001student member to lead us in a pledge. And after the the pledge, uh can I ask everyone remain standing for the moment of silence? >> Please stand. >> Put your right hand over your heart. Ready, begin. >> 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. >> We are saddened to hear the passing of GG students Richard Talis and Adrien Taus. Richard Tullis who also went by the names of Alex and Sarah joined a district as a kindergartner at a Morningside Elementary School and continued to Walton Intermediate and Bona Grande High School. They were known to be incredibly kind and thoughtful student. The teachers share that although they were initially quiet and rever
002to res reserve once they open up they brought humor insight and really unique perspective to the class. They love art and animals and they had a way of making people smile with a wonderful sense of humor. They often look out for their peers and their sense of responsibility and calm demeanor enriched the classroom and had a positive impact on everyone around them. They would be greatly missed. Adrienne Torres was a seventh grade student at first intermediate school. He joined the district for preschool at Heritage Elementary and attended Simmons Elementary for kinder through sixth grade. He was also part of the boys and girls program after school. He was remembered as a sweet students who had a big personality and even bigger heart. He was a runner up in the Simmons spelling bee and was comic
003relief with a cousin Ian for between act in the Simmons and talent show. He loved listening to the music and rapping along with his favorite song. He was loyal friend and would do his best to help those around him. Adrien was a special student and his presence at first intermediate and project kingship will be deeply missed. We extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Richard Telis and Adrienne. A moment of silence now begins. Moment of silence now ends. Please be seated. Thank you. We're going to begin our uh regular meeting first with a presentation. I'd like to uh invite uh assistant superintendent Jason Bevas uh to present employees of the month. >> Good evening board president Wyn, board of education trustees, Dr. Mafi, staff and community. I'm pleased to recognize our October
004employees of the month. As you know, our district is uh filled with amazing employees, but these two definitely stand out. GGUSD's employee of the month program is designed to recognize employees who put others first, go above and beyond to make a difference in their role, carry out each day with a positive attitude and strong work ethic, and demonstrate innovation, leadership, and passion for their job. Our first uh employee to recognize is Susie Smi. Susie is a teacher at Sunnyside Elementary School. She joined the district in 1996 as a teacher at Creo Elementary School where she taught multiple grades all the way from kindergarten through sixth grade. In 2020, she moved to Sunnyside Elementary where she taught sixth grade and now she currently teaches fourth grade. Susie was nominated for this recognition by a parent who
005said, "Susie took the initiative to reach out to the multiple universities and successfully secured donations of university t-shirts for every student in the class. This generous effort encourages students to work hard, aim for college, and pursue greater achievements." The parent also shared that Susie proactively con contracted or contacted, excuse me, Home Depot and together with parents and students organized a project to repaint various areas of the school. The parent said, "A teacher who puts in so much heart and effort truly der deserves to be recognized as employee of the month. She is an asset to Sunnyside community and is known for her positivity uh skilled instructional strategies and a very strong work ethic. Congratulations, Susie. All right. Uh, our classified employee of the month is our very own Santiago Galves, our district office receptionist. Santiago
006had joined the GGUSD in 2023, serving as a bilingual Spanish school community liaison in our parent and community outreach department and working specifically at Clinton Elementary and Rancho Alamito High School. In 2024, Santiago joined our team and personnel as a district office receptionist where he shines with his exceptional customer service skills. Santiago was nominated by a community member who was impressed with how polite and helpful he is in serving the community that comes to the district office. Santiago is known for making each district office visitor feel welcome and supported. He's an excellent listener and consistently invests time into ensuring staff, family, students, and community are connected to the help that they need. He carries out the Garden Grove way, treating all customers like family. Santiago goes above and beyond to serve people with humility and
007kindness. He is a great res uh representation of our district and does an a outstanding job. I'd say awesome job of meeting the needs of our busy front office. Congratulations to Susie and to Santiago. Yes. Who who obviously are joined here by family, friends, fans, and colleagues. Uh we will now show a quick video to spotlight so you can see how exemplary these employees are in action at their uh respective workplaces. After the video, we'll take some time to take some photos with the board. with that. [Music] Thank Thank you for those who nominated me and thought of me for this recognition. I appreciate it. I feel privileged to be the Garden Grove teacher of the month. I love teaching and I want my students to feel welcome when they come to class. I want
008them to feel confident and comfortable in my classroom. And we talk a lot about growth mindset and that with grit and strategies and focus, they can achieve and be a successful scholar. Teaching is my passion. And I want to make a difference. And I always tell my students that once I'm their teacher, I'm always their teacher. And I want them to know that I care for them and that they made an impact on me and I want them to always feel comfortable to come back anytime. Thank you once again. I'm honored for being nominated and I feel privileged to work in Garden Grove Unified. So congratulations for this mine. We're so happy to be here at Sunnyside for getting the employee of the month. A very surprising story is actually Mrs. Smith was my sixth
009grade teacher at Creole Elementary. So, it's like a full circle moment. Being a homegrown student here and now being able to work alongside her, it has been like a dream come true. um very surprising just because I would have never expected to be working with my sixth grade teacher, but here I am now at Sunnyside. Um she's made an impact on my life, just being a big supporter, uh pushing me towards my dreams, achieving my goals, and just seeing her continuing on her legacy here at Gardening Group Unified is just amazing. I'm glad that I get to be part of this journey with her. um you know, you've made such a good impact and all the students here at Sunnyside. Um student that I have right now love you. They're always saying good things about
010you and just seeing how you're so positive with staff and students. You're so deserving. We're so grateful that you're here at Sunnyside and can't wait to see all the impact that you make in the future. >> Congratulations, Susie. I'm so happy for you and so proud. I really appreciate everything that you do for our students and our community. You are our avid hero. You go above and beyond every day. Congratulations again, Susie. This is very much deserved. So, getting the award of employee of the month is a huge huge honor. I have I have seen I have encountered many different situations working as a uh receptionist or as it's now on the face of the district which is pretty pretty amazing and if every interaction has been different but I'm able to see the employees
