3.10.26 Board Meeting

001Good evening. This is the March 10th meeting of the Board of Education of the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District. Our meetings are broadcast over Zoom to provide the opportunity for a community to observe in real time. The Board of Education of the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District is now reconvening to open session and it is 6.01 p.m. Please be advised that our board meetings are televised on local channel 28 on Wednesday and Saturday evenings and on Monday, Friday and Saturday mornings. All actions approved in closed session must be reported out in open session. Trustee Capuanis, can you read out? Sure. During closed session, the Board of Education took action regarding the probationary non-re-election of a certificated probationary employee. The board voted 5-0 in favor of the acting superintendent's recommendation to approve resolution 14-25-26

002to non-re-elect one certificated probationary employee for the ensuring 2026-2027 school year. Thank you. By a vote of 5-0, the board took action in closed session to approve the settlement agreement for OAH case number 20-26-010235. Thank you again. Six flag slew. We will start with the Pledge of Allegiance and I'll ask Trustee Perso to lead us in the Pledge. Please stand. I pledge allegiance 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. Acting Superintendent Pichetta, are there any changes or deletions to the agenda? There are a few corrections to the attached resolution to item 14.1.C as notated. Thank you. Move on to eight recognitions. Livermore High School's music director, Justin Enright, will recognize members of the Livermore

003High School Honors Chamber Orchestra for being selected to compete in the prestigious 2026 National Orchestra Championships. Can you hear me? Excellent. It is my honor and pleasure to introduce you to this year's Livermore High School Honors Chamber Orchestra. At the end of last year, last year's orchestra recorded several songs on video and we submitted them to the American String Teacher Association for their National Orchestra Festival, which is being held this year in San Francisco. We were fortunate to be one of 14 high schools nationwide to be accepted to such festival and we competed on the 27th of February, which is a little over a week ago. Although they only recognize the top three orchestras, they don't list the entire rankings. Afterwards, I talked to a couple folks that I know that are on the inside

004and it was given to me, I'm not going to give you details, but it was given to me that the group did very well and they were definitely in the upper echelon of that ranking. So we can say this orchestra is one of the top in the nation this year for sure. They're going to perform for you two quick numbers from that set. First is going to be Abin Lead. It's a piece written by Robert Schumann. It was later arranged in the late 19th century by another composer, four string orchestra. It's a slow piece, kind of like a nocturne, if you will. And then they're going to play a piece called Dos Miniaturis Azulis. It's a Spanish composer named Joaquin Rodrigo and it's the second movement in the danza and this is a piece that's

005based on Spanish dances. So without further ado, I'll get the orchestra in tuned real quick and we look forward to performing for you. Thank you. Well, I'm going to paraphrase a quote that talked about painting as decorating space and music decorates time. So thank you for coming and decorating our time. Congratulations and thank you for representing Livermore. Give them just a moment to make their way out. And now 9.0, student board member reports. They're a fantastic opportunity for us to hear from our student board trustees. So I'll turn it over to Trustee Kress. February was a very short and sweet month at Granada filled with athletic accomplishments, academic achievements and engaging school events that continue to strengthen our campus community. Winter sports wrapped up an impressive season with several teams advancing far and postseason competition.

006Our boys basketball team had an outstanding run, finishing second in the North Coast section and earning a spot in the state playoffs, showcasing the hard work and dedication of our athletes and coaching staff. Boys soccer and girls soccer also had very strong seasons with both with both teams qualifying for the NCS playoffs and representing Granada with pride. Granada's wrestling program achieved historic success this season. The boys wrestling team placed third at NCS championships and qualified three wrestlers for the state championship. The girls wrestling team had an incredible postseason as well, capturing the NCS championship. Miley Nguyen earned an impressive sixth place finish at the state championships, further highlighting the strengths of Granada girls wrestling program. Additionally, senior S.J. Martin made Granada history by becoming the first girls wrestling state champion from our school, an extraordinary

007accomplishment for both the program and our campus. School activities and school spirit were also thriving throughout the month. Leadership hosted our annual March Madness competition, which was a huge hit amongst students and created an exciting and energetic atmosphere throughout campus. Junior prom also took place this past Saturday, March 6th at the Corinthian, giving students a memorable evening to celebrate together. Granada students continued to excel academically and in extracurricular activities. Christopher Pratt was recognized as the Livermore Rotaries Club Student of the Month for February for his dedication to academics and his contributions as a member of the boys soccer team. In addition, Granada is also proud to recognize six national merit finalists this year, an incredible academic achievement that reflects the hard work of our students and staff. Academic excellence was further celebrated as students who

008achieved high honors were awarded their academic blocks in recognition of their achievements. Students have also been making an impact throughout through innovation and leadership. Senior Nishal Guda created an app and offered S.A.T. preparation classes during access time to help fellow students prepare for the exam. Granada then offered the S.A.T. on campus primarily for juniors, but open to any students who wish to participate, helping increase accessibility to important college readiness opportunities. Our business and career focused students have also been making big strides. Granada's DECA representatives performed very well at their recent competition and participated in the California DECA State Career Development Conference. Students were also supported through a career fair and scholarship information opportunities to help them plan their next steps after graduation. As we move into the spring semester, spring sports are officially beginning and

009many teams are preparing for the upcoming season. Our senior class office is hard at work getting their grade ready to have a successful senior ball in April. With strong momentum for winter athletics, continued academic excellence and exciting school events, Granada students continue to represent our school with pride. We look forward to finishing off the year strong with our final months of the school year ahead. Go Mats. February was an exciting and jam packed month for Livermore High School Cowboys. Winter sports have come to an end and we're very excited to kick off the new season of spring sports. We are proud to announce that this past weekend of February 27th, Livermore's wrestlers Ronan McAllister and NCS champion Ilham Hashemi competed in the CIF state wrestling tournament. We congratulate them for their perseverance and commitment to

010wrestling this past season, and we're grateful to have them as a cowboy, representing LHS with pride. In addition, boys basketball made it through the first round in NCS, beating Cal High. Girls soccer competed in the NCS finals against Annalee High School and boys soccer competed in the opening round of NCS against Annalee High School last week. We congratulate all of our student athletes for their strong dedication and sportsmanship, and we're looking forward to spring sports as they've slowly begun with games for lacrosse, volleyball and meets for track. The Cowboys have also held our 13th annual operation needle drop with a theme reflecting the high school experience, the nineties, which took place on February 20th. One of our seniors, Grady Castro, directed it and has had a hand in nearly all the past videos since his

011first appearance in 2014. In honor of Black History Month during February, Livermore's ASB Inclusion and Representation Committee has created a powerful display featuring influential black historical figures, complete with photos and information highlighting their contributions, achievements and lasting impact. To further raise awareness, the committee also filmed a special information segments sharing the significance of Black History Month and offering ideas for ways students can celebrate and honor it. We also want to recognize our instrumental music highlights who continue to excel. Honors Jazz Band plays third and Jazz Combo plays second at the Redwood Empire Jazz Festival at the Sonoma State University. On March 11th, the Honors Chamber Orchestra and Honors Chambers Wind will all perform at the music for all regional band and orchestra invitational at Sonoma State University. From March 20th to 21st, the instrumental music

012department will host a two day CMEA Bay section band and orchestra festival at LHS featuring 22 groups from nine different schools. Livermore FFA students have also recently been shining as 12 students completed at this competed at the sectional FFA speaking contest with six advancing to the regional contest in Santa Rosa in March. Livermore students are continuing to pursue academic excellence shown through many of the student achievements that have recently been accomplished. Our PLTW principals of engineering honors students have made an incredible showing at this year's Science Odyssey with their VEX robots projects robotics projects. Livermore High School was strongly represented at the award ceremony with multiple teams earning top honors. The Quest Innovation Award was presented to Claire Gallagher and Eklava Sharma. In addition, several Livermore High School students will be recognized at the Livermorium

