Chico Unified School District Board of Education Meeting 12/17/2025

001Welcome everybody. We are going to call the December 17th, 2025 regular board of education meeting for Chico Unified School District to order. It is 5:00 pm. We are going to head into close session. Uh if there are any comment on close session items, now is the time. Seeing no public comment, we are going to uh adjourn to close session until 6 pm. I'm not Good evening everyone. Nice to see you all here. Um this is the regular board meeting for the Chico Unified School District Board of Education for December 17th, 2025. Uh we have been in closed session in which no action was taken. So, we're going to go ahead and move on to Well, you know, let's start with the flag salute. How about that? All right. Will you please join me in rising

002for the flag to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation andice for all. >> Thank you. And with that, I'm going to head hand it over to Superintendent Blake for report and recognition. >> All right, we've got some uh some cool things happening tonight. We're pretty excited. First up, we've got Kathleen. Come on up and share what you're going to share. Like making sure you're still behind me. Hello. We are here tonight. We have the great privilege um to stand here tonight to present the superintendent award for certificated staff. Um we are thrilled to honor Tamara Ferguson, our lead teacher at LMA Vista Early Learning Center in the Little Panthers classroom. For over for over 20 years, Tamara has transfor transformed her preschool classroom into

003an inclusive laboratory of imagin imagination, discovery, and joyful learning. She understands that teaching a young child is not about delivering facts, but about fostering a deep intrinsic desire to explore and question the world around them. The nominations we received from our preschool team members painted a clear picture of her extraordinary impact. So, we asked the fellow teachers what were three words that best described Tamara and they said kind, committed, generous, energetic, patient, understanding, very friendly, happy, welcoming, inclusive, capable, fun, always positive, uh, determined, caring, and confident. Um, when we asked them what was the best part of working with Tamara, they said that she they she always makes them feel supported, valued, inspired. Your kindness creates a positive, inclusive classroom environment, and her generosity encourages th those around her to grow and succeed. She is

004flexible about schedule changes, which is great for the speech pathologist. She has a positive attitude and puts the needs of her students first and does it all with a smile. She is a collaborative problem solver and has a fun, personable sense of humor. When we asked her fellow teachers what in how she inspires them, she they said she leads with compassion and purpose. Watching her give her time, energy, and heart to both students and colleagues reminds me of what true dedication looks like. Her positivity, work ethic, and willingness to go above and beyond motivate them to bring to bring out the best of themselves and our preschool team. Her positive attitude is inspiring. She makes me focus on what is working and find the positives even on days that are more difficult. Tamara, thank you

005for your unwavering commitment to our youngest learners. Thank you for getting on the floor, getting your hands in the paint, and for creating those essential aha moments that rip ripple through the entire educational journey. Your dedication to the earliest learners is nothing short of inspirational. You're not just preparing students for kindergarten. You're sparking a lifelong love of learning. And that is truly a powerful gift for our community. on behalf of the district. Thank you for being an exceptional human being and an extraordinary teacher. Uh thank you for showing us all the profound beauty and importance of a great beginning. We are so proud to celebrate you. Um on behalf of the district, it is my sincere honor to present you with the superintendence award. >> Surprise. >> Thank you so much. Thank you. And the

006flowers, too. We got to get it all in the picture. >> And we're going to take a picture, too. I have been loud before. Okay, so poor Tracy. It's not a surprise cuz someone oopsied and maybe mentioned it and I said, "Tracy, can you come because we're giving Megan?" Because I did not know how I was going to get her here and I didn't want her worried because Tracy cares about everything and I thought she'll worry and Tracy went okay. Yeah. So, she has been drugg forward because really Tracy encapsulates so much of what we do and the best of what we do. Um, and I could go on and on because she was a pair professional in my class and I looked so good and I'd be like, "Yeah, that's me." No, it was

007Tracy. Um, I'll tell you one story. Tracy had to be out for a day and she was the co-regulator for this little boy that was so cute and so electric. And we were sitting at lunch and I was like, I'm I can regulate. I can regulate. And he did something adorable. And I pointed it out to him. Oh, you're doing X, Y, and Z. And he was like, take a picture to send to Teacher Tracy. And I was like, okay, doc, it's not real unless teacher Tracy knows. That's a true story. So when I asked your colleagues what they would say to describe you, very hard worker, creative, determined, caring, witty, kind, thoughtful, leader, reliable, calm under pressure, and dedicated to the kids. And that's you don't know Tracy's doing something because it's calm and

008it's collected. And when Tracy's not in the room, for some reason, it doesn't look as calm and collected. Um, the best part of working with her, her calming p personality, she's always willing to help. The best part about working with Tracy is that she is kind-hearted and cares so much about the children she is helping. She is always looking out for her team. Tracy is like a peaceful port in a storm. No matter the chaos, she always feels like a safe place for both staff and kids. Everybody added, "What inspires you about Tracy?" They said, "Her patience. She teaches me how to be more patient and think on my toes." Um, inspires with her patience in the classroom and how much she cares for the children and staff around her. And she is so dedicated.

009Students always come first with Tracy and she puts so much of her thought and her own time to provide more for them even when regular working hours aren't enough. Um, and if there's anything people wanted to add, she is amazing. Capital A. Um, and she is probably the most humble person I know. She is going to be uncomfortable with this recognition, but she deserves to be honored for her wonderful and selfless work. So, thank you, Tracy. That is exactly right. Congratulations. Thank you so much. It is always such a pleasure to see the amazing students and staff at our schools and get to recognize some of them. Thank you guys for all the work that you do. >> Please. >> I just want to say a a huge thanks to Loma Vista. It's just the

010happiest place. I love bringing Wesley in every morning. It it's just warms my heart. Um people who don't work in his classroom know him and greet him and he is always so happy to come. So thank you guys for all you do. It's so important. >> Thank you guys. >> And with that we are on to our not regularly scheduled item. Um we are um as we always do in December going to hold our organizational meeting. So we are going to as per ED code select new officers for president, vice president, clerk and secretary of the board. Um quick rundown. Uh we're going to elect a president first and then whoever is elected president will run the rest of the meeting including the rest of the elections. So we are going to first have every

011member of the board will have a chance to nominate someone if they choose to do so. Then anyone who is nominated will have an opportunity to uh accept that nomination. Um after everyone has been nominated for the first office, all nominees will have a chance if they want to take one minute to make a statement about their qualifications or the reason they would like to uh perform that office. Then we'll vote on that first office and then we'll do it all again for vice president and clerk. Any questions about the process? Okay. Um, in that case, we are going to select a new president. Um, are there any nominations for the office of president and you may nominate yourself if you choose to do so? >> Member Robinson. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Um, I

012would nominate Rebecca Conan if she is willing to accept the nomination >> and there is no need for a secondary me. So, >> no. Thank you. Um Eileen, I do accept the nomination. I obviously have given it some thought and thanks for the opportunity um to bring it up at the last board meeting. It did give me some time to chat with my family and give it um some deep consideration. So, I appreciate the nomination and I accept. >> Wonderful. Are there any other nominations? >> Well, that makes that easy. All right. Um, put it on the record. Let Um, do you want to give a statement of qualifications? >> Oh, goodness. Um, let's see. Um, this is my my first term. Um, I will be completing my third year. So, I have uh one

013one year left in my term. Um I'm I'm serving currently as um vice president and uh the previous year I was the clerk and uh last year at CSBA I did attend the training for um uh preparation to possibly be the the next board president. So other than that, I don't know that I have outstanding credentials um other than I'm willing to give it my best shot. >> I'm sure you'll be wonderful. Thank you very much. Okay. Um all those well let's we'll have to do a roll call vote. I guess this is our first action. Um so let's go ahead and start with uh member Robinson and then we'll just move to the left. Um all those in favor of uh electing Vice President Conkin as president. >> Robinson I Hace I. Lando I

014>> Olsson I. >> And with that we have a new presidentelcome for East today. Is it okay if I just move the stuff over to you and we'll rearrange the decks the deck chairs later. All right. Take it away. >> Wow. Nothing like being thrown into the roll. All right. I appreciate everybody's um patience with me this evening. Obviously, not a whole lot of preparation involved in this. So, um I I appreciate your patience and grace. Um so, with that, um I believe it's time to nominate a um a vice president for the next uh year. >> I'd like to nominate Gail Olsen for vice president. So, I don't believe we need a second. Um, Gail, would you like a moment to speak to your qualifications? >> Um, sure. Let's see. My qualifications. Um, this

015is my one-year anniversary of being on the board. Um, I did attend the, um, at the school board, um, association convention, I did attend the president's um, session. Um, and so I feel like I'm ready to to take that next step. I'm always eager to learn and support my fellow board members. >> Thank you. All right. Um, I believe it would be appropriate to we'll do a roll call vote again. >> Oh, any other nominations? I'm sorry. >> All right. Um, Eileen, if we could start with you again. Thank you, Madame President. Uh, Robinson I, Hace, I, >> Lando, I, >> Conan, I. >> This is so weird. Olsson, I >> All right. Um, that's unanimous. We have a vice president. Thank you for accepting. >> All righty. Um, moving along. Um, our next position

