001So I'll call the meeting to order. Um for the flag switch I have Ella and Sydney Br will lead us in the pledge of allegiance. Please stand. Take off. Please take off and hats. Place your right hand over your arm. Ready, begin. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. That's a good job. I mean, honestly, no matter how weird the world seems politically, whenever I hear elementary kids do the pledge of allegiance, I feel like America's going to be just fine. Um, all right. Uh, so I have one thing to report out of close session. By a vote of five to zero with zero abstensions, the board took action to
002approve a settlement agreement for student ID number 7056064 arising out of a special education dispute. The settlement agreement has been reached by all parties and by the board unanimously. Uh with that I will call for ask if there's an approval of the agenda. I'll move to approve tonight's agenda. I'll second. There's a motion and a second. Uh all those in favor student I board I motion passes unanimously. Um I have a motion. Is there a motion to approve the minutes from the move to approve the minutes? I second. It's a motion and a second. Uh all those in favor student board vote. I board I I motion passes. Oh that's right. I abstain since I was not here. Forgive me. Uh, Miss Couple abstains because she have that meeting. Um, and that brings us to
003Superintendent Board Communications, Dr. Steinowski. Mr. President, members of the board, we are excited to recognize three employees and then turn this uh, amazing board meeting over to our wonderful students from Chapperel. Uh, first up, we're introducing a new assistant principal at um, Agora High School. So, Mr. Lawrence, if you join me down here and I'm thrilled to bring up Allison Yedder. A little bit about Allison. She's currently the dean of students at El Camino Real High School. She is a national board certified teacher, bilingual with a bachelor's uh in Spanish from San Diego State University. very experienced in restorative justice, curriculum instruction, technology, accomplished facilitator of WASK, self-study, focus groups, instructional tech, uh professional development, data analysis, policy development. She is a new teacher and mentor teacher program leader, Wasque focus group facilitator, professional development
004committee chair as I mentioned. Uh so we're thrilled to have her um joining the Charger team over at Agora. I don't know if Gisto is here. He can come on down as well. Um Allison did go to Westlake High School. This is the awkward part of the of the evening. Um, but I did get a chance to talk to her briefly. Um, and she did say she'd always yearned for Agora and to be a part of Charger Nation. So, that mostly makes up for it. Mr. Lawrence, it's kind of like when Dan reminds me went to UCLA and I really know he just wanted to go to Cal. He really yearned to go to Cal when he had to get uh um Well, we're thrilled to have you. I will say with as a student
005at Agor High School and one coming up who is in the Spanish program at Sum was at Sumac and Lindero. I'm thrilled to have someone with your background uh we are so lucky to have you as a district. Um and you know we talked about progress and one of the biggest pieces of progress I think I've seen since I was board president last time is there's a magnet behind this and I don't have to figure out how to pin you. So on behalf of the board, we're happy to pin you officially welcome you to the district. Thank you for everything that you're going to do for our amazing kids and we hope you just have a wonderful time here. Mr. President, members of the board, district cabinet, I'd like to say thank you so much
006for the opportunity to join the Charger team. I am genuinely so excited to work with the students and staff at Agora High School and under such wonderful and inspirational leadership here at the Los Virgin Unified School District. So, and I thank you for the invitation here tonight. I feel very welcomed and I can't wait to be part of the family. I do have some family I can introduce. I have my husband Max and my son Liam who's five over there. Next up, we have two employees uh extraordinary employees of the month to recognize Dr. Ciphers. We can applaud. That was a rough rough pop there. Mr. President, members of the board, each month, uh, Los Persianist uses our core dispos dispositions to recognize our employees of the month. Uh, this month, it is my true,
007uh, pleasure to introduce and talk a little bit about our employees of the month, Miss Sandra Ripo and Miss Angela Jensen. Uh, we have Yeah, let's go. Now, this is very, very typical of Miss Riff. I was going to say more about you before you come up and take the you know. No. Yeah. I love it. Uh so Miss uh Senator Ritfo uh she is truly one who um is she's an absolute leader and an absolute innovator. Uh incredibly instrumental in our uh district adoption this year of a new math curriculum. I know what time uh she gets to work and it's much earlier than me because I see her uh about every morning and she's she's a she's ahead of the game. So, uh, I would love if I could invite Miss Davenport if
008you could say a few words and then we'll pass it off to Miss Rippo. Round of applause for Janet Davenport. Come on. I'm speaking here on behalf of Dr. Smith, principal of White Oak Elementary. She sends her deepest apologies that she cannot be here, but we are excited she is participating in her graduation ceremony for uh, her doctorate degree tonight. So, on behalf of Dr. Smith. It's my absolute pleasure to recognize Sandra Ritville as employee of the month. Sandra. Yes. Sandra is so much more than an amazing educator. She's the heart of our campus. Her presence is like a warm cup of tea on a stormy day. Steady, comforting, and exactly what you need. Whether it's a student in tears, a colleague in crisis, or a copier that's lost the will to live, Sandra is
009there, calm and collected, ready to help. She's not only a fabulous teacher, she's a therapist, a cheerleader, a problem solver, and a friend to all. Students adore her, and it's easy to see why. She listens, she cares, and she makes every child feel seen and valued. Sandra, thank you for being the soul soothing, laughterbringing, wisdom sharing wonder that you are. We're so lucky to have you. Congratulations. You truly deserve this. Well, I get to I get to offer you the apple. Uh and I get to say on behalf of the entire district and the board, thank you for all that you've done. Uh for those you have not been involved with the really generational effort we're undertaking to change uh how we teach math in this district, it is people like you who've led us
010on this effort that are going to have just a such a profound impact on these kids' lives on how they learn math and how they're prepared for the world. And that's just one of the many things that you've done. So, thank you for all that you've done for our students. Thank you so much. Wow. I'm not sure who you were talking about, but I'm happy to hear it all and thank you so much. Um, I just want to say I'm truly honored to receive teacher of the month for LBSD. I'm still enjoying finding pieces of confetti all over my classroom every single day. It brings a smile to me and don't stop doing it because the confetti was the highlight of you guys coming in. Um, thank you to all the White Oak staff, including
011my amazing third grade teammates, Anne Bournehof, Dana Weber, the SPED team. shout out out there. The the office staff, principal Smith and support staff, and my lunch buddies for constantly being supportive and encouraging while also keeping me laughing. I hit the jackpot becoming a white oak lion. A special thanks to my students who inspire me, teach me, and make me smile and laugh every single day. my students who when I received this award and you came into my room told me don't be embarrassed which I was but to be proud of myself and my other students who today after a pretty rough day gave me a hug and said to me your job is really hard but you're doing a great job. I would also like to extend my appreciation to my husband Matthew and
