001Hey there everyone. Welcome to the June 18th, 2025 regular board meeting for Chico Unified School District. Uh we are going to head into close session as we normally do at 5. However, before we do um we would like to ask if there are any um well I should say of course that this meeting is being recorded and live streamed. So whatever we say and do up here is available to people in our community online as well. Uh that said if there are any uh public comments on our closed session items uh we would love to hear those speakers. We do have three uh speakers listed. So, without further ado, um going to call a name. Uh you will have three minutes to address the board. Uh we should have a timer back up there. Uh
002you also hear a sound when you have 30 seconds left to speak. So, that first sound means you got 30 seconds left, not that your time is over. And actually, before we do, we might wait another minute or so that our final board member can sit up here as well. Thank you all for your patience. Um, with that, our first speaker listed is Karina Stevens. Good evening. My name is Karina Stevens and I'm a multiport athlete at Chico High. I'm speaking on behalf of me and my nine teammates, seven of which could be here, two of which could not, who all played for Chaz in the 2024 volleyball season. We all had an extremely negative experience, and we tried to bring our concerns to our coach Chaz during the season through captain meetings and one-on-one
003meetings. After the season ended, we continued voicing our concerns to Chaz through exit meetings he held. He also had received feedback via parent and player fall surveys. Unfortunately, Chaz refused to self-reflect in any meaningful way. And not only that, he was talking behind our back to students in his classroom and posting critical things online through social media directed at his players in attempt to intimidate us. This is not mature conduct for a grown man, let alone a varsity coach and role model. We were given no other choice but to bring our concerns to the school administration. We were left with the impression that they didn't want to deal with this and hoped the situation would resolve through the passage of time. We then filed a formal complaint and although our concerns were substantiated, the school
004administration refused to remove him from his coaching position. In conclusion, we all had such a miserable experience that all 10 of us are not going to play the sport that we love if Chaz Kanaka remains coach. We hope you take our concerns seriously. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Our next speaker is Kaylee Solano. Good evening board members. I am Kaylee Solano, a student athlete at Chico High School. As you know, I'm here in regards to Coach Kopka coaching in the 2024 varsity volleyball season. I would like to start out by stating I've never been considered as an athlete who puts in zero effort, weak-minded or uncoachable by any coach, including Chaz Kopka before the 2024 season where he defined me as such. I was very close with Kopka family since preschool. Last year
005before the season started, I would have even considered them my second family. Standing up for something that is right is even harder when you consider them this close. I've explained all my reasons why in my written statement, and I hope you take the time to read it. The main thing you need to know is that this coach made my mental health be the worst it's ever been. The constant belittling tactics that he repeats over and over again with his words and action have caused considerable pain to myself and other players. In the simplest words, it ruined my love to compete, ruined my confidence, ruined my ability to trust in coaches, but worst of all, ruined my love for the sport. Not only my love, but nine other players love for the sport they've played for
006years. 10 out of the 14 girls, including sophomores that were brought up for the playoffs, will not be returning if he has moved as head coach. Nine out of the 11 juniors, will not be returning. How does that look at senior night? Only two players being celebrated, one being the coach's daughter when there may have been 11. Remove the coach's daughter, there's only one. If that does not speak volumes, I personally don't know it does. By not removing Coach Kopka, you're lowering the expectations of all coaches throughout the district. Coach Kopka knew all along what he was doing. He would always apologize for the way he acted, but never reflect and just repeat and perform in the same way. For him to be aware that 90% of his returning players will not be trying out
007because of the way he treated them should hit hard. That's just not a stat. It's a message that something went deeply wrong and cannot be ignored. I personally believe that in the percentage itself, he should step down on his own accord. Does he want to continue to make his players lose love for the game? Are the girls next year going to feel secure? Are they going to be belittled? Are they going to cry before and after each many practices and games just like my teammates and I did? Are they going to be treated fairly compared to his daughter? These questions and so many more often cloud my mind. It strikes me that he can show so many girls love for the game and still want to continue to coach. Although the district has indicated that
008coach Kopka has self-reflected, his actions show otherwise. For example, he does not acknowledge any of us on campus or at school events. It is very unfair that 10 girls have to step down from sport they've played since they were old enough. I hope you look at this case very carefully and take your time on making decision. Your decision will drastically affect us 10 girls future for better or for worse. If any of you know coach Kopka at a personal level, I hope no bias is taken in decision. It should be fairly easy based on all the evidence and facts proven in many written statements and interviews that my teammates and I completed. I would not be doing any of this if it wasn't the right thing to do. Thank you. Thank you. Our final listed
009speaker for close session is Matt Solano. Okay. Good evening. Matt Solano, father of Kaylee. Uh I'm speaking tonight about how Chico High School and the district have handled complaints related to coach Kopka. From the beginning, this process has been riddled with serious missteps. One, failure to follow procedure. The school failed to follow its own complaint process, something we didn't discover until 5 months after the initial complaint was submitted. Two, conflicts of interest. Individuals of personal relationships with Coach Kopka, were involved in the decision-making process. Erica Sheridan, Chico High's principal, whose son has been in a long-term relationship with Coach Kopka's daughter, and John Shepard, a known friend of Coach Kopka, was assigned as a lead investigator. For good reason. I agree that both Erica and John are wellrespected professionals. However, they should have recused themselves
010from the decision-making process to avoid any implicit bias. The district should have recognized this as well. Three, inappropriate public statement. On June 2nd of this year, the AD issued a public statement claiming Coach Kopka had been cleared of all misconduct. This is simply untrue according to the findings in the district's own investigation. Moreover, how and why would an AD have the authority to issue a public statement regarding a personnel matter? What? Who stood to benefit from the false information being released? Responses to date. In response to the complaints and the fact that 90% of returning players, excluding the coach's daughter, have chosen not to try out this season and went as far as signing a document stating such, which you have a copy of, the district has implemented the following changes. An assistant coach will
011now be added to the varsity team. Coaching expectations moving forward have been clarified with coach Kopka. All Chico Unified coaches must now complete additional trainings on how to best interact with student athletes. The AD and administration will periodically meet with players of all sports. Specifically for the 25 varsity volleyball team, a mandated minimum of two meetings will take place with players during the season. Let's be clear, these are significant changes and they are unprecedented in response to one person or one coach's behavior. In conclusion, this is not a case of a few discharers. This is 90% of your returning team, ranging from the most skilled to the least skilled, including team captains, who no longer want to play the game they love under this coach. Why would so many changes made be made to preserve
012one coach's position while ignoring the voices of nearly every returning player? If 90% of your returning varsity football players walked away for similar reasons, would the response look the same? Imagine one of these girls is your daughter. This is not a case of kids just need to toughen up these days. This was the experience of a broken environment. If you're looking for a compromise considering the substantiated findings and multiple process missteps and also the fact that if coach Kopka has truly self-reflected, he still refuses to acknowledge last year's players existence when crossing crossing paths of the high school and has never addressed the overall issue with them. As a fair compromise, I suggest a one-year leave of absence from coaching as an acceptable resolution. With emphasis, I ask you to please put aside any concerns
013of personnel or HR liability when looking at reversing this decision to date. Please have the courage to do the right thing for your student athletes. Thank you for listening. Thank you. Those are the end of our listed speakers for our closed session agendas. Does anyone else wish to speak? Seeing none, I want to thank you all for being here. And at this point, we will uh temporarily adjourn ourselves into close session. We'll be back at six o'clock for the standard open session. Thank you very much. Good afternoon everyone. We are uh back from close session. Welcome all of you to the June 18th, 2025 regular board of education meeting for Chico Unified School District. It is great to see so many people here. Let's see. Um, I do need to announce that uh we were
014unable to complete discussion on all of our items in close session. As such, we will be returning to close session at the end of the public portion of this meeting to continue that discussion. With that, as we enter into our regular session, I would like uh everyone to please rise for the flag salute. Salute. Pledge. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America to the stands one nationice for all. Thank you and superintendent Staley over to you. Thank you. I do want to say welcome to our international visitors and we will be introducing you in a short bit. Um but before we do that, Chico Unified really has education that goes year round. So while we're on summer break, we just trans transitioned right on into our afterchool program summer program.