011that are coming through through the door and they have they come with us with astute minds um problem solutions they think out of the box what the benefit of the students so they can reach all the three goals that have been placed within Garden Grove Unified School District such as we know the academic skills, the personal skills and lifelong success. So for me to see that and then me being part of that employee of the month, it is a huge huge honor for me. I would like to take this time to thank all the leaderships that I had been able to uh work under. I had the privilege to work at a high school and elementary family resource centers, parent community outreach within a two year to a threeyear span. and every leader that I
012have been under has helped me grow and personalize their teachings so I can go ahead and be able to display my uh quality of work. So, thank you so much to everybody that has helped me through my career growth. the growth opportunities didn't go unnoticed and now I'm able to go ahead and um also carry on all of that knowledge and then share that as well. So, thank you Santiago. Uh congratulations on being selected as employee of the month. You are so incredibly deserving of this. uh you do so many things for so many people and you really embody uh the garden grow way. You make a difference for people every day. Although I will say it takes a lot longer than a second because you do uh like to gab a little bit. But
013people love talking to you and um whether it's an upset parent or a teacher that needed help or uh one of us, you always take your time, you spend time listening, and you find ways to help. And we couldn't ask for more um from you. And uh congratulations and thank you for being you. >> Congratulations Santiago. It is with great pride and joy that we recognize Santiago as GGUSD employee of the month. We are thrilled for him to receive this special recognition. Santiago began his GUSD journey at the Irvine Family Resource Center, where he embodied the spirit of service and teamwork that defines our district. His attentive and welcoming ways make students, parents, and community members feel valued and supported. While at the Irvine Family Resource Center, he went above and beyond to connect and
014build rapport with GGC families. Santiago took initiative and personally invited families to attend weekly informational workshops and districtwide events. Now that he works at the district office, he is one of the first friendly and welcoming staff members who assist families. And may I add, he is always dressed to impress and very professional in his daily interactions with the community. Sant Thiago's professionalism, compassion, and drive to make a difference exemplify the very best of our staff, and we are proud to honor him for his outstanding contributions to our district community. >> We're so sorry for the technical difficulties. The video is not supposed to drag like that, but it will be posted online without whatever happened right there. Sorry about that. [Applause] That's it. >> Nice. >> It's close. as good as it's gonna get. >>
015So, you guys, if you don't mind, we can hold it up and hide our faces. >> I'm the wrong one to be on the end. You're good. >> Am I good? >> That's okay. [Applause] Oh boy. [Applause] We all are. We all are. [Applause] Okay, we're going to have more exciting presentation. Next, we're going to invite uh Dr. Stephanie Hefllins, the assistant superintendent of secondary education to present our Simmon scholars. >> Thank you. Good evening, President Wyn, members of the board, Dr. Mafy, staff, and guests. It is my pleasure to introduce a very special group of students this evening, our class of 2027 Simon Scholars. This year we are proud to celebrate 46 students. And while you might be looking around looking for them, if we invited 46 students plus all of their parents, we'd
016be over 150 people in here. And so, while they're not able to join us in the boardroom tonight, we do have a special video to show you in just a few minutes. We're honored to recognize their accomplishments with you this evening. An evening like this is possible because of our strong partnership with the Simon Family Foundation. Established in 2002 by Mr. Ronald Simon and his daughter Dr. Kathy Simon Abless. The foundation supports economically disadvantaged students who face significant life and financial challenges. Their mission is to provide guidance and opportunities so that students can overcome obstacles and stay on track toward their collegebound goals. Joining us tonight to represent the Simon Family Foundation are executive director Andy Robas and assistant director of scholar recruitment Juan Seagala. Welcome. [Applause] Our partnership with the foundation began in 2007,
017and it has grown each year, both in the number of scholars and the number of schools involved. Last year, we were thrilled to announce that Pacifica High School was added to the program for the class of 2027 scholars. Tonight, you'll meet our very first Simon Scholar Mariners in our video. With Pacifica's addition, all seven of our comprehensive high schools are now represented by in the Simon Scholar program. Yes, that deserves a round of applause. Becoming a Simon Scholar is truly a life-changing opportunity. Each student receives a $16,000 scholarship along with an extensive list of resources which include mentoring, leadership and life schools training, college coaching and application support, SAT, ACT prep, college tours across the country, community service opportunities of new personal laptop, and so much more. And the support doesn't just stop at high
018school graduation. Simon scholars continue to receive guidance in college through leadership workshops, campus supports, career networking, and volunteer opportunities. We are so proud of this year's 46 Simon Scholars for the class of 2027. At this time, we invite you to enjoy a short video introducing all of these remarkable students. [Music] We are honored to be a part of the Simon Scholars program because it enables success both inside and beyond our academic careers, fosters purpose and community, and ignites a spark that will light the fire for generations to come. [Music] The Simon Scholars program will support the growth of our academic skills by establishing a solid foundation for us to succeed. It has provided us with valuable interpersonal skills such as accountability through grade checks and time management through monthly snack sessions. Many first generation students
019who come from low-income families may not have considered college an option despite having brilliant minds that can contribute greatly to their communities. The resources the program provides pushes students to aim higher and dream bigger. [Music] The Simon Scholar program will prepare us for lifelong success by providing college access and mentorship throughout high school and college. [Music] The Simon Scars program will support the growth of our personal skills by helping us step out of our comfort zone and most importantly strengthen skills like communication, leadership, and resilience through special events like the leadership symposium, workshops, and monthly meetings where we learn how to set goals, manage challenges, and build confidence within ourselves. [Music] We've enjoyed being a part of the Simon Scholar program because it's provided us with many opportunities such as connecting with colleges, >> being
