Central Unified Board of Trustees Meeting January 13th, 2026

001Yeah. Everyone, we're going to go ahead and get started. I call the board meeting of the board of trustees for Central Unified School District to order at 5:30 p.m. Today is January 13, 2026. Please let the record reflect for purposes of attendance that Trustee Chavez, Trustee Kirk, and Trusty Kuron are absent. With that, our first order of business is adoption of the agenda. What are the wishes of the board? So move. >> Thank you. I have a motion by trustee Chan. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Have a second by trustee Sadu. All in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Any oppose? Any abstensions? Motion carries. 4 Z. Next, we move on to comments from the public on close session items. This is an opportunity for any member of the public either in

002person or uh from their home or remotely to call and provide a public comment on any close session items. The number to call is 559-2763150. And we allow 30 seconds to pass for moving to this item before we close on our public comments on close session. >> Callers at this time. >> Thank you. Uh, seeing and hearing that there are no comments on close session, we will adjourn uh to close session and return to open se session at 7 p.m. Please let the record reflect that Trusty Kon has joined the meeting at 5:31 p.m. Thank you. Hey. Yes. Hey, hey, hey. Yes. Hey Hey, Hey. Yes. Heat. Heat. Hey, Yes. Hey, hey. Hey, Good evening everyone. Welcome to the regular meeting of the board of trustees for January 13, 2026. Items to report from our

003close session. Uh the certificated personnel report was approved by a motion by trustee Singh and a second by trustee Sadu. A vote of 50 We had Trusty Kirk join us at 5:37 PM. The classified personnel report was approved by a motion by Vice President Sers, a second by Trusty Keron. Um, and the motion carried 6. We also took action to approve a settlement agreement with uh an individual in the position of student liaison with the termination date of March 18, 2026. Uh the motion was made by Vice President Sers, a second by Trustee Kuron, and motion carried 6. The board also took action uh to reject claim number GHC000088836 by a motion by Vice President Sers and a second by Trustee Singh. Motion 6. Motion carried. Um, the board also took action to deny claim

004number GHC000091617. A motion was made by Trusty Kirk. A second was made by Vice President Sellers. Motion carried to deny the claim by 6. To all joining us for the first time, I apologize that we don't have enough seating. We're in here and not in the pack so that our students can continue their programming. And so this is our our location until we have enough funds to build a a district boardroom. But thank you for being here tonight. And with that, we will move on to our pledge of allegiance. If I can please have uh Vice President Cers lead us. Thank you. Next, we invite our interpreters to provide our community engagement information. >> If you can begin by introducing yourself. >> Good evening. My name is William Lasso. I'm the translator and interpreter for

005the district. If you wish to address the board, please call 559-276-3150 or fill out a request form provided on the table near the entrance and submitted to the clerk of the board prior to the meeting. If you wish to speak on an item on the agenda, please do so when that item is called. If you wish to speak on an item not on the agenda, you may speak during the public comment section of the agenda. The district welcomes other language speakers to the board meetings. Anyone planning to attend and needing an interpreter for a language other than Spanish should call 559-274-4700 extension 10150 by noon on the Friday preceding the board meeting or at least 48 hours in advance of the meeting so arrangements can be made for an interpreter. Thank you. >> Good evening.

006My name is Gurvanor. I'm district uh translator interpreter. Fore meeting agenda. Fore Spanish extension. Thank you. We move on to our presentations. First, we will hear from our school activities presentations. Do we have a student from Justin Garza High School present? Okay, we do. Is it Gabriella? It is. Okay, you can come to the podium. Gorilla. Good evening, members of the board. My name is Gabrielle RmIrez, and I am here to share highlights from Justin Garza High School and recognize several recent accomplishments within our school. Earlier this year, we hosted Fright Night, a successful event that brought together students, staff, families, and community members through its assortment of games and activities. The event was well organized and created a positive, welcoming environment for attendees. Credit goes to our outstanding leadership students whose planning and collaboration

007contributed to its success. The school also hosted winter formal themed garden of roses. The event was well attended and featured beautiful decorations in a positive atmosphere. This dance provided students with the opportunity to connect socially in a structured setting, reflecting strong student engagement, school spirit, and creativity from its coordinators. Our band program consistently demonstrates a high level of achievement, having notably earned third place at the state level. This accomplishment showcases the ongoing dedication and talent of our student musicians, as well as the continued support and guidance provided by our band director. In addition, the drama program is currently preparing for its spring production in the Heights. Students are actively participating in auditions and technical preparation, showing strong collaboration and artistry both on and off the stage. Lastly, our winter athletic programs have remained active and

008committed throughout the break. The boys and girls soccer, basketball, and wrestling programs have continued training and competing, demonstrating perseverance, teamwork, and school pride beyond the typical school day. Overall, these events and accomplishments reflect the dedication of our students and staff contributing to a positively engaged and supportive learning environment at Justin Garza High School. Thank you. >> Thank you, Gabriella. >> Next, do we have a Marcos from Central Learning Adult School Site? >> Good evening, board president. Dr. Marshall and governor board members. My name is Marco Sentunes and I am a 12th grade student at class and looking forward to graduating the school year. I began attending class November 2024 and thank you for the opportunity to present to you guys this evening. Our students enrolled in both our alternative school and adult school have been

009progressing well, highlighted by robust enrollment in both schools with 282 students currently enrolled in our alternative school and 587 students currently enrolled in our adult school. After the conclusion of the fall semester for our alternative school on December 19th, all students and families received our fall semester report cards. Enclosed with each of our report cards was a welcome back letter with information regarding the date and time for us and our parents to meet with our teachers during the first week of school for our spring semester master agreement meetings. This serves as a vital opportunity for the three of us to evaluate how we have done during the first half of the school year and plan our course of study for the spring semester. At class, we recently celebrated Seek Heritage Month and Native American Heritage

010Month. The created informative and inspirational bulletin boards highlighting the valuable and significant social contributions made by individuals of both seek heritage and Native American heritage and who also have elevated our society and culture with their extraordinary achievements and accomplishments. The month culminated in an opportunity for our students to participate in an arts and crafts activity aligned with the celebratory theme along with preparing and cooking a dish reflective of these cultures. As a school community, we also celebrated volunteerism and giving back to our community with a schoolwide effort and participate participation toward holiday joy. In doing so, we donated the largest amount of food and groceries our school has ever collected. Many of our alternative school students attended Shrek the Musical at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium in theater on December 12th. For several students, this was

011the first live musical they have ever attended, and they enjoyed it very much. All of our high school students continue to have the opportunity to attend Saturday Live on the first and third Saturdays of each month from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Saturday Live serves as an additional Yeah. additional opportunity for us to come in, work on our instructional units, receive support from our teachers, and take unit assessments. During the first half of the school year, attendance at Saturday Live has been growing with an average of 15 students voluntarily attending to improve the academic standard. Our students are being routinely awarded for maintaining a good attendance and for completing all of their assigned work. In addition, our entire campus community participate in what we call thankful leaves. in November where we write where we wrote

012down what we are thankful for on cutout paper leaves that were taped on the windows for everyone to read. Having reestablished our nurse assistant training program or NATAP at Central Adult School and having scheduled for four separate cohorts throughout the 2024 2026 school year. Our first cohort of the year graduated and participated in their pinning ceremony on December 12th. The majority of them have already taken and passed their state certification exam, both written and skills assessments and are now certified nurse assistants. Central Adult School has created a partnership with Fresno County Superintendent of Schools to support our welding program. In addition or in doing so, our students are now able to earn industry standard certification to enhance their employability status. In addition, Central Adult School will be offered a brand new Fortl Cliff certification training

013course in March at Central High School. The student in our the students in our adult transition program or connections continue to make great strides toward gaining independence and learning to navigate society as a young adult by participating in valuable work experience via community-based instruction. Three to four days each week. An example of our continued community and business partnerships are the Fresno Chaffy Zoo, Round Table Pizza, and the Valley Valley Animal Center, and the students dining hall at Fresno State College or Fresno State University, sorry. Due to the partnership with and generosity of one of our connection students families, our connection students recently had the opportunity to attend a holiday lunch together at Uikio's Italian restaurant and also receive personalized gifts. Thank you and good evening. Thank you, Marcos. [applause] Thank you to both of you.