016uh will be clerk. And I'd like to ask right now, are there any nominations uh for our board clerk? >> Um, I would like to nominate member Hayes. >> Would you like an opportunity or I honestly I I just need to ask is this the time we ask if there's any second? Okay. Or any other nominations? Are there any other nominations for clerk? And does member Hayes accept? >> Oh, yes. Do you accept that? >> I would. >> Okay. >> I'd be I'd be honored. >> Okay. Seeing no other um nominations, would you like an opportunity to speak to your qualifications? >> Um well, again, it's my one-year anniversary and um I'm happy to uh take on those clerk duties. I I they were explained last year before the organizational meeting. So I have at

017least a peruncter idea and um happy to do it. >> All right. I think you see how this goes. You go clerk and you go vice. Just looking ahead. All righty. >> We'll see. >> Okay. Um Eileen, can we can we begin with you again then? May we begin with you? >> Um again, thank you, Madame President. Uh Robinson I >> Hayesai >> Land of I >> Conan I >> Olsson I >> All right thank you. All right. Um so um it appears to me that uh we at this time appoint secretary to the board. Um this traditionally um has been our superintendent Greg Blake. Um, I would like to ask right now if we have a motion to nominate Greg Blake as our secretary of the board. >> Sure, I'll nominate Mr. Blake. >>

018And uh, we need a second on this one. >> I'll second that motion. >> Thank you, Eileen. >> All right. Do you want to speak to your qualifications? >> I would be glad to serve as a secretary to the board. >> Thank you for the nomination, >> the the motion. Eileen, will you begin with our our vote here? >> Eileen, >> I'm sorry. What >> would you like? >> President would like you to begin. >> I was reading so I don't do two things at once. Very well. Robinson I >> Hesai, >> Lando, >> Conan, >> Olsson, I. >> Thank you, Greg. All right, we are moving along to announcements. Um, so at this time I'd like to um >> point of order. I'm sorry. >> Yes, I'm sorry. I >> think we need to

019set the date, time, and place of regular meeting for the coming year. >> Correct. I'm sorry. I missed a whole page there. Okay. So at this time um it appears we need to set a date, a time and a place of our regular meeting. Uh typically our board of education u meetings have been held the third Wednesday of the open of the month. Um traditionally we have an open session here at 6 pm as we are doing right now um here at Maragold in the multi-purpose room. Uh you can find um the proposed meeting schedule for 2026 um with the dates on um the online meeting agenda. And at this time I just want to ask if the board um has any technical questions for clarification purposes regarding the 2026 year. Okay. And at this

020time, is there any public comment in regards to the date, time, and place of the regular meeting? All right. Okay. So, at this time, I'd like to ask if um we want to if the board has any motion um in regards to the agenda item we just discussed. >> Sure. I will move adoption of the uh schedule as proposed in the agenda. >> Okay. Second. Great. >> And do we have any discussion on this item? >> Um I'd like to if you might I know there has been some past discussion about um relocating the meeting and there may be some continuing discussion. We have nothing to report at this point but just to make everyone aware that there are discussions. We have um we've made a home here at Miraold. However, this is a school

021and they like having their building to use themselves. And so if we can work out a suitable alternative, I think we're going to go look at that. It's a good point. Right. >> There was a motion to approve, right? >> Yeah. >> And and seconded. Okay. So, we are ready for >> Yeah, we are ready to vote. I Do you think it's okay to do it in a like we can do a since the last few votes have been unanimous? Okay. >> So, we'll um remind me what that's called. It's not a We've been unanimous. We canote >> voice vote. Spent more time asking about that than if we just went through it, but okay, let's do a voice vote on this one. All those in favor of um complying with our um current plan

022until f until further notice. Does that sound appropriate at this time? >> Okay. All those in favor? >> I saying I I >> All right. Nay. Anyone opposed? All right. So, um all those in favor, we had five votes in favor. Um zero opposing. So, um that passes. All right. Um that concludes our annual organizational portion of the meeting. We're going to be moving along um to our announcements. So, at this time, uh President uh Kelly Surl, if you can come to the podium. Um she's the CSEA chap Chico chapter um president and she's gonna announce the member um staff recognition for the month. >> Holy. This one's going to be a tough one for me, so I'm going to try real hard not to cry. Hi, I'm Kelly Surl, uh CSA Chico 110 chapter

023president. This is Shandra Guteras, CSA Chico 110 treasurer, and Cela Biano, our chapter communications officer. Thank you, school board members, Chico Unified staff and fellow co-workers. We are excited to announce the December CSA Chico 110 member of the month is Julie Richie. What makes this nomination so special is that Julie is retiring. Tomorrow will be her final day of work at Chico Unified. Julie has worked from 2008 as an IP at sites throughout the district. Julie said her first day of work was a sub at Loma Vista in 2008. She recalls working that day and going home and telling her husband that she didn't think she was going to be able to do this. However, she came back the next day and and turned into one of our best IP mentors that we've had. Well,

024Anna Kenton nominated Julie and said that Julie is the model of what this award is all about. She is hardworking, diligent, knowledgeable, and has made their site a better place with all of her efforts. She had the pleasure of meeting Julie a few year years back when she joined their staff. And from the moment Anna met her, she knew the school received the biggest blessing. Julie getting is getting ready to retire and we want her segue into her best life with her granddaughter knowing that she made a difference in the world of education at Anna's life and that those lives of those around her. She is appreciated and is going to be greatly missed. Julie said she had the honor of working with some great teachers and aids that have taught her so much about

025working with students with special needs. She has met amazing people that she got to work with throughout her Chico Unified career. Whether it was a custodian, office manager, cafeteria worker, or the director of special ed, she hopes she has had a positive influence on the students that she worked with for the past 17 years. It's hard to say goodbye, and she will miss seeing the kids and the friends she has made over the years, but she gets the opportunity to help raise her granddaughter, and family is the most important thing. This is the tough one to read, cuz I hope someday when I'm in this place, somebody of this stature writes something about like this about me. This is from Pedro Caldero. And shame on him for not being here to say it himself. What

026sets Julie apart isn't just that she showed up every day. It is how she shows up. She possesses a rare gift of exceptional communication skills as she was focused and to the point. Whether she was collaborating with teachers to help best support students or breaking down complex ideas for a struggling student, she always found the perfect word words to build bridges and create understanding. But her true magic lies in her work with the student. Julie has an unwavering belief that every single child can succeed and she worked tirelessly to help them meet their learning goals. She just didn't teach them academic skills. She taught them the power of work ethic. Through her kindness, her positivity positivity and her deep clearing nature. She created a safe space where students felt brave enough to try and resilient

027enough to keep going. Julie, thank you for being a steady hand and a warm heart in our school. You haven't just improved grades, you have brightened lives. We are so grateful for you. Julie, you have been a vital part of Chico Unified and we are going to miss you. We wish you the best in your retirement and hope you remember your time at Chico Unified fondly. flowers. >> Thank you very much. I just want to end by starting in the mod severe world. Those kids taught me more about compassion than anybody else could. So, thank you for the opportunity of working for Chico Unified. >> Thank you. >> A tearjerker night. Well, I was just going to say tonight with the awards has been like, "Oh my gosh, I need a tissue." >> All right.

028Thank you. Uh we're going to be moving along. Uh this is the time and announcements um where the board has opportunity um to report any upcoming student events, awards, uh school site accomplishments, and we'll have an opportunity to report our experiences at CSBA later. So, we'll stick with this at this time. All right. Okay. So, we're going to be moving on to items from the floor. Um, so this will be agenda item number seven in regards to this um items from the floor. Um, let's see. Do we have any speakers who would wish to address the board regarding a topic that is not currently agendaized? I don't have that. >> We don't have any speaker cards. So, it would be all right. >> People here if they have something they'd like to talk about that's

029not on the agenda. >> So, this is items that are not agendaized. Um, if you have anything you'd like to speak on at this time, it's it's open to do that. Do so at that time this time. All right. So seeing none um we can move on let's see to the consent calendar. Would any bo board members like to pull a consent item for further discussion at this time? >> I I do I wanted to con to pull um item 3.4 um which is the consider approval of the charter schools measure KNC projects. Right. In order to do so, um, we will need a second and I'd like to, um, second that at this time. >> Um, so at this time, uh, we have board discussion. Would you like to begin with that? >> Uh,

030sure. Um I just uh wanted some clarification on the measure C the measure C charter facilities the attachment there. I was I I sent questions in to Jacqueline um but let me uh frame them for the for the public. if if we could display the attachment um the measure C charter facil no um is that the right one yes that's it thank you very much so um there were so I was curious about for for inspire so it says the total funds available for series A B and C was 9 million in and then um the total funds available for the 65% of the meaningful facilities is also 9 million and then the remaining balance is 9 million and then the actual dollars spent is 7 million. Um, so what uh puzzled me was that

