May 8, 2025 - Board Meeting - Open Session

001Uh good evening. Um welcome everyone to the uh May 8th regular board meeting of the Lake Tahoe Unified School District. Um I'm calling the meeting to order at 601 and um we were in close session and we do not have any action items to report on from close session. So we're moving to item number seven which is communication report um limited to five minutes. And do I have any board member reports? bound. Trusty Mansfield, I feel like I've been going first the last few times, but um I want to give a shout out to our staff and I've gone to three sites already. I'm going to another one tomorrow for our staff appreciation and just want all the staff to know how much we admire and appreciate you and recognize your hard work. And then

002I also want to give out a shout out to Alyssa Little and the High School Viking Choir because they just took first place in their division last week with a rating of excellent. And then Ash Kramer received outstanding vocalist award. So huge. That's cool. Thank you. Anyone else? Well, I will thank you, President Keer. Um the open house at the middle school was great. A lot of great energy, a lot of people. The weather was perfect. Thank you for for whoever coordinated that weather. Um also, uh President Keer and I attended the PTA g uh gayla last week and all the parents who planned that, put that together. Um a lot of good food, a lot of good silent auction and I think we have a dancing queen in our Miss President Keer. She danced

003every every dance. So, um, thank you. And then the staff appreciation is just so great going around and getting to meet, uh, trying to meet all the staff and, um, just was a great week. Thank you. Thank you, Trusty Anderson. I had the, uh, great pleasure of, um, uh, going back to, uh, Beiju Elementary School and and touring a little bit. And I it was really fun to meet with two retiring teachers um uh Meestra Meestro Cortez and Meestra um Sanchez and uh a lot of years put in to the service of our community from those people and and it gave me pleasure to thank them. I also uh spent some time at the middle school with Principal Martinez and and uh Andrew Lebrano and uh um had the great pleasure of observing a couple

004really impactful math lessons. won an in algebra by a terrific teacher, Alicia Fair. Really a a cracker jack um clinical instructor uh was teaching some algebra um how to divide with with uh uh with exponents. And uh I also watched Jimmy Bond teach a great lesson in in uh in geometry finding the area of of uh trapezoids and uh parallelograms. So we were reminded that a area equals base times height. So it was fun. Excellent. Thank you. There we go. Uh I would like to echo the uh how enjoyable it is to go out for the staff appreciation and and it's it's small tokens but uh it really is heartfelt the you know all the work that goes in by everybody and go to the transportation and the food services and so that was excellent.

005Um unfortunately I have been missing a few events for the schools due to coaching baseball but um that went well. So, so that's in a good spot and looking forward to another visit tomorrow to a school site and then um to the community college 50th anniversary Saturday. So, um I I just want to add um that the the exciting thing about the PTA gala was not my dancing, but I think it was the it was the fact that um the PTAs of our four elementary schools came together um to raise funds that were going to be equally distributed across all four um elementary school sites. And to my knowledge in my 40 years here, that's the first time that's ever happened. And uh I really appreciate um the parents that were involved in in organizing

006that and uh we could have had more people there. Maybe in the future we will. But I just I just really want to applaud the the notion of really collaboration and how we're a community. Um we're all together in this. and and as it relates to um staff appreciation, I I just want to say that I am so um fortunate to live in this community and really I think our students are just incredibly fortunate to have all of you, all of our staff that really are here for them, you know, for them to be successful and to be educated. And I see that, you know, in basically every person that works for the school district, you know, that they have students in, you know, at the top of their list, their priority. and it means

007a lot and I know a lot of um there are a lot of connections, you know, being developed all the time and I appreciate that. Um and then I just something I probably I don't have right in front of me, but there's a breaking the divide conversation that's going to be happening at the South Tahoe Boys and Girls Club on May the Sorry, I don't have it up. I think it's next week the 16th. No, I should have written this down. Well, we're gonna try to get some more word out because we would like to have people there, but it's really an opportunity to um learn from experts on how to talk about things we disagree about and uh still be a community, you know, so it's something I want to promote and it's called

008the civic path. So, we'll get more information out on that. Um, thank you. All right. And next we have student board member report Scott Yamoka. Uh, good evening everyone. I hope you're all doing well. Um, at the high school, prom continues to build up. Uh, decorations, venue, and planning is all going well, and there's a lot of excitement going around. Um, we also have had elections come to close. Um, not only did we have some of the largest number of individual groups running for our class representatives. Um, but we also had some of the highest votes we've ever seen in a long time. Um, and I'm very confident in the abilities of all the new elected class representatives, ASB team, and elected future student board member. And it was a pleasure to see the ongoing

009effects of involvement in the community that we're continuing to build. Um, spring sports are coming to a close. I know there's a lot of regional matches, meets, and uh, other events going on uh, just as state comes closer. Um, that's track, swim, golf, softball, and baseball for this spring season. Um, the senior class is getting more excited for the end of the year. We're all trying to combat senioritis and finish off the year well. Um, just last Thursday, we celebrated National Decision Day and congratulated our seniors moving forward on to four-year universities. Um, there's a great vibrancy on campus right now with spring activities everywhere. and importantly again staff and teacher appreciation week um filling the campus uh I had the opportunity to host alongside my spirit commissioner um Kayla Wallers the uh staff and

010teacher raffle. Um so that was really great just seeing um not only the teachers that had me and really uh helped me throughout my um journey but also the teachers that I didn't have and the community that community that we all still have around supporting our students. Um in the community uh many students do participate in dance and uh there are recital next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at the Harris South showroom. Um that's for the studio. Uh it's always great to see how our students are connected uh within our community uh beyond um on school and the time they have at school. Uh going a little deeper, uh AP tests have also begun this week. Um with the changes to formatting and moving most of the tests to digital tests. Um students are testing in

011the South Tahoe High School library. Um which means uh no announcements on the loudspeaker and also no bells. Um, so that has been an adjustment, especially with difficulties with Wi-Fi, you know, living in a mountain town and Chromebooks being Chromebooks. Um, but without bells, it's definitely uh an adjustment for teachers um having to constantly watch the clock and also the effect it has on the um usage of our new library that we had. And so that's also another uh adjustment. Uh, nonetheless, as we approach the final stretch, uh, my message is just let's stay engaged, support one another, and finish off strong, whether it's celebrating achievements, um, pushing through challenges, or making lasting moments. Um, we only have a little bit of time left here in the school year. So, thank you. Thank you, Scott,

012and congratulations. And for those who may not have heard, he's going to Harvard in the fall. So, very excited for you. and and Mia Valenuela, she's headed to uh UCLA, so she's our other student rep. So, we'll see her in a couple weeks, but I'm so I'm so grateful for both of your your involvement this year. It's been really incredible. All right. Uh superintendent report. President Kim, members of the board, you know, I was thinking I need to change the agenda. I don't want to follow Scott anymore, you know? I mean, he's so impressive and gosh, so articulate. Um I do have a few things I'd like to share tonight. Um, first I want to start that u there's some been some controversy brewing um regarding um the Nevada Intercolastic Athletics Association um with a

013new bylaw that they have uh have written um and that that has caused Tall Truck Unified and ourselves Lake Tall Unified School District to continue to to begin to explore our um options um for athletics moving forward into the future. I want the board to know that we want to explore what is best for our student athletes um and for our participation and always having the students at the forefront of our decision-m. I want to thank Kevin Hennessy for his participation and looking into and what we're going to be thinking about towards the future. Just want to make sure that you're aware that we are working with uh this this topic and and situation. So, if there are questions by anybody, please contact me and I will uh I will continue to provide some updates

014on that. I want to say this, and I see the middle school staff here. I was so impressed at at South Hall Middle School open house. Um it was by far the largest turnout I've ever seen at at the open house. Um there was an energy and excitement for the open house. Uh I walked in and out of classrooms. Parents were excited to be there. Um, students were somewhat excited to be there. Um, you know, teachers were greeting folks with a smile and talking to folks about the the great things that they're doing in their classrooms and and I just want to do that as a great shout out to them and whole staff for their work. Speaking of staff, this is we are celebrating staff appreciation week. Um, yesterday was actually teacher appre national

015teacher appreciation day. um so thankful for the staff that we have and their commitment to um what's best for students and and thinking about how we're how what we do truly is the impact of the future. Um and and we are truly blessed with an amazing group of people that just care about kids and doing what is right. And I want to thank the board for going out and visiting the sites and the departments and and thanking each and every one of our staff members for the work that they do. that is so appreciated that you take took your have taken your time to do that. Um and so thank you to all for the great work that we do. Um last piece I would just like to bring up is next Thursday, this room

