001Welcome everyone. Uh we're going to begin to open session at and we uh do not have any action to report from close session. We'll start with the regions. [Music] Hand over your heart. Ready to begin. I flag and liberty and justice for all. Excuse me. Thank you very much. And with that, we will go on to the report. Yes, we have 13,495 total UTK through 8th grade students. Department has 286 for a total of 13781, which is a 312 student from the last board. And out of those we have 684 homes and 22 foster students. Thank you very much. Next we have uh presentations, requests, proposals, and reports. The 2042 unudited actuals 202526 budget update with Maria Isabelle, executive director of fiscal services. >> Good afternoon. I'm here to present the 202425 on addited actuals
002for the Lancaster School District and we'll go over first on the restricted uh bucket. It is in millions. Uh the revenue that the district received in the fiscal year 2425 it's $27.70 million out of that local control funding formula LCF $2.47 47 million which is the biggest out of all and then we have the state $6.52 million and the local $9.71 million. Then we have other financing sources uh such as transfer out $4.1 million which is for fund 40, fun and fund 49. And we have the contributions to the restricted. The contributions to the restricted from the unrestricted were 32.39 million. Can I ask the board if all of you have the presentation? You guys do? Okay. All right. Perfect. And then we have the expenditures uh unrestricted also in millions is $198.67 million. Out
003of that salaries and benefits on the unrestricted bucket were $159.26 million which equates to 81% out of the unrestricted expenditures. We have also supplies and services which are the fours and 5000s 34.64 million the capital outlay which is the 6000s equipments $7.28 $28 million and the other outgo it's $2.51 million which is the indirect cost. Indirect cost is charged to run uh other programs such as title one, title two and other programs. Then we're going to go to the they're restricted. It's as well in millions. The revenues are $75.12 million. Out of that, the federal is 20.07 million, state $31.68 million, and local 23.37. As you can see, the state now it's high, it's bigger than the federal, and that's because there's no one-time funds anymore. So the state it has the ELOP which the
004district is awarded with $24 million every year and also has the community service grant which is $6 million for the next three years. Uh then we have the contributions from the unrestricted is $32.39 million. So I'm going to go back to the unrestricted. See where it says contributions to restricted minus 32.39. Okay. So it equals restricted right here 32.39. Then we have the expenditures on the restricted bucket as well in million $115.52 million. Out of that salaries and benefits were 70.47 million which is equivalent to 61% of the expenditures the restricted expenditures. We also have the supplies and services which are the fours and 5000s $34.41 million. We have the capital outlay which is equipment and the 6,000s $4.57 million. And the other outgo which is $6.07 million. The other outgoed is the indirect cost
005coming from the unrestricted plus the excess cost. The excess cost is a payment that we do to other districts for running special ed for uh for students that are in their district. So we pay in excess cost to PMO. Okay. So now the supplies for the whole district restricted and unrestricted add up to 68,870.85. And I would like to go over with you on what is it that we liquidated or what activities we have. So the purchase orders uh the first column is 933 and we closed on we liquidated those purchase orders to pay for after school fun activities for ELP which is $10.6 million. Then we have 41 purchase orders which were for field trips to Disney Imagination Campus and Discovery 519,000. Then 39 uh purchase orders for field trips to LA Zoo California
006Science Center Aquarium of the Pacific 54,000 123 POS for welcome our families and students. This is for welcome and wellness center 600,000. 291 purchase orders for family and community activities. Uh 856,000 um 244 for the arts and music, $1.4 million. 48 purchase orders for library books, uh $211,000. uh purchase orders for routine maintenance, $1.8 million. 138 for medical and health. This one also is including some expenditures for special ed $9.86 86 million. 1,211 purchase orders for special education, including transportation. And that's two um sorry 2.9 2.97. And then we have 27 purchase orders for increasing safety and attendance, $1.7 million. 563 purchase orders for enhanced student support, $4 million. 5,972 purchase orders for all the whole district all the sites and departments for supplies and services for the 4,000s 20,74758.51 251 purchase order for technology
