001[laughter] >> Yeah. >> Test. Test. Test. Yours is on. Test. Yep. Yep. >> [clears throat] >> Good afternoon. The board just returned from closed session in while in closed session by anonymous board, the board the board select Dr. James Bloodkin for the position of assistant superintendent educational services subject to an agreement on terms of employee. So, now we move to regular board meeting meeting and I will call the meeting to order at 7:10. And roll call, um Dr. Finley. Present. Uh Dr. Hassold. Present. Ms. Holguin. Here. Mr. Reyes. >> Here. Alexis. Present. And great ideas present. I will Oh yes, thank you. >> [snorts] >> Uh see I have persona can I assist that translation the English to Spanish tenemos I get dressed out getting out of the window on the translation. Y Marlene is
002here to help to translate today if anyone needs help and to translate English to Spanish. Thank you, Marlene. Okay, well now I will ask Dr. Finley to please lead us in a flag salute and then after that Rosa Holguin to believe speech vision and mission. All right, please stand. Place your right hand over your heart. Ready, begin. I pledge allegiance 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. Okay, our beliefs. We believe we're a community of learners. We believe learning occurs in a culture of caring and respect. We believe all students are motivated to learn when they're in they are engaged in meaningful work for that connects to their lives. We believe expectations do influence
003performances and outcomes. We believe learning increases when there are high expectations for performance and conduct. We believe we have the responsibility to find solutions that enable all students to learn. Our mission, 21st century schools producing 21st century students. Our mission, provide the knowledge, skills, and inspiration for each student for success in college and in life. Thank you, Dr. Finley. Thank you, Mrs. Holguin. Um I we now move to item number seven, the adoption of the agenda. Dr. Medrano, do you have something to add before I ask for the adoption of the agenda? Yes, we have an addition um item 14.3, which is proclamation number 19 -25-26 was placed on the agenda after the 72-hour notice and the board should entertain a motion to adopt the amended agenda to include that item. Uh just for your
004reference, it is regarding a proclamation for the day of the teacher that was left off and inadvertently. Thank you. I need a motion to adopt the agenda. So moved. Moved by Ms. Holguin. Second. >> Seconded by Dr. Finley. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Aye. Motion approved. We now move to item number eight, recognitions. Dr. Medrano. Um I would like to bring Ms. Naila Othman up to the front. She's going to be helping to present our PBIS uh recognitions. Yes, let's give her a round of applause. >> [applause] >> And you can introduce our guest. Good evening. The exact moment I put a piece of candy in my mouth. >> [laughter] >> But I want to say thank you everyone for being here. I love seeing a full house, exactly what we want. It's very
005exciting um to share this happy joyous moment to celebrate our schools for state recognition for PBIS. Um another treat, we have Dr. Resnick from LACO who's actually going to help present these awards um and I show showcasing our schools um recognition and celebrate their success. Dr. Resnick. Thank you, Ms. Othman. >> [applause] >> Good evening, president of the board, members of the board. Dr. Medrano, thanks for having me this evening. Naila, thank you for inviting me. It's my pleasure to be here and to um represent LACO for another successful year of PBIS implementation here in Duarte. We are very proud of the partnership that we have with you. Tonight, I not only represent the LACO PBIS unit, but also the state of California as a member of the core leadership team at California PBIS. This
006evening, we're representing four schools have who have earned the teams who have earned the two highest honors in the state of California with regard to PBIS implementation. The basics are they have worked four years to put together strong systems and relevant practices that work to improve the outcomes for our students, for your students. And I congratulate on congratulate you on the hard work and I congratulate the teams for the work as well. So, without further ado, I would like to ask Andrew Fields come to the stage. Andrew? >> [applause] >> Andrew, congratulations as the coach at Beardsley Dual Language Academy for earning gold this year. If you have members of your team in the audience, please ask them to come forward. I invite Sherry Johnson, Jennifer Romero, Jennifer Brown, and Renee Mata. Congratulations. Good work.
007>> [applause] >> Excellent. A photo op, thank you. Please, please do. Love it. >> [clears throat] >> Naila. >> [applause] >> Also being recognized this year for their work on implementation um the PBIS coach at Mount Olive High School Innovation High School Innovation and Technology High School, Ariana Rocha. Are you in the room? >> [applause] [applause] >> And if you two would please invite your team up to join you. >> [laughter] >> Reluctant participants in the photo op. Come on. >> [laughter] >> Recognize you for your work. Come on. >> [applause] [applause] >> To to earn state recognition at the gold level, schools must have implemented tier one and tier two practices to meet the needs of students with interventions to help with their success on campus. Not to be outdone by gold recognition, the
008next two schools have earned the highest level, which is platinum. They must demonstrate high-levels of fidelity of tier one, tier two, and tier three strategies in place serving students of all levels at their school. To recognize to recognize the next school this evening for earning platinum, Royal Oaks coaches Christine LaCrone and Nicole Babbitt, please. >> [applause] >> And are you going to have your team join you as well? Come on, you can't hide. >> [clears throat] >> Great work, team. >> [applause] >> Also being recognized this evening for earning platinum for their implementation of PBIS is the coach Mary Jansen from the Valleyview Academy of Technology. >> [cheering and applause] >> We don't have to tell you to bring your team. Yeah, apparently you're ready to roll. >> [applause] >> On behalf of LACOE and
009California PBIS, great work, Duarte, and thank you. I look forward to next year's board meeting as well. Congratulations. >> [applause] >> Okay. Rather than going all the way back up, um we would like to just take a moment to recognize all the administrators here with us tonight. We have all of our principals. If you could please stand up and wave a hand. Yes. I see the Yeah, there you go. Thank you for all for being here tonight, [applause] directors. We We also have our directors um from the district and all management. If you all could just do a wave real quick. Thank you all for being here. >> [applause] >> Yeah, thank you. Okay. And And now I'd like to bring up uh Mr. Haro. It's your turn. We're going to do a recognition of
010our winter athletes. So. >> [applause] >> Thank you. It's my honor, my pleasure to be here this evening to recognize our winter athletes. We had a great season. Our uh soccer teams and basketball teams, the wrestling teams did outstanding this season. I'm going to turn around if you guys don't mind. This is just kind of cookie. So, I'm going to start off with uh our scholar athletes. So, all of winter sports, what they do, and I always have this speech, forgive me if you've heard it, but scholar athletes are the athletes within each sport uh who have the earned the top GPA for that particular sport. So, for example, girls basketball the whole entire league get rates rates all of the girls basketball players, and the top students GPA-wise get a scholar athlete award, meaning
011that not only are they awesome varsity athletes, but they're also great students in the classroom. So, that's high achievement to be able to handle both at such high levels. So, I would like to call up the following students for uh Montview League scholar athlete recognition. Isabella Woo. >> [applause] >> Jason Velasquez. Jonathan Castaneda. >> [applause] >> Leo Cardona. Carter Wynn. >> [applause] >> Victoria Ramirez. >> [applause] >> Selena Banuelos. >> [cheering] >> This young man is playing volleyball right now, but Ethan Finley. >> [applause] >> And finally, basketball scholar athlete Nathan Petrabud. >> [applause] >> Okay, and that is this year's winter scholar athletes. >> [applause] >> Parents, pictures, stand up. It's okay. I will move out in a second. You are part of this as well. Hold on, one second. Sorry. Thank you. >>
