001is now 6:36 and we will now go ahead and start this meeting. All board members except for Trustee King are in in are present. Trustee King has been excused for tonight. I will now entertain a motion to adopt tonight's agenda with the amendment of removal of uh item D and E being that we did not have close session. So that was a an error on our end. >> I move to approve our agenda with the amendment of removing item D and E. >> So the flag salute's not in here, but do we go ahead and honor it? Yeah. So, please rise for the pledge of allegiance. We did not have a close session item, so we don't have a public uh comment for that portion, but I will honor public comment if there is anyone
002here tonight that's wishing to speak on something that is not on tonight's agenda. Being that there's no public comment, we'll go ahead and close public comment and we will move on to our information and discussion. So, thank you everyone for joining us tonight. Uh we have a special presentation tonight with uh Christy White who's an independent auditor that the Monterey County Office of Education is supporting us with as in regards to this unification study and a feasibility study. So Christy White is here with us this evening. Are we starting with Christie or Margarite >> or with Dr. Gus? Okay. So Dr. Gus, thank you. >> Members, community members and staff. It's a great pleasure to be with you here this evening to share information about the feasibility of um possible unification in the future if
003that is the direction that the districts involved would like to go. So, um, this evening we have with us both Margaret Leone, who is our legal counsel council, sorry I can't speak tonight. It's been a long day. Um, for unification matters, and then we also have, as you so eloquently stated, we have Christy White with us this evening. and Christy has been digging in deeply to all of the districts that are being um talked about tonight, just looking deeply into their finances, into their current structure. And um she will be sharing with you the information that she found through her deep dive. If there are any questions on Christiey's information, we're going to be happy to entertain those questions at the end of her presentation. And if there are any questions about legal matters as
004it relates to unification, we have Margarite here to answer those questions for us this evening. And so with that, I will turn it right over to Christie to present her findings. Thank you, >> Christie. >> Thank you, Dr. Gus. And it's a pleasure to be here, board members and superintendent and public. Um, I have had the pleasure of being here in King City and getting to know this community and the schools here and so it's been quite a nice time that I've had and everyone's so welcoming and all the information that you've provided. So, I have a presentation. And there's also this very large report and so if you haven't had a chance to look at it, I think there are some extra copies or they'll be posted on the website at a later point.
005Um, we can hold the questions till the end or if a board member would like to ask a question on a particular slide as I'm going through it, please feel free. There's a lot of material here and so it's a very complex area. And with that, I'll ask uh your AB person to go to the first slide. Okay. So, um kind of what is the scope of this study and how did we get here tonight? Um so, it evaluates a hypothetical. So, I want to point that out. There's no current petition right now to unify the Kink City Union School District with the portion of South Monterey County Joint Union High School District that overlaps the boundaries of King City as well as the small district. So, Bradley and San Antonio and Sanardo and San
006Lucas, right? Uh creating a unified district. um kind of running parallel is the uh most recent study that I did on Greenfield and that unification. And there actually is a petition out there to unify Greenfield. It's about 10 years old. It was a citizens petition. It is sitting at the state board of education and an action will be taken on that we expect um in the next couple of months. So, I was asked to look at, okay, what would a King City Unified School District look like and would it meet substantially meet the state's criteria? So, that was my scope of work and we're going to go through each of the nine criteria that the state has for any school district reorganization, including unification. All right. Um so in this report the assumption is that
007the high school district would dissolve and there would be two unified school districts. So there'd no longer be a high school district. All right. Um and in my study that I did in April and presented to the high school district board as well as many of you were probably there. Um the recommendation was if there was to be school district reorganization, it really should be two unified districts and not creating one unified and then leaving like a remnant smaller high school district that would be um less likely to be fiscally viable and promote, you know, a good educational program. as a result that there be strength through unification and so again that's what is studied here so next slide please okay so I solicited input from the high school district and I was here a
008couple weeks ago uh meeting with staff and some board members and uh union representatives uh to gather and do my research for this report there's also an awful lot of information online and so So I research that as well and then of course the county office of education provides anything I need. All right, next slide. So these are the state's nine criteria. So at the end of the day, the state wants to make sure that there is viable school district, right? One that is of an adequate size. We're going to go through these in more detail. One that is based on community. What your identity as a community. there needs to be an equitable division of assets and debts so that we're talking about the high school district because there would no longer be a
009high school district, right? That the petition could cannot promote racial or ethnic discrimination or segregation. There cannot be an increase in costs to the state as a result of this. There has to be a sound educational program without significant disruption to that program. uh there cannot be a substantial increase in cost for facilities. The petition cannot be designed to increase property values which is not the case here in what we're looking at. And then the ninth one is there cannot be a substantial negative fiscal impact. So essentially you have a district that's kind of viable from day one. Right? Okay. Next slide please. So first just about process. Remember I said that there is no petition right now to unify but the way a petition gets created is by several different options. Uh one is
010that the school boards of the affected districts. So it would be the high school and King City and Greenfield and even the small districts would have an opportunity to opt in or out. um could pass a resolution by the majority of the board members on each board to unify and that's starts the process. So that's not the end of the process. That just starts the process. It starts more study analysis. It starts public hearings that are held in each of the area and ultimately goes to the county committee on school district organization which is under Dr. Gus's um jurisdiction who decides whether or not the petition substantially meets the criteria and calls then for an election. So, um none of this has started yet and may not. It's really up to all of you. Another
011way that a petition can get started is another governmental entity could pass a resolution. So, a city council, for example, could do that or even um a fire district or a water district or any other governmental entity. The third is a citizens petition. So, 25% or more of the registered voters in an area can sign a petition to unify. And that's what you have in Greenfield right now. That was a citizens petition. Okay. So once the process gets started again you can see there's several different steps it has to go through and it takes months. Um and you know the effective date let's say it's successful and approved um even still it's would be a year or two out. So it's not a short process um and again subject to many levels of review. Next
012slide. All right. So I said earlier that in the April report the recommendation is that there be two districts that unify if you are going to do a unification. So instead of it just being Greenfield and leaving this remnant high school district, it would be better financially, educationally, and other ways to create a King City unified at the same time. And you know, each each unified has its own comprehensive high schools, and we're going to talk about those a little bit more. Um, you each have strong community identities, right? And you in a unified district could have articulation, transitional kindergarten through 12th grade. So, there's educational advantages to a unified school district. And each would be of a, you know, a fairly nice size. 4600 um in Greenfield and about 3,900 here in King City
