001Good evening. Good evening. Welcome to the November 12 meeting of the of the Board of Education of the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District. Our meetings are broadcast over zoom to provide the opportunity for our 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 601pm. 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. And we have no, we have no actions to report at this time. We are now going to begin our meeting with a Pledge of Allegiance, and I'm going to ask I'll address to please to please
002lead us in the pledge. Ready, begin. I pledge allegiance to the flag, the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Mr. Gibson, are there any changes to the agenda. No, they're not. Okay, we're going to move on to our recognitions. I'm going to invite Mr. Roxana Mohammed principal of Livermore High School to for her recognitions, please come forward. Good evening President Prusso members of the board, Superintendent Gibson and cabinet members. Tonight I have the pleasure of recognizing a team whose work often happens quietly behind the scenes, yet whose impact is both powerful and lasting our English learner program support staff at Livermore High School. Our English learner team is dedicated to ensuring that every student learning English has the
003tools, encouragement and confidence to succeed not only in mastering a new language, but in thriving academically and personally. This team helps students understand how they learn best, empowering them to develop strategies that work for them as they navigate new subjects, teachers and expectations. They also help students set meaningful goals and stay on track, whether that means learning 20 new vocabulary words each week, focusing on challenging assignments during support time or managing their workload more effectively. These consistent intentional efforts build confidence and promote steady growth academically. Just as importantly, the team celebrates every milestone, recognizing classrooms or students make the most progress, sharing successes with teachers and honoring every step forward. This commitment is reflected in our results. From 2022 to 2025 Livermore High School saw measurable progress in key areas. The percentage of English learners
004advancing at least one LPAC level increased from 21% to 32%, representing an impressive 11% growth in just two years. Our school has also strengthened the quality of instruction for English learners through integrated and designated ELD supports, using EL achieve, access to novels in students home languages, and the integration of Steady Sync to enhance reading and writing skills. Additionally, our EL coordinator, overseas both interim and summative LPAC assessments while continuing outreach with families to help them understand the importance of these assessments and how they reflect students growth. The heart of this progress is the people behind it, the people behind me. I would like to recognize recognize a dedicated individuals who make this program thrive common prayer manages a large caseload of English learners collaborating with teachers counselors and families to ensure every student receives targeted
005academic and emotional support. Alright, Janet Garcia provides both classroom and pull out support, acting as a bridge between teachers students and families, offering a calm, very calm and nurturing presence that creates a true sense of belonging. Michael Bruin, our ninth and 10th grade designated ELD teacher and English learner teacher coordinator leads professional development coordinates LPAC testing and straightens instructional practice across departments. His leadership ensures our program supports and support students and empowers teachers alike. I also want to recognize our designated ELD teachers, Miss Green, Mrs. Hennessy, Mrs. Siliconi, who provide the essential language literacy foundation our students need to succeed. In addition, Miss Falls works diligently with students in our newcomer class providing specialized support to help them transition successfully. And of course Vice Principal Allison Noble, who oversees the entire English learner program with
006dedication and insight, ensuring that every piece of this complex work fits fits together to support our students success. Together this team exemplifies what it means to be student centered, collaborative and compassionate. Helping our students build not only language skills but also confidence, resilience and community. To our English learner program support staff, Ms. Perea, Ms. Garcia, Mr. Bruin, Miss Green, Mrs. Hennessy, Mrs. Siliconi, Miss Falls and Miss Noble. Thank you for your tireless commitment to ensuring that every English learner at Livermore High School has the tools, encouragement and belief they need to succeed. Right now I'd like to invite Mr. Mark Neal, the principal of East Avenue Middle School to recognize some staff members. Press the button. Sorry. I'd like to acknowledge the difficulty of following Roxanne and Mohamed at any point in time. I appreciate
007her though. Hello, President Prusso and board members, Superintendent Gibson and cabinet members. Thank you for allowing us to be here tonight and talk about how great the staff is at East Avenue Middle School. As East Avenue continues to become a destination school. I want to honor those who continue to make that possible, starting with our fantastic teachers, our awesome students and our wonderful parents. And I want to talk about our classified staff, but specifically the individuals behind me who make everything at East possible and what it is today. So first off, when you come up to East and you drive in and you look at our school from the outside, you notice how clean it is, how wonderful present, how it's presented wonderfully. And that happens because of our custodians, our head custodian Juan. Our
008lead night custodian Sergio, they work together seamlessly to make sure that our school stays presentable at all times they trick our school like it's their home. So that when you walk onto East campus, you notice how well it looks how well it's presented and how well it's kept. And so I want to thank them for that in the work that they put in to treat our school as though it's their home. Next up, I'd like to talk to you about the individuals that greet everyone that steps onto campus and makes them all feel extremely special. When students step into the office, when parents step into the office, they're greeted with respect, admiration and care. And that matters. The customer service aspect of that is what makes East what it is. When you step onto a
009campus and you are treated and greeted immediately with a smile and care, you feel like you're at home and you feel like you're wanted. And so the people that step into that office feel that way because of these individuals, starting with Barbara. Barbara is like the catch all she can really do everything. From making creative spreadsheets to making sure students get their bus passes and just greeting people at the door and making students feel special when they come in or taking their cell phones when they violate policy. Next up is where's Magdalena Magdalena is next up Magdalena is truly beneficial. She runs our ASP program. She helps out with school site council with our elect and she also translate for us, which is I can't thank you enough for the work you do helping us
010translate when we need it. So thank you, Magdalena. Up next is Deanna and Deanna is wonderful. Deanna deals with attendance and she's a registrar, which is a lot by itself. Any one of those by itself is a lot. Deanna does it with a smile on her face and is always happy to do her job, even when she's frustrated. But she brightens the office because she just does her job so well and takes care of business. So we thank you, Deanna. And finally, is my right hand who I honestly couldn't do any of this without and that's Shannon Lutz. I don't want to I don't want to disregard anybody else in the district but Shannon is the best EA in the district so I'm sorry to everybody else. I'm sorry but she is. She does everything
011for East Avenue. And we've decided we're going to retire together because neither one of us wants to be there without the other. I think right Shannon. Okay, yes, this case. Yes. I want to make sure that's the case still. So, um, it's these people that are the heart of East Avenue, and we wouldn't be East without them so this is who I honor. Sorry, but big shout out to Christina Majewka, our vice principal. Sorry, Christina. She's also a part of this team as well. Thanks. Now we would like to invite, Mrs. Valerie Nebo the principal of Arroyo Seco Elementary School, who is also going to recognize some staff members. Sorry I have some folks who are being shy. All right. Good evening President Prusso, Superintendent Gibson, board trustees, and our cabinet members. I am proud
012and privileged to present to you our coordination of services team from Arroyo Seco. Our team is worthy of recognition, because of the tireless work that they do. With the input of our staff, who is very attentive to the needs of our students, we are able to work together, meeting twice monthly, identifying appropriate academic, social emotional and behavioral supports for students and connecting families to critical supports and resources in our community. Not only do they match students and families to those appropriate support they continuously seek ways to improve our meeting processes, provide more resources and improve communication with families, and with the teachers who are reaching out for more help for their students. I'd like to share with you a little bit about our cost team. I have two members, well a few members who couldn't
