001[Music] Good evening and welcome to the regular board meeting of Carpenter Unified School District. It is April 8th, 2025. Can everybody please stand for the flag salute? Ready? Begin. 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. Okay, welcome everybody. Uh, we have our C2 close session report. Uh C2A, public employee discipline dismissal release, government code section 54957. Information was exchanged, no action taken. And C2B, conference with labor negotiators. Information was exchanged, no action taken. We're going to move on to C3, public comment for items not on the agenda. So, if you would like to speak to something that's within our jurisdiction but not on tonight's agenda, please step up to the podium
002at this time, um you will have your three minutes and then just the next person go up right after. Um and uh be sure the green light is bright. It'll be bright green if it's on. Um so be sure that's on. Okay. Thank you. It's on. Okay. Jner testimonto syndices. Moralesto president. Schaefer officialto Mr. President Schaefer. conspirac. Jento say the dollar is the Don't style. [Music] President time your your time for your time is up and if you're gonna say it now in English that's fine but it's it's it's three and three hasher will provide the translation in English yes I'll provide the translation from Mr. Dato's comments. Um, please consider how every day many students in the district are also unaware of what was just shared because CUSD has misappropriated tax dollars towards far
003less effective and now even unlawful priorities instead of providing adequate language support. Mr. Delgado said justice has been done on on the district's in regard to the district's attack against the union president. uh when I read the testimonies on of my daughters Andrea and Anna and Monica Delgado that showed respect to the union president Mr. Hchner as a teacher and as a person with great moral values. It showed that the district was going to lose its case and it did happen that way. In 2024, Superintendent Riby and Clerk Schaefer made a strong offensive comments made several strong offensive comments against Union President H. Hot. Hotchner on April 2024. Uh, clerk Schaefer stated that he was 100% sure that the DI district was going to win its case and that he would resign if the district
004should lose. On March 21st, 2025, the district lost and you must resign immediately, Mr. Schaefer. If you don't do it, uh, how can the community trust you? The conspiracy to fire a union president, the union president failed. On 2016, uh, I gave Superintendent Riby the benefit of the doubt and voted for her hire, but, uh, it failed. The district and five board members have misused $3.5 million from taxpayers. The district's own audit showed that three and a half, uh, million, exactly three, 522,648 were not used for the education of students as required by law. Where's the money now? It's in the district attorney's bank accounts. That money was for teachers, for salaries, for student programs, special education students, and the most vulnerable students in the district. Are you going to apologize to the union president
005to teachers to special education students and families and the community? If there's a teacher strike, it would be the fault of the district. Teachers and support staff represent education and the learning of our kids. They deserve to be paid. In order to have a healthy budget, members of the community demand that the district stop misappropriating taxpayers money on unnecessarily and ill-advised lawsuits and apply that money to education. I'm now going to speak on behalf of union leadership and district employees. This is a separate statement. Please let me know when I may begin. Miss Thomas, thank you. In my role as union president and on behalf of district employees, we provide an update on our current contract bargaining impass. Almost one month ago, the California Public Employment Relations Board, CalPERB, directed the 23 24 negotiations to
006factf finding, now 22 months ongoing. Employees are disappointed that the district did not take either the seven-month mediation process any more seriously than it took the 14-month bargaining process. Approximately a week ago, the state selected an impartial expert to evaluate the matter and file a report establishing the most pertinent facts. The factfinder is authorized to either facilitate a settlement or issue a substantive recommendation as to how the dispute might be resolved. If the district rejects the factfinder's recommendation, it may unilaterally impose its will on district employees, but not without a cost. Employees may then determine how to best respond, including retracting all voluntary service, working only to the contract, and even engaging in a general strike if not leaving the district altogether. Although a strike is the last thing employees want, they may be compelled
007to participate in such actions based on the district's unwillingness to reach a fair agreement after 22 months. Fortunately, nothing prohibits employees and district officials from settling the outstanding impass because employees want to avoid any further interruption of services to our students and their families. We continue to submit settlement proposals that would equitably resolve the impass process. Of the two most recently submitted, one proposed a smaller salary increase than even the district's last best offer in 2324 while attempting to resolve the current 2425 school year negotiations as well. The other proposal accepted far less than the district's last best offer as long as a contingency was established to equitably split any property tax revenues that came in higher higher than the district's projections. Such a contingency formula would protect the district from future uncertainties. With a
008contingency in place, the parties needn't rely on the trust that doesn't exist. Instead of arguing about the accuracy of the district's budget projections, while students and families continue to suffer, employees confirm their willingness to accept what we believe to be a highly manipulated budget projection from the district. Of course, only if there is a contingency formula in place. If the district's projections are accurate, the matter is over. However, if employees are also pro however employees are also protected by the proposed contingency formula because if the district has once again underproed revenues which is all too common the bargaining partners would have a clear roadmap for distributing the additional revenue dollars towards employee salary increases. Again imagine employees and district officials all rowing in the same direction avoiding future conflict and agreeing to address future financial
009contingencies together. Unfortunately, district officials continue to pursue the most expensive and confrontational approach to resolving negotiations. Thus far, not even one district official has responded to our proposals. Thank you. Excuse me. She she was at the podium. All right. Okay. Okay. I want to translate uh Jay's statement. It's not it's it's not mine. Okay. Just going forward, if you could please be prepared and not wait till he's already back at his seat because it's confusing to the other speakers and it's not fair for them. She was at the podium. Okay. All right. Thank you. facilitto. Susia forto the insert. Thank you. Are you sure? All right. Good evening. Um I'm Jamie Collins, executive director of Girls Inc. of Carpandria. And this is um Lucy, who's also a Girls Inc. member and a proud member of
010the DLI program at Canalino as well. Um I'm here to highlight um the strength of our over 30-year partnership with the district and some of the continued successes that happen um for our kids um and the programs that we're able to do both at the middle school and high school levels. Uh, also tonight with me is our program directors, Kenya Rodriguez, who not only directly teaches some of our programs at the um, middle schools and high schools, but is also going to provide some insight to the curricula that we use. Girls, Inc. Informed and in charge program that's taught in the middle school and our taking charge program that's taught in the high school provide a critical piece of education that equips young people with the tools to make informed, respectful, and healthy decisions in
011their lives. Our dedicated educators are providing relevant, age appropriate, LGBTI inclusive, culturally competent, and medically accurate information. And they're doing it in a way that builds trust, opens dialogue, and creates safe sp safe safe spaces for students to ask real questions and receive real answers. And this isn't just our perspective. We consistently receive overwhelmingly positive feedback from both our students, parents, and the teachers. Students often tell us the same thing. They want more of this programming. They want to know more. They're appreciative of the open, honest conversations, conversations they may not be having anywhere else. And teachers tell us that they see the impact within their classrooms. Girls, Inc. is proud to serve the Carpa community and has consistently adapted our programs to enhance school day learning and also give back to the district through
012our inind programming such as initiatives like our recess club that goes to the elementaryaries and middle schools on a weekly basis and support socioeotional development and positive behavior during unstructured school time. So, we're proud of the impact that we're making together and are grateful for your continued support. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Kenya Rodriguez and I'm the programs director for Girls Inc. of Carperia and I am one of the lead facilitators for the girls girls inc healthy sexuality programs. For over 30 years, Girls Inc. has had the privilege of offering this program to the students in this district and I come to you today with deep gratitude and a profound sense of responsibility both as a you as a youth development professional and as a member of this community. This program has provided
013a critical space for young people to explore topics that are often considered taboo. Topics that for many of them they are too afraid to ask about at home or at school. From healthy relationships to consent to sexual health rights to gender identity, we offer a safe, supportive, and non-judgmental environment where students can ask questions, share their concerns, and learn from another in an empowering way. Over the years, we've given hundreds, if not thousands of teens opportunity to ask questions that many adults might feel uncomfortable answering or not have the qu the answers themselves. Questions like, why do women and men get treated differently? Is it because of their genitals? Why do women care so much about the way they look? Where are they getting these messages? Is it always safe to come out as LGBTQ?
014How do I stop rumors from being spread about me at school? What if my partner tells me to do something I don't want to do? Do I just do it or should I leave? These are real, raw questions that young people often don't have the space to ask. And through our Girls, Inc. Healthy Sexuality Program, they find they can find those answers without judgment. This work is deeply personal to me because I've seen the profound impact on the on the lives of many young people. Teens often come to us with questions about their bodies, their desires, and their emotions. Questions they're afraid to ask anyone else. And through this Girls, Inc. program, we provide them with a safe, trusted space to explore these topics. They are not alone in their questions. They have us. They
015have Girls Inc. supporting them every step of the way. And they should continue to have you, the CUSD school board, standing with them, too. Your support sends a powerful message to these young people that they have a community that cares about their needs and is committed to their well-being. The girls in curriculum is carefully crafted crafted to meet the developmental needs of students, aligning both state and federal educational standards. It is medically accurate, evidence-based, culturally competent, ensuring that we pro that the information we are providing is reliable, inclusive, and respectful of every student's unique identity, values, and goals. The need for this program is more pressing now than ever before. In a world where misinformation runs rampant and conversations around sex, identity, relationships are often shrouded in shame, this program equip students with the tools
016that they need to make informed and empowered decisions. Many teens across the US still don't have the right to comprehensive, accurate, supportive sexual education. And that's why I'm here today to ask for your continued support of this critical work. Thank you. Thank you. [Applause] Good evening. My name is Julie. Are we ready? There you go. Okay. Good evening. My name is Julie Sigwart. I'm a longtime carpenter resident, sat on the measure committee, and I'm a parent of a recent CHS graduate. And as someone who spent last I've spent a lot of years volunteering volunteering for this district and I'm here tonight because of what's happened over the last few years. It isn't just disappointing, it's unacceptable. On March 21st, Judge Donna Gekk ruled against the district in case [Music] CV1068. I was there. I was
017the only person there. And that's your fourth legal loss in the matter of Mr. J. Hchner. You lost at PURB. You lost in arbitration. You lost before the Commission on Professional Competence. And now you've lost in superior court. At every level, neutral third parties concluded that this case didn't meet the legal standard. In her ruling, Judge Geck even noted that the district presented a one-sided exaggerated and at times sensationalized case. The court found that the testimony lacked credibility. As just one example, the district tried to frame a simple hand gesture, a symbol you used by multiple staff, including principal O'Shea, as something inappropriate. That's not just a stretch. It's a serious m misrepresentation. The judge went further saying that the district, if the district had even one credible witness with actual proof, that would have
018been enough. But you didn't have that. Instead, you threw everything at the wall. 30 plus witnesses, a mountain of weak claims, and hoped that something would stick. All the while spending over $3.5 million of public money on legal fees. And what's worse, you ignored clear legal precedent. In the Santa Barbara Unified School District case, a teacher told a student, "Just because you're good in bed doesn't mean that you can eat in class. And still that teacher was not dismissed. The commission reinstated him. The district appealed to the appeals court and then they lost again. That's the one above the court that you just were in. If your legal team didn't bring that case to your attention, that's malpractice. If they did and you pursued this anyway, that's on you. And while you've been focused on
019this one teacher, who by the way also happens to be the head of the teachers union, the district is facing four major lawsuits tied to decades old abuse allegations. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, these cases could bankrupt the district. That's where your focus should have been, protecting students, restoring trust, and managing risk. Instead, we've had a superintendent, Diana Riby, who either failed to advise the board appropriately or actively fueled this vandetta. Thank you. Your time is up. Okay. Asking for Riby to resign. Your time is up. Andy, to resign. You said you would. Ma'am, your time is up. Please step away. Thank you. Good evening. I'm Cecilia Montto Malik, a student at Carpenteria Family School, currently in third grade at Jan Silk's class. I understand one of the proposed reductions for next year's school
020budget includes eliminating the second third family school class. I urge you to consider keeping the class and here's why. Children's children are not all the same. Some need a place where their emotions are nurtured in a safe and supportive supportive environment. Family school has given that to my son and many of his classmates. Family school provides us as a family of just three a community, something we cherish deeply as our extended family lives far from here. Malik and Joyce family Fridays at school. It's a great opportunity to bond. Last week at Danger, we ran into two former family school students. They had nothing but good memories of family school. Keep in mind school closures and negatively impact students mental health and well-being. Please don't look. Please, please don't close Carpenteria Family School. Thank you. Thank
021you. Hello, my name is George Cadiente. I'm a teacher at Carpondria High School. I teach math, computer science, robotics. I've taught geosciences. I've taught physics in other schools. I've got a lot of um experience in the 20 years I've been teaching. I've been uh I've got a lot of experience. I came to this school 10 years ago and I was hired at step five. Um after having eight years of experience already or nine years of experience already, I was told every year I get a new step. That's like a raise. Okay, I'm used to that. That's good. This is my 10th year in the district. I should be at step 15. I'm still being paid at step 14. That's a mystery. I've been hearing from other teachers and administrators that, oh yeah, you get a
022raise with your your step is your raise, but I didn't get that this year. A bunch of us didn't get our our cost of living raises or anything because of what's going on with the union and and you folks. I just wish that you would all please um lick your wounds. you guys lost in the courts and it's time to move on. We um we're struggling. I was a two uh income household. Now it's just me and I'm afraid that this just might be my last year because if if you guys don't settle this pretty quickly and if my wife doesn't um get her income back, then we're out of here. we got to go and I don't want to leave here. This is I've been working, you know, in public education for almost 20
023years and this is by far my favorite school district. I've been blessed. Miss Riby has given me and and Corno and and all of you guys, I'm sure you signed off on it. Given me thousands of dollars to spend on electronics to build our robotics program and I want to continue to do that. It's my passion. But I'm afraid that I'm not going to be able to, that I'm going to have to pack up and leave. Now, the little bit of of pay increase that you guys are holding back on, that's not enough to support my family. All right? I still need my wife to to get her income reinstated. Um, but if that doesn't happen and we do get our raise and yeah, maybe I could work something out. we can it'll be tight,