014Uh we move on to our student recognition and I'll turn it over to our assistant superintendent of student and family services, Dr. Lopez. >> Good evening, board president Kareo, board of trustees, and superintendent Dr. Marshall. I am excited to be here tonight. So, in recognition of the adoption of the resolution declaring the month of February as Black History Month, we have a student here from Central High School. She is the president of the Black Student Union and her name is Karai Paige. Well, let's welcome her with a round of applause. [applause] Good evening, superintendent, board member, members, administrators, staff, and students. My name is Cai Page, and I am honored to serve as ASB president and president of the Black Student Union at Central High School. I would like to begin with a quote from

015a poet and activist, Amanda Gorman, who reminds us, "For there is always light if only we're brave enough to see. If only we're brave enough to be it." I chose this quote because black history is not only about looking back. It's about recognizing the light that has always existed, even in moments when it is challenged, and understanding our responsibility to carry that light forward. As we approach Black History Month, it is important that we keep that perspective in the forefront of our minds. For me personally, Black history means identity, resilience, and responsibility. It is the story of the people who created opportunity in spaces that were never designed for them. It represents innovation, leadership, creativity, and perseverance. Black history is not about limited is not a limit is not limited to one month or one

016narrative. It lives in the voices of students in our classrooms and in the leadership we chose we choose to see every day. As a black student leader, black history reminds me that my presence here is not accidental. It is the result of generations who believed in progress, education, change, and courage of those who came before us and the responsibility we have as students to continue learning, questioning, questioning and contributing. Understanding Black History allows us to better understand one another in the world we live in today. This year, our Black Student Union has worked intentionally to ensure that Black History Month on our campus is not only commemorative, but interactive, educational, and inclusive. Our main initiative is the Black Excellence Bracket, a month-long tournament style activity designed to engage the entire campus in learning about influential

017black figures across history and modern history. Each week during home room, students will vote on matchups using a QR code with brief educational descriptions provided to ensure informed participation. Winning figures through the bracket and weekly updates and highlights will be shared through CHS TV. The purpose of this activity is not to rank importance, but to celebrate back black excellence across fields such as activism, science, arts, leadership, and innovation while also encouraging students to actively learn and participate. In addition to the bracket, BSU is implementing two supporting initiatives. The first is the Black Voices Spotlight, a weekly feature shared through announcements, CHSTV, and campus displays. These spotlights highlight black leaders, historical figures, and student reflections, allowing black history to remain visible and present throughout the month in a small but meaningful way. The second initiative is

018the studentled community dialogue held during lunch or advisory periods. These conversations create respectful spaces for students to reflect on what black history means to them personally. Discuss figures from the bracket and engage in thoughtful dialogue with peers. These forums emphasize learning, listening, and understanding from multiple perspectives. Together, these initiatives reflect our goal as student leaders to create opportunities, education, engagement, and unity. Black History Month is not just about remembering the past. It is about recognizing excellence, uplifting voices, and shaping future rooted in understanding and respect. I would like to close by returning to Amanda Gorman who reminds us for while we have our eyes on the future, history has its eyes on us. Thank you so much for allowing me to share our students or how our students are honoring Black History Month on our

019campus. It is always an honor to stand before you all and highlight the meaningful work Central High School is doing each day. And if you have heard me speak before, you already know what's coming next. And if you said our Grizzly Nation chant in your head, then you are also very correct. Um, of course, I wouldn't end it any other way. It's tradition at this point. So, on the count of three, when I say Grizzly Nation, everybody gets to say claws up. Okay. One, two, three. Come on, Grizzly Nation. Claws up. >> Thank you. And go Grizzlies. >> Thank you. [applause] We are very excited also to announce the great accomplishments of various athletic programs. We would like to honor the dedication of the hard work uh that our coaches have provided to our teams

020as well as students and families. Without your dedication, this wouldn't be possible. So, I would like to call Director High Tower to the podium. He will be introducing our coaches. All right, good evening. I get an opportunity to acknowledge our coaches and our athletes uh who did an amazing job this year. Um tonight we have Central East football program here um honoring their central central section championship uh their division one NorCal Championship and their state championship. Can we give them a round of applause? [applause] They're led by the athletic director, um, Andrew Alberado, and their head coach, Kyle Biggs. Um, so when they come up, following them will be uh we want to honor our central [clears throat] our central high school uh program. Uh all of our league champions, our boys water polo team

021uh led by head coach Jared Horn, our girls tennis team led by coach Maria Beltran, um and our unified soccer team led by coach Tom Clark. Can we give them a round of applause? >> [applause] >> So, at this time, we'll have head coach Kyle Biggs come up to talk about his football season, his football program. >> Thank you for having us. Um, thank you for acknowledging us. Um, it was a long, hard, fought season. Um, kids did a great job of working together and, um, coming to a common goal. They put aside um all the selfishness and all the individual awards um to achieve something bigger for them and it was really pleasant to watch them um achieve the ultimate prize of winning a state championship. Um this this young man had a lot

022to do with that. Brandon Smith. Um he makes me look really smart, so I'm gonna let him take over. [applause] >> Um Good evening to you guys. I just want to My thanks to you guys for letting me come up here and speak. And I just want to say that we just had an amazing season. Like Mr. High Totower said, um, we won Central Texas Sex Division One Championship, Division One NorCal Championship, and Division One A state championship, and we came a long way. Um, from out the summer to now, a lot of adversity that we have been through. And knowing that just the brotherhood that we created throughout the season is probably the best that I've been on. from even from last year just winning a division division one section championship and then winning

023it again this year and basically just a huge accomplishment and I give my thanks to all the coaches especially coach bigs he really pushes me to be the best player that I can possibly be and um just good luck to the team next year. Thank you guys. [applause] Yeah. So, we'll invite each program to come and shake our hands and then stick around for a quick photo and then we'll turn to the next program. >> [applause] >> Good evening, board president, board members, superintendent, uh, administrators, staff, parents, and students. My name is Jared Horn. I'm both a teacher and a coach or head coach of Central High School aquatics program. I also stand here proudly as alumni of both Central High and Central Aquatics. This school, this district, and this community means a great deal

024to me. It's honor to speak on behalf of our athletes here tonight. This season was truly historic for our boys water polo program. In its first official year as a standalone program, this team has accomplished things that have never been never seen before in our district's history. They captured Central High and our district its first ever league championship in water polo, doing so un undefeated in league play. Along the way, they also set a new district record for wins in a single season and established a foundation that will impact aquatics throughout our district for years to come. Beyond team of success, we also seen we also saw remarkable individual achievements. We had numerous athletes recognized with high honors from a league MVP, goalie of the year, and multiple athletes recognized with all league and all

025section honors. These accomplishments reflect not just talent, but commitment, discipline, and a willingness to represent Central High with pride and integrity. What I'm most proud of, however, is not just what these young men accomplished in the pool. It's who they are outside of it. They showed up for one another. They represented our school in the right way and demonstrated that excellence in athletics goes handin hand with character, accountability, and academic responsibility. I want to thank our administration, athletic department, and district leadership for their continued support and belief in aquatics. Growing these programs across our district creates more opportunities for students to compete, to belong, and to succeed. On behalf of our coaching staff and athletes, thank you for recognizing this team tonight and your continued support of Central High and aquatics throughout our district. Thank

026you. Thank you. [applause] >> Good evening, coaches, families, and teammates, members of our community, and elected trustees. My name is Christian Lovado, and I'm a sophomore. I'm a proud student athlete and team captain of the Central High Water Polo team. This was the first year of our water polo program, and no one knew what we would become. We didn't have any history or expectations and we had to battle adversity and obstacles that no other team in our in our area had had to overcome before. We're just a group of kids willing to put in the work. From the first practice, this chief this team chose effort, discipline, and trust. We pushed each other every single day in and out of the pool. Winning the Northrose League wasn't just about talent. It was about commitment and

027unity. Every player mattered. every rule counted. As a team captain, I'm proud for this team, not just for winning, but for setting the standard of what this program should be. Thank you for our coaches and most importantly, families for believing in us. This championship is only the beginning. Thank you and go Grizzlies. [applause] >> So, we welcome you all to come and shake our hands and after you shake our hands to please stay up front. I have a certificate on behalf of the board to recognize your guys' accomplishment and then we'll take a group picture. They just have to they just have to make sure that they're already testing. Good evening. I'm Coach Clark. I represent our unified soccer program. Standing next to me is Captain Nathaniel. >> Thanks. >> We we battled uh throughout

028the season and down to the last game. The two top teams uh met each other in our final game. Game ended in a tie. We went into penalty kicks where Nathaniel helped us win the championship. So [applause] >> good. >> Thank you very much. >> Good job, buddy. >> Go Grizzlies. [cheering and applause] So again, we welcome you and any of your teammates to come and shake our hand and then I have a certificate to give you and we would also like a photo with you all. Um, and I am the girls tennis coach. It has been a fantastic year for our girls here at Central High School. Uh, the girls were league champions and went undefeated the entire season. What I am the most proud of is watching them grow into um strong individuals.

029Winning is not always about a score. Um I tell them that winning is about learning how to deal with their emotions in a healthy way and supporting each other no matter what. I know my girls have finally understood that. Even though there was tension and disagreement at the beginning of the season regarding placement of ladder, um I am sure that we can all agree that it helped our players cope with their emotions in a healthy way. Um, I look forward to continuing to develop a program where we create winners both on the court and emotionally. I hope to see more girls come out for tennis to build a strong central tennis community uh in the years to come. >> Hi everyone, I am varsity one of the girls tennis team and I am representing uh

030central tennis. Okay, so I won't stand up here and lie and tell you everything was perfect. Everyone liked each other. We worked we always worked hard. This year was a chaotic year for us. Not everyone was doing uh not everyone got along 100% of the time. We didn't always try our best. We didn't always come out on top. So many of us lost matches we believe we could have won. In truth, everyone had their highs and lows, moments we we weren't proud of, moments which made us want to quit. Some practices were bites, some were laughs, some were spent complaining. In truth, we ha we hadn't had it all figured out. I doubt other teams truly did. But in the end, we learned about each other, got over misunderstandings, and laugh together. The tennis team

031taught us how to get over losses, forgive people, and enjoy living in the moment. Many of our varsity players were seniors, leading uh leading to a tennis year that cannot be replaced. I myself have learned so uh so much about myself, people, and life. If you ask me if I'd do it again, I'd say yes. Even with all the bumps, the connections and relationship made and grown through the sport made my year. I want to thank my teammates, my coach, and my doubles partner, Sky, for making this year such a fun year for me. I myself had to learn to manage my emotions and realize not every game could be a win. Most of us did. I never thought I'd see some of us that I thought didn't care as much um break down because