013be here two of which are education specialists Stephanie Butler and Victoria Feeser. In their roles in on the team not only are they bringing their expertise, but they are often also going above and beyond pushing into classrooms to observe what's going on with students to provide more input as to what would be appropriate to support in the classroom. Our teacher Christie Barcelona serves to give some input for the general education side of things, what is being tried in the classroom, and also reaching out to teachers to get more information as needed. Our amazing school psychologist Shirley Lord has worked tirelessly to streamline the process of our coordination of services team meetings, so that we're able to discuss each student efficiently and effectively identify services, as well as assure that we are revisiting student progress to
014be accountable for the measures that we're taking and assure the follow up we say will happen does happen. She's also pushing into classrooms to observe and provide insight as to next steps. Mary Kamal our school nurse is a valuable part of the team who will provide critical resources connect families to health services, whether that's a student meeting classes and that's somebody needing medical care that has the family has struggled to get she's there to support Marissa Rodriguez who couldn't join us tonight is our child welfare and attendance aid, she provides valuable background, often having information about families, including the older siblings, which will guide what decisions we make as far as connecting families to Our school district social workers Irene cova Rubius is very important as well and Erica dit more who definitely serves in
015her absence are also critical parts as our school district social workers. They build trusting relationships with families coming alongside them to build and bridge connections, oftentimes they're able to provide to our team information that's important for deciding what students need. Through their work, they're able to provide wrap around supports not just for the students but their families as a whole, often extending from not our school but to older siblings as well. And finally our school counselors the set Medina and Marina funds both look at the data that we are gathering and determine what individual and small group supports they can provide to our students at our school through our wellness center. This group really is committed to the whole child, which is an important part of our Roya Seca community. We know that students learn
016best when they are well socially emotionally and their behavior tells us what they need and this group is critical to identify what those needs are. Thank you. And let's give them a round of applause. Thank you so much. We're going to move on to our student board member reports this the time of evening where we have our student board member representatives from both of our comprehensive high schools report on their school activities. We will begin with Robin Deepak who is our school representative from Livermore High School and Isla grass will follow him and she is our representative from Granada High School. October was an exciting and unique month for Livermore High School Cowboys Livermore varsity football is on a rampage starting off October with a win against Dublin and their pink out game. In addition
017to this we just had a triumphant win against Granada High School on November 7, winning 15 to 13 crowning Livermore High School as the ball champions. Our Cowboys will now host the first round of NCS playoffs games against Campolindo High School this Friday at 7pm. So make sure to be there. In addition to this many of the other fall sports teams, such as the girls golf team the cross country water polo and flag football are also experiencing success in their sports, with multiple of their players getting nominated for the ball all teams, and when invitational tournaments like the girls golf team honors chamber orchestra plays top 12 in the nation, and was invited to participate in the National Orchestra festival championships. The more high school also just saw many other important events being held in
018the month of October, such as the fall core SEO survey, which was held on October 22. This provided the school with valuable information on how students perceive the social emotional skills and helps the school to better support their needs. Mr Echols was recognized as the teacher of the month for October, and was given a gift basket of goodies such as candy, snacks and letter filled with phrases of appreciation from his students. In addition to this, a choral music concert, a little more music chilies Dine Out, and LHS girls basketball program Dine Out at Dave's Hot Chicken, and leadership holding a sale of spirit items, were among events taking place at school and around the community. The last procedures college info night was helped to help provide information for those interested in attending the local community
019college for a future career. Those the college keeper, the culture keepers wellness center, and LHS students, Miss Guerrero, and Mrs Eglisias teamed up to honor this meaningful tradition. The Tri Valley College and Career Expo fair was held on October 20, and deliver more high school gym. We had representatives from close to 100 post secondary institutions to help students find their dream path. The participants included UC's, CSU's, community colleges, private and out of state colleges, apprenticeship and institutions and the military. In addition to this, the class of 2020 held a very successful Halloween event called the haunted hallways. They decorated the 300 hallways to be a haunted house, and added many actors to jump scare people in between, so that the people can walk through the as if they were in a real haunted house. This
020event amassed a large crowd with lines stretching out until the student union, and brought the Halloween to Littlemore High School. Students helped build our LHS ofrenda inside the youth student union on October 31, which has been available for viewing starting November 3 and continuing until November 14. On Monday, November 3, the Wellness Center hosted a Dia de los Muertos gathering where students could dedicate a paper leaf to a loved one and add it to our memory tree. Sweet snacks and cultural activities were available, and an LHS student will share the history and traditions of this important celebration. Our South Asian Students Association, in partnership with the LHS Wellness Center, hosted a vibrant Diwali celebration on October 21, featuring a make your own rangoli activity at lunch. October has shaped out to be an extraordinary month
021for the Cowboys. We're excited to see what the rest of the year has in store for us. It's a great day to be a Cowboy. October has been a thrilling month at Granada, with many athletic and school-led events that have kept our school spirit participation high. Our girls varsity five football team plays second in NCS, and both girls volleyball and girls golf qualified for the NCS playoffs. Our varsity football team will be hosting the first round of NCS playoffs this Friday as the fourth seed. Cross-country is gearing up for NCS in two weeks and is coming off a high as our Granada junior Saeed Bumfist was EVOL champion for varsity girls. Additionally, our Granada band has also had a successful season, participating in multiple competitions and proudly representing our school. With this concluding our fall
022sports, winter sports like basketball and soccer are set to begin sometime within the next few weeks. On school grounds, our leadership team has been hard at work to make students days as fun filled as possible. We hosted our annual annual rivalry rally last Friday, leading up to the rivalry game against Livermore that same evening. We know how that turned out. In this rally, we featured our Latino club for the very first time as they performed a dance followed by cheer and dance team. Leadership also designed and sold rivalry t-shirts, which were a hit among students the week leading up to the big game and helped to boost school spirit. We also held our first ever matador market a few weeks ago, an event where clubs promoted themselves by selling goods to raise funds before the
023football game. This event received great feedback and success for our clubs, so we're excited to see it continue in future seasons. To end the month on a festive note, leadership hosted a Halloween costume contest during lunch, which is a beloved tradition between staff and students. Teachers participated in a professional development day this month, having meaningful conversations surrounding artificial intelligence and the future it holds in our educational system. To wrap it up, our Livermore Rotary Club announced that October student of the month was awarded to Mason Woodward, recognized for his leadership and contributions to the school community. He has been a strong player in our boys water polo team, which has also had many accomplishments this season, such as raising $4,000 for breast cancer research, which just shows how committed our athletes are to giving back.