020able to explore different scholarship opportunities, >> and getting the financial help we need. [Music] >> The Simon Scholar program will make a difference for us because it'll introduce us to career paths tailored to our unique experiences. and also connect us to a larger community of similar-minded. [Music] Through the Simon Scholar program, we've learned how to build financial stability for our future, how to embrace our setbacks to bounce back stronger, and how to use our words effectively to articulate our thoughts and opinions. Overall, we learned how to empower our future selves by embracing our own identities and one day having impactful and meaningful careers. Congratulations to the class of 2027. Once again, Garden Grove Unified would like to thank the Simon Family Foundation for their unwavering commitment to our students here in Garden Grove for so
021long. It's now my honor to welcome to the podium the executive director of Simon Scholar Program, Mr. Andy Robas. [Applause] >> Thank you everyone, members of the board, Dr. Mafy and all the guests. I actually feel underdressed now having seen Santiago. I thought this is a nice jacket and then you walk in. My name is Andy Robas. I'm the executive director of Simon Scholars. Um, I started in 2012 working directly with the students and that's what led me to very quickly meet Dr. Mafy, um, Dr. Heftlin, I think Mary Jane is in here somewhere. Um, so all of these folks I've known for a very long time and have Garden Grove District has always been so welcoming. I think some of your board members were still here in 2012. So, it's just a nice full
022circle moment to be now executive director uh to now recognize this amazing district and 46 kids. I was joking with Dr. Heftlin that we should probably put a quota on Garden Grove because you're going to take all 200 spots that we offer. So, you're too good. Um, give Santa Ana a chance, you know. Um, but I didn't want to take too long, but I did want to capitalize on the moment of being here. Um, at some point last year, I'm sure it's in the minutes somewhere, um, I came here to present Garden Grove uh, Unified School District with the title of Legacy School District for the Simon Scholar Program. And what that means is one, it's honoring the longstanding relationship we've had with the Garden Go Grove District, both personally and as an organization. Um,
023we have really deep roots with Garden Grove. um our uh recruitment director actually is married to a Los Amigos alumni um who's here too. So again, we have a lot of ties. Um and so the the distinction of a legacy district is to honor the relationship, but also to close the loop of any schools that had not been eligible to um have students apply for the program. It's a it's a tricky thing to have every school apply for this program. So we have to limit it piece by piece. But when I started as the executive director three years ago, I think I was about two minutes into the job when Stephanie was calling me asking when are you going to add Pacifica to Garden Grove, which is a valid question. Um, and we quickly added
024Pacifica as part of this legacy school district um title. And so, um, not to dilute it, but Santa Ana Unified and Anaheim District have also received the legacy status. And that's it for now. But um but Garden Grove is definitely one of the most deserving of this distinction. I'm here again not only because I like to talk, but also because we have a plaque made for the district to honor the fact that you are the one of the first legacy school districts and you know probably one only ones for some time to come. So thank you all for your support for all of you who have supported the Simon Scholars in any way and your wonderful students that you have here. So, thanks again and congratulations. [Applause] >> We're gonna take a picture. >> Sure.
025[Applause] It's always supposed to be Okay. Uh then we save the best for last. Next we're going to invite Dr. Lorina Sanchez to go. She going to the assistant superintendent K12 educational service. She gonna present our community heroes award. >> Good evening President Wen, members of the board of education, Dr. MafI staff and guests. Tonight, it is both an honor and a privilege to recognize two groups of individuals who c whose compassion, leadership, and commitment to our community exemplify the very best of the Garden Grove Unified School District. In the face of uncertainty stemming from heightened immigration enforcement over the summer, many families in our school communities found them themselves afraid to leave their homes and unable to access food and basic resources. Rather than stand by, one of our own students, Garden Grove High
026School senior Samantha Aina Flores, saw the need and chose to act. Led by compassion, Samantha launched a grassroots community aid initiative named the Monarcha Initiative to collect food and essential supplies for families in need. Families whose who are a part of our schools and our neighborhoods. With the support of her mother, Claire Aina Flores, and leaders in the community, they held two donation drives with food, water, and hygiene products that were delivered to families in crisis. Tonight, on behalf of the entire Garden Grove Unified School District, we are proud to honor Samantha and Claire Aina Flores as official GGUSD community heroes. [Applause] Samantha and Claire, your actions remind us all that that leadership does not require a title. It requires empathy and action. You have not only served your community, you've inspired it. Thank you
027for your courage and commitment to lifting up others during a time of uncertainty. Thank you. Next, I want to recognize another dynamic team of individuals who also had the same drive and compassion to help families who were struggling during the summer months when school is not in session. Our second group of community heroes is a powerhouse team from Santiago High School. Community school coach Nicole Dune, boys soccer coach Carlos Cruz, and girls soccer coach Eric Boreo. These three went far beyond their job titles to support the Santiago community in a huge way. They spearheaded an enormous donation collection and giveaway, rallying support from staff, local organizations, and the wider community. The transformative events brought real tangible help to hundreds of families. They didn't do it alone, and that's what makes it even more inspiring. With
028the help of dozens of volunteers, including staff, students, and community partners, they turned compassion into action. I had the privilege myself of attending the donation distribution drive and the line stretched a mile long and that's how much need there was and and this team of three played a large role in ensuring that needs were met during a time of crisis. This event was a powerful reminder of what it means to be a community school. Nicole, Carlos, Eric, they didn't even have to do this, but they chose to. They chose to lead, to organize, to give their time and energy because they care deeply about their school and their community. And in doing so, they've set a shining example of treating their school community like their own family. That's the Garden Grove way. Thank you. It's
029picture time. So, can you please join us at the front? We'll start with um our Monarch team here and we'll take pictures with Miss Claravina Flores and Samantha. [Applause] One, two, three, smile. Okay, now we have Nicole and team Sant. She's coming. [Applause] Sorry. Well, we're going to take a little break now to stabilize our ballroom. So, everyone has some time. Just you can pass. You can leave now. If you have some other thing to do, we're going to resume our meeting in a few minutes. We'll be presenting supervisor. You can just say we'll have supervisory present. There's everybody. All right, we're going to resume our meeting now. Uh before uh continue I want to inform everyone that uh trustee vice president Bob Harden had to leave because he feel sick. Nothing other than that.