012my three children Jasper, Carson, and Hannah for their constant love and understanding. There is no husband who deserves a medal like a teacher husband because teaching never ends during the week or when the students are dismissed. Teaching is a 24-hour lifestyle. This year, my first class at White Oak are seniors and will be going off to college and they give me so much hope for the future. Why? Because they were taught by U LVs teachers back there in this crazy world of book banning etc. I'm very proud and very fortunate to be part of the LVSD family. Thank you. Now, my pleasure to invite Mr. Lepto and Miss Jess to the podium. Mr. President, members of the board, LBUSD cabinet, it's my absolute honor to recognize Angela Gigi Jensen as the LBUSD classified employee of
013the month. Gigi is the kind of person who brings light and positivity wherever she goes. And at Agora High, she goes above and beyond every single day. Whether it's supporting students, helping staff, or jumping in wherever she's needed, always with a smile and an encouraging word. Gigi's dedication, warmth, and incredible work ethic make a lasting impact on our campus and our community. Gigi, thank you for being such a bright and inspiring presence at Agora High. We've been so lucky to have you and we wish you and your family the best in your next chapter. Um, again, I get to give you the golden apple and say thank you for in many cases being the the front line of defense, uh, the the or the tip of the spear for a lack of the term that
014students see and engage with. And I know um personally and I know from my my kids friends, your name is known, it's revered, it's appreciated, and just that ability to take a bad moment and turn a great uh or propel a kid forward is just such a special touch you have. So, thank you on behalf of the entire district for what you do. I did not prepare a big fabulous speech and being up here makes me really nervous, you guys. um believe it or not. But I did just want to say a quick thank you. Um a huge heartfelt thanks to the district office and to principal Lepto and Clint Cummings and all of the staff that I get the to work with every day. Um who played a part in this incredible honor. I
015can only shine as bright as those around me. So everybody there is amazing um and lets me be me whole, you know, 100%. I feel deeply fortunate to have joined this team and to contribute in supporting the dedicated staff and inspiring students who make the school community so exceptional. From the moment my daughter first stepped on foot on campus, I knew this was a truly special place. The best second home anyone could ask for. Um, thank you. Thank you everybody. And thank you to my husband and my kids. Let me run around. All right, Principal Goldstein, we are ready for chaperel. Um, I first want to say thank you to the board and to the LBSD cabinet for allowing our kids to perform. You guys can stand up. We have five first grade classrooms at
016Chapperel of over a hundred students and this is representation from all classrooms. So I just want to say thank you to Miss Lampert, Miss Gerber, Miss Jensen, Miss Ven, and Miss Ruben and to Seymour the Seymour the sloth from Miss Ven's class who came as well. So take it away first grade. It's called Well done, Shaper. We appreciate you. adorable. I know. Uh Dr. Seph, why don't I return to uh superintendent board communications. You got me, Jim. First slide when Mr. Klein gets it up is a slide from Agora's I believe 11th annual is that sound right? 11th annual uh CBI showcase. It is our community based instruction program. Uh Miss Farba Albert has been doing it for all 11 years. F. She's fantastic. Our students get on stage with the dance team, the uh
017cheer team, the band, they sing. Uh it was fantastic uh day at Agora just before spring break. Next slide, Mr. Klein. Uh Miss Davenport sort of alluded to this. We have two new doctors. Dr. Nicole Smith, congratulations. And Dr. uh Heather Hendricks. Both just completed their doctoral program at uh um Grand Canyon University, GCU. So, congratulations to those two ladies. And next and last slide, of course, Dr. Jackie Duncan. So excited for her. She was recently selected as the AXA state principal for the year, the state elementary principal for the year, which is a fantastic um award. And I think there are 14 some 14,000 elementary schools across the state of California. So that's she only accept that award if she stays another year. How does that work? How does that work? We've tried a
018lot of different negotiating techniques with a lot of different people, some some real nearby. That concludes superintendent communication. All right. Uh Texas staff board communication. Miss Whisperer. Mr. President, members of the board, Calabasas and Agora have been uh getting back in the swing of things after spring break. Over at Calabasas ASB campaigns are running with the election on Thursday. Students are signing up for the blood drive and practicing for tomorrow's girls first junior or sorry, tomorrow's girls junior vers senior squad football game. Last Friday, eighth graders from AC Stella and AU Wright came to visit CHS. This week, we have a Blue Spirit Day to honor autism awareness, senior commitment day, the spring dance concert, and ASB campaign introductions where students can introduce themselves to peers. AP testing is starting next week and we wish
019all students good luck on their tests. Agora is looking to close out the year with some big friends. Last Friday, the Chargers held their annual film fest. Students submitted homemade films and showcased their talents to the community and professional filmmakers. We are so proud of all students who dedicated time making incredible films. It was a busy weekend with Cal with Agora holding an improv match, hosting a tournament and putting on a band's program for rhythm and choose event. This Friday, they'll be holding lip sync, a fun event for students to just enjoy themselves. Over the next two weeks, students will be taking AP and IV exams. As this is a stressful time for all students, we wish everyone the best of luck. By this Friday, students attending four-year universities will have officially committed. We are
020so proud of all our seniors of their accomplishments over the past four years and look forward to what lies ahead in their future. Thank you. Thank you very much. Mr. Lazar, uh, you know, I was just thinking some of those films they make, it'd be great to get into it to the Calabasas film festival, which is becoming, you know, quite a thing. So, uh, they're all like doing films now to announce their college, their college are going to, right? This is the new thing. Everyone does like a big like used to be like the unveil baby photos where you're like now it's like the big Yeah. Have we have we seen yours yet? I haven't se I I don't think I've seen yours yet. I know it was coming out, but uh this is this
021is the thing. I think it's pretty cool. You spent like hours editing it. Have you Have you sent it to the board yet? I think you should send it to the board. Um so, just a couple things to touch on. Obviously, as a a new board member, I'm attending many events for the first time. And uh my favorite thus far is the tribute to educators. I just loved the whole thing. It was so inspiring to seeing all these you know teachers and staff who had had just worked for decades. Uh given so much to all our kids and families. It was just really wonderful event. I loved it. Uh Miss Kutpull and I did our our final tour. We have now done every single school in the whole district. We finished with uh Lindereo uh