007licensing softwares and we paid $4.2 million 105 purchase order for student transportation and we pay $9.06 06 million. So the total is 68,87040.85. This has the restricted and unrestricted. And I want to share some pictures with you. So as you can see, we have the field trip. We have some clubs for ELO and we have music and we have the zoo and the aquarium and more activities. Okay, this is one of my favorite ones. Um, the expenditure first. >> Can I ask you a question? cost is going back to the expenditure. You have 105 student transportation for over $9 million and yet we have 1,211 special ed including transportation. Are we paying them more than 11 million? >> Thank you for asking that. Um the transportation that you see with 105 purchase orders are some
008field trips transportation some uh transportation that was owed since the beginning of the year because ABSTA owed those some money over $3 million. We stopped paying them and I was instructed to don't pay until you have green light. Then Dr. Free told me okay now you can go ahead and pay. So, we paid $5 million, but on the good note, we received back $3.8 million already. Received that back from JBSD. >> Any other questions so far? >> All right. So, the pictures and now, okay, so this one, this one is beautiful. This is the expansion for student. And why I went back to 2021 is because that's when we started with COVID. And at that time, uh, the gray is federal and the blue is state and local. So the federal we started spending 2,278
009on each student and 12,316 from on each student on state and local. And then we received the one-time funding which uh we couldn't spend all because the students were not in school, right? So we have to go and buy a lot of technology and software so they can learn on the distance. And so we spent on the federal 3,891 per student and we spent 13,40014 on the state and local per student. So you can see that we got one-time funding and we started spending as much as we can because the students were not in school yet. Now 2223 that's when we started accommodating all the programs and buying everything for them. The federal still on over 3,000 per student and the state we were not able to spend it because they were not in classrooms.
01012,536 23 24 comes boom all the students are coming back to school. And so our ADA goes up, we can implement all these clubs for ELO and start spending and liquidating the state and the local funding which is EOP and all the federal and all that. So the federal goes down to 2,884 because in September 30th, 2024, we liquidated all federal funding. The ESRE, the $13 million that we receive, onetime funds, they had to be liquidated. So now we're shrinking the federal, but the state went all the way up. Why didn't the state went all the way up? because ELOP allowed us to liquidate two years while spending one extra year. So we spent we were able to spend eight 18,673 on each student. Now 2425 or going back to normal going back to normal
011is never going to mean anymore the state will go to 12,319. Why? Because ELO is an ongoing funding. So now we have ELOP which is $24 million every year for those programs. So we can spend $17,643 per student and on the federal now is going back to normal which is only the categorical ones,95. So as you can see this graph actually shows you exactly what happened with our ADA, what happened with our dollars and how much we spend on each student. Any questions on this one? All right, this is my second favorite one. The fund balance, everything is a million dollars. So, we start July 1st, 2024 with a beginning balance unrestricted of $73.53 million and on the restricted bucket, $90.36 million. So our combined beginning balance for July 1st, 2024 was $163.89 million. Then
012we account for the revenues received on 2425. We receive on the unrestricted $217.70 million. On the restricted we received $75.12 million. Our total revenues received for 2425 were 292.82. $82 million. But we have to always account for the beginning fund balance. So the total available funds for the unrestricted is 291.24 millions and on the restricted 165.48 giving us a combined total available funds for the 2425 of $456.72 million. That is the size of the district budget. Then we go back to the expenditures that I went over with you. On the unrestricted $198.68 million or the expenditures on the restricted 115.52 million. The transfers to restricted or contributions you add the expenditure to the unrestricted and you subtract the expenditure to the restricted because it's a contribution. So it's $32.40 $40 million on the unrestricted and
