001to order. It is 6:00 on June 12th. Um, we have nothing to report from close session. Um, this meeting is recorded for live streaming and archiving in the district YouTube channel um for your convenience. And Dr. Right. Will you lead us in the pledge, please? And we come to item seven, approval of the agenda. Can I have a motion, please? Sorry, I move that we approve the agenda as written. I'll second. All those in favor? I back and forth. Thank you. And now to our highlight tonight. It's my great honor to take a moment to recognize and express our deepest appreciation for Dr. Damon Wright. Dr. Wright, your unwavering dedication, insightful leadership, and genuine compassion have left an indelible mark on all of us. You have not only shared your expertise and vision with clarity
002and purpose, but you've also inspired us through your integrity and your humility. You've added new systems throughout our school district. You have shown how transparent communication can enhance trust, foster collaboration, and create a culture where everyone feels valued and informed. Through your mentorship, your thoughtful guidance, and your tireless commitment to excellence, you've lifted those around you and created a space where people feel seen, supported, and empowered. On behalf of all of us, thank you for your exceptional contributions and for being a model of what it means to lead with heart and wisdom. We are truly grateful for you. We wish you the best in your new position with Santa Clara School District. Thank you, Dr. Thank you. Thank you. Do you need tissue? I don't do this. Well, the board we slid it onto your
003desk. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. And does anyone have anything else to say? And then I'd like to invite Dr. Gethsemane Moss to the podium. Hello. Good evening, superintendent and trustees. Um, I want to say thank you for this opportunity to be here again. My name is Dr. Get Steiny Moss. Um, I just want to say on a personal note that I really enjoyed being able to serve with you, Dr. Wright, on the board. Um, I'm glad that I was part of the process when we hired you onto the board. Um, and we are going to, you know, we hate to see you leave, but we understand that, you know, sometimes opportunities come up, but we want to thank you for the work that you've done. and I'm glad that I had the opportunity
004to work with you and my kids were in school when you were a principal also. Um so what I have I'm here representing um the office of Senator Christopher Kabalden and I have a very special acknowledgement for you on his behalf Dr. Wright. So I'm going to read this. Um as a senator representing District 3, I am proud to recognize Dr. Damon Wright, a passionate and accomplished educational leader with over 25 years of service to public education. Guided by the belief that education is the great equalizer, Dr. Wright has led with a commitment to academic excellence, equity, and fiscal responsibility. As superintendent of the Benic Unified School District, he has delivered measurable results, improving instructional outcomes, securing millions of dollars in funding through f funding for facility upgrades while fostering community trust through transparency. His
005dedication to student success is evident in his focus on closing achievement gaps, supporting social emotional development, and expanding college and career readiness. With numerous accolades, including multiple administrator of the year honors and active membership in key professional organizations, Dr. Wright continues to be a visionary leader committed to empowering all students and transforming challenges into opportunities. Thank you for your outstanding service to the Benic Unified School District and your unwavering dedication to the community. um from the office of Senator Christopher Kabalden and the state of California. So here it is here for you. Thank you for all your Thank you. And now we come to uh reports and Dr. Wright. All right. Well, thank you for all the kind words. Um I really appreciate it and thank you for giving me the opportunity to lead this
006organization for the last three years. It's meant a lot and saying goodbye is difficult. I um say to everyone I slide out the back door because before it gets to that part. So I'm known for that. So um but thank you for everything and thank you for acknowledging me this evening. It means a lot to me. Um in terms of our superintendent report, God, what a way to close the year with our graduation and promotions. You know, seeing the the um excitement in our students as they promote to the next level. the the pride in their parents as they're watching them and their family members. It's just a it's a nice way to close the year out and um a lot of work goes on behind the scenes. And I don't know if you know
007this, but the the um sound system at the high school went out the week prior to graduation at the Powderpuff game and our IT department, you know, they called and I said, "You know what? No, no, don't take any chances. Go rent one. Go find it. We'll figure it out." But they worked relentlessly to get it fixed. um behind the scenes. They work with the um the contractors. So, just thank you, Bruce, Mike, Alf, Al Alfredo, Maintenance and Operations, Rocky, Kim, um they all played a part in getting it to work. And I know I'm leaving people out, but thank you for everyone that had a role in making that sound system work for graduation. I know that it took up their week to make it happen. I also want to acknowledge our maintenance and
008operations department. Seven promotions back to back to back and they're there with a smile on their face. setting up chairs and taking them down. And there's just things that we don't always see or we don't always acknowledge. We see the great ceremony, but those that are setting up and and breaking those things down. Um, and they do it with a smile. And um, we're just lucky to have an outstanding team. So, I just want to thank them and also just want to thank our school sites for putting on outstanding promotions and and graduation ceremonies because they are awesome. That's all I have this evening. I concur. It was the the graduations and the promotions were wonderful. Um I was able to attend Joe Henderson um the promotion and I like it so much and I
009love how they do it. Um and it's inside and it's lit up. It's just so beautiful the the whole thing. So, and the high school was amazing and so was Liberty. So, thanks for I'm happy I was able to be part of that. Yes. Um, thank you, Dr. Wright, for your speech at the Venicia High graduation. It was really good and it spoke to a lot of us um, listening. So, there were I I heard a lot of very favorable comments about your speech. Um, I too was able to attend the promotions and the graduations. Um, I also in in addition to the with trustee Zeta, um, in addition to that, I also was able to attend Matthew Turner, Mary Farmer, and Robert Simple. Um, and they did a tremendous job, all of the schools.