024but this just might be my last year and I hope it's not and I think a lot of it has to do with what what you guys decide with this. So, please, I beg you, let's just be done with this whole I don't even understand that the details of the argument. Um, one thing that's super frustrating that I heard was our administrators, they got two raises since our last raise and I asked like how's the justification? Thank you. All right. Thank you. Okay. Uh, we are moving on to C4, approval of the minutes. Um, may I get uh it's we will take public comment for approval of the minutes of the regular meeting of March 11th. If you'd like to comment about the minutes of March 11th meeting, please step up to the podium at
025this time. All righty. So, let the minutes of the March 11th board meeting show at item I, elected employee leadership again asked that uh the concept of a contingency formula be used to resolve the district's fiscal disagreements between employees and district administration and the board. Let the minutes show that the concept of a contingency formula be placed on an upcoming board agenda that was also requested. Let the minutes of the March 11th board meeting show that at item F, the district provided another round of strategic projections which unsurprisingly further underestimated revenues and overestimated expenditures. A common negotiating tactic that drives down the district reserve balance in years out, making it easier to allege that there will be no money for either salary increases or critical safety improvements. Let the minutes show that by overestimating expenditures
026unnecessarily, the district budget projections maintain over $1 million in legal fees each year for the next three, reducing the reserve balance further. And let the minutes show that by underestimating revenues, changes to CUSD's budget projections removed $4.5 million from the district's property tax revenue projections over the next three years, further driving down reserve balances. Let the minutes show. CUSD justified this budget revenue reduction, stating that it was simply following the county's projections, which are an average of all cities and towns in the county. Let the minutes show the district justifications fail to acknowledge that Carpia routinely and historically receives property taxes well above the county average. But until the actual revenues come in, district officials would have us believe that Carperia's property tax revenues will be proportional to Santa Maria, Guadalupe, Orcut, and Lampoke. Let
027the district or let the minutes show that these two actions alone on paper removed a total of $7.5 million from the district's reserve balance. $7.5 million less to work with when making critical decisions about the future investments that are needed in our district towards employees and towards students. Let the minutes show that rather than argue over the accuracy of the district's projected revenues, employees have proposed an agreement to end the impass and accept the district's projections at this time as long as a contingency formula is put in place. A contingency formula would ensure the equitable distribution of property future property tax revenues if and when they come in higher than the district's hyperconservative projections. Let the minutes show that such a contingency formula would address whatever revenue contingencies uh are out there and allow the
028bargaining partners to reach an agreement that places the district and employees again on the same side of the table, working together, rowing in the same direction, sharing future fiscal challenges and opportunities more equitably and ending the current conflict. Thank you. Okay. May I get a motion to approve the minutes of March 11th, 2025? I'll move to approve the minutes of March 4 11th, 2025. I'll second. Okay. Discussion from the board. Oh, yeah. You weren't there. I can't look that way. Discussion. Okay. Uh, all in favor? I I and one abstension. Um, I have a quick question. I have I have a statement I wanted to make, but I'm not really sure where to make it. It's I guess I it maybe I I should have done it at the very beginning. Um, okay. So, I'm
029just going to make a quick statement. Um, uh, okay. We believe those entrusted with the care and education of our students have both a legal and moral obligation to treat every child with respect and dignity. The court adopted the commission of professional competence findings that Mr. H. Hot. Hochner engaged in inappropriate and unprofessional conduct that served no legitimate educational purpose. However, despite the teacher's conduct, the court ultimately upheld the CPC's determination that the conduct did not rise to the level of warranting dismissal. As a result, the teacher will be returning to the classroom. While we are disappointed with the outcome, the district remains committed to listening to and validating the experiences of its students. We are incredibly proud of the students who came forward to speak on behalf of themselves and their peers. Self- advocacy
030is a powerful lifelong skill that we must encourage in our students, and we do so by honoring, never stifling their voices. Above all, the district will continue to prioritize student safety, well-being, and the creation of a learning environment where every student feels heard, supported, and respected. Okay. Uh we are now going to move on to C5, approval of the agenda and consent agenda. Public comment for C5, we will now take public comment for C5, approval of the agenda and consent agenda. Thank you, Miss Diamond. That was as weak as all four of your legal actions. The consent agenda, as with the rest of the board meeting, is governed by the Brown Act. The Brown Act is designed to prevent the advancement of public business without transparency. It is designed to provide members of the community
031an opportunity to more thoroughly consider the details associated with matters of district business before those matters are quickly processed through the consent agenda in mass. The consent agenda items when consent agenda items are brought before the public at a previous board meeting, the practice are not brought before the public at a previous board meeting. The practice obscures debate and prevents dissenting viewpoints and concerns from being placed on the public record. Uh the union is pleased to report that this evening's consent agenda, as with the last few board meetings, fortunately, is fairly innocuous. It does not contain any significant monetary investments in highly questionable or concerning items. But make no mistake, although we're pleased that CUSD is improving in this area, district officials have a long history of misusing the consent agenda and including less innocuous
032items to be approved in mass when district officials have preferred said items not receive the scrutiny they deserve. An example would be the continuation of the contract with F3 Law, CUSD's notoriously anti- labor law firm that has advised the district through the years through years of contract violations, unfair labor practices, court decisions against the district, and ineffective contract bargaining. The contract with 3F law is just one of many examples of how the consent agenda is misused to quietly push items past the public in mass without so much as a single question asked on the record by any board official or administrator. Three and a half million taxpayer dollars spent in the last two years alone. The majority of it going to 3F law the law firm Miss brought with her to CUSD. Now, setting aside
033our procedural concerns pertaining to the consent agenda, employees strongly support several items contained in this evening's agenda, including the purchase of books for the CMS library. Miss Granero's recommendations leave us highly confident about this purchase. The 2025 AVID membership for Carpa High School and Carpenter Middle School. We should be doing all we can to increase the comparatively low college attendance numbers in CSD and AVID has proven to have a positive impact on college readiness. the subscription renewal of Frontline technology. When used uh as designed, Frontline provides an efficient method for registering employee absences. That said, we asked that more attention be given to how this program can be used to better ensure the substitute coverage that is so often not provided in the district. Lastly, Mr. CF, we believe you stated that admin costs are
034included in the classified payroll. Um, if that's accurate, if we understand that correctly, what portion of the classified payroll is directed to administrative costs? Um, now that admin has received two significant salary increases up. Thank you so much. In the same amount of time, employees have received none. Um, any further public comment on approval of the agenda and consent agenda? Okay, seeing none, may I get a motion to approve? I'll move to approve. I'll second. Roll call. Eric, hi. Erin, hi. Sally, hi. Jamie, I am I wonderful. Uh, we're gonna now move on to public interest reports and presentations. If you would like to make public comment on any of the items under E, public interest reports or presentations, please step up to the podium at this time to make your public comment. The superintendent's
035report is once again more remarkable for the details the superintendent failed to mention than the details the superintendent included. Union leadership understands how at this very moment in her tenure with the district, Miss Riby desperately needs some positive news. So no surprise that she focused only on areas we can celebrate or at least where positive spins can be applied. Lisa's welldeserved recognition as a 2025 California Distinguished School is one of those areas that really deserves recognition. This is truly uh noteworthy and it speaks to the exceptional collaboration and influence that Principal Wyberg has had and the the real just genuine teamwork that's going on with the Liso staff and how that's transformed the professional culture, community, and academic trajectory of Aliso school. Both union leaders and select Aliso parents can also take great pride in
036Aliso's new status. Who could have imagined such recognition had Aliso parents and union leadership not demanded and worked to remove the previous principal who Miss Rigby appointed against the recommendation of both the hiring panel and employee leadership and then bitterly defended even when removing her was required. And who can't help but smile uh when hearing about the explore ecologies recognition of Miss Rug, a Canalino instructional egg uh aid who has brought her personal passion for environmentalism to the elementary level. But where were the reports on the most pressing and influential matters currently impacting the district? Miss Riby, why did you fail to mention those matters that have the potential to either a bankrupt the district or b send the district into state receiverhip? Why is there no report on contract bargaining after 22 months and
037extraordinary fees paid to outsource a bargaining process previously superintendent-led? We were we are at impass and closer than ever to a general strike. Why is there no report on the district's 2-year three and a half million dollar taxpayer dollar legal escapade instead of following the court's order in 2021 to cease and desist with retaliation and discrimination against elected employee leaders? District officials chose to punish those employee leaders further by engaging in even more unlawful discipline. Why are you not reporting how reckless that investment was, Miss Riby, and how that's impacting students and employees and their families instead of feckless statements by your board president. Lastly, employee leadership looks forward to this evening's DI presentation. We reserve comment until we have a better sense of how transparently the presentation addresses both the strengths and the witness
038the weaknesses of the program. Employees are especially interested to hear how the following issues are addressed. The efficacy of the DLI program as it pertains to student achievement in Spanish and in English. The impact of the DLI program on CUSD's ability to recruit and maintain highly qualified educators whose expertise goes beyond bilingualism. And the impact that the DLI program is having in other areas of the district, especially class composition, resource distribution, and student achievement in general. public comment on e public interest reports or presentations. Okay, seeing none, we are going to now move over to Angel with our student representative report. All right, thank you board. Uh for those of you who do not know me in this room, I am Angel Ped Santana. I'm a Carpenter High School senior and I am the high
039school student representative. Um and I have some exciting news to share with you all. uh fifth grade visits to engineering and robotics. We are excited to welcome fifth graders, fifth grade students from Canalino and family school to our engineering and robotics program this Wednesday and Thursday. Next week, we'll also host students from Aliso and Summerland schools. College decision for graduating seniors. Our seniors have been accepted to four-year colleges and are currently making their final decisions. We look forward to sharing information about the college acceptances of the class of 2025 at the next upcoming schoolboard meeting. FFA leadership development events. Congratulations to the 14 CHS students who recently attended the state FFA leadership con uh conference and convention in Sacramento. These students were able to gain valuable leadership skills, able to see the opportunities that they're
040able to achieve with proficiencies, student uh student panels, retiring addresses, and overall academic achievements that they're able to get that um uh for some students don't know that they can. So, uh this was an incredible event. Support student athletes at the Russell Club. Mark your calendars for the 105th Russell Club track meet on Saturday, April 19th, 2025. This historic small school invit invitation is the oldest in California and it will feature approximately 1,200 student athletes and we invite you all to come support these talented individuals. CHS open house will be on April 14th. Join us for an annual CHS open house on Monday, April 14th, where current and future parents and students can explore our various programs and learn more about the school community. Lastly, please join me in recognizing the significant contributions of Carbon
041High School assistant principles, Miss Newman and Mr. Senas as we celebrate National Assistant Principles Week observed annually during the first full week of April this year from April 7th to the 11th. Thank you. Thank you, Angel. Any questions or comments? Angel, can you share with us how many of our high school students are actually going on to a 4-year university and maybe share where you've been accepted and what's happening to you? uh from the friends and classmates that I have and know for sure a lot of students will be attending schools such as UC Berkeley, UC Davis, Fresno State, Calp Poly Slow, Pomona. Um a lot of my friends have gone in into all these schools. A couple of my friends will be going out of state, New York, uh Mississippi. um some are you
042know still deciding so they next next meeting I'll be able to give an accurate number but those are just some of the big names UCLA UC Berkeley uh UC Davis these are incredible schools for these students and for what they want to achieve uh I myself will be going to Fresno State in the fall uh with a major in agriculture ga agriculture education to uh become an agriculture teacher Great. Congratulations, Angel. It's here. And then, of course, there's an awful lot of your senior friends who are going to SBCC. Yes, that's right. A lot of us still want to stay in the neighborhood, so we can't leave our parents just yet. And a lot of them will be doing the promise program, which allows them to uh pay or pay absolutely nothing for college for
043the first two years, and then they'll transfer to the college that they want, which is incredibly good. Thank you, Angel. And not to I'm not putting you on the spot in this um but there are a number of students who are not going to a two-year or a four-year. They're going straight into their trade or profession. And um and that does not mean anything less of them. In fact, in my opinion, I hold that to huge respect for those that are doing that as well. Um just as much as a student going into a four-year or a two-year college. But just highlighting that there are students that do not go on to college that do go directly straight into trades and go straight into business. Um and and so it does not reflect um in
044a report or on a piece of paper and we are just as proud of those students as well. So thank you. Okay, we are now moving on to our superintendent report. Thank you. And I'd like to begin by asking everyone to join me in congratulating Principal Brett Weyberg and his Aliso staff for California Distinguished States. Aliso has been recognized as a 2025 California Distinguished School. Last week, state superintendent of public instruction Tony Thurman announced that 336 elementary schools have been selected for the prestigious 2025 California Distinguished Schools program. That is California's school recognition program that recognizes two categories of exceptional schools. Those closing the achievement gap and those demonstrating exceptional student performance. And this is the information from CDE. Since its inception in 1985, the California Distinguished Schools Award remains one of the state's most
045important ways to celebrate exceptional schools, districts, teachers, and classified employees for their innovation, talent, and success in supporting students. The exceptional elementary schools recognized this year are illustrative of the persistence and promise of California students, educators, and schools. To select California Distinguished Schools, the California Department of Education uses multiple measures to identify eligible schools based on their performance on the state indicators as specified on the California school dashboard. Specifically, schools were selected by analyzing data reported through the 2024 dashboard with a focus on demonstrating excellence and growth in academic achievement and ensuring a positive school climate. Schools like Aliso were recognized for closing the achievement gap. They have demonstrated exemplary growth for student groups that have experienced persistent achievement gaps and have also demonstrated strong overall outcomes for all students. To qualify for closing the
046achievement gap recognition, schools must enroll at least 40% of students from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds and have demonstrated exceptional growth in English language arts or math to close persistent achievement gaps. The school must also have achieved a blue or green status on the dashboard for all students in the English language arts achievement, math achievement, chronic absenteeism, and suspens suspension indicators or have achievement on those indicators. In order to certify the legitimacy of these results, schools must have ensured that 95% of students participated in statewide assessments for the 22 23 and 23 24 school years. Again, congratulations to Aliso and Brett. We're really proud. Thank you. And we have more congratulations. Martha Rug, our Canalo Instructional Assistant, has been awarded the environmental stewardish stewardship award by Explore Ecology for her dedication to protecting the planet. At Catalino