013based on current um student numbers. There can be cost savings obviously through the consolidation of administration and my study focuses on that quite a bit under the financial part. Um, and as you can imagine, when there's, you know, two or more superintendent and boards and, you know, administrators at the district level, there's opportunities to consolidate. Now, you might need some additional support positions and things like that. But there's, I believe, demonstrable um, evidence that there would be savings from administrative services. And you'd have a common district for parent communications. We have one school calendar. Our student records are all in the same system, that kind of thing. So that's the rationale behind doing this study. And if you go to the next slide, please this is just a map. Um look familiar. And you can
014see that Greenfield there in blue um would be a unified school district. And then the rest of the territory, the green areas even down all the way till you hit Pasa Robos would be a king city unified. So it's a very large territory um geography wise. And you'll find later on when we get into um some of the facilities and the the bonds and things like that that there's a lot of assessed valuation property value in that area that is disproportionately large compared to Greenfield. Okay, next slide please. All right. Now, we're just going to go through the criteria. And the first is there has to be a minimum of 151 pupils in order to unify. And clearly at 3,850, a King City unified would meet that threshold. All right, next slide. The criteria is
015that the districts are organized on substantial community identity. And so looking at your, you know, the geography of where King City is in proximity to Greenfield and other communities, looking at the demographics, language, your um wonderful, very rich um traditions and heritage, a lot of history here in this area. the economic ties to employment, um your shared resources and um you know organizations that support the community. All of that point to the hallmarks of community identity and in my opinion the criteria is met. All right, next slide. Okay, the next criteria is division of assets and debt. So the state says if you are going to uh divide a school district in this case we're talking about the high school district then there has to be an equitable division of the assets and the liabilities
016of in this case the high school district and it has to be equitable and it's the task of the county committee to ensure that that happens and there's methods and there's means to do that provided in the law and at the same time it allows for negotiation as well. So the general rule is that real property goes where it's located. That makes sense. You wouldn't own as a school district property in another school district, right? So in this case, Greenfield High, which is in Greenfield, would become the property of a Greenfield Unified School District. King City High, Portola Butler, the Continuation High, as well as Pinnacle Coastal Valley, um, and the district office are all located here in King City. And those have become the property of King City Unified. And the elementary districts, of
017course, that property is wrapped into the unified, too. Because keep in mind, when you have a unification, this is an entirely new government. This is an entirely new legal organization, right? So, there's no longer an elementary and a high school. There's a unified school district. New board, new board election, right? hiring administrators and we'll talk a little bit more about employees and how employees are affected and protected under the law. Okay. So, real property goes where by location in general these are the general rules. Other assets are shared proportionate to either assessed valuation which is basically the value of the properties real properties in the area or by average daily attendance which is a per pupil number. So for example, the um ending reserves in the funds of the high school district would be divided
018based on proportional ADA kind of how the funds are um you know earned and you know student funds would stay wherever the student body is at each of the high schools. uh certain certain funds such as vested employee related would go where essentially the employees go but there are alternative methods that can be used to ensure that there's equity in this process. Okay, next slide. Okay. So, currently the way the numbers line up is that the assessed valuation of real property between in the the South Monterey High School District, which encompasses all of Greenfield, all of King City, and then the small districts would be divided 69% it would be in the King City Unified School District. Okay? Much bigger area. remember we saw that and then 31% is in the Greenfield area. Now ADA
019wise or per pupil wise we're a little more 5050. So King City Unified would be about 46% including the small districts because they would now be part of that unified for at least secondary purposes. they can opt out for elementary if they desire. Um but for um secondary they would be included in the unified and then 54% so there's a few more pupils in green field right okay so that's the general rule on how it's divided now one thing that has been problematic in the past and it's still not fully resolved but it's on its way to being resolved in the next few years and that is the outstanding state loan which was refinanced into the I bank loan and it's set to be paid off in August of 2029. So that's just four years
020from now. The high school district has funds set aside to repay that. It does need to be repaid or refinanced if there's a unification, but the high school district and the other elementary districts are in good financial condition. So this is no longer a barrier to unification. Next slide. Okay, let's talk about bonds. Gets interesting here. Um first of all, there's different requirements regarding keeping under debt limits after unification. And in the analysis that I've done based on today and the bonds that have been authorized and could be issued or will be issued. So I kind of looked at them in total. Um you would stay under the threshold um that makes you eligible for unification. Okay. uh the elementary districts get to keep the bond proceeds for your original projects, right? Because that's what
021the voters voted for. So measure L, which is King City's most current bond measure, you have a bunch of projects that will fund those would not be affected and the funding cannot be siphoned off onto other projects. and the same in Greenfield. But the high school district bonds are split between the two areas. That makes sense, right? So, they're split either by the proportionate assessed valuation or by where the funds are used. I'm going to talk about that a little bit more. Um, and there's no automatic kind of reaportionment of all of these bonds unless there's a new vote called. So, so things are pretty much status quo after unification with the exception of how do we divide these high school bonds. So, next slide. Okay. So, let's talk about the high school bonds. So,
022as recent as a year ago, measures H and I were passed. And the high school district has um budgeted projects in each of these communities. And if you look at their project schedules, it's really 5050. Now, the timing could be different. So maybe they started a project in Greenfield and they finished it there and now they're going to move over to King City and then they're going to, you know, so the timing could be different, but the overall master plan um which I think there's an excerpt in this report shows that it's really 5050. Um and which makes sense. You have the two communities, you have the two high schools. The high schools are fairly close in size, right? So you want nice facilities for all the kids in each of the school. Okay. So
023that was just recently passed. Not those bonds have not been issued or they haven't been fully issued by any means, but they will be because they've been authorized. Measure R and Q. There are some remaining funds to be spent right now, but they were also spent 50/50 between the two communities and the schools. Now, construction of uh Greenfield High School, that happened back in 1998, and those bonds have fully been paid off. So, there's no debt there. And so, that would not be um added to the equation here that we're going to talk about. and the high school green. There may have been many reasons to build it, but one was certainly to avoid overcrowding. Um, each of the campuses has about 1,300 students. So, you can imagine it'd be a very large school if
