001thank you I now call to order the April 19 2023 Chico Unified School District Board of Education regular meeting we will be going into closed session at this time and we'll return to open session at 6 pm good evening we are returning to open session we were in closed session uh since 5 PM uh sorry let me just acknowledge welcome it's much Fuller more full room than it was when I was in here at five uh this is the regular meeting for the Chico Unified School District Board of Education for April 19th uh 2023. um in closed session we took action uh the first note is that the board voted unanimously in closed session to appoint John Shepherd to the position of assistant superintendent of Human Resources [Applause] um our second note of action was
002that the board voted unanimously to reject bodily injury claim number 230091 um with that we will move to the next item which would be the flag salute so please uh stand if you're not already standing salute pledge thank you and next is student reports well we have some amazing talent signed up for tonight and as you can see them right behind me I am going to ask Emily Mullins principal of Hooker Oak to introduce her students and entertain us all right well it is a pleasure to be here tonight as always um so excited to be able to Showcase a little bit of Chico's Hidden Gem with you Hooker Oak School in our Mighty Oaks uh so just real briefly I wanted to share with you some of the awesome ways that our fourth and
003fifth grade students are able to have voice in our school by taking leadership positions we have three opportunities for students to really shine we have the students who are able to participate in our leadership class so if you are in leadership if you want to raise your hand and should show us who you are so our leadership students they put on our life skills video that gets broadcast and shown to all of our students every Monday morning we have a different life skill that we highlight every week and they put on a skit and a definition and provide support in educating all of our students about those life skills we also have students who were able to apply to be a student ambassador this year so if you're a student ambassador can you raise your
004hand and be shown so our student ambassadors are kind of like the public relations of Hooker Oak School the face of our school so they join me when we do School tours for potential families and students who are going to come join our campus and they also have gone out into the community to promote our schools by going to local preschools and distributing flyers and again just really being that student public relations face of our school they also are connected to new students who join our school and help educate the students on what it's like to be a hoker oak student and finally we have principles advisory board which it consists of first through fifth graders so principles Advisory board if you're on that raise your hand and these guys meet with me uh two
005one to two times a month and we review our Kelvin pulse data kind of looking at the pulse of the school together they bring any issues to me we talk about what's going well at the school things that need to be improved and they have been responsible for implementing many awesome things at our school this year so I just wanted to give a shout out to all those kids who've been involved in those positions and then I have four students who are in these groups who wanted to share what they think really makes our school unique and then we're going to end with a rendition of our Hooker Oak song hi my name is Jude Jones Hooker Oak is an amazing learning space for kids to come to because we are a Hands-On Learning Community
006Hooker Oak is inclusive In My School of Choice [Applause] hi my name is Peyton like and I've grown a hooker Rick since kindergarten and what makes this hooker access special is it's hand on Hands-On learning space that anyone is welcome to join also our school has many extracurricular activities like school plays Sports electives and gardening that is why I love disco so much thank you [Applause] hi my name is Gwen Burger I go to hooker at school I am in the fourth grade I love hook Rock school because we Loop that means we get to stay with the same teacher for two years for fourth and fifth grade and first grade in second grade hi I'm Kendall Dennis and Hooker Oak school is great pla is a great place to go to school because it
007is a safe and responsible community thank you and I would like to introduce Kim gimble for those of you who don't know Kim he worked in the district for many years retired from Chico Unified was our Music Teacher for at the end of his career and before he left I made him promise that he would write a song about Hooker Oak and so we're so excited this is the first time we've been able to publicly present it hi everybody great to be here really excited to be asked to do this the Mrs uh Cisneros has honor band tonight she's the current music teacher and couldn't be here so she called me up a week or so ago and said hey do you think you could since you wrote the song anyway and I can't be
008there could you come down and do this hooker Oak School song with the kids at the board meeting I said sure I'd be delighted so just a brief background the original version of the song was entitled Mexico which I wrote in Mexico and it started off to the beaches down in Mexico down the cactus bordered Road I Go so when Emily asked me to to write this song I worked and worked couldn't really think of anything and I thought wait a minute I think I have the melody already and I'll just switch the words around to down the halls of Hooker Oak I go so much to learn so much to know and we went on from there so we'll perform it for you now and you have the words yes [Applause] okay guys ready
009[Music] foreign [Music] so much [Music] thank you to Mr gimble and our hook Rogue singers that was wonderful thank you Miss Mullins so I'm just gonna keep this rolling and we are going to jump into our recognition portion and I would like to invite up who am I Bud Chris Weaver from McManus Elementary didn't see it okay while you're while you're prepping I just want to just give one more shout out to those those folks from Hooker Oak thank you so much for joining us tonight good job thank you just want to share a little bit that uh I'm a former Hooker Oak student and McManus student so have pride for both schools all right okay board members superintendents daily Chico Unified staff and guests good evening and thank you for allowing me time this
010evening to recognize not one but two of the McManus family members who happen to be fantastic human beings and Educators who consistently go above and beyond to promote positive student outcomes to begin I'd like to invite Emily Coons up Emily [Applause] okay so Emily Coons has an impressive professional teaching history of serving the chico Community for the past 30 years as a dynamic general education teacher Emily has taught grades first through sixth in many schools throughout Chico Unified she also has supported student learning as a title one teacher because of her love for teaching reading Emily went back to school in 2010 to obtain her mild mod special education credential and ever since 2012 she has been advocating and supporting for Student Success at McManus her home with an impressive profile you might be thinking
011Emily is near perfect well tonight I'm willing to look past the fact that Emily is a chico High Panther at heart and instead focus on what truly makes her great so just a little fun fact each year during almond Bowl week Emily and I showcase our high school pride with a little friendly trash talk in all seriousness Emily's acute awareness and understanding of the importance of forming meaningful relationships is truly what sets her apart as an educational specialist I can't think of anyone who cares more and tunes into the all needs of her children than Emily on any given day in room 21 at McManus Emily checks in with her students and zeros in on social emotional and behavior needs before attending to academic instruction her knowledge of indicators that interfere with students accessing academics
012exemplifies Emily's caring and compassionate nature as well as her deeply rooted understanding that students learn best when they feel safe and supported in her classroom they thrive due to earning mutual respect and trust with students Emily not only helps to remove barriers and improve the quality of life for all of her students she also gently advises and sympathetically empowers students by encouraging them to practice mindfulness assess and identify what zone They are in take a brain break possibly check in with a trusted staff member or exercise her patience allows her to work through each student's unique challenges simply put Emily embodies and personifies our board adopted goals in the mtss framework understanding the critical importance of her role at McManus Emily is continuously devoted to increasing her Worth to support students outside of the classroom
013as well ask any principal and they will tell you that having people on their team that are naturally collaborative and understand shared leadership is second to none Emily does the most important work and it does not shrink her responsibilities for the past two years along with our PBIS team Emily has combed through the tiered Fidelity inventory to improve the positive to promote a positive in climate and culture at McManus framing ideas to promote a community growth mindset Emily is an idea generator and she helps to create language such as expected and unexpected behaviors in our learning community Emily is also an invaluable member of McManus Aspen PLC team twice a month she and three other extremely dedicated staff members respond to school-wide student data and student specific needs furthermore her time spent learning about and
014implementing curriculum for students with dyslexia has also been a complete game changer at McManus also in her second year of learning and applying the science of reading principles and components Emily's depth of knowledge and understanding the most effective approaches for teaching students to read is highly valuable drawing strength from her family and Faith Emily's love for her husband Jim her daughters Eliza Kate Julia and her son Jake allows her to get the very best out of her students it is an honor and a privilege to recognize Emily Coons as a recipient of the superintendent's award sorry all right Jim's going to grab a picture congratulations all right continuing with our fantastic human being celebration here I'd like to invite Laura peterbaugh please [Applause] all right so Laura has to be the most grounded and down-to-earth
015person I know her strong connection of who she is speaks to her self-awareness and balance personality it is my belief that Laura's intrapersonal strength and positive mindset are the reasons why she is such a standout being a true practitioner of the moment Laura chooses to direct her attention in areas that positively advocate for compassion selflessly she shares her experiences insight and wisdom to promote emotional resilience for others to enjoy life one of my favorite mindfulness techniques Laura advocates for those who are experiencing something difficult or feeling a bit stuck Sinners around an acronym reign recognize your experience allow it to be out as it is investigate it with curiosity and nurture it with self-compassion utilizing this technique has been a game changer for me and I'm certain I'm not the only one Laura has encouraged
016to practice bringing with her such valuable personal qualities and experiences Laura is an amazing professional as well because of her interpersonal gift Laura understands on such a deep level how to interact and connect effectively with others working as a school psychologist since 2005 Laura finds great joy in working with school families however working directly with students is where she really shines currently Laura also supports students and families at Loma Vista and crvo in all settings on campus Laura engages with students and certainly does not shy away from a good challenge even with the most self-determined student who may struggle to communicate what he or she needs or wants Laura patiently waits for an opening validates the student's experience and ultimately builds a solid foundation for a trusting relationship after spending quality and necessary time with
017students she works with Laura gathers and analyzes data to identify students strengths and challenges one of her many gifts is facilitating safe courageous and honest meetings upon sharing her findings IEPs at McManus typically begin with Laura delicately setting the stage and creating a mood and tone that quite honestly makes everyone feel like they are sitting together at a table in the home of the family we are gathering with speaking with words as well as through the inaudible language of the heart Laura opens with a story or an interaction she had with a child prior to testing often giggling as she shares a simple yet noticeable endearing description of the child families immediately relax and realize they are an extremely caring and helpful hands involving herself in many aspects of Life Campus Life Laura is also
