001The regular meeting of the board of trustees for the for the various various Union School District is now called to order at 6 p.m. Um, three board members are present. Trustee Goen will be joining us uh when we reconvene. Now the items to be discussed in close session. A student discipline or other confidential student matters education code sections 35146 48918 489008 SEC 48912B and 490608 SEC and 20 USC section 1232G B conference with labor negotiators government code section 54957.6 Six agency designated negotiator Roxan Fuentes EDDD and other members of the negotiating team. Employee organizations California School Employee Association California Teachers Association of Beressa Teamsters Local 150 Management C Public Employee Discipline Dismissal Release Complaint Government Code Section 54957 3. Are there any public comments on close session items? If none we will now adjourn to
002close session. Thank you very much at 602. Good evening and welcome welcome to the regular board meeting of the board of trustees for the Varessa Union School District. Let's see. We are now in reconvening to open session. Please stand for the flag salute. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Trustee Shini Basan, could you please read the district mission statement? >> Uh, yes. Bria Union School District provides all students the skills to become lifelong learners and successful 21st century global citizens. >> Thank you very much. Trust Trusty How, please read the norms of the board of trustees. Of course, the Beressa Union School District Board of Trustees agreed
003to focus on the best interest of students at all times. Be respectful, listen openly, address problems and process, not persons, keep each other informed, maintain confidentiality, work toward the future, learn from the past, equal participation from all members, and please stay on task. >> Thank you very much. No action was taken during close session. We are now going to the adoption of the agenda. Could I have a motion, please, to adopt the agenda? >> I move to adopt the agenda. >> Second. >> It's been moved a second and seconded. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Oppose. All right. The the agenda is adopted. We are now going to seven. Item seven, which is public comments on consent calendar agenda items. And there's none. There's none. So, could I have a motion, please, to
004approve the consent calendar? >> Move to adopt consent. >> I'll second. >> It's been moved and seconded. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Thank you. Motion is carried. Now, let's go to item number nine. Number nine, comments from the public on non-aggenda items. I believe we have is this it? We have one speaker. Before I do that, I would like to do I get the um where is it? >> It's also here. >> This one here. Oh, there it is. Before I call on the speaker, I would like to read the speaker conduct. I thought I had it. Yeah, it's in here. At this time, members of the public may address the board on any issue within the subject matter jurisdiction of the board that is not listed on this agenda. Members of
005the public may also address the board on an agenda item before or during the board's consideration of the item. No action can be taken on an item not on the agenda at this time, but may be referred to the administration or put on a future agenda. Each speaker will be given three minutes to address the board, five minutes per organization, and a maximum of 20 minutes per topic. However, in exceptional circumstances, when necessary to ensure full opportunity for public input, the board president may with board consent adjust the amount of time allowed for public input and or the time allotted for each speaker. Any such adjustment shall be done equitably so as to allow a diversity of viewpoints. The president may also ask members of the public with the same viewpoint to select a few
006individuals to address the board on behalf of that viewpoint. Board bylaw 9323. Thank you. Now I will call on Teresa Curillio to speak. Miss Curillio, please. Thank you. Mrs. Blancc has a lot to say for little old me. Um, so, and I know Dr. Fuentes and everybody's aware, we started a traffic safety committee at Ruskin, which is parentled. Um, we are partnering in collaboration with this um, superintendent's office as well as the school administration. Everything seems to be going fairly well. I wanted to come up and let everybody know that we are still looking for district approved parent volunteers. Um, we're open to any availability that you can give. If you have any questions, please reach out to our administration office at Ruskin or reach out to um the board's office. So, thank you. >>
007Thank you, Miss Curillo. Item number 10, reports and presentation. A quarterly report on Williams complaints. Superintendent, please. >> Thank you. For this report, I will pass it on to Dr. McCreary, um, our assistant superintendent of ed services. >> So, for our Williams quarterly reports, um, during the July 1st through September 30th time frame, no complaints were filed with any school or the district during this, uh, indicated time frame. Thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. Mariri. 11. Superintendent Superintendent report. None. At this time, we shall continue to 12. Comments, announcements from the board. Do we have any from the board? None. We shall continue on to review and discussion. 14. Yeah. 14. Now we go to 15. Review and action. A superintendent one applicant interviews an appointment to fill board member vacancy. Dr. Fuentes, please. At
008this time, it is recommended that the board conduct interviews, accept public comment, discuss, and move to appoint one of the applicants to fill the board vacancy. Thank you very much. We shall continue. >> Yeah. All right. I got it. Yeah. Now we I will provide the public with a brief history of the need for the provisional appointment. The board currently has a vacancy following Mr. Hugo Jimenez's resignation. At our September 10 meeting, the board directed staff to begin the process of accepting applications to fill the vacancy by appointment and created a subcommittee to confirm applicants were eligible and to develop interview questions. The application period was open between September 15 and 30 and the district received applications for 18 applicants. The board appreciates the interest of all applicants in serving the district as part of
009the board and ex and expect that the board will have a difficult decision before it tonight. We want to thank all of the applicants for coming forward as part of this process. While the board may only select one applicant to fill the seat tonight, we want to let you know that there are many ways besides filling the vacancy that you can support the district and we hope that you will take advantage of those opportunities. Before we get started, I wanted to read from the script I will be using tonight and outline the process developed by the board subcommittee. The board has reviewed all of the applications and will begin by calling each applicant forward in alphabetical order by last name and providing them with six minutes total to answer the same three questions they have
010been provided. Following this opportunity, the board will provide an opportunity for public comment on this agenda item. Following public comment, each board member will have an opportunity to discuss the criteria they are looking for in an applicant to fill the vacancy. Board members will then be asked to identify up to five preferred applicants and may indicate their top preferred applicant. Staff will keep a tally of the preferred applicants for the public to view. Each applicant who is identified by at least two board members as a preferred applicant will become a finalist. If there appears to be consensus among the board for an applicant at that time, the board may entertain a motion for appointment. If there is no such motion, each finalist will then be given two minutes to answer each of four questions. Finalists
011will be called in reverse alphabetical order by last name to ensure no finalist receives the questions in advance. Finalists who are not answering questions will be asked to leave the room while other finalists respond. After the second round of questions, the board will begin its deliberations. again focusing on what they are looking for in an applicant to fill the vacancy. Board members will then be asked to identify their top three preferred applicants in order of preference. Following this discussion, the board will entertain a motion to make the appointment. It will take an affirmative vote of at least three board members to make the provisional appointment. The successful applicant will then be administered the oath. Before we begin, I want to see if any of my fellow members, fellow board members have any questions about the
012process. >> Thank you so much, President Boak, for that robust discussion. I really enjoyed being on the subcommittee and I just wanted to request and ask I received a lot of feedback from community members um regarding the public comment period and so I would like to recommend that we add a public comment period prior to the first round of interviews to allow for folks who have child care concerns have work early tomorrow morning to make their comments first and then we go into the um first round of interviews if that's okay with you President Boak Well, we'll discuss it. Um, trust Vasan, what are your thoughts? >> Uh, I think that's a that's a fair uh ask. I think uh I understand it's a school night, so uh that's fine. Anybody that wants to come
013forward right now is welcome. >> I am for it as well. So, we'll continue. We don't have to go. >> Yeah, it's okay. All right. Then we will start then with the >> Yeah. with a public comment. >> Yeah. You're going to go here. We shall continue. Now that the motion has been made, we will provide an opportunity for members of the public to provide comment on the appointment before or after the first round of interviews. Given the number comments cards, each member of the public will have >> there are 14 of the 14 candidates. >> 14 comments. >> Oh, 14 comments. That's right. I forgot we're not there yet. 14 comments. Okay. Okay. Amount depending on number of public comments, minutes to provide comment on this topic. How many minutes do we are we
014agreeing upon my fellow board members? One minute, two minutes >> can meet in the middle. Minute and a half or something. >> Let's make >> it's a good balance. >> A minute and a half as agreed upon by the board. >> That that adds work for Miss Gomez right there. All right, I shall continue. District staff will begin by calling the names of those who have submitted public comment cards. When your name is called, if you need to provide comment now because you cannot stay until after the interviews, please come forward. If you are able to stay and provide comment after the first round of interviews, please say pass and you will be called to provide public comment after the interviews. Um, I think we have a list Oh boy. Okay. All right. I shall
015start with Joe Herman, president. Test test. Good evening. Good evening, trustees, B USD community, and applicants to fill the vacancy on the board of trustees. My name is Joe Herman. I teach second grade at Brookree Elementary School. I have taught in our district for nearly 30 years and I'm currently and I currently serve as the president of the California Teacher Association of Beressa or CAB which is the union that represents over 300 teachers, psychologists, nurses, speech language pathologists, and counselors in our district. Unfortunately, CATAB did not have the opportunity to interview all of the candidates. As the current trustees know, CATAB will work with any candidate who is appointed as we do with all of our honorable BUSD trustees and we have significant work to do. I wanted to give the applicants a sense of
016the challenges facing our district and the need for their leadership in this critical time. In the last 5 years, spending on outside contracts has increased from 7 million in the 2021 school year to over 15 million last year. Some of this spending goes to private forprofit corporations like Swing, a substitute corporation, who can charge service fees of up to 40%. meaning that precious resources are not spent in our on our classrooms in our classrooms, but go to fuel investors profits. Last year, BUSD's expenses went over budget by approximately 5.5 million. 3.3 million of that overspend was on outside contracts. Educators and students feel the effects of these misplaced priorities every day. Whether it's inadequate staffing for PAR educators in our special education classes or increases in health care premiums for members with families as much
017as 117%. Educator turnover in our district nearly quadrupled between 2018 and 2023. and turnover among our colleagues in special education increased by nearly seven times. Whoever is selected tonight to help lead our district, we need to take seriously their responsibility to ask the hard questions, challenge assumptions, and ensure that BUD is the best place to teach for our members and teachers and to learn for our students. After conducting our own interviews, CATAB is officially recommending Shauna Brewer and Randy Lee to fill the vacancy left by the Honorable Yugo Jimenez. We believe that Miss Brewer's career as an organizational change consultant will equip her to ask the tough questions about BUSD's budget priorities to make sure that every dollar is spent in the interests of stable and effective schools where our students can thrive. As a
018former teacher at Ruskin Elementary, Mr. for Randy Lee represents all that teachers value in the teaching profession and he has been a model for all of us. Randy received the Santa Clara County Teacher of the Year Award. His depth of experience and connections to current and former students and educators will bring much needed perspective on the realities of today's classrooms. Please vote for Shauna Brewer or Mr. Randy Lee, when you make your final decision this evening, thankful for your Thank you for your thoughtful consideration. >> Thank you, Mr. Herman. The next speaker is Radha >> Bala. >> Oh, it's Radha Bala. >> It's me now. You saw you saw the face. Um, >> hello everybody. Good evening. I am Rada Bala, preschool special ed teacher at Majestic Way. Um I'm actually here for a couple
019of different things. First of all, we are all very well aware of uh how incredibly um how education is being torn apart in this country especially special education. Very recently, uh, members of federal, uh, department of, uh, education decided they were going to slash and give Rifs to, um, special education personnel, which was already in trouble. And I have 15 seconds. I haven't even started anything. So, I don't know if I can ask for more time to say anything, but I just think it's absolutely imperative we find a member who is not afraid to ask the questions and has the courage to say no and has the courage to stand up for the students because your job is not to teach, is not to be with teachers or like us. Your job is to do
020what's best for the students because apparently this country is not. So, I implore you to really look and make sure that whoever you choose as your board member really, really understands the difficult situation we're in and that we make decisions that are best for our students because it's up to us. Thank you. >> I have 12 seconds left. >> Thank you, Miss Ba. Thank you. >> The next speaker is Teresa Curillo. >> Pass. Okay. The next speaker then is Kevin D. Kevin D. Pass. The next speaker is Michael Hugh. Did I say the last name right? Michael >> Who. Thank you. Michael Who. >> Good evening everyone. My name is Michael Hu and I'm a senior in high school this year. I've been a longtime student of the Beriesa Union School District attending both Ruskin
021Elementary and Siermont Middle School. Later, I worked under Anita Chen at her education company and realized that she knows how to educate the next generation better than anyone else. She knows how to address behavioral issues, the rise of technology, and even knows a bit of our slang. But seriously, I endorse Anita Chen for this position because she has an undeniable passion for seeing every student thrive and the skills to make it happen. Thank you so much. >> Thank you very much. Um, the next speaker is Wanho. Did I say your name correctly? >> Yes. Hoaniho. >> Yeah. Okay. Yes. >> Oh, Fanny Ho. That's right. Okay. >> Good evening, everyone. My name is Fanny Ho. I'm the parent um of the students at middle uh Sierra Middle School and Petemore Hill High School. I'm also
022here to support Anita Chien for the school board because she brings an outstanding combination of experience and education that our school district truly needs. She holds a master degree in business management which help her to understand how to manage budget, allocate resources wisely and make responsible financial decisions. She's also earning her PhD degree in educational technology which gives her the knowledge to guide our school into the future and balancing the innovation with care for the students well-being. Beyond her educational background, she has more than 25 years of experience living and working in our community as a teacher, private tutor, a small business owner. My children have been her uh students for more than seven years. She truly cares for her students. Due to her extensive teaching experience, she understand how policy decisions affect our classroom,
023our family, and our community at every level. Anita Chan's background isn't just impressive, it's also practicals. She combines professional skills, educational expertise, and local understanding to bring true solution to our school. That's why I vote for Anita Chan to be the school board member. Thank you very much. >> Thank you for your comments. The next speaker is Evan Z. Good evening any everyone. My name is Evan and I'm a student from Vincy Park Elementary School. I support Miss Anita to represent us on the school board member because she is very helpful to her students and also listens to her parents on how to help their children improve learning. She also she is very willing to help children in writing and speaking. I know all this because I've taken over three years of classes with her
024by now and that is why I hope Miss India should be school board member. Thank you. >> Thank you so much. The next speaker is Kim No and Jango. >> Pass. >> All right. Next one is I think it's Chin Yan Pang. I hope I said your name correctly. >> Tenan. Okay. Thank you. >> Good evening. My name is Tran. My kids went to Sarah Mount and Ruskin and they also both went to Miss Anita's uh writing and speaking classes. And I'm here to support Anita for the school board. And I'm really excited and proud of her. Um, I remember when my boy first took Anila's writing class at fourth grade, the that year the Christmas card he wrote for his Ruskin teacher was like so much more meaningful and fancier than just a Merry
025Christmas. And Mr. Nila has this special gift. I have noticed that she's very able to understand the need of both the parent and the student and beyond that she was able to always communicate with the parent and the student in a very effective and respectful way and I was always amazed by that. I have known her for more than 10 years and I know that she has this loving heart and burden for our community because this is a place she grew up and she's always has this heart to do something for our community and with her education experience and her MBA and PhD in education technology I think she's will be a really valuable asset for our district. Thank you. >> Thank you very much for your comments. Next to speak is Sher. Hello, my
026name is Sher Who. I've taken Miss Anita's writing classes and discovered that she's a very kind, inspirational, and motivational teacher who loves building personal relationships with all her students. She helps us improve not only in writing but in confidence as well. I support her for this position because I know that she truly cares about students like me and for all our schools and wants to help both improve. Thank you. >> Thank you very much for your comments. Next to speak is Jessica. Jessica not we shall continue then the next to speak is Angela Lee. >> Good evening everyone. My name is Angela Lee and I'm a proud parent of uh students at Sierraman Middle School. I'm supporting Miss Anita Chen for school board because of who she is as a person. She is thoughtful, honest,
027and truly cares about people. Uh, every interaction I have had with her shows um her integrity. She listens carefully, considers every perspective and treats everyone with respect. In a world where politics can be divisive, uh, Anita stands out for her calm, reasoned approach. She leads with humility and uh strength and she genuinely wants to make our school better for every children for every child no matter their background or learning style. As a parent, I trust her judgment and her heart. She's the kind of person who doesn't just talk about values. She lives with uh she lives them every day. That's kind of leader I want uh representing our community. Thank you. >> Thank you so much for your comments. Next to speak is um is it Yo >> is that >> Yahwh? Yahwh here. That's
028Y u Hu A. I believe she's not here. The next speaker is Galinto. Good evening members of the board, fellow parents and community members. My name is Jolen Tu and my children aged 17 and 11 have had the privilege of taking writing classes with Mrs. uh Anita Chen. From my experience, what stands out most about Anita is her passions for educations and her dedication to her students. She has devoted countless hours to helping students grow with a particular focus on writing and speech, giving them the tools to express themsel confidently. Anita has been a part of our community for over 25 years and she cares deeply about making our schools stronger and more supportive for every students. She doesn't just teach, she inspires, mentors, and encourages both students and parents like myself. She believes every
