001Looks like we're up and running. So hopefully the rest of the meeting is captured. Okay, we will now go ahead and move on to public comment. As mentioned, we do have several cards filled out. I will go ahead and call out the cards that have already been turned in. After we go through the cards, I will go ahead and ask if there's any other members of the audience that would like to um have public comment. Um as a reminder, public comment is for the audience members only. And the board is not allowed to speak. Not that we don't want to speak. Not that we elect not to speak. We're not allowed to speak. So the fact that I'm actually saying thank you and asking for more is, you know, already kind of pushing boundaries. But
002just a um reminder just in case there's any questions that are raised and you're not getting any feedback from us. It's not that we're ignoring you or trying to be rude. It's just so that you are aware that that is just a dedicated time for the audience. With that said, we will go ahead and open up our public comment. And our first speaker is Karina Matadamas. Ha. Ha. Okay. So, um I'm here in support. Um Fabia Lammansa asked me to speak on behalf of Mrs. um Savala and it touched me a lot that she spoke about new teachers um from the last board meeting and I would like to take a moment to express my appreciation for this incredible teacher and supporter Mrs. Sabala. Um as Mrs. Sabala mentioned during the last board meeting, many
003new teachers who once attended school have returned to serve our community as educators and that motivate motivated me to speak as I still feel relatively new because I am one of those teachers who has come back home to give back to my community that has seen me grow. Growing up as a student at Del Rey, I remember seeing Mrs. Sabala on campus, even though I was in a different track back when tracks were still a thing. Woohoo! Go red track. Sorry. Um, she always greeted me with kindness and warmth. Those small moments matter more than she probably realized. Fast forward after completing my student teaching, I knew I wanted to come back and work here in King City. Starting my career as a new teacher, I could have felt overwhelming, but I never was afraid
004because I knew there were experience and caring educators here whom I can turn to for guidance like Mrs. Sabala. Seeing a familiar face made a huge difference and reminded me that I was entering a supportive community. Like my amazing mentor, Mrs. Garcia, Mrs. Sabala has also continued to offer encouragement and support throughout my journey. Although this is my fourth year teaching fifth grade and she primarily works with lower grade, she still reaches out and reminds me that she is there whenever I need help. Mrs. Zabala represents the kind of educator who leaves a lasting impact not only on students but also on fellow teachers. Her kindness, dedication, and willingness to support others helps create the strong sense of community that makes our district special. Thank you, Mrs. Zavala, for continuing to inspire, encourage, and support
005both students and teachers. Your impact truly reaches far beyond the classroom. So again, thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker, Fabi Almansa. Good evening everyone. Over the last four years, Jackie has been much more than just my toast or mentor teacher. Yet, she has truly been one of the biggest guiding forces in my life, both professionally and personally. When I first came into teaching, I actually took over her second grade classroom, which honestly felt impossible because those were very big shoes to fill. And to this day, I still don't know if I will ever fully fill them. I admire her so much that even now, after four years, having Jackie observe me um is still more intimidating than being observed by my own principal. That's because I care deeply about what she thinks and because
006I know the level of excellence, care, um, sorry, and heart that she brings into education every single day. Jackie has taught me what it truly means to be an educator. Not just through lesson plans and classroom management, but through the way that she treats people, the way that she shows compassion, patience, grace, and strength even during difficult moments. There are many times where I've had to stop and ask myself, "What would Jackie do?" before reacting to something whether in the classroom or in life. What makes her even more special is that she not only supported me as a new teacher. There were moments where I struggled personally and professionally, moments where I truly felt overwhelmed and questioned whether I could keep going, and she was the person who talked me off the ledge. Um, sorry,
007one second. She reminded me of my worth, guided me through difficult times, and never stopped believing in me even when I struggled to believe in myself. I also want to recogni recognize Anna Alvarez, our ELD TOSA, because she has also played an important role in supporting not only myself but many other educators and students throughout the our district. Anna such Anna has such a genuine passion for helping others succeed. And you can see how deeply she cares about students, especially our English learners. Um, sorry guys, one second. She constantly advocates for teachers, supports us through challenges, and reminds us that we are capable even during moments when we doubt ourselves. Her kindness, dedication, and willingness to always step in, and help never goes unnoticed. I would not still be here today without the guidance, support,
008patience, and encouragement that both Jackie and Anna have given me throughout these last four years. They are the kind of educators and people who leave a permanent impact on everyone around them. And I feel incredibly lucky and grateful to have learned from both of them. So thank you Jackie for everything that you have done for me and for every educator whose path you have crossed and thank you Anna for your support, heart and dedication. You continue to pour into our schools every single day. Your impact reaches far beyond the classroom and people around you are better because of are better because of you both. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next we have Karina Matadamas. >> Yeah. >> Okay. So then we'll start off the elop with you. >> Okay. >> Oh my goodness. Well, hi
009again. Um, it's on. Okay. So, um I I came here for ELOP 2 and it's to talk about the impact that teachers have on running ELOP clubs. Um I'm a fifth grade teacher over at KAM. This is my third year running ELOP clubs. I currently lead two clubs. One is beading and the other one is crochet. Through beading club, students have opportunities to create bracelets, keychains, and beading figurines while expressing their creativity through unique designs. Uh my students have proudly made bracelets for the district all district events and it h it has been rewarding to see other students excited to wear and enjoy their creations that they have done. Recently, my club members also wanted to make braces for our KAM teachers as a way to thank them for all the years of supporting them.