031Inspire was actually given $10 million of the measure C funds um kind of by the last board and then this board approved an additional nine nine million. So it seems to me that the total funds should have reflected the 19 million and not just the nine. Um but I so I just wanted some explanation about that and then also the dollars spent and then their remaining balance just seemed um anyway was conf >> certainly I appreciated your question. So by addressing your questions we've revamped our summary page to make it more transparent and hopefully easier to read. Um so what's on the screen is the amended version that was added um yesterday and I think the board has printed copies of that in front of them as well. Um, so I just want to walk

032through that. So specifically to Inspire, um, they did receive $9 million out of the charter allocation of measure C. There was an additional $1 million that is coming out of the district side. So that's the 10 million that we referenced, but really only 9 million is coming out of the charter side. So that's the Fremont Street project. That's the first column. >> Okay. >> The middle column, they did not receive an allocation based on their enrollment. So that's zero. And then the board granted another 9 million out of the 65% pot. So there's 18 million coming out of measure out of the charter side of measure C for Inspire. >> And so there's no more available balance for them right now. Um >> there's technically a million dollars they could request, but right now that's

033zero and they've spent 7.1 million of that as their active construction um as we currently speak. >> Okay. Thank you. >> So we've kind of revamped the summary. So I appreciate your questions. Hopefully this makes it a little more transparent for you and our constituents. >> Yeah, it it does at least for me. Thank you. And um I think all the other ones honestly Jacqueline, did I have any other questions that I that I wrote to you about off of this one? No, I think the main piece was that when the board takes action on the 65% pot that that also goes in the same column of dollars requested because essentially they've requested it. The board action approved those so we can put that in the dollars requested piece. Um so I do want to

034point out that the total of the 65% pot says 16.5 million. And if you um go down a couple lines to kind of the narrative piece outside of the block of of lines, it says 65% meaningful facilities project 17.5 million. Um and that's that1 million1,000 that's still remaining um to be allocated to the charter community. So that's why there's a difference there. >> Okay. Thank you. Appreciate that. And then I um let me go back to the other attachments. Um I think I may have me just make sure that I had all of the So on the measure K charter facilities attachment as well I um I did get this explanation already but again for the public um I was curious and if we could bring up the measure K charter facilities please. Um, yeah,

035the tracking worksheet. So, on this on the step up, um, so there was a a negative balance for step up of $45, but then the but then I see that the actual when you're looking at the actual dollars spent, um, $109,3457 is under the the total funds available. So I just wondered I was just wondering about why there was that uh how how did that happen and then um and then again on inspire is showing total funds available the three 3,377,561 but the actual dollars spent is over four million and yet they have a have a a credit balance of 86 cents. So again, this just was um perplexing to me >> and this will be corrected when it comes forward at the next >> um board meeting related to the measure K. >> Okay.

036Thank you. That's all. >> So were those just clarif clarifying questions or can we put this back into the regular consent and just >> I think I think we can now. Yes, please. I I mean, I'm fine with that. Yes, we can put it back into the consent calendar, but I wanted to have that that discussion. Thank you. All right. Um, so at this time, um, I'd like to ask if there's a motion to approve the consent calendar. >> I move to approve the consent calendar. >> Do we have a second? >> I'll second. Would we like to have any more discussion at this time or are we comfortable moving forward with the vote? Seeing as it was uh unanimous last time, um all those in favor of approving the consent calendar, please signify by

037saying I >> I. >> Any opposed? Okay. Um that passes um five to zero. We can move along. Okay, at this time we're uh going to be moving on um to our discussion action calendar. Uh this is 9.1.1 um in regards to resolution number 1711-25 exemption of the Henshaw uh Gwen site improvements and further construction uh from the city of Chico's zoning ordinances. So, Julie Kell, would you be willing to present to us tonight? >> Yes. Thank you for your time. Um, so in front of you, you have a resolution. Um, you've seen us exempt ourselves from the city of Chico ordinances in the past. It's standard operating procedure that we do this on all of our projects. Um, we do work very cooperatively with the city of Chico. We meet with them often and

038we ask for their advice and and take their advice. Um, however, we do exempt ourselves from having to uh potentially spend a lot of dollars on uh street improvements and those sorts of things um with our projects like a regular commercial project would be required to do. So, um, this is for the property on Henshaw and Gwyn, which is the site of a future elementary school for our district. And it's also the site of a a joint use project um with card that Card will be building a portion of our play fields for us and a parking lot as part of the Henshaw Park. So, that's why it's coming to you at this time. Any questions? >> I was wondering um can can we display the the the picture? Yeah. >> Can you walk us

039through like any of this at all? Like tell anything? >> I'm just gonna talk really loud. Okay. >> Okay. This is the existing property. This is the east end of the property and then the school district starts on the dotted line and goes toward the west. Our property is almost 12 acres and the current property is about six acres. This overlay is a conceptual what the school may look like in the future was utilized for the environmental impact reports years ago when we purchased the property and is subject to change as things do our needs change over time but that's the conceptual plan as you can see the parking lot is here and a parking lot will be constructed as part of the park Um so this overlay shows the improvement that would be happening

040to the park portion. It has two multi courts like football or could be pickle ball courts meandering path for bike riders structure in the middle and open space for play. They're going to be keeping almost 99% of the trees that are existing there now which the community has been reached out to multiple times. They've had a lot of participation from the public on the plan and a lot of good feedback coming from the surrounding neighborhood. This one down here at the bottom shows the the two sport fields that will be constructed on the district's property and then the parking lot will be along the bottom just like this. Um so these will be grass fields for the card to program and for the community to use until we become a And when we become a

041school, then the area will be fenced and it will become part of our elementary school. >> Will become part of our what? >> Elementary school. >> Good. >> So, can I um just for clarification, this is coming to us now because CARD is going to start moving on on doing work there. >> Card is in the development of their plans. They're almost complete. They're working with the city of Chico on the um plan approvals and everything that they need for utilities. Um it's coming to you because we plan to use our remaining six acres uh as an outdoor classroom like we have for many years. And we don't want the city of Chico to make us put curb gutter and sidewalk all the way around it at this time because we're going to be driving

042tractors and things over it. And they they understand that. Um but that's one of the things that typically comes with a city of Chico, you know, review for those kinds of site improvements. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Yes. Thank you. You're welcome. >> Does the board have any other questions regarding clarification? At this time, I'd like to ask if the public has any comment. >> All right. Do we have a motion to approve resolution number 1711-25? >> I'll motion to approve and a second. >> I'll second. And then I have a question for clarification. It seems as though um over the years we've had to talk to the neighbors about what's happening with that property. Has Card do you know taken that initiative to talk to the neighbors in that area about what's going to

043happen with that property? Yes, they have had held public meetings at the um Masonic lodge >> uh twice. Uh they had a lot of participation like 90 people came. Uh they got a lot of feedback on what the community desired for the park and so they are fully aware. Does fully aware equate to in agreement with? >> Well, as you know, you can't make everyone happy all the time. So, there are some neighbors that would rather it stay just like it is. >> Gotcha. >> And not make any changes. But anyone who lives in that neighborhood or has lived in that neighborhood sees the signs and knows that is a future park for the community at some point. And I think Card has been doing amazing work with um building, you know, recreational and athletic

044facilities in our in our city for the last couple of years and they just want to make good on the promise that that property will become a park. >> Okay. I I know that we've had um discussions with the neighbors because of the uses that Chico Unified has made of the six acres that we, you know, are involved with. So, just wanted to check it out. >> Okay. Are we ready to vote on this? >> All right. Um, let's go ahead and um vote at this time. All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Any opposed? >> All right. Passes. Thank you. >> Okay. Our um next item we'll be discussing um is item 9.1.2. This is also a discussion action item. Um, I want to invite up uh not Jacqueline, >>

045Marie. >> We're gonna tag team the presentation tonight. So, Marie's gonna start and then Teresa will go up and then I'll wrap up the end. >> Okay. So, we're talking about our 202526 first interim budget. >> Hi, Marie. >> Thank you. All right. Um, okay. The major assumptions we used when building this budget were that the local control funding formula revenue was based on the state adopted budget. Um you'll recall last time we were here to present the budget, the state had yet to adopt their budget. So it was based off of governor's may revise. Um however both May revise and this budget include the cola of 2.3%. So not much change there. um our average daily attendance is based on prior year unduplicated students um which is free reduced meal eligible English learners and