024They played in the NCS semi-finals today and are soon wrapping up in an eventful season. As we head into November, Granada continues to thrive with strong student engagement, athletic success, and growing school spirit. Go Mets. Thank you. We're going to move on to our Employee Association reports, and we will begin with Amy Thompson, president of LEA. I also just want to recognize the vice president of LEA, which is Tara Lutz. Good evening Board President Prusso, members of the board, Superintendent Gibson, and cabinet. I'm Amy Thompson, president of the Livermore Education Association, representing the people behind me, teachers, nurses, counselors, psychologists, speech pathologists, social workers, and teachers on special assignment. Last year, LEA watched as district management was restructured repeatedly, firing some without cause for an increased cost, demoting executive directors to directors and removing them
025from cabinet, then restructuring again to change the new director positions to assistant superintendent positions and putting them back on cabinet. Managers were promoted to directors, coordinators were promoted to directors. We patiently waited for our turn. I came to board meetings and I stated that we were watching and waiting for our turn. This year, a replacement cost management position was hired at a $54,000 increase in total cost, yet we are offered crumbs. The message is clear. Management is worth it, but teachers are not. Tonight's agenda has an updated salary schedule for classified managers, with a new column representing a 5% pay increase for people who have been here longer than seven years. Meanwhile, our 14 negotiation sessions last year ended with an offer that was essentially 0%. It wasn't phrased that way. It was strategically phrased
026in the word salad that management likes to use to obfuscate and confuse. Anything that they could offer us had to be cost neutral. The settlement agreement we finally reached had a value of a 1% increase. While we were waiting for the unaudited actuals, the first interim, the governor's budget to receive an offer, our neighboring districts were settling, making our compensation comparisons continually worse. This year, LEA is requesting a 4.75% salary increase and an additional $3,500 district contribution to health benefits. The request is based on our compensation comparisons with 10 neighboring districts that compares total compensation, meaning salary plus benefits. We currently rank ninth out of the 11 districts in the comparisons when our shared goal is to be in the top quartile. The districts we compare to were selected by a neutral third party, School
027Services of California. This year, in agreement with the superintendent, we modified our compensation comparisons to compare with fewer districts from the original list of 18. We used criteria to make the change. Now we only compare with unified districts in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. We eliminated elementary districts, high school districts, districts in San Joaquin and Santa Clara counties. We believe this change makes our compensation comparisons more relevant, and it was not done in a biased way. It was based on criteria and in fact removed four comparison districts above us and four that were below us. The compensation request we have made, if achieved, would put our rank at number four out of 11. According to the district, the cost of our request is $7.3 million for our bargaining unit and $10.9 million when accounting for
028the Me Too clauses of all other employees. In response to our compensation request, the district has made excuses. Excuse number one, and I believe the board members received this packet before we started, and I'm going to reference some documents in here, and there's some floating around the audience if people want to see what I'm talking about. So excuse number one, we receive less funding than neighboring districts and have more teachers. On the first document, in comparing Livermore to four of our closest neighbors, Pleasanton, Dublin, San Ramon, and Fremont, we can see that we actually received the most total revenue per average daily attendance. So when you're looking at the chart at the very bottom, it says per funded ADA, that is the total revenue that is listed at the top divided by the funded ADA.
029So in looking at that, you can see that our total revenue per ADA is greater than these four neighboring districts. We can also see from this chart that we spend the lowest percentage of our total revenue on teacher compensation. So when you look at the employee costs bargaining unit, certificated non-management, that's my bargaining unit, Livermore spends 39.41% of total revenue on the teacher's bargaining unit. By comparison, Pleasanton, 43.75%, Dublin, 42.75%, San Ramon, 39.51%, they're just a little bit above us, but they also pay the full cost of benefits in San Ramon, and Fremont, 44.65%. Excuse number two, Livermore has smaller class sizes. We turn to the next page. So I pulled the contract information, same districts being compared Livermore to Pleasanton, Dublin, San Ramon, Fremont, looking at what contractually is in each of those for
030the bargaining units. Initially, I had an error in Fremont, and we'll talk about that. But if you look, starting on the top, counselors, our contractual ratio for counselors is 1 to 600 for high school, compared to Pleasanton is 1 to 625 for their elementary counselors, 1 to 475 for middle school, and 1 to 450 for high school. You can read the rest of the chart. We have lower numbers. Certificated teacher librarians, we have zero. The neighbors have at least one per high school. I'm going to skip over social workers, we don't have a contractual ratio and it's a weird thing but I included it in the group. If we get down to our K through 3 teachers, Fremont is an outlier with a class size max of 30 in knowing people from Fremont. We've learned
031that they actually try really hard to keep it below that. If you can imagine 30 kindergartners in a classroom, that would be kind of chaotic. But other than that outlier, we have larger class sizes, kindergarten through third grade, fourth and fifth grade, sixth through eighth grade, ninth through twelfth grade. We also receive fewer preps than the neighbors, so. Excuse number three, Livermore has more schools with smaller campuses that lead to increased overhead costs. I really resent that this was framed to parents as a choice between closing schools or compensating teachers. This is a false dichotomy and a coercion strategy. When you turn to the third page, I use data that was provided at the budget committee and put it together into a chart to compare our school sizes to the neighbors. So if you look,
032we're in line. Dublin is an outlier here where their elementary schools have on average 753 students. But other than the outlier of Dublin, Livermore is in line with the neighbors. And in fact, Fremont and San Ramon have smaller average sizes than us for their elementary schools. Also of note is the number of administrators in Livermore. Livermore, we have one principal for each elementary school. Pleasanton has a principal and a vice principal. Dublin, same. San Ramon, the same. So when we look at our middle schools, we do see that our middle school is smaller. Our middle school average size is smaller than the neighbors. But something I think we need to consider here is the capacity. What were our middle schools constructed to hold? As far as I know, I think all our middle schools are
033full of students. We don't have room to add more students. Another consideration for this data point is what is in the best interest of students. When students are transitioning from elementary school to middle school, it's probably better for them to have a smaller environment where they don't fall between the cracks and get lost. Excuse number four, the district can't afford it. In looking through the district's budget documents, including the 2024-2025 unaudited actuals, the adopted budget, and the 45-day budget revision, several ways that the district could reprioritize the budget have been identified. Turn to the last page in the packet. There's $3.5 million in the unrestricted, undesignated ending fund balance, $2.6 million in unrestricted, designated ending fund balance, $2.4 million in yet-to-be-budgeted TK add-on, $4 million in yet-to-be-budgeted one-time funds, $2 million more budgeted for books