010Watching students kindness and appreciation through their work has been incredibly meaningful for them and for others to wear their own bracelets or maybe wear their keychains on their backpacks. When I first started now crochet, I was really hesitant because teaching crochet stitches to fifth graders seemed very challenging. It took us about maybe three months just to get the basic chain, but they got through it. Um, two of my fifth grader students that were just present here, they are now masters at crochet and they are happy to continue on crocheting hopefully at the middle school. Um, I took a chance of of doing Crochet Club and it has been one of the best decisions I have made because I get to see how talented my fifth graders are. Um, many of them have discovered a new
011hobby they truly enjoy and are proud to do it with their own hands. Some students have even started buying their own yarn and crochet hooks outside of school so they can continue creating and even sell their projects. Many tell me that crochet has helped them relax and some are excited about that they can crochet during recess as well. They ask me every morning, "Miss Matadamas, can I take my crochet hook?" I'm like, "And my yarn?" "Sure, but you have to sit on one of the blue benches." Both clubs have created opportunities and experiences that many of my students may not have had otherwise. The most rewarding part is seeing how proud they are at at their creativity, growth, and accomplishment. These clubs build confidence, strength, student teacher relationships, and give students a safe and positive
012environment where they can feel connected and successful. I truly believe teacher-led ELOP clubs are valuable because teachers bring their own skills, passion, and talent to share with students in meaningful ways. I hope these opportunities continue so we can keep inspiring students both academically and obviously creativity. So, thank you again um for the second time now. I won't be returning. Okay. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Next, we have RJ Peralta. Again, I'm being extra again. I'm sorry. But uh um this is my first time. So I brought with me the paintings of my kids. Um disclaimer, I did not teach them with this. This is their own work. This is our work for the past year. So you're welcome to look at them. I'll just be showing them to you. This is Carla's. This was
013supposed to be their entry for the fair. This is Paloma. This is Sylvia's. This is Yianis. This is Jackie's. Jacqueline. Yeah, Jackie. And this is Yanelli. All of these are my beloved kids. I have 23 enrolled, but I think it's just 12 of them. Um, by the way, I'm R.J. Peralta. I'm a science and EL teacher at Shalon Peaks Middle School. I'm one of the lucky foreign teachers you hired from the Philippines. So, I've been teaching here in uh King City and it's been a pleasure and honor to teach this amazing kids, this talented kids. Um I have been teaching ELOP since 2023. I'm one of the pioneers. I believe I'm one of the pioneers and it has been an amazing journey with these kids. Um, one of the greatest benefits of this program is
014the unique space it creates to build better connections with our students away from the strict constraints of the regular classroom day. ELOP allows us to understand our students as individuals um, fostering a sense of trust and belonging that carries right back into our daytime classrooms. This year again I am running the art and science experiments. So we do science experiments and uh most of the time art too. So we do a merge of those things. Those two contrasting uh uh fields are merged into one and the kids love it. My kids and a lot of kids love it. Um to be honest being compensated to to sh for sharing what I love with passionate students feel like a match made in heaven. It is a win-win situation that boosts teacher morale while enriching our students
015lives. Teacher-led clubs are vital for uh to the fabric of our district because we already know the community, the families and the school culture. We can provide a seamless, safe and nurturing environment for afterchool enrichment. This continuity means no time is wasted wasted for building rapport. We hit the ground running day on day one with established trust. Furthermore, having certified teachers lead these clubs ensure high quality behavior management and aligned academic support allowing students to take creative risks in a familiar environment. It bridges the gap between school day and after school care, reinforcing a unified school community where students feel valued and supported for from morning until departure. Furthermore, I want to extend my huge thank you to our program director Dr. Ruby with her exceptional leadership and vision have made this program what it
016is today. Thank you also to our board, our CPMS admins, our staff and to the dedicated team behind this program because without you, we would not be here. Our kids would not have developed their talents and our kids are enjoying this. So I thank you so much for this opportunity in this outlet for them to express what they can be. So thank you and have a good evening. Thank you. Next we have Kyle Lopez. Hello. Um my name is Kyle Lopez. I've been teaching at uh Shalom Peaks Middle School for 11 years. Uh total of 23 years in all. Um I've been running the guitar club for the last two years. Now, I was I I didn't originally um I didn't originally ask to do the club. I was actually approached by somebody uh to
017do the club because they knew I played guitar. I didn't even know Elop actually uh existed at the time. And uh I got really excited about it because um growing up in a very disadvantaged uh household um I didn't express myself very much. I didn't like talking about my feelings at all. Um, I had a teacher in high school that um put in the bulletin to join music uh or to teach the guitar. And I thought my mom thought it would be a good idea for me to somehow be able to express my feelings through another means other than talk about it because I just didn't talk. So with that, I wanted to give back to that's one of the reasons why this program really means a lot to me because I wanted to give
018back to the community what was given to me. It pretty much saved my life growing up. I still get emotional talking about it. Um, but this gives people an outlet for people who have a hard time that they may not they bottle up their feelings because they don't want to talk about them. And so that's the connection that I have with my students is I show them a different way of expressing themselves, a healthy way rather than lashing out or getting into trouble. Um it lowers stress um and um it makes you happy. You know, you release a lot of u happy uh hormones. So um the the uh uh I I serve about anywhere between five and I've had up to 15 people in there, which gets crazy when you have 15 different guitars.
019I teach them um basic guitar skills, but I also teach them some theory stuff too as well because we can apply no matter what instrument you want even want to play, including the guitar, you can apply the theory that goes along to um any instrument that you want to play. So, I teach them a lot. I teach them uh the piano keyboard at first um because it's a lot easier to see it visually um and and we and then I show them how to transform it to the guitar. Um and so that's been beneficial to them. Uh so uh but anyway that's why I really asking you know let's keep this going. It's been a really beneficial world to me and to my most of all to my students. We've been having a blast in
020there. Um, we've been playing together, improvising. I bring my sacks a lot of times and I'll be improvising a lot of times along with them playing the guitar. So, um, it's just it's just a really good time. I I look forward to it every day after school. Um, a lot of times we lose ourselves and and we go over uh 15, 20 minutes and and realize going, "Oh, shoot. My mom's going to get mad at me because I I I I was supposed to meet her there at 5:00." So, you know, we sometimes lose ourselves. Um, so anyway, um, I thank you a lot for allowing us the opportunity to um, do this club. I I I we really enjoy it. Thank you. Next we have Ismail Roachcha. Good evening board. Good good evening board
021and distinguished guest. My name is Ismael Rocha. This is my fifth year teaching physical education and my third year providing ELOP courses. I have the privilege of running our ELOP strength to performance class at Shalom Peaks Middle School where our elementary students train with division one level equipment and programming for our elementary student athletes. That's exactly the point. This spring, we expanded to multisport training club, helping our student athletes compete uh develop as complete well-rounded athletes. And this summer, I'll be bringing an extensive uh summer course to our King City Union School District summer camp, which it's only scheduled for 10 days. We'll make every single one count. What we're building beyond physical strength, uh what we're building goes beyond physical strength. It's about opportunity and being able to provide as many to our uh
022King City um students as possible. A lot of students will never have access to what our student athletes have here and that's because of Dr. Ruby, Patty, and the incredible board, district maintenance, and everybody that works behind the scenes to make all of ELOP happen. So I am truly grateful for every single one of you guys that allows us staff members to be able to provide the opportunities to our students that again they would have never even able been able to comprehend comprehend it. Maybe even when uh they get older they're going to be like wow we really had amazing year as elementary students and and look back at how how great it was. And that would not be possible without the people in this room that support us. And that's exactly why we should