016is going to be packed um at 4:00 because we have the um the second annual Hall of Distinction ceremony. We have six um former students. Uh it's it's comprised of these different groups of former employees, former former students and folks that have given of themselves to to to our district and and um and our um contributors to the best the work that we do. And so we look forward to doing that at 4:00 here. When I say this, uh it's going to be a packed house. Um so you know love for folks to join us but where I'd really appreciate folks joining us is if you'll um join us at the Lake Tao Ed Foundation's celebration of education next Thursday night. So, we'll start here at 4, have a very quick ceremony, end by 5,

017um, and then out to the, uh, celebration of education where we'll actually take the time to, um, really let the folks that nominated the the inductees as well as the inductees speak. Um, and also at that event, we will be recognizing our employees of the year. there's uh every every department at every site put names forward and folks were selected to be certificate employees of the year, classified employees of the year and such. So at that event we'll do that. So really excited about it. So I just want to encourage folks to join us. Thank you to the Lake Tahoe Ed Foundation for really this is going to be the second they used to do something in the past and they re re they re reinvented and recreated it. This is the second year doing

018that as well. So um that's it for me. appreciate uh uh everybody. Thank you. Okay. Thank you, Dr. Cutler. Uh do we have any employee association reports tonight? I think you're just gonna wait until later. Oh, yeah. Okay. I'm sorry. Come on up, Miss Santana. Bernett Santana from CSEA. Good evening, President Keer, board members, Dr. Cutler. Um this week, this week, this time of year is so exciting. It's the culmination of so much effort and hard work on everybody's part and uh there is an energy as Scott said certainly on South Taho High's campus and all throughout the district I think and and the fact that it is employee staff appreciation week adds a whole another element because we all are appreciating each other and that is so needed and so wonderful. I must say

019the energy at the high school is palpable. We're all looking forward to graduation and I know my colleagues have said that at all the sites and the in the departments as well. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks Bernardet. Okay. And then do we have any public comment that are not that is not on the agenda? Yeah, nobody submitted public comment. Was there anybody here that wanted to speak on public comment this evening? No public comment this evening. All right. Then our next item, item eight, is the Lake Tahoe partner organization update. And tonight we have the Tahoe Youth and Family Services Youth Leadership Program. Yeah, we welcome them to to the podium this evening to talk about their youth leadership uh program that they'll tell us all about. Thank you for being here. so much for

020having us. Hi, my name is Jay Marquez. I'm the youth leadership manager with Tahoe Youth and Family Services. I'm here to talk to you about our student advocacy program. Um, is this clicker for the Okay, Nancy, if I have any issues, it's your fault. Um so I am here to talk to you guys about our new student advocacy program but about our new funding source as um so at the beginning of the year we were awarded funding through Elevate Youth California. Um the funding is to bring prevention programming to South Lake Tahoe that really is rooted in social justice advocacy and leadership skill building. Um our student advocacy program is going to be a huge part of that. We're just going to kind of run through um an overview of what the student advocacy program

021is going to look like. um and how it's going to be implemented at South Tahoe Middle School. Oh, let's see. Am I doing it wrong? All right, we'll start out with about Elevate Youth California. It looks like my font changed, so it's a little bit messy to look at, but I'll get you through it. Um so, Elevate Youth California is funded through um Prop 64, which is the cannabis excise tax. Um they have funds that go toward prevention efforts in California, um sort of like ours. um they award those funds to different organizations in the state. Um we were lucky to get awarded this year and to be able to bring these programs to South Lake Tahoe. Um I'm going to fasttrack this a little bit because I know we're short on time. Um so

022the student advocacy program that we want to bring here. It's a really exciting opportunity for the youth in this community. Um particularly for the youth at South Tahoe Middle School. Um, so what we're going to be doing is implementing a program where students can be advocates for themselves and for each other. Um, this is going to be a skill building program. So it's going to be something really different from what's already existing in the district. Um, originally this program was established at South Tahoe High School um by my friend here. Hi. Um, so this was a program created by students for students. Um, and it was about advocating for each other. um advocating for your rights in the school and sort of having a say in what your educational environment looks like. What we're doing

023at the middle school level is adapting it down to a skill building curriculum. Um so really what we'll be doing is we'll have 10 students from the school who are part of the initial group. Those students will participate in advocacy projects where they will essentially take student reports, review them, decide on a topic for the month, and then they'll meet with community partners who are experts in the area of that topic, and they'll work on a project um around that specific topic. Um the recruiting process we're doing with some think tanks, we're actually going to hopefully execute those next week. We're going to have 10 students from each grade come in and give us some information about what it's like to be a student at South Hall Middle School. Um, with that information, we will

024kind of jump into the program topics to already talk about and get the students um, right off the ground with the program. Um, we have a little bit of like a logic model here. Um, we don't really have to get into this. Some of our objectives though, we want to foster leadership skills, we want to foster advocacy skills, and we want to repair the relationship between staff and students because there is a little bit of a rift, especially when it comes to middle school. And we want to build that trust so that students trust the staff that they're um being taught by that they can go to them with their issues. Um and then we also want to facilitate trust from staff members towards students um to trust that they have these skills and that

025they are able to advocate for themselves. Um this is just a little bit about the activities that they'll be doing advocacy projects that will involve community partners. Um some of our outcomes that we're hoping to see, we really want to see um that relationship repaired so that we can see fewer suspensions, fewer detentions, less absences, hopefully better school attendance, better relationships with adults, which ultimately will lead to reduced substance use in the future. Um we know these are protective factors that are really important for kids, especially at this age. Um, and we're going to get into that in just um, but we're hoping that through can kind of foster all these different areas and students away from substance use and toward leadership. Um, one of the projects that we will be working on with these

026students is an anti-bullying campaign. Um, we think it's really important to start them young when it comes to uh, preventing bullying because bullying does eventually lead to substance use. It's just one of those factors that later on in life people report I was bullied as a kid or I went through something really difficult as a kid. I had trauma. Um so we want to try to mitigate that bullying and create better studentto student relationships as well. Um this campaign will be designed by and for the middle school students. Um so usually when we're talking about anti-bullying campaigns, we're talking about ideas that adults have come up with and they're like, "Okay kids, let's do this. Let's make some flyers." We want this to be done by the students because they are the experts on what

027it's like to be a student at South Hall Middle School. Um, so we're going to kind of show them how they can do research among their peers, maybe put out a poll, talk to their peers about what's really impacting them and that to build their campaign. Um, let's see. We will also be implementing a newsletter. This will come later on down the line, but just to keep parents and adults engaged um and up to date on what's going on with the programs because we don't want to just take everyone's kids and you know feed them all this information and not tell parents what's going on. We do want to keep parents engaged as well. And why South Tahoe Middle School? Um so I am actually a parent of two students at South Tahoe Middle School

028currently. Um they're in sixth and eighth grade. Um and as a parent I have heard a lot about what goes on at the middle school. some of it fantastic and some of it not so great. Um, and that's just what I hear from students, right? And I actually have a report here for you about what students are telling us. Um, but the primary reasons a majority of substance use disorder um, patients report trying substances before the age of 15. Um, and if you're doing the math on that, 11 to 14, that's middle school. Um, so that's where we really need to come in with prevention efforts. Um, another thing that came up for us was the student accountability report card data from 2024. It indicates that there's a higher than average suspension rate and a

029higher than average absenteeism rate at South Hall Middle School. Um, and we were just kind of curious why that is. We want to get into kind of, I guess, the details of what is causing this to happen. We want to see the nuance behind it and we want to see what we can do to kind of help fix that problem um, and get you guys better numbers. Um, another thing that we've recognized is that the students have a lot to say about what quickly. Um, so we did this survey with them. You have it in front of you. Um, it's about what issues most impact South Tahoe middle school students. Um, we went out at a lunch period and an open house and we had a interactive survey up for the students. It was all

030voluntary response. Um, out of 176 students who were asked, "What issues most impact you at South Tahoe Middle School?" Um 51% indicated vaping, which was actually surprising. Um I went in thinking it was going to be bullying personally. That was my expectation going in. Um but that's not the answer we got. Um so that was a really interesting thing to see. But what it told me is that the students recognize that there is something going on at the school that's maybe not quite right and they do want to be a part of the change because these weren't kids that we like grabbed and told them to respond. These were kids who volunteered this information to us. Um the other categories discrimination, bullying and other um they came out pretty evenly. Um I would say the