024it were all on one campus. And the statewide average is essentially the average that you have today on each of those campuses. All right, next slide. Okay. So, so the general rule which I think I mentioned is that that bonded debt this affects taxpayers here any most of you in the room um would be split by proportionate assessed valuation or where the funds are spent. So if it were split by um assessed valuation there would be no changes to the way that the taxpayers are taxed. All right. Um but to the extent that the debt is tied to actual improvements that are greater than what would be um divided based on proportionate AV then a change could be proposed to the tax roles to equalize that. All right. So I am not a lawyer. The
025lawyer is sitting right here so she will grab me if I hopefully if I make a misstatement but there is a law that says that in dividing bonded indebtedness it's the greater of either proportionate assessed valuation or where the funds were spent. So the high school district's been spending the funds 50/50 between the communities. But because Greenfield has a lower assessed valuation of 31% compared to 69% here in King City, an equitable division of under this education code, which ultimately is not decided by me here today, but by a county committee and further review down the line, would mean that a portion of that debt would be transferred to Greenfield and they're taxpayers. So there'd actually be an increase in taxes in Greenfield and a decrease in taxes here. So I did an estimate, don't
026hold me to it, back of the envelope, but it could be around $100 per 100,000 in assessed valuation. So that would be um a way of equalizing where the money was spent versus who paying for that. Right. Okay. All right. Next slide. So another consideration with bonding is you have to stay within the limits what they call bonding capacity. And so for a an elementary district, a high school district, you each have a bonding capacity of 1.25% of assessed valuation. And when you unify, you double that. So it's 2.5%. Um, if all the bonds I was talking about that the high school district has plus the elementary districts have were all issued today, which they haven't been, you would exceed that cap. um King City wouldn't exceed it by much. Uh Greenfield by more um
027and which doesn't, you know, affect really the ability to unify. It only would affect the ability to issue new bonds until you're back under that bonding capacity. But that's my assumption is that everything is issued, everything is been being spent at the same time. But in reality, it's spent overtime as you need the money for the different projects that you're completing. But it is something we need to test because there is a hard cap of 5%. You can exceed 5% and in this case um under today's assumptions, you would not. So again, that wouldn't disallow or negate this unification. All right. If bonds have not been authorized, so if they've been authorized but not issued, then that's split by assessed valuation. So that would be 69% for King City would get the authorization to issue
028bonds and 31% to Greenfield. All right, next slide. So in looking at all this the conclusion is an equitable division of assets and debt could be achieved and this criteria is met. All right next slide. All right. Number four. The unification needs to preserve the district's ability to educate pupils in an integrated environment and not promote racial or ethnic discrimination or segregation. So what we're talking about is consolidating TK through 12 into two districts. And the major districts being the high school, King City and Greenfield have very similar racial and ethnic profiles trends and it's primarily Hispanic and that wouldn't change with the unified districts. The small districts have proportionately smaller number of pupils of course and already integrate at the secondary level which would continue to be the same postunification. So this criteria is
029deemed to be met. Okay, next slide. All right. This criteria says any reorganization cannot result in a significant increase in cost to the state. Uh so there would be no additional cost to the state. Um you know there's a recalculation of the funding models that's all allowable. Um frankly I don't think they would change at all or very small amount and if even if that it would probably be a little bit to the positive. So this criteria is met. Next. Okay. Education the new districts. So, the two hypothetical new unified districts would need to promote sound educational performance and not significantly disrupt the current programs. All right. So, this really focuses on the programs that you're offering um kind of statewide testing results. talked to a lot of educators um and then just looking at
030a unified TK through 12 model of education. Next slide. So all of the districts have good educational programs today and you have some excellent ones that you you know have really been successful in your district like dual language immersion here in this district. um all the districts want the best for the kids. So what could be benefits for a K12 unification? You know the primary one is a positive um you know articulation between the grade levels. So as the students move through for example 8th grade into 9th grade that there's you know integration of the curriculum and where they're at. so the high school can meet them where they're at. Um there's also potential for better transition support from grade to grade as a result and kind of knowing the student, owning the student, if
031you will, through their whole um kindergarten through 12th grade if you're fortunate to have them for the whole time. Um there's common school calendars and the parent communications. So, I think that's probably one of the the big ones, too. You only have one school system with its board policies and procedures and communications as opposed to two. And then we'll get into finances in a minute, but if you have the financial ability, then there's no reason you couldn't keep the best of programs. There is going to be a new board. So, it's not going to be the high school board running the unified district. It's not going to be the elementary board. It's going to be a new board. It would be elected at the time when unifications decided. Many of the existing board members could
032run. New ones could also run. You could even expand the board from five to seven members. But as long as there's the financial ability then keeping the best programs would be an option that um the boards would have the board would have and then uh just community centered school identity. So we're King City, we are King City Unified. Okay, next slide. Okay, what programs would be cut or would they be cut? And the answer is no. Not directly due to unification because as we're going to see under criteria nine, there's no loss of funding. In fact, it's estimated that administrative cost could save up to $3.5 million a year and those dollars would be freed up to support or perhaps even expand programs. Um, so a new board would be created. it would have its
033priorities and decide these resource allocations. All right, next slide. So for criteria six on education, the conclusion is it's substantially met in this two unified school district scenario. All right, next slide. School housing costs. The criteria says there um cannot be a significant increase in school facilities cost. Well, because you have the high school district here in Greenfield and one in King here in King City, of course, you have all the elementary schools. They're all being folded into the unified. The unification is not going to create any additional need for school facilities. And in fact you have these bonds that are improving these facilities. Um so overall the facilities are adequate and especially with the ongoing campus improvements. So this criteria would be met. Number next slide please. Number eight. The state says you cannot
034primarily design a unification to increase your property values. This really talks about when a developer comes in and they're trying to maybe sell the homes for more because they're in one district versus another, which is not the case here at all. So this criteria uh is met. And then the ninth criteria and last is fiscal management and status. The proposed reorganization must continue to promote sound fiscal management and not cause a substantial negative effect on the proposed districts. So in this case, the unification of Greenfield, unification of King City. So some key points here that came out of the study. First of all, all the school districts are financially stable, which is good, and have um meet or exceed the state's minimum reserves. The high school district has the funds to pay off the I