010Um, I think President Grubs is probably going to talk about something that she and I did together um, for Matthew Turner with the Sharks. Well, you better remind me. Oh, okay. President and Grubs and I also attended a fifth grade Oh yes sharks um shark tank simulation and Dr. Beatson was there and Stephanie Rice was there and we owe people a lot of money. We owe a lot of money. Um but the students came up with proposals for inventions and there was one that I was especially excited about. It was like a Roomba but it was for your walls and your ceilings. That was great. Oh, I love that idea. So, um yeah, we we owe a lot of money uh right now, but the students did a terrific job and thanks to the fifth
011grade team for putting that together. It was awesome. Um lastly, I wanted to say I attended a CAP meeting last night, the community advisory panel with Valero. And um the topic was what is the impact of the anticipated closure going to have on um the different groups that participate in the cap um at large members, the chamber um the industrial park group and then the school district as well the city as the city and we were each able to go around and share the concerns that we've heard. Um, Valero shared that they've been very focused on their employees right now. So, talking to their employees about the transition, hoping that people stay employed to allow the refinery to continue running until the anticipated closure date. Um, one thing that I shared last night and that
012I'd like to repeat here is we talk a lot about money, the impact on of money of Valero leaving. Um, but I also want to talk about the impact of the people leaving. And one person in particular is Paul Adler. Um Paul is a he is the uh I'm not positive of his title, but he's the community and government um outreach liaison right for Valero. He does so much in this community. Um Paul is part of Rotary. He's part of Kowuanas. Uh he keeps us updated on all things. I really think through Paul, the reason that the district receives money from community organizations, I mean, that's Paul. Paul always has the kids first and he's just an absolute pleasure and a great person to work with. So, I want to thank Paul Adler for all
013of his service. I don't know where Paul will end up or if he even knows yet. Um, but I'm sure that he will uh continue to do that and whoever is able to benefit from Paul is very lucky. So, thank you to Paul. And so, um, I was able to go to, um, the graduations and the, um, and Benicia Middle School, uh, promotion, which is really fantastic. Um, but I do have to give a shout out to the maintenance team because they are a welloiled machine and they get those chairs out and they they get them all in before the kids are practically off campus, you know? I mean, they are so organized. So, a big shout out to maintenance because I know it's a um it's a huge job. Um I I also want
014to just say the um give a shout out to the Matthew Turner fifth grade team. Um they did they did the Shark Tank and um there was lots of give and take. So, you know, it it was very much like the show. they they presented and they would say, "Well, they would like um uh $40,000 and they would offer 10% of their company." And so we would have this exchange, right? Well, you know, I'll offer you uh $25,000 and 50% of your company. and and they were so good because they could actually come back and and uh they were they were very articulate. They had their numbers down. And one of my favorite um uh uh uh inventions was and as a former teacher, you know, really I love this one. So, this group had
015made had decided that they could make blocks to keep kids from falling over when they lean back in their chairs. Oh, that's a good idea. It was fabulous. I actually invested in that company, I want you to know. So, it it was really great. So, were there fierce negotiators up there pushing back? Yeah. Yes. Yes. But I didn't negotiate too much with the keep the kids from falling back. Oh, you know, over in their chair because it was a it was a winner. Brilliant. Thank you. Now we come to comments from the public and I'll read my little spiel. Members of the public may address the board at a regular meeting on any items within the board's jurisdiction. Speaker cards are available at the entrance table. Please note the item you wish to speak to
016and submit a card to the board secretary. The board president will call all the open session general comments government code section 54954.3 during the public comment item. Comments for items on the agenda will be called during the specific item. Comments are limited to no more than three minutes per speaker or the board may limit the total time to 20 minutes per item with the timer displayed on the monitors. By law, no action may be taken on any item raised during public comment periods and matters may be referred to staff for placement on a future agenda of the governing board. Please be reminded to keep your comments respectful as students may be watching the board meeting. Thank you. Do we have any comments? And moving on, approval for the consent calendar. I'll move Oh, go ahead.
017Oh yeah, cut you off. Sorry. Background information on these items is provided to the board prior to the meeting. A common motion takes action without discussion on roll call votes unless discussion of items is requested by the board member. Is there a motion? I'd like to make a motion to approve the consent calendar. I will second. All those in favor? Oh, no. Sorry. This is supposed to be a roll call. I apologize. So, um, President Gross, yes. Trusty Hirs, yes. Trusty STA, yes. Excellent. And as we go on, I'd like to really acknowledge some of the generous gifts that, um, from that have been given to the district, the Brian Douglas Opus One Winery, um, designated to the, um, Joey Douglas Memorial Scholarship to Manisha High School student scholarship fund in the amount of $500.
018And to the Kuanas Club of Benicia, one book for every third grader in each of our elementary schools to support all students reading at grade level by third grade with an estimated donor value of $2,17751. So, we appreciate those very generous gifts. Thank you so much. We do have to take the roll call on item five, the resolution under the consent calendar. And that goes with the same motion. So right now I'll just do the roll call. So President Grubs, yes. Trusty Hirs, yes. And Trusty Seda, yes. Thank you. And then presentation. We are on to item 12, presentations and communication. Um, and Dr. Wright, you are up. Okay. Thank you. So the uh policy review committee, we met on May 27th um to take a look at the CSBA policies uh brought forward today.
