001[Music] Heat up here. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat [Music] up here. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Yeah. Heat. [Music] Hey, be [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Oh, heat, [Music] heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat up here. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Hey, hey, [Music] hey. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] May have a roll call. President Mr. Nishi, I'm here. Vice President, Mr. Nyola, present. Clerk, Mrs. Yokoyama Buui, present. Board member, Mrs. McCaten, here. Board member Mrs. Mendoza, present. Board member Dr. Rios,
002present. Board member Mrs. U. This evening, we'll be discussing the following items in close session. Public employee discipline, dismiss, dismissal, release, evaluation for matters, government code section 54957. Conference with labor negotiator. Update on negotiations with ABCFT, AB, AFSME, and CSEA government code section 54957.6. We'll be discussing existing litigation. The board will be going into close session pursuant to their government code section 54956.9D1 to discuss one matter, but has determined that the specifically identifying the matter would jeopardize its ability to conclude existing settlement negotiations to its advantage. Los Angeles Superior Court case number 22 NWCV01445. Also, we'll be discussing special education settlement agreement with student ID number 448526, government code section 54956.9. We'll be discussing student discipline deleration on student suspended expulsion case number 2425-10 pursuant to EV education code sections 48900.4, 4 48900 A1 48900
003O and 48900 I. Do we have any public comments on close session items? I see none. Thank you. Can I have a motion to go to close session to discuss this? So moved. Second. All in favor say I. I. Motion passes unanimously. [Music] Heat. Hey, Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] ah ah. Ah. [Music] Hey, hey, [Music] hey. [Music] Hey, hey, [Music] hey. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Hey. Hey. [Music] Hey. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Hey, heat. Hey, heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat.
004Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Ah, hey. [Music] Ah, [Music] Hey, hey, hey. Heat. Hey, heat. Hey, heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Hey, Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Hey, hey, hey. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Hey, heat. Hey, heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. [Music] Heat. Hey, Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] He [Music] me down. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat up [Music] here. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. N. [Music] Heat.
005Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat up [Music] here. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat up here. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] N. Heat. Heat. [Music]
006[Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Hey, Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Hey. Hey, hey, hey. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Hey, hey, hey. Heat. Heat. [Music] Hey. [Music] Hey. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Hey, heat. Hey, heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Hey, heat. Hey, heat.
007[Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat up here. Heat up here. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat [Music] up here. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. N. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Hey, hey, hey. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Oh, heat, heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat up here. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Hey [Music] everybody, [Music] heat me. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat up here. [Music] Down. Down.
008Heat. Hey, Heat. [Music] Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. [Music] Heat. Heat. N. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. [Music] Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. [Music] Hey, hey. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat up here. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Yeah. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat up here. [Applause] [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Hey, Heat. Heat. Heat. Hey. [Music] All right.
009The board is back in open session. Can I have a motion? Tatiana motions. All in favor say I. I. Motion passes 70. Please silence your cell phones. If anyone's in need of any translation services, there's someone in the back to help. Thank you everyone for your patience and uh I know your time is extremely valuable and we spent a lot of time in this in this close session but it was very important issues affecting the lives of our kids and I think it was worth the time. So again I apologize for the delay but uh um and I that's all I can say. Close session report. Uh tonight in close session the board discussed public employee discipline dismissal release evaluation four matters government code section 54957. We discussed uh with labor negotiator updated negotiations with
010ABCFT, AFS, CME and CSEA government code section 54957.6. We discussed existing litigation uh pursuant to government code section 54956.9D1 one matter. Uh we determined that was specially identifying the matter would jeopardize our ability to settle the case to our advantage. And this is LA Superior Court case number 22NWCV01145. Also in close session, we had a lot of things in close session today. Uh we discussed and approved a special ed education settlement agreement in the amount of 22,500 fees in the amount of 7,000 compensatory education the amount of 9,500 and independent education evaluation of 6,000 for student ID number 448526 by a vote of 70. Can I have a motion and second? Based upon the review of our closed session, the board accepts the recommendation for suspended expulsion in student expulsion case number 2425-10 and orders
011the student expelled based upon a violation of education code section 48900 A1, 48900 I, 48900 O, and 48900.1 with enforcement of expulsion suspended as outlined in the stipulated agreement terms. Um Tatiana emotions second. Okay. Um should we huh? We do a vote. We did a vote. Yeah. Just Okay. So, we did a vote. The motion passes 6 to1. Tonight, the pledge of allegiance will be led by students from Cerritos Elementary School and they're accompanied by the principal, Mr. Craig Spratz, and student leadership adviserss Lisa Legaya and Megan Mitchell. It's all yours. I can't. Good evening, President Mr. Nishi, Vice President, Mr. Niola, Clerk, Miss Yokoyama, Honorable Board, Superintendent Dr. Zilo, and Superintendent Cabins, honored guests, and esteemed ABC USD community. My name is Cassandra Lee, and I'm a sixth grade student leader at Cerritos Elementary.
012My fellow student leader representatives will now lead us in the pledge of allegiance, as well as present information relating to how we have been busily participating in events held at our wonderful school. Good evening, honorable board. I am Noah Lim. And I am Lauren Lee. We kindly ask that if able, please rise for the pledge of allegiance. Do you want to see? I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Good evening. I am Luna Charles Lopez. And I am Kayla Kun. One of the most amazing and unique traits of Cerritos Elementary is our diverse school community. During a time when people negatively focus on one another's differences, the Cerritos Tigers choose to
013celebrate what makes these differences special. In every Cerrito's elementary school classroom, students are welcomed by a poster saying welcome in every language spoken in our in our school's population. To display our schoolwide commitment in welcoming diversity, our wonderful teachers create lessons related to all cultures. During this academic year, we have had the opportunity to work on digital journals and art projects relating to the cultural backgrounds of Hispanics, Asian-Americans, and Pacific Islanders. We designed a hoodie and made a paper totem pole in our studies of the Native Americans, we created an H.B.CU podcast for Black History Month. And with the use of artificial intelligence, we used notable we turned notable American trailblazing women into superhero comic book characters. Every year, our school has our annual flavors of Cerritos, which has different food booths and special cultural
014performances to celebrate our cultures and differences. This year, it will be taking place on May 16th. We hope to see you there. When is it again? May 16th. May 16th. Okay. What time? We have an invitation that has all the 5:30 to 7:30. Okay. Good evening. I am Adeline Park. And I am Alexander Tooa. For the last 18 years, Certo's Elementary has hosted our annual pancake breakfast. This event is a fan favorite ser for so many reasons. What better way to kick off the school year than to dig into the delicious plate of breakfast served by your teachers and staff? This event embodies what our school is all about. CS staff, parent volunteers, students, and donors from the local community come together to put on this grand production. The student leadership team also takes place
015by facilitating carnival games. This event is not only a warm welcome to the new school year, it is also a reminder of what makes our school so unique and special. Good evening, honoral board. I'm Madison Tends and I'm Evelyn Lee. Christmas and Thanksgiving brings the excitement of receiving and giving gifts, eating wonderful food, and hanging out with family and friends. Though for student leadership, this is a time to assist members of our community that may not be as fortunate. We do so by asking our fellow students to donate toys and canned food for these special people. We then deliver our contributions to our wonderful Cerritos Fire Station 30 and the Olive Crest shelter. This year, special thanks to Ash Winder for donating over $1,000 in toys. This small but greatly appreciated act shows how we
016can take action and help our school and our community as well. Thank you. Thank you. Hello, I'm Leia Drew. And I'm Kylie Chin. We're here to talk about our amazing family science night which has now become a tradition at our school. This event took place on March 28th. The community spent their night experiencing fun activities with math science, mobile ed, and bubble mania. They learned how to code by code ninja and even interact with live animals. We hosted robotics clubs from Whitney High School and Sero's high school. They held demonstrations of food lab activity and brought telescope to see the universe close up. All of these great learning activities, plus a photo booth and amazing food options, was the perfect formula for a fun night. Good evening. My name is Isaiah Lim. And I'm Shay
017Comar. Did you know that Certo's elementary Tigers have extraordinary talents and skills? There is a reason our school is distinguished. That's right, Isaiah. And that distinguished awesomeness was on full display this year. We had many earth shaking performances in our annual variety show. Literally earth shaking. There was a magnitude 6 earthquake during the show. The Cerrito's Elementary School variety show is one of the most exciting and dynamic events in our school. It provides a platform for students to showcase their unique abilities. This year we showcase 20 acts from Bollywood to band and cultural dances to martial arts, all tied together with a comedic play about ties. This event truly brings all students from TK through sixth grade together to acknowledge and recognize their one-of-a-kind contributions to the CES community. Greetings board members. I'm Noel Vasquez.
018Last week, our annual spring concert took place. It was our opportunity to showcase songs that we learned during our music rotation class. We showed it to our parents and community. It is part of what makes our school exceptional. Good evening. I am Priya Budya and I'm Sniggorapati and we are the editors of the Critos Elementary newsletter. Newsletter committee keeps our parents and peers informed each trimester by creating articles so that they can know all the events that happen at our school. In working on the Sudo's elementary newsletter, we learned how to meet deadlines, hold responsibilities of gathering pertinent information, and writing interesting articles for all of our ages to enjoy. We hope that the Cerritos Elementary newsletter will become a tradition for the student leadership. Thank you. Greetings, esteemed board members. I am Noah Bondok
019and and I'm Allison Lynn. We would like to share our plan for our future students bazaar. This will be an event where students can exchange our school currency scholar dollars to purchase handmade creations from their peers. Our vision is to encourage students to engage in entrepreneurship, business enterprise, and learn the value of working together. Our PTA would like to give would like to gift each one of you our school t-shirts. And we proudly provide you a copy of our school's newsletter and an invitation to our annual flavors of Cerritos taking place on May 16th. We would also like to thank mi principal Mr. Sprat and teachers Miss Legiata and Miss Mitchell for helping us to be here. Thank you. [Applause] Thank you, Sophia. Thank you, Sophia. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you very
020much. Don't leave. Mr. [Applause] We have board comment starting with Miss Suyu. Thank you, President Nishi. Well, Sir Elementary School, come up. Come up, guys. Well, we don't bite. Yeah. Uh, first of all, thank you so much for waiting and it was such a pleasure. You guys were so entertaining and informative and uh so motivating. Now I'm so curious and you just really uh sparked that desire and motivation to visit all the activities, fun and wonderful activities at your school and so many of you guys there. Wow, you guys have a beautiful school. Fantastic. Good job. Good job everyone. [Music] Thank you. Board member Yokoyama Buouie, that was a very nice presentation. Thank you so much for being here. I can sense the excitement. I felt like you guys practice so much because you were
021in unison and there were like nice little greetings to us and thank you so much for the t-shirt. Thank you for uh showing up tonight. Thank you for the families who uh supported you and brought you here and your uh your administrators from the school. Very awesome. Thank you. Thank you. Oh, I would like to add there is a cool little cross word puzzle on the back. This is really fun. Board member Mendoza. Thank you, Mr. President. Yeah, I was looking at the cross word. I'm I don't know some all of them. You might have to help me later on. Okay. It's really cute. Thank you for the gift. I love giving gifts and I like getting gifts even more. But I have I have a sticker for you all. Have you guys heard about
022the stickers? They're pretty cool. You can only get them here and only if you come and present. And it says ABC ABC School District student leader and you can only get them here. They're one of a kind. You can't share them with anybody. You can put them on your water bottles if your parents or your teachers let you. But I was trying to count and I lost count. Can you please tell me how many students I How many students you have so I can count the stickers? 24. Okay. Can you send someone up to come and get the 24 stickers? And then do you have a president? Oh, you can come here. I'll come in. Thank you so much. You guys are awesome. Can I get some scholar dollars? I want to go and buy
023stuff, too. I want some scholar dollars. Thank you so much. Yeah, scholar dollars. I didn't get scholar dollars. I want a scholar dollar. That sounds cool. Okay. 24. I'm going to count. Okay. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you. Yes. Thank you. So, uh, I get to say a couple of words. Um, this is a great school. I've seen the principles since, uh, Leo, way back when. I've known them for a while. This is a a school that has academics and joy. It's not all about just it it is about studying hard, putting your nose to the grind school, getting good grades, but it's also about dancing and singing. And I I saw this spring show that they had from our arts dollars that we received, and it was amazing show. It was uh it was
024priceless. The way in fact, it was so good. I'm going to have my wife go see the the continuation of that show at Elliot, which is going to be sometime soon. Um, it's not just the it is the principal, it is the staff, it's the teachers, and it's a lot of the parents. If you've ever been to the pancake breakfast, it is a lot, and we're talking a lot of parents all flipping pancakes, uh, putting out little cups, the kids are all cleaning the tables. It's it's an amazing coordinated affair. And so, you should all see that. And I've also heard that the the May 16th show is going to be also amazing. Not just for the parents there, which will be great, but also the outside community. So, everybody here in this room, if
025you want some really great food this year, they're going to be even better than they've ever seen. Um, and uh I think it's going to be a great event. And um and is there any parents? I mean, you do you guys drive here by yourself? All right. Can I see any parents in the room to to stand up? Stand up. Stand up. They fill our room. Thank you for bringing up some great kids to be for being involved in our schools, for not just dropping them off and leaving them there, but also uh for spending the extra time, the very little extra time that you have um making us the best citizens, the best scholars, the best uh uh everything that we have in our district. How many other schools got distinguished schools in our
026district this time? This time? Zero. Zero. So, this is the only one. And how many schools in the state of California get this honor? Okay. 0.01%. Very few. I'll have that. So, it's an amazing uh accomplishment. It's something done by staff, parents, and teachers, and everybody. It's a community. It's a community thing. So, please go support them on uh May 16th at 6 o'clock. 5:30. 5:30. 5. Awesome. I might be able to show up. I'm supposed to fly out that day. So, thank you very much. [Applause] But also as part of this, don't leave. Um, I'd like to call in Lauren Yokomizo. Is she here? Uh, yeah. Ah, there she is. She's hiding in the back. Uh, Lauren Yokamizo is from Supervisor Janice Han's office, and she's going to present something, something very special, something
027that's very rare. Yeah. Good evening. Honorable Board and community members, um, Superintendent Zlo, I'm here on behalf of Supervisor Janice Han to join the district here tonight in recognizing Cerritos Elementary for this outstanding accomplishment. And we know that as board uh trustee or president Nishi mentioned that this is not done uh by uh just only only um the the teachers and the administrators. Um also the students and the entire community together accomplished this. Um, congratulations to Sudtos Elementary for winning this this wonderful distinction from the state and the supervisor wanted to present this to the principal for their hard work and dedication. So, congratulations and and thank you. All right. I think uh we have a Should we take I was gonna say at this point um I think because we're gonna recognize Cerritos Elementary.
028I don't know if you have team that you'd want to bring up Mr. Sprat to be in the picture with you, but we can do that as well as the district certificate with Miss Yokamisu and we'll bring the board down and take a picture and then we can do comments. Uh do we have something by the super uh um assemblywoman? Yes, I think we do. Okay. So, uh, let's also bring up Mr. Pack. He might have a few words as well. Everybody wants to give you guys some praise. So, I say keep it coming. Yeah. My name is I'm a senior representative for Assemblyman Sharon Cooks Silva. And, uh, just like to congratulate the principal, the PTA, and all the students for uh, being named the 2025 California Distinguished School. Congratulations. [Applause] Can I make
029a special request? The last picture. Can we bring our kiddos in at least two? Yes. All right. [Music] Come on. He didn't do it by himself. I don't think they Everybody keep looking. Yep. Keep looking. Smiling. Okay. Okay. Come [Music] on. I'm not going. [Applause] Thank you so much. like it was natural. I know we had our own thing, but it's all right. Good job, parents, especially moms. Happy Mother's Day. Okay. Oh, yeah. Better forget. Better not forget that. You can do board comments if you want. Well, um, let's do the next one. Okay. All right. We'll do some more board comments. Uh, Miss Mendoza. Thank you, Mr. President. I know everybody from Certo's Elementary is walking out, but I did want to congratulate them and I invited the parents because this is not an
030easy accomplishment. This is a recognition from the state and it takes the whole school community. It takes the parents, it takes the students, it takes the staff, it takes volunteers. So, I just really wanted to make sure they're in their picture and then when we post it, we can make sure that we acknowledge um all of our school community because it's how many schools did we how many schools in our district, superintendent? 19. I'm sorry. How many schools in our district got Well, for the elementary this year, just one. Just one. So, it's a major accomplishment and I just wanted to make sure that everyone was recognized. So again, I congratulate them and I hope they celebrate for the rest of the school year and into next year and we get it again. Thank you.