012[applause] [applause] >> Wonderful work, athletes. Okay, I'm going to call up So, now it's time to honor our rest of our sports for their athletic performance. So, they usually, depending on the sport, will recognize first, second, and third, but for athletes, it's the top athlete for that particular position. Wrestling's a little bit different. But So, these athletes are being recognized by the league for being a top athlete in their position or in their sport. I'm first calling First, our coach for wrestling, Mr. Joshua Perez. >> [applause and cheering] [applause] >> They had an outstanding year this year, a great season. He coaches both boys and girls. And I have to say I have to thank him publicly because a couple years ago I spent How long you've been coaching for us now? 11 years. So,
013he really has built a outstanding program from really just a few athletes, and he just recruited and recruited, and friends bring friends, and he'll get an athlete like this year. He had a brand new athlete, a female, and she'll be called up later, who never wrestled before, and she was a league champion. So, that's an attribution to Joshua >> [applause] >> and the hard work of our athletes. So, we have great coaches at Duarte High School. So, uh boys and girls mixed here. So, if if I call fourth place, you have to consider it's fourth place in the entire league for their weight class. So, in fourth place for our league, we have Miss Marlene Lopez. >> [applause] >> Fourth place, uh boys wrestling, uh Nicholas Hita. >> [applause] >> Fourth place, Josiah Corona >>
014[applause] >> Third place, Zoe Castella- Castellanos Zoe Castellanos >> [applause] >> Congratulations. Third place, Kennedy Pratts >> [applause] >> Second place for the entire league, Nathan Valerio >> [applause] >> Second place, Samantha Gutierrez >> [applause] >> All league, so number one in the entire league for his weight class, Mr. JAIME BOCANEGRA >> [cheering] [applause] >> ALL LEAGUE champion again, Miss Isabella WOO >> [cheering] [applause] >> SO, THE NEXT three are very special awards. So, all of these three are league champions. Not only that, league MVP. So, what they do is not only are they the best in the weight class, from the entire wrestling program, they choose a league MVP. So, we have we have three here. So, uh league MVP twice, two times, last year and this year, Jack Contreras >> [applause and cheering]
015>> league MVP and league champion Valeria Hinojosa >> [cheering] [applause] >> And this young man is amazing. Not only was he a scholar athlete, three-time all league champion four-time CIF qualifier two-time league MVP Jason Velasquez >> [cheering] [applause] >> And that is our standing wrestling squad. GREAT JOB, GUYS. >> [applause] >> MAYBE RIGHT BEHIND THERE YOU GO. FACE. >> [applause] >> Congratulations once again. Soccer. Let's go on to soccer. Soccer had a great season. They went CIF. Monte Vista League boys soccer honorable mention, Andrea Rofaro >> [applause] >> Thank you. Honorable mention, Jonathan Castaneda >> [applause] >> Second team all league, Oscar Rivera >> [applause] >> Last year's league MVP, but this year's first team all league, Christian Correra Salinas >> [applause and cheering] >> I'm going to do the girls so we can do
016the boys and girls together. Girls had a great season as well, went to CIF, had a wonderful season this year. Uh second place, I'm sorry, honorable mention, Brisa Garcia >> [applause] >> Honorable mention, Melanie Sanchez >> [applause] >> Second team all league, Leilani Prado Leilani [applause] That's Mr. Prado's daughter. First team all league, Kathy Martinez Funez >> [applause] >> And oh nothing, just another league MVP. For our girls soccer, our league MVP, all around stud, Samantha Macias >> [applause] >> She unfortunately was injured playing soccer recently, so she's not here tonight. She's so And she committed to playing citrus next year, so she's going to continue playing her soccer career. So, that's really cool. All right, that's our soccer players picture. >> [applause] [applause] >> Just a FYI, just a plug for our international student
017program. We have about six to eight students I mean, they're coming back and forth. We're on We're on eight students, our international students from different parts of the country that come to Duarte High School, thanks to Mr. Kevin Morris and his and his team. So, And- Andrea is actually from Italy visiting us this semester. So, it's beautiful to see when they come, they just joined our sports and our programs. We have a couple girls who are from different countries who are on us um our cheer team. He joined our soccer team. He's also playing soc- uh tennis right now, right? So, uh it's just beautiful to see that. So, our international program is growing and it's really uh beneficial to both parties. Anyways, uh let's talk about some basketball. So, we have some hoopers in
018the house. So, let's start off with our boys. They had a great season. Uh second place and made CIF. So, yes, good job. >> [applause] >> Second honorable mention, honorable mention, Isaiah Cartagena >> [applause] >> Honorable mention, Maxwell Rojas >> [applause] >> Second team all league, Jesus Serrato >> [applause] >> They're shy, I think. Second team all league, David Eribe >> [applause] >> What the heck? Uh first team, Nathan Petrabot >> [applause] >> First team all league, 8'4, I'm playing. Eth- Ethan Finley >> [applause] >> You know, we're a very young team, so most of the guys I mentioned will be back next year. So, next year we're going to dominate, trust me. So, uh our girls, last and definitely not least, had a again, I keep saying this, but had a great season. Uh
019third place and went to CIF. Right? Okay. [applause] Honorable mention, Abigail Miranda >> [applause] >> Honorable mention, Avery Velasco >> [applause] >> Second team all league, Felicity Castillo >> [applause] >> There we go. Uh let's see here. Three-sport athlete, scholar athlete, second team all league, Victoria Ramirez >> [screaming] [applause] >> Ashley, four sport cuz she does cross country. Uh first team all league, NAOMI DEGNAN >> [applause] >> AND THEN, special award here. First team all league also a multi-sport athlete Valeria Nunez >> [applause] >> First team all league. Congratulations. Flag football, soccer, and basketball athlete absolute absolute stud Oh, just another all league MVP. All league MVP for the entire Monte Vista League, the best player of all league, we have Selena Banuelos >> [applause and cheering] >> Congratulations. And that is our winter sport
020athletes recognition. >> [applause] >> Is there anyone I may have missed? Any student athlete that I may have missed? Okay. Thank goodness. >> [applause] [applause] >> We do have some treats and we'll take a quick 5-minute recess if you would like to enjoy any cookies. Um they're over here on the side. But, thank you so much for being here to celebrate our schools for PBIS and our athletes. Thank you. >> Okay. Huh? No? Great. Okay. Okay, we are back to business. Thank you to all of you that stay with us. And I I believe that we're not going to have a long meeting tonight, hopefully. But I I like to introduce uh uh acknowledge the uh presence of Mr. Michael Mike Michelle Wright from the town council. Thank you for being here tonight. >> [applause]
021>> Okay, Dr. Medrano, where are we done with all the So, report from the student board? Right? Oh, no. No, I'm sorry. They uh item number two, presentation of the annual measure E general obligation bond audit 24-25. Yeah, I would like to call >> Oh, I I'm sorry. Thank you. Thank you. I want to go home. Sorry. She's ready to go. >> Presentation of the annual financial financial audit for the 24-25 fiscal year. Thank you. And we have Natalie Palma from Christy White & Associates. We'll turn it over to you, Natalie. Yes, hi. Good evening. It's Thursday, it's almost Friday, right? Um But yeah, my name is Natalie Palma. I am an auditor with Christy White & Associates, and I sort of helped spearhead the audit for um this last year. Um I'll be talking
022a little bit about the district audit as well as the bond audits at the end. Uh so, this year we conducted the audit of the district funds, the capital assets, long-term debt, and compliance with both state and federal laws. Our audit covers a broad range of areas. We documented and tested internal controls in areas such as purchasing, cash disbursements, um and we did this by taking a look at checks, invoices, purchase orders. We also took a look at payroll internal controls by taking a look at time cards and personnel files. Um as well as cash receipts by taking a look at invoices, receipts, and deposits. So, what we do is we'll ask for um a sample of items, and then we'll ask for the support and review them. We also conducted a single audit, which
023includes testing internal controls and program compliance over two major programs such as the child nutrition cluster and the title one part A part A program this year. And again, we did this by selecting expenditures um expended by the program as well as taking a look at at the federal compliance um specifics um and making sure those requirements were met. Finally, we tested all June 30th, 2025 balance sheet accounts such as cash, accounts receivables, accounts payables, capital assets, and long-term debt with revenue and expenditures across all of the district funds. Um and again, we did this by taking a look at bank statements, reconciliations, debt statements, and capital asset listings. So, our overall opinion, our financial statement opinion, our state compliance opinion, and federal compliance opinion were all unmodified, which is the best opinion that you