019Uh this is the first reading. Um so we encourage the board to take a look at that and we'll be bringing these policies back for approval at our next governing board meeting. Okay, moving on. Um, we have a public hearing. So, I'm going to close us from open session and open public hearing for the conveyance of a temporary easement to the city of Venicia Mary Farmer Elementary Pedestrian Bridge Construction. And Miss Egan, good evening. Um, tonight the resolution before you is for discussion and consideration for a temporary construction easement for the Mary Farmer Elementary School pedestrian bridge to the city of Benicia. The project is funded and will be built and it's contracted through the city of Benicia. The scope is replacement of the pedestrian bridge. Yay. And adjacent walkway improvements. Um their schedule for
020completion is late fall 2025 barring unforeseen conditions and this is a great benefit to BUSD the Mary farmer community and also the city of Benicia. So staff recommendation is to approve the resolution and award the temporary construction easement. Right now it's just Oh sorry. Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. So now I'm going to close that. Public comments for the record. Oh, sorry. Public comments. I'm going to close uh the public session, the public hearing, and then open it up to the public hearing and discussion of the local control and accountability plan, which is Dr. Beats. Good evening, President Grubs, trustees, cabinet members. I'm uh excited to bring to you tonight our draft LCAP local control accountability plan for the 2526 school year. Um I'm going to take you through uh a series of slides that
021give an overview of what the whole entire process is. um our annual update, how we get our funding for the LCAP, the requirements for educational partner engagement, the metrics uh and data that we use to develop the LCAP, our goals, actions, and services, a section on increased and improved services, which are for our students who are um in our unduplicated student groups, and then a quick budget summary. I won't spend too long on that because I know we'll probably hear a little bit more about that with um uh Miss Bington's budget presentation next. Um I always start with our vision and our mission um because it grounds all the work that we do. Um really focusing on inclusive community, cultivating equitable and responsive environments, empowering students, developing strong character and academic excellence so that they
022become well-rounded global citizens. And um back in 2022, our equity team um drafted and created our equity statement says many of the same things, but really focuses on our historically marginalized students voices, cultures, and identities to make sure that their stories are valued and celebrated. Um and to make sure that our all of our students thrive. And we'll do that by dismantling barriers and advancing policies and practices that support our diverse community. And I hope as I take you through the LCAP, um, you're going to see this come to life. So, very quickly, and I can slow down at any point, but some of this will be repetitive because it's part of the process. Um, I just wanted to remind everyone what the LCAP process is and what the requirements are. So, back in 2013,
023uh, our funding for public education changed in the state of California and the local control funding formula became law. Along with that came the requirement for all districts to write an LCAP which shows how are we going to spend the funding that we get from the state. Um the real uh focus on LCAPS is for our supplemental funding which is the funding that is um direct to increase and improve services for our lowincome students, our homeless students and our English learner students. in Benanishia Unified. We expand that so that people have a broader picture of what the uh educational program looks like. Um the other requirement in the LCAP process is that we do consultations with lots of different groups including uh parents, staff and students. There is a required template which you have uh
024in front of you. So we can't make any changes to that. Um there is a section I always call these sort of the chapters the uh annual update and that part means what did we say we were going to do this year and did we do it what did we say we were going to spend this year and did we do it um there's a whole section on metrics and local indicators goals actions and services and um and then we have to call out in the LCAP the increased and improved services so it's not in addition to what's in the goals actions but we have to call it out separately again in another section And then there's compliance. So, we have to have a public hearing, which we're doing this evening. Next Tuesday, we'll bring
025this back to you uh for adoption. If there are any public comments that come in um for consideration, we'll take those into consideration and bring back a revised LCAP if that's necessary. Then it goes to the county office um over the summer. They'll meet with me and do an approval process. And then once they approve it, they send it off to the state for the final approval. So this is part of the annual update. So we have four goals. Um this page talks about two of them. Sense of belonging and equity. This is where I tell you that we have uh implemented almost all of the actions that we set out to do when we wrote this year's LCAP for this current year. Um a couple of changes. We offered um fewer parent workshops than
026we had anticipated this year a previous a year ago. We were able to offer a lot this year kind of got away from us. Our capacity to do that was limited. The other thing that did not happen is uh we had intended to revitalize again our grading for equity team and with the other uh committees that we had. We just didn't have a response and so we decided to um intentionally pause that. There are teachers still doing some of that work but as a system we weren't in a position to be able to really launch that. Well, so we decided to pause that. um a couple of data highlights from our annual update and I'm not going to spend a long time on data because I've done those data presentations over the years. But um
027something that I think we all all should be super proud of is one of the surveys that we send out as a asks a question which is just overall how satisfied are you with the program at Venetian Unified School District and you can see that in 2022 we were at 55% we went to 84.4% 4% and then this year's was 94.2% which says a lot about um the work that's happening here in Benishia Unified. Another big data point um there's been a lot of work as you know on attendance and chronic absenteeism and reminder that chronic absenteeism is being out 10% or more of the days that we are in school and so there's a big decline and I hear um moving forward it's even better for this school year. So this is all remember
028last year's school data. And then our students with disabilities graduation rate increased and we decreased in suspension. So those are all really good data points that go along with those two goals. And then the two academic goals, literacy and humanities, math and steam. Same thing. Almost everything was fully implemented. The one that we weren't able to was to fill the college and career center at Benicia High School. Um that work is continuing but not with a dedicated position there. And again, I've already spent time going over the academic data uh growths that we made, and this was from last year's data. So, we don't have this year's yet, but last year's data, we saw some great increases. Funding for our LCAP comes in a lot of different ways. Um, we have our local control funding
029formula funds. We get supplemental funds, which is a 20% adjustment of our base grant. We have we get a small amount of title one that's federal money uh and that goes to fund um some intervention specialists at our elementary schools. Um we have state and federal one-time grants which we've have have have been able to offer lots of um services over the last several years since COVID and then a little bit in donations. So, these are the onetime grants which funds a lot of what's in this current LCAP. As you remember, um at in 2020, we got some onetime grants that rolled in from this, uh state of California, uh to the tune of about $14 million. We stretched those out. Next year will be the last year of those funding dollars. One, because we're
030running out, and two, because they have to be spent by the end of next school year. Um so, we aren't able to keep everything in the LCAP. So, over the last couple of years, as you remember, we've been sort of winnowing down based on data, based on input, based on um effectiveness, what we've been able to include, and I'll walk you through where we're heading with that um for next school year. Uh one of the requirements is to engage with different educational partners. And so, this is just showing you how we do that. Um we do it through some video information, some surveys. We have an LCAP team that meets monthly that has um staff and parents and students on it. And then we also consult with our county office, our equity teams, other teams
031in the district. One of the uh pieces that we have to do in the LCAP is show that we are meeting what are called the eight state priorities. And so on this page, you're going to see four of them. On the next slide, you'll see another four. And those uh are really the data points. And then our actions are supposed to show how are we meeting those data points. Um in the brownish color down below you're going to see uh met on various things because some of them are data that we would pull from our dashboard or how did we do on the CASP and others are self-reflections of how we do internally. Okay. Any questions on that? And then this is the other set of four uh state priorities that we that have to
032show up in our different actions and services. So just a few more pieces of data um that now as we're starting to lean into how do we build this next year's LCAP, we have to look back at our data. What is our data telling us? And then we try to continue to to grow that. Um, I did link on the bottom of this slide the other presentations which went into more depth. So I just highlighted a few of our data celebrations this year and then some identified needs. And so some of that was around college and career readiness for students with disabilities. And we're having conversations about what could that look like? How can we increase student participation in some of those courses? Um, and our long-term English learners. This is a new student group
033this year that is um being tracked on the California dashboard and those are students who have been with us as an English learner um but haven't reclassified um haven't gained proficiency in all four areas of the test that we that they have to take every year for seven years. And so once they've been with us for seven years and haven't gotten a they basically have to get a perfect score on this assessment, then they become what's called a long-term English learner. Okay? Mostly it's kids in upper grades because we teach them all the way through, but if we can't pass them on all four, that's a student group we're working on. Um, and then we have uh just a couple of areas that were in the red across the district um that you can see
034over in the right side of your screen. And then the other thing to note is for the at the for um oh my gosh it's not called program improvement anymore but it used to be called program differentiated assistance that is um at the district level when we don't meet for student two student groups over two uh indicators for two years we can get into um differentiated assistance as a district we are not in Um however we are well actually we are in but then we also have from the federal level it goes to the the school site level and that's called additional targeted support and intervention and so we have two schools that are in that for suspensions and basically what we have to do is really monitor that and work to improve those areas.