015So to share some information and introduce some students, I have Kalen Quac Hennessy who's going to talk about the program. Hi. Um like Kelly said, I'm Callen Quac Hennessy. I'm the coordinator of the expanded learning programs. Um I'm here to provide an update on our expanded learning opportunities program summer camp which serves uh at no cost to families students from June 9th to July 3rd. Uh this summer we are proudly hosting 1,487 students from TK through sixth grade on nine campuses all actively engaged in a safe and supportive environment. Um, our program success is made possible by 133 dedicated Chico Unified teachers and 59 uh invaluable school aids in instructional paras. Additionally, our nutrition services department supports our programs by providing breakfast, lunch, and snacks for our students. And our custodial staff supports the day-to-day
016tasks of having students on campus while also deep cleaning our schools. Uh students participating are participating in a ri rich variety of academic enrichment and physical activities designed to keep them learning and active on campus. Our camp staff truly go above and beyond planning special activities like water play days, walking field trips to nearby parks, and engaging in cooking lessons. Students also participate in field trips to Cal Skate, the movie theater, and bowling, which is made possible by our transportation department. Beyond the regular schedule, special events have created a lasting has created lasting memories. These have included an energetic DJ dance party, uh a captivating wild things animal show, and the refreshing Kona ice snow cone truck, which add extra excitement to the days. Overall, summer camp is providing a remarkably positive and enriching environment
017for our students, fostering both uh growth and enjoyment. Uh here with me is Gia Alfaro, our Rosedale summer camp coordinator. um and two or three of her students um who are going to share their experience. Hello everybody. I'm very excited to be here today to speak to you about this wonderful program that we are having. I am the coordinator of Rosedale which is actually the largest blast port uh program in the whole district. and I have been able to witness firsthand how this program supports many families and truly makes a difference in their lives. Students are exposed to many many great activities that are planned by our leaders. Um, blast has become such an asset asset to this community and we have built strong relationships with both Chico Unified Schools and the card program. To
018continue this program in the form of our summer camps helps us to further provide students the accessibility to enriching experiences that they may not have in a typical summer program. This summer we've had the opportunity to collaborate with Citrus Elementary students and staff as they have joined us at Rosedale. So, we've created our own little special community. Uh students and families often express how thankful they are to have such a program as this at no cost to them. Being able to provide a safe and nurturing environment for our students in both BLAST and summer camp has been one of the many rewards of our program. You will hear from one of our ASP leaders, Gavin Keane, and three students from our current summer camp, Jasine Melendres, Maya, and Olivia Tara about their experiences that they've
019had this last summer. Hello, my name is uh Gavin Keane. Thank you all for having me here today. I'm here to talk about what I did as a blast leader these past this past academic school year. The first semester I worked with first and second graders which was as some know a handful but I learned a lot of great opportunities and how to interact with smaller children. And then the second semester I worked with fourth and fifth graders which I connected with them a little bit more and understood how to finangle situations as I've uh seen throughout growing up here. And we do a lot of fun different things. We have different clubs such as video games clubs where we have a connect switch and the kids absolutely love it. We do a lot of
020outdoor activities. I was part of the golf club, baseball club, um basketball club, anything you can really think of. We also have a lot of great enrichment opportunities. We do a lot of fun board games. We do a lot of fun creative activities that you could see the leaders have picked off Pinterest and we all kind of do our different little thing and we all have our different kind of spin on stuff and I think it makes the kids enjoy it a little bit more. So, I had a great experience and I'm looking forward to going back to be a leader again next year. Thank you. Hi. Oh, hi. My name is Jazzy and I've been in Rosa ASP since second grade. And some activities are at the end of the year we have a
021water day and the fifth graders and the leaders do a ice bucket thing. When it's half day, they have activities planned and set. There is assemblies every day where you get your group points and do different activities every single day. And summer and for summer camp, we go on trips. We combine groups for the afterare. And lastly, we get time to talk with Citrus. And what I like about summer camp is that we have amazing staff like the lunch lady, my staff, Sienna, and more. My name is Maya Tara. This is my second time in summer camp. We do really fun field trips and we do rotations so that we can do something with every teacher. It's been really fun being with my friends and continuing to learn during the summer. My favorite part so
022far has been the CSK field trip and I can't wait to go bowling. Thank you. My name is Olivia Dara and um I've been in summer camp since TK and my favorite part about it is the field trips and I love my teacher. Thank you. I also have the honor tonight to present uh the superintendence award to someone whose dedication and leadership have made a lasting impact on our students and staff. So Gia, we got you here. Um, so Gia leads a team of 16 incredible card leaders and serves an impressive 155 TK through fifth grade students every single day as the blast coordinator at Rosedale. Her impact uh extends far beyond the afterchool program. She goes above and beyond by coordinating earlyback program, spring break, and summer camp, ensuring our students have a safe
023and enriching engaging opportunities all year long. With 21 years of teaching experience, Gia brings both wisdom and heart to everything she does. For the past three years at Rosedale, we've been incredibly fortunate to have her leading the blast program. Whether it's the treats that are always available in her office or the fun costume thing she brings to life, Gia creates an environment of community, joy, and belonging for both students and staff. These little touches speak volumes about the culture she builds, one of care, connection, and fun. You will not find a more enthusiastic, Disneyloving, and caring educator, colleague, friend, and mother. Gia, thank you for your unwavering dedication for being a guiding light to our expanded learning team and Rosedale's campus. It is truly a privilege to recognize [Applause] And before they ride off into
024the summer, I do want to the board the opportunity if there are questions regarding the summer program to ask them. If not, we will keep moving. I don't have a I don't have a question, but I just wanted to say that my granddaughter as is at Rosedale um uh every day for blast and she is really enjoying it and I just have to tell you her parents are really enjoying it too. And so I want to thank you all of the all of the staff that makes that happen and it's just such an enriching environment for Lenora. And so uh so thank you uh so much for what for what you do. I just have one word. Impressive. Yeah. Remarkable. Thank you so much for offering this for our students. Okay. Well, let's keep the
025good times rolling. Uh, I'd like to invite up Joe Morris to the podium. Oh, and Eric German. Gonna get tag team here. I can see. Hi, how are you? So today's uh word for us um I got threatened with my life in my office because I tried to hide it and surprise it, but that didn't go over well. So just so you know, I'm standing here because she didn't take me out. Um um it is both an honor and a privilege to stand here before you today to present the highest recognitions in our organization, the superintendence award. This award does not give him lightning. reserved for individuals who go above and beyond the call of duty. Those who exemplify dedication, excellence, and integrity in everything they do. Today, we are we're here to recognize Jen
026Fields. Jen Fields, would you like to come up? Come on. Come on. See, this was part of it. her outstanding her outstanding her outstanding contributing contributions to our team and our mission. Jen, thank you for being a role model of excellence, a trusted colleague, and a valued member of our team. It is with great pride I present you with the superintendence award. You have truly earned it. So, Jen had some really big shoes to fill when she came on. We had Darcy, as some of you may remember, had been in that position for I think nearly 17 years. And when you are running one position, there's a it's a unique position within Chico Unified. There's no other position like the M coordinator. And Jen stepped in there. Not only did she fill those shields, she
027surpassed our expectations. And I don't know if you've ever met somebody where you can hear the smile in their voice, but when people call maintenance and operations, they typically aren't calling us because they're in a good place, right? We're we're like, you know, we're kind of the the complaint department where, hey, my toilet's overflowing. Our lights stopped working and we've got bees in our classroom. It's always a crisis. It's always an emergency. And Jen has the ability to answer every one of those calls with a smile. And the people on the other end of those lines, they can't see that smile, but you can definitely hear that smile and you can feel that smile. And it is so reassuring to our our people that are calling to know that there's somebody that cares that much.
028And everything she does expresses that to our our staff, to our school sites, and to everybody. So, we can't thank Jen enough for what she does. It's a big job, and she does it wonderfully. There you go. You're welcome. And with that, I will turn it back over to you, Mr. President. Thank you. Um, I love I say this every time, but I love starting with the superintendent awards and hearing from students and reminding us about all the amazing and good things that happen in our district. So, to those of you got awarded, thank you so much for your service. For the students who were here, thank you. Getting them that microphone can be a little scary sometimes. You all did great and we are we love hearing from you. That said, um, we are
029on to item six, which is announcements. And you know, I do believe announcements might be the longest portion of our of our meeting today, which is kind of fascinating. Um, so we have several announcements. Uh, thank you all for your patience as we move through them. I would like to invite first of all um our CASEA chapter rep uh to come on up and introduce the June CSEA member of the month. Good evening and thanks for having me. just like everybody else. My name is Holly Poniano and I'm the vice president of our CSEA which are classified employees for Chico Unified and we have begun a as you've seen the last few months um with Kelly Surl coming up here so I'm standing in um but our we have chosen our June CSA member of
030the month and that is Dan Adams right here. You could come up Dan is a night custodian um for Chico Unified at Emma Wolf and um he's been with us for nine years now and as we know custodians um are our unsung heroes as much as everybody else but um especially at night you know our night custodians. So, we appreciate that Dan's here on an off time for his normal schedule. Um, changed it over for the summer being here's a little tired, he said. Um, but we we do appreciate um again him being here and in talking to him um when we were telling him that he had been chosen um for this month, one of the things he said that I thought was wonderful was that, you know, his favorite part of the job
031is just the people, the staff that he works with. Um I just thought that meant a lot, you know. being part of a team because um he does have a difficult position um being an after school cleanup and and all the other things that he does as well. And so um I know that's a tough one. You know, we're all going home and ending our day because it's just begun. Um Brian Daget, another of our members and custodial staff was the one who nominated him. And some of the things that Brian has told us about Dan um is that he's just an extremely hard worker. um he always just shows up and just gets the job done. As we know, that's what you need, you know, somebody who can just jump in and and go
032with the flow of what's going on. And so, um he never complains, which wonderful on that. And um but that there's never any complaints about him as well on the job. So, I think that says a lot about him. And we just want to say thank you so much for the job that you do and um being a wonderful representative of our classified employees for Chico Unified. So, thank you Dan Adams for everything you do for us. Thank you. And thank you, Dan. Uh, custodians really do set the the atmosphere, the tone for our schools. We appreciate the work that you do. With that, um, I am happy to invite, uh, Charles Artman and Heather Hacking from Chico State up to introduce their guests. Hi. Hi. Hi. Uh, Charles, Dr. Charles Zartman, professor in the
033School of Education, director of the Center for Bilingual Multicultural Studies, and Director of International Training Programs, the hat that I'm wearing tonight. in introducing our 18 guests from 18 countries. But before I do that, I've just completed my 40th year on campus and my 50th year since I started teaching high school in the fall of 1975. And one thing I've learned as a professor in the school of education, we've recognized all these people for their outstanding work, their outstanding contributions. Having been here for 40 years, I know that a superintendent works seven days a week, 52 weeks a year, 365 days. Kelly, your contributions to this community have been amazing. And it's my understanding this is your final board meeting tonight. Oh. Oh, I apolog Yeah. So on behalf of Cal State Chico, the school
034of education and the entire community, Kelly, thank you for your contributions. [Applause] So these 18 individuals are conscientious, dedicated, wonderful, and they're here to introduce themselves, their role. They've been to Fair View. They've been to Chico Country Day because they're looking at institutions. Uh the Fulbright people in in the in January to March, they're in classrooms. These are people at the Ministry of Education level at a bigger than in the classroom with greater responsibility. So they want to see how institutions work and that's what brings them to our community at this time. So if you'll come forward and introduce yourselves. 18 wonderful educators from 18 countries. Hello everyone, I'm Jennifer Lewis from Department of Education. Hello everyone, my name Good evening everybody. My name is Ricardo. I'm from Portugal. I'm coordinator of English school and
035I'm also an English teacher. Good evening everyone. I am Jennifer from New Guinea. It's in the Pacific just south of Australia. I am the officer for my country. Prior to that, I was an English teacher at the secondary school. My name is from a secondary school teacher. Well, thank you all for being here. Um, every year we are so thrilled to see um, all the people who come through Chico Unified. We love having the visitors um, sharing knowledge both ways about how best to serve our students. So, thank you guys very much. I would like to second that. Welcome. And I hope you guys enjoyed your time here or at least some time here while you were here. Um, with that, does anyone from the board have any announcements they would like to make? Um,