047and Family School, Martha has spearheaded composting and garden education programs, led the whale mural project, and inspired our students to become stewards of our campus. She will be honored at the environmental stewardship awards lunchon on April 17th. I also have some information to share about our grade five students visiting the high school in the CTE pathway programs. During April, all grade five students will be introduced to robotics, computer science, engineering, and manufacturing at the high school. Students will spend two mornings at CHS with high school teachers and students participating in the following robotics and computer science activities. remote controlled tank obstacle course, a Lego sumo challenge, drone coding, robot racing, fix the robot, and a pinball launcher. For engineering tasks, that those will include designing a marshmallow launcher, building a catapult, and 3D printing. And
048then, of course, we have our Rotary talent showcase on April 12th at the Alcazar Theater. The Carpa Rotary Club will produce their annual variety show with proceeds supporting the CUSD music program. We are certainly appreciate their generosity in supporting the arts, music, and theater programs in our schools. My next item is our open houses at the all of our uh elementary, middle school, and high school for the month of April from April 10th to May 1st. So, please check their websites and please join us. And then my last item is measure U. The new TKK kindergarten building project at Aliso received their initial response from DSA's access compliance, fire, life safety, and structural safety teams on March 24th. These comments are standard and will be addressed by the design team. The coastal development permit and
049developmental plan submitted to the city remain under review. the required environmental testing of all seven portables both at Canalino and Liso scheduled for removal that has been completed with test results scheduled this week. Bid and award schedules have also been set to begin in May with plans and specifications being finalized. And lastly, our portables are scheduled for removal at the beginning of the summer. Thank you. Thank you. Any questions from the board on the superintendent report? No. Okay, we are moving on to item three. DLI update presentation. Carpenter Middle School principal uh Dr. Jamie Pursoon, Canalino Family School Elementary Principal Luis Quantero, Aliso Elementary Principal Brett Wyberg, DLI teacher doc Drto Sonia Agula and UCSB uh the Gervitz School professor, graduate adviser, CCSP international center for school-based youth development director Dr. Matthew Quirk and researchers
050from UCSB contributing to the DSA data will present on dual language immersion program. Thank you. So good good evening. Um we are really excited to present this evening about Carpenter Unified School District's dual language immersion program. Our presenters are me Dr. Jamie Pursoon, Dr. um Sonia Agula Gonzalez, Dr. Matt Quirk, Principal Luis Cano, and Principal Weber, Principal Brett Wyberg. We will go through the slides and then answer any questions that the board has. So the dual language immersion uh program in Carperia Unified School District began as an exploration in 2015 with a collaborative team from Canalino Elementary including bilingual teachers, a bilingual parent, and principal Jamie Pursoon. After two years of planning, writing a master plan, and presenting to the school board, the DLI program was approved before the passage of Prop 58 in 2016.
051The first DLI kindergarten cohort began in the 2017 2018 school year with the Liso School launching its own DLI program in the 2021 to 2022 year. In 2018, the California Department of Education set a goal to expand bilingual programs statewide, and Canalino's program became a model for other districts with many teams visiting across Santa Barbara County. CUSD's unique DLI model includes 30 minutes each of each of designated English language development and Spanish language development daily now adopted by 11 schools in the county. Hola. The mission. Our mission. Why are we doing this? We want to place high high value on bilingualism. We recently heard that English is the official language and we all know that the future is bilingual and multilingual. We want our students to be bilingual, biliterate, and bicultural. Our students develop proficiency
052into languages while also gaining appreciation um of different cultures. We study um Hispanic Heritage Month, Freda, Carlos, Esar Chavez, Di Muertos, Black History Month, Chinese New Year, and more. Another um very important mission is connecting our carpentia community. Um we invite local community leaders to engage with our students. They come to the classrooms. They do classrooms um classroom visits, cultural presentations. We had the balorico during open house. We had the mariachilas olas during family picnic and for career day we had many many bilingual presenters. Another mission is responding to community desire for DLI and as you remember um we had a group of parents that showed a very very strong desire for their children to become bilingual. We even had a waiting list. Um the interest continues to grow and we began our program at
053Canolino and we expanded to um Alisao. Another important mission is attending to the research about positive outcomes for our um kids. Dr. Persoon and I can tell you all about the benefits about being bilingual. We wrote many many pages in our PhD. Um the research uh shows that bilingual students uh tend to perform better academically. They have stronger problem solving skills and cultural awareness. And bilingualism can enhance empathy. And um we also want um the strengthening of connections between school, home, and community to ensure a supportive and inclusive learning environment. Um the teachers, the DLI teachers communicate with parents in both English and Spanish to ensure that families are involved. Um there are many many opportunities for families to volunteer and participate in school activities. Um parent engagement in DLI is very high and not
054just DLI, small town Carpenteria. Um, so these are all examples that reflect the DLI program's dedication to its mission of fostering bilingualism and strong community ties. Hi everyone. So here we have the bar graph to show you how our DI program works at Canalino and at Aliso. Um, in the kindergarten we have an well we have a 9010 uh model. So in kindergarten they have 90% of instruction is in Spanish, 10% in English. Then when you go on to first grade it's a 2080, second grade 3070, third grade um 4060 and then fourth and beyond 50/50. Um as we notice here the real a lot of the English instruction does come in into third grade. Um, and an example in the kindergarten is that we have students who, let's say, come from an English only
055speaking household, they have a Spanish language development course, whereas students who come from a Spanish- speaking household will receive the English development courses with our teachers. And as the years goes on, they get more English instruction within the class. All right. So, Proposition 58 passed by California voters in 2016 restored the opportunity for bilingual education in our public schools, repealing the Englishonly instruction mandate that had been in in place since 1998. The important change opened the door for schools to offer a variety of bilingual programs, including DI. A key component of Prop 58 is local control and flexibility. School districts and individual schools now have the authority to implement bilingual programs to meet the needs of their specific communities. Importantly, these programs are developed based on community input and parental involvement. Prop 58 also emphasizes
056parental choice. Families now have the right to request bilingual or dual language programs for their students and schools are required to have a process in place to require to respond to these requests. When CUSD first launched the DLI program, it was only offered at Canolino and students from Alisa who wanted to participate in the program had to transfer to Canolino. However, as interest and demand in the program continued to grow, it became clear that families at Aliso community wanted to access to the bilingual education without leaving their neighborhood school. So, in response to that, we launched the DLA program at Alyso, expanding access and ensuring all students could benefit from this opportunity. Uh what makes Prop 58 especially powerful is that it focuses on all students not just the English language learners. It promotes bilingualism
057and biiteracy and supports improved academic outcomes for English learners and provides native English speakers with the opportunity to gain fluency in a second language through immerse instruction. The legislation provides the foundation for our DI program and aligns closely with our goals of preparing students to thrive in a diverse and global society. Um, so there's a little typo on this. It says state bill 952, but it's supposed to be Senate bill. So Senate Bill 952 passed in 2022 represents a significant step towards expanding dual language immersion programs across California. This legis legislation supports the vision of the global California 2030, an initiative that aims to to increase the number of students who graduate um proficient in more than one language. At CUSD, our DLI program is part of the broader effort to promote biiteracy and multicultural
058understanding. Um one of the outcomes for our students is the opportunity to earn the seal of biiteracy upon graduation for high school. Um it's a recognition um of proficiency in two or more languages. So currently we're about 15% of CUSD students um earned the seal of by literacy and our goal is to increase that number to 20% within the next three years. The expansion of our DLI program reflects the deep commitment to preparing our students for success in a diverse and global um society. Through immersive English and Spanish instruction, we empower students become confident, capable, and capable communicators and learners of two languages. Research from Olivos and Lucetto maintains that instruction in the heritage language for native Spanish speakers will help students be connected with their generational family and family language, which leads to heritage
059preservation. Um, so this is me speaking from experience in my classroom with my families and my students. I have had many par Spanish Spanish speaking parents um, share gratitude that the program has helped introduce and reinforce their heritage and bring in the whole family closer to their roots. and some of our staff members, myself included. Um, ever since joining the DLI team, I have really learned more about my own culture and even my household has started practicing things that we've never done before, such as Muertos. Um, at the same time, the our parents from from diverse cultural backgrounds have expressed gratitude for the students genuinely learning about new cultures and customs and being authentically immersed in them. Uh but one thing that I think is really important important about this is that before I was
060in a DI classroom, I have had students um who have not been able to communicate with their grandparents or great-grandparents. And the DI program is bridging this gap that we've had across generations. And now I have had parents tell me and letting me know that they're thankful that they are able their children are able to communicate which is a blessing because um we have they have siblings who have not been in the DI and cannot communicate and the younger ones are able. Can you imagine not being able to communicate with your grandparents or great grandparents? So that is something that is very powerful that this program brings. And then the partnership model between the school and parents is where the central goal is to support the success of all the children. In this model, parents
061and teachers engage in two-way communication to identify children's requirements, recognize parental strengths and leverage school resources. Partnership involves a collaborative approach where joint problem solving is embraced and active participation is encouraged among school parents and broader community. Um the DI program parents are heavily involved in the classrooms and you know they help out with rotation stations just like you would in any other classroom but especially during heritage celebrations. That's where you see a lot of the families come in and help out and they help run activities and celebrations as well. Um as we know studies have shown that parent engagement has or helps students become more successful in school. And another important factor, something that I think is very powerful here is even though parent involvement, we do see it in our nonDLI classes and
062DI classes, but who is the one there helping out? We have parents who may not be your strongest English speakers, who would never be involved helping out in a classroom, but now they are able to help students and feel confident and empowered and feel valued in a classroom that in the past was probably never an option for them. So, that is something that's really important that I wanted to share. Thank you. I love this quote. the Latino immigrant children. Spanish for Latino immigrant children, Spanish is the key that unlocks the untransatable wisdom of their elders. It is a source of self-nowledge, a form of uh cultural capital by Salomon. Um so Spanish is more than just the language spoken at home. It is a link to their family's history and cultural identity. Through the language,
063children gain access to stories, traditions, and wisdom that might otherwise be difficult to understand in a different language. Solomon's quote beautifully frames language as both a bridge and a treasure. By recognizing and valuing the language, we ensure that these children have access to a fuller, richer sense of identity and connection to their heritage, which we all know that can have a lasting positive impact on their academic and personal lives. So all this reinforces the importance of dual language programs. All right. Um well, thanks to you all for inviting me to come back and share. Uh so in addition to the testimonials that have already been provided and a lot of the research that's already been shared, um we actually embarked on a longitudinal study uh in collaboration with Dr. Pursoon as the principal at Canalino
064School and Dr. Carlos Begon at the county education office um to try to collect data here locally to better understand what kind of impacts um the dual language program was having at uh Canolino school where it was first uh implemented in Carperia. Um, as you know, since 2017, I think you invited me here actually after the first year and I came and presented, but since 2017, um, it's been a bit eventful in Carperia and also in the world. So, we've had the Thomas fire and the subsequent mudslides that disrupted our school year. Um, and then of course the COVID COVID 19 pandemic. And so, as excited as I was to embark in this seven-year longitudinal study, uh I was uh dismayed by the uh unfortunate timing of all of these events that obviously are going
065to have impacts on the children and families that were served during that time in our schools. So, I I kind of want to put that up front just as a a caveat to some of the results that I'm going to try to share. And I try to illustrate um the timing of COVID in particular in the charts that I'm about to share. So the design that we chose to use was actually quite efficient and powerful. It's called an accelerated longitudinal design. And I use this uh chart to illustrate what it actually accomplished. And so prior to the implementation of dual language immersion um we followed the traditional model which was English immersion. And then in between uh kind of the traditional model that existed prior to 2017 and the implementation of dual language immersion, we
066also collaborated with Dr. Carlos Pagon and and Dr. Pursoon in developing some structured uh designated English language development uh strategies that were implemented in some of the classrooms at Canalino. And so we had three different cohorts of students who were receiving three distinct types of instruction. And so the the question that we tried to address in the data that we collected in the analyses that I'm about to share is how did these three different um instructional experiences differentially influence the development of the children who received these different forms of instruction. So we had one group who had English immersion with the uh integrated ELD where uh EL English language development was integrated throughout the school day but it was not a designated set aside time. Then we had the English immersion group who had designated
06730 minutes of of um evidence-based designated English language development time. And then finally, the last cohorts of students were in the dual language immersion program. And as Dr. Pursoon described earlier, they also received some additional uh targeted language supports in the non um in their non-dominant language throughout the school day. Um so you can see here that uh over time the students who received the kind of traditional model mostly got through Canolino school before the disruption of co 19. The designated ELD students were almost about finished when COVID hit and then the DLI students unfortunately were very early in their academic careers and so they were disproportionately affected um by the disruptions related to CO 19. Um yet despite the disruptions that came along with CO 19, we still see some pretty robust findings in
068the data that show some significant benefits to participation in the dual language immersion program and bilingualism in general. And so if you're looking at this particular slide, you can see that the three different conditions are represented in the three columns that are in the graph. And on each column, you can see that there's a data point on the left that represents where their executive functioning was at the end of grade three. And on the right is where those students were rated in their executive functioning at the end of grade five. The blue lines represent students who are designated as English only and the orange lines are representative of students who are designated as English learners. And so you can see that um as we predicted students in the dual language immersion program had significantly higher