022earlier this week and uh I I think some of you know but there's a time capsule at uh Lindero which is going to be open in a couple weeks. It was planted 50 years a um principal Anhal showed us how they literally had to kind of knock through concrete to get it out of the ground and it's all old and I mean it looks like a real artifact from a science fiction movie. I can't wait to see what's inside it. So uh but anyway, really great seeing all the campuses and uh what a wonderful district we have. So yes, thank you. I had the opportunity to attend the Westlake Village Art Guild and Agora Hills Cultural Arts Council for their jured um art show. It's for student student artists in all different kinds of median
023as far as art like 3D and ceramics and painting and uh but the schools the surrounding schools including Oaks Christian Oak Park uh Newberry Park Agora and others uh students submit and they have their works have to be chosen and then their works um are announced at the evening um the winners in each category and it is just an a unique opportunity for students to participate in a jury um art show and they receive monetary awards. So, it's wonderful to highlight the students and Agorah High students won quite a few of the uh of the honors. So, thank you. I've I've the last couple times I've gone to the to Washington DC, they have the the line of um high school art by the members of Congress in the uh in the tram area and
024we're never there. So we should see we should see if we're applying for that or or if we're getting it to Julia Brownley because it'd be great to be because we have so many great artists in in that program. Uh Miss Kill I'll forgo comments tonight. So um I was able to go to AE writes um medieval market and that's always a lot of fun to see um the kids um and their creative ideas and them um trading their um from their countries. And then um I also agree uh with Mr. Lazar. thought the tribute to educators was uh fantastic and I uh appreciated um Mr. Lawrence's uh speech of um that he gave to the teachers um to show them show them how much we appreciate them. And then um Miss Stein and I
025were able to go to Agora High School to see their play 42nd Street. And you would have thought that the tap dancers in that had been taking tap all their life. the this the um dancing was incredible. Um I'll go and forgo my comments uh so we can get to our teachers who are here for the first item on the agenda. Um uh actually public comment first. Um anybody here to speak on items not on the agenda? No, not hearing that. We'll go to Dr. Leowski um for consent A. I'll move to approve consent A. Yeah, no comments. What? You're right. I be on your toes. I'll second move. Second. I I'll second. Is there any uh any comments on uh consent a uh just a couple of questions. The um CIF athletics reps, which
026you know, basically the it looks like they're the principles and athletic directors from the schools. Is this a very big time commitment for them? And is it it's kind of Yeah. Not a big deal, right? No, I I'm the state superintendent representative for the CIF. So, I sit on the state federated committee and we have extensive relationship. So, we we lobby on behalf of our students and our coaches at all levels. This is not a large time commitment from them though. Okay, great. And um I was glad to see Sumac portable classroom and Willow Plumbing uh came in a little under budget. I'm noticing that a lot with the major s projects which is is really great to see. So, uh good stuff. and Qualia is the private school that we we rent out space
027to right. So beyond the HVAC that we doing for them, we don't have too much else planned to for also Dr. Gen uh the roof uh is also failing. So so it's also an older building I think uh older building roof and HVAC are both at the time to fail. The good news is is that um uh those are going to be low cost relative to the rest of our campuses. Great. Thank you. Great. Seeing no other comment. Uh student vote I. Board vote I. I. Motion passes. Consent B. Is there a motion to approve? So moved. I'll second. Uh board vote only. Any discussion? Probably not. Okay. All those in favor of consent B. I I motion passes unanimously. Uh action items. Item number one, approval of uh of LVOC adoption of transitional kindergarten
028curriculum. Dr. Steinowski. Mr. Herman of the board. uh adding our TK students has been a particular joy for all of us uh at all of our campuses and no more joyful person than Mr. Davenport. Mr. Davenport, thank you Mr. President, members of the board. I'll invite our team uh to make their way to the podium at this time while I give you just a short background and you can take in these beautiful images of the TK program in action that's up on the screen. When the state started its gradual roll out roll out of TK four years ago, our teachers began reviewing materials from big box publishers, um our pilots uh resulted in the determination that the materials really didn't fit uh the needs of our uh multifaceted and ever getting ever younger students. As
029the uh grade level rolled out, we realized it was it was best to wait until we had seen the unique needs of the youngest students that were going to be coming to us uh before putting together a curriculum. So, a little over a year ago, we began the process to identify and organize our own set of resources and materials that would directly support the preschool transitional kindergarten learning foundations um for our TK students and provide that same highquality uniform TK program across all our elementary schools. So before they begin, it's important to keep in mind that the learning foundations in TK are met predominantly through playbased activities. So curricular resources in TK are really a list of materials, equipment, um, and key learning resources that our teachers need to engage students in this explorative play
030and skill building. So, under the leadership of uh Miss Nicole Fogglesen, the our experienced teacher at Willow Elementary, the LBUSD TK curriculum development team that's here tonight has accomplished a truly heavy lift. The team also includes um these other dedicated, talented teachers, Julie Wrong from Yerba Buena, Lisa Biano from White Oak, and Jessica Regina from SHAP. So, I'll let them get started. Am I okay? Super. Thank you, Jana. And thank you to all of you for uh inviting us here uh to share our program with you. So, as Jana mentioned, um it is absolutely our joy to have rolled this out this year. We've done it um in different installments and now we feel that it's complete. Um and the program as you see um aligns with the PTK LFS that stands for preschool transitional
031kindergarten learning foundations. Their vision of intentionally integrating learning into children's play implementing child-directed and teacher guided activities planning environments, interactions, routines and materials that engage children in learning and indivi individualizing it based on children's knowledge, skills, their needs and interests. And as Jana mentioned what it is not it is not scripted. We've pro we've put together a list of resources to create a program that is flexible to meet the needs of the teachers the needs of their in and also their interests. Um because that is what is at the forefront of their teaching which is their students and planning programs that their students are interested in and engaged with. And um so if we take a peek I think I've got this one. So if you take a peek at the graphics starting up at
032the top. So the program uh the backbone of it um are the PTK LFS and that that informs the teaching across all domains social, academic, uh physical and behavioral. and um going ahead to the right that will then um drive us to create resources that are developmentally informed and then from there um the playbased learning meets the students where they are and allows teachers to scaffold from there. Um, and this is through open-ended explorations and guided lessons. And um, incorporated in that, we can't forget the big green bubble, which is embracing the joyful noise. Um, taking a peek at the next slide, what you might see in our classrooms, our days are broken up into um, I just broke them up into different categories of discovery, small groupoup centers, whole group lessons, and outside play.