013Day on May 21st at the Livermorium Plaza for representing the Bay Area Climate Literacy Conference. Congratulations to Daisy Elwood, Rahul Ipin, Nikhil Madhineni and Robin Deepak for representing LHS and sharing their work focused on climate literacy and environmental awareness. We are proud of them for their strong STEM leadership and representing LHS for the broader scientific community. Congrats to seniors Coven and Anderson, who have been selected as two of 10 Central Coast Regional Finalists for the 2026 Seymour Memorial Award through CSF. Recipients are selected based on their scholarship, leadership and contribution to their communities. We are extremely proud of Coven and Anderson and wish them the very best as they prepare for their in-person interviews. Great job. We would like to recognize Celia Victoria, our teacher, Reniti Teacher of the Month for March. Miss Victoria is

014one of our dedicated special education teachers, is recognized for creating an inclusive learning environment and the positive impact she has made in the school community. February was an exciting month for the Cowboys and we are excited for how the rest of the school year pans out. Thank you and as always, it's great to be a Cowboy. Thank you for saying it. Thank you, Trustee Gress. Move on to 10.0, Employee Association Reports and I believe we have LEA President Amy Thompson and I want to recognize Tara Lutz, the Vice President of LEA as well. Just want to say we should start every night with music. Good evening, Board President Drew and members of the Board, Acting Superintendent Bichette and Cabinet. I'm Amy Thompson, President of the Livermore Education Association, representing educators, nurses, counselors, psychologists, speech pathologists,

015social workers and specialists who ensure our students success every single day. The proposed staffing reductions before you tonight represents something that no one wants. It is painful to say goodbye to work friends whose jobs are eliminated due to declining enrollment. It is even more disheartening to cut programs for students due to a lack of funding. I do believe, however, that our district has changed course and is on the right track. We have moved away from a deficit mindset and are now focused on what is possible. While these cuts are not wanted, we have taken steps in the right direction in several ways. The retirement incentives for LEA, CSEA, LMA and CMC all may lead to right sizing staffing without the need for layoffs, in addition to saving money. Work is currently happening to identify funding

016sources to retain services for our students, such as our counselors. The district has recently been awarded restricted funding from Representative Swalwell that is specific to recruitment and retention of teachers that will help fund a coordinator. However, we still need to begin our work in finding funding to retain the building trades program. For members of the community who want to support our district with this forward momentum, an action you can take is to write a letter or email to your state representative supporting proposed funding in the governor's budget and advocating for the owed Prop 98 minimum guarantee to be paid to school districts. For a sample letter or email and the contact information for state legislators, go to the livermoreteachers.org website and click on community update slash call to action. While we have confidence in Trustees

017Bueno and Pruso in their search for an interim superintendent, LEA is advocating for a greater level of involvement when it comes to the search for a permanent superintendent. Employees, as well as the community, seek to have a role in the selection of the next superintendent to ensure that the potential candidate is able to maintain this current positive momentum and continue to restore our district mindset to one which focuses on what is possible for our students. Thank you. Thank you. Up next, CSCA President Mamie Christovich. I want to recognize Victoria Storti, the vice president. Good evening, President Drune, members of the board, acting Superintendent Paschet and cabinet. I am Mamie Christovich, president of the Livermore chapter of CSCA, the California School Employees Association. With a sigh of relief, I can say we dodged massive layoffs for

018CSCA, but we must not lose sight of the fact that we are still mourning the elimination of 30 paraeducator positions and other reductions also. Unfortunately, I was informed the day after our March 2nd negotiations that 14 instructional assistant positions for TK will be eliminated as well. So we are really looking at losing 44 CSCA positions between these two classifications alone. It was disheartening that the instructional assistant layoffs were not brought to our attention sooner. Since staffing is based on enrollment, CSCA should have been apprised in advance of this decision, but instead we learned one day after negotiations and just three days before the board agenda was posted. Our paras have known for quite some time about layoffs, but our instructional assistants feel blindsided. Layoffs for their classification had never been discussed, not even once. And

019suddenly the district is eliminating 14 of their positions. This is a devastating blow that could have been handled in a more thoughtful and considerate manner. It continues to be my hope that the district could invest more effort in collaborating and communicating with CSCA so that we could strengthen our partnership. I am a strong believer in effective and transparent communications, and my CSCA members can attest to that. Today you will be approving reductions for CSCA, and I must inform you that we have not completed negotiations on the impacts and effects of the layoffs. We met on March 2nd, but that was derailed a bit due to information not being provided by the district. Sites had not been approached for input, and some of the input we received was not accurate. We met in negotiations again on

020March 9 and planned to meet on March 11. CSCA realistically cannot sign off on blending two positions into one if that means that the employee would be required to perform the work of more than one person. Whatever the outcome, we need to do our due diligence so employees know that we put forth our best effort in genuinely examining the impacts and effects of the layoffs and reimagining how work gets done. This cannot be regarded as merely an exercise to check the box. Last Friday evening, before I even had a chance to view today's board agenda, people began contacting me. On the agenda was the elimination of two 1.0 FTE administrative secretary positions, one at each of the high schools. My members were understandably alarmed upon seeing the two eliminations. CSCA and the budget workgroup had

021not agreed to the full elimination of two administrative secretaries at the high schools, so why was that on the board agenda for approval? I reached out to the district and my concern was initially dismissed, but the district eventually agreed to amend a list posted on the board agenda to include the language that the two administrative secretary positions were proposed to be reduced from their 12 month work calendar to 11 months. In addition, there was one other position that was included on the board agenda that had not been negotiated. I had no choice but to let the district know that CSCA would be forced to send a cease and desist letter and filed an unfair labor charge that additional para FTE did not get removed from the reductions list. I prefer not to have to say

022or do that, and I would like to think that we all know that positions may not be arbitrarily eliminated. Fortunately, both issues have been corrected, but it should not have come to that to begin with. We have been talking about rebuilding trust, but trust can only be rebuilt if everyone does the right thing and with collaboration and transparency. Terminating employment is life changing. Decisions are being made that not only affect the individual financially and emotionally, but also their families that depend on this source of income. I do not for a moment think that this is easy for any of you, but I would hope and ask that we treat affected employees with respect and consideration during this process. At our last board meeting, I mentioned that I expect that our hiring freeze will still be

023in place to ensure that internal applicants, namely Paris, who receive layoff notices, will be offered opportunities first for vacancies in any classification. I was not aware at the time that the district had planned to eliminate instructional assistant positions as well, so I must amend my statement tonight to also include opportunities for instructional assistants who are receiving layoff notices. I will be watching closely to ensure that the district recognizes that classified employees possess knowledge and skills gained from current and prior work history that are valuable in a variety of different positions in our district. I can tell you from my own experience with the district that despite my decade or so of prior managerial experience, interviewers could not see beyond my role as an intervention specialist and declined to select me for anything I applied for,

024including entry-level positions, until I interviewed with Scott Verneuil, who helped to help start up Lawrence Elementary. This is not about me, however, and my only reason for bringing it up is to use it as an example of how easy it is for people to be overlooked. Knowing that the district mostly values specific experience is what inspired my team to negotiate our job experience program years ago, so CSEA classified employees can add specific skills to their resume and not be automatically dismissed for lack of district experience. Also on the agenda tonight is the MOU for our Me Too Agreement for 2025-26 and 2026-27, as well as the retirement incentive for CSEA. We are happy to complete negotiations on our Me Too and appreciate the district's efforts in reaching agreement. Regarding the retirement incentive, CSEA members are

025excited about this rare opportunity. We do not have final numbers yet, but we have reached a minimum number who are committed to retiring at the end of this school year. While I am thrilled for them, it will also be sad to say farewell, job well done, to so many CSEA members that I have had the honor to get to know. On behalf of CSEA, I thank the board and the district for this extraordinary opportunity. Thank you. Thank you. I don't know if Christy Governor is here from SCIU. I don't think so. CMC Sarah DeGroote is the representative. And lastly, Jeremy Wilkins is the president of LMA. So we'll move on to 11.0, public comments on non-agendaized items. If you'd like to address a topic that is not on this evening's agenda, now is the time

