of running the two systems as well as consultant time and additional overtime for our staff to support BRSD and also the other count other districts in the county and um we want to definitely acknowledge the hard work of the staff here and this change would not have been possible without their work. So specifically, I wanted to call out and thank the following Belmont Bond River Resource team members. Uh Leia Ragac, um budget and accounting supervisor. Jill Bower, pay payroll and benefits specialist. Annie Fermy, human resources specialist. Alysia Lao, accounting technician.

018Lisa Nahara Kang, human resources assistant. Julie Eastborne, human resources director, and Ree Matsoto, chief business official. So, the Belmont Breadshore staff have been wonderful to work with. We know that there have been some challenging days when we all felt overwhelmed, but the team kept marching on. So, thank you. And we're now uh past the implementation phase and we're now into the enhancement and continuous improvement phase. And we hope that the district would find the new ERP system a valuable tool to pay your employees correctly, report retirement, um, and, uh, keep track of employee leaves, provide timely financial reports, develop and track budgets, as well as purchase items with proper control procedures, and generally account for the financial resources provided by Belmont Resource Community. Thank you. >> Thank you. And those are all our speakers for

019this evening. >> Thank you. Uh item number eight, accurately this time, uh the board of trustees report. Anyone like to get us started? Trusty Tang, I choose you. Um, I just wanted to say congratulations and thank you very much to our administrators and all of our teachers for all of the endless hours of hard work you do to make sure that the school year goes off to a smooth start. Um, my kids have had a great time so far in their um, classrooms this year and it's all due to your hard work. Thank you so much. >> Thank you, Chusty Den. Okay, thank you. Um, yeah, so um, not a lot to report from me. Um, I will echo Trusty Tang's comments that were, um, off to a great year. My son is also having

020a great time um, in kindergarten, so it's it's been um, a good transition for us. Um the one thing that I will share is that um at the end of this month I'm starting a course on ethical leadership and so um I hope to take what I learned from that course and be able to use it here as well. >> Awesome >> c >> I see my time. >> Thank you Jesse North. Um, in addition to thanking all the teachers and staff for a wonderful start of the school year, um, I just wanted to also thank all the parents um, who are involved with school force and PTA and all the parents who have donated or are planning to donate uh, to school force. Um, it is now just you donate to school force and

021um, your children's uh, schools PTAs will be funded as well. There's no s set amount that the first amount goes to the PTA etc. Uh what you can donate we appreciate and that goes to funding our uh staff um as well as community events at the school. So thanks to again to all the parents as well as the teachers and staff for a great start of the school year. >> Thank you. um uh Hispanic Heritage Month. Just want to put that out there. We have I think it's a good chunk of our community and also important to all of us. Happy that for anyone who that's um salient to uh I am I echo everything. I want to appreciate uh administrators. Um right now there's been some some recent events that may be aware but

022uh keeping students and school sites safe um has been uh a scary concept and recent days and also just in the country and I think uh the weight that holds on its own and the actions that follow um as administrator myself I'm in real appreciation of um this team actually we've had just kind of some recent meetings and I I always feel that I love you guys. But uh in fact the recent work that we've done has been really healthy and I appreciate that as part of a two by two which will will come up later. Um and then uh I don't know if I can do this but just the bravery of people willing to speak. Um just want to call that out. It's uh yeah I mean it's basically I appreciate the the

023kind of directness that's being offered towards us um as feedback, support, advice, ideas. So thank you for that. I'm going to stay on and item number nine. I'm passing to you. >> All right. Uh good evening everyone. I just want to first start by recognizing today is September 11th uh in remembrance of the events that happened on 911 just to offer uh those thoughts uh as well as appreciation for all of those who serve our community each and every day. Um uh two things I want to mention. I just want to say thank uh Sonteo County Office of Education for coming out uh to recognize the district's transition uh to ERP system. Uh it was a huge lift that was on a lot of people's plate that took a lot of time. So uh thank

024you to all those who are mentioned. I also want to extend um those thanks because that's that was the team who made the change happen. there's so many more folks across the district in our offices, district office, um office support staff who are actually using the system who now had to learn how to use that new system, how to put in uh different orders and requisitions and all those things. So, I just extend the thanks to um the other support staff um across the district. Uh and finally, I just want to recognize that yesterday we had our first uh book club uh around the disengaged teen. We had about between 40 and 50 uh folks join us. Uh it was a great evening. It was an hour and hour and a bit uh well spent.

025Uh we had the time to look at at some data, some ideas around um engagement and agency. We spent time in breakout rooms uh talking across uh groups uh parents, educators um and educators broadly uh both teachers, certificated and classified staff um in groups talking about uh what it is that we want for our kiddos and and kind of resetting uh the idea of age of achievement versus age of agency. So this was uh one of four sessions. The next session is in October in a few weeks. Um, I want to encourage folks to sign up, come participate. Uh, even if you don't, uh, have the opportunity to be up to speed on the chapter that we're on. It's great conversation and a great opportunity. So, uh, encourage all to attend. Uh, look for, uh,

026the information on Parent Square in the coming weeks. And >> that's it for today. >> Thank you. Now, item number 10, approval of the agenda and consent agenda. >> Uh, there's been no changes. >> Um, may I have a motion to approve the um agenda, consent agenda? >> I move that we approve the uh consent agenda. >> I'll second. >> Appreciate that. Um, all in favor, please say I. >> I. opposed. Please say nay. Seeing as there are none, um the agenda consent agenda is approved. Item number 11, material sufficiency. This is a public hearing and resolution. We're going to hear from assistant superintendent ch. >> I can never remember. I think you open the public hearing first. >> Oh, I do. Public hearing is open. Are there speakers wishing to address the board on

027this agenda? >> There are no public speakers for the public hearing. >> Seeing as there are none, I seed back to you. >> Thank you. Uh this is our annual report that we have ordered and received our materials. Um we are backordered on one set of materials but we have a delivery date and all other and it um it's one grade level of kindergarten materials. We have printed through a printer unit one and provided booklets for every student so that nobody is without their classroom workbook at the moment but otherwise we have received everything and we are in compliance with our Williams textbook requirements questions. >> Yes. >> So yeah, thank you. Thank you. >> Quick question about like when what is it just a logistics timeline? Because I would think that if you know

028your numbers, right, the known the numbers that we need and you order it at a certain point in time and it would arrive over the summer even way in advance. So what I'm trying to figure out what what is the obstacle either, you know, on what do we can we do to kind of help mitigate these obstacles in the so that the textbooks are in hand by the first day. Yeah, it's definitely about timeline and ordering. And unfortunately, as we all know, this is the last year of the math. Nobody has said this to me formally. We have received every single thing we ordered except for one one booklet in kindergarten. I personally think that publishers know that this was running out. They're they're done with this. And so I I kindergarten across the board

029is backordered. Um it is shipping soon. Um, but typically we place our orders before we before the as soon as July one hits, we place our orders so they can be delivered in in August. We don't always have control over the publishers. Um, but every other item is here and you know, we thankfully have finances to be able to support us in these instances. So, we were able to get the materials printed. >> Great. Can I ask about um these materials with relation to what was brought up by our public speaker? Um, I'm just wondering I I understand that there's a disparity, if I understand correctly, that there's a disparity in the quality of the ELA instructional curriculum that as it is exists today and that our upper elementary school students are having trouble with

030um acquiring the appropriate curriculum to help them help them along that ELA path. Um, are we providing them sufficient textbooks and instructional materials to >> what the Williams audit is what what the Williams audit requirement is for from the state of California is that we have every adopted curriculum textbook in hand. So what what that conversation entails is a new adoption of new materials in our LCAP where it's listed what our ELA, math, science, social studies, health, and social emotional learning curricula are that are formally adopted by the school board. Those are the materials and textbooks that we verify that we have for William's sake. >> I don't know if this is the right forum to ask this question. Dan, you can tell me if I'm I'm >> Yeah. But is it possible for us