031bullying discrimination there may have been some overlap there but again that indicates to usize that there's something going on that they want to fix and they want to be a part of that change. Uh we also hosted signups for this program at the table that we were hosting where we did this survey. We got I think just over 30 students to sign up voluntarily for the program. Um, so that tells us that they really want to be involved in something. They want to be part of the change and they want to do better for their school. Um, so that's kind of reason as to why we're doing this. Um, ultimately we just hope that it guides kids away from substance use and towards being leaders in the community like you guys. Yeah. Any questions? I've

032got questions. Anybody else have questions? I have I have a couple questions. Um, one, thank you so much for the presentation for coming and um, I was curious how much you've already talked to folks at the middle school. Um, I some of the administrators are right here in the front row and teachers, but um, also um, club the club live kids, you know, I just want to understand that as well as if you could talk about the think tanks, who who are those people that are going to who are you talking to about that? Yeah, so we have been in discussions with um, the staff at the middle school. the administration's been really generous with their time with us. Um, we've kind of established what going into this program will look like, what the recruitment

033process will look like. Um, so we've been very fortunate to have their support in this. For the think tanks, the idea is that the students are again the experts on what it's like to be a student at South Middle School. So there are experts for these think tanks. Um, we will be hosting three individual think tanks. Um, so it's going to be sixth grade, seventh grade, eighth grade, each with 10 students in it. Um, so those 10 students are going to participate in a series of activities. Um, I don't know if you guys have ever heard of these activities. There's one called Spectrum where you list off statements and the students decide if they um, strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly disagree. Um, and it's very interactive. So, they'll be staying physically active and engaged.

034Um, they're also going to be participating in what we're calling the Head Start race. Um, where we just ask them a series of demographic questions and depending on their answers, they'll either step forward or step backward. and then by the end of the game they'll have to get to the finish line. Um, so that's more to raise like awareness about who are the students that you were at in school with. Um, what did you learn about other kids that you go to school with through this? Um, that information is going to be what goes into probably their first project in this program. Um, so we'll go in with something to talk about from the get-go. Um, and then the hope is that we'll duplicate these think tanks next year and maybe we'll get different answers.

035We'll see. Yeah. That is that part of what when you mentioned student reports like really the data gathering so that the students have information to base their you know decisions about right there. So you're basically gathering that through these student surveys and that sort of thing right so we're we're gathering our initial data through these surveys and through these think tanks um and then we will have an actual reporting process in place where students can submit like this is an incident that happened at school. I'm having an issue with another student. What can I do about it? And these are things that the students will be able to review um and brainstorm and problem solve and come up with solutions for. Awesome. That's awesome. Any other questions? Scott, do you have any questions? Any advice?

036So, I just want to say we met the other night at the Fentanol movie and I appreciate really appreciate this. Appreciate the work, the commitment to really help our young people. Obviously, we know that there's so many stresses and strains in their life. um lack of support in different ways in so many angles and obviously our stu our teachers do an amazing job while they're in the classroom and working with them but there's always these additional help and supports and so really excited about it and um so thank you and then we were just passing a couple notes back and forth saying you know I think we need to have you come back at the end of next year and and share about the the process and and how it's gone and giving us some

037update on data would you be willing to do that absolutely that would be a wonderful thing to incorporate in this um we will be collecting data the whole time. Um, so there's going to be some rigorous reporting throughout this process and I'll definitely have stuff to show you guys next time. Well, we always have a little something for our guests that come to present to the board. So, I'm going to come bring you those to you right now. Uh, thank you so much. Okay. Great. Thank you. Thanks Cheyenne for being here. All right. Well, I'm excited about the new program. Thank you so much. Really appreciate it. Very excited. Uh I had I had mentioned to Dr. Cutler that there may be an opportunity to bring some of these leaders, these new leaders at the

038middle school um as part of the leadership council that he leads with the high school students. I know uh one time I think Scott and Mia you there I don't know maybe it was something we heard at the annual education conference about middle school kids being part of um you know just helping basically get ready for you know when they enter high school. So maybe eighth like maybe a couple eighth graders or something like that. And just to add to so just so you know what I'm looking at and considering is how the superintendent student advisory council then will would help with a group of eighth graders that would be great and that and that and launching something like that right now just just in pencil on a paper right now but we're looking at

039that just a concept but I like that we're we're just developing more leaders and your program will help do that and it's very exciting. Yeah. So really looking forward to that. Thank you. All right. Item number nine um is educational services and we have first off um single focus update from Beiju Elementary School. You don't need to touch it. It's all good. It'll pick you up unless you're like talking really really quiet, but you got All right. Uh good evening Dr. Cutler board of trustees and community members. I'm Rosie Deiri, principal me principal of Beiju Community School. And tonight, our Beiju team is here to present our progress on our single focus plan for the 2024 2025 school year. Uh, as a reminder, our single focus goal reads, "Beu community school will focus on improving

040research-based instructional practices in English and Spanish language development as the single focus for the next three years in order to improve student outcomes, particularly for English language learners. Our single focus team expanded this year to res represent our Biju leadership team. We are Emily Shanks and Salma Vioid TK teachers Kathy Martinez kinder Samantha Munoz first Magda Besser second grade Marica Lopez Maddock third grade fourth grade teacher Annie Goldenberg fifth grade teacher Rebecca Mousalo intervention teacher and myself tonight I have Samantha Marica, Annie, and Rebecca here to present with me our single focus, our progress on our single focus so far. Okay. Beiju's Y centers around our assets based approach. Home language is an asset for all students. At Beiju, all students are language models and language learners. We don't believe that any child should have

041to give up their first language in order to learn a second language. Beiju Community School supports an additive bilingualism environment in which students do not fear loss of their first language or cultural identity. Therefore, our three goals are bilingualism and biiteracy, grade level academic achievement in English and Spanish, social cultural competency, understanding and valuing other cultures. Here is a timeline of our single focus work beginning in 2021. Through a collaborative process, our school identified language development as our single f focus for instruction. In the spring of 2022, we began our program alignment with the work of the association of two-way and dual language education or ATDLE. Our collaboration over the past three years with ATDLE has improved alignment and cohesion focused on the pillars of dual language education and has strengthen our commitment to developing

042fully bilingual and biliterate students. In 2022 and 23 school year, we continued professional development and technical assistance from the association of twoway dual language education and identified three instructional strategies that would be implemented in all classrooms by all teachers and aids in all content areas. Additionally, we modified our ELD model for grades TK through 2 to ensure all English learners received both integrated and designated EL that met the specific needs of students in a dual language program. And finally, we began our first co of parent participants in the Latino literacy project, a program aimed at supporting literacy practices at home. In the 2023 24th school year, we began our implementation of thinking maps. We continued refining use of our three instructional strategies and began our work with our California ed partners. Our work with the

043Caled partners has supported the increase of academic language development in our math instruction. We also began using rubrics to calibrate student writing and analyze students strengths and needs in students written work. This year we expanded our thinking maps implementation and continued our writing alignment and calibration. We have been developing shared performance tasks to create authentic writing experiences for our students. Additionally, we use the guiding principles of dual language rubrics to identify programmatic and instructional strengths and weaknesses at Beiju. These rubrics are supporting the development of our work moving forward. For next year, we plan to continue our work with thinking maps with an increased focus on writing. We also plan to continue developing developing engagement strategies in all content areas. All right. Our vision and mission. Um, as reflected in our mission and vision, we

044have high expectations for all students. Through these expectations, we have a focus on equity and access for all. We believe that achieving bilingualism and biiteracy is possible for all students. Tonight we will share with you a few highlights of our work so far this year. Um two years ago our single focus team identified three high yield and researchbased instructional strategies that we want to see in all classrooms on our campus. Um these are thinking uh thinking maps, think pair share and random calling. All of these strategies support active language output, increase the number of students who are engaged. At the same time, they allow us teachers to actively monitor students and see what they are understanding through content. Thinking maps are not just graphic organizers, but they create consistency across our school site. Uh thinking

045maps are used for understanding reading content, understanding the structure of text, and thinking critically and talking about the writing through content. They create a shared language for learning across our school site. Think pair share is 100% engagement strategy. So not just a few kids raising their hand. Um this promotes oral language and allows processing time for new content. It provides us as well a time to go around and make observations about how students are using language. And it helps us it helps students gain social skills in turn and talking, listening and speaking clearly. teachers. In our classrooms, we use equity sticks or digital programs to randomly select students to answer questions rather than calling on students with raised hands. Random calling supports a culture of participation and attention and allows teachers to check for understanding