033So in general the discovery time is that choice time that time of the day where um students select the uh learning opportunities that they are interested in things in like sensory and water play um dramatic play and dress up building with blocks etc. And um then the small groupoup centers uh that's where you would see adultg guided work centers and um those are um they might include things like letter number exploration and um fine motor opportunities. Then that's our more academic time where we're really meeting the needs um to help the students to grow toward their year end um goals. Um, also whole group lessons. You would see teachers facilitating lessons through readalouds and book discussions, SEAL lessons through spot and even HEGY. Um, which is our um district adopted phenemic awareness program. Um and
034then um outside our kids are outside exploring play freely both with the use of toys and without and that gives them time to exercise their big muscles while engaging in outdoor creative play. So whether they are bouncing balls and shooting hoops, working on their uh growing their hand muscles, eye hand coordination, um or whether they're just freely playing making up games or playing in the sandbox, working with um volume and um and also creating um different with different peers. Those are some of the areas. So those are the four big areas. Keeping in mind that we are play-based and developmentally informed, our program looks um at these I'll just take a deeper dive into some of the subcategories which um which are the learning tolearn skills. So we use the um the ruler program as
035well as little spot. Little Spot um offers along with ruler lessons in emotional and behavioral regulation, building relationships, responsibility and decision making, helping our kids to be problem solvers and grow into confident learners with positive self-concepts. looking at he as I just said that is our phmic awareness program and from there teachers will pull lessons that explicitly model and with repetition um teach the students um about the sounds in language and how to manipulate them. So that's where we we read with our ears first and then we go to the phonics which are the graphimmes which are the letters that also have sounds. And so um you would see that in whole group opportunities and then in small group opportunities where they're manipulating um with alphabet tubs or with alphabet puppets. Um and then fine
036motor is embedded in everything because um for our littles coming in, they're still developing the small muscles in their hands. And so we give them a lot of opportunities to have fun um and while they grow their fine motor skills, which are the foundation to writing. And so things like Play-Doh, using tweezers, eyroppers and clothes pins, hole punches, and scissors. Um I'm going to jump into the last three components which are the writing, mathematics and science areas. Um and with this here um in writing as I said the foundation to writing is strong fine motor and so we give them a lot of opportunities to do that. We also have um each of the classrooms um has been provided with um handwriting without tears programs. And so they have um those are um there are
037magnet boards, small slate boards with chalk. And so what they're doing is they're learning to draw shapes and lines um using that program before again before they go to the path of motion of perhaps letters or numbers. In math as a hands-on math program, it is um it is manipulativebased. And so the students are learning um to pattern and count and compare sets um using the manipulatives um both having times to explore on their own and through teacher-led opportunities. And of course singing songs is also a super fun way um to practice um addition and subtraction situations. And finally, hands-on opportunities through science. Um, engaging in learning opportunities to um bring in the scientific method of questioning and researching and drawing conclusions, going through and then again because with this program allows for um in
038all areas, but allows for um teacher choice in what they want to teach. um science goes along with that. If their kids are really um interested in dinosaurs, then that teacher might have incorporate the math and the writing and the hands-on and experiences with that. And so it's very flexible um so that we can meet the needs of the students. And I lied two more. Here we go. Social studies and big school. So, social studies, I mean, the classroom is the first um opportunity for our littles to understand what it means to be part of a community um once moving out of, you know, their family setting. If they haven't been to school yet, then we're their first um opportunity. And so, through that, of course, they learn everything needs and wants, sharing and caring
039for peers and their environment. And again, um, opportunities to have the kids, um, have a hand in what is taught. We, um, recently on some of our campuses have had lots of construction. And so what a great opportunity when they're when they're putting in the solar panels, when they're, you know, um we had turf put in and great opportunity to teach about different types of transportation and vehicles that are used and then give them opportunities to construct buildings and to construct um and really to sit outside and watch the construction going on because they all really wanted hard hats. Um, and then finally, schoolwide activities. We do everything that big school does, and so they get to take advantage of having PE and library um go into the maker space. We do assemblies and everything
040that um, our PFA and the district provides. And lastly, this is just a peak at what I am talking about and I'm almost done talking. Um, take a look at this picture. This is a dramatic play c coffee shop and just looking breaking it down into well they're just playing all day. Well, they are but look at what they're also doing. All you can see um in every area um that one activity meets 53 PTKF standards. And so um I thank you so much for listening to me. At first I'm like, wait, we have to follow those cute little kids singing. now. Thank goodness the room cleared. So anyway, um thank you. And I think that's Thank you. I'd just like to add that this team has been um you know building the plane while
041they're flying it over the course of this year. And because they've done that, every TK teacher at all of our schools has been able to quote unquote pilot the materials. And the feedback we've gotten has been fantastic. And the be beautiful part of it really is that if you walk into our TK classrooms across the district, you're going to see a high quality strong uh program in each one of those classrooms where students needs are being met. So tonight, we seek your approval for the curricular resources associated with transitional kindergarten. I just first want Well, thank you to everyone and staff for all your amazing work. Um it uh it is amazing and the joy you exude is just warms my heart. Um, I will tell you, I was at an open house Sunday and