031to be able to acquire some additional materials in order to address the issues that were brought up here today? >> Yes. But that's not a Williams issue. >> Oh, yeah. Yeah. That's why I was like, I'm not I'm not sure if that's a >> in terms of this public hearing of have we received all of our adopted materials? Yes, we have with the exception of that one grade level stuff with with a ship date. So, we should be getting those soon with In in regard to the other question, that is something that certainly if you want to direct us to look into more formally aligned materials, that's something that we look to you for. But >> and we can provide additional information for the board. Um sites do have discretionary funds. Uh there are discretionary

032funds um provided um across the district uh to utilize in honestly discretionary ways. Uh so I think we heard from our speakers tonight that some uh sites have used that for uh differing professional development uh consultant kind of work. Uh some folks have used that in a book study format. Uh some folks have used that uh to purchase uh supplemental materials, not core materials but supplemental materials uh in support. But if we think check back to the goal and intent of the Williams Act, it's for every site to have kind of the same access to materials. Correct. And so having these discretionary funds where one site, oh, I decided to buy it. The other site says, oh no, I'm not going to buy it. Doesn't that create disparity? >> Uh sites have discretionary funds to

033utilize in ways that they see benefit students. Kind of local control um piece is the way I would equate it. Um each site does have differing needs. >> So from a will from from this perspective we have everything and then we can I guess agendaize and discuss further. But >> I just I just wonder if you guys it's the beginning of the school year and I would like the kids to have the materials that the teachers want to use to teach their students. That's just that's my concern and we can talk about it at a later more appropriate time. Thank you. >> Other questions about this public hearing resolution? >> Other questions? This is an item. This is an item for action. Um, I'm looking for a motion to approve resolution number 2025 20226-4 assuring

034compliance with education code 60119C for adequacy of instructional material and content alignment for pupils in the Belmont Rabbit Shores School District. May I have a motion to approve? >> So moved. >> Is there a second? Second. >> Thank you, Jesse Northrup. Uh, all in favor, please say I. >> I. Anyone? Any naysay? And then seeing there are no nays or abstensions. Um, item number 11 is approved. >> Thank you. >> A lot of words. Item number 12, approval of the memorandum of understanding between California School Employee Association and Belmont Report School District regarding Wednesday meal service. Director East >> Good evening. So item number 12, the district um because the district is providing lunch in a congregate setting on Wednesdays to allow students to eat lunch on campus prior to dismissal. Um we needed to

035increase the FTE or the minutes to some uh certain categories of employees specifically pair educators. Um so with that their hours increased um approximately 45 minutes. Um their salary and benefits also increased accordingly. So with that it is recommended that the board of trustees approve theou of CSEA regarding Wednesday meal service. Is it open for discussion? Are there any questions about thisou? Seeing as there are none, uh, is there a motion to approve theou with cssea regarding Wednesday meal service? >> I move that we approve theou with csea regarding Wednesday meal service. >> Thank you. >> Second. >> Thank you, Trusty Deng. Um, all in favor, please say I. >> I. Any opposed? Seeing as there are none, uh, item number 12 is approved. Item number 13, you're back up. Approval of theou between Belmont

036Repor School District and BRSFA for the school nursery salary schedule. >> Thank you. The district and BRSFA recognize that the school nurse position requires additional time on site each day for administrative duties, um, paperwork, and additional days at the beginning and the end of the school year. to update and maintain student care plans. Um the parties agree that it is in everybody's best interest to move the school nurse position to the existing school psychologist salary schedule. With that um the in the school nurse daily hours will increase from 6 and a half to 7 and a half. Increase the number of school days that the school nurse works from 185 to 200. and to pay the school nurse um according to the attached school psychologist salary schedule. So with that, it is recommended that the

037board of trustees approve theou between Belmont Redwood Shores School District and BRSFA for the school nurse salary schedule. I move to approve theou between Belmont Redwood Shores School District and BRSFA for the school nurse salary schedule. If before you second, are there any questions? >> Sorry. >> Okay, go for it. >> I have a second. >> I appreciate that. Um, all in favor, please say I. >> Um, all opposed saying is there are none. Uh, item number 13 is approved. And you're still here. Item number 14. um approval of the MLOU between BRSSD and BRSFA mentor teacher job description and stipen. >> Thank you. So this is exciting. Um we're proud to announce the completion of the joint task force committee's work between the district and BRSFA. Um it's a big step forward on our

038ongoing commitment to building strong relationships and providing dedicated support for our teachers. Um this initiative is a key component um to our strategic plan from last year. Very happy that all parties came together to approve the job description and the stipen that goes along with it. Um it's the intent to establish mentor positions at each site that are designed to assist teachers experienced in the profession but new to the district. So, these are teachers that would not qualify for induction um but may need extra support, curriculum support or kind of nuts and bolts trying to um assimilate to the district um and just being a new teacher on site. Um the support activities will be conducted outside of regular work hours up to 40 hours a year. And in some cases, if somebody needs more

039support, we can approve those hours on a time sheet basis at the same rate. Um, this time sheet rate uh aligns with previous rates approved for the professional support and improvement plan mentor teacher position. Um, with that I am happily asking to um that the board approves the mentor teacher job description and statement. >> Last question >> of course. >> So this is pretty exciting I think. Um, has this been piloted before or have you felt some of if not that these mentor teachers maybe have been doing it informally and now we're just getting around to finally formalizing it? >> Correct. Second part is correct. Okay. I think the first part is um it's not been formally piloted, but I do believe a lot of teachers that are um tenured and more experienced in the

040district have been doing this type of work basically on their own >> past. Do you so how is um if somebody's interested in this position what is there a committee or what's it going to be the process to >> so you know um in theory yes but we're kind of we'll work through the kinks as we go along the thought is to um get volunteers for example if there's a new third grade teacher that falls into this category we would ask for a partner third grade teacher to volunteer if there is one that fits the criteria. Um, and then go, you know, go from there. If there's more than one, then we'll hold, you know, interviews and pick >> pick the, you know, the most qualified support person. >> Um, I think, you know, may

041we're talking about maybe one or two per site. >> We don't have a lot of new teachers typically that would fit into this category. each year. >> So, we'll we'll see how it goes the first year. We'll start slowly this year for sure. >> Great. Thank you. >> Can you clarify the mentor teacher job position is in addition to um a class that they're teaching already? >> Correct. So, these are regular classroom teachers that would be putting in work outside of the regular school day. and or and you're saying that we're anticipating one or two mentor teachers or is it like a little bit? >> Yeah, you know, um I don't have the numbers. I should have actually done the work and got the exact numbers of what our need is this year, but typically

042we get new teachers um that new to the profession that qualify for induction that receive support from the county office program. Um we do also from time to time get experienced teachers. Um those numbers are fewer but maybe one or two per site at the most per year. >> And we're anticipating the mentor teacher job position to basically be a is it is it to continue throughout the year or >> year by year? Yeah. >> Yeah. I think we're en envisioning um really just being able to be responsive to needs of our newer veteran staff in growing into their role in BRSSD and um ensuring that we are properly supporting and recognizing the support that our veteran teachers um are providing to them. So, uh there's some flexibility like we uh Julie shared up to

043a certain number of an hours. Um it's not not a necessarily formalized uh every every week for three hours or two hours. It's responsive to the need. Right? So, when we're looking to pair people, we're looking for similar experiences. um oftentimes it might be at the same school, it might be at a different school, right? So, uh just really formalizing um this piece that I will say um did come was born out of our strategic plan. Uh three years ago, it was uh at the table we were talking about how do we support teachers uh in ongoing ways and this was one of them. >> Thank you. This is wonderful. Any other questions? Okay. Um, may I have a motion to approve the mentor teacher job description and snip it? >> So, move. >> Oh,