035Um the other data point that we look at is our surveys and I told you about one of the surveys already. The other survey um went out this year and it really asked folks to prioritize the actions and services in the LCAP because we knew that we weren't going to be able to continue all of them. So it was important to get their voice in what what can we continue and so we got a really great um results from our survey and you can see the results there. Keep the yes those are the four right elap goals to keep um keep doing mental health and intervention services. Band and Willie B. Atkins came out on the top making sure that we continued with some technology support and then um it was we got some support
036technology and some concerns around technology. I think that was mostly around the um what kids could access and so we've taken that feedback and then on combination classes. So um the feedback summary was uh what things to add and keep. You can see that on the left side of the screen and then what we were able to adjust and we are uh very happy that for funding for band because it was always paid with one-time dollars and it was never in our general fund. We are able to move that to Prop 28 funding and continue to support that um important program. And then the Benicia Library contract. So, as a district, we have to have a district librarian with particular credentials. We don't employ one as the district, but we can contract with Benicia Public
037Library to act as our district librarian. And um in working with Miss Bington, we determined that that we have to have that otherwise we get um red flag from uh CTC. And so that moved into the general. So, here are our four LCAP goals. Those have not changed. In here you will see a lot of the language around um equity work and um ensuring we're closing achievement gaps and and continuing to grow. Um and so then all based on all of that feedback um here is are the actions and services that will not be in the 2526 LCAP. So um it's kind of a double negative. We will have combination classes at some of our elementary schools next year. So the extra teachers we were able to fund to to avoid that over the last
038four or five years. Uh that funding is gone. We have aren't able to continue the 20% math coach at Benicia Middle School. I've talked about moving the Prop 28 money uh for funding for band and the contract for the library to the general fund. Um, after lots of conversation, we um eliminated the college and career counseling position at Benanishia High School. And I know that um the high school uh administration is working closely with the other counseling department to pick up that work and um and with their admin team as well. um literacy intervention. We uh fund a couple of sections previously uh for literacy intervention at Benishia Middle School and um our teacher got very creative and created a new course called dramatic literacy um where they will do some um reader theater and
039different ways to engage students in this uh course. And so we were able to fund that with Prop$28. Um we eliminated a position out of ed services department. It was a teacher on special assignment and um the elementary steam wheel which I think we've talked about before was funded by donation by Valero at this point is eliminated out of the LCAP because we don't have a funding stream. I will say as an aside um I've gotten lots of um inquiries about that and so we're going to be putting together a team to um come together and do some brainstorming about other funding potential sources. So I've got that hopefully coming up in a couple of weeks. Happy to hear that. Yes. Um, so what is in the 2526 LCAP? Um, this is the list. I'm
040not going to walk you through all of it. Many of it, there's really not new things except for one that I want to point out. Um, but I have uh stars next to the things that are um are contributing to increasing improved services for our unduplicated students and all but targeted there. And then um the little amperand No, that's not called an amperand. That little A with the circle on it is the actions and services that are continuing to be paid with onetime dollars. And this will be the last year of those. But all the way over on the right under equity um supporting inclusive practices. I think I uh might have given you some of this information in a board update, but we were accepted into a grant for the state of California to
041really uh provide professional development, coaching, all sort. we can create the program however we want to really look at and it's about equity and inclusion and how do we continue to grow in that area and so we're thrilled about that it costs us nothing we actually will get some grant money from that to help provide professional development to staff so that's exciting and then just quickly the budget summary the circle on the left and Miss Bington jump in if I go arai uh the circle on the left is the total LCFF funding and then um over on the right the circle on the left is uh all of the funding and then the circle over on the right pulls out the LCFF and shows you the breakdown of supplemental and um local control funding formula
042dollars and then this slide just shows you the difference between our total general fund and what's in the LCAP and then the last page just has all the acronyms that Any questions? Just one. And that is okay. So, we do a new LCAP every three years. We do the LCAP is a three-year LCAP. It's a three-year cycle, but we update it every year. And so, this is one of this is the this year's the first year of this LCAP. Okay. Next year's this one I'm presenting tonight will be the second in the three-year LCAP. So we do smaller input sessions on the in between years 26 27 school year. We'll as we as we are in the third year we will do a much bigger outreach and redo the whole LCAP again. This time when
043we did it though the feedback was keep those LCAP goals. They're still the right goals and so we had some change but not as much change as um in previous sessions. Well that's great. I think I'm getting my year ears mixed up because I know I participated in some of the feedback sessions. I just couldn't remember if it was for this one or the prior one, but thank you for doing all of that work. This is very detailed and you keep us informed on all of this. It's great. Absolutely. Absolutely. And attached to your board packet, you have the entire LCAP in its entirety. So, um, for your reading pleasure, Ms. Barry. Good evening, governing board and Dr. Wright. Um before you is the 2526 proposed budget and the multi-year projections. Um this is the
044public hearing with adoption next week on Tuesday and it can have um items incorporated it if there is public comment that comes forward especially if there's anything that has to do with the L. So in our annual cycle we are at um adopt budget. We've almost made it all the way around and we'll get to start over again. But we do have to have an adopted budget by June 30th so that on July 1st we can move into the next year as does the state so that we can have funding flowing and then um we will continue around the cycle as the year goes on. Okay. So for 2526 what I wanted to start with was highlighting our district enrollment um projections and the ADA trends. So on the positive we've seen our ADA come
045really really close to 95%. So I rounded um for now um but what we are seeing is while our ADA is up to 95% our projected enrollment is um declining um in these numbers what was taken into account are the birth rates that we can see for the city of Benicia which are falling into the 180s 190s for each year babies's born. Um, so there there are more conservative projections for our TK and kindergarten and then our larger classes are moving out. So that's what's going through here. What is not in here is um any impact that our neighboring districts may have on our enrollment if there are changes to their IDA processes. Any questions on our enrollment? I'm just very sad to see it go down so much. Um, looking back at the what
046two 2014 15 we were at 4,900 plus and now we're it's it's let's let's see we're projected out for 20 2829 uh 3,900. It's that's a big big gap. It is. So, people move to Benicia, have babies, and uh enroll them in BUSD. And and those are conservative and they'll be updated every time um we see changes to our enrollment. And we're we're on track right now for what we think for 2526, but you know, we'll continue to enroll all summer long, people live in Benisha, get our kids in. I did ask um a council, city council member about the proposed Rose Estates plan and when they thought that would go in like when because it sounds like it's going to happen. I don't know for sure if that's the case, but assuming it does.