036I wanted to uh say how much I enjoyed going to um the promotion at um at um AFC Cal and Oakdale. I think I think I got it right. Uh it was really great um uh to go and and um see the kids promote and um so that was a real privilege. It's my first time as a board member um at graduation. So it was wonderful. The graduations are always such an amazing time to see our students and reflect on I I have something to add to you. Um, I was able to, um, since being elected as board member, I think I made it to 16 out of the 22 sites, um, just to visit and hang out. And, um, that really is the best part of the job. Um, and then I was able
037to go to Bidwell's graduation, which was um, fantastic. And um as I retired from Pave High School, I went to Pave's graduation and I shook and high-fived with uh 488 students and it was literally one of the best times of my life. I have one other thing. I want to uh extend my thanks to Julie Kle for inviting me to walk the grounds at Citrus and explain um what the plan is going to look like there. I was um I was I'm disappointed to know that the halls uh the the flooring and the lighting probably will not be touched. Um, but there are a lot of things that will happen and I have sent Julie all sort sorts of questions like hm has uh has the public ever funded uh gi given support for for
038like you know donations of materials or or time. I am not giving up on either the floors or the lighting. We'll see how it all plays out. Thank you, Julie. Um, thank you. Until you guys started mentioning graduations, I didn't think I had anything to say. However, I had the privilege again for about the 15th maybe graduation at Fairview and um the independent study program I think is is the other program. If you haven't been, mark it on your calendar for next year. It's always in the morning. Um, and it is a celebration of accomplishments by the bravest, most um inspirational young people that you will ever see. our students that that end up in uh our alted classes, it isn't that they failed, it's that they've succeeded and have decided to do something for
039themselves. That's why they end up with an alternative ed program to make sure that they get as much as they can out of the time they have available before they become, you know, adults and have to go off and be real people. The staff that supports that group of young people are the most amazing I've ever Mr. mall is one of my heroes, too. Um, but if you haven't been to their graduation, put it on your calendar for next year and go. It is uh yeah, it lets us know that our future's in good hands. That's what it does. It lets us know our future's in good hands. And to my fellow board member Gail down there, I I got a chance to sit within about six feet of this board member as she greeted
040those 400 how many kids? 488. Yeah. Um, through most graduations that I've been to, and I've been through a few, the kids are bound and determined they're not going to smile when they get up there to be handed whatever it is us adults have prepared to hand them. Miss Olsen down there absolutely refused to allow anyone to go through that exercise and be handed their diploma without smiling. She got smiles out of some of the most solid faces. I so enjoyed your presentation, Miss Olsen. Uh and again to the staffs at our schools who create an environment where our young people can thrive and end up in the joyous situations that we celebrate at graduation. My thanks to all of you. I am I am so grateful to have been here for a while. Thank
041you. We are grateful to have had you here for all that time. Thank you. Um, one one last one last thing. I was just gonna Oh, well, I was going to say um I had every intention of being at Fairview's graduation as well, but my kindergarten um granddaughter promoted the same morning. And I have to say again, I'm saying this because the staff did such a great job at promotion. I teased Kelly. I said I could be the I could I could be the board representative announcing their promotion of the class. But it was really it was so moving and the principal just about cried. I was like, "You can do this, Marisol. You can do it." But it was so sweet and it just from from the very beginning all the way to the
042end, it is amazing what the staff does to um you know see our our kids in our community grow. So thank you from the bottom of my heart. I had the chance and opportunity to um shake hands with the Chico High students and for my third year in a row. And I agree, it's definitely one of the added perks, blessings, um of being on the school board, something I never imagined would be probably one of my favorite things. So to see that and to see these kids um just launching into the world is super inspiring. So, it was it was an honor. Yeah, this is one of my favorite times of year, but I'm going to make an announcement that's completely different. Um, which is that I wore a hard hat yesterday. Um, and you
043guys may not know this. I'm not a construction worker in any in any way, shape, or form. We were out uh to honor the groundbreaking because we have finally finally started construction on the Inspire campus out um on the south side of town and it was an awesome event. I know that you're going to speak to that in a moment. I just want to say thank you for having us there. It's been a long time and the partnership between Chica Unified and the local charter school is something that we're very proud of. We were we've been thrilled to work through this occasionally bumpy process with you and we're so excited to see where that goes. So, thank you. It was an amazing ceremony, too. Um, yeah, we have purple vests. They're so color coordinated. It's
044very inspired. Um, I have a slightly sadder announcement to make now. Um, which is that, uh, Chica Unified is suffering a fairly severe loss, uh, at the end of this month. Um, so I'd like uh Superintendent Sale actually come up here. Yeah, please. Up here. I just want everyone to um have a chance to recognize all the amazing good that this woman has done for our community and our district. Uh she is retiring at the end of this month. um the things that Kelly Saley does for again our community and for Chica Unified um are amazing are well above and beyond the call of duty. I have a piece of paper here that lists a lot of them and I'll read them off shortly so I won't go into them all right now. Um what
045I appreciate most maybe um is that I know everybody in this room who knows Kelly has disagreed with her at some point. Um, and I mean that because we dis we have all disagreed with her and we have all managed to continue to find ways to work with her to appreciate her leadership. She does not let the inevitable politics of a very very hard job interfere with being a human being. Um, and that is very hard to do today. And it has allowed you to be an exemplary leader. You have defined the professionalism, the leadership, and the student focus that we expect from all of our staff. You've been a mentor and exemplar to all of our district, to all of our staff, your colleagues here in Chico and around the state. Um, I know
046the superintendent's award, as was just mentioned, uh, goes to those who go above and beyond. And for 24 years, 16 of those as our superintendent, Kelly Staley has done just that continually every day in serving the students of this district. And we cannot say thank you enough. Uh we all wish you an amazing, happy, and fulfilling retirement. And we're going to sadly with a couple of gifts also. First of all, it's not binding because we couldn't put it on the uh agenda without surprising you. But I would like to read a proclamation from the Chica Unified School Board. Whereas Superintendent Kelly Staley has served the super as superintendent of Chico Unified School District since 2007 and will retire on June 30th, 2025 after having served the district for 24 years. Whereas on this occasion, the
047Chico Unified School District Board of Trustees care to pause and reflect upon appreciation of Superintendent Kelly Staley and whereas Superintendent Kelly Staley is a longtime educator and has worked as a teacher, coach, assistant principal, principal, assistant superintendent and superintendent in both large and small school districts. And whereas Superintendent Sy has served on the fiscal crisis and management assistance team, the Association of California School Administrators, Region 2 representative, the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Visiting Committee Chair, the California School Boards Association Advisory Board, the Northern California Superintendent Organization, the Suburban School Superintendent National Organization, and other K12 and national organizations where Superintendent Kelly Staley has been recognized regionally and statewide for the positive contributions to K12 educ. ation, including most recently as AXA region 2 outstanding woman educational leader of 2025. Whereas Superintendent Kelly Staley
048actively participates in local organizations donating time and resources to community groups such as reading pals, Chicoon Rotary, and the Chico Chamber of Commerce. Whereas Superintendent Staley has been described as widely respected and highly regarded throughout the county and state and is a student- centered educational leader who positively contributes to the community and is passionate about supporting educators and student success throughout the region. Whereas Superintendent Kelly Staley has guided the district through multiple crisis situations, maintaining calm and consistency throughout the community while providing services and continuity of education with the mission of supporting every student every day. Whereas the student centered educational approach and high quality of education in Chico Unified School District is so appreciated by its students and community and is maintained in part because of Superintendent Kelly Staley's leadership and dedication to education.
049now therefore be resolved by the Chica Unifford Unified School District Board of Trustees that hereby honors the many accomplishments and overarching dedication service to the Chica Unified community and to hereby express deep appreciation for the many years of service Superintendent Kelly Staley has offered to the students and staff of Chica Unified School District and wishes the best in retirement and all future endeavors. [Applause] Now, if you don't mind coming up here, we've got There's a story about this And then of course Yes. Thank you so much. I'm going to attempt to get through this. Kelly, you know, sometimes I don't make it. I wrote this um with the intent of getting through it without crying. So, let's see how it goes. The first rodeo. Do you remember the cartoon I sent you with the the
050horse and the the rider upside down holding on to the horse's neck and the caption was this may be her first rodeo. I I laughed then. It was hysterical. She came in on a horse, then promptly fell off and broke her riding platform, also known as her butt. CSD had to wait a while before she was up to full strength. But once that happened, dust began to fly, and it hasn't settled down after 24 years. Kelly puts her big girl pants on and goes to work every day. She brings a flare for decision makingaking that has been unmatched by no other superintendent. She is a gather the facts, assess the options, and make a decision then move on woman. She is leaving a legacy of positive growth for every student, every family and employee as
051she leaves us for retirement. As her ship moves off into the sunset, I am forever grateful for what she has taught me as I bounced around on her wake. It's been a pleasure, Miss Kelly. [Applause] So, first of all, this is entirely unfair. Uh, but I don't know who you described in that proclamation, but what I want to say is I think you have it all wrong. Um, the thanks really should come from me to all of you, to the staff, the amazing people that I get to work with, our incredible teachers, our classified staff. It has been um 39 years in education, 24 here in Chico. I It's my family. Um and I hope you all stay that way. I'll stay in touch for sure. I've already told principles if you need somebody to
052uh I don't know, pick up stuff, help distribute things, whatever. I'm happy to do that. Um but the honor has been all mine. I do thank you for the very kind words, but I think I have a a lot of areas of growth, but probably the one thing that uh was a strength and that I'm most proud of is the staff that we have hired, the people that we have put together. We have an amazing team and I know there is not going to be a beat skipped. This district is going to probably go up even faster now. Um so, thank you, thank you, thank you for your kind words. Um, you will always have a huge spot in my heart, but I'm not going to lie, I'm ready. I mean, unless anybody else here
053wants to say anything about Kelly, we could give Kelly speeches about Kelly for a very long time. I will say just a few words. Um my first um interaction with Kelly Staley was as a parent I I wrote a concerned email and quite honestly I wasn't even expecting this was maybe back in 2019 2020 wasn't even really expecting um any sort of response just wanting to kind of get my express my thoughts and and share my concerns. And it wasn't even 3 hours later, she had responded to my email in a very personal way. And I knew right then and there, this was somebody that hears the concerns of parents and families. And I was instantly um drawn to this person and just her dedication and commitment to our school district and and the families
054of Chico Unified and our community. So, I honestly was a fan from day one. And that um only um my admiration and my um just appreciation for her just grew um being on the school board. She was always someone has always been someone who hears our concerns and um is someone who is so wise and always um shares her wisdom in a very humble way. and I've always appreciated that. And even on a more personal level, she has just really taken my daughter under her wing and been a mentor to her in horseback riding. And um what I'll say about Kelly is that list um of accolades and um honors that she has is nothing compared to what she can do on a horse and in a show ring. She really truly is amazing. So
055although um I'm sad to see her move on in this capacity as superintendent, I know that we'll continue um to be friends and I will continue to look to her for wisdom um for years to come. So thank you, Kelly. We do have a gift for you and I don't know if we want to explain that or if we want to share that later with you. It's up to you. Well, all right. Can I can I add by all means please totally different perspective. So I came to Chico Unified as a teacher um and didn't have tenure um but boy every month or so we were out there informational picketing and this was before you um and and things were really rough and I was highly involved in the teachers association. Um and then Kelly
056comes along and you turned us around. Um, you brought us to a place of now I'm gonna cry, incredible distrust to amazing trust. Um, you built a very strong district with open communication, open doors. Um, so so I don't cry anymore. Thank you for everything. [Applause] So, I'm the board member who has the least experience with Kelly, although I did meet her years ago when my daughter was a sixth grader. She was a I think the assistant superintendent. Um, but on a daily basis, I'm the one who knows Kelly the least. And it's interesting at a Chico function um someone took me aside and said so background I'm a teacher in a different district and I'm also I've been the association president for 13 years and a negotiator for 17 years and someone took me