030>> Don't ask. Um okay. So next item is the comment from the public right. Do we have any? >> We have three. The first request is from Honey Roose. Hi, my name is Honey. I've lived here for over 20 years. Um, been here many times, but first time speaking. Uh, I want to address a teacher that has been made clear that has posted something on X or Facebook or something and I'd like to read you what she said. Um, this has to do with Charlie Kirk's death. It's why I'm wearing the vest. Our political environment has gotten so disgusting that um, we can't even feel safe anymore being around each other. Here's what the teacher said. The flag at my school is at half mass today for a stupid effing a-hole who believed it was
031acceptable for children to die in school shootings in the name of the Second Amendment. My school district was forced to bow down and honor a horrible person just because the Fwit in the White House said so. This infuriates me to no end. And I heard that D head is giving that idiot the medal uh the presidential medal of freedom. I just can't I can't wait until our own version of the Nermberg trials heads need to roll and consequences doled out to all these complicit SH heads and lawb breakakers lawbreaking Sorry. Um she is a teacher in Garden Grove. She works at Barker, I think. Does the name her name is Allison Meyer? That's disturbing. I mean, she may not say that to the children, but to know that that's how she feels enough to put
032it out in a public way, um, people were grieving. You know, somebody died, a fellow American died, uh, unnecessarily. Things need to change. And I don't think people like that need to be teaching our kids. Um, I'm happy my kids are now out of school because I'd be really really really upset knowing that with my kids in school. So, I thought you guys should be aware of it. I hope uh the the situation will be addressed. We lost a fellow American. Regardless how you feel politically, he was still a human being. He still had a family and he had a right to speak what he wanted to say whether people liked it or not. Thank you. Another request is from Miss Lynn Crop. Hello. Good evening. Um, my name is Lynn Grath and I live
033in Terry Roco's trustee area and I've been in the district for eight years and I did want to speak tonight about um the ability to start to encourage our community in participating. we have a lot of things that happen and I do want to say that Terry you have been and were always extraordinary about coming to the high school um meeting with the principal and offering that community platform and I don't know that that goes on in the other trustee areas because I don't live there but what I also know is that there's many people parents um maybe the community members would be in attendance to these meetings for pertinent issues if they were encouraged. I know that the city encourages that. Our city council likes to engage the community by offering the ability to
034email comments in for public speaking and that doesn't happen to my understanding here at the school district. Um, I do appreciate that the video, the actual streaming has become possible since February because in much of the seasons that I wish it was available when we did need it in uh, COVID era and you know thereafter it had not been. So I appreciate that. But my biggest feeling um and just to kind of share something I I wrote is that you know when we elect the trustees the intention is for them to represent the community and that's not just the students and those parents it's everybody as a community member because as I shared earlier I might have my children's children in this school district and they need to understand and I want to understand what
035policies and changes have been made when there's study sessions. s they um they offer us the ability to sit in, but we don't often have the access to video watch it or to hear it by audio. So, I'd like to, you know, make that suggestion. It seems like if that meeting were held in this room versus the study session room, it's already wired and that's ready to go. So, I would like to see that happen because aligning with these practices actually makes it easier for the, you know, the community and the public to come and to engage whether it's on their own time or it's ours. But for me, transparency is essential. And if the community can't follow what's happening, we don't have a district and a process that reflects principles, ethics, and accountability. Thank
036you. And another request to speak is Mr. Nicholas Dibs. Um, President Lanwin, members of the board, Dr. Mafy, community members, I have some concerns. I'm going to start off with, um, first off, Dr. Jill Baker, superintendent, Long Beach Unifi, and I started working in Long Beach Unified the same year. Long Beach Unified has a more robust uh effort to um protect the children from online dangers, social media, and so on. They've implemented some really great good policies. I'd like to see those brought over here uh in and also Laguna Beach Unified. What we really do need and and Craig Dery and I have been working on this since 2018 for sever for many years. We've been working on this asking you repeatedly to please develop uh more resources uh including websites, books, books such as
037Better Than Life that just came out, Glow Kids, Digital Madness, um and to have Hope Squad and also Screen Aers the movie. Uh uh San Juan Cap Capistrono Unified had a Hogue Hospital come in and do a session on this uh a few years ago. It was very good. We've sent you multiple emails with links and and resources. The district is not doing enough, particularly in light of the fact that we had the fifth grade student at Hazard Elementary commit suicide in October of 2019. And as one article reported, three of her of her classmates said she was being bullied on Instagram. More needs to be done. This this this pro including not getting involved in esports. This district should not be promoting esports. It is addictive and it leads to problems. And so to
038reduce suicide in improve academic ability and so on and banning the cell phones, please put that policy on a board policy so we can see it transparently what the policy is with regard to cell phones. Uh but banning those cell phones would be great. We need a a few other things. Like Lynn, the previous speaker said, we need to be recording this. You if you'd please record the study sessions. If you're going to have them in the room next door, just uh audibly record them. Have more transparency and openness in community engagement. uh when we come to other board policies we need is an ethics officer so that uh when you and need to do investigations and stuff it's not it's not you folks investigating yourselves but you bring in an outside party an ethics
039officer uh we need to have a video policy also um 60% or more of our property taxes go to the schools yet under you know you need to have a policy to allow the public who pay the taxes, who support our schools to have at least an hour to come in and see during open house or back to school night to go into the classrooms. Open it up to the community in a set time because we pay the taxes, bring back our trade classes and shop classes. Thank you. >> I'm up. Thank you. Uh that conclude the public comment portion. Next uh item is the approval of the minute from the last meeting on September 2nd, 2025. Any comment, correction? All right. Hearing none, I call for the vote on approval of the minute. >>
040Student trustee Christy Gatichu. >> Yes. >> Trusty Dina Win. >> Absane. >> Trusty Walter Mun. >> Hi. >> Trusty Terry Roco. >> Hi. >> Chairperson Lenwin. >> Hi. And item three on the agenda is public hearing presentation and report. We have no item on public hearings on but on presentation we had the initial contract for the prop uh of proposal from the supervisory unit. I believe we have Mr. Alex Padilo. We're going to represent the supervisory unit. Good evening, distinguished school board members, Dr. Mafy, cabinet, and guests. The supervisor unit would like to propose the following articles for negotiation during the 2025 2026 school year. Article 9, leaves, article 10, health and welfare. Article 11, wages. We look forward to another productive round of negotiations with Miss Jenny Deamura and her team. On behalf of
041the supervisor unit, we thank you for your attention, time, and dedication to the Garden Grove Unified School District. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um, item four on the agenda is administration. We have item 4 A. Need a motion. >> Trusty Roco, I move we approve item 4 A. >> I'll second that. Thank you. Uh item 4 A is to approve the recommendation for exposion of one student for the mandatory exposion for one year calendar. >> Any comment question hearing? None. Let's call for the vote item 4 A. >> Student trustee Christy Gatichup abstain. >> Trusty Dina Win. >> Yes. >> Trusty Walter Wyone. Hi. >> Trusty Terry Roco. Hi. I >> chairperson Lenwin. >> Yes. Item five is on programs and instruction. We have 5 A through E >> Walter. I move 583. >> Trusty