032we thought we could have done better. As Miss Botron said, most of us didn't get along at the beginning of the year, but we learned to get over it and honestly, we're really great friends now. I also want to thank Mr. Yates for being understanding, patient, and for the words he gave me even though I didn't want to hear them. I want to thank all of our all of our teammates and know that even though this year we didn't move as far as we like to, we still made it to playoffs. We still won league and we still did better than what we thought we would do. So, thank you Let's I know they've all stepped out, but let's give all of our student athletes a round of applause and our coaches as well as

033a thank you to all of our parents and their families for supporting them. Thank you. And with that, we move on to Employee recognition. I'll turn it over to Assistant Superintendent Dr. Childs. >> Yes. Thank you, uh, President Kado, members of the board, and Superintendent Dr. Marshall. Our first employee that we want to recognize is coming into our district, and that is our district safety and security manager, Mr. Conrad Martin. Good evening, President Kio, trustees, superintendent Dr. Marshall, and members of the board. First, thank you for the trust that you've instilled in me. I accept this responsibility and opportunity and do not take it lightly. I come from a place where safety means showing up, paying attention, and doing the work before problems turn into emergencies. My approach is simple. be present, be proactive, and

034hold ourselves accountable every campus, every day. I'm here to work with principles, teachers, staff, and our safety partners to make sure students feel protected, staff feel supported, and families know their schools are solid throughout the Central Unified School District. This isn't about titles, it's about results. Thank you again for taking this opportunity and believing in me. I'm not here to talk safety. I'm here to deliver it. Thank you. [applause] Thank you, Mr. Martin. The next uh new employee that we would like to introduce is student and family service manager, program manager, April Lee. She's not here tonight. So, we're going to keep on moving forward with our next employee to recognize and introduce is our supervis supervisor of community schools, Diana Padilla. >> Good evening, President Kario, board of trustees, superintendent Dr. Marshall, and cabinet

035members. My name is Diana Padilla and I am very excited to join Central Unified as a supervisor for community schools. I am eager to support the district's mission and contribute to the community school's goals and initiatives. Throughout my 25 years of experience in education, I have led with student centered approaches dedicated to serving at Promise youth and families in the Fresno community. I greatly admire the district's commitment to a holistic education model that supports the whole child through collaboration among educators, students, families, and community partners. I look forward to the opportunity to bring my experience and dedication to Central Unifi's team to support and enhance the initiatives that increase the success of students and families. Thank you again for this opportunity. [applause] Thank you, Mr. Dia. And our final employee recognition is our new director

036of state and federal programs, Joseph O. Good evening, everyone. Um, I'm honored for the opportunity to work here as the new director of state and federal programs uh for Central Unified School District. Um, I am excited to support the district's guiding principles in high expectations, excellence, equity, and access and collaboration and community. Uh, for me, I was an English learner when I was growing up. So, I know personally how important support is for individual students. and that is my guiding light to this day uh in my work in education to make sure that students receive what they need. Um also I am a relative newcomer to uh the central valley and to the Fresno area. Uh but even now I have already seen the community and the sense of pride that people have in Central

037Unified School District. Just the other day, I was getting a haircut and my barber was an alumni uh alumnest of Central Unified and he took a lot of pride in being part of Central. And so I am excited to work together with our students, our staff, our schools and our families and community partners to make sure that every student, every teacher, um every administrator is proud just like the barber was um to be part of Central Unified. Thank you for this opportunity. >> Thank you and welcome. [applause] And that concludes our employee recognitions. Great. Thank you everyone. We move on to employee association highlights. Do we have uh our CUDA president Laura Bolton? Good evening everyone. Um I don't have a long list of positives. In fact, the only one that was shared with me

038at our meeting because we just came back yesterday when we had our meeting um was [clears throat] about the championship. So, the football championship. So, you've already heard about that. So, the other thing I want to share with you um is um what CUDA is doing to assist the retirees in our district who are looking into the retirement incentive that's being offered. Um our neighboring districts announced their incentive before us which caused a rush on Calsters for retiree appointments. Um many are waiting to submit their forms until they can verify what their pay will be with Calsters. So in order to help with this um CUDA arranged a Zoom meeting to host a Calsters webinar called uh I will retire this year. Um I reached out to HR and um I invited them to join

039us for the Q&A portion of the meeting and they accepted and also secured a rep from PARS to join us as well. Um we're grateful for the collaboration to help support our retirees and all of our educators. Um, I want to let anyone who's watching this uh know that during the webinar tomorrow, there will be a um specific tour of the website that shows our members where they can go on the website to locate their personal payout for retirement. Um, so it would be a really good thing for you to be able to see that. Um, we can't record it unfortunately. It's against Caltor's rules. So, um I will be taking um copious notes and sharing that out um afterwards. Um finally, I would also like to encourage all of our future retirees to join

040CTA NEA Retired. Um there is um a really good advantage for joining. Um NEA has a health plan for retirees that provides extremely affordable Medicare gap coverage. Um but it's only available to those that join CTA NA retired. Um so if someone someone would like to um get more information about that, they can reach out to me for more info. Thank you. >> Thank you. That'll conclude our employee association highlights. We move on to reports, uh our school reports. We will begin our har with harvest elementary school. We invite principal Todd Bennett. >> Thank you very much, Board President Curio, board members, Dr. Marshall, Superintendent, colleagues, community. Thank you for this opportunity to highlight uh I was going to say the best elementary school in the state, but Courtney's back here, so I know she'll

041she'll disagree with me about that. How do I get it started here, Dr. Charles? Which one? This one. Hey, there it is. All right. Harvest Elementary, a fantastic place to be for kids and a fantastic place to work. Uh we worked really hard last year and we had some success. We grew significantly in the ESPback. In reading, we grew uh over eight percentage points. In math, we pretty much stayed even, but we did grow a bit with 1%. Uh I Ready reading. Uh we grew also. Math again stayed about the same with a 1% growth. We improved our attendance and we improved our chronic absenteeism. Uh we attribute the growth in reading to a real focus on early literacy. Uh we had over 16 teachers last year and then we have more this year going

042through that went through the letters training and then we also adopted the the new curriculum um you fly for our primary classes and the what's it frog street frog street is that yeah frog street for our TK and uh it it's really fun to watch those in action we um the greatest growth that we had was among our third grade class they they they did uh 22.4% better than the previous year's third graders. So, there's a lot of growth there. Um we also teamed with a community partner for attendance and uh we incentivized attendance and help kids see the importance of coming to school. Gave away some bicycles. We gave away some scooters and uh generated a lot of excitement around that. Really excited about our panorama results. At the beginning of this year, we

043surveyed our parents and student community and in nearly every uh category, they showed increased satisfaction with our with our school. Uh parents rated uh harvest at 93% positive in dismantling barriers to engagement and uh that was a gain of 11% and a gain of 16% in family in school communication. Uh stu and 17% in student needs. Uh the student survey showed the greatest increase in teacher student relationships among sixth graders with an 8% growth there. And then with our third through fifth, they appreciate um our school safety. So things are going well, but that's not that doesn't mean we're without challenges. Uh we really talked about our math. We've kind of flatlined in math over the years, hovering at around 30% and uh we want to figure out what's going on there. So, we're focusing

044on academic language in math. We noticed that our students in our EEL program that um are reclassified do really well on the ESPback test. And we've talked about maybe some possible reasons why. And one of the things that we kind of keyed on was that we spend a lot of time with academic language. And um we need to do that for all kids. So, we're focusing on academic language and math. number sense and skills were a an area of struggle for our kids across the board. And then we're also looking at uh we are not looking at we are this year focusing on rigorous daily activities including uh applied word problems. Uh reading instruction, we still want to focus on that. So we're still um focused on early literacy, reading fluency, and then in our

045upper grades it's uh informational text and reading to learn. Uh and then through the efforts of Mrs. Pennington, our area uh administrator, all the schools in the Garza area are focusing on on increased rigor in the classroom and daily instruction and daily activities for the kids. And we've identified five key areas. When my vice principles and I go into classrooms, we are looking for these on a on a daily basis. And that is that what's being taught is at a grade level standard appropriate for the grade we're observing. uh that the materials are aligned to the grade level standards and the best way to know that is to be seen the adopted material being used and uh then also the activities the questions and conversations are at a DK uh of two or higher. So

046they're at the analyze, evaluate, and create uh uh stages. And then those students that are challenged by the working at grade level are provided the appropriate scaffolds and then that there's a plan for those scaffolds to be dismantled throughout the year. Uh and then we're also looking at all the different ways that we that students can show that they've learned, not just standardized tests, but different uh different ways students can prove that they've learned at grade level. like to spotlight a very positive, welcoming culture. When you come to our school, it you'll feel it when you walk onto our campus. Every day starts with music outside. We'll play music uh either uh cultural music if we're celebrating a culture that month or uh just happy music to bring kids in and have them have them

047come into school every day. Uh Mrs. Carr is out there grading kids every day. I am. My vice principles are. and uh it's a happy place to come to school every morning. Our PTA was reestablished this year and did a great job. We had a trunk or treat back in October. We had over a thousand people attend and that wasn't just our students. It was also open to the community at large. Our Veterans Day celebration has become a uh a tradition at our school. Uh Katie Hernandez, one of our fifth grade teachers, started this. She is a a child of a of a of an air force or I think it's air force her mother's a colonel lieutenant colonel uh and she grew up in the military and uh so there we that we spend