029students deserves the opportunity to thrive. And she has shown through her work that she's willing to invest the time and the energy to make that happen. For this reasons, I'm proud to support Mrs. Anita Chen as a candidate for the school board. She's committed not to herself, but to the students, families, and community we all care about. Thank you. >> Thank you very much for your comments. [Applause] Thank you everyone for your comments. Now we shall continue. We will now begin with each applicant having six minutes total to answer the three questions they were provided in advance and which are on the agenda. Miss Kim Gomez will be the timekeeper and will make sure you see the timer. We will ask you to conclude your comments when you reach six minutes to make sure each
030applicant has the same opportunity. When you are answering the questions, we invite you to be as specific as possible by using examples or details. Board members will not ask follow-up questions to ensure that each applicant receives the same question. We will now >> Yeah. Right here. Right here. With that, I would ask Shana Brewer to come forward to the podium, please. [Applause] Good evening, Dr. Fuentes, members of the board, and members of the community. Um, my name is Shauna Brewer, and I'm so honored to be here tonight. Um, I have deep roots in this district. I I grew up in Beressa. I attended Beressa schools and I'm also a parent of Beressa students. since my daughter graduated from Pedmont Middle School last year and I have one currently attending sixth grade. So, I've experienced this
031district from both sides as a student and as a parent. And over the past eight years, I've served in leadership roles through PTA, school site councils, district advisory councils, and most recently on the school consolidation committee. When I served on the school consolidation committee, I was really inspired by the members of our community. Um, at one of the first few public forums where I saw members of our community that have never spoken publicly before stand up and share what worried them, what mattered to them, what they hoped for. I realized in that moment that being a member of that committee carried a a deep responsibility that was greater than looking at the data and analyzing what was on a page to make a recommendation. It actually required us to listen intently and hear what they
032had to say. And it was a great reminder that all of our community members, their voices are valued and they're heard. I also have seen firsthand the dedication of our teachers and staff as they navigated the pandemic and later the school transitions, always with respect, care, and an unwavering focus on putting students first. So, that's why I'm pursuing this position. These experiences validated what I've always believed to be critical of a district board member, to listen, to bridge between the community and the dis decisions we make to ensure our policies are fiscally responsible and meet our long-term goals. Public education must be valued, prioritized, and fully utilized as the cornerstone of our community. And I believe our schools thrive when families, staff, and the broader community believe in the system and also work to support
033it. I'm here to roll up my sleeves and bring my curiosity, my leadership, and my engagement skills to continue the work of this board so that we not only preserve, but we strengthen the opportunities for our students through innovative and sustainable solutions. It excites me to be part of something greater. Professionally, I've spent more than 20 years helping organizations plan and implement complex change. I'm what we call the people side of change. My work focuses on helping leaders build alignment around solutions that stick. And this requires leaders to see their organizations as the problem solvers, not the problems to be solved. I've learned successful change doesn't happen because of good plans. It happens when people are enrolled, involved, and they know what's at stake if we don't change. If appointed, my top priority would be
034to ensure that every student, regardless of background, has access to our highquality, equitable education that prepares them to thrive as lifelong learners and global citizens. To achieve this, I want to help strengthen trust and connection across our district. The best solutions come from those closest to the work. As a board member, I would champion open communication and structures that invite meaningful input, such as the forums and committees that I've been able to participate in. I also would prioritize supporting our teachers and staff with tools, training, and the conditions they need to be successful. When teachers feel supported and valued, our students benefit the most directly. And as we continue to adapt to declining enrollment, I believe innovation will be key, finding new ways to engage families, strengthen our programs, and celebrate the diversity that makes
035Beressa so unique. I recognize that every board member in every district faces the reality of a finite budget set by the state. For Baressa, as with many districts across California, the most pressing fiscal challenge is managing declining enrollment and its ripple effects on our programs, resources, and staffing. Last year, you were faced with the most difficult decision a board member can make. Determining which schools to close so that the long-term viability of our entire district stays true. While there's still work ahead to help our community heal, we're beginning to see positive outcomes. The transition of new services on these campuses will generate revenue and expanding access to programs that ultimately strengthen our ability to serve families and students. I want to continue to support the strategic direction this board has been driving by focusing on
036three things. One, protecting what matters most. Keeping resources focused on the classroom, instruction, student learning, and programs that directly support student success. finding efficiencies. Let's maximize every dollar without reducing the quality of our education. And three, exploring innovation and partnerships. I know there's creative ways to share resources, attract new revenue, and strengthen community connections that benefit our student families. In short, I'm here because I believe in Beressa. I truly care. I believe in our students, our staff, our community. I think this district has the creativity and resilience to not only meet the challenges ahead, but to emerge stronger and more connected. As a lifelong member of this community, a parent, and a professional spent her career helping organizations navigate change, I'm ready to contribute that experience to this board. I want to help ensure that
037our decisions today set the foundation for a thriving, equitable, and sustainable district for years to come. Thank you for your time, your service, and your consideration. Thank you very much. Thank you. Please. Um, Justin Shadin, please come up to the podium, please. [Applause] Did I say your last name correctly? >> Shadone. >> Close enough. >> I will not forget. >> Perfectly fine. All right. Good evening, uh, board, superintendent, community members, and everybody here watching on Zoom. Um, thank you for your time here. My name is Justin Shidyan. I'm a lifelong Beressa community member, a B USD alumni, um, and a parent of one Ruskin student currently and one that's going to be going in next year. Um, my whole family were B USD students, my wife, my siblings, um, and everybody there. Um, and so
038why I'm running is I'm running to serve. Um, I have a background in public sector service. I worked for the city of San Jose as a human resources program manager. Um, was in the military for seven and a half years as a commissioned officer and a pilot. Um, and I have a background in service. Um, and I believe that every child in Beressa deserves a safe, equitable, high-quality education. And that the trust built between the families, between staff, between leadership, it's built through things that such as clear policies, consistent follow-through, and transparency. Um, and so I'm really here just for the kids to serve. That's why I put my name in the hat. That's why I want to be here. And I think that I can bring some unique characteristics and some my unique experience
039here um to the board to the district um because I bring a blend of public private sector and military leadership as both an HR manager as a leader in the military um with an emphasis on the HR side in both labor relations and employee relations. So I have fairly extensive experience on that side of the house. Um having chartered things within uh the department of p parks and reccks in the city of San Jose. Um their labor management committee um started that back up to create that dialogue because I think that dialogue and that trust built between everybody is very important. Um and so additionally um I hold a I hold a bachelor's in finance from San Jose State University. I have experience in budgeting and public sector budget process as well as the private
040sector budget process. Um and an MBA from the University of Notre Dame and it informs how I weigh tradeoffs planning multi-year budgets and measuring the outcomes by quantifiable measurements as well. Um, and so I want to be able to help translate that experience into steady board governance and just really anything I can contribute uh to the Beressa's school district. All right. And um my to move on to my top priority and how I deliver on it is um really ensuring equity and consistency um for our children, access for our children and having that equity and consistency and access realized through policies, resources and opportunities that are applied across every school and every student, every group. so students experience the same safety, access, and support to good education no matter the campus, no matter their circumstance
041or where they're coming from. Um, part of just thinking some of this over, um, how I looked at it is from executing a plan. So if we say our first 60 to 90 days as a board member I would want to learn listen map out kind of where are some of our challenges are the unique challenges that we as a community don't necessarily see everything um and do that by visiting every school developing the trust meeting not just the principles the leadership but also teachers classified staff meeting with union staff right I know we have some union challenges in the district and being able to kind of meet them where they are, hearing those challenges, and then developing a plan around that, right? Um, and then kind of where policies are working, find out where
042they're working, where families or staff experience gaps are, and trying to develop from a collaborative approach how we can actually affect realistic and quantifiable change in that, right? and doing that by setting targets, tightening policy and how policy affects our practice, which is a little bit where my background is, is policy and procedure, public sector policy, and how that translates to how we actually carry things out. Um, and being able to work within both of those realms, right? And then lastly in that, making sure that we close the loops with families, with the community members, the folks that as we see are very involved here. um and being able to close that loop, being that voice so we develop that trust with our families and um with our community members. All right. And then you
043know um the next one being our top fiscal challenges, right? And we have you know quite a few. We laid that on the table last year with the school consolidation. Um right and a lot of this comes from in in my experience balancing really what is either a flat or at best variable state revenues with our rising fixed costs. Right? So we have a lot of rising fixed costs and staffing mandated services everything from special education to other mandated services that we have student safety and aging facilities. But we want to do that all of us without diluting quality right or equity gaps. So um running a little short on time here. Um but my approach would be looking at this from a multiaceted approach. So safeguarding our classrooms, planning ahead, measuring the impact and
044collaborating with our labor unions and our community to make sure that we achieve our goals. and I just hope that I'm able to help in that process in any way possible. Thank you. >> Thank you very much, Mr. Shuin. >> Next, >> can I just uh Yes, >> I just want to quickly apologize uh for my tardiness. Uh I usually try to be very punctual to meetings, but unfortunately uh I was not today. I was running late for for work, but I uh did get an opportunity to listen in on my way in, so I did hear what Miss Brewer and Mr. Chowine had to say. But again, I would like to apologize to all the candidates that I had missed out. Uh, but I did hear your uh your comments and what you had
045to say and I also was able to listen to all the public comments as well. >> Thank you, Trusty Goen. Next would be Anita Chin. Could you please come up to the podium? Good evening members of the BUSD board and Beressa community. My name is Anita Chen. Before I begin, can I just say how grateful and energized I am that there are 14 candidates ready to serve their community. It's so exciting to see that and regardless of the results of this appointment, I believe we can lean into this community to lead us into a brighter future. As I stated earlier, my name is Anita Chen. I'm a lifelong Beressa resident and a local educator with many of my students attending the B USD network of schools. At 16 years old, I started a business, Courageous
046Communications, teaching English writing and public speaking, primarily serving students with immigrant backgrounds. I started it because I was once in their shoes, unable to speak and write English articulately. I was grateful to receive excellent tutoring, but I know not everyone is so lucky. So it I made it my mission to bring that type of teaching to them. Since then, I've personally worked with hundreds of students from BUD, some of which are in the audience today. I've dedicated my entire professional and academic career to education, receiving an MBA from San Jose State University and completing my PhD in educational technology this coming December. With my business background, I understand fiscal responsibility as well as how to work with people from all different backgrounds. With my edtech background, I'm equipped to help modernize our classrooms to prepare
047our students for 21st century skills. As a Mandarin speaker, I also look forward to representing the significant percentage of Chinese-speaking students and families, serving as a bridge between them and the board, a voice that I find to be currently missing. I think this voice is especially important given the season of transition for the Mandarin immersion program. I'm also very proud to have the endorsement of Jeff Tang, the president of the Mandarin boosters program. He was also foundational to the establishment of the Mandarin immersion program. Here, I'd like to address a question that you may have. Yes, it's true. I ran for Congress in this area last year, but I did it not for the title. I did it to protect our children. When I found out how prevalent the issue of trafficking is among nativeborn
048American children as well as those in the Bay Area, I felt deeply compelled to give a voice to the voiceless. I made it a campaign priority to protect trafficking survivors and protect children. I approached this seat with the same hope to protect our children and to prepare them for the brightest future possible. My highest priority as the board member would be to prepare our students to effectively engage in the 21st century society and workforce. With my background in edtech, I would work on integrating technology into our classrooms in a way that prioritizes the humanity of the student teacher experience. I believe we can develop a high quality AI literacy program that would enhance critical thinking rather than replace it. An AIdriven human- centered program would also prioritize the teacher's experience, freeing them from mundane tasks
049to focus on nurturing students creativity, problem solving and lifelong learning skills. A highquality AI literacy program would accomplish two important tasks. First, it aligns with our mayor's goal to make San Jose the AI capital of the United States, which brings in more funding and resources. Second, by building highquality programs, we can attract more students, which is key to address declining enrollment. This leads me to the final question. I believe the top fiscal challenge that the board faces is the drop in funding due to declining enrollment. Over the last five years, we've lost about a thousand students. With each student in the district allocated approximately $15,000 with a variety of federal, local, and state funds, that's a $15 million windfall. I know it doesn't shake out that cleanly, but it back of the envelope math would
050tell us this. The high cost of living is an economic reality that we have to grapple with. But I believe that high quality programs can counter this trend. To find evidence for this, you have to look no further than the Mandarin immersion program. It actually led to increasing enrollment in Cherrywood while the rest of the district faced declining enrollment. I personally know that there were families who moved their students from private schools back to public school in order to attend the Mandarin immersion program which is now moved to Ruskin and Siermont. I hope that this trend continues and I believe it can with the adoption of further highquality programs such as an AI literacy program. Another idea might be a magnet school that focuses on arts, stems and other disciplines to attract other students. I
051believe we can lean on our highly involved parents, many of whom are in the room, who have industry, university, and community connections to do this. I also believe that the district can use its many assets, including vacant lots, to generate income as a way to supplement the school budget. In closing, it would be my pleasure to serve alongside you as a representative of the community's voice, helping to bring our district into the 21st century in a way that prioritizes the dignity and the humanity of our teachers, our students, and our families. Thank you very much. >> Thank you for your comments, Miss Chen. Next is I believe it's pronounced umang doshi. Please come to the podium. Did I say your last first name correctly? >> Yes. Yes, that was perfect. >> Oh yeah. >> So
052thank you superintendent. Right. Uh I met you the other day at BCSC meeting. Um thanks board members and fellow community members. Um, I'm really happy and excited to be here and seeing, you know, so many community members willing to help and support the community. Right. Normally in an election year on the ballot, you'd see about two to three people applying for a post that's open, but here seeing an open position and there are 14 people already here out of eight people that were who had applied is amazing. Right. So now, uh, like Telma said, right, I'm Omang Doshi. I've been living in the Beressa neighborhood for about 12 years now. I have uh two young boys uh a 9-year-old and a 7-year-old. Both of them used to go to uh Lane Elementary School till last
053year when uh the decision was made to close three of our elementary schools and uh Lane was part of it. Now my kids have moved on to Northwood Elementary and they have been or they have had an amazing experience with the transition with the teachers, the staff, everyone supporting them very nicely. So I'm really proud of B USD from that angle. Um now in terms of me professionally I have been working in tech industry for about 20 years and I've had various roles starting with engineering because I did uh electrical engineering as my background. uh masters in electrical engineering. Um so from engineering to managing teams uh across different countries globally to then now in marketing that's been my span of 20 years doing multiple different companies and different products that I manage. Um and
054these products can vary from you know $50 million to north of $und00 million. So that's what we've been managing uh as as leading products in tech industry. Uh and I work currently at Kalin Design, the big office that you see on Montigu express. Um I also lead a group of over 400 families uh that live in the Berasa neighborhood around the Kadali Park area and these families originate from mostly from Indian origin. Now we started this group back in 2015. Um just few families uh who were living around the area go to the same park uh have the same kids going to the same schools and things and now that's grown from few families to north of 400 families. And so u there's a lot of support we get related to schools related to all
055the different Berasa schools that uh all the kids go to because the group is from within Beressa. Um now I'm pursuing this position specifically because I believe in transparency and open communication. uh now being part of this community since 2011 uh and especially you know my first kid was born in 2015 what I realized back in 2018 when there was a change of boundary that happened in B USD that was the first time right my kids were still not schoolgoing age but that was the first time I interacted with the board uh I realized and understood the challenges the board faces right I I had personally met all the board members back then. Um you know told our challenges uh cuz back then my house was allocated to Northwood which is one of the best
056schools growing up in B USD back then. Um and then suddenly moving our household to a different school and thinking my school my kids would go to a different school which is much lower ranking was a big challenge. And so learning through experiences of board members and what they've gone through uh in creating those different uh boundary maps was a great experience for me to understand the challenges as well as realize that you know you have to be part of the system to cause an impact. Uh, additionally, you know, last year we've all seen the biggest challenge that the board has to probably face was due to budget uh uh issues. There were three school closed to say about $3 million of a budget which is north of $und00 million and that's a that's a