042Roco. I second the motion. >> Thank you. Item 5A to approve the resolution number 10 for to authorize the submission of the application and acceptance for funding uh of the 2020 2026 to 27 California state preschool programs at 11 districts uh schools. uh this allow our student I mean our district to receive somewhere around 7,88,884 uh to uh support uh 23 classroom at 11 school site I'm 5B to approve resolution number 11 to author the renewal of the application and acceptance of funding for um state preschool and family literacy program support for the school year 2026 and 27. This will allow our district to receive up to 30,000 um to support a program. Item 5 C is to approve um to approve the participation by our K12 district teachers uh in a to participate in
043the 202526 school first education foundation grant program would allow us uh teacher to receive up to 1,000 per teacher or group of up to three teacher for 5,000. Uh item 5 D uh approve the individual district application for the California Department of Education CTE incentive program. This is a comparative uh grant program to would allow if accepted our district will receive up to 3,100,000. Item five E is to approve the number of outdist event. The first one is to allow approximately 50 11th grade average students from Rancho Alamos High School to attend the average um Southern California University visit on November 6 to 7, 2025. The second event is to allow 36 11th grade AV average students from Bonza Grande High School to attend the AVID 11th grade college trip uh to Northern California on
044November 15 to 18, 2025. The third event is to allow about 20 to 40 business student from Linta high schools to attend a Southern California Distributed Education Clubs of America District Development Conference in Costa Mesa on January 10 to 11, 2026. The fourth event is to allow some 50 uh 11th grade average students to attend the AVID Northern California UN University visit um on February 26 to 28, 2026. fifth event to allow some 20 to 30 business deca uh students u to attend a California DECA state career development conference in Anaheim on February 26 to March 1st 2026. Sick event is to allow 25 varsity softball team member to attend the gay cops tournament champions uh in Mojave at Mojave High School in Bohead City, Arizona on March 4th to 7, 2026. seven event to
045allow 80 11 grade average students from Los Amigos High School to attend not aid Northern California University visit on March 28 to 31st 2026. a event to allow some 10 visit marketing students from Linta High School to attend California DECA inter international career development conference in Atlanta, Georgia on April 24 to 29, 2026. night event. It to allow 30 Army JOTC students from Cal from San Diego High School to attend the Army JOTC summer camp at Irvine Ranch uh outdoor education center on May 16, 18, 2026. And the last and 10 event is to allow 70 choir students from Garden Grove High School to attend the New York Ki uh Hall New York City in New York on June 13 to 17, 2026. Any comment, question? Hearing none, let's call for the vote. >> Student
046trustee Christy Gichu. >> Yes. Trusty Dina win. >> Yes. >> Trusty Walter Moon. >> Hi. >> Trusty Terry Roco. >> Hi. >> Chairperson Lenwin. >> Hi. >> Item six on the agenda. If a business, we have item 6 A to N. >> Walter. I'll move 6 A through N. >> Trust W. I second the motion. >> Thank you. Item six A is to approve resolution number 12 to um announce our uh intent to dedicate an easement to the city of Grow P for public utility purpose. Uh this is the parcel of plan uh next to the Chapman um school area sport complex. Item 6B is to um author the to extend the authorization to for the district to participate in the stake of Alaska with the National Association of State Procurement Official Value Point Master
047Agreement uh number two with 780 35B to the California participating addendum number 7 to21-70-4 48-02 addend to number five for the purchase of audio video equipment and supply from B&H photo and electronic cor uh doing business as uh B&H photo video the contracted effective from June 30th 2025 to December 31st 2020. Item 6D is to approve uh the final extension of bit number 23 for the purchase of food service supply from gold star of food for the price increase of 2.48% 48% and and with a individual food service with an overall price increase of 3.39% for the number of items and also uh from Southwest school and office supply for the item number 5689 95 96 with no price increase. The contract is valid from September 2025 to September 19, 2026. Item six is to
048approve uh extension of uh the authorization for participate in the California motor award scheduled to purchase heating, ventilation, air conditioning equipment and services from uh carrier corporation with a singular wholesale distributor as an authorized reseller under the CMAS contract number 4-21-10. 10-1072 supplement number five. The contract advantage to December 31st, 2025. Item 6F is approved the acceptance of the completion of the California uniform public construction cost account uh to Avidc Industry uh LLC for the project atm train for to circle city electric inc for the project at Rancho Sant Diego High School to the CSI electrical contractor uh at the Rancho Alamidos High School and Ben as for maintenance at the Rancho Alamid High School and for the noted completion to be signed and filed by any invoice process for payment. Item 6 C is
049to extend the board authorization for the use of Paramount Unified School District bid number 14-23-24B for the purchase of plumbing uh supply from Samaden Supply Company valid from July 1st 2025 to June 30th 2026. Item 6H is to approve the ratification of California uniform public construction cost accounting app informal bit award to AVI SBL LLC city electric inciro contractor Inc. JL COP Inc. and Mayor Construction Inc. Item 6 I is it to approve uh an average price increase of 9.28% of four item from Papa John uh John uh request for propos 23 to 17 for fresh pizza for food services. Item 6J is to approve the average price increase of 4.62% 62% on 424 item from Gold Star Food for request of a proposal number 2324 for frozen refrigerated processed commodities of dry good goods
050and distribution for food services. Item 6K, it approved a recommendation to accept the bid for the districtwide unarmed security services from O County Public Safety meeting the specification terms and condition of request for proposal number 254 with a term of contract valid from November 17,25 to November 16 uh 2020. 25. Item 6L is to approve the state of Washington with the National Association of State Procurement official value point master agreement number 00318 to the California participating addendum number 7-22-7 0-49-14 with amendment number two for the purchase of radio services and solution from EAP Johnson Company with a common line Inc. and radio network DBA doing business at Eagle Communication as authorized reseller. The contract is effective from January 1st, 2022 to December 31st, 2026. Item 6M is to approve the uniform complaint report summary for
051the period from July 1st to September 30, 2025 and there is no complaint in the case for that period. Item 6 N is it to approve the purchase order and check for the total amount of 100,454,87343 any question? I have a question on um on the 6A with the resolution to intent to with our intention to to grant an easement to the city of Gondro on a partial plan. Uh my understanding that the easement may be termin to to put in some sort of time limit for this easement. So just in the event we need to use the parcel plan, we have a way to modify the easement or terminate it if needed to to to provide the land needed for our services sometime in the future. >> Yes, I'll get that information to the
052board and I'll provide it to you prior to the public hearing. >> Also, I have a question on number 6K. uh with a uh to extend a a water contract for the security. Uh this uh vendor the contractor now is with the or county public safety. My question is is that a new contractor is a contractor have been providing our security service to the district for years for many years. New one >> the same but we have had different names over time. >> Oh okay. So this is the same contract services. >> Okay. Um, not that we've used consistently for the entire time of the district, but this is a uh using the same company that we've been most recently using. And we can get you a record of all of the the name changes