042I saw some parents who had little kids coming in and they've already heard about TK. Like people are literally already moving to the community or shopping for homes because of the TK program. Um, so, uh, that's fantastic. I have some questions, but I'll let others go first. Any question? I'm just going to say I I heard this general presentation in curriculum council and it was just as great again because it's so amazing how thoughtful and um intentional um what you've put together and I'm just incredibly impressed. So, thank you for all that you've done. I'm so incredibly proud of our TK program. Thank you. Yeah, I shared um at my staff communication uh last meeting that um I was part of the curriculum council and most of the members left wanting to sign up for
043TK again to take the class. So, well, I I agree. Thank you. Who doesn't want to go to TK sign me up or who doesn't want to send um their children here? So, I have a couple questions as well. One of them is we do marketing and and Mr. Klein, you're still sending out to homeowners, brand new homeowners, um, packets. I mean, I think like some of this, and it's beautiful, just some of this would be great into a brochure by itself, a little brochure to be included. I know that there are homes being sold in my neighborhood for one, I know some that don't have little kids, but um, I think that this is just this is amazing. Yes, I was talking to a preschool teacher at a private school the other day who's
044hurting because they're hurting because of the TK in public schools and to see what you're doing. Um so my question is um provide training. So do we have training dates scheduled for the summer, the fall, all that? We do and we have used every opportunity this year um during our collaborative time and our staff development days for TK to really focus on that work and that will continue next year. So yes, we do have training in mind. And and does teachers do like Mrs. Fogson, do you get release time or something? Because, you know, are you putting lessons in the hands of teachers or materials or these resources? There's a couple links to resources. Is there time for that, you know, for that leadership piece? There is, and that's something that we had talked about
045as well. We've been lucky to offer uh Wednesday Zooms. anyone who wants to zoom in when we would release the materials, they, you know, we would be there to offer that. Um, but yes, we've used our staff development days and our grade level lead days also to really mentor those that are using the program and as you said, you know, we're build building the plane as we fly it. It's just been really great to see that this has been so wellreceived. they the teachers across the district feel so supported and are so excited to use it and so I think yes next year we will continue to do that but with the lens of okay you've already looked at it once around you've already so where do you need support okay great and is there
046a report card for the students to make to you know to show parents are they meeting the standards you have all these standards here are they meeting them and teachers you know, you keep track or whatever of students meeting standards or we do. We have a progress report, we call it, and um instead of a report card, but yes, and they're based on the PTKs. And so, bless Kim's heart, as our birth date changed over the last summer, he changed some of them to a line and he's gonna change them again. Don't tell him. Well, thank you. This is really fantastic. But going back, they're getting younger. Yes. Yes, they are. Well, this is the last date change. So, there you go. Okay. And going back real quickly to um to the time they've taken
047knowing how much their students need them during the instructional days. This team met predominantly as a huge summer project and they meet on Saturdays to complete this work. We sure did. Wow. Saturdays. We owe you big time. Yeah. Also uh just want to thank you for this wonderful program and everything that you've done uh with the rest of the team to put this together. I when I read about it in the the board docks before I was like oh this is so great and Miss Kutbull and I have just been touring all the schools in the district and I got to tell you the TK classrooms you walk into them and you see these kids in the beginning of their learning journey with these amazing teachers and it's just so good for the heart and
048good for the soul and absolutely love it. Uh yeah. Yeah. Um I I was very happy to see that the uh the program had a a developmental approach to things. Uh I remember being shocked in LA many years ago. I was touring preschools and most of them were developmental Montasuri or and a couple were academic preschools and I was like why would you want an academic preschool? You know meeting kids where they are. I think that's such a great emphasis for it and uh just to say that you know this work is so important. There's so much data linking quality pre preschools to success later in life. Uh it's amazing what it gives kids. So just very big thank you to all of you. I just had a couple quick questions. Um so we created
049our own curriculum. What are other districts doing that don't have four amazing people like you that are are they are they buying it off the shelf and it just doesn't work? I'm just curious. We had we did our research back and we piloted three different programs. Uh Janna came in when we were on our third pass over you know down from Laura Kint and they are they they are buying box programs programs and either pick and choosing or not using it all. So, in I haven't come across anyone I know who teaches TK in other districts that really are are really in love with it, which is why we were so grateful when you all let us take a crack at it because we knew our kids needed different and deserved different and better. And
050so, thank you for that because we I feel like we've really done it and saved a lot of money and put into No, truly those programs are a lot of money and when you're not using it, then they're just collecting dust. And so, um, so yes, that is the answer. A box scripted curriculum is what they're using. And I'm just curious, am I am I right, which I I loved as I read it. And so, it seems like there's very little screen time or digital. That's all because I've already been asked by some parents who are like because now the new thing is not like what do we do with cell phones. It's keeping kids away from any swipe touching thing for as long as I didn't see any of that in your stuff. It
051all seemed very like tactile and you know the way the human brain wants to develop well and as far as technology goes we just use it to supplement our teaching. if it is, you know, a story on on CD, you know, that they would be listening to, you know, or um if we're, you know, again, just using it to support what we're doing if it's a, you know, Nap Geo video about penguins. That's how we use technology, not with iPads or screen time. Well, I just want to say I um I I as a Buttercup dad, I remember having a kid in Buttercup thinking, why doesn't every kid get to have a program like this where they can start at this age because I I want my child to have somebody who has a degree
052in teaching, who understands what should be the early brain development should be happening, who's not a babysitter in the classroom. And I would tell people Buttercup and they would all be that is the most annoying word ever. Why is not stopping? Uh at the uh and I would tell them about it and they were they were stunned by it. And so I'm just so thrilled that we have your passion for this. And I I want to tell you, I know you put Saturdays into this. So thank you for doing it because the kids who are going to come next, I mean, the things that I'm really excited about is the foundation. We're going to be rebuilding for math skills. We're trying to fix it now in high school, but now that you know, if we