048the month having children uh research their families and talk to their family members that have been in the military or their survivors of those that were in the military. They do a little report on them and then we put those reports up in our foyer and it's first thing you see when you walk in. It's the wall of honor of our veterans. And then those that are able to attend, we invite to come to our school for a big celebration. And that's nice. We celebrate uh the various cultures through when we have our uh our uh cultural appreciation months. And when we do that, we invite kids to wear traditional clothing. You can see the picture up there of kids dressed in Indian clothing. And uh we have a lot of fun with that. We

049have a great Indian dance group again. Mrs. Carr is our lead for that. And then with our student of the month assemblies, which we started last year, we focus on our Hawk code. Have integrity, accept responsibility, we respect others, kindness counts, and show safety. And each month we focus on one of those traits. Two students are chosen and then they are awarded in an assembly. Their parents are invited. We also spend that time to give out good news referrals and those are for any student. doesn't have to be a student of the month, but that a teacher wants to recognize and those parents are also invited to come to school and hear what their teacher has uh written about their child. Our PBIS uh program is going well and then we have some really great

050partnerships with SEAL. We have all for youth on our campus five days a week now and then we have our um intervention counselor and our and our psych services that do a fantastic job. And that's our highlight. So, thank you very much. Thank you. >> Any questions or comments from the board? >> Okay. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you so much. >> Next, we'll hear from our principal from Hton Kernney Elementary School, Gend. >> All right. Good evening, board president Curio, trustees, and superintendent Dr. Marshall. My name is Courtney Gend, and I am the proud principal at Hton Kernney. Um, I'm here tonight to share with you all about the great things as well as some of our challenges that we have at Hton Karnney. Starting out with some data, we made gains

051in both ELA and math on the ESPback. We grew 5% in both ELA and math. um with 40 p 46% proficient in ELA and 38 uh% proficient in math. Um so we were really um proud of our students and all the growth that we made um in those two areas. We still have continued uh work to do. Um and so I'll speak about that in just a moment. I would like to highlight that our English learners grew 32 points in ELA and 19.5 points in math which is a significant growth. Um, and so we were really excited about that as well. Speaking of our English learners, we reclassified 12 students, uh, which is 24% of our English learners at Hton Karnney, um, which was, uh, many more than we had the previous year. So, that

052was exciting for us as well. We also had our English learner progress indicator. 56% of our English learners grew at least one language proficiency level on the ELPAC. Um, so our English learners are making some really great gains and we're really excited to see that and all of our hard work that we've been putting in and our students have been putting in. Um, we're really seeing um the benefit of of all of that. As we continue to progress and build on what we're already doing, all of our TK through third grade teachers are in progress or have completed letters training to support reading instruction. And our K2 students are receiving phonics instruction with our new UFI curriculum. Um, and we've been seeing some great growth with our students in phenemic awareness in that area as

053well to support student learning in the area of math. Um, we have some teachers that are going through training around math concepts including counting collections and incorporating cognitively guided instruction or CGI um and developing mathematical thinking within their lessons in the classroom. This has really created an engaging environment with when students are um participating and engaging in math problem solving. Our teachers continue to work within their PLC's. Um they are focused around data and decision making that are that is targeted towards the specific student need. We have an academic counselor um who works with our middle school students and we have expanded our focus to include our fifth and sixth grade as well. Um and she's been goal setting and progress monitoring with all of our fifth through eighth grade students, including planning for um

054future and high school um and career exploration. She holds academic labs daily during lunchtime and twice a week after school to help students keep on track with their schoolwork um so that they can be successful in their academics. Getting students engaged not just in the classroom but outside of the classroom uh has been a specific area that we've been working towards um improving. And so we are providing increased opportunities for activities during spirit weeks and during recesses throughout the year. They've the students have really enjoyed playing games. Um going into our support room and doing crafts and different activities and just really getting engaged with their their peers. Um it's been really fun to see. In addition, I'd like to highlight that uh Hton Karnney was awarded PBIS gold status. This is the second year

055in a row. Um and just in a few short years, we've gone from bronze to silver to gold. Now, the second year in a row, which is really exciting. We also were one of the three schools in Central Unified that were awarded the America's Healthiest School Award. And we were also named one of the best middle schools in California by the US News and World Report. So that was really exciting. We do have some challenges. Our chronic absenteeism increased by almost a percent last school year. Um I will note that um our students with disabilities decreased significantly and our English learners also decreased, but we did have um three other subgroups that did increase. So that is definitely one area that we would like to um focus um our efforts. What we've done this year

056um we have our family outreach liaison and she has been amazing. Um we've been utilizing her with daily outreach, weekly outreach, seeing what the barriers are um for our families. um are there resources that are needed or even just connecting and educating on, you know, if our kiddo has a, you know, stuffy nose, they can still come to school, but if they really don't feel good, you know, we have our nursing staff on on hand. So, um just kind of um you know, building that connection with communication with our families. Um we previously have worked to provide incentives for students to get them to want to come to school, but it's so much more than that. Um, we really want students to feel connected. Um, and so what we're doing at Hton Karnney, um, our

057staff is participating in the restorative practices leadership cohort. Um, and all of our staff are participating in a professional development around trauma-informed and restorative practices as well as culturally responsive practices. So, we really want our students to feel um, included and welcomed um, and just have school place that they want to go to. What you know, regardless the current data for HTON Kernney and our chronic absenteeism, um I pulled the data today from our student information system and um at the end of the year on the California dashboard, we were at 24.6% chronically absent for our school. Um the data that I pulled today, we're at 11%. So that is a significant decrease um from what we ended the year at last year. Um so we're looking forward to continuing those efforts and seeing the

058fruits of our labor. There are so many other things happening at HT and Karnney. Um we've had many family and community events uh such as goodies with grandparents, trunk or treat. We had a family movie night this year. Um and we do have our success together family engagement nights. Um and so we have a large boundary area. Um Hton Karnney covers 40 square miles which is just almost half of the entire district. Um and so having these opportunities really gives our community an opportunity to come together um and you know network and build relationships and get to know their neighbors. Um and then we also this year was the first time we had a um staff and community Thanksgiving lunchon. And so we had families and staff and everyone brought something and our staff and

059community were able to come and eat together. And it was just a great a great experience with um building the relationships, good food, good communication. Um, and it was just a really fun fun thing to do um to get to know our families. We started mediator mentors this year. Uh, and so we have 22 students participating, which is over 10% of our school. So we have over 10% of our students that are trained in conflict resolution that help their peers out during recess time um to resolve minor conflict. Um, we also have planned a few rewards for students for academics and behavior. Um, this includes a schoolwide barbecue and an inflatable party. And our students have also attended off-campus uh learning experiences like the pumpkin patch, the fair. Um, our eighth grade A elective um

060went to the high school and they'll be going to Reedley College. And we have many other different opportunities for our students to participate. We also had our high school um athletes as readers and leaders attend our school to read to our students. Uh it was really great to have those students as role models um to show that really students are athletes are students first and um you know just being that that leader and role model for our kid our kids. Lastly, um I'm really excited about the reopening of our updated Tiger Closet. Um the the Tiger Closet started as gathering donations for one of our families in need and we received a ton of donations and so that's what started the Tiger Closet. Um and this was the first clothing closet in Central Unified. So

061um we're really excited to get it revamped. Um and so that will be opening in this uh later in the spring. Um thank you to Serena Dohi and the Foundation for Central Schools. Um they've really been a great partner with us um to keep it going. Um as well as you know I know they've opened other clothing closets in in the com in the central unified. So together we've turned it into a uh an exceptional and much needed resource for not just our Hton Kernney kids but through for other schools in our community and Central unified. That is all I have for today. Thank you for allowing me to share everything about Hton Kernney. Um and I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have. >> Thank you. Are there any questions or comments?