035bank loan. There's no loss of funding from the state's aortionment models. So, you're going to continue to get the funding at a each pupil, whether they're in kindergarten or in high school, has a certain amount of money the state will pay to educate them. And the more senior grades get more money than the elementary grades. All of that is blended together. There's no loss of funding. All right? and eligibility for you know grants and things of that nature would remain unchanged. Okay. Next. Okay. So just to reiterate LCFS local control funding formula is how schools are primarily funded by the state. There would be no change if anything maybe a slight improvement. Um but overall in budgeting the revenues for a new unified school district uh the dollars are there to serve the students that
036are there. Right. Next slide. Okay. Now we're getting into what happens with staffing which is important to obviously all of the employees in the affected school district and the communities. There's a lot of law in this area and again I'm not a lawyer so I'm just going to kind of go over the highlights here knowing that there'll be a new unified district school board who will negotiate new contracts with the new unions and that includes salary schedules and so forth. But there are some protections in the law too and so we're going to talk a little bit about that. So essentially if staff are assigned to a school site whether they're classified or teacher teaching staff um they become employees of wherever they're assigned when unification happens. So for the King City teachers who are
037here assigned in King City, um whether they're elementary or at the high school, they'll continue to be assigned for the elementary or the high school. All right. Classified district level staff can choose because they're not assigned to a school site, right? So they can choose between the two unified districts where they want to be employed. And I looked at that because we can't really predict which district they might choose to be employed by if they are um at the high school and they're serving both communities. Um but in the leadup to unification, you know, some of those predictions can be better predicted. Um and they can be reassigned. So there's the right to re reasonable reassignment. Some people might retire. You know, all kinds of things like that could happen. Um classified staff have a
038two-year right to their job, their salary, their benefits after the unification. So for two years they're protected and that's whether they're classified um um staff or they are management regardless of their position. The um certificated bargaining unit they have protection for their classification. So their seniority, their tenure, their placement on the salary schedule in the new unified district. certificated management does not have the protections beyond their contract term. So if it's a annual contract that's as long as their protection is including superintendence. So again, overall, the unified board's going to make many decisions, including negotiating new contracts and making reasonable reassignments to accommodate people and to um make sure they're following what is required by law. Okay, next slide. So, in creating the new salary schedules, um it's not a requirement to create new contracts
039that are the best of both. And in fact, it's probably not affordable, particularly in the short term because there are differences. For example, looking at the teacher salary schedule alone, um there's, you know, $900,000 difference if the elementary teachers were placed on that salary schedule. On the flip side, there's very good benefits and low class size here at the elementary district. Um and so those things would need to be kind of considered by the new boards. There are ways um and it's complicated and it it requires um legal minds to put it all together, but there are ways to and in fact you have to do it with classified staff. You cannot reduce their pay. And so it's a process known as Y-rating, which is basically you don't get a cut. Um we're going to
040honor what you're being paid. Um, and then at some point, you know, the salary schedule catches up or or however it's been constructed. Um, so it's a bit of a puzzle creating it, but it's part of the process. And to kind of help to facilitate this, keep in mind that there are tools. First of all, there's administrative cost savings, which could be again as much as maybe three and a half million. Um, and also tools such as early retirement incentives, maybe not filling vacancies leading up to the unification and so forth. Okay, next slide. So, how does a budget get put together for this hypothetical new unifi district? Well, the revenues are the same. That doesn't change. So then we have to look at the expenditure side of the budget which is mostly comprised of
041staffing. The FTEES full-time equivalent at each of the high schools is equal. I mean it's absolutely equal between the two. But there are little more senior senior staff at the high school. So there is currently um a difference when you look at the cost of about 5.6% 6% more in cost for the staffing at the high school, but that's today. Um, and so we don't really know if and when a unification were happen if that would still be the same. So that would need to be that number there needs to be kind of taken into consideration. Um and that's where potentially um the administrative cost savings could come into play or maybe other tools again, you know, early retirement incentives or even negotiating between the two districts in the division of assets and debt. Well,
042we're taking on more costs here. You know, how are we compensated? That kind of thing. So, but it can be um sorted out, if you will. All right, next slide. So, what are some of these areas of administrative cost savings that I've talked about? Well, I compared based on the size and similar funding model for a King City Unified, I compared it to other unified school districts in the state and it showed that there's a potential for just administrative functions of 1.9 to 2.4 million and then when adding in some of the centralized operations, it could be up to 3.5. So that's where I got that 3.5. So we're talking about um superintendent and board, central office, management of certain operational functions, but we do have that 2-year protection for classified staff. So all that
043savings, that potential savings of 3.5 million can't be realized day one, but approximately 1.6 6 million could be realized for those that aren't in that protected class and then the additional 1.9 million two years later. But in practice, this is where good planning leading up is essential, right? So to try to make it as minimally disruptive um creating you know efficient effective unified school district with the dollars that you are able to free up from these cost savings. Okay next slide. So to summarize um the conclusions in this report, the potential outcomes is the single administration which we just talked about with the savings, the articulation of a K12 program, vertical articulation, transition support, um expansion of you know signature programs like dual language immersion um and the ability to track students in a single
044education ational system. There's opportunity for improved resource allocation um you know coordinating staff development, recruitment, greater ability to hire a full-time person over a part-time person because you have a bigger budget that you're dealing with and you could potentially deploy them, you know, K12 as opposed to K8 or 912. um and more flexibility with facilities use one district office. Another potential outcome is stronger community ties engagement with the single school system. And then for King City and the taxpayers, there's a probable reduction in taxes as a result of how the bonds are divided. So overall I would say that to kind of leave you with this is that good leadership and cooperation would be required um if this district and the others proceed to integrate the school cultures to keep the morale high to build
045on the best of old and new programs and to keep financial stability through the transition years. All right and that's it. So at this point I'm happy to take questions or any uh Margarite if you have a legal question you can ask her. So is there any questions or comments from any members of the audience or the board? I'll go ahead and just clarification. You're talking about the high school going. Correct. >> Correct. Because classified staff that are assigned to a school site would remain at the school site they're assigned. It's only the districtwide employees who aren't assigned. >> Okay. So thank you Miss White for your presentation. I had the opportunity to meet with you. So some of my questions might not relate to this or um we can go from there. So on
046the report that we received on page 16, it does state about like the decline of enrollment that's happening currently in the elementary level. The high school seeing a higher increase in enrollment. Keeping that in mind and looking down the road in a couple years, you know, unification is going to happen if it happens. you know, looking at down the year, could this create a mismatch in resources where we are forced to cut back on early learning early learning programs even though that's where long-term outcome starts. Could that be a potential? >> Not as a result of unification. So, there's always challenges with declining enrollment in any school district and what you can afford because your budget has been reduced. So that happens regardless of um whether you're unified or not. If anything, unified might give