046foster youth three-year average at 57.31% and we used position control as of November 1st. All right, this slide shows our actual versus funded ADA average daily attendance. um we can use the higher of prior or current year ADA um whichever is more beneficial to the district. Uh right now it's looking like we will be relying on prior year ADA. If you look at our actual enrollment um on the left, we're projecting a slight decline in enrollment and also in ADA. Um our ED services team has been implementing things to hopefully boost our ADA numbers. So, we may be looking at a different scenario down the road. Um, but these are our relatively conservative estimates for right now. Um, and this slide shows our unduplicated pupil percentage as a three-year average. Um, you might recall the

04755% number is that magic number, our goal that we look to because that's the cut off where we begin to receive additional supplemental and concentration dollars. Um, I'm happy to report like with the work of um the ED services team, our targeted case managers, like a lot of people worked really really hard in identifying those student groups that I mentioned earlier. So now we're hovering right around 58 59%. Um and that helps us in fiscal services be more comfortable um being confident that 55% will hold going forward. So all right I'll turn it over to Shereice. >> Thank you. Okay. Good evening board. So, using the information that Marie just presented, we've come up with an unrestricted budget um that shows a change in fund balance of 800 negative $830,000 as of right now. Um,

048as Marie mentioned, we're working hard on trying to um utilize things like attendance recovery, which is a new program this year to hopefully help our ADA. So, hopefully that number will get better when we come back um and present at second interim. And then these just show breakdowns of the revenue on the unrestricted side. So on the unrestricted side, 94% of our revenue comes from the local control funding formula, which is driven a lot by uh average daily attendance and unduplicated pupil percentage. That's why we pay a lot of attention to those numbers um and making sure that we're setting ourselves up for success. And then this pie chart you've also seen before, this shows our breakdown of our expenditures on the unrestricted side. So those four green pie uh slices, when we take all

049of those and add them together, it's about 89% of our total expenditures on the unrestricted side. Uh that includes the special ed contribution because that comes from uh general fund unrestricted dollars and most of that is in staffing. So we include it when we uh look at how much we're paying for in staffing uh because we are ultimately a people business. So most of our expenditures are people. Okay. And then the last slide I have for you that's the breakdown of the unrestricted summary um is the transfers in from other funds. So the top amount the 4.317 million um that comes from redevelopment agency pass through revenues and we use that mostly for our routine restricted maintenance account otherwise known as maintenance operations. And then the developer fee admin support that 28 thou uh000 that

050is 3% of our current revenues that we're projecting out of our developer fee collection for the year. And then when we get into the contributions to restricted programs, uh we're estimating about a $27 million contribution to special ed. Uh that represents 61% of the total program costs. So we are uh mainly funding special ed, the majority of it out of our general fund at this point. uh rest routine restricted maintenance account the 6.7 million that we are required by EDC code to give 3% of our general fund total expenditures to our routine restricted maintenance account so it helps for maintenanced operations and then a couple smaller contributions so we have a prop 28 uh proposition 28 arts and music about 122,000 and that is to for um elementary arts and music FTE or uh full-time

051equivalents um And then we also have a small contribution of about 87,000 um that's helping to pay for new electric chargers for our buses. We're going to be reimbursed partially by PG&E, but we will have to make a small contribution out of the general fund. Okay, thank you. So, moving forward, you know, we're halfway through the school year already just about. So, one of the tools that we always want to look at is the multi-year projection, which is the current school year plus two more out school years. Um, so I want to draw your attention to the fourth line down that says net increase decrease in fund balance. So, that tells us if we're spending more than we're bringing in or if we're surplusing, right? And we're not spending as much as we're coming in.

052So, um, we are deficit spending in all three years. Um, pretty minor in my in my world given a budget of on the unrestricted side of 160 million. You're talking about a million here. um and things fluctuate throughout the year. We're still estimating our attendance percentage. We're hopeful it goes um higher. Um so that's I do want to draw your attention to that. And then the very last line is our undesated fund balance. Um that does show that even with the deficit spending, we still have our ability to hit the reserves in the third year, which is what um Assembly Bill 1200 requires um districts to have. So behind all of those numbers that we just saw were a whole lot of assumptions, but I do want to um draw your attention to a couple

053on this slide here. Um the very first bullet um does talk about our enrollment and we are looking at a small decrease in enrollment for the next two years, 131 and about 160. Now that TK is fully implemented, we're not seeing the growth in that area that we have um in prior years. Uh the other piece I want to point out um is the second to last bullet, which is our elementary counselors. They're currently in a restricted funding um source that ends at the end of this year and so we will be pulling them over to LCAP which is under the general fund um beginning in 2627. In the current year we brought over a secondary um wellness counselors so they're now general fund and we will p be pulling over the elementary counselors as

054well. So they always say cash is king, right? So we always we always put this in here um because we do at the end of the day need cash to be able to run payroll every month. So, we have very healthy um cash balances. You can see there's very much a pattern every single year. November is our low month. December, we get property taxes and we we bounce right back up. So, if we can make it through November, we're fine. I do want to point out in June on the dotted line there, that's our current year projection. You'll see that June drops and that's because part of the state budget was to cut our June payment from schools and pay us the first week in July. So it's a cut on the state side. It

055just means we have to manage cash differently on our side. So that's why there's a dip in June. I would imagine that um that will probably continue in future years. So we just manage it on our side. And then at interims we have to self-certify. We have to say whether we're positive, qualified, or negative. And you can see here what that means. And I'm happy to say we are um self-certifying as positive. We can meet our reserve levels in all three years. Um and that's a good position to be in. So, uh, next steps, we are expecting the governor's proposal, his last budget proposal as he is terming out, um, in mid January and so we'll be watching and waiting for that. Um, we are seeing a softening of the estimated cola. So, in this

056budget here, it's at over 3% for next year and the latest number I saw earlier this week is 2.51. So, it is it is being pulled back a little bit. Um, and then this is the time of year after winter break that we start looking at our enrollment for next year and we figure out what kind of staffing we need. So, working very closely with ed services um and our HR department. Um and then continuing to work with ED services on feedback related to our program. What does that look like? And getting feedback from our parents and our community. And then, uh the three of us will be back in March and we'll update the budget again um with current year as well as the outy years. And that's really where the governor's budget um

057plays in to kind of give us our best estimate um of what 2627 may look like. That's all we have for you tonight unless you have other questions. >> I have a question and I'm not even going to pretend like I know what I'm really talking about, but um at the um CSBA there was mention of funding possibly moving from ADA to enrollment and is that something if that were to happen that would benefit the district? >> It's a tricky one. Okay. >> So, um, if the state were to go that route, districts whose attendance percentage, let's say, is 86 87% they're going to win. And districts who have attendance percentage that are, you know, mid 90s, maybe even us, we're at 93.9% um maybe detrimental to us. So, from what I'm hearing um from

058our fiscal groups is that there is some momentum at the state legislature to go that direction um as long as there's accountability measures and the only way to get there is when there's a surplus of money because you'd have to kind of phase it in so that no district is losing money per se or extremely negatively impacted by that. Um, so if if we were a even higher attendance percentage district, I'd be very very worried. Um, but I don't think they'll implement it in one foul swoop. I don't think I think you would have some districts go under who are very high attendance percentage. So, but I do think there's momentum to have the conversation and as new money comes available at the state, how do they start to implement that um, and shift from

059ADA to enrollment? >> But it won't happen overnight. Yes. Go ahead, Eileene. >> Um, thank you for that input. I I'm I'm with with Miss Olsen. Um, why what's the motivation behind making that change? there there there's usually some justification somewhere that either helps the state balance their budget or why would they want to make that change if you think they're getting a lot of pressure from districts, right? So, um we hire a teacher. They're there every single day. We hire a custodian. We hire the aids. We have the bus drivers. And there's basically a financial penalty to the district should a student not show up. And so I think there's a lot of pressure from advocacy groups on behalf of districts and charter schools to say, "Hey, we're staffing every day. We should be

060funded on enrollment, not on whether or not the student comes to school." And related to the accountability piece, there are districts who are um basic aid, which means their property taxes are more than their local control funding formula, and they get to keep that money. So they actually don't get any state aid and they still have accountability measures. They still have a dashboard. They still do state testing. So that mechanism is already in place. So that's kind of um shot down the whole accountability piece. If we move to enrollment, >> so if I remember correctly, this has been the um the argument for a number of years for making that change. It's not new. I've heard that one before. Okay, that makes more sense. So, I don't have a question. I just have a comment.