024can receive. Um there were no findings for this 24-25 fiscal year. Um and that's essentially all I had for the district portion of the audit. Do you guys have any questions for me before I review the bond audit? Board members? Yes. I noticed in a few of the paragraphs on several pages, you state um I'll read I'll read the whole um thing that says, "Conclude whether, in our judgment, there are conditions or events considered in the aggregate that raise substantial doubt about the Downey Unified School District's ability to continue as a going concern for a reasonable period of time." Can you explain that? Yes, it's a required language that we have to input into our our reports. Essentially, if um we believe that the district is going through any fiscal hardships, and we don't believe
025that the district can continue on as a functioning LEA, um then we would report that in the report. Um but we don't believe so, so there isn't a specific going concern about um the district's ongoing um uh production and >> So, there isn't a going concern. >> There isn't a going concern. Thank you. Yeah, good news. >> [snorts] >> Any other comment or question? No? Thank you. Yeah. And then, I'll go over a little bit um about the bond reports. Mhm. Very similar procedures uh For measure E, we tested approximately 38% of non-personnel expenditures for validity, allowability, and accuracy. Uh for measure S, we tested approximately 33%, and again, we did this by sampling a sample of expenditures and viewing support for each one. Uh it's a little bit different than the district audit cuz
026the compliance section of that is um and what we take a look at, making sure that they're complying with the ballot language and making sure that they're all compliant regarding the the bond um the measure specific language and applicable state laws and regulations. Uh we also took a look at change orders for each measure and verified that the total of all the change orders did not exceed 10% of the total contract. And all change orders were properly reviewed and approved by management and the governing board in accordance with district policy. We also tested bidding requirements for both measures. And after the review of contracts awarded for the year, we noted that applicable bidding procedures were being properly followed, and the contracts were properly appropriately awarded to the lowest responsible bidder. The district appears to be
027properly reviewing projects and applying appropriate procedures over contract and bidding procedures. Uh for measure E specifically, we also tested a Um and we found that all of the employees being charged to the program were um held applicable positions to the bond and appeared allowable. So, our opinions of the measures financial statements and performance audit are summarized under the schedule of findings and recommendations at the very end of the report. And over [snorts] again, overall, I'm happy to report that both measures were issued with an unmodified opinion for both the financial statements and the performance audit of the bond measures. Um no material weaknesses or significant deficiencies were identified and no reportable findings. So, overall, a great audit. Do you guys have any questions for the bond portion? >> I have a quick question. Can you
028explain to our community what measures are and bonds are? Sure. Um to the best of my ability, essentially, it's uh what the district can use those funds to basically improve a lot of the school facilities. Um So, then our job is then to making sure that, you know, you're spending the money's to what those bond measures should be spent as. So, a lot of it's improving um you know, a lot of HVACs or doing a a gym overhaul. I don't remember the specific um projects that the district has, but essentially, it should be going towards those improvements for the school district. So, um the community voted for those. Yes. Yes. Just want to make sure cuz sometimes we forget what we voted for like 10 years ago. Yeah. Um there is a a a ballotpedia,
029I I think it's called, and they can definitely go on there, and they'll tell you when it was voted, by how much it was voted by um and won by, and what it should be used for. Thank you. Um and quick question for for these two bond audits. Um so, it says for uh 24-25, so these were only expenditures that were made during that uh that those two years I guess that fiscal year. Okay, so any anything that was done before then is not included in these. No, so it would be from the time of July 1st, 2024 all the way through June 30th, 2025. Okay, thank you. Mhm. So, these are not the current balances, correct? No. No. Thank you. That would be for this next audit fiscal year. Thank you. No more questions?
030No? Thank you. Thank you. Hope you guys have a good rest of your evening. You, too. Thank you. We now move to presentation of a strategic transformation in special education, Dr. Mitrano. I'd like to call up Dr. Dr. Margaret Akinusi to the podium. She will be sharing an update on some of the changes we've been making in special education and next steps. Dr. Akinusi. Thank you. Good evening, Board of Trustees, I standard cabinet members, fellow staff, and community. My name is Dr. Margaret Akinusi and tonight, I'll be presenting on the strategic transformation that the special education department has been doing over the years. So, I just want to mention that this transformation is still ongoing and we base everything that we do on the data to ensure continuous improvement for all of our students regardless
031if you identify as needing IEP or not. I just also wanted to mention that our department chose to do both physical responsibility and also to continue to improve our system. We just didn't choose one over the other. So, uh the slide number two is just showing a few of our commitments. We continue to commit to improve students outcomes. We continue to build internal capacity where we use our staff in the in their strengths to continue to improve over years. We also um has reduced external dependency on non-public agencies and because we know that we have internal expertise in-house that we could use to provide those services. And of course, we're all about inclusive um services. We continue to improve on that and continue to train our our staff to ensure that they have the ability
032and the skills that they need to continue to be successful. All right, so the strategic transformation, this is actually this particular uh slide, when you think about the scoreboard or the scorecard that you have at the end of every game. So, every local education agency in the United States and particularly in California, we have what we call our you know, scorecard where the state or federal agency is looking to your data to determine how well you're doing. So, in the 22-23 school year, we were identified as being significantly disproportionate, meaning state came in and said as a district that we have so many students that were being identified as needing special education. And part of that is that the department has to come up with a plan in a way to reduce that. And also,
033they would take uh 15% of our funding. So, but we've worked so hard to get out of this status, we are no longer being identified as such and therefore we are able to bring our 15% uh funding back. So, not just myself as a director, the staff and the school, the general education side of the house, we came together, we worked so hard to ensure that we look at our data to find out what the root causes were so that we can be able to not go back to doing that. Like I said, this is still continuing and that work came along is that we decided to sweep you know, shift the way we do professional development. We looked at who needs the training, where do we best meet our school sites to be able
034to better you know, support them. And so, what that means that we improve staff confidence, we improve the way we support uh behavior. We restructured our what we call the BCBA um structure that we have, the hierarchy of supporting schools. And one of the other things that we did based on coming out of you know, this uh compliance status is that we looked at some of the students that we have outside because we had a relationship at that time with charter school that we chartered some of their data were affecting ours. So, we worked with CDE. Now, on those that particular school is no longer part of this district, but that actually really helped us with our cleaning the data because we were working on making sure that our IEP is compliant, that we're trying