053and the different companies that we've used since we've begun, which was prior to my 13 years of superintendent. >> All right. Thank you. Any other question? Okay. I have no other question. I call for the vote. >> Student trustee Christy Gatichu. >> Yes. >> Trusty Dina Win. >> Yes. >> Trusty Walter Mun. >> Hi. >> Trusty Terry Roco. >> Hi. >> Chairperson Lenwin. >> Hi. >> Item seven is on personnel. We have uh uh 7 A to C. I'm sorry. A to D. I'm sorry. 7 A to E. And we have um closed was that close? Yeah, we have a closed session early today and I want to report out on the result of that close session. uh in the closest Nepal application consider the Garden Grove Unified School District participation as an amucus in
054Vest permo vers no case number 25312 uh pending in the night circus July uh court and dated July 13 2025 originated from the trial court federal trial by district court uh with a number 25- CV-05605 uh in the California District Court. The perom do case is on appeal at the US court of appeal for the ninth circus and the board voted for the garden unifi school school district to participate as an amucus mucus to and authorize the superintendent of destiny to take all action and execute the necessary document to initiate the participation of the district. So, and we have other item. Any comment? Let me I need a motion for the rest of the item. >> A motion 7 A through D. >> I second the motion. >> Thank you. Item 7 A is to
055approve the certificate personnel report. Item 7B is also to approve the classified personnel report. And item 7 C is to um approve the recommendation uh from to appoint Mr. Bob Tucker to the new three years terms at CEA nominee uh to the personnel commission beginning December 1st, 2025 to November 30th, 2028. Item 7D is to approve the increase in of the hourly rate to substitute teachers working in EO position from $44 an hour to $55 an hour effective October 8, 2025. And on 6E on a close session with I report earlier. Any comment question on any of the item? Hearing none, let's call for the vote on item seven. >> Student trustee Christy Gatichu >> abstain. >> Trusty Dina win. >> Yes. Trusty Walter. >> Hi. >> Trusty Terry Roco. >> Hi. >> Chairperson Lenwin.
056>> Uh I item seven is to uh the closing begin with a comment for the member. Uh we begin with school board member Christie got chins too. >> As we get ready to wrap up the first quarter, it's been amazing to see the energy and school spirit across all our campuses. From exciting family nights at the elementary schools to homecoming games and dances at the high schools, students have shown their schools pride this season, bringing our communities together. Many schools have also used the spirit field season to give back give back to our community by hosting a variety of fundraisers including pinkout volleyball and football games where proceeds go towards organizations like Susan G. Kleman and breast cancer breast cancer angels showing that school pride can go handinhand with making a difference. As we soon
057move into the next quarter, I hope we continue nurturing the idea that school can be both fun and meaningful. a place where students not only learn but also grow through experiences that build community and connection. Along with that excitement, our seniors are reaching a major milestone as we enter college application season. Many seniors were in attendance last night at our district's college fair where hundreds of GGUSD students were able to chat with different colleges and universities all around California and the country. It's a stressful but exciting time filled with big decisions, late nights, and hopes for what's ahead. as they prepare to start the next chapter of their lives. I'm confident their hard work will pay off and I look forward to sharing positive updates and accomplishments in the next meeting. Thank you. >> Thank
058you, Trusty Dwin. >> Thank you, Christie. Um, just want to let you know you're the bridge to the board of trustees and what you say do count a lot because we need the ears and eyes that we um from the schools that we don't um often have a time to go visit. So your uh report of everything that's happening is very important to us. Thank you for joining us. Um I wanted to end tonight um with some comments. I usually do not say anything um that is um controversial or political in our schoolboard meeting because I want our students to have their free will to form their own opinion. Um our nation is founded on the constitution for the people by people and of the people. So um that gives us a lot of freedom
059the freedom um to have an opinion and that's a wonderful thing until violence um intruded upon those freedom. And so I want to say that a life is not measured by the opinion of a person whether it's political, religious, um, or personal preference. And that's probably the message I want to send out to the community and our students. Um, another thing is we need to respect everyone opinion and we need to respect um each other peacefully and I think uh we've been open to a lot of opinions at the school board and we've done a very good job of it. I think staff has been very catering to people who have concerns and I think that our board um in general and and specifically myself have been open to many things that's been said on
060the dis and at the dis. So uh sometime we don't make comments but we have we take action behind the scene to make sure that everyone is well taken care of especially our student because our main and uh foremost important goal is to make sure that our student have a successful education and that is our focus. Um and a lot of times we can't really make statements um beyond that focus because then that would make us uh go into a different avenue that um is not the mission of the school board. Um secondly, I wanted to um mention that our elected official in um sometimes are abused and um taken advantage of. uh in one occasion is um I noticed that uh we have a couple of Latino uh American representatives who did not um
061who were not familiar what was going on in a Vimese American community and one of the groups were um trying to celebrate the founding father of the communist party and um they used pictures of our elected officials and namely um trustee Munent family and I thought it was unfair for them that they used that picture in that poster. Um, that wasn't at the event. They just used a poster that the family attended an event and put it on a poster to invite people to celebrate the birthday of the founding uh, Communist Party uh, founding father. And um I want to let Walter and his wife know that. I'm aware of that. And uh I think that um you know that's unfair of that group and that's not that's um unethical and bad practice of a
062nonprofit group to do that. Um I'll keep an eye on this group and I want to make sure that they're not going to be able to use um our elected officials like that again. Uh and also now last but not least very importantly that um I want to congratulate our staff and students and parents for rounding up the first quarter. I always thought the first quarter uh is pretty hard because you're trying to feel out everything. So congratulations and that's all I have for tonight. >> Thank you Trusty Minan. >> Yes, good evening everybody. such a joyous uh evening of celebrations backto backto back um opportunities for our community to be recognized uh from our staff to our community heroes um and I think it was a really a really nice night to honor so
063many loving individuals. A couple of events that I attended um I think I can speak for all of us here a lot of uh last couple weeks have been filled with back to school nights. Uh that's all been pretty much said and done. I attended several uh too many to to list individually and go over individually, but one that I do want to highlight, I tend to at least highlight one or two that really stood out. Um I really enjoyed Violet Elementary Schools um back to school night. Please send the regards to the team over at Violet from the educators to the administrators. It was just overall a really nice uh evening. I know our uh administrator there is new to Violet but not new to our district. does some great work and I'm and
064I'm uh really happy that I I attended. So, please send my regards to the Violet team. Uh I also attended the Mid Autumn Festival. I tend to always go uh with my colleagues here at Murdy, but I wanted to show some love to a different school site this year and I attended Stanley Elementary's uh Mid-Autumn Festival. And what's really sweet and cool about this one is that it's studentled and student run. Garden Grove High School's Vietnamese Student Association is the one that actually hosts it for the community over at Stanley Elementary School. So, it's really sweet uh for these high school students to come out, do the dragon lion dances, and to be able to share a little bit of piece of their community uh with the Stanley community. So, I think that's really cool.