069levels of executive functioning both in terms of the English learners and the Englishonly students um during third grade and then uh and that was mostly um precoid times for these students in terms of their academic time. uh and then grade in grade five there was a little bit of a flattening but still both uh the English learner and the Englishonly students in DI outperformed um similar cohorts of students who got different uh instructional approaches in the IEL and DEL conditions. So I want to focus more specifically on third grade because that was the time point that was less impacted by COVID 19. And in this graph uh you can see that it's a stacked uh colored bar graph and it indicates the percentage of students who showed um no concerns in the area of executive
070functioning. And executive functioning just in brief is uh students abilities to reg regulate their cognition to um um problem solve, be strategic in their thinking. That sort of uh thinking is what what we were trying to capture with executive functioning. And you can see in this particular graph that the students who participated in the dual language program, 94% of them were rated at a level that was considered no concern or higher levels of executive functioning. And there were still large percentages of students in the other instructional conditions who were rated in that same range in in terms of their executive functioning, but it was significantly fewer students than the students in dual language immersion. And this is consistent with some of the research that was already highlighted by my co-presenters that shows that um bilingualism,
071multilingualism is related to uh better uh persons a better ability to kind of manage their own cognitive processes and that was backed up with the data that we collected. Um, and then this graph shows the language proficiency trajectories of students who again were designated as Englishonly students. Even though they weren't English only students in the dual language program, they were becoming bilingual. Um, and you can see on the left side is their Spanish language proficiency trajectory and on the right side is their English language proficiency trajectory. And the students in the DLI program are represented on the blue line and the students in the other two conditions are represented with the green and the uh red lines. And you can see that at some point in these lines they go dotted and that dottedness is
072indi indicative of when co 19 hit. So you can see uh it's pretty clear and and for obvious reasons that students who were designated as Englishonly students who were in the dual language program had significantly better Spanish language proficiency than their English only peers who had no instruction in Spanish. I think that's pretty obvious. Um but what's more interesting in this particular slide is you can see on the right that their English language proficiency trajectories actually followed quite close closely with the trajectories of English language proficiency for EO students in the English immersion conditions that preceded DLI. And even after COVID occurred there was some flattening toward the end. You can see with the blue line it kind of flattens toward the far right side. um but still stayed in approximately the same range as
073the students in terms of their English proficiency who had English immersion instruction throughout their time. This shows the exact same graph but for students who are designated as English learners or multilingual learners. Um, and again, you can see on the left that the students who were in the DLI program um, showed significantly better Spanish language proficiency than their predominantly Spanish-sp speakaking peers who were not in the DLI um, program in Carpandria. And then on the right side shows their English language proficiency trajectories which again um showed some flattening postcoavid but before COVID were following what we would expect to be a slightly delayed timeline compared to their peers who were in English emerging classrooms receiving much more exposure to the English language. But over time, the research shows that particularly from grades three to five,
074that gap tends to continue to narrow. In this particular context, it didn't narrow as much as we might have hoped, but again, I believe a lot of that had to do with the impacts of CO 19. And um so I' I'd interpret that finding with a bit of caution. Um and then finally I just want to highlight this particular finding which I think was supported by many of the testimonials that were provided by the principles uh who already spoke. But um one of the most robust findings of the study was the profound impact that the DLI program has had on the campuses in terms of their campus culture and climate. And this was reflected in the data that were reported back by both the staff and the parents at the school in terms of how
075um open and comfortable the campuses seem to parent engagement and parent engagement from parents of many different backgrounds. And so you can see that on the far right of the staff bars which go to 2022 2023 so it's two years old at this point. Um that was the highest percentage of staff that reported that um they strongly agreed that the school encouraged uh parent eng uh parent engage in involvement or engagement and uh the same the highest percentage in the last five years for parents was also observed in the most recent data point that we had in 2022 2023 in terms of their um feelings that they strongly agreed that campuses were open to their involvement. Thank you. Okay. So, here we have the scores of a of a group of students um with in
076the state testing the English language arts. So, first I'm going to direct you to look to the left. We're going to focus on our DLI students. Okay. So, this group of these groups of students um in 2022 they were in third grade. Keep in mind that when they were in third grade that or up until third grade that's when they started receiving more instruction in English, okay? Because you might be looking at this data and think, whoa, that's 28% that's pretty low. But as the years go on and they receive more targeted instruction in English, those numbers will go up and you'll see growth. So overall, when they were in third grade, they were at 28% at at or above standard and by the time they made it to fifth grade, 60%. If we break
077it down and look at just our uh students who come from an English-speaking household, 45% students were at or above at third grade. By fifth, after fifth grade, they were at 91% at or above. And if you look at our Spanish speaking students, they were at 6% and at the end 22%. Okay. If we look at our non DLI students um in third when they were in third grade overall 50% were at or above and by the time they were in fifth grade they were at 40%. Same thing with we're going to break it down with our English speaking students 57% were at and above and we had an increase there to 60%. And then the Spanish speaking students from 40% they went to 31%. Um, and some may be thinking as well, if we
078look at our Spanish students from our DI program and our non-Di program, besides having the instruction, right, most of their life, they've had instruction in Spanish. So, they've had to make tremendous growth. A lot of our students who are in the DI program come from Spanish only, not bilingual, but a lot of them are just know Spanish, which is where you see a little difference. But again, as they go on throughout the years, there's so much growth right there. All right, as we look at the 23 24 mathematics scores, we see some encouraging trends for our DLI students. So, in 2023, 55% of the third grade DL students met or exceeded grade level expectations in math. That number increased to 67% for those same students in fourth grade in 2024. When we break it down
079further, we look at the English dominant students in DLI went from 69% to 80% and those Spanishspeaking dominant students um made growth from 33 to 47%. So, it's also important to note that the DLI program delivers math instruction in Spanish. This means that students are not only learning rigorous math content, but also building their academic Spanish language skills at the same time. In comparison, the nonDLI students showed a decrease in performance over the same period of time. Um while this data reflects the performance of Canalino students, we're excited this year to gather data from our LISO DLI students for the first time um as they participate in the state assessment. And then we look forward to analyzing that data to can continue to improve instruction and support all learners um especially as our DI program
080continues to grow at Alisa. Okay, I'm back. So, um, where we are now, so Carpenter Middle School leadership, that's me and, uh, a group of people in the DL program already, is planning for the 2025 2026 DLI classes in American history and Spanish language arts. And in 2026 and 2027, Dr. Pursoon and Herardo Corneo, the principal at the high school, and staff will plan the pathway from 9th grade until graduation. And this semester in 2025, researchers from UCSB will be studying the DLI program at the Carpentry Middle School. So that would be we're following it all the way through with research. And I think that's it. Any questions for any of us? I just wanted to comment, Jamie. Um, as I pass St. Joseph's and the um ESL classes that they hold there, it appears
081there are more and more cars and more and more people. Yes. Are you guys going to start tracking how many of your parents are now taking they're learning English? That's definitely something we should look at. Yeah. Okay. So, um, thank you very much. As a advocate for this program from the beginning, I'm I'm really happy to see it it its success. Um, so looking at the just just um I'm looking at re like so reclassification. Mhm. Um how have have we tracked that? So um how many of our student I think we've talked about in past, but I think for everybody else it'd be nice to to to see how many of our Spanish speakers in the DLI program have been reclassified by you know that at each at each successive grade level or are
082we doing that and are we waiting until fifth or sixth grade? No, we are tracking that and we can definitely get that data to you. Um, I can tell you that at the middle school it's less and less um, people in ELD. Um, and that's it's really great if they can be um, reclassified so that they can get an elective instead of doing EL, but we can get that information for you. Yes. Okay. Um, and then, um, as far as, um, you know, because this has always been a thing at when Alisio and Canalino come together at the middle school, you have you have some conflict generally. Are are you seeing a little less conflict now? I mean, we have in the past we've seen conflict. Um, are you seeing less same? So, the current
083sixth grade group is is a huge group together and they kind of mesh together. Um, we don't really have any anything between sixth graders. That's great. Um, and then how much and maybe this is a question for Dr. Kirk Quirk. Um, how much of this achievement um, I guess growth would you attribute to, you know, the the LI program is probably attracting more higher achieving families and students versus the the student the families that choose not to um, participate in the program. Well, actually, I think you guys might know better than I who's choosing to participate and who's not. I only anecdotal knowledge. So, I don't know if you speak to that. Our our program is 33 333. So, it's bilingual families and then Spanish speaking families and then English speakaking families. So, that's kind
084of how the it goes. Um, but it's sometimes we don't have enough for I mean, I know that's a very difficult question to answer, but but it I'm I mean, it's really great to see the growth in in in in the um the scores. I mean, it's it's not good to see the decline in in our Spanish speakers in the in the regular nonline classes. I think that's an area where we need to focus on. Um, you know, but um I guess the I'm just wondering if if if those students weren't in the DLI program, would those scores in the in the in the regular classes be better? So what I can say is having done my well Matt was on my dissertation chair um uh so a lot of it has to do with
085parent engagement. Yes, I know. So that students generally uh achieve much more when they have a parent engagement. Um and the behavior tends to be a little a little bit better either also. Um, so I I can't I can't give you any data about that, but I it it what I've seen over the years um that the students are more successful with parent engagement. So how do we um how do we transfer that to everybody that to everyone? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The entire school needs to be DLI, right? Well, I mean, that's that's that's that's one way to look at it, but I'm thinking we you know, I don't we're not going to go there probably, but I'm just wondering how you can uh you know, mimic that engagement or at least encourage that level
086of engagement with with the other families and student families really the parents um and the rest of the and I think like that's happening at the middle school now. So, a lot of parents have there's uh let's see two years of um DLI at the middle school and then we had you were there um when we were doing the the the color run. So, it kind of becomes kind of contagious that oh yes, now now we're going to be at the middle school. So, and then we have people in the middle school at lunch and middle school doing chaperoons and things. So, it's it's it's an effect that we can push um and have other parents telling other parents, "Oh, yes, we should we should go to the the middle school. We should go to
087open house. We should be a chaperone." So, those kinds of things help. Um but yes, and also some students don't get into the DI program because their parents aren't aware of it until, you know, years after. So, we have to continue to be really spreading the word um for our for our students and our families. Well, and maybe the message is that if you are a native Spanish speaker, the key to success is the DLI program. Yes, I Yes, we we are a little concerned about the the the six and up to the 21 or whatever it was before. Um, but it is because they have not had English instruction until pretty much fourth and fifth grade. So that's what we see there. And I just had a question on numbers. So what size is
088the cohort group? I mean, how many students total are we tracking in this data set? About 57. So it's two classes for each year. So they will have the two classes in English or Spanish language arts and ancient civilization in Spanish in sixth grade and then seventh grade there we're doing global studies in Spanish and Spanish language arts 7 and then right now we're working on special Spanish language 8 um and then American studies in Spanish and we have the curriculum for all that already. And then is there any um referencing to other school districts that are involved in the DLI program? Yes, we have a whole there's like a whole co coalition. Um we were kind of the first ones out except for Audilante Ch uh Charter School which has been going on for
089a long long time. Um those scores aren't great. Um but the the we have a different model here and then we have 11 other schools that have come to Canolino and do that same model. Yeah, that was going to be my next question. Is it apples to apples? Are the schools doing it differently enough that I think it's similar but it's not always never going to be the same. Yeah. Okay. But all of our principles here and and having Dr. quirk here. We kind of always are analyzing our program and looking at the data and seeing what we need to do next. Um, I was just going to say that Teresa, I'm going to put you on the spot, who's back there, who's um with uh CCP, Children's Project, um she and I have talked
090about encouraging parents at at the stage that her children are at. So, I think the earlier you get parents involved, the better for all of us, better for them, better for parents, better for the school district. What? So, um, so have we track have you tracked the the students at Adalante in Santa Barbara? I have not. Has anybody? Yeah. And and have they seen the same the same growth or trends throughout their I mean because they're there's they haven't I don't know. Oh, you don't know? They don't they don't have that kind of data. Oh, they don't the comparison. Oh, they don't? No, because they only have DLI students. They Yeah, but they go on to high school, right? They go into Santa Barbara DP in San Marcus. And so you're asking I'm just I'm
091just curious if they track them as far as their achievement in the higher grades. I'm sure they do. Yeah. I'm I'm just curious. You know, we can we can contact them and ask. Well, I think on their CASP like like on the CASP scores like at the different grade levels like at Alante versus where we're at and what does that look like? And I mean, if if we have a coalition that we're kind of looking at and um what are what are you do? Oh, you're well, we're doing a little better on this one, but you're doing a little better on that one. Do we have the latitude to make those types of adjustments um to how we Yeah, that's through the Santa Barbara County Ed office. And so I work with them quite a
092bit and have done for a long time. And we keep um in touch with Carlos Pagan. this weekend we were talking about it and Ellen we were talking about it. Um so it's kind of very um popular to talk about DLI right now. Um so I have a few questions. um uh looking at the uh create the global executive composite the this page um okay so I mean and I'm using this as an example but um for the the three cohorts that we've looked at through all of this the the DEL the IEL and then the DLI um were all three of those optin were were the kids in each of those categories Like I know DI was opt in. So I that was for the EL and the DL were those students opt into
093those as well. So the EL was literally just everyone in the grade level because that's their that was their only option. Okay. The DL those were actually predominantly English learner students. Um that was just part of the design because I wanted to understand how the designated English language development affected other variables that we were looking at. So, most of those students are designated as English learners. Um, but it wasn't an opt-in. It was it was okay. I'm just I'm trying to understand be to my point where what I'm going towards is um when we're comparing them and we're talking about parent engagement, parent involvement, typically in any program that's an optin, you're going to have more engaged parents, period. and therefore more support at home and more re more more resources and more parent involvement