047He said he didn't think they would even start building for a couple of years. Yeah. So, it could be a ways out. Yes. And when they do build, will families with young children be able to purchase those homes? And that that's a big if, right? I think weren't they looking at some kind of affordable housing there also? I I think that's the law, but it's What does affordable housing mean? I hear you. Yeah. No. Yeah, you're right. Thank you. take taking a look at our revenue assumptions because we'll start with the revenue first. Our largest revenue source is our LCFF, the local control funding formula. Um, which we are able to have as long as we have our LCAP. And so that's why you hear the LCAP first. Um, built into this uh funding projection
048is the estimated enrollment of the 4284, which is a decline at this point of 63 kids from the current year. right now that we're in um at at a 95% rate um the ADA would be lower than the 2425 year. So the funding formula for 2526 is utilizing prior year to hold us harmless. So as we ease into that decline. So, um, for 2526, as long as our, uh, 2425 ADA stays at what is projected here when we get all said and done for the year, that's what we'll be funded on for next year. Our unduplicated pupil count is uh, just over 25%. Also included in the projection is the cola that was put forth at the mayor revise um, to be funded at 2.3%. And what this does is, and the graphic's a little
049small, but I included it because it's from one of the back pages of the of the all the SAX forms that you have, um, where it takes a look at what's the impact going to be to your district for your enrollment and the impact on your LCFF funding. So, we talk a lot about the cola might be 2.3%, but will we see that? because we're going to be held harmless ADA next year, we should see 2.3% increase on our LCF funding in 2526. But if you do look at the next two columns, you can see um line, you know, that the COLA is projected to be 3.02%. But we're not going to see that. And that's as our enrollment declines, our ADA declines, we no longer garner the full COLA. So our funding is also
050decreasing as our enrollment is decreasing. For the other revenue sources for federal, we do have our title programs projected to be funded at this time. Everything we've heard is title one will be funded. uh special education, also the idea funding, it is still stated to be funded. Um on the local side, we do have some rents and leases. Um it does include cell towers for now, but we know that those could be sunsetting. Uh we still do get some donations and we do active uh LEA medical billing as well as the administrative side for state funding. Lottery has some higher rates. So, the more people play, the more revenue we do see come in. Uh, the mandated block grant has has rates you can see there. Um, it doesn't offset all the things we're mandated
051to do. Um, but it is a small offset. It doesn't fund everything we're mandated to do. It's a nice tiny little offset. And for special education, we receive state funding, which is called AB 602, as well as some state mental health ELOP. Um that's kind of a that's the expanded learning opportunities program. It's it's kind of an unknown if the threshold is changed from 75% to 55% for the tier one funding. A larger portion of the funding goes to those districts. We do not fall into that. We fall in we're below 55% for unduplicated. So for right now the per ADA amount is unknown. So what we're projecting best we know is similar to what we have this year but as that's updated when the trailer language comes through we will uh provide updates to
052you if we have to make any modifications to our ELO program and then we will continue to get Prop 98 uh funding for the arts prop 28 did I say I did Prop 28 is a subset pulled off of Prop 98 doesn't go to Prop 98 anymore. So our this is just a graphic of our largest funding source, LCFF, and you just can kind of see how it's put together, what makes up the the 50.9 million that the district does receive that funds most of um our TK12 programs. We um receive the supplemental grant. We do not receive concentration because we're below 55%. We do get a TK add-on. That is something that we may see more of a TK add- on um if that makes it all the way through which will be of
053assistance to the district since TK is now 10 to one with a 20 child cap in a room. So we have to have more TK classes because we have a limitation on how many students to adult we can have in a room. So that will be helpful as an offset because we do have an increased number of TK classes that we um have to have this year next year for the number of um TK students we have and the lower ratio and that amount is less than the total of the three top portions. That amount is less than the 772. Yes, it's 153,000 of it. And does that fund our TK fully fund? No, it funds one teacher, but are you know that's it's an add-on. So it's supposed to fund the addition of the
054expense, the classrooms that you have to add and everything. So, at this time, it's not offsetting the full increase of the cost, but that is the governor's intent um is to move towards giving some additional funding to kind of offset the impact it's having on districts. So, this is a graphic as as well as letting you know the various revenues um for the district as a whole. As you can see, 80% of our revenues are the LCFF with the remaining balances coming in with federal, state, and local that funds our district as a whole. Any questions on revenues before I move on to the expenditure side? Okay, so our assumptions for expenditures, just like revenue, we have various factors that go into creating the expenditure side of our budget. Uh stirs and pers are always
055taken into account. Stirs has been stable. Uh PERS is increasing. It didn't increase as much as it had been projected, but 26.81% of somebody's salary is still a sizable amount that impacts our budget. Um, also included are the step and column increases that happen on the natural pered code. Um, our payroll driven mandatories are the same except for workers comp. Our workers compensation rate has increased. Um, and that's just based on actual um, claims that we've had and input that we've had to our pool. Our usage is greater. Therefore, we have a higher rate that has to be covered. Um, CPI is the consumer price index. Um, it's expected to be around 3.42%. So, we take that into account when projecting our supplies, goods, and services. Um, within our budget, we must have 3% set