035to you know, work with families to ensure you know, timely delivery of services. And so, working with the um outside agency has really helped. We also returned and opened a fragile classroom at Maxwell because we have some students that were sending to different districts and we have MOUs with those districts where we were paying money for those students to be maintained at the other local district within the SELPA. So, we we returned some of those students and also make sure that we have things in place so that those students that we brought back to the district will continue to be successful. And again, everything is still ongoing because we're working on you know, maintaining and improving. So, again, part of the plan that we submitted to state, we decided that one of the things that
036we're going to focus on is how we do professional development. Not just for our district, across all board, school districts are you know, trying to maintain their own in-house substitute pool. So, every time we send teachers out to go get training, that means there's going to be a sub in the classroom. So, we looked at when would be the best time to do training for our teachers. We looked at how many um professional development in a school year based on the calendar could we bring somebody. So, I work with SELPA, I work with Los Angeles County Office of Education. They come in-house to do training for our students and our last professional development is a testimony of how hard we have worked. So, it's not only about you know, how to support students, it's also
037we brought um well-being of staff. And in addition to this, we also started this school year, we have our collaboration meeting with our special ed families where we bring experts from the field to come in and train us. Something that we can take back. We also decided that in order to continue to support behavior at the school sites, we used to have a behavior specialist through a non-public agency. And of course, we work with personnel department. We we decided that if we have our own in-house BCBA, it's not only cost-efficient, but also we have a better oversight. Meaning if a school site needs help, we know who to call instead of waiting for the agency to come in because sometimes an agency may have more than one school they have contract with. And that has
038really reduced our level of suspension. And if you look at our dashboard this year, we actually made improvement on special education removal from school. So, that's a big plus. And also, we decided that again, we're going to create our own internal talent because we have them in-house. We have what we call our train of trainer for the CPI training where our goal is to ensure that every instructional aid that works for us will be trained on CPI, meaning how to handle behavior. I can attest to the fact that we have trained over 90% of our instructional aid and some of our um security people and we're going to continue to train everybody including teachers and eventually we'll get to the principals because also they deal with behavior at the school sites. So, that's some of
039the things we're working on. So, we no longer have to pay for a professional to come in and train because we sent our people to go get this training and it's also another cost-saving uh factor for us. Another thing that we did, we created our own special education handbook because one of the things that we wanted to ensure is that there is consistency across all school sites on our process and procedures. So, that if school A is doing something, even the way we you know, transfer students from one school to another, it has to be streamlined and it has to be the same across board. So, our handbook is a living document. We we update it as new information are coming out. And everyone that works regardless if you're a special education staff have access
040to our handbook so that we did it in such a way that you can type and find whatever you're looking for, there will be an answer that or it will take you to a website where you can find the answer that you're looking for. And also, my staff, we are very very accessible to principals and to staff so that if they have any questions, they can always call us. Everybody have the means to get hold of us. So, another thing that we did was few years ago, we used to outsource everything. Our CalPads, our compliance, and then the MPS and MPA students. So, we changed that because we looked at how much it was costing the district, and we decided that we're going to go get trained so we can become our own experts when
041it comes to CalPads. So, I can tell you for the last 2 years we have not had any contract presented to the board for somebody to come in and look at our CalPads status. We did We do it ourselves. We went to the training, we got trained, and now we do it ourselves, so we're not depending on anybody. And when it comes to students that are placed in non-public schools, I attend every one of those meetings. That was how we've been able to bring students back because when somebody from the agency was doing it, it's business, you know. They listen, they agree to whatever, and they sign off on it. But now that one of us from the department attend those meetings, we ask questions. We use data to drive what we do, and we
042work with those schools to see if do we have something within the district where the student can come back and at least attend their own, you know, um neighborhood schools. So, we have improved on that. And also, that led to some cost savings. We have also increased district capacity across compliance, like I said. Uh we meet with principals. We have a principal collaborative meeting where compliance is always on the agenda. We share data with them. They have access to where they can go, even if they cannot edit, they have access of how their teachers are doing. We send weekly compliance list so that the principals are aware, and they have been helping. And I can tell you that we have improved so much from how we used to on our dashboard, how it used to
043look. We have less than 14 on a front IEP. It's unheard of for across district within our SELPA. Actually, yesterday at the SELPA's student directors meeting, they used Duarte as an example because we are working hard to ensure that our compliance is intact because we don't want to go back to where somebody's taking 15% of our IDEA funding. So, we use we used to use a lot of non-public agency aids. And with the economy, they keep increasing their cost. We were so intentional with the companies that we work with, and I know that we come to the board and ask for uh approving certain amounts so that we can continue to maintain those services that is agreed on students' IEP. One of the things that we did was we work with different agencies, and we
044decided on the lowest. So, in order to maintain that, we bring them along with our during our PLCs so that those agencies are also trained because they're already on our campus, and they're working with our students. That has saved money because some agencies charge a little more than the others. And another thing that we did was we're looking at where we need our experts the best. So, we reviewed all our instructional aids, and we transitioned some of the instructional classroom aids to one-to-one because those students needed it more so that they can be included in a gen ed setting. And then we have reassigned some of the instructional aids, too. You know, as much as we try to collaborate uh with families, sometimes we're not hitting o- our goal as as we should, and we're
045also trying We're continuing to improve on that. So, when it comes to school psychologists, 2 years ago made the um decision to change the way they submit their calendars so that they are here during extended school year, and therefore, that is another cost saving. So, I have um school psychologists here in summer because we adjusted the way their calendar works. They still work the same number of days they're supposed to work, but I have them during summer school with no extra cost to the district. So, that was something that we looked at 2 years ago and decided to make that move. And it was difficult, you know, initially, but with communication and clear intent on where we're coming from, it's accepted, and we do it. It has become part of our department. So, um as
046far as our program consolidation, I can tell you right now that we do not have any students that we sent outside of the state or in a residential treatment center because again, thanks to my school psychologists and thanks to the board for giving me my own BCBA, we work so hard to bring the two students that we have that you guys approved, they're back now. So, that is saving the district over 500,000 a year for one student because that student is back in our schools, and we're supporting that kid with our behavior people and our school psychologists and an instructional one-to-one aid, which is better for that kid because you see your friends that you see on weekend, and mom is able to know who to, you know, talk to if there is any issue.
