001Good evening. It's 5 o'clock p.m. and I'd like to call the July 9th, 2025 special board of education meeting of the Englewood Unified School District to order. And I would like uh Miss Cheryl Matthews, chair of our asset management committee to please lead us in the pledge of allegiance. Thank you, Dr. If you don't mind, if you'd stand and 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. Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Matthews. Next, we'll move on to roll call. Miss Sbrano will call the role. Board President Miss Margaret Turner Evans present. Board Vice President Dr. Carlos McGee present. Board member Miss Joyce Randall.
002Board member Mr. Brandon Meyers. Board member Mr. Ernesto Castillo present. Dr. James Morris present. Dr. Bernard Lucas present. Dr. Brian Coffee present. And Mr. Rafael Guzman present. Thank you. Uh thank you very much. At this time I will approve the agenda with no modifications and we'll now transition to reports and presentations. Uh we have one presentation this evening. Our presentation will be delivered by Miss Cheryl Mrs. Cheryl Matthews chair of the asset management advisory committee who will provide an update on the Englewood adult school report. I just want to begin by complimenting Miss Matthews and the committee. They worked very very hard and spent many meetings discussing the property and making recommendations from the committee on what we should do with that property. Mrs. Matthews, thank you Dr. Morris. Good evening to our board. Thank
003you so much for joining us and for allowing us to join in with you this evening. My name is Cheryl Matthews and I am the chairperson of the Englewood Unified Districts County Administrator and Board of Trustees appointed asset management advisory committee. Tonight, I am pleased to present the county administrator, board, and Englewood community on behalf of the advisory committee the asset management advisory committee report which includes findings and recommendations regarding the use and disposition of the former Inglewood Adult School located at 106 East Manchester Boulevard, Englewood, California. As detailed in the report, the advisory committee has met 18 times starting on October 19th, 2022 to review and make recommendations regarding various properties. The meetings are conducted pursuant to the Brown Act and are open to the public. On June 12th, 2025, the advisory committee held
004a public hearing to receive input from the community regarding its proposed recommendations. Prior to that, on April 3rd and April 5th, 2025, the advisory committee and district held community meetings to receive community input regarding the property. Pursuant to education section 17390, the advisory committee presents its report to the county administrator and board and excuse me and board for its review and consideration. The advisory committee recommendations are outlined on page six of the report. The advisory committee wishes to thank the county administrator and board for his support of the advisory committee and wishes to thank staff for the information provided to the advisory committee to help inform the advisory committee's recommendations and for its administrative support. The advisory committee wishes the district continued success. Thank you. Thank you so much, Chair Matthews. And um I'll ask
005if the board members have any questions or comments regarding Miss Matthews and the report. Miss Matthews, I was waiting to hear what you decided. So now I got to go through and read all this to tell me what you decided to do with the properties. Where are they? Um they're one, two, three, four, five, six. So these recommendations are from the input of the community as well as um the committee. Sorry, I didn't know I was covering all of this part. No worries. Um yes, it is in fact from the committee and from the community information that was gathered. Okay. All right. Thanks. Oh, can I ask you um did you guys um provide the number of people that participated in the public hearing for each um sessions that you held it? I believe that
006that information is available. We'd have to check with the office itself to give you those exact numbers. So, it's not in this report. That is correct, Dr. McGee. So, in addition to the public hearing that was held here, the asset management committee meeting did have community meetings um three of them throughout the community to seek additional public input. So, there was one was held at um a a church on Yeah. I'm not I'm not disputing the meetings. I'm just concerned about if you have three people or 60. Yeah, that's all. I understand. So that that um yeah, we we have meetings, but um how many people showed up? So that's all. Okay. We'll get that information provided for you. All right. Board President, can I make some comments and questions? Um, well, I think the
007concern that board member McGee brought up is is very valid because we do know that as much as we try to have people come out to these sessions, the attendance was not to the part that we wish to have. Um, the conversations were different from each community meeting, but I do think that they played a big role in the findings that you brought to this board. I was there and I know it was very honest conversations, very real conversations and not only were the board members there but also the asset management committee members were there. So I thank you for for being there um taking that role and taking this committee very seriously because every committee hearing, every meeting you have, it's almost like a city council meeting. The type of dedication and work that