023continue to support teacher-led clubs. Nobody knows these students better than the people already in this building. We will always show up and deliver for our community. Thank you. Thank you. Next, we have Sam Sam Smith. Right. Hi everybody. Um my name is Sam Smith and I'm here as a teacher ELO teacher ELOP teacher today. That is the capacity I'm speaking in. Um so I uh I talked last time but I'll say it again for everybody here. I run the Dungeons and Dragons Club at uh Shalom Peaks Middle School. Um and when you when people think of Dungeons and Dragons, they think of Stranger Things. They think of games. They think of like fun. But honestly, it's not just a game. It is project- based learning at its peak. Um, Dungeons and Dragons has role playing
024through a fantasy setting, which uh highlights oral language and meets oral language standards. Uh, the kids have to write their own backstory and create their own character. Those are written language standards. Uh, when they build a character statistics and how the character functions in the world, that's math skills. Um, they're painting miniatures, they're painting environments that are 3D printed. This is art. and they're solving puzzles, they're having conversations with each other, and they're uh interacting with battles, and all of this takes critical thinking, and it teaches those skills with the students. We even had a c one of the board members play with us a little bit. That was pretty fun. Um, this is a cross-curricular program that I run. Um, I do that in my classroom all the time. All right. So, hopefully not
025that much. Um, I even train future game masters. I have one of my sixth graders in my club who lift this up. I have one of my sixth graders in my club who uh he's running his own game and I actually got the opportunity to play in his game uh the other day. That was super fun. I got to step in with the kids and play my own character. Um, over the last three school years that I've been running this program, I've seen probably about 30 to 40 students go through. might not sound like a lot, but that is a full class of students that are not always my normal sixth graders who are going through my program um after school. They're staying two hours twice a week and they're hanging out with me. Um
026I've seen legitimate reading gains happen in this after school club because the kids are reading with purpose and I think that that's important. And that's something I try to teach in my regular class. But I mean, when kids are reading about Hepsit, sometimes they zone out a little bit. When they're reading about Dungeons and Dragons, they zone in, right? They're reading with purpose. They're saying like, "Okay, I have to look at this. I have to make my character." And so, they really do have to pay attention to what they read because it has real world consequences, fake world consequences. Um, what else? Some of these kids are my sixth graders, but other kids find my club in other ways. And that I think is the most powerful thing in in creating connections with these kids
027who I don't have in my class. And yet they come to my club, they come spend two hours a day with me, two hours twice a week after school, and we make legitimate connections. I've leveraged those connections to talk to kids in the halls, to have conversations with kids, and it's extremely powerful. Um, and it allows me to connect with students in a way that is very different from normal class time. Um, and ultimately that specific special type of connection is why it is so important for us to have the ELO peak pro uh program run through staff. Um, yes, it's a logistical puzzle. Um, I've shouted out Patty a couple times for solving those amazing logistical puzzles. So, shout outs to you. You're doing a great job. Um, but as we've seen from the
028different presentations tonight, we know that it's just so incredibly beneficial for students to have that extra connection with staff at the schools. It can lead to continued academic success. It can lead to continued social success. And it's just, if you ask any of the kids, they're going to say, "Yeah, that's my favorite time of the day." And honestly, it's my favorite time of the day, too. I've had a couple of tough years. And the thing I look forward to most is after school when I stay till five o'clock and have the time of my life. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next we have Diana Taylor. Okay. Oh, is this on? All right. So, my name is Diana Taylor. I am a reading intervention teacher at Delray School. Um, and I too would like to talk
029about the importance of teacherled clubs um for the after school program that we all know as ELOP. So, our district has this great opportunity with this funding for this program and I believe that it is a great thing that needs to be supported as we continue to grow our EL pro ELOP program. Our students have access to afterchool school clubs that provide learning, homework help, and enrichment. In addition, they build relationships with their teachers and peers outside of the classroom. Um, I run an art and games club after school with my co-teer, the wonderful Mrs. Savala. Um, our students are third and fourth graders. They start their time completing homework, which a lot of our students don't get support with homework at home, so we're there to help them with their homework. um then they
030get the opportunity to learn all about the different art techniques and have access to materials used to create many of their art pieces. Um and we know that unfortunately in this day and age, many students aren't participating in a lot of hands-on activities. Many students go home and they end up on their tablets or in front of some other type of electronic device or a video game and they're not doing much to engage their brain and get hands-on experience. Um, so that is like one of the most crucial benefits of these clubs. In my club, we do real art lessons. And sometimes, unfortunately, we don't get the opportunity to have those kinds of lessons in our regular classroom setting. They have access to things like oil pastels, paint, tempora paint sticks, modeling clay, watercolor paper.
031Um, they're not just making crafts, they're learning about techniques. like we spent a long time teaching the kids pointalism with little Q-tips. So, um they had to learn how to make proper brush strokes. Um they use different mediums. They're introduced to various artists. We have literature. Um talking about artists like Van Gogh, Picasso, and Monae. Um next year we want to expand to include a field trip to an art class or an art museum. We also have games. And let me tell you, these kids definitely need to learn how to play a board game. Um, they learn various game strategies. They learn sportsmanship and cooperation. They're talking. They're getting critical thinking skills and fine motor skills. Watch them shuffle cards. It's hilarious. Um so um clubs like mine and many others give the students an
032extra opportunity to explore all the enrichment activities that they may not otherwise have an opportunity to participate in. Um and just to end my little spiel here spiel I want to give a special shout out to my co-teer Mrs. Sabala. She was my mentor when I was a new teacher 18 years ago and I still go to her for support and guidance. Um, I also want to talk about Anna. She has been a phenomenal colleague and she is a true inspiration to her students and this community and the families is a true inspiration and I appreciate all of her hard work. Um, so thank you Jackie. Thank you Anna. Thank you Jackie for always being my wise owl. >> Thank you. Next we have Lisa Noowski. Okay. Apparently I'm at that age where I I
033need glasses and that's not fun. All right. Is it on? Okay. Awesome. So, hi. Hi. Uh my name is Lisa Noowski and I am a teactosa/instructional coach here and I've been here for a while. Um, so this year I'm talking about ELOP because you know dead horse, let's beat it. Um, so this year Chris McKe and I are running the fourth and fifth grade art club at St. Lucia um, as part of Elop. Um I'm here just to kind of share some of the positive glimpses and the um experiences that the students have had and that they're learning. Um and to share um just kind of how like the teachers help kind of weave some of that foundational growth into this expanded learning opportunity. Woohoo. Um sorry I come with sound effects so hope you
034all don't mind. It's kind of fun for me and my brain. um as an um so kind of as a teacher what we do is we don't just look at like what can we do we look at how can we interweave some of those um uh um standards within the um within what we do and we also get to look at things through the lens of child development. Um, so just kind of as an example, um, this year the art club has been a really great place for students to explore, just like Diana was saying with all of the great, um, uh, hands-on activities that they can do in ours over at St. Lucia. Um, they have worked with clay, watercolor, acrylics, um, they assembled wooden cars, they have built birdhouses, they're crafting puppets. Um,
035and all through all of this, they are naturally meeting the California visual arts standards for the fourth and fifth grade, which focus on experimenting with new art making techniques and developing skills through practice. Um, they are um also wait, sorry, I lost my place. Um, we're also looking at how to, you know, we show them how to do some of those simple tricks, um, like how to layer the watercolors and, you know, doing the shadows and how to take photography and how to import that into technology because, hi, that's what I do. Um, so it's really cool to watch them do and um, we also show and we also have can guide that conversation to not only build the relationships like everybody else has said, but we also kind of guide them into building their
036confidence and like one of these great examples is this awesome kid Daniela who did this awesome painting. Look at this is amazing. She's a fourth grader by the way. Um, she was like I don't know if I want to enter it. We're like enter it. It's like really cool like right it's really cool and so we told her to enter it and you can see she got first place and today she saw it she wasn't there yesterday or maybe she was can't remember doesn't matter I'm babbling um they were she was like I got first we're like yes you got first because we knew how awesome it was and she was LIKE OH MY GOD SO IT was really cool to kind of see that sort of thing and then here's another really cool painting