094in the classroom and all the things. And so just trying to put in perspective what these where these students are at. Are they in a home? Are are they were they were their parents saying yes, I want to be in this program. I want to be in that program as opposed to the DLI program. And so just the intentionality of them being in that program, did that have or not? Um did that play into does that play into outcomes? Uh I would say that DL and I is probably more representative of the general student population because they weren't optin and then the DI potentially could be impacted by what you had just described. Um the other thing I'll say that came to mind as I was we were talking about test scores and about some
095of the things that we're seeing in the data. Um, it's also important to remember that the data we tracked, these were the first two cohorts to go through the DLI program that Dr. Pursum was building out yearbyear. So, these teachers were literally teaching their DI program for the first or maybe the second time. So it would be my anticipation that these scores would only improve over time, not just because of the disruptions related to COVID, but as teachers obviously get more and more opportunities to refine their curriculum and their delivery of instruction, I would expect them to just get better and better at doing so. Yeah. Um and then moving on to some of the other charts. Um, and I don't know if this is just completely coincidental or not, but um, in the uh,
096language development in English and Spanish for multilingual learners um, on the right hand side, the mean English IP scores over time um, for DLI is right about at the 50% mark. Uhhuh. Um, and that is also at the point where we are 50/50 in our teaching. And I'm wondering if there is a correlation there. Um, so the way that the assessment this is in English because both actually in well both actually Spanish and English they're both at about the 50% mark. So the way that those scores are calculated is the Spanish scores are actually calculated in relation to a norming sample of monolingual Spanish-speaking children. And the English scores are compared to a sample of monolingual English-speaking children. And so essentially what those are showing is that they're kind of in that middle range in
097comparison to monolingual speakers in both of those languages. Am I interesting? This is specifically the multilinguage learners, multilingual learners, and they're at 50/50 at the year they are at 5050. Um, so I just maybe it's totally coincidental, but I just I I find it interesting as compared to some of the others um that that cohort that has a foot in each sure world really does. Um Okay. um looking at standardized test scores, which I am not ever a fan of in general, but we're going to use this because this is what we have. Um I find it really interesting that the when we look at the math um the achievement there in in the DLI over the nonDLI um for for English and Spanish students um my understanding and what I have seen in my
098own student who's a participant in DLI is um they get a much more intimate understanding of the of numbers of how math works, math at its core versus the words around it. Um, and it's it's just a deeper core understanding because they may not fully understand all the other like in a word problem around hopefully they do, but they may not. And so they're having this much deeper understanding of math and the numbers um in a way that my other my other kids who um have long passed this elementary age um didn't and I know math standards and the way we teach math has changed significantly from the time my first was at elementary to nat to my third but at the same time um his ability and what I see from his peers their
099ability to understand the numbers is very different um than uh what I see of peers who are not necessarily in um the DLI program. And that's not a blanket statement. That's just my observation, but um I I think it definitely has uh some footing in there. Um, and then for English language arts, uh, yeah, that's I'm not sure what the answer is. Um, I get that they were just, you know, the introduction of English language, actual instruction and grammar and and all the things is just beginning um, around third grade really. Um, and so they're technically behind the ball compared to their cohort, their peers in a Englishonly class. Um, and I don't know what is our do, sorry, I feel like I've seen this before, but is or heard it. Um, is there a
100goal or a target year to where they are caught up if you will like do we expect by a certain grade that the DLI cohort? So by fifth so so the 24 year those numbers should be closer. Yes. Okay. and um and do we I mean well I know we we've talked we've had disruptions through that and so it's difficult but at the same time those other students also had the the disruptions granted they had English the whole time as far as languaging but um I just is there do is there concern there and is there something to be that needs to be adjusted or has been adjusted to help move those students further along? along to get them more uh or closer at closing that gap with their English only class peers. Um so
101for English or Spanish language arts and English language arts, I am pretty pleased with the English and all. Um but we are concerned about the six% for third grade up to 22, which is a good um you know making it better. Um but that's something we're going to be looking at. And um also we are looking at students who um may not may not be benefiting from the the DI program. So those are things that we're looking at right now. Um but it is related to the fact that they haven't had English instruction until and it's only 40% in third grade. So um we don't really expect that until fifth grade. Okay. Um Okay. I think that was it for me. Thank you. Yes, please. Just want to mention that a um we're not isolated.
102So, we collaborate with teachers from Santa Maria, from Lumpoke, um Santa Barbara. We created Santa Barbara County Cave and so teachers will continue to have uh professional development. We're planning a big uh conference this summer free. And so we're we're really really excited for teachers to continue with their professional development in espanol. Great. Thank you. I appreciate that. We good? All right. Thank you so much. Have a good evening. Great job. Okay, we are now moving on to F board policies. If you would like to make public comment on F board policies, this is the time. Please step up to the podium now. All righty. Thank you. Uh for those in the community that have had the unique pleasure of trying to secure information the district does not want to provide uh these otherwise mundane
103sounding board policies are pretty significant. Although CUSD summarizes the 1340 as access to district records and states the governing board recognizes the right of members to of the public to have access to public records of the district. This has certainly not been the district's practice under Miss Riby or our current board officials. For those unfamiliar with the process, CSD is required to respond to such requests in 10 days of receiving said information request and then they are required to produce the requested information as promptly as possible if it cannot be fully produced in that 10-day window. The policy states that information requests be handled by government officials. We could find nothing in the policy that permits outside vendors such as the district's legal council, Miss Riby's personal, it appears, personal attorneys, um, to intervene in
104the process or make determinations associated with these requests. Nonetheless, the USD's practice has been to pass information requests on to their well-paid legal council, 3F Law, who then spend hours and hours of billable time providing cover for the district. Union leadership and those we work with still have several requests outstanding. Some well over a year old that remain just partly uh partially resolved, some unfulfilled, and others in a few cases not responded to at all. As a community member shared just a few days ago, F2 item F2 access to district records is interesting as they have been they being CUSD have been very slow and all very slow and always respond via their legal staff. Fortunately, the new policy closes many loopholes the district and its legal council have hid behind for several years. The
105variety of data available for request is better defined such as the inclusion of text messages, phone data, communication on personal devices, and handwritten notes from board meetings. Uh executed contracts for the purchase of goods and services, even if the contract contains provisions specifying that the contract is confidential or proprietary or a proprietary record of the vendor. That's government code 7928.81. All that said, union leadership is pleased to mention an improvement on this topic since the arrival of Mr. Cath. The district has proven that it can on occasion produce information without excessive involvement by CUSD's legal council. Of the few information requests sent directly to Mr. Cath, the majority have been responded to in a timely and fairly um comprehensive manner. Unfortunately, this is far from normal for the information requests sent to either Miss Riby,
106our human resource department, Miss Pursoon, and select other district administrators. So, thank you. Any further public comment on F board policies? Okay. We're going to begin with F1 board policy administrative regulation and exhibit 1312.2 complaints concerning instructional materials first reading. The board has asked to approve the first reading of BPAR and E1 1312.2 complaints concerning instructional materials. The governing board uses a comprehensive process to adopt district instructional materials that is based on selection criteria established by law and board policy and includes instructional materials. So, excuse me, and includes opportunities for the involvement of district staff, parents, guardians, and community members and as appropriate students. Complaints concerning the content or use of instructional materials, including textbooks, supplementary instructional materials, library materials, or other instructional materials and equipment, shall be properly and fairly considered using established complaint
107procedures. Any questions from the board on F1? Okay. Uh, this is just a first reading, no action. We have to approve the first reading. First reading. Okay. Yeah. I'll make a motion uh to approve board policy and administrative regulation in exhibit 1312.2. All second. Okay. Discussion. Okay. All in favor? I I Okay. F2 board policy and administrative regulation 1340 asks access to district records first reading. The board is asked to approve the first reading of BP and AR 1340 access to district records. The governing board recognizes the right of members of the public to have access to public records of the district. The district shall provide any person reasonable access to the public records of the school and district during normal business hours and within the requirements of law. Public access shall not be given
108to records listed as exempt from public disclosure in the California Public Records Act and other state or federal law. Any questions from the board? May I get a motion to approve? I move to approve vote policy 1340. I'll second a bit. Okay, we have a first and a second for BP and AR 1340. Uh, any discussion? All in favor? I I Okay, moving on to educational services G. If you would like to make public comment on anything under G, educational services, please step up to the podium at this time. Okay, so we're going to keep this one short. Uh we just ask that you please support the nature explore outdoor classroom at Aliso uh elementary school. It is in keeping with the recent recognition it's earned and deserved. Uh and employees really want to thank
109First Five of Santa Barbara for covering the total cost of $20,000 that's being paid for by First Five Santa Barbara grant funds. Okay. Thank you. G1 G1 educational services proposal for conceptual design service for one nature explore outdoor classroom at Aliso Elementary School and agreement for services of independent contractor between first five of Santa Barbara County and Carpenter Unified School District. board has asked to approve the proposal for conceptual design services. Um uh nature explore is a nonprofit national nonprofit program of dimensions educational research foundation which provides research-based outdoor classroom design services, educator workshops, a certification program, and field tested natural products. Their goal is to help support students, staff, and children by making nature an integral joyful part of daily learning. The total cost of $20,000 will be paid with first five Santa Barbara
110grant funds. Any questions from the board on this? May I get a motion to approve? I'll move to approve with great gratitude. I'll second. Okay. And no discussion. Uh I just think you know I had the opportunity to attend the first five breakfast uh a couple weeks ago up in Loke and um Dr. Quirk was there giving us that uh he gave us a pretty good overview of of um a lot of the data and programs he's been tracking. But the first five is doing a lot of really great work in in Santa Barbara County and um just I'm and our former board member Michelle Robertson is assistant director up there and uh um she's doing a great job. They're doing a great job and uh want to thank them. Yeah, agreed. just looking at
111the proposal um and um the samples that were provided within there of what the work that that is proposed is just amazing and so really excited for um for this incredibly unique um work that's going to get done at Aliso. So okay, all in favor I I Okay, G2 Amplify reading difficulties screener and professional development. The board has asked to adopt Amplify MClass with Dibbles Edition 8 and MClass Lectura as the reading difficulties screener for the 2526 school year and approve purchase of professional development and licenses for implementation of the screening instruments for the 2526 school year. The cost for professional development and license for the licenses for the first two years of implementation is 3750 and will be paid with implementation uh with the implementation of the reading difficulty screening instrument funds. Um, questions
112from the board. Okay. May I get a motion to approve? I'll move to approve. I'll second. Okay. Discussion. All in favor? I I Moving on to H. Business operations and facilities. If you'd like to make public comment on H, please step up to the podium at this time. Thank you. Ro carpentia recent. Okay. the warrants. I I read to uh bills, legal fees, negotiation, uh dismissals and the other one for uh sex abuse of the 70s. Have a problem. We have a problem since uh 2017. I mean first six months of 2016. and the end of attorneys would settle, negotiate that was there. They tend to look they tend to uh give a closer look at what could be settled or not. Now, whatever your uh attorneys do, they're wrong. They giving you the wrong
113advice. Attorneys they don't have friends they only have clients. So what uh what attorneys do the first thing is that okay who's the client? Do they have money? They can always they always tell you we can win but they can't. They don't care whether they win whether they lose or they settle. They will always collect negotiations, these missiles. How much money has been spent on negotiations the last six, seven years? A lot. What about the other districts? What did they do? I mean that's that's why they have a superintendent HR assistant superintendent to negotiate with the attorneys regard now the sex abuse I mean why did it appear first on the San Francisco Chronicle huge huge newspaper. But first and then it then I read it on Facebook. Why why was that? Thank you. Your
114time is up. Any further public comments on H business operations and facilities? Yes. Uh once again, approximately 10% of this evening's warrants, over $138,000 were spent on tax on union leadership and outsourcing the collective bargaining process. Thank you for mentioning that, Mr. Delgado. That's over $138,000 that can now be added to the three.5 million CUSD investment in the same. What a train wreck your collective leadership has proven to be. Were there more time, we'd review the long list of investments that over $3.5 million could have otherwise been used to secure. Investments that will never be made in CUSD students or employees or district families because of the gross misappropriation of funds that you have all been a part of. In the remaining time, employees offer observations on the district's budget presentation. In a nutshell, um
115a clear example of overestimating expenditures and underestimating revenues. But let's look at the PowerPoint itself. We'll start by pointing your attention to page five. Even with the strategic underestimation of property tax revenues, this chart clearly demonstrates that CUSD is in the top 4% of the most robustly funded TK12 districts in the state. This is due to our basic aid status. The problem in CUSD is not that we don't receive sufficient funds, but rather the gross mismanagement and misappropriation of the funds that we do receive. Where 96% of the districts in the state are projected to receive about 7% in revenue increases between 2425 and 2627, CUSD is projected to receive over 15% more than double the revenue increases. And that is after reducing your projections uh by over 2% each year before that accounting trick
116in January. CUSD was projected to receive over 21% in revenue increases. And if passed as precedent, CUSD will receive over 21% in revenue increases when the actual money comes in. If we look at page eight, a more misleading page would be hard to find unless you were looking at other pages in this PowerPoint. The district makes a big to-do about the 2223 salary increase. It fails to acknowledge that the primary reason the increase was pegged at 8 and 10% in 2223 was because these employees total compensation was in the bottom cortile of districts in the region. The 2223 salary increase was not intended to justify the district's refusal to provide future salary increases in years out, but rather to begin to reverse the district's notorious and historic trend of being the worst paying district in
117the region. A reality that has led to high employee turnover, economic instability of the workforce, district employees inability to reside in the community they work, and the variety of challenges that those conditions cause in the teaching and learning environment. Similarly, the district would uh shock. Okay. Thank you. Up. Okay. Moving on to H1 warrants. The board has asked to approve the warrants for the period of March 7th, 2025 through May uh April 3rd, 2025 in the amount of 1,370,671.17. Warrants are issued once a week on Thursdays. The report format shows check number, check date, pay, brief account description, and payment comment and check amount. Any questions from the board on the warrants? May I get a motion to approve? I move to approve the warrants. May I get a second? I'll second. Okay. Thank you.