062>> Okay. Thank you so much information. Okay, we move on to Superintendent Board Communications. But before I turn it over to Superintendent Dr. Marshall, I do just want to recognize I have two awards to recognize um while we still have some folks in the audience. So, first uh I am uh going to recognize our student trustees, our outgoing student trustees. One of them is here today. And I just want to thank you on behalf of our board um and on behalf of our our students and our district as a whole for being so courageous in uh being one of our first student trustees. Uh I know I probably speak for all of us when I say that we appreciate all of your questions, your thoughtfulness. I know that there was a lot of discussions and

063meetings you had with the superintendent, so you took your position seriously. And so to commemorate um your participation there is a a pretty uh a plaque that we are giving you for everyone to see. So congratulations uh on your service and thank you very much. So, if you'd like to say a few words, go ahead. If it's more than three minutes, I may cut you off, but I want to thank all of you. >> There you go. All right. Yeah. So, this is certainly a a pleasant surprise. I want to thank all of you for the work you've done as well. I'm just here for a semester, but you guys are here for four years serving our students, especially the staff and teachers. It's been a very difficult journey to establish this position. Um getting

064getting out there, getting those student signatures to establish it. Um not sometimes even standing up to speak for yourself is a difficult thing. And standing up for others is even more difficult. And so being in that position to stand up for others, it's very honorable. It's also very humbling. So in this position, in this semester, I've learned a lot about myself. Um what I can do, what I can accomplish and thank you all. I can't wait for the future student trustes to learn that as well. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> And um the last award I want to provide is to our outgoing president um trustee Nandep Singh Chan who served as our board president for two years and I think I speak for all of us when I say he he served very

065well and so thank you for always leading us and bringing us together um and and your great service to our board um but also our district. So thank you very much Are we taking a photo? >> Okay. You can say a few words now or wait till uh board reports. >> I'll wait. >> I will now turn it over to Superintendent Dr. Marshall. >> All right. Um yes. Happy New Year. We're back. a few January highlights. It's interesting we talk about these these are events that happened since the last board meeting, but with the student trustees. I had the uh pleasure we went to visit the uh Analopee Valley Union High School District because that district's had student trustees for decades. So, it was interesting like you know when we talk about how do we

066get student involvement, it was good for them to go our our students go out and visit the um inner school communication council. As you look at the picture, the photo uh that those are all high school students and basically with this it's like a closed session for students and they meet and they talk about different issues each at before each board meeting. Uh the other second picture is our student trustees with do with Shannon Williams as the deputy superintendent for the high school district in uh the Analopee Valley. A couple of uh other pictures. I got to participate in the uh foundation for central schools's holiday joy event. That was really nice to have the co the whole community come out and support our families. So you can see me passing out bananas. I mean

067and that was fun. And then and then finally uh we had the uh inter sessions uh when I came back and we visited some classrooms the other day. Next few other updates. Uh, as you're aware, there'll be a parade for the Central East of our state champion football team at Central East. Uh, there's a a parade and a rally that's on uh, Thursday. I'm very excited about the safety enhancements. I mean, in terms of having a safety manager dedicated to that, that's going to be the foundation to a lot of things that are going to come forward as far as improving our student safety. So, stay tuned on that. I'm looking forward to uh, the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that that celebration on Monday. I think I've been invited to several events. So, Central

068Unifi will be well represented in the city of Fresno. And then, uh, finally, um, the governor is doing this, Governor N. This is his last budget and there'll be an analysis on January 20th. I'll be going to that to see that as that's my report. >> Thank you. We move on to board reports and we will begin with our outgoing student trustee, Trustee Gordon. Did I say that correctly? >> Yeah. >> Resume my duties. Um, I'll keep it brief. The only I've had students come to me after the previous board meeting regarding what was discussed about valid previously and there is strong student support and strong student interest in changing the valid Victorian policy especially for this year's senior class. So there is interest and there is support from this outgoing senior class to have

069that change be effective as soon as possible. >> Thank you. I'm just going to go down the row. Trusty Stew and no obligation to speak if you don't have anything to say. Trusty Keron, I'll come back to you. Vice President. Okay, I'll make mine very brief. Um I just want to follow up on the holiday joy which um was held back in December 19th, I think. Um I learned that that event was started by the board of trustees uh which was really exciting and fun for me to hear. It's one of the events that I've committed and and attended every year and so I hope that we can continue to have board representation out there. It's great to know that that program keeps growing and the amount of families that we've been feeding. I believe

070um Serena said we might have fed over 350. So something that started I think in the 80s with a couple of h uh bags of groceries um for our community now has become something that has grown every year. So, I just wanted to to give a shout out and then welcome to all of our students, all of our uh employees back to the school year and I'm excited to serve as as your board president um this year. And so, with that, we will move on to comments from the public. Uh how many speakers do we have? >> Uh President Creo, I have four in person. I'm not sure how many are online. >> Okay, perfect. So, we've allocated 20 minutes, so we should have enough time to provide every speaker three minutes. I just ask

071that you please be respectful of the time when your three minutes end. Please conclude or wrap up your comment. If you continue to speak, we'll cut you off uh respectfully. And then just a reminder to be respectful with your comments. There are students present, students that serve on our board as well. And so be mindful as you present your comments. And with that, I'll turn it over to Clerk Kon um to begin the public comment. And for those that are watching at home, the number to dial if you wish to provide a public comment is 559-2763150. >> Thank you. The first comment is from M Ahmed and I apologize if I mispronounce your name. Please make sure the button is light is light green and you'll have three minutes when you start. >> Uh hello,

072good evening board members. My name is I am a senior at Justin Garza High School and I would like to see the Valley Victorian policy change with the exception of students and a 4.0 GPA. I hope to see this policy change as soon as possible. Thank you. >> Thank you. Our next comment is from Angel. Hello, my name is Angel. I'm a senior in the Central Unified School District. After what was discussed at the last board meeting, I believe that the board must act quickly and effectively for this year's for this year's um senior's class to change the valator policy. It is crucial it's done fast because there are only close to 12 weeks leave. I'm not only speaking for the hardworking students in the center, but also for the young people who make up

073our future, the future who deserve proper recognition. The valid Victorian policy must change. Thank you. Thank you. Our next comment is from Gabriel Suarez. I'm here to ask you to make a clear public commitment to building a swimming pool at Central High today and expedite the process to cut the projected time in half. This is not a luxury request. This is an equity issue. This is a student opportunity issue and it's long overdue. The Central High Water Polo team's accomplishments were so amazing that Fresno proclaimed December 4th Central High men's water polo team day. Yes, Central High is the only high school in Fresno without a pool. This inequity, this is inequity, lack of access, and a roadblock to academic excellence. There's no excuse for that. And there's no excuse for why you haven't already

074committed to building a pool. Instead, these students are busted daily to another campus to practice. They lose close to an hour every day, time that should be spent on school, rest, or family. They're held to the same expectations as their peers at East or Garza, but without the same resources. My son gets home from practice after seven and barely has time to eat dinner and do his homework before he goes to sleep. Playing a sport should not mean the academics are sacrificed. A school should provide the resources for students to do both, not one or the other. Despite this, they still succeed. But how can you celebrate their success when you're making it harder for them to achieve it? Central Unified has spoken about expanding opportunities, closing equity gaps, and building programs so they can

075com compete with other big school districts. Central High is trying to build a program introducing swimming, diving, and water polo to the elementary and middle school students. That vision cannot happen without a pool. You cannot build an aquatics program and borrowed water. Swimming is not just a sport. It's a life-saving skill and a pathway to college scholarships. It's a door to careers in athletics, coaching, lifeguarding, and public service. But not committing to a pool. This district is limiting access to all of that, particularly for students who are predominantly from workingclass and underserved communities. Tonight, we're not asking for a vague promise. We're not asking for this to be pushed to a future generation of students. We're asking that you commit publicly and clearly to building a pool at Central High with an expedited timeline and

076plan. Right now, our students have already shown they're worthy of the investment. They've earned a league championship without the tools that others take for granted. Imagine what they could do with equal access. A district that claims to value equity must end this inequity right now. How can you sit here and say you celebrate excellence when you don't support it? And the district that plans for the future future must invest now, not in a few more years. James Baldwin once said, "You always told me it takes time. It takes my father's time, my mother's time, my uncle's time, my brothers and my sister's time, my nieces and my nephews time. How much time do you want for your progress? For your these students have done their part. Why do you refuse to do yours? Thank you.

077Our next comment will be from Laura Bolton. I'll be quick. I just um left off uh an important um piece of information in my presentation earlier. Um, I was able to get that contact information from Calsters due to one of our members who was um really really um persistent. Um, and she made sure that I um that I got the business card, she checked up. Have you spoken to her? Um, so I I need to give credit to Linda Labendera for um for making sure that um that information got into my hands so that I could get that set up for our future retirees. So, thank you, Linda. >> President Ko, I have no other comments at this time. >> Okay. And I'm being told we have three comments from uh telephonic. >> Yes. >>

078No more in-person comments. So, at this time, our in-person comments are closed. We will now take our telephonic uh comments. >> Okay. Our first call is from uh Crystal Cabra, who's a parent. Crystal, are you there? >> It looks like the call was dropped. Uh, we'll move on to our second caller. >> She's been waiting on to speak. >> Just have her call back. We're gonna take her comment. We won't continue >> not doing that. >> She was hung up on >> pushing them through. >> Do we have the second caller on hold? >> Uh, they're getting pushed through. Second caller. I have student Phoenix Suarez. So, he's his call's coming through. >> Does Crystal have my cell phone number? No, she called in early to get on and she was hung up on you're

079just passing her up now. And you guys have done that a lot. >> That is a pattern that you follow. >> They're going to give you my cell phone number. Have her call my cell phone and we'll put her on. >> Shouldn't be this much trouble. >> Still waiting for the caller comes through. >> Okay. Yeah, my sons are on the line, too. >> If they're with her, we can just take them. the same phone and she tried to call in last time and they wouldn't let her through. >> Yeah. I have Crystal on the line. Crystal, you have three minutes to address the board and your time starts now. >> Yeah. She's should Chris, can you hear us? Crystal, can you hear us? I don't want to do it. Is the issue on our

080end? >> Yeah. She says that she can hear you, but you can't hear her. >> Yeah. This broken phone line thing has been a common issue for years at this district. Okay, we're asking you to limit your comments. We just want to make sure that we get the speakers on the phone to provide them the public comment. >> If you'd like to address our telephone issues at a future board meeting, you're welcome to come back and provide a public comment. >> Why can't we address it right now? >> Yeah. Mr. Suarez, can you have her call my cell phone? We do want to take your comments, but we do have business that we need to get to for today's meeting as well. And we will continue to work on making sure that our phones work.