008each person has done to this committee is something that should be commended. So, I thank you for your service and um again, I hope that we could find ways to get the community more involved because that's always going to be an Achilles heel for any type of decisions we make when it comes to our our assets. Well, I I would also be um interested in what's the reach. You know, we have a tendency to do the same thing over and over and that's why the results that we see look the way that they do. But we have got to be more innovative if we are not getting the uh participation that we need. And boots on the ground is not just with a fan. We have to get out there and really you know you
009know I don't want to say beg but we but it it makes a difference. you know, we have just gotten way too laxed and then when we make decision, we have more people coming out against the decisions than we had their input in making those decisions. So, I would just um recommend that if what we're doing is only bringing a few people to the table, and it's probably the same people that have an interest or something in this community, but um I think we just need to be a little bit more innovative. We're starting to do things that really are going to impact the future of this community. And as it changes, I want us to make that we have as many voices involved in that as possible because once I hear from not a
010select group of people but really a a group that represents the community, you can rest easy. It is what it is, right? But when you got four or five people showing up to a meeting and then you're making huge decisions about what we're going to do with our properties, um you'll get more coming after we make a decision coming for us. So, thank you, Miss Matthews. I know that it's a daunting job sometimes, but um I think that we are in a grand position to really pull in more people, but I think we have to change um the formula to get them there. So, thank you for your report. Madame Vice President, may I just say one thing? Um, in trying to reach more of a cross-section, one of the things that we did do
011in all of us having boots on the ground postings and doing the things when people came in, we did have more than five people. We had quite a few more than that. And we also were able to have them to log into a computer system. there were computers that were provided for the different um suggestions that they might have for the properties and different things like that. So, we were able to capture that information and those numbers. I just don't have them in the report. But just so you know, we are trying to be a little more strategic and a little more innovative um with our as you say the outreach reaching uh the demographics that don't normally show up for the meetings adversarily or however they show up because as you say you can
012be greeted in the grocery store anywhere with the questions or the comments from them but they won't show up at the meetings. Right. And we we have a lot of activities here in Englewood. We just had uh Councilman Faulks. It would have been nice to have had a table to get that information. Sometimes we have to go where the people are because they may not come to us. So when I say innovate, I'm thinking of ways that there's already a gathering. Yeah. You know, but if we're not posted up with the information, we're just out there having fun with them. Yeah. And so that's all. We have enough things that go on in our community that if this is um something that we really want to get more people involved in, then a lot of
013times we're going to have to meet them where they are. And that's a great suggestion that maybe we utilize the community calendar and plan events that way because I know there was a jazz festival or something this past weekend. That would have been another great venue to pass out and hand out information. So yeah, there's always something going on in Englewood. You can go up to the Miracle Mile on Sundays and they have church. So there there are ways in which we can really communicate and and it also helps when people say, "Well, who'd you talk to? Who did this?" Say, "No, we was at Miracle Mile. We was here. We was there. Where were you?" Right. Correct. So, you know, as long as we're getting that information out in various uh communities, it really
014helps, you know, cuz sitting in this seat when they come in here, um I'm I'm ready for them. Exactly. You know, so again, thank you for your report. Thank you. And I and I just want to compliment the committee, Dr. May, because it was the committee's idea. We had one meeting here, one meeting at a local church, and one meeting at Old Warren Lane to try to be geographically dispersed. We received u Mbro just found it 117 survey responses. There were a lot more folks at the meeting who didn't fill out the survey, but we received 117 written responses. So, and and it is compliments to the committee because they said, "No, we just can't rely on people coming here." And that was kind of the Miss Matthews and the committee's suggestion that we did
015the the three outreach meetings. And I just wanted to add I was at that committee meeting so I saw it happen naturally where one idea came up and then someone brought it up and said we should do this and then it actually happened. So it was a great effort to try to get this out to the community. I will say though at these events there's a lot of eyes on Inglewood. So when you're doing an event in Englewood, you get a lot of people outside from Englewood who want to push their own agenda and we need to talk to the ones who are impacted by this. You know, the property owners, the renters, the parents, those who are really impacted by our decisions. So I think that's a good way we should do that. We