034and supplies than is normally spent. More than $5 million less was budgeted for state and local revenue than is typically received. We could freeze the Me Too clause for management, saving $1 million. We could plan to spend less on consultants and contractors and save $0.5 million or more. We could accurately project staffing numbers in the budget, saving $0.5 million or more. Simply accurately projecting how much we will spend would reduce the required amount for the 3% reserve, since the 3% is based on expenditures. Last year, we projected spending of $222 million, requiring a reserve of $6.6 million. We actually spent $209 million, which lowers the actual required reserve by $300,000. To be clear, I'm not saying that the district has $20 million that's hanging out and looking for a place to be. But I am
035saying that within this budget there is wiggle room, and if it's looked at closely, with accurate projections, it is possible to find money for compensation. This problem has a solution that does not require painful dichotomies, such as not providing books for students or closing schools. When every dollar counts and we're trying to reach a goal, accuracy matters. The latest excuse emailed by Dr. Gibson to all staff and all parents last Friday is that restricted funds cannot be used for compensation. The district spent over $61 million on restricted compensation last year. It is ridiculous to include the cost of restricted positions in the $10.9 million estimated cost for the requested increase, but not include the revenue that will be used to fund that. The email also included the claim that data from the Department of Education
036shows we have more teachers than the neighboring districts. If we go back to the first page, we can see that Livermore spends the lowest percentage of revenue on teachers. What does that data tell us if there are more of us, but we spend less? We are also told that we have fewer administrative positions, but looking at the same chart on the management column, you can see that Livermore spends nearly as much, if not more, to have fewer managers. It makes it seem like asking to freeze the Me Too clause for management is not so far-fetched. If this administration spent half as much time solving the problem as they do making excuses, we would not be at impasse. The problem would have been solved by now, and all of these people would not be here fighting
037for what is best for our students, fully staffed classrooms with highly qualified teachers. The instability of our staffing is harmful to students. We hire at least 50 educators every year, and we lose many to neighboring districts that pay more. The cost of this revolving door in training, human capital, and student well-being is enormous. We are not the enemy. We are your partners in the district's mission of educating students. Some might even say that teachers are an integral part of that mission. We don't want to fight with you. Our job is not to do budget analysis. Our job is to teach. Your job is to manage the budget. Please stop wasting time and money on excuses. Do your job. Reprioritize the budget to provide a reasonably competitive compensation package. What is this administration's plan to attract
038and retain highly qualified teachers? You say you cannot afford it. We say you cannot afford not to. Thank you. Thank you. Our CSEA president, Mamie Christovich, is out of town. I believe Victoria Storti is here to speak in her stead. Oh, there she is. Welcome, Victoria. Good evening, President Prusso, members of the board, Superintendent Gibson, and cabinet. My name is Victoria Storti, vice president of the Livermore Chapter CSEA, the California School Employees Association. Our chapter president, Mamie Christovich, is unable to attend tonight's meeting, and I am speaking on behalf of our classified employees. As you know, we are beginning the reclassification process as outlined in the CSEA's collective bargaining agreement, Article 14.4.1. This article states that employees are entitled to request that their position be reclassified, provided they attend a workshop held no later than
039the first Friday in November, jointly facilitated by HR and CSEA. This year's workshop was held on Wednesday, October 29, and we saw 56 attendees from a wide variety of classifications, both school site and district staff. I want to emphasize something. In all my years participating in the reclassification committee, I have never seen attendance anywhere near this high. It forces us to ask, why now? Is this a ripple effect of last year's layoffs? And more importantly, what does this unprecedented interest tell us about our system? To me, it says that staff feel stressed, underpaid, and unhurt. It reveals a workforce stretched thin, carrying too many responsibilities, and struggling to stay afloat in a rapidly inflated economy. When inflation hits, employees take those impacts home with them, literally to their kitchen tables. For example, according to the
040U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, egg prices are up 44.92% since 2022, something nearly every family relies on for cooking and baking. Apples have increased from $1.85 per pound in 2022 to more than $3 per pound in 2025. Now, we're also dealing with health insurance premiums, as they have grown by 11 to 14% or more for many employees because benefit deductions vary. Meanwhile, when negotiations take place to provide relief, pay increases are being denied because of Me Too clauses between bargaining units. There is something fundamentally wrong when the cost of survival rises exponentially, but compensation may not keep pace because of procedural roadblocks. The Me Too clause isn't just financial, it's emotional. If teachers, counselors, psychologists, speech pathologists, social workers, and nurses are expressing frustration about transparency and lack of resolve, as a classified employee, Me
041Too. Morale is not as isolated within bargaining units. It's contagious. It spreads across campuses, offices, departments, and even leadership. And ultimately, it impacts the students we show up for every single day. I would like to believe that each of you made the choice to serve as a board member to genuinely make a positive difference, not only for the students, but for the employees who support them and the community as a whole. We elected you because we trusted that your hearts are in the right place. You have the opportunity to honor that trust, to listen, to acknowledge, to repair what is broken, and to correct the inequities that have quietly compounded year after year. Our classified staff are the foundation of this district's operations. When we struggle, the entire system feels it. We're not asking for
042luxury. We're asking for fairness, dignity, and the ability to provide for our families in the community that we serve. This is your moment to do what you're elected to do. Make the wrongs right. Thank you for your time and for your commitment to the people who keep our schools running. I'm not sure if the following people are here. If they are, I wish to speak. Maybe raise your hand. It's hard for me to see who's here in the audience. Our SEIU president is Percy Governor. Our CMC representative is Sarah DeGroote, and our Livermore Management Association representative Jeremy Bilkins. We're going to move on now to our public comments on non-agenda items. So if you would like to address a topic that is not on this evening's agenda, now is the time to do so. If
043you have not already submitted your TAM 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, which today is going to be two minutes, and I'll explain that in a minute. Okay. And that each speaker may speak only once. Just as a point of reference, this is a meeting of the board held in public, not a public meeting, which means we're here to conduct the board's business in view of the community. To ensure that everyone has a chance to be heard, and we maintain a respectful environment, please refrain from clapping or other reactions. If you agree with the speaker, a simple hand raised is appreciated. Public comments are limited to tonight, two minutes per person. I will