061Um, this is, you know, I was looking at our board agenda and I'm like, gosh, this is a jam-packed, you know, agenda. And, and then I started thinking about you folks who every December have to like it's not just getting ready for the holidays, but you guys every December have to put this together and you do it with good cheer and grace. And I just want to say um I mean this is my only my second year of you of you guys presenting um but both last year and this year you did so with just like this is what you do and it doesn't you don't seem harried and I'm thinking it must be um you do a really good job of just putting not it's not just doing the budget but then doing the

062presentation and then presenting to us and I just want to thank Great. There any other questions, comments? And is there any public comment? Do we have a motion um associated with um this agenda item? >> I motion that we approve the interim budget. >> I'll second that motion. Okay, great. We have a first and a second. Uh we've discussed it some, but is there any additional board discussion in regards to this? Okay, seeing none, uh let's go ahead and call for a vote. All those in favor of agenda item 9.1.2 signifies by saying I. >> I. >> Any opposed? >> Great. This passes. Madame President, could I make just a a a comment about some of what we earn earned learned at the um California School Boards Association conference and um not every school district

063is in the kind of position we are. We're in much better shape than a lot of them throughout the state. So, back to the thank yous to you folks that have kept us um able to understand what we're doing when we get presented with an option for doing it. Thank you. >> Thank you. Okay. Our next item um is also a discussion action. Uh this is 9.2.1 2.1 and this is regarding um approving variable term waiver requested uh for a pupil um personnel service credential uh for uh Courtney Go and John Shepard is going to be presenting on this. >> All right. Thank you, President Conan. So, as you have before you this request for approval of this variable term waiver that will allow uh uh Courtney Go to provide school social work services while

064completing requirements for her credential. She's not currently eligible for an internship credential. However, she is enrolled in a San Jose State University uh program. And so, uh we're really excited to be able to hire someone like her in December. It's very difficult to do who can provide social work services to one of our schools that uh recently is uh received the community schools grant. So, um, with your approval, she'll be able to join us, um, as a, uh, school social worker and she is currently enrolled in the program. >> Do any board members have any questions or regarding clarification? >> Yeah. Um, if you don't mind the variable term waiver, so just until she is she's completed her program and received the >> correct. Okay. when she when she finishes, she'll have she'll have her

065MSW and PPS, which provides many opportunities uh to her. Um and she's excited about being here. >> Thank you. >> Is there any public comment? >> Okay, I think we're ready. Um in regards to um any board members wanting to make a motion um associated with item number 9.2.1. 2.1. >> Um, I'll move approval of the waiver. >> I will second that. Okay, we have a first and a second. Is there any discussion at this time? Okay, we're ready to vote. All those in favor of agenda item 9.2.1, please signify by saying I. >> I. Any opposed? That passes also with a vote of five to one. Zero. Five to zero. Moving along. Um I believe this is you again, John. Um this is also a discussion action item um regarding the 2026 uh 27

066student calendar change. And if you want to go ahead and present at this time, that'd be great. >> All right. Thank you. So, Zach, could you pull up on the screen the calendar? If you could just scroll down to the bottom and make sure we have the right one pulled up because there are two on the agenda. Yeah, perfect. Last updated. That's awesome. Thank you. So, before you is a proposed change to the board adopted 2627 student calendars. You all know we bring these to you typically uh we try to bring them to you three years ahead of time so people can plan. However, um after multiple conversations with both bargaining unit uh leadership members, with unit members themselves, with community members, um with site level CSEA unit members and um CUTA members, we have

067we are interested in recommending a significant change to our student calendars. You can see here um we we're one of the rare districts that I know of that does not have a break in October um to support um students and staff uh rejuvenating getting ready for the the the stretch uh through November and December into the end of the semester. And um uniquely in 2627 you can see that we added a day in April as well because in 2627 Easter break um or the weekend of of Easter that we take the uh the Friday and Monday is uh in March in 2627 which is unique which also creates a long um stretch through testing both statemandated testing and at the high school level, the the AP testing um all the way through into uh into

068Memorial Day weekend. So, by adding a couple of contracted non-work days, not holidays, but contracted non-work days, um it would move up the beginning of the school year uh to Thursday the uh the 13th. And then another change that we are really interested in based on a number of reasons ranging from um our T staff maintenance operations and and uh transportation being able to facilitate graduation much more easily. Um and ensuring that our our counseling staff, for example, on the Friday after graduation would be able to work with kids who might need to get into summer school or might need some help with transcripts for colleges. U we would shift graduation back to the Thursday night where it used to land um I don't know eight or nine years ago. So some changes um as

069you can see here it it also um better aligns the first seme first semester number of days with the second semester number of days. Um there is significant difference between those two prior to this proposed change. So we bring this before you um as a recommendation to move forward for 2627. >> I have a comment. Can I make a comment? >> Absolutely. Yeah. >> Okay. as a retired special education teacher who taught many years of ESY, also known as extended school year for special ed students, that Friday after graduation was always a day for um teachers and um instructional pair professionals to prepare for their students. And so I am so happy that that can come back to give those teachers that opportunity to really get their classes set up before the kiddos show up

070the following Monday. So thank you. >> I also have a comment. I think um adding that it's just a three-day weekend in October and then a three-day weekend in April. But it makes a tremendous difference just to be able to take a breath and um not just for for um staff but for students. It's a long slog from from September the 7th all the way till November 11th. Um, and so that just having that little breather, I think you'll you'll have improved attendance. Um, just better um mental health, you know, just just a better outlook. I think this is long overdue and I'm hoping that the district will make sure that whenever they're looking at calendars when you see a an extended period of uh of no breaks, I think you we we need to

071artificially make sure that we if we can put those in because it's killer and people just get sick too. I mean because you're just it's a grind and so I think uh we might actually see approved improved ADA because of just giving people some rest. Any questions associated with the schedule proposed schedule? Any public comment on the the schedule? Yes. Thank you. Come on. come forward. >> Carl Ouxner, I'm with the Chico Sunrise Rotary Club literacy committee and the literacy chair. Just wondering, has there been any input from working parents and families on these schedule changes? Um, how are they going to affect people who've got to scramble to find child care and so forth? Is that a problem? Have you talked to parents or maybe it's not an issue? Just curious. So we have

072in in these situations with student calendars when we bring these forward um it's always important to be sure we provide opportunities for input. This one seems to be a little more organic than reaching out through a survey. Um, however, what we've what we've seen in the past, because two years ago, we had to bring a student calendar change this late in the in the game because we actually didn't have enough days. And so what we plan on doing if this is board approved tonight is blanket the community with as much um understanding as early as as early as we can if it is approved tonight with the hope that by the October 5th um date then the planning can take place. If we were to wait just This is kind of anecdotal, but we've we've

073had multiple iterations of various calendars trying to to decide what would work the best. And the longer we waited, the longer if we decide to wait, you know, a couple more months, um we'll be in a situation where people have less time to to to make those adjustments. So, I do understand the conundrum. Um with these changes, we just would like to, you know, we'd like to make them as as early as possible. Yeah, that said there is it'll be 10 full months that parents will be able to have if it was approved. There'd be 10 full months to, you know, make plans for that that first uh day off in in October. Just to clarify, we're talking about two days, correct? One um that would be um a difference from the previous year. one

074in October and then one in April. >> Correct. >> Okay. >> Just that initial to the speaker's point, the initial planning would kick in on, you know, that first date. >> Are there any other additional comments from the public? Thank you though. And we will have an opportunity to also discuss this more once we have a um a motion in a second. So is there um a board member that would like them to make a motion um regarding the um the the projected changes to the schedule? Yes. I motion that the board adopt the last updated 1210 2025 uh student calendar uh for the 2627 school year. >> I'll second. >> So at this time uh we will have the opportunity to discuss this. So if anyone would um like to discuss this further we

075we certainly can. I mean, I just want to say to the speaker's point again, Mr. Arnet, that I'm incredibly impressed because I usually find out about my kids three-day weekends about a week before they happen. So, um I totally recognize the need for parents to be able to make plans. Um but I think I think 10 months is is plenty and this is a fairly minimal change to the schedule. Um and it cleans up a couple things that we needed cleaning. So, I appreciate it. Thank you very much. I think what I would comment is um I appreciate the thoughtful consideration and I know a lot of time and energy has gone into this and I I I believe um that this is student centered and it's also um acknowledging the needs that our staff

076um have as well. So, I appreciate when any changes are made um that look at things like mental health and um improving attendance and and those things. So, I I appreciate the motive behind it. >> Madam President, >> I'm sorry. Could you just um repeat the two days that we are talking about October 5th and what does it turn into? So, October 5th, um, and just to clarify, if it's not completely clear, um, to the public, this is, um, would be a holiday for both students and, um, also I I don't I shouldn't use the word holiday, but not a a school day for students, um, or a work day. So, no staff, um, no students. >> And then again in um, >> April, April 26. So, providing, >> I guess, two >> long weekends.

077Yes. Got it. Thank you. Is there any further discussion? Okay, we're ready uh to take a vote at this time. All those in favor um of the changes, and I just again want to um make sure I'm clear, this is the updated version, the 1210 uh 2025 version. Um, all those in favor, please signify by saying I. >> I. >> Any opposed? All right, this passes. Thank you. And I'm guessing we'll go ahead and make this available immediately on our our website. >> Yeah, we'll take care of that. >> Okay. Is there also a way to send out like a email blast kind of scenario where um families would be directed towards that just to prepare prepare them? Yes, we will take care of that too. >> Okay, awesome. >> All right. Yeah. >> Okay.