044move to that. Yes. >> So, moved. Yeah, you got it. May I have a second? >> Second. >> Sweet. All in favor, please say I. I. >> Any opposed? Seeing as there are none, item number 14 is approved and you get a break. Item number 15, uh, enrollment, elementary and middle school enrollment trends, presented by Superintendent Duara. >> Great. Uh, got to get used to the microphone. Uh, good evening again. And, uh, for this presentation, I may call on Julie here and there um, as needed, who helped uh, me put together uh, the numbers. A couple of caveats I want to just mention. uh when we go through slides and I'm talking uh numbers uh generally speaking these are the numbers they may fluctuate um here and there and there may even be some inconsistencies

045between slides just because of the data time snapshots sometimes we'll look at um our enrollment at the beginning of the year sometimes we'll look at our enrollment at the seabeds date sometimes we'll look at the enrollment at the end of the year so slide to slide they're consistent within uh the slide slide but there might be slight variations. Uh for example in some slides we include uh pre kindergarten with transitional kindergarten uh the handful of preschoolers that we have and other slides we're focusing solely on TK. So that caveat. Uh and I'm sharing this enrollment um as part of my yearly enrollment update um with the board. Uh this year we'll look specifically at elementary schools and specifically at middle schools. and it works from here. Uh just a little snapshot of our school district

046across the board where uh most schools are roughly in the 400s. Uh we have two outliers there. San Piper at 548 and Rston at 1099. Uh generally speaking, 400 is a very nice size school. uh many districts uh across county and outside of county uh run schools of much higher um uh numbers there. Um when we look at our total enrollment year-over-year 2425 we had roughly 3 30 3,927 and 2526 we had 3,884. Uh relatively flat, right? Those numbers are very close. We're about 50ish lower this year uh than we were last year. Uh the one caveat is we've finished adding a full grade level. So over the last four years we've been adding transitional kindergarten essentially across the state of California. We've added a new grade level uh which is fantastic. Provides additional opportunity

047for our youngest um learners uh our fouryear-olds. Right. So, uh, we are happy to fully implement TK this year. I'll have a couple slides, um, on that. Uh, this year, TK and PreK, uh, we came in at 23. Uh, we had, uh, in 8th grade this year, across the span. So, you do see that difference there uh, in terms of numbers. Uh, we'll talk birth rates and and whatnot as we go um, along. Uh one other thing that I want to just mention uh because because we'll be talking about a declining enrollment trend. Uh declining enrollment is year overyear um we're seeing fewer and fewer kids. Uh you hear this trend talked about um up and down the state across the nation has to do with birth rates a lot of different factors. Um, I

048want to be very specific that for BRSSD, because we are communityf funded, meaning we're funded on our property taxes and we receive more uh than the state's minimum funding, uh we are kind of sheltered uh from the impacts of declining enrollment in terms of costs. Most districts as students uh decline um they lose funding at a larger rate than they're generating funding um by their student. So uh much more significant. That's why you hear about school closures um and whatnot. Our declining enrollment does not uh signify the need to do that. Let's talk about transitional kindergarten. Back in 2022, we were uh I think it was three or four months that were allowed to attend transitional kindergarten. We had 86 students back then. Full implementation this year um September 2nd as that uh critical date.

049Uh we have 190 students. Uh we've grown from 4 and a half TKs in 2022 to 11 TKS in 2526. And those TKs uh are distributed across the district in this way. We have uh we do not offer TK at Central and Nesbbit. We have one at Cypriyani. We have four at Fox. We have three at Redwood Shores and three at Sandpiper. Uh the board may recall a few years ago we were looking at how the district grows out uh the TK program. Uh with our declining enrollment and school sizes, um we learned that the extremities of the district, the um up on the hill by Fox and out by the bay and Redwood shores, those were the areas that were declining uh quickest. Um and the center of the district was actually experiencing some

050growth. Uh so our TK's uh primarily were fostered at the extremities of the district. uh and we've continued to enroll in that way. Uh from now here I want to just touch base about middle school enrollment, look at some trends. Um generally speaking when we talk about declining enrollment um we have a larger eighth grade class um that is replaced by a much smaller kindergarten class. So this year uh in 2025 465 kiddos leaving uh being replaced with uh 352 that delta of about 113 um adds up over time. So as I shared before uh with this trend um we've added a grade level we've added more uh students um yet we've re remained um relatively flat over time. We do anticipate um that uh to continue for several years out. Uh current middle school

051enrollment um uh in terms of current enrollment and seats available, we have 1099 at Rston, we have 135 at Nesbbit, 123 at Sandpiper. Uh you see in terms of seats available in space, we do not have space. Um at Rston, uh Nesbet, we have about 33 spaces. Um 45 at Sandpiper. Uh in terms of looking at trends in our middle school, uh we have a large sixth grade class at Rston, uh we do have intra district transfer requests lists, uh weight lists to attend Rston, uh from internal uh students looking to transfer up. At Nesbbit, we would categorize that as consistent across grade levels, meaning sixth, seventh, and eighth have roughly the same amount of numbers, uh, give or take a few. Those co cohorts are midsized, definitely room for growth. Um, at Sandpiper, we

052would categorize enrollment, um, as inconsistent at grade levels. We have fewer kids in sixth and seventh grade uh, than we do in eighth grade. Um, eighth grade is our largest class at San Piper. When we look at middle school enrollment, we always like to project out a little bit. Uh, these this is what the numbers look like internally as we graduate our sixth, seventh, and eighth grade uh students up. Um, this graph is just simply um a graduating up, right? Each year students go to the next grade grade level. Fifth graders go to sixth grader, sixth grade, sixth go to seventh. Uh we can look at what that does for our enrollment over time. Uh you can see at 26 27 there's uh 2526 we're roughly flat. Uh as we look at those trends uh

053out uh this is independent of new kiddos transferring in. Um we see that declining trend. So, uh, just roughly graduate graduate numbers, uh, two, four, six years out, we're roughly 290 students less, um, at our middle school. So, uh, just taking that into consideration in terms of planning. Last spring, we started to do a pretty comprehensive look at our middle schools to see what was uh attracting folks to to our schools. Um how our uh enrollment was influenced. Uh we each spring give a a survey allow our fifth grade students and families uh to select which choice um middle school. last year. Um, this is the way the choices kind of percolated out of the 454 kiddos that responded. Uh, out of the 458 students that we sent the survey to, uh, there were 391

054that selected Rston as their first choice, uh, you can see Nesbbit and Sandpiper, uh, second choice. Um, and then third choice. We did our best to try and understand what drives um people to select the middle school that they do. Uh proximity to home. Uh in this question, we asked families to indicate their top three reasons uh for their middle school selection. Uh the chart shows the number of families ranking each factor as their uh first, second, and third priority. I will say that the charts here that you'll see um are are just data, raw data um uh not necessarily causal u but uh indicators of what people are thinking. Uh proximity to home uh rated uh high as a first priority and a second priority. Uh school reputation again a first priority and a

055second priority. Um extracurricular activities, I would probably align that with electives. Uh we did not pull electives. Uh uh ranked as a third priority. Uh social reasons um uh came in as a second and a third priority and then school culture um as a third priority. And you can see where others um ranked as well. uh we do know uh the surveys as they came in and it is possible um not an easy task but it is possible to even further differentiate uh those priorities to uh where families were assigned and uh what their first choice was. We can we can do that later if needed. Uh but right now that just gave us kind of a base of information to to reflect upon. Uh we wanted to test a couple of things uh that

056have been our uh uh programs of promise. Um at Sandpiper we've been doing work around design thinking. At Nesbbit we've been uh launching the international baloria program and then districtwide we've been looking at um music and arts. Um we have said um that uh certain middle schools do cater more to the music um and arts than others. Um and when we tested that uh the perception of advanced learning programs actually uh came in the strongest really close to no specific program uh influenced the decision. Uh design thinking international balora and music arts actually all pulled relatively low. Um that said I will say one caveat our international balora program uh had not been um recognized as an IB world school. um yet. So, uh they achieved that status uh status um after the survey was