044give a reminder at the 22nd mark, and that is not to be rude, but to ensure fairness and equity and giving everyone their full opportunity to speak. As a reminder, also, we as board members may not engage in discussion, take action, or give an opinion on items that are not on the agenda. However, the board may briefly respond, ask clarifying questions of staff, and or refer matters to staff for follow up. In the event of large number of speakers for non agenda and agenda items, the time, the allotted comment time will be modified in the following ways. One to 10 comment cards is three minutes, 11 to 20 is two minutes and then above 21 or more comment cards, we will be to one minute per person. We have exactly 20 so we can stay
045at two minutes. Okay, I think everyone understands that we will begin. I will try to move this along quickly. If I mispronounce your name, I'm really sorry I will do my best sometimes the I can't read the handwriting or I'm just not great at it just please correct me when you get when you get up to the dais. We will begin with Tara lots. And then without, she will be followed by Dylan Williams. Welcome Tara. Good evening board and cabinet. My name is Tara Lutz, I'm the vice president of LDA, an elementary classroom teacher, a Livermore parent and a taxpayer. It seems you were desperate to save face but that's not what we need our leadership to spend their time and energy on right now. We need that same focus spent on problem solving the
046fact that we are grossly underpaid in contrast to where we live and what we do. Instead of trying to divide us, you should be uniting us as a team, a team here to support what's best for students as a board and cabinet you claim you don't have the money to adequately compensate le a. At this point, you don't even have us prioritized to be adequately compensated. Instead, we keep getting presented with deflections and excuses, and never is there a solid strategic plan of getting us to average. We don't need rebuttals for every point, we need resolutions to our needs. We are here yet again demanding that you find and implement a plan to address our need for increased total compensation for the work we do. Thank you. Dylan, Dylan Williams. To be followed by Hayden
047Hayden's Hayden seated. Good afternoon members of the school board Superintendent Gibson and staff. My name is Dylan Williams, I'm a former former student of Granada High School Christians middle school, and ultimate Creek Elementary School teachers in our district are struggling, many shifting their focus from educating to make and meets to stay within our district as a former student of Livermore schools I feel a deep concern for my former teachers who I owe credit for many of my successes that I have teachers are one of the most integral aspects of a community's infrastructure and without a solution for educators, a shortage of teachers will occur. I take extreme pride in my experiences with education and Livermore, and it is upsetting to see its potential to decline. District staff need to come up with the solution not
048just for our teachers, but our youth Livermore's educators and students deserve better. Thank you. Thank you. To be followed by Odessa silver. Well I wish I could begin by saying good evening but for a lot of the people behind me, it is certainly not a good evening. I came here to join the course of a community that clearly feels betrayed and let down. You have one job. So do it. Pay our educators the paycheck that they deserve. As a product of Livermore public schools and I live right behind one, I owe so much of who I am and what I've accomplished to the values and lessons that Livermore educators passed on to me throughout my childhood. Some of those who shaped me are in this room tonight. And by the way I say educators because
049it's not just our teachers, it's our para educators or librarians, counselors custodians psychologists, nurses speech therapists office administrators, everyone who shows up to work hard every single day to give our children the education they deserve. Here's the thing. The economy is tough, and I'm not sure how I'm going to fill up my gas tank this weekend. I wouldn't be surprised if our educators are saying the same thing tonight. The difference is I'm a broke college student who only works on the weekends, our educators have bills to pay, they have to make rent, so much to feed their kids, others are saving for retirement. I pay taxes so they can do those things without having to work two extra jobs. So then why the hell are they having to work two extra jobs to make ends
050meet. Why can't you do your jobs and give them the paycheck that they work hard for every single day. Apparently that's too much to ask. What we're seeing instead is a complete failure to support the people who make this district function. It seems that you have too much pride to stand up to the superintendent that you hired, even though she clearly doesn't have our interest at heart. A nice email, by the way, that was really helpful. Here's an idea. Why don't you start by cutting her salary in half and giving it to the people who need it most? $350,000 for her and we can't pay our teachers? Really? That's insane. This isn't complicated, guys. You might have another term to lose, and that's all fine and great, but our educators and their families have their
051livelihoods to lose, and our children, our students, will suffer the most if you keep failing them like you have. Thank you. Odessa, Odessa Silva, followed by Deborah Morris. Good evening board president who said members of the board superintendent Gibson and cabinet. Sorry. Did I turn it off. Oh God, sorry it's my first time. Okay. When I was in middle and high school I was given the label of that rescue. I skipped school was a thief and broke the law. I was lucky enough to have an English teacher who saw my, my potential before I did, because of Missy, I'm not only alive today, I am thriving. Fast forward to today, I have one son at CMS and another at crochet, both of my boys have their favorite teachers from past years, and it's ironic that
052they're all their favorite show me little glimpse of Missy. They are teachers that have advocated for my boys just as hard as I have. They talk to them with respect and allow them to be part of the solution. Currently my family and I are riding the wave set for my stage four cancer diagnosis, having young kids in public school knowing how cruel some can be. We worried about the emotional toll it would have on them in the beginning. Every teacher who knows about my cancer has rallied around us. They have kept a watchful eye on our boys and offered support and communication as needed. Our boys attend school knowing they are safe and supported. And I know if they're doing this for us they're doing this for the other 24 to 32 students in their
053classroom. I'm sad to learn that many of our teachers are working multiple jobs just to make ends meet, and are struggling with rising healthcare costs. Some teachers in our district have to buy their own classroom supplies out of pocket. At crochet we're fortunate to have a PTA that can provide extra funds to help but ultimately that means the financial burden is passed down to our families. Here they are being the best educators to our kids while struggling to support their own families. We need to support our teachers at the core and give them not what they are owed but what they are worth, and it's a whole lot more than they are receiving now. Teachers are often one of our kids' first heroes outside of the home. They give them a path to their dreams
054and hopes. They should not have to be sacrificing financially simply because they chose to devote their lives to educating our children. We should acknowledge them for the hours they put in, the work they do, and the lives they save. Thank you. Followed by Jessica Mendova. Sorry, I can't read it. Mendeola. All right, Kelly. Hello Board President Pruso and trustees. My name is Deborah Morris and I have been a first grade teacher here in Livermore for over 25 years. I've also been a parent in this district, and I am the founding member of our local national charity league. In that time I have taught roughly more than 625 students in this city. Children whose laughter, whose learning and dreams filled my classroom and my heart, but today after decades of service, I am deeply discouraged with