046with a random sample of students. Okay. Over the past three years, can't believe it's been three years, Beiju, uh we have spent over 50 cumulative hours um supporting the implementation of thinking maps at Biju. This work began with learning the basic eight maps and implementing them in our classrooms. And after eight and after a eightweek implementation period, our professional development was followed up with additional training to add components such as summaries to our maps. Grade level teams also met individually with our trainer to plan for instruction and watch modeled lessons. This year we continued our implementation to include additional components for our English language learners. This program called the path to proficiency gave us additional skills in prov providing excuse me and supporting students to talk and write using these maps. We have begun using

047these maps to write paragraphs and essays and have agreed on a shared language and maps to use for each genre of writing. Next year, we will continue our focus on writing instruction using thinking maps to support our instruction. Right from the beginning is a multi-year implementation and next year we'll focus on the elements of effective writing for all genres and strategies for narrative writing. Following topics include responses to text, expository writing, and argumentative writing. Since writing is the most public display of language, we believe this focus continues to support our focus on language development. Hello. Um so newbie here but um over the past three years BJA has been working to improve our instructional model uh for EL which is English language development. So we have targeted through our work with ATDLE. So we adjusted

048the program for TK and second grade so that um they would have a designated slot just for English language development but at the same time during the day they would also have strategies involved. So that would be it's like a double dose. And so we're very excited to do that because our goal is to emphasize oral language in both languages of course because we're a dual school. Um Wednesdays we've been working really hard um over the last year developing ELD units because we didn't want to repeat the same thing. So imagine you heard it in Spanish and then you hear it again in English. That's not fun. So we made sure that we didn't have repetition. So the kids are more happy to come and work harder um for our deal um dual language program.

049So, we worked really hard to make sure that they're complemented lessons, but we're not repetitive. Um, EL is written as our master schedule. Um, and that's one of our non-negotiables. The whole school knows about it. The kids look forward to it and they get really excited. At least in my first year here, they get really excited when they pass and like, "Yes, I conquered it. I'm out." And some of them are still very motivated. So, it's a it's a program that they feel that we really cared for them. So, they're super excited that um they're developing their skills. Uh one of our biggest uh goals for these students is that by the third grade we want them to reach um proficiency in oral language and then uh our gift to the middle school would be

050um to have them reclassified before going to the middle school. So that's our goal. Um also our um we've also collaborated with the California department um ed partners who have given us a lot of strategies that I think that you guys are familiar with in mathematics like through CGI we do a lot of weekly counting collections we do card games we also do um read protocols we do number talks so um through CGI we're trying to incorporate those two in both languages um these uh practice are one way that we can integrate language and math together in our single focus plan. And we have added because we don't want language to ever be a barrier but to be a blessing. So of third grade through 5th, we have added 15 minutes of English math block.

051So if you know what the LCM and the GCF is in Spanish, you should know it in English as well. And the CASP is in English as well. So, we're making sure that we incorporate that three times a week so that language will never be a barrier when they take the test. And that's about so far. Thank you. All right. Um, in 2022, we set learning targets for each of the years to follow, expecting a 5% increase in student performance based on specific assessments. Tonight, we're going to share some of our progress in student achievement. So, we set the target for 85% of K1 students to meet phonics benchmarks as measured by the basics phonics skills test and 70% of students to meet FMP benchmarks which assesses the students ability to not only decode but

052to comprehend as well. This was much more than the 5% increase. Here you will see our progress over the years. We have increased our percent of students meeting benchmarks in both assessments. The percentage of students meeting BPST benchmarks in kindergarten has increased 30% and 24% in first grade since 2021. Our percentage of students meeting FMPP benchmarks has increased 30% for kindergarten and 38% for first grade. We're nearing our targets in both assessments. On the next slide, you can see our CAST progress for students over the past three years. We've surpassed our goal of 5% increase each year with a bit over 13% more students meeting or exceeding standards in 2024 than 2022. While we've decreased the stu uh percent of students at level one, which is not met according to the CASP, we will continue

053to this will continue to be an area of focus moving forward. Finally, we set a target of 60% of English learners increasing their English proficiency by at least one level as measured by the ELPAC assessment and to reclassify at least 8% of English learners each year. Our progress has been slow to show growth. However, last year in 2024, we saw a significant improvement in student growth based on the ELPAC assessment with over 65% of students growing one or more levels. Um, our reclassification rates are showing an increase as well. So, looking forward, we've begun our work to analyze our single focus plan and identify areas of focus for next year. This has been a collaborative effort between our school leadership team and our staff meeting time on Wednesdays. And I wanted to end with a

054quote from Mia Valenuela that she's given me permission to share. Uh I feel this quote exemplifies our goals and our vision for students at Beiju. In Beiju, I felt like I could truly thrive and not just survive. As a Spanish-sp speakaking student, I feared falling behind. However, the TWWBI program gave me the opportunity to bloom. there. I was not only valued for my attempts at learning English, I was valued from thriving in my culture and my language. Um, so as Mia's fourth grade teacher, I am so proud of her efforts in and the amazing person she's become and I'm glad that she feels that Beiju has had a positive impact on her educational pathway. Thank you for your time tonight. Are there any comments or questions? I have a couple of questions. So the thinking

055map um strategies how are they I mean I remember doing glad strategies and how are they kind of similar or different and things like that I know they I'm sure it's evolved glad has evolved is has glad kind of evolved into something like this um I would say they're they're kind of very differenties um glad has a of um comprehensible input. We're providing students with access to content, right? And these really start as a blank piece of paper where students are are are inputting for themselves. Okay. And then I also had another question on the BPST scores. Yes. So in um what was it? Excuse me. Okay. And there was a lot more growth on the BPST in kindergarten. And then those kindergarteners the next year would be first graders, but then they went down

056in first grade. So, is it just because they're being evaluated on more sounds and consonants and stuff? First grade teacher, come up to the mic. Come up to the mic. Come Come come up to the please. Come up to the mic. I know. Come share your knowledge with us. No. So yeah, in first grade they are expected to read more complex phonics patterns than they are in kindergarten. That makes sense. Okay. Thank you. I really appreciate how the the focus is on language and um I'm sorry I forgot your name in the back but when you were presenting I really liked the usage of um when you were talking about using uh language being a blessing not a barrier. I think you know projecting that positivity towards the children is going to really pay off.

057So thank you. And one of the things I've noticed from you guys is every presentation do the kids are so articulate and they're academic language when they're writing, when they're speaking is just like amazing. So you guys, whatever you're doing, you're doing it well. Thank you so very much. I love love seeing the growth. Yeah. Oh, are you saying something? No, that's not before before you guys. Yeah, absolutely. So sorry to interrupt Sorry to interrupt the applause. Absolutely. Um, I just want to say a couple things that I really loved about your presentation. Number one, the timeline really demonstrating and showing the the process and the prog progression of the single focus plans as we launched the single focus plans in 2021 with the intention of every site really focused in on, okay, yeah, we

058have this LCAP, yes, we have a a SIPA, but what's this thing we're going to do as a staff, work together as a staff, and make a commitment to to to really focus on what is best for our students? And I loved just looking at the timeline. I just wanted to let you know that. And then of course when you're able to show improved data, it's so powerful, right? Because then you can look at the timeline and you see, yep, these are the things we did and look at the at the data and how the data has progressed. And that's really powerful. So thank you so much. Go there. Thank you. Next up, next up is single focus update from the South Tahoe Middle School. Principal Martinez, your team. So excited for the Beiju team

059and all the great work. Did you see that? Well, I'm going to be a parent next year there. So, I'm very Well, and you were the principal when it all started, so there you go. Okay. Exciting. Um, good evening, uh, Dr. Cutler, President Keer and board of trustees. Cindy Martinez, principal of South Middle School, and our team is here tonight, uh, to provide an update on the progress of our single focus plan. Our presentation today uh will detail our continued focus on the single focus plan again as middle school with the primary goal remaining um to cultivate a positive school culture by actively engaging students, families, and staff. Um you will see how collaboration and intentional strategies continue to guide our efforts uh throughout this year. There too fast. Um our single focus plan is