057that's a big challenge I would think right and I attended so many meetings last year um here across the road u as well as you know in various community centers and and so it's been a great experience again learning the challenges figuring out possible options on what to do now Today, you know, like I mentioned, right, I lead a group of 400 families. What I've realized is that more than 40% of kids or more than 40% of kids out of the group still go to private schools. So, their parents decided to send them to private schools because I guess we as BUD are not marketing enough. Both Lane View and Northwood have great afterchool math programs that we PTA principal as well as teachers participate and help kids grow their math challenges. Right. So I
058think growing B USD uh as an overall district for STEM uh arts as well as this additional math which overall helps us grow uh our kids for a brighter future is needed to even attract the families that are leaving our public schools and sending their kids to private schools. That would help with enrollment as well as bringing all the money back in. Right? about 40% of kids. Imagine from the 400 families, right? There is probably definitely a bigger number out there. Um, additionally, and I think I want to end there. Thank you. >> Thank you very much for your comments. Next is Natalie Dong. Natalie, please come to the podium. Good evening to the board and all Bareressa Canade members that have joined us here tonight. Uh my name is Natalie Dwang and I'm a
059proud lifelong resident of the Beressa Union School District and area uh and a product of the school district. Um I understand as a trustee our goal is to share the visions and the visions and goal for the school district setting a direction for the future of B USD representing its constituents diverse concerns goals and values and in this placing the interests of BSD students at the forefront of every decision made by this board. I'm here to advocate for students, parents and educating staff uh entailing providing support for educators and facilitating the dis the success of voted in policies. I want to provide an open chain of communication between the board, educating educators and staff as well as parents holding both educators and administration accountable for enacting policy as well as our board accountable for supporting
060educators in this goal. Uh I am a recent graduate from UCSD as a political science pre-law student uh as well as critical gender studies and I am innately familiar with reviewing and analyzing intricacies of policy in various contexts as well as my research in engagement of social socioeconomical issues as a critical gender studies student. I've always been interested in leadership, public speaking and community building as well as serving my community. You may have seen me uh at many uh SJPL event um Luna New Year, Christmas, all of that. And I am deeply committed to engaging with my community, serving my community, and interacting and hearing the stories uh from our Beressa, our Beressa family. Uh, as my top priority, I actually spoke to my younger sister who is a current student at Piedmont Hills High
061School and has been a past bias school district uh student because I wanted to hear not just what uh online metrics had to say, but current students had to say about what they feel is lacking in the their school district. And the the overall issue has been chronic absenteeism. uh chronic absenteeism has been exasperated by the covid pandemic where the absency percentage has been raised from 12% pre- pandemic to 20%. Uh as stated by the polit policy analysis for California education uh this issue is contextual and complex to address. It's not just something addressed in school. It's addressed at home. Um it surrounds access to educational resources, health issues, mental health struggles, uh and general discouragement away from education, especially having that large gap coming from COVID. I myself am a co student. Um my
062second last two years of high school were during COVID and I experienced the adjustment period um where we were all learning together how to address these issues. These is this issue can be addressed through policy policycentric and on the ground solutions. Uh I believe we can enact an intervention system for ab considering absenteeism where we can first it's a three-prong system where we'd first address the general encouragement uh regarding attendance plus incentivizing uh all students and iterating the importance of con consistent attendance. Secondly, contacting and building relationships between teachers, counselors, and administration uh with students and parents who have recurring concerned absences. Uh this will be through providing direct support, collaboration with after school programs, health clinics, and other nonprofits to address their specific issue. And I want to lean towards constructive and support-based solutions
063rather than punitive ones. active record follow-ups of this issue focusing on problem solving whether that be through transportation healthwise or mental health and this has been addressed uh with the recent news and I'm so happy to see uh the a nonprofit uh donating bicycles to noble students uh enable to address the transportation issue due to the closure of schools uh considering the uh issue of financial struggles with the district Um the driver of USC's fiscal challenges is decreased enrollment and we all know this and that has been exasperated by the growing budget deficit. Oh, I'm so sorry I lost my train of thought. Um and while some of this issue is impossible to control uh whether this consider the challenge of new families moving into the Beressa area due to its inaffordability, its lack of
064housing availability uh Prop 13 with families being unable to uh unwilling to move out of these areas due to their property tax being dependent on their properties uh purchasing value. Uh an issue that can be combed is through the high rate of challenging the high rate of private school enrollment. Uh three Bay Area counties private schooling rates have doubled the statewide average of 8% in California uh being 16% in Santa Clara. This switch to private schools come from concerns which uh surrounding quality and stability of public institutions which may have been amplified with the closure of three schools within the Berius school uh union school district. These concerns also include lower student teacher ratios in private schools, higher academic expectations and rising academic competitiveness. Uh rising incomes in the Bay Area and making private schools
065more affordable than they were before. This increase has been accelerated postcoid pandemic and how I want to ch Oh, I have nine seconds. Um, I will close it there, but hopefully if I have the opportunity to sit on this board, I will elaborate upon my uh address of this fiscal issue. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you very much, Mr. Next is Jamal Khan. Please come to the podium. Good evening everyone. My name is Jamal Khan. I grew up in this community and I'm a very proud member of this community. I graduated from Independence High School as a validictorian. I then attended the University of California, Berkeley, where I completed a triple major in economics, political science, and rhetoric and a minor in global poverty and practice. and I graduated with high honors in
066economics and high distinction in general scholarship and then I went to Harvard Law School. I have worked in government including the Obama administration. I have worked on political campaigns including the Senate campaign of Kala Harris and I'm now working in the nonprofit space as a staff attorney at the homeless action center. But before any of that, I was a beressa student K through eight. I went to Lane View and then I went to Morell. And if I have the privilege of being a member of the school board, I will focus like a laser on doing everything I can to ensure that today's barrier students have access to the same highquality education that I did. Now, the biggest issue as we all know is declining enrollment. uh that obviously leads to fiscal challenges, budgetary issues and
067the possibility of school closures. Uh and I know it's very jarring for many members of our community. We were flushed with cash during COVID. Then those funds stopped and then we had that compounded by declining enrollment, a trend that had started long before COVID. Uh and that led to sort of what we the tough decision- making last year. And I mean looking at that we need to think about like the consequences of declining enrollment. They go beyond just the fiscal impact. Having been a student myself, I know that uh you when you have a shrinking student body in a particular school, you need more combination classes. And I was part of a combination class when I was in fourth grade. It was, you know, half fourth graders, half fifth graders. the teacher would have us
068uh work on an the fourth graders work on an assignment while she taught the fifth graders and then vice versa. And so we adapted to that. But uh if I had had to do that for more than one year, it certainly would have affected the quality of my education. Uh and there's also the issue of electives. When you have a shrinking student body, the school particularly the middle schools may not be able to offer the same number of electives as otherwise. And I think the biggest challenge here is obviously one issue is declining birth rates and it's difficult for families to afford to live here. Uh another issue is uh families going towards private schools and we need to really think about like what's m what's causing that. Uh I remember I was working on
069a political campaign here in San Jose and there was an intern who was a senior at uh a private high school. I asked him what his classes were. He mentioned a math class that didn't seem familiar to me and I said, "What what is that? Is that an AP class?" And he said, "It's a post AP class." And I thought, "Oh, that's interesting. I I had never come across something like that in high school." And so, well, for him to be doing that class, he had to have been on an accelerated track in middle school. And so, we need to take a look at, well, what exactly is being offered at these uh private schools? And is there a way for us to feasibly incorporate some of those options in our own schools? Uh because
070maybe that could help uh draw some of the families to to have their kids in in Beressa's schools. Uh because you know, you never know whether it's like the the Mandarin immersion program, whether it's uh a certain elective that's a big draw. Uh where I live, I went to Independence High School. My sister ended up going to Andrew Hill High School because there was a magnet program there that she really liked. So, so these kinds of offerings really do affect people's uh decision-m uh and so that's an important thing what can and I know another issue apparently based on surveys is uh like certain child care options and so having a comprehensive review of of what we can do to at least slow if not stop at least slow down the declining enrollment to make
071that transition smoother and what I sense from our district is our community is like a sense of there's a sense of disillusionment not just with the school board um or or just the decisions that have had to be be made, but just multiple levels of government. Like I think if you look at the big picture, three schools closed this year, including my childhood elementary school. And we've been told that we don't have enough money to keep our schools open, but at the same time, billions of our tax dollars were being sent overseas to drop bombs on schools. We have a ballot measure, which I support, that would have to raise our taxes to keep our all of our hospitals open. But at the same time, billions of our tax dollars were being sent overseas to
072drop bombs on hospitals. We've been told that we don't have enough money to deal with homelessness in Beressasa. But at the same time, billions of our tax dollars were sent overseas to make more people homeless. Uh we've been told that we can't afford universal health care, and we just cut Medicaid, but at the same time, billions of our tax dollars were going to other places that already had universal healthcare and had it for decades. Now, obviously, this is beyond the scope of of a of a school board. Uh but there is a sense like you know people are wondering okay whatever I'm paying in taxes we pay very high taxes is it being used you know is it being invested like our communities we have a sense with school closures that our communities are being
073hollowed out and in are we investing our tax dollars back into our own communities or is that money being sent somewhere else uh that uh where where you know that's at odds with what we feel where it should be spent. Uh and so these are the kinds of things we need to think about uh at all levels of the government including the school board. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. [Applause] >> Next speaker is Lara Kim. Please come to the podium. >> Good evening um to the board and to the community members. My name is Lara Kim. I am a along with a lot of other folks here a lifelong beressa resident. I am a proud graduate of Somerdale highdale high school, Somerdale Elementary. Um I think I had the unique experience of having
074attended both public school and private schools in the area. Somedale for elementary school, St. Victor's for middle school. So I know the advantages and disadvantages of both. Um, and then when I had my son and had to come to a decision of where to send him, I sent him to Somerdale. Surprise, surprise. I did have a really, I think, um, amazing experience. I look back on those years fondly. And I do attribute uh the academic foundation, strong academic foundation that it created for me to then succeed at Somerdale, but also succeed post that. St. Victor's Presentation High School in the area and then Calpaly Sanosispo and Santa Clara. So I'm obviously a California girl. I'm also very much a San Jose girl. Um so the reason that I wanted to um apply for this position
075is to serve. So uh all my life I have served either leadership at school but always for the benefit of the school or the community. I'm also a den leader and religious coordinator for my son's cub scout pack. Um, which also teaches kind of fundamental values of how to be a global citizen, a good citizen, um, and a good person just in general. Uh, so that's a little bit about me. um my top priority and also I'd like to combine two and three because to me they're tied closely together and also it gives you a sense of the type of person I am. I communicate very efficiently and I also think that way so we'll kill two birds with one stone. So my top priority obviously is top of mind would be all of the
076school closures. Um I know that that was a difficult decision. It was also the school board treating the symptom. So, the symptom was that we had to close some schools because we were fiscally in an unhealthy position or not fiscally viable. Um, what I'd like to do is take that a little bit deeper. So, treating the symptom, yes, but then if you go down a few layers deeper, you're really addressing what is that um the the dwindling or declining school um student enrollment in our schools. And the way to address that, I think, is to position our schools competitively. So, obviously, families are moving moving out of the area. How do we then attract and position ourselves and utilize our competitive advantage? I think looking back on my experience at Somerdale, um the school really
077offered a wide range of services and programs to me and met all of my needs. So for example, how do we care for uh the overall well-being of our students? One obviously would be from an academic perspective. I think academically um Somedale did provide me with strong academic foundation. I think now as we approach this age of AI, how do we now incorporate that not to replace the foundational knowledge and curriculum that the teachers are instilling in our students, but how do we then shepherd and coach our students to use AI responsibly, to not replace it, but to enhance, so to work smarter and not necessarily harder. Uh, continuing to expose our students to the arts and to music. That was definitely something I took advantage of being in the public school system that my
078private school did not provide. And then also mental health. I see that more and more now as a parent um to my son is all of the programs made available to parents to the student to then create that healthy environment overall and access to the resources they need whether they're English as a second language student or just need a little bit more help. And then also like I said resources for the families. So continuing to emphasize that. So looking at the overall well-being of the student um I think um as we look at the kind of finite budget that we're having to work with. The way I would approach it at a high level would be to assess with the board members obviously what are those areas of opportunity where those funds could best be
079served and then prioritize each of those areas where those funds can be allocated. Um, so in summary, I just want to say that thank you for the opportunity to apply and I would be honored to serve if you feel that I would add value to the board based on my background perspective. Um, I do feel that I'm number one a good listener. I am quite objective and um, I do feel like I would be a valued asset to your board. So, thank you very much. >> Thank you very much, Miss Kim. Next is Jamie Coup. Please come to the podium. Thank you. Hi, Superintendent Fuentes and leadership team and President Boak and members of the cabinet. My name is Jamie Coup and I'm so honored to be here today and along with all these esteemed
080candidates for members of the board as well. Um my background is also a student of Beressa. I went to Ruskin and um Pimont Middle and my children also are Ber were Beressa students. They were at Noble and Morel and now they're in high school and college. Um my involvement with Beressa uh as a parent really started with my own kids going to school and realizing that from the time I was a student and to the time I became a parent there was a big gap in what the um experience was going to school. So I um professionally started off as a middle school language arts teacher and I brought that experience with me uh to Noble Elementary School where I provided parents with um literacy development workshops. I just really wanted to connect with the
081parents on what what are their concerns. Their kids were getting instruction in the classroom but how do we support that at home? So through the years I was able to provide three reading workshops for kindergarten, first grade, second, third grade, fourth and fifth and also likewise a writing development workshop as well. And through that experience I really really started to understand that the parents really wanted to know how to support their children but just didn't know how. So part of the question for me being on the board is how can we continue to support the families as community members in supporting and advocating for their kids. While I was also at Noble Elementary School, I was part of the parent participation program. I served on the board as secretary for I believe it was four
082years. And during that time, um, former superintendent Will Ector wanted to sun sunset the program and that was a big concern for a lot of the parents. And so as a member of the PPP board, we um organized and I we really took time to listen to the concerns and we really equipped and built capacity for the parents on how to advocate for themselves and how to speak to the board. And that relationship between the board and the community members is something that is really valuable. And as intimidating as it is for parents to come and speak before a panel, uh it's a relationship that has to be cultivated. And as a board member, that's one of the values that I will bring uh to the community. So long after my kids uh finished at
083Nobleville Elementary School, I continued my education career uh not as a classroom teacher but um I am currently the family and community engagement coordinator at the Santa Clara County Office of Education. And in that capacity and in that role, I have been able to go and visit and also work with school districts across the county on how to strengthen their family engagement programs, on how to build capacity in parents to have those relationships with their children, with their school, and to really build a tight-knit community where everyone feels like they could belong and they can thrive. And one of the things that's really valuable in this position, particularly at the county office of education, is I've been able to serve on statewide boards. Um, this past week, I was uh participating in the California PBIS
084conference as a planning committee member and I also participate on statewide boards for California um family engagement networks and we really set policies. We're taking a look at the California standards for the teaching profession that just recently got upgraded and we're trying to see how we can implement this statewide and just really build alignment. And so with that background, I really want to come to the board and serve and kind of see where we can bring innovation to Beressa. There's a lot of things that uh when I read the LCAP, I can see there's a lot of services to students here in the school environment, but they also live in the context of their family and the community. So, how can we bring alongside family partnerships to really bolster the programs that we have here
085in Beressa? Likewise, we are in Silicon Valley and we know that there's a lot of innovations here. there's a lot of grants that are being uh developed and also provided and how can we as a board and as a community tap into that into those resources and how can we bring Beressa forward in the context of Silicon Valley whether that be um as English learners or as engineers or technology we really need to capitalize on the strengths and the resources that we have here in the community so one of the things that we'd like to see in the budget It's going to be an ongoing issue. We really need to uh scrutinize and really think what we're spending on and also think about our priorities and what's going to set Barasa forward. Uh there's a