056aside for routine restricted maintenance. So 3% of our actual expenditures must be transferred over to a restricted account to maintain our facilities. And the two items on the right side are not additional funds. They're just subsets within the LCFF. So within the LCFF, 2.4 million of it is set aside for supplemental. And then 8.5% has to do 8.5 million has to do with that education protection account that you did a resolution for earlier which um states that we will use that portion of the money on instructional salaries and benefits not administration but it's a subset within LCF. So on the unrestricted side of our budget, this is a breakdown of our salaries, benefits, books and supplies, our contracts and services. Uh we do not have any projections for capital outlay on the unrestricted side at
057this time. We do have other outgoes that has to come in and indirect costs are negative because they're charged to restricted programs that then comes back over into the unrestricted and that's to provide the necessary um supports of business and HR and um curriculum that are they're generally held instead of applying the expenses to each department. We continue to have our salary and benefits greater than 90% of our unrestricted budget. Um, and that includes all of our staff, our extra duty, our stipens, our subs. That's what a majority of the unrestricted costs are for. Any questions on the unrestricted side of our budget? Okay. On the restricted side, you can see how the the breakdown is. Um, our salary and benefits are just under 80% of the restricted, but restricted side of our budget are
058for specific things. You receive funding that has specific requirements. It's where our one-time funds are. It's where our specialled program is. It's where our um maintenance and operations for routine restricted maintenance is. It's our title programs. Any grant we receive that says this is how you must use it. um that that's the restricted side of our budget. So it can't uh it does not ever offset the unrestricted. The unrestricted side would always contribute over to the restricted side if the funding is not sufficient um for our programs. So combined, this is what our general fund um expenditures look like with the majority of our resources going to um our staff to support our students with the remaining slices of the pie. You can see there any questions on our expenditures of our budget? As I
059said, oftentimes the uh unrestricted side must contribute to the restricted side for a number of reasons. Uh special education is one of them. It's not a fault of special education. It's a fault of the amount of funding that comes in for our special education, but we do have to make sure that we can hold the program whole. Um so there is a contribution from the unrestricted side to special ed. Um there is also the the next one, the routine restricted maintenance. That's our required 3% Um years ago we put in solar so we have to continue to contribute to pay the solar loan as well as our title programs have a small contribution to support uh the teachers that are in those intervention programs to put together. This is a picture of our ending fund
060balance at the end the end of the year for 2526 if everything was to be held exactly how it is projected here. Uh we begin the year on the unrestricted side with a beginning fund balance of 7.8 million. You add in the revenues, subtract your expenditures, your contributions go over um and we will have deficit spending of approximately 1.6 million if nothing was to change. And then you can see the components at the bottom of how that is broken out. We do have um within our ending uh fund balance our reserves a sufficient amount to fund our 3% required reserve and the additional one month of payroll or about 5% um that's board driven as well as covering um textbook needs part of the commitment into next year. But the remaining in that word assignment
061there that that area and that is then utilized in the multi-year projections out. So that leaves our reserves for 2526 at 9.38%. The general fund isn't the only fund we have. We have many others and this is just a summary of those. Um all of these funds will um have positive balances. They are able to fund themselves. Um if any one of these was to fall below their revenue, uh the general unrestricted budget and the general fund would have to contribute over potentially um for fund 11, 12, and 13. All the other funds um are funded within themselves. Um fund 21 is how we're spending the bond. So after all of next year's expenditures, we project to still have 26.3 million to move into the next year for our building. Uh fund 40 is also
062part of the uh construction that has to do with the high school performing arts building. Fund 51 we never get to touch. That is 100% controlled by the county treasurer. That's where they collect the taxes from our residents and pay the loans on our bonds. And then fund 73, the bottom one, those are private scholarships that were set up that then are awarded to our high school seniors with requirements to keep certain balances. Before I move on to what the outy years look like, any questions on 2526? This might be kind of an outer years's question, but I read in the news that the governor is proposing what they're calling a maneuver in the budget. I think this is the same thing as last year where he's proposing potentially borrowing from future years to fund
063this year. So he's proposing to underfund 2526 um to to in case in case taxes don't come in as they do because what happened if if you remember back in 22 23 they gave this nice extra 6.7% to the districts and then they didn't collect that much. So we're still paying that back um from the future. So, in order to avoid that, the full Prop 98 that's supposed to go to districts isn't funded. So, that's what you hear about. As well as the June payment, we will not get in June. We will have to recognize it as though we did, but they will not give it to us until July because it it works on the books for the state to meet their budget. But that's not a done deal yet because there's threatened litigation.