031Thank you. All right, we'll have a now recognition of Critos High School dance team. Uh Dr. Zitlo, thank you. This evening we are recognizing our Cerritos High School um dance team for their 20 20 excuse me 2025 California Association of Dance Drill Team Directors State Competition first place in hiphop. And so at this point there is a large team. We're going to have that whole team come up front. Come up on the stage and we want to recognize you. Everybody come on up. Um and are we going to see some demonstration? Oh, you're going to have to squeeze in. We'll come and join you in a minute for pictures. But and then Dr. have Mr. Pack. Yeah. Also, uh, Mr. Joe PAC from Assemblywoman Sharon Cork Silva has a few words to say. Is he
032coming up? Thank you. I I work very hard to make certificates for everybody. I hope I didn't miss anybody. But the congratulations from the assembly woman, Sharon Cook Silva. Thank you. Thank you. How many hours of breakfast? [Applause] No, stay right here. Come, come this way. Stay over here. But like stay in. Where's Shane and Chloe? Wait, don't leave. They're going to kind of congregate. Okay. Okay. Okay. So they Yeah. Do you want me to email it? Okay, perfect. Shane, we want some comments. Okay. All right. First on on board is Miss Mendoza, board member Mendoza. Thank you, Mr. President. Well, we went from Serritos Elementary to Cerritos High School. We're continuing the legacy of Cerritos. I just wanted to congratulate you because I know that it's a lot of hard work. I know that
033it's, you know, you your time management. You're going to go to school and do all your work, but then after school, you're practicing. So, I just want to acknowledge all the hard work that you're doing. Congratulations. We were talking about maybe you showing us some, but no, we don't want you to do that. We don't want you to get hurt because if they get hurt, they can't dance anymore. Exactly. But congratulations. Uh so welld deserved and continue the work. How many of you are seniors? Thank you very much. We have about 12 seniors this year. So a big portion of our team is What a way to leave high school, huh? Right. On a first place win, too. Yeah. Congratulations. Welld deserved. Well deserved. Thank you, [Applause] board member. You Yeah. Thank you. First, I
034want to applaud the teacher. I thought you were one of the students. Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Yeah. But I could imagine how many hours you put in to motivate, mobilize, and you know, train your uh students. But I mean, I also want to applaud the parents for arranging all the rides and the transportation, probably the weekends. And there's a dad who raised his hand, you know, uh traveling, you know, but this is the best thing because this activity outside the classroom, outside your bedroom and working with other students and traveling is holistic, very healthy, very healthy. And we should encourage and do more of this. So keep it up, guys. Even when you guys go off to college and even though we didn't see the demonstration today, uh if you look up
035YouTube Cerrito's dance team, yes, we can see it. So, I'm going to go home and see it tonight. Yes. Thank you. We're going to give you a lot of views and likes. All right, we have board member of your Hatton. First of all, congratulations and I love your enthusiasm. every one of your students has a ton of enthusiasm as they came up on stage. Um, and I'd like to know where I could see them in person. Well, we don't have any other upcoming competitions as our season is done because the school year is finishing up. We just had our school spectacular showcase. That was like two weekends ago, but we will be our videos are online like you said, YouTube, but I can email you once we have our first competition date for next season.
036Okay. Thank you so much. [Applause] Okay. So, uh I've seen them perform the two years ago. It was amazing. It was I mean really this is how we get paid as board members. We get to see these kids shine and do the best that they can be. State and and I was thinking two years ago I was saying you should go to CSBA and and perform among the thousands of people there. I'm sure each one of you guys are going to be we should actually get their autograph right now. State is like this. But even though you guys worked really really hard had a lot of those hard hard hours. I think do as uh board member you said uh the parents in this room who did the driving the extra effort the Uber driving
037the the food the complaints the the fundraising. Yes. A lot of fundraising. So, um, all of you number one students, turn around here, look to your parents and, uh, do them the honor of a bow. Can we see that? Okay, I got some of them do it. Anyway, thank you parents. Uh, it it's it's about everything. It's it's a great coach. It's great effort by everyone. So, thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. All right. [Applause] Okay. Now we have a recognition for the Critos High School health occupation students of America. Uh Trianna Marberry, interim supervisor uh college and career tech or and Edwin Vasquez. Good evening, board president Nishi, Vice President Nyola, clerk Yokoyama Buouie, member Mchatten, board member Mendoza, board member Rios, board member Yu, Superintendent Dr. Zitlo,
038members of the cabinet, and members of the community. Thank you. I'm excited to be here this evening alongside my colleague Edwin Vasquez, CTE coordinator. we have the awesome opportunity to highlight our host and students from Crito's High School with a great accomplishment. Um, so I'll now pass it over to Edwin to share more details with you. Hello board members, community, parents, students. It is my pleasure to recognize two outstanding students who earned first place at the Health Occupation Students of America State Leadership Conference. This is the premier competition for high school students pursuing careers in healthcare and in medicine. HOSA is a national organization that supports students interested in the health sciences through real world learning and leadership opportunities. It is a part of a career and technical student organization CTSO which are critical to
039CTE pathways. CTSOs give students hands-on experience that connects classroom learning to real world careers helping them build critical thinking, communication, and technical skills. Please join me in celebrating Andrew Adachi who placed first place in World Health and Disparities in Healthcare. And help me congratulate Evan Patel who placed first place in nutrition. Their success is a reflection of their hard work and the strength of our ABCTE programs. Please join me in congratulating these exceptional students. I'd like to call Joe PAC from Assemblywoman Corks Silva's office. I just want to congratulate you and pass out this beautiful [Applause] certificate. Congratulations. Come around. Morning. Morning. [Applause] Now we have some board comments. Thank you, board member Mendoza. I'm going first today. I want to be the first one. Congratulations. Um, first of all, you guys look sharp. You
040guys look like you're ready for the world. Okay. And I was just listening to you and I want to thank your the staff because I know they helped you, you know, learn all the things that you need to learn. I don't really know what that involves, but it sounds like really hard work, but it sounds like it's work that's going to help you and be an advantage to your career. What grade are you guys in? We're both juniors. So, you have one more year, but look at how far you are already. Oh my goodness. Nutrition. And the other one was world health disparities. Wow. Congratulations. I I I appreciate all the work that you guys are doing in Cerritos. It just looks like Cerritos. Cerritos. This is a night tonight. I know. Congratulations. Thank you,
041Mr. President. Thank you, board member Yokoyamui. Congratulations. Uh, Cerritos ABC district is is very exceptional and you two are examples of that. Um, the CTA pathways is so important to our young students and it really gives you a breath of what potentially you'll deal with in the professional careers and um, you two already look ready for the workforce. Um, I can't wait to hear about the exceptional things you will do um in your last year of high school. But for now, enjoy this time. Congratulations. Continue to do well um in everything you do. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, board member. You congratulations. And of course, I'm sure your parents were behind you guys supporting you all the way. And you have a whole future ahead of you. But I hope that you guys can
042also address some of our health concerns and issues in America for our children as well as um you know obesity nutrition you want in the nutrition. So really looking forward to your accomplishments and your future you know discover something that will help humanity incorporate AI and you know so forth. You guys have a bright mind so whole future ahead of you. Keep up the good work. Thank you. God bless you. Thank you. All right. Really quick, uh disparities in world health. If you could explain that in like two sentences. Um so in healthcare, there's a lot of like racial and ethnic inequalities. So what this did is it basically covered all of the different aspects of that like the disadvantaged communities and the socioeconomic conditions of different places around the world. And what I tested
043on was I basically just it tested my knowledge on that and helped me to kind of realize the gaps in healthcare around the world and enhance my learning because of that. Thank you. You are very motivating for for us for the job that we do here. I mean it's it's about dance, it's about flags, it's about health and um knowing about learning about the disparities in the world. I know that you guys are going to make a big difference in this world. You're gonna uh you're going to fix the health problems because you know about those health problems. It's not just a far away place and it starts as juniors in high schools or as juniors in elementary school or juniors in college. So, um you'll continue on in your great career and I expect
044to see a lot more from you. Thank you very much. Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you. you. Thank you. All right. Uh, it's not done yet. We have a recognition for GAR High School Winter Guard and I'll call on Dr. Zitlo. Thank you. Um this evening we want to recognize the Gar High School Wintergard team for the WGSC championship finals first place that they took. So we're going to have our winter guard team come in so we can honor them this evening. Guard Joe. Okay, Mr. Joe PAC from Assemblywoman uh Cork Silva's office would like to also present some certificates. On behalf of the assembly, Murangok Silva, I'd like to present the California certificate. Uh, it's a sports award and presented to WGAC Championship Finals. And uh on behalf of the 67 Assembly District, I commend
045you for your commitment in placing first place at the WGASC Championship. Congratulations on your successful journey and good luck on your future endeavor. Sharon Cooks Silva, Assembly Member, 67 Assembly District. [Applause] Step Okay, bye. [Applause] All right. Thank you. [Applause] I am not surprised. First board comment will be from Miss Leticia Mendoza. Thank you, Mr. President. I I want to congratulate you and I I know the hard work that goes into Winter Guard because my daughter was in Winter Guard many many years ago and I remember um when they first started I used to complain and I was like oh my god you're coming home so late like what are you doing and after they won championship I'm like never mind you can stay as long as you want Mr. Looney can keep them as
046long as you want. Um but I do know the work that goes into into being champs and and the work that you do every every day. Um, just like I said with the Cerrito's uh, dance team, you guys, you know, do your schoolwork, but then after school you have practice, right? And practice on the weekends and Mr. President was saying about fundraising and your parents. So, I I truly appreciate it. I congratulate you. Um, and and I was asking, how can I get one of those varsity jackets? I have the ASB uh jersey. Who's here from Gar? Where's your principal? Right there. I'm asking for one. I want a jacket like that. Class of 1990, please. But uh all kidding aside, you guys are awesome. Congratulations. Thank you, board member. You Thank you, President Nishi.
047Congratulations. Uh first of all, where's the teacher? Coach. Coach. Not coach. Oh, okay. Okay. Yeah. But I'm sure so much hard work to your coach as well as I want to applaud the parents. Yes. Yeah. Because without the parents support it's almost impossible all the rides, fundraiser and everything. So really, I mean, we are so blessed to have um our district really blessed to have parents who are supportive and the district continues to I hope the our district will continue to attract families who are supportive. Yeah. So my second daughter graduated from GAR. I remember the calculus retreat and I remember uh buying pizza for her chemistry after school, you know, session. The teachers are really dedicated. So when you guys go home, you guys have to study for your finals, right? Okay. So yeah,
048just as important. So keep up. I'm looking forward to seeing one of your presentation. Thank you. So we hear about the number one band Gar at Gar High School and they're very very popular and and a very strong leader. Mr. Looney, but flags. Yes, that is part of the fun of it. And rifles and all the other uh parts that are not it's it's music and it's the visuals and and all that hard work that the parents just like uh board member you said. We don't pay a lot in stipens. I know that maybe that uh teacher is working hard right now, but uh um thank you for working so hard. Thank you for uh making giving us some joy and uh providing us uh things to celebrate. So I very much appreciate it. Oh,
049and can we watch them on YouTube? Do you guys have a YouTube channel that you need to to tell the world? We don't have a YouTube channel, but there's photographers and like videographers that post those on YouTube. Okay. Mostly um Dr. Jones, you can videos were on there. Dr. Jones. Okay. Seems like a movie, but I don't know. All right. Thank you very much. Very much appreciated. Thank you, parents. Okay. This one next. All right. Spotlight. Thank you very much. Thank you. Go and study hard. We have spotlight on teaching and learning. Uh we'll have now have a presentation for the tenure teachers. Mr. Dr. Frasier. Thank you, Mr. President, steam board members, uh Dr. Zitlo, our cabinet, our community members. Uh what a great night to be able to celebrate so many of our
050schools and our kids and our and our teachers and our staff. Um so I'm excited today. Uh, and I'm really thankful to the opportunity to recognize and celebrate our teachers and nurses who have achieved tenure in our school district. In ABC, we have a very high standard when hiring and retaining teachers and nurses. And these teachers being introduced tonight represent the best and brightest in the field. This year, we have 34 teachers and one nurse who have achieved tenure, several who are here with us tonight, and we will celebrate their achievement. To our teachers and nurses receiving this recognition, congratulations and welcome to the ABC team. We are all very proud of you and each one of you will continue to play a vital role in preparing, guiding, and mentoring our students for many years
051to come. We applaud your service and dedication to our students, district, and community. All of us here understand the impact that a great teacher nurse can have on our child's school experience. Be the one to make the difference today and for your entire career. We are all counting on you. Before we recognize our teachers and nurse tonight, uh we we would want to take a moment to recognize any colleagues or site administrators who may be here to celebrate with our honores. If you are here tonight uh to celebrate with us, if you could please stand and be recognized. Additionally, we want to take a moment to recognize any friends or family here tonight with our honores. We understand the key roles that friends and family play in helping our teachers and nurses be the best
052they can be each and every day for our students. So, if you're here, friends and family, uh please uh stand and be [Applause] recognized, the youngest one in the group. And now to our honores. Um, as I call your name, if you could please come forward uh to the podium and receive your certificate and then move to the platform so we can take a photo. Uh, please join me in recognizing these outstanding teachers. Stacy Chen from Alohal [Applause] Elementary. honor [Applause] from Carver Elementary School. Marvin [Music] [Applause] Rahon from Ferguson Elementary School. Flores [Applause] from Hawaiian Elementary School, Lzette Castillo. [Applause] Also from Hawaiian Elementary School, Eduardo Fernandez [Applause] from Huarez Elementary School, Monica [Applause] Castro. Additionally, from Warez Elementary School, Nicholas Casada. [Applause] from Willow ES Elementary School. Esther Choy [Applause] from Willow Elementary
053School. Georgetta Inescore [Applause] from Willow Elementary School. Lilia Esnara. [Applause] There we go. Yeah, you guys can go up just one. And lastly, from Willow Elementary School, Anthony Kintiro. reading this thing or just she's just present from Fetty Middle School. Janine Valencia Velva from Artisia High School. Elizabeth Duska from Artisia High School. Hugo Imana from Cerritos High School. Christopher Baller [Applause] and also from Cerritos High School, Paul Kim. Ladies and gentlemen, one round of applause for our tenure teachers and ABC Unified School District. Now the next step. Congratulations. Congratulations. [Applause] [Music] Teachers, don't leave. Don't leave. We got some comments for you. Don't leave. I think we have some choice words, right? I'll call on do uh board member Mendoza. Thank you. I say Don because I want to talk first. Um I I don't
054know if you know this, but I'm I'm a kindergarten teacher and I've been doing it for 27 years. And you have on to my right and to my left, you have um educators um that have been teachers and principles. And I just want to let you know how much I appreciate the work that you do because I do the same work. And I know you're going to go home late and you're going to think about your kids tonight, right? It it it's a neverending job. bit selfless sometimes, but I do appreciate it and I think this is a perfect day to recognize you because it's teacher appreciation week. Yeah. So, I think it's awesome. I I want to say thank you. I want to say thank you to your families because if your families are
055like my families, it's like, "Oh, I got to make baggies for my kids tomorrow." I put them on an assembly line and everybody So, if I'm a teacher, my whole family's a teacher. So, thank you to your families for staying up and doing the work. And I just I just truly appreciate I I I'm thankful that you're here with ABC Unified and I hope that you continue and I want you to look amongst yourselves because you guys are the future of our teachers. Some of you are going to end up being instructional interventionists, you're going to be APS, you're going to be principles and I do hope that you continually stay with our ABC family. So much gracias. Thank you again. Board member Mchatton. Um, I'd just like to say congratulations on getting tenure. You're
056just starting your career. Um, it's a wonderful career. I've been in it for 50 years. Um, I just can't say enough about it. The kids are wonderful. You're going to have so many rewards from the career that you've that you've chosen. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Rios. Thank you. I'll try to keep it um brief as well. Um, diversity. It's always really exciting to see the great diversity in um in our teachers, especially the ones that are joining tenure. We know the importance of students being able to be reflected in the people that are in their schools. So, I'm really happy to see that and congratulations. And I want to pose a challenge. Um I heard a lot of schools um a lot of teachers mention from schools in my particular area. I heard Willow,
057I heard Aloha, I heard Artisia. You know, a lot of times we have a lot of schools come through our district for a lot of different distinctions, and it always saddens me that some of the schools in the Lakewood area aren't always represented. So, I challenge you to to be that force that's going to get us those distinction in those areas that are so highly and desperately in need of improved outcomes. So, welcome to the team and hopefully challenge accepted. Thank you, board member. you real quick. Welcome and congratulations and just wanted to share how teaching I education is not a corporate world. So you guys have chosen a noble career because you are going to impact the lives of many students. You're going to have up and down you know um deal with a
058lot of people but u it is a noble career and high calling. So I hope that you guys are encouraged because you have you heard the board they really appreciate we all appreciate you. So keep up the good work. Thank you very much. So my wife was a teacher and I felt like I had to do all the cutings and all the other uh crazy things. We go on a walk and we have to to uh pick up 20 uh uh pine cones for whatever reason. Um you are supported. You have a room here full of the support that you have. You have earned the ability to be here because we want you. We need you. I shook every one of your hands because you each as an individual are a part of our success
059here. Just not only as a board, but as a community, as a nation. So, thank you. You'll continue on. It will be hard. You're going to need all that support out in that room. Don't forget you can call on us at any time for that support. We are there for you. Thank you. And me being the president, I'm the last word on that. Thank you very much. Thank you. [Applause] Do this one. All right. We would like to elect two people there. Thank you. Uh item number 10, committee elections and appointments. At this time, I will appoint a newly appointed board member, Miss Jeannie Mchatton, uh trustee area 5 as liazison to the strategic planning board advisory committee. Uh there's no training in this. We just drop you into the the fire right away. So,
060you know, no uh what do I call those things? Training wheels. This is it. So board members, a background should be helpful in this work and we are uh glad for another ore in the water. So thank you. Thank you. We're going to hear uh I know you think we have just lots of awards all the times, but our next one is the most important. It's our student board members. We're going to hear from Tracy High School, Mr. David Hong, and Espanza Ramirez. [Applause] Uh good evening uh President Nishi, Vice President Nyola, clerk Yokoyamai, board members uh Miss Mcaten, Miss Mendoza, Dr. Rios, and Miss Yu, Superintendent Dr. Zilo, and members of the uh cabinet and school community. Uh as we get closer to the end of the year, we want to share the exciting
061news that have taken place. Tracy High School seniors were all invited to attend a field trip to the University of California, Irvine, where they toured the campus and enjoyed lunch with UCI students. The field trip was well attended and enjoyed by all. Closer to home, seniors attended senior day at Cerritos College. All right. Uh in partnership with Sir College, Tracy hosted four different dual enrollment classes this year. We had over 30 students received college credits and eight students have received 18 college credits. Way to go scholars. [Applause] Uh, in February, we've hosted a tacos night with the principal to give current and new students and parents the opportunity to meet with staff and administration, share a meal, and talk about ways families could be involved with the school community. Uh, in February, we hosted Oh,
062sorry, sorry. Um, all students have met with their counselors each quarter to work on their individual graduation plans. This supports helped uh has helped students stay on track and allowed us to engage students with representatives at the community college. Most students have completed their FA applications as well as community college applications. Uh students and teachers have put in a lot of effort this year to ensure that attendance is a focus. In our after school attendance recovery, students have made up over 1,000 hours of attendance to keep them on track for graduation. We appreciate the teachers who make this opportunity possible. Prom took place April 11th at the Nosbury Farm Hotel. 80 students, including including guests, enjoyed an evening and dining and dancing. Career Day was a hit with classroom speakers, and lunchtime tabletop displays. Students