037this little dude Brian loves drawing he's an amazing drawer and he decided to branch out and do just some random kind of artwork. He was kind of experimenting with it. It was really cool to watch. He wasn't sure he wanted to enter it. We're like, "Enter it again. First place, right?" Um, so these are some of the really cool things that happened. And so also I kind of touched on it that we are also blending the traditional art with some of the modern technology. And so some of them have taken up photography and we're using tools like Canva. I don't know if you guys haven't used Canva, you need to get into Canva. That's all I'm going to say. um and to enhance her like photo photography and um to create digital um designs by
038mixing these mediums and we are also hitting the um the media art standards within the California state for to that centers on coordinating um a varied art forms and using digital tools experimentally. So um I just want to show you some of these too because I brought I brought these two just like R.J. So this is a really cool one. So this is the um mural at Santa Lucia and then she did a whole other like thing on the bottom of it like she designed this in Canva. Like you can do amazing things, right? And then we also have this. She didn't want to enter this picture either. Oh, sorry. This was who was this? This was Allison Jacobo. And this one is Yanelli Alvarez. She didn't want to enter this. She wasn't sure and
039it won first place. These kids are amazing, right? Um, so I just kind of wanted to give a shout out to the s the kids at St. Lucia and the fourth and fifth grade art club and all the amazing things that they're doing and just kind of reiterate that when the educators help to guide the um ELOP I'm going to say ELOP and not ELOP um a student's freedom to explore is supported by purposeful framework which is what we've done and this art club is just one example of the fantastic things that you've already been hearing about all of these things. So, thank you so much for your continued support for these programs and for ensuring that students have a dedicated guidance that helps them truly thrive. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next, uh we
040have Mike uh Bliss. >> Hello. Hi. Uh, thank you. Or sorry, good evening. My name is Michael Boyce. I teach uh world history at CPMS. Um, I just was asked to come out. I have a unique perspective. I've been teaching a long time. I've been at several different schools. This is my first year at CPMS. And I was always amazed about who are these kids playing stickball out in the quad every day as I was going home. And that was my first introduction to LOP. They're out there hands-on getting their their reps in with Mr. Love Lace and Mr. Raone. And then lo and behold, in the middle of the year, I'm at lunch table and Miss Facres bemoning the fact that, oh man, I got the play and the person that's helping me is
041oh, she's well, she's got maternity leave and she's going to be out and hey, can you come help? And sure. And as a longtime teacher, one of the things I've learned is that to see the kids after school having fun is like the best thing because you see them all day and you're asking them to do things all day and you're like, "All right, pay attention. Do this, do that." And then you see them in their element after school without phones, just doing their thing, practicing their lines, having fun during the breaks. And it was it was really, you know, heartwarming to see that. And so I would, you know, graciously uh enthusiastically hope that you continue your support for ELOP because it's doing a great job at uh Shillon Peaks. Thank you. >> The
042rest of the cards that I have are under a different subject. So, I'll just go ahead and ask if there's any other members of the audience wishing to speak on uh ELOP. If not, and you change your mind, don't worry. Um public uh comment will remain open. You can go ahead and speak then. Next, uh we have Stephanie Cario. >> Good evening. Um, thank you for having us here to share our appreciation for two amazing people, Jackie and Anna. These words come to mind when we think of you. Wise, accepting, genuine, kind, strong, beautiful, and most of all, a true leader. I wanted to take this opportunity and express some of my deepest gratitude and appreciation for our two amazing mentors and tosses. Most of us here, if not all, have been at one point
043a chapter in your books. Your insight, your guidance, and your support has been profoundly instrumental in all of our journeys, both professionally and personally. You have shaped our thinking, and you honed our skills and instilled much more confidence and purpose in our actions. Your ability to listen, understand, and then offer the best advice without judgment is a rare and invaluable trait that many people do not have. Now, this is deeply admired for all who truly know you. Your encouragement during challenging times has been a beacon of hope, reminding us to persevere and and stay true to ourselves and our goals. But most importantly, you have brought back a voice that was lost. But because of your unconditional support, we know our voice matters. We hear you. because of people and mentors like you who always
044saw our full and valuable potential that kept our voices loud and confident. Your unwavering belief in your new teachers is what keeps them strong and valued in this district. You have been a significant driving force and many of our achievements. Jackie, during a hard time in my life, when I was teaching, you stood right by my side as my mentor. I could never repay you for your unconditional love and your support and your guidance. You always reminded me of my worth and my values like as a real leader should. You always made sure I put my son first and my family. And you always told me never regret anything. I'll always take you with me and you'll always be my mentor and that wise owl that I love. Thank you, Jackie. To Anna, with your
045beautiful smile and your embrace every day when I see you or whenever I see you will always be with me. You made such an impact in this community and don't forget that and don't let anybody take that away from you. Be proud of everything you have done and accomplished and hold your head high. We love you both. And I want you to look around the room tonight to know that all of this is what real support looks like because you've supported us. Some are not here to give that support, but they're here in our hearts with you. Thank you, Jackie, and thank you, Anna. You are both what real leadership stands for. Thank you. Next, we have Anna Alvarez. Okay, give me one second. Good evening. My name is Anna Alvarez and I am an
046immigrant. I stand before you tonight because gratitude when left unspoken loses its power. So this is my profound thank you. to the place that has been my professional home for 26 years and to the people who are its absolute heartbeat. Our Hispanic families, our migrant workers and every immigrant who has crossed the border to making King City their home. To the board, thank you for your visionary leadership and unwavering support over the decades. Your commitment to vital initiatives has truly transformed our district. Even in times of f of f fiscal crisis, you consistently have prioritized and protected our students and staff. I want to specifically thank you for your reckless push to launch the dual language immersion program. As you know, this milestone holds deep personal significance for me. Having poured so much of my
047own work, effort, and heart into the groundwork, I know firsthand the weight of this achievement. It is the most significant lasting change in our educational landscape. A living legacy that will not exist without your advocacy. To the administrators, we have walked along and winding road together. Over 26 years, I have bumped heads with you, disagree with you, cried with you, and sometimes because of you, while fighting for what I believe was right. To those who met those disagreements with true professionalism, Thank you for respecting my voice and my expertise. Even when they did not align with your own. You understood that every time I questioned or resisted, it was never personal. It was because the future of our students and teachers was at stake. And that is the essence of true leadership. the ability with
048to guide with grace even in the face of dissent. However, there have been moments where disagreements were met with grudges rather than growth and where the duty to lead with respect was forgotten in favor of silent resentment. To those who struggle to see past the friction, I hope you will remember that our mission is the people we serve, not the protection of our own egos. But thank you too. You make living so much easier. teachers, par educators, community leaons, office staff and classified employees. You are the foundation of everything we do. Without your dedication, the district does not function. You have the most vital job in the world. It is rarely the best paid but it is the living giving work the lifegiving work sorry that makes all other professions possible. Teachers, strive to be
049the best you can be and be fiercely proud of your competence because competent people ask questions and good questions naturally expose poor leadership. Yes, there will be time when you feel invisible or feel that incompetence is being shielded because someone above you decided your suffering was more manageable that their discomfort that protecting a broken system was easier than protecting you. Do not let that silence you. You are too valuable to be quieted and our children deserve nothing less than your courage. To the parents and the students. To the parents, thank you for your trust and support over the years and for welcoming me so deeply into your lives. You have shared your experiences, your wisdom and your languages with me. You have even shared your amazing food. Yes, your amazing food and your children. And