081And I just want to remind the community that allowing the telephonic participation has been something that we work towards. Um, but if you want to ensure that you can provide your public comment, please attend in person. Okay, Crystal, can you speak? >> Yes. Can you hear me? >> Can everyone hear her? Okay, so we're going to start the clock. Go ahead and begin. >> I'm here tonight to talk about equity, opportunity, and a very simple question. Why is Central High School the only high school in the city of Fresno without a swimming pool? Let that sink in. Every other high school in Fresno has onampus aquatic facilities. Yet, Central High, one of the oldest schools in Fresno, soon to be serving well over a thousand students, does not. Our students must be bus to another

082campus just to practice a sport that the schools can access by walking out their back door. That lost time adds up. Lost instructional time, lost family time, and lost opportunities for growth. And despite those obstacles, Central High's water polo team didn't just compete. They won. They went in undefeated. They won their league. They produced the league MVP and goalie of the year. The city of Fresno even proclaimed, quote, "Central High's men's water polo team day." Quote. But C but championships don't change the fact that Central High still has no pool. What makes this even harder to understand is where district resources appear to be concentrated. Over the last several years, Justin Garza High School has received significant investments, state-of-the-art facilities, modern athletic infrastructure, and ongoing upgrades. No one here is saying Justin Garza doesn't deserve

083quality resources. Students there absolutely do. But equity is not about who gets the most. Equity is about who's being left behind. Central High student population that is overwhelming working class. A majority of students qualify for free or reducedric meals. These families cannot simply go elsewhere for private swim clubs or off-campus training. For many Central High students, school facilities are their only access to athletics, enrichment, and opportunity. Yet, year after year, Central High is asked to make do without basic facilities that every other high school has. This isn't just about water polo. A pool supports swim instruction, physical education, lifesaving skills, girls athletic, and elementary and middle school pipeline programs. It's all about safety, health, and equal opportunity. If Central Unified truly believes in preparing all students for success, then we must be honest about the

084imbalance that exists. We must acknowledge that while some campuses continue to receive major investments, others like Central High are still waiting for the basics. So tonight, I'm asking for more than recognition. I'm asking for commitment, a clear public commitment to building a pool at Central High School, a timeline, and a promise that no Fresno school will continue to be treated as less deserving because our students have already proven their champions. Now, it's time for the district to show up for them. Thank you. >> Thank you, Crystal. It's my understanding your sons also wish to speak. >> Yes, they do. >> Can I pass the phone to Phoenix? >> Yes, you may. Okay, here you go, Phoenix. You can speak now. My name is Phoenix Suarez. My big brother goes to Central High School. I want

085to talk about something that doesn't show up in trophies or announcements or celebrations. I want to talk about time and how much of it we lose. My brother plays water polo and that means every day after school he gets on a bus and leaves. Not to go home, not to stay on campus, but to go somewhere else because Central High doesn't have a pool. While while he's gone, I'm at home. I do my homework without him. I eat dinner without him. I wait. Sometimes I sit on the couch and listen for the door. Sometimes I fall asleep waiting. When he finally gets home, it's late, really late. The house is quiet. I hear his backpack at the floor. Most nights we don't talk at all. He just eats dinner by himself, does his homework until

086he falls asleep. I miss my brother. I miss asking about I miss asking him about his day. I miss helping him with his homework. I miss playing video games with him. And I miss being in the same room. This isn't because he This isn't because he doesn't want to be home. It's because his school doesn't have a pool, which he should. If Central High School had a pool, a pool, my brother would be able to practice there. He would be able to finish earlier and he would be able to come home earlier. He would have energy left and he would be present. Instead, he loses hours every week riding buses and waiting for practice to start. Hours that other students shouldn't lose. Hours that don't come back. And I don't lose these hours with And

087I lose these hours with them, too. People talk about how hard athletes work. But what people don't talk about is what gets taken away from them and from us. Time with family, time to rest, time to be a kid, time to be a big brother. Building a pool isn't just about sports. It's about fairness and it's about families. I don't need a championship. I just want my brother home. Please build a pool at Central High. Please bring my brother back because I miss him when he's playing water polo. >> Thank you. >> And then does your brother want to speak as well? >> Yeah, here he is here. Malachi. Stop hopping. >> Hello. >> Yes. Go ahead, Malachi. >> My name is Malachi Suarez. I'm proud to be here as a member of the Central

088High men's water polo team. This year, we went undefeated, won our league, and had teammates named Lee MVP and league goalie of the year. The city even proclaimed December 4th as Central High men's water polo team day. I am honored to be on this team, but I have to but I have to be honest. Celebration alone isn't support. Because here's the truth. Central c Central High does not have a pool. Every day we are bus to another school just to practice. That's hours lost traveling, hours taken from our families, our homework, our rest. Every other high school in Fresno has the advantage of a home pool. We don't. Yet, we've achieved so much. Imagine what we could do if we had what we needed. So tonight I have to ask you something. Can you look

089me in the eyes and tell me that you truly support me? Can you say that you truly support every teammate who sacrifices every day just to play a sport we love despite the odds stacked against us? Because right now support without a pool does not feel like support at all. We've proven our dedication, our skill, and our heart. Now we need the tools to match it. Our team isn't just about champions. We're setting an example for the kids who will come after us. The elementary and the middle schoolers who want to dream big, who want to wear the Central High uniform one day. But we can't build that future without a pool. We need your help. Not just to celebrate us, but to give us what every other school has, a fair shot, a home,

090a chance to grow. Tonight, I feel proud, but I don't feel celebrated. I feel the weight of what's missing and the responsibility to speak up. Support isn't just words. Support is action. Support is giving us the pool we need for us and the and for the generations to come. So I ask again, can you look me in the eyes and say that you truly support me when you have not committed to building a pool? Because we're ready to do our part, but we need you to do yours. >> Thank you. Okay, [clears throat] >> we have one more caller on the phone. President CO um we can push them through and see if phones are working now. >> Okay. >> I have I have student Reesei Baldwin on the phone. Uh Reesei, if you can

091hear us, you have three minutes to address the board and your time starts now. Hi, my name is Reese and I am a current senior at Distinguarda High School. I believe that it is completely necessary to fast act the valuatorium policy for this year. Many students have worked very hard to maintain a 4.0 GPA and it is necessary to recognize them for this year. Thank you. >> I have no more clause on my end. >> Thank you. >> That'll conclude our public comment. And as a reminder, since the topics discussed in public comment are not agendaized, the Brown Act prohibits the board from taking any action or having any discussion on those items. With that, we move on to our consent agenda. A couple of items to acknowledge. We have our resolution 2526 declaring February

0922026 as Black History Month. We have declar uh resolution number 252626 declaring January 27th 2026 as international holocaust remembrance day. And we have resolution number 2526-27 the advancement of dual language programs in Spanish and Punjabi. And with that what are the wishes of the board on our consent agenda? >> A motion to approve the consent agenda. >> Second. >> Thank you. I have a motion by trustee Kirk and a second by trustee Singh to approve the consent agenda. What are the wishes of the board beginning with our student trustee? >> I. >> Everyone else I >> Any oppose? Any abstensions? Motion carries. >> 70. Uh which includes our student trustee. Our next item uh we begin with our action items. Number one, accept gifts to the district. Assistant Superintendent Ekb. >> Good evening. We received

093six gifts. Uh, Central High School received a gift card valued at $100 from Costco for winter formal items. Central High School received a donation of $20,000 from Joseph Keith Burges Foundation for the Associated Student Body Fund. Glacier Point Middle School received donation of $234 from Fresno Police Officer Association and Fresno Firefighter Association for First Responder Club T-shirts. Justin Garza High School received a donation of $750 from St. George Greek Orthodox Church for Associated Student Body Fund. Justin Garzer High School received a donation of $6455 from Gordon Park McCormack Barstow Law Firm for the mock trial to spend on transportation to attend the Vicelia tournament. And finally, Persing Continuation High School received a donation of $290 from Daniel Dunham for the purchase of FFA jackets for students. Administration is recommending the board accept gifts to the

094district. >> Thank you. And thank you to all of our gifts. Any questions or comments from the board? What are the wishes of the board? >> Motion to approve. >> Thank you. I have a motion to accept the gifts from Trustee Singh. Is there a second? >> Second by trustee Sadu. Uh, student trustee, how do you vote? >> I. >> Everyone else, all those in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Any oppose? Any abstensions? Motion carries. 5-0 with Trusty Kirk currently absent. Our next item is approve the sale and disposal of surplus obsolete district property. And I'll just uh shortcut this. This is coming back from our previous agenda, which requires formal action. Are there any questions or comments from the board? And I will assume that someone will tell me if there's any

095public comment on these items as we're going through. Okay, hearing none. Is there a motion to approve the sale and disposal of the surplus and absolute district property? >> Motion to approve. >> Thank you. I have a motion by trustee Singh. Is there a second? >> Second. >> I have a second by our student trustee Gerwall. Okay. Um all in favor, please say I. I. >> Any oppose? Any absentions? Motion carries. uh 50 including our studentity. Our next item is item number three, approve architectural services by Darden Architects for 26 for 2026 school painting project. We have director Rodriguez. >> Good evening board president, board of trustees and superintendent Dr. Marshall. Uh tonight uh attached for your approval is a proposal from Darden Architects uh for architectural services for the 2026 school painting projects. This