055this. Last year I was told I was getting a raise. Woohoo! Little hopeful. Yet somehow this year I make $300 less more a month. Can I give that raise back and take the old salary? After 25 years, I am now working three jobs to maintain my family. The truth is, only teachers truly understand how hard this job has become. Not the board, not the district staff, not even parents, only the parents who do teach. We give our hearts, our energy, and our evenings to make sure every child feels safe, seen, and loved. But we keep doing it at the cost of our own well-being. Please take meaningful action. I am asking you to act now. Restore the respect. Restore fair compensation. Restore the dignity of teaching in this district. Our students deserve teachers who can
056stand, I'm sorry, who can stay, not teachers who are forced to leave because they cannot make ends meet. Thank you. Thank you, Debra. Hi, my name is Jessica Mendiola. I am here tonight as a parent. I've spoken to you before in support of our special needs kids, but tonight I'm speaking up for our teachers, our educators, and our staff. When I think about the heartbeat of Livermore, I think of our kids and our teachers, our educators, and staff. So my first question is, how has it come to this? Why are we having to be here? Why are teachers having to beg for a livable wage? Why would anyone want the people shaping our children's futures to work multiple jobs just to stay afloat? The citizens of Livermore elected each of you. We elected you to
057strengthen this district, to support our kids and our teachers and staff. And it's your job to think creatively, to think outside the box, and to find solutions when no isn't an acceptable answer. I've seen tremendous support from this community for our teachers, our staff, and our educators online and in person. And while not everyone can be here tonight, I think we all know how the community will respond if teachers are forced to strike. Parents will be frustrated, kids will be confused, and this board will be at the center of that storm. We have an opportunity right now to prevent that, and I'm worried that it will come to that, and I wouldn't blame the collective staff. They can't afford to live in the very city where they teach. They didn't choose this profession to get
058rich. They chose it to make a difference. These teachers, counselors, psychologists, paras, and everyone show up every single day for our kids, whether our kids are having a tough day or a great day, which is why I'm definitely not a teacher. Some haven't taught my daughter in years, yet they still check in, offer advice, and show up, often on their own time, simply because they care. Do we recognize how lucky we are to have people like that in our schools? So I'll leave you with this. Put yourself in their shoes for a moment. Imagine giving your all every day, pouring your heart into your work, and still struggling to afford rent or child care in the community you're served. Thank you. Is Kelly Carney here? Is Kelly Carney here? Oh, come on up, Kelly. And
059then you'll be followed by Noel Matter. The turn. There we go. All right. Hello, members of the board, President Prusso, Superintendent Gibson. My name is Kelly Carney. I am a parent of two LVJ USD students currently attending of Rio Seco Elementary. I'm here tonight as a parent and also as the chair of our PTA Special Needs and Inclusion Committee. As part of my various community roles, I spend a lot of time in groups of parents, both in person and online, hearing opinions about individual school sites and school districts. And what I will say about our district and more specifically about Rio Seco is this. Without fail, it is the teachers' parents' love. It is our teachers that everyone brags about. Our teachers, speech therapists, counselors, and paraeducators. Over and over again, parents telling other parents,
060no need to worry. Whatever happens, your kids are safe with these teachers. Our school's reputation, what we're known for, is based on them, on our teachers. Our sense of school pride and community exists because of them. It doesn't matter what curriculum you adopt, what buildings you renovate, or what textbooks you purchase if you don't have great teachers to implement them. Without teachers, none of it matters. We already have a teacher shortage that everyone in this room is well aware of. Teachers are leaving, either for other districts and to leadership positions for higher pay or out of teaching entirely. They don't want to leave, but they can't afford to stay. On behalf of LVJUSD parents, I am asking you to do everything in your power to give our teachers the support they deserve, including pay that
061reflects the rising cost of living in our community. They want to teach. They want to teach our kids here in Livermore. Let them stay. Pay them to stay. Make the decisions required to make it possible for them to stay. Thank you. Thank you, Kelly. And then he will be followed by Shelly Casey. Good evening, Board President Perusso and Trustees, Superintendent Dr. Gibson and Cabinet and fellow educators. My name is Noel Matern and I'm the lead negotiator for the Livermore Education Association. We're here tonight to discuss the path forward in our negotiations. We've presented substantial data to the district team, data showing it requires a nearly $100,000 salary for a teacher to afford a one-bedroom apartment in Livermore. Data showing average medical rates have increased over 13% this year alone. Burdened teachers have absorbed without help
062for a decade. We also have data that highlights the superintendent's own compensation agreement, a guaranteed 2.5% annual increase, a Me Too clause, and 100% benefit coverage. This creates a fundamental contradiction. The district cannot simultaneously claim an inability to pay while guaranteeing management a specific raise, regardless of the budget. That's not sound fiscal management. It's a prioritization problem. We're asking this board to demonstrate true leadership by making students and teachers the number one priority. We have offered reasonable data-driven proposals rooted in the reality of living in Livermore, as well as what we've discovered is available in the budget. Let's resolve this thoughtfully, professionally, and in good faith so we can focus on retaining excellent teachers who can actually afford to live here. The Livermore Education Association, as always, stands united for students. Thank you. Thank you,
063Hal. We have Shelly Casey. We followed by Susan Ortney. Members of the board and cabinet, I am Shelly Casey. I'm here because this is my community and because I love being a nurse. I'm here to support special education students, students with type 1 diabetes, seizure disorders, and many other visible and invisible health conditions that impact our students' abilities to access their education. I'm here to lend my perspective of 34 years as a registered nurse and 17 years as a credentialed school nurse for our district. For most of my tenure, I have felt I was a valued employee. I felt my voice was heard. Sadly, these positive feelings have eroded, leaving me feeling disregarded. Most of us in this room have been here well before many of you arrived, yet our historical knowledge and experiences are
064repeatedly dismissed. To add to that, LEA members have taken a pay cut this year. On average, we have $270 less on our paychecks per month. To know that our cabinet members are paid at the top of local rankings while we remain at the bottom is discouraging. Does anyone making decisions about my pay cut have any idea what the kitchen table discussions look like in our households? I would think no, since you're all paid in the top tier compared to our surrounding districts. Do you have suggestions of things I should not pay for this month because of my pay cut, my prescription medications, fresh fruits and vegetables, the needed maintenance on my car, the car that I'm required to have to drive from school to school to ensure our students with type 1 diabetes get their