063were able to ask questions and participated in lunchtime activities with companies, government agencies, and post-secondary schools. All seniors participated in a bite of reality in partnership with school's first credit union. Students were given a family and a budget and had to make real life choices to maximize their goals. Students and staff had a great time with this hands-on learning experience. We kicked off the baseball season with a spirit day that included baseball jerseys and hot dogs. Some more upcoming events that we have are senior awards night Wednesday, May 14th. We will be hosting a dinner and a ceremony to celebrate the award winners and their families. Grad Bash May 22nd. Our seniors have the opportunity to attend Grad Bash at Universal Studios to celebrate those last few days of high school. We look forward to
064finishing the year strong. Thank you. Uh we have our perennial number one docu board member Mendoza. Thank you, Mr. President. I want to hear more about the tacos with the principal. Were they carneasada? What were they? Cuz I want to be invited to the next one. Uh we had an assortment of meats. We had a carneada and chicken. And we also had pizza. Oh, we also did have pizza. Yes. Oh, pizza. You had pizza. Okay. I want to be invited to that one next time if if it's possible cuz I love tacos. Okay. And then I had a question about along with tacos, I love knottberry farm. Did Snoopy show up at your prom? Unfortunately, he did not. But we all had a good time at the hotel enjoying music and dancing and just fun
065with all of our staff and friends. That sounds That sounds like it was a lot of fun. Even though he wasn't there. I'm sure it was I'm sure it was fun. And then, do you have a date for your graduation already? You do? May 29th. May 29th. At what time? 5 to 7. 5 to 7:00 p.m. At Tracy High School. Tracy High School. Okay. I definitely want to be there and I think it's going to fit hopefully into my schedule and I just I just I I went to your open house and I just can't tell you how much I love visiting Tracy. I think it's a it's a it's a facility. It's a school in our district that doesn't get enough recognition and I think staff and you guys' students are doing an amazing
066job and I'm so excited that you guys get to do it's like a high school. There's nothing different. You guys do the same things. Yeah. We got prom, you get to go to the to the Critos College. It's just an option. And I'm glad to hear that you guys are succeeding, that you guys are having a great time, and most importantly, you're having tacos. I'm coming for the tacos. Thank you for the report. Thank you, Board Clerk Yokoyama Buouie. Thank you for your presentation. Thank you for sharing about all the fun things that are going on at Tracy High School. I echo board member board member Mendoza's words. There are a lot of fun activities. My niece attends Tracy and my parents and family are always inviting me to fun activities there. I I haven't
067been able to make them because of my schedule, but I do plan to be at the graduation. My niece is graduating. So, I'm very proud of everyone that's done so well and is is encouraging to have a great school community there. So, thank you. Thank you. Are either of you graduating? Yes, both of us. Congratulations to both of you. Thank you. Board member, you. Okay, we're not done yet. You're not dismissed. You're still board members. First of all, I just I just want to say that you guys must be really happy at Tracy because you guys both look very happy. Very. Yes. So, you guys are really happy with all your teachers and you would encourage people to come to your school. Of course. Yes. A lot of people um talk down on Tracy most
068of the time, but I think that's the best school I've ever attended. The teachers make it such a great learning environment. The staff is amazing. It's it's just great overall. Yes. Uh there really is a great sense of community there and I don't think you can really get that from a lot of other schools. So, it's just kind of like a change, but it's good. It's a good change. Yeah. Thank you. Amazing. Thank you for sharing that. No problem. Everybody wants to get in the action. Uh, Vice President, Mr. Nyola. Uh, thank you, President Nishi, and thank you guys for your presentation. You know, Tracy is a special place, so I appreciate you guys coming out and sharing that with us. Um, as seniors and graduating uh, seniors, what are some of the things you
069would like to see change for the future students of Tracy? Or what are some of your ideas for things we can improve as a board? Good question. Um, honestly, there's not much at Tracy specifically. Um, the teachers, they make it a good learning environment, like I said, and they really help us get through everything despite attendance or whatever we have going on. They always make us comfortable to learn more, to participate more, and it just I think it's perfect the way it is. Thank you. I agree. So you can always give us your ideas later on if you like. Not a problem. Yeah, I think Tracy is small but powerful. It's different. It's not the same cookie cutter. I mean, not saying that other schools are cookie cutter, but saying that um it's individualized. And
070so some students thrive in that environment. Some students um they can go anywhere else. They just they choose Tracy. That's that's that's the thing. And there's an extra little layer there because despite all the challenges that are out there in the world, you're choosing to excel in a great school and uh meet the future head on. And so I applaud you for that. I know you're going to do great and um go ahead and give us your ideas later on. Thank you. Thank you. [Applause] We're moving some things around here um because we have some students here and we don't want them too late. They do have to study. Uh we're going to have a spotlight on teaching and learning, a presentation on the Asian-American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander presentation by Dr. Carol Lcastro.
071Good evening. Thank you, President Nishi, members of the board, Superintendent Dr. Zero, and members of the ABC community. I'm here to present on behalf of our Department of Special Programs. Dr. Huck could not be with us this evening. Um, but I wanted to make sure we took time to celebrate our Asian-American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander during this important heritage month. So as our presentation is uh coming down on the screen, I'd like to call up our students who will be presenting this evening after I provide a brief introduction. And that uh the students in order that they will be speaking are Yuun Xi Yi. David Hong from Tracy High School, you get to come back up again. Angela Wang from Whitney High School. Gabriel Yachono, if I said that correctly. I apologize if I
072[Applause] didn't. Okay. All right. Well, thank you students for being here this evening. And I know it's a little bit longer, so I will be quick and brief in my opening remarks. So, this um month with a NHPI, the first question we ask ourselves, what comes to mind or who comes to mind? And it's really important to recognize that there um this community is very diverse. It represents over 50 distinct ethnic groups with more than a 100 languages and a wide range of cultural, historical and personal narratives. I did a little data digging as per requested by the board. And just to give you an overview of some of the representation in our own district, we have a variety of different um ethnicities of Asian population here in uh ABC. But the top three include
07327% Asian Indian, 25% uh Chinese of that population, and 19% Korean. And then for our Pacific Islander population, 43% of the Pacific Islander population are Samoan. we have 25% Guam Guamian and then 25% other Pacific Islanders. So you can see there's a big variety even within that definition. As you can tell uh typically we have called this month AAPI but this month we are calling it AAHPI and that is to reflect the inclusion of our Native Hawaiians. It's it's to make sure that we are being uh inclusive of all the communities and that we're not looking any specific groups that are represented in our Asian, Pacific Islander, and Native Hawaiian group. You can see here the percentages of our total Asian and Pacific Islander group, but I already gave you a breakdown of within those
074groups, the diversity that you see from those groups. And then this year the theme for our um AA NHPI is legacy of leadership and resilient which is this year's national theme from the AsianPacific American Council. Rather than just offering you statistics or you hearing from me or generalizations about this month, I think it's important we talk about the lived experiences of our students and let them speak for themselves. Um the first pres presentation that you see on the slide that will be featured not only on our website but in our hallway as um visitors come in was from Ayana who could not be with us this evening from Artisia High School. So you could see the information she provided. She leads the Filipino club and shared about her family's journey, how they have taught her
075the value of resilience and joy in everyday life. And then our first speaker today is Amy Yei from who is the ASB class president at Cerritos High School and she will be speaking on her experiences. Amy, thank you. My name is Eusen Amy Go from CTO High School and I am honored and excited to be here to share my experience with all of you. So, as a young person's generation, it's really easy to think that we live in a world defined by division. Can politics, culture, social issues, and so much more. It's like our everyday life. We go on our phone, we scroll through our social media, and we see examples of hate and discrimination. But as someone that was growing up with two different cultures, I've realized that why are we always trying to
076compare two different cultures? And why don't we actually appreciate and celebrate what each one brings to the table? I was raised in Tind of China and I moved to United States. I was privileged to be able to experience both the Chinese education system and the American education system and this opportunity gave me a really unique experience and perspective into how we adapt into new environment. Sometimes I felt like I was quote unquote different because my background. Maybe it was the way I act or just, you know, I wasn't the same as everyone else. And sometimes I felt like I was out of place when people were talking about their favorite childhood show movies cuz we weren't from the same place. But as I've gotten older, I realized that there's nothing wrong with being different. And
077also, I had my own show and my own movie that grew up with me and that actually shaped a part of who I am today. So, we're not strong or weak because our divide, but we're stronger because we're unique. So, today I am honored and I felt like both places feel like home, right? So from the busy streets from Tinda to the kind of laid-back atmosphere from of Cerritos, I learned to embrace my culture identity as a source of strength. It's this really unique perspective that gives me the resilient to be able to be proud of who I am and to be resilient and also as well as celebrating and encouraging other people to make sure they also celebrate their background and culture. So, as we celebrate this AA and HPI month, we must be
078reminded that we can be held back by adversity and can't be defined by discrimination. We must stand up for oursel, stand up for those who look like us, and stand up for those who don't look like us. I believe that we're different, but we're actually stronger together, and that we rise above our challenges is what's most important. Thank you. [Applause] Thank you, Eugene. And now, David Hong, who's our student representative from Tracy High School, is going to speak about his Korean roots and the importance of keeping tradition alive across generations. Hi. Uh, good evening everyone. Uh, it's an honor to be uh, speaking here today for uh, you know, AA and HPI. Um, so I just want to kind of talk about myself for a little bit. Um, I am uh David obviously and um
079I'm a first generation uh immigrant and um really my parents are really the biggest part of my success I think. Um and you know as a Korean I try and accept culture into everything I do and my parents have really rooted that properly into me. Um so my parents they're they really are the reason why I understand what the theme of a NHPI is this month and you know they came to this country facing challenges I can really only imagine um you know they didn't have it easy as um you know immigrants here and um you know they uh had to work everything from the bottom and I cannot imagine it I haven't experienced that because I've been so lucky to have um been born into a family that is so caring and um you
080know honoring to our culture and they they've really carried their expectations and they try and carry it from uh where they came from which is Korea and um whether it was working long hours or adapting to a new language it was uh they were just trying to simply fit in to tr to stay true to who they were and um they led my family our family uh day by day with quiet strength. Um so my parents may not have any titles or awards and um but I feel the definition but I feel they are the definition of leadership. They showed me that true leaders serve, sacrifice and persevere not for attention but for the people they love and the future they believe in. And um the bamboo feature for this year's theme is the perfect
081symbol I think. Um it's strong, flexible, and rooted just like uh so many A and HPI families. And um yes, the bamboo ceiling is real. Um my dad, he's been working in HVAC for a long time and he's never really been at a high position, but now he has started his own business and he's kind of getting up there. So, um congratulations to my dad. He's not here, but congratulations to my dad. [Applause] And uh my mom, she's also trying to uh be a professor. She's trying to teach Korean at a university. So, she's working towards that and she's also learning uh she's also going to learn some English at the adult school here in ABC. Uh so, congratulations to her. She's not here either, but congratulations. Um so, yeah, they've really pushed through their
082barriers and um you know, even without recognition, they still keep going and you know, they don't they haven't given up, especially on me. They have not given up on me. um like you know when I moved to Tracy that was kind of like a pretty hard time of my life but they always supported me and I'm glad they were there. So and also I would like to honor some trailblazers that I read in the the thing. Okay. Um this month I would like to honor trailblazers like Lieutenant Susan and Cuddy and Secretary Norman Metta. People who broke through boundaries so we could dream bigger. But I also honor people like my parents who may not be in history books but who live out this legacy every day. Thank you. [Applause] Thank you. And now Angela
083Wang from Whitney High School highlighting how cultural storytelling connects her to Taiwan and instills pride in her heritage. [Applause] Good evening, honorable board members. As Miss Castro has said, I'm Angela Hang and I stand before you today not as a student of Whitney High School, but a proud member of the Taiwanese American community here in Cerritos. Being Taiwanese American means that I am a mix of both worlds. I speak three languages: English, Mandarin, and Taiwanese. And I use them all interchangeably in my life. At home, I speak to my grandparents and my parents in primarily Taiwanese, but we also converse in Mandarin. At school, I'll talk to my friends and teachers in English, but I'll also mix in some Mandarin with those who understand it if I feel that it conveys my meaning better. Aspects
084of my culture, such as Chinese folk dance, are still a prominent part of my life, even though I'm in a predominantly English country. However, identifying as Taiwanese does come with its challenges. Throughout my years of schooling, I've been asked things like, "Taiwan is just another another part of China, isn't it?" Or, "What even is the difference anyways?" And to this, I say it's very complicated. Taiwan and China share many similarities and traditions, especially since many people in both countries are ethnically Honchinese. Despite this, I firmly believe that Taiwan has its own unique culture, especially since it has been allowed to develop separately from China on its own island. But that's enough about me. Let's move on to why we're really here today. To honor AAHPI culture. Asian-American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander culture in itself
085is a legacy of leadership and resilience. Throughout history, imperial imperialism from European countries has ravaged overseas countries, overthrowing their governments and establishing colonies where indigenous peoples are exploited for resources. Often times the culture of the imperialist country is imposed on the colony. Despite this oppression, indigenous culture persisted, allowing us to see the beauty of it today. In the present, a NHPI culture is the target of much racism and many hate crimes. And yet, they still don't let others tell them how to live their lives. They stand together. They stand strong. And they defend each other. And if that doesn't show leadership and resilience, then I don't know what does. In the United States, immigration has contributed to the giant melting pot of ethnicities and cultures. Here we have many first generation immigrants, my parents among
086them. The journey to this country is not easy. Uprooting your life at home and traveling to a completely new country is both physically, mentally, and emotionally taxing. My parental grandparents and my father and his siblings all had to sell many of their belongings in order to move to the United States. This was definitely not an easy feat. And despite this, they persevered. Although they didn't understand English at first, they still went about their lives. They got jobs, they were educated, they went to high school, and they lived successfully. Our community here in Critos has many AAHPI members, many of whom are immigrants or descendants of immigrants. Despite the hardship of moving to a new country, they persevered and they managed to establish a successful life in order to nurture the dreams of their children and
087their grandchildren and so on. They have led their families here to this country in search of a better life. As leaders and pioneers of their own family lines, it is through their hard work that their legacy is clear. A legacy of leadership and resilience. Thank [Applause] you. Thank you, Angela. Up next is Gabrielle from Whitney High School, reminding us how Southeast Asian stories deserve visibility within the broader AAPI umbrella. Good evening, honorable board and guests. I'm so honored to be here today to share about my Southeast Asian culture. I'm going to start off my speech with a rhetorical question. What does it mean to turn a club into a community? At its core, it means starting with love for your people, your culture, your story, and building something that makes that love visible. But before
088I ever built a club, I was raised by a community. Newly married, my parents immigrated from Surak Carta, Indonesia with little belongings and so much at stake, but dreams they were determined to pursue. My dad found work at a local bank while my mom was studying at a health sciences university. Both working long hours while building a life from the ground up. Back then, I didn't have the words, but now I know it was resilience. Not the loud, showy kind, but the quiet kind. The kind that stays up late to memorize anatomy terms and still make time in the morning to pack lunch for you. That's the legacy I come from. And that's the legacy I carry with me as president of my school's Southeast Asian Student Association. When I first joined, CISA had about
08930 members. We were small but full of heart. Today, we're a thriving community of over 150 members. And I think back to how packed our first general meeting was this year, and honestly, not firecoded approved. My voice was from trying to be heard over the excitement. But I wasn't frustrated. Rather, I was filled with gratitude. These students who often felt unseen were now taking up space together. Over the years, we've built penpal programs connecting students in the US and Indonesia, plant joint events with neighboring schools, and brought in Southeast Asian professionals in the media to share their journeys. Our goal has always been to make students feel seen as a collective story worth celebrating. This didn't happen by accident. It took intentionality, care, and a cabinet of students, many also children of immigrants, who knew
090that representation isn't a buzzword, but rather a lifeline. As our club grew, I realized something else, though. We weren't the only ones doing this work, just the only ones doing it alone. Across Southern California, Southeast Asian clubs were springing up, each trying to carve out space in their own world, in their own schools. And I wondered what would happen if we stopped working in isolation and started working together. That's why I, as well as the Srios High School Southeast Asian president, she we both founded Secal, the Southeast Asian chapter of Southern California clubs. Since then, we have connected over 10 high schools and more than 200 students united in the mission of empowering Southeast Asian youth. We've highlighted small Southeast Asian owned businesses, raised funds for humanitarian organizations, and hosted leadership events. For many students,
091Secal became this lifeline for them, a space where they could see themselves reflected, supported, and celebrated across schools and cities. This year's ANN PHI heritage month theme, a legacy of leadership and resilience, isn't just a reflection of history, but also a blueprint for our future. It reminds me of leaders like Lieutenant Sunn and Cuddi and Norman Meta and Dellup Singh Sun who trailblazers who weren't just first, but made sure that they weren't the last. Their stories and the stories of our parents, our aunties, our uncles, our grandparents remind us that leadership isn't about just being in charge, but rather about creating space for others to rise with you. It's about turning resilience into action, pride into purpose, a club into a community and a community into a movement. As we honor our heritage, let's keep
092planting seeds of connection, and let's be the light leaders who bend but never break. May we keep growing rooted in strength, resilience, and pride. Thank you. [Applause] Thank you to these wonderful students. As you can see, celebrating A&HPI Heritage Month is not just about this single day or this uh single event. It's about affirming the identities of thousands of students that they represent and ensuring that their cultures are honored, taught, and celebrated year round. When students see themselves reflected in the curriculum, in leadership roles, and in district celebrations like this, they thrive. We thank you for your continued support of equity, representation, and student voice in ABC. Okay. Oh, it's uh board member Buoie first. Thank you so much for your presentations. Um, I get so emotional when I hear the students speak because your
093words are so powerful to us up here. Uh, you're truly a great representation of our district and our school. Um, I I know there are so many stories that we would love to hear and we only get a very small sample. So, thank you for coming here. Thank you for preparing. Um, Mr. My friend, oh yes, Mr. Hong with two presentations. Thank you. Um there there were words I I heard or or themes I heard and and they're they're again very um I identify with them so much. Knowing yourself um Miss G, I'm so sorry. Um knowing yourself and knowing your culture makes you a stronger person, but also we recognize others and we appreciate others. Thank you for for that. Sharing um your stories about your families, Mr. Hong, thank you for that. Um
094I I heard I heard um stories of resilience from Miss Hang and hearing about your family story and and sharing that with us. Thank you. And and representation from from Missahono Chono. Thank you. Um representation is not a buzz word, it's a lifeline. So important for our community. Um we're so different from others. We don't look like everyone else but at the same time we find our commonalities and we find the the things we can identify with others with and it is lifeline sometimes. So um thank you so much for that. Greatly appreciate you. Happy A&HPI month to you all. Thank you board member Mendoza. She beat me. It's okay. I can't always be first. It's okay. I I was just in awe of listening to all of your stories. Um and and Angela, I
095I took a sentence from yours and I think it it kind of sums up every everything. In order to fully respect each other's culture, we must first learn about it. So, thank you for sharing with us. Um I think um you're the voice of our students. I love hearing from you guys because sometimes if this was a presentation from staff, I wouldn't be able to get all of these your your wonderful experiences. And one thing I was listening from all of you is the gratitude and respect you have for your parents. Um I think that story is a story that resonates with everyone because our parents make lots of sacrifices for us and you guys are truly um respectful of them and I think you you honor them um with the work that you're doing.