057aside and said you know Kelly is concerned about you and I thought okay all right and what I've experienced is that if that was actually the case, that is never I've never felt that in the least. Um, we've had uh disagreements about things, but I think she truly uh appreciates my passion and um and work ethic and I have just uh great respect and I thank you for um you know bringing me along in this new role. Yeah, I don't want to belabor it, but I I remember I think it's worth noticing as well. Um, Kelly, you do a really good job of making board members. Um, would just say that we all come in guns blazing about something we're angry about. It's why we ran. It's why we wanted to be up here and
058helping us become a cohesive unit that is focused on what's best for all students and for the health of the district as a whole. And again, we don't always agree. It's not always easy, but you've been an amazing leader to us as well in that role, and I think that's been very good for the district also. Um, I'm definitely a better board member and a better human being for getting to talk with you as often as I do. So, thank you for that. Fine, Kelly. Next agenda item. Um, we are on to um item seven, which is items from the floor. Um items from the floor are for the public to address items that are not on the agenda. Uh the usual speaker rules apply. You have three minutes to address the board. We will
059not respond because they are not items that are agendaized. Wonderful clock back there. We'll let you know when three minutes are up. We'll have a timer at 30 seconds. And goodbye to our distinguished friends. [Applause] All right, items from the floor. Our first listed speaker is one Becky Brown. More good stuff. Good evening. I'm Becky Brown, principal superintendent of Inspire School of Arts and Sciences, and I have a letter from our board and our foundation board to share with you. Dear members of the Chico Unified School District Board, on behalf of Inspire School of Arts and Sciences, we thank the Chico Unified Board for taking action to ensure a viable way forward for Inspire's charter school facilities program grant project. With your help, we've leveraged over 14 million in state grant funding needed to provide
060a campus that is adequate for our school and programs and it keeps Chico High's master plan for facilities on track. The district has been a leader in including charters and facilities bond funding for the benefit of all students enrolled in schools within district boundaries. We are grateful to the district for meaningfully involving the charter leaders in conversations around bond allocation. We are grateful for the opportunity to engage in collective problem solving in joint discussions between school and district facilities committees. We are grateful to Julie Kle for her brilliant efforts to make Inspire's new campus a reality. to Jaclyn Krueger for her careful stewardship of public funds and to Kelly Staley for her vision v visionary leadership. Thank you members of the board for listening to the voices of our community for seeking to understand the
061complexities of our project and for your support in moving our new campus forward. And this is signed by our staff and our foundation board and our school board. And um from the bottom of my heart, I say ditto. Deep and resounding ditto. Um we are just thrilled. Um so thank you all so much. I'll share these letters with you. Thank you. Our next listed speaker is Hogan Brown. Howdy. All right. My name is Hogan Brown and I'm the director of Friends of Chico Lacrosse. I'm uh following up on recent district discussions regarding the potential addition of CIF lacrosse at Pleasant Valley High School and Chico High Schools. This follows the strong interest expressed by both student bodies as presented to the board on May 14th through the high school athletic sustainability and CIF survey results
062along with public comments from students and community members. Since that meeting, we've had productive individual conversations with board members via email and have provided additional information addressing many of the questions and concerns raised after the public comment. I am here speaking for your students, parents and community to ask what more do you need from us and when can we get started working on bringing muchneeded athletic opportunities and ways to create student engagement via the sport of lacrosse to Pleasant Valley and Chico high schools. We have been working on this for over two years and we are ready to start spending our time and our donors money on things that directly impact our community and kids. As other local high schools move forward with launching CIF lacrosse programs, our families need clarity. We need to make
063informed plans for their students and we're eager to begin working with you and everyone involved hopefully soon to get CIF lacrosse at Chico High School. Please let us know what else we can do and what else we can do or to get this going. So, thank you. I do not have any other speaker cards listed. Is there anyone else from the public who would like to address an item not on the agenda at this time? I don't see any. So, I'm going to go ahead and move on. Thank you all very much for being here. We are looking now at item eight, which is our consent calendar. Are there any items from the consent calendar that a member would like to hold for further discussion? Seeing none, is there a motion regarding the consent calendar
064on the table? I move we approve the consent calendar. Is there a second? All right, we have a motion from member Hayes and a second from Vice President Conin. Any discussion on the consent calendar? Seeing none, we will do a roll call vote as this is our first action of the evening. Uh starting with member Olson Olsson I Conan I Lando I Hace I Robinson I it passes unanimously. Thank you. All right. I got to figure out where I am on this thing. Sorry guys. Give me a moment. All right. Item 9.1.1 is a discussion action item uh regarding the approval of California Community Schools partnership program and implementation plan. Am I in the right menu? There we go. He's here. All right. Good evening. Hi. Nice to see you. Nice to see you as
065well, Tom. Yes. Questions. I'm broadly in general. How is uh Oh, sure. How is the community schools partnership program going? I've got one of those allergy stuffy things in my ear and I am not hearing properly. So, um sure. No, things are going great. Um so, I don't know if the board I was not able to be here last time we were talking about community schools, but um we are up and running as of receiving the funds last fall. Um, currently we have three school social workers at four of our programs. So, we are currently moving into the new school year with social workers at um, Chapman Elementary, Citrus Elementary. We are now open. We have an open listing for um, a school social worker at McManis and then um, the alternative education programs has
066hired a school social worker that will be starting in the fall as well. So, we're kind of cruising in really nice with that. Um, additionally, um, through our needs and assets, um, processes this spring, um, the elementary schools have, u moved into the direction of hiring intervention specialists at those schools as teachers on special assignment. And that is to, um, they will be sitting on our school-based intervention teams to help provide academic behavior and social emotional support to all students on campus. Awesome. Could you just for um any members of the public who aren't 100% sure what we're talking about, could you kind of quickly go over what makes these community schools different from any of our other sites perhaps? Sure. Um and I know that's been a that's been a big thing because um
067the way the community Let me see if I can get a little adjustment here. There we go. Um I know we have a there's a lot of information out there on different community schools and different ways that um they are functioning across the state. And uh the cool thing about community schools is they are individual. I mean they are designed to be a needsbased um framework to best support everything happening on a campus based on its community. We know that at these schools they um they're all struggling with different different things, but um what this program is designed to do is to treat the whole child and and involve all stakeholders in order to make sure that we're making the best decisions to always support kids. And um I it's been an amazing opportunity to
068be a part of that and seeing the cool things that are happening on our campuses and the strides that we're making to get um the community and parents, staff, um all involved on taking care of kids in the best way possible. And so, um that's been a really cool thing. It was it's a very cool silver lining to come out of the pandemic where we recognized that our communities and our schools were suffering um because of the lack of the ability for kids to be on campus and to engage with their teachers and and all the resources that they need to um thrive. And so I know it's not a great thing the pandemic was, but that's one of those cool things where we recognize that we really got to um bolster all those things
069to make sure kids are getting what they need to be successful at school. Thank you. Anyone else have questions for Mr. WA right now? So, I believe we have action on our plate regarding this. We need to approve the implementation plan. Yes. Okay. Do we have any questions from the board regarding what that looks like? I know we've all reviewed it ahead of time and it is of course attached online as well. Okay. Uh, seeing no technical questions, do we have any public comment regarding our community school implementation plan? Wow. Okay. Um, is there a motion associated with this item? I'll motion to approve. I'll second that motion. All right. We have a motion by clerk Olsen and a second by member Robinson. Uh, is there any discussion on this item? Seeing none, all those
070in favor signify by saying I. I. Any oppose say nay. It is unanimous. Thank you very much. I wanted Please I just wanted to say thank you to uh the parking the parking lot visits that we've had. For some reason or another, I end up at the district office at the about the same time you're coming out of the district office. and that phrase about parking lot conversations. I get so much information and I am so grateful that you will stop and, you know, do all of the filling in for all of my questions and I'm so grateful for the program that you've begun and and are making happen in our district. Thank you. Well, thank you too. It's always a pleasure. I think that's all we need from you, right? Excellent. Awesome. Thank you
071so much for being here and for all the work you do. It's uh item 9.1.2 is a public hearing discussion and action regarding the extended school year. Jen Scola. Okay. Lower it for the short girl. Okay. Um we brought this as a as an agenda item and it was my bad. CDE asks that it be a formal public hearing for extended school year. And so they were gracious enough to say just go do one even if we're underway. We're good. Just do it. So that's why we're here. So just thought I would also take a quick opportunity to let you know we are almost halfway through our extended school program. It's been very very smooth under the direction of Margie Starky. She's working handinhand with Kalen and ensuring that our kiddos are participating not only
072in their special ed instructional services, but then participating in all of the fun activities that Kalen has put together. Um, it's been very exciting to see that blend of of services happen. We've got classrooms at 10 schools. We've hired about 25 teachers working with our students every day and over a hundred paraprofessional staff. We've got nurses and speech therapists and occupational therapists and psychologists. everybody on board serving a little over 280 students every day. So, um, my apologies. We moved forward with this before, but the CDE would like that final stamp of approval from the public. While I am a huge fan of ESY as um an intervention that some students need, I just want to make sure I understand the purpose of the public hearing. Uh, what exactly is the um the outcome or
073the the goal of this public hearing? So the CDE is just asking that through formal public hearing process that we have approval to move forward on a shortened number of days for extended school year. We have longer days but fewer days versus 20 days at four hours a day. And overwhelmingly our parents have told us yes, thank you for doing that. Um it doesn't bump into the Fourth of July holiday in any way and our students are aren't on campus longer. Very good. Thank you. Appreciate that clarification. Um, before we go into the formal public hearing, anyone have any questions? I just have I just have a comment, please. As a ESY teacher for I don't know how many years, I loved it when it went from four to five hours and a shorter. Yes.
074So, it's a win-win not only for students and parents, but for staff, I believe, as well. Thank you. Um, that said, I am going to open a public hearing on this matter. It is now opened. Do we have any public comment from uh the public regarding the change in schedule for the ESY program? Seeing none, I will close the public hearing on this matter. We still need as a board to do we still need to act? Yes. Okay. Thank you. Um and again, I'm trying to I'm sorry, guys. I'm still I'm still back saying goodbye to Kelly in my head. Um what is the action that you would that you are requesting here to go ahead and approve the waiver for a reduced number of days for extended school year with a longer day for
075students. Very good. All right. We have a very enthusiastic motion by member Robinson. Do we have a second? I second it. Second by member Hayes. Uh any further discussion on this item? All those in favor signify by saying I. I. Any oppose say nay. Thank you very much, Miss College unanimous. Thank you for letting me come twice. We are on to item 9.1.3. This is anformational public hearing regarding a draft of our LCAP for 2526. That is the local control accountability plan. Mr. Carris. Hello. Good evening. Tina, you're okay. Yeah. Yeah. Totally. It is. It's been many years we've been up here together. Um, tonight is um our public hearing for the LCAP that addresses um Chico Unifi's plan for the 25 26 school year. That's the budget one. So the OKCAP is our strategic
076plan. Um it really it's a very very meaty document and it's hard to digest but it really really does uh drive everything that we do. Um we are proud of the fact that the ideas um and the spirit of the LCAP is consistent throughout the district planning documents including the single plans for student achievement. Um it comes into play when we're selecting um professional development focus for the for the coming year and it really does drive everything that we do. So, school districts in California are required by the state to address eight priority areas in their LCAP. And you can see the priority areas listed there. So, really when we get to the goals, um goals will be addressing multiple priorities. Tonight, we've included on the board agenda uh the budget over overview for parents,
077which gives a a much clearer bite-sized chunk of the overall LCAP budget than you get by reading the actual plan. And then, of course, the actual LCAP. So, goal one um is regarding academic instruction and supports. Um it is goal one for a reason. Um we believe that academics is um why we're here. Uh we do a lot to support it. Lots of wonderful things going on. Um academics is number one. And what you'll find is um the largest number of actions so um money spent um goes towards academics. Goal two, social emotional learning and supports. Goal three, behavioral instruction and supports. And goal four um is an add-on um to our, you know, kind of core three goals. And the purpose of goal four is to address um how our schools that receive equity