057given. We talk a lot about how our families make the choice. We speculate sometimes maybe people just don't know uh a lot about our our smaller schools. uh and if we give uh more information about our our small schools Nesbbit and Sandpiper uh and more time to make that decision, does that impact um enrollment? And uh what we found is uh that when we asked if folks had adequate time and adequate information, um largely our families said yes, we did. uh with the vast majority to both of those questions answering um agree or strongly disagree. Sorry, agree or strongly agree. So that leads us to middle school thoughts, right? When we look at our enrollment, we look at the numbers attending our middle schools. Um we uh look at things from a a number of

058different areas. Um I am proud of each and every one of our middle schools. I believe truly that they offer amazing programs and amazing opportunities for for our students. Um that said um when we look at the sustainability from an enrollment perspective um three middle schools is becoming less and less feasible when we have classes of 30 and 40. um at our middle schools um we have to think and and question uh is that uh what we want uh to have. So uh we have approximately 100 290 students uh less in about six years. Uh that's the size of both of our small schools, our small middle schools as they're um both uh slightly under capacity. Um the small school model inherently comes with additional costs. Uh it's complicated by lower enrollment and demand. Um

059and I'll be uh straightforward. Uh looking at our middle school program is not uh based on finances. Um, as a communityf funded basic aid district, we can choose to spend our dollars in ways that we believe uh benefit um our students. Uh we do need to be objective. We need to to to look at um how those dollars uh impact students in optimal ways um and um uh continue to analyze that. Uh and then finally uh again looking at our middle schools um we uh any changes we were to make to our middle school program does require board action. Um I bring this to the board from an enrollment perspective tonight. Um our enrollment is declining. Um our numbers in our middle schools um have declined. Um and it is a stressor. It is a

060stressor as you've heard tonight. Um we're committed to making sure that we're always making the right decisions. Um and in that vein, uh it's important to me to provide that opportunity for our board to analyze our current practice, uh to engage with those demographic trends, uh to listen to community input, um and really determine um next best steps. Um if um our board after looking at um uh data and input believe that our current path forward um is the current uh is the right path then we stay steadfast. uh if after looking at the data and we uh evaluate options um and need to make changes um that is an important thing for the board to consider. So uh in thinking about a path forward again my commitment to you is to bring the data

061forward uh to allow our board to make the appropriate decision. Um and I I look at it in a couple of of different ways. Uh our demographic trends are our demographic trends. We can see what we can see for seven years out. Um it's about time and we've already uh reached out to our demographer Tom Williams uh to update our projections. Um look at if his last demographic study uh was accurate um what the birth rates were um uh right now, right? Like we can add five years to what we know, right? kiddos born actually it's four years now right kiddos born now will be in our school in four years right so uh to help us uh make that uh best decision uh we look at demographic trends in October uh if uh the

062will of the board is is to continue to look at middle school uh enrollment to affirm uh that we're doing the best by our community we can uh facilitate community outreach in November December um uh thinking if if if I want to say if uh there is a change um uh it could be made uh in the spring uh for uh change next year. Uh that said, opportunities in brainstorming, there's a lot that could be done, right? So, um, we've talked about single comprehensive middle schools. We've talked about smaller schools. Uh, we've talked about, um, uh, schools for opportunity. So, um, with that, I'm going to I plan to continue to bring information to the board, uh, alongside with the enrollment, uh, projection and study in October and, uh, move down that path to analyze

063if, uh, what we're doing still makes the most sense. Um and if not uh work with the board to make any changes needed. >> This is an open for discussion. >> I had a question about the TK. Um I noticed that there were two I don't remember which slide it was on. There were two schools I think that did not have a TK class. And I know that we were saying that it was because those are the spaces with less kids, >> right? >> Um, however, I also recognize that it's a fair burden on parents, especially if they have an older child at one school and a TKer at a different school. Correct. >> Is there any plan on maybe having at minimum one TK class at each um >> uh we are constrained by

064size like full stop. uh there uh the size of Central and Nesbbit um uh make it difficult uh to have uh TK uh they're uh full with their current students and uh when we look at offhand uh two or three cohort CLA we have at each of our schools we have either two or three classes uh we I'm looking at Ree Nesbbit kept Nesbbit as three strand school maximizing uh the time that students spend um at their school. uh to reframe. So, if if we were to have added uh full TK capacity at a school, right, with the idea that we want kids to spend as much time as they can at one school, um we would have had a fewer number of classes at each grade level, thereby um limiting the n total number

065of students at the school site. That makes sense, right? So, right now at a school there there uh is either three three kindergartens or two kindergartens. So, in theory, you would want to have either three or two TKs to feed into those kindergartens. Uh there's not enough space for those classes. as it stands now. Sorry, I'm jumping in, but I'm I'm not taking it from you yet. When you say space, you're actually talking about classrooms. >> Facilities. Yes, facilities. >> Sorry, just to continue with that same topic. So, we're just saying that there's not physical classroom space, but we're not saying that we couldn't put classroom space there. Is that correct? >> Uh that is that is correct. Uh the the board uh as we were implementing transitional kindergarten uh uh the board stance was

066uh rather than build additional facilities um we're going to utilize the facilities that will go virtually unoccupied to house one year of a transitional kindergarten program. Um and then uh students will metriculate to their quote unquote home school or closest school. >> Anyone else >> on a slightly different topic? >> Yes, please. >> Thank you. Thank you. on a on a different topic looking at the um middle school enrollment. I'm looking at um slide nine. Um so just kind of an observation. Sorry, as I make it larger so I can see it better in front of me. Um I'm definitely looking forward to hearing from the community of what the community um is interested in. And um also my observation is that um the projections are that for 26 27 we're going to see a

067a moderate decline of uh you know 26 uh fewer middle schoolers and then 2728 that it's seems like we're going to uh have a little a tiny bit more. Um but then in 2829 we see a large number um declining. Um so I just want to emphasize that um we want to hear from the community what the community wants to happen. And um I think as Superintendent Duara said um we could stay with the path we have or we could change it. Um and I think I think we could be open to a gradual change. I don't think the numbers I think the numbers could uh could numbers along with community input could support either a uh either stay the same a gradual change or a uh quicker change. They're just a really a comment.

068Thank you. I I will also say um I think when we bring up this topic uh it raises a lot more questions perhaps in terms of what's ideal um uh you know certainly certainly I could say is a middle school or any school of a,00200 uh the optimal size no I I probably would say no. Um, you know, schools uh that are smaller um are probably more optimal. But when we look at um scale and opportunity to offer more diversity in terms of offerings, um scale helps in those um ways. you know, you look at all of your middle schoolers and you say, "Well, what if we had, you know, two comprehensive middle schools?" Uh, that I'll just we'll stop there. That that's a huge conversation and not one that I'm necessarily suggesting, but it's

069it's it's conversation, right? But you do lose some of that um scale. Um, all that to say is is uh this is opening up the question of whether or not we should consider it. And um uh that's my commitment to the board is is to bring data. Um and each time uh when I shared that last slide there um is really really truly uh decision points, right? Like uh let's let's look at enrollment data and uh stand in inquiry and wonder. Let's look at what the demographer says and let's um uh think about that. let's hear um from our community and let's um think about that. And at the end of the day, if uh our our trajectory is status quo, uh that's the right decision. Um but uh definitely uh putting it out there

070for conversation. I have a question uh on slide 12. I'm looking at just academic programs. I'm like I'm I'm curious what the what this slide means for this question. Uh so in this we asked um uh academic programs that most influence their decision. So we we uh know we invested in sandpaper around design thinking >> um and uh international balorate in at NESBIT >> um we uh heard that people had uh thoughts about accelerated programs um i.e. um geometry. Um and we uh heard a lot of feedback around uh students needing to go to Rston because of the um uh I'll just say the robust offering in music. Um the level of music at San Piper and Nesbbit is different um than Rston. Uh so that's why those items were were selected. Um it is