096So I I'm so proud of you and thank you for being here and sharing with us today. [Applause] Thank you board member U. Thank you, President Nishi. Um, Amy, David, and Angela Gabrielle, thank you so much. Uh, I'm a first generation immigrant as well from Korea. I came when I was 80 years old, 1974. Korea was not what it was today. It was very poor, just getting out of uh, you know, rebuilding the country after the Korean War. And, uh, it was pretty difficult. And uh California became a powerhouse because people like us, my parents took on jobs that other people didn't want and they started from the bottom and they were resilient, sacrificial. And I heard from all of you guys how how much your parents sacrificed, which is very true. My mom, she
097passed away a few years ago and uh she she didn't speak English. She never had the chance to. And so I was very fluent in Korean. I still am. So I can stay connected and translate it. I was like her social worker everywhere we go. Yeah. So that's the story and we live in the greatest country in the world and we have the best constitution because we can build dreams. All my sisters were college graduated you know. So, thank you for sharing and there's no shame in starting from the bottom because we are here today and I want to encourage each one of you guys to also give back when you guys you know graduate from college and give back to the community because that's what America is all about. Community service, giving back to
098the country that gave so much and that's why we are called public servants. We're all here volunteering public service and we're so proud of you. God bless you. Thank you. Thank you, board member. You I you know, it's it's almost speechless. You guys are inspiring. I I just your differences are your strength, your powers, your parents, your um innovative leaders and and doing things um despite adversity. But that positivity that that really is strength, right? Um, thank you. I I know we're going to hear a lot more from you in the future. Um, that's all I can say that I'm speechless. I'm a lawyer. I should Talking is my language, but uh, no, I I don't know what else to say. You there's not I can't add on to it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank
099you. Make it a minute. Thank you. Quickly want to recognize Joe PAC for staying here this entire night from uh Assemblywoman Cir Silva's office. You know, um that that's a that's a lot of things to do and he's here just about every single school board meeting. So, I really think the Assemblywoman Cork Silva's uh dedication to our district. And uh with that, I'd like to take a short 20 minute break to honor uh our newest board member. Hopefully she sticks around and just doesn't leave uh after hearing all this, but uh it's a great district. So, thank you very much for endeavoring to take on this work. Oh, yeah. Please. Oh, yes. Yes, you may. You may have the floor. Yeah, you do. You you need the microphone because people on TV. Oh, I do.
100Okay. Yeah, you need Okay. Well, um I'd like to introduce my husband, Gary McAnton. He's retired from this district. Oh, okay. Okay. Okay. I'll sit down. Um he was at Artisia High School. Tracy, uh Whitney, what am I missing? Okay. As a teacher and administrator. Um, and he is always very supportive of me. Um, regardless of what I what new adventure I want to try, he's always behind me. So, I certainly appreciate that. Um, next to him is my daughter, Michelle Joyce, um, who works for the district and I'm not quite sure of her title, intervention specialist. Um, I also have next to my husband Michelle Egular, who has been my neighbor since she was a little tiny girl. She's in my Bluebird group. And, um, thank you, Michelle, for being here. And I think
101two of my cohorts from Distinguished Young Women, uh, Rhonda Bird and I think I saw Dar Sha. I think she went out the door to talk to Gabrielle who was one of our um last year winners for Distinguished Young Women who just she just talked to us. Um anybody else? I think that's it. Thank you for sticking around and so we'll have a little reception. Yes, we'll be back here at 9:20. Okay, perfect. Thank you. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. [Applause] [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Ah, Hey, hey, hey. Nat. [Music] down. Hey [Music] [Laughter] [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music]
102Heat. Heat. [Music] Spider. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] N. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Hey, Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Come on. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] I have a motion to approve the agenda for the regular meeting of May 6, 2025. So move. Tiana. Second. All in favor say I. I. Motion passes. 70. You have a motion to approve the minutes
103of the regular meeting of April 1st, 2025. So move. Second. All in favor say I. I. I. Thank you. Abstain. Oh, abstain. That's correct. So 6 61. Can I have a motion to approve the minutes of the special meeting of April 26, 2025? So moved on. Second. All in favor say I. I. I. Probably one sort of substention. You were sorted there. Yes. Yeah. Same. So 601. Uh president's report. Um, you know, in the interest of time, I'm going to pass on that. Uh, Dr. Zitlo, um, I will just be quick. In the interest of time, um, we did our quarterly district office update meeting. Um, we had our monthly PAL meeting with all of our employee group presidents. Um, we recently had our PAL advance looking at the new coming year with ABCFT. Um,
104I did full day visits at Ferguson and Fetty. Um, we did a review of uh some of the items for the reduction plan uh with our employee groups and I went to a lot of events. So, I'll leave it at that. Thank you. Uh, Ray Gar, ABC president. Whoa, I think we're going to get something. Thank you. All right. Uh good evening, President Nishi, board of trustees, administrative cabinet, teachers and nurses, and members of the ABC community. Uh my name is Ray Garren, president of the ABC Federation teachers. Um okay, first congratulations to Miss McAden. uh your uh willingness to always um get involved in ABC has been uh noted and wonderful and it's great to have uh an education background uh and education family get involved and uh we look forward to working with
105you collaboratively over the uh the next few years. So thank you. Uh tomorrow is National Nurses Day and this is also teacher appreciation week. So we hope people will have a a kind comment or recall a con a kind and or fond memory of a teacher or nurse who made a difference in their lives. And so uh it's a special week for for all of us even though you know it's kind of special all all year long, right? So I don't know how this is going to come out. I didn't write notes, but I love uh what David Hogue from Tracy, the student who was up here earlier, said. He said uh you know, we work hard for a future. And I know that this bar, this board is really working hard and will be
106working hard alongside with uh the employees of ABC and the families of ABC. What I've given the board tonight is uh a report that we get from uh Yes, we need one more. Oh, here it is. Uh, a sorry about that. Okay. So, a report from the Cal California Federation of Teachers, which ABCFT is a part of. It's a salary compreh uh comp comparability study uh from 2023 to 2024. It's a year in in uh behind year in the rears because of the reporting and just um when people give them the the information. However, uh what it states is it kind of states what our ADA looks like compared to all of the other districts in LA County. Uh our funding, how our FTEES, our health benefits in each district, the amount of money, um
107and it compares us to other districts. Why I think this is important for you to have um is for a number of things. So, so let's say I I So, I had a I had two kids and we're a family of four, but one of them no longer lives with us and lives someplace else. And so, we are um we in the household have a certain amount of money to pay for renovations or for things in the house, upgrades, but we're no longer using one of those um one of those rooms as much. not unsimilar to what's going on here in ABC where we've lost about um a fourth of our population as far as um low birth rate, people moving away. Uh and so we have probably more facilities than we do uh necessarily
108have a need for and we have to be fudicious about our money. Um I I don't know when the board is going to make any decision if they are going to make any decisions about what to do with facilities going forward but I think it is important to note that we are um if you look at the study we are becoming the training ground for other districts once you get to the middle 10 years in across the board administration and in in teaching we are lower than every district around us. That's Norwok, L Marada, Bellflower, Paramont, Long Beach, Downey, you name the school district. That's we're hurting in the middle and we're going to lose a lot of good educators if we don't think about how to be competitive. Now, there's a lot of moving
109pieces in funding in any district, but I think it's important that the board has resources that show them comparatively how we look at look like to other districts. And um you know, nobody wants to be in a district where it's mediocre. ABC's never been mediocre, so we don't want mediocre teachers. We don't want mediocre principles. We don't want a mediocre superintendent. And when we start to look at being half of the salary of other districts, we have to consider of the consequences of that. And so I just wanted uh you know, I won't belabor it, but I wanted to make sure you had the information. Um that's it for tonight. Thank you. Congratulations again to Miss McAden, and I look forward to working with you. Thank you. Public comments. Persons wishing to address the board
110should fill out a card located on the table by the door and submit the completed card to the secretary. Speakers will be called in sequence during the public comment section or prior to board discussion on an agendaized item. The board shall provide one hour for speakers to address non-aggendaized items. Each speaker is limited to one presentation of 5 minutes or less. Those who have a group concern are encouraged to select a spokesperson to address the board. Should there be 15 to 20 speakers for non-aggendaized items, individual speakers shall be allowed three minutes to address the board on the item. In order to ensure that non-English speakers receive the same opportunity to directly address the board, any member of the public who utilizes a translator shall be provided at least twice the allotted time to address
111the board. Please remember that the board is unable to directly respond to comments made during the public comment session. In addition, neither the board nor district staff verify the accuracy of the statements made during public comments. Persons wishing to address the board on a specific agenda item at the time the item is under discussion are limited to 5 minutes each and will be called to speak following the staff comments and prior to the board's discussion and taking action. The board shall provide 30 minutes for speakers to address agendaized items. Should there be six to 10 speakers for agenda items, individual speakers shall be allowed three minutes to address the board on the item. Adverse remarks about a person's race, ancestry, ethnic group identification, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender, mental or physical disability,
112or age may not be made. Please avoid remarks or charges which reflect upon the character, motives, qualifications, or ability of any school district employee regardless if the identification is by name, position, or other reference. Such comments may be presented through the proper administrative ch channels set forth in bylaw 9323. Our first public comment is from Margaret Sitos. Seto and following her will be Mr. Patel kids. Um, President Ishi, Super uh, Intendant Zeil, members of the board, um, members of the staff, community members that are here. I'm Margaret Sido, community member. Now, I've sat through presentations of ABC Excel, the types of enrichment programs that you have here at ABC. I would like to suggest something if you're not doing it already. I think increase activities that we should do should increase reading comprehension, problem solving
113also in that activity. To that end, you know, April 15th, we do our taxes. Now, why not give our students the opportunity to prepare a return? It's really easy. The IRS has publications like P publication 17. It's a book. They It's free. You could get sample W2s. Form W2. That's a wage and earning statements. Uh you could probably get the 1099 form which is like for interest, dividends. Uh there's also u miscellaneous. So they could learn about these things because you know by doing a return you learn about how much my money the government uses what where is my money going now most adults they pay somebody to do it but I think that by learning the terminology they they would be able to do it I mean it's it's written in plain English. I
114think they probably have Spanish translations if you if you want them. Just ask the IRS. And there are there are publications that tell you this is earned income. This is what counts as interest. Um because I I I see this as progressive in terms of they can learn to do single taxpayer. They could do um like head of household. Um a mother with a child, they could learn how to do earned income. Um eventually I'd like to see like them doing like a sole proprietor so we could you could even like they talked about having people come in from different uh kind of industries and they could talk about their industry and so we can know what kind of expenses they have and then you could come up with a simple simple lesson and the
115students would have to figure out how do I do the return based on these kinds of expenses. I know these are these are deductible and also like if you have a sale of a house you know you could do lessons on that you know so you learn how it works because it's going to if you go through this you're going to you're going to start understanding you'd have to understand the terminology so it's going to increase their their reading comprehension and it's very simple things like what is it Okay, you are the taxpayer. What is a dependent? What is a qualified relative? What do we consider earned income? These types of things, these are life lessons and you would be giving these students a life skill and this will increase financial literacy. So I I
116see it as progressive. I see it as a way we could start teaching this the students something very practical and it's not going to cost you very much. Maybe maybe the printing of the the publications and you you can get it from the IRS website. Okay. You can download anything they have and they will tell you whatever you want to know. You could probably get them to ship you stuff, you know, cuz like everything on the returns there's a publication board and it explains it, but then the students would have to read it and that's what's important and they would learn how all these things are interrelated and I think this is a very practical skill. It also has vocational occupational uh implications but I think we would increase the reading comprehension and their math
117skills and problem solving you know so I really like to consider doing this you don't you just make up stuff you know there are if you ever looked at the publication 17 they have samples and you could use those samples for lessons to get started in terms of just plugging in numbers. People can learn about how to do payroll manually. Say what if you don't have power, you know, we have a power outage, you got to do payroll, you know, how do you calculate payroll? Things like that. These are kind of life skills that I think would be really important that we teach our students. And it it doesn't take a lot of training to do it. You know, we all pay taxes. All you got to do is just open, you know, publication 17
118and to get started. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker we have is Sish Patel followed by Sylvia Rodriguez. Good evening. Uh my name is Salish Patel and I've been a resident of the district since 2004. My children have gone to ABC Unified School uh schools since first and third grade. I'm here to discuss my concerns regarding the Critos High School graduation ceremony and the response that I've gotten or the lack of response that I've gotten from the CHS administration and staff. I first addressed my concerns to the CHS administration in an email on February 5th. I stated how I was concerned about when I attended the graduation ceremony two years ago when my son graduated that the GAR stadium lights were turned off uh after the ceremony and as a result had to push my
119father's wheelchair through a darkened parking lot with a lot of families standing next to their cars uh celebrating their students graduation. In that email, I suggested creating an area either inside the field or outside outside the field where lights would be kept on so students can celebrate with their families instead of having families standing near their cars in the parking lot. Uh after any graduation ceremony, families want to celebrate with their students. Uh that happens at every school in the country, every school in the state. Uh the challenge is the Cerrito's high school graduation is a nighttime graduation and it's uh and so when people are celebrating or or congregating after after the ceremony, it's done in the parking lot. It's a very different experience than what happens at the football games where people are
120leaving. That doesn't happen after the graduation ceremony. And I believe this is an unsafe situation in that there could be distracted drivers in the parking lot that could run into a lot of people just standing around by their cars uh with cell phones and everything else. Uh we we can't count on people obeying the rules in terms of driving. So, I suggested in my February 5th email that maybe some of the $20,000 plus money that is spent on the fireworks show be diverted to pay for lighting and custodial services at Gar High School so the families can celebrate in a safe location. I didn't think that was an unreasonable request. Uh I was told by my children that uh the uh fireworks budget, both of my children ASB, the fireworks budget was somewhere between 22
121and $27,000 each year. uh it took the CHS administration a month to even get uh I had to query them a month later in March and Dr. Flores said he hadn't discussed my request with any of the relevant staff members. Then on April 2nd I received a notice which conveniently was one day after the last board meeting that my request to have some sort of safe space set aside could be the guard gymnasium could be whatever was was rejected because as Dr. Wise stated and I don't think she's here though I did talk to her in the hallway. Uh it takes many months of advanced planning to plan the graduation ceremony and we I it was too late. Uh I reminded her in my email response uh back to her and even in the hallway