026to do so. If you have not already submitted a TAN card, please do so now. Per protocol, no additional speaker cards will be accepted once public comment begins. We ask that you limit your comments to three minutes and that each speaker may speak once. If you were to speak on an item on the agenda, including the budget reductions, you should select a blue card to speak at the appropriate time for that agenda item. To ensure that everyone has a chance to be heard and maintain a respectful environment, please refrain from clapping or other reactions. If you agree with a speaker or simply raise a hand is appreciated. Public comments are limited to three minutes. And as a reminder, we as a board may not engage in discussion, take action, or give an opinion on items

027not on the agenda. However, the board may briefly respond, ask clarifying questions of staff, and or refer matters to staff for follow up. And with that, I will call up our first person. Paul G. Grosecchi is up first, who will be followed by Catherine Villasenor. Good evening. Oh, there we are. Good evening, Board President Drune, the board, Superintendent Brachette, and cabinet. My name is Paul Grosecchi. I've proudly served Livermore Unified School District since 2005. Started out Livermore High, went over to DalVal in 2007. I served both in CSCA as a campus supervisor for many years. And 2014, I started a bike program. And then principal Darryl Avila nudged and nudged and nudged and said I should be a teacher. And finally, trying to get him to stop bugging me, I found a program at UC

028Berkeley. And I enrolled in a CTE credentialing program. And I cleared credential and started teaching the bike program. Let's see. I got to stay in my notes because I'll start rambling. At a time when the governor's office and Department of Education are pushing for the expansion of CTE programs, career technical education programs, it would be a shame to cancel the two established successful programs we have at DalVal. DalVal and Vineyard are both specialized alternative ed programs. We're able to help students that struggle at the comprehensive high schools with smaller class size, more one-on-one teaching time. We get to know our students. We get to know their learning styles. And we adapt to them so they can learn and make them help them understand it. The bike program, as I said, started in 2014 as an

029afterschool program. The program is both board approved and eligible for UC credits. We have served approximately 450 students over the years. Part of this, I already said, that's why I got to stick to my script. Okay. The bike program was designed. I was a mechanic for 30 years and I tried to do an automotive program but both Livermore and Granada had that. So the bike program was designed based off of that not every student is meant to go to college. I wanted to give my students a chance to think with their minds, their hands, and their eyes. To take something that's broken and fix it. Critical thinking, problem solving. I don't know if you guys have ever tried to fix a derailleur on a bike and make the chain go correctly. It's a chore. Thank

030you, sir. Oh, my three minutes are up? Boy, I didn't even get through half of it. All right, thank you. Up next is Catherine Villasenor followed by Dawn Clark. Good evening. It seems to me that before thinking of teaching Islam in public schools that are refresher course of how public schools started in America should be recognized. The old Elita Satan Act of the late 1700s was the premise of starting public schools. The Bible was the primary textbook and it was taught to the children so they would not be deluded by Satan. Now Islam is against our Judeo-Christian heritage. The Quran teaches that those not with them are infidels to be killed. Talk about hatred and Islam has it. Thank you. Up next is Dawn Clark who will be followed by Cy Matten. Did I push

031this? It's fine. Okay. Good evening, President Dren, trustees, acting superintendent Prashant and cabinet. I come here tonight with a heart of concern for both the students of the of Livermore and for each of you. The Lord Jesus Christ, the creator of heaven and earth, has made it very clear his eyes are on the Livermore Valley. Wednesday, February 25th, he gave me a word to deliver to each of you. First and foremost, I am to apologize to each of you. I want to apologize for anyone who has stood in the name of Christ or followers of Christ but have not done so in love. I want to apologize. I am sorry for anything that has been said to hurt you, insult you, or offend you. That is not my heart tonight. I stand here in love,

032truth, and genuine concern. I am here to tell you that the Lord loves you, sees you, and knows you by name. He is attentive to the decisions that are being made for the children of Livermore, the decisions that are coming from the school board's place of authority. There is a real enemy, the devil who seeks to steal, kill, and destroy the identity and destiny of both you and our students. But Jesus Christ came to give life abundantly. While you and I were still sinners, Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose again in three days. God loves each of us so much that he sent his one and only son so that we may be reconciled back to him through the forgiveness of our sins and gain eternal life. As Jesus was dying on that

033cross, he cried out and said, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. In the Bible, in the book of Genesis, it is very clear that God made man in his own image. He made them male and female and God does not make mistakes. As adults and people in authority over children, it is our responsibility to help them navigate and identify the root cause that is creating confusion and deception and leads them to false identity. The Bible is very clear in both Matthew chapter 18 and Luke chapter 17 about those that cause children to stumble. In Matthew 18, six through seven, it says if anyone causes one of these little ones to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in

034the depths of the sea. Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble. Such things must come, but woe to those who through who they come through. There are decisions coming from this board of trustees that are harming and causing confusion in the children of Livermore and playing into the hands of the devil. The Lord Jesus Christ is sending a clear warning tonight. Woe to the person through whom they come. Each of you have the authority to make decisions to protect our children mentally, physically, and spiritually. Every decision made will be called into account by God. I urge you to reconsider your decisions. It is never too late to turn from wickedness and make decisions that are right, true, and just. I am praying for righteousness to return and praying for

035you. Thank you. Thank you. Up next is Simon. Good evening, President of the board, members of the board, and acting superintendent and cabinet. I was terminated from my position as a substitute teacher September 10th of last year. Prior to that, I was abused, insulted, discriminated, and disrespected by four principals and was accused wrongfully by a misbehaving high school student, which I believe that student later had to be pushed out from the district. The substitute teachers are the OJT, means on-the-job training, to become a teacher at the school and the district. And the principals should help them and guide them if they make a mistake, not to discriminate against. I complained about these incidents multiple times. It's all documented inside the district, Dr. Gibson and everybody. The district completely ignored my complaints and did nothing to

036correct those wrongdoings. Then I called the president of the board and then a member of the board at that time, and they advised me that the HR will take care of it. When the new HR director came in, she had a meeting, we had a meeting together, and she terminated me, in the sense of resolving those problems. I believe those problems was basically an alarm for the district. There is discrimination, there is disrespect, and there is all kinds of abuse going on and probably has happened to many other teachers in the past, which was left unresolved. And when I asked the director of HR, was the reason for my termination, she says you don't need any reason because you're an at-will employee. At-will employee can be terminated anytime. This is completely wrong, and I checked

037with ACLU, I checked with the legal community and Google, they all disagree with that statement. I'm coming from the telecom industry with a long-term experience and then two masters in physics and electrical engineering, and at this age and this point of my life, I have decided to dedicate myself for teaching our young students. So doing something like this to me, I believe it's not only wrong, it's very, very, very bad. So I'm asking the board, I don't know who should do what to whom, but I'm asking the board to get together with the district and get my job back. Thank you. Move on to 12-0 communications. Formal written correspondence to the board of education shall be acknowledged if received by the board or in the superintendent's office by 4 p.m. the day before the meeting.

038Formal written correspondence received after the cutoff will generally be acknowledged at the following meeting. Please note our board electronic communications received via the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District's website by accessing the formal written correspondence to the board of education link with all fields completed and verified shall be treated as formal written correspondence. Clerk, can you summarize the correspondence received? Sure, 53 pieces of correspondence were received in total. There were 47 community members who advocated for retaining the Livermore High School vice principal position currently included on the budget reduction list and six community members expressed support for retaining counselors. Thank you. There's no agenda items for 13-0 information discussion items. We'll move on to discussion action items and 14-0 versus 14-1 reductions in services and staffing for the 2026-2027 school year. Turn the time over

039to Dr. Jessica Bonduras. Thank you. 14.1a is a resolution it's a tiebreaker resolution so during layoffs the board of education may establish the order of seniority for employees who have identical seniority dates presented here in the resolution are five criteria that should be used in determining the order of termination based upon the needs of the districts and students and this is for certificated staff. Don't anticipate needing to use this resolution but it's best practice to for the board to approve a tiebreaking resolution at the same time that resolutions of intent to terminate are on the agenda. It's the acting superintendent's recommendation to approve resolution 15-2526 specifying the criteria to be used to determine the order of termination for certificated employees with equal seniority. I have no blue cards in this item. Any discussion from the

040board? Trustee Cablons? I just have a few questions. Are we using any specific measurable criteria such as performance evaluations to go along with these categories like for example if do we wait the criteria to ensure fairness if there was an employee that got a highly effective rating does that override any extra degrees? Evaluation is not part of the criteria. Okay and then are there criteria objectives enough to survive a grievance or a lawsuit if a teacher could prove they were unfairly ranked? Can you repeat that question? Are there criteria objectives enough to survive a grievance or a lawsuit if a teacher could prove they were unfairly ranked? So the data outline the different categories are defendable by credential and seniority and higher date and so all of those things are data points that are defendable.