096is a returning uh item. Uh the proposal is in in the amount of $97,290 for the four campuses. Darden [clears throat] Architects in Fresno has provided comprehensive architectural planning and interior design services throughout California since 1959. Under this proposal, Darden Architects will prepare uh project documents for painting, design, uh bidding, and construction. The uh the revised proposal now reflects the correct address for Persian pathway. If the board recalls, the campus uh uh mistakenly uh listed the former West Arts Center at uh 10950 West McKinley Avenue. This one here reflects the uh the new address, Purging Pathway at 855 West Neielsen Avenue. Administration recommends approval of this item to ensure contract documents are finalized in time for the spring bidding environment. And I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have. >> Thank you. Any

097comments or questions from the board? Hearing none. What are the wishes of the board on this item? >> Motion to approve. >> Thank you. I have a motion by Vice President Sers to approve. Is there a second? >> Second. >> I have a second by trusty Sedu. Student trustee. How do you vote? >> I. >> All in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Any oppose? Any abstensions? Motion carries. 6. Uh number item number four, approve 2627 deferred maintenance plan director. And how do I properly pronounce your last name? >> Um, you can just say Beth. >> How how do you pronounce your last name? >> I do pronounce and say Bath. >> Beth. Okay, >> that's fine. Thank you, >> Director Bath. >> Uh, good evening, P uh President CO, uh, Superintendent Dr. Marshall,

098and board members. Uh, this item returns from the previous board meeting. Um, staff did, uh, look at the input that was given by the board members. Uh, I did, uh, we talked to the CBO, Mr. for Ikbal to come up with a plan to figure out a uh adequate dollar amount to increase [clears throat] our deferred maintenance plan. Uh after discussion, the number was $4 million, which is double the amount that we have been doing in the past years. Um staff feels this is an appropriate amount to increase the workload and be able to complete the work in a timely manner. Um the the three-year plan has been attached and updated to show the $4 million. I do also want to point out uh I went over uh at the previous board meeting but I

099want to touch on it one more time is uh the additional projects uh that Dr. Marshall was working on with all the site admin based on his walks with the principles at their sites. Uh that is also a list that will be getting worked on. We are in the process of sequencing that and figuring out a way to attack it in a timely manner. Um, I also do want to mention uh part of when we looked at the budget and looking at how to get to be able to get more repairs done as needed. Um, we we are um asking also to increase this year's deferred maintenance budget by $2 million uh specifically to start working on replacing some of our older HVAC units that need to be replaced. Uh the district has done a

100very good job of doing a replacement on our chiller and boiler plants. Over the past two years, you have seen multiple projects come in for that. uh we are moving in a good direction but we need to keep on moving toward our package units that are reaching 20 25 years old. Now >> administration has recommended this board approve the uh deferred maintenance plan for 2627 with the um attach changes to 2526 also and after I answer any questions the board may have. >> Okay. Thank you. Any questions or comments? And so the request uh the any motion today would approve the 2627 recommendation for 4 million and also to increase our current deferred maintenance for the year 2526 by 2 million. >> Yes. Okay. >> Motion second. >> I heard a motion. Was that you?

101Okay. Um I have a motion by our student trustee Gordwall and then I heard a second by trustee Kon. Student trustee, how do you vote? I >> uh everyone else all those in favor please say I. >> I. >> Any oppose? [clears throat] Any obstensions? Motion carries 6. Thank you. Um item number five, approve San King Valley Air Pollution Control District public benefit grant. Director Beth. >> Good evening again, board members. Uh so Central Unified District applied for and was granted a grant through the public benefit grant uh for five electric utility vehicles. Uh the vehicles will be uh used to replace our u similar golf carts at the elementary level. Uh this is a grant that we have been uh receiving for the past few years. So it's uh reoccurring. Uh the total cost

102for the golf carts will be $94,240.17 and the grant will cover $90,534.60. Uh the remainder will be funded through the general fund. Um [snorts] I do want to just let you know these uh contracts h were in the interest of we were able to to sign them in 2025 which um benefits the district as it did not go into our eligibility for 2026. So I do want to mention that. So um after talking to legal because that was done I wanted to make sure I mention it to everybody so they know. Um and we're still asking the admin administration is still asking the board to approve these um uh the grant uh after answer any questions the board may have. >> Thank you. And then I believe this item is coming to the board for

103the first time as action and part of that reasoning was to ensure that we could take advantage of the grant and as we've noticed everything just keeps going up in price. So u this is why you're seeing it for the first time as an action item. Are there any questions or comments from the board? Hearing none. Is there a motion to approve? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Thank you. I have a motion by trustee Keron and I have a second by student trustee Gerwall. All in favor, please say I. Beginning with our student trustee. >> I. >> Everyone else. >> I. >> Any oppose? Any abstensions? Motion carries unanim unanimously. Thank you. We move on to item number six. Approve textbooks for dual enrollment courses. Assistant Superintendent Mlennon. This item is coming for the

104first time tonight as well because of the time-sensitive nature of the start of these courses. Typically, this item doesn't come before the board because it falls under $50,000, but because of increased costs and changing grants, um the cost has risen. Plus, we have more students enrolled in our dual enrollment courses. This covers the textbooks for those students in our dual enrollment course for our spring semester. >> Thank you. Are there any questions or comments from the board? Is there a motion to approve? >> Motion. >> Thank you. I have a motion by student trustee Gerald. I have a second by vice president seller. Student trustee, how do you vote? >> I. >> Uh the remainder of the trustees, how do you vote? >> I. >> Any oppose? Any abstensions? You're going to abstain. Motion carries.

1055-0 with Trusty Kirk abstaining. We move on to our information items. Um, I realize that we have guests in our audience for one of the agenda items. Is there any objection to hearing item number eight, receive information regarding architectural services by Darden Architects for the McKinley Elementary School modernization project? Is that the right one? Uh, out of order and having it heard first. Any objections from the board? Okay, great. We will hear item number eight first, please, if we can have Director Rodriguez and then our guests. Thank you uh again board president for doing that trustees and superintendent Dr. Marshall. Uh before you tonight is a proposal from Dark Darden Architects for architectural services related to the modernization project at McKinley Elementary School. Uh Darden Architects was is based in Fresno and has provided architectural

106planning and interior design services uh throughout California and also up and down the valley. Uh under this prop proposal, Darden will design, plan, and prepare all required project documents for DSA review in support of the modernization effort. Their work will ensure the project complies with the title 24 building code requirements along with the fire life safety standards and accessibility requirements for individuals with disabilities among other regulatory obligations. uh administration is recommending that this item be uh to be placed on the January 25th, 2026 board agenda for action as approval would be necessary to move forward with a design phase and updated code cycle revisions. Uh tonight I have uh Mr. uh Mike Fenessy with Darden Architects uh here to help assist me and uh answering any questions you may have on this item. >> Thank

107you. Are there any questions, comments from the board? Um my only question is time and time again um given the number of projects that we've had and it's not uniquely to to this firm um but we see errors being made. Can you like 30 seconds tell us some of the things that you're doing to make sure that as these plans are being drafted that we are in compliance and that we're accounting for and hopefully minimizing any future errors or missed areas. >> It's a great question. I I'll let uh I'll defer to Mike. Mike, you want to go ahead and [clears throat] give me >> in 25 words or less? I'll try >> 30 seconds or less. Actually, >> first of all, we've been doing this for years in the Central Valley. We've built our

108firm on K12 projects and we're constantly dealing with quality control within our office. I think the biggest thing we're doing for this project was we've broken up the whole budget into different packages so we can manage each project or each part of that budget along the way. So, if we know the little micro budgets are being managed, we can control the overall budgets. When it comes to making mistakes in drawings, I will guarantee they won't be perfect, but our drawings are par none. Talk to any contractors in the valley and they love bidding our drawings because our drawings are the most accurate in the industry locally. >> Okay, thank you. I have no other question. So, with that, any objection to having this return under consent at our January 27th, 2026 board meeting? Okay. Thank

109you very much and thank you for your patience. Thank you. >> Um we return to our first information item which is receive information regarding reorganization of the student and family services department. Dr. Marshall. >> Okay. This is just information. When I did my uh entry plan, I presented this document and basically what you see is there's one adjustment to the ORC chart is that I'm moving special education from under student and family services to educational services. Now there's some rationale for that. are very simple. Uh first of all, you we just start with I guess the guiding principle. You know, special education is not separate uh entity, but it's a specialized branch of ed services. So, it's not separate. It's a specialized branch and and basically as it goes down, there's some other points about

110that that would influence the decision. We're uh in the work with an agency that's looking at our compliance and improvement monitoring and that was one thing that they pointed out as far as our current configuration was not conducive to supporting uh students with IEPs as general ed students first. That's the that that's the guiding principle that you have look at them as students with IEP. They are general ed students first. And I think our our current configuration kind of went up went against that. The other piece as far as you have your multi your MTSS multi-ter system of supports and special ed functions those need to be separate and so with this new um reporting um on the ARC chart it will be separate they should be other than that the director of special education

111the direct report other than the director of special ed the reports in the department remain the same that's the only change uh assistant superintendent mlennon will now attend and the uh student behavior achievement committee and there'll be minimal disruption to the other department function. So it's very you know just a shift but those are the reasons why um the shift was made. >> Thank you. Any questions or comments? >> Thank you Dr. Go ahead. Vice President Sers uh when will this take effect once it's approved? Once we move forward, once we're in the midst of we've been working as far as transition, we want it to be smooth. Once everything is uh we get it all ironed out, I'll send you all this is the effective date that starts and right now we're just trying