065And we have our high school and our elementary come together uh for the benefit of the overall community. So, I enjoyed it. Although, I did miss uh Murdy. I did see some pictures of President Owen and and and Trusty Rockwell having a great time. So, I'm glad we were all able to share some of our love with different school sites. Uh some community events that I've attended uh recently um attended for the city of Garden Grove the foods of Garden Grove uh event which is uh their second year doing uh this event where they highlight all the local businesses um eeries in the city of Garden Grove. Uh so you have some uh local favorites like Los Sanchez um and different types of eeries that are very near and dear to our heart because they
066support our schools a lot. They donate food, they donate uh different uh materials for for wonderful youth. So it was really nice to be able to be out there and and and support them. This was a free community event. Everybody and anybody was invited. Uh so I was able to join them and have a great time there. Uh, another event I attended um was the Discovery Science Center annual gala. The Discovery Science Center um if you all ever seen it, it's right off of the five on Main Street right next to Main Place Mall and it's a place for um youth to be able to open their doors in the STEM field and and being able to go out there was really nice. Uh I was invited uh with uh supervisor Vicente Serento and and
067his team to be out there and I was able to make a lot of great connections and a lot of them um are looking to want to bring in more of our garden group unified youth uh to there. So I'm trying to see if maybe we can broker some type of free uh garden youth day uh like they do in Sana. So fingers crossed that I can try to get something uh worked out on that avenue. Um, and then another community event that I attended that I really, really enjoyed and I really want to highlight and take a moment to really uh talk about this one. I I know I've already spoken with our superintendent very briefly about this event, but it's the Orange County Department of Education's Father Fest. This was their first ever
068father's only specific event uh for fathers in the county of Orange. I personally found out about this event. It wasn't a personal invitation. and I found out through their OCD Instagram. Um, and I attended not as a board member but just as a father of of of youth. And it was very powerful. It was very heartwarming. It was amazing to be surrounded with other uh fathers, other men, other positive real uh male role models uh that our community so desperately needs. Um, I've always been an advocate about ensuring that fathers, man figures and positive male role models be more involved with our schools. Um, I'm hoping uh and I know that we can get this done by sending a contingent of of district staff at their next event and maybe one day replicate uh something
069like that here in Garden Grove because, you know, when Garden Grove gets their hands on things, we can tend to make it maybe a little bit more central, more localized, and a lot uh more fun for our community so they don't have to drive as far. This one was located in the city of Anaheim, not too far from here. Uh but I know that this is something that we can definitely uh work on. Uh today we had a moment of silence for one of our our youth. Um and this is not a individual case sadly. There are lots of youth that unfortunately get involved with different situations. Um and they just are yearning and are needing for positive male mentorship. Uh I love the fact that we have so many programs out there. Uh, but
070one of the things that I do see is that they tend to draw the students that are already excelling and already doing so well academically. So, we need to find some type of way to recruit and support our our disadvantaged youth, especially our our our young men who need guidance and need some support. Um, and this is something that will take time, but I I know that we can definitely do a great job about doing it. I'm looking forward to making this something that I really passionate about and bringing this to the table. Uh some upcoming events that I'll be attending um is the upcoming Boys and Girls Clubs toasting great futures event this weekend. Uh they're a great partner of our obviously for many many years. I'm looking forward to supporting them. And then
071lastly, there's some athletic games I'm looking forward to attending, going to some football games and things like that. So that's it in regards to events. Um, I do want to address trustee Dean. Thank you so much for looking out for myself and my family. Um, I definitely uh do consider uh your uh feedback. Uh always open always open to meeting and discussing any concerns that you have. So, thank you for that. That's my comments for tonight. >> Thank you. Uh Trustee uh Roco. >> Yes. I want to congratulate um our outstanding employees of the month and for their dedication, their contribution and their positive attitude and willingness to go that extra mile. Also, uh I express appreciation to the Simon family foundation for supporting our GGUSD students and I wish these scholars well on their
072educational journey. And I want to give kudos to our community heroes, uh, the Monarch Foundation, uh, Samantha and Claire. I had the privilege of, uh, spending time with them over the summer. Um, as well as, um, seeing them in action, seeing the Santiago team in action, uh, to reach out to our families. Um, I want to thank them for their selflessness, their kindness, and their determination. And they've made a difference for so many families in our district, and our community is better because of them. Um, I had the opportunity of uh attending the Garden Grove City Council meeting where they spotlighted our GGUSD bus drivers who won first place in the sixth annual school bus safety bus rodeo. This is huge because this is like a state championship. So, uh, congratulations to the winning team,
073to Gabriella, to Eduardo and Jose for doing such an awesome job and putting GGUSD on the map. So, uh, some of the school events I attended were the Clinton Corner, um, preschool fair. Um this was an awesome fair that gave families the opportunity to connect with multiple community agencies and to attend um Dr. Mafy and Dr. Druit's very meaningful presentations um and for the children to participate in engaging activities. There was a fire truck there as well. Uh it was a very positive a warm and welcoming experience for our families who are just starting with their children on their educational journey in our district. So, excellent um event. Um I attended pastries with the principal at Barker and I just had it's great for me as well as for the principal and the community. It's
074just such such an opportunity to get to meet new parents, stay in touch with parents that have been there for a while. And I just think that um these events are such a vital part of building relationships um with the school's community. So kudos to them. Um I attended the GGAE uh stakeholder meeting at Lincoln. That's um adult education where we were brought together educators, students, local organizations and community members to collaborate on the future plans for adult ed. And I really really liked the format they used this year. Um it was very interactive. It was kind of a world cafe style where we went from table to table and actually got to engage and talk on a level uh where it was mostly talk and some doodling. So rather than taking long scrupulous notes,
075we doodled, made pictures and maybe highlighted keywords so that when we shared we had to talk and we were it was face to face. I really really like that. I think it was a an exchange of awesome ideas and um my grandson Noah and I had the opportunity to see Shrek the musical at Pacifica and we were wowed at the creativity, the humor uh both child and adult level humor and the talented singing and the dancing and um I was especially impressed because it was so early in the year and it was like wow this was a production. So very proud of that. Uh we also attended the myy mid-autumn um moon festival last Friday and uh the celebration with Vietnamese culture, food, games and just um wonderful opportunity for the whole community to come