122that I did I did actually send my email many months in advance uh but nothing happened. So, uh, we are now going to go through a graduation ceremony at the end of May where it's going to be the same situation where people are going to be standing around in a darkened parking lot. Dr. Weise feels like this is a a lighting issue, and I explained to her again in the hallway, it's not a lighting issue to me. It's an issue to provide safe space for families to congregate after a graduation. It it just doesn't seem like it's that complex of an idea uh for for people to understand. So, I asked Dr. wise in my email of April 28th, uh, I'd like to see the invoices for the fireworks shows for the last six years
123because that's how long I've been paying ASB fees uh, at Crito's High School and I've not gotten a response from her. The only response I got from her was that the cost of the fireworks uh, is not $30,000. That number is inaccurate, which to me is just bureaucratic double speak for not confirming or denying what the the actual cost of the fireworks are. So, a couple of things I would like the board to consider, and I don't know this process whether you can consider it or not, but some of the suggestions I'd like to make is figure out a way that benefits students and their parents to celebrate the graduation at night at Gar High School that does not put people at risk. Uh, I'm sure the CHS administration will tell you it's too early
124now to start thinking about 2026, but I would do that as soon as possible. The other two things I'd like to have is I think the ASB financials across all high schools should be made public. uh to the parents and the students. Uh though it's up to the ASP leadership to decide funding priorities, uh it is a lot of money that goes into the ASP budget. At Critos High School, there's over 2,000 students. If 1,500 of those sign up for ASB and it costs $100, I don't know whether it does or not, that's $150,000. And there should be audited financials behind that. And I think the parents should know where this money is going so they can make a decision as to uh whether this money is being spent wisely or not. And finally, I
125think the senior class uh at Cerrito's high school should pay for the fireworks ceremony and not the rest of the student body. Uh I don't understand why all of ASB has to pay for the senior fireworks show. It's like asking the parents of students who are not athletes to pay for the portion pay a portion of the student athletes uh transportation costs. It makes no sense. I realize this is how it's always been done, but that doesn't mean it's it's it's the what's been done has been right. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Next we have Sylvia Rodriguez followed by I a Adrian Aub. Good evening, Wenos Noes, President Nichi, President Vice President Nyola, Clerk Yokoyama Buui, board members Suyu, Gene Mcaten, Leticia Mentosa, and Dr. Olarios. My name is Sylvia Rodriguez and I
126am the proud resident of Cerrito's a retire a retired teacher the president of ABCFT retiree chapter and most importantly an immigrant whose parents fled the dangers of communism in search of freedom and a better life. Dr. Zeil and the rest of the trustees, I want to commend you for the initial steps you outlined in your February 7th report in support of our students. You affirmed that our students have the right to food if they're hungry, access to tutoring, mental health support, and most importantly to feel safe in their schools. You also highlighted some of the resources that our district has made available to help families understand their rights. I especially appreciated your emphasis on article 51453 adopted in 2018 which states that no student's right should ever be violated and that every student has equal
127rights and protections. This is a solid foundation for our our district to build upon. However, recent events remind us that we cannot be complacent. Just last month, a very serious incident occurred at two LA USD schools where federal agents arrived seeking to question students. These agents did not show identification and falsely claimed to have parental permission. Thankfully, the front office staff recognized this for what it was and did not allow them on campus. Dr. Carvalo, LUSD superintendent and an immigrant himself from Portugal, responded very angrily and forcefully as he should have. For him, this issue was deeply personal. But in truth, it should be personal to all of us regardless of immigration status. Our students all of them deserve to be to feel safe at school. Also, districts like Corona Norco had a law firm
128train administrators in person. Then office sta staff was trained. Um the office staff went through a mock scenario to practice protocols. In addition, training materials were simplified for parents and were translated in various languages. Parent and community meetings were provided by dis by the district administrators and a lawyer was present to answer parents questions. I urged all of you the district to take a similarly strong leadership role in protecting our students and families. There are organizations like Erescate, LULAC, L U L A C and Chira C H I R L A that can guide our district departments in informing and protecting our communities, both the north and the south areas of our district. I hope we can actively seek these partnerships to strengthen the safety net for our students and families. I thank you for
129your time and for your commitment to the well-being of every student in ABC Unified. Thank you. Next, we have Adrien Au. Congratulations, newly appointed trustee area 5 member Jean McCaten. Um, it's a tremendous responsibility, but it also gives you a tremendous voice and network to address uh concerns that affect parents, students, and the community alike. I'm here to bring attention to a growing concern shared by parents, residents, and local families. The visible rise of homelessness in our public spaces, in your trusty area at at Liberty Park, um near the library, and around City Hall, which is across from our beloved Critos High School. This isn't about demonizing anyone in need. It's about preserving the safety and suburban quality of life that makes our city and school district what it is. Parents are telling me they
130no longer feel comfortable letting their kids run freely at the park. Childhood friends are saying, "We never saw this growing up in Critos. This is starting to feel like Los Angeles." That hits hard. I just ask if we have leadership that's willing to talk openly about what's happening and what matters to protect the spaces meant for families, students, and the community alike. I ask the school board to perhaps look into passing a resolution asking the city of Critos and LA County to develop a coordinated response around parks, schools, and libraries where students are frequently present. to expand school resource officer presence during peak hours. Enha visibility around parks and open open campus areas after school. Parents want preventative presence, not escalation. Direct staff to conduct a safety and wellness impact report. how unsheltered populations are
131affecting student wellness and parent confidence in public spaces. Data drives action and this makes future decisions easier to justify. I know um that I I've said before that partnering with faith ba faith-based organizations can maybe be one step on the on the path to resolving this issue. um encourage, you know, campus clubs and leadership students to volunteer with safe, reputable outreach ministries like food banks or shelters, teaching compassion while keeping the enforcement separate. What if we gave our seniors the chance to lead real service efforts? High school seniors across the US have played meaningful roles in fighting homelessness, not through protest or politics, but through grassroots action, advocacy, and human- centered projects. So, I just asked to again, you have you have a voice, you you now have a reach. Um, what makes Streus and
132all cities in the district special is is slipping away. The feeling that families can can be safe. You know, our parks are clean and kids can just be kids. If we don't at least just open up dialogue about what we're seeing, then we become complacent in a slow erosion of everything this community and district was built on. So, let's just um show our students and each other that we still care enough to protect what makes this district feel like home. Thank you. Thank you. Are there other public comments? I need I see no further public comment. Thank you. Can I have a motion to approve the consent calendar? Second. Does anybody wish to remove any items from the consent calendar? If none then I'll call for a vote. All those in favor of the consent
133calendar say I. I. I. Any nays? The motion passes 70. Thank you. Timed item we have uh 4.11 budget reduction plan. Mr. Nuin. Thank you board president Nishi. Good evening board members. Tonight, as an information item, we like to present to you our budget reduction plan as required by the Los Angeles County Office of Education. Um just a matter of background um on February I believe on the 18th we had a budget study sessions of the board where um I outlined the different issues that we have namely uh declining enrollment. So the district have been declining enrollment um since before co um and for this year in 2024 2025 the reduction in funding is about $88 or $9 million. So with a 1.07% 07% cola. Um that is not sufficient to upset the declining in
134enrollment. In addition, we have an increase in health benefits um cost that would uh impact it uh the um expenditures. Therefore, as a result, we have a what we call a structural deficit of about $4.1 million that the county have asked us to address. meaning that they have asked us by the time that the board adopt the budget for next year in June, we have to have a plan uh to reduce the expenditures by $4.1 million at a minimum. So tonight uh we have um we are presenting to you the different options or possible solutions that we are considering uh in terms of reducing the budget by that amount of about $4.1 million. Uh this uh reduction plan have been shared with as our part of our process um with our um employee groups that
135would be our ABCFT our CSEA our APSME and also management groups. This als this budget plan is also have been shared with the um audit and finance committee and we have got feedback from both groups the committee and also the union the employee groups. We um in putting this plan together on page 129 of your packet, we are using the guiding principles uh when it comes to budget reductions that the district has developed in the past I would say 24 years uh since we have been doing this. That's on page 128 uh of of the report. Because when it come to cuts, it's it's it's going to be difficult. Number one, it's it's the question is where do you cut, right? The question always going to be as far away from the classroom as possible,
136right? That's I don't want to say cliche, that's true here in ABC. We do that. But we also use the guiding principles to help us to focus, right? If we need to make reduction, where do we do that and what's important to us? So, I want to share that real quick before I get into the numbers and the different cut areas, right? Student success is our central missions and that's why we here. So in making reduction we have to keep that in mind. Right? Student focused. That's number one. Right? Uh fiscal solveny we can't do anything if we not fiscally solvent. So that's a given. We have to be on the right financial footing. We have to be when we adopt the budget uh we have to meet all the guidelines set by the state
137and the county. Um we are in the people business. 90% of our budget are related to personnel costs. So people are the cornerstone in ABC. So with that in mind, we have to be mindful when we make those decisions, the impact, the human impact um and the financial impact, right? But more importantly, the human impact of our decisions. Of course we have to talk about you know to be competitive to be provide quality service to students to have to do um the right thing and this is a difficult process. So what's important with students parents and and uh employees is that they have to be clarity and honesty. You know the information have to be accurate. We don't overreact as always. We react timely and we react appropriately as needed. So those are the guiding
138principles um that have guide us through the many up and downs um in the past at least 25 years in terms of budget reductions. So with that, I would like to share with you the nine items that we have put together in terms of looking at um the different things that we can look to reduce to at least uh address the $4.1 million. This is addressing the current year deficit, right? In looking at the 2526 budget year or fiscal year or school year, it that will be a different picture, right? We have learned that the COLA or the cost of living adjustment for next year is now at 2.3%. So it's better than the 1.07, but it's still a lower number. And if we still have the same issue with declining enrollment, we may need
139to do this again in the future. So this is again to address the current year $4.1 million budget reduction. So with that we are looking at um item number one on the packet reduce the department of budget up here not the school side budget not the allocation to the schools we keep that intact but um the department budget up here um by 20%. Uh for potential saving of about $300,000. We also looking at reducing all um the base fund travels and conference by 50%. The budget for that was about 400,000. So if you reduce it in half, the savings is about $200,000. Again, this is to emphasize this is the base fund travel and conferences. There are there will be training and conferences that fund by grants. Those um will likely remain um we will
140continue those. Uh this is just the base funds. That's the way with the savings. We are looking at reducing management staff by about 10 positions. And these are the deans, counselors, e or English learner counselors and the mental health professionals collectively about 10 positions um together. Number four, we are looking at uh TOSA or teacher on special assignment. Teacher are not currently in the classrooms. Uh we're looking at to reduce them by about uh 10 position also. Number five, the word is strategic hiring. Uh that basically mean we are going to freeze any opening in the classified positions and only backfill them or hire them in the critical roles as needed. Uh we are back filling them with potentially with sub uh substitute or long-term subs uh uh but not permanent positions uh to provide
141some savings there. We are looking at all contracts with um and services by consultants and try to reduce it by half a million dollars. And this is all sort of consultants whether it's professional development or support or training or just provide special services to um to the district. We also looking at reducing the professional development budget by half a million dollars. Um uh this is our training to staff both certificate and and classify management. Uh on number eight again looking at reducing um the contribution to the defer maintenance programs by half a million dollars. This is the program. The defer maintenance program is where we use to maintain our schools, right? From the asphalt on the ground to the painting uh to electricals. Uh these are the upkeep of the schools. We're also looking at
142reducing the contribution to the P what we call the postemployment health benefits program. Uh this is the program to retirees uh that in according with the collective bargaining agreement that we are providing health benefits for uh the contribution of that just paused for a year. It's half a million. So collectively these nine items add up to about $5.9 million. So as you can see it's it's more than the $4.1 million you need. So that's to give us some options. Uh if we don't need to uh reduce um uh where we really shouldn't then we don't or if we need to do more uh than the 4.1 at least we have some option here uh about of about $1.8 million. So this is um tonight um there's no action from the board. We just need the
143board discussions to get feedback and input and direction from the board as we prepare the budget. um you know uh in June and the LCAP for the board to consider. So this is the first step in the process. So with that um I'm here to answer the questions from the board. Board member U. This is not a question but I just wanted to clarify uh for the new board members. Tuan, can you explain um can you explain what the relationship like the county gave orders? Why do we you know the relationship like they the meeting that you had with the county due to so I think if you can clarify what that is and what that means I think that would help you know the board members. Thank you for the question. So this speaks
144to the budget process, right? Annually school district are required to prepare a budget that uh will be adopted hopefully be adopted by the board. Once the board adopted the budget, it will be sended to the county for their approval. They have to approve the bore adopted budget. um they do have the right under AB1200 to um not approve a budget if they believe that it's not balanced or it won't be able the technical term is that to meet financial obligations not just in the budget year but more importantly in the two u out years. So we have to be able to show that the district can meet our financial obligations in the budget year which is 25 26 but also the two years after that because legally we required to have a 3% reserve. So
145that that's also in in statute or in code. If the if the county uh believes that we will not be able to do that they can request the district to put the term they use is the fiscal stabilization plan or a budget reduction plan. So basically they are requesting or requiring and actually uh the district to make budget cuts uh in order to meet the financial obligation of the district in the budget year and the two out years. So that's why we here and we need to do this. So um the question is um do we have to do this? Uh technically no the board can reject it this but the consequences would be that it would put the district at risk of our budget would not be approved by the county. Uh so that's
146that's the issue. So what happens if it's not um confirmed by the county? What are the consequences? Well, you don't want to go there. But uh if if it doesn't then then then then technically they would ask the district to readopt the budget that would meet the reserve requirements. So uh they would ask the board to reconsider um because um if they do not approve our budget technically too also the district cannot start um our expenditure. We can't spend the money. We can't make payroll issue payroll. So we can't put requisitions in and and start buying things. So they they have a mechanism to to pause that process if they need to go there. Uh of course um we will we will we will not that let that happen. We we won't get there. Okay.
147So this is a requirement and uh will there be more cuts in the future? I can't really answer that. It depends on the state um budget for next year, right? Next week or actually this Friday uh is the governor made revisions. So in in in his May revision, he will provide an update on the state collections on the tax that that the state um you know the April 15 tax collection to see if we on track. Uh we don't know if the state going to fund the two 3% cola even if they were to do that. Um we we don't know if that's enough to offset the declining enrollment. We are looking at um the preliminary um renewal rates about health benefits how insurance from the carrier Kaiser and it's coming in at 15% increase.