047you more resources because there's more students and you're under a single administration without duplicative administration. That answers your question. >> Okay. And then so one of the questions that I I actually asked you at the day we met um on page 18, it reinforces the question that um parents often confuse the two districts. Um from your perspective, how does the confusion actually affect students? Do they miss out on services or face barriers when moving between schools? >> Right. Well, currently the educators in the room who probably speak better and the superintendent um but having two student information systems that don't talk to each other um is going to affect kind of the flow um the transition from one school district to another. So like from 8th grade into 9th grade, having a common system, having
048common policies, common safety plans, um means of communication, all of that in a single system would be um facilitated kind of better. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions or comments at this moment? >> I do have a question. Um Um, and I might ask Dr. guys to come up and speak to that too. But um if there isn't a unification here, then the high school district would lose half its students and um there'd be still two administrations here. So there would be no cost savings to offset the cost. Um so it would create financial pressure on the high school district and um which would also affect the educational program. >> Okay. And we don't know. We also don't know if that one is there's also the possib Yeah, I did want to say a
049transparency perspective all in that performed similar to the green And that is available on the study analyzes what happened to the high school district with the single unification green field and how that situation would be affected. So it's there to be and as Dr. But we do know that unification is at the heart of the identity of field. >> At the end of the day though, um it would be up to the state to decide. Well, they could they can force it on to us if this is what they would like or they could also say it's going to be down locally and you all as districts would be deciding at this point. I'm sorry. The Greenfield petition, thank you Christie. At this point, the Greenfield petition will be decided by the state board of
050education. It is not going to come back locally. If a new petition starts up, there is an opportunity all along in the process for that new petition to be handled locally. >> Yeah. And but we should probably add to that this conversation about whether or not um King City Elementary School District would want to unify with King City High School if the other GR um unification moves forward. This would not be decided at the state. The the question I think here is are the two districts interested in making that decision for themselves? And of course both of those two districts would have to have that conversation and make that decision because there is no petition for this district at this moment. >> Thank you very much. And I'm sorry if I misunderstood your question. The
051state board will not force unification on this district. >> Any other questions or comments? Is there more on the report or are we just on the Q&A portion of it? >> So, Dr. Gus, I know in last spring's presentations, we had multiple presentations. This evening, it's just this one, correct? And then our discussion. >> Yes. because you already received a copy of Margarit's presentation and that was about the legal process as it relates to unification matters, right? >> And so, but if there are any again any legal questions that lingered from those prior presentations, we do have Margaret here tonight to answer those. >> Right. >> So, that's it on the presentations, but again, if you want to hear a review of the process, we have that available. And then I know that there are
052more questions here. >> So, thank you for having the time, taking the time to come and present to our community as well. Um, yes, this is not the easiest conversation to have, although it's a much needed conversation to have. I don't think that the King City Elementary School District has ever been in denial about wanting to have a solid foundation when it comes down to having a TK to 12 or 14 or 16, whatever other grade levels are added in the near future. And I can't speak for every board member up here, but I could take the time to go ahead and say that I think when it comes down to the reasoning for why we locally here um should and I don't want to say consider because as mentioned I think it's it's fundamental
053but time and place for us are is you know essential and there was a lot of assuming assuming that this assuming that that so assuming that all goes well is what I'm hearing is feasible um and not to be a negative person but there there was about 20 years ago if not a little less that we were not necessarily unified but we had shared service with the high school entity and when financial struggle hit our elementary district hurt. In fact, it hurt so much that we have yet to reinstate a lot of those services and busing is one of them in case that has been in the back burner for so long that it's been forgotten. I came in back in those days. I know the struggle. I know the loss that that that happened
054and that is still it impacted the community. It impacted the students. It impacted the students at the time. It impacted the students since then. I'm having a hard time to just sit here and just take the positive, the the what if it goes well and not take any consideration of what if funding is cut further down the line? What does that do to some of the programming? Because although we don't have a secondary program, a lot of times when cuts come down the line on us, there's a lot of programs that we can't cut in certain high school programming. And the first um impacts are felt at the elementary level. In King City, we have spent numerous amount of years recently trying to rebuild culture, rebuild our district, become stronger with community ties, bridge that
055from home to to school gap, and we have so much more work to do, but it has been a struggle. We've been working within our own. And I and I know it's cliche, but I call us a family. But we've we've seen the struggles working amongst ourselves. And to hear the time frame sound of 2027, it's still down the line. It's not really that down the line. And I guess I'm pointing out the fact that we don't necessarily have to unify overnight in order to start building that TK12 foundation being that we're local. I mean, I know that there's so much more discussion to have and even though we have no control over what happens in our sister community of Greenville, um I am having a hard time saying because they're doing it or because
056they feel that the shoe is is is right for them right now that we need to jump on that because again, we mentioned the DLI, but it would be oblivious to me to think that that is not going to be one of the first things to go if there's any kind of financial burden down the line. When we look at the financial um funding struggles or challenges that we're going to have up ahead, it's the funding that most of our kids need. And I feel like we need to take those things into consideration because there is fights that I feel we need to start preparing for possibly. So, not that we're opposed or that I'm opposed to the discussion of unification. I think we have to be a little bit more realistic with the timeline
057because I am afraid I'm concerned with the time frame of 2027. I think that we can start bridging that gap not just between home and um school but also between 8th and 9th grade. And we don't need to unify overnight. We are literally in the same community as mentioned and we're unique. We're King City. So we can start working with our high school. Um, I hear talk about how why should we pay off the funding? We don't need to pay off the funding. But when we owe the state, we were under state receiverhip. And although we've gained most of our control back, we still have state control because we still owe the state. So that's an incentive if you guys really wanted to push that ball going. But I'm not in no rush. As mentioned,
0582029 is not is a better number than 2027. It allows for that real building of community between not just the outside members um and and various households. When I see this, there's some selling points, right? We've all been to a car lot. We've all been to a car lot. They're going to try to tell you all those good points about that car. They want you to drive it off that lot. They might not be as open with some of the cons, you know, but you're going to hear all all about the pros. And that's what I feel this is. This is a lot of pros, but there's no cons. And because there's no cons, if we oppose it, it's going to look like we're just against things. But again, there's so much history that is