053can if we can set the foundation up at early age, reading, we're trying to lift those numbers up, too. It really I mean, I get goosebumps thinking about it because we've talked about, you know, we we we've heard that we get them too late. and now that our ability to kind of have them with such a great foundation for learning with you guys and your passion just is amazing. So, thank you for everything. Um, with that, I'm welcome to entertain a motion. I'll move to adopt the LBUSD transitional kindergarten curriculum. I second. All those in favor student I I motion passes. Thank you. I know. And what a treat for Jana to be I mean holding our hand through all of this. So, thank you to you. But she did. And the bird stopped. It
054just stopped. You guys couldn't hear that. It was a bird like dying outside. It was like, it's not just me, right? I'm not losing my mind. That was the norm. Um All right. Well, that's wonderful. That's really exciting stuff. Um All right. Next action item. Excuse me. Let me get to it real quick. Approval of termination of lease agreement monastery of the village. Dr. Gleason or Dr. Seth, if you want to go. Dr. Se, sorry. Just briefly, Mr. President, members of the board, a special thank you to Dr. Gleason for his countless hours unwinding this probably most of the complex land use deals I've ever seen. Dr. Gleason. Mr. President, members of the board, I am happy to be at the closing part of this. So, this is a deal as is in the agenda
055item. I know the BR uh board has been deeply involved in this since 1997. We have a property on Russell Ranch Road. I could go into the extended cut. Um but essentially the cliff notes are that uh property was once Buttercup and has since been the monastery of the village. Uh our uh land use agreement is coming up with the city of Westlake Village. It's a very unique agreement in that we're the tenant and the landlord. We're the uh landlord to the monastery who uses the building that we own and we are the tenant to the city of Westlake Village. So this is an agreement we um have collaborated closely with the uh city staff city of Westlake Village and uh have gone through each article and clause and have come to terms uh that
056would afford us to um help the monastery continue on to be a thriving business in the city of Westlake Village. uh get us out of a deal where we're the landlord and the tenant and help um the city of Westlake Village have uh some resources that might be necessary should they want to convert the land which was their contractual uh benefit. It's a two-step process. We have to first uh dissolve the lease with the uh monastery. Of course, the uh owner of the monastery has been very much involved. The signature is already on this uh should the board approve it. And then the second step which is the next agenda item is to approve the termination the end of the Russell Ranch agreement. Uh should the board uh approve both tonight the city of Westlake
057Village will be their city council will be uh meeting I believe in a week to discuss and finalize the same. Once finalized June 30, 2025 all parties can move forward. Great. Is there a motion to approve? So move. There a second. I'll second. Any questions? I know we've spent I'll go ahead. I was just gonna say thank you Dr. Gleason and I know how much time we've spent on this and appreciate resolving this. Me too. Absolutely. This is an old complicated deal and thank you for your patience and perseverance. You're going to miss it. All that all that quality time you spent. I mean you know you'll miss it. Um all right. All those in favor student board vote. I board. Motion passes unanimously. Item number three, which I think is linked to item number
058two, approval of termination of lease of Russell Ranch Road. Mr. President, members of the board nailed it. Yes, this would be the termination uh whereas the previous item was the termination of us as landlord to tenant. This would uh create a termination relationship with uh the landlord of the land which is city Westlake Village. Great. Is there a motion to approve? I move to approve. Second. I'll second. There's motion second. Uh any discussion? See any question? Is there um anything else that once once the city of uh Westlake signs it off, is there anything else that needs to be done uh to release Lost Virgin from any kind of exposure or anything like that or is this it? No, the property is sold as is for those portable buildings. Okay. Uh and uh by accepting
059this agreement, the city of Westlake Village would assume all ownership of the property but also all liability of anything that we cannot foresee. City has inspected the properties at we to do their due diligence. Terrific. Thank you. Great. There's a motion in a second. Student board vote. I board. I I motion passes unanimously. Item four, approval of amendment GI industries waste management. Dr. Sepowski. Dr. Gleason. Mr. Res members of the board. We have a a relationship with our waste management company and we entered into a contract in 2020. It was a two-year contract. That contract had three one-year options to renew. Uh it is our recommendation to renew for the final year uh of this contract just given the rates of waste management have gone up substantially. Uh the rates are reasonable um in this
060final year of renewal. Uh but we do need to prepare for an adjustment. One thing that Waste Management has um uh committed to us is we're going to experiment in this next year with uh different uh bin sizes and different pickup times to see if we can create efficiencies that could be wrapped up into a future contract down the road uh that would not have a consistent or a es significant escalating cost. Great. Um is there a motion to approve? So moved. I'll second. Motion a second. Any discussion? Seeing none. All those in favor, board vote. I I I'm sorry. Student board vote. My apologies. I board vote. I I Motion passed unanimously. Um item number five, approval of resolution 2124 authorizing the decision not to re-mploy classified employees. M. Chambers. Mr. President, members of
061the board, staff is bringing forward resolution 21-24 authorizing decision not to reemploy eight classified employees. This is a step required by law to finalize the resolution 1424 that was approved on February 25th, 2025 regarding changes to personal staffing. Staff is seeking approval for resolution 21-24. We'll have a motion, a second. There's any questions we can is there a motion in a second? So moved. Second. I'll second. Any discussion, questions? Seeing none, I have this as a board only vote. Um, so board only. Uh, all those in favor? I motion passes unanimously. The other side of that coin, approval of resolution 22424, authorizing not to remploy certificated employees. Dr. Shers, Mr. President, members of the board, staff is required to bring this resolution forward when faced with any uh changes to our staffing based on student