041Okay and then who decides the final order of the criteria? Is it HR, the superintendent, or a committee? So it goes in categories so category one followed by category two and so after all those categories lottery is category five and so that would be essentially pulling employee numbers out of a hat or something like that. It's by lottery and so if it got to that point it would be done by lottery. Okay but I just want to know like the final order of it like how we rank who does that? Is that HR, superintendent, or is there a committee that does this? It's a combination of HR in the particular union so in this case it would be LEA so this is for certificated staff. Okay and then what happens if a teacher disputes their

042placement? Is there any type of appeals process? The placement in terms of seniority is not an appeal process but if someone disagrees with a layoff there is a hearing involved with that. And who would hear it? The board. The board okay. And the office of administration. And lastly just for clarification purposes why does having an English learner certification matter more than a special education certification when we're deciding who actually gets laid off? As to my understanding other districts would rank this differently? This is the tie-breaking resolution that was used last year and so EL is very important to this district and so we want to make sure that's identified here. Okay thank you. Trustee Bueno? Just a quick clarification and you touched on it right there at the end. My question is this tie-breaker resolution

043is the same one that we've done last year? This is procedural and there's a statute that requires us to have a tie-breaker prior to the March 15th? Yes. This is not new information this is routine information that has been utilized for many years. That's correct. Okay thank you very much. Any other questions? If not I would entertain a motion. I move in support of the assistant superintendent's recommendation on this item. I'll second. I have a motion from trustee Bueno second from trustee Prusso. Any discussion on the motion? Clerk if you call the roll. Myself aye. Trustee Prusso? Aye. Trustee Bueno? Aye. Trustee Caplanes? Aye. President Druhan? Aye. That motion carries 5-0. Move on to 14-B. We'll hear the presentation. I do have a couple blue cards then we'll move to board discussion and then action.

044Thank you. So for 14.1 point B in the event of a particular kind of service is eliminated or reduced to us we must notify employees by March 15th that they may not have a position for the 26-27 school year. So on the certificate of resolution there are 11.5 FTE identified due to lack of work or lack of funds so that's the resolution before you this evening. Thank you. I have three blue cards on this so it'll be three minutes each. I'll call up Karen Fletcher first followed by Tara Lutz. Hello thank you. Thank you for your time tonight and also I want to just thank you for the responses to all the correspondents. Mr. Vanden Heuvel we really appreciate that and I'm here tonight just to address the potential cut to a vice principal position

045at Livermore High School. We currently have four vice principals and we are all as teachers speaking as a teacher at Livermore High School. I'm an engineering and physics and robotics teacher. It's my ninth year here and first of all Livermore High School has more EL students. We have more students that have individualized education plans IEPs. We have more 504s and we're really concerned that the extra time load if we lose a vice principal position would cause just the general environment for learning and education at the school to be decreased for all students and as well as teachers. So we just want I'd like to respectfully ask that that you keep that fourth vice principal position. Thank you. Up next is Tara Lutz will be followed by Lauren Mattingly. Good evening. I'm here on behalf of

046Paul Crocechi. I'm continuing what he started. So speaking on behalf of construction and building trades the project build was intended to be a three-year one million dollar initiative grant from the Department of Labor the North American Building Trades Union. It is managed by the California Trades Workforce Initiative CTWI, LVJUSD and DelVal's vice principal Steve Martin. However due to administrative delays in the MOU process the program's operational window was compressed from 30 months to just 17 and a half months. Despite this shortened timeline the results are undeniable. The students who graduate from the program have gone through no less than 124 hours of academic work designed by NABTU, received 60 to 100 hours of hands-on experience and have taken field trips to local union training halls. They earn their Red Cross first aid CPA AED two-year

047certification, their OSHA 10 construction health and safety card and receive an apprenticeship readiness pre-apprenticeship to the building trades certificate. With these three items in the health of CTWI graduates receive a higher priority placement in the apprenticeship program to the trade of their choice and in some cases exempts them for some of the entrance exams. To date the program has been running a total of six quarters or one and a half school years. We have had 65 students enrolled in the program. 23 students have graduated from the program and another seven to ten students are expected to graduate from the program by the end of May. 25 students have already earned their OSHA 10 card. 24 students are now Red Cross certified in CPR first aid AED including passing their skills testing. Please work to find

048a funding source to continue this program that is very low cost, benefits our students and gives them a leg up in starting their adult lives and careers. Thank you. Thank you. Up next Lauren Mattingly. Good evening. I am a proud teacher from Livermore High School. I teach AP macroeconomics, AP government and leadership and I'm the activities director as well. So I came from a different district and I will say that at that district there were a lot of issues when it came to management at the school and a lot of it came down to the fact that there were too few administrators. There were only three administrators and it was really hard to ever have a relationship with them for the students to have a relationship with them and it truly was just something that

049we could constantly see. There was turnover and there just wasn't a lot of loyalty to the school and I really worry that cutting this VP position is going to do that to the future of Livermore High School. It doesn't just affect teachers though. I just want to remind us like I'm going to fall back on my teaching skills but I want to remind you all about what equity is and equity recognizes that people have different circumstances and allocates the specific resources needed for everyone to reach an equal outcome. I feel like because of our total population we got this position cut but if you actually look at the special populations in our school we have more of a need for this fourth position. It's truly essential for us to have this incredible administrative group that

050we have at Livermore. I've seriously never seen a better group and I think that it comes down to the fact that we have the four of them that work really well together and so if we cut that last position, that fourth position, I really worry about where we would go. So please reconsider cutting the VP position. Thank you. So close public comment at this time. We'll open it to the board for questions and comments. Trustee Capuanes? I have a few questions. The board already approved to reductions of 14.8 million. They remain in a qualified budget status. How do we justify these reductions that provide direct services to students? I'm sorry, can you repeat your question? Listening to the comments and the board correspondence that came in about different positions that we're eliminating, I just want

051to know if we've already approved the 14.8 million in reductions and we're still remaining in a qualified budget status, how do we justify these reductions that provide direct services to students? The 14.8 million in reductions that we've already approved? Yeah, in the last meeting. So the last meeting, the board approved the reductions that put us in qualified status. It does not equal 14.8 million. What is that number? Ms. Wesley can help with that. Let me just pull up our last agenda. Is it 11? So we cut approximately through our various reduction options, $9.14 million. And so this action, I'll just say, is finalizing the board's approval of the plan last time. This is the actual formal legally required process that we have to implement now the reductions are approved. Got it. Okay. Thank you for

052that clarification of that number. So my question is, how do we justify these reductions that provide direct services to students? So these reductions came about by conversation at our February 10th board meeting of putting together our budget work group, which was comprised of labor leaders and leaders of our LMA and CMC group, as well as cabinet and board members. And within that group, we spent three full days coming to consensus on the plan that was approved by the board on February 24th. And just, you know, I really hope that we find funding for the CTE pathway teacher and the other ones that have been brought up. I do want to speak to the vice principals at one high school that were eliminating one. And I just want to know what's that real justification? Why are

053we eliminating one VP at LA Jess? Well, if we, if we rewind back for a year ago, and we were looking at reductions a year ago, the VP position was on a year ago. So there was a, you know, we, we looked at neighboring districts and high schools. I think there was a comparison of 10 high schools with, you know, with regard to their total enrollment, their students with disabilities, percentages, their percentage of ELs, and their socioeconomically disadvantaged. And so with that, the, the, the recommendation was made that perhaps Livermore High School having four VPs that one could, could potentially be reduced. It was not a popular, but none of these reductions are anything that anyone wants to do. But that was the data that was used. Okay. And if we're okay with eliminating one

054at Livermore High School, why is one not eliminated at Granada High School as well? And redirect that money to maybe counselors, a PE teacher, the CTA pathway teacher, who are also front-facing with students on a daily basis. We talked about many things in our budget work group, but we came to consensus with the plan that was presented and approved at the last board meeting. So even with fewer students, both schools still need support. If one's school's vice principal is essential, why isn't the other? If we cut from one school or none and fund more students with roles that are like counselors or instructors, if we're prioritizing headcount over impact, then I think we should cut symmetrically and fund other students' supports instead. Unequal staffing, I don't believe is equity, and it's just uneven cuts. Okay.