118Any discussion? Okay. Uh, all in favor? I. Uh, H2, gifts, grants, donations. Uh we have uh 2 A. I'm gonna read them all and then um we'll do one motion once I read through them all. Uh 2A, a donation from Kevin Nimmons and Janelle Parsons to Carpa High School Science Club CHS. The board has asked to accept the donation from Kevin Nims and Janelle Parsons of $150 to Carpa High School Science Club for their Channel Islands trip. 2B donation from Timothy Fringer to CHS FFA Club. We're asked to accept this donation from Timothy Timothy in the amount of $300 to the FFA Club for Art Fringer Memorial. We have 2C a donation from Brent Newport to CHS FFA Club. We're asked to accept his donation in the amount of $100 for the Art Fringer Memorial.
1192D donation from Mark T. Wagner to CHS FFA Club. We're asked to accept this donation from Mark of $150 to the CHS FFA Club for Art Bringer Memorial. 2E donation from Lentra Summerland to the Associated Student Body Carpia High School engineering club. We're asked to accept a donation from Lentra Summerland of $12,000 to ASB CHS Engineering Club for the purchase of equipment supplies for student passion projects. To F, a donation from Michelle Minis to CMS. board is asked to accept the donation from Michelle Menace of various office furniture of an approximate value of $1,000 to Carpa Middle School or any other school or location of the Carpa Unified School District. 2G a donation from the Santa Barbara Bowl Foundation instrument fund to teacher Nicole McKenzie for mus for musical instruments. The board has asked to
120accept this donation from the Santa Barbara Bowl Foundation in the amount of $6,474.60 60 cents to teacher Nicole McKenzie for the purchase of violins for Aliso and Canalino to H technology grant donation for from Santa Barbara Education Office to Aliso teacher Amber Neely. were asked to accept this grant from SVCEO of a thousand dollars for uh teacher Amber Neely Ozobot coding robots to I instructional strate excuse me yeah two I instructional strategy team member grant donation from Santa Barbara Education office to Carpa Middle School teacher Christina Pena Eert we're asked to accept this uh instructional strategy team member grant don d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d donation from SVCEO of $500 to CMS teacher uh Christina Pena Eert for classroom books.
1212J instructional strategy team member grant donation from Santa Barbara County Education Office to Canalo teacher Katrina Curillo in the amount uh we're asked to accept this in the amount of $500 uh for Miss Carillo for classroom supplies for writing strategies 2K instructional strategy team member grant donation from Santa Barbara County Education Office to Kinolino teacher Christina Garcia. The board is asked to accept the instructional strategy team member grant donation from SVCEO of $500 to Canalino teacher Christina Garcia for classroom supplies for writing strategies. Okay, we have a lot of gifts, grants, and donations. And um I would just like to give my thanks to everybody um on this list A through K. Um for whatever your reason for donating, but ultimately to support our students um and we are incredibly grateful. Um I do have
122a question. Um and maybe Andy will know. Um do you know anything about the Art Fringer Memorial? I do. Can you share something about that with us? So Art uh Fringer was a he grew up in Carperia. His family was here for a long time as um and he was an avid participant in the um FFA program under Mr. Johnson, Walter Johnson. And um he led a very successful um uh an animal uh I think swine judging and vegetable judging team uh back in the early 1980s. Um and I believe they won some you know first place at state level. Um he went on to Fresno State, met his wife and they settled in Modesto. Um, and he had a successful career and he unfortunately passed away uh recently. He wasn't very old. He was
123a just a year or two older than me. Um, and uh his daughter graciously has uh I think we've previously passed uh approved a donation from his daughter and the family uh for this memorial. And so the the idea is we're going to um put together uh a a bre, you know, a a plaque and and uh use the funds to to support the the school farm. Um I don't think there's a complete uh final plan on what to do with the money, but I know that that Miss Garcia is uh has, you know, graciously accepted the money. um and uh is looking forward to doing something very special. Uh and I know there's other other um alumni who are going to help participate with volunteerism and provide materials and things. Um but yeah, Art
124was a he was a a you know, really good guy. Um and uh unfortunately his father also passed away just uh subsequent to this. So um uh anyhow well thank you for sharing what that is. It seemed um important to highlight uh who that was and obviously somebody important and these these donations. Yeah. So these the so um the first donation is actually from his mother and father Tim Fringer and then uh the second two were from other alumni um who grew up here. So okay we have a motion. Yes. Did we get a motion? No. Okay. May I get a Oh, that's right. Okay. We did questions first. Okay. May I get a motion to approve 2 A through K? I'll uh move to approve as presented. I second that. Discussion. All in favor?
125I. Wonderful. Okay. Moving on to H3. Approve services by Watkins Fence Company to upgrade the CHS FFA farm facility. We're asked to approve the services from Watkins Fence Company up to upgrade and conduct maintenance on the CHS farm facility to repair 19 gates at the farm and animal pens and install bird netting. The total cost of $11,994 will be paid with a donation from Lentra Summerland Foundation. Any questions? Okay. May I get a motion to approve? I'll move to approve. I'll second discussion. Uh just going to be a great u upgrade to the farm. That bird netting is has uh lived its life. Okay. Uh all in favor? I I Okay. Uh number four, approve services from McCall and Eminem for upgrades to the FFA farm facility. The board has asked to approve the services
126by McCullen Eminem for upgrading and conducting maintenance on the CHS farm facility to clean waste gutters, pump waste, clear all sand from holding tank and dispose of and add three custom drain covers. Total cost of McCall and Eminem of $10,12 will be paid with CFCTE funds. Any questions from the board? Okay. May I get a motion to approve? I'll move to approve. We'll second. Any discussion? Again, this will be a good a good uh maintenance upgrade for the facility. Um probably alleviate some of the odors, odors, flies, flies, things like that. Okay, wonderful. All in favor? I I Okay, five. Approve services for McCall and Eminem and Reed mechanical systems for a heat pump replacement at people services building. Excuse me, that's a typo. It's approved services for McCall and Eminem. Not read mechanical. Yeah.
127Oh, not Reed mechanical. Yeah, there were two estimates. Thank you. Okay. I got here is the other one. Yes. But yes, so we're only going to approve services for one company. See, we had two estimates. One from one from McCall Eminem and one from Reed. The only the only attached uh McCall Eminem is the is the attached proposal. Yeah. Is the attached proposal. Yeah. Reed Mechanical probably would have been the other proposal. Yes. And they and Yes. Yeah. We're only approving one. The two estimates were as follows. Yeah, two different companies. The Mcllen M&M gotcha was the attachment which Yes. Okay. It's one two companies estimates one company approved. Okay. So, we're being asked to approve the services of McCall and Eminem for a heat pump replacement. The heat pump in the HVAC unit at
128Pupil Services is not functioning properly and needs to be replaced. The district contacted three vendors for replacement cost estimates and only two of the three vendors contacted provided estim cost estimates. The two cost estimates were as follows. McCall and Eminem of 12121 and Reed Mechanical of 12590. The district chose McCall and Eminem estimate of 12121 and will be paid with RRMA funds. Questions from the board? Okay. May I get a motion to approve the services of McCall and Eminem? I'll move to approve. All second discussion. Uh just um thank you for highlighting that there were multiple yes bids put out and this is what we received. So thank you. Um all in favor I Okay, we are moving on to six 2526 budget development. The board will continue reviewing and discussing the proposed 2526 budget.
129Superintendent Riby and Assistant Superintendent CF will lead the presentation and development of the 2526 budget. Okay. Well, um I'd like to start off by first of all thanking the board for for allowing me to this presentation. Um it's very important that um we all understand what's happening with regards to our 2526 budget because there are some significant changes that we're anticipating making. So, um, on this slide, we have our district goals, um, which is I believe this is similar. I think we've seen this once once before in the past. Um, and so for now, I'm just going to skip past this and we'll come back to this at a later date. I wanted to start off, um, by hitting some other items on this next slide here. Um, we have our core budgeting principles which
130we which I think we've touched on before and we we'll I'm going to advance past this one but we'll come back to this um here shortly. Um I thought it'd be important to highlight on at least on this slide because this is a new slide um our budget timeline and the major milestones. So you so obviously now we're in April and so what's happening is that uh at the state level the governor is developing his May revise um which will be released basically in mid April excuse me midMay sorry about that midMay and then at that point we will make any changes to the budget that need be. Uh what's important to note is in in the far right hand side of that slide there um on June 10th we will have the public hearing
131on the LCAP and also the public hearing on the budget. And then uh two weeks later when we come back for the last meeting in June on June 24th we will have the uh adoption of the LCAP and the adoption of the budget. Um so basically it's a two-step process. First both the LCAP and the budget have to come to the board and then at a separate meeting the LCAP and budget have to come back to the board for approval. So that's what we'll be seeing here in a couple months in June. Now this next slide here uh is the governor's January proposal. Um and you'll notice here I've incorporated the latest uh projections for the LCFF and also our projected property taxes. Um I would like to highlight um once again I know I've
132gone over this in the past but um for example for the 24 25 um projected property taxes we are projecting at 5%. Um unfortunately nobody has a crystal ball. Uh neither neither the tax assessor nor our county office of education has a crystal ball. So what we do is we we work off of basically we work off of projections. So information goes from the tax assessor's office to SBCEO, our county office. They take those numbers and they they put it into a format that all public school districts in Santa Barbara County can use and then they push those numbers out. So they push those projections out to uh the school districts in Santa Barbara County. So what we are using in 2425 are the numbers that our county office recommended that we use for our
1332425 projections. Um Sorry, just to stop you right there. We were projecting at 7%. Yes. Correct. And what we were told is that is no longer the number and this is now that number. Correct. Yes. Um at budget adoption back in June of 20 is that now 2024. Uh when the budget was adopted, we were projecting 7% for 2425 this year, 7% for 2526, and 7% for 2627. Uh when we got our revised numbers, um P1, which is what they call it here, sometime in the fall, we were basically in informed by the county office that we were over um over projecting our property taxes and that 5% was probably more of a realistic number. And in fact, when we got our P1 projections from the county office, that's exactly where they came in at.
134And I think in a slide or two later, um we'll see that uh you know, identified. But yes, um you are correct. At budget adoption, those three years were 7%. But basically, we informed by the county office that those numbers were um basically uh too high and that 5% was more of a a realistic number. And so when we budget, we try and budget with the best information possible. And so with that, we always try and budget with realistic numbers to the extent we can because once again, what we're doing is we're projecting revenues and expenditures into the future. And so nobody has a crystal ball. So we have to go off of the best information we have at the time. And as time progresses, those projections sometimes change. So yes, um that has changed.
135Um in the middle graph there you'll see the pension rate increases for both Cal PERS and Calsters. And as you can see from the past five years, at least for CalPERS, it's it's kind of steadily increasing. It's it's not too it's not too too much. Uh the Cal Sters rates have been relatively constant there at 19.1%. And then in the bottom graph, the third graph there on the page, that's um that's the that's the entire statutory benefits that are combined um by by PERS or sters. So what that means is if a person is classified so then for the most part they would fall into PERS. And so uh so for example if we're looking this year 2425 for somebody in PERS uh the district has to pay about 36.37% in addition to their salary.