078Hello. Looks like you're ready uh for informational discussion. Um thank you, Mike. Go ahead. Get started. >> Oh, >> how's that? >> Not used to using a mic. All right. So, uh, being a merit district, um, Chico Unified School District has a personnel commission and being a merit district and the personnel commission is comp comprised of three commissioners and every year one of the commissioners um, has a term come up and um, usually I would come to you for an appointment um, to the board and the the makeup of the personnel commission is dictated by ED code and ED code 45245 states that one member of the Personnel Commission shall be appointed by the governing board of the district and one member nominated by the classified employees of the district shall be appointed by the

079governing board of the district and then those two members shall in turn appoint the third. We're here to talk about the third member of the of the personnel commission. So, um, the two commissioners, um, Gloria Bevers, appointed by the district, and Susie Cox, nominated by CSEA, have reappointed Scott Jones, um, as the third member of the commission. Scott has been on the commission since 2013 and has accepted the re reappointment to the personnel commission. So, I'm here to inform you about the reappoint of Scott Jones. >> Does the board have any questions? Does the p public have any comment? >> Okay, this is um information only. So, uh we won't uh be needing to take any action. So, thank you very much. Okay, we are going to be moving along. Um, this next item is

080also informational only and um, we're going to ask uh, Superintendent Greg Blake to uh, do our first reading of the revised updated new board policies. >> Well, I just uh, this is the first reading and traditionally our staff brings forward um, updated new and revised board policies for you to have a look at. Comes out usually quarterly or so or in conjunction if there's any legislative changes. Um the board policies in the agenda packet um are brought forward for a first reading tonight. We will um if you have any questions or comments, you can send them to the superintendent's office. We will answer those for you between now and the January board meeting when we will actually take action to adopt the board policies. So you got a month to read them all. >> That's

081fair. >> If you have any questions, let us know. Well, we can take care of them for you. >> So, okay, Eileen. >> Um, thank you and thank you for the assistance from superintendent's office. Uh, I started through these and um there wasn't a consistent pattern of adding versus deleting and I got lost and thanks to assistance from Erica and the superintendent's other um support staff, I have received um an additional full copy of these updated board bylaws. And if any of you are having trouble, you know, reach out and get assistance because there's a lot there and um the help worked. Well, at least I hope it did. >> Yeah, that's true. I mean, we printed a color copy and you can clearly see what the strikethroughs are and the additions and the deletions

082and things like that. Uh it's very difficult to see on your phone. It's just so small. So, if you'd like a color copy, let us know. We'll take care of you. >> How about a great big monitor? >> Easy. >> Are there any public comment regarding um the revised board policies? Okay. So, as mentioned earlier, this is information only. Um we don't need to vote on this tonight. We'll be doing that at our January board meeting. Thank you, Greg. Okay. Um at this time, we're going to be moving along um to u an item that is discussion and also action. This is resolution number 1710-25. We touched on this at our last meeting. Um but this is regarding um a resolution to increase uh compensation of board members um in accordance with education code uh

08335120 and board bylaws 9250. So um let's see here. So, the board has the board has the opportunity to take a look at what they're being compensated and increase it up to the maximum amount of $2,000. That is what the uh current um ED code says. So, that's where your discussion lies. >> Thanks, Greg. >> We um we did start this discussion at our last meeting. So, um it's just an opportunity um at this time um we can ask questions for clarification purposes um regarding the new legislation and changes to ED code. I think we're all fairly familiar uh with what those um legislation and changes are. Um, we will have an opportunity to discuss this once we actually um have a motion in a second. But first, I'd like to ask the public if

084they would like to weigh in on this or if they have any comment. Okay. Uh, do we have a motion by a board member? Um, I guess we're going to have to get pretty specific here before we can even discuss. Okay, let's um so this doesn't necessarily have to be the motion that we all agree on, but um let's get something out there to kind of get the ball rolling and then we can um discuss at that time. >> Well, I have a question. Sorry, but uh last month um member Lando had done the research to see what $400 in was it 1984? >> Yeah. What that would equate to in 2025. And I was curious um I didn't write that number down and I know it was in I think it was in the

085minutes and I could probably do that. Um, uh, do you ha do you happen to know that what that number is? >> Honestly, I'm on the tip of my tongue, but I'll be but I'll also be honest and I just took it to, uh, one of the federal government's um, inflation calculators and plug the numbers in. We could do that very quickly once again if we needed to do so. >> It was around 1,250 or so. >> Yeah. I What else? utilizing a US inflation calculator and in 1984 $400 will be equivalent in 2025 to $1,25043. >> Good number. >> Yeah. And so, um, I would I'd like to motion that the board stipend be raised to $1,250. Do we have a second for this? >> I'll second that motion. >> Okay, great. Um, so,

086um, this is a great opportunity now. Um, since we have a motion and a second, we can open this up for board discussion. So, let me tell you why I thought that Tom's idea was a great one. Um, there were some other suggestions made. Um, we had a public comment saying that perhaps that the board stipen should be somehow tied to um wages of district employees. And um I the reason I and specifically the lowest hourly wage of any district employee. And there were a few things that I thought of. Um, I would look at that and I say, why the lowest? I think it's important to value this work. I think as you're uh all of us will be at some point no longer on this board and we want whoever comes on the

087board to feel like it's valuable work. Um, and I would if if it had been like an average of like hourly wage, I I don't know. I think that this is the fairest way to not so to not tie it to a particular thing, but to say, okay, back in 1984 it was $400 and nobody nobody from the public um has had any seemed to have any uh issue with that amount since 1984. Nobody's no public has come and out, you know, spoken about, you know, $400 is an outrage. Um, and so I think if you're just looking at it from the standpoint of $400 in 1984 got you this much, and if you just look at the inflation calculator, this is what it would equate to. Um, and again, I think, uh, all of

088our staff have gotten raises. I mean, think about the percentage of raises since 1984. Like, it would be stunning to look at the the CSEA wages, CUTA wages, administrative wages um since 1984. And I'd say that um I think keeping up with inflation is um is an objective and fair way of of looking at it. And so that's why I'm putting forth that as a motion. I thought that it was a a fair way of looking at it and I appreciated um Mr. Lando putting that forward. >> Um I'd like to just have a discussion um because I also I I like your way of thinking. Um that makes sense to me. I also want to acknowledge that um and sorry Tom that it's happening now but I do I do feel the president puts

089puts in considerably more time um and I wonder I'd like to have a discussion. I wonder if that's something that we would like to recognize as well that the president um uh receives um a bit higher of a stipen for the amount of time put in not only in meetings with our superintendent and other and other district staff but also to actually run the meeting. Um, so I'd just like to open this up for discussion and I don't have an amount set in my head, but >> so this is this is one of those things that in a in a perfect world absolutely the president would be doing more work than other board members. But I imagine over the course of the years there have been there may have been presidents that um perhaps didn't

090you know I mean there's there's always that uh I don't I I don't know and I certainly if uh if Tom believes that that's an appropriate um an appropriate thing to do then I would say I'm not I'm not necessar necessarily opposed, but since all of this time all board members were were paid the same amount, um I think that one taking on the president's role is a considered is something that one one considers and says, um I realize I may be doing more work and it's, you know, kind of for the good of my board, for the good of my community, and and I'm not saying that we should act altruistically, but I'm just saying that uh I'm I know that not all presidents are equal. Like I've seen I I've seen um and

091I'm not talking about this this board. I'm saying that I've been members of other associations that had presidents and again you have great ones and some okay ones and so that's that's my comment. >> I'll definitely comment on this but I I'd like to hear your point of view first but I do have an opinion. >> May I? >> Yes. >> Okay. Um, I really appreciate um the idea and ethos that I think we've tried to cultivate on this board of the board being always five members um and that we're all just one of five. And to that end, and I would hate to see a point, I don't think we'd ever get to that point where somebody's vying for the presidency because they want an extra 50 bucks a month or whatever. I don't

092think that makes any sense. Um, and again, I like the idea that we don't single out, and again, this seems a little self- serving to say when I just when we just moved the gavvel, but I I don't see a need for it, frankly. Um, but I hear what you're saying that there's a little bit of extra work. >> And I already had a a pretty firm opinion on this. I I also don't um believe that the president should have um an increased um wage. Um, I also see this as we're all one team and >> hope you guys realize I'm gonna be counting on you a lot more than maybe you think. So, um, with that, I I also support that we are all equally paid. Um, I like the objectivity, um, of the

093plan that that Tom suggested. Um, I think it kind of just keeps things very objective and I like the objectivity of it. I like the equality of everyone getting paid um equally and I mean I know I know my motives in in stepping into this role um was not financial and um so I I respect and um appreciate that I know your motives were also not in the same same vein. So um I do like the idea of setting up something for future boards. I do think um it will provide um an incentive um for some that may not normally be able to have the opportunity. So I appreciate that. Um so um if we get to the point of voting, I'm I'm definitely going to be voting for an equal equal pay that's um