086lot of things that um would be difficult to cut and that would be a very painful decision. But together as a board uh when we approach the community and we bring our listening ears and also the ability to be um transparent with with everyone about the process that will bring the community together on um finding solutions and also collaborate on how we can move forward together. So I thank you so much for this time and I hope that you consider me for this position. Thank you, Miss P. Randolph Lee. Please come to the podium. [Applause] Good evening board members. My name is Randy Lee. I am a longtime Beressa resident, parent of two girls who went through the BUSD school system. I have completed 27 year long career as a classroom teacher at Ruskin and
087I am fully invested in the success of every student and employee in the district. I have served as a board member on nonprofit organizations such as Gateway Preschool Academy. I have extensive background mentoring the next generation 20 year olds and 30 year olds uh in organizations such as Nexus mentoring founded in 2022 by a group of Bay Area professionals who wanted to help those in 20s and 30s develop their life design identity and purpose. I volunteered as a mentor with the San Jose City team mentorship program where I worked one-on-one with a participant in their resident program. The program offers safe housing and individualized care to help residents overcome addictions and better their lives. My work as a cooperating teacher with San Jose State University, Santa Clara University, National University, and Independence High School allowed
088me to mentor future educators to reach their full potential. The reason why I am pursuing this POS uh position is because I want to restore trust and positive partnership between the district and the community. Last year, we all saw um the difficult choice to close schools that unfolded in our district. We did did not just consolidate three schools. Our students lost friendships. Principals lost their staffs. The staff was left in limbo. the support staff and teachers lost their trusted colleagues. I want to join together with you to help bring our community back together again to regain that trust and at the district, school, and district level for the benefit of everyone involved. My priority would be to support policies and systems where student and family engagement with engagement being the top of the of the
089triangle that would lead to improvements. At the base of that triangle would be retention of talent and on the other side of that would be systematic improvement. We can change our current narrative and reframe a new one where funding is not the overriding factor in providing the kind of quality education that brings kids back into our schools. Instead of chasing students around, let's build something together that makes them want to come to us. Engagement. From my experience, student engagement is class specific. One size does not fit all. where where what can be done to create new spaces where small groupoup inter instruction and intervention takes place. How can we increase those teachable moments between uh teachers and students and where are the resources and materials available that are unique to this community of attention. From
090my observations, we have so many skilled and talented group of educators, support staff and administration eager to see the district succeed. We have a rich ground of expertise just waiting to be mined when we should be investing in ourselves. Remove the reasons why employees are leaving which are financial and personal job satisfaction. We need to keep pushing forward to allow our staff to grow together and remove the barriers. Systematic improvement. How are we doing things? Working together as a community, we can work together toward meaningful change in ways that support each other across school boundaries. Create a system where we can entrust educators with time and space to create new ideas and encouragement and even celebrate innovation that keeps it out of individual classrooms, takes it out of the school site level, but is shared
091across the district and beyond. Local media reported that B USD had closed three schools due to financial reasons. Instead, I want to read about how we chose to roll up our sleeves and rewrite the narrative through collaboration, innovation. I believe two top fiscal challenges is twofold. It's about retention. Number one, retaining and and attracting students to raise revenue. And number two, keeping and retaining qualified staff. How do we retain our uh current students and attract new ones? We would benefit from building a stronger district statement that says B USD students achieve and grow more here than elsewhere. Families are looking for results and whether our words match our actions. When they do, families will want their sons and their daughters to come here. Having more students equates to more dollars and our district will have
092greater influence in the academic community. How do we retain and attract the best teachers? Recognizing that teachers and support staffs are our front lines. They're the first face that students and families see in the morning and they're the last one to say goodbye. Invest in them and help them to achieve our bottom line. Student achievement and improvement. I used to tell my students, you are the face. You are the billboard to what goes on in my classroom. Represent us well. One key to helping us respond to those challenges is classroom innovation. What does innovation look like in a fiscal challenge fiscal uh environment? I have specific ideas and benefits and I put them under the umbrella of innovation initiative and I have questions that I would really like to share with you if given the
093time. So, thank you very much and I appreciate uh just giving us a safe place to to share and be ourselves. Thank you. >> Thank you very much, Mr. Lee. [Applause] Virginia May, please come to the podium. Hello, board members. um educators, community members, and fellow applicants. Um my name is Virginia May. I go by Gina. Um and I too am a product of the Beressa Union School District. Um my family moved here when my father was um in the Navy and we received orders to u Naval Air Station Moffett Field. Um we moved to the Vincy Park area when Vincy Park was uh was brand new. It had that new school smell. Um and that's where um I started in the Beressa Union School District. I went on to Morell Middle School from there
094and graduated from Independence High School. And when I uh met Joe outside, I found out we were there at the same time. Sorry Joe, I gave away our age. Um um you know, I I I feel like I'm one of uh the district's uh success stories. Um because I did not uh I chose not to pursue a higher education right out of high school. It would have required taking on some financial debt. I just wasn't comfortable taking on at 18 years old. Um, but I have to say when I went to Moro, um, I took typing. And when I say typing, I don't mean keyboarding. I mean on manual typewriters, not even electric. Um, when I moved on to Independence High School, we had electric typewriters there. That was awesome. Um, but it it inspired
095me and interested me that I really felt like I wanted to have a career in an office job. For a while, I thought accounting. Um, so I took a lot of business elective courses that were offered when I graduated from high school. Um, I could type a h 100red words a minute. In fact, today I can still type as fast as most people can talk. I learned the essentials and the skills and the basics from my public education. At two weeks after I graduated from high school, I got my first job for a enterprise software startup company in San Jose. Um, and I worked for the VP of sales and marketing. um he gave me my first opportunity and it led to an incredible uh and I'm proud to say successful career in enterprise software
096sales where I am still uh pursuing my career today. Um my experience um I work on a global level uh although I am responsible for the North America territory for my agentic AI uh process automation software company that I work for. Um I work with people on a global level. I have been in these clothes since 6 am this morning on video with uh my colleagues in Germany and in India and that's that's most days of the week. Um I I I have to say that I didn't just learn the basics from my uh district education but this is also where I learned my work ethic, my values to have an appreciation for being a productive member of society. Um I had a goal in mind when I was at 18 and that was I
097wanted to buy my first home. um to be 18 and to be able to look to the future and have a goal to buy your first home and I wanted it not just to be in San Jose. I wanted it to be in this district. That was a that was a hard call. Um it's always been expensive to live here. No, no matter no matter what salaries were, it was always relatively expensive here. But I was proud to say that through hard work, through saving, through sacrificing, through making some tradeoffs, um I closed on my first house near Maro Middle School two days before my 26th birthday. Higher education may not be an option for every student that comes out of this district. I sincerely hope for those who want to pursue a higher education,
098they have the ability and the means to do it. But for those who don't, I also want them, it's my heartfelt wish that they have the same foundation and opportunity that I received from my public education to be able to go out and to be able to achieve, you know, their goals and start their careers and be those productive global citizens that we strive to deliver uh as part of the district's uh mission here. So, what do I bring? Um, I bring business experience. I manage multi-million dollar budgets for my company. Um, I'm having weekly budget meetings right now with my finance department because we're only halfway through our fiscal year and I got to make sure that I stick to to every dollar in in maintaining that. But I am also a uh board
099of director member for uh my homeowners association for my second home in Texas. And I am proud to say that I've been on that board for 5 years and we have managed our budgets so close and so well that we have not had to raise HOA fees once in the five years that I have been on that board. So I do have good fiscal and budget uh capabilities. Um I am very good with being able to source um you know and solicit um contractor bids as a real estate investor. Um I also have to manage my own budgets for my real estate portfolio as well. Um, I bring my business capabilities and experience and talent for your consideration because I truly believe we are in the business of educating students and to be able to
100do that we do have to compete for those students and I agree there are a lot of uh students and parents who have chosen a private education. I work with a lot of colleagues that actually um have gone a different direction and that is they have their children homeschooled and I was a bit surprised that we don't have a virtual learning academy because that is an area where we could compete in today's uh you know uh education uh market for students and that's something that uh if given the opportunity to work with you on I think that that can uh have a very positive impact on competing for uh increased student enrollment. There's not much we can do about declining birth rates. People are either going to have kids or they're not. Uh people are
101either going to be able to afford to live here or not. But I think when we are able to offer uh alternatives that keep students uh and and the district competitive with uh learning experiences in an environment um then I think we may be on track for uh for being able to overcome some of these budget shortfalls uh due to the declining student enrollment. So I would work collaboratively with you as a partner on the board. So, if my uh experience and talent uh is what you're looking for, then I look forward to it. Um, and most of all, appreciate your consideration of me. >> Thank you very much, Virginia May. >> Next is Jonathan Mononttoya. Could you please come up to the podium? >> Hi. I'm really humbled to be among such such awesome
102servants. This is this is great. Um, good evening members of the board and community. My name is Dr. Jonathan Lee Mononttoya and I'm an assistant professor of science education at St. Mary's College of California, where I also direct the bilingual authorization program. My work bridges STEM education and teacher preparation, focusing on how schools can create inclusive learning environments that serve every student. Prior to that, I taught high school biology for 10 years at Pedmont Hills High School. I'm also a product of Beressa Union School District. I went to Northwood. I went to Morell uh and that's where I I first discovered how powerful Oh, and I went to Pedmont Hills High School, by the way. I had to go back and teach there. Um uh that's where I I first discovered how powerful great teachers
103and st and strong public schools can be. Growing up here shaped my belief that public education is the foundation of thriving communities. That belief aligns directly with Beressa's mission to provide all students the skills to become lifelong learners and successful uh 21st century global citizens. I'm pursuing this position because I want to give back to the district that gave me so much. I hope to contribute my experience in teacher development, multilingual education, and inclusive policy design to further Beressa's vision of being recognized for educational excellence in a student- centered learning environment that inspires students, staff, and the community. So my priorities as a board member, well my top priority as a board member would be to strengthen pathways that connect classroom learning with real world understanding, ensuring that every beressa student develops the curiosity, confidence,
104and skills to thrive in an increasingly complex world. In alignment with our LCAP goals, this means advancing instruction that integrates STEM literacy and multilingual learning so that every student regardless of their background or learning profile experiences rigorous, relevant, and inclusive education. Practically, I would focus on three areas. Teacher and staff support, uh, ensuring educators have time and professional learning opportunities to collaborate and innovate in their practice. uh partnerships with families and higher education, expanding mentoring and enrichment experiences that connect learning to community life, and datainformed decision-making guided by both outcomes and student voice to promote continuous improvement. By working collaboratively with educators, families, and community partners, we can ensure that Beressa continues to embody its core values of honesty, equity, accountability, and commitment to excellence in education. So for fiscal responsibility, I believe our top
105fiscal challenge is balancing investment in people. The heart of our district with the rising structural cost of maintaining safe, innovative learning environments, particularly as enrollment and state fund funding fluctuate. The key uh is strategic valuesdriven budgeting, ensuring every dollar advances student learning, educator stability, and long-term sustainability. I would emphasize three strategies. multi-year financial planning, anticipating shifts in enrollment and resources rather than reacting to them. Second, transparent communication so family, staff, and the community understand both fiscal realities and priorities. Third, leveraging grants and partnerships, especially those that support innovation, technology, wellness, and professional growth. Ultimately, fisc fiscal responsibility means staying true to our mission. investing wisely today to ensure that every Beressa student can learn, lead, and succeed tomorrow. In closing, I'm here because Beress has shaped who I am. The teachers, staff, and community I
106grew up with modeled what it means to serve with integrity, to lead with compassion, and to believe in every child's potential. I want to help carry that legacy forward, supporting our mission to prepare all students to be lifelong learners and successful global citizens. My goal as a trustee would be to listen deeply, act collaboratively, and make decisions that reflect the heart of this district, our students, our educators, and our community. Thank you for the opportunity to give back to the district that gave me my start. >> Thank you, Mr. Montoya. >> Vijay Shri Sundaram, please come to the podium. Did I pronounce your name correctly? >> Yes. >> Oh, >> thank you. So, good evening everyone. I'm Vijay Shri Sundaram. I have lived in Berasa since 2013. My son goes to Cereammont Middle School. I
107have volunteered for several activities at Majestic Way Elementary School when my son was enrolled there. I was PTA president for 202425 session at Majestic Way and I'm currently leading Cereammont Middle School PTSC. I was also a DAC representative for two years and a BDAC representative for one year. I served at schoolside council of Majestic Way for a year and currently I'm serving schoolside council of Camont Middle School. So you can see I'm clearly invested in the progress of our school and our kids. Now why I'm pursuing this position? Because during school consolidation and closure meetings last year, I saw how crucial the role of a board member was in understanding community's perspective, budget constraints, trying to make the right decision in midst of all this. I was at Pedmont Middle School when the decision to
108close three schools was taken. As a board member, I would want to bridge the gap between community, schools, and the administration. I would work as one team supporting the growth of our school and our kids. Our kids are the future. We need to equip them with knowledge, with confidence, positive outlook, tools to fight setbacks and have real life skills so that one day they can say BUSD equipped me with skills to succeed in life as many of these members are saying right now. As a school board member, my top priority would be to support our educators, our students, and have the trust of community. I feel we need more awareness in the community, more involvement from the community. We need to bring more STEM programs, more creative programs to our schools, better electives in middle
109schools. We can make sure the schools have enough staff, kids have more exposure to creative activities, parents are more involved in their kids school and their learnings. For all this to happen, we have to make policies that give creative freedom to our educators and our students. I think our top fiscal challenge is our budget constraint. I would work to find ways to optimize resources at hand, prioritizing while making policies, focusing on things that create positive experiences in schools. I would work to help schools deal with chronic absentism as our funding also depends on every student coming to school every day and I know all the schools are already dealing with the chronic absentism and they do have plans in place. I would work to support our PTA and PTSA programs to raise money so that
110they can offer our kids more extracurricular activities, more programs. I am an ultra cyclist. I take on extremely difficult challenges. I fall in less than 10% of women who do ultracling. So you can see I'm courageous and I'm ready to ask difficult questions when I have to. With that, thank you for listening and it's an honor to be here. Thank you. >> Thank you Miss Sunundam for your comments. Oh, we're almost at the tail end. All right, the next one is Tron. Please come to the podium. Superintendent Fuentes, assistant superintendent. Thank you, President Boak, Trustee Ha, Trusty Nuen, and Trustee Shiny Venson for considering my candidacy to serve on the Beressa Union School Board of Trustees. As importantly, thank you to the families, parents, and community members in attendance tonight or watching on live stream
111for caring enough about the future of the school district to engage in this appointment process. I'm a lifelong North San Jose resident, the son of a Vietnamese refugee who came here with little more than faith and education as the pathway to a better life. I'm a proud graduate of our local public schools, Ruskin Elementary, Sierramont Middle, and someone whose career and volunteer work have always centered on paying it forward to the community that raised me. Now, that led to pursuits in finance at San Jose State University, which then proceeded to a law degree at Santa Clara University. Now, my parents probably would have liked me to pursue a medical degree to complete the trifecta, but another story for another day. Among the many phrases that our household would hear from my father reiterate was a
112quote by President John F. Kennedy. Ask not what the country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. My professional career and volunteerism have spanned across education, law, public policy, and nonprofit causes. Efforts that share a common thread, empowering people with knowledge and compassion. As the former director of alumni relations for a university in the Bay Area, it was my good fortune to build connections between alumni and students that were rooted in the Jesuit tradition of service and justice. My Catholic faith continues to guide me in striving for integrity, empathy, and stewardship in my decision-making. As the director of development for a South Bay nonprofit, my role entails growing our operations to enable families across the region with access to information that informs and strengthens local ties. And through my involvement
113as president of the Vietnamese American Bar Association of Northern California, I've worked to build a community for students and Vietnamese legal professionals to gather and support one another in personal growth. My decision to pursue this responsibility of trustee comes from the belief that every child in this district deserves the same or an even better chance than I had to be seen, supported, and challenged to reach their potential. Our district serves one of the most diverse communities in the South Bay. And with that diversity comes both incredible opportunity and goal setting to close achievement gaps, strengthen family engagement, and ensure every decision we make reflects our district's shared values of, to name several, collaboration, a commitment to excellence in education, visionary thinking. As a school board member, my top priority in serving the remaining term right