016go straight to where they're at. Like you said, at that festival, I'm assuming most of them were residents and those who are residents will want to hear about this. So uh I appreciate your initiative and initiative of the committee, but definitely there's ways we could definitely make it more impactful and get the information that we need to make the decisions. communities. They all have community and the gated communities. We've got Carlton Square. We've got the Renaissance. We've got um uh Brywood. These are places that we can go, you know, and and and meet with the um HOA um president when they have meetings and we can ask to be on their agenda and we know that they're residents. So, I am not um downplaying what was done. I'm just saying moving forward, we can do
017more. Absolutely. We have more than 117 people that live are going to be impacted by that property. So, I'm not downplaying it. I'm just saying that um we can we can do more. Absolutely. All right. Thank you, Miss Matthews. Okay. Mov moving on on the agenda. We're now going to go to public comments on agenda and non-aggenda items. The county administrator and board of education will hear public speakers on agenda and non-aggenda items. A public comment card must be completed and submitted to Miss Sombrano prior to the public comment period. Three minutes will be allotted to each speaker. Public comment cards exceed 10. The time may be reduced at the discretion of the presiding officer. Anyone who disrupts, disturbs, or impedes the orderly conduct of the meeting will be required to exit the meeting room
018in accordance with board bylaw 9323. The Brown Act does not allow members of the board, county administrator or cabinet members to respond to public comments. Miss Embrano, public comments? No, we do not. Dr. Mars. Okay, I said all of that and I didn't need to. So, we're going to move on to action items. Uh, does the board have any questions or comments regarding human resources division 7A1 7 A1 is approved. Moving on to business services division 7B1 7B1 is approved. Moving on to County Administrators Division 7C1 through 7C3. 7C1 through 7C3 are approved. Um, and uh, moving on to board member remarks. Mrs. Evans. Oh, this this board meeting kind of caught me off guard. special meeting. So, I didn't even see this. I've been out of town. So, I just got back and I'm
019still sleeping. So, I'm sorry. I apologize. I'm not ready for this meeting because I was taking a vacation day. So, that's what I was trying to get our our superintendent to do to re relax because he's here every day. He never takes time off. So, the sermon in my church on Sunday was you need to relax, rejuvenate. Everybody needs a vacation. Even the Lord rested. He needs to rest. That's my comment for tonight. Thank you. Um, glad you took a vacation. And Dr. Morris, if you need one, you may want to take uh Miss Evans advice. I I I did take one. But with that being said, um I had an opportunity to um view our ban uh in Washington DC on July the 4th. It was being live screen and I got so many
020phone calls from my neighbors. Um it was just one of those things that you are so incredibly uh happy that our students got that opportunity. So I just want to say kudos to our students that are out there. I see that um our principal is sitting in the audience. You brought our babies back safely. Thank you. And so um um that was that was a highlight for me this month considering it's uh July 9th only. And I'm really happy about um we just adopted a resolution for the ground lease between Inglewood Unified School District and the YMCA. So that makes me happy because it lets me know we are moving forward and making sure that this property is being used as a benefit to the community. So that's all I have to say. Yeah, echo
021all the thanks to the Inglewood staff, to our leadership. Uh, I also watched the whole live stream and seeing our students pass by the National Museum of African-American Music and Culture, seeing them pass by the Washington DC monument. And I I it's what I needed to feel a little patriotic given what's going what's happening here in this country. And I'm really grateful for the mayor for uh having the initiative to uh get the band invited. Uh Dr. McGee and Education Foundation to supporting our students and again for the staff and leadership um of Dr. Collins and the other staff of Mr. J. It was a beautiful moment. So, I'm really grateful for them. And one thing I realized is we're elected officials. We're leaders in the community and we sit in these seats with our
022titles. So, if it's a two-hour meeting, it's a three-hour meeting or it's only 20-minute meeting, it needs to be said that our community, we're here with you. We know what's going on out in the community here in Englewood as well, too. And we want to make sure that everybody knows that our schools are safe place spaces and that we are here to support them through these tough times. If there's anybody who's in need of groceries, anybody who's in need of of supplies, please reach out to me. um on on any way possible because I'm here to support uh we're here to support you through this summertime where it can be kind of tough when you have not the ability to go to work and you have the ability to take your kids to summer school.