062interest andor program restructuring. Uh all impacted staff has been notified and wave the right to a hearing. And tonight's action will finalize resolution 1324 that was approved by the board on February 11th. Great. Is there a motion a second? I'll move to approve um this resolution and I think Dr. Ciphers, you called it something different. It's resolution. He said 1324, but you mean that was a previous one. Yeah. 22. This is 2224. Correct. This final approval of this resolution finalizes 134. Okay, I'll second it. We don't have their second. No, you are the second. Thank you very much. Uh, any questions, comments? Great. Uh, again, another board vote only. All those in favor board. I I passes unanimously. Approval of appropriation of transfers for year end. Mr. President, members of the board, this is a
063crowd favorite, an annual uh year-end agenda item. This affords us the ability per LEO's recommendation to have a more directed order as we close the books in terms of if we ever need to do any inner fund um uh borrowing. Don't anticipate we'll need that. Um but it's always good to have this on file as we close the books throughout the summer. Um um yeah. Is there a motion? A second. I move to approve. Second. Yep. This one's listed as a board only vote, but I don't think it is a board only vote, so we'll just go with it. I think they might have carried on the board only vote things one too many times. Yeah, students can vote on this. Yeah, that's what I thought. Okay. Um uh I know you were dying to
064vote, so I wanted to make sure we got got it in there. Um so, uh student board member I I um board I motion passes unanimously. Um great. That brings us to information items. Uh item number one, revision to board policy and administrative recognition 3400 has the next I believe. Mr. President, members of the board, uh as we continue to update our policies in accordance with California School Board Association, um our procurement policies, these next two items related uh to bids as well as to the management of district assets and accounts had not been updated since 2001. As you can see in the agenda item uh the language we are recommending is almost exclusively that that is recommended by the California school boards association which is connected to both California code education code and cal
065uh and public contract code. Uh these two policies uh bring us up in terms of a policy to the practices that we have implemented in accordance with the law. And um with that if you have any questions happy to answer. I just have a a comment and that is that um when we when we do our board policies and our administrative regulations, I lean very heavily on CSBA and what they say because they have a team of attorneys that look at it and they vet them and um and I looked at all of this very closely and it is truly mirroring what CSBA recommends. Can you maybe I guess two things struck me. one, am I right that because there's been some concern, but I want to hit um someone might look at this, say,
066you're making changes, why are you making changes? Um and are you making changes that are actually providing greater oversight and greater clarity on what the um on the board's fiduciary role in the district? Is am I right that when I read this board policy, we're replacing basically two lines that were the board's policy in total on management of district assets and accounts with about six pages of very specific delineated items, requirements, legal regulations, state guidelines, oversight, multiple steps replacing two sentences, excuse me, three sentences that had absolutely no specificity. Am I missing something? No. The the this code um has evolved over the last two decades in an effort to ensure that um school districts uh serve the public money and do not have any favored nations when it comes to the vendors that we
067choose. So um in terms of public contract code, in terms of management of assets, I'll share with you one of the jobs that we do as an example that's in this that very few people know that we do is every asset we have to track that we have ever owned and we have to depreciate it annually schedule. Um and that process, you can imagine every item over $5,000 has to be depreciated. It's part of the government um uh uh standards board, county standards board's requirements for all public agencies. takes a lot of time and the only purpose of it outside of a good asset tracking is really if the district was ever to close, if we had to liquidate our assets. So, there's a lot of these practices that are new that didn't exist 20
068years ago, to your point, uh higher regulation. It's the most regulated form of government that there is. And in a business situation, depreciation would be valuable and that it would often provide you with tax benefits, but obviously we don't pay tax. So, uh, there's no real purpose to it except if the district were to ever close down and sell all all of its assets basically. Right. Correct. It's, uh, you know, good accounting practices are to make sure you understand your assets and your liabilities. We do both, but we are a very stable organization because we're a school district funded by the state um that has a very consistent revenue model with students. Um, I had one other question. Um in the AR there's reference to uh when there's an audit that the board shall select
069a certified public accountant for public accountant licensed by the state board of accountancy. Now I I know uh from going through our audit that we obviously imply uh employ an auditing firm who does audits specifically and has an excellent reputation as an audit. You know, I know we we employ proper auditors, but should we be strengthening the language in the AR at all just to say beyond just getting any certified public accountant that we will always get an accounting firm or or certified public accountant that has an outstanding reputation in audits or is uh again it's not part of the CSBA and it's not like I think we need it but if we were to strengthen in any way there's a counting uh firms that do education, school districts, accounting and the finance committee, the
070two board members on the finance committee uh with Dr. Gleason and somebody else I believe they interview every every three years or something like that. They interview they go out and they interview these companies and there's real specific questions that uh are asked of these companies of these account of these uh accounting firms. But I would say to go one step further as far as oversight and correct me if I'm wrong on this, but this is how I remember we're doing we'll be doing it again in a couple months. Um, am I with you or you? Yeah. Yeah, you. Yeah, we'll be doing it in a couple months. Is that uh they actually give the audit to the board. We our board members, two of us meet with them and have a full thorough independent
071audit basically of Mr. Gleason's department. Right. Um, so so Mr. Gleon does a full and his team does their full accounting and all those things and they turn that into the state of California and then we then hire an independent outside auditor who then audits oversightes his entire department and looks for every possible missed period nook and cranny lost a you know um you know the student receipt in the receipt till um and they sometimes they feel like they get paid by every period they find they find everything. Oh, and there's not been a single actionable, you know, thing they found in the 12 years I've been on the board. But so I think it's I I don't think we need to get to add it to the actual AR. No, I have full faith.