047We also have returned some of our so many of our um non-public school students that we have. When I 2 years ago we had like almost 18, 19. Right now we have seven. So, and that's the testament of allowing us to be able to use our data to inform our decision, and also to decide principals that, you know, work with us to get those kids in their schools because I know it's not easy. So, all these things have led to us not needing so many substitutes on professional development days because we're intentional. We also use the early release Thursdays. We do rotation from school to schools. There is also clear expectations because right now we have our handbook. So, our staff are able to go to the handbook, even principals, to find solutions to whatever
048questions that they have, and they have the ability to call us even in a very difficult meeting, and somebody's going to, especially me, answer them because, you know, I'm very very available to the principals. And also, it has increased um training of staff, like I said. Our goal is to ensure that by 2 years all our instructional aids are trained. Just within 6 months of having the in-house CPI, more than 90% of our instructional aids are now certified and have the CPI certificate. And this has led to staff confidence, you you know, and also it has increased it. And because we use the talent that we have in-house, you can tell it leads to more engagement during professional development because when your peer is talking to you, for some reason you tend to listen, you
049know? And our professional development, we use our staff. For the last one that happened in January, majority of the special education was um topics were presented by our staff, and it was well received by teachers and principals that were there. And I can tell you that also our behavior support has really helped. We created our own data's um tracking system that is going to be happening next year. That will save the district another money. All right. So, this is the total cost just within few years that we became very intentional with the way we do business. Um we reduced the outside cons- consultants that help with our CalPads. At least, we have not sent any any um board agenda item for approval to get um somebody to do that for us, so that's a good
050thing. And then just by returning the two students from residential treatment center, we were saving the district This is how much the district saved on that. And then for our MPS, again, that's the savings. And then just having an in-house BCBA is another big savings because not only, aside from the money, this person is here with us every day. We can call this person and go, "I need you to go over to school A and support the classroom or support the staff in whatever is happening," which is so much better than using somebody from an agency because, you know, I don't have control over them. I don't know, even though I know when they're coming and going, it's not the same. So, this is very good. And of course, our fragile classroom, thanks to Maxwell,
051students are doing well. My teachers are happy, so and the kids, you know, participate in everything they do at Maxwell, so that's a good one. And then of course, our psychologist adjusting it has really saved the district money because I used to ask for extra pay during summer school. We don't do that anymore. And because of that, we are also intentional with the way our billing. So, there is something called LEA billing that we do. Uh when uh state allow us to bill little money for doing assessments on students and providing certain services like speech and occupational therapy and physical therapies. So, the way we rearrange the calendar for the school psychologist, they now have more time to do this before the end of before they go off on summer break. And Wendy is here,
052she can attest the fact that compared to like years back, we have increased in how much is being reimbursed to us from state. And this um money is supposed to be put back in the classroom and we're using it to buy the little supplies and assessment kits that the students need, so we don't have to come to the board for approval. So. And that's my presentation. Any questions? More? Any question? Yes. Dr. Akanusi. Yes, sir. Um you talked about training. When did this training take place? So, it depends on the like we have every Thursday where we go to each school site. So, at the beginning of the school year, we sent invite to uh principals to let us know which Thursday we can take. Aside from that, during the uh two professional development days,
053that's when we did our training. So, if you look at the um So, just so just recently. Just recently you started the training. No, since I've been here, which is the last 2 years. No, but you're saying this year, you said the middle of the school year. So, this year for the CPI training, yes, because I realized that it's so difficult to send staff to say so far because we don't have the sub that we need when we send them. So, I made the decision last year to get our people go to get trained, what we call train of trainers, so we can have them. So, they got the training last year. So, this school year is when we actually started using our people to do that particular training, which is on behavior. Okay, and
054and that is just once a year? No, you when you get it, you have it for 2 years before it expires. So, like the ones that have it right now, it's going to take 2 years for their certificate to expire. But it's only what I'm asking is it's only like one class that they attend? It's not ongoing that they go No, it's it's two it's two phases. One is online, they have to do the online and then the day of the professional training, I'm with them for that 6 8 8 hours. Okay. So, there's an online uh component of it. Yes. They have to pass that in order to do the in-person. Okay. Yeah. And you were talking about when kids get out of hand and they get physical. Yes. When does that training take
055place? It took place because it's an all day training. So far, the two professional days that we have. So, the first group did the training the first professional development day. The other group did the second professional development day. Plus the online. So, what's the number? How many how many people were trained? So far, we've trained like 90. 90 people? Yes. Because the trainers uh the contract can only have 40 in their class. Uh-huh. Yes. Okay, and um this is a since I've been back on the school board, okay, it happened last year around this time. And it happened this year this time. That quite a few aids were switched. Why was that? So, there are several reasons why we switch aid. One is if the agency tells us that that person is leaving. Is what?
056If the agency, like the company that provides that particular aid >> Okay. They they can tell us that the aid is leaving, moving, or went to a different company that thinks they pay better. If that happens, we have no choice than to find a replacement. And another also, sometimes when we change instructional aids, it's when we felt like the relationship that the aid has with the student is to the point that is so dependent. We want our students to be able to be independent. So, there are so many factors that we consider before changing an instructional aid. So, the biggest one is like when the agency said or the company said, "Oh, you cannot have this particular person anymore." For whatever reason. Why aren't we properly notifying the parents? Because >> told it's a 5-day
057which five working days they're supposed to be notified that there's going to be a transition. How come that is not happening? You're correct because sometimes it doesn't happen because I don't control those companies or the agencies. Most times it's always on a Friday afternoon when we get or Thursday to say, "Oh, by the way, starting on Monday, so-and-so and so is not going to be there." So, we start scrambling and sometimes by the time we get the replacement, the replacement is there before we call the parents. Sometimes, it depends on when the move happens. But we strive to ensure that we communicate with the staff and the school and then the parents because parent has the right to know that I'm switching somebody that is working with their kid. I'm because this year again, there
058were kids that it really affected in a negative way. Autistic kids, right? Because they don't like change. Unfortunately, it's true. Yeah, because >> you know, a lot of set parents. There was a lot of parents that complained to me this year. There was some last year, but more this year. Okay. And parents from Maxwell, parents from Valley View, okay, that have complained to me about this. So, I mean, I don't know how reach out to the parents, let them know what what's going on. Communication's key. It is. You're very correct. >> Very, very important. It is true because like today, before I got here, I got one of those emails that says, "Starting tomorrow, somebody's not going to be there because whatever happened." So, when that happens, it's like we start scrambling because we don't
059have control over those companies. And as much as we try to make sure that our contract with them reads right, Right, but if we let the parents know that this is happening, okay, cuz they're left in the dark. And that's all I'm asking Yes. is that we make sure that, you know, they're notified. Okay? Cuz I think it's really important. Really, communication's very important. Thank you. Thank you. >> a great presentation. Thank you. >> Thank you, sir. Any other question? More? Uh yes, thank you very much, Dr. Akanusi. Great presentation. It's it's really exciting to to hear about this uh sort of this building within uh you know, to go ahead and and build up our our capabilities so that we can use our our staff. I mean, we have we have amazing staff Yes.
060and teachers uh here in Duarte. So, it's really great that, you know, we're we're building that capacity within our own staff. And and as you pointed out in this presentation, it does, you know, pay dividends um when we make those investments in our staff. Um one one question I I I don't know um exactly what what constitutes a fragile classroom. What What does that mean exactly? So, fragile classroom is students that are that needs a lot of that have a lot of health needs when they are at school. It can stem from having constant seizure or they have oxygen or they have they are partially blind. Um so, we have teachers that are trained to teach that kind of class. It's called uh extensive needs support teachers. It's the old mod severe credential. So, yes,