094reflective of of inflation. >> May I? >> Yes. >> So again, speaking about future boards, I know people keep referencing this as my idea, but it's just one idea. Um because I'd like to talk about the possibility of doing something else. What I don't want to see is um I mean it's always political and weird to vote in public to give yourself a raise and I don't want to see the board have to do this again and again and again. Frankly, um I think there is an argument to be made for just going up to the the 2000 and then future boards don't have to worry about inflation. We don't do this every year. It just is what it is and we take it out of the hands of having to to make it a

095political football say in election years or whenever else. I think it's worth considering at least that we just do that now for future boards. >> Yes. >> Um thank you, Madam President. I'm going to support the um the motion to um take it to 1250 using everybody's argument including yours Tom about not having to come back and do this again and again and again. I think that sets us for you know the next 10 years or so. I also believe that um breaking out a different compensation for the president. Um we never know when we step up to be president what that year is going to put in front of us. And it changes. You You have no idea. Well, some of you don't have any idea. Some of us do because we've been there,

096done that. But you get um uh given um significant um hurdles to keeping the district running smoothly and forward. And I think our presidents have done an excellent job over the years. We've we've been through some things and it our presidents have always stepped up to do the best for kids and the the um solid basis for the board moving forward. Um I'm very proud to have served 14 years. Oh jeez, has it been anyway? a few years um on this board with with different um colleagues and we always step up and do what's necessary for the kids. This has been a student centered board of education since the 70s when I first got involved and I am so proud to be part of that organization and I'm really glad that um that this motion

097was brought forward and I do support the 1250 um from the calculator that Jacqueline brought to us. Okay. I just to clarify, I'm a little unclear. Was this a friendly amendment or just a discussion item? Um, >> it was just a discussion item. I'm curious if there's any other will to will to do that. And if so, I'm I'll definitely make a substitute motion, but it seems like people are still thinking about that idea right now. So, um, I'd be happy to make a substitute motion if we need to, but I'm not sure if anybody has any other discussion they want to make about it right now. I do see your point of um you know in 1984 the $400 was the maximum amount that was permissible and since 1984 it's been that the maximum

098amount that that that um Chico Unified fell under that being said um and I and I do see the idea of well what's different now Um, but I'll say that the board does have the opportunity to revisit it. And I I get that, you know, I I get that it may uh feel uncomfortable to uh come in front of the public and say, "I think we deserve a raise." And yet, um, that's what our sta that's what we, you know, our staff does. You know, our staff says, "Hey, we deserve a raise." And I think that this board uh has the opportunity to do that. I I I I like the idea of it being uh based upon what what did $400 buy back then and now in the in 2025. Um I I realize

099we have the opportunity to go to 2,000 a month. I'm not sure that simply because we have that opportunity that it um I don't know. I I'm ambivalent about it. If if the if the board felt strongly that $2,000 would be a better spot to land, I would vote in favor of that. But I I like the idea of having something that, as U. Rebecca said is objective and it's, you know, googleable. You know, it's like there's there's a uh I I like that. And I'm not sure why the state of California decided to go from the $400 to 2,000. I don't know what their rationale was. I mean, they did have rationale, but I I'm not sure exactly why they I mean, I'm sure they pro they could have googled what, you know, $400,

100you know, was in today's dollars, too. Um, but, you know, perhaps um, you know, they wanted to have that that wiggle room in there. But as as Rebecca pointed out, you know, the board is also compensated with the with the ability to um have um medical uh benefits. Thank you. That's the word that was escaping me. Um, so I think that the 1250 uh is uh you know it's three times what the stipen is now and I think um that it's a fair amount and I think um part of that 2000 ceiling might if I'm remembering correctly there Um, I mean, obviously some boards are being paid more than $400. Um, and there was a lot of, um, thought put into the size of the district, if I'm remembering correctly. >> So, um, the size

101of the district, the level of responsibility, commitments, and so forth, >> right? And we didn't change the the size of the district didn't change any. I mean, we we fell under that whatever the the size was, you know, 400 was the maximum for for that the si for the size and that's where we fell. I think it goes up to like 14,000 students or something and we're at 12 it we're 11 something now. Um but I think it went up that um that the cut off was >> Yeah. The current um where we land is between 10,000 and 25,000. >> Oh, 10 and 25. Yeah. And for the point of discussion, and I'm not necessarily saying um I I'd be in favor of this, but I don't know if this is within our ability or

102jurisdiction, but is it possible to set it at 1250 this year with the idea that it doesn't even need to be yearly, but every one year, two year, four years, it sort of climbs a ladder similar similar like if you were on a staff, a teacher. I I'm not sure. I don't know how that goes. >> I mean, we certainly could. >> You can make any of those choices. Something else you could consider is if the employees get a raise, you get it, too. Up until you hit 2,000 >> just I mean to eliminate sort of the awkward moment every so often. I mean, we've set sort of a precedence for years to come. And go ahead. >> Well, just to your point about what the the legislaturator's goal was or purpose was in this,

103um there is a kind of a a statement from the uh original author of the bill who talks about um how in uh 15 1,510 schoolboard races across California counties. Um 56% of them there was nothing on the ballot because there was either only one or no candidates. So part of this purpose is to make sure that it's reasonable to entice more and we've we've done okay having candidates but usually we have you know two per slot and not more. Um but it has been a problem in you know the far past in Chico's history where we've had trouble finding candidates to run. And again, my original argument in increasing it at all, whether it's 1250, 2,000 or anything else, is that we want to make sure that it does become a viable for people

104who um who might actually find the assistance materially helpful. >> Yes, I agree. Well, um, President Conan, would you like to make a friendly amendment to say that, uh, it would be 1,200 starting at 1,200 and then as Superintendent Blake suggested that if the the staff gets a raise that whatever percentage the staff is getting that um the board would also get that. And again, the the top Yeah. Yeah. Because we we we we would never be more than 2,000 because that's that's what the state that's what the CDE I mean that's the ED code. >> I think just in um the spirit of fairness and objectivity. It seems like that would be most consistent if if our goal is to be objective and not weighing in on how we personally, you know, um feel.

105I think it just in the spirit of objectivity. >> Yeah, I think it makes sense because it does address the argument about having to come back and argue about whether we want to raise again if we just say, "Nope, this is where it's going to be and that's how it's going to increase." That makes a lot of sense. >> Well, if you wanted to make that a friendly amendment, I would call that friendly. >> Okay. So, I think you said 1,200. So, I'm going to go ahead and 1250. >> So, it was 1250. No, did I say 1200? >> You did. Yeah, I was I was going to try to clarify that. Oh, well that was a m that was a m a mistake. It was 12 1250. So this is how what the what

106I will say. I'm motioning that the compensation be 1250. And additionally, um, if staff gets a raise, then the board will be extended that raise up until the point that the board stipen reaches the $2,000 uh, ED code mark, at which point we would stop. >> And just be super clear, that raise as a as a percentage. >> As a percentage, correct? Um, thank you. I have a cl again a clarifying question. Um, but I I think it just got answered because when the bargaining units accept remuneration for, you know, compet slice of the pie. Um would we have any problem at all tying in a a uh percentage uh compensation raise >> the amount hasn't both bargaining units CUTT and CSEA have um historically >> kind of taken the same right >> if it

107goes on the salary schedule it goes on medical benefits okay >> um so if one group wanted to deviate from that we would go with kind of the initial offer and use that as the the basis to increase the the wage. >> That answered my own question. >> And I guess an an alternative idea, not that I'm supporting this because I'm fully comfortable with the percentage um if we want to stick with the um the inflation calculator as well. That would be I guess another option. Just throwing it out there. But I'm I'm comfortable with the percentage. I like the percentage because I think again when we value our staff that's important and I think it's okay for us to say we're valuable too. >> So I think um if I understand correctly we have

108a motion uh by member Hayes >> and a second um by member Robinson. Um, and we still have an opportunity to discuss this more. I I believe correct >> Madame President, I call for the question. >> Okay. >> So, you can vote. >> Okay. Perfect. Okay. Uh, let's go ahead and vote. And I just feel a little more comfortable doing roll call vote if that's okay. All right. Um, we'll start with you. Member Robinson. >> Robinson. I. >> Haste. I. >> Lando. I. >> Conan. I. >> Olsen. I >> All right. Um, that was unanimous. Um, with a vote of five to zero, um, that passes. And do I need to >> Well, I'm gonna I want to >> read it. >> I'm going to just Well, it's not going to be exact. We're going