078multiplier funding are going to spend it in the following year. So you can see the six sites listed up there. We have the four alternative education campuses and new this year we have Oakbridge Academy and Citrus. schools qualify for uh equity multiplier funding based on um non-stability rate. So school schools with a high non-stability rate. So lots of kids coming in and out um as well. And the other criteria is unduplicated student count. So those are our six that um that make the make the cuts for both those measures. So when we when we get into talk about budget, um you can see in the light blue there the 200 about 207 um million dollars. That's the overall district budget. The money that we're talking about tonight is on the LCAP LCFF supplemental. So it's
079a portion um of our overall budget. So goal one um you can see uh bilingual aids, you can see educational software used at all levels. Um teachers on special assignment um which is something that or TOSAs um something that we really really rely on in Chico Unified for for teacher leadership and the teacher voice and communication um with our teachers. Um, you can see art, music, and extra PE up there as well. And a big one up there that I failed to mention is technology device replacement. And that that's the cost of um the bulk of that is Chromebooks. And as we continue, um, we can see, um, secondary counselors, uh, library librarians, library media assistants, kindergarten aids, um, and then there is an amount of money that's allocated to the sites to do with
080as they see fit. Um, medically necessary and off-campus instruction and elementary reading specialists. We we're very happy to be able to um I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but the reading specialists um it's it's great that that they're part of LCAP and they're going to be sticking around. I'm sorry, the site allocated funds, those are for all sites, not just the the ones that Right. Okay. Correct. I just wanted to make sure. Yep. So, um, the actions that I just showed you aren't obviously everything that we're doing to address academics in Chico Unified. Um, we do have many other funding sources, specifically grants, um, title title one, title two, um, community schools grant that you just heard about, um, etc. and more and more of the state's been allocating money via grants. And so
081when we go through the LCAP process and we're evaluating our progress towards our goals and we're u meeting with members of the public and Chico Unified families at our LCAP meetings, they're giving us all kinds of ideas. Um and we find that very valuable. Um, we're proud of the amount of input um, the public's able to put into the LCAP and it's documented very well in the LCAP and that input really carries over to what grants we look for, what we do with the grants. Um, so it's the LCAP process really drives uh, you know, the grant side of things as well as the as the actions that you see listed on the previous couple slides. Any questions or comments on goal one? Yeah, I have a quick comment if nobody else and it is
082really just a comment. Um, just that I know um we often hear up here that we need to just focus on academics and people point to all kinds of things. Uh, often the the CASP scores which across the whole state always look worse than they should frankly. Um, that said, I love and I love pointing this out that we have this doc. Here's exactly what we're going to do to make things better for students. Um, I think through the combination of some of the amazing teachers we have at Chico High and the um kind of stability of finally being in that block schedule for a while, I hear we've had some really good preliminary results in especially in math from Chico High. you I know don't mean to put you on the spot but is
083that it's very very early um in CASP score evaluation but things are looking good um in particular at at at the high schools um regarding English and math using some of this stuff we're doing here to make sure that's replicated and and kept up as yeah and and also um you know moving on to goal two when we talk about um social emotional um services that really comes into play as well when when we start talking about test scores. Um, Tisha, do you have a question? Um, yeah. Well, just a comment. So, I want the public to be aware this is that local control accountability plan. And I know that the district reaches out to parents and and stakeholders, but I um when the LCAP first came out from the state, I think there was
084a lot more interest um in the process because it was new. But it's it's kind of like the uh the idea of we see a lot of interest at elementary school level uh with parents taking and you know volunteering and doing things and then we see kind of a slide as as our kids get older. There's less involvement from parents and that's kind of what I've seen with the LCAP. And I would just say to parents and students, this really is your opportunity to weigh in on how um what the budget is going to look like like for these funds. And if you have things that are are of interest to you, you know, please, you know, make that be known. And then al also realize that um things that you're interested in aren't going
085to may not be able to be enacted that very next school year because there's there are uh hiring decisions that take place. So you want to get your ideas out there, you know, like vote vote early and often, right? You know that idea of get your get have an idea of what you want. Don't be afraid to ask for what you want. um it may or may not you know it may not be feasible but um but if you don't ask and you don't advocate it certainly will not so I would just say I'm this is an opportunity to hear that community voice and I know that you really want that it really helps us in so many areas um like I mentioned grants and of course LCAP I will second that really quickly and
086say that Tim and I as well as the whole educational services team loves to talk to folks about LCAP and priorities that they might have and questions they might have, any explanations we can give. Um, oftentimes we find that people they do have questions, they don't understand the whole uh the whole picture. We don't claim to understand the whole picture. We're learning every day as well. So, I do appreciate the fact that you're recognizing anybody to come and ask us questions. We're happy to happy to answer anything. Yeah. And I' I'd like to just mention um the student voice. U students have a lot of opportunities to meet with educational services staff. Um and yeah, they do have a lot to say and they do really help us uh focus in on certain things. Counseling
087is the classic example. I uh had an opportunity this year especially to attend some of those student input meetings. Oh my goodness. Yes. Not only do they have a lot to say, but they understand a lot about what's going on with their educational support and programs and what's working and what isn't working. And they are not shy. They speak up. They let you know what they think they need extra of or don't need to be bothered with that anymore. They are amazing. So, if you get an opportunity um to attend one of these LCAP student input meetings, by all means, show up. They're again, our students are amazing. And I just add to students out there, if you haven't been invited to be, you know, there's obviously your your team can't speak to every single
088student. Um, you know, the principles try to give a diverse um look at the student population and make recommendations. Then transportation has to be arranged, you know, especially at the elementary school level. But seriously, if you're a student and you weren't invited to one of these meetings, the LCAP is held, there are meetings for the public and and every student. Anybody could come to those those meetings. And so if you feel like your voice isn't being heard, um I just would encourage you to find out more about the LCAP process and come and speak your mind. Okay, so the student voice is a great segue into goal two um social emotional um learning and supports because they spoke up very loudly about the need for more counseling um u quite a few years ago now.
089We've been fortunate enough to um keep our counselors around um for you know hopefully as long as uh forever. Um you can see a couple um items up here. Uh first you can see um health science or I'm sorry health professionals um nurses and and um LBN's health aids. Um you can see counselors up there both at elementary um alternative ed and including community day school like goal one. Um we have a lot more going than chosen the LCAP. Um and this is a list of of some of the things that we have going um going on in our in our district. um increase targeted case manager time. Um we were able to do that two or three years ago and that's been huge. That's something that um parents and kids asked for on like
090ongoing um over the years. Any questions about goal too? Again, no question, just a comment. I just want to uh thank our team over here. I know it was we we had to do a lot of finagling to make the money work to keep all of our all of our counselors after co money ran out and I really appreciate the hard work especially Jacqueline. I know Kelly's pointing at you over there to make that work because you knew that it was what kids needed. So we appreciate that. Okay. goal three which is um regarding behavioral learning and supports. Um you can see the the actions here and the funding that's attached. Um the actions include opportunity programs um including elementary um out of school suspension alternatives. Um that's been a a big focus of ours
091um both at the elementary and now secondary level. You can see campus supervisors, um, coaching and project specialists. And those project specialists are in the special education department. Um, and they are out supporting supporting sites and supporting teachers and kids. Are they TOSAs as well? No. Okay. They are um project specialists. It's actually an administrative position. So we can see goal three here. Um, in addition to the LCAP uh funding, we have middle school athletic coaching stipens, uh, additional prog uh, project specialist time and positive behavior interventions and support. So, it's really hard when when you talk about those three topics to to separate them sometimes because they all affect each other. Um so kind of the some of the ones that we feel like fit into all three goals um are listed up there.
092We see health aid time um after school program enrichment and then really trying to diversify our hiring pool by attending um classes at Chico State and events at Chico State. Questions on goal three? not a question but a comment about the hiring. Um I know that um your team goes to Chico State um and whatnot uh to uh and make and to like hiring fairs and things like that. But I'm just going to um propose to you that some of your most incredible recruiters would be your teaching staff. Um, teachers love their schools and that enthusiasm. Um, I urged my superintendent to have teachers go to to recruiting because um, while the superintendent can say nice things about the site and HR can say, "Oh, here's the benefit package and blah blah blah," there is
093nothing more convincing than having site teachers say, "You want to come here. You want you you will you want to teach here, and I'll tell you why." Or um you want to and also for CSEA I think there's nothing um I don't think there's a stronger advocate than having people that are on site doing the work and loving it and so I'm just going to put that out there because I um I see time and again that it's really um the district level staff that's going out to these and I would say you're you're losing an opportunity by not inviting your teaching staff. Thank you. Yes, thank you. Well, well noted. And I, you know, people get tired of the swag, the pens and the magnets and all that kind of stuff. If they can
094actually talk to people, that's a great idea. Thank you. Okay, moving into goal four, which is the equity multiplier funding uh for the six sites I mentioned earlier. Um these these for the most part remain the same. Um there is a couple listed up there that are that are new. Um and I want to call those out as Citrus math intervention teachers. Um so over one point or over a full-time teacher worth of services um is coming out of their equity multiplier. Um and then the Oakbridge um bilingual instructional assistant any questions I'll go for. Okay. So um tonight as I mentioned earlier is the public hearing. Um, we will be posting the LCAP on the CUSD web page. It may already be up there. Yeah. Yeah. Um, so it's already up there. Um, public
095comment period is open. Um, that can be done um via mail. It can be done via email. Um, but we welcome comments. Um the final adoption um should the board you know approve the LCAP will be um on June 25th. So next next Wednesday. Are there any further questions or comments? comment. Um, this year more than any I I for some reason or another I had the time and went out and attended these things that you invite us all to that involve students and staff me. I would I want to say thank you to the staff, all of you that put together all of the focuses that get this process not only moving, but concluding in a way that can be presented like this. This didn't just happen by magic. Some very bright, capable people
096helped put this together. And I just want to say thank you. Seconded, but Mr. cares is kind of magic. That's Yeah. Yeah. Um I do I do want to along those lines I do want to thank it's it's quite a team that deals directly with the LCAP um Shereice Bramley Marie Hartman um in business services um in educational services um Tina myself um Chase Shioalier and Michelle Bunch um Chase and Michelle are new additions to the LCAP process this year and they've um done a wonderful job. They're great writers. Um, and with on the data side of things, all the data that you see is Kate Ory um, at the district office. So, it takes a a lot of folks to put this together and it's really, you know, the groundwork's laid by way more
097than the people that I just mentioned, but it it does take a lot and um, we're happy with the results. Thank you very much. And again, um, the LCAP in many ways is our steering document. anybody out there in YouTube land is concerned about what we're doing and wants to give input, this is your chance. Um, please let us know. Come to the meetings and use this website. Um, yeah, and thank you for all that. Thank you. Yes. And I'm just going to follow up on President Lando saying that um, those of you in YouTube land, you have until June 25th. So, if there even though the team has done a great job putting this together, if you have comments or concerns, um there we're we're listening. It's not ominous at all. We're listening. All
098right. Um thank you very much, Mr. Carris. We are on to item 9.2.1. This is the charter schools measure. Said we need to do the public hearing. We have a we have to do a public hearing on the LCAP, don't we? Yes. It's not an action item, so I want to skip right past it. You're right. Which is good because we have people here. I apologize. Um given that I will uh open a public hearing for the public to give input as we've just requested regarding the LCAP process. So the public hearing is now open. Do we have anyone who wants to talk about priorities and the LCAP process and the spending of LCFF funds? All right. If you're not here, again, there's the website. You have until next Wednesday to get us your ideas.