055You want me to continue? Okay. Is it possible to make a motion to amend this removal of the vice principal reduction from Livermore High School and or adding the reduction of a Granada High School VP and keeping a vineyard? Jenna, a teacher and the CTE teacher at DelVal who helped students during the recent California fires to send bicycles to survivors who needed means for transportation. The board always has the authority to amend the resolution to make a motion to amend. No. Well, yeah, I do. Can I continue? One or two more and then if you have more, then we'll move to other and then we'll circle back to you. Okay. So acting superintendent, can you please tell me, are we cutting counselors because of our school-based mental health grant? Has it dried up? No. The

056school-based mental health grant, which I believe I've sent board correspondence multiple times about the updates just to ensure that our board was informed of where we are. It has been a roller coaster for our poor mental health counselors. The current status that we are in is that there was an injunction that was awarded and that we were awarded our funding for the current year. However, when we received the grant award notification last week, it was greatly reduced by half. So Sherry Johnston and Amy Thompson had been working tirelessly with myself to find solutions to make sure that our elementary counselors, our school-based mental health counselors can continue on for the 26-27 school year. When we were given first notification of the loss of this grant, Ms. Johnston and I sought out grant funding to fill

057the gap. So we do have a little bit of funding based on grants, smaller grants that we have written together to help fill that. So we're hoping that that can cover for the 26-27 school year. And just for clarification purposes, why did we lose this grant to begin with? Was it the situation like Mr. Garcetti brought up about there was a delay? There was no delay in anything. No. Why did we lose this grant to begin with? Because there is a new administration in the White House and priorities changed with regard to this grant. So is it correct to say there was state policy clashing with federal rules? I wouldn't say that. Okay. I'm going to move to Trustee Prusso and then see if there's a, or I'm sorry, were you going to comment or

058is it Vanden Heuvel? Vanden Heuvel and then give comments. Prusso, anything? Yeah, I've got some questions too. Thank you. I do want to say something directly to the staff and the students and the families who've spoken out in the last couple of days. I hear you and I'm really grateful that you spoke up. I voted for the reduction prioritization list, that's hard to say, at the last board meeting. The reductions work group members who made that list represented every employee group in the district and they did really difficult work in good faith. They are experts and I trust their work and I support the imperfect process that produced this reduction list. And to be honest, in the weeks since that vote, I've heard from a lot of other experts, people who are close to this

059situation, like teachers, administrators, parents, people who can see clearly what losing this position would mean for students and that input has helped me understand the stakes more fully probably. So tonight I want to ask some questions of cabinet and not any way to undo the work that's already been done because I think that we need to stand on that, but to make sure that I understand exactly what flexibility we have perhaps and what this resolution does and what it does not commit us to and what options remain open. I believe I think Ms. Wasley taught us that the budget is not a fixed object, it changes and as it changes, I want to make sure that we're making the best decisions we can for students and staff of this district because that's what we were

060elected to do. Question one, can you help me and maybe the public understand what this resolution that we're about to vote on actually authorize and what does it not like? Does issuing a pink slip guarantee that a position will be eliminated? I'm gonna let Dr. Bonders go ahead and answer that. Thank you. So March 15th notice is a formal document that you have to give to employees if you think there's any potential in reducing their work for the upcoming school year. So by ed code we need to notify employees that there's a potential in forming them a potential release of for the following year and so it doesn't mean that it's a final layoff so things can change during that time. A final resolution will be brought before the board in May and letters issued

061to employees should there be a final layoff of their position so during that time different things could happen the retirements, resignations, different funding, different direction, anything like that and so it's like I said a formal notice that is required by ed code if there's any potential of reductions. That's super helpful. How many pink slips did we issue last year and ultimately how many positions were eliminated? What does that tell us about how this process usually unfolds? So the data that I have from last year is that we issued 19 classified layoffs and the final resolution had five positions and for certificated that we issued 15 notices and the final had one. Okay so and at what point in the calendar does the district have, do we have to make that final decision and perhaps also

062what factors are part of that decision? So the final resolution will take place in May. I think it's May 10th I think we have a board meeting so I expect to bring their resolution during that time and from now through that time the district will look at funding, will look at different options, all of those things take place as well as retirements, resignations, and things like that. So before you are, what was identified in the budget reduction sheet as well as layoffs of positions based on enrollment and the special education work that's been taking place and right sizing different classrooms. So not doing this would essentially tie your hands and will not give you as many of the tools that you need to for Ms. Wasley to balance the budget? Yeah well this it would

063eliminate the flexibility and again if there's any potential reduction it needs to be notified by March 15th. Now you know taking a cue from Trustee Caplan, if the board were to recommend removing a specific position from this resolution tonight what would the district need in order to still meet its budget targets? Would we have to come and bring you the options right away today? I mean we don't have much time. Ms. Wasley? I would say as you mentioned budget is always a living breathing document that's constantly being updated but I would say part of the work of the budget committee might need to re-look at the priorities and how it would need to be adjusted if that was removed off the list to see how it changed here one, two, and three based off of

064the reductions made. We're also still waiting on a few other outstanding items for potential funding shifts and how that could help alleviate if a position was removed. So I think it would really be probably the budget committee looking at what our other options are if one of the positions was removed and where that leaves us. And not to put you on the spot but let me ask you a question. Has any budget, has the budget shifted at all since the work group met because it's been several weeks that the board should be aware of? I'm still working on updating my multi-year projection for second interim. Right now I am slightly, the reserve is slightly below where I was projecting us at when we were working with the budget work group so I'm still really combing

065through to try to get us back to that number where we had us where we're qualified but still but not negative. So I'm still kind of working on that but there's been some areas of improvement and some areas of additional expense and so balancing all of that out has put us to where I'm still kind of trying to see if we can be in a better position than previously projected but right now I don't foresee that. Okay I think a lot of tension for me personally is around the prioritization order of reductions that the work group established. Under what conditions if any could the board recommend that the work group you know that you or the cabinet with the work group revisit the order of the is that something we can decide or how does

066that work? Well we spoke in our budget work group meeting about reconvening to prioritize within the tiers because that was that work was not completed. So that could still take place so if new information comes in if say a grant or change in enrollment projections or a state adjustment that frees up funds the district will be able to you know preserve lower priority positions first or does it or is this a legal document like we can't we the work group has to do that right to reorganize some of those priorities. Well what I would say is to preserve the integrity of what we accomplished in that work group. It would be to reconvene that work group to prioritize within those tiers as we had agreed upon through consensus. Thank you that's super helpful. Okay I

067don't have a lot to say I do want to say to the people here tonight that I know this is difficult and we've been wrestling with these decisions now since August I think and it has been challenging and I know that it is challenging and it affects people very personally and I just wanted to acknowledge that. But I also would like to say that this resolution the process of getting this resolution is what I asked for and I think kind of we asked as a board for is this process with the workshop. Having said that and kind of coming off of what trustee Vanden Heuvel said I do want to remind the community that we that there still is flexibility in this process that things can change between now and May and as you stated

068and as acting superintendent Bichette also stated I think it would be again to have that same work group get together and as you said go through those tiers again. I know that that work isn't totally completed and I think there would be an opportunity there to look at some of our student-facing positions that are on there and see which ones are possibly could come back first before that May deadline. Having said all that I will be supporting this resolution tonight but I just want people to understand that there still remains flexibility and I want to make sure that there is flexibility which is why I will be supporting this resolution. Thank you. First I just wanted to touch on a concern there was some comments made earlier this evening relative to either the lack of