050for that, my heart and my stomach have always been full. So, thank you. Over these 26 years, the truth is that you have taught me far more than I could ever teach you. You show me the true meaning of community, generosity, and resilience. I am profoundly grateful to have been part of your lives. And to my students, >> you're there. I have never been a mother myself, but because of you, I have never missed it. Your love has filled my heart completely. Children everywhere write, "I love my teacher." Or, "I have the best teacher in the world." But tonight, I want to turn those words around and give them back to you. I have had the best teeth in the world. I make this plea to everyone who steps in a classroom for a leadership
051role. Look at our children and choose to see the very best in them just as fiercely and innocently as they choose to see the best in you. To the community of King City. As an immigrant, I look at this community and I see the backbone of our society. For 26 years, I have watched our migrant families support our schools and build our future. So, let me be entirely clear. Our families are never to be dismissed as those people who don't understand. They are the people who sustain our community. They are the people who put food on our tables and who woke up every day to do the heavy essential work that nobody else wanted to do. They are the people who send their children to our schools every morning trusting us with their most precious
052possession. They are the people who bring the vibrant diversity that makes the absolute most um about sorry they are the people who understand the absolute most about sacrifice, hard work and resilience. They do not just live here, they make city what it is. And to the women, many of you have come with me tonight from the open indoors program, Abrieno Puerto. We have had around 30 sessions of Ario Pueras. Over the last two, three years. Only two administrators have ever show up. Dr. Jennifer Ruby and Miss Taylor. Thank you also board members who have cared about our community and our moms. To the incredible women who came with me here tonight and to those who preceded you. You moved to a new country. You master a foreign system. You learned a new language. And you
053built a life without a safety net. You were not born and raised here. But you did it anyway. You did it with a smile on the outside while carrying terror on the inside. It took everything you had. So do not let anyone minimize that monumental achievement. You are the quiet heroes carrying the legacy of those who paved the way. And you are the true heart of this community. Fore! Foreign! Foreign! in all. Thank you for everything. Thank you. Is there any other members of the audience that are wishing to speak on tonight's public comment? Having no further public comment, we'll go ahead and close public comment and we will move on to the superintendent report. So, good evening. So, we've had a lot that has gone on in our district since we saw each other
054last month in this setting. We've had our Dia del Nino event with well over,200 people in attendance. We had our Civil War reenactment, elementary open houses, McCarum's fourth grade history days, our Shalom Peaks career fair, elementary spring concerts, colloquiums for our year 1 and year 2 teachers as well as for some of our administrators. all of these events within a a four-week time frame. And if it weren't for all of our staff, we wouldn't be able to have these events. So, we've heard lots of thank yous tonight. I would also like to reiterate thanking our staff because these events that are for our students and our families and our communities are only possible because of our over 300 staff members that help make it happen. So, thank you to all of them. I also wanted
055to speak tonight about CPMS construction. as I see if you see CPMS leaving. Um, something else that you may remember a few meetings ago, you approved a contract for our architect to begin drafting plans for some concepts of improvements at our Shalom Peaks Middle School. So, we don't have finalized things to bring to you yet, but we are very excited because we have been while we've been working on our construction at King City Arts Magnet preparing for Santa Lucia, they will kick off next with their TKK construction. We also simultaneously need to be looking at Shalom Peaks Middle School and our needs that we have there, whether it be needs for classrooms or the long requested need for a gymnasium. So, our architect has drafted some preliminary plans, things that we're looking at and discussing,
056and Joanie will be uh and and John Sims will be bringing to you uh very soon with more information, but we wanted to let you know that that is well underway at this point. Speak and then for Santa Lucia again, we're also making progress there. We were just signing papers today in regards to that TKK construction. So, in the end, just as we have over at KAM now, classrooms specifically for our four and 5-year-olds that are connected to their play space, in the end, in a couple of years, we will have the same at San Lucia with TK and K classrooms that surround their their play structure. So, we're pretty excited about that getting started. A couple of weeks ago, uh Joanie, Shawn, and I made a visit to a middle school in the Bay
057Area because we wanted to see uh the products that a vendor had approached us about that's called audio enhancement. So, we said, "All these things sound really great, but it was Sean said, can we see it in action somewhere? We actually want to see this and how it operates." And so, we were invited to Bane Braftoft Middle School, which is in San Leandro, I believe, is where it was. and we were able to see the classroom amplification system that they offer, the security alerts that they offer. And the piece that really caught my eye that I wanted to see in action, uh, was their in the- moment interpretation. So, we're all familiar with, we've seen the commercials about the the earpods now where you can have this instant interpretation. So, take that and just maximize
058it even further. We walked into a a language arts classroom with the teacher was providing their instruction. And in that classroom alone, they had newcomers that were speaking Arabic, Mandarin, and Spanish all in the same room. They each had a set of headphones on. They had a Chromebook in front of them. And while the instruction was occurring, they were hearing it in their language as well as they could see it in their language um to begin helping them make the transition to school in the US. And so that was something that I was very interested in seeing what that looked like in the moment, what the quality of it was because not only could it be something that would be beneficial in our classrooms, but it's something that we can consider in settings like this
059for our parents as well. And so that was uh that along with the amplification, I'd say were the top two reasons that we went to see their devices and products in action. When we visited that school, it was students that escorted us around as well. And so then the students did a had a debrief session with us and so we asked students about their experience and they spoke very positively about these tools as well. So not only hearing from adults but from students. So again this is preliminary. We were just beginning these discussions. We don't even have quotes yet of what something like that might cost to bring to our district. Uh, but you will be hearing more about that, I'm sure, long after I am gone because it's not something we'll have ready for
060you in just one month. But it's very exciting. I recently attended uh an event with First Five and First Five is taking the lead in pulling a coalition together in Monterey County and wanting to bring the Dolly Parton Imagination Library to our county. So, if that's something you're familiar with, that is her foundation that she connects with counties and organizations that all a parent has to do is sign up and their child from birth to age five will receive a book every month, which means by the time they enter kindergarten, they have at least a library of at least 60 books. They are available in multiple languages. So, it's something that our county is exploring and wanting to bring and beginning the efforts of fundraising um to be able to bring that to our communities.
061And so, it was very exciting to be a part of the panel that was discussing that and the impact it can have. Right now, some of the initial seed money of sorts is being um uh donated by Taylor Farms. is just one more of their initiatives that they're bringing forward to try and help increase the literacy rates of children in our county. Speaking of Taylor Farms, last week or the week before we had a training for our liaison, our preschool staff, Miss Anna Alvarez and Dr. Ruby and Miss Pontleon were all trained by the early literacy staff of MCE and Taylor Farms paid the cost of $60 each for us to have 135 kits that we now can train parents in how to use these kits with their children at home. And again, it's building
062early literacy. It in it's in multiple languages. It includes books. It includes activities that the parents can work on at home. And if you'll remember from when we went to the California Latino Schoolboard Association conference, there was a vendor that had little books with a QR code on the back where you could snap that QR code and it took you to a video that those are the books that are included in these kits. So again, something we're we're very excited to be a part of. Dr. Gus will be here on Friday visiting the Medieval Fair over at Shalom Peaks. If you're able to join, that is the our annual medieval fair. She visits schools throughout the county all year. It's our turn this Friday. So, we're excited that that's in alignment with a special event.