099For now, though, I'm going to close the public hearing. And now, because it is not an action item, we will move directly on to item 9.2.1, which is charter school measure K's project requests. Hello, Miss Kle. Hi, everybody. Thank you for having me here this evening. The last Monday of every month, the measure K and now measure C uh charter school facility uh committee gets together um to assess different projects are brought forward from the charter schools and they were busy again last month bringing forward two important projects. Uh the first one is for Chico Country Day School. Their gymnasium floor needs to be sanded and varnished and the cost of that project is $7,500. And the second project is for Nord Country School. Previously, they had brought forward a project to do a sidewalk
100along the front of the school and new fencing and gates and drive gates uh on their driveways uh to secure their site a little bit better and make it more safe for pickup and drop off. um they didn't have quite enough money, so they're asking for another $21,000. So tonight, we're bringing those projects forward and if you have any questions about them, I'd be happy to answer them. So this is the fencing you said along the front of Nord. Yes. Okay. Okay. And I ask this every time, but the cost and requests all seem within within line to you and our department. Yes. Okay. Um the project for Nord Country School was actually publicly bid um after you approved it initially and it did come in a little bit higher but we did add some
101scope to it. Um so it's a bigger project so that explains the additional cost. Thank you. Yeah, the number on that one surprised me a little bit. Okay, any other questions, comments on this one? All right. Do we have any u public comment regarding measure K requests? I see none. Um do we have a motion associated with this one? I move approval of the project requests by both Chico Country Day and Nord Country School. Mr. President, I'll second that motion. Very good. We have a motion by Vice President Conan and a second by member Robinson. Any further discussion? Nope. In that case, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. I. Any oppose say nay. It is unanimous and it is closed. Thank you so much. Um we are on to 922 which is
102the dis. What's that? Oh. Okay. If I missed something, I know I'm going a little fast today. Um, we are looking now at the uh adoption of resolution 1694-25 for the exemption of the Margo Elementary School TK building new construction project. Thank you. So, uh, for many years it's been standard operating procedure to exempt our projects from the city of Chico's ordinances. Um, both, uh, 169425 and are very similar. Uh, one is for Marold Elementary School transitional kindergarten building project where we're adding two transitional kindergarten classrooms to the campus and then Citrus is for the addition of one TK classroom and three kindergarten classrooms and modernizing their campus. I want to mention I know you have to deal with each one of these individually, but since they're so much the same, I thought I'd describe
103them at once. Um, I want to also make sure that I mention that our department and the school district works very closely with the city of Chico. Um, especially their engineering traffic engineering department. Um, making sure that we're, you know, presenting our projects to them early, gathering input from them, using their expertise. So, um, they are fully aware of the projects that we bring forward through our local agency. Um, and they um anticipate the exemptions coming. Thank you. Are there any questions from the board regarding specifically the first one 1694-25 which is the Marold project? Do we have any public comment on this one? I see none. Then I will go ahead and ask for a motion associated with this item. I motion we approve resolution number 1694-25. I'll second that motion. Very good. We
104have a motion by member Hayes and a second by member Robinson. Any further discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? That passes unanimously. Thank you very much. Uh as Mrs. said, we are going to move right on to 1695-25 on your agenda. That's 9.2.3. This exempts the Citrus Elementary Project uh from Chico's zoning ordinances as has already been described to us. I'm just going to jump right into asking whether we have any technical questions for Miss Kle on this one and any public comment on this one. Somebody come on. Um no, thank you. Um given that, do we have a motion regarding uh 1695-25? I move approval. We'll second motion by member Robinson. A second by clerk Olsen. Um any further discussion or debate? All those in favor signify by
105saying I. I. I. Any opposed? That one is unanimous as well. But Julie does not get to go away because we are now on to item 9.2.4 discussion action. This is regarding a notice of exemption from the squa for Marold TK building. So this is similar but different. How is it different? Um this is the California Environmental Quality Act exemption. The district is our own local agency. So we are responsible to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act. Uh in this case uh regarding the transitional kindergarten classrooms that will be added to the Margo campus we are providing an exemption because we are not increasing the size of the occupancy of the campus uh more than 25% or 10 classrooms. So we are able to exempt ourselves from SQUA California Environmental Quality Act. And the
106next item is very similar for Citrus and it's same exemption. Thank you. Um, are there any technical questions for Miss Gile regarding this exemption? Is there any public comment on this item? Do we have a motion uh regarding item 924? I move approval. I'll second it myself. Okay. Um, we have a motion by member Robinson and a second by Lando. Um any further discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. I. I. Any opposed? It is unanimous. And again, as Miss Kissle stated, we are on to 925, which is a similar exemption for the Citrus Project. Um again, given that is so similar, I'm going to jump right to clarifying questions or questions from the public. Is there a motion on item 9.2.5? 2.5. I so move. I'll second. Motion by Hace, second by
107Olsen. Uh, any further discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. I. I. Any opposed? All right, that one is unanimous as well. Something a little bit different. Item 9.2.6 is the Golden State Pathways Program Implementation Grant. What's that? So, our district was successful in uh being awarded uh several Golden State Pathways grants. Um they are not exactly the same as career and technical education grants, but they're similar. So, with the grants, we're able to improve the facilities that the programs are active in. So at Chico High School, there was grant for the health and medical pathway and sports medicine and horiculture and environmental science, computer science and STEM program. Over at Pleasant Valley High School, they support the plant science program and engineering and robotics. So we in the facilities department have divided
108the grants up um the projects up into two separate phases. So for the first phase we are working on the uh sports medicine at Chico High School and then plant science and engineering and robotics at Pleasant Valley High School this summer. And then next summer we will tackle all of the other grants at Chico High School. We wanted to tackle all of them in one summer because we just want to get it done for the students, but they're um substantially more complicated in the science building at Chico High School. So, we needed another year uh so that we could plan for that to occur over next summer. So, today we're asking for your approval for the construction expenses that are in the third column. And then I provided the total grant amount. um as well.
109And there are components of the total grant amount that will pay for equipment and it also helps to pay for staffing uh for those programs. But just the construction portion for all of them is uh 1,582,660. And specifically below I have c outlined certain vendors that we plan to utilize and what their maximum dollar amounts will be so that we can move swiftly through um getting these projects implemented. I very much appreciate the breakdown uh by vendor with the maximum amount. Thank you. Um, and I recognize this action item is just about the the spending of the construction money, but I'm just I want to say I'm really impressed and happy that we got these grants. Um, I've worked in CTE. They are competitive. Um, it's not easy to get them. So, this is great
110for our for our schools. Well, Tiffany Haringer and Michelle Bunch worked very hard on them and initially we didn't get them and they had to uh Yes. Right. We kind of had to protest and they did. They stood up for us and then we got the money back. Well, they have our sincere thanks. Like I said, these are hard monies to get and they're they're going to be well spent. Do we have any other comments or questions for Julie about this one? You guys, just a quick question. DND, can you It's not Dungeons and Dragons. No, it's DND uh educational furniture. So that'd be providing science tables, specific furniture for robotics, stools, that kind of thing. Thank you. Sure. All right. Like I would like to say thank you to Tiffany and Michelle. Yes. Absolutely.
111Yes. Yes. Wonderful. Is there any uh public comment on this item? Seeing none, uh we'll go ahead and ask for a motion on item 926. All motion to approve. I second. We have a motion by member Olsson, a second by member Hayes. Uh, any further discussion or debate? All those in favor signify by saying I. I. I. Any opposed? It is unanimous. All right. Um, item 927 is a bid approval for site work for temporary portable housing at PV regarding the building D reconstruction. throw something out of honor. What you got? Thank you, Mr. President. Um, point of personal privilege from this board member on items 7, 8, and nine. Uh, I'm reading this into the record, officially into the record. Um, in reviewing the 618 agenda, I have continuing concerns over the assumption of
112approximately $410,000 in costs connected with the April 25th fire in debuilding by our insurance carrier. I live very close to Pleasanton Valley High School, so became aware there was a fire within minutes of the ignition. My continuing concern is with the decision by the Chico Fire Department to leave the scene before the fire had been completely suppressed. It was immediately apparent the second conflation was going to be worse than the first. By the time the fire department returned, the fire was raging again. Raging kind of is an understatement. It was Yeah, it was immediately apparent the second fire was going to be worse. This time the damage rendered the building so unsafe it was days before entry could be made. I know CUSD is not the agency in charge of Chico Fire Department's decision to
113leave the site with fire still smoldering within the confines of the building. But this board member feels a further accounting of Chico Fire Department's actions on that date is warranted. I ask for an additional report from the city manager during our November board meeting. I believe accountability. When our public buildings and educational services funded by public dollars are negatively impacted, I believe the public is entitled to a more in-depth explanation from our fire department's leadership. Thank you. Simply in a quick response, um, if you would like the board to take action on that in a formal way. This is not a board action submission. No, this was a point of per personal privilege to just read the statement in the record. However, if you notice, I did ask for followup with the November agenda that
114sir is up to you since you are um board president. And if you want a submission of a please, I will fill out one of those nice little forms. Thank you. Can I ask a quick question? Why November? Because of the um amount of time that I believe what is currently happening with investigations and things to be completed. I don't see that what I'm asking for could be accomplished before then. Thank you. I believe we were at the uh point of asking for a motion on 927. Yes. Yes. Um Oh, we have not. I'm sorry. Is there a public comment regarding 927? I'm not sure if we did that or not, but we'll do it again just to make sure. I do not see any such comment though. So, is there a motion for 927?
115I move approval. All right. And again, this is regarding the um site work. The site work. Yes. Yeah. For construction. Okay. Point of clarification. Um I don't believe we've even discussed 927 quite yet. There's actually um direction a different direction we'd like to go with 927. Oh, I'm sorry. You're right. Um I apologize. I was looking at 926 still. Okay. Oh, that's the house. Oh, yeah. I'm going to rewind all the way, you guys. We're looking at 927 which as we've said is a bid approval for site work for temporary portable housing um regarding the building de reconstruction. Sorry, Miss Kell, please talk us through this. Quite all right. So um we had anticipated receiving bids uh yesterday for the uh site work regarding the temporary portables that would be housing the art department from
116uh Pleasant Valley High School building D. However, we had to extend the bid date to the 24th because we're really trying to get the plans together, a biddable set of plans for contractors to utilize to give us their pricing and we we missed the mark. We're trying to push really hard. So, we are going to bring that to the June 25th board meeting. Thank you. Bid on the 24th. So, the item as posted in our online agenda currently is incorrect. Okay. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. And thank you, Jack, for catching me up on that. I appreciate that. So, we are not then asking for any action tonight on this item. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Well, that was confusing, but I think we're all on the same page now. All right. Um, item 9.2.8
1178 is the consideration of a continuation of resolution 1692-25, the emergency declaration that requires procurement of restoration services for PV. Yes. So, this resolution should look familiar. Um, I did bring it at the last board meeting on May 18th as a result of the PV fire. Um so this evening I'm asking for continuation of the emergency declaration um especially given that our next uh regular board meeting is Jul is July 30th. So in order to be be able to continue um the restoration process and purchasing um equipment and supplies for our teachers to start school in August. Um this resolution allows us to expedite that. And will we need to continue the resolution monthly until monthly until we don't need it anymore? So, um I am optimistic um that we can get a lot of
118this done um prior to the regular meeting in August. So, hopefully just one more time. Thank you. All right. Any other questions for Jacqueline regarding this item? Only do you know the date of the regular meeting in August? Sorry. That's a fair question. I believe it's August 20th. So, all right. August 20th that we're here. Okay. Thank you. Um, do we So, again, this item specifically is regarding the continuation of our emergency resolution. Any other comments regarding or questions regarding that? Do we have any public comment regarding the emergency resolution? All right. In that case, do we have a motion regarding this item? I motion approval of the continuation. All right, we have a motion by member Hayes and a second by Vice President Conan. Is there any further uh further discussion or debate? All
119those in favor signify by saying I. I. I. Any oppose? It is unanimous. Um, item 929 is a discussion action on a resolution numbered at 1693-25, a resolution to establish a capital outlay fund designated fund 40 related to the fire at PB. Yes. So before you this evening is resolution 1693-25 and what this resolution does, it essentially creates a capital project fund outside of the general fund. So, as we are moving forward with the restoration of the debuilding and also securing temporary housing, um occurred to me that we are incurring a lot of expenses that will be reimbursed to insurance. And so, upon further investigation, it really is recommended by FickMat, um the financial crisis management assistance team at the state level to take those out of the general fund. So, a couple reasons. one,
120when you start trending year-over-year, you're going to have this huge spike in 2425 and 2526 related to expenditures of the fire. Um, that also impacts your 3% reserve because those are expenditures. And so, the idea is that you would move them to a completely separate fund and you run the entire capital project out of that fund. So, um, the county treasury would need this resolution approved by the board in order to generate that fund at the county treasury. So, we can record not only our insurance proceeds, but the expenditures related to building D. Thank you. I appreciate being able to track this project specifically apart from everything else in the general fund. I think it's a very good idea. Um any questions regarding this? Just just clarifying. So what will happen is all insurance pay
121payments will go into this fund. That is correct. And then everything will be paid from it. Yes. Thank you. Any other questions or comments? All right. The matter before us is resolution 1693-25. Do we have Oh, I don't need a motion yet. I need public comment. Do we have any public comment on this item? No, but we still have public. We do. All right. Um, so way to be given all that. Now, do we have a motion regarding this? Motion to approve. All right, I'll second that. We have a motion by member Olsen and a second by Lando. Uh, any further discussion or debate? All those in favor signify by saying I. I. I. Any oppose say nay. It is unanimous. Um item 9 to10 is a public hearing informational only on our original budget