023So, just so that we're here for you that we know what's going on and this district is working. Um it may not be seen visible, but we're working very hard to make sure all our parents are safe and well cared for. Thank you. I just have one more announcement because I Oh, I think she left. Oh, u miss Dr. clip and left. But um since we do go live out into the community, we will start our uh farmers market at the CDC this summer. Um so the produce and it's it's plenty. So that's located at whatund what's what's the address? I don't know. It's down the street from 104. Oh, 104th in Crrenshaw. So, yeah, our families that may be um feeling food insecurity, we we we got them. So, they just have to go
024there this Thursday starting at um 11 o'clock. And Margaret, you've been by there. You know, we don't we don't we don't give away no junk. So, oh, I have to I have to say something else, too. I was sitting on on the 4th of July with my TV on watching the whole parade and my cell phone watching the Englewood parade because you did a good job of getting every kid and everybody everybody was on national TV. I mean, some of those kids had probably never been out of Englewood before and they were on a plane to Washington and I was asking about the accommodations and all the things that they did. They didn't just just go to the parade. they went and you know went on sightseeing tours and got to see Washington DC just
025it made me feel good just to hear about all the things that they did and Dr. Mar says well I'm going to meet the band when they come back. So who did I do? I came up and I met the band when they came back to I was here when all the buses got here and all the parents to make sure that all the kids got home safely. It was just I was just overjoyed. So thank you Dr. Collins, Miss Collins. It was nice. It was wonderful. Dr. Jay, everybody. I didn't know. I never know. I I never knew when they went or when they came back. Let me know. Dr. Morris, I never seen you. That's true. We are out there 1:00 in the morning. Well, let me know the next time. I'll be
026there. Thank you. All right. And I'll get the last word and I'll be there also, but uh Miss Evans um and and Dr. Lucas and I were there seeing the kids come off the bus and the they're all standing around. They're all standing around and suddenly I look over at this group of but I'm looking watching this group of student got off the bus and they're with the band director Mr. J and they're all standing there crying. There's like 15 kids standing around and they're all they were so overwhelmed with emotion of what they had done and that they were back. They were crying of just being overjoyed with happiness. That that just was the thing that made my day. So with that I will say our next meeting is Let me just really quickly
027I have Okay. But we can have that conversation after this. It was I had the doctor send me the flyer for the food giveaway and I just got it. So I was just going to give you that information. Can I have it, too? Okay. No worries. Sorry. I I will I will um announce that our next meeting will be held on August the 6, 2025. And the meeting will stand adjourned and uh at 5:21 PM, but we'll leave the recording on in case anybody wants to make an announcement about the the flyer. [Music] Um, the Englewood Educational Foundation and We Grow Inglewood grocery giveaway will be held at Sulfi Stadium Thursday, July 10th, 10:00 a.m. 1040910th Avenue in Englewood. And uh, it doesn't have a time for cutting off, but the giveaway starts at 10.
028Wait a minute. I'm confused. That's something different. Yeah, that's That's address to our CDC, but it's not at Oh, okay. All right. Okay. Thank you everybody. Did my best. That's what she gave me. So,