114now based on present information will be to further inform our community about the circumstances shaping dialogue here in our district. From there, examine how we can maximize our available resources to continue providing our students with the skill sets to become lifelong learners and successful 21st century global citizens. It's no secret that what has pained our community these most recent years has been the effects from a decline in total enrollment which transitioned into a loss of critical dollars to support ongoing teaching curriculum and programs. Our diversity again is one of our greatest strengths. But it also means that families experience their schools and greater district in different ways. When parents feel welcomed, informed, and empowered as partners in their child's education, we are much stronger in our ability to improve student outcomes. The success of improving
115student achievement requires buyin from our parent community. If it becomes evident though that the priorities shared here are no longer a pertinent focus, then it also necess necessitates flexibility on whoever will be serving in these responsibilities to pivot. My initial approach in addressing a top priority will be as follows. It'll be to listen, bridge and account. Listen comes in the form of meeting stakeholders where they are and through a variety of formats that probably have already been implemented from you know office hours, school functions and the like to better understand what is critical in their current educational journey. bridge. Knowledge at the end of the day is power and collaborative partnerships with fellow trustees and community leaders will help to make sure that as many groups are actively engaged in the process and then account
116using both data and firsthand experiences from families to ultimately guide the overall decision. A short while ago, my opening remarks alluded to the top fiscal challenge being a shaky stream of revenue but then also ever growing expenses. This creates constant pressure to do more than the status quo or more with the status quo while still meeting the current implementation in programs focused on uplifting and lifting up our students and educators. It's my belief that a balanced and strategic approach rooted in transparency, long-term planning, and community trust will be vital in addressing this moment. Every budget decision should in collaboration with stakeholder feedback, data from the superintendent, various school staff will be guided on whether it aligns with our established goals for this year. That would entain promoting wellness and a positive school culture for our
117students laid out in the local control and accountability plan. We could also further explore existing and new partnerships, external support, and fill resource gaps. And while all these are developing, we maintain the current progress reports, the follow-ups to show the why behind such approaches. Fiscal responsibility is not just about balancing numbers. It's about balancing our values and ensuring this school district remains financially sound to meet the needs of our students both today and tomorrow. I hope to be afforded the responsibilities and fulfilling such duties. Thank you again to everybody for your time and consideration. Thank you, Mr. Tron, for your comments. Thank you very much everyone. We shall continue. First of all, I would like to thank all of the of the applicants who spoke this evening. Thank you very much for all of your
118comments. We will now provide an opportunity for public comment on the appointment for those who submitted a comment card but did not already speak. As I mentioned before, each member of the public will have one and a half minutes to provide comment on this topic. Okay. >> So, I will read the ones who weren't able to speak earlier. The first one is Teresa Curillio. >> Oh, in the bathroom. >> We'll come back to her then. No problem. The next one is Kevin D. >> Uh, he left. >> He left. >> Oh, we're here. We're here. Sorry. You are Teresa Curillo. >> Yes. Yeah. Okay. >> Sorry. When nature calls. >> No problem. >> Okay. So, I am Teresa Curio. I am a former student, a resident, and a parent of B USD. So I I
119want to thank all the candidates for coming out, but I would like to ask the committee and say I hope you took a good look at the candidates and saw the ones that were respectfully listening to the fellow candidates and not continuously on their phones. I also don't feel you should select a candidate that would focus on one student margin with um because as I currently look at the board, I do not see one that would represent me or my children. Um, also with that being said, I would feel it would be in the best interests of all students and teachers that you do not select any polit any candidate with a political background because our children are not stepping stones to anybody's political careers. And I also would ask that you pick a member
120that truly cares about the district families and the staff and the students. Thank you very much. >> Thank you for your comments, Lisa. So Kevin had to leave, but they asked that uh Delilah say his part. Would that be okay? >> Yes. Go ahead, please. >> Okay. Okay. >> Hi. Hi, my name is Kevin. I am a third grader. Resin. >> I was lucky to have Mr. Lee was my >> as my kindergarten >> teacher. Every even my little brother >> little brother Kyle wanted to be in Mr. Lee's class after he hearing about uh how kind and >> caring Mr. Lee was. People, >> please >> considering voting for Mr. Lee for >> he >> is a great >> teacher and leader. >> Thank you. >> Okay. >> Well, thank you very much for
121your comments. >> Next speaker is Jessica Busus. Good evening. Uh hello. My name is Jessica Butos, longtime Beressa resident and parent to two children. One currently at Ruskin, one who went to Ruskin and now at Seirmont. I am here tonight. I am honored to speak in full support of Mr. Randy Lee. Randy truly embodies the spirit of service and educ and dedication that defines our district. He has been a tireless advocate for our students, staff, and families. Always leading with integrity, compassion, and genuine desire to make a difference. Whether it's supporting equitable opportunities for students or standing up for the needs of our educators, Randy has always put people first. Thank you, Randy. He listens. He collaborates. He acts not for recognition but because he cares deeply about this community. His leadership and steady presence
122has strength strengthened Beressa and inspired those around him to do the same. If chosen, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude and unwavering support. Randy Lee's dedication and compassion will continue to benefit not only the district but the Beressa community. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you. Thank you, Miss. The next speaker is Kimo and Jango. Oh, they are. Hi everyone. Thank you for your time. My name is Kim and I'm here with Zang. Um we both serve on the Ruskin PTA. Um but we're here today as parents because our children were fortunate enough to be students of m in Mr. Lee's kindergarten class. We are both proud to stand here today in full support of Mr. Lee for this um trustee appointment. As Jessica just stated, um you know, we were lucky enough
123to be just so positively inspired by um by Mr. Lee. Mr. Lee has taught in um this district for more than two decades, and the consideration, compassion, and empathy I've witnessed in his classroom will translate into thoughtful dialogue, and inclusive decision-making. He without a doubt will lead with integrity, honesty, and in the best interests of all the children. as a consolidation. Oh, sorry. Uh, Miss Lee bring a student first approach to the issue and challenges facing our school. His unique experience as both an educator and a deeply engaged community member set him apart. I read through the applicants or the application and he simply stands out above the rest. His plans for building a trust in the B USD is thorough and thoughtful. The depth in his response response his responses in his application show
124that he truly cares and is invested in the community and BUSD. Uh please consider Mr. Louie for this appointment. Our family uh student and community would be better for it. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments, Mr. and Mrs. What? >> Kim. No, what's this? Ohim Kim Jang. Sorry. just what happened. It's okay. Thank you everyone. We shall continue now. I would like to provide an opportunity for my fellow board members to identify what they are looking for in an applicant to fill the vacancy and identify up to five up to five. It doesn't mean that they can choose five, but they can choose up to five of their preferred applicants. If a board member has a top preferred applicant, among those five, they may identify that applicant. Miss Kim Gomez will be tallying
125the preferred applicants on the screen for the public to track. Any applicant identified as a preferred applicant by at least two board members will become a finalist. This will allow us to begin to narrow down the field as we move toward a decision. If there appears to be consensus around an applicant, we will entertain a motion to appoint. If not, we will ask the finalist to participate in the second round of questions. So now we'll discuss my fellow board members. If you have already identified your selected applicants up to five up to five. [Laughter] Anyone can go first. Let's start with trusty shiny Basan. Do you have it? >> Oh, excuse more time. >> Do you need more time then? Shall we? All right, Trust Trusty Hog, our youngest member. Uh, go ahead. >> Thank
126you, President Boak. And thank you so much to the members of the public who came out today to speak in support for your candidates and also for your very thoughtful public comments. We've all been reading your emails. We have received all the information and it's always really exciting when we have really robust community engagement, especially on such an important topic like tonight. So, I just want to say thank you to our community members for being here, for watching on YouTube, and for emailing us, too. And thank you again to our applicants. Every single one of you is so qualified. And I'm really torn by the amazing pool of folks in the room right now. And I just want to say that even if you aren't selected, we do highly encourage each of you to stay
127involved in Beressa. There's so many committees that need members to fill. And so we would love to have you to continue to work with us and bring your wonderful ideas. Beressa is really a place where we all >> want to be here as as a fellow lifelong Beressa, you know, former student and lifelong resident. I'm really happy to see a lot of folks who grew up in Beressa come back. And so that was really um sweet to see as well. But for my criteria specifically, I I read through all your applications. I really looked through and read your responses. is I took vigorous notes on public comments on your public comments the applicants and I look through everything and so the main things that I'm looking for in a candidate is there a readiness are
128you ready to hit the ground running how much do you understand about education um how much do you understand about our district are you plugged into what what is happening in our district and you know there was a lot of comments about our um financial situation right now and so I really want to make sure that the candidate feeling this position understands that. And in addition to that, a second criteria that I have is how many new ideas can you bring to our district? I love seeing new ideas being brought to the table. Someone who is collaborative with those ideas and being able to help with the incredible work we have up here already. Um, we're a very uh good team. I would say we're really good at communicating with one another and collaborating. So,
129that's another aspect that um I will be looking at. And the final thing that I will be looking at is equity. You know, how do you see equity? Equity is one of our core values as a district. And I want to know, you know, what will you bring to the table as it pertains to equity as a value. And of course, I'm also very mindful, Teresa, to your comment. I really want to make sure that the person we select would like to stay as a board member. It's really important for us to have stable leadership and make sure that the person selected is here for the long run. You know, in school districts, it takes a while to have change occur. And so, we really want someone who's knowledgeable, who's committed to our district, and
130who will be able to bring a lot to the table. You will be serving the term of um former trustee Jimenez's term. So, you you don't have that much time. And so, we really want you to be able to, you know, bring ideas that you can also listen and collaborate. and you know the candidates that I am um piecing out I want to hear more from but that doesn't necessarily mean that I don't like you. It's just you know we have so many candidates in the room and so I really wanted to um you know just hear more. So with that being said and I'm just saying it in alphabetical order um these are my five candidates. So I would like to um push Shauna Brewer to the next round. Jamie Coup, Randolph Lee, and
131Jonathan Mononttoya to the next round. >> All right. Anyone else who would go first? Oh, go second, I should say. >> Okay, I'll take the second spot. >> All right. Trust, it is your turn for your five. If you have five. >> I have seven, but >> Oh, boy. >> Okay, let's have them. >> Good. Thank you, Trusty Hulk, for so eloquently speaking on behalf of the board. So, my comments will reflect whatever Trusty Hulk said. You know, it's it's amazing uh to to see 18 applicants initially and then um 14 of you continuing um 13 of you continuing to be um to be here uh moving forward. So uh we have um knock on wood our our board has u uh been very uh have had shared values. You know we have all of
132us work well together. Um and it's very critical for us to uh appoint someone that understands what our values are and um move forward with it with that. Just like what uh Trusty Hawk said, we want someone that uh hits the ground running. And uh in my my um uh analysis or my wish would be someone that has uh been heavily involved in our schools uh knows uh the family dynamics, the community community dynamics um and what um what our parents uh expect, what our community expects to uh hear from us and how um we can engage uh with them and and things like that. U th those are you know uh I know it's very high high level uh uh explanation of uh what uh what we are looking for but you know I
133I'll lean on Trusty Hog's uh comments earlier and she made very good points uh and with that I'm I mean again this is like a year of tough decisions. We we had tough decisions just under a year ago and we have uh another one here sitting in front of us. So um um I I I commend all of you for all of your uh all of your thoughts uh that you shared with uh with us. Um and I I think um the uh the the ideas or the thoughts that resonated best with uh me are uh the following people. Uh in no particular order I don't have any preference at this time. Uh it's uh it's at random and I want to make make it clear. uh but again it's not going to be random
134because it's been uh I've been making notes uh based on the list that was provided to us. So it's but uh I want you to understand that it's it's a random uh group of people. So assume that it's a random group of people. So number one is uh with u Miss Brewer. Mrs. Brewer is number one on my list uh to go forward to the next round. Um I have Mr. Lee uh on my list to go on to the next round. I have Mr. Mononttoya uh to go on to the next round. Um how many was that? Four. Oh. Oh, thank you. How many did I select? Where am I? >> Three so far. Okay. What did I put and Mr. Mononttoya? Correct. Yes. All right. And um I'd like to move forward uh
135with Miss Jamie Coup as well. Um and the last one is a little little tricky because I have I was torn between three different people here. Um but um I will move forward with Miss Kim, Miss Lara Lara Kim uh at this time. >> Thank you, Trusty Shinasan. How about Trusty Goen? >> Okay. Um so first I'd like to thank all the candidates. I think everyone was uh overly qualified. Um I think uh everyone would make a great board member. Um I we initially started with 19 candidates. Uh a few withdrew and even the ones that withdrew um I reviewed your application. I I think that even those that with withdrew would even make great board members. Uh I'm I'm really impressed. Everyone that um that was had the willingness to uh be a board
136member have all the the characteristics that that would make a great board members. uh the professional background, the knowledge, the expertise, uh the commitment, former students, uh committed um community members and such. Um but what it is, it's it's challenging to to select one out of the 13 qualified, overly qualified members. So my criteria is I was look at well, what's missing from our current board? Um there's one thing that really rose to the top for me. Um, and I I've been doing this for for many years. Uh, and over the years, we've had uh well, before I say that, I I believe that a board needs to be a good representative of the community. And over the years, um, the current board and former boards have always served a representative of the community. We've
137had, you know, former administrators, uh, former teachers, um, retired teachers. We had uh we had former students on this board uh and currently on this board. We've had professionals, engineers, uh people with backgrounds in finance and accounting. We had business owners. Uh we had a we had professors, we had teachers, we we had we had a PhD. We we had a variety of different people with different backgrounds that have served on this board or or are currently serving on this board. But the one thing that has always been missing since I've been on this board is um someone that has actually served in this district as an employee. I think that's important because uh our biggest asset is is our employees. Uh we spend about 90% of our budget on employees. Um and I think
138what's missing and then that we've never had on this board is someone that has the intimate knowledge of actually being an employee of this district. And uh for that reason um the the person that rose to the top for me was Mr. Randle Lee. But then I also um heard Miss Coup and and and those are also the two people that have probably been involved in this district longer than I've been on on this board. And um and I think that shows a commitment and um they've been around for a long time and I know they're not only have they been district employees, but they've been in our district classrooms. uh they've been parents and they've been longtime employee or community members of this district and they've been actively involved for I don't know probably
139over 15 years or so if not more. Um so those are my two candes, Mr. Lee and Miss Coup. >> Thank you Trusty Guen. I guess it's my turn. um what has been said. I mean, for one thing, hearing all of you speak and your dedication to our school district is so commendable and I'm so proud to be part of this whole district. I do have my I mean all of the uh things that have been highlighted especially uh by Trustee Hog and all of my uh board trustees. Um I agree with all of them but I also have my I also have one that is very important to me and that is the meaning of equity. Equity to me is very I'm passionate about that because I'm a former teacher myself and a former
140administrator myself in the east side high school district. Equity is especially important to me now. Um but I also am looking for people who have global perspective focus on the entire district not just one particular area also that this person has to be able to see the big picture and I think all of you who spoke this evening somehow have that in your in your heart and and That's wonderful to see. You have to be a strong advocate for public education and at the same time you have to and I know all of you are going to be act with honesty certainly respect confidentiality in this business. Things are confidential and at times we cannot just blurt it out into the public. Okay. So, but all of you have all of the means and the
141talents that I wish I could select all of you, but I can't. So, here are my people. Um, Jamie Coup, Jonathan Mononttoya, Lara Kim, Shana Brewer. Those are my people. Thank you my board my board colleagues. Now I'm going to refer this next step to the superintendent. Thank you, President Boak. And again, thank you to all of our applicants and everything that you shared. I was certainly taking notes on all of your suggestions and ideas. That's always a great part of having our community come forward and being able to hear suggestions and things that we may not have thought about before that we can begin, you know, envisioning and putting forward in the best interest of our students and serving our Beressa community. So, thank you so much. And again, um there is continued opportunity
142to partner with us. Each one of these members here have district-wide committees that have seats available. And you know, if you have an expertise or love in, you know, HR, in business, in bonds, in facilities, in instructional programming, we have places for you to give uh that love and passion towards. So, please just be sure to check in with us afterwards and we're happy to share those opportunities with you. So, in um revisiting uh the criteria for moving on to be a finalist, what was established was if a individual's name was uh listed by two or more board members, you would move to the next round. And so as we look at this listing, we see um that every name that's been listed up here from what I can tell has is listed here at