065insulin on time? Members of the board, what would you do for yourself if your pay was at the bottom tier? Would you sit idly by and wait while those making three times as much as you with full paid benefits say be patient? I think not. Yet when we speak up, we are looked down upon. Why is our self-advocacy and passion tagged as actions that erode trust? We're told we have lost your respect and we're fully aware that district office staff have attempted to discredit us to the board and our community. How do those actions show leadership? We've been patient, we've provided data, but we have been disregarded. We have been pushed aside and we are told to wait, but respectfully, we are done waiting. Thank you. Susan Ortney to be followed by Denise Kerr. Good
066evening board and cabinet. My name is Susan Ortner and I am a retired special education teacher who taught for 30 years in this district, side by side with a few of my dedicated colleagues here in this room tonight. My three children have had the privilege of receiving all 13 years of their education in our Livermore schools. And with the collective help and solid instruction of these teachers, they are productive, kind, successful, socially and emotionally responsible adults. I choose to speak to you tonight for several reasons. First and foremost, I must give my thanks to every single teacher and support staff who work for this city. I've called home for 30 years. I am humbled by you all and I am proud to be wearing blue beside you once again, but saddened that existing circumstances have
067brought me here tonight. I have done my research. I have witnessed these meetings. I have tried my hardest to come to a fair and honest approach as to how to have my words reflected to the public tonight. And here is my request of you, acknowledgement and sincere appreciation for your dedicated, talented, tenacious and committed teachers who show up to educate our children every single day. This acknowledgement does not come from an engraved pen or a golden ruler, both of which, though meaningful, sit unused in my drawer at home. True recognition must go beyond symbolic gestures. It must be reflected in a paycheck that enables teachers to afford the rising health care costs and live in the community they serve. This is not just merited. It has been earned and it must be provided. Lastly, I
068am here tonight as an empath. Always have been, always will be. And I am appealing to what I hope is the empath in all of you. The collective voices you hear are harbingers of hope, encouragement and most of all change. Please listen to them. Please reflect on their strong presence and their mighty words. Please take all of this with you when you leave tonight. And perhaps tomorrow you will begin to do the right thing. Thank you. Thank you. We have Denise Her followed by Shannon Heller. I can't tell. Oh, it's on. Okay. Good evening, President Prusso, board members, Superintendent Gibson, cabinet. Today is my birthday. And I want you to know that I'm here. I'm not out to dinner with friends or family. I'm here because I feel like I need to support myself and
069I need to support the teachers behind me and the ones that are outside watching and the community. I've spoken before about the increased health care costs, the reduction that we have seen in our paychecks. It's had a devastating effect. Some an average of two hundred seventy five dollars. Some of us who make a little more. It is a lot more out of the paychecks. So here's a little story. When you have four hundred and fifty dollars less a month, I don't have children. I don't have a husband. It's just me. But I do have a life and I have a budget. I have three horses and an eight month old golden retriever. And I travel from one school to another every day due to cuts in staffing at Vineyard. I love being at CMS. My
070heart is vineyard because I love working with alternative students and always have. Yet I'm wondering what it almost brings me to tears to think about the difference in just morale of the teachers around me within the last few years. It's disheartening because there was such hope and so much positiveness in this. That's your time. Thank you. Thank you, Denise. Shannon Heller, followed by Tara and Andre voice. My name is Shannon Heller and I am a Livermore parent and a teacher and alumni of Amateur Valley High School in Pleasanton. As an ABT member, I am all too familiar with the feelings in this room outside and at home who cannot be here because they shouldn't have to be here. That said, I've seen at least more than half of the handful of students my two children
071have had at Jackson Avenue here tonight. Love you. My daughter's in fifth. My son is in first. Haven't experienced that many teachers yet, but every single one of these teachers are incredible. I almost wasn't able to be here tonight because I have children and they do after school sports. But my mom stepped in because my mom is a retired CSEA member and she knows what this means. I'm here supporting these incredible teachers. As a Pleasanton teacher, I could bring my kids to POSD. In full honesty, I've never once considered my kids not being here in Livermore. Jackson Avenue Elementary School has been the best experience. The teachers go above and beyond, yet they are not being compensated as such. In fact, they are making less than last year, despite everything being more expensive. I've considered
072coming to Livermore, even though I've got 16 years now in POSD because I do know that Livermore High doesn't offer ASL yet. But for now, I'm going to stay with my hot mess in POSD, which aligns with what your LEA president said. And I'm going to continue to stand in support with these phenomenal Livermore teachers because Livermore students and teachers deserve the best. Thank you, Shannon. Tara and Andre Boyce, followed by Sean Megafina. Welcome. Do you want to start? No. Okay. Good evening. So my goodness, everything has pretty much been said tonight, hasn't it? Right. We've heard a lot. So I'm going to start with a quote. So I take direction from the board. The rest of our staff take direction from me. So I'm the only employee of the board. Every other employee is
073my employee. So the board gives me direction. They give me my marching orders. And away we go, good or bad. That quote is direct from Superintendent Gibson two years ago tomorrow, actually November 13th, 2023. So it's time, board. Marching orders are needed. We need to drill in to the idea that budgeting is a verb, not a noun. And this is the first time I've ever had conversations with an organization that they don't plan for increases as part of their budget every single year. I ran FP&A for a retailer. There's always some factor decided by the board of directors, the CEO, four percent, five percent. It depends on what the economy is doing. Most industries have estimated revenue. Nobody knows exactly what their revenue is going to be to pay for the expenses in the next
074year. We use math. FP&A is math, right? We roll things forward. We make adjustments, but it's a living document. You would just you decide, you know, Livermore has a long way to go with that. We need to work on position control. We need to know who works here. What's empty? What are we posting? What are the compensation ranges? But above all, I would add just one more thing to Amy's discussion that if we're going to freeze, then we should freeze the cabinet and superintendent until equity is reached in levels in the region between teachers and them. So, Andre, here's your chance. Do you want to say anything about Mr. Oz? Senor Gonzalez. Oh, man. You guys lost to an iPad. I just want you to know that. Thank you, Tara. Maybe have Sean. Oh, welcome,
075Sean. Please pronounce your name for me when you sit down. And then following Sean will be Monica Lewis. Welcome, Sean. Hi. Hello. My name is Sean McLaughlin of the second. I'm a fifth grader here at Junction Avenue. And thanks to two awesome teachers who saw student leadership. I get to be part of the first elementary student council at my school. Shout out to Mrs. Warmer and Mrs. Gonzalez. As a student rep, I hope to be the voice of my peers tonight. Now I know you spend a lot of time talking about the LBJ USD budget and what's best for our district tonight. I'm not asking for for a new building or new recess toys. Not yet, at least I'm here to tell you that that the very best investment you can make is in the