059not in this report. There's so much history that's still running through us right now as we're trying to rebuild our small elementary district. So, we're not opposed to the unification of the elementary with our local high school. For us, I think it's a matter of let's do it, but let's do it right. Let's let's take our time. Let's really talk about the impact. Because if we really think that this won't impact the students that are currently going through the system, we're wrong. We've seen it impact students before. Because what's not being discussed is the actual struggles that we might come across when we are unifying when we are dividing assets. It's like a divorce. Even if the both sides are wanting to get divorced, there's still going to be the division of things. And even
060though it sounds good because we're right now in agreement, sometimes when push comes to shove, it's not as as neat as it is on paper. And when those things start to happen, it starts to impact the students. When we look at motives to to unify, right, the first one is cost saving, which is fine. But then the second one is the articulation of the educational program, which in my humble opinion should be the first reason why we start talking about unification, right? Students first. So this right here is not fitting my criteria of what's number one. Again, not opposed to the unification. I just I think that our our talking points are going to be more with time time frames that are more suitable for the current federal and financial climate, whether it's federal or
061state. and also ensuring that as this process continues that we're not just taking care of the adult needs, we're taking care of the number one and that's the students. That's just my two cents. I think I've going to go ahead and see if anybody else wants to >> I'm going to go ahead and piggyback a little bit on what you on what she said. Um, as you guys heard some of my questions, for me more than anything, I am new on the board. Um, but for me it's we're trying to look out for what's best for our students and I think that's our key factor at this point. We're trying to see what's best and we share students and that's the thing. We do share students. Um, we have exciting programs going on here. I
062just got on the board last year. They were able to open DLI and I think that's one of our main factors of we're trying to take care of that DLI program which we're barely into second year. We just opened up first grade this year and our plan is to grow it. Um, and we don't know. It's uncertain. We can see what's on paper and what's on paper is always going to be the good and it's always a fear. We have to trust the system and sometimes we seen flaws in the system and that's where we're trying to get everything together. We're trying to work through it and see what is the best outcome for all of our students. um whether it's unifying, working together, and like Bina was saying, we're not against it. We're just
063trying to see gather everything. That's why this study was made. Um cuz we saw the study that, you know, showed Greenfield and the high school unify. We were included in bits and pieces, but we wanted to get more in depth on what that meant for us. And like Veno was saying, we want to see the pros and the cons because we know everything has the good and the bad. And we have to put in a balance and see what's going to outweigh and how can we serve our kids better. And I think that's just our main focus trying to serve our kids better. Um whether it's elementary, high school, I know the high school has and they've been doing their best whatever they can to provide those services and we've been doing the same thing.
064We've been working with our family engagement. We've been bringing um keynote speakers. We serve as the same families. They all get the same information and it's always been open to the public. Um we try to get as much information out on social media because we're trying to bridge that gap with different um family engagements, whether it's Consuel, whether it's Dr. Rios. Um that's our main focus. And so that's what we want to just emphasize that our focus through throughout this whole process is the student. That's who we're looking out for at this point and we're seeing what is going to be the best outcome for the students. And so we just want just to let that, you know, be clear that we're not opposed or anything. We're just trying to see what is the best
065outcome for each of our students at every level. We don't like we lost busing. We haven't been able to get busing. For the ones who are from here, you guys have heard that schools Shalom Peaks, why don't we have a bus to transport our students? Why can't we get a bus? and it's something that we've been trying to work on and it hasn't been feasible. So, we're trying to do what's best and we're trying to work through it and see what is going to be the best outcome for our students. So, I just wanted to let you I wanted to set that clear that we're not I'm not I personally am not opposed to it. I'm just trying to get the balance to see what what way can we do it to where we're not
066going to impact our students. Um we know that initially we won't lose any funding but that's only guaranteed for a couple years looking down the line we're facing deficit I think in our projected totals and so eventually you know we have small class sizes is that also going to be a factor um in unification going back to where first grade uh fourth grade had about 30 kids I think right now we're at a decent 24 if I'm not mistaken around their per student and that we've been able to do it due to our current situation. So, we just wanted to I just wanted to let that set that on the record just to so know that we're not I'm not against it. I'm just trying to see which way it's going to work out best
067for our students and the community who we serve. >> Maybe I misunderstood and I would like to apologize in the sense of I thought when it came and and no offense to you, thank you for the presentation. I was under the um understanding that when we would be receiving a study, it would be seeing it both ways being see seeing both sides of the coin. This is what is beneficial for your district and this is how it wouldn't work. So that's what I thought would be brought into play. Not so uh much of again like you said, not saying that we wouldn't unify, but it's just I like I'm visual as well and I like to see the pros and cons of things. Um uh one of the things as well uh we had talked
068briefly before was um if the high school were to stay on their own, how would it look like for them? You know, again, our kids transition over to the high school. That's important because at the end of the day, all the elementary kids will be kids will be transitioning over to the high school. That's already a given. But, you know, knowing like how is it that they're going to look like? What's it going to be the impact for that school if they were to remain on their own? Again, it was just all something that I thought would be part of the presentation as well as what would be the the fiscal impact for them in general if there were to, you know, to be um outliers and then what would be the pros and cons
069if we were unified. So, that's what I was looking forward towards tonight. Again, not saying that we would not agree to it, but it would just give us more to look into, more information. Um, because we are pro kids more than anything. Um, and we do have new programs that just came on board. So, it's just we're trying to see what is best, not for us as adults, but for our kids. Is there anyone else in the audience wishing to ask questions or make comments? that presentation. We're happy to get that which is great. But it was something I believe again under my understanding that we would be receiving here as well. So our district families and teachers would hear it for us and our district. That was my I know that was presented over
070there. We are part of that those meetings as well. Um I was I wasn't able to attend the one in Greenfield but again that's the whole purpose of us having our own meeting for our own district parents and teachers and all those involved it was within our district. What would be that impact here and for them to hear it with our community. Do you know what I'm saying? I'm not saying that what was brought out over there. It's just with us here tonight because I'm not sure how many of people tonight went to that meeting over for Greenfield and you know that's what I was saying. I I the expectation for me I thought it was going to be presented here as well. Where did the 2027 time frame come from? Like where did that