060supported and facilitated by the dedicated team of curriculum leader representatives across the departments who continue to guide this work collaboratively. Um today here um we have Mr. Lubrano, Miss Master Gonzalez and Miss Barto. And then some of our colleagues um are taking part of the uh school track meet this evening. So they're not present. Our single um focus is centered around uh engagement. Whether it's students in the classroom, staffs engaging in professional learning, or families in our school community, we know that meaningful engagement drives success. This slide outlines how we are approaching engagement across our key uh three key groups. For students, we have continued to focus on the PBIS implementation, improving attendance, and leveraging our RTI scheduler to better meet student needs. Uh for our staff, we've deepen deep deepened our work with the

061high reliability schools framework, strengthening restorative practices, working with um EDCO um on foundational conditions for teaching and learning and prioritizing staff wellness um and collaboration. And then for families, we're increasing our connection through family engagement events and our PIK program uh helping families navigate academic expectations and support uh and how to support their students. Okay, I I'll read the click. Our positive behavior interventions and supports framework is significantly enhancing our school climate at STMS by promoting behavior positive behavior through our pride acronym which is positive respect integrity, determination, and engagement. This preventative approach to student behavior increases engagement while also promoting an environment that fosters learning. PBIS isn't just preventative actions. It also includes uh supportive systems such as our social probation and accountability projects to utilize student discipline as learning opportunities. We have seen

062success with our student success with students learning from their actions and remaining connected to our campus through our PBIS committee. STMS will continue to improve behavior support with the focus on improving student daily attendance. Our team uses different platforms to message the importance of students being at school. In addition, multi-ter student support team meets bi-weekly to discuss attendant challenges. SAR referrals intervention support to address chronic M10C's and continue to schedule conferences with family to better understand the causes of attendance challenges, develop attendance contracts, and to collaborate on support plans. Attendance data indicates improvement over the past four years with an upward trend in attendance rates from 2021 to 2025, especially in our average attendance has risen from 85.5 in 2021 2022 academic year to current rate of 91.43 and increase about 3%. SDMS recognizes the

063need and will continue to implement and develop target interventions for improving attendance. Okay. Um one of our um one of the key structural supports that we're continuing this year is our flex period um which is a daily 30-inut block that allows for intervention, enrichment, and student choice. Uh this this flexibility lets teachers target support uh where it's most needed while also giving students opportunities to explore interests and extend their learning. Um this year something we've added to enhance our flex period uh was introduction of the RTI scheduler which is a digital logistics tool that helps us organize groups dynamically and respond in real time to student data. Together, the Flex and the RTI scheduler allow for in-time support, reinforcing our commitment to individualized support um in academic areas. And um our I Ready data for

064ELA shows an encouraging growth from fall to winter this year. The percentage of students that were are three or more grade levels below dropped from 39% to 31% and those out or above grade level rose from 18% to 24%. Similar trends um in math are observed. The percentage of students uh three or more grade levels below dropped from 35% to 29% while those at or above grade level increase from 7 to 10%. And then we also saw an increase in all students at the early uh grade level moving from 17 to 19%. Um and while we know that there's still progress to be made um we feel that we are moving in the right direction. We are excited to share that our athletic program continues to thrive with 524 total athlete entries and 259 unique

065participants highlighting our strong student interests and multiport involvement. Participation by grade level shows us 29% of sixth graders, 47% of seventh graders, and 46% of eighth graders took part in at least one sport. STMS offers a variety of enrichment clubs, including arts, academics, and athletics, providing students with a diverse opportunities for exploration and engagement. Two new clubs that were added this year were the Mathletes and the Ballet Okarita. Thank you. We're in sync. Sorry. SMS has organized events focusing on supporting students and families both with the academic focus as well as having a community u building emphasis. Uh PK which is the parent institute for uh quality education supports our efforts in empowering parents to help their children achieve their full academic and social potential in middle school. This year the PK program focused on

066the following topics. Supporting uh the academic achievement, self-management and academic standards. Turn the page. uh standardized testing, building relationship skills and assist accessibility resources, social awareness and understanding the school system, college and other postsecary options and principal dialogue and graduation ceremony. two major community events sponsored by METUP which I created last year with Carla Toro uh funded by our wonderful PTA and Larry um Lambden's Optimus Club were the school carnival from May last year and October the Muertos event. Um, student club members around campus led a number of interactive booths and both events were highly attended by our community. Um, for our staff engagement, we continue our work with Marzano's high reliability schools HRS model. Um, we revisited the level one creating a safe, supportive and collaborative culture. Um and we continued we shifted our

067focus towards level two effective teaching in every classroom. Um this work has been supported through a variety of different professional development opportunities including a full staff PD day collaboration Wednesdays focused on engagement and curriculum leader committee-ledd sessions introducing key instructional elements. Um all of our efforts have been guided by Marzano's the new art and science of teaching book. Um the high reliability schools level two centers on effective teaching in every classroom and using um the new art of science and teaching we identified key engagement elements in the areas of feedback, content and context. This year our main focus has been on the area of feedback in using informal assessments. For content we plan to continue our work with elements 16 and 19 next year. And in the area of context with the support from EDCO,

068Mary Joe Verbinsky has joined our PD sessions to support work on establishing rules and procedures. Um, and then on the next slide, you can see an overview of our process throughout the year. We started as curriculum leaders looking at the framework through the new art and science of teaching. We then created a staff survey um to identify our priorities. Um we f looked further into that and identified the top 10 elements that um our staff uh decided were important to them and then we gave that back to departments to prioritize the top three. Um we then used those top three to start our work um for our strategies for this year and then curriculum leaders facilitated learning and sharing opportunities to practice some of the strategies we discussed. Our last step for this year will

069be um a full planning day scheduled on June 3rd to work on getting things ready for next year and continuing our work on level two. Um in addition to the HRS, we have also had our amazing wellness center team lead after school sessions called educators and educators embracing wellness with the focus on support, connection and self-care. Um, also staff members were given the book 180 days of self-care for busy educators. And each week an area is highlighted in the s'more sent out by Miss Martinez. Um, the next slide you can just see some photos from our fun different staff engagement throughout the year. Um, and our last piece of staff engagement is department collaboration. Um, it has been a key focus. our collaboration Wednesdays we've been using as well as um individual department planning days

070supporting instructional instructional alignment with our school as well as with the elementary schools and the high school. Um these efforts support our HRS work including common assessments and review of scope and sequence for our departments. Okay, great. Um, as looking ahead at the 2526 school year, our focus will continue to be on cultivating and maintaining a safe and supportive learning environment, enhancing teaching effectiveness through curriculum alignment and common assessments, and prioritizing our educators um and their wellness. Some of our key actions will include implementing and continuing to strengthen our RTI schedule and flex uh going deeper into our PBIS work and continuing with the um the selection of a different uh module for the PK programs for parents. Um and then again of course alongside the continuous emphasis on collaboration and planning with our team.

071That's what we have for you tonight. Any questions? Any questions for Principal Martinez or the team at South Middle School? RTI real time intervention. So yeah, wow. Do you want me to Is that what it stands for? He was stands for response to intervention. Response. Sorry. Response to intervention. Response to intervention. Rusty Heatherton. I was I was really impressed with that. I thought that was cool. Real time. Real time intervention. Response to is in many ways is that right response to intervention. How are students in real time responding to the intervention? That's great. Um, can you talk about I know there's been some work on maybe alignment or preparedness for middle school kids to the high school and because um I know there's been discussion about grading and you know the middle school uses one

072system, high school uses something different. I mean how are how do you feel kids are you know prepared to enter high school and how do maybe just talk a little bit about how the how that's been working the is it part of the high reliability schools the the grading system that you use something that we have to look at I think that there are two components of the grading system that that you know the the HRS work at the middle school began some years ago um for those of you that might might have been here the middle school had a was actually recognized as a as in certified for level one um and then the team at the time then looked at there are five levels within the HRS model um so safe and supportive

073culture effectiveness um which is what we're diving into and then one of our higher tiers is standardized based um standardized great um standards based grading standards based um and then there is a different component between standardsbased learning and standardsbased grading something that we are wanting to and definitely comes from the teachers wanting to revisit is not the standardsbased learning which is a key component of the work the um some of the challenges that we need to address is that our current system for grading so meaning our ARIES portal um doesn't do the conversion of the leveling of our standardsbased uh for the middle school hasn't been set up in that manner meaning um what's a level one a level two a level three a level four for grading and so what the team has done