018a highly valued member of the McManus PBIS team as an advocate for being preventative and proactive rather than reactive Laura's contributions are invaluable also as a member of McManus School Equity accountability team and site committee team Laura has been a tremendous advocate for students with special needs specifically during the design process for our new and upcoming campus other teams and committees Laura serves and contributes to at McManus include estimate PLC and our Wellness team outside teams Laura's door is always open to anyone who needs support always willing to hold a safe space for her school family to talk process or just catch up Laura is a champion for us all while caring for her McManus family is very important to her I would like to give a special thanks to Laura's family including her husband
019Zeb their daughter Grace and their son Owen for sharing her with us speaking on behalf of our whole school family we are grateful Laura tonight I want to sincerely thank you for your continued contributions as well as congratulate you on receiving the superintendent's award [Applause] sorry so again congratulations to Emily Laura and thank you Chris for sharing these outstanding employees with us and with that I will turn it over to the president alrighty um uh we are on item number six announcements um at this time I would like to ask if any of our board members have announcements to make um I'll make a quick announcement uh this third sorry not Thursday that's tomorrow this Saturday is Earth Day um and so I'm sure there's lots of opportunities to celebrate Earth and all that um
020we get to enjoy from Earth and engaging in environmental efforts um I do know that Butte environmental council is hosting a walk for Earth in the morning so starting at Children's Park in downtown Chico which is the park that's adjacent to the university um there are several schools that are participating um many Charter Schools I cannot remember them off the top of my head sorry um and classrooms and students with teachers who have made endangered species puppets or signs as well as any community members who would like to join and just go for a walk through downtown past the farmers market and wrap the rack around followed by a three-hour session of volunteer work for climate action so tree planting and some Garden work and composting work and then in the evening is the Environmental
021Community gathering this is a follow-on to the the annual endangered species Fair it has turned into the endangered Earth event and it takes place now every year right around Earth Day so if you want to go out there and see those kiddos in the walk for Earth or join them they start at 9 30 a.m check-in I think is right around 9 A.M seeing no further announcements we will move on to items from the floor and just as a reminder items from a floor is a time for the public to give the board input in a public forum and no action can be taken at this time so no interaction really takes place during items from the floor it is just as any other public comment period where the speakers have three minutes to speak
022we'll hear a 30 second Bell as your warning time towards the end for you to wrap it up and then yeah then your three minutes is called and we've heard your input and we would take it into consideration with that uh I will start with Claire Mossman followed by Sean MossMan good evening my name is Claire Mossman and I'm a sophomore at Pleasant Valley High School last September about four weeks into the school year I was shocked and embarrassed to learn that I had been tricked into taking my clothes off while sharing a locker room with a male student I was very upset and extremely confused I didn't understand how my school could do this to me I am a Christian girl and I would never choose to take my clothes off in front of
023a boy that boy is using my locker room at your invitation and you didn't give even give me a warning or an alternative option all I got was force compliance it could be any mail in that locker room watching us undress it doesn't matter who the guy is he does not belong in my locker room now I have guys right next to me in the girls bathroom how could you ever believe that this is okay this is this is the girl's bathroom I have been to a few of these meetings now and is apparent to me that you are not at all considering how it affects everyone involved my dad called the school this week to complain about my experience with boys in my bathroom he talked to a vice principal about it so later
024that day she called me into the office and in so many words I was told that if being compromised and violated was a problem for me that I could walk clear across campus to the single-use bathroom up front otherwise too bad it wasn't my problem it's the law what about all the other girls in the same situation as me are we all going to walk to the front of the school being late for class risking being getting in trouble just to be able to feel safe and honor our values when there is a bathroom right down the hall you continue to say that you are here to serve the students and families in this District however it seems that that only applies to a select group of people you have violated my privacy you violated
025my modesty and you have violated my dignity two other parents and adults in this room please we need your help it is not just me I have had countless other girls and guys as well come to me with their feelings and concerns about being violated the way we are the entire student body is under a soul and the school school board and administration are the ones assaulting us thank you Sean must been followed by Michelle Cooper that was my girl um I had a I you know I I wrote down some angry things I'm seething inside um some less than kind things but you know last week was just obscene it was ridiculous we had a huge contingency in here from the alphabet Mafia and uh one of them sitting right in front of that
026girl sitting beside me turning around once he realized that she was with me and after he realized I'd spoke and constantly turned around glaring at her for uncomfortable periods of time just on purpose he's early late or mid late 20s a guy wearing a dress glaring at my daughter trying to intimidate her and threaten her we had a professor from Chico State University here stood here and said some horrible things and one I went home and proclaimed herself Queer as in fu and then in implied that she was going to shoot anybody that disagreed with her Lindsey Briggs you're gonna need to shoot somebody go and start with me I'm a lot older and a lot of parents and their kids need them to be around a little bit Lindsay you're just a very fine
027step away from going from a pretend victim to a very real murderer this this this got to get dialed back you all know all five of you know regardless of what your agenda is and I know at least three of you have agendas that are completely contrary to my own minds about the kids yours are very specific about modifying our society and we know what's going on right now is not right it's not right there are solutions but they're going to take some time and some thinking and a little bit of money but our kids are worth this and we've got to dial back the rhetoric parents need to get more involved and um we need to be in this for our children need to be in this for our kids thank you [Applause] followed
028by Rob Berry thank you um my heart just breaks for that family um at the last meeting Mr Lando said that he wanted to know why there is a persistent idea that parents think their children are being coerced into changing genders he said quote it's clearly not true no one is in a classroom telling students who they ought to be he went on to say in reference to those of us who spoke against the district's secrecy policy quoting again the people who spoke on the other side by and large were not going to be harmed if they got their way anytime people with no skin in the game legislate something that affects other people it turns out badly perhaps Mr Lando you've forgotten about the federal lawsuit that has been brought against this board and
029the district because a parent was not informed of a social transition that was happening to her daughter this happened within the elementary school and the classroom proving that it is in fact true at the mere mention of a gender question the student was told who she ought to be Aurora Gino and her family were indeed harmed by The District's dangerous policy of keeping secrets harm that could very well come to many more families because you voted to keep this policy I have a lot of skin in the game I have a child within this District every single person with a child family member or friend within this district has skin in the game those of us who want parental inclusion are not asking for something that affects other people we're asking for a policy that
030directly affects everyone Mr Lando you went on to say that we do not believe parents are bad we don't hate parents we don't want we don't keep secrets from parents we want parents involved then please tell me why you voted against a parent inclusion policy I've had some great conversations with staff members of this district and most can understand that parents want inclusion I can understand that a child might feel nervous or cautious about telling a parent that they're questioning their identity but what I would expect staff to do is to tell that child let me help you tell your parent I understand this could be hard for you but I'm here to help you understand that parents are the ones that can help them the best this conversation isn't over and I hope this
031board will see this and revise this policy before you have more lawsuits on your hand [Applause] robbery and then Loretta Torres well I'm sorry Tom but you're going to be picked on a little bit more here we have witnessed many rude and unciviled things at this last meeting and it is ironic that those who argue that students must be shielded from their parents in the interest of present preventing harassment intimidation and discrimination showed themselves to be the most Shameless and worst offenders but of all of the misguided and offensive words and conduct we witnessed none can top the words of Tom Lando spoken after midnight in justifying his reasons for voting in favor of the parental secrecy policy what he said is that the only harm that exists are those declaring themselves transgender children in
032what he called outing children to their parents because the parents had no skin in the game as you just heard and that the only policy that he could live with is the one that he voted for which is to maintain a policy of student privacy over parent parents being informed I warned you last meeting about the legal risk you were exposing yourself to and that the Regino case is only the beginning these cases are being brought all over the country and circuit courts are finding that the rights of parents reign supreme despite state laws guidance or District Orthodoxy but the majority are not persuaded by these arguments you are not persuaded by any argument except those justifying interventions in the most sacred and defensible principles of family life the right of parents to intervene in
033all aspects of a child's rearing it is the parents genes that the children carry not yours or anyone else's children are the skin that parents have in this game my advice to you is this don't think for a minute that simply by making a speech or by casting a vote on the diocese you can override the authority of parents in their children's lives we still live in a constitutional republic and you are forcing parents to prove that to you and trust me they will [Applause] Loretta Torres followed by Deanna Lindstrom I'm an 80 year old grandmother with two in your school district at this time I was taught to love my fellow man and not to judge whatever Journey they chose in this life and because of that I used to volunteer at safe space
034our meetings were held at Stonewall alliances offices on Broadway I was supportive of stonewall's work with transgender adults and gays who are harassed or mistreated by the public and who needed help that was 14 years ago now Stonewall has morphed into student support groups on your campus Distributing breastbinders and information to children with working draw and working wording and drawings to help them with their confusion as early as Pre-K you wouldn't accept Bible study groups on your campus who distributed children's Bibles so why Stonewall I think you've become jaded because you've seen your fair share of uncaring parents ones who you never see until their graduation night if then parents who've changed their babies diapers nurse them through illnesses worried when they pat they were past their curfew as teens these are loving parents they
035are not your and their enemy they are not the enemy here I repeat parents are not the enemy loving parents deserve the benefit of the doubt from you and the schools counselors they are not getting it and your vote two weeks ago reflected this I think you're waiting for California to pass ab665 so parents will be coerced to agree to transgender affirmative or affirmation treatment Stonewall has been influencing our children to demand pure beauty blocking drugs and testosterone treatment and more importantly to not wait until they are sure of their choices so many teachers are afraid to speak their minds on this issue I think if you allowed teachers to take an anonymous vote about keeping secrets from their students parents on this vital issue you would be shocked at their opinions on this now