071like that was just a drop it in the if you guys would have if you you you know you probably would have more buyin on our on our end if it was at least like a 5year time frame but that whole 2027 we're just like oh that's like worse than 90day fiance. So there wouldn't be no oppet you haven't heard if there's any opposition to like that that time being set a little bit further out. timeline. know well that sometimes >> now for that would all three districts need to be making that or could King City and the high school go into those resolutions. And then the other community don't know how that existing not everybody was in about the timing that you're hoping for but knowing well there's those kinds of by way of
072being approved and goes collection. election timing and then there is a period of time after the election assuming it happens where the new district gets up and running and there's an overlap. I think the 2027 has been discussed because if green field were on the ballot in 202 there is a provisioning code that would make that unification I think the 2027 is relative. So if Greenville, assuming they move forward, right, and it's approved at the state level and they can go ahead and start next year being unified or 2027, would we that if we're still looking at wanting to do a time frame extension, how would that impact the high school at that point? Cuz at this point, it's it's a standalone high school and we also don't want to go down trying to save
073it. So that's why we're wanting to make sure that everything is being done. So we want to take our time in this new establishment of relationship. So >> premature question because we don't know what the state board is going to discuss it is denied back. on the same page forward. It's a little bit question. >> Okay. There's some information to have at the October meeting if or more so. Um, and then also as far as as you know they're small communities, so it's it's no secret that some of us wear multiple hats. How is the involvement uh of us as elected or voting pieces go with having any other involvement as far as union leadership during this discussion and voting process or possible bringing this up to a vote? Say that there's board members that
074sit on one board but work for the other the district that that is being discussed in unity. Is there any conflict of interest? So there are four members of board from the there is noc financial in that at all. Is there a common law conflict? >> So if we have a voting member that's also a leader in a union that is not a conflict of interest. Yeah. >> Okay. We'll have to look into that cuz I'm sure there's other agencies out there that think that's a conflict of interest. What's funny? Somebody want to share the joke? >> If we unify. So if we unify >> right >> this was for unification >> changes Correct. >> So correct. Each board votes uh each board will be voting individually. Correct. >> Any other questions or comments? you
075want in the report. It's the April 2025 report and so I would take a look at that. But that was the big focal point of that report because essentially 50% of the students would be gone. They'd be in a Greenfield unified. Um but the high school district is running the same administration. There's protections for the classified management. They can't be let go for two years. um even though it's half the size of the district, right? Um still have your superintendent, your board, um all your other leadership positions in place. So you don't get that cost savings from administration that I talked about. And so that would put financial pressure on the district. Um, and if they did make cuts, it could be in areas they don't want to make cuts, which um, include obviously educational
076program or program support at the district level. Um, I think because of the size of the high school um, district as it is now, they've been able to build out a nice um, management, you know, team. And so to lose half their kids, you cannot afford that. Whereas if they unify K12, you have the same um >> yeah from Thank you. Um >> yeah there well I mean there's also questions about um in unlike a unification if the territory was to be split off. King City High School could elect, the teachers there could elect to stay at King City High and be employed by their original district, which is South Monterey, or they could elect to go to Greenfield. So, there's the potential for a lot more movement in terms of um salaries, which can
077be financially challenging to deal with. um and probably more likely more would elect to stay here in this community. And in fact, some of the high school teachers in Greenfield could elect to come and work here in King City. So, um that would not be at play in a unification because the staff because there's no more original district. The high school district dissolves. So, it's where you're assigned to work and it's really only the few classified managers that have some flexibility. Um, so yeah, we run ran the numbers in this report in April and it showed that it would put um, you know, significant financial pressure on this district. And so the district right now, the high school district's in good financial condition. you wouldn't want to jeopardize that and you know your students go
078to this high school so King City would be the one that would most likely um be on the short end of the stick if that were to happen. >> Yes. Could you share a scenario if chooses to unify high school does go under what students high school >> right well I mean the worst case scenario is they'd be thrown back into receiverhip with the state and be asking for another loan which is not something that you would want to have happen right >> but most likely Right. >> And that's why you have less money. I think point was both of occur then you're not losing half because you might be losing it but then it both would have similar students programs known today what we know Of course, we're all we're talking hypothetical here because
079both districts would have board new leadership and so it would be the decisions of that new board that maintains best serical but that is what prompted this conversation. is as moving forward. My concern for that one is an issue and um better communities so that we're not leaving one single high school on its own. That's kind of where it stands now as mentioned that I was a much greater issue in the past when all those years ago is kind of in a different situation now because fin I can speak to that a little bit. Um, so you know, the facilities would go where they're located. Um, and the bonds, we talked about the bonds, those are the primary source of modernization and and all of that. And so those would be divided um between the
080two communities. Um, so you know, I I don't see that unification would cause any stress on those. um you have to maybe consolidate. So instead of having this district office and the one down the street, there be one. There'd be a savings to that actually because I I think there this is leased here for example question. >> Yeah. So in your scenario you're waiting for the state to that voter. But what you're really asking at that point is for all resolution that election process or not. >> No, no, no. Greenfield, if it's approved, will stay on it individual. If Greenfield is approved um by the state board, then there is not a local threesome that is going to override that and Greenfield will proceed to election on the schedule set forth in code. It can
081be modified a bit. high school staff then at that point Jew >> or whatever or or it is set that even the certificate basically get to choose which way they go. >> Yes. But yet when you said when you do the unification there's no >> I I want to I don't want to speak for Christie but I think the choice is gone when there are two unifications because there is not a high school district any longer where you can choose to remain. But when there is a unification of only one of the communities of only one of the elementary districts then the area remains to be served by three districts. Uh a unified district, an elementary and a high school district. and those classified and actually certificated who are at the high school district can
082choose to remain there which could potentially increase costs. We don't know how that's going to roll out. Um but that is one possible scenario and these negatives are set forth in the green field feasibility study and I think they were a a uh they are in the study for this district as well because there are scenarios where higher paid employees uh choose to are located at one district or the other and preparations aren't made to be able to absorb that that is and and the differential in salary sca uh scale is highlighted. So yes, there are negatives set forth in the report. Um but this choice situation only comes up if there remains three districts in this area. I'm not counting the little rural districts but >> is that correct? Yeah. >> Can you clarify?