074is implemented the critical concepts uh developed their um their proficiency scales but then the conversion ion into the system um was sort of a taking one model and turning it into a percentage. And so that's that's I think the specifics that we have to um really look into as to how we can improve that alignment so that when they transition into high school um those um they're um and so I think yes revisiting for us um what is standardsbased learning versus what is standardsbased learn uh grading and then what tools um just how do how do we um revisit that with the whole team about the assessment I mean the focus is on really the critical concepts I of teaching kids the material, but you're just yeah struggling with how best to um think is

075the transferring of the the their learning. Is it matching the percentage that was um decided to then transfer back to a traditional system with like an ABC? Yeah, if that makes if that makes sense. And then on the slide you talked about adding in the flex. Is that for all grades or is that So the flex has been um has had been in place. the difference which I think um and we definitely have data to show that it's it's it's providing um real time intervention meaning that the students sign up for a variety of courses on a on a weekly basis they can actually change every day um so the students sign up um there are three three ways that the students actually end up in a course right so it's either um the teachers

076looking at you know at it or I need to pull them in because I want to retach or I want them to have a an opportunity for reassessment um the teachers have the opportunity to pull the students the week so like on a Thursday Friday for the following week and it locks the student into the schedule. The second component is that then the students can self- select, self-identify um if I'm a concept in my science class, it's a good idea that I take that science flex the following week so I can ask questions, meet with that teacher the following week. And then for students who don't take the time to self- select or the teachers didn't pull them or draft them, then we autoenroll into into what's open. Um and then it also gives students

077an opportunity to take some fun fun classes like we have knitting, we have some PE um some extracurricular activities that they can do. We have um some of our clubs then are pulling um students that they need to maybe touch on for an event or prepare for for something that's coming up and they can use that 30 minute window to do so. So thank you. What I like is that it uh it provides that continuity for when they do transition so they understand how you know the benefits of flex when they get to the high school. Exactly. And then this year we rolled it in sort of in phases. So we started with seventh and eighth grade in the first um you know part of the year and then our sixth graders um and sixth

078grade team joined on the second trimester and it kind of helped because we were also learning the system as um you know the administrative team that's rolling it in and and it really helped from I think for teams to share with one another successes and maybe reconsider something that could be done differently. Is that flex time also used for students to catch up on work that's incomplete? There are opportunities teachers um yes they they also have study hall time um where they can students can just complete assignments um and so yes they choose that or yeah or they're identified yeah s you you uh number one I thank you guys great job appreciate it appreciate the work and I know the middle school over the last few years though I know we have challenges at

079times the culture is of students and parents appreciating that high the middle school has grown and I've heard that well it's one of our strongest programs that provides consistency. It provides um continuity for the families that are interested in learning the educational system as well as strategies on how to navigate challenging times of being teenage or pre-teen age parents as we know it's a challenging age. And so what we um what I've tried to do is look at the offerings. So the different modules that they offer. So every year has a different a different taste. Um because the we tend to see that the parent that started say in sixth grade is really excited to come back and continue that. uh program the the following year. And so curriculum changed a little bit. Exactly. Yes.

080Changed. So like we've last year we did something around social emotional learning um and how parents can navigate that in their home. You know, I know some of the board members, myself and Dr. Rita were at the at the graduation of PK. I'd love to make that even bigger. I just getting parents involved with that and and and their commitment and it's so exciting. Um and last statement for me is is obviously the focus is engaging and collaborating and working to build the culture and and I really appreciate the presentation. Thank you. Good luck. Thank you. Keep it keep up the good work. Yes. Thank on educational services we have uh 9C is the special education update. And I'm allowing the uh other folks to head out. Yeah. middle school visu kids heading out. No,

081it's fine. Thank you for coming. Excellent. All right. Uh, good evening, President Keer and Board of Trustees. I am here tonight to present an update regarding special education and student services as a whole. I did provide an update last in October of 2024, and I'm happy to be back to share some more information with you. All right. So, first off, we have some exciting new hires. Uh, very exciting for the whole district, but specifically student services. Uh, first off, we have Mr. Bill Rodrik, who is in the room. Uh, he is our new Yeah, that's Bill. [Laughter] Is a reporter. No, just kidding. Okay. Bill is our new SULPA director and director of special education for Alpine County who we partner closely with through our SULPA because we are the Tahoe Alpine SULPA. Uh Bill

082will be supporting myself, Dr. Cutler, and the L2SD uh district as a whole as that SULPA director position. Uh we're also excited to welcome Corey Ares. She unfortunately was not able to be here tonight. She's actually with her son playing baseball. Uh so she is a born and raised Tahoe local who came back from an extended absence uh being outside of Lake Tahoe. She was in Arizona where she started as a uh instructional assistant on student or a one-on-one instructional assistant for a student. Uh then she became an teacher, a behavioral consultant, and now she is our LTUSD program specialist. And we are super excited to have her. and next time we'll definitely introduce her in person. Just a quick update. In October, I did go over our numbers for special education students. Right now,

083we have 565 students currently eligible um for IEPs. That does not include students who are under assess or could qualify within the near future. uh 173 of those students qualify as a primary disability of a speech and language impairment, meaning many of those students may only receive speech and language services. So they may not be receiving academic support, but they are receiving speech and language services. Uh roughly 28 students will exit or graduate this school year. Those students may graduate with a diploma, they may exit with a certificate of completion, or they may the district for other reasons. Uh none of these students have a primary uh disability of speech and language impairment and that will become important on my next slide. Uh and starting the 2526 school year, we are decreasing in our numbers.

084Uh and we'll start with about 540 students who are eligible with an IEP. Again, that's a rough estimate, not knowing who will qualify between now and then. Uh again, none of those students that are leaving are speech and language impairment students. So, we'll have roughly 170 students who qualify under that. Uh, some staffing updates. At the beginning of the school year in October when we met, it was a little bit of a daunting number. We had 12 instructional assistant positions open. Uh, it was a bit of a struggle, but we were hiring. We were going out to LCCCC. We were looking in the community. We were, you know, asking parents if they wanted to be instructional assistants. And I am very very pleased to say that in these few months we are down to five

085openings. So we have hired and kept many of those employees which is a great thing. Uh now we have five openings. Two of those are at Sierra House. One is at our early childhood program, one is at South Tahoe Middle School and one is at South Tahoe High School. Uh our one early childhood uh position is actually being sub who will hopefully become a permanent employee. Uh, and one of our Sierra House positions is being filled by a sub who will hopefully be a permanent employee. Uh, some more staffing updates. This is more about our new and changed positions for the 25 and 26 school year. We are adding one additional speech and language pathologist. Um, this is because we have the need. Speech and language pathologists right now have very high case loads that

086are above the average for the state and we really have the need to have more those students that need it. Um, not just students with speech and language impairments receive those services. Students that may qualify under autism, other health impairment, intellectual ability, they're all receiving those services as well. So, uh, we definitely saw the need for more speech support. Uh, we actually are in the process of hiring one person and have already hired another. So we are very very hopeful that those seven positions will be full. Um which is unique. A lot of districts don't have that. So we are very very grateful for those people who are joining us. Uh we have two changes in positions, one at the middle school and one at Sierra House. Uh due to our enrollment numbers, we do

087oftentimes see bubbles of students and right now at the middle school, our level one SDC program is going to have very very very low enrollment. Um and so we are changing those positions to be what we're calling a teacher/case carrier position. Those positions will support the students in those programs. The level one SDC at the middle school and then the RSP program at Sierra House. They will be supporting their case load but also supporting their colleagues and the case loads that are kind of overwhelming for others in that site. We're also exploring the option of them supporting others at other sites that case loads may be overwhelming as well as getting them LEA trained so that they can support their colleagues during and understanding the IEP process as we train leaders as well. Um our

088early childhood special education program uh you may remember from October we position open that was flown pretty all year and we did not get any qualified candidates. However, in very of a qualified candidate, we will be interviewing next week uh for the position for next year. So, we're we have very very high hopes that that person will be a good candidate for us and will accept so that our lovely Liz Jarvis over at our early childhood is not taking on such a load that she did this year. Um we do have one staff position uh that is at the high school where that position will be vacated and we will not be rehiring for that position. the high school case load numbers are a little smaller this year as well as next year. As you

089saw, we have about 28 students exiting. We don't have as many entering the high school. So, that is going to be a little bit of a shift. And obviously, each year we analyze what it looks like and may make some movement. Um, our staff are districtwide employees, so we have a little bit of flexibility in moving where those bubbles happen. Some other updates uh from October. You may remember that inclusion is a huge huge push in special education right now. Um not just in LTUSD but across the country. Uh all of our LTUSD sites have been improving on their inclusion efforts. I've been very much focusing on that and and going out to sites to see what's going on. Um and I'd say every site has been really improving. Uh with some potential changes to