036all you parents listening or watching tonight you should be afraid very afraid of Bill ab665 it's making its way through our Democratic control legislature and if passed it will make it possible for counselors to decide whether your child should be taken from you if you don't give your permission to their children's gender affirmation God have mercy on all of you if you don't protect the most vulnerable and innocent children in your Care thank you Diana Lindstrom followed by Audrey ibaki hi my name is Deanna Lindstrom and I was one of the 40 speakers at the last school board meeting who spoke up because schools should not be keeping secrets from parents I know firsthand what kind of Destruction secrecy can cause our children spend half of their waking hours at these schools to get an
037education while parents like myself work to support their needs our children may experience bullying and harassment while at school and according to Chico's Stonewall alliance's Facebook page 82 percent of children experience this at school and not at home like you want us to believe how dare board member who sits before us have the audacity to say and I quote parents have no skin in this game let me let you in on a little secret we do have skin in the game when our hearts beat and walk outside of our bodies and all we want is for our children to be loved nurtured and not feel any kind of anguish why would you want to keep what our children are going through from us why do you want our children to suffer from any kind of
038hardships without the help of parents it should be a team effort across the board to help children learn and grow into healthy adults the last board meeting became out of control with yelling mocking and hatred towards parents who just want more transparency between the school and Families why are you condoning this Behavior towards parents why are our children being told not to confide and their parents for emotional support isn't that the opposite of what family Dynamics is really about this is a huge problem and is exactly why parents are now holding the schools and District accountable thank you [Applause] Audrey Bakke and then Nicole Nava hi once again I'm here as a parent of three Hooker Oak students just to give you more to think about as far as Hooker Oak being such an amazing
039School my youngest son is watching chicken eggs in an incubator in his kindergarten classroom as they study oviparous animals that is a word I learned he isn't just reading about animals that lay eggs he is making observations and recording notes about the progress of the eggs in the incubator on the way home from school today my youngest son told his big brother all about the aches and his big brother shared all about his excitement when they did the same experiment when he was in kindergarten it's these learning experiences that stick with the students of Hooker Oak and make learning come alive because of the Hands-On thematic program the field trips are wonderful and plentiful our teachers do a great job at finding fun and educational opportunities for students within the community in order for them
040to be more Hands-On and involved in their outside world kindergartners study the state of California then take a walk through lower Bidwell to record what they see that represent the state like a redwood tree or a golden poppy first graders take multiple trips to Cal Skate and learn about a traditional Pastime during their life from long ago unit I was a little sad to hear that was a Pastime from long ago there are many trips to see performances that lacks an auditorium walking field trips to the county library just down the street and to museums in the downtown area and trips to explore Bidwell Park they have multiple agencies that come in and help them with doing school plays after school we just had the dancing there are so many different things trips and projects
041that solidify the learning that the students are doing in the classroom Honestly though I think the best part about Hooker Oak is that it truly represents Chico because the families that attend our school come from all the different neighborhoods in our community because we're a school of choice and because we ask to be a part of this community we're not just a group from the same part of the town that feeds into the neighborhood school down the street we come from every part of Chico and represent every type of neighborhood my kids have made friends that they never would have met had it not been for going to Hooker Oak because we would have been in different neighborhood schools our school is truly diverse and truly represents Chico and that is the most important thing
042please reconsider closing or repurposing Hooker Oak our school has so much to offer and truly brings our community together in ways no other Elementary School can thank you Nicole Nava followed by Ed Rona at the April 5th meeting we saw School Board president dalby refused to recite the Pledge of Allegiance and completely fail in her duties to run a civil and safe meeting on school grounds Stonewall Alliance bullies attended to boo jeer and interrupt speakers who wanted transparency with parents this board minus trustees Concan and Dennis tennis approve the secrecy policy with zero evidence that parents would be abusive toward their children upon hearing sensitive information last night's city council meeting had a lone socialist council member also refusing to recite the pledge he also participated in disrespectful Behavior such as dalby has and droned
043on for most topics which ensured some of the public weren't heard as for the second time they didn't get through an agenda had they done so it likely would have been an eight-hour meeting like the one here on April 5th the complete lack of Civility and control in these public meetings plus the painfully obvious obvious bias shown by Robinson Dolby and Lando who laughably claimed parents don't have any skin in the game that condescension is replicated by their comrade on the council and highlights the combined utter lack of regard you socialists show to anyone who doesn't share your extremist ideologies example a speaker admonished parents that social transitioning shouldn't be confused with medical transitioning first off breastbinders are suggested and provided to minor girls on campus without being advised at risk and without parental knowledge
044Dr John Stever assistant professor of pediatrics at Mount Sinai who runs as transgender health program said most of his patients who use binders then tell me the next things they want to do like testosterone mastectomy and maybe phalloplasty 95 percent of the people I've evaluated get started on Cross hormones so I'm pretty sure we parents are right to want transparency from the get-go and that social transition is a gateway to Medical transition get real the room was a complete circus for several meetings now and we can all clearly see who the children would not be safe with and it clearly is not us parents last night after the council meeting one bully made sure to catch me leaving and called out mainly how about that last school board meeting and hearing about how much your
045son hates you you were a mess do you get how toxic you all are and yet you want us to allow you unfettered access to our minor children you are the bullies you are those who are filled with hatred and bigotry there is zero evidence here locally of any of your accusations and assumptions that we the parents are bullies you are the last people who should serve as Role Models or support to impressionable young minors there is a black hole in many of you which is only matched by your cold black hearts You've Lost Your moral compass your compassion and your objectivity you don't understand the Constitution the brown act ethics trainings or what it means to abide by your Oaths of office so that's your time thank you thank you Ed Rona followed by
046James Bishop good evening Ed Rona and the chairperson of the educational programs with the VFW Post 1555 here in Chico I'm with Mary wall who is the president of our auxiliary and the co-chair of our program I appreciate the opportunity to give you some information on the VFW educational programs last year I spoke very briefly on the programs and this year I'd like to give you some results our Patriots pin essay competition is for Junior High student level Junior High School level students and gives them an opportunity to express their opinions on a patriotic theme and improve their writing skills while competing for awards and prizes nationally the awards totaled over one million dollars each year locally they compete for awards from the local Post and District levels this year we had over 50 entries
047from several schools with our top winners coming from Chico Junior the theme this year was my pledge to our veterans and Patriots pin is a stepping stone to our next level of competition established in 1947 our voice of democracy competition gives high school students the opportunity to write and record an audio essay on a patriotic theme while competing for more than two million dollars in college scholarships and incentives nationally and monetary awards at the local post and District levels the first place national award is a 35 000 scholarship our winners this year came from Chico and Pleasant Valley High Schools the theme this year was why is the veteran important we also had nominations for our teacher of the year program this program Awards teachers at the elementary junior high and high school levels we
048recognize teachers who utilize their skills to effectively teach and promote America's history and traditions civic responsibility flag etiquette patriotism and americanism this year we had nominations at the Elementary and high school levels and rewarded teachers at those levels and our elementary level teacher also went at the district level going on to the state National winners and the teachers teacher of the year program receive a thousand dollars for themselves for professional development and a thousand dollars for their schools in total we awarded our local post and District winners over nine hundred dollars this year and we are now getting ready for a 2023-24 competition period our topics for this year are how are you inspired by America for our Patriots pin essays and what are the greatest attributes of our democracy for the voice of democracy
049audio and written essays and I will be meeting with the principals from the elementary and secondary schools next month to give them the specific information and applications for their students as well as doing another push for our teacher of the year nominations thank you briefly be recognized Madam president I just want to express congratulations to all the people who competed and won in your program which I think is very admirable I want to thank you and your organization for your service into our country and also to our community and putting on this um this competition [Applause] we have James Bishop I wanted to share my observations from the last board meeting the parents focused their comments on the secrecy policy if they reference the trans community at all they made neutral or supportive remarks they
050listed respectfully to the teachers they didn't agree with outbursts were limited to defensive comments like stop interrupting or let them speak I also observe that the trans activist Community seemed triumphant they outnumbered the parents and employed thunderous Applause and Bowie and Cat calls to create a fairly intimidating environment therefore it seemed odd that they felt the need to respond to parents with mocking and ridicule particular targets of their derision were comments about parents rights deriving from nature Nature's God the Constitution that sort of thing the ridicule seemed to be directed at the parents values one pointed example was a mother sobbing before the community clearly mourning the break with her child who was present and in agony because she could not affirm choices she believed would lead to harm the activist Community had no empathy
051or compassion for this person but only more ridicule and derision apparently because they disagreed with her sincerely held beliefs and the actions they led her to we have a name for this hostility directed toward people because of their values culture or religious belief it's called bigotry and actions to intimidate hurt punish or silence we call bullying as if to ensure that this was the only conclusion a reasonable person could reach Lindsey Briggs the wife of Andrea MOX the director of Stonewall followed up the meeting with an online posting celebrating the evening's success and punctuating the punctuating it with a cartoon depicting a woman pointing a gun and quoting not gay as unhappy but Queer as in Fu that's not what that said message received so my observation was that the activist Community centered around Stonewall