064Yes, I read. Yes. Okay. So last year there was a large push back because every time you underfund Prop 98 you lower the base for then the next year. And so the longer you do that the low you've lost funding for your students. Prop 98 is a minimum amount that we're supposed to get 40% of the state's budget. Right. Okay. Yes. So for 2627 and 2728 which seem like really far out years but they are year two and three and the multi-year projections um I included this graphic from school services because it kind of highlights what a multi-year projection is and what a multi-year projection is not. It is um mathematical calculation of what we know right now. It is not um it's not a crystal ball. It's not a that means we got it
065wrong. It's just what we know right now until something else changes. So our outy years could look better, they could look worse. We always hope that they they look better, but we don't budget on hope. So we do as conservative as possible. Um there's a lot of information on here, but this is the assumptions just like you saw in the 2526 year. These are the assumptions used for both the revenue as well as the expenditures. And you can see the estimated cola is again above 3% in the outy years. But as we saw for when you were here a year ago, you heard that the cola for 2526 was supposed to be 2.93%. It's down to 2.3. Those outyear colas could decrease. They may not. They could not fund them fully. They could um but
066it's just something we'll have to watch with all the indicators coming in with property tax. And then you see that um On the expenditure side, the PERS rates are increasing. Um CPI is changing. We kind of keep workers comp. We keep it level because we don't really know. Our rate could go down, our rate could go up. Um our just works really hard to um mitigate issues that result in workers comp cases. So that has an impact on those. And then the the the two bottom the lottery and mandate those are the rates that have come out from the state as they are projected by ADA. So as our ADA decreases so does the amount of funding we get from those sources also. So for our largest funding source LCFF this is kind of just
067a highlight of what it might do to our funding. So, it looks like our net change, as long as everything stays the same, COLA does, our students come at the funded um ADA rate, we should see about $1.1 million and increase each year. Um that is good. It does not fully cover our costs that we don't have any choice in when um goods and services increase, the ongoing step and column. um our utilities are going up, our liability insurance is increasing with all the past um legal cases that now have different statutes of limitations. So there's a lot of things that do impact us. Um for our LCFF um we expect um based on these projections um in 2627 to move into the three-year prior average and that will hold true for 2728 also because
068as they're declining um the prior is lower but you get to to have three years averaging out. So it kind of makes the decline in revenue a little less harsh. gives us time to plan. This is a combination of the revenues and expenditures we expect to see and um the impact that it's going to have on our ending fund balance. So with all factors holding the same, you can see what our reserves look projected to be in 2627 we could fall to the 7.73% 2728 the 6.25%. Um what that means is we we have sufficient reserves for our 3% required. Um we get to 27 28 where we do no longer have enough to fulfill the board commitment for one month of payroll. Um which is to help us be prepared should there be significant
069changes. Um these items in that two out years will change as we see what our enrollment actually does and how our attendance is and if there's changes in funding at the state level. And at what point do we become I forgot the word for it. Yeah. Qualified. Below 3%. Oh, okay. When you're below 3% in one of the years. So if you're in year two, you're below 3% you become qualified. uh you don't want to ever be below 3% in the current or the first subsequent because that means you've likely fallen to negative in the out and you never want that or you're getting a lot closer to becoming negative in the current. Um that's why we're constantly adjusting our multi-year projections and paying attention to um our hiring practices and what we have going
070on in our So based on our multi-year projections um next week when it comes before you um to take action on the budget you will be able to adopt a um positive budget which means we can make our commitments in the current in both years. Um positive also means that our bond rating remains as high as it is which is important for the bonds we need to sell in order to continue our construction projects. But what's most important is we can meet our financial obligations. Some of the things we need to continue to watch is, as we've been talking about, our enrollment, our ADA, our staffing, our deficit spending. Anytime you have deficit spending, you're utilizing onetime money to solve a problem. Um, so we always have to monitor that because it it reduces your
071reserves. Um, also all of our onetime COVID dollars, they they end and we will have fully spent them. We will ensure we spend all of them that we don't have to return any of them. Um, but we will need to continue to have conversations about our reserve levels. Um, and then just watching our general fund contributions. We don't have a lot of say in that, but you know, our our special ed program is doing everything it can to uh fulfill what is necessary within our IEPs, but to maintain costs the best that they can. So, I've already said you're going to adopt next week. um June 30th the year ends and then the business office works really hard to quickly close the books to bring the audited actuals back to you in September and then
072we know really where our reserves stand. Um and then at the same time we revised the 2526 budget because everything will be adopted for you. Any additional questions? Thank you for putting all that together. There's a lot of numbers, but I understand a little bit better of how we're doing it, h how we're spending, and what we're expecting. And, you know, again, I I hope our enrollment goes up. I hope having TK increases our the amount of students we have um because then they'll continue through the district. So, that's my hope, but thank you for putting all this together. There any other questions, comments? And we'll move on to um our action items. So, we're at 13A and uh Miss Egan, you are back up. Oh, wait. I have to close public hearing and then
073I have to open it back up to And there's no Thank you. Hi again. Um, I'm happy to give you a recap if you'd like one or to answer any questions or if you'd like to um go forward. The staff recommendation is to um approve the resolution and award the temporary construction easement to the city of Benicia to allow for the construction of the Mary Farmer Elementary School pedestrian bridge. I have a question. So, I know it's a temporary easement, so end up coming back to Benishia Unified. Do we have an end date? Like there's no date. Um so the construction easement runs with the construction. So when the notice of completion is issued for the project, the easement will close before the notice and the close out of the project. One of their requirements
074stipulations is that they have to return any area that they used for staging or other access to a the condition equal to or prior to or better than pre-construction. Okay. And they're insured. It's they're insured for themselves. Yes. As they do this project. Yes. Thank you. You're welcome. Are there any other questions? Do I have a motion? I'll make a motion that the board adopt the resolution of conveyance. I'll second. All those in favor? I. Thank you. Thank you again. And now, Miss Wright, Mrs. Wright, you are up for I think the duration of the meeting. Welcome up. Thank you. All right. Right. Good evening board, cabinet, and BUSD community. My name is Stephanie Rice. I'm director of education services. And the first thing I have for you is for a hopeful approval of the
075adoption of curriculum Moby Max by Moby Max education for elementary and middle school intensive academic programs. Now, I should have actually started. I have six things that I will be bringing forward. So, yes, I'm up several times. Um the focus here is I'm bringing forward uh curriculum to be adopted to support our students that are in our special education programs. Um in the past um I did not bring forward our additional curriculums that we were using in our special ed programs. We brought forward our core curriculums that our kids that have IEPs um are um utilizing or exposed to in different levels. But we definitely uh work with our special education teachers to look at how we're doing and what additional supports and you know we feel with our LCAP goals especially with our equity
076and inclusion and access for all students that we want to be transparent with our community on the um additional supports that we bring in uh to give access to all students. So the first curriculum again is Moby Max. Um it will be utilized at our elementary and middle school levels for an intensive academic programs primarily to give the students access to grade level uh curricular content for science and social studies. Um an added benefit is that teachers also will have uh support they can utilize it for ELA writing and math as well. But the primary focus really is was came from a science and social studies lens for this uh group of students. It is um a digital platform that the teacher does teach into. Um it gives uh different assessments to be able to