112to make sure that the pieces it's a smooth transition. >> And so the proposal um this is going to come back for action by the board. >> I'll just >> Okay. So, it won't be coming back January 27th. Um, I just want to thank you and your team for thinking about this because I do recall two or three years ago when we first uh when the board first took action at that time to add the assistant superintendent of student and family services. That was one of the concerns that the board had was assigning the special ed component um and making sure that that we were willing to come back and review and make sure that we are doing what's best far for foremost for our students and then making sure that then it works for

113for all of our employees. So, thank you for for looking at that. Um if there's nothing further, we move on to item number two, receive information on Central East High School visual and performing arts trailer. We have Assistant Superintendent McClennon. This item is an order to replace the current trailer at the school. It was purchased used 15 years ago. It was already more than 15 years old at that time. It is going to be refurbished, so they will technically have two once they finish refurbishing it. But they do need a new trailer with all the appropriate safety equipment and storage that that that's required for the program. It is being paid for by Prop 28 grant funds. Thank you. Any questions or comments? Any objection to having this return under consent at our January 27th

114meeting? Okay. Thank you very much. Our next item is item number three. Receive information regarding school accountability reports card. >> That's me. >> Okay. >> Yeah. Tonight. >> So it normally would be our state and federal, but we didn't think it would be fair to put Joseph up at the mic first thing. Um, so this is an annual uh reporting that's required. Sarkcs are reported for the previous year's data. Just as a reminder, the data has been checked by site admin in conjunction with their area administrators and the uh DTS data reporting issue has been resolved now in the system that was creating that on our SIPs last year. This is a first glance. They will come back for approval next time which will meet our February 1 deadline requirement. >> Thank you. Um any

115comments or questions at this time on these reports? Any objection to having them return under consent? Okay. And then just as a reminder, anything on consent can always get pulled before we vote on the consent agenda. Just let me know in advance of the meeting or at the start of of the consent agenda [clears throat] item. Um, okay. That'll return under consent. Our next item is item number four. Receive information on Quarterly Williams uniform complaint procedure. We have director English. Good evening, President Kario, members of the board, and superintendent Dr. Marshall. This item is presented in compliance with the William settlement requirements. This quarterly report provides information regarding the three key areas of teacher qualifications, school facilities, and instructional materials. The Williams settlement established in 2004 assures that all California public school students have access

116to these essential educational components. Each district is required to have a quarterly public hearing and submit a report to the county superintendent administration or excuse me, the county superintendent administration recommends that the board hold a public hearing at the next board meeting to approve the quarterly Williams uniform complaint procedure. >> Thank you, Dr. English. Any questions or comments from the board? Okay, this will return under action um as it is does require a public hearing. >> Thank you. And if we can have it listed as our first item of business under action. Our next item is receive information regarding services contract with shifting perspectives. We have Dr. Childs. >> Uh yes, thank you. So this item is for training for school principles and cultural proficiency in the California professional standards for educational leaders as we

117call the capsules. uh which guide administrators in creating equitable high-erforming schools which parallels that of the CSTPs which are the California standards for the teaching profession. Um our training will be focused on standard one which is building a shared mission and vision. Standard two instructional leadership and standard five ethics and integrity for each of our principles. We did put this out to four different bids. Um shifting perspectives were was the lowest one at the price scene. The next closest was $171,000 by 360 degree uh 360 feedback leadership followed by 228 accelerator for $186,000 and then the leadership academy was 194,000. So each principal will receive one-on-one coaching through this beginning in January through the end of May. Upwards of 20 hours worth of coaching through one-on-one coaching both in person through campus and through professional

118learning and development for principal groups. Um, the proposal for the contract is the onetime cost of 161,000 and administration is recommending this item be placed on the January 27th, 2026 board agenda for action. >> Thank you. Any questions or comments? >> Vice President Sers, >> have we ever done business with this uh organization before? >> Uh, no. This would be the first time that Central Unified has done business. However, this business has worked with other districts within the valley, one being Fresno Unified in addition to um 21 CL 21 CSLA and Fresno County. >> Okay. And then my next question, the uh the 20 hours of one-on-one coaching with principles, what are the qualifications of the people who are providing that instruction? >> Right. So, uh Dr. Dwayne Chisum, he is the project coordinator. He

119is a former dean of school of education at Peru State College. also been a principal supervisor in addition to an assistant superintendent um also through the ranks of principal teacher uh Dr. Jason Strickland um he has also served as a superintendent principal principal supervisor and both other coaches Terresa per Dr. Terresa Perkins and also Dr. for Tucker Neville. They have all served as uh superintendent and also principal supervisors. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. Any objection um to having this return under consent? >> Okay. This will return under consent. Uh item number six, receive information regarding renewal agreements with Aries Software, Inc. Uh we have Dr. Childs, assistant superintendent of human resources and labor relations. >> Yes, thank you. So this right here, this is a three-year contract renewal effective November 1st, 2025 through

120October 31st, 2028. It is actually our ARIES CIS system. This which is the student information system. We do have the soul source contract attached or the soul source that you all could see that information is why we're going with them. Um there is a 5% student cost increase for software licensing. The bulk of the cost increase is reflected in their per student cloud hosting services fees and the renewal cost aligns with previously negotiated rates and below the uh current industry standards providing a discount to the district. The three-year pricing also reflects a 10% in price increase in years two and three. So administration is recommending this item be placed on the January 27th board agenda for action. >> Any questions or comments? Vice President Sers, >> I know we currently utilize Aries. Are there other

121programs that we've considered to you using? >> Sir, turn this over to Jack. >> Um, [laughter] we haven't gone out to bid on any other programs. ARIES is the largest SIS um concentrating specifically on California. Um I have done a cost comparison from board meetings across uh from previous years uh the 2425 school year for most of the uh the three major SIS's that are being used in California and ARIES ranges from 8 to $10. I have the um per per uh student on average. Um all the other systems are in that price range. Infinite Campus is $10 per student. Um, Power School ranges from uh $850 to $9 per student. Um, there's one district in Oklahoma that's paying 1040. I'm not sure what the deal is there. Uh, San Diego Unified is getting a

122discount at 718, but they have approximately 100,000 students enrollment. So, they're making it up on volume. Um so from cost perspective it is uh we are still playing sort of the the floor of the cost range >> as far as getting away from cost comparison. Are there differences in the different programs that make another program better than ARIES that would be worth us looking at investing in? >> Um I I ARIES specializes in California with several other um vendors. you're looking at um information across multiple states. Uh they're providing it in multiple states. So they don't have an emphasis on California. Um there aries I would have said for years um is the best because we can run that system locally, right? We have it all running on our servers. Unfortunately, that's no longer an

123option. Um which is why the cost increased this year. There's nothing spectacular that I've seen from other districts or from other programs that Aries does not offer. >> Um, so why 70% of the diseas in California utilize the system. >> All right. Uh, >> so I think the answer to your question is no. >> All right. Uh, Dr. Marshall, I'll follow up with you with my further questions. >> Yeah. Especially if you have specific concerns about what folks have said it's not doing or you've seen it's doing incorrectly. Please connect. >> Thanks. >> Thank you. Um, okay. We'll have this item return under action in case there's follow-up questions >> or deviating votes. Um, okay. Uh, our last information item for tonight is an item number seven, approve authorized signature and mailing permit. Uh, assistant

124superintendent ECball. >> So, this is an item is to add uh Miss Patricia Mccurly, our new fiscal director, as an authorized signer. So administration is recommending the item be placed on January 27, 2026 board agenda for action. >> Okay. Any questions or comments? Any objection to having this return under consent? >> Perfect. That'll return under consent. Uh advanced planning the 12-month calendar is attached. Are there any additional information and closing comments? This item is on the agenda. If there's any request for uh agenda items in the future, now is the time to share or you can let me or superintendent Marshall know. >> May I may I ask uh one? I know uh Dr. Lopez uh has received quite a bit of community feedback in terms of especially how uh parents and community members are

125feeling about uh what they see as appropriate or inappropriate usage of cell phones. So, I would love a future uh meeting to have that presented to um I know this is a hot topic throughout the state for us to uh think what makes what's most appropriate here in Central Unified. >> And I presume that we probably need the board policies committee and so I will connect with Trustee Kirk to make sure that we get something scheduled as soon as our calendars allow so that we can then bring all those policies including the cell phone policy. So, yes, on our list. Anything else? Anyone else? Any final words for your last board meeting tonight? >> Um, happy to be here. Happy to end it. Yeah. >> Thank you. Thank you very much. And with that, our

126next board meeting, our next regular meeting, uh, is scheduled for January 27th. Our Tuesday workshop needs to be rescheduled, which is currently scheduled for January 20th because there's a conflict. And so, we will need to um reschedule that. Uh we don't need to adjurnn. And so with that um our student trustee, will you make a motion to adjurnn? >> Motion to adjurnn. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Thank you. And with that, all in favor of adjourning, please say I. >> Any oppose? Any abstensions? Motion carries. We adjourn at 9:01 p.m. [applause] >> I still I It's still even if I give you 15 minutes, it's still 8:45. Yeah, I gave him >> Yeah, right. I'm just going to sign this Anita house for me and then I'll be there. I don't have

127them.