052is subjectively hateful cruel bigoted and prone to merciless bullying question why would any parent school board or school district superintendent want people like that around their children I don't believe they would therefore I am committing myself to systematically sharing my observations with the chico Community as a warning against Stonewall and trans activism together with the facts about misdiagnosis and the collapse of Tavistock among other relevant topics I have already started I'll also say since it's available time left um I think that the concept of an adolescent sharing information to a counselor in secret and not having I shared with anybody is probably defensible but what is not defensible is the idea that everybody in the school would be notified by that counselor or pair or teacher and not the parent that's not defensible what is
053also not defensible is the idea that an eight-year-old is going to share something that that's not going to be shared with their parent if someone if a school representative doesn't think that a parent can hear what an eight-year-old or a nine-year-old or a 10 year old has to say then they should file charges against the parent otherwise it's ridiculous so just wanted to clarify [Applause] all right that is the um end of the speaker sign ups for items from the floor um we will go on to item number eight consent calendar um do we have a motion for the consent calendar I move approval um yes because usually before we move we check to see if anybody wants to pull anything that would be this would be the time sorry I haven't said that all
054second would you like to pull something no oh okay I felt like I paused long enough after I said consent calendar that's the time when anybody can pull it out of I'll hold one item and that is um I wrote it down but I don't have my notes but it's the two items about the course creation for um the graphic design and then the advanced graphic design [Music] 8.2.47 and number eight I think seven and eight those two and I just have a brief comment on them okay so we're pulling 8.2.7 and 8.2.8 yes I'm going to piggyback on um Mr tennis's pulling of those I too have a question more than comment on those items yes oh okay I didn't I thought it sounded like you were gonna pull a different one okay got
055it alrighty any other items to pull okay um so now I'll ask if there's a motion to approve the consent agenda um minus 8.2.7 8.2.8 okay thank you we have a motion by Mr tennis and a second by Mr Orlando um this is our first vote in Open Session tonight so we'll start um at the end with Mr Lando signify your approval by saying hi ten aside Dolby I Robinson I konk and I all right um Mr tennis you pulled 8.2.7 and 8.2.8 I just want to say I think it's um were you going to like be available to comment on those yeah I have no question I'll just say that um graphic arts you know and and are just incredibly important in our society and they integrate art and and um you know technical
056Sciences uh in a really important way that is just in my opinion increasingly important but the art piece is really valuable so my hat is off to you guys for taking initiative on that and and creating these courses Jill McKay Chico High art teacher hi hi Jill I had a chance to observe if you remember yes at PB the question I had um there is so much new software that's been developed because of the importance as Mr tennis said Do we have any um vehicle by which to look at what else may be out there on the market beside the software that we've committed to using for these courses so that that if there's you know something new and different that can add to especially the advanced class are are we able to obtain that
057and and use it within the district without licensing problems and things what how does that work um well currently Adobe is the industry standard um so that is what we are using um I um just went to the Adobe Max conference where they have all kinds of um industry people there and people are talking and so I got to go there and network with people and um I have joined the kid Brigade and doing the YouTube thing and so I'm constantly researching other things and finding free programs for my students to use that cannot access the Adobe software after school because now we are per person licensed instead of the whole school license and so I'm constantly finding freebies for them to use that are similar to the Adobe products and there are some out
058there there's actually quite a few that my students are have access to but as for other paid for software right now I don't think that there's anything out there um right now that can mirror what it is doing and that's worth changing over to I mean there are some that are up and coming that are really good that were already invested in Adobe and we have the licensing already going and so I don't see the need to change that right now but um I'm always open to new ideas and new things in this industry because it is constantly changing so okay thank you yeah any other questions okay all right do we have a motion on either or both of these items I move approval of both of those two items I'll second motion okay
059we have uh Mr tennis with a motion to approve 8.2.7 and 8.2.8 with a second by Ms Robinson um the last vote was unanimous so we can just do a Voice vote um all those in favor of approval signified by saying aye aye thank you um with that um with the consent calendar there was um approval of three new prominent District staff and so I would like to invite those Folks up to introduce themselves sounds great why don't we start with Bidwell Junior and Mr sibling come on up yeah some changes that are really exciting actually all three of you come up and we'll just have you we can do this as a group you got the mic if you would just um state your name and the school that you're going to be at
060in your position that'd be awesome okay hello everyone my name is Darrell siplin and I will be joining the amazing staff at bilwell Junior High School as the assistant principal for the 23-24 school year [Applause] good evening my name is Christy Taylor and I have the honor and privilege of joining the amazing staff at Chapman Elementary School next school year for the 23-24 school year thank you as principal [Applause] good evening I'm Jennifer Scala and I will be the director of student services special education here at the district office thank you [Applause] we're excited to welcome all three of these new administrators to our team and I'm sure you will hear more great things about them as we start next school year congratulations thank you all right moving on to our discussion action calendar we'll
061start with educational services so we're on item 9.1.1 this is informational advanced placement Capstone diploma program Pleasant Valley High School informational presentation good evening my name is Deanna Holland assistant principal at Pleasant Valley high school and I'm here to introduce our AP Capstone teacher as well as a few students to give you some information but before I do so I would like to provide you with a bit of background information um for probably close to 30 years Pleasant Valley High School was known as the only school north of Sacramento that had an international Baccalaureate diploma program very rigorous two-year program with a variety of subjects and requirements students who would complete the program would often enter College having completed already one or more semesters of coursework and it was wildly popular and easy to sustain
062during the years when we could combine advanced placement courses with that but about 13 years ago due to some changes with advanced placement we had to split some of our courses that made it increasingly more difficult to sustain the international Baccalaureate enrollment and offer that diploma program so over the course of several years despite our efforts our our enrollment in that program continued to decline so we looked for some options what could we do having had a robust AP program at the same time College Board created What's called the AP Capstone diploma program also a two-year program with two required courses they have options to earn a certificate if you take both of those courses pass both of those exams you can earn a certificate if during your high school career you also take and
063pass for additional AP courses you can earn the AP Capstone diploma program this is a program that focuses on Research analysis and critical thinking skills and they will explain a lot more than I will over the course of three years this program started with our initial junior class seminar with only 24 students currently we have 92 students in that course our senior course is called AP research there are 24 students enrolled and we're happy to announce that next year our projected enrollment is nearly 180 students in seminar with 75 in research so with no further Ado I'm going to introduce Doug Hesse our AP Capstone teacher [Applause] I'm over here you guys hey everybody thanks for having us appreciate it I've got two goals tonight which is uh not to get emotional around these great
064kids and uh and then I last time I presented in front of the board I left the nickname the 10 minute hello so I'm going to try to watch it and let you have the the fun of listening to the kids um so AP seminar in AP research a really unique course as they're a big win for our district um seminar the kids get to I think one reason why it's growing so much is the kids have so much autonomy so much choice of content we all share skill Hub in common um you know some really strong college level research analysis and argumentation skills we have to look at problems from multiple perspectives from multiple stakeholders just like you do but then the kids really get to take that skill Hub and spin off to
065where they want to go in terms of content area unique to their backgrounds to their interests their career aspirations College aspirations so in that way it's really exciting as a teacher in fact by the letter of the course it's not just good teaching philosophy I kind of have to decenter myself I'm another scholar in the room with these smart kids really quickly they know a lot more about their content than I do so I'm kind of cast um just immediately by necessity and kind of this discourse role with them this is what another scholar would do reflecting on what their needs are and in the spring and AP seminar I'm not even allowed to give direct feedback if I wanted to so it's part of the course um and so it's just kind of neat
066to watch them own their thinking process so much and have so much say in where they go with it and then for me to kind of think about how can I just keep empowering that and give them more skills to just do that eventually I don't need me very much I mean my bad sense of humor is probably makes them feel funnier but they don't really need me that much they're so dang smart by that time and just off and running they take all that really multifaceted way of looking at a problem and with all that autonomy they get to build in terms of content focus and when they go into AP research they literally doing graduate level work again with full autonomy I have no say in what they do they get to choose
067from the outset when they decide what to do for their year-long study where they're going to go and we learn from each other they taught me a lot to this year about different methods that are possible different methods that might go well with a certain topic Choice based on where the kids want to go and before you know it they're also getting to collaborate collaboration is a huge piece for the course in AP seminar they're collaborating with each other and learning a lot students can give other students direct feedback I just can't so it's kind of cool how they can rely on each other and AP research they keep collaborating with each other but then they get to collaborate with experts on and off our campus I've had a couple students be mistaken for grad
068students working with people like some of these kids have and you know research institutions where they're like wait a second you're in high school you're doing something that I'm teaching my grandkids how to do right now how's that possible and so it's just really exciting for them to get to have that level of collaboration too I think we all can kind of understand what that means for them going forward into college and going on into careers so I'm just along for the ride I'm telling the stupid jokes and helping them have good conversations and they they take from there I've got Grace Montgomery Sophia Perez and Jamison Riley and Alexis bratty with me and these are their we call them project profiles we made them for you a little while ago where you just give
069a feel for their research pathway that they took and then I'm going to let them kind of tell you a little bit about why they were interested in going that route with their pathway some of the valuable things that maybe learned along the way um I'm thinking I'm forgetting one thing that I was going to have you say also or think about wanting to say but you'll probably think about it because they're smarter than me um and then if you have any questions I was trying to be quick and I don't think I was very successful so that you can ask them some questions if you'd like to I'm going to have Grace come up first and hers is up there right now hi my name is Grace Montgomery and my research project this year