063She's hoping to bring some of her PR team so that they can capture some footage of our students and our staff for that event. Elpac testing is approaching completion and we have many, many, many students now that have scored at a four and are being considered for reclassification. We always have a push at the end of the year in regards to reclassification. So, we're very excited to see the the final numbers as they're coming in. We're also in the midst of CASP testing in third through 8th grade. TKK registration is coming along. We are in exactly the same spot with our TK numbers this week as we were this time last year. We're still a little behind in kinder. Um, but we do have 214 students currently enrolled in kinder for next year. where we
064were at 228 this last year. Staff appreciation, our annual event is next Wednesday at the pavilion if you want to join us in the afternoon. I'll include more details in my Friday update for that as well. And as I always do, if anyone's interested in serving on the citizen bond oversight committee, please go online and fill out the application. Thank you. >> Is there any questions or comments regarding the superintendent report? Okay, having none, we will go ahead and move on to communication from board members before I open it up to the rest of the board. Um, I did want to go ahead and put it on record um that we are requesting for the youth project to be placed as an information item for further discussion and and detailed. I know it's something that
065was already voted on um but I believe that there's a request for more information to be um had. So if you can go ahead and uh please put that under information for the next meeting. Um and then we'll go ahead and open up the communication from board members. >> So this month what was it? It was we had Leia was able to participate. We were there with our in our table. We had a lot of parents um swing by. Um so that was good and we were able to interact with them. So and I didn't get to see everything that was going on but it seemed like it was a full house. Um I also participated into jump into English um little graduation ceremony that they had. That was nice. Um the parents were all
066happy. Um they were using all their English up at that time. So, it was pretty it was a pretty good experience. So, thank you guys for the invitation. And other than that, it was a e it's a short month for me. And again, I just wanted to say thank you to all our teaching staff and as well as our classified staff as we are in that celebration for teacher appreciation week that just passed and we have our classified appreciation this week. So, thank you guys for all for everything that you guys do for our district. It's without you guys, we wouldn't be able to function. So, thank you guys. Um, for me, I just have that I visited the school sites. I forgot which day. I didn't look at my calendar. Um, but I was
067able to visit all of the school sites. Um, I did enjoy seeing the different classrooms. Um, I was able to read a story to a kinder class in DLI. Um they kind of asked me and I'm like okay sure. Um but that was fun. The kids uh enjoyed the book. Um on Friday I will be going to Shalom Peaks um since I haven't been um at the medieval fair uh since I was in seventh grade. So that's going to be fun to see. That's pretty much it. Um let's see. Um as mentioned earlier, I did uh get to uh witness the Dr. Rio's um uh participation that took place during the spring break. I think I shared back at last month's meeting as well. um being able to see the students share. Um, I'm not
068gonna lie. I know T's not here, but I don't mind um having further discussion if need be, but uh when it was suggested to having, you know, the students come back, I I was a little skeptical because I know that it's it's one of those things that can be sensitive as far as, you know, exposure to participation as far as the concept and purpose of of the program. But I it was really exciting to be able to see at least three of those participants come back and share. Um as mentioned the the work that those um students do uh can be pretty heavy and deep. So uh it's exciting to know that it's being put into place that it's successful and it's ongoing. It's been an interesting year for lack of more descriptive defining words,
069but I wanted to go ahead and also touch on some of the things that have been briefly mentioned today. Um, students that have returned and are now teaching in our community. Um, that's that's a big one for me because when I first came on the board, um, there was very very little people that were local from King City and the few people that did indeed exist in our community, uh, you know, was was not what you see now. We have a much more diverse teaching population across our schools and that also has changed significantly since I first came on the board. Um, our school sites did not necessarily resemble equitable um, support or material. Um, not that we don't have continuous work to do, um, but being able to highlight that you look around all
070of our campuses and we have local homegrown students that are now coming back and teaching in our community. Um, I mentioned the Dr. the real uh scholars program and I believe that Gono's FLI was also mentioned. I keep highlighting these programs because as it's been said repeatedly, I have sat up on this board unopposed for many terms now. And some people might take that as a not so favorable thing. The reality is that there was a need for somebody to be able to sit up here and point out the hard things that were happening or not happening. To be able to sit up here and have the hard discussions, take the hits that most wouldn't. I've been able to sit up here and yes, I've run out of post, but it could also mean that
071when you do a good job, a lot of people don't really want to line up to fix something that's not necessarily broken. um that hasn't been my outlook as many of you that kind of have to follow these board meetings because I don't know you're employed by the district and or are somewhat of an administrator or management role. Um I'm sure you can recall that every time that there's going to be an election um I actually go and encourage community members to run. And the biggest reason is I've never forgotten that I was once on the other side of this table. In fact, when I ran for this board, I inherited a district that had failed a reconfiguration and that was an AB1200 deficit. There was a lot of things that were not easy, a
072lot of challenges that we faced as a board, but I could only speak my truth and I've always taken my role up here very serious. Not to say that there's no room for improvement. There's always room for improvement and I'm a big big believer of that. Um, but as mentioned, I can only speak on my truth. I know that there's a lot of talk out there of people that might think they know my truth, but the reality is that I'm here for the students. I've always been here for the students. I ran on the saying that a vote for me is a vote for the students. And I'm mentioning this because I have been transparent since day one of my campaign back I don't know how long ago it was, but we're definitely in the
073double digits. Um, with that said, part of the change that I've I've gotten to be part of and I'm honored to be part of is being able to say that once I came on the board, there was change that started to happen. And as slow as I feel like it's happened, it has been symbolic. There has been indeed things that we can point out. We have three schools that are more aligned to one another. Before we had two schools that were nowhere near another and they were right across the street from each other. We had um misconceptions of what each school represented or stood for. I've been able to help change the perception in our community, not just of our schools, but of the students that attend our schools. I've been time and time again
074heard calling us a family and I really do mean that and with that I also really mean that no family is really perfect right that comes with the dysfunctions that happens in every household. I've never been shy nor have I strayed away from the hard discussions. We are a family. We don't always get along. And let's face it, in reality, we don't really like all of our family members, right? There's no difference here. We all show up for the same reason, and that's our students. And I think that's what keeps us going. I think that's what keeps us successful. We are very different from one another sitting up here. Um, I've said it before, uh, obviously there's been recent events where you saw this board fall into a difference of opinion and what could have
075possibly looked as a divided board in past times was not the case for this board because I've said it again and again, this has been the most well put together board that I've had the privilege of working with. I I have had the privilege of working with many people and I do thank everybody that I've shared a seat up here with for their time and dedication. But the reality is that another part of the change that I've been able to not just witness but be part of is possibly for the first time in the history of this district's board. We have a board makeup that is more aligned to the community representation where in past it was the opposite of what it is. It's important to point that out because there has been a lot
076of things that haven't been pointed out and again I I I said it earlier I was here for those hard discussions and a lot of that has been racial discrepancies. Um, I was also born and raised in King City, California. And we always hear about the good part of being born and raised in King City. Well, there's two versions. I mean, there's more versions, but my version is not the most popular. I'm born and raised and I belong to the most prestigious crowd. And there's another side of of the born and raised in King City that hasn't been said, that hasn't been heard of, but it's the reason why we're here. It's our students. It's the representative uh population that for many, many, many, many decades would go unrepresented. Um, as mentioned, I'm here for
077the students. All students regardless of race, language, religion, any differences, it's important that when we look at our purpose, we realize that we're here for the right reasons. And as long as we continue to put the right reasons, which is the students, all students, and that means that being able to reach each student's individual need right at their need is what makes us an effective and successful team or family. So, as long as we continue to put all of our students individually and recognize their needs, then we're doing the right thing. I say that because again I want to make sure that in case anybody is confused or not sure of what my purpose up here is, it's the students. It always has been the students. And although there's been times where people's intentions appear