077provide the teacher with where the student is so that they can then teach it in and provide access back for the student. Um, so both the middle school um, uh, teacher, Bonnie Ramirez, and um, our elementary teachers um, at Joe Henderson recommend that we bring this forward to support their students. Any questions on this curriculum? Just a comment to say thank you for bringing the special ed curricula forward. I think it's great. Absolutely. Appreciate it. You're welcome. Is there a motion? I'd like to make a motion to approve the adoption of curriculum for elementary and middle school intensive academic programs. I'll second favor. I miss. So my next um hopeful approval of the adoption of curriculum is for Number Worlds by McGra Hill. It's for our elementary and middle school intensive academics program. again. Um
078so both programs the students are um exposed to our adopted curriculum um everyday math and CPM but this program itself um has an initial um assessment that identifies what standards the students are struggling and then it drills down to those skills that support that standard. So for example u place value or numbers and operations. you'll be able to pull a small group within your group of students to really um provide them the support that they need. Um it's very hands-on. It does the um I do, we do, you do model. Um and it's hands-on both with physical manipulatives as well as there's digital manipulatives built into this program as well. So again, both um our middle school and our elementary um intensive academic uh teachers agree in the alignment of uh wanting to bring forth
079this adoption so that our students at the elementary level as well as a middle school level will receive this additional support for mathematics. Any questions? I'd like to move that we adopt the um McGraill number worlds. I'll second All those in favor I thank you. So the next hopeful approval of adoption is for the curriculum spire from EPS learning. It's for our elementary and middle school resource programs and then also our elementary intensive academic program. Spire is a reading program. It is based on the Orton Gillingham approach, the science of reading where they focus on strong uh funological awareness, uh phonics, vocabulary, spelling, fluency, and comprehension. Uh one of the key pieces here is it's very formulaic. There's no guessing for the student of what the process of the lesson is. um it's very intentional
080in its approach to support the students exactly where they are in that reading development. So this alongside of they're also getting our Orton excuse me our um open court curriculum or our um amplify ELA at the middle school but this is that additional tier three support to really hone in on students that are having um a high needs or struggle in reading. It's also the recommended curriculum that supports students with dyslexia. So again, our uh middle school and elementary um both recommend that this is the best support for our students um in the both the resource and our intensive academics at the elementary level. Any questions? Is there a motion? I'll make a motion to approve the curriculum spire. I'll second. Those in favor I still you're gonna get tired of me. Um so for
081your hopeful approval of adoption of the curriculum language tree from language tree online. It's for our middle school and high school. to our secondary newcomer English language learners as well as our dy identified students in the intensive academic or functional academic programs. So this curriculum um let me rewind a little bit. You have already adopted eyelet ELLL for our secondary middle school and our high school EL programs. Um we've had some really strong data for our students that are not at our level one but our level two and three. it's not hitting the mark for our level one or just really new to English students. So, myself, Miss Straner, um dug into this, brought this forward to teachers. Uh this program, um seems like it's going to be really strong because it brings in video,
082audio, images. The students can listen to the words while they see it. They record themselves so the teacher can hear it. They can hear themselves back. So, when we're in a classroom with multiple levels of English learners, the teacher can be teaching the eyelet ELLL while the students have headsets on and are working on this and then when the other kids are doing their assignments, they're then teaching it. Um, the assessment format here um reflects uh the format of the ELPAC as Dr. Beats was talking about in her presentation earlier which is the English language proficiency assessment of California a very rigorous assessment. So by giving the students the the support and then the assessment platform that reflects what they're going to need to take each year will be a benefit for them. Um so
083this would be for our newcomer level one in our EL courses as well as to provide support to our um intensive academic and our functional academic programs because uh the students in those programs because they have curriculum support they don't have um time in their schedule to take the EL course. So, we want to make sure that their um special education teachers also have this curriculum to provide them with their designated ELD daily as well. So, that's why it's both. Any questions on this curriculum? I'll make a motion um to um adopt the curriculum language tree. I'll second. All those in favor? I rice. Getting there. All right. The next one is for your hopeful approval of the adoption of curriculum known as ULS, unique learning systems by Everway for our elementary rise programs and
084for our high school functional academic programs. This program addresses all core areas, English, math, science, and history as well as has a social emotional learning uh component. Um the teachers gave raving reviews from our high school level to our elementary level on the engagement that it provides for the students at both levels and also the ease of use for their students to be able to access them this as well as them um for teaching all the different you know curriculums and having to adjust for each individual student. and they felt like this program really gave them the capability to be able to adjust for their individualized needs. Um it brings the um common core content standards to the students so that they can access it at the level that they are at at that moment.
085So um again I'm putting that forth. Do you have any questions? I'll move that we approve the curriculum ULS unique learning systems. I'll second I and you're still up. Last one. This is for your hopeful approval of adoption for the curriculum hands-on English from Ballard and Thai for our elementary duly identified students in our RISE program. And again, our RISE students um get primarily their um core materials from their teacher. They don't push in for the ELD time. So, we want to make sure that um our RISE uh teachers at Robert Simple currently have materials to provide that designated ELD that their students that are um have an IEP and are also multil- language learners um have the right to have daily. Um this is a very hands-on program uh with lots of visuals um
086and lots of opportunities for the students to be able to talk with sentence frames, etc. Um there's no cost to us because we do have this program from Miss Stacer has used this. So we have some additional kits that she can leave at the site and we can share. Um but we think that this will be um a really good program to bring into our our littles at the elementary at the rise level. Any questions? Is there a motion? I move that we approve the adoption of um the Ballard and Thai hands-on English program. I'll second. Those in favor? I thank you. Oh, and we're sorry to let you go. I'll be back next week. And Dr. Jennings, you are up. Um thank you, uh President Grubs. Um, up for your consideration and approval is
087the amended chief business official contract. California ed code 40 uh 45197 specifies that school districts grant to classified employees annual vacation leave at the regular rate of pay, including classified management. The amended contract presented for board approval for the chief business official reflects alignment with this ED code and with the prior CBO's contract language. And so, um, then I, um, will state that the specific contract language that's been amended to remove language related to a positive work calendar and include the occur of vacation leave as required by ED code for all classified employees, including management. And then for the board's information, there are more specifics um, lined up for you. Does anyone have any questions for Dr. Is there a motion? I move that we approve the amended contract agreement for the CBO. I'll second.
088All those in favor? I I then uh Dr. Jennings, you have one more. The Brown Act. Nope. Oh. Oh. Then I'd like to adjourn this meeting. It is 7:21. Thank you so much everyone and our