070was testing the feasibility of creating a biodegradable fabric out of almond shell cellulose and I was able to partner with Chico Nut Company and use their almond shell byproducts and so initially I was very interested in this because fast fashion is one of the main contributors to the contamination of our environment and um also almond shell farming it uses about I think it's like 49 million tons of water per year which is like 17 of the total agricultural water use in California and so those two things combined together kind of made me want to first of all research how to create a more sustainable fashion and also limit the um waste of water in Almond farming and so I was also inspired by a Chico State professor John or Joseph Greene who was researching um
071almond shell fibers and he actually found that they can be used in the interior of car parts and so he's actually working with Ford Motor Company to create interior car parts using about 20 to 40 all Mitchell fibers and so then I decided to research that in the context of a biodegradle fabric and I thought that this was very um I got a lot of skills from this like including communication skills because I was working directly with professionals at Chico nut company and they actually got me into contact with their chemist his name is John penzak and he works in Madeira and so I was able to work with them to create a procedure for cellulose extraction that was based off of one of the previous studies that I had researched and yeah I was
072able to work with them and create make a lot of communication skills and able to get my voice in the scholarly conversation with those people which kind of made me have a lot more confidence about a race like the research process and like how to go about that so yes thank you do you guys want to maybe wait for questions at the end we'd like to ask them as you go or if they come up how should we oh we generally ask as they come and they may come back so okay yeah all right thanks Grace and Sophia come on up I would also invite board members they're looking at me like I didn't it wasn't clear enough uh please ask questions anytime you don't need my permission thank you good evening my name can
073you hear me okay good evening my name is Sophia Perez and I my study was centered around immigration reform so I am aware that there is a bit of a crisis regarding immigration in our country and it's often a polarized topic so I specifically was looking at detention centers and how we can improve them or essentially move away from that model so I was looking at alternatives to detention and this is specifically revolved around the community based model which is typically from philanthropic or non-profit organizations that provide a variety of services to non-citizens such as accessible housing employment opportunities Legal Services which is the most important because it allows immigrants to receive legal assistance with paperwork and essentially obtaining citizenship so one of the interesting Parts about my study was that I used the Delphi
074method and essentially this is a survey which you are asked to survey experts so the experts that I worked with were all law professors that specialized in immigration law at the University School of Law and Pacific McGeorge School of Law one of the experts was actually the dean of the law school so I was really grateful to establish that connection but what drove me to this investigation was my personal connection to immigrants my father is an immigrant and essentially my entire family are Mexican immigrants so I feel a strong connection to this population additionally last winter break I was offered an opportunity to go down to San Diego on a service trip and I was able to directly work with refugees and Asylum Seekers and immigrants who had all recently crossed the USA Mexico border
075and it was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life we created hygiene bags and offered food to them and I just left that experience knowing that I want to pursue a career in immigration law and ultimately research has just given me such an advantage for when I attend the University in the next four years I will be in the honors program at my college and one of their main values is interdisciplinary thinking and scholarly work in that aspect and I've already been doing this for two years so I'm just excited that I have the confidence to partake in my own research project at the University level so thank you [Applause] um I'm gonna inter yeah I'd I happen to watch the I think it was a 90-minute special on the um the immigrants
076that have to pass that very small short limited passageway between South America and Central America Panama oh my gosh um the the depth of the problems from not only what those particular people face but why they're coming what's going on in their countries that that are you know forcing them into making these two desperate decisions I commend you for helping because it certainly is a field that needs more attention absolutely more attention so thank you very much Sophia for what you're doing thank you so much don't go away yet I'm not ask you a question sorry thank you also I'd like to ask Miss Montgomery which is say what did you find what is the end result of your researcher um for you so far um so ultimately from my research there was a consensus
077among the experts that we should Implement these models in my paper I discussed how we can provide Federal funding and just expand the use so the particular Detention Center that I looked at is in Otay Mesa which is near San Diego so in San Diego the organization the organization that I worked with is called Jewish Family Services they were created by Jewish women in the 1920s however they do not solely provide services to Jewish people so I talked about how I think that it would be interesting if we could see a partnership between them and essentially expanding their location um so actually the results from my research were very like contradictory and so like I wasn't able to like come across one complete conclusion but the implications were that almond shells should still be further
078tested and I want my method to be because actually I wasn't able to complete my method the way that I wanted to and so I want my method to be completed like successfully and then I think hopefully that they will um actually be able to be utilized awesome thank you and that's a really good point right that research doesn't always just happen and you get a result like in the process sometimes it doesn't work and you go back and that's a really important one of the neatest things about what kids are not into is that you run into a lot of hurdles that are the real hurdles that actual researchers run into and they have to go slow and and you know and have due diligence and if something can't be done yet it can't
079be done yet and that's part of the reality of real research and these kids just took that on amazingly with great depth and humility and did a great job with knowing what their next steps would be if they could and all that kind of great stuff so it's been awesome thank you okay Jameson Riley hi so my name is Jamison Riley and my topic of study was the association between colors and mathematical ability for fourth graders so what I ended up doing was I partnered with fourth grade teachers both here at Marigold and at Sierra View and I gave each class A Certain multiplication test some included color and some did not and the questions were all the same the only thing that changed was the color of the multiplication chart and without going into
080too much of the detail about the specific tests my results found that one certain type of color test actually resulted in about 10 percent better performance than another test based solely on the color so instead of students getting a b or instead of students getting a c rather they got to be on the test on average so definitely has some big implications for the just kind of how math is taught and definitely needs to be researched further but I thought it was a pretty astonishing result that full letter grade difference was just based off of the color alone I thought the research process in AP research was great especially for college and and Beyond not only just because of the the learning how to do research but also just learning how to write in such
081a scholarly and professional manner um definitely writing a whole research paper in one year taught me a lot about um how this kind of work is done and it'll definitely give me a head start for college thank you so there's no reason you should know this but um I'm a map intervention teacher can I get a copy of your truck at work serious like and that goes to everybody I would love to see the actual research papers if you get copies this is fascinating figures especially I mean if that actually works and it can be replicated that's that's huge yeah thanks Jamison I have a question for you um so usually when we're inspired to look into something right it's usually based off of some kind of phenomenon we experience what inspired this topic uh
082one thing that inspired me was a condition called synesthesia which is where people associate two abstract ideas the most common form is color number synesthesia with about 4.4 of percent of adults reporting to have it in the U.S uh so this is kind of where I came up with it because I I do have that condition where I associate colors and numbers and it actually helps me with mathematics and different math tasks so I wondered if uh this Association could be used in a different way with people that don't necessarily have that ability or that condition thank you thank you Alexis hi my name is Alexis um I was inspired by my mom's breast cancer journey and my passion for yoga and I generated the research question is a yingar yoga as a complimentary therapy
083effective in improving the quality of life of breast cancer survivors of 40 years and older in Chico I communicated with a well I got in contact with a local yoga studio and I secured the studio and an instructor for a 60-minute weekly class for a four week long duration I got in contact with a sample of nine women and they completed the yoga classes in before and after the or before the first class and after the last they completed a quality of life survey and I took the average question responses and I found and I found the difference between them which is the Improvement in the quality of life based on those responses and I was able to find that there is a correlation between improved quality of life and participation in yoga and I
084was inspired yes by my mom and my own passion but it's also been found that 13 by the American Cancer Society that about 13 of U.S women will can be diagnosed with breast cancer and speaking directly to my experience in AP seminar and AP research I've had an amazing time or an amazing experience doing these classes I think it's so unique that we're able to focus on interdisciplinary studies and it's really the only class that's offered other than electives that speak directly onto student interest I think that's really special especially in high school because courses like that aren't necessarily offered um also like Sophia I've been admitted into an honors that honors college at my at the college I plan on attending and I will have a interdisciplinary minor and so I think that the
085research and the process that I've gone through in these past two years have really will like really helped me with that I have a slightly selfish question did you all go to the same middle school I know I thought so I'm like oh my gosh they're so grown up yeah they were all my students at one point I don't take credit for any of that at all but it's really nice to see your face is all grown up thanks for sharing [Applause] always proud of my kids sorry it's okay to be vulnerable it's okay to cry all right we're moving on to 9.1.2 this is discussion action uh Chico Unified School District Butte Community College partnership College connection program calendar good evening board I just would I love being surrounded by really smart kids right
086not just this group that's about to address you but the group that's left so with pleasure I'd like to introduce Elaine ellsmore our our Butte College Chico Unified College connection uh instructor and she's going to share some information about the action item you'll be working on and most importantly we're going to get to hear some from some of her students I'm going to turn it over to Elaine elsmore board members and superintendent assistant superintendent students right like that is the reason why we're all here and community so I'm really happy to be here but I also know that it's getting on in the day for everyone who's been at school since 8 A.M and had to make that commute out to Butte so I will be succinct it is my honor to be working with