071it honestly the data is is interesting to me as well. I would have expected um higher numbers uh at actually design thinking IB and arts and music. >> Um >> yeah, it's just a a temperature check, >> right? >> Yeah. So I think this is pretty in so well some of those are school obviously school specific and where there's programs are being done now but with we've always always talked about certainly like getting more recognition doing certain things to make the larger community aware of of the stage of development as you mentioned the IB program had just gotten certified but not when those when the survey was was put around or >> Yeah, I think our our survey um was after the middle school selection, >> right? So, uh we did all of our info

072nights, uh we did all of our shadowing days, uh we did um all of our um uh small program >> and then we assign we uh uh people did the survey um and then we surveyed after um after the fact after all that was done. Yeah, in your experience and and Reese, please chime in. What period of time when you know when boards are or in your past again experience with other districts, what is an appropriate period of time to know if if something is truly going to take hold for a program like is it going to happen? So, uh, you know, if if giving some of these programs the the time, what's a meaningful shift, you know, to say, yeah, it's slow but steady versus I think we've we've the community has spoken in

073a way that we just have to kind of accept. >> Yeah. >> Or go. I mean I think uh when we go back to uh these trends I I think we start to see um some patterns certainly um uh we will dig into the numbers uh to understand um of students attending like um how many are are new to VRSSD, how many um attended BRSSD in fifth grade like I think some of those trends will help us um better understand um uh the demographics and and the selection process. Um these are higher level and I think as we ask those questions uh we'll look at those data points um and analyze them the best that we're able. >> Yeah, I appreciate that and I know we're in the start of the process but that would

074be interesting to me. >> Yeah. >> Um to you know to get in a little bit more into the granular as long as as I can kind of like see a story behind that. >> Yeah. Um, one of the things I I will say and and uh I appreciate you mentioning the story uh kind of behind it. Uh this is all numbers. Uh it's data. It um is void of emotion and commitment. Um I you know I said each of our middle schools um uh I would happily send my children to each of our middle schools. Uh they have amazing programs. Um they have uh teachers that are dedicated uh to what they do each and every day. Um we have um uh rston teachers who are you know stepping outside of their single subject

075credential and exploring different electives. We have Nesbbit um staff who have put in hours and hours of time uh to ensure that there are their units um are interdisiplinary and are aligned uh to world standards and um uh have students um working through in meaningful ways that contribute back. Uh we have staff um at Sandpiper that like Rston have stepped outside of their credentialed um uh pieces to develop electives for inter session that have added um uh multiple opportunities for students um in different ways um and uh they're connecting with kiddos that aren't possible isn't possible in in the large scale. So, uh, our staff, uh, is going above and beyond, um, to support specifically our small schools, right? So, that's all the stuff that you don't, um, see behind there. I know, uh, we

076have some of those amazing teachers here today, right? Um, uh, it's an amazing opportunity for for all of our kids, right? Regardless, and I do stand true, uh that whatever middle school uh your kiddo is enrolled in, they're going to get one amazing education. Uh it is different uh sight to sight. Uh but they will get an amazing education that not only prepares them for high school, but prepares them uh for what comes beyond. So >> totally agree. Thank you. >> Ask another this is maybe a basic question. uh this slide right here when I I I do the math and I see 168 is kind of whatever capacity right 135 is 138 like that's current enrollment plus seats available. >> Yeah. Uh so uh yeah so current enrollment uh we we can add another

07733 to that 135. >> Does this Yeah. With the conversation we're having right now, does that number change or is it is 168 the largest number of middle schoolers that could be at NESB or San? >> Uh yeah. Uh yeah. So uh we we take into consideration uh class size maximum uh teacher prep. Yep. >> Um all of all of those pieces. So yes. Yes. Yes. >> Any other questions? Okay. So, uh board can expect an enrollment update uh from Tom Williams uh at the October meeting and we'll continue to revisit uh as appropriate. >> Thank you. Um moving to item number 16, our unodudited actuals budget report with CBO Matsumoto. Good evening, trustees. Can you hear me? Great. Um, so we are now in fiscal year 2526. And what that means is it's now

078time to review fiscal year 2425 and how we did financially. So to give you the thousand foot view of everything, uh we ran a $4.9 million budget deficit in 24 and 25. Um, again, this is in line with what we had been expecting and overall this fits in with our longer multi-year plan of having built up surpluses in the prior three years and then now uh leveraging those reserves in order to keep our people spending high uh while our uh property tax revenue catches up um essentially with our expenditures. Um thinking about kind of the large drivers of this. So, on the revenue side, we had talked a few times last year about the uh going away of the supplemental tax as part of our transition a few years ago over to basic aid. Uh

079because of that, you'll notice in a couple slides that our revenue has basically remained flat in the 2425 school year. That is not something that we project will continue. Our revenue will begin going up again. Again, it's simply because of the lapse of the supplemental tax. Uh on the expenditure side, the largest driver of expenditures are actually people, which makes sense uh as you'll see in a few slides as well. Um it may not be as clear as I'll show in a bit though because a lot of it actually also is people that we have to hire through contracts, right? These are specialized positions that we may need, for example, for students with IEPs uh that we just may not be able to hire for within our district or uh is specialized to the point

080where uh we actually may need to go through a contractor. Um as we think about the future, uh we are starting to budget out for fiscal year 26 and 27. uh whereas in the budget that we approved I believe in May uh we are projecting to run a $5.3 million deficit. So again um this is all part of the plan this chart that you've seen many times and will continue to see over the next few years. um the surpluses we have built in fiscal year 21, 22, 23 and 24 uh we are leveraging those to keep our um expenditures high even as the stimulus funds have lapsed. Okay. So looking through our revenues, uh again as I have mentioned um our LCFF sources, which is essentially our basic aid, uh that has not changed at

081all. And you're noticing a few small down ticks in terms of federal revenue, state revenue, and local revenue. A lot of that is tied to our per pupil or a lot of it is tied to enrollment. So again, as our enrollment has slowly declined, so has some of the sources of revenue from those things. Again, if you notice, it's relatively small in comparison to our basic aid. So again, our basic aid revenue is our anchor. And given that we are basic a continue to grow basically by property tax growth. Okay, moving into expenditures. So let's talk about this a little bit more because as I mentioned, it's not as clear that the increase in expenditure is from people, right? So if you notice in the first three rows here, we have our salaries between certificated,

082classified, and benefits. Uh and those have increased by roughly uh what is that 3.2 million. Um but if you look down a few more lines in the services and other operating expenses, right, you'll notice that has gone up by roughly 2 million as well. And that really encompasses a lot of the contracts for people uh that either we haven't been able to fill the position for because um you know there are just large staffing needs across the country uh for example within special education um and so we've thus have to use contractors for so essentially uh even though it is not counted as the salaries bucket is essentially money that we are spending on people as well. So to give a quick breakdown of how our money is spent since I'm sure you're curious. So

083uh from year to year right most of our money is spent on people and most of our money is spent on our schools which makes a lot of sense right if you look at the leftmost graph between uh fiscal year 232 24 and fiscal year 2425 uh you'll notice the big uptick right again our expenditures have increased between two years but what's in that light gray bar that you'll notice is what I was talking about before on the last slide right so even within that gray bar a lot of it is actually still spent on people, right? So even though we are paying people with dark blue, we are also paying people with what's happening in the gray as well. So if I had to give an estimate, we're probably spending anywhere between 80 to

08483% of our total expenditures on people, even though what's being shown in just that dark blue segment over there is really around 75%. Again, this is more of a reflection of national staffing shortages around certain positions than it is a reflection on anything else. You know, we still continue to try and bring these positions in-house. We're always looking at, you know, keeping our salaries competitive to try and bring those people in as easily as possible, but again, a lot of it deals necessarily with the supply and not necessarily with the demand. Um again at the rightmost graph looking at how we're spending our expenditures most of the money is going towards our school. Now, this is probably introducing uh a new term here that I haven't referred to before called SSBC. And these are school

085services budgeted centrally, right? So, if we're thinking about a centralized PD, for example, that is technically within the central offices budget, but it's in the betterment of our kids, in the betterment of our students, right? For you could also think of um I can't think of another example off the top of my head, but if you could think about perhaps like an art program that we're budgeting for centrally, right? We're looking to do a certain program across all of our schools, but it's paid for at the central level that is another school service budgeted centrally. So again, most of our money is going towards our schools. Um and as Superintendent Dor and I have mentioned uh on numerous occasions, you know, we are very blessed to be able to run a very lean team operationally.