013the restricted is a minus $32.40 million which equates to zero. And then we have a capital project transfers for $4.1 million. The total expenditures and transfers for the restricted budget was $235.18 million and on the restricted $83.12 million. Our total expenditures and transfer for the 2425 fiscal year were $318.3 million. Now the ending fund balance as of June 30th, 2025 for the unrestricted which is the result of 291.24 minus 235.18 is 56.06 million. And on the restricted side it's 165 $48 million minus 83.12 leaves us with $82.35 million. Our new ending fund balance as of June 30, 2025 is $138.41 million, which is a deduction of $25.48 million from the beginning fund balance at the beginning of the year. The reason why is because we're liquidating, still liquidating, okay? And you guys will see this
014liquidation of funds because ELO is two years behind. So they're extending the liquidation time every year. Two years. Two years. Two years. Okay. So we liquidate this year. We can uh spend up to $50 million in EOP which we're not spending any because we can't but we carry over that ending fund balance. Okay. That's restricted. So now the components of the ending fund balance on the unrestricted bucket the prepaid items it's 400,000 which was curriculum we have to pay it before we close the uh books so the students can come at the beginning of the year and have their curriculum and then we have the revolving cash which is 15,000 and some change so the system uh put it as a 20 and the commitments which is $ 38.92 million into our board a previously
015and then we have the reserve for economic uncertainties of $16.72 million after everything. Please keep in mind that the balance remaining still 56.06 million. Now the restricted uh side is 82.35 million and I want to go over with you on what are the components as well. The components of the restricted fund balances are right there is the first one as you can see is $31.8 billion. That's the ELOP. That means that we are carrying over that balance that we were did not spend $31 million. Then we have I'm I'm just going to go to the big ones. So you have the community grant. We have $7.6 million. You have the mental health uh related services which is uh for PCE is 4 uh $4 million. And then you have the arts and music prop 28
016it allows us to carry it over $3.8 million. The LCFF equity multiplier $7.4 million. And one of the big big ones also is the other restricted local taxes and that's also medical. So the total amount it's 82,3547639. So let's go back and it says right there 82.35. Okay. Any questions please? question. >> Thank you so much for the opportunity. I really like the church too of based all the programs that we're and services we're providing for the kids. >> It reminds us that we only not only two numbers we're here for the students and I love it. We my department to like show it to everybody was like oh my god and I said this is why we're here. Don't see just a see a kid smiling because they're going to the field trips. Okay.
017So we're trying to Yeah. makes sense. Thank you so much for the opportunity. >> Thank you very much. Very uh well explained and is very clear. Yeah. Thank you so much. And next we'll go to item 11 digital actions option of resolution 202526 for compensation for this meeting for gloson on August 19th 2025. Do we have a motion second? All in favor say I. Post carries 30 zero. Item 12 individual action items business approval of amendment number one to agreement or PEA consulting services with dynamic planning and science for the Sanendale Elementary School modernization and new construction project. We have a motion by Mr. wins. Mr. Giles What is this? All in favor say I. I. opposed. Motion carries 30. Item B, approval of amendment number three, agreement for architectural services with SVA architects for
018Sunnydale Elementary School modernization and new construction project. We have a motion. Mr. way discussion. All in favor? I. Motion carries 30. Item C, adoption of resolution number 202526, authorization for inter fund transfers. We have a motion. Second by Mr. W, second by Mr. T. Discussion. All in favor? I post car 30. Item D, adoption in the resolution 202526 designating certain general funds as committed balance by Mr. Giles by discussion. All in favor? I opposed. Motion carries 30. So we have item E option of resolution number 2025 20612 authorization for inner fund transfers. We have a motion. Second by Mr. Giles. All in favor? Opposed? Motion carries 30. Item 13, individual action items, educational services, approval of overnight study trip to Poly Institute of Oration. Do we have a motion? Oops. By Mr. W. Any discussion?