109to we're going to word smith it just a tiny bit, but but the intent is going to be what you just said. So, let me make sure I So, we're going to start with 1250 >> and then we'll put a You have the resolution in front of you. We're going to add a number five. Um, we're thinking it's going to be number five. The board stipen will be increased in the same percentage amount as the employee bargaining units up to a maximum of $2,000. >> Correct. >> Good. >> Yes. >> Okay, >> sounds great. >> Okay, >> great. Thank you. >> You're welcome to do that. >> Okay, moving along. Um, this isformational only. Um, this is an opportunity, I guess part um for board members to share experiences um we had at CSBA. Um,

110just to kind of recap for the public, um, every year, um, the board has this opportunity, um, to, um, it's always, um, beginning of December, um, we, uh, go to a conference that's held, um, for all, well, all of the board members in California are invited, um, to participate um, in a conference um, where we all meet. Um there's breakout sessions, um big meetings, um opportunities, um to get to know each other a little better, um sharing meals and that sort of thing. So um it's always a a great opportunity just to kind of reconnect um not on this level, but more on a a social um social level. So, um I will go ahead and open up this time now to any board members that um want to share about um their personal experiences

111at CSBI. >> Well, I have to say I went to the uh the legal updates on as a pre-conference was fascinating. I loved it. was so interesting and I'm looking forward to sitting down with uh Superintendent Blake to talk about some of the the things that that were discussed there. Um unfortunately I had to cancel our monthly meeting this this month but they'll be next month. But that was interesting. And then um I also found it interesting listening to the ginatorial candidates. I thought that was um a fun general session. um and um went to some nice breakout sessions as well. But I really truly did enjoy just being able to um just have a social opportunity with board members because um we don't we don't do that um because it's uh it's difficult with

112the Brown Act. Um, so we are we it's strictly social that that we we had an opportunity just to really just break bread together and um visit and that was I I loved that. >> Thank you. Yes, I >> thank you. My goodness. Thank you again, Madam President. I um there were two standout um presentations that I came away wishing oh I had more time with the presenters as well as the the topic. The first was from the um Fresno um school district and their presentation on what they have done in partnership with their local um community of of businesses and and businesses too like Honda Corporation that sets them up to be able to certify the kids coming out of the capstone CTE things amazingly um effective and um they they've been at it

113for a while so they're they're a bit ahead of us. Um, but I was just very impressed with the fact that their their kids come out of their CTE programs either fully certified in a particular area or um job ready where there isn't certification necessary. So that was a highlight. The second thing was a low light. Um I attended the presentation on um what's happening with the breaking up of the department of education and the by the breaking up of uh briefly they have assigned to a different department in the government um jurisdiction over what the Department of Education currently has responsibility for. Some of the things that uh have been farmed out farmed out to departments that have absolute excuse me, this is an editorial and probably a political editorial, but I'm gonna say

114it anyway. They have absolutely no idea what we have gained in the way of benefits from the department of education the way it is. There wasn't even a mechanism in many of those break up and here you take this on how they would move the money. So they were saying, "Okay, here you now have that responsibility, Department X, but we're not sure how we're going to send you the money to do what we just told you you got to do." So that was upsetting. I tend to get upset at stuff like that. However, I also understand that um in order for something like that to move and become implemented and trickle itself down to us, that administration that I'm upset with won't be in office anymore. So, problem solved. And I'm going to end right

115there. >> Any others? Sure. Um, if you saw me poking my phone, it's because all of my notes disappeared um from my car when I got back, which is a little frustrating. So, um, I was trying to rapidly recreate my notes by looking at the sessions, but there was one that really struck me. Um it was listed as um a breakout on alt ed reform, but it really got me thinking about how some of the best alt ed practices look a lot like what we want our community schools to look like in terms of really building student and community efficacy and ownership of the education process. And it put me in mind a couple resources I'd like to share with staff later on about how we can make um both our alted and our community

116schools places where students are excited to go feel like is uniquely theirs. um and have a chance to really become the person they want to be, not just the person we think they ought to be. Um and what that might look like for future educational practices. Um and then there were also a number of um breakouts on uh math practices and math instruction. One focused on what Rockland USD is doing to improve math um which I think our staff is already aware of, but again um that's going to be a focus of mine for the next year is uh really hammering on is what we're doing in math working and how can we make it better. So, it was exciting to see there were people already blazing some of those trails and kind of leading

117the way. Um, and it was as always great to hang out with all of you in a more casual setting and it felt very collegial. Um, which it doesn't always. Um, that was really really pleasant. Um, and yeah, just appreciate the time as always. >> Any others? >> Oh, yeah. I mean, they all talked. I got to talk too. Yeah. Um, right. Yes, it is. Um, I just always have fun at here at these things. Um, you just learn a lot. I'm not going to go into specifics, but I will agree with um, they have a um, what is it called where all the people have their tables, right? >> Round table discussion. >> No, where you go in and you can walk around their fair. >> Ox the exhibit hall. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

118Um, and I got a lot of information from um, programs that, you know, uh, really are vocational um, type programs and masonry and welding and um, and I'm excited to explore that um, a lot more actually and and just again just learning and the information that that you get from attending something like this. And as everybody said, we had an opportunity to hang out. Tina Keane was there, Greg Blake was there. Um, so it was really a an opportunity for us to actually grow, if you can imagine, stronger as a board. Um, I think that we're a strong board and we're a a good board and we agree to disagree, but um that's an opportunity for us to to just really get together and connect. So >> awesome. Thanks for sharing. Um, I'll just briefly

119share um what I think was my my favorite session and um that was partnering with um resources in the community. I wasn't expecting it to be a heavy focus on um mental health, but I was actually pleasantly surprised because that happens to be um one of my personal um reasons why um I I wanted to be a part of the board was just um the mental health and um wellness of our our students. And so, um, was excited and kind of, uh, rekindled my interest in that and hopefully, um, I can take what I learned in regards to that and and share that with with our board soon. So, we don't need to take any action on this item. Um, but I'd like to move forward. Um, let's see. Kind of lost track here. Um,

120this is items from the floor. Is that correct? Um are there any comments, public comments specifically? Okay. So um moving along to item 11. Uh this is our opportunity for board members to request um to agendaize an item. And um typically this is um done ahead of time and um this particular time um member Lando, board member Lando um brought forth um a request to agendaize a discussion of the math curriculum adoption and district efforts to continually improve. So maybe motivated by some of the information you learned at CSBA. >> Yeah, absolutely. >> Yeah, I'd love to hear this. >> Um This is also partly brought around by the fact that we did cut down the number of uh special meetings and workshops we agreed to have. Um but for a number of years we've

121seen more growth in ELA than in math. And I know we're working on that. I know we're in the middle of the math adoption process. So to that end I would just like to formally hear even if it's just a short, you know, 30-minut here's where we're at presentation from staff about um where we are in math adoption, how the math adoption process works um and what other practices uh teachers and leaders in the district are putting into place. um specifically towards math improvement. >> Awesome. So um just at this time I don't think we need to have um any discussion about this. Um I I guess I would open this opportunity to the board if they had a specific question just to clarify what his intentions are in bringing this forward and does the

122public have any comment on this at this time? So, um I I'd actually like to um I'm I'm really interested in hearing about this. So, I'd like um to make a motion um is that appropriate to do? Okay. To bring forth um this agenda item. >> I'll second that shockingly. >> So, this is a great opportunity now if we want to have a discussion about this at this time. All right. So, um I think it's fine if we go ahead and just call um for a vote. Um all those in um favor in bringing forth um member Lando's um request to agenda is the discussion of math curriculum. I'll signify by saying I >> I. >> All those opposed. >> All right. This passes that will be >> so I just want to make a

123comment. So, what we'll have um Tom is we'll have our staff reach out to you to find out what you're looking for and we will incorporate as much of that into our February presentation and then whatever's left over we can bring to another meeting and make sure that you're getting what you need. Okay. >> Okay. And hopefully that was clear among the board members. I'm certainly not going to spring anything, you know, weird. I just it's it's a little strange to reach out just individually, but I so I hope what I'm trying to say um all I'm looking for is just a yeah an overview of how our curriculum adoption process works. uh where we are in that process now and then a brief overview of what our um improvement process looks like or like

124if anything is ongoing right now in terms of what we're doing to improve math outcomes. >> Yeah, >> seems great. >> Okay, thank you. >> Okay, did it. >> Um moving along. I'm not going to lie, I've been waiting for this moment tonight. Um, adjournment. Is there a motion to adjourn this meeting? >> Oh, but can I discuss before we do? >> Yes. >> I just want to say thank you. Um, you did great. >> I know you're nervous about it, but I'm really happy that you're in that chair. So, >> thank you. >> I'll second that. >> Okay. But before before we talk about that, um, is there a second to adjourn this meeting? I think it was member Robinson who >> Okay. A second. >> Second. >> I'll second. >> Okay. Um, do

125we want to discuss this? Okay, let's vote. Um, all those in favor of adjourning this meeting at 8 o'clock, >> 8:03. >> I >> adjourned. Yay.