061we had like some students that were attending different um districts and we had MOUs with those districts, meaning that we were paying the district to take care of our students. And but I work with personnel and we decided that we can afford to have our own and we hired the teacher that has that credential and we were able to you know, equip that classroom and we brought those kids back. Great. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. Any other question? Yeah. Dr. Yeah, thank you for a very detailed presentation and um just want to acknowledge that the world of sped special ed is really, really complex. I mean, you're working off of individual educational plans and individual means that every single student has its own set of legal obligations um and just the work that
062you've done with your team in collaboration with your team um to get some pers- or policies and or what did you say? Expectations and procedures, sorry, that's the word I was thinking of. Procedures in place um and then your acknowledgement that the work isn't done yet. That this is still an ongoing project. I think it can sometimes be tempting when we see results like this to kind of step take a sigh and you know, step back a little bit. And so, I appreciate that you're still, you know, dedicated to to this. And then um sped funding has impacted our general budget. We know that um individual IEP plan, you have to provide the services whether you are funded for them or not. And um just to see the efforts to help balance that and um
063your creativity in that definitely um appreciate that. So. Yes. Unfortunately, right now we're being funded at 40% by federal government. Mhm. And it actually has reduced this this school year. Mhm. Thank you. Thank you. Uh Dr. Medrano, I get the savings part, you know, but we shouldn't sacrifice quality of service, okay? If I mean, that's really important. These kids are important. You know, and I I can't say any more. We need to serve them. That's what we're here for. It's true. Thank you. Thank you. And I would I would add, you know, along those lines, I think um when we can provide the service with our own staff, there's definitely a benefit for our students. So, we're still looking at ways that we can continue to do that. And it does It's a cost savings,
064yes, but it's also um better for our students in many ways. So, thank you. Any other comment? Um I just like to know how Do you have any idea how many students um special needs students we have or a kind of rough idea? Not numbers, but a percent. Yeah, we have 561. How many? 561. 561. Yes. Excellent presentation. Thank you, and it was um a wake-up call for us, too, to know the responsibility that you have, but it's also our responsibility in every uh principal that represent each school, and all of us are here to support you, and I I I hope that we always keep connected uh through Dr. Medrano with your services, and thank you for your presentation tonight. Thank you. Thank you. All right. >> [applause] >> Okay, we now move to
065item number 10, report from student board member. Thank you. Um hello, everyone. I hope you are all having a great evening. Um as you all know, we are in the final stretch of the school year. So, on campus um the last few weeks and the upcoming weeks have been filled with a lot of fun activities. Um during the month of March, we had our St. Patty's Day event. We had food booths, March Madness, the district track meet, um a seniors vs. staff volleyball game, and an outstanding play, um Stand and Deliver, Stand Stand and Deliver. And then, all events had great attendance and great participation from our student body. DHS had our annual career day on March 26th, where students on campus got to receive information from over 44 presenters from alumni, parents, and community
066partners. The presentations ranged from uh health medical from the medical field, business, real estate, entertainment, education, and so much more. We started April with a great event, our Future Falcons Showcase. Students from Maxwell, Beardsley, Royal, and Royal Oaks got to experience a tour of our campus and go into breakout sessions where they received information of what they were interested in. They got to choose um any breakout sessions that they would like um talking about clubs and sports and classes that we have on campus. Um it was a great way for our incoming freshmen to see what Duarte High School has to offer. On April 2nd, we had a blood drive with City of Hope hosted by our service club Interact. Um we were able to donate 22 pints of blood from Duarte High School students,
067staff, and families. That's great. This Saturday, April 18th, is our prom. Uh the theme is Garden of Gold, and it's hosted at Hursch Ranch in West Covina. Um the venue is like an indoor outdoor venue, so it will be really nice. Um Yes. Nice weather. Next week is our spring rally, which is going to be our final rally of the school year. It is based on the TV show Phineas and Ferb. Um we will be having a spirit week and lunchtime activities, and at the rally, we will be honoring spring sports, our leadership class seniors, and special performances by our stunt team, our color guard, and I believe the Duarte dance team. Um on April 21st, which is on Tuesday, we will be having our open house from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Um this event
068Parents are welcome to attend the classes of the students and see all the hard work they have put into the school year. And also at open house, there's a new event hosted by Mr. Levis's math classes. It's going to be in our cafeteria called family steam steam night, um questioning if math can detect a rigged game. Um these interactive stations will withhold games of chance such as dice, cards, spinners, um and all these will be investigating all possible outcomes. Um Mr. Levis's math students will be designing and facilitating these activities while also running them and collecting and analyzing data. Um this hands-on and engaging experience offers real-world application of mathematics um and reflects our commitments to making math meaningful and accessible. On May 1st, we have the biggest class competition on campus. It's called Clash
069of the Classes. Um it's an after-school nighttime rally where classes get to come together um compete in games and overall see what class has the most school spirit. Um winners will get to receive free tacos on Cinco de Mayo, so that's going to be exciting. And on May 4th, Duarte High School will be hosting the State of the City and School Address event in our gymnasium. At this event, we are be going to be having special performances from our students and also catering um from our culinary students. On May 6th, we will be celebrating our seniors for our annual decision day. This fun celebration recognizes our seniors for their accomplishment accomplishment and future careers. We are going to be having a food booth game I mean, a photo booth, games, and a raffle planned where
070students have the chances to win an iPad, AirPods, and many other prizes that can support them in their future endeavors. All these price prizes were purchased by the donations from our Duarte families, so we are very thankful for that. On May 8th, the Duarte High's band program will be having a performance called Jazz by Moonlight, and at this event, our students will get to work with professional Grammy-winning musicians, allowing our students to have an empowering experience. This event begins at 7:00 p.m., and it will be located um by our band room. On May 8th, we will also be hosting the 8th grade middle school dance in front of our new gym. And finally, I do know that we've had some recent repairs done on our new gym. Um but I will say over the past
071I want to say 4 weeks, um there has not been any repairs done, and there's just tarps um hanging up. There's an open ceiling, so we have not been able to put use into that room for almost a month now. So, yes, that's what I thought. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, um superintendent report, Dr. Medrano. Thank you, President Diaz and board members. Good evening. I wanted to briefly highlight some of the areas where we're continuing to work and make progress that are of interest to the community and the board, of course. So, firstly, we've been working on the MIT transition to Duarte High School. The transition team has met um twice, including uh yesterday, um and we are engaging with students, staff, and families from both sides to have a smooth transition. And the focus
072has been on listening, addressing questions, and clarifying many misconceptions. Our transition team has been actively meeting and has identified many next steps to guide our planning, communication, and support as we move forward. Um we're looking at a social media campaign and some logistics right now, as well as some events where students will be attending together. In addition, um there's a transition with child development, um and they're relocating in preparation for the Crestfield development, so that includes planning for classroom spaces at Maxwell. That's an additional space, Valley View, and Royal Oaks, as well as working through many licensing requirements to ensure continuity of services for our families. And lastly, as um Alexis mentioned, Duarte High School will be hosting its open house next week. It's the final open house of the season, and we look forward
073to attending this important event to welcome families onto campus for the evening and highlight our amazing programs. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Medrano. Um moving to item number 12, do we have anyone to request to address the board? Thank you. Then, we move to a functions. Approve the minutes of the regular meeting of March 9, 2026 26 and the special meeting of March 27, 2026. May I have a motion? So moved. Moved by Moved by Dr. Finley, second by Rosa Holguin. Any discussion? All in favor? I. I. I. Thank you. Item number two, approve the consent calendar. The next item of business is the adoption of the consent calendar. Does anyone want to remove any item for separate discussion or action? Yes. Okay. What which item are we going to pull from the consent calendar?