019This is Desert June and they're taking sixth grade. They didn't have as many kids go last year. So, they have credits to use. So, they wanted to make sure they didn't lose a credit. Had a great time last year. Very excited. Oh, nice. Glad they're still doing these steady trips. It gets really annoying. With that, all in favor? I opposed. Motion carries 30. Item 14, individual action items, human resources. 14 A approval of assistant principal Gilbert Salivar. We have a motion. Motion by W. Second by Mr. Giles. Any discussion? >> All right. So, Mr. Salivar has over 30 years of experience in education, has held the following positions. Instructional aid, athletic trainer, coach adviser, club adviser, career and technical education teacher, math teacher, and then finally administrator. but he still works as an athletic trainer
020on the occasional weekend and during the summer. Hilber Gilber earned his bachelor's and math credential from San Diego State University and his masters in educational leadership from Cal State Los Angeles. He holds a career in technical education credential in health science medical technology as a board certified athletic trainer and certified CPR first aid and first responder instructor. He's been married to his amazing and beautiful wife Laura for 16 years and they have three children, Matthew, Michael, and Marita. They're actively involved in athletics and attend all events as a family. And lastly, along with the sporting events, Gilbert enjoys home time with his family, working out, hiking, and day trips to interesting local places. He's here with us tonight in the audience. All in favor? I sorry. Congratulations. Thank you very much. Welcome. Next, we have
021approval of provisional internship permit for 202526 school year. Jessica Miner, multiple subject, desert view. Damen Rain, mid to moderate school support needs. Mariposa Reoso physical education various sites 8 million Williamson to moderate support needs discovery we have a motion moved by Mr. J second by Mr. win. Any discussion? Favor opposed? Carried four or three 0. Next, we have addressing the board. Individuals who wish to address the board may complete a speaker card and present it and any supporting documents to the superintendent's assistant or other district official prior to the start of the meeting. personal information such as a student, parent, guardians name, address, phone number, date of birth, email address, or other directory information as defined in ED code 49061 be excluded from the minutes of the meeting by submitting a written request to the
022superintendent or president shall recognize individuals who wish to speak. Individuals wishing to present testimony to the board concerning specific items on the agenda. do so once that item has been moved, seconded, and is on the floor for discussion. Time limits of 3 minutes per person and 20 minutes per item shall be allowed. According to board bylaws 922, board members may ask questions for clarification purposes. However, no action may be taken and no discussion may take place on an item not on the post for the Brown Act. We have any comments from TA? CCA. >> Hi, good evening everyone. I hope everybody had a nice long weekend and a summer also. Good summer. Um, we've gotten off to a pretty smooth start of the school year. Um, but I have had a couple of uh concerns
023coming from teachers. Um, mainly due to lack of materials, which I know that we're working on, but I know the teachers would appreciate me saying that tonight and and working on getting that handled. Um, the other thing that I wanted to just kind of give you a heads up about is I am putting out an inclusion survey because I have gotten many concerns of just all around incl uh inclusion and how we can sort of maybe streamline streamline that and make it a better process for everyone. The survey will close next Friday and I will happily share those results with uh district personnel as well as any board members that are interested. Anyways, that's all I've got. Thank you so much. >> Next do we have comments from the audience? We have four comments from
024the audience. First speaker Lauren Figureroa. >> Good evening members of the school board. My name is Laura Figura. I'm a child nutritional work for one. I am here to respectfully request your urgent attention and support for classified employees of the Lancaster School District whose wages continue to fall short of a livable standard. As you know, classified employees, including custodians, instructional aids, clerical staff, food service workers, paraprofessionals, and others are the backbone of our schools, contributing dat, clean, and supportive learning environment. It is disheartening to witness a growing disparity between the the treatment of management and that of our classified staff. The recent promotion in salary increases awarded to district management have not gone unnoticed. While we understand the importance of leadership, it is difficult to justify such financial decisions when so many of our essential
025workers are struggling to cover basic living expenses. The rising cost of living in our area, especially in housing, transportation, and healthcare, continues to overpays the current wage offered to find employees. Many are forced to take on second jobs or rely on public assistance to make ends meet. Conditions that are neither sustainable nor reflective of the dedication and value they bring to our schools. We urge the board to prioritize wage equality and approve a compensation plan that ensures livable wages for all classified staff. Fair pay will improve employee retention, morale, and performance ultimately benefiting the students and families we serve. We appreciate your service to our district and your consideration of this pressing issue. We look forward to working collaboratively towards a more equitable and supportive environment to all Lancaster School District employees. Thank you. >>