083So, in November at the state board meeting, is it simply a no or a yes or do is there an option for them to say yes once the I bank loan is paid off, meaning the state board. >> My understanding of the state board, and you correct me, Margaret, is they can do whatever they want. >> Yes. And we were I'm trying to think where we were just recently where that was made clear. So when the county committee is reviewing reorganization matters, we have to look at the criteria that you heard Christie present tonight, they they have to determine would each of these elements be sufficiently met. So even the wording there is it's not you know nothing's 100% until you do it and then you you know you see but when you're looking at
084a proposed either territory transfer or unification matter they're looking at the nine criteria and would they be sufficiently or significantly met once the matter gets to the state board they can take other factors into account. Um I am guessing that financial stability of all the districts concerned is going to be their number one concern as it should be because you don't want any cost to the state. That's one of the criteria and if you were to do a unification that would create any kind of need for then the state to give you a loan then there is going to be a cost to the state. So that's probably going to be one of the major uh criteria that they look at but at the end of the day they can make the decision that they
085want to make and to again clarify because it had come up a couple of times. So when when for November with the state board when they're looking at all the districts concerned they are only looking at Greenfield Union and South Monterey County >> because we at this point are not a part of that. >> Correct. So then I think it's safe to say from my assumption of what I'm understanding up here is and I'm putting it out there. It sounds that we are open to consideration and discussion of unification with King City or South Monterey um district uh South Monterey County District being King City here. However, we have our own type of terms and conditions and with that term and condition is we're thinking of all the King City students both elementary and high
086school and how we can start bridging that. We would love to to start making those efforts without needing the unification because we can start aligning our calendars without having to be unified and we can start as soon as next year. So, let's start some of these discussions that don't need the harder parts. that start bridging that 8th to 9th grade gap so that when this does become that strive to move, we at least have a more solid foundation to start stepping on. But to really think that within a year and a half to two years that we're going to be able to put this all together, have a solid foundation and it's not going to impact anybody negatively. Even if we get the inherited the salaries, are we not talking about the possibility of having
087some layoffs happen in the two years depending on where these staffs go? Like we're not talking about the real things that we need to be talking about. And as mentioned, I really feel that we have a lot of other financial concerns coming down the road that we need to prepare for for the sake of our current students right now both in elementary and high school. So I see that our fellow high school board is here. We welcome you. We welcome the discussion. We're open to the discussion. We're open to the possibility. But realistically, that whole 2027 that is a big turnoff for us. That is a that is a big turnoff for us. So that's that's just a little things to consider because I know that we will be meeting again in October and and
088I would love to have a more deeper discussion with more facts with more more two-sided views because it's reality. We want reality based facts. Not just what's the good that might happen, but the the real effects, cause and effect that might happen when things go wrong, if they go wrong. And in the business that we're in, we usually hear about more of the wrongs than the rights. And again, I can't stress enough the the just the climate, the climate out there, the federal climate, the state climate, the battles that we're going to have to go to try to secure our funding for these upcoming years. This kind of movement is scary to be discussing right now during these uncertain times. But again, I want to assure that everyone knows that we are totally more than
089open to discussing and and and and having that possible unification happen sooner than later, but we're not in that rush. We are not trying to bypass a lot of other things. We want to have open forums that might take forever, but we want to be as transparent as we can. So, I don't mean to step on anybody's toes when I ask the questions that I ask. I just want to make sure that it's out there that just in case there's any doubt on what or what's causing our movement or our hesitation. There's 101 things, but primarily it's we're also focused on the right now and on the continuing to grow right now. And as we talk and discuss the inheritance of this or the the the unity of this and growing our family, right, we
090want to ensure that we're doing it for the right reasons and not because it was something that was forced on either one of us because that's not going to be the right thing for any of the students. All we hear about is a lot of adult needs to really have this be a transparent discussion. I want to start hearing about the student impact both good and bad. All this is is wishful think thinking. A lot of this is wishful thinking. And it's good. That's some some way to, you know, get motivated and inspired. But I also am a bit of a realist. And I also want to know the reality of things because when we do come to vote, I want to make sure that I have everything that I need to make that felt
091to the best of my ability for the sake of these kids. Anybody else have anything else to add? Any questions? Board administration. Come on. Somebody has to say something after me. Jennifer, I'll let you take it over. Okay. So, as um Trusty Pom Potamo said, we will be continuing the discussion in October. I'm going to make an assumption that we have a lot of people that are really thinking through everything they've heard tonight because we do have a lot of our own staff members here in the room this evening that are hearing the information for the first time. May not have had a chance to read through the reports yet. I do encourage you to go back to South Monterey County's um website. Dr. Cota was at the April meeting that they'll find it attached.
092You can find it online. and it is attached as well as our report uh this evening to look through both of those because again in October when we have that joint board meeting you will again have a chance to ask lots of questions and be a part of that discussion that the high school board and our board will be having about this. It's another special board meeting. It's not a decisionmaking evening. it is continuing this discussion um which I think as we've heard thank you um Dr. Gus and your team for being here because all of that information will be very important when they go to the state board meeting as well in November. So again, while King City Union is not a part of what is being discussed in November, we all realize that
093we are a part of the larger discussion. So it's very wise of us to be very involved at this time as we move forward. So I thank you for being there, being here tonight and joining us for this. But I think everyone needs to think a little further, have some time to process in preparation for a meeting in October. With that said, we'd like to thank everyone for coming out tonight and spending this time with us. And we welcome you back in our October meeting and and at any of our other board meetings if you'd like to join us. I know half of you will. Um but at this point, um our next regular board meeting will be this Wednesday. As Jennifer mentioned, we have that special board meeting in uh alliance with our King
094City High School on October 14th and then that will be followed by a regular October meeting on the 15th. I will now entertain a motion to adjourn tonight's meeting. >> I move we adjourn tonight's meeting. >> All in favor? >> I thanks again for coming and you guys get home safe. Have a good night.