148That's a double digit increase. So when we put the budget together uh Mrs. Uh uh potentially could there be another structural deficit? The answer is yes. we we won't rule it out. If if the revenues do not come in, you know, sufficient to offset the expenditures and the ongoing costs, then yes, we will have to um be back at the table and look at potential uh further reductions. Thank you very much. Thank you, uh Dr. Rios. Okay. Um for years we've had a very um healthy reserve and you know as much as I dislike that um it was always like well you know this is to avoid cuts. So the fact that I'm hearing about cuts is very troubling to me. Um I do notice that we are over the um proposed um cuts by
149what 1.8. And so I'm going to bring my very um strong objection to item three, reduce management staff by 10 positions. I'm seeing their positions that are essential to, you know, there was a comment about away from students that are essential to student safety and success. I mean, you talk about deans, I don't know of a school that can do without a dean. And I would definitely like to know that this isn't um for any schools in area in my area. um counselors. Again, we're still post pandemic. All of our schools are still dealing with a lot of social emotional um trauma that that students are recovering from. So, I don't understand why that's on the list. EL counselors, um I did question a lot about what the effect of the counselors was. I was
150happy to have had a conversation uh with the EL counselor at Tisha High School who detailed for me the work that he does a and the um incredible impact that he has on our students and the success. I mean he talked about reclassifying like over um I don't remember the number was and I don't think I'm exaggerating 100 maybe over a 100 students. So item three yeah I mean I would need some serious justification for us to go anywhere near those positions. Um, and for TOSAs, you know, I work with TOSAs. They're essential, but I'd also, you know, would like to see them not cut. I I will say that I was surprised by the reduced budget by 20% to only yield $300,000 in savings. I mean, I'm almost curious to know what the budget
151for one department is, let alone several. Um, and very surprised by that number because I'm familiar with department budgets. Um, but you know, I think if we need to reshuffle things, um, I'd like to suggest that, but I would definitely and immediately request that item three be completely, um, removed from the list. Thank you. Uh, board member Mendoza. Thank you, Mr. President. Um, can you I have some clarifying questions before I do a recommendation. Can you explain reduce all base funded travel and conferences? What does that cover? What what what travel expenses are those so the community can understand what Thank you for the question. So you know um we at times we send staff to uh training right uh to conferences right that's involved traveling it could be um all the costs associated with
152that whether it's airfare or whether it's hotel or whether it's the conference fee and all of that right so uh that's part of the professional development for for for staff right so we have funds we have training that are required by either the grants or the program for example we get recently ly the state um the district received a golden state pathway grants. So that grant may require travel and conferences and that's payout of the grants. So that should be you know we saying that we should we should continue that. But on the discretionary travel or out of payout the the base fund or the the the if you look at the LCFF there's base fund and there supplemental concentration. So the base fund is the general fund that where the savings needed. So we
153saying that let's target those and cut those and not the grant funds. So it speaks to the funding sources of the expenditures. Okay. So my next question is if we're looking at the amounts, can we reshuffle some of these? Because um I'm going to echo Dr. Rio's concern about cutting out our deans, our counselors, and especially our Yale counselors because we know in this district that's where that's where the support is needed. Um and it and to me it just it just seems unfair to cut all of these um management staff and um and I maybe I'm misunderstanding what management is because from my understanding management is like like a supervisor like an administrator. Um so I'm that wording for me just kind of um confuses me. But I would like to see this is
154my recommendation. I would like to keep our keep number three keep all of our counselors and then I don't know how you do it Twan but me as a teacher I would reduce professional development because when times are hard I can depend on my colleagues we can have professional learning teams and we can rely on each other to good do um good teaching practices but I think you know as a budget I'm looking at professional development that's something that that I would want to cut um but I would want to keep our staff especially number four too. And so I don't know if you can rework these numbers and keep number three and four and reduce some of these other ones. I mean hire them because to me those three and four are critical to
155our student success and that's our guiding principle. Student success is our central mission and if we don't have these EL counselors, these deans and and mental health professionals, I don't I don't know how our students can be successful. So my recommendation is to keep three and four and to increase some of the other ones. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you. Uh board member U. So can I clarify? So we have according to your report today, the declining enrollment create caused 8 million deficit. Was it eight? The reduction in I the LCFF the low control funding formula funding is actually $9 million. 9 million. And then the structural deficit was something like 4.1 4.1 million and the county um county recommended the reduction of 4.1 million 4.1 million. So we have to have a 4.1 million
156reduction or more. Yes, ma'am. Right. So I would I mean we're not a micromanager because we're not working full-time. I'd like to hear from Dr. Zidlo uh how you your input your response yeah enlighten us so um I think as we've looked at this some of those positions um that you're seeing were carried out sometimes with one-time funds things like that um that may not be there um I think our goal with each of this is to not have any one group bear the burden of what is happening. Um overall our hope is to um do this in such a way that we're able to maintain the services we provide to students um and uh do that in a way where the ratio to students to admin ratio to students to teachers doesn't really um
157go in a drastic direction. Um and so that's what you see before you. Um is really that trying to keep a balanced approach to this. Um and thinking about each and every one of our groups and what we have to do. Um however, there are a lot of things that we were able to do with one-time monies that now we just know we can't continue. So the 4.1 million has to be cut. So one way or the other for now it seems like the cut doesn't affect the student success in the classroom or does it affect the classroom? Again we we try to as as Dr. Zilo have said look at the different groups and try to have a balanced approach in a way that would have what we believe the least impact on students.
158Um, if you ask me would be no impact, I'm going to say no. Right? You can't cut 4.1 and say that there's no impact, but at least the least impact. Uh, because student success, like I said, that's why we have it here. That's why we here, right? But at the same time, we want to make sure that uh, you know, whatever we need to do, uh, it have the least a minimal impact on students. So, so I'm just going to assume that you did all that brain and mind, you know, and again brain work as I shared the process with the BOA, right? We we we did put this together. We share with our employee groups, all four of them, right? Executive members from the four employee groups um looked at this and give us
159feedback. Um the same thing, that's why you have the audit and finance committee. They look at this and they provide feedback. So, and that's what we here too. So we'll we'll we'll take all that right at the end of the day and then we will present to the board at your June 3rd meeting the pre preliminary budget and in that budget at least in that preliminary budget there will be a detail of what's the outcome of this right um at the end of the day out of number three did I cut 10 or do we are we proposing to cut 10 or we cut five so uh the board uh you know have the of can listen to the budget preliminary budget on June 3rd. Give direction to staff again so we can adjust the
160budget um if we need to. But at the end of the day, it needs to meet the requirement or the guideline by the county. So the county will be looking for a plan whether it's these items or other items. We need to have a plan for 4.1 million. Thank you, Dr. Rios. I'm just going to advocate for my community again because it tends to take, you know, it seems like when it comes to cuts, we want to be equal, but when it comes to funding, not so much. Um, they generate a lot of our they generate a lot of our onetime funding. They continue to generate a lot of our um LCFF. Um, students needs need to be prioritized. we end up dealing with situations in close session that other schools don't need don't deal
161with. Um we know that there are special needs at schools and those are the schools that I don't want to see on the chopping block regardless of you of Yeah. Um students safety needs to be prioritized again whether it's their physical safety, their mental health. So, just I'm going to advocate once again that when we're looking at cuts that we keep in mind that there are needs at some schools that we should be very mindful of and um and that's not to say that all schools need it, but I think we've dealt with situations where it's become obvious that some needed more than others. So, please keep that in mind. And yeah, I'm going to have Thank you. continue to have issues should I see cuts in our area because I'll remind you again we
162generate a lot of the extra funding that came to the district. Thank you uh Vice President Nyola. Uh thank you President Nishi and uh thank you Tuan for this report and also thank you Dr. Leila for adding that that caveat about sharing sharing the cost across the board and I do appreciate that. Um I want to echo what uh you know Dr. Rios and board member Mendoza said that I would like to also see reductions to this uh reductions to this reduction plan uh in the areas of three and four but also on area five. I think uh a hiring freeze having permanent staff also helps to like the teamwork and camaraderie. So especially when you know as much as teachers and class and cert certificated staff are just as important to students I think
163to you know to what a campus is is also those permanent staff that kids look to every day. Um I know this week I got to spend a lot of time with our SIA. So I appreciate you know what they do for our school culture and campus culture. um if we can find ways to get closer to 4.1 by reducing those but maybe also increasing some of the other options that would be my my suggestion. So, thank you. Thank you, board member. Uh board member in Manhattan and then I'd like to say a couple things too. Uh Twan, can you just explain uh to us what um contracting consultant services actually means? What does that take into effect? So um the district contract you know with uh consultant for special services uh for example we
164contract with consulting group to provide support uh to our administrators uh you know in term of PD so we we can look at reducing that uh so back to uh the point miss PD you look at PD so we look at the various various services provide by the special consultant and services and see if we can reduce them by half a million dollars, but mostly it's it's related to PD, professional development. So six and seven are both related to PD. Correct. Okay. Thank you. Um, so it's at 10:20. I don't think we're going to get done in 10 minutes with including all our uh action items. Can I get a motion to uh extend the meeting from 10:30 to 11:30? Now, I don't think we're going to go to 11:30, but we're only allowed to
165do it just once. And so, this agenda does have a lot more action items, and if if there's anything more than just a slated yes, which I don't think is responsible, we we need to have the time. So, can I get a motion? So, move. Second. Thank you. All in favor say I. I. Thank you. So, I'd like to make a few uh qu quick questions here. So in relation to this particular thing, you went through the audit committee and they looked through all of the specific priorities and um and you've gone through the management groups to talk to them about the specific issues and and um manner in which we do these things. The budget that I saw recently or the letter I received from the county said that in three years we will
166have $3 million going from $23 million to three. That's the letter I think I read. That's 1% out of a $300 million budget. So, if there's a hiccup in the economy, there's a lot more. This is not what's going to happen. It's going to be a lot different. Um, so when I look at this thing with professional development by 500,000, what is our total uh professional de development budget? Yeah, thank you for the question. Depends on the year. It roughly about $3 million. $3 million. So, this is actually almost 30% of that. No more. It's one sixth one six. Okay. It's a pretty big percentage of it, right? Um so, I don't know. I Yeah, I do agree that professional development is something that would be okay to reduce, but this is a high percentage
167of that. Um and this management um some of them are not filled possessions if I'm not mistaken. Correct. What percentage of this is is the total of uh people in these it's about 5%. It's about 5%. Correct. 200 um or so management positions. Um again a as we are going through our process uh thank you for that question. And I want to remind the board that the district has always have the position of we do not lay off any permanent employees. So if we need to make reductions, either it's a vacancy or we ship people around or these are uh uh temporary positions. So no permanent employee will be displaced or dis laid off. And and so I agree that we need to have the tossas and I agree that we need to have the
168deans and the counselors and all all these people, but I also agree that we need to prioritize the teachers in the classroom. And so if this isn't reduced, then those other things by definition are reduced and that directly affects the kids in the classroom. And I know that deans affect a large group of kids and mental health counselors help a lot of kids. I get that. I totally get that. Um but in terms of education, it's it's devastating to lose a teacher and um it's it's devastating to lose any staff. I think that they're doing the best they can to keep it as far away from the classroom as possible. as far away. And none of these are good choices. I don't like any of them. Like deferred maintenance. That doesn't mean we really save
169any money. That just means this year we save 500. Next year we still need to fix that roof. It's always going to leak. It's not like the roof is not going to exist. We still need to fix it. So cutting from that, sure, but it's a structural deficit, meaning it happens every year. meaning this this is this is actually not a a recurring thing. This is going to be an issue going on into the future. The you know Dr. Rios talks about it's very important for us to train our teachers to be really good at what they're doing. This is onethird or not one third but you said one sixth of the budget. That's a larger percentage than any of these other cuts here. Where we're going to make the biggest difference is unfortunately three
170and four. So I want us to just know in relation to the ratios of what we're cutting here because 10 positions out of a hundred is different than um $500,000 out of a $2.5 million budget. Right? That's that's the ratios we're talking about. So, if we don't want to train at all any of our teachers, sure, we can cut all of the professional budget, but it's not going to make as big a dent as these other things. Um, particularly since the promise by administration is not to um get rid of permanent people, right? That's that's the the promise that we have here. Keep it away from the students. This is meant to keep it away from the students. So, and this is not this has been seen by all of our staff. So, I'm inclined
171to not I think this 5.9 is actually kind of conserved considering the latest things that are happening in our economy. Right? This is based upon a projection of a nice economy. If the economy takes a little hiccup, that 1% difference is going to make a huge difference in our kids. So, I'd rather him make this decision or make the the budget based upon what we see here. And then when it comes time in June, if he doesn't have to make these cuts, we don't have to make these cuts come June when we actually get the budget. if it looks if the May revise is a lot nicer, then we don't have to do these things. But I think we need to give him the authority to to make these uh decisions for or at least
172give us the recommendations of these things and then work through those how it actually will look. Thank you. Uh board clerk Yokoyamai. Thank you, Tuan. Um I was also concerned about the number three reduced by reduced management staff. Can I get a better idea of where the staff is? Are they in the schools? Are they here at the district? Because I I read the term management. So, I think that they're over the actual deans, counselors, EL counselors, MHP. So, we'll still have those in the schools. It's just are we missing, I guess, the overseeing management to them. Yes. So, these are the position actually at some at the school sites. So um we haven't finalized you know exactly where and and and all of that uh once we have that of course we'll share it
173with the board exactly where and the impact and the rationale right why here and not there like Dr. subset, right? Uh what criteria do you use? All right. We we do have um that ratio of of administrators to uh students and you know where it's low and it's high. So we know uh the different schools and if there's um you know where we can reduce without um you know the most you know with with the least impact then we'll do that. Yes, I've listened to my other board members and and President Nishi and and I hear the concerns um across all levels. I'm also concerned about the mental health professionals leaving our schools. We need those um the EL counselors. I've spoke with deans um at various high schools who who are are just already
174overloaded as it is. Um and and want more help and to to take them out of school. So I I do agree three is where I would want to focus on on you know not having too much cuts. Again, I I I understand what President Nishi says and and what you've advised, what what superintendent has advised. So, thank you for all the information. And Dr. Rios, so I made my point, but I am going to object to um your suggestion, Mr. President, about going to the 5.9. I mean, I have a problem with the 4.1. Um I think that we've had a healthy reserve. Then if it I had it my way, we dip into the reserve because that's what we were told. we were having the reserve for um instead of making cuts. Um
175I think it will impact our students. I don't think it's fair to our students today to say in three years we might be in a deficit. I mean let's get better at spending our money but not punish um because that's the way I would see it. you know, students today by taking away a counselor, by doing all these things because what may or may not happen in the future. Thank you. Thank you. Uh, board member Mendoza. Thank you, Mr. President. I'm going to stand with what I said before. Um, I want to see less reduction in three and the other years one, two, six, and seven red um um higher. And I'm going to say this. I'm a teacher. I'm in a classroom. And if my principal came to me and said, "Miss Mendoza, would
176you rather have an EL counselor or would you rather have more professional development?" What do you think I'm gonna say? I'm gonna sing a counselor because that person is going to be helping me because as much as I think I'm a superwoman and I can do everything I can in a classroom within the six hours, I cannot. And when you have someone who's supporting you in the classroom, and this is a group of students who needs our attention. We know that the data shows that our EL learners need support. And I cannot vote for anything that says I'm going to take out an EL counselor. I'm going to take out a dean, a counselor, just so I can have more professional development. I'm sorry. I'm I'm as a classroom teacher, I think if you ask
177many of our teachers, they would choose the same as I would. and you have one, two, three, four board members who have already echoed that we want to see number three reduced. Um, and I think I think I think he's getting to the point where he's he's getting our recommendation. Thank you, Bo. Um, do we have a deadline? Yes, ma'am. By the second board meeting in June when you adopted the budget, this has to be in the budget. Uh then we only have one more meeting in May to discuss and get the full report that the board members want in terms of the details of these uh cuts. That would be at the June 3rd meeting. June 3rd meeting. Yes. Not before. Right now we plan to take it to the board at the June
1783rd meeting. So we we could we're going to have this as an action item in June 3rd. Then June 3rd is a preliminary budget. It's not an action item. It's a public hearing. June 20th is the action item. I'm sorry. June 17. June 17. So, we'll get Thank you. Thank you, Tan. So, um I I don't want to sound like Well, I am going to sound like the bad guy. Uh I don't want to get rid of EL counselors either. That's not what I came to the school board to do. That's not what I want to do. But we got to prioritize the students, right? This budget is trying to keep it away from the classroom. So, I just want us to keep in mind I hate all of this. I do not like any
179of this. But I got a letter saying that we're going to have three if we continue the way we're doing it. We say keep this budget high. Keep this budget high. Keep this budget high. we can reduce the department budget by 20% is only a $300,000 thing. It's like talking about the little side thing here and saying and ignoring the bigger the bigger picture. So, um you know, they will do what we say, right? They will follow our direction. I just want us to know that, you know, I did receive the letter. It did say we're going to be at $3 million in three years. That's not a lot of wiggle room in a $300 million budget. Um, and I looked at even our restricted uh budget. We have $65 million. I think, wow, that's