087this program and a part of this team and this partnership between Butte College and Chico Unified the partnership has been in place for 25 years and I've had the pleasure of working with students for 16 years in this role and it's a college immersion program and so our Chico PV seniors have the opportunity for a facilitated intentional introduction to college they receive a wonderful education they have wonderful opportunities at their high schools but these people have chosen to do something outside of those campuses something that's Brave outside of their comfort zone just as they have done so tonight to really get ready for college not only they have the academic chops but also to have those experiences so Lily and Enrique will introduce themselves and they'll tell you about their experiences with college connection and
088I'm so happy for them to talk about the program hello my name is Lily Moore and I am a College connection 2023 senior so I decided to attend this program because it was an amazing opportunity to get a head start on my general education Not only was it an amazing opportunity for that I also thought it was a really good opportunity to begin exploring what college felt like for me before I actually attended college so not only have the classes I've taken helping me helped me to see what it feels like to be among my peers as of college seniors but also to gain experience from teachers I joined a club called environmental Horticulture and I met a lot of friends in that club as it relates to my major and I actually got a
089job from that club So Not only was I able to make friends and enjoy the college scene but I got a really amazing job out of it now the classes I take are not offered at Chico high and I'm really glad I was able to take them because it solidified my route into what major I want to take in college and now I know for sure that this is the right path for me so thank you [Applause] hello everyone my name is Enrique Rodriguez oh I am also a college connection 2023 um senior College connections I chose that program because I realized I was very intrinsically motivated with my education ever since sophomore year during covid I started taking college classes so and I knew that college connection was that next step especially with the
090fact that you surround yourself in a college environment one big difference that I notice is your daily structure each day it's not your year from let's say 8 30 to 3 30. it really just depends on your schedule for example my classroom time time in the classroom is around like 15 16 hours a week whereas at PV if I were to go there for my senior year it'd be more like 30 to 35 because of that I've been able to take on more responsibilities for example I'm able to maintain a part-time job without College connections I wouldn't have been able to do that one of my biggest accomplishments I'd say through college connection is the fact that I might get to you certified already meaning that I'm already completed with my general education at a
091CSU or a UC so all I have left is the major coursework my biggest Next Step because of college connection is to pursue a Bachelor's of Arts in chemistry and then get a teacher credential I'm not sure which college yet but hopefully I can do that so I could become a high school chemistry teacher thank you [Applause] questions for Louie or Enrique or myself no questions in particular I think I'm just a huge fan of this program I'm really glad that you guys are taking advantage of it and that we were able to offer it can't wait to see what you guys do next and Mr chemistry teacher you're going to be in demand a lot when that comes through don't forget about us you know you want to come back home though I have
092a question you probably said this but how many students do we have participating in college currently this year we have about 25 students and next year we have a larger cohort this is from both yes Chico both Chico and PV okay okay thank you for being here and waiting and sharing we really appreciate it and we do need action from the board we have to approve their calendar um all right uh do we have a way of emotion by Mr Orlando second oh a second by Miss Colonial that's okay nope all good um any discussion all right um yes okay Elaine last year um you went through a brief discussion of the screening process and application process yes for how students get in that was very valuable so once it looks like we're not all
093here well tonight anyway but um that was a a really valuable um bit of sharing so do it again okay no well not tonight last night I remember the presentation from last year and I just thought it was very valuable well good I'm glad you appreciate it and I do provide that presentation to students and parents each year as I'm doing Outreach for the program it's very valuable all right our last um our last vote was okay oh I'm sorry okay our last vote was unanimous so we can do another Voice vote um okay uh those in favor of approving the calendar signify please by saying aye aye aye opposed all right it's unanimous thank you thank you for sharing thank you so much um okay we are moving on to item 9.1.3 discussion action
094California Community Schools partnership program planning Grant update good evening my name is Tina keen and I'm here with Jennifer Scala and Michelle Bunch as a follow-up to an item that came to you a couple of months ago I believe it was in December talking about our application for the Community Schools partnership Grant so we said we would come back with more information and I will hand it off to Michelle to give you an update on where we're at good evening um I'm very pleased to report that she can invite School District was awarded the planning grant for the California Community Schools partnership program I guess I need to use the clicker we were awarded 199 807 and our plan is to use that in a one-year format um we plan to apply for the implementation
095Grant next January 2024 if it follows the same timeline as this year we would expect that the application would be available in January and the implementation grants last for five years so the planning grants really to prepare ourselves for implementation to give you an idea on the timeline for the planning Grant we work backwards based on an expectation that the request for application will be available in January so currently we're hiring for a community school coordinator and that position was flown and just closed and we will be conducting interviews in the next few weeks um the new Community Schools coordinator will help to conduct comprehensive needs and asset assessment in August and September for the six schools that meet the criteria for Community Schools which is an 80 percent or higher unduplicated pupil count um
096in November 2023 if um we're following our deadlines here we hope to submit a community school implementation plan for each of those six schools for your approval and then like I said the RFA should be out in January 2024 with a um due date of March if we are awarded the next step which is implementation then we'll we'll be talking more about what our next steps are and and moving forward so we're very excited about what opportunities this will provide to six of our campuses and just wanted to give you a brief update and let you know the great news any questions was there a big response to the position being clone we get a lot of quality applicants you think for that we flew it internally first so we have a handful of applicants
097and we're reviewing those and extending interviews and then we also flew it on Ed join for external applicants so we'll we'll like I said we'll conduct those interviews in the next few weeks I saw it and enjoyed I was a little sad that I couldn't apply it's an exciting Grant there's a lot of opportunity here so we're excited to see this one come to our district the question can you tell me which of our schools are enmeshed in this process yes so like I said there are priority applicants and if they have an unduplicated pupil count of 80 or higher those are priority funded so we have six campuses that qualify three-year alternative Ed and three are elementaries so Fairview High School Center for Alternative Learning and Oakdale at our alt Ed campuses Chapman Citrus
098and McManus elementaries for elementary campuses thank you any other questions so we will be back with more information once we get the Community Schools person hired and we'll be working on our next steps in Implement applying for the implementation Grant so thank you thank you um this was on as discussion action but there's no direction that you're looking for from the board okay okay now we'll we'll let you know when we've hired and then that will come before the board okay thank you I do have one question if I have time for it sure um cusd was awarded 199 807 dollars and um but there's 200 between two and five hundred thousand dollars per qualifying School site so that is for the implementation Grant so for the planning Grant there was a two hundred thousand
099dollar cap okay for the planning Grant year so the total for this program is is um really in the realm of a lot more yeah so and so you know the 200 000 to 500 000 per qualifying School site there's a formula for school size and how much they award and that's times five years for every school so your largest school could be awarded five hundred thousand dollars per year for five years so 2.5 million um for your larger school to implement if we get the implementation piece which we wouldn't know that until mid 2024 so this is a planning Grant I'm in the middle of writing a planning Grant right now so the planning Grant is just to come up with the plans and then you take those plans that are fully fleshed out
100where you have now developed that budget to determine to the implementation and then you apply for the implementation Grant right so one of the criteria for the implementation Grant is to have a community schools plan for every school and so this provides you money time and resources to collect all that data and get ready to apply for the next step so it everything we're doing with this planning Grant gets us ready to to apply for implementation how long have this this program been being discussed in the state of California round two was just awarded so this is a relatively new grant program our governor originally put it through our legislature through 2027 and extended it now through 2031 so they've committed a lot of money and extended the time period and we've been told at
101least four rounds of implementation will be offered so we'll be applying for round three thank you can you summarize just in the simplest terms because I I struggle explaining to people what a community school would look like to Envision like a statement like a mission statement or you know the objective the sole objective or the core objective of a community school please yes thank you you wanna you wanna help with this one too so I mean the whole idea of this is um to unify services and really coordinate Services instead of having siled Services where you go out and you you know get medical care and then you go out and you need optical care and you need to go and you know get dental care um you know it goes beyond Health but the
102idea is to be able to coordinate services for students and families in one place and utilize Community Resources to assist better implementation and service to our students and to Not Duplicate services you want to keep adding So currently our targeted case managers on a small scale are trying to do some of this work and what this grant would allow them to do on a much more expanded perspective is really act as that bridge to all of these community services that are available and increase knowledge and help families with accessibility to those services not necessarily that those services are going to be provided on a campus but more so that we're making those connections and supporting families in in getting what they needed or with you know possibly translation services or anything that that might be
103interfering with them getting those services Services hub Services Hub yes yeah and really working on that that soft handoff or that supportive connection of okay you're not just going to go to this building on at this address we're going to make a connection for you they're expecting you to be there we're going to send over what documentation we may have that is supportive of your your situation or your need and and there is much more connection involved yeah sometimes paperwork is definitely the biggest um burden or barrier yeah absolutely getting the services or the access to services or the you know the the help that might be out there I mean a lot of families don't even know about financial support that they may be qualified for because the paperwork is so complex you're exactly
104right and and what this comes down to is it helps provide families those things they need then we'll go to the students having academic success and a positive academic experience in schools yep and I always see this expanding is for us so let's say Citrus their feeder schools Chico Jr and a lot of them will have siblings that go to to from Citrus to Chico Junior so we'll want these people that work on those sites for citrus to work with the Chico Junior people to make sure that those Services also continues as they go or if they have siblings at Chico Junior McManus would go to Bidwell Chapman will most likely work with Marsh and Parkview those types of things so we could try to not just limit it out those schools that we named