078questioned, things to point out are other districts around the area have laid off. We have not since I've inherited my seat because I did run an election. So although I have run uno and opposed since then I did win my seat fair and square. Um but since then the only time that we were in financial crisis was when we were in AB1200. A lot of work has happened and has been done so that we can maintain float. We've had a lot of change happen in my time up here and I have been one of the consistent parts of this district. So I know that there's always two versions of everything two sides to the coin. Um but I also want to go ahead and highlight some of the successes that we have made some of
079the changes as controversial as they can be. Um, and I mentioned that because if I decide to run again, that will be my choice. And I want to make sure that it's known that, you know, um, an important part of being transparent is being able to face all times, not just the fun times or the happy times, but controversial times as well. and not lying about your approach. So, coming up here and making statements, you're already starting off lying. I have not been served recall papers. I know that I was handed a form of signatures that had people's information that would like to proceed with a recall, but that that was false news. Um, and I only reason I'm stating that is because if I do run again, it's going to be my choice to
080allow then the voters to go ahead and vote. And another reason to point that out is we have three seats coming up. Mine's one of them. And with that, there's a lot of change that's happening. A lot of change. um things that might be a little scary for some I actually welcome as opportunity to really set new standards and just switch things up. Um leadership is changing, the board is changing. So with that, I just want to go ahead and stress out that having the people up here with the right intentions that can actually look at all students and say, "I'm here for all students, not this particular group, that particular group, but the whole group of students is important. unification conversation is down the road. We're going to have discussion or a little later
081on that. Um, but having the right people up here is essential. And I stress that because a lot of people retire and they want to come up here and they don't necessarily not not any of you guys, but I'm pointing that out because, you know, in all honesty, it you know, it's the intention. What's the purpose of people coming back up here? Are we really coming back up here to make a difference for these students to continue to work together and proactively? Because we we heard different, you know, terms of what makes a good leader a leader. It doesn't mean that you always have to agree with people cuz trust me, that's impossible. But it means that you're able to work with people even if they don't agree with you. And when that is compromised,
082it takes so much away from the students. And so I just wanted to go ahead and share that I might run again, especially after last month's meeting where there was more division amongst our community. And that was the biggest reinforcer for me to realize that although I've spent half of my life up here almost, um I I don't know that I can just walk away now. So that was that was just my two cents of uh board communication. Uh we'll go ahead and move on to reports from administrators is and that right there was perfect timing like if yeah I couldn't drop the mic but Jennifer dropped for me so I mean all right we'll go ahead and um open it up for reports from administrators. Is there any comments, questions, or feedback from any
083of the reports submitted from administrators? No. Any members of the audience wishing to um make any comments or questions regarding reports from administrators? No. Okay. Having no uh input for reports from administrators, we will go ahead and move on to consent agenda. Is there any items that anyone would like to have pulled, discussed, and or voted separately? Okay. If not, I will go ahead and entertain a motion for the consent agenda. >> I move to approve tonight's consent agenda as presented. >> All in favor? >> I am going to say I because there's only three of us here and for just the peace of everything. I um which has us move on to making sure that I'm not leaving anything out because my agenda was not stapled properly. But action items. So our first action
084item is approval of KCUSD and KCTA closing tenative agreements for the 2026 school year. I figured I just wasn't there. >> Okay. So, that was for the 2526 school year just for clarity and for the record. Um, so we're bringing before you a tenative agreement that we've reached with King City Elementary Teachers Association this year. I'm asking for you to approve the AB1200 public disclosure um agreement, bargaining agreement um that goes along with this TA, which essentially highlights that the TA was for an increase of 3% to the salary schedule. Um, there are some items on the TA that aren't related to salaries, so I'm not going to go through each item. Um, but that was a big one. And then the other big one was the agreement to change the fringe benefits article so
085that there is um a district contribution that is equal to um for the medical premiums that equates to $30,916 for each of the people in the in the bargaining unit. As I stated, it is the district's recommendation that you um approve both the public disclosure and the tenative agreement. >> Is there any questions or comments regarding action item A? Okay, having no input, I'll go ahead and bring it back to the board for a motion. I move to approve action item A, approval of KCUSD and KCTA closing tenative agreement for the 2526 school year. >> All in favor? I >> I moving on to action item B, approval of resolution 2025 202613 for adopt adopting the pre-qualification process for prime contractors pursuant to public code section resolution 2025202613 establishes the process for prime contractors to
086submit a pre-qualification 20111.6. If anybody wants to make the motion, let's just say action item B. Just, you know, food for thought. >> Essentially, um, this resolution and the next resolution are both so that we can get busy on the Santa Lucia project for, um, the essentially the equivalency of what happened at KCAM for the uh, TK and Kinder facility. The first resolution that you're looking at is um for the pre prequalification for the contractors. The second resolution is for the pre-qual qualification for the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing subcontractors. And it's the district's um suggestion request that you approve both of them. Any questions or comments regarding action item B? Okay, having no input from the audience or board, we'll go ahead and entertain a motion. >> I move to approve action item B, approval
087resolution 2025 2613. >> All in favor? I >> I action item C. Joanie. >> Same. >> Wasn't sure if you wanted to just be fancy and No. All right. Any questions or comments for action item C? Having none, we'll go ahead and bring it back to the board for a motion. >> I move to approve action item C. The approval resolution 2025 2614. >> All in favor? >> I. All right. Action item D, approval of declaration of need for fully qualified employees. Um, this is I'm sorry. This is our annual request for a declaration of need for CTC. Um that allows us if needed to employ on a permit. Um currently our new hires this year, we don't have a need for that, but in the event we do, it needs to be approved before
088CTC will grant us a um PIP, a stip um a PIP or a stip or a waiver in the event that we need those. >> Is there any questions or comments? audience. No. >> Right. I'll go ahead and bring it back to the board for a motion. >> I move to approve action item B approval of declaration of fully qualified employee. >> All in favor? >> I thank you, Wendy. Okay. Action item E, approval of amendment toou with King City Union School District, South Monterey County Joint Union High School District and the Greenville Union School District regarding unification. So last month you approved theou as it states in the cover sheet uh that the three districts had come together and put together should there be any uh financial expenses that are not equitably divided between
089the two new districts if unification occurs. After the amendments were approved and the attorneys looked at it again and the accountant looked at it again as well as getting some follow-up from the insurance companies, they discovered two things. One was that the language in regards to what was labeled as tail insurance was not necessary. The current insurance um would cover if if something came up within that category of the existing South Monterey County Joint Union High School District. So in this amendment that piece is removed as well as when they went back and ran the calculations again they discovered an error. The intent again is that for two years the districts would be looking at um the cost of the that we would incur with the classified staff that has the two-year guarantee and make
090sure that that's split evenly between the districts based on the number of students that follow each district, not just the cost of the employees and where they choose to go. And when you ran the formula, it actually didn't work out the way it was supposed to. they discovered an error there, so that's been fixed. But rather than just coming back and saying, "Oh, yeah, we'll take care of that later," an amendment was drafted that addresses those issues. So, all three districts are being asked to approve the amendment. >> Any questions or comments? I mean we have unification under information so there's always that discussion but um any questions or comments from the audience or board? No. >> Okay. I'll bring it back to the board for a motion >> just for the sake of it
091because we're three and I abstain last time. Uh I move to approve action item E approve of amendment toou with Keen City Union School District South Monterey County Joint Union High School District and the Greenfield Union School District. >> All in favor? I Was it a I'm sorry this popped. Okay. I All right. Moving on to information item and now we can go ahead and talk about all the hesitation that was up here just now this last vote. Um unification update. So after our last board meeting on April 28th, the county committee held the meeting in which the plan was presented for their approval that would then be sent to this to the um California Department of Education. The obviously the board members that make up the county committee were there and the uh three
092superintendents, two of us were in person, one was virtual because they are already out of um the area and on another commitment, but they did attend virtually. All three of us as superintendent made public statements and then there were several Greenfield um citizens that were there that made statements as well. So in my statement that I shared with you uh prior to going to Selenus that day shared a day or two ahead um I did clarify that yes we had worked on the plan um because should unification go forward we want to make sure that we are part of the plan that was being drafted but that I also reiterated that where it has had not been our intention to pursue unification uh that we were brought to the table. We did not ask to