180pretty that's a lot of money, right? That's sitting there. But actually, we spend that. We get 65 or we get 68 in restricted funds every year, but we spend it and it's coming down every year. So, um I just uh you know they will do what we say and so that's that's fine. But I just know that almost the economy will tell us or mandate our decisions and our priorities. If we prioritize everything, then nothing is prioritized, right? If we prioritize the tossas, which is very important. I get it. I get it. But that means less here, more here, right? And so the classrooms will feel it because that's the only other place that we can make a financial difference in this $300 million budget, right? It's not like we have a lot of discretion
181to move a lot. We're not we're not talking mill. We're talking a tiny percentage of our budget. And um it looks like a lot 1.5 because that's but in a in relation to the whole picture they're trying to pick the place where it has least amount of pain. And so we're going to find that the alternatives will be more painful. And um so or maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm wrong. I hope I'm wrong. Um but uh the economy will end up dictating what we actually do. I think that's um I think we're almost done. Do you want to have just one last word? Yes. 30 seconds. You know, um Tuan and uh Rey, president of the union. Um I think Dr. Zidlo was here when because none of us were here on the board when
182there was a budget crisis, right? I was here. But that we're not we were not serving on the board. Oh yeah. So I think that it would be helpful to enlighten the board like um how did you weather through that time because it's when there's a deficit and money is tight all the stakeholders there's going to be it's going to be really frustrating. It's going to be very difficult because if we don't cut then we're going to have to cut into the classroom or I mean I don't know the detail you know you guys did all that. So it would help us to hear what happened in the past. How did I know that I always hear that there was such a collaboration and uh nobody was laid off the full time but the hiring
183freeze was something that I heard read in the LA um LA Unified I think was the first one to come out with a hiring freeze few years ago right and we just started. So I I just think it would be helpful yeah for all of us just to know. So help us to make a the the decision that will impact us for the next few years. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Um we finished with the information item. Let's go to an action item 1.2A. No. Wait, which one? No, we're not. Can I have a motion to adopt resolution 24-23 acknowledging May as Asian-American, Native, Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month? So moved. Dr. Zilo. Thank you. Um, normally we would read all of the lines this evening in light of the fact that we
184had four students share clearly their experience. Um, we will forgo that tonight since it's so late. But, um, I think there's a lot of great people and things about the cultures that, um, have withtood the challenges that come, um, being in a melting pot like America. So, um, if you get a chance, please read. Thank you. Are there any public comments on this item? None. Are there any board comments? Then, I'd like to call for a vote. All in favor say I. I. Any naysay? Motion passes 70. Can I have a motion to approve memorandum of understanding between the board of education and ABCFD local 2317 California Federation of Teachers American Federation Teachers AFL CIO regarding the retirement incentive for the 2024 2025 school year. So move second. All right. Uh Dr. Fraser. Thank you,
185Mr. President. for bringing forward um the memorand memorandum of understanding between the board of education ABCT um uh regarding the retirement incentive as presented. Thank you. Do we have any public comment on this? None. Any board comment? Thank you. Uh board member Mendoza. Yeah, I just want to say I'm jealous. I want a golden handshake, too, so I can leave early. No, I'm just playing. But I'm glad I'm glad we reached this agreement with our bargaining units and I'm very supportive of it. Thank you. Thank you. Um, thank you very much. Can I have a vote? All in favor say I. I. Any nays? Hearing none, the A's have it 70. Can I have a motion to approve the agreement between the Board of Education and American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, AFLCI
186local 2229 regarding the retirement incentive for the 2024 2025 school year. So moved. Second. Dr. Fraser. Thank you, Mr. President. Um, we are bringing forward uh this uh agreement with our ASME uh association. Uh again, similarly, as you'll see, all theus and and um agreements that we've made with all of our associations, um uh they're all they're all in the same in in nature. And so, I just wanted to point that out as well. Thank you, board clerk. Do we have any public comments? None. Thank you. I'll have a quick comment on that just uh so people know that uh it's not exactly a golden handshake. it is uh an incentive to have some retirement and that this will encourage people to retire this year rather than next year. Um and we think it will
187actually improve the quality of our district. Okay. Okay. Or maybe the executives call it golden parachute which is not the case here. It's it's not very golden. It's more silver like anyway. And public monies need to be spent wisely and I think it's wisely spent. All right. All in favor say I. I. Motion passes 70. Can I have a motion to approve the memorandum of standing between the board of education and California school employees association. It's ABC chapter 24 regarding retirement incentive for the 2024 2025 school year. So moved. Second. Uh Dr. Frasier. Thank you Mr. President. We are bringing uh 2.4 forward to you this this evening as presented. Do we have any public comments? None. Any board comment? And I'll call for a vote. All in favor say I. I I any nays
188hearing? None. The motion passes 70. 2.58. Can I have a motion to approve the tenative agreement between the board of education and the management confidential employees regarding the retirement incentive for the 2024 252 school year? So moved. Second. That's Jeie. Yeah. Mcken. Okay. Dr. Frasier. Thank you, Mr. President. I just want to say to all of our associations, thank you for the work that they've done on these. Uh it was quick work that we came together and uh and were able to agree. And so this uh one 2.5A um is bringing forward just with our management and confidential the same agreement as uh the previous. Thank you. Yes. I I also would like to say thank you for all the unions coming together on this. Uh is there any public comment on this? None. Is
189there any board comment on this hearing? None. I'd like to call for a vote. All in favor say I. I. Any nays? Hearing none. The vote passes 70. Thank you very much. I have a motion to adopt the following textbooks. Titled Math Calculations for Pharmacy Technicians, fourth edition, Mosby Pharmacy Technician, Principles and Practice, 7th Edition, Pharmarmacology for Technician, 7th Edition, Paradigm Education Solutions, Music Technology 101, the basics of music production in the technology lab or home studio for the 2025 2026 school year. So moved. Second. Thank you. Uh Dr. Castro, yes. I'm bringing before you these textbooks which are um part of our CTE pathways. They align to industry standards and uh promote the effectiveness of our programs in pharmarmacology as well as music technology. Thank you. Is there any u public comment on this
190item? None. Any board comment? I have a quick comment. I think it's a actually great uh textbook. It really goes into the practicality of the the drugs that are being used, the symptoms that they see, very technical, very high level. I definitely don't understand it, but I know it's very practical. And uh the the music stuff is a little bit specific into the technology, so I don't know how if it will keep up with the times, but it is a paperback, so it's not meant to last forever. So, um I think it's a great textbook. Thank you very much for the work done to get these books and these courses in for for our kids. So with that, can I have uh a vote? All in favor say I. I. All negatives. None. Then vote
191passes 70. 3.18. Can I have a motion to approve a request for a new career technical education CCT course entitled electroc cardiogram EKG technician certification to begin summer of 2025. So that's relatively soon. and applied programming for interactive media fundamentals of vehicle and aircraft systems to begin the fall of 2526 school year. So moved. Second. Dr. Castro. Yes. I'm excited to bring these new course offerings to our students in ABC. The EKG techni technician certification is actually a summer original credit program that will be part of our patient uh care CTE pathway at Artisia High School. Applied programming for interactive media will be at Gar High School and that will begin in the following school year 2526 and it's part of our games and simulation and so there will be an ELAB that will be
192established as part of this and then the fundamentals of vehicle and aircraft system also part of Gar High School where we are starting our first ever CTE aviation pathway in ABC. Thank you. Uh any public comment? None. Any board comment just as it relates I have a one comment in relation to the aircraft systems. My cousin's daughter is an aircraft makes she makes a lot of money. She's little and it's so it's not aircraft mechanic is not just for for guys. Anybody can do it. She makes more money than I do. Um so with that I say uh can I get a vote? All in favor say I. I. Any nays? Hearing none the motion passes 70. This is really good. Thank you Dr. Castro. Can I have a motion to approve the joint use
193agreement with the city of Critos for the use of facilities for the athletics? Second. No. Mr. Nuin, thank you for President Nishias. Um the districts and the city of Cerritos have have um joint use agreements going back to 1971. So in the past year, we have uh worked together the two agencies to come up with a renewal of of the uh joint use agreement. on page 115 in your packet would be the exhibit of the different site being used by the district uh from the city and also uh the you know the site um by this from the city to the district and schedule B uh spelled out the time and the exhibit uh of when we can use um of that and the share cost legal council have reviewed uh the agreement and have
194signed off on it. So we are bringing forward to the board for approval. uh we are looking uh forward to have many more years of the partnership between the city of Cerritos and the district and potentially even expanding uh the partnership and the joint use agreement. So we are recommending the board to approve the joint use the renewal of the joint use agreement. Thank you. Any public comment? None. Any board comment? Oh, we have plenty. Uh, Miss Mendoza, doc, board member Mendoza. Thank you, Mr. President. Do we have agreements with other cities? Yes, ma'am. Do they come to the board? Because I don't remember. Yes. Um, we have a agreement with the city of Hawaiian Gardens. Um, that's was a 25 years agreement. So, we, you know, uh, we do have an agreement with the
195city of Lakewood with Palms Park and we do that annually. And um I want to see if Artisia we have an agreement with the city with Portuguese Hall. Do we have an agreement with the Portuguese Hall? We do have an agreement with the Portuguese Hall, but that's not the city. That's the through the dees or Okay. So we don't have an agreement with the city of Artisia for any facilities use. Yeah, we yet cuz I'm I'm Yeah. My question is why why not Artisia? Right? Why are we the only ones without any? So we can approach them because we always work with them and if there's needs, if they have the facilities, the issue is if they have the facility that we need and we have the facility that we they need, then then that's
196that's where the joint use come in. Well, I would like to make a recommendation to reach out to the city because if there's no agreement, then how do we how do we reach out to them? I I would like to explore that because I think um I'm it's my small city and we don't have an agreement. We don't have much, but I mean we could share and I I think you're I'm being excluded from agreements and I think we need to reach out to my city. Thank you. Thank you. Uh Dr. Rios, well, just shout out to the city of Cerritos. I think when we're talking about things like budget cuts and stuff, it's going to be more important than ever to build these partnerships with our fellow or neighboring cities to supplement some of
197our um programming or just to be community partners. So, thank you to the city of Critos and the leadership of this is why but um Mayor Yokoyama, thank you uh board member Yu. Yeah. Oh, what a good news. I'm glad that we were able to uh collaborate and uh you know share the the facility and uh especially you know uh because uh the what is that the pickle ball? Pickle ball. Okay. Uh I just I heard that Don Kunabi Park playing pickle ball they have to pay $10 an hour now. Yeah, that's that's a lot. Like for adults, maybe we can afford it. But for like students or, you know, young adults who's looking for a job, that's a lot. But I would like to see more collaboration. So some of the city facilities or
198you know school facilities that could be managed by someone else or I don't know to make it more less expensive or no cost because pickle ball is really good good sport to get everybody out the kids they meet up with the old friends even after they graduate and went to college you know because kids all move back home now so it's really good to get that out so I would like to see the expand and on this collaboration of facility even with all the cities Artisia and Lakewood. Thank you. Thank you Tuan. The good news the best news today. Thank you board member Yu. So yes, we are going to expand that. We're not just going to do the pickle pickle ball's one thing, but also CCPA. Why don't our kids get to play there?
199So that's a beautiful facility. I would love to have our kids play there. Cost the city the same whether they have it full or empty. So that's another thing and I agree we need to have staff working with all of our cities. So because when we have these budget cuts that we're uh we have to address uh the sting is going to be less if we can share with the cities. So I have been meeting with Critos I have been meeting with Artisia and I invite uh Miss Mendoza to come with me to the next meeting because you are our liaison. It is staff and it is us when we'll be doing this and all of us in our constituent cities. We're going to work together to we're not going to go out there with
200our empty pockets and go, "Oh, I can't afford anything." But we will work together to make our entire community richer. So, whatever losses that we suffer in in certain things, maybe the city of Hawaiian Gardens will replace that because they have a great dedication to our kids that I've seen. um Lakewood, we we're meeting with them uh again with the city manager and their elected officials and I've reached out to them to to keep on moving. I don't care who they are. I just care that they'll work with us and uh um make a lowcost way for us to share and make community richer. So anyway, thank you very much. Uh so can I have a vote on that? All in favor say I. I. Any nays? Great. All uh motion passes 70. Can I
201have a motion to p ratify change order number one bid award ABC1591 Gar High School modernization to Cal City Construction Inc.? Second. Thank you, Mr. W. Thank you, President. We are bringing forward to the board um as ratification uh change orders because part of the process is you know we we um we need to authorize the work immediately to to to get the school renovated and as um the agreement is that we have to bring it back to the board for ratification. The good news here is that uh we believe this is will be the only change order that we need to bring to the board for GAR high school uh renovations and it is for the amount in the amount of $181,46. Um it is less than 1% uh uh or 57% to be
202exact of the total u the original contract amount. So uh um you know depends on who you talk to, right? standard industries could be up to 10% change orders and and this is less than 1%. So we're very happy uh to bring this forward to the board for approval. Thank you. Is there any public comment? None. Um board comment, Mr. Mendoza. Miss Mendoza. Thank you, Mr. President. I'm just concerned like why wasn't I I mean I wasn't on the board, but additional clocks and speakers and the one that concerns me is additional fire alarm devices. Like isn't that like a safety hazard? like aren't we supposed to have them in schools? There are students and when I did go visit Gar I did notice a lot of holes and now I know why. So we
203we you know as part of the drawing in the scope we built them in there but as as as you know um as the construction goes on as time we have either unanticipated items or just additional items that the school would like to request. So we add them on to the scope. So are we not in compliance by having fire alarm devices in our campus? we are fully in compliance because the plan have to be approved by DSA the the state division of architect. So they have to review the plan and fire and safety is the number one priority and they they review that first. So this is just above and beyond that. Okay. Thank you. Thank so I'd like to commend Tuan and his team uh atte budget. Every situation they always have a
204change order. If you don't if you go with the architect who's sitting in his office in in um Century City and you don't make a change based upon what you see on the ground, that is a weird that's not going to be a positive good thing. So, they've made changes that are positive and it's amazingly low even though it doesn't sound low. I mean, I can't afford that, but in the scope of uh how many million budget? $23,85,000. $23 million budget. It is very tiny. In fact, it's probably it it's it's good. Thank you very much, Tuan. Can I call for a vote on this item? All in favor say I. I. I. Any nays? The motion passes 6. Okay. A motion to approve bid award ABC 1672 Artisia High School Cafeteria to F Electric
205Inc. DBA Fers the lowest responsive and responsible bidder. Mr. Win. Thank you board president. We are excited to bring to the board the renovation of the kitchen at Articia High School. The district received a grant, the kitchen infrastructure and training grant and this is to be used to renovate um the kitchen at the different schools. So we are starting with uh Artisia High School. Um so we went to bid and we have two uh competitive biders and we are recommending the board to approve the bid to the lowest uh responsible bidder which is far electric uh in the amount of $938,740. Uh and again like I said this is fully grant fund by the uh kit fund or the kitchen infrastructure and training fund and the must money must be used to renovate the kitchen
206throughout the districts. Great. Um, do we have any public comment on this item? None. Do we have any board comment on this item? Also, this is a really good job because the bids came in very close. It means they understood the bid and um, uh, it was competitive. So, thank you. So, all in favor say I. I. Any nays? Motion passes 70. Thank you. Okay. A motion to approve bid award ABC1673 Leal Elementary School modernization to Spec Construction Co., Inc. as the lowest responsive and responsible bidder. Second, thank you, Mr. Nin. Thank you, Pre. She is again um this part of measure BB. We are we have finished renovating um the high school. That's the priority for the board and the middle school and now we are moving on to the elementary school. We've uh
207started with Brack and now we have three schools tonight for the board to approve and Leo's the first one of them. And I'm excited to share that we have two um responsive and responsible bidder and the difference is only 27,000 up out of $5.4 million. So it it can't get any closer than this. Um so it's very competitive and uh we are excited and it's within budget uh to bring it forward to the board to approve um uh to spec construction as the lowest responsive and responsible bidder. Thank you. Is there any public comment? None. Is there any board comment? So, just for the public to know, they're not going to see beautiful things out there. It's just technology. So, you'll say we spent a lot of money and we don't see it, but it's
208to make everything faster, better, and uh behind the scenes. So, can I have a motion? I'm Can I have a vote? All in favor say I. I. I. Any nays? Zero. Thank you. 70 passes. 4.78. Can I have a motion to approve bid award ABC1674 Carver Elementary School modernization to construct one corp as a lowest responsive and responsible bidder? So move second. Thank you again. This is measure BB renovation at Carver um elementary school. Um we received four bids and they are very competitive as you can see here. Uh we are actually this is a combined project between uh the defer maintenance which is defer the HVAC at Carver and the renovation which is measure BB uh two separate funding sources there uh totaling $6.3 million uh again to construction one uh core as the
209lowest responsive and responsible biders. Um in this particular bit we actually receive four bids and they again on page 122 very competitive and we happy to present this to the board for approval. Are there any public comments on this item? None. Are there any board comments on this item? And I'll call for a vote. All in favor say I. I. Vote passes 70. Thank you Mr. Nin. Uh, another construction project. Can I have a motion to approve bid award ABC1675 Nixon Elementary School modernization to the new Dynasty Construction Company as the lowest responsive and responsible bidder? Tatiana moves second. Okay, Mr. Thank you again. This is measure BB renovation at Nixon Elementary School. Um, we are recommending the board approve. Um, we got four biders and New Dynasty Construction is the lowest responsive and responsible
210bidder. I'm happy for them because if you look at the last two, they were the second lowest. So, they didn't get um by law, they didn't get the award because we have to award to the lowest responsive and responsive bidder. So, on the third one, they sharpen the pencil and now they are the lowest. So, we are happy to recommend the board to approve uh the contract to New Dynasty Construction uh to renovate uh Nixon Elementary. There's any public comment on this? None. Um, so how long will it take for them to get this done? Sorry. How long this it's $5 million. Thank you. Um, so the the the contract terms would start they will start um after school's out this year, right? Hopefully June 1st and it'll go through um the next school year.