074Under the classified personnel report. Okay. Section four. Is this one that 13 13.24, right? Certificate Okay. Classified. Okay. So I move to approve with the with with the removal. Thank you. Um I'll second. Okay. Moved by Mr. Reyes, second by Dr. Finley. All in favor? I. I. I. Okay. Now we had um the motion to approve consent calendar. Um Now we'll consider item 13.4 24. Uh there is a motion to approve the item 13.24. So moved. Moved by Dr. Finley, second >> but Then then we will have the discussion, right? Yes. Yeah, after you approve that. We already approved the general. Well no, but is this going to be one item or are they two separate cuz there's two positions? The report is one item. I just have one item. The report the classified personnel
075report is one item and it has all the positions where you approve it as a whole group. Okay. Yeah. Does that make sense? Yeah. So we [snorts] are now in considering the classified personnel report. >> Okay, so I discussion now? Yes. I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I Okay. Dr. Finley uh Second I I didn't get the second. Okay, second Miss Miss Holguin. Now we can move to discussion. Okay, thank you. So in this in in this report, okay, it has uh Nita Thompson as assistant boys varsity volleyball coach. And then right below it she is the head coach for JV JV boys volleyball. I don't understand
076how she could do both positions and be the office manager at the high school. When does she have time to do this? And then you have to leave early sometimes to go to the away games. I don't I don't get this. Thank you for the question. Um that we do have in addition to her on the report, there are several coaches that are on campus coaches. We also have many that are certificated coaches such as teachers and other personnel. Um so the practices for those um sports would happen after work hours and then there are some days when when coaches do have to leave early if the games happen during work hours. And so there's adjustment of hours or in a case of a teacher, a substitute is provided for that time if they have
077a class they have to cover. So the goal is to have on campus coaches as much as possible, classified or certificated. Um but I do understand your concern. So we do um the administration works with the employees to make sure there's coverage or adjustment of hours to make sure that things are covered. Yeah, but I can't believe that this you know why there there isn't anybody there that can coach other than her. It just seems like you know, she has too much responsibility to be out there coaching. Office manager, they should be there what you know, that's a salary position. This to me seems like it's double dipping. Any other discussion? Seems none. I need a motion to approve the item. >> So moved. Motion is The motion is there. Okay, all in favor? To
078approve? >> I. Okay, I. No. >> I. Is that the correct order? Yeah? We're done? Yeah, we did the exception one. That's okay. We are ready, right? All in favor? I. I. Okay, thank you. >> Opposed? What? >> [clears throat] >> No. One opposed? Okay. Okay, we now move to first reading of board policies. May I have a motion? So moved. Moved by Miss Holguin, second I'll second. This is James. >> [laughter] >> Okay. There is any discussion? Okay, all in favor? I. >> I. Okay. Item four, resolution number 20-25-26 26 to order biennial governing board election of November 3, 2026. May I have a motion? >> So moved. Second. Moved by Moved by Miss Holguin, second by Mr. Reyes. Discussion. Since no discussion, all in favor? I. Motion passed. Item number five, resolution -2021-25-26,
079candidate statements for district election November 3, 2026. May I have a motion? So moved. Moved by Mr. Reyes, second Second. Second by Dr. Hassou. Any discussion? All in favor? I. >> I. Thank you. Number six, establish procedure to potential tie in November 3, 2026 school board election. Dr. Medrano will remind the board that they are about to take action on how they will resolve the tie vote in election and that and that the option before then them are either to conduct a a special election or determine by drawing lots. May I have a motion? So moved. Don't you have to Yes, you have to before for lots or special election. I would I would recommend or be in favor of winners by lot and not having a special election. Thank you. So I will I
080will make a motion then to have a tie determined by the casting of lots. Okay. Second? Second. Okay, thank you. There is any discussion? Any opposition? All in favor? I. >> I. Thank you. Item number seven, construction and modernization project update April 2026. Receive for information the construction and modernization project update. Item number 14, personnel student services. Resolution number one, the resolution 22-25-26, local assignment option for speech and hearing therapy services. May I have a motion? So moved. Moved by Miss Holguin, second >> Second. Second by by Mr. Reyes. Any discussion? All in favor? I. I. Thank you. Item number two, proclamation 18-25-26, declaring May 17, 2023 2 May 17, 2023 2026 as classified school employee week. May I have a motion? So moved. Moved by Dr. Finley, second Second. Second by Mr. Reyes. Any
081discussion? Do they have any special events during that week? Mr. Crosby? Yes. Uh during our classified employee of the week and then later on the day of the teacher. We do have each school has their PTA do events for their their staff as well and then the district also acknowledges them and does some does some special things for them, too. Thank you. >> We're not letting out the secret this year what we're having now yet, so. Perfect. Thank you. >> [laughter] >> Okay, they they they really deserve that. All in favor? I. I. Thank you. Item number three, proclamation 19-25-26 declaring May 13, 2026 as the day of the teacher. May I have a motion? So moved. Moved by Mrs. Hass Mrs. Holguin, second. Second. Seconded by Dr. Hass, any discussion, any comment? All in
082favor? I. I. I. Okay, moving to business and finances. Number one, annual financial audit report for the 2024-25 fiscal year. May I have a motion? So moved. Moved by Dr. Finley, second by Dr. Hass, any discussion? All in favor? I. I. Thank you. Item number two, annual measure G E general obligation bond program audit report for 24-25. May I have a motion? So moved. Moved by Dr. Hass, second by Miss Holguin, any discussion? All in favor? I. I. Thank you. Item number three, annual measure S general obligation bond program audit report for 24-20 five 25. May I have a motion? So moved. Moved by Dr. Finley, second Second. Seconded by Dr. Hass, any discussion? Motion approved All in favor, I'm sorry. I. Thank you. Okay, now move to item 16, non-agendaized item by board members,
083student board members, and superintendent for discussion only. So, we're going to start with um our student student board member. Thank you. Um I just want to say that it was great seeing um the schools get recognized today. All you guys' hard work um is great for our district. Um it was also great seeing um my peers and how they have succeeded in their sports this year. Um as I said previously, we're very excited for the final activities of the school year. I also want to say thank you to the board members um and the superintendent Dr. Madrano. I did see um some of you guys at the preview day for the eighth graders. It was just nice seeing you guys support our students and those who are coming um to the high school later in
084the future. So, thank you guys. That's it. Thank you. Thank you. How many more board meetings do you will be attending? Next month will be my last board meeting. Yeah. You have represented the high school, the entire district very very well. Thank you. >> Okay, I know sometimes is a lot of time that you spend with us, but it's worth it. Yes. You have done a great job. Okay, uh Mr. Reyes. Yes, ma'am. I'm not going to keep you guys here all night. >> [laughter] >> There was a lot that happened this last month. Lots of open houses. It was great great to go there and to and I enjoyed uh seeing all the good work that was happening in the classrooms. Um quick question, Dr. Madrano, um I have some golf clubs that were
085given to me, okay, and I'd like to donate them. Do you know if we have a golf uh team at the high school? We currently do not. We used to, but we do not currently have a golf team. Does it look like in the future we're going to have one? I could definitely discuss in three years. Oh, the the academy principals are saying three years. We We just did a great activity this week um visioning our future with just support sports, so they're they're really fired up tonight. Look at them. Good. Good. We can discuss it. We'll we'll share, but we we'll definitely take the donation if we uh Okay. can get a team going. Uh some is even they're older, but it's Ping brand, which I hear is really good. >> are they like
086uh male One one set's left-handed, one's for a female, Okay. and I think one is for a short person. Okay, yeah, short people play golf, too. And then short people play golf. Yeah, I do. I have you know, that's why I'm asking are they long clubs cuz the shorties not short. >> then there's another right-handed set. Okay, that's great. >> They're horrible. Mr. Crosby, do you want to add anything? No. I saw your microphone you can't get it into the microphone. Okay. >> [laughter] >> Okay, thank you. Anything else, Mr. Reyes? No, thank you. Okay. Have a good evening, everybody. Thank you for coming. >> Dr. Dr. Finley. Yes, thank you, Madam President. I appreciate the opportunity uh to go ahead and say something. Um it's as uh Mr. Reyes pointed out, it's been an
087exciting open house season um and we're looking to cap that off next week with the Duarte High School. Um it it really is great to go in there and see uh our our students in particular be so excited about what they've accomplished uh over over the the past several months and uh it's wonderful for our teachers and staff to be able to to show that uh to the community. It's a wonderful event to um you know, for everyone to demonstrate the pride in the work that they've done and the work that they've assisted with. So, um those are always some of the the best events of the year to participate in. And uh I I had for the first time I was able to participate in the Duarte High School career day um and it
088was um it was way better than I remember career day um and and it wasn't just cuz I was on the other side of of the the presentation this time. Um it was it was really I mean well constructed. I mean there there were sort of you know, all all the the different careers are represented in classrooms and there was kind of like a passing parade where people could go, then they had booths and everything. It was it was I just remember it being like everyone go to the gym, there's tables set up and you can go talk to people if you want to you know, pursue that career, but this was a great opportunity for people to learn all about just a variety of of careers. And the thing that I I really I