093be at the table. Um but we were brought to the table and that yes we worked collaboratively and that should the voters decide uh that unification is what the majority of the voters want then yes we will support the plan uh but that we were not in support of the timeline that was being presented. So all those things were put together in a statement that I shared. Everyone's statements and the plan were sent to the California Department of Education and I believe it was last week senda received a phone call uh two weeks ago and then last week when we had our last meeting that was last week correct I had received um an email from the employees at the department of education that are responsible for now writing the summary essentially and preparing the
094documents for the state board of education meeting and giving their recommendation. If you'll remember in November, the CDE's recommendation was for the unification request to be denied. So now again, that same group or the same two employees have to um draft up all the paperwork, get everything ready for the agenda item, including the recommendation. So they reached out because while they had my statement, they wanted to hear from me directly regarding everything that I just shared with you. So, I did have a phone call um with them last week and restated the situation we've been in, the timeline that we were on at which we came to the table when our conversation started and that again it unification was not something that King City had been pursuing. It was not something we were requesting, but
095we are in the situation we're in with the recommendation from Figmat that the only way unification would be successful is if it's a dual unification, one in each community, but that that was still not our request or our desire. However, once again, I reiterated that if the voters if this if the state board approves this in July and if it is placed on the ballot and if the voters choose to unify that we will support the will of the voters. So, that was my um statement to them and then I reiterated that our timeline was for a 2930 start at the earliest, not the 2829. So I did reiterate uh the messaging that you have been sharing with our community. So at this point we wait for the state board meeting in July. And as
096of last week they had not reached out to the other districts either. They had only reached out to us. Okay. Any thoughts, questions, comments? I'm saying this is an opportunity for everybody to speak their mind because it gives everyone individuality since we all know what I have to say about this. And for the record, it's not that there's no benefit in unification. It's the motive and the time that's being placed behind it. Um, we all know that a strong foundation from start to end. So TK to 12 is the ideal. It's about building that foundation and not just working overnight and saying we did it and this was the thing. So I'll say it. There was hesitation up here um when we did our last vote which was the amendment of theou and and I'll
097say it out loud like we haven't even started and they're already moving forward and you're finding bloopers mistakes right and and and it's easy to say oh it's easily fixed look we amended it once we start the ball moving with the physical and like real movement of all of this it's not going to be easy fixed I mean, that's why originally the high school had to go under state receiverhip. You know, they did a lot of hasty movement, rushed it, didn't do their due diligence in research, and here we are now, not fully out of that. Or did they they already paid it, right? The loan or they already voted to approve to pay it off once we start this. >> Correct. They passed resolution um earlier this spring that if this is going to
098be placed on a ballot, the loan will be paid off before it's on the ballot. So that that question is off of everyone's mind on whether or not the loan still exists. So they haven't paid it off yet, but they can if need be. And and and like movement like that, you know, um if we we look at why they think that there's been a cap in certain programs, it's because there's been money owed, but there you have money to pay it off. So that could have alleviated some of this cap. They weren't anticipating paying off the loan until it became a deal maker or breaker. Now they're willing to pay off. It's just little movements like that where it doesn't make sense. I mean, what it does show is that our students are not
099the fourth center of this decision-m. So I agree with allowing the voters to decide. It would be nice if, you know, individuals went and did their thorough research on the history of how this came about and not just we're stepping in the middle of the movie and already deciding how it's going to end. Um because it it is going to impact the education of the students that are in the system when it happens. So, you know, a lot of times we it's easy for us to to look at the pros and cons that not just uh impact students, but more so the outline of how it's going to impact our everyday life, right? And so, we'll take those everyday easy little things that are easily viewed. You know, oh, my kids are in the same
100district, same days off. There's more to a school system, right? especially when you're looking at a sec secondary structure versus an elementary and how they operate and what's at stake, what's at hand, funding and how that operates. So there's it's not pseudo fear. So when we're speaking of fear, it's not pseudo fear, it's real fear. We are experienced failed reconfigurations and unifications in the past. It's very much real that it takes one small, even innocent mistake and everything falls apart. Domino effect. So, it's not that we're not in favor of a unification. It's the mannerism of how it's been presented and we've been dragged into it that we're having a hard time signing off on because it is our responsibility to put all of our students education and well-being in the forefront of everything. Um,
101so that's just my concerns, but yes, I do believe that the state board reaching out and wanting to have input from us. I mean, I don't know how many months is it what, two, three months, three month, two months, two months before the the July, right, book meeting. So, they waited two months before the the big decision before they reached out to us. Um, but they reached out. So, let's look at the positive in that. Um, King City did not have a presence at the November meeting. I mean, aside from myself, um, I feel like I've done a decent job expressing the concerns that we have, um, legit concerns that we have as a district. Um, and then I've also been able to separate, you know, what it is where I come in a little
102stronger with my own personal two cents. Um, I do think that if we did have representation at in November, we would probably be facing things a little bit different. Um, we can go back to the past and change it, but we can move forward and move differently. And, you know, that's part of the change. that's also coming with us is is how we continue to base the discussion of unification and move. So being proactively not necessarily reactively but more proactively because we already know that the other parties involved haven't really been I mean they've been proactive in their own way but um as far as where we stand our intention we already know that our students and when we talk about our students it's it's you know it's our community so as a whole it's
103just it's not as easy of a discussion especially since you know, those county meetings were not really for us to work together. Um, so I'm just I'm I'm going to say it. I'm I feel like we need to pay more attention to um the information that's being portrayed to us, being handed to us, and and the course of events that are really happening because it is being sold as if there was three districts that met. and you know after tough discussions all agreed to you know this is the best way and that's not what happened. Um so having everybody be involved and yeah absolutely let the voters decide um and hopefully this is a little bit we get more of a a resolution as to where where it's heading sooner than later. But I do
104look forward to knowing what's going to happen in July. I think July is going to be a big another maker breaker for us moving forward as to where we're moving come this fall. That's just my two cents as far as we're already we're already seeing mistakes. >> No. And well, I really don't have anything to add. I think my stance remains as it has been since the get-go. And so trying to make the meeting go a little bit faster instead of repeating it. My stance remains how we were at the beginning and at this point it's really not up to us to even we have no opinion at this point. So >> um for me it's pretty much the same thing. Um, and when she was mentioning about approval of amendment, I thought the same
105thing. Like, wait, they already found a mistake. Like, that's kind of concerning. What else is there that they haven't uh found or paid attention to? Um, because it is probably a lot of paperwork and they have to look into that. So, that's the only thing I can that what was it? It was like a red flag basically if they already found mistakes. How is it going to be once everything else actually does happen if the voters do say they do want unification? Is there any other members of the audience wishing to comment? No. Okay. Well, that's our unification portion of information. Our next uh item for information is our superintendent search. We don't really have much of an update other than uh we do have a special board meeting tomorrow. We will be meeting with
106our legal to just kind of um discuss options and um salary based things like contract fundamentals I guess. Um as far as questions or comments regarding that from anyone. Okay. Having no questions or comments. Uh our advanced planning um as mentioned we have our special board meeting tomorrow. I believe it starts at 4 o'clock. Um I believe we have two special board meetings tomorrow. one at 4:00, one at 6:30. Okay. And then we have our staff appreciation ceremony as mentioned by Jennifer on the 27th. And what's the time start of that too? >> 2 2:30. >> staff begins arriving at 2:20. So around 2:30 is when we get started. >> All right. Okay. And then um our next board study session regarding the LCAP and our budget public hearing is set for June 9th. Um
107our CPMS promotion is the next day which is Wednesday, June 10th. And we have our June regular board meeting on the 16th. With that, I'd like to thank everyone for joining us tonight and uh you know being here and have given sharing your input and your time. I will now entertain a motion to adjurnn. >> Motion to adjurnn.