143least twice, if not more. So Shana Brewer, Shauna Brewer, Randy Lee, Jonathan Mononttoya, Jamie Coup, Laura Kim, you will move forward to our next round. Okay. Congratulations. And so while we prepare for that next round, we're going to take a brief recess. Um trustees, what would you prefer? 15 minutes. >> How about 10 minutes, my fellow board members? Is that enough? >> Okay. All right. We will take a 10 minute recess, which will allow us time to get organized for the second round of interviews. Thank you again for everyone that joined us thus far. We appreciate everyone's patience that we'll continue with this process. Thank you. The meeting is now called to order. We shall continue with the business at hand. For those applicants identified as finalists, we will be asking each to answer the
144same four questions to be asked by board members. Finalist will have two minutes to answer each question. We will go in reverse alphabetical order by last name. Finalists who are not answering the questions will be asked to wait in the ED services conference room to ensure that they do not hear the questions before it is their turn. I would add I think there are some goodies over there for you. With that, with that, I would ask Jonathan Mantoya to come forward and for Miss Strickland to accompany the other finalist to the ed services conference room so that we can have the next finalist as soon as it is their term. Thank you. Yeah, we have to wait. Okay, wait till they're over there. You tell me one more minute. Okay, we're good. >> Thank you
145very much for waiting. I think we can begin. Board member Jeriah Hog has the first question. Trustee Hog, please. >> Hi, Dr. Mononttoya. >> Oh. Oh, that's right. Okay. Timer. Thank you, Miss Gomez. >> Thank you. So, you have two minutes to respond. My question to you is how would you work with other board members, labor partners, and administrators when perspectives differ on important decisions? >> Uh, thank you for this question. U, I experience these types of situations often as a director of programs and dealing with community partners. Um, I think different perspectives are what we kind of look for, right? like that's that's what what we thrive on to be able to to learn from one another. In terms of of when we have those disagreements, I'll just I'll say that I think being
146able to to lean on our love of students and our service is really really what brings that forward because it's not about this person or that person. We're here to serve the students and also I would say you know leaning on our mission statement right regardless of what we what we believe um which is valued we need to be true to the mission statement but also just leading in service to students with love that that's it and if you can fall on that if someone's passionate and disagrees it's because they care they deeply care about the students and I would never fault anyone for that. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. >> Um, board member, please. The next question. Mark. Um, my question is, as a board member, how would you advocate for and
147support policies that meet the diverse needs of all students, including those who require academic rigor, specialized programming, or additional learning and behavioral supports? >> Thank you. I think this is a really good question. Um, I think about my time as a classroom teacher and differentiated instruction. you know, I've taught students that are heart surgeons and and um you know, all like all all walks of students and I just think about we don't really have to recreate the wheel so much. A lot of of what we what we need to do to serve our students is dare. It's in there. There's laws that's that are already on the books from the 80s, from the 70s that support all students, multilingual students, neurodyiverse students, right? So, um I think that that as a board member, I hope
148I can innovate, but I I have a feeling that a lot of it is just going to be referring to the things that already exist and maybe having to remind not none of you, but like maybe remind myself of okay, like I learned about this. This is um you know, all students are entitled to learn in their home language or or all students are entitled to to equitable access to to learning. like these are things that are already on the books. Like it's if I can just rely on that. Um I'll end with that. >> Thank you. Board member Sharin Basan has the next question. >> Thank you, President Bai. Um Mr. Mononttoya, uh, you're serving on the school board when a decision you supported, such as budget, budget cuts, curriculum changes, or school consolidation,
149receives strong public criticism at a board meeting and on social media. How would you respond to the criticism while maintaining transparency, professionalism, and the best interests of the district? Yeah, I think thank you for that question. I think this one really hits at the heart of what I see my role as a trustee would be making really tough decisions and and and living with the consequences of that. Like I don't take I'm not going to take any decision lightly and any decision that matters there's not going to be disagreement. I'm never going to to get everyone to agree with what what it is that that that I I decide. And I'm okay with that. I'm willing to live with that. And um in terms of responding to it, I think if I can just lean
150on my, like I said earlier, the mission of of the of the um school district, my love of the students, and then also the easy ones, the der like the law stuff like, okay, well, I'm sorry that you disagree with that, but it's just what it is. We have to to do this um in in service to our students. Thank you. I have the last question. My question is, how do you define equity in education and what specific steps would you take to promote and support equity in Beressa schools? you know, um, the board probably hasn't had a chance, nor would I want you to read through my dissertation or any of my research. It could be pretty boring, but it's all equity. Like, that's what I do. That's why I get up in the
151morning. That's why I left the students that I loved, that I taught for 10 years to go back to graduate school and to try to make an impact and study this stuff. It's why I teach teachers at St. St. Mary's College so that hopefully I can impact more than just those few. I had what like 140 students but so I I get to impact more I hope um with through equity you know we're blessed in this area some it fluctuates but I think we're the second most linguistically diverse place in the country behind Jersey City somehow. Um but that goes back and forth. So like we're in this beautiful place with such diverse perspectives and and and that is an asset and I think um the equitable the equitable part of any of any institution
152or any education is the most important part. Our students need to be able to access education no matter what. And I'm I'm passionate. I I direct the the bilingual um authorization at St. Mary's College. So, I'm passionate about multilingual education. As a uh an English learner, as a child that was forced to forget my language, then relearn it in college. These were things that that that that are close to my heart. You know, going I went to a funeral the other day where I was able to speak Spanish with my family. When I was a kid, I wasn't able to talk to them because I wasn't fluent in Spanish. I had to relearn that. All the while, there were laws on the books that said that I was supposed to be able to learn in
153my home language. In the 90s, that got overturned. So, um I'll just leave it at that. Um I'm passionate about equity for neurodyiverse students and all students and multilingual obviously. >> Thank you very much. >> Um >> thank you for this opportunity. >> Yeah, this concludes his questioning. That's right. >> You can stay by the way. Okay. >> I like the snacks. I would like to call on um Randolph Lee. Is he here? >> Yeah. Yeah, I just I keep forgetting again. This is um and hopefully they're okay. Okay, please take the podium. Thank you very much. The first question will be coming from Trustee Hog. >> Hello, Mr. We. Thank you for applying. >> So my question for you is, how would you work with other board members, labor partners, and administrators when perspectives
154differ on important decisions? >> You know, I I I live by a little mantra, practice generosity. So, you know, the same the same respect I would like to receive, I I give that in return. I think for financial decisions as from my background and my passion, how does it affect the bottom line and the bottom line for me is student learning. So I would prioritize those decisions according to how much they affect the you know the effectiveness of the instruction and and the assessment of the instruction and and even innovation of the instruction. So you know practicing gener generosity would be you know making sure that everyone has enough time to to present everyone has time to innovate and everyone has time to consider before um you know just being open-minded. >> Yeah. >> Thank
155you. Board member Kanguin has the next question. >> Good evening. Um, my question is, as a board member, how will you advocate for and support policies that meet the diverse needs of all students, including those who require academic rigor, specialized programming, or additional learning and behavioral supports? >> Thank you for your question. And, you know, I I went to school in a um in a predominant was a multicultural school. I was only one of two Asians in the school. So, I I lived out everyone's nightmare, you know, as far as finding my place. So I know, you know, what it feels like, uh, what it sounds like and and so I bring that sensitivity with me and and I think um for the um for the I wait, can you repeat the question one more
156time, please? >> Yes. As a board member, how will you advocate for and support policies that meet the diverse needs of all students, including those who require academic rigor, specialized programming, or additional learning and behavioral supports? >> Okay. Yeah. At my school, I was one of the first teachers to to actually mainstream uh ch kids uh from from the special ed class into my classroom. So, I have a lot of experience working with them and working with their behavior specialists. You know, I I think that um when we look at we can be creative. You know, I talked earlier about that innovative innovation initiative. You know, we have students who have difficulties or challenges that are the same. And I think sometimes we send the behavior specialist one at a time. They have like such
157a big case load. One of the the ideas that I would like to see explored is that you you put these, you know, um you put the the kids with similar needs together and you have like little like a club. You make it sound like a club and you you can meet, you know, before, during, after school. So, it's just a creative way of of maximizing the time and you build in community which many of these students lack and you know you you bring them into a community that's different from their own so they feel like they belong and I think that's how that's how kids grow um through community and just feeling safe. Yeah. >> Thank you board member Shiny Basan. Your question please. Good evening, Mr. Lee. Uh, >> good evening. >> Uh,
158you're serving on the school board when a decision that you supported, such as budget cuts, curriculum changes, or school consolidation, receives strong public criticism at a board meeting and on social media. How would you respond to the crit criticism while maintaining transparency, professionalism, and the best interests of the district? Yeah, I think I I have a lot of practice doing that in the classroom. You know, parents parents have uh have challenges and and they want to know why this isn't happening or why that isn't happening. And and I have, you know, I I have connection with people because I've put myself in their place. And so I feel like I can um negotiate and I can I can make the hard decisions. You know, I think just because I'm a teacher, you know, I I
159I imagine that if I'm allowed to serve on this board, some teachers will be asking, "What is he doing? Why is he doing that for?" Like I said before, I'm doing everything for the students and and to see that they get whatever they need to succeed. And if that means that, you know, that um might be stepping on toes or or not, you know, a people are not fully agreeing with me, that's just part of the process, you know, and I think we're not going to get anywhere by by arguing with people. But I think we we we solve problems when we're able to to understand each other and make connections. That's how we solve problems. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. I have the last question. Here is the question. How do you define equity
160in education and what specific steps would you take to promote and support equity in Beressa schools? >> Yeah, for for Beressa schools, I think we should think a little bit globally. You know, there's there's so many things, so many ideas, so many practices out there. I want to see us become a leader in in those areas where people will come to us to get ideas where we can balance things off. So I think you know we can we can think globally we can look for ideas outside the norm. We have to think outside the box and I think that's that's going to make the difference between you know how we how we succeed in the future with you know the budget cuts the budget is is going to come but it's how we adapt to
161those changes that that's going to make the most impact. Yeah. So I I envision like as an example you know we have I talked earlier about the initiative the innovation initiative where where it gives teachers you know we ask ourselves the tough questions do teachers have enough time to innovate in their classrooms do teachers have enough time to explore what's working and what's not working in their classrooms and you know from there we develop policies and we can share them with other people. So this idea of like a global classroom is what I envision not just for us but for the whole academic community as a whole. >> Thank you so much for your answers. Uh you may stay and you may remain inside. You can sit down somewhere in here. >> Okay. Thank you
162for your >> You are welcome. >> All right. Uh, I would like to call on Jamie Coup. She disappeared. >> Oh, they're far away. Yeah. Hello Miss Cool. Hi board member. How you have the first question? >> Hi Miss Q. So my question for you is how would you work with other board members, labor partners and administrators when perspectives differ on important decisions? you have two minutes to respond. >> Okay, great. Um, I definitely from drawing from my experience as a teacher, middle school teacher and a parent and now as a parent engagement coordinator, definitely the first thing is to listen. And when we are able to really uh take in the perspective of the other person and value their perspective, then we can come together um and just really work out explore different options
163uh explore what would be the benefits objectively think about the negative impacts but then also think about how the students are going to be affected by it. Um the priority is of course to move forward. So in working with board members, sometimes it's okay to to disagree and sometimes it's okay to defer to the other person knowing that is for the greater good. And I definitely that's um part of my approach when we talk about differences. And it's okay also in part of the conversation to listen and then say can I have some time to think about it and I can talk with you again like in a week or you know if time's more urgent than in a few days but to ask for that grace in listening and understanding one another is really
164important. >> Thank you. Board member Kangu Yen has the next question. Good evening. Uh my question is as a board member, how will you advocate for and support policies that meet the diverse needs of all students, including those who require academic rigor, specialized programming, or additional learning and behavioral supports? >> Sorry, could you repeat that again? >> Yes. As a board member, how will you advocate for and support policies that meet the diverse needs of all students, including those who require academic rigor, specialized programming, or additional learning and behavioral supports? >> When we advocate for supports, um it generally sounds like there are people who are going to be uncomfortable or um maybe not really agree. So when we advocate, it's really important to be educating of the policies and explaining to everyone why the
165specific policies are going to be important for everyone. Um so say for example like special education accommodations, they support every student and every learner and for when a a parent has an objection and they say like well this is this isn't for my child. it's upon us to really connect with those parents and share why it's actually important for everyone and it lifts everyone's educational experience. Um was there a second part to the question? >> Yes, it also talks about academic people students academ that requires academic rigor or additional learning and behavioral supports. >> Right. So, so part of being able to support all student in learning is to be able to share how as a school district and as a board we really advocate for all student strengths and how we provide uh programs
166that uh really help each student to achieve their fullest potential and it helps to support them and it gives them the um advantage to move forward. And again, it's not to say that we favor one student or another, but it's every student has their own learning needs and their own strengths that we need to really be able to um cater to and help them blossom and grow where they are. >> Thank you. Board member J. Shinasan has the next question. >> Yes. Thank you, Miss Coup. you all were doing talking. I'm losing my voice. That's not right. Anyway, thank you, Miss Cu, uh for being here. Um you're serving on the school board when a decision you supported such as budget cuts, curriculum changes, or school consolidation receives strong public criticism at a board meeting
167and on social media. How would you respond to the criticism while maintaining transparency, professionalism, and the best interests of the district? >> Yeah. Um, transparency is very important. It's definitely a communication um, I guess an avenue for just really connecting with people. I strongly believe that social media is not the place to engage in that type of conversation. So I just want to make sure I you know state that uh but nothing beats the face toface communication. So when we have uh something very challenging um like the ones that you mentioned it's better to have open forum um in addition to um town halls and uh other types of communication. just really being able to connect with the parents who have the concerns whether one-on-one or in a focus group. Um just really leading through
168uh groups of people who have different opinions and listening to each side in a small safe setting is always really good. Um and that kind of shows the um the district at large that we are willing to listen and we go to different school sites to just really listen to their individual concerns. Each school site has their own culture. It has their own uh strengths. It has their own uh specific needs. So that's really important to be face tof face with people. Thank you. I have the last question. How do you define equity in education and what specific steps would you take to promote and support equity in various schools? So equity to me means being able to provide the support to every student to move forward. Whether that means that they uh need to
169have more advanced classes to move forward or whether that that means they need extra support. So whatever we can do to provide teachers with uh the support that they need to be able to um address each student's needs, we should be able to provide that. They are the first ones in the classroom. The second thing is to really equip parents with how they can support their own children with uh their their strengths at home. uh and also what they can do to support with the academic learning whether that means uh there's a specific communication style that maybe or social um interaction that their children really aren't understanding that also helps um contribute to a healthy school climate for the students to feel safe in learning expressing their ideas and so on and so forth can
170be practiced at home. Um but also parents parents need to know what academic language is and how to support that going forward as home and what we can do uh to support the families with that. Uh it also means that there are certain barriers to um coming to school for instance absenteeism is uh definitely a challenge but also understanding what those barriers are and listening and finding ways to support families uh to get their kids to school. It could be emotional uh supports as well. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. Thank you for your answers. You may sit down and until this whole meeting is over. >> I would like to call on what is it now? Lara Kim The last one after this. Yeah. Guess I'll take my position at 4:00. >> Welcome back, Miss
171Kim. >> Um, board member Jeriah Hog, you have the first question, please. >> Thank you. Hi, Miss Kim. So my first question for you and you have two minutes to respond is how would you work with other board members, labor partners and administrators when perspectives differ on important decisions? So I think it's kind of fundamental in any type of situation both corporate and here when you've got differing opinions is number one I think listen with an empathetic ear. Um, I think with all situations, people just want to be heard. So, that would be my strategy is making sure that every perspective is heard. I'm listening intently. Um, trying to identify with where they're coming from and then try to find common ground. I think one of my strengths when I did Strengthfinders in the corporate
172world was collaboration, positivity, and um, peace. Basically, I'm just a natural peacemaker and trying to find common ground. So, at the high level, that's how I would approach it. So, listen with an empathetic ear and then collaborate together on a solution that everyone aligns with. >> Board member has the next question. >> Good evening. My question is, as a board member, how will you advocate for and support policies that meet the diverse needs of all students, including those who require academic rigor, specialized programming, or additional learning and behavioral supports? So um I think I would meet with obviously consult with our board members who have had that experience, staff, parents um identify those programs that where wherever our students need the most support. So like I had said earlier um in the first round of