136And so what composes that 36% is uh their PERS the OASDI Medicare unemployment workers comp. So all those statutory benefits add up to make for this year about 36.3%. Right below that we have the statutory benefits for people who are stirs. Now theirs is a little bit less. If we're looking here at 2425 um for somebody who is in Calsters that's their statutory benefits come to about 22.22%. So there is a difference between um how the state deals with pensions when it comes to somebody who is in stirs and somebody who comes or somebody who is pers and so here on the side I just wanted to highlight that and bring that to the board's attention. Clarify that middle can you turn your mic on please? Sorry, just clarify that middle um chart is showing
137pension rate increases or is that I mean that's the I think that's the amount that's the amount. Yeah, it's not increasing that much. Yeah. So, we're not increasing by 27%. Oh, no, no, no. Okay. Yes. Thank you. That's just the rate, not the overall chart. Not the rate increase. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So that I just want to highlight that on this slide here. If we go over to the next slide um where it's entitled sample cost to district for positions. Um what I think is important here is that sometimes when people hear how much a position costs uh they would immediately think to how much that person gets in a salary which is part which is part of it. However, there are other things tied to that position that cost the district more money that
138uh they may not be aware of. For example, if we're looking uh so I I've listed here classroom aid custodian and a teacher. So um if we just look at the teacher for example for 183 days where this person falls on this salary schedule is $82,942. But in addition to their salary, uh the district also has to pay their statutory benefits, which is what we saw on the previous slide. That's about 17,000. And then we also have to pay their health and welfare contribution. And so uh for the health and welfare contribution for next year, it's about $24,313. So on the district side when we look at a cost of a position we we have to take into account the cost of the salary the cost of the statutory benefits and the health and welfare
139to get a total cost. So for example a teacher who makes 82,000 um for the entire year if we incorporate their total cost to the district then we have to you know it looks like it cost us about $124,000 for an $82,000 teacher. So, I just want to highlight that because sometimes I think that gets lost in translation. If we flip to the next slide here, uh we have the history of property tax revenues. Um we've seen we've seen this slide a couple times before. Uh we've seen it at uh P1, which was in the fall, or excuse me, more in around December. Uh and we also saw it at second interim as well. Um it has not changed as of yet uh because we have not received any any new property tax projections from
140the county office. So we are still using the property tax projections that were given to us um in no October November of 24. And you'll see if we look at the column for 2425, uh, we're anticipating an increase of the prior year of about $1.5 million, which equates to about a 5% increase. And since we're getting a 5% increase this year, and if we look back up to the first five or six rows on this graph, you'll notice that a a consistent trend through those p through all those years was about 5%. So, what we're doing is we're saying, okay, well, the county office gave us projections for 2425 and those are basically 5%. We're going to use those same projections for the 25 26 year and for the 26 27 year. And that's why
141you're seeing those percentage increases for property taxes indicated at 5%. On the next slide here, uh we have the history of cost of living increases. Um you'll notice that for 2122 it was 2%. For 2223 it was split between certificated and classified 8 and 10. Um you'll notice that underneath the years 2324 and 2425 there are stars there. Um there are stars there once again because as we know we have not concluded negotiations for 23 24 or 2425 just yet. So that's why we have stars there. Um and just to provide some context um in the terms of cost of living cost of living increases uh a 1% cost of living increase for this year 2425 equates to about $25,000. So that's kind of where that number sits for this year. So if we flip
142to the next slide which is entitled history of health and welfare increases just if we just start the lefth hand column and we just kind of go from left to right in 2122 just choosing the top plan there our top plan was about $19,866 and as we go through the years now in 2526 um that plan for next year for 2526 is going to be about $24,313,000. So that increase for health and welfare from 2526 to this year is about a 7.65% increase. And so what that means to the district is uh districtwide our health insurance costs will increase from this year to next year by about $422,000. Um just recently uh we got our updated rates for the next year and those that's basically where the numbers came in out. So from one year
143to the next we're automatically going to see a cost in our health and welfare increase of about $422,000. And just sorry. Yes, please. From last year to this year, it was about two the increase of um so if we're looking at 2425 to 2526 just a thousand bucks. No, but like the overall just that whole number 27. Yeah, I know we said it a lot. I just Thank you. Yes. Thank you. If we flip to the next slide, uh, which is the five-year financial history, um, with the current year, um, we have laid out here our five-year history, which, um, at the bottom of the slide there, kind of highlighted in blue, light blue, you'll see the reserve percentage, and you'll kind of see the trend. it kind of it's it's constant then it kind
144of jumps up probably due to CO funding. Uh then in 2324 um it drops significantly. Um as you may recall in 2324 we ended the year with about a 3.59% reserve. Um and in the next column over which shows our second interim for this year 2425 and we're projected to the end the year at this point with about 4.29% of a reserve. Um and you'll note that for both 2324 and 2425 those have asterisks uh because those do not reflect any salary increases for those years because once again we have not yet settled. But once we do settle uh those those percentages uh will change because they will incorporate uh the additional cost for uh salary and benefits. There we go. Yeah. Um, if we flip to the next slide, which is the five-year financial
145history for special education, uh, I think we've seen this slide once or twice before, but um, you'll notice starting at the 2021 year. Um, if we go down in 2021, the general fund had to contribute about $4.2 million to special ed uh, for that program. And then you'll see it basically slow increase throughout each fiscal year. And if we go over to the far right, that's what our special ed contribution looked like at second interim that we just did in the previous month of this year. And so for example, just looking at that last column once again. So we received about $2.3 million in special ed revenues for this year, but it costs us about $8.7 million to run that program. So that difference between those two numbers is that $6.4 million. So what happens
146is uh the general fund has to contribute $6.4 million from unrestricted funds to special ed to cover that difference. And so this is what's called an encroachment. It's basically uh funds from the unrestricted side of the general fund have to be transferred over to restricted programs to cover those programs which basically means um you know to basically make them balance. So the revenues and expenditures are the same and that's what you're seeing there on that slide. Um it's also um I I looked into it and that for this year for or 2324 the statewide percentage for special ed students was about 12.8%. And in 2324 our percentage of special ed students was about 16.5%. And for this year, um, our our percentage of special ed students is about 17%. So over the past five years,
147uh, our percentage of special ed students has increased. Flip to the next slide. Um, it's called the 2526 budget assump assumptions. And what we have here is we start off with our second interim unrestricted revenue, which is that $26.1 million you'll see at the top there. And then we have we're including the increases from the property taxes for next year, which is that $1.5 million. Then below that in parenthesis, you'll see $150,000. That's the increase in special ed contribution. Um since our special ed uh our percentage of special ed students has been increasing for the the past few years um it's probably a decent assumption that our number of special ed students will continue to increase and as a result we are increasing the contribution for special ed students uh for about 150,000. So those
148two numbers net out to the total change of revenues of about 1.4 and then we take that 1.4 for and we add it to our 26.1 million and we get for next year 2526 uh we're projecting unrestricted revenues to to be about 27.5 million. If we excuse me, flip to the next slide um which in green it says unrestricted expenditure budget drivers fixed costs. Um you'll you'll see there that uh there are some increased expenditures that are basically going to happen for next year. Uh the first one you'll notice is step and column increases. Um once again those happen automatically. uh people move step and column just automatically by virtue of being on the salary reschedule. So those costs are an increase and we have to include those in the next year's budget. Uh below
149that you'll see the health and welfare increases and you'll see for this year our health and welfare costs were about 3.4 million and we're projecting them to come in at about 3.8 8 million. And that's that $422,000 [Music] uh dollar increase that we'll see next year strictly due to the health insurance um rates being increased. And below that, you'll see that we're also anticipating a increase in utilities of about $43,000. So when we add those three budget drivers up, we basically get about $854,000. So that's 854 $854,000 more in expenses that we're going to see in next year's budget due to step and column health and welfare and utilities. Um what did did we receive some type of notice of increase in rates for for utilities or what is or is this just like what
150the average increase is year-over-year or where is this increase in utilities coming from? Yeah. Um, I've seen something come out in the spring from SBCE, the county office, that basically says what they project, um, you know, the utilities to increase by. So, right now, this is just, um, looking back at some looking back at some prior increases and basing it off what we have this year. Okay. Edison's rates are published. Yeah. and and so they they've got a approval from the PUC to a few years ago to increase rates and they've gone back again both Edison and PG& have gone back to get a further rate increase. Okay, that that's power and then I know water water is is go they're asking for an increase as well. I saw that and I believe also yes
151sewer. Oh, that's through property taxes though, right? the sewer go like we pay in our property tax bill our sewer access, right? Yeah. So that's separate though. Okay. Thank you. Uh if we flip to the next slide um entitled unrestricted budget reductions. Uh what we have here is a listing of the various categories of reductions that we talked about a couple times before and I'll just go down them one by one. Uh so the first category we have is professional services. Now that's a pretty broad category that encompasses many different things but some of the big buckets we have in professional services are uh maintenance contracts, vehicle repairs, uh utilities, um information technology, licenses, uh special ed contracts, and legal fees. So, just going along that line, we're we're proposing that next year we're going
152to reduce that line in the budget by $291,000. And then right below that, you'll see conferences. We're going to reduce that by 20,000. Below that, you'll see a line for classified 10 instructional aids. We are going to reduce that by about $460,000. Below that, you'll have a reduction for uh certificated for five FTEEs. That comes in, we're projecting at about $640,000. And then we have the GATE, which we've uh talked about a couple times before. That comes in at about $102,000. And the elimination of three professional development summer workdays, which comes in at about $151,000. So, when we add all of those budget reductions up, that totals approximately 1.6 1.7, and I'm rounding here, uh $1.7 million of budget reductions for the 2526 budget year. On the next slide, um what what we're looking at
153here are the expenditures. So we start off with the 2425 expenditures at second interim which were about 25.9 million. And then as we just went over uh we know we're going to have some increased costs and those increased costs are that $854,000. So we're adding to the expenditures. Then right below that we have the um unrestricted budget reductions which were those reductions that we just uh went over on the previous slide. And so we're reducing our expenditures next year by 1.6 $1.7 million. And so that nets out to a net change of about $810,000 uh decrease. And so if we add all of that up, we're looking at our 2526 unrestricted expenditures coming in at about $25.1 million. And this slide here, which is slide number 16, is kind of where it ties it all
154in together. So, we start off with our second interim um unrestricted ending fund balance of $1.7 million. And then for next year, we add in our 2526 revenue of about 27.5. And then we deduct what we are proposed um expenditures for 2526. That's about 25.1. And so those net out to about an increase to the unrestricted general fund balance of about $2.4 million. And so that's why you'll see the the projected unrestricted ending fund balance increase uh to about 4.1 million which equates to a reserve percentage of excuse me a reserve percentage of about 10.33%. Now I want to mention once again that we're looking at 2526. Um once again we have not settled for uh negotiations for 2324 or 2425. So when we do once again uh these number these numbers especially the the
155uh expenditures and the fund balance and the reserve percentage those will all change once we settle. And if we flip to the last slide here entitled the multi-year projection uh in the first column which is highlighted in green there that's our second interim that we just reviewed a month month or so ago and you'll see at the very bottom that at second interim we're projecting a reserve balance of about 4.29% 29% and in 2526 um due to the increases in revenue and also uh reductions in expenditures uh we are projecting a reserve balance in 2526 of about 10.33%. Um once again negotiations have not concluded but once they do those reserve percentages will change um because we'll have additional expenditures. And then you know the two columns to the right you'll see our our projected
156ending fund balances for 26 27 and 27 and 28. So that basically concludes my presentation at this point and I would like to open it up and see if the board has any questions. Go ahead if you have them. Any questions from board? Um, uh, no, I I I think this is fairly self-explanatory, Jason. Thank you. Um, the, uh, I mean, there's there's a lot of variables in here that we haven't plugged yet, you know, I mean, the negotiations being the primary one. Um, the, uh, so that health insurance increase, uh, that's that's that's a number that CISK has already given us, correct? Yes. U, we just got it basically about a week or two ago. Correct. Yeah. Uh and the statutory increases are set by the state. So yes, and those are already those
157those were established, you know, a while ago. Yes. Yeah. Um Yeah. So the big variables obviously are compensation and benefits as as they normally are. Um well I guess the good news is it's it's it the trend is looking better than it was. Yes. Um so that that that that shows some promise there and and uh allows us for some um options moving forward with with salaries and benefits. Um yeah. No, I think this is I think this is gives us a lot to think about. Okay. Thank you. Um the reason why we're recommending the reductions is to create those options. Yes. Yeah, that's clear. Yeah. when you compare um the March 11th uh interim presentation and at the the ending page with the multi-year projections um just going back and forth between that and
158what we have here right which is reflective of those cuts it's a very different well yeah we'd be at uh about seven no about six six next year 6.09 9 and then 9.7. Um the ending fund balance is significantly different. Um I mean we're we're not deficit spending. Um there's just there's a it it makes a huge difference. Um I just want to clarify back on those the page with the cuts. 14. Thank you. I went too I went too far. Okay. Um, so the the certificate like the five teachers that's a a attrition because we haven't riffed anybody. We aren't riffing anybody. I just want to be aware the where these are coming from just Yes. We're not replacing those that are leaving and we're not So it's by attrition that this is happening.