090the high school schedule next year. The high school team is really working on more inclusive classes and practices, making sure that all of those students have access and are engaging in some of those fun elective classes, those fun PE classes, especially those CTE pathways. Um, so we're really pushing for that in this next school year. Tahoe Valley uh has an SDC level one program, which is for our students with the highest needs. uh they have a TK through 2 grade program, but they're working on keeping those second graders at Tahoe Valley. Uh we or those second to third graders at Tahoe Valley. We know that consistency is really important for a lot of our students special needs and so moving them from Tahoe Valley to another school for another program can be very difficult in

091that transition. So right now Tahoe Valley um Mr. Mr. Hernette, myself and the SDC teacher over there are really trying to work to see how can we keep those third graders moving up and then potentially in the following year those fourth graders as well. Um, and we're really looking at making that an inclusive practice by really pushing them into general education as much as possible. Uh, for the early childhood special education preschool, we are looking at more inclusion. Uh, myself and Liz Jarvis have been meeting a lot lately to talk about if we have that teacher. Um, we have really cool plans and hopefully next I can update you on some of those, but doing a lot of push into the community preschools and working with the community preschool teachers to really make sure that

092some of those students that don't necessarily need to be pulled out still get the support they need within those preschool um, programs that are within our community. As well as doing some reverse inclusion, which is a really fun um, thing that some of you may have heard of, some maybe not. But reverse inclusion is where we have students that are typically developing join our students that have special needs in their special needs classroom for things like social skill building, playtime, things like that. We'd like to move it all the way up through high school, but we are going to start with that preschool group um and kind of see how it goes. Um so we're really excited about that. And then our adult transition program, which is brand new this year, has really been engaging

093with the programs that are on that Al Tahoe campus. That photo down there with the chairs, you can kind of see it's a little far away. Um, that photo is actually of the Mount Tac students joining in the adult transition program to thank them and show their gratitude because the adult transition program students uh provide lunch. They serve lunch to the al the Mount Tac students every day. And then they also put on a uh sitewide Easter egg. Mount Tac elevated students. And so Mount Tac came and and did a little thank you presentation for our adults and that just felt really nice. Oh, too far. Um, I wanted to just touch a little bit on our workability program because it's gotten really big. Um, and we're really super excited about it. Uh, workability is

094a grant that provides vocational training, skill building, on-site experience, and vocational explor exploration for our students with IEPs. Uh this program is run by four teachers, two at the high school and two at the middle school. Uh this program includes field trips, job fairs, work experience, and then other vocational uh exploration where students can learn what they're what they like and maybe what they want to do in the future. Uh right now we actually have 20 students who are being paid by this grant to work. Uh they're working both in and out of the district. So we have students, we have students working in food services and just that experience safe environment with the support they need to have those job skills coming out of high school or the adult program. Um and that's a

095picture we have somebody working with a horse and then we have that's a middle school job fair. Um some quick updates. Uh we are looking at a new academic assessment protocol. Uh every 3 years students are assessed to determine if they qualify for an IEP. Uh they do cognitive assessments as well as academic assessments. We are moving to a digital model. Uh so students having a tablet or iPad with the teacher having a tablet or iPad and communicating that way. Obviously, we are going to keep on uh hand some pen and paper uh assessment protocol just because we know that works better for some students, but we are moving towards a digital model um because that's the way the world's moving. Um our secretary position, we've had a senior secretary position posted for quite a

096while now. Um and we actually interviewed and we have a second interview next week. So, if that goes well, we are really really hoping to hire on for that position. Um, we just held a training by Edco for our emergency circumstances program. This is a new form that's going to be included in all IEPs that essentially talks about what happens if we have another COVID um or another fire that keeps kids out of school for more than 10 days. How do we still support our students with special and disabilities, even if that's a distance learning model, maybe packets, there's many ways to look at it, but as an IEP team, that is what will be discussed. And that form is now going to be in all of the IEPs. Um, and that's a California state

097mandate. Um, we're going to continue to receive training and support from both Elorado County Office of Education as well as Bill and our SULPA. Um, and then I am working with Dr. Reer on looking into training for all of our staff that includes our general security. Um, basically anybody that works at a school site, um, and doing crisis prevention institute for deescalation strategies. Uh right now our special education staff get those trainings but we don't have that for our broader um staff and there is a program that they recently developed through crisis prevention institute that is a shortened modified version that really focuses on that deescalation. So we are looking into that um for the future. Nothing set in stone but it's something we're having conversations about. Um and then last week we did have

098a community meeting. Some of you were there. I appreciate it. Um, and we got some input from our parents and community members, including our staff. We did have several staff members show up. Uh, one thing that was really emphasized was the transition process. So, students going from fifth to sixth grade, students going from 8th to 9th grade, and of course, our preschool going to kindergarten. Um, we also didn't touch on it too much, but the transition between high school and whatever's next. Um, so there's some things. I won't go through each one of these, but I will be putting this out um in a public uh communication about all of the things that we had input on. So, I won't share everything, but the main focus was really on that transition piece. And that is

099all I have for you. Do you guys have any questions for the comments? I do have a question. First of all, Bill, welcome. I'm glad we're we're very glad you're here. And then my other question is or my only question is on the adult pro program it's 18 to 20 year olds or 18 to 22 18 to 22 22 okay thanks um thank you and I did attend the workability career fair and it was great to see I met some of the high school high school students came to help support that career fair so I met the kid who was working with horses and another student who's uh working with I think the special um ed um daycare or Yeah. Yeah. So, it was it was great uh to have the high school students at

100the middle school um being role models and just helping with that career fair. So, that was really nice. I danced at that also. Um Rusty Kamacho. I did I I All right. So, it was great though. Thanks for doing that. Yeah, I took note that we're um losing a RSP position at the high school. Is that is that classified or certificate? That is a certificated position. Is that is that uh teacher being reassigned? Uh the that teacher they resigned. Okay. Yes. Well, before we let Brena um step down, um she she doesn't know this yet, but know we're really so proud of her. And you know, we I just shared with earlier in my um superintendent report that we'll be recognizing employees of the year next Thursday night. Brena, we'd like you to be there

101because you're one of our district's employees of the year for all that you've done this year. Congratulations. Thank you. Great. I will be there. All right. Thank you. Okay. Do we have uh we're moving on to personnel services? Public. Thank you. And I we should have let Bill an opportunity to say hello. Do you want to say hello? Just he's going to wave. Hello everybody. Be presenting at board meeting. I'll be presenting self plan. Come to the microphone please and just Yeah, just let us know what's up. I will be presenting next board meeting. I'll be presenting the SUPA plan. Um, just going through the budget. A lot of you have seen it, but just talking about it, little education where we're at, got everything posted. CAC has it. Um, we've put it out to

102stakeholders and so we're getting our feedback, meeting our timelines, making sure everyone have an adequate time to be able to review it. So, I appreciate that. Just, yeah, following the rules. Thank you very much. Welcome. And thank you for giving people more time because we always need more time. Thank you. All right, Dr. Reer, uh, we're doing item 10, uh, personal services. A is the administrative initial proposal for collective bargaining with California Schools Employees Association. Thank you, President Camp. Pursuant to government code section 3547, the purpose of sunshining requirement is for the public to be informed of the issues that are being negotiated. Um, the administration sunshine proposal for negotiations with California School Employees Association for the 2526 school year is attached. LTUSD wishes to negotiate article 7 hours and overtime, article 8 salary and

103allowances, article 12 vacation plan, and article 13 leave. It is uh our recommendation that the board approve LTUSD's opening negotiations proposal for the 2526 school year. Thank you. Any questions? Trustees. Okay. This is an action item. Do I have a motion? This is I move to approve the LTUSD administration initial proposal for collective bargaining with the California School Employees Association. All right. Do I have a second? A second. Name. All right. I have a motion from Trustee Mansfield and a second from Trustee Anderson. Um, do I have any public comments, Dr. Cutler, before we take a vote? No. No public comments on this specific item. Okay, great. Then all in favor say I. I. All opposed. Okay. Unanimously carried. Ju just to note um because in our agenda we have CSCA's item was supposed to