122for 2526. Hi. Hi. All right. Um Jacqueline Shereice and I are here tonight to present 2526 original budget. Um this slide outlines the budget development timeline in a typical year. Um one thing that was different for this current year is that individuals and businesses in LA County affected by the fires have a postponement to file and pay taxes until October 15th. Um so that means that the revenue collections have been delayed and that makes the budget projections more complicated. The legislature did approve the 2526 budget bill on June 13th. So, we're currently in the bottom stage of this slide and we're waiting for the governor to act on this by June 30th. These are the major assumptions that we used when creating the budget. It's based on the governor's May revise with the cost of
123living adjustment at 2.3%. A funded 2.3% was also put forth by the legislature. Um we project that funded ADA average daily attendance will be based on prior year. Um you'll see that in the next slide. We project that the three-year average of unduplicated students will continue to be above that 55% that we need in order to qualify for LCFF concentration funding. and the salaries and benefits reflect position control as of May 24th. So, we've got that pretty far into the year. All right. You're used Could you I think I missed something. Could you go back to that slide? Uh the three-year average for undup unduplicated targeted subgroups 56.89. Yes, that's up a bit, isn't it? It's up from our original projections. Good memory. Thank you. Yeah. Okay. So, you're used to seeing this slide. It
124shows actual and funded average daily attendance. Um, as you know, the lion share of our unrestricted revenue is generated by attendance. So, we're funded on the higher of current or prior year ADA. Um if you look at the bottom of the left hand side graph uh showing the district's actual enrollment and ADA, you'll see that in 2425 we're projecting that we will not quite make that 94% attendance rate that we were shooting for. We are estimating that in 2526 optimistically we will return to that 94% rate. Yay. However, we also projected a slight decline in enrollment. So therefore, our assumptions used in this budget is that in the 2526 school year will be funded on prior year ADA. All right. And this is our unduplicated pupil percentage. Um and remember up is the primary factor
125used to calculate supplemental and concentration grant funding. and that's for services targeted to disadvantaged pupils. Um the categories are free reduced price meal eligible English learners and foster youth. Uh districts must reach a 55% unduplicated percentage on the three-year average in order to receive any concentration funding. And that's about 1.5 million for us. So in 2425, our upper year was 58.45. So that means on the three-year average, we're at 56.81%. Um, we are projecting a slight decline in UP for 2526, but our three-year average would still remain well above that 55% at 56.89. All righty. Good evening, board. Okay, so now we're going to get into the general fund income statement. So, what you're looking at here is the um the two columns show our unrestricted funds in the general fund. Um that's mostly made
126up of the local control funding formula on the revenue side. Um and then a lot of our positions are paid out of that on the um expenditure side. um that if you look at the very bottom because that's a lot of times what we're looking at is where are we going to land is we're projecting about a $421,000 deficit which for a budget our size is about break even. Um the restricted one looks way worse but I just want to make sure that you guys understand those are grants and they're selfbalancing. So a lot of times what that means is we received the revenue in prior years and we're spending that down in future years. Okay. So this one shows our revenue alone in the unrestricted side of the general fund. Um, and as you
127can see that local control funding formula, LCFF, that makes up 94% of our unrestricted funds. So that ADA and unduplicated percentage that Marie was talking about drives this very much, which is why we watch it so closely. And then on the expenditure side, those four green pie slices, those all make up 88% and that's staffing mostly. The reason we include special ed contribution is because most of that is paying for our special ed staffing for the contribution that we make out of unrestricted funds to the special ed program. And then this one um Tim presented LCAP earlier this evening. So this just gives you a summarized view of all the expenditures. These are paid for out of LCFF supplemental and concentration dollars. So the total that is listed in the LCAP um just so you
128guys can see it all in one list is about 20 million a little over $20 million. Um and this just breaks down each category that Tim discussed earlier when he presented LCAP. Okay. And then the final area that I have before we get into our multi-year projection um this shows our transfers in from other funds. So we have two different areas. We have redevelopment agency pass through which mainly goes towards paying for our M staff otherwise known as routine restricted maintenance account. Um so we're projecting that to be about 4.3 million. And then our developer fee admin support that's 3% of the developer fees that we collect over the course of a year. Then when we get into the contributions we're projecting a little over 32 million and 25.5 million of that is special ed.
129Um, as you can see in this slide, that represents about 59% of the program. So about 59% is being paid for out of unrestricted contribution. And then the other big portion that we have in contributions is our routine restricted maintenance account per Ed code. That's 3% of all of our expenditures in the general fund. So we're projecting that to be about $6.7 million. And then we have a small contribution to Prop 28 and that's to pay for um elementary uh arts and music prep teachers. Um so that's all the contributions that we have projected as of right now. All right. So I'm going to jump into the multi-year projection. So, um, it's great to look at one budget, but it's probably even better from a planning perspective and a planning tool perspective, um, to look
130at multiple years. So, in front of you, the very first column 2425 EA means estimated actuals. It's where we think we're going to land. Um, so as we're preparing, you essentially prepare two budgets this time of year. You guesstimate or estimate where you think you're going to land in the current year as well as building next year's. Um, so right now we are looking to um, have an increase in fund balance or surplus of about 3 million. So, um I want to give a huge thank you to our county treasury team. Um their investments have generated a lot of interest income. Um probably triple what we normally get. Um and we've seen that over the last probably 18 months. Um and it is continuing. So there was an extra million dollars there um that we
131didn't anticipate coming in. So u we had another about a million dollars in savings in special ed um from various aspects of the program related to positions. We had an NPS student, nonpublic school student um leave in February and we had budgeted the entire year. So um some savings there. And then we have site carryover. So we we budget as if the sites are going to spend every dollar of their allocation. Um but we know when we get to this point in the year that um some sites or many sites will have carryover going into the next year. Um so you can see in 2526 um a small deficit of 400,000 um like Shereice said on a budget this size that size that'll fluctuate that's essentially break even. Um projection of about a million dollar
132deficit in 2627 and about a 1.4 million in 2728. Um so from my perspective I think that's great. We also don't know what's coming out of the governor's budget. So, in this budget in front of you is just COLA, but we know there's other funding streams that have come forward as a proposal that we don't know if they're going to materialize or not. Um, so we didn't include them in this budget. Um, so whatever happens between now and June 30th, I will make those changes and I will bring them back most likely at the August regular board meeting um to be transparent to the board, the staff, and the community about um the impacts of the governor's budget. So I do want to point out here that um at the very bottom where it says
133components of fund balance the third line fourth line uh board reserve 2% that is our current policy in board policy 3100 and I bring this up because it's later in the agenda but I wanted to show the board um as we spoke at the last meeting right now we have um the state reserve of 3% an additional 2% but it doesn't generate enough dollars for one month of payroll so what I did was I put forth with the exact same slide, but I changed that reserve to 4%. And you can see in the very very in the box at the very very bottom, those are all still positive numbers. So really what happened was is we shifted dollars from the box at the bottom, I'll go back to increasing that reserve to 4%. By doing
134that, we'll have just over $15 million, which would cover one month of payroll. So I bring that up now so we can have discussion later on that. So I spoke very kind of globally about the assumptions but you can see here um a few few key aspects I want to um talk about. We are looking at a very small decrease in enrollment at this point um 43 for for next year um and then 83 the following year and part of that is we are seeing the stabilization of TK. So, we've had this implementation of TK and we've had these larger um younger kids coming in and with full implementation next year, we'll start to see that stabilized. We do have cola in based on the department. Yes. I'm sorry. I don't know if my ears
135aren't working or my eyes aren't working, but repeat that last statement you just made about um the rates the ret. So in the very first first bullet we talk about our enrollment projection. So our enrollment from a TK perspective has been going up pretty pretty solidly for the last couple years as as the age four keeps getting moved back and back. Um as that is now at full implementation September 1st. Our TK group will stay relatively steady. Um but we have some pretty large 11th and 12th grade groups that are coming through and so we're not seeing the incoming to offset the outgoing. Got it. Thank you. That's the part I missed. So, just to clarify, um, so if children are not four by September 1, they don't go into TK. That's correct. Correct. So,
136we did add in cola on the revenue side based on the Department of Finance guidance at this point, which is 3.02% in 2627 and 3.42% in 2728. Those are estimates at this point. Um we'll see when the actual calculation comes in um what that is for and we'll adjust that as we come forward with the budgets. Um so we do account for step and column of our staff certainly. Um there is an increase in the PERS rate and then we are seeing um inflation with our um utilities as well as our insurance costs. Um furthermore we also take into account that we have retirements. So, um I am being a little conservative on the retirement side, 10 on the certificated side, just because that's kind of been the MO, I guess, the last couple years,
137um which is lower than typical. Um and then four on the um four full-time equivalents on the classified side. Um let's see. We have we do have a little bit of growth. I do have one TK class coming in in 2627. Um and then two additional special ed classrooms coming in in 2627 as well. At this point in time, we are looking to move the elementary counselors from a grant that they're currently in into our LCAP in 2627. That is that is the plan now. Um, and that is already taken into account in the multi-year projection that I put in front of you on the pri prior slide. And then lastly, we do have um or almost lastly, we have cash, right? So, um, it's great to have a budget, but if we don't have
138cash in the bank to pay the bills and pay our staff, that's a problem. So, the good news is we have healthy reserves and healthy cash balance. And you can see here that our pattern, our estimated pro pattern for 2526 is very similar um to what we historically have. You'll see November is always our low month. And then in December, we get property taxes and we spike back up. Um, but one thing I do want to note is that dotted line in red um for next year does take into account very conservative and very slow federal reimbursement. We don't know kind of the uncertainty related to the federal administration and how grants are going to be pushed out, how the dollars are going to be pushed out. Um, so we took a conservative approach just
139to ensure we have cash um for 2526 for just our federal dollars at this point. So, we are optimistic the governor will sign um the budget by June 30th. So, we have another 12 days, I guess, to see what happens. Um and as I pointed out, I think there's things in his proposal and as well as the legislaturator's budget where they will negotiate and come to something in between potentially um that may not be incorporated in the budget that we have in front of you today. So, I will come back in August with an updated um budget there. Um, but I do want to say, you know, I think the budget's looking pretty good considering what I've heard at the state level, but we do have some challenging times ahead of us. Um, the federal
140funding is definitely uncertain uncertain at this point. Um, we do have it in for next year and we are working on a plan B should those funds not materialize. Um, we also have some state budget challenges. There's been some stock market volatility and that is one of the three main income drivers for the state. Um and the other big one is the governor depleted the Prop 98 reserve. So Prop 98 is the mandatory funding for K14 which includes our community colleges and it it had its own kind of savings account or reserve. Um and in the 2526 budget he took the remaining money in that reserve to fund the 2526. So there is no safety net anymore. So um concerns going forward after 2526 there. And then cash deferrals. So, started part of the state's
141um plan for budget cuts, if you will, is instead of paying us our June money in June, they pay it in July. That's a cut on their books because it's in the next fiscal year. So, right now, the only deferral we have is June into July. Hopefully, it stays that way or they'll buy that back. um but they aren't going to use cash deferrals um as a mechanism to cut the budget because I've Kelly and I have both been through those times where your March money comes next November and you have other months that are deferred as well and becomes extremely challenging for districts to manage. I had a question. Are the cash deferrals are they tied to that idea of uh Governor Nuome um making some changes to Prop 98 or finagling Prop 98
142funds? Is that the reason for the cash deferrals? No, those are two completely separate um one is a cash deferral of June into July as a budget reduction at the state level. Um what you're referring to is he's not fully allocating what many believe is the full amount of money to K14. He's he's doing a little bit less than that. Um and so we'll see what happens. I know he did that in 2425 and there was um there was legal action taken against him and he ultimately fully appropriated all those dollars. So he's taking a similar action. Um if it goes through, I would imagine the same legal action will be taken again. Thank you. Any further questions related related to the budget? I know it's a lot of information. C I I don't have
143a question. I just have a a statement. I am very surprised at this point in this year that we are um we are in as good a shape as we are. I anticipated after the election, quite frankly, uh, and the statements around the the federal department of education and things that that we were going to get hit with fewer dollars to a larger extent than it seems have materialized. Um, is there a way to continue to monitor what's going on to get a sense of are we going to be okay or do we still need to continue to act as though, you know, our pants are on fire. I would say I monitor every day, honestly. When I look at the budget, um, I'm gleaning as much information as I can from what I hear
144at the state level and the federal level to be able to plan. And that's why we have a multi-year projection as a tool to be able to plan to say if we don't get this federal funding, yeah, um, what do we do next? Um, we have reserves. So, we can certainly in the event the federal funding doesn't materialize at all for 2526, we have reserves in order to cover those programs and those staff because they are on contract at this point. um then it would be a much different conversation with my colleagues here at the table of then what do we do going forward into 2627 and I don't have a crystal ball I wish I did um to know what's going on at both the federal and state level so just as information comes
145in we monitor that and make adjustments accordingly well thank you monitoring again thank you for the monitoring we have a viewpoint through our school services bulletins that we get. But, uh, those are teasers. What what you're being able to pull out and and report for us is wonderful. Thank you. Yes. A big thanks to all of you. Um, you work with numbers all day, but it supports the amazing work that our staff and our teachers and our team do with our kids. Um this is a public hearing uhformational item, right? So do we need to have a we do need to have a public hearing on this one as well? This is much like the LCAP public hearing um this evening and then it'll be brought back for approval um seven days from now. So
146given that I am going to go ahead and open a public hearing on the original budget. It is opened. Does anyone in the public wish to speak on the budget as we have just seen presented? If there is no comment, I'm going to go ahead and close the public hearing. And since this wasformational, no action is needed. Um the original budget will be brought forward for action uh next week, I believe, right on the 25th. Excellent. That case, we're going to go ahead and move on. Item 9211 is also a public hearing information item uh on the reserves disclosure for the budget for 2526. Yes. So the next two items areformational with the public hearing um and they are associated with the original budget. Um so per ED code and some subsections I won't read.