086Um so just a quick uh point out that you know a lot of this is also possible because of the hard work that um you know kind of our lean administrative team puts in to be able to uh you know do all the responsibilities properly and allow us to allocate as much money as humanly possible to our kids. So the last slide I have here is just a quick update on our different programs. Fun 13 is our food program. Fund 21 is our bond program. Uh fund 25 uh is for developer fees and fund 35 are for school facilities. U so overall we are running positives in each of these. And when you specifically look at fund 21, uh you'll notice that the projected balance is a lot higher or actually the finalized balance it's

087not projected balance is a lot higher and that's because we went through all the effort to issue the bond funds within trunch one of measure P um around May June of fiscal year 24-25. So this is just reflecting that we actually received the money which has allowed us to begin the roofing and HVAC assessments that uh we accomplished this past summer um and ultimately are using to move forward into summer 2026 and onwards as part of our bond program. that I conclude my time was open for questions for discussion. >> Um, thank you for the presentation. Can we go back to the slide where you have it between the SSBC? Yeah. Or the SSBC one. So you mentioned that the good clear description of some things are central. So that would fall. So what is

088the difference between the gray central there and then things that are central but h but put in the bucket of SSPC? >> Yeah. Uh that's a great question. So uh for example it's administrator salaries that goes in central. >> Okay. um versus school services budget essentially maybe a PE that uh assistant superintendent who is putting on that she budgets for in her own budget but truly the all of that is in service of the kids. >> Okay. >> Pretty special. >> Got it. So it's like more program specific versus like as salary like >> Yeah, exactly. I think of it more as services programs >> that are hitting all school sites. >> Yeah. that hits basically all of our school sites versus everything that is in the dark green bar is money that is at

089the school sites. Right. So teacher salaries, counselor salaries, etc. Programs that a site is running. >> And then central is more district. >> Exactly. >> Leadership. >> Exactly. What it takes to run the district, right? That includes maintenance staff as well. That includes custodial staff as well. >> Okay. Thank you. Oh, I use one other question. Do you It sounds like you, we appreciate the great job you've done with the assumptions um being.3 in the scheme of a budget of 66 67 million is really good. Um but do you envision um that do you feel that those assumptions are are still realistic? Do you do you think that there's any kind of are there any blips to like keep track of or to to monitor that might be coming up either with the state holding

090back on some funds or other other areas? >> Yeah, that's a great question. So, um a few things there, right? One, we always budget with conservatism in mind, right? So, we're always keeping an eye on, for example, the worst case scenario happening, right? Um, in terms of what's coming down the pipeline that could potentially cause a spike in expenditures, which I think is what you're asking. >> Um, one of the things we noticed this year is we actually uh saw an increase in special education students. So even though our overall enrollment decreased, uh, the number of special education students increased and um, depending on their IEPs, we may have to spend more or less per pupil on those. So that's one thing. Um ultimately on the federal and state funds, uh it doesn't make up

091a large portion of our budget. Um the money that we're accounting for in future years is money that has already been allocated. Um so unless uh the states does something drastic to take away those funds, it's a very high percentage chance that we'll be receiving those. And again, ultimately, most of our revenue comes from basic aid or property taxes. Uh and that is very very consistent. So again, you know, we are in a very fortunate position to be basic gate funded to the point where most of our revenues will be pretty stable moving forward. >> Perfect. Thank you. >> A question on slide eight, expenditures. Yeah. Um do you like any of those changes from year to year? like any of those stand out or will they continue like when I see additional spins or

092adjusted things is it not that I would actually do the math of projections but like all of those make sense to you and like they'll come up every year that they'll be would there be another additional spend on technology rollouts the next year or is that just something that was in that one between 2023 and 25? >> Yeah. So again those are things that we would budget for. Right. So uh the long story short the way we budget is we give uh each of our u central dep uh central office departments a allocation as well. So ultimately people have to make trade-offs as well right. So uh while in this past year we had a few more technology rollouts right we accounted for that in the budget right so all that means is in a

093future year instead of technology rollouts the money will be perhaps in something else right maybe it's in a service or something like that so uh again ultimately it comes down to how a specific uh department would like to use their allocation but overall it's not going to be like a you know year spike versus the next right >> thank changes how it's used, not the total amount. >> Makes sense. Y >> any other questions on item 16? Uh this is an action item. Um is there a motion to approve the unodited actuals budget report of district revenues and expenditures as required by law for the 2425 fiscal year as presented? >> So moved. I have a second. >> Second. >> Thank you. All in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Uh, seeing as there

094are no opposed, um, item 16 is approved. And keep your mic going. Item 17, summer construction update. Also from CBO Masamoto. Good evening again, trustees. Um, as part of our tour of the forest through fiscal year 2425, uh, we'd also like to just provide a quick construction update of the projects that happened last summer. So, again, to give a quick overview of what's been happening, uh, we had two or actually we have two bond measures currently open. We are at the tail end of measure I uh in which we issued the final $9 million of that in December 2022 and measure P uh of which November in November 2024 uh voters approved it uh for $171 million. Um the long story short, we had a whole saga about when to actually issue the funds. We

095were able to do so, saving taxpayers roughly $3 million on uh measure P and approximately $750,000 on the refinancing of measure I. Uh long story short, we are also looking at the projects now. Um, we got off to a quick start in summer 2022 with roofs at Cypriyani, uh, Nesbbit and Sandpiper, uh, as well as the cowshape program, uh, which provided some, uh, HVAC assessments that we can leverage for the HVAC work upcoming in summer 2026. So, this is a quick overview of what I just talked about. I won't spend too much time here. Uh again, measure P approved in November 2024. Uh we went through the process of issuing the funds. We tried for April, ultimately in May, and we then began the projects in June of 2025. So this is just a quick

096overview of where measure I is. Um, from an expenditure standpoint, uh, pretty much everything, uh, has been spent and accounted for with the exception of the district office modernization project, uh, which we're currently working on, uh, for the benefit of the audience and anyone watching at home. Uh, the district office will be closed, uh, as we will be moving uh, on October 3rd, 2025, which is relatively soon. Um, we expect our district office to be under construction for roughly a year. Uh, and we will be at uh, 1075 Old County Road. So, if you're interested in Frosties from Wendy's um, or the occasional donut, please stop by uh, and also bring some donuts for us. Thank you. Okay, great. And now as we move to measure P. So, what you're seeing is just basically the

097budget for trunch one of measure P. And again, there are three tranches. uh we brought Trunch one by the board uh in I believe March of 2025 uh for 57.5 million. And if you'll notice the small little um text at the bottom uh the total amount that you see of 50.9 million does not equal to 57.5. Uh that's because there are set aides for project ex uh escalation as inflation happens, contingency uh program management service, leg legal services and also the cost of issuance. So again there it doesn't mean the money does not go to the projects. It's just that is all in the back to make sure that if anything happens let's just say uh we open a wall and we find um you know that more work needs to be done uh it