089wanted to share with with the students at Duarte High School is that an education at Duarte High School really sets you up to succeed in any of those fields. Um you know, if if you're ever feeling like you're kind of like I don't know if I'm going to you know, I do do I really have what it takes coming from Duarte High School? 100% you do. Um and it's you're you're getting an excellent education there. Um so many of our students there are are taking the early college classes, so you're literally already doing college level work. And it's it's such a huge advantage that our students have to go ahead and uh you know, participate in those. Um some of you may have received uh a mailer uh recently uh sort of advertising for Duarte
090High School um and you know, I I I got it and um you know, I've I've I've got our kids in the district here and I looked at it and I was like, yeah, yeah, I'm going to keep on sending my kids here. This is great. Um it's it really is it's a it's a great place to go to school and I'm I'm really thankful that we have such a great uh a great um you know, training ground for our students to go on to have success in in their careers in the future. So, really really great um things happening at Duarte High School and I'm thankful that we have that here in our community and I'll go ahead and end with that. Thank you, Dr. Finley. Uh Dr. Hass. Thank you. Um first of
091all, thank you to all of you for sticking around with us tonight. It's always nice to um have uh staff support, community support as opposed to speaking to a bunch of empty red chairs. So, thank you for um spending the evening with us. Um open houses, definitely great opportunity to showcase the work that's taking place over the school year. Just some really creative and thoughtful learning experiences. So, thank you um to all of you for opening up your classrooms to us. Um Another congratulations to our golden platinum PBIS winners this evening. Another shout out to our athletes. I think just um with the showcase of athletes and what our athletics program has looked like over the couple or over the past couple of years, could just kind of I don't know, Tom, I think perhaps
092tremendous potential to add golf to that. So, we shall see what the future holds. >> [laughter] >> And um on Monday night I attended the Ed Foundation meeting. I'm the board rep um for the Ed Founda- the Duarte Educational Foundation and we're working on scholarships right now for our seniors. So, we had 100 seniors apply. Um and then 25 were moved um along to the foundation members and from those will be um picking our top candidates to interview on Monday, May 4th. And then those scholarships will be awarded on uh May 27th. So, some exciting um things going on there. Um thank you, Maxwell, for our goody bags. That was really thoughtful and sweet of you. And thank you, Alexis, for our Duarte cheer um plaques that you brought in. So, that's all I have
093for tonight. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Hassler. Ms. Holguin. Well, good evening, everybody. So, um looking forward to the end of the year and graduations, but um for my birthday, I received a very special gift this year. That was in February, the big 6-0. But anyways, I received this special book. It's called Caring. And I always have this joke that I always tell it people say, "Why are you here? What do you do?" And I said, "It's because I care." So, it's just a joke that I have, but it really Well, it's not a joke, but I just say that, but I was reading the book Well, I read the book several times. It was a nice gift. And um I had a couple things that happened in the last couple of weeks that I
094went back to the book a couple days ago and read reread it. So, I kind of wanted to share um Well, I'm going to read a little paragraph of it and then the two instances that I had in the last couple of weeks. It says, "Planting a seed of caring. It is impossible to know how far a single act of generosity or a gesture of kindness can reach." We may never know who it helped or how it much it mattered. Do a little good each day. You know, I I always kind of try to live that way. But anyways, a couple weeks ago um it's a couple students, students that are gone and sometimes you don't realize what you guys do or don't or or the impression that you leave on these people and that's
095a lifetime thing. So, I was at the Egg Fest. We were doing pancakes and most of you probably know Lydia Carswell. Um this couple went up to her, probably in their 40s, and they're like, you know, they asked, "Is that Lydia Carswell?" And for those who don't know, she was a teacher and a principal. So, I said, "Yes." They ran to her. They hugged her. They remembered her and they're probably I want to say probably in their 40s. Lydia's probably been retired for I'm going to guess maybe 20 years, a while. But the I mean, it was like they saw a superstar. They were just hug I mean, they were just all over her. And if you know Lydia, she loved it. >> [laughter] >> Uh 2 days ago, I had something else happen. I
096was at the city council meeting and somebody introduced me to this gentleman um probably in his late 20s My guess, in his late 20s, maybe early 30s. And um somebody said, "This is Rosa. She's a board member, school board member." So, he comes up to me and he goes he goes, "Do you know Ms. Romero?" And I'm like, "She was my favorite teacher." And I'm like, "Ms. Romero?" And I'm like thinking, you know, I don't remember all the teachers' names and I'm really bad with names. So, I'm like, "Ms. Romero?" And I'm like, "I don't know a teacher named Ms. Romero." And then he says, "She was my second grade teacher and she was my favorite." Um and I'm I'm still like, "Who is Ms. Romero?" Anyways, so he's I said, "Well, what was so
097special about this teacher?" You know, I'm He said, "She really cared. She would get there early before breakfast. She would stay till he was at an thing together. She would stay till I was at an thing together and she would stay till after and she knew my name." So, I'm like, "Ms. Romero?" And I said, "Do you have a first name?" And he goes, "Maybe it's Jen." Jennifer Romero. I forgot his name. Again, I forget names, but he you're his favorite teacher and it really made my day because he said, "She was so dedicated and she cared. She would call my name." So, again, please continue caring. Thank you so much. Everybody have a great >> [applause] >> great um rest of the day and again, thank you, Ms. Romero. Next time I'll ask the
098first name and I'm sorry. I don't remember his name. >> [laughter] >> But you're his favorite. He says you would get there early and you would stay late. So, then that's when I real I put it together and I said, "She was a teacher at that time." Anyways, thank you. Thank you, Ms. Holguin. Um I echo my colleagues' comments, but I will tell you that um Duarte is is known for the love and caring of our teachers. And um I this this past weeks, I've been traveling a lot and um and I recognize that um my life without Duarte would not be that kind of life that I that I am living because being in this community, it make me a human being that really cares about other ones. And um I am very honored
099to serve on this board for my last 29 years of my life. And um many people might say, "Oh, it's getting all what it's doing." But behind the doors, we do a lot. And that's our role. And uh it has been a great honor and um I am very very grateful to go into the classrooms. I know I missed few of the uh op uh open house um events, but I got it stuck on the midst of the uh airports when it was like 6 hours at the airport in line and I even missed my plane and I couldn't make it to be here at Furgeson for preschool and for MIT. I was stuck in the airport in Houston for more than 6 hours. That give me a lot of time to read many notes
100that I get from the board and a lot that we need to prepare for the board meeting, but I appreciate that um that our board care and that all of you care about our students and you are the ones who are prepare preparing the the the the future. Our students are very important and that's the reason that we are here. So, with that Dr. Medrano. Thank you. Um I wanted to say congratulations to the schools. The PBIS awards are a great testament to the work that you do that I see there um connecting students to campus and helping them understand um how to navigate the school really helps a lot. And to our student athletes, um that connection on campus is important and it shows in the celebration. So, I want to just end by
101thanking um Duarte High School for putting on the ninth grade preview day. Um ninth grade is one of the most important years for our students. And it's a tough transition um from [clears throat] middle school or one of our academies in any district, ninth grade is one of the hardest. But it's so important that students make connections right away. And so, that day was so important to show students how they can connect to campus and find their way so they can be successful. Kind of what you were talking about, Dr. Finley, like find your route, find your success. It it lives here. So, thank you for doing that. Um and that was really really important. I enjoyed the last a few weeks of all the things you all have talked about, including the Egg Fest.
102So much fun, my first Egg Fest in Duarte, so I look forward to that. And thank you to the staff who came out. Um we had an amazing setup. Marlene, Kenya, Mercedes, like we got this beautiful setup that we were able to engage with students and connect them to our campus, our schools as well. So, um that's all I have. Thank you so much. Thank you, Dr. Medrano. Before I forget, uh I was very very uh not surprised, but I was amazed to see little kids playing yesterday at uh uh Bally View with robotics. With the robots in the floor Oh my gosh, I can't believe that we are doing that. And so, it was a great experience. Okay, I don't think we go we're going to go back to close session. And so, I
103would like to adjourn the meeting in memory of Ann Fleshman and Esperanza Orozco. And so, I need a motion to >> So So moved. Moved by Mr. Reyes, second by Ms. Holguin. Any other [snorts] comments? All in favor? I. I. Thank you. Good night, everyone. Good night. Signatures? Everyone needs She needs Everybody Yeah, signatures. Okay. Just one signature. >> What is the meaning of that? All right now.