173the interview it's taking a look at the overall wellness of the child and part of that is academics all the other aspects of their learning experience as well as then supplementing and supporting their family and home life and making sure their parents also have the right resources available to them. So the student as well as the family for overall well-being. >> Thank you. member has the next question. >> Thank you, President Bu. Uh, good evening, Miss Kim. Um, you're serving on the school board when a decision that you supported, such as budget cuts, curriculum changes, or school consolidation receives strong public criticism at a board meeting and on social media. How would you respond to the criticism while maintaining transparency, professionalism, and the best interests of the school district? >> Respond to the criticism by
174number one ensuring that I am kind of reiterating back to them what I'm hearing. So, ensuring that they feel heard, that I'm interpreting their perspective back to them, which shows active listening, but also like true understanding of where they're coming from. um also while maintaining kind of consulting with the board as well on what that stance and what should be communicated out to the public as a whole. So I'm would assume collaborate with all of you and then ensure that what we're all communicating is one unified consistent message as a result of the feedback that we've all received. >> I have the last question, Miss Kim. And the question is this, how do you define equity in education? And what specific steps would you take to promote and support equity in Beressa schools? So equity
175and education, I believe that and the reason that I'm a supporter of the public school system is ensuring that everyone has access to strong education. Um, how would I ensure that that's equitable? is ensuring that we're assessing the needs of our student body, whatever that might be, whether it's English learners, folks who have some um learning disabilities, and that we have programs that meet those various needs for the diverse kind of makeup of our community. Um, that would also ensure that we're taking a look at those groups of students who may need more help when it comes to English learning. and that aspect of it. So assessing the current situation and finding out where they need resources and how we can support them and then prioritizing those programs so that we are addressing those areas
176of opportunity where the board as a whole feels are the top priority. >> Thank you. Thank you for your answers, Miss Kim. And you may take a seat, please. We will call the next the next candidate. Um, it's Sha Brewer. hot here. >> Welcome back, Miss Brewer. >> Thank you. >> Board member How, you have the first question. >> Hi, Miss Brewer. You have two minutes to answer this question. So my question for you is how would you work with other board members, labor partners, and administrators when perspectives differ on important decisions? That's a great question. Um, I think that first and foremost, like everyone has their own truth and their own story and that there's never like a right and a wrong and that you can only come to compromise and getting to something
177that works for everyone to move forward in the best interest of the district is if we listen um to understand versus listening to respond. So I think as a board member that's the model I would set um is really being curious and trying to understand the points of view and where can we come to agreement and where is the compromise in the best interest of the district. >> Thank you. Board member Kanguin has the next question please. >> Good evening. My question is, as a board member, how will you advocate for and support policies that meet the diverse needs of all students, including those who require academic rigor, specialized programming, or additional learning and behavioral supports? >> Yeah, I think um well, I think first and foremost, I would need to learn. I I have
178the perspective of as a parent and a student of two schools. Um, I've served on different committees and and expanded my awareness of what our other schools offer, but I would say I learned the most being on the school consolidation committee as to what where our schools are differentiated um where are the achievement gaps, what are the needs and so I think the first thing I would do is really actually go and visit the schools and talk to the different um principles and staff to understand the unique qualities and challenges that exist on each campus. and really learn that ecosystem so that I can advocate from a stance of neutrality and district mindset versus bringing only what I know today. >> Thank you. Board member J. Shinasan has the next question. >> Excuse me. >>
179Good evening. Good evening. Brewer. Um, you're serving on the school board when a decision that you supported, such as budget cuts, curriculum changes, or school consolidation, receives strong public criticism at a board meeting and on social media. How would you respond to the criticism while maintaining transparency, professionalism, and the best interests of the school district? Yeah. And the question is like after a decision has been made. Yeah. I think you know at the end of the day um people just want to be heard and valued and I think that the way you respond is think I mean every piece of information you get is a gift. I actually think it's worse when people go silent and you don't actually know what people are thinking and what's going on. And it it serves as input for
180the next set of decisions and policies that we make. I think tonight's a great example. I mean, we heard some themes around technology and AI and new ways to generate revenue and and they're all ideas that have been percolating my brain, but I actually thought I was alone. Um, and so I think when we listen and and look for the nuggets of wisdom in our community, actually all the answers are there for us. So the criticism is just an element of feedback. It's not personal. And so I think you respond with thank you and then you take that into your next set of meetings and decisions. [Music] >> I have the last question. I have the last question, Miss Brewer, and the question is this. How do you define equity in education? And what specific
181steps would you take to promote and support equity in Beressa schools? >> I think equity it means ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to achieve success. It doesn't necessarily mean everybody has the same thing, but that we remove barriers for those that really need it so that they can be successful. I think about um my cousin, she's a little person and she's my age, and watching her grow up and really like learning like, oh, your counters are way too high for you to do dishes or you need a special tool in your car to drive. that doesn't make her any less likely to be successful, but I don't need those things. She needs them. And so, we need to look for those um opportunities and where the barriers are and then what do they need
182for that step. Um and so, how I would do that is I mean those that are closest to the work have the solution. So, that's a true foundational belief of mine. So, it's again looking at our data, looking at our schools, looking at our students, looking at our staff and our teachers and asking them what's needed and finding ways to provide it. >> Thank you for your answers. You may sit down and um remain until we're done, I guess. >> Okay. Again, I want to thank all of the finalists for their responses to the board's questions. As I mentioned at the opening, at this time I would like to ask my fellow board members to again focus on what they are looking for in an applicant to fill the vacancy and ask that they identify
183their top three unless you only have one. Top three preferred applicants in order based on which applicants be best meets those criteria. >> Yes, we can rank order this time. >> Do we have to rank order or we have to rank order? I see. I I >> Are we ready >> this time? I'm ready. I mean, I think so. So I mean imagine the amount of pressure that you have to I hope you're all ready for this kind of pressure when you join the board. But >> oh dear >> uh but I mean since I'm since we have to rank choice u so my top uh person to be appointed will be uh Miss Brewer Sha Brewer uh followed by um Mr. Lee and uh Miss Coup. >> As for me, I stand by what
184I said earlier. I I'd be fine with any of the the candidates to be appointed. Um I think everyone brings a unique uh quality and experience to the board. Uh but the one thing that that I'm looking for uh as a board member is um that missing voice on this board. And that missing voice on this board for as long as I've been on on this board is someone with a unique experience that has actually served in this school district as an employee. Uh particularly if there's a classroom uh uh someone with classroom experience. Uh we've never had that in this school board as far as as long as I've been on this board. Um so I so that's the reason why I uh uh selected uh Mr. Lee and uh Miss Coup and those
185who are my uh rank orders as well. This is very difficult because everyone did very well. So, I'm just scrolling through my notes. Um, I with everybody's responses, I think I would actually rate my top three in order of in order. I think number one, Bisha. I think her answer on equity was excellent and I really enjoyed her definition. Um, number two, I would say Randy. I really loved his in the classroom experience and bringing that to the question and he has that understanding of how to you know support our students with disabilities. And I would also say three Jamie Coup I al also really enjoyed her responses and her education on education is very evident in her responses. Yes, it's my turn. I have um I know that we need someone here who can
186represent all of us, all of our students. And so I do have I do have a couple here. My um first one is um Shana, the next one is Lara Kim and the other one is Jonathan Montoya. Those are my three and thank you all of you. You did an excellent job in responding to our questions. >> At this at this point, I'll I'll assist you for this part. And we also have Mr. Tunic, our legal counsel here in the audience, also to assist if any of the trustees have questions. Um, but now that you've done your rank order, you can review what you see there. Um, at this point in time, the board has some options. You may choose to, um, continue discussion amongst your top candidate if there needs to be more discussion
187there. You also if anyone feels inclined want to make a motion for an appointee you may also do that. If we are torn between one or two individuals we can do a closing question and bring them forward. So you've got some choices. So um so you know I I didn't provide any comments when I made my selection but uh so we looked at the entire application process right including the um the initial screening plus the screening questions as well as the uh final questions and uh and what what I was looking for and uh and the reason I I uh went with that with that order is um how well you uh you understand uh our complicated questions and how we how you u formulate your thoughts. You know it's not easy standing out there
188as throwing uh questions at you and you know you have to uh really understand what we are trying to trying to achieve and respond based on that. It's not it's not the easiest thing to do. And the the reason I I uh had um and again this is not it's not an easy process like you can see. The reason why why I had this brewer up there is because uh I I felt that her u uh comments were you know very uh on point on several issues uh especially with equity as well as u uh how to how to uh be a empathetic listener and things like that. uh which is why I had um Miss Puiter u as my as my top choice. Again, I don't think we can go wrong with any of
189uh any of the candidates. They're they're amazing. Uh but u you know, from my perspective, I went with Miss Pro first because I liked her responses and I agree uh with trust trust in a certain extent that Mr. certainly brings out a unique perspective that you know we we um I certainly don't have I don't want to speak on behalf of uh all the board members uh I never went to school here so I I don't have that perspective I never never was a teacher so I had to learn everything organically so I everything uh that I know is uh you know as my in my volunteering job uh as a as a PTA uh uh member as well as u various committees. So uh Mr. really does bring a very unique perspective uh from
190that aspect and u uh as well as miss coup um there's a lot of experience with u uh working with you know different families which is which is great uh but um and I appreciate all of your uh your efforts MSU and you know I want I want to know we uh appreciate your u uh sincerity and your you know thoughtfulness in your uh answers u From my perspective, I think I I will stick with that um with that rank order list uh for now. And uh if there are any takers, I'll make a motion for Miss Brewer to be appointed uh to the uh uh school board vacant school position, >> your microphone. >> Board members, are you in agreement with that? Are you making a motion, trustan, to select, repeat the name, please?
191>> Miss Shauna Brewer. >> Shauna Brewer. Board members, >> I would second that motion. >> It's been moved and seconded to select Shauna Brewer as our next to fill the vacancy on the board of trustees for the Berai Union School District. All >> in you've got to see if there's more discussion now that you've got a motion and a second. >> Is there um is there any discussion? Um, trustee Muen. >> No, like I said, uh, I support any appointment for any of the five members we have or the five or we have five candidates right now. I think all of them bring a unique uh, perspective and, uh, uh, I'd be honored to serve alongside with any of the five uh, candidates. >> This will be an oral vote. Um, Miss Gomez, please. Yes.
192President Boak I. >> Trustee H. I. >> Trustee Newin. >> I I. >> Trustee Shunasan. >> I. >> All right. It's unanimous vote for the four of us. Congratulations to you. Shauna Brewer as the next as our next board member. Thank you all for your generosity of your time plus taking the time. I know that all of you love our school district as we all up here. We love our school district of Beressa. I thank you very very much. So now I'm >> regular agenda. >> Now um >> it's part two on this part two. Oh my goodness. >> Back to the regular agenda. >> I have to go back again. Okay. Thank you. All right. Now let's continue for a for a minute. Now let's see that will we'll go back to the review
193and action on the agenda. Uh two administer the oath of office to newly appointed trustee Shauna Brewer or superintendent please. >> Thank you. So with that uh Miss Brewer if you'll please come to the podium. >> Okay shocked. >> I ask you to please raise your right hand. and repeat after me. I state your name. >> I, Shauna Brewer, >> do solemnly swear >> or affirm >> that I will support and defend >> the Constitution of the United States >> and the Constitution of the State of California >> and the Constitution of the State of California >> against all enemies, >> foreign and domestic. foreign and domestic. >> That I will bear true faith >> That I'll bear true faith >> and allegiance >> to the Constitution of the United States >> and the Constitution
194of the State of California >> and the Constitution of the State of California. that I take this obligation freely that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation without any mental reservation >> or purpose of evasion >> and that I will well and faithfully >> discharge the duties >> upon which I am about to enter >> upon which I'm about to enter. >> Congratulations, Trustee Brewer. Congratulations, Trusty Brewer. And so with that, you're on the job now. So you may come and take a seat at the end of the diet. It's It's one of those rules that it's effective immediately. So please join us here. Meet your fellow trustees. >> Thank you. >> Now we can continue. >> Yes, we will continue. >> Um, let me be sure. Um, yeah, Miss Gomez. Miss Gomez,
195do we happen to have a paper copy of the agenda that we can provide to Trustee Brewer just to help her? >> Oh, there's an extra. >> Just want to make helping her get oriented. >> Want to make sure she has what she needs for her first decisions. We shall then continue with the agenda for this evening's meeting. And we are now in the review and action number 15. Trustee Shauna Brewer. Okay. All right. We shall continue then. Um B, we're now in business services. One, resolution 25-04, authorize signatures for warrants drawn on district funds in the county treasury. Superintendent, please. >> Thank you. Um, and just so that the board's aware, resolution one, resolution two, and resolution three are resolutions that we do annually. Um, however, because we have a new assistant soup of
196business services, Josh here, we need to add his name to these listings and that's why these resolutions are coming forward tonight. So, for this resolution for B1, it is recommended the board adopt resolution 254. authorizing signatures for warrants drawn on district funds in the county treasury. >> Thank you, superintendent. Board members, do we have any discussion or do we have a motion? >> Um, make a motion to adopt resolution. Should I make a motion for all three or individually? >> They're resolution vote. So, there'll be roll call. >> So, u move to adopt resolution 25-04. I'll second that. >> It's been moved and seconded. Um, Miss Gomez, please. Oral vote. Roll call vote. Yes. President Boak. >> I. >> Trusty Hal. >> I. >> Trusty Nuin. >> I. >> Trusty Shernovasan. >> Hi. >> Trusty
197Brewer. >> Hi. >> And you know Trusty Brewer, I want to give you an option because you're new to the seat. If you feel more comfortable or inclined, yes, you may. >> Okay. I'll abstain. Thank you. >> Okay. >> Thank you very much. Um the vote is four and one abstension. It is the motion is passed. All right, let's continue. Two, resolution 25-05, authorized signitories for documents required by the state allocation board and the office of public school construction. Superintendent, please. It is recommended the board adopt resolution 25005 authorized signitories for documents required by the state allocation board and the office of public school construction designating Josh Kirano our assistant soup for business services and myself as superintendent as the authorized district representatives and signitories for documents contracts agreements and change orders submitted to the
198state allocation board and the office of public school construction. Thank you, superintendent. Any discussion or a motion from the board, please? >> I'll move to adopt resolution 25-05. >> Second. >> It's been moved and seconded. Oral I mean roll call vote again, please. Miss Gomez. >> Yes. President Boak. >> I. >> Trusty Hob. >> Hi. >> Trusty Nuen. >> I. >> Trusty Shunasen. >> Hi. >> Trusty Brewer. >> Abstain. Again vote is four eyes and one abstension. Motion is carried. Three. Resolution 256 appointing a representative to the South Bay Schools Insurance Authority. Superintendent. It is recommended the board of trustees adopt resolution 256 appointing a representative to the South Bay Area Schools Insurance Authority Board of Directors which will be Mr. Okay. Thank you very much. Any comments from the board or a motion? >>
199Move to adopt resolution 25-06. >> I'll second that. >> It's been moved and seconded. Again, Miss Gomez. Roll call vote. >> President Boak. >> I. >> Trusty H. >> I. >> Trustee New >> I. >> Trustee Shivasan. >> I. >> Trustee Brewer. >> Abstain. >> Again. Vote is four eyes and one abstension. Um the uh motion is passed. Now we will continue to what's that now? Four. Yeah. Four. Resolution 25-07. Authorize temporary borrowing between funds of the school district. Superintendent, please. It is recommended the board adopt resolution 25007, authorize temporary borrowing between funds of the school district, which authorizes the superintendent or designate to approve temporary borrowing between funds of the district if needed. >> Thank you, superintendent. Board members, um may I have some discussion or a motion, please? >> Um I I thought
200we did this last >> We we do it annually to provide that opportunity. In the last meeting, did you not do this? >> No, we did not do this one. This one's different. >> Okay. All right. Uh, so I'll move to adopt resolution 25-07. >> I'll second that motion. >> It's been moved and seconded. Again, roll call vote, please. Miss Gomez. >> President Boak. >> I. >> Trusty Hog. >> I. >> Trusty Nuin. >> I. >> Trustee Shiva. >> I. >> Trustee Brewer abstain. >> Thank you very much. Resolution is adopted. 421 abstension C education services now one 2025 expanded learning opportunities program plan superintendent please. >> It is recommended the board approve the 2025 expanded learning opportunities program plan. We also uh prior to um making a motion, we do have a brief presentation
201to share with you regarding our afterchool programming and interession opportunities for students. >> First of all, congratulations, Trusty Brewer. Um my name is Thomas Carol, coordinator of student services and I do just want to um kind of outline what our expanded learning and opportunities program is. It has been a major focus for us over the last several years and we just want to highlight how we're utilizing this program to support our students in Beressa. So what is ELOP? So the expanded learning program is a uh state funded program that is designed to provide free afterchool programs as well as inter session for our unduplicated students. Our unduplicated students are those who are either homeless and foster youth, our socioeconomically disadvantaged or English language learners. some of the requirements that we're required to fulfill in order