098doesn't hamper the overall rest of the bond program. Uh so as you'll notice there's really only one expenditure here uh which is for roofs and HVAC as I'll cover in a second. um everything else that we'll talk about as well. Um for summer 2026 onwards, um we're talking about the MURs at our sites. Um we're talking about the fields uh at NESB and Rston. Uh we're talking about parking lots at Central. Uh potentially a drop off loop at Cypriani. Um and potentially any other technology needs that come up. So diving into some of the work that was done last summer. um we have the cowshaped grant work um and just a quick overview of how that work. So as you'll see on the leftmost chart um this is just a quick stock of all the

099number of HVAC units that uh we have across our different sites. Um and in terms of the right side this is kind of their their findings of you know what they consider to be highne issues. Um so coming out of that there are a few with damaged belts um some with electrical issues uh faulty operation which um for all intents and purposes is essentially uh maybe it wasn't spinning as fast as it should have. The air flow wasn't proper um or and then we had a number of units that were approaching its lifespan. Um again all this isformational work that contributes to the HVAC work that we'll be doing in summer 26. Um, and based on this info, uh, we actually had the company that is helping us pack West either repair them, um, or

100we had maintenance call the appropriate people to get a lot of these fixed for the beginning of the year. Um, in case you are curious, none of our sites had a particular concentration of these issues. Uh, so it's not like, you know, for example, Nesbbit had all of the failing HVACs. It was just a few sparsely uh, populated amongst the different sites. So, now moving on to the roofing. Um, we have a few uh quick up just few quick pictures of the different updates um throughout the summer. We also sent these over to the sites themselves to share with their community. Um, overall the roofing projects were a success. Uh, we were able to add new roofs, um, asphalt shingles to, um, again, Cypriani, Nesbbit, and Sandpiper. I'll just flip through some of these pictures

101very quickly. Again, we're very excited that we were able to finish this given that we had issued the funds for uh these types of projects in May. Um doing so was a very quick turnaround. And so I would like to just quickly applaud our art architects who are dring to run architects and also our program manager Telq for uh making sure that we could get kind of all of the ramifications designed and actually have the roofs hit the appropriate places at the right time and finish by before school. With that I clue my time. I just if I can just add on I want to just extend my appreciation uh for the team. Um we've been doing a lot of things in parallel right facility master planning while simultaneously planning for a bond while simultaneously

102thinking about how that money is spent uh and executed. Right? So, uh, from the time that we approved the pond to the time our community actually started to see things, uh, take shape, uh, was relatively quick. So, uh, compliments to CBO Matsoto and the extended team for making that happen. There's districts out there that have, uh, taken years literally, uh, to execute on on bond dollars that were were approved. So, uh, really proud that we can see that. And I'll just say every time I I uh go by CBO Matsumoto's uh office, there's a new set of blueprints and a new set of um whatifs or what could be. And um I'm like, well, what if um and and it's kind of a fun space to be. So, uh, we do look forward to involving

103the community in those, um, uh, drawings and thoughts, um, as we, uh, get closer to constructions and facility updates at our school sites. >> Thank you, Superintendent Dor. Uh, I actually forgot that I had one additional slide that I forgot to go through. Thank you for reminding me about that. Um, just thinking about the the future projects that are coming down. So, in summer 2026, again, our focus is the HVAC uh upgrades at as many sites as possible. Uh roofing projects at Fox, Central, and Rston because uh we did the other sites. And Redwood Shores has a metal roof which does not require um any changes to it. Um probably the biggest few in here are the MUR modernizations um likely at Cypriani, Nesbbit, and Fox. Um, again, as Superintendent Taggora mentioned, um, we really

104would like to get our community input on all these things. We're working with our architects to figure out initially what makes sense for the space, but um, for any of the community members that are listening out there, uh, we look forward to hearing from you as well on um, how you believe an optimal MUR space uh, should be laid out and used. Um, and then also the Cypriani dropoff loop. Uh we are planning to add a dropoff loop um off of Bua Vista um to provide some traffic relief and also make the morning drop off a lot easier for our parents. Uh and then as we look into summer 2027 um finishing up more of those MUR upgrades um Rston Field if it does not happen in summer 2026 um and potentially Nesbbit field as

105well depending on how the logistics work out. Um and then the big projects there will then c uh center around central uh as we begin to work on their uh central parking lot uh and also their mur. Um we do have to work on the parking lot first uh because of a few DSA which is the governing board of architecture for the state of California requirements. Um but we're looking to get that basically finished um as soon as possible. It is a little bit of an architectural nightmare just because of where it's located and the amount of sloping uh the amount of retaining wall that we will need to potentially add any space to the parking lot to make that easier and just generally the amount of grade happening if you've ever gone from Middle

106Street into Central. You'll notice that it's a little bit of a tough right or left turn um whether you're coming up or down the hill. So again, we are getting those projects off to a very quick start. Uh, and I thank our architects and our program manager for that. >> Um, questions, comments about the summer construction update from the board. >> Don't think about >> I have a question about the HVAC upgrades. um >> just because I am concerned with air quality and having it finish in summer of 2027 seems like an awfully long time. We have multiple breaks throughout the year. Is it possible to get them started potenti? I mean it how long does it take for an HVAC project to take? And would it be possible to start it during one of

107our many multiple breaks that we have during the school year versus waiting until summer of 2027? >> It's definitely possible. Um I'd be remiss if I didn't say we're also exploring that as well. We do understand this is a huge priority and again our goal really is to finish them all up in summer 2026. Uh again that summer 2027 blip over there was just in case we weren't able to finish it and we would cadence it in a way where we get to the most needy systems first. Right? So ones that do function properly under the appropriate MV filtering, we would leave those to the end. But yes, we completely understand it's definitely a priority for us. We understand that um our systems are not necessarily in the highest quality and it is definitely our

108priority finish. >> They're not currently up to standard. >> I will say that say that. I'm sorry. They are not currently up to standard. They are unfortunately fairly outdated and they do need to be >> understood. Thank you. I will stop. >> We hear you loud and clear. Jessica Cus. >> Yes. Well, you your slide kind of answers my question. Uh but the project timeline so there is opportunity in addition to maybe HVAC synergy to to use school breaks. I mean is that kind of even before that is that the vision not to always just wait till the summer? Obviously there's a challenge. you don't want kids in session, but um is there kind of like reminding me of like the sign pardon our construction? Like is there opportunity to use the breaks and or

109other parts of the year or is it really like we just really kind of want to do it when the kids are not in session at all? >> It is most optimal for it to happen when the kids are not there, right? Because then you have very little risk of, you know, there's just dust and stuff that falls off the roof, right? Um or you know whether you're doing a modernization of a space or anything, right? And also when you consider our MURS, right? If we do it during the year, where do the students go? >> Right? These are all things we have. But long story short, yes, we are considering doing some of the projects during the breaks. Um >> this is kind of the spirit of underpromise and overd deliver on timelines. Um,

110so we're trying to be very conservative with these. Um, and again, a lot of it also has to do with our architectural firm's ability to get all these projects through DSA, right? Um, unfortunately, it's not quite like we can snap our fingers and start on any project that we want. Um, for example, for some of the MUR projects, um, we're already I met with the architectural team today and we're already starting to design what a space might look like because they need to get, um, those designs by the community soon so then they can get it ultimately passed DSA in time for us to start in summer 2026, right? So, unfortunately, the lead time is long. Um but again we're we're being a little bit conservative on these with the hope that we get more

111projects done sooner rather than later. >> Perfect. That was my second question around the bureaucratic um TSR is just so far with the work with that has been done has has it seemed like the bureaucratic piece of whatever the state wants or the local you know regulations has it has it been manageable? Have we anticipated, you know, the project directors, have they anticipated everything possible to kind of give the lead time? Sounds like it sounds like the answer is yes. >> Yeah. Uh, you know, it's one of those things where we have about as good information um as I have seen personally from my history in working in districts. Um, for example, we have our asbuilts for pretty much all of our sites, which is incredibly helpful because it helps our architects figure out exactly

112what is underneath. You know, some of the walls that they may peel back or some of the roofs that they may peel back. Um, I would say depending on a district's historical recordkeeping, that's not always available. Um, the other thing that's very helpful is that we actually have all of our prior DSA projects closed out. So what typically can happen is if you are starting a new project at a site, DSA might actually tell you if you have an existing project still open, you can't start on it until you actually have this previous project cleared out. And if it if the project was still open from a long time ago, you may actually the rules and regulations may have changed. So you may need to actually make a few more adjustments to what was already

113done because the project wasn't properly closed out. So, in working with our architects, uh, and I would like to make a quick shout out to our business service specialist, Katherine Ree. We have closed out all the projects. So, we're good to go. Um, any new projects that come through are off to a clean slate. So, >> so one final question. Thank you in the back of my mind. Most importantly, do you have your own like little yellow construction hat says recent? Like, have you stickered it up? you know, >> you know, I'm not quite like uh most of uh the teams that have worked on a lot of our projects. I don't have as many stickers as they do um on my helmet. Uh >> you have a helmet. >> I do have a helmet.