105tonight that they will continue to help support the schools that they feed into great thank you thank you I wonder as the planning starts to go underway if it might be beneficial to have um I don't know maybe there are are there meetings or Community meetings or School site meetings or would it be beneficial to have a board liaison um just kind of brainstorming on how this all coalesces whole scale um we definitely could assign board Liaisons like we do for you know many of our projects that go on throughout the year so we'd love to have you know a board member or two is providing input there are deliverables and outcomes that we have to follow for the planning Grant and part of that is bringing in community members parents students obviously um community
106and school members to be part of that committee and and do the needs and asset assessment so yes we'd love to have board Liaisons great thank you all right yeah well it wasn't it was discussion action if we wanted to take any action to congratulate them um okay yeah that is exciting uh building a program from the ground up is no small feat it's exciting um okay so and we are moving on to business services we are at 9.2.1 discussion action resolution 1604-2-3 Board of Education of the Chico Unified School District directing the execution and authorizing the recording of a termination agreement including a certificate of acceptance well stated that was a mouthful so before we get into the resolution I just want to give a background information to the board members so in December
107of 2005 the Chico Unified financing Corp entered into a lease purchase agreement for solar panels at little Chico Creek Elementary so part of that process was allowing the lender to have a security interest in the elementary school essentially collateral in the event that we didn't fully pay the financing payments in December of 2019 we did fully pay off the balance related to that loan and so at this point what we're doing is basically cleaning up the title to little Chico Creek so the resolution in front of you this evening is to allow the officers of Chico Unified to terminate that agreement so that security interest can be removed off the elementary school do we have any questions Board of questions like clarification I don't know my words aren't coming out in order so this is
108fascinating stuff and I move this item for approval all right no clarifying questions no public comment and we have a motion on the floor from uh Mr tennis do we have a second I'll second that motion all right a second from Ms Robinson any other discussion acting at the board not as financing corporator correct at this point we have to have two resolutions we have to have one that allows Chico Unified and its agents which is listed in here superintendent and assistant superintendent of business services at the next meeting the finance Court meeting there will be a resolution the exact same resolution with the Smite slight change in the name that allows the officers of the financing Corp to terminate the agreement and change the security interest on the title perfect thank you all right
109um since we were unanimous last time we can also do another Voice vote this time um so all those in favor of um this action please signify by saying aye aye seeing no opposed it's unanimous and next item Human Resources 9.3.1 discussion action resolution number 1605-2-3 recognition of teacher and certificated staff Appreciation Week okay so we're bringing together to you a couple resolutions the first one is Recon recognition of teachers and certificated staff which in the state of California is recognized during the week of May 8th through 12th so we're bringing you a resolution to recognize our the outstanding work of all our certificated staff um and then the other the next one will be classified but and I'll talk about how those are how we're going to coordinate those two events in a minute
110all right uh any questions for clarification um just that in um resolution it appears that uh member konkin's name is spelled incorrectly it's called apologize you're correct I did for sure oh yeah I'll have to resign my position [Laughter] we will correctly correct that is it I'm I'm looking at it there's no l right is that yeah okay you can look it up on the web page it's also right there on her name plate oh there it is right so yeah next year I'll have it correct yes do we have a motion so I'd like to move I'd like to move approval of this uh resolution uh with the correction that Rebecca konkin's last name will be spelled k-o-n-k-i-n I would like this I will second that just for the record the next resolution has
111the same spelling oh boy um all right so we have a motion by Mr tennis and a second by Dolby um all those in favor of approval signify by saying aye aye I'm hearing no opposes unanimous um next item same 1606-2-3 recognition of classified Appreciation Week Mr Hanlon okay so we're bringing that one also um the the dates in the state of California for recognition of classified staff is May 21 through May 27th so there's a week in between and our plan is to go to each School site we have some goodies that will be put together by our Nutrition department and cabinet will be delivering those out to each of the sites and for their staff staff rooms so we can [Music] um recognize each site in person and we'll make visits during that
112week as we deliver deliver things so we did that last year and it was very successful at the suggestion of superintendents daily so that was much appreciated by the staff out there but again we bring that um bring that this forward to you each year so I recommend the passing passage of resolution 1606-23 and I will correct your name Miss conking I'm seeing no additional questions for clarification and no public comment uh do we have a motion sure I'll move adoption of resolution 1606-23 so moved by member Lando I'll second that motion seconded by Ms Robinson um all those in discussion um except that we appreciate all of our certificated and classified staff as well as our administrative staff um but yes special weeks with special goodies sound great to me thank you um do
113you guys ever get a a resolution for you we do it seems a little self-serving to bring that technically administer certificated so fine Jeff it's true so hopefully somebody will also bring you some goodies yeah all right um we'll move to the vote uh those in favor of approval of 1606-23 signified by saying aye aye aye no opposed it's unanimous um now we are on to um nine point 3.3 sorry uh yes adoption of the 2526 student calendar okay so each April we bring you a calendar a student calendar that is three years into the future so that helps with greatly with planning not not only for school sites but also for families trips vacations but also staff development for school sites and those types of things so there's nothing remarkable about this calendar the
114dates the holidays are very similar to other calendars that you we have brought before you and and um um approved the graduation date is the last there's the is the first Friday of June and then we work backwards from there subtracting all of the holidays and and uh natural breaks like spring break and Thanksgiving Christmas and those out of there so we back up in the first day of school is August 19th in 20 25 26. the only difference in this calendar and we made Corrections on the others were the addition of June 19th for Juneteenth when that became a federal holiday is Chico State a big factor in in what you guys come up with only with regards to Spring Break um we have a lot of families both employers as employees but also
115families that have relatives at Butte College and Chico State and so we have that in the spring break in the middle of March around St Patrick's Day because of the disruptions that the partying caused that was changed Chico State a number of years ago and then the board at that time adopted that also one of the um one of the challenges with tying it directly to Easter was Easter kind of whip saws through the the calendar and it's not a natural break in that semester so at that time the board decided to connect it with Butte College in Chico State around the St Patrick's holiday and it synchronizes the holidays with our local University and colleges I have a question communication so Friday June 5th is graduation for both Chico high and PB correct okay
116and the junior Highs are typically the day before the day before in the morning mornings yes occasionally one of them will choose at night but um so it just depends uh yeah I just um we we've had conversations before about holidays and adding holidays and what that would mean and how much it would cost and how it would complicate things but just to acknowledge that there are some state holidays that the state recognizes that the district doesn't recognize um so I just I think just say out loud to acknowledge in indigenous people's day and the genocide awareness day that occur October and April um I think April um just just to recognize that those are not holidays that that the district currently has on the calendar [Music] um I do hope that um sometime in
117the future near future we might discuss um how to at least acknowledge those days district-wide in a more cohesive way if we're not going to add them as actual holidays on the calendar um but I don't we haven't really had much discussion about that lately um but yeah I know that some of us have had those questions in the past and we've had students bring those questions to us as well um so so this is intended as a student calendar and we could certainly do that this is intended as a student calendar so that um even June 19th which seems to be in the summer because it is in the middle of extended school year and summer school so it's included so that parents can see when school when students are expected to be in
118school right so certainly something we can consider yeah so on that too um in June um when there's summer school going on or extended school year that'll be a holiday at this point okay correct is that starting with this year yeah last year I think it was last year oh was it two years two years ago okay two years ago okay I didn't remember that for some reason are there any other questions from the board okay um any public comment all right we've almost lost our publicly um okay I'll uh ask for a motion so moved a second I'll second the motion okay so we have a motion to approve the calendar um for the student calendar for 25 26 by Mr tennis a second by Ms Robinson um all those in approval signified by
119saying aye aye no opposed so it's unanimous and with that we will break to a recess and during this recess we're on item 10. this is uh the annual meeting of the board of directors of the Chico Unified financing sorry Chico Unified School financing Corporation um sorry I have duplicate words on my page uh I got lost to be held in accordance with the agenda oh and then I skip over to the other agenda that's why I got confused just had the same thing twice and I said what do I look at okay so I called to order the April 19th 2023 uh Chico Unified School District financing Corporation meeting we have a discussion action calendar uh 2.1 discussion action approval of minutes of annual meeting of February 15 2023. so the minutes before you
120were what was presented during the financing Corp meeting in February essentially an update on our Lassen Avenue property in the 10-year lease related there as well as the minutes from the prior annual meeting so ask them for those approval tonight okay so those minutes are from February correct two months ago thank you it was a long time ago in my brain um okay I was just making sure I got my dates right because making sure all the people present are the people who are on that list um are there any questions from the committee okay um let's see do we have a motion to approve the minutes I move approval of the minutes a second thank you we have a motion from Mr Lando a second from Miss konkin um let's do a Voice vote
121starting with Mr Lando Amanda why Tennessee Toby I Robinson I konk and I it's unanimous it passes thank you and then we have a resolution as item number two so we have 2.2 discussion action resolution 1603-2-3 financing Corporation directing the execution of and authorizing the recording of a termination agreement including a certificate of acceptance yes exactly what I said earlier essentially but now you're acting as Board of Directors for the financing Corp authorizing the termination agreement great I have no further questions uh do I have a motion I move approval of the termination agreement for the including the certificate of acceptance I'll second that so we have a motion by Ms Robinson and a second by dalby um those in favor of approval signifies by saying aye aye that's unanimous thank you um I will