104be item A. So we just kind of flip-flopped. We just approved L2SD's first. Okay. We approved LTUD. So I just want to make a note for the record. Um and that would really be tent B is what we just approved. Right. to do because they just they they're named wrong on the agenda is what you're saying on the agenda announce on this agenda on this agenda. So just for example um did you notice that? Wait hold on actually maybe maybe and I don't mean to pick on you just maybe Teresa is reading it wrong. LTSD administrative initial proposal. No that is absolutely right. We did it right. We did it right. Okay. So So you're reading it wrong. Okay. That was the LTUSD initial proposal item. Can I just reverse what I just said and

105say we did it perfect. Nice job. Yeah. We've adopted item 10A and it was the LTUSD initial proposal and now we're going to hear the CSEA's initial proposal for collective bargaining with the district. Thank you again, President Camper. Pursuant to government code 3547, the purpose of the sunshining requirement is for the public to be informed of the issues that are going to be negotiated. Uh C California School Employees Association Sunshine proposal for negotiations with LTUSD for 2526 is attached. Um our CSEA colleagues who we appreciate a very positive relationship. Wish to negotiate article 3 check off and organizational security. Four evaluation. Five organizational rights. Seven hours and overtime. Eight salary. Nine employee expenses. 10 health and welfare. 12 vacation. 13 and 13 leaves. Again, it is staff's recommendation that the board approve CSEA's opening negotiations

106proposal for the 2526 school year. Okay. Do we have any questions? I'll call. Right. All right. Do I have a motion? This is an action item. Go ahead. I move that we approve CEA's initial proposal for collective bargaining. Do I'll second that. All right. I have a motion by Trustee Heatherington and a second by Trusty Mansfield. Um, do I have any comments? Yes, we we have a a comment this evening. I'd like to welcome Bernardet S. Wait, Bernardet Santana from CSEA to the podium. three of them. You're okay. I just wanted to bring to your attention, and I'm not sure if John or it already that we are at the end of a three-year agreement. And so, this is a successor year. And it is an opportunity for us to look at a contract that

107is older and has includes many items that we have all wondered about over time and that we have worked through. you utilizing the contract, but this is an opportunity to clean up the language and uh hopefully move ahead and and work collaboratively as we always do. I appreciate that. It's a good it's a new three-year period. So, all right. Um we have a motion and um now I will take a vote. All in favor say I. I. I. Those opposed? Okay. It passed unanimously. Um, next item is agenda item 11, which is uh, business services and operations. We're going to review the enrollment and average daily attendance data. Good evening, President Keer and board of trustees. We'll wait for Teresa to get the presentation. In September and February, staff reviewed enrollment and average daily attendance.

108I'm back to give you a spring review and update. To begin tonight, I'll we'll review some of the key terms. I want to give you a moment to read through the terms and their definitions because we love our acronyms. Food lover. This slide shows enrollment in ADA through May 2nd, which is last Friday. This also shows the cumulative attendance in ADA from the beginning of the school year through last Friday. And this is the same that we've showcased um the last two times as well. This is a three-year comparison for both enrollment and ADA. As you can see, it appears our district is still declining, but at a much slower rate. Keep in mind that the district is funded on the average of the last three years of ADA or the current year, whichever is

109higher. These numbers maintain then we'd be use the three-year average of 3,277. Uh this year we were funded at 3,36. So it's a decline of about 25. Are there any questions? I questions. Go ahead. Um go back to one slide. Yes ma'am. Okay. So see how just look at the last um three columns. So 2425 we've got so many people enrolled 35 39 and then ADA was that and what is the difference? I know that's our 100% of our ADA but what could it have been? I mean it could have been 300 but how much money are we losing? This is what I'm basically my my question. Very is a complex answer by grade level spans. So TK gets a different amount than K2. That's true. 46. No, I think three is included in that.

110And high middle school, high school, they all get funded on a different amount. So it's a really complex answer. I I could give you an answer. It's just not off the top of my head. Okay. Thank you. Yeah. Could you talk about I mean the um I'm looking at the 80% for elevated the digital. How how do they identify attendance because some of it self it's based on the amount of work product and they are expected to complete a number of hours per day over the course of a two-eek period. I see. Yeah. It it's it's like the independent study program. Independental but they the students have to put the hours in and the completion of their work and the demonstration of that. Okay. Okay. Um any other questions? I know. We'll keep working on

111it. I know. Um our If I may, I just wanted to comment. Um this could just be a personal experience, but uh when I was reviewing the average daily attendance for at least South High School, um I was pleasantly surprised that it was as high as high as it is. Um considering everything that I see. But then again, uh I will say that my classes might be a little skewed either because they are um honors classes or because they are um senior classes. Um your you see lower attendance in your classes. Is that what you're saying? Senioritis is real. I I just wanted to say that um overall I think I was uh very pleasantly surprised at the average daily attendance at the high school um for this year. Well, you should take some credit

112uh for that, Mr. Yamoko, because of all the all the spirit um activities you've been doing and promotion, you know, the videos and everything of just making school more fun and, you know, engaging for um students to be there. So, okay, I have another question. Yeah. And it's just off the top of your head also. How much do you think the year of 2223 which was snowageddon how did that affect kids staying home longer than they needed to? I think I think it did quite but it might be for Dr. cutler to well I mean I think I looking at I mean I have five years of data excuse me um that year is a tough one for us and when we talk about this in my fmat classes even the three years everybody's really

113happy to get out of the co era I'm like I can't get wait out wait to get out of 2223 I would I I would just say to you this that co in attendance changed the game a lot in regards to it and and and it really where before we just really could count on students truly, you know, in essence being there and absenteeism grew out of CO. Well, many school districts have definitely seen um a drastic improvement. Though there are districts still struggling with tenants, so that's still a challenge. But for us, we did go through one year into the fire, into the snow, um which just had us out of school a lot and it so it didn't create that kind of ongoing improving of attendance which we have to focus on. And

114this is why, you know, we we do we discuss it with our our our schools and our school leadership regularly. um why we want to make sure we have this in front of you at least twice a year P1 and P2 so that we're taking a look at that and discussing the data and and we want to see improvement and growth and so we we're always looking at strategies of how we can get that done and yes and I just want to applaud I mean looking at the numbers it looks like Tahoe Valley and the middle school really have made uh a big they've made the biggest jumps um in this compar you know between um the blue column improvement yeah improvement valley is one that it looks uh for the last three years, year-over-year,

115they've made improvement even while their population has declined. So that that's a really big bright spot. Um and Beiju is also even though last year they were at 95 94 is actually lower for them when we look at the year um month by month, right? It it is really interesting to see and if you're a data nerd, which apparently I am, um it's it's a really interesting to sort of navigate and track and I track it for every single month. So, if there's schools you're interested in seeing, you want more detail like we can set up a meeting. I'm happy to share. So, this is the and this is the the whole year, right? We're looking at and um through May through May 2nd. Through May 2nd. Yeah. But but yeah, there's this is implications

116of funding. Really good. I know the data you had in the in the agenda packet showed some of that. Yeah. And in February, we also showcased the um day of the immigrant because we knew we had a lot of people out on that date. It was brought up actually on Tuesday at the STEA negotiations of how was attendance uh on May 2nd because that was the snow day makeup and had I thought about it, I would have actually included a slide on that. Overall, the attendance was on par with any other school day. Good. Yeah. So, it was a really good question because that is something we're looking at as far as how how do those built-in snow days how does the attendance fall on those? All right. Thank you so much for the presentation.

117All right. Um and our next item is um item 12A first reading of the March 2025 CSBA board policies administrative regulations information. I mean it's an information item. Sorry. It's it's the first reading. Yeah. President Campber, members of the board, before you is the March um updated uh board policies for from CSBA. There are several though that you have a list of them in your agenda. This is a first reading and is staff's intent to bring it back for action at the next board meeting. Um unless the board has a different direction. All right. Any questions for Dr. Cutler on that? Okay. Thank you. And then we're moving on to item 13, the consent agenda. It's an action item. Um, do I have a motion to adopt? I move to adopt the consent agenda. Second.

118I'll second. Okay. I have a motion from Trusty Heatherington and a second from Trusty Mansfield. All in favor say I. I. I. Those opposed. Okay, that passed unanimously. And um item 14, items for consideration at future board meetings. Does anybody have anything they want to bring up at a future board meeting? Okay, seeing none, we have a busy agenda coming up, I know. And the last item is adjournment and I will adjourn the meeting at 7:41. Thank you for a great meeting.