147Um public hearing is required for any reserve amount that is greater than the state's 3%. Um so Zach if you could click on the attachment related to this item. Thank you. Um so this document here is a template from um state of California that basically says you need to substantiate um your reserve if it's greater than 3%. Um so we do have um the board's additional 2%. We have -ate carry carryover and -ate is a federal program related to telecommunications through our IT department. Um we do have a fair market value of cash which essentially is saying that if we were to liquidate everything we have at the county treasury because they invest it, we would get an additional $1.1 million versus the cash value. So it sits in our fund balance but it's really
148fake essentially. So we do carve that out. Um and then we have currently um you'll see there at the bottom line 14 million that's um really related to the uncertainty um of the state budget related to cash flow in order to be able to make payroll um and just ensure that we have the solveny going forward. Thank you. Does the board have any questions of clarification? I do. The so the um the total amount of the reserve is 22 a little over 22 million. Is that correct? Yeah. That we have to substantiate. Yes. And that do you know what the percentage is? What that equates to as a percentage? I know you said that the state requires it if it's more than 3%. Um I don't know off the top of my head, but based
149on the 3% it would be an additional Not quite four. Yeah. Thank you. Any other questions for Jacqueline or staff regarding the reserve disclosure? In that case, I'm going to go ahead and open a public hearing on this item. Public hearing regarding the original budget uh 2526 reserves disclosure is now open. Any members of the public who wish to comment on this item? Seeing none, I'm going to close the public hearing. Uh again, after the public hearing, this is anformational only item. No action is needed. And again, the original budget along with the reserve disclosure will be brought forward next Wednesday. Correct. Excellent. Thank you. Believe that puts us on item 9212. Uh this is again a public hearingform informationational item regarding the 2526 education protection account. Yeah. So just a reminder um when we
150talk about our local control funding formula um revenue or basically ADA funding that we're getting average daily attendance it's really comprised of three things. Your local property taxes I say kind of fill up the bucket first. Um and then this EPA Education Protection Act money comes in um and that kind of fills it up second. And then the state fills in the back fill um related to what we are owed versus what those two have already put in. Um and this education protection act was generated via Prop 30 back in 2012. Um but what it didn't do was actually create any new money. It just moved it used to just be property taxes went in and then the state backfilled to whatever our allocation was. Um this kind of made it three within that bucket,
151but it's really not any new money. It's just called something else. Um but we do have to disclose how we spend it and it cannot be spent on administrator salaries. Um so for for Chico Unified um the estimated value for next year um is 23.9 million and we spend that 100% on teacher salaries. Um and that's Zach if you can click on that document as well or attachment. Thank you. Um you can see here it's the very first line instruction. Um and that is 100% teacher salaries. Thank you. Are there any questions for Jacqueline or staff regarding the EPA? Seeing none, I'm going to go ahead and open a public hearing for public comment on uh this item. It is open. Does anyone in the public wish to comment on the 2526 educational protection account?
152If there's no public comment, I will go ahead and close the public hearing. don't usually have that many of these in one meeting. Um, again, this wasformational uh only just an option for opportunity for the public comment. Uh, the 2526 education protection account will be brought forward with all the other budget documents at next week's meeting. Thank you so much, Jack. We are on to item 931. We're in human resources now. This is a discussion action item regarding resolution 1696-25 regarding the non-reelection of probationary certified employ certificated employees. Thank you, President Lando. So, as you can see, uh in the item here, uh we are referencing a California education code that we don't use very often. Um as you know, we normally finalize our non-reelection process in early spring. That's typically the process for most
153districts. However, this ED code does provide a certificated employee in their first probationary year um can be notified on or before June 30th um of a decision to not reelect the employee for the next succeeding school year. And as such, we are in that position now. Um so the resolution you have before you is for the non-reelection of a probationary one teacher uh per California Education Code 44929.21B. Does anyone have questions or comments about this? Just a comment. I was appreciative knowing that um you had uh spoken with Charlie. Yeah, I'm this kind of thing definitely sets my alarm bells off because it is uh very difficult for someone who's still in the field to go and find employment for next year starting in June. And it's not something we like to do to let
154anybody know this late in the game. Um I understand the reasons for it, but hard to see. Okay, that said, any other questions? Do we have any uh public comment regarding item 931? Is there a motion associated with this item? Approval of resolution 16. That's the one. I second. Very well. We have a motion by member Robinson and a second by member Hayes. And is there any further discussion or debate on this one? All right. Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. I. Any opposed? It is unanimous. Thank you. Thank you. Um item 9.4.1 is um do we have we have new board policy this time around? We do have one. It was a recommendation from the board and we're bringing it back and I'll let Jacqueline speak to it. Yeah.
155So, I kind of alluded to it earlier. Um, board policy 3100 um deals with um essentially the budget as a whole. And so, at the last meeting, um it was recommended that Zach, can you click on BP 3100 and go to page three, please? Was discussed by the board um that this section here in front of you in red be changed from an additional 2% to an additional 4%. Um so because this this policy is before you now, I built the entire budget with that 2% um in there. Um but I did want to bring it to your attention of what the impact would be should it go to 4%. So the policy in front of you this evening um that I would ask go into effect July 1st a 2025. Um the only change
156from last month to this month is um the change in red going from 2% to 4%. And get us one month of payroll. I did know this was coming. I just for some reason I saw the the BP header and I was like, "Oh, it's going to be that normal list of things from CSBA that we just blink at." Yeah. Um no, the board did talk about this last time. I think it's a wonderful idea. Again, the goal of the uh reserve has always been to have enough money to pay our bills for one month should the worst happen. Um this enables that to happen. Are there any other questions or comments from the board regarding this? Do we have any public comment? Okay. Thank you public for react responding. I appreciate that. Um is
157there a motion associated with item 941? Mr. President, I move approval of um the board policy 310 0. All right. We have a motion by member Robinson, a second by Vice President Conan. Uh, any further debate or discussion? I'll just say, please, I'll I'll just say that um uh I'm glad to see that that it's in the policy because I had been told as a new board member that there was a 2% amount and when I went to policy, it wasn't noted. Um, so I'm glad to see that it's someplace where it can where it can be found. And I'll also say, um, just my personal experience, um, CSVA recommends a much higher amount of a reserve and, um, the district in which I taught um, went with that CSBA amount. And I uh I
158think there's uh a difference between prudence and like I know that CSBA has their reasons for recommending a much higher amount and nevertheless um I think there has to be uh flexibility and I'm glad to see that um Chico Unified um is has a I think a more realistic uh goal in in mind here. Yeah, I'm always torn on this because whenever I look at reserves, it's, you know, fiscally prudent to have reserves. On the other hand, our money is money we are granted temporarily to provide the best possible experience and education for our students and it needs to be out there doing that work. So, um, I think we're in a good place with this. Can I just add a point of clarification related to the motion? Um, if I could ask the board
159to make this effective July 1. Um, the reason I ask is all the budget documentations have a 2% reserve. Um and the agenda for next week will be posted on Friday morning per Erica. And we don't work tomorrow because it's a holiday. Um so that um the 4% would go into effect July 1. So any financial information going for being brought forth to the board after that date would reflect the policy change. With that, I'll make a friendly I'll ask for a friendly amendment to the motion. Yes. Makes it clear that this does not go into effect until July one. Yes. Wasn't that in some of our document agenda? Oh, okay. I thought it was. Okay. But yes, I I will uh if it's a friendly man, we don't need to vote. We're good to
160go. No. All right. Awesome. So, the motion on the table is to uh accept the new board policy 3100 going into effect July 1, 2025. Okay. Uh any further discussion, debate? All those in favor signify by saying I. I. I. Any opposed? It is unanimous. Thank you, board. Thank you. And thank you. It was a good idea. I appreciate you. Um, we are on to item 10 or to section 10, items from the floor. Are there any new items from the floor? We have no speakers listed, of course. And I see no one rushing up to the podium, but we still have an audience. We do. And if any of you want to talk um or is there three? No, there's three. There are three. Um, we have received no request to agenda items at
161this time. We're going to move on to a German. I do want to remind uh our public and our board that we are moving to close session at this time to complete the discussions that we were had that could not be completed at our previous uh close session before public. With that, is there a motion to adjourn to close session? So move I adjourn no to close session. Second. All right, we have a motion and a second. All those in favor of adjournment say I. I. I. It passes.