114It's required. Um I might start investing in steel toe boots given the amount of uh construction areas I'll be walking through. Um I don't think my uh brown loafers will cut it in terms of safety. >> Very good. Very good. Thank I I I do want to add I just I'll just say um I do appreciate it is a pretty ambitious timeline that he presented um conservatively from my perspective. Um the other thing I just want to acknowledge is um we're working with our architects and our construction management to properly cadence and organize our projects so that we um optimize um and and stay within budget. Um, a lot of times when you're bidding things out, there's a certain level of scale um that you you benefit from as well. So, um, all that to

115say is is we're moving. Um, I I appreciate the speed we're moving and we will move as quickly as we can uh to get all those high priority projects uh going and underway. >> Just a small question. Um, could you remind us as in me, uh, please what, um, what DSA is for the DSA approval? >> Um, oh, >> Department of State Architecture. >> You said it over here. >> Department of State Architecture. >> Thank you very much, Superintendent Aguara. Yes, Department of State Architecture. >> Okay. So that is a state level office that requires school districts to >> you have to it's usually the the permitting board that you go through for very specific projects and may actually get permitted through the city but um largely um all projects are permitted by DSA. >>

116Thank you. >> Are there any other questions on item number 18? Okay, don't press mute. Sorry, 17. Correct. I'm ahead of myself. Uh, staying with CBO Matsumoto, item number 18, public disclosure of developer fees. >> Good evening again, trustees. Um, so every year we are required to disclose the amount of developer fees that we receive. Um the long story short uh is every school district is allowed to pass uh leving developer fees. Uh so that means whenever a new um residential build comes up or a new commercial bill comes up um these buildings pay the school district um for the uh subsequent students that may enter the district um as part of that. So there's a new residential complex that comes up, you would expect more students to come into the district. So, this helps

117to offset that cost. Uh, essentially it's $5 per square foot for residential buildings and roughly 84 cents uh per square foot for commercial buildings. Um, within fiscal year 2425, we received $244,8155. Yes. >> Is the developer fee a one-time thing? like they build something and then I'm going to anticipate there's going to be new children coming from this square foot or whatever. Maybe $5 for that square foot for that one child that is anticipated to come. >> It is it is just a onetime fee. But I am curious um is this amount like comparable to past years? Is it usually around the same dollar amount? >> Yeah, it's usually in the low hundred thousands. It's never really in the millions or tens of millions. I believe last year we received around 350,000 if I'm not

118mistaken. Um, again, it's not a crazy amount. Uh, there have not necessarily been a ton of new developments happening in the area. Any other questions around developer fees? Sweet. I believe we are done with CDMO. Uh item number 19, 2 by two debrief. >> Uh yes. Uh to uh today we had our 2x two debrief. Two trustees from uh BRSSD, two trustees uh from Sequoia. Uh we had that uh meeting today actually literally right before um our board meeting uh and uh participating uh today was trustee Northrup and uh President Bruno and I'll uh let them uh speak for the work that we did today. >> So I would say the it's always great to >> Thank you. It's always great to get together uh with the board members and the superintendent um from Sequoia

119Union um which is the district that Carlmont High School is in as well as uh other surrounding high schools uh including Menllo Atherton uh Woodside and Sequoia High School as well as some smaller high schools. Um, so it's always really great to get together with them and talk about um issues that may be common because of our geographical area, because of having our students, most of our students move on to uh Carlmont in Sequoia Union District. Uh so anyway, it's always helpful to talk with them. Um so today I would say the one of the things we focused on was um developing our cell phone use policy. Um so all districts are required to uh develop a cell phone use policy by I believe the end of this school year. Um and so that's something

120that we have started to take steps on and um Sequoia Union has as well. So just uh talking with them about that, what they've uh what they've done um and yeah, seeing seeing where we go from there. We've we've already uh BRSSD has already surveyed the community um and then we'll you know continue to uh develop our plans and and um move from there. Um, >> can I ask a question about that? Are we planning to align with them on that policy or was that just a topic of discussion? >> I think it was just a topic of discussion. Um, I don't think we necessarily have to have to align, but it was just a topic of discussion with also I think recognizing um that we do have different ages of students, right? So we

121have TK through 8th grade and they have 9th through 12th grade. Um so that um we may we may come to different conclusions >> that I mean that that covered I was I was at the same meeting and I experienced the same things. Um it is it is uh always a great opportunity to connect kind of across districts with uh or or ages with um fellow board members kind of like-minded people with just dealing with older kids and and and older issues. Um we did we spend a good amount of time talking about just kind of technology in general focusing on phones but realizing kind of what the side effects and aftermaths of of whatever direction we choose to go both at our level and at theirs. um talked about safety for a while, skin

122kind of kind of current events and things coming up um and how we handle that. Uh we had I think it was it was it was I enjoyed watching them kind of take in some of our data. I think it was really helpful for them to to to take a look at it and then think about what a more mature version might look like or even just kind of being surprised about some of the results on specifically how our families and um and staff um were thinking around some of our like from our tech survey. Um yeah, but it's yeah, definitely a solid opportunity to connect specifically across uh with other board members. Um and the superintendent of Sequoia and Dan's Okay, >> I'll I'll just add uh I will reshare uh the uh survey

123data that we collected last spring with the board. Uh it was an update and a reminder for me. I think my takeaway regarding cell phone is we're probably more alike uh than we are different in terms of views towards um cell phones. I think um if I had to say probably responsible um use and encouraging responsible use and helping our youngsters um in that way while they're at the school um is is really the biggest piece. Um but yeah, I I anticipate there will be some alignment there. Uh but maybe also some differences because we cater to different groups of kids, different ages. That's our 2 by 2 debrief. Um and our item number 20, future board meeting agenda items. >> Uh before you board tonight, uh you see the items that we have on

124tap for October, October uh 16th. Um uh we will have uh school spotlight. We'll be starting those up again. It will be Redwood Shores. Um uh Ed services will be giving some fall assessment uh and intervention updates. Uh we'll be reviewing our demographic study results uh with Tom Williams. Um uh CBO Matsumoto will have uh some uh GMP. Uh uh that's an acronym I know but I it's not coming to me this time. Um you're going to come to my rescue Ree. >> Yes. It's the uh guaranteed maximum price. Uh basically it's it's part of the contract as part of the lease lease back process. >> And that's uh regarding DO uh August uh 2025 uh special board policy updates uh we'll have coming before the board for a first read. uh these were policies.

125Um I'll just say as as uh things change and as we're asked uh to update and respond uh uh to change as we update our policy accordingly. Uh CSBA released a special um set of updates uh that'll come through for the first read in um October. Um and uh that was August and then we'll have September's uh first read as well. So uh kind of a combined there. And that's uh it for the October uh at this point. Um and board's opportunity to uh uh suggest other other topics as needed. >> As you just heard, it's opportunity to suggest other topics. Okay. Uh, we are not reconvening to close. foring this meeting closed at 8:17