069preparation or the perception thereof in regards to like meet and confer and my concerns kind of carry over into the potential like some of the calculations and numbers where maybe there was a perception by leadership and so I would just ask that we remain committed in times like this it's really easy to fragment and to come apart because anyone who's ever negotiated especially contracts especially when you're a representative form of any type of leadership the beginning stuff's easy it's when you get right down to the brass tacks and you're getting into those last couple of positions or that last half percent and it's really easy to just kind of bifurcate as a group and so I would ask that we stay committed to that. We were in not a real good place not that long

070ago and under your acting leadership it's real leadership though and we all came together that task force met for a specific purpose and it was all inclusive every group here was represented by their elected and duly elected representatives they all went into room and they came out with consensus that is not an easy thing to do it was very difficult and I will be supporting it this is the process that we put forth it I don't say it lightly but when you are in big organizations you have to stick with your process and you have to trust in your process and if the trust if the process doesn't work you change the process but in my belief and I've done this the 12 years I've been on this board you do not change the results

071of the process you change the process otherwise you'll never get your people to support process and organizations this is not like a household where we can go back and forth there's one or two people kind of running it there's 1,500, 1,600, 1,700 employees here elected boards community there's a lot of moving parts this was one of the most inclusive processes that I've witnessed in my 12 years and three terms on this board and it was in a very sensitive time and they came out with a result they are all experts in their subject and they came out with consensus it's significant and I do understand that this is a largely procedural that is an obligation that we have to do we're simply codifying what we've already done in terms of the savings and that we

072can build back based on how funding comes in and what we're able to do there was a lot of changes and one of the main changes was some of the grant stuff money got clawed back that we already had that we had constructive receipt of almost and it was pulled back and that was a philosophical change at the federal level and so those type of changes have a negative effect on your overall budget this was not this was not a single hurricane or a single tornado a single event some of this is structural and we're doing some right sizing because of some decreased enrollment it is not about prioritizing I read all the emails that people sent and I know the ones that we got the most of were the ones on the vp at

073livermore high this is not reflective on the value of the vp at livermore high and to say that it's not important and I do take exception when because what happens in times like this there was a few of the corresponds that we got and it people sometimes tend to pit one side against the other well why did this high school that is not the object here the object here is to meet a budgetary requirement with the county so that we can move forward and then from that point once we cross that threshold we can come back to these things I don't believe that anyone on this board or anyone in this administration is going to say that we're going to undervalue an individual whether it's someone in any one of these other jobs or one

074that tends to be more of a lightning rod issue I fully intend to support it because this is the product that our experts that I trust in this district came up with I just want to know for future how do we lock in steady funding so students don't pay the price when it comes to grants I that's a loaded question I wish I had the answer to that of locking in funding we do our best in our due diligence when we go out for grants unfortunately the terms were changed midstream and that wasn't something anyone anticipated we've done a considerable amount of work to try to restore funds to to keep that programming I think you're referencing sbmh but as far as we you know educational services I'll put my educational services hat on right

075now overseas dozens of grants and so we do do our due diligence to make sure everything every t is crossed and i is dotted so that we retain those funds year after yes thank you I was referencing not only the sbmh but also the um what was that one for the cte the project build funding as well thank you you're welcome so I want to recognize that the reductions that are proposed pose significant challenges to our educational system however I want to bear in mind the process by which we arrived at this point more recently trustee bueno offered and the board agreed to create a work group that held the expertise to provide us the board with a recommendation the recommendation was part of a package that was confidentially discussed weighed and approved by consensus

076I'm concerned about the ramifications of reaching out for that expert opinion again in the future and their willingness to spend time to deliberate deliberating if we do not carefully consider their recommendations yet in in the end the board has the ultimate authority I have concerns about all of the positions on the list I've read and listened to the community's concerns regarding many aspects of the proposed productions including the vice principal position and counselors yet I stand by my votes at the last board meeting and I'll be voting to approve the resolution um as they are presented if there's no other discussion then I would entertain a motion I move in support of this acting superintendent's recommendation on this item I have a motion from trustee bueno I'll second a second from trustee preso uh before

077we move into so the next is is there any discussion on the motion and so for the clarity if you you have an aye or a yes a nay or no abstain or this last one I'm missing recuse recuse so is there any other comment before voting can we just get some clarification on this so if we approve it we approve it as it as it stands and then eventually it could be amended so we're approving it so that we have a motion and a second to approve it as is so there's no opportunity to amend so if there was if you wanted to amend then you would make a motion to amend as is and then you would need to have a second but currently we have the action has been to approve as

078is and there's a second so we'd have to vote on that if that doesn't pass then you could pass uh propose another motion that would need to be seconded okay thank you any other discussion on the motion let me clerk can you call the roll trustee preso aye trustee kaplanis nay trustee bueno aye myself aye president druan aye that motion carries four one we will move on to 14 1 c so 14 1 c is a resolution of intention to terminate classified employees due to lack of work or lack of funds in the event of a particular kind of service is eliminated or reduced we must notify employees by march 15th on this resolution there's an fte of 43.90625 and that is before you this evening it's the acting superintendent's recommendation to approve this resolution

079thank you i have no blue cards questions or discussions i'll look left this time i've just i think same the same comments i made in my last one i know that all of these are important for our district um these positions that these are difficult decisions and that this is a preliminary process so but i will be supporting this all right are these 43 44 ish um fte's is that are those all pink slips or is these do not include the resignations or retirements or no they do not okay thank you just says uh from a historical perspective when i first came on the board it was the practice that notices were sent it was procedural and it's a the march 15th notice uh in years past before i was on the board i was

080told that they had a pink slip and it was kind of a i don't want to say it was a celebration but it was kind of like hey we're giving pink slips it's like a trying to make light of it um but at some point there was a transition that said well we're about this many people retire a year and about this many people get hired a year and it's kind of a wash and so the practice of the march 15th it takes up a tighter balance to get to that point where you don't have to do that so in this case we're kind of at a razor's thin edge so a lot of this is statutory obligation that we put these out because it's a state requirement and from the fiduciary oversight from the

081alameda county office education we have to go through this process and so it's it just for the public who watches this it's not this big shift in the livemore district where we're issuing pink slips it's simply we're so close on the margin after following all the work you do have to give it out you have to give these out in the event otherwise you're not going to meet your fiduciary responsibility to have a balanced budget with with the alameda county office education that oversees us and and all county all municipalities are subject to this this may seem far different than what we've done in some years past it's it's simply because of the the kind of razor's edge that we're on and some of the work that's had been done to get us to this

082but it's not like we've changed philosophically and we're saying we're going to start laying people off and then you combine that with the fact that we have reduced enrollment not just here but statewide people have less kids there's less young families people are moving out of state whatever that is declining enrollment your ratios go down i think there was a comment here that the eye got taken off of say para educators for a while and so we became overstaffed and so that is just a managerial thing that is not a result of any singular action so some of these are simply downsizing meeting the ratios that meet the required needs and meet contractual obligations that's it so it's and then if i can just build from the comments um there was times where some districts

083that i was aware of and it was like draw a line and just pink slip everybody just in case yes right that there was a practice of which was i don't know it's not it's not it's not a neutral thing to receive a pink slip even from a fiscally sound mindset it gives us flexibility to to do that kind of action so that is a practice that has been used in the past and so this this is different from that so yes trustee kaplanis comments or questions i have a few questions so for the 22.5 para educators eliminated um teachers parents and administrators are sounding the alarm on school safety these people handle ieps reading help behavior and keep classrooms from chaos so what's our actual plan to keep the classroom safe and meet faith

084without these supports miss manky thank you so that the alignment that we've done this year for anticipation of next year has helped us to really evaluate our systems and our processes and our ratios we haven't had ratios in the past so our contract language for our teachers union has class class size caseload sizes for our teachers and so the first step and part of our roll up for the 26 27 school year is when we start to move our students in the next grade level once we establish and put the students into their classes for the next grade level then we establish what the need is for a pair of educators part of that is looking at caseload sizes it's also looking at individual student needs so for example i think i've talked about this