026Thank you very much. Our next speaker, Christian Tman, my name is Christian and I'm vocation nurse district. Um, I'm here to express my cons um on ongoing concerns shared by many classified employees across Lancaster School District regarding the noticeable expansion of central office departments and particularly in personnel and administrative services while our school sites continue to operate without adequate support. Over the past few years, we have observed a steady growth in district level staffing and internal restructuring that seems to benefit C uh central administration far more than u school-based operations. While investing in the infrastructure and management can be valuable, a disproportionated growth in these departments stand in stark contrast to the stagnant or even declining levels of direct support at our sites. Classified employees at the school's level are being asked to do more
027with less. Job descriptions are continuing to expand, adding new duties duties, increased responsibility and higher expectations. Staffing levels remain flat and and compensations have not kept pace with the added workload. Many employees across um many employees are covering multiple roles if um often without proper training resources organization. This model is unsustainable and led to leads to burnout, high turnover and growing sense of discouragement among frontline staff. This is frustrating and um disheartening to see the the see the new district office positions created and upgraded while our school remain unstaffed and un unsupported. The unbalanced ultimately affects the quality of service to uh to our students and undermines the mission of our district. We urge the the board to take the following actions. Reevaluate the district level staffing priorities and ensure that growth at the administrative
028level does not come at the expense of the district level support. Two, conduct a full review of classified and classified job descriptions and workload with a commitment to adjusting staffing ratios and conversations accordingly. Three, include staffing um include classified employees input and decision making processes that that impacts daytoday responsibilities and um working conditions. Classified staff are the foundation of our schools. We are committed to ser serving our students and supporting our teachers. We cannot carrying this ever growing burden without adequate support and fairing. Thank you for your time and continued service at Lancaster Sword. We hope to work uh hand in hand towards a solution that brings balance, respect, and fairness to all employees. Thank you. Our next speaker, Raquel Derler. Good evening. My name is Raquel Durflur. I'm the campaign coordinator of cancel the
029contract. I'm here this evening to discuss the suspension rates that are occurring in the Lancaster elementary school district. When we're talking about these suspensions rate, we're actually talking about children where suspension is supposed to be the last needs of correction, not the first. We have heard stories from community that students as young as uh second year old second graders have been suspended. So every school in your district suspends more black students than they should given the black students portion of the student population. If you're a black student with a disability, you fare even worse. On average, the district suspends four to six times more black students in special education than expected. In the 2023 2024 school year, the district gave out a total of 571 suspensions. of those suspensions were given to 183 uh black
030students with disabilities. I'd also like to remind the board that state law prohibits suspension for using the reason of willful defiance. So, schools have suspended students for minor behaviors like talking back or forgetting homework under the guise of that being willful defiance. Students uh schools suspend more students of color and students with disabilities more often for defiance or disruption. California has permanently banned exposures of students in grades K through 12 for defiance or disruption and suspensions of students in grades K through five for defiance or disruption. I hope that you take a look at these numbers and look and see what's happening at your school site and really make sure that these students are um having an inclusive and supportive environment um according to your little thing here agenda. The Lester School District is committed
031to providing safe inclusive learning in spaces where the whole child is educated, nurtured, and inspired. Thank you. >> Our last speaker is William. >> Good evening. My name is William Mills. I am a supervision aid. Members of the school board, I am here to express deep concern on behalf of the classified employees of Lancaster School District who continue to face financial hardship due to stagnant wages and an outdated salary structure that no longer reflects the realities of our economic of our economy or cost of living. Classified employees are essential to the daily operation and success of our schools. They are the often the first to arrive and the last to leave, supporting our students with care, consistency, and professionalism. Despite this, many are still earning wages that fall below what is necessary to live and
032support a family in our country. We are particularly troubled that while classified employees continue to wait for fair compensation, the district has recently approved promotion and salary increases for management. While we understand the need for strong leadership, it is difficult to justify these increases when frontline workers, many of whom are barely earning above minimum wage, are left behind. Furthermore, the district's current salary schedule has not meaningfully adjusted to reflect the multiple increases in California state and Los Angeles County minimum wages in recent years. This has effectively compressed the salary scale, leaving longtime employees earning nearly the same as new hires, undermining both the employee morale and the value of experience and loyalty. We respectfully urge the boards to one, ensure all classified employees receive a liveable wages that reflect the current cost of living in