122adjourn this meeting to return to our regular Open Session um of the regular school board meeting and we will move on to item number 11 items from the floor are there any additional public comment for items from the floor we had no additional speaker cards permitted submitted okay did you want to make a comment yeah no worries yeah same as um same as the first items from the floor and any other public comment you have three minutes to speak to the board you'll hear a warning sound at 30 seconds no I didn't I didn't get the You Gotta Give the sample I figured the last person here I wouldn't be put on the clock but I can understand uh it's it's late I get it so we treat everybody the same sir thank you okay
123do I begin now okay I didn't know so I just wanted to say um thank you for taking the time and allowing me to speak I appreciate it um speaking to the April 5th meeting you know disappointed though not surprised at the conduct of the board um you've gone as far as to post a comment on conducting yourself with civility for the meeting on your website for all of these meetings when you have the ability last meeting to exercise that and take control of the meeting you chose not to instead you turned it into um a circus it garnered worldwide news attention he made you made news in other countries it was such a obvious mishap to the planet disgraceful this board Administration leading CEO cusd have lost control you have two pending losses for
124gross misconduct it seem to thrive on splashing the news with ridiculous and ludicrous policies and virtue signaling the fact that there is no mandate law code or anything else that requires you to have a parental secrecy policy it's been confirmed by The District's own attorney at the last meeting thank you Matt for clarifying that and that's an important piece pursuing this course is not only validating the policy said you didn't exist in the first place but further expanding on it is something you're choosing to do choice you're not required to do this you're standing up and you're saying we're making a choice to go this route um we'll have drastic pushback from parents in this District these are our children not yours that's our skin in the game it's been said enough I'm not going
125to run that one down your task is to provide a safe and healthy learning environment for the courses required by the state of California and the doe that's it gender transitioning affirmation facilitation doesn't appear on that list it's not there you know you're kind of at a Crossroads continuing this path will hurt your enrollment and probably money's down the road it's that simple parents are working overtime right now behind the scenes to build learning pods and exploring Charter and homeschooling options or really just any way to get their children away from you and your seemingly wild need to upset most every parent in this District I'm not saying kids can't have questions I'm not saying they can't want to be someone else or that they can't be called different names or pronouns I'm not even
126it's not even about that I'm saying parent has the right to know the very second School even thinks that that's happening though and the biggest thing is I guess since I'm on the Bell um is this is a personal choice you're making you're putting on our children our families and our values and that's not what the board is supposed to be doing so I would just ask you please reconsider consider the rest of the parents and you know the ones that couldn't make it here tonight that's why I stayed till the very end and the last person and last one you'll hear from it's that important you hear every single one of us that could make it thank you for your time and see you next time okay see no additional public comment for items
127from the floor Caitlyn I had a question um am I allowed to step down in this position to speak to the board as a parent like I don't know if that's allowed I mean is there a rule I don't think so yeah I mean um you can say I'm going to remove myself from my capacity as a board member and speak as a parent come to the podium and okay I'd like to do that okay okay I'm Rebecca konkin I'm a mom of four I have two boys at Chico high and I have a daughter who's a sixth grader and I have a daughter who's a third grader both at Nord Country School um I just am speaking tonight to the board um just I want to express my disappointment with the direction that we
128went um I've got a lot of skin in the game as a mom and I just want to share a really personal experience that I have as a mom we have the privilege of having Tom Lando for my son's seventh grade year at Nord Country School Jake and Miss Orlando really hit it off they had a great teacher student relationship and Jake really loved Mr Lando he learned quite a bit that year and um something that was just really special to me was that Mr Orlando got to spend eight hours a day with my son and he really got to know him and see a side of him that I didn't get to see and Jake was going through some tough times he had a lot of anxiety and um we were able to communicate
129Mr Lando reached out to me and shared with me all these concerns he had and we had some great opportunity to communicate and I really appreciated that that vulnerability and that transparency and um I consider myself to be a good mom and know what's going on in my kids lives but that was something that honestly like it was it was helpful for me to know and I just my concern with this direction and um keeping certain information from parents whatever it may be and in this situation it's obviously in regards to transgender but I don't want to see a precedence take place where teachers feel that they can't go to parents and share information and I really I see just an overwhelming amount of concern for the direction that this particular position is going to
130direct us to so thank you for your time whoa it was weird it talked and it didn't come out of the speaker if we have no additional comments for items from the floor from the public we will move on to item 12 a board member request to agenda as an item I have one um I have heard from many people in the wake of the meeting two weeks ago that they are concerned that we they're not in that room that counseling session they're not with that that counselor either at the primary level or secondary but there is legitimate concern out there when I say legitimate I just mean that our constituents many of them are concerned about this that we have staff who may be encouraging children to to transition um there was a or
131or perhaps I'm sorry I need to interrupt you really quick not not because I I don't want to hear what you have to say but for a board member requests to agenda as an item um this is a time to make a motion yes I'm just laying out the reasons why I'm I'm making the motion um we tabled the uh parents resolution I move that we you know reagendized in the not too distant future you yourself said it's recorded in the minutes that we all approved that we would be taking this up in the future or you inferred that um I just want to so maybe this isn't even necessary for that reason alone but um you know I guess I would move that we that we put that on a agenda in the not
132too distant future I mean within the next two months um and at some point in that in that resolution I think we should contemplate for purposes of posting that we're not going to do that I'm not going to do what what I what I was saying and what you interrupted me that parents are concerned that that we are actually encouraging gender transitions um just as one of the whereas is in a resolution or perhaps we could allude to that you know if you didn't like that that language um people should rest assured that in those intimate settings that that their children are not being persuaded that way or or if we we think that that's appropriate I think the public should know that but I don't think that we really do feel that way in
133fact I think that Mr Lando your comments upheld that that we weren't doing that yeah I'd like to oh did you want to yeah let me let me address that we um can bring that resolution back we had planned to bring it back with our lcap because it really is what we do we work with parents we get input um and that's a great time to bring that forward and when it does come forward by all means if there are suggestions at that time if board members want to add language change language that would be the appropriate time to do that but our plan was to bring that back with with the lcap and I also want to add with resolutions resolutions are a commitment from the district they are not items where we get
134public input to draft the resolution there what the District staff is committing to do so I heard at our last Board of meeting oh you didn't reach out to staff to help draft this we didn't reach out we didn't reach out to parents we didn't reach out to parents to help draft the one that Jacqueline read this evening either resolutions are what staff bring forward and the board supports so I just wanted to clarify that because there was a lot of comments about you didn't ask us no we did not um would it be fair to presume that any of us would be invited to sit down with um District staff that's drafting or revising to give input um if the board would like to appoint two people to work with staff in drafting that
135you already have the draft so um you know by all means anybody could submit ideas for Change and if you want to have two we could only have two work with that that's fine or we can bring it forward as it is as it stands and make the adjustments during the board meeting so a couple different ways we could go about that okay well I simply move that we add draft language stating in some form that we will not be purposefully trying to coerce children to transition I just think that's very specific for a resolution for what we're looking for yeah it's very specific yeah I don't I feel like that's not um something that we should discuss because it's not an agenda's item um I do feel like you would have the opportunity to
136bring that back up when that item comes up in June does that make sense I mean when we can make a motion you can make a motion to adopt this resolution with the modification of insert your language and I would suggest maybe sending it out ahead of time so we all have a chance to review it um I don't know that any of us are prepared to without seeing how it fits with the rest of the resolution I would also add that it's kind of going out of the bounds of this but I feel like what you're trying to do right now is to paint Us in this picture or this corner that looks like we it by not accepting your your motion that somehow that's going to be twisted to be assumed to be
137the opposite which is also not true so I just wanted to state that for the record as well it's a very simple proposition I'm just suggesting we add draft you know language to an item that's going to be on a future agenda saying that we won't do this thing that number of us now have declared that we don't want to do so I don't know why it would be controversial but apparently it is we need to vote to bring this back or as we've already said it will come back at our June meeting with the ocap if we want it back earlier the board would need to vote to do that it's okay coming back in June uh we'll do that I'm still confused as to whether the motion on the table is to just
138bring the resolution back we'll bring the resolution back with specific language Let Me restate the motion I move we add draft language to the resolution that is coming back in June that would clarify that District Personnel will not encourage children to transition so I think the the I understand what you're asking I don't know because this agenda item is to agendize an item so we could agenda as a conversation at the next meeting about the language before them resolution itself comes back so if I understand it correctly you're not asking that we agendized the item you're just asking that we change the language it would just be adding draft language because because the way the uh resolution was before it didn't have a point on that which parents probably would have appreciated this since its
139appearance resolution would benefit from that that length a draft language being added in yeah I I totally understand that part I'm just we can't figure out what we're doing right now is either adding an agenda item or waiting until June because this agenda item is board members request to agenda is an item I guess I just feel that adding a draft language makes it germane to to adding or clarifying an agenda item I think this clarifies an agenda item that that you know vis-a-vis Brown act may not have you know that that language possibly would be you know somebody could maybe find some objection based on the fact that it maybe just got introduced right that very same evening and so there wasn't time for it to be posted properly and so I'm throwing it
140out there as something that I think should be added in but if I'm alone in that sentiment then I'm alone so I've made my motion I I think I would just recommend since there's not a second but I would recommend um perhaps you um submit the similar resolution and propose changes to language ahead of the meeting so it can be included in in the agenda packet okay thank you are there other items anybody would like to agendize all right seeing none this evening I will um call for a move for adjournment all right so moved this meeting is adjourned foreign