085if we have a fifth grade student who is receiving a one-to-one para support and that student moves on to sixth grade then there is an open para position basically at the fifth grade level they don't move to the next level and so through that plus the reduction of our class over at saco and plus the reduction of a class at prochi that has eliminated some of our educators in terms of classroom safety what we do is we follow the iep so if a student has a one-to-one written into their iep or additional support written into their iep then we follow that if additional support is needed based on classroom need or program need or site need that will come secondary to placing our students in our classrooms so the next step is for our program

086specialist to myself to work with principals and individual programs and looking at individual students so for example if i have an esn classroom extensive support needs that has a significant amount of toileting that needs to take place i need to make sure that there's coverage in the classroom so that when the students and the para educators are with the students doing their they're changing that i have enough support still back in the classroom same thing goes with transportation recess all of those so while we have kind of a standard ratio that we set to start our classes now comes the work between now and may to determine what individual program needs we may have sometimes we have a lot of one-to-one para support into a classroom and so we wouldn't need additional para educator support

087in addition to the teaching so we have now placed all of our students and now we're balancing our classes and our caseloads and then we'll be meeting with our principals in the next couple of weeks to start looking at individual program needs if there's any changes that need to happen thank you for that clarification also i have a question about what the impact will be with the reduction of 8.75 instructional assistance will this raise classroom sizes or lead to more combined classes so those tk classes have a 20 to 1 ratio so that will maintain thank you if there's no other discussion i would entertain a motion on this point 141 c i'd like to make a motion to uh support the acting superintendent's recommendation to approve resolution 17 25 26 um i'll second a

088motion from trustee prusso a second from trustee vandenheuvel any discussion on the motion clerk can you call the roll trustee bueno aye trustee kaplanis abstain trustee prusso aye myself aye president druane aye so that motion carries four with one abstention we've gone to 14 to approval of tentative agreement between classified school employees chapter 334 and lvj usd dr bonduras it's your evening thank you so negotiation teams for csa and lvj usd reached tentative agreement on article 25.2 me 2 of the csa collective bargaining agreement and the teams agreed to the following implementation of the me 2 clause for the 25 26 contract negotiations so a 1.11 percent increase to the 25 26 salary schedule retroactive to july 1st 2025 in addition a 0.96 ongoing increase the 25 26 salary schedule retroactive to january 1st 2026

089and these me 2 provisions we paid out no later than 45 days after the csa ratification and board approval so this is all in addition to the 2 increase to column g of a salary schedule which was previously negotiated and added to the salary schedule which was effective july 1st 2025 csa ratified the me 2 mou on february 25th 2026 the salary schedules have been updated as attachments here in terms of the fiscal impact this is equivalent to the percentage that lea received for the 25 26 and 26 27 of 8.78 percent increase it's the acting superintendent's recommendation to approve the me 2 mou the csa and i want to thank the csa leadership for their partnership in this i have no blue cards we'll close public comments questions comments from the board trustee cabanas

090the optics of this can send max messages as we're approving more money than balancing our budget and we're in a qualified status and cutting services to students i just want to clarify if this was already accounted for in our proposed reductions that were approved last meeting this was okay thank you i would entertain a motion on this item i move in support of the super acting superintendent's recommendation on this item i'll second i have a motion from trustee pueno seconded from trustee vanden huval any discussion on the motion the clerk can you call roll trustee pueno aye trustee caplales aye trustee prussell aye myself aye president druid aye that motion carries five oh move on to 14.3 great so uh the district yeah and csa teams negotiate an mou for a retirement incentive for members

091who commit to retirement at the end of the 25 26 school year so the two options for csa members are number option number one annual health benefit contribution of 15 000 for six years or option two annual payment of 15 000 for six years beginning in 26 27 through 20 31 20 32 to pay it out paid out in 10 equal installments a minimum of 15 csa csa members must commit to retirement by the end of this school year for the incentive to take place it is the acting superintendent's recommendation to approve this retirement incentive mou with csa and again i want to thank csa leadership for their partnership in negotiating this mou trustee vanden huval in what what way is this particular uh understand the retirement incentive for for a csi csa different from

092the lea one that we've seen before and why are there differences the lea retirement incentive required a minimum of 25 members and the the payment was 19 000 for members and so when looking at the different amounts and how many people are needed for a retirement incentive to be beneficial for the district it's looking at equity among the different groups so how many people make up each bargaining unit the salary of outcome outgoing and incoming members number of eligible employees who are even eligible to retire and the savings over six years no that's super helpful thank you just a comment trustee boina and no question just a comment i wanted to thank the csa leadership for staying with this and it tends to be one of your most quiet groups where you know cta sometimes

093will be loud in the state for reason csa historically not just here but statewide is more of a quiet group and during the last few months they've had to come forward i want to just say how much i appreciate their concise leadership how they've been able to capture facts bring them to the attention of at least this board member i won't speak for anyone else and come to a resolution like this that is mutually beneficial for the entire district this goes towards our budget savings which helps everyone most importantly our students so i appreciate that and everyone working with it with our leadership team from the district you know the questions or discussions on this motion just once um thank you to csa for helping us with this um a quick question though what happens

094if we don't meet the requirement for this incentive and how will this affect our general fund so if the required number is not met then we would return to the right the incentive that's currently included in csa's collective bargaining agreement the budget committee or work group took the stance of trying to be more conservative in the recommendations brought forth so we looked at if none of the retirement incentives move forward what would the cuts need to be and then as retirement incentives are achieved then we'll add that savings into the overall budget outlook and then be able to reduce the number of reductions needed okay thank you i'm just curious obviously all districts have retirement incentive i guess i can't say all but how how often are packages like this just kind of historically speaking

095and that can be open to anybody in the cabinet just curious how often it's really not that often there you go um thank you any other discussion if not i would entertain a motion uh motion i move to recommend the acting superintendent's recommendation to approve the memorandum of understanding for the retirement incentive with csa chapter three three four i'll second okay i have a motion from trustee vanden second from trustee pruso any discussion on the motion clerk can you call the roll trustee kaplanis aye trustee bueno myself aye trustee pruso aye president druin aye that motion curious five oh we'll continue the dr bonduras uh 14-4 approval of memorandum of understanding with classified with our cmc classified managers and confidentials and leadership management association lma for retirement incentives thank you so the district and lma

096and cmc representatives prepared an mou to also provide a retirement incentive option for lma and cmc members who commit to retirement at the end of the 25-26 school year this mou would have annual health benefit contribution of 15 000 for six years or an annual payment of 15 000 for six years beginning in 20 26 2027 through 2031 2032 the minimum number of employees needed to um satisfy this retirement incentive is three it's a very small group and not many people are eligible so it's the acting superintendent's recommendation to approve this mou questions comments if not i would entertain a motion i move to support the acting superintendent's recommendation to approve the mou for retirement incentive with classified managers confidentials and leadership management association i second motion from trustee pruso second trustee van hoefel any

097discussion on the motion court can you call roll trustee bueno aye trustee pruso aye trustee kaplanis aye myself aye president druin aye that motion carries five oh we'll move on to 15-0 consent items there are nine consent item motions on the consent agenda is there any that any board member wishes to remove for separate discussion sorry i didn't let you finish say it again i was just gonna i was just gonna ask if we could pull one two and four out so that our student board member can vote with us sure and we could if no one has anything any comments about that we could vote on those first it's the minutes the um the uh conference no field trips and then the board member assignments and clusters that's me any anyone need to talk

098about any of those or can i make a motion okay um i will move to approve consent items one a two a and four in their entirety did i say that right you've got a 2b 15 to be oh yeah there's nothing on there oh ignore me then it's it's on there but it's you're good okay so i have a motion from trustee pruso sort of second wait i have a question real quick sure on 15 to a we we pulled that right okay um i just want to confirm that this is travel but it's not being paid out of the general fund correct um and is it the board's responsibility to monitor these accounts or is it just to authorize the travel just you are just approving this as a whole it's staff's responsibility

099to monitor the accounts okay and would something like this always be paid out of this source or would we normally pay out of our general fund this is specialized funding for our yearbook uh coordinator so it would be out of specialized funds and so historically is it always paid out of that funding source or is it ever out of the general fund i'd have to get back to you on that answer okay yeah thank you all right so a motion from trustee pruso for 15 one a 15 to a and 15 for sir second second okay so motion from trustee pruso second from trustee bueno any discussion on the motion if not kurt can you call the roll trustee pruso aye myself aye trustee bueno aye trustee caplanis okay president drewan aye trustee gruss aye