033our community. Two, review and revise the classified salary scale to address the impact of minimum wage increases and restore fair wage progression. Three, prioritize compensation equity across all employee groups, ensuring that those who support our schools daily are not continly overlooked. Now is the time to demonstrate that Lancaster School District truly values every employee who contributes to the success of our schools. We ask that you take action to correct these in inequities and invest in the people who make our schools run. Thank you for your attention on this urgent matter. We look forward to your leadership and a positive response. Thank you for uh all your input. Next we have item 16 consent agenda item superintendent items 16 A to 16G. We have a motion motion second by Mr. Win second by Mr. Charles. Any
034discussion? All in favor? I posted. Motion carries 30. Item 17, consent agenda items, business items 17A, 170 at 17 G meeting. Have a motion. Moved by Mr. Second by Mr. W discussion all in favor I opposed motions 330. Next we have item 18 set agenda items educational services. We have a motion moved second by Mr. William discussion. All in favor say I. I posted questions 30. Next we have item 19 consent agenda item human resources services items 8 19 by Mr. I discussion. All in favor? Motion carries 300. We have item 20, consent and agenda items services item 28. Motion. I'll happily take that motion. I'll happily second it. >> By Mr. W by Mr. Any discussion favor? I opposed. Motion carries 30. So we have item 21 legislative and policy discussion. Any comments on
035any legislation brings us to our comments from the board and superintendent and we will start with Mr. Win. >> Well, hope everyone had a great Labor Day holiday. Thank you for the CSEA group that came in and presented their labor information to us. We will take a look at that. Well, I will. I'm sure the rest of the board will uh we have had some promotions lately and even the board took a 5% pay raise which amounted to $542 a month. That's our take on it all. We we do get 5% but it's not much for everyone. Uh the good news is that uh we had a 321 person student increase from last board meeting. That's outstanding. That is outstanding. We uh I was in a meeting the other day with all the Alo Valley
036school boards and every other district except for Hughes Elizabeth is suffering uh student enrollment. So, it is so nice to see that Lancaster School District because of their employees, because of the people that work here, teachers, CSSE, the uh I call them the umbrella squad because the the daytime it gets so hot. I see the uh out with their with their umbrellas trying to keep out of the sun and I know that's got to be hot out there. Some even uses stop signs to cover their heads. So, thank you very much. Thank you to all the district personnel. I hope the 4 day work week or 4 day vacation was good. I hope everyone had a chance to enjoy themselves. I hope our new employee had a chance to go hiking or camping or just
037having a good time. Thank you and we appreciate that. Thank you. Well, thank you guys all for being here. Thank you Maria for the budget update. Really good. Congratulations to Mr. Salvador for your glad to have you. Thanks Tal for your update and I appreciate all the comments from the CSEA. Always good to hear from them and we can look at it and we appreciate that. And with that, um, kids are excited to be back at school and, um, excited to have that good time. Thank you, >> Dr. Mar. I just would like to say that thanks to all the staff for a strong start to school year and last week. So, goes into those and u thank you very much and um yeah great board meeting everyone hope everyone had a great uh Labor
038Day weekend and able to enjoy some of the final parts of the summer. Um, thank you for all the in updated information tonight. Um, Gina, uh, you can make sure that we get any information on lack of materials. So, we can definitely look into that. Really appreciate it. And we're looking forward to the inclusion survey. Well, um, classified, thank you for a lot of you speaking up and I know it's an issue that we are looking at. Um I know like uh some of you mentioned because they've raised the minimum wage it has created a difficult situation where people that were making a lot above minimum wage are now not making that much. And so we have to look at how can we enhance their salaries to make it equitable uh for those higher positions.
039And so, uh, hopefully we can look as a district at the other districts neighboring and maybe compare salaries and also, um, maybe look at some of the job descriptions and make sure that they're comparable with other districts and maybe not too, um, all-encompassing, I think, is what we heard. So, make sure that they're um, they're specific in what the job duties are. Thank you for that input. Our management will definitely look into that and I know we are in negotiations. So we appreciate all the input you guys have for that and we know how vital your petitions are for our schools and for students, for teachers, for parents and we uh really appreciate all your hard work. So we definitely will look into all the issues that you brought up. Also, uh thank you for
040the input on the suspension rates. I know we are looking at suspension rates closely uh every year. So, um it is our goal for those to go down and to make sure that we're servicing all the different needs of different students in our district. So, um thank you for bringing that to our attention as well. Everyone has a great evening. And uh thank you Maria also for our update financial we appreciate have a great evening everybody that we will the board meeting our clock motion second by Mr. Win. All in favor? I motion carries 300. Have a good night everybody.