202to meet uh uh the standards for ELOP. The idea is that it extends the school day to to nine hours a day. Um you know we look at our afterchool program for for many years we've looked at our afterchool programming as simply after school programming but the idea about ELOP is to look at our afterchool programming as an extension of the school day. So rather than just having our our standard school day, the ELOP uh funding is supposed to extend our our programs to a total of nine hours a day. In addition to that, we're also required to provide 30 non-instructional days worth of inter session um or some summer programming. So those are days where as a school district students are not in session, but we continue to provide um 9-hour programming for our
203students. Anyhow, the goal is to ensure that our unduplicated students have the priority registration opportunities. Um, if we do not fill all those spots that we have available, we can open it up to other students as well. But what we've done so far is we've actually been able to fill all of those spaces with our unduplicated students. We're are we are required to maintain a staffing ratio of 10 to1 in our kindergarten and TK classes and a ratio of 20 to1 in our first through sixth grade class. I do want to reiterate that this is a program specifically designed for our TK through sixth grade students. And again, if we don't feel a certain program with our TK through 6th, we are able to open it up to seventh and 8th, but we do need
204to prioritize our F or TK through sixth. And then additionally, it's not just again after school programming. We have to ensure that there's an educational and an enrichment aspect to the program so that our students are benefiting uh both academically and social emotionally. The providers that we've chosen to work with over the last several years include RAFT, the resource area for teachers, which is just a neighbor of ours, the YMCA, the city of San Jose, and Albo. >> So, I'd like to highlight how these um agencies are supporting our different schools. So, with the afterchool program that the YMCA is supporting, uh, they've got Brooktree, Noble, Northwood, Ruskin, Sierramont, Somerdale, and Vincy Park. We've actually expanded our, um, contracts with YMCA. They're serving more schools this year than they have in the past. The City
205of San Jose rock program serves Brookree, Majestic Way, Merrill, Noble, and Pedmont. And what's really unique about the city of San Jose is they actually also have their own scholarship program. So, they're able to help supplement um some of the additional seats that we don't necessarily need to pay for out of our ELOP funding. Um they have a scholarship program to provide even more free seats for our students as well. Um their criteria is basically in alignment with our ELOP criteria, but I believe they have a few other criteria that they allow for scholarships, including uh families of of veterans. The Alleo program uh is specifically at Rusk in a majestic way. this year. Um we have reduced the their contract just due to the amount of funding. Um but we do continue to work
206with them as well. You'll notice that every school site has at least two vendors that are working with them with the exception of Vincy Park and Northwood. And with those two school sites, they have a robust YMCA program going. And YMCA is able to fulfill the needs at those schools. So we've only needed to uh contract with YMCA specifically. But every school site, every other school site has at least two different vendors supporting them. The resource area for teachers has been responsible for uh supporting our inter sessions. We actually just ran a very successful inter session last week. Um based out of all of our inter sessions so far have been based out of Northwood, but we had 80 students who signed up for the raft program. um they spoke uh specialized in STEM, steam
207uh engagement and enrichment. Um and I'll get more into the details of of how Raft has supported us here in a few slides, but you know, again, there's 30 non-instructional days. We do five days during the October break, five days during the spring break, and then 20 days during the summer. What's nice about RAFT 2 is that the majority of the employees that they have are our own BUSD employees. So, it really allows for our students to make those connections with our staff. Our staff knows how we run. They know how our students. They know how we operate. So, it really makes for a smooth partnership. This is some of the feedback that we received from Raft about our summer programming o over this past summer. We did have 220 students enrolled. We had a
20878% attendance rate which is actually you know may not look good when we compare that to our uh what we look for in our average daily attendance. However, because of summer inter session this is on the higher average of what we see with uh inter sessions across the state. Um 83% of students stated that they did learn something new and 88% of the students found science to be fun. Uh, additionally, 92% of our parents rated that their child's enjoyment uh was at a high or very high level. >> Part of ELOP also requires that we have program monitoring. So, what this entails is we I have monthly meetings with our different providers, the the various directors. We do program walkthroughs. So, I'm constantly meeting with our our directors and walking through the different programs to
209ensure that all of the different requires requirements are being met. Um, when we walk through, we're looking to see that there's a daily learning objective on the board, that there's an agenda for the day, that students are actively engaged in their programming, that there's both that academic and the enrichment components to the program. Uh, but in addition to that, it we also look for strong communication between our site administrators and the program directors. Um, you know, we've been very fortunate that because of the communication between the site directors and uh our site administrators, we've been able to squash any type of problems that might come up. You know, and right now it's it's been unique because this is the first year due to consolidation where our afterchool programming has to share space, share classroom space
210with our teachers. You know, we've been very fortunate over the years where our afterchool programs have been able to have their own classroom and unfort, you know, the reality is that's not the case anymore. Um, and so that's where that strong communication between our our vendors, our sites, and myself uh really plays a crucial role. We also take student and parent surveys as you saw with the raft uh feedback that we received. And then what's we've been doing attendance tracking, but one of the new components of ELOP for this upcoming year is that we are going to have to report our attendance to CalPADS. >> Yeah. >> So, it's just a quick overview of what ELOP is. I know it's about 11:00 and I'm sure you're all tired. Um, but are there any questions that
211you have regarding our expanded learning and opportunities program? >> Comments from the board. Go ahead. >> I'm never tired. I always have questions. >> All right. >> What is the attendance uh thing that he said? Whom do whom do we need to report it to? >> Um, basically it's our state reporting system. It's the it's called Calpads. >> Calpads. I didn't get that part. So the um so you mentioned classroom space, right? So um uh I was just trying to go through the slides to see where all we provide the um the you know the elop programs right uh are we able to leverage any of our middle school sites that have more space? Are we able to get our students there or is it better to provide it at the at the location? >>
212Yeah. >> Uh yes. So, so the difficulty with that, so we could >> potentially offer it at a different site, but then we'll be responsible for transportation as well and we don't have the capacity for that and ideally we want our students to be involved in programming at the specific school site that they attend. >> Makes sense. >> The only thing that I was thinking about is CL like you said shared shared classroom space >> sometimes gets challenging, right? depending on where where the teacher is at uh with the prep and all those things. You know, um there might be something going on and >> it's it's an envision. >> You know, the reality is the majority of of school districts uh have to share spaces. We've been in a very unique position where we
213have not and we've been very fortunate for that. Um but and again because this is new you know there is going to be a little bit of tension right now but we are working again with the site directors with the teachers directly to figure out how we can make this work best. Uh for example at one of our school sites where there's been some comm you know a little bit of frustration naturally we're looking at the potential of rotating at the trimesters so that not all teachers are using their whole their classroom for the entire year. So also just reminder too, Tom is that we're prioritizing our multi-purpose rooms, our fist rooms. So all the libraries, those are always our central locations. And when the students do like homework time, that's when they go into
214the teachers classrooms. So it's not that they're in there the whole three hours. They're in there for partly an hour here, an hour there. And they also do a lot of activities outside when the weather's nice. So, um, one of the things that we worked with with the YMCA is that that out time space was usually from 3 to 4, usually when the teachers are still in their classroom wrapping things up, getting, you know, prepared for the next day. So, that that interaction is lessened because the schedule that uh, the YMCA and some of our providers actually create is very specifically oriented to help support our teachers that are potentially still in their classrooms as well. >> Fair enough. That's awesome. Thank you. Thank you so much. >> Any more comments? >> So, I have
215one quick question. I also love the ELAP presentation. ELAB was like my favorite thing to learn about in the district. But I digress. I just wanted to ask you mentioned that um there were budget constraints on expanding one of our programs. Can you is can you just remind me is funded through title one funding or is it restricted funding? I'm just I just forgot. Yeah, >> it's separate funding, but I'll defer it to Josh. >> Well, I can answer that one. I'll take so it it is separate funding. What we have to remember was the budget constraints that we experienced was last year because when the governor first introduced the initiative uh we were given funding based on our in attendance enrollment rates of 2018 and then last year they right-sized it. Right? So that's
216where we lost revenue because now it was based on current um numbers. The other piece to remember too is students are eligible based on free and reduced um eligibility and there this new formula at the state level now put school districts into two tiers tier one and tier 2. Tier one school districts have a significant number of students that are eligible for free and reduced lunch. Um that percentage is 55 or higher. 55% >> 55% or higher of their students are eligible that is not beressa >> we are below that so we are in tier 2 so what we have been um stressing at the state level with this new formula what's really difficult for us it really prevents us from planning fiscally on how much resources we're going to have because what happens is
217the state allocates funding to all the tier one districts first. After they do that, whatever remains then gets reallocated to the tier 2 districts, not at the same rate. And so what we're advocating at the state level is that they could please give us a stable rate so we can plan and know like what we can offer because oftent times uh last year we found out midy year that our funding was reduced by 80. how it was a it was significant. It was 800,000. It was a 800,000 reduction that we found out midy year, which prior to that, because the funding was at a larger rate, we were able to really offer support to all of our eligible students, not just free and reduced, but our foster youth, our English learners, they all had that
218opportunity. with that 800,000 um reduction, we were no longer able to do that and kind of had to put our student needs in a tier um aspect to be able to help prioritize for, you know, after school care and tutoring that we know so many of our children need and their families desire. So, so it's I share all that information because it's still a important advocacy point as we talk to our elected officials. This is a program driven from the governor's office and so we truly uh could benefit with having a stabilized rate for tier 2 districts. >> Any more questions or comments? >> Yeah, that's that's great information. I think it's a good good opportunity for advocacy from all of us. Also, uh the the one other question uh Mr. Carol is the with
219the um you mentioned that K to K6 is the uh target >> TK6 is a target. Uh have we had any opportunity or we had any vacancy to include 78 uh grades at all in the in the past or >> so actually no the the interest has been there to to fill all of our seats with the TK through TK through six >> six. Okay. Okay. Fair enough. Thank you. >> All right. Well, thank you. >> No more question. Go ahead. Um, go ahead. >> Are we still at risk at not knowing what the actual funds will receive and are we creating this plan based on >> so what we currently have? So like as I mentioned this this is a state formula. There isn't a stabilized rate. So we have to plan based on
220the current year and then uh know that there will be some reduction based on the natural decline of student enrollment and then that's how we'll do a projection. >> And if I can clarify too though in the plan that we're adopting or hopefully adopting um there's not actually any money specifically outlined in the plan. It's more just outlining kind of >> program opportunities everything that I highlighted tonight and then >> you know based on the money we would adjust our programming accordingly. >> Okay. No more. Thank you Mr. Carol. Thank you very much. Now if there's no more comments could I have um motion please for approval. >> I'll move to approve. >> I'll second that. >> It's been moved and seconded. All in favor say I. I I >> oppose. All right. Motion is
221approved. Two, board policy 5145.7, sexual harassment. Superintendent, please. >> It is recommended the board review and approve board policy 5145.7 uh sexual harassment for first reading. If you recall, uh last month in September, we updated our Title 9 policy. And so now this is going to be in alignment along with that. >> Thank you very much, superintendent. Any comments? If not, motion please for >> All right, I have a I actually have a couple of comments. I apologize. I was just reading the um court decision and this is targeting our transgender students and I really want to make a flag that I really want to ensure that our transgender students are still protected even underneath this board policy. So, I just will be voting no. But I just wanted to flag that this court decision
222was specifically targeting our transgender students in sports and we want to continue to protect or protect our queer students and this is not in alignment with my values and the resolution that we passed. So, I I know it's a court I know it's a court decision. We legally have to. But, I just want to have a conversation about how we can continue to protect our transgender students even with this new policy being passed. All right. >> Is that an u issue? I have a question for uh is that an issue for uh any of our schools? Uh how does it how does it negatively impact our schools currently? >> Well, going back to there's policy and then there's practice and support that we provide to our students, right? So for our transgender students that need
223our support, we have student support plans and a whole process on how we work with them and work with their families to ensure they have what they need to feel safe and welcomed at school. Um and as well as you know our other policy supports that in that continue to support student uh diverse learning about each other about others that continues to be a value and a practice that we offer here in the district. Um there is constitutional language that is changing around these policies because of the current federal administration which is why these updates are occurring. Um but as trustee H mentioned our priority is still to service each and every student and to ensure that they have access to everything they need to be successful and we will continue to do that >>
224to the extent that uh we have. I mean this policy as uh Trusty Hog mentioned specifically targets transgender students. >> So what it so one of the the court decision the court decision that was made removes gender as a form of discrimination from this policy which was originally part of our Title 9 and sexual harassment language. >> Any more comments? If not, a motion for approval. >> Um, move to review and approve board policy for first reading. >> I'll second that. >> It's been moved and seconded. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Oppose. >> No. >> Abstain. >> Okay. So, we have one no, one abstension, and three yeses. Um, motion is approved. Thank you. D bond program um one oc construction inc change order number one for the site work and utilities
225portable buildings at Northwood Elementary School. Superintendent, please. >> It is recommended the board approve this construction inc order number one for the site work and utilities that were completed at Northwood Elementary School. This is uh this change order is a credit back to the district and it's a credit for $37,000. >> I like that. Uh comments or a motion to approve? Please >> move to approve the change order. I'll second that. >> It's been moved and seconded. All in favor say I. >> I. I. >> Opposed. One abstension. >> I said I. Oh, okay. Thank you very much. The motion is approved unanimously. Thank you very much. Um 16. Request for staff followup. Any staff followup from the board? None. No. Okay. 17. Items for f for future agendas from the board. >> I have
226one. I'll be I'll try to be quick. I know it's late. Uh please bear with me. So I have one uh we did talk about this in the past. I think I don't I don't remember which meeting it was whether it was last year or earlier this year about um cell phone policy stand smartphone policy how it's implemented in uh in different schools. I think we have we discussed uh that each site based on their >> uh requirements implement. Uh but what we we're finding I'm sure you know that more more and more school districts are now um having districtwide policy to pretty much ban smartphones >> uh from classrooms during during the instructional time and and it's you know I think it's worthwhile to take a look at it again uh from a from
227a district-wide perspective instead of uh letting each school site uh make it make their own policy. See the reason is I'm sure all of you have read about all the research behind it and how it how it negatively affects uh adults let alone impressionable children how those algorithms are manipulating our lives. You wake up in the morning looking at algorithms you know that that get you mad angry and then you get behind the wheel of a 6,000 pound car and drive your kid to school. That's a disaster in itself and that's seemingly mature adults uh that are that are doing it and it's it's causing that creating havoc on uh impressionable young children. Uh and we need to you know take a stand. We need to you know decide how we are going to address
228it. >> Um my preference would be to to not have smartphones. I know there are there are parents that challenge that because they want to reach their children. uh they can have cell phones without the smartphone feature. There are still flip phones available out there. You can just you know I mean it's there. I know I know it's there. If you just want if you're that desperate to reach your child uh on on a mobile device, use a non-smart or a dumb phone. Uh but but I want I would like to see something um >> comprehensive for for smartphone policies. Well, and just to share with you that um there is a law that has been made for school districts to uh re-examine their policies and to go into effect in 2026. So, it's around
229the corner. Um so, we certainly can bring back what the current policy is and also share with you um predominantly how our middle schools have been implementing different uh strategies with their students. Um because I know just from uh you know speaking with my own colleagues in other districts, some have invested heavily in cell phone pouches. They're not necessarily effective. And you know, our kids are smart. They're very savvy and they work around they work around those types of you know tools that people try to put in place. So a lot of it is education and also of course getting parents support and buy in as to the rationale because the research is highly positive. When kids are off of these devices, they're much more attuned to their learning as well as making their friendships
230with their friends and building up that social um capacity that they need that they sometimes lose being on devices all the time. So, um, so there's lots of different areas that we can certainly, um, continue to talk about. And then also, we would want to get input from our parent community, get survey input, um, as well as, uh, input from our our teachers who are dealing with the kids in the phones in the classroom because they want to use the devices. Many of our teachers, you have the students use their devices in the classroom for their lessons as well. So, you want to be able to have some flexibility. uh you know for our teachers to be able to do to do that and use it as a tool when it's appropriate. >> Well, I
231I agree with that. But yeah, just when you conduct those parent surveys, make sure to mention you're not banning cell phones. It's just the smartphone feature. They are free to send their kid uh to school with a flip phone that can dial this numbers. So yeah, thank you. Thank you so much. >> Any more comments from the board? I guess not. So could I have a motion please for adjournment? >> Move to adjourn. >> Second. >> It's been moved and seconded. Thank you very much. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed? >> None. Um meeting is adjourned. I thank you very much and good evening everybody.