100that motion super carries so five oh with uh one approval from our trustees uh student trustee so then we have 15 three as well any discussion or questions of 15 three if not i would entertain a motion i'll make a recommendation to approve um item 15 three of out of consent i'll second motion from trustee van hoogles second from trustee pruso any discussion on the motion clerk can you call the roll myself i trustee caplanis aye trustee pruso aye trustee bueno aye president drewan aye that motion carries five oh so that's all the consent items so move on to reports and requests first trustee bueno i touched on it a little bit earlier when we're talking about one of the items but i think that the state of the district is uh is sound and

101people are working together and leadership has come together and it's an inclusive environment and i think that this is one of those times one of those times where we can tap back into our community um and um who's always supported public education here but i think it's imperative that we don't allow ourselves to fragment and we're just about uh at a point in the normal school year where it tends to get a little chaotic it's cyclical so if you haven't had a 10th grader or a fifth grader before or 12th grade any of them um it's the time here when the the balls start coming up in the student activities and there's a lot of activity and a lot of moving parts and it's largely uh celebrations and so this is the type and people

102are making transitions and kids are getting their acceptance letters for college there's a lot going on right now so there's going to be a lot to celebrate um and in that spirit i just wanted to thank mr enright and um president drewan and uh our acting superintendent pichette for organizing and having the music come in here today that is a welcome reminder of why we're here it's been a long time since they've been in this room and i would welcome them anytime they'd like to come that was a really good decision in setting the agenda to bring those kids here because it's really easy for adults to disagree but in this environment the only thing we have to discuss is students and so when we can celebrate them and support them that is why we're

103here and that's what brings us all together and it has for many generations in this town so thank you all for what you've done trustee cabanas since our last board meeting i was able to attend the second and third grade assembly at junction and was thrilled to hear them perform in both english and spanish i was beyond impressed with the outstanding performance of the honors chamber orchestra at livermore high school and thoroughly enjoyed the performance tonight and i too wish we could have them come more often before our meetings mr enright does a really really fabulous job with the students and we're thankful for that i always enjoy attending science odyssey at joe mitchell great job to all the students teachers and parents who helped make this so much fun one of the projects i

104found really interesting was about the effects of sleep deprivation in adolescents coming off of 12 hours of continued education for my professional license in neurology lack of sleep affects the communication of the prefrontal cortex in the limbic system affecting emotional well-being and mood it was an honor to be able to participate and read across america with the kindergartners and third grade students at altamont creek the fourth to sixth grade district spelling bee was quite an event to witness the young students spelling complex words in front of so many parents and administrators one of the highlights of last week was the maryland steam academy fifth grade public project presentation assembly and their spectacular version of a red carpet trashin show and lastly and most recently i enjoyed helping and volunteering at the junction tk3's book fair

105choice of anna newwell i had an opportunity also to go to a few events um i spent time with joe mitchell k8 for the science odyssey where i had the privilege of helping to judge student science project i'm glad they were in the younger grades because they were so good oh mr connor i was so glad it was in high school the quality of work was just spectacular it was really impressive uh one fifth grader just blew me away um it was also really fun to see trustee uh robin deepak's um display there in one of the rooms and talk to him a little bit um i returned to joe mitchell the next night for the showcase and for the trashin show um huge highlight the the students they wear wearable designs created with recycled

106stuff and they still look better than i did so i don't know what that means i need to shop at better places i don't know um i also attended uh triby night at three steve's winery it was a fundraiser hosted by the maryland steam academy community to support their fifth grade science camp so huge shout out to mrs morton mr mignet it was just a really really fun evening for a good cause which is that's even better you know it's fun it's great but when it's for a good cause it's better not to brag but our team our team name was and in first place uh which included decision superintendents um wasley and manky won first place do i need can that go on the record somewhere because that would be great and um it

107was in spite of having me on the team so extra points for you and also the pleasure of attending livermore high school's production of check please the production last weekend it's like a play that follows a series of blind dates that couldn't get any worse except they did get worse and it was hilarious and it was fully directed and and produced and performed by the incredible lhs students probably also under careful guidance of mr alfer mr bebel and uh i don't know the talent and the commitment in that room was something to see so it's been really good to see our students to see families to see staff showing up for each other this last couple weeks thank you i don't have a lot to report this time i do i did want to uh

108also i'm just very appreciative that the livermore high orchestra was able to come in i definitely was not crying but it was very sweet and i am coaching at livermore high school swim and there's a lot of crossover between swim team and the orchestra so that was fun to see my swimmers here as well um and also is able to attend pcic um katie krauss our director of childhood nutrition gave gave a presentation and i could tell that the parents came in there like ready to maybe complain or or have concerns about um about the about what's happening or just just the food and and they have especially the elementary kids um by the end they were just like wow this is amazing you guys do amazing work so um it really is amazing what

109what goes into planning preparing and serving all of our students and making sure that they have nutritional food one of my favorite comments was someone who said that her fourth grader always never gets to get syrup because they run out of syrup and then katie mentioned that they don't have syrup they do not serve syrup at all so that was good good information to know um so she could pass along to her student who was so upset that they never get syrup um and also i was thinking syrup for kindergartners that's a nightmare so i think that's good that they're not serving syrup but anyway it was really great and i love i always love meeting with that group because it's um it's parents from all of our schools and they're just so incredible and

110the work that they do um for our students at the schools is just amazing so i just appreciate i always appreciate getting to go to pcic and then personally i've just had a really busy week my whole family is here visiting it's been really fun for me my daughter um has been living in uruguay for 18 months and i haven't seen her for 18 months since she came home this last week so it's been really fun we've been celebrating uh her being home and having all of my kids here has been really uh fantastic so that's what i've been doing uh just a couple things to share and i attended black history month meet and greets with the hayward that was put on by the hayward south alameda county NAACP it was a fantastic event

111to meet and greet and it just reminded me that education is such a small world i ran into my thesis advisor from sfsu that i hadn't seen in a while who's now the president of chabot community college so it's just fantastic to you know meet and greet and realize the connections that we have for read across america day i helped chaperone a walking field trip from east avenue to jackson avenue elementary school it went well where middle schoolers delivered cards to elementary grade reading buddies facilitated a craft and read picture books and i'm just humbled by the the amount of uh yes and from teachers and staff and community members to make meaningful interactions for our students i remember having a reading buddy and we only met once i still remember that that experience so

112i know that um uh that it was important for both middle schoolers and elementary school students so with that i'll pass it over to uh acting superintendent pichette thank you tonight i would like to take a moment to recognize and extend our sincere appreciation to two of our valued community partners the rotary club of livermore and livermore valley education foundation recently during the winter grants awards representatives from rotary and the education foundation presented grants to several of our teachers and community partners these grants support innovative classroom projects and enrichment opportunities for students across our district from science and robotics to literacy intervention outdoor education and safe and sober graduation programs this quarter alone 10 grants were awarded to lvj usd teachers and additional grants were provided to non-profit organizations serving youth in our community altogether

113the rotary club of livermore contributed 4841 dollars and the livermore valley education foundation contributed 2441 dollars for a combined investment of more than 7200 directly supporting student learning i would also like to extend a special thank you to the rotary grant community members whose thoughtful work makes these grants possible when i reflect on the partnership between our schools and our community i'm reminded of the children's book the giving tree by shel silverstein in that story the tree gives freely so the boy can grow and thrive in many ways our community partners embody the same spirit of generosity giving their time resources and support so that our students can explore learn and succeed the rotary rotary club of livermore and the livermore valley valley education foundation remind us that education is truly a community effort their

114generosity not only provides resources for our classrooms but also sends a powerful message to our students and teachers that our community believes in them i want to extend our heartfelt appreciation for their continued partnership and generosity thank you for helping our students grow dream and succeed thank you the next regularly scheduled board meeting will be held on tuesday march 24th at the district office 685 east jack london boulevard livermore california open session will begin at 6 p.m it is this meeting is now adjourned at 8 0 1 p.m thank you