211So it will be done at all three schools by uh the end of May of 2026. And this one's a full renovation of everything. So we'll see all the specific things that we requested. That is correct. Thank you. All right. So, call for a vote. All in favor say I. I. I. Any nays? Hearing none. Motion passes 70. Can I have a motion to approve bid award ABC1676 as specialist on lead abatement unit price to integrated demolition and remediation incidr with the option to renew annually up to four additional years is the lowest responsive and responsible bidder. So move. Second. Yes, Mr. W. Thank you. Um this is a little bit different because we went out to bid twice for this and this is the third time. Unfortunately we only had one bidder but we
212believe that the prices is in accordance with budget and and and standard out there. This is um to award for asbestos and let abate abatement throughout the district and you know as we um renovate our schools um legally we require to abate uh you know when we they asbestos and let the foul to be present. So uh uh this contractor will assist us in that process and to ensure that al um you know the construction is safe and done accordingly uh with the law. So um there's only one bidder but this is our third time trying. So um we are recommending um to the board to approve R as the lowest as the bidder for this uh project. Any public comment? None. Any board comment? All right, then I'll call for a vote. All in
213favor say I. I. Any nays? Hearing none. Motion passes 70. I think our down to our last one 4.1 A. Making a motion to approve bid award ABC1677 for food safety training cleaning supplies to the food safety systems as the lowest responsible bidder. So moved. Second. Mr. Twin. Thank you. Um we went out to bid for uh food safety training as required by law of of our schools 29 schools and provide cleaning supplies. We um receive um the contract again from food safety system that we've been working with for the past I want to say 10 years. So um in the amount of $10,885 per year uh for this contract. So we are recommending it to the board for approval. We have very positive experience with them. Thank you. Is there any public comments on
214this? None. Any board comment? Thank you for the thoroughess of the report. Appreciate the detail that's provided that helps us make a good decision here. Um I don't have any other questions. Can I call for a vote? All in favor say I. I. I. Any nays? Motion passes 70. Thank you. Board member reports. Oh, I was expecting number seven, but it's actually number uh Dr. Koreas because I'm so excited to share. It's I feel like we've haven't been here in a while, but the fact that we went to NSBA finally. I don't know if people know this, but for 5 years we had put in a proposal and first it got shut down because of the pandemic and then I don't know what happened and then I don't know what happened. So finally we got
215it through. A big shout out to Dr. Zitlo because she did a lot of the work to to submit the paperwork etc. But Dr. Frasier, um Dr. Castro, Mrs. Gomez and I presented on behalf of ABC. We showcased the work of Artisia High School and the fact that they're able to make all of these uh amazing things happen at the school with their students going to college, etc. By the way, the I'm going to college dinner is I think tomorrow. You're all invited. It's an amazing event. Um I also wanted to discuss uh a facility visit um that I did to Gar High School. And it's kind of appropriate timing because we're talking about budget cuts and we've had people from Gar High School that have reached out to us and said, "I have an
216idea. I have an idea that's going to maybe cost a little bit of money upfront, but it's going to generate a lot of income and and they've committed to not only um you know, eventually covering the cost, but even becoming a funding source. So, I really, you know, I've emailed Twan, we've been in communication. I really want more than ever for this to be considered. Um the other thing is that they brought this um kind of like an urgent uh matter that I think needs to be addressed. Um we happen to be out walking the base by the baseball area and they you know discussed gopher holes and I was at a baseball game today and I started to look at this as a diff in a different light because you know our athletes are
217D1 athletes. these kids are, you know, going to go on to play college level, hopefully maybe even get drafted at some point. And the idea that, you know, a gopher hole can potentially cause a risk or, you know, get in the way of that really bothered me and I was like have a little bit of anxiety watching them out there running, you know, trying to catch catch a ball. So, I think it's an immediate need that needs to be addressed. Um, lastly, teacher appreciation. Thank you to all the teachers. I especially I think found myself thinking about the teachers that made a difference in my life. And you know it it it always comes back the the other thing that came to mind was um Maya Angelo's quote of people will forget what you said,
218people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. And it's always that teacher that goes out of their way to make that student feel special. And I may have had dozens of teachers, but certain ones stick out because of the way they made me feel. They made me feel welcome. They made me feel seen. And so, a shout out to them. Um, and to all our teachers that do that every day here in our district. So, happy teacher appreciation day. Thank you. That's my report. Thank you. Uh, Vice President Noya. Uh, thank you, President Nishi. Uh I just want to share some like I mentioned earlier I did get to visit all the high schools but through the lens of our SIAS I got to actually you know
219welcome every student with the SIA starting at uh Tracy High School with Pablo Vega and then uh Monday April 20th with uh Mr. Chris Burn who is here uh and Jose Srano. Um Tuesday I got to visit uh Certo's High School with Mr. Del Franklin and Gar High School the next day with uh Leo Hunt and also Whitney High School with Mr. James Gibson. um some great insights I got from the RSIs. They are are of value to our our campuses. They they see themselves as the protectors of all things uh ABC. So I want to credit them for their insights. I will share their their ideas to Dr. Lelo and also their principles and I just want to thank them for everything they do and putting them putting themselves on the line. Uh happy
220Mother's Day for all the moms of ABC. I appreciate every single mom that does not just take care of their own kids, but also take cares of all the other kids here at ABC. So, thank you guys. And that's my report. Thank you. Um, board clerk Yokoyama Buouie. Um, happy teacher appreciation week to all the teachers and educators out there. Um, I know at my children's school, um, we're so excited. We love to shower our teachers with so much love and attention and I hope that's going on at all our schools. Um I was this past month I was able to attend a city of Cerrito city council meeting to help say a few words about the Winnie High School girls varsity CIF team. Um I also attended Leo Elementary's Festival of the World earlier
221this month with President Nishi. I attended Crito's High School Drama Club's production of All Shook Up. Um I attended ABC adult school outstanding student awards. We I attended along with President Nishi and we heard phenomenal stories of adult school students. Um just a couple a retired grandmother who is taking ESL. Um she finds it a great way to spend her retirement. A student who recently suffered a stroke that affected her right side of her body and she's taking oil painting which has been a positive form of oil therapy for of therapy for her. Um, I conducted a learning walk at Whitney High School with principal Dr. Staers. I I was attended I was invited to attend Palm Elementary's third grade performance of Rumpus in the rainforest. Thank you, Mrs. Bronner, Mrs. Magio, and assistant principal
222Harris for the invitation. I attended Haskell STEM Academyy's third annual research symposium with Vice President President Nyola. um captivating displays of research related to real word world issues. It was both in in uh poster format as well as video format. I did want to see if maybe for the next board meeting or one of the board meetings, we could have a few of the students put up their displays. They worked so hard of on them um using the Canva device um app and then they were able to make the posters. Uh there were rows and rows of them. It was so enlightening. um Whitney High School's production of Wizard of Oz, Willow Elementary's ABCL's Away performance of Wicked. Uh I attended our legislative policy meeting, Leo Elementary's fourth grade spring musical along with President Nishi,
223the credible westward movement. Lastly, most recently, Gar High School spring pop-up fundraiser. Um I also want to follow up on um Dr. Rios's comment related to the gopher holes. That was also a concern expressed to me by Haskell. Um, and I don't live far from Hasll, so I don't know how the goofer travels from my backyard to Haskell, but it does like under streets and everything. So, yeah, but thank you everyone. Happy Mother's Day. Thank you, Board Member Mendoza. Okay, really quick, I am going to talk about the gophers and I think I think from guard they came from the cemetery because my husband got rid of all of them, but he knows how to get rid of them. If you guys want to know, go talk to him. He knows how to get rid
224of them. Um, but um I do have a long list because I was really busy. Usually I'm not really busy, but um so I'm going to go really quick. I went to NES. They had a NES. They had their open house in their environmental festival. And you know, I love kindergarten. So, oh my gosh, the kindergarten classes were amazing. They were all dressed up in in character and they were just it was just amazing the work that was being shown by our students. Um I had a wonderful time there. Um and I also went to NEMA's financial literacy night and I'm going to make a request for next um month's um agenda. I would actually like to bring the students who participated in the stock market. Um I don't know exactly where they placed, but
225these kids actually play the stock market. Like they explained everything and I was like I have no idea what you're talking about. Um but they did really well and so I would like to invite them to um the board meeting and recognize them because these are elementary students who actually kind of made money. They had to come up with their own business plan. Um, and it was just amazing to hear about them and I don't think we've ever brought them to the board to recognize them. So, I'd like to officially put that on the agenda for next month. Um, I also stopped into the kindergarten roundup that was held at Cababrio Lane Adult School and I just said a few um words. I just really wanted to recognize that we are already planning for next
226year's kindergarten class and um giving our parents information about expectations and what they can do at the house um to kind of prepare them for for kindergarten. I also went over to Tracy at their open house and um I just love Tracy. I love going over there because I think it's just a such a a different environment for our students to to um succeed. Then I went on my official visit to Neimus Elementary School and I had to go visit my pen pal uh Miss Reoso's class and so I dropped off my my um my letters and Scott Smith was was there to attend and help me out with that. Um but I got to see Nas. hadn't been there for a couple of years and I'm I'm I'm really glad to be back. Then
227I went over to Gar. I didn't see any golfers. Um but I did get to see a former kindergarten uh student on mine page and we took a picture and I sent it over to her grandma and then I was in the hot seat with the ASB students and they had some really good questions um from um phone policy to like immigration again. Scott Smith was there with me. They had didn't they have good questions? Like they were really good. I was like, "Wow." Um, and then I asked them a questions about them, like where they were going, college and career, and we have amazing kids in our in our school district. They I'm just in awe of them. Um, I was able to attend the city of Artisia Extravagana and the public safety expo
228each year, the expo and the extravagana gets bigger and bigger, and I'm glad to see that our community comes out to participate in that. I did go over to the Garb band closed fundraiser and I didn't know about the pop-up. So, I helped Gar with their fundraiser and then I was like, "What's that over there?" So, I went over there and I went home with cookies and then when I got home, my daughter had gone to the same pop-up and she came home with the same cookies cuz we're like this. We We're um it was funny. It was really funny. Um, and again, we mentioned already teacher appreciate appreciation week and I, you know, I was I was so glad to see our our tenure teachers here, but also we have employee recognition. So, I
229know it's just not teachers, it's all of our employees, and I know the district is going to be recognizing them. Um, I would like to invite everybody to the Hispanic Latino Family Circle, which is going to be held um this month, the 13th, at 6 p.m. at Guard High School. Mayo Alard Evas. Um, also inviting you Saturday, May 10th from 5 to 10:00 p.m. at Artisia Park. Um, the city of Artisia is going to be hosting the Mariachi Festival. If you haven't come, it's so much fun. Um, this weekend we're going to be celebrating not only Mother's Day, but we're going to be celebrating Felicia de Las Madres. So, if you are Latina, Hispanic, we get two days. We get to celebrate two days. So, I want to wish everybody um and just appreciate all
230the work that you do. Um and then I want to congratulate our new uh board member, Genie McCann. Um uh I know you're going to do a great job. Um I know it's your first one. It's This was hard. This was a long one. They're not usually this long, so it's it's going to get better. Don't worry. Don't worry. I do. They're not all this long. They're all They're not all this long. No, Mr. President. That concludes my board report. Thank you, Mr. Uh Mr. President, thank you. Uh, board member Jeannie Mcaten going on. It' be good. Okay. Well, first of all, this is a very memorable first meeting. And um, let's see. I made it to Gar's popup event, which was very um, interesting. Lots of nice and good vendors. Uh, I wanted to
231remind you that the middle school track meet this Saturday at GAR. And then um Optimus is having an event a gayla on I believe it's um the 19th of May which um all the benefits go to ABC Cares. So that's uh really important and happy Mother's Day to everyone here and happy teacher appreciation day. Thank you board member U. Thank you President uh Nishi. Um I spent some time with Dr. Castro to look over the curriculums and uh the is that called the California assessment test? Yeah. And uh you know what was kind of surprising is that it's a standardized test so everybody takes the same test but some of these uh elementary school uh tests like fifth and sixth grade th those were really hard. And you know the thing that really concerned me
232was um as an English learner myself some of those word problems for math even though you know you're pretty you could be good in math but those those uh word problems starting in that level the comprehension it's very difficult very difficult I don't know how they would do it right so so I had a lot of thoughts about this uh standardized test I uh almost think that um you know this standard ized test cannot be the same for the schools depending on you know the student it's it's all different there's different needs and some of these uh students I feel like uh they can really benefit to if the teacher can assess them from point A if they're at A and bring them to a B that's success not everyone will progress at the same
233level so just that that's something to think about because we do want all of our students to really be successful. You know how I've been emphasizing math because there's more jobs in math and science. Okay, that's really dear to my heart. So, that was one thing. And just happy Mother's Day. I want to take this time to uh reflect on my mom who passed away, you know, two years ago. And uh as I said, you know, she worked in the garment in this garment district. um she never really learned to speak English but you know the sacrifice of a mom is what really build up children really in every household mothers play critical role and you know my mom's sacrifice I mean she went through the Japanese colonial period where she couldn't speak Korean language
234in schools and then the Korean uh war was just brutal. The Korean Civil War, it just burned everything. So, she lost um her house and her dad and all the men, all her brothers and and she was devastated and she had trauma in her dreams even to the day she died. And but even then we immigrated 1974 and she raised four kids you know working as a garment in simress and my dad you know we did a janitorial service and cleaning and painting everything and I helped them too and we survived and she was able to get all four of us through college and um you know between her grandkids that she all helped raise which is like 12 and eight do, you know, four daughters and son-in-laws, eight. So, of 20 of us, 14
235of us are taxpaying citizens. So, my mom's life is a legacy. She was a successful, patriotic mom in this country. So, I just want to honor her and a lot of other moms out there who's just like her. They may not speak English because they immigrated and they really never had a time to learn the language but they did their part to build the economy to raise healthy children and contributing to this uh you know economy and just want to say thank you to United States. This is the country that my parents chose to immigrate for opportunity and safety and freedom. So, God bless all the moms and have a wonderful Mother's Day to all of us here right here, too. Thank Thank you, board member. Um, all right. Announcements. Next regular board meeting will
236be Tuesday, May 20th at uh 7 p.m. District board office committee meetings will be finance and audit board advisory committee. This is an important one to go to. Talking about money, Thursday, May 22nd, 2025 at 6 p.m. District conference room. Strategic Planning Board Advisory Committee. In lie of the May meeting, the members are going to invite to a June 3rd board meeting and the local control accountability plan recommendations and preliminary budget on Tuesday, June 3rd, uh 7 p.m. Come to the district board office. Legislative policy advisory committee is going to be meeting Wednesday, August 27th at 6:30 p.m. District conference room. And I think I even went to that I think we all went to that GAR fundraiser. I think I bought some I bought something from every single booth. That's crazy. Beef jerky. The
237beef jerky was so good. The jerky was good. The chips were good. The tri tip rivals Texas almost. Wow. You know, big compliment. Uh yeah, I got to say. So anyway, uh second public comment section. Clerk Buoie. Yes, we have uh Mr. Ray Gear. Thank you. What's another five minutes, right? Um Ray Garb, president of the ABC Federation of Teachers. So, thank you, Miss U for asking the question about, you know, how did we get through 2007 to 2011? Um, we did cuts along the way. Um, think about it. When you go to the gym and you get on the treadmill and you're going to I'm going to walk or run an hour. The first 10 minutes is the easiest. So, these proposed cuts, these are the easiest cuts because your staff has done this
238very strategically. So, it's not hurting classrooms and people that are going back to the schools. It's just re reallocating the money. It's coming out of different pots. So these are all these positions. They're strategic. Now, do you have to do all 5.9? No. But I would encourage you to do as much as you can so that you can bank that because what you don't cut is going to be double hard to cut the next time and they will be more painful the next time. You never want to sweep things under the rug. You always want to make sure that everybody is aware that there is a budget crisis at the at this particular moment and that if you if you make it look like it's not really as deep as it is and the you
239know and we have to we have a three-year budget. We have to be uh to make sure that we are um you know being fedicious for all three years. And so, you know, we need to let know the community know, let the employees know that it's real and they have to see that it's real. Um, people who were surprised, they react very badly. For instance, when we did the consolidation of facilities, it was a surprise. Even though the district did its best to get the message out, it was a surprise. So the community is listening and we have an opportunity to work with the community along the way. And so I would encourage you to look at these budget cuts and understand that your staff is going to reinstate critical, you know, um, e counselors
240and pieces where they're really needed. They're going to be looking at that. And these have been strategically done so that it does the least amount of harm to any classroom or any student in ABC. If we have to do another round, it's going to be much tougher. So, anything you bank now saves you later. Um, just know that ABCFT is messaging that this is serious and that, you know, if we're going to be a comparable district to everybody around us, then we have to look at how we spend our finances, how we use our facilities, and we have to do some pain because pain will give gain for our students. If we have fewer classrooms, then we have fewer combo classes. We and that every time you get rid of combo classes, that's less overhead.
241When the federal government sent a bunch of money to this school district, we did the right thing. We dumped it into personnel. Some districts built schools or they built things that continue to eat and they're laying off people or they're threatening giving pink slips and, you know, bringing them back. And we don't want to get into that game. And so we were really smart that when we got money, we knew that the first thing we needed to do was to stabilize our schools with personnel. And so those TOSAs, for example, that were put into every school, they were told as they were hired, you do not have a position in ABC as a teacher. You have a certain amount of of time here in ABC. And we've extended that time. We've really stretched that dollar
242and increased the amount of time that those people have been able to have a great impact in ABC, but they know that there is a limit to that because they're seeing what's happening with the budget, too. So, you know, these are tough choices, but the, you know, early paying gives you gain later. Thank you. Thank you. Last item on the agenda. Can I have a motion tojourn? Second. All in favor say I. I. I don't hear any objection, so I'll say that. Passes 70. Thank you. You're welcome. We [Music] are Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music]