072I thought the audit was excellent from what I saw, but it it goes way beyond what the AR is doing actually. So So to procure, maybe this might might help Mr. Lazar to to procure an auditor and it's good practice to change your auditor every 3 to six years. the district would initiate an RFP and the scoring criteria would be established by the board through the RFP and then uh at when the two board members on the finance committee interview they would weigh the decision against that criteria and then bring the recommendation back to the full board. So you will always have as a board the ability in the RFP initiation to ensure the criteria and the weight of the applications against that are in your control regardless of what's in this policy. I think
073one of the things that gets lost uh on the public is how much time this board spends in committee uh and how much oversight happens at committee. I don't know if that's normal for other districts. I think we have probably more committee work than other districts at least of our size. Um but the finance committee facilities curriculum. These are great examples where the board is is deeply ingrained into the oversight in this case actually selecting the auditor in this case actually being the one the audit is given to and going line by line through the findings uh and then of course it's all presented to the community. So um I had one last question on this um you said almost identical to the CSBA. Is there a way for us to see where you changed
074from the CSBA? Like what? Because I know we I can see the change from the old to the new proposed, but I can't quite see the old for the new proposed to how you're changing CSBA version. Yeah, the CSBA is attached as the third document, but I would have to like know in my brain which words you changed. Aren't the strikeouts Aren't the strikeouts from the old board? Did you have strikeouts? You don't have strikeouts from the CSBA policy to what we're actually adopting. Correct. The CSBA I recall I adopted all the language directly entirely. I actually print out the CSBA document and then I compare it line for line, word for word to the strikeout. I'm never going to do that. So if so, so if in the future if if if we're going
075to adopt I would love for one like if you could just maybe I hate to ask for another thing if you could highlight where we're differing from CSBA in a separate document. This is separate because we have the four versions here. I'm so thankful that you're doing it. Uh and as an accountant I could see why you're doing that. So thank you for I appreciate that. my brain doesn't work that way. Um, so that would just be helpful to eyeball because I when I read the policy, it just seemed very thorough to me. We're changing very fluffy language from like at some point you could to immediately you must. Those types of things I think are very positive. So, okay, we can do that. Any other questions from the board? All right, I think you
076have the next item. Mr. President, members of the board don't have much else to say. So, we had uh those two items are really related to our purchasing processes. uh previous item was the management of assets. This is uh on our bid processes. The public contract code is in place to make sure that we go to bid for uh most public works um with some exceptions that are outlined in the board policy. These align straight with public contract code and California ed code as the previous policy. Um and uh we have uh a duty per the law to accept the low bidder um regardless of quality or other metrics in the absence of some of the exceptions that are outlined. Um this is something that is not only heavily audited uh externally it's heavily audited
077internally and LEO will not allow us to execute a purchase unless we follow these guidelines. So this is um uh Kelly Beer in our department uh spends a good portion of her day ensuring that all purchases that we have align to um uh the bid processes as does Julie Abbott and um uh so this is something we think about every single day. We are now just codifying what we do. What we do is according to law uh but the policy has not caught up with that. Hence why we're bringing it forward. And for those not don't have it front at home, again, we're taking what was five sentences um in the old board policy around bidding uh that would govern how we're potentially spending hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer funds on bonds and
078layering in multiple paragraphs overlaying very explicit decision-making processes that have to happen, laws that have to be followed, clear timelines and oversight. Um that's what we're discussing here today. Absolutely. and and when we are working with uh federal money and bonds, it's really important that our um even though we follow the lawyerly that our policy matches that. And does it align with CSBA? And it aligns with CSBA and um just for the general public's knowledge. So what happens at this meeting is this is an information item and and Mr. Gleon had both board policy and administrative regulation and then what'll happen at our next meeting is just the board policy will come back as a consent a item for us to approve. I had one tactical question on on bids on where we don't accept
079the lowest bidder. There was a bunch of call outs for when we're not required to accept the lowest bidder. Am I right though that the board has to make that or would we be notified? Would it would it would it would come before on a consent agenda item as flagged not the lowest bidder. So we would have that we' have that visibility. We would know that. Absolutely. Then the notice of intent to award that we would flag that. Um and as you as you read the exceptions, you know, uh instructional materials are an exception. Uh so it's important that Dr. Scone and and Miss Faulk and and Miss Davenport are able to work with teachers to choose the very best materials irregardless of price. Um but outside of that uh the exceptions are few and
080far between. You saw a disabled veterans administration connection. These very uh obscure connections or you know when you're dealing with high dollars on a lease lease back or design bid build. Um so very rarely do we see those obscure um uh issues. That's good to hear because when I read it and I saw all of those exceptions, some of them didn't make sense to me and I I was worried that having to figure out all of those added a lot of time to your process and complications and I was wondering if we had to include all of them by ED code and public code. Right. They do help us when um we do have an obscure single vendor. Uh we would never bring I I can't think of a scenario where we've ever brought an
081exception uh to the public contract code to the board with a notice of intent that we did not loop legal in to make sure we're uh crossing tees and dotting eyes. Right. And I I noticed about the process too which I really liked in the in the policy that anyone who bids in these has already gone through a detailed process of vetting with the district. So we only getting good qualified uh uh biders basically. Absolutely. and the uh the requirements under the code in terms of advertisement and newspapers and uh and professional trade um papers is pretty extensive and expansive as well. Thank you. Last one, revision of board policy and AR work permits. Miss Folk, Mr. President, members of the board, um as Dr. Gleason said, this is based on CSBA's updates which are
082always based on revisions of ED code uh andor state law. This particular one was last revised in 2001 and there's been quite a bit of changes related to work permits um related to the policies and procedures for issuing work permits, who can issue a work permit in a school district, um when a district can issue a work permit, um and the accompanying AR provides detailed procedures for implementing the policy, including the approval processes, eligibility criteria, and monitoring mechanisms. Um and just for your own um notification, we currently have 286 students who have work permits in the district. We have 100 at Calabasas, 174 at Agora High School and 12 between AET and Lindereo. So we do regularly issue work permits and we frequently also do it during summer break which are issued through the district
083office when the school offices are closed. How old they have to be a work permit? So you can be 12 to 17 to work when school is not in session. You can be 14 to 17 when school is in session and be issued a work permit. When you say in session, does that mean like a like you can get you could be 12 years old and work after 3:00 or you can't session mean? So during summer, during winter break and also there's certain criterias like babysitting doesn't count, yard work doesn't count, working on your parents' farm doesn't count. There are exceptions to that. Um but generally the general guideline is ages 14 to 17 unless there's some kind of school break like summer. Great. Any questions? Wonderful. Thank you very much. Meeting a journ.