076in and watch the Vietnamese dances, the songs and uh the culmination of the beautiful lantern parade where we all had lanterns that lit up that followed the Lintita um lion dancers. So, we went all through the playground. It was looked pretty good. I wish I could have been up. We should have had a drone taking a picture or something. It just looked pretty impressive because it was it was already getting dark by that point. So, in terms of district events, um I've had the opportunity to visit Fitz Bryant and Lloyd FRC's and I just want to say that they're up and running our F FRC's with awesome informative workshops and presentations for our families. Um I attended our GGUSD job fair and I saw and spoke to many parents, former students and uh some of
077the community members who were very much interested in working for our district. So I think it's awesome that we can bring in our community members to be a part of our GGUSD family. And uh just uh going to give a shout out to all the people that were involved in putting this together. It's a big production and um it it was a very warm and welcoming atmosphere and a very successful event. And then last of all uh last night's college fair. Wow, it was well attended and I heard a lot of positive feedback and I wasn't even asking for it. People were coming up to me and saying that they were just parents and students and even the college reps how um how great the event was. And I I want to recognize Lynn Buouie
078and Teresa Jackson and the outreach team who planned and executed this invaluable event under the supervision of Dr. Sanchez. Please let them know, Dr. Sanchez, that it was amazing. They just they've outdone themselves. I can't wait till next year to see what else is going to be there. Uh but the venue was better. It was bigger. There was lots of room. Um and we had a lot of kids there, a lot of families, a lot of grandparents even. So, uh thank you very much. >> Thank you. Um uh first of all I mean I want to uh I want to congratulate our Simmon scholar but more than that I want to to thank the scholar foundation the family foundation for steadfast and supporting of our student and we would not have that continuing relationship that
079long without the uh the tireless dedication from our staff. And I would say I know our our district keep keep asking keep insisting and now we got to all seven school and then I know we keep asking for more but that uh that's big volume of of the the whole effort from everyone to our from our our staff and also especially as student as well and then I we we try to you know that relationship we look forward to continue And that Simmons scholarship is very powerful not only to provide our student who will mean to go to college but it provide them with the empowerment the confidence of getting themsel ready for success and to compete uh with the top of the people out there uh at the college level and and then beyond
080as well. And we're proud every year that we see the presentation of our simmon scholar in that fashion and look forward in a chance to engage with them so that we can see how bright how proud our student will be. Second also I had a chance to attend the mid autumn festival from the muddy. Uh I didn't realize they had the same one and Stanley too. I think that a good tradition this a good time uh good culture uh event that they can bring all the children together from all uh walk of life or the other group in our community. It's good time which an honor celebrate the the festival of our children. This is signify the the time for the family together with the uh the fun they they share together in um in
081the community in the school setting like that. Of course the mi event is getting bigger get better every time but looking forward to seeing site will pick up that uh tradition and they can do their own another school site as well. And also on last few weeks ago, I were able to attend the the Vietnamese American model curriculum uh put uh presented by the Oran County Department of Education. Our school district were well pres uh represented at that event. Uh a good contention of our teacher to attend it. I think there's a lot to learn to share uh from that event and we still um myself is still into the the resources the network that we can share. Of course, I'm very proud to share that uh we have our own uh Vietnamese American uh
082acne studies uh course that the first and the only in the state of California now uh being offered to our students and of course there's a lot of overlapping the the Vietnamese curriculum and uh the Vietname study that we offer in our uh school district and I'm looking forward to working uh with our staff and also uh staff from many other district to high up how they can improve and enrich the the curriculum uh that that we all um endeavoring to to help our student put together that u vitam that that active study requirement is going forward and of course I mean I were very proud I attend the college fair uh yesterday or some yes I think believe yesterday it went it getting bigger it get better every year I would say but of
083course it put got into the the quality of the presentation there I I don't know if I'm right I saw more names of the university college represented there I saw more number of the pan they just sort of they now go in and talk to a number parent they really appreciate the chance to see for the in their their own eyes of how the school will look like how to talk to the real life person from the school with before they sent their children their own children there that is very good experience for them and I just of course we always had a problem running out um of spay of room for that and admire our staff always looking for very uh creative way to provide room to accommodate uh that kind of service to
084our student. And I want to conclude my um my my statement with um the the comment on the teacher from BA's uh school and uh of course that statement would have been going uh viral on one of the social media. It does not represent our uh school district in any way. It does not represent the value of our teachers uh in in any way. Uh but we are mindful of the balance between free speech and the right of our employees uh of our teachers uh uh being walking between that line, a very thin line. We are very careful with that. We just want the community to know that we take that seriously. We are looking into that to we are uh investigating to find out what it is and what we can or cannot do.
085Uh so that of course uh so that we can prevent this thing in the future in in the future. We are mindful of the the tense environment in our society uh today but it does not justify in any way and anyone from whatever political inclination to uh have such a a statement or expression of the view and of course we all have our right to free speech. uh but we are mindful of the fact that we are member of the Gen Grove uh community and we we behave uh accordingly and I looking thank the quick action into dealing with situation and I'm still waiting for uh what our staff our district will do in that situation not so much to punish what happened but how to prevent uh from similar thing from happening in the
086future. Now that conclude my statement, I want to uh announce future meeting. The next one will be on November 18 that will begin at uh 5:00 pm with a close session and followed by a study session. And the one after that will be in December 9th. Uh also begin at 5:00 pm the close session and follow also with the third session. With that the meeting is now a journ.