159We're not I just want to be clear how this is happening. Um okay. So this is taking into account the gate um the three summer work days conferences aids So, so yeah, I guess for me it's it's the people that on here that the reductions those are attrition based. Yes. Okay. Thank you. That's what I needed to hear on that. Um, let's see. Okay. Yeah, this is just it's a very different place than we were. So, it's It's a good It's a better place to be in um moving forward out of this year. It doesn't change anything for this current year obviously, but moving forward it does. Um okay, any other questions from the board? Okay, sorry. Let me just see. I have to ask while I go, otherwise I lose my thoughts. So, I
160apologize for interrupting you along the way, but if I I get flustered when I have to flip back through and ask one quick question. Yeah, please. Um, regarding the property tax, um, back in I don't know, September, I believe, you got you sent us the projections. Um, when it got reduced down to the 5.07, how often do they do they typically send updates on that? As you said, they haven't sent any updates. Yeah. So, I understand it that um the county office will send out uh what they call property tax projections. They call that P1. So, that's what we're seeing here in this presentation tonight. And then in the next um from what I've been told, basically in April sometime, uh we were we will receive our P2 property tax projections. Um as of today,
161I haven't received anything, but I'm thinking we should receive them, you know, relatively soon. Okay. And you'll pass that on to us. I will. Perfect. Um Okay. if you could please pull out your crystal ball and tell me what the May revise is going to say, that'd be great. Um, but I I just I'm not uh as part of uh CSBA, the California Schoolboard Association, we had a legislative action week and we zoomed with um a few legislators and we were advocating for a bunch of different things and we were told, "Don't tell me anything. Don't ask me anything if it has a price tag associated with it." I'm like, "Well, everything has a price tag associated with it." And and they said, "Well, we're keeping the cuts as far away as we can from
162education, but and this is the same thing they said last year." Um, but essentially was like, "We're trying to keep the cuts as far away from education as we can." However, we know that or I should say we are I don't know that we know but um there are cuts coming potentially um from the federal side towards education and uh potentially we've been somewhat insulated I believe in California from some things but I there's a few things that have been put out there that we may not be able to be insulated from um as far as uh special education funding, um title programs and things like that. And so um I I don't know if the governor will be able to speak to how any of that will affect um things at the May revise
163or not, but um that is something that I'm concerned about. Um especially because our title programs are, you know, directly to students. Um, I know California has a commitment to the to the meals program um, separate from the federal government. So, we don't have as much of a issue there, but it's more so with when it comes to special education. Um, and I what is it? Medic medical medic, but the meals is paid for with the USDA, not the not the Department of Education. Right. Yeah. But um I'm just I'm nervous about what I mean not like we're getting funded like we should be anyways for sped from the federal government, but any cuts um especially when we're getting so underfunded I am really concerned about. And so if you get any any advanced information
164on that, um I I know I personally would would like to to hear about it, but also um I think we would all like to hear uh what if any types of federal um efforts in reduction to our budget. Uh you know, first obviously first, you know, raise the flag. Um I'll do that. I don't know how else to say it without saying too much, but I just I'm concerned um when it comes to that. Um okay. [Music] So, any further questions, comments, remarks? Okay. Uh yeah, thank you. Um this was just a review. There's no action on this. Correct. Just looking. Correct. Okay. We are moving on to I, measure U. If you would like to make public comment on measure U, please step up to the podium at this time. Okay. Thank you.
165Um, we don't usually comment on measure U, but we have a question. Um, thank you for your presentation, Mr. Calf. Uh, in the budget presentation this evening, we couldn't find any mention of the robust revenues from the sale of the BORD properties. Excuse me. Yes, ma'am. that is not on the agenda. Uh measure U. Correct. The agenda items. Yeah. As related to measure U. So if you would like to speak to I1, approval of the contract proposal for landscape architectural services, please feel free because that's the only agenda item. No, we're just we're just trying to figure out why the millions of dollars associated with the BORD property was not included in the um presentation. Another example that's a budget. Okay. So another example of um sorry underestimating revenue. Stop now because you this is
166not the time for commenting on this. You had your opportunity to comment on the budget items during the budget. Not now. Okay. No further. This is from FMA landscape architects. After the portable building at Canalino is demolished, the district will need to landscape the area where the portable was previously located. The proposal for architectural landscape services area is approximately 18,400 square ft. These site improvements will will these site improvements will include fencing for an enclosed courtyard outside of classrooms 5, six, and building A. The estimate for this project is $5,257 and will be paid with Measure U bond funds. Any questions from the board? May I get a motion to approve? I'll move to approve. I'll second. Discussion. All in favor? I. Jay. Personnel. If you'd like to make a comment on personnel, now is
167the time. Please step up to the podium. Yes. Thank you. And we would. Union leadership welcomes our newest bed aid at Cantalino. After Edmond's performance and resource starvation in Canalino special education throughout the majority of this year, she enters a challenging and dynamic environment. We want her to know that if and when um challenges exist, she should reach out to her union representatives on site and in the district. Uh it will be sad to see leaders like Renee Morales leaving the district. Uh this guy has done such exceptional work at Aliso over the years in an environment where being a male teacher is both as rewarding as it is vulnerable. Renee put his heart into the task every day and he remains in a fabulous example of the kind of exceptional teacher that kids remember
168for the rest of their lives. We also recognize the resignation of yet another young and talented teacher, Miss Vila. Uh, one can't help but wonder how motivated her resignation was by the current refusal by our school board and senior admin to budget for employee salary increases to begin in in some way to keep up with the 23% cost of living increase regionally um that has occurred in the last two years. Meanwhile, the district has not even acknowledged the modest 2% increase for 232 24 and 2% increase for 2425 that we proposed um on February 28th. Um that would also include a contingency for additional unprojected revenues. Um, of course, it would be a CUS, it would not be, I should say, a CUSD personnel report if it didn't contain another new contractor hired by the
169district for special education to address the duties that we can't keep our own sped teachers around for. So, not only does this report contain yet another contracted sped employee, uh, but it also contains the retirement resignation of a sped teacher who has only worked in the district for a few years. So there's your summary on the personnel report. Thank you. Okay. Uh J personnel personnel summary J1. The board is asked to approve the following recommended personnel items. Assignments one retirements two designation one leave of absence one contract one. Any questions from the board? May I get a motion to approve? I move to approve. I'll second. Okay. In discussion, um I'd just like to thank uh Mr. Morales um for his work at ALSO um and with the dual language immersion program in particular. Um
170he is uh an absolute example and I wish we could clone him. Um, and uh, I just whenever I've gone into his classroom on site visits or um, open house or back to school night just to say hi and check in, his students are engaged and excited. Um, he has such a passion for what he does and it is seen and um, I'm just I'm excited for him and and to enjoy his retirement. But uh we are definitely um there's going to be big shoes to fill in that position. So uh thank you and uh yeah and thank you Miss Frank as well. Um I haven't had much experience with with her as much but uh thank you for your service as well. Um okay. Uh all any other discussion there? We got to move
171it. We got to make a motion. Did we we I thought we did. Oh, we did. Okay. That time I was like that time I think we did. Okay. Uh and all in favor? I I Okay. Future agenda items. If you have public comment on K future agenda items, please step up to the podium. So, as we did at the end of the last board meeting, employee leadership again asks that the concept of a contingency formula used to resolve our fiscal disagreements be placed on an upcoming board agenda and one in the near future. This evening, the district provided another round of strategic projections while overestimating expenditures um millions of dollars more in legal fees and by underestimating revenues u removing $4.5 million from the district's property tax revenue projections. CUSD removed a total of
172$7.5 million from the district's reserve balance on paper. That is these are unlikely to be the actual revenues and expenditures. But this accounting tactic does result in $7.5 million less u being uh um involved in the decision or available in the decisions that have to do with um critical bargaining decisions and programming decisions that impact district students and employees and families in the community. For comparison, that $7.5 million on paper uh is not being invested in valuable programs that offer students and families for variety and choice like CFS or Gate or intram mural sports at the junior high level or more robust transportation services. That is $7.5 million equivalent to 37.5% in salary increases for teachers and support staff. while employees recently asked for a total of 4% over a two-year period with a contingency
173formula that shared all future revenues. Um that's $7.5 million on paper that district officials allege are not available for the purpose of relieving economic instability associated with cost of living increases which have increased again to 20 to 23% regionally in the past two years. Again, if an agreement is to be had, it will not be the result of arguing over the accuracy of the district's projected revenues. However, instead, employees have provided district officials with a proposal that binds employees to accepting the district's current projections, however manipulated employees may believe they are, as long as a contingency formula is put in place. In short, we're willing to put our money where our mouth is as long as we can ensure that an equitable distribution of additional property tax revenues is available if and when they come
174in higher than the district projections. Absolutely reasonable. Let's explore the value of putting such a contingency formula in place to do to address whatever revenue uncertainties exist. to leave you with a positive thought that may be hard for you to imagine at this time. Imagine an impass agreement that not only covers the past but even covers the next few years. Imagine an impass agreement that actually places the district and employees on the same side of the table. Imagine an impass agreement that divides CUSD's future revenues in a more predictably and equitable manner. And again, imagine a future where CUSD and its employees are rowing in the same direction over district finances. Thank you. Your time is up. winning and losing together together. Miss Diamond. Thank you. Hello. Um I look forward to hearing more about
175the proposed budget in upcoming meetings. Um I have I in previous times we've had public comments after the presentations or whatever. So I didn't know what questions I could ask beforehand. It'd be nice if those uh if the questions were after uh one thing one little clarification uh thing that I'm trying to understand with special education and uh Mr. calf was explaining about the encroachments and I'm looking at the the fiveyear financial history and we've had you know expenditures you know we've had encroachments every single time you know from someone who isn't doesn't know a lot about accounting and so forth why do we have this as an encroachment you know or why is this an encroachment why since it's so consistently over the you know the revenues projected for it. Why don't we have
176revenues that cover why is the expenditures sorry of um you're asking a question that's not in align with what the agenda item is necessarily unless you're asking for him to bring that forward at answer that question at the next meeting or you could also email him in between to get a sooner answer but this is about future agenda items so if you're looking for him to answer that sorry just I'm trying to guide if you can like I said if if we had the if we had the qu answers question and answers after the presentation. You know, like you guys got to ask questions after the presentation. I would like to have been able to ask questions as well. And you know, it's a shame that we don't have that kind of Thank you. Thank
177you. Yeah, maybe a future under agenda item to move questions after you know it. Thank you. Okay, so for our future Oh, one more. Roel carpentry u resident projections uh are that projections nothing is certain uh we may have a healthy budget we may not bless you actually uh the budget is 100% uh coming from a real estate. Isn't that right? Or most of it. Most of it. Most of it. They're not selling. Uh eight homes were sold last. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. 2025 206 proposed budget as a future agenda item. As a future agenda item. Yes. Yeah, future. But we're not discussing correct the budget in this. We're we're saying just identifying items to be put. So it's future. Yep. Future. Um I'm just trying to correct the scope is supposed to be the intent
178in my time. What would you like to see on the on the agenda or a change within the the budget presentation or something like that on the future agenda item? Reports on uh properties sold in Carperia every month. That's okay. Thank you for your request. That that's uh that's your comment. What should be focusing? Real estate is property tax. you you get most of your uh money most of the money from real estate tax properties sold right where do you get it from the budget the money where do you get it from mostly can google it thank you Okay, our future agenda items that are proposed is the 2526 proposed budget, the 2526 LCAP, and the CHS Wasque report. Um, do any board members have any uh requests of items to be added to the
179list at this time? No. Okay. All right. Um board announcements. There's nothing on the calendar to to highlight. Correct. There is. Yes. Okay. Would you be kind enough to u calendar May 2nd? Oh, okay. As our campus visits. Gotcha. Thank you. And we'll send out the specific schedule. We'll begin at Summerland. Gota. We did get that. Um Okay. Board announcements. I I was just going to say I've been trying to go to the coffees with the principal um at each of the school sites and it's such a great way for parents to interact one-on-one with the principal and other parents to have their questions answers. Um if you look at parents square they're all there and I think all the principles would love to have parents at their meetings which there have been good attendance
180at the one I've gone to. Wonderful. Anybody else? Okay. Um, we have open houses coming up. Um, it's just that it's an open house. Um, if your student will be going into middle school or going into high school, now is a great time to go check out that other school site. Um, likewise, if your student will still just be remaining at that site, go check it out. See what's happened since uh back to school night. There's a lot going on and you'll get an opportunity to meet uh potential teachers or students will have next year. Um the dates were listed in the superintendence report and are sent out on parent square. Um let's see here. We have the Carpentry Community Awards banquet on April 26th and um teachers of the year, Elizabeth Puland, our middle
181one of our middle school science teachers as well as Renee Morales from Alisa will be honored as carpia teachers of the year. Very exciting. Um and uh they deserve it. They've done great work. So excited for those opportunities. Also, um the the climate on campus at the middle school is amazing. Um we were able to go to the color run and uh and walk, jog, watch. Um and the parent involvement, the student excitement um was wonderful. And then just last week was the spring middle school dance. Um, I happened to be around the corner at the pool for a swim meet and was able to look in and see what was going on at the middle school dance and it was really, really cool. Um, the students were having a lot of fun. Interestingly enough,
182the students who were on an activity band for whatever reason. Um, there was quite a few of them who hung out at the gate respected the fact that they were not supposed to go in and sat there. And it was interesting the the dynamic there, but um well what come on why why why can't I do it? It was well you know you had 30 tardies last month or whatever it was and well yeah but well if you want to go next time don't be tardy fine you know it was just it was really interesting. Um, but anyways, the kids inside, they were kids dancing, there were kids just sitting and talking, there were kids playing basketball, kids playing Gaga Ball outside. Um, so it was really unique and uh it was a great atmosphere.
183So, good job CMS. Um, yeah. Anything else? We go. Okay, we are adjourned. Thank you. Good night, folks.