076people who are in the classroom classroom with us every day. Our teachers and our specialists. We all know our teachers teach us reading and math. But I want to show you the real value of what they do every single day. They were the ones who help us navigate through through the pandemic times. Maestro Paloma was my first grade teacher and first introduction to Junction coming out of the remote learning. Not only did she have to teach her school material shot, she also had to teach us how to be social again. Those were weird times. They are they are coaches and encouragers. My fourth grade teacher, Mr. Garcia, is out there every day playing soccer with us during lunch when he could be relaxing in his classroom. When I broke my wrist on the third day
077of school last year, he made sure that I felt included with my classmates. So he helped me wrap the games and games in third grade. We had some difficult periods in my class. And Miss Campbell was super patient with them and she did her best to teach everyone equally. Me, my stress, this final lesson. You know, I said, well, I he said, you know, I'm less I'm less. Well, man, I mean, I mean, yeah, a lot of mass mass. Yeah, she got that. Thank you, Sean. That's your time. Thank you so much for coming. It's so great. Good job, Sean. Monica Lewis and then following Monica is Ella and Charlotte. Good evening. I'm a Livermore parent and I'm here tonight because our teachers deserve better. And because our students success depends on this district choosing
078to invest in students by investing in educators. Last week's message from the superintendent painted a picture of a district doing its best under financial constraints. But what it didn't say is that budgets are about choices. And when you say you can't afford to pay teachers, what you mean is you are making the choice to not prioritize them. Your email failed to mention that you're offering teachers zero percent in ongoing salary. Zero seems like a really low number when the state budget this year provided a two point one billion dollar increase in LCFF, a two point three percent cost of living increase, a two point one billion dollar fund to lower TK ratios and a one point seven billion dollar discretionary block grant that districts can use for nearly anything. How can you tell our teachers
079there are zero dollars left for you after all of that? Parents talk. We even talk to parents in neighboring districts. So I want everyone here to know that Dublin superintendent sent a nearly identical email to the Dublin community the same very day that the Livermore superintendent sent one with their long list of excuses, which, by the way, they claim you have more revenue than they do. Parents will not sit idly by while you continually refuse to reprioritize the very budget that you have created. We want you to reprioritize it, to invest in our students by investing in their educators. Parents will not believe the excuses and misleading cherry picked evidence that you send to us any longer. This community will come together and demand actual data, not false projections. We will demand that district managers
080do their jobs to invest our tax dollars into our children's classrooms and learnings, not into managers, consultants or lawyers. Finally, this community will stand behind our educators if you refuse to make the right choice and push them to strike to get what they deserve. Budgets are about choices. If you truly prioritize students, you must choose to invest in our educators. Thank you, Monica. Ella and Charlotte, welcome. That's a loud voice. Go ahead. Oh, you want Ella to go first? Okay. Good evening board members and district staff. I am a Livermore student. I am here because teachers need better pay. If teachers are fighting for fairness to get better pay, they can't give students the help they need, necklace and pants or spend time with their families. Teachers work hard every day and shouldn't have to
081spend months worrying and fighting for the fair pay they deserve. We are here to get teachers better pay. I am a Livermore student. I'm here because teachers deserve better health care so they can stay healthy and their families stay healthy. I also think teachers should get more money because a lot of their money is used for their classrooms and their students. Teachers need more money for their homes and Livermore so they don't have to drive far away to get to our schools. Please use the money responsibly so teachers can stay healthy and live and live for more. We don't want our teachers to leave our school to go to work at different schools that pay more money. We don't want our teachers to have to keep fighting so they get what they deserve. We want
082you to pay what teachers deserve. I think the board members can pay teachers much more than they're paying them right now. Thank you, Ellen. Followed by Freya. Okay. Oh, good. No. Do we have a Greta Vic Berlo? Oh, there you are. And you'll be followed by Freya and I can't quite see that last name. Freja. Okay, good evening board and cabinet. My name is Greta Vic Berlo and I'm a senior at Livermore High School. I'm here tonight because I've seen firsthand how hard our teachers and our educators work. They stay late to help us understand lessons, write letters of recommendations, grade papers and show up to school events to cheer us on. Teachers should not have to work second jobs to afford to live in the community they serve. Teachers should not have to choose
083between their passion for teaching and their ability to support their families. And teachers should not be underpaid. Teachers make this district what it is. They deserve fair pay that reflects their time, care and dedication they give to their students every single day. I'm here because I respect my teachers and I believe that they should be paid fairly. And I really hope you do too. Thank you. Thank you Greta. Welcome Freya. Good evening. I'm here as a Granada student to substantiate the level of commitment of our Livermore teachers. Their commitment to the education and emotional well-being of Livermore youth, of which I owe a great deal to. Nobody would be remiss to claim that that hard work our teachers do is restricted within the bounds of class time. I alone can recall innumerable instances that a
084teacher has gone out of their way to support me and my peers in our academic clubs, Model UN conferences and projects. To a few of my teachers' dismay, I can even recall times I've cried to them when going through a rough patch. If they care this much for a single student, I know they care immensely for the students, the hundreds of students' lives that they shape every year. If you all were to allot even a fraction of the care for Livermore youth that they do, the compensation of our teachers would reflect that. Student life and education is inextricably linked with the quality and treatment of our teachers. If you claim to want the best for our Livermore students, I beg you to start with giving the best to our teachers. Thank you. Thank you. We
085have Anna, Anna Pham. Thank you. Followed by Joanne Morrison. My name is Anna Pham and I'm a senior at Granada High School. For all four years that I've been at Granada, we've been told that we are the utmost priority. I'm here to ask the school board to stay true to that promise as students cannot be prioritized if our teachers are not as well. My teachers should not be having to work three jobs on top of grading my tests. They should not be struggling to make ends meet and they should not be constantly dismissed with a barrage of constant excuses. In the eight years I've been in this school district, my teachers have served as my earliest role models and inspired a love for learning. But most of all, they taught me to fight for what's
086right and that's why I'm here. I've seen how much Livermore teachers care. Why won't you ensure that my teachers, the one who barricaded the doors in case of the very real possibility of a school shooting, the ones who create a safe place at school for students who don't have a place at home, why won't you ensure that they have enough to live on? Welcome Joanne. Good evening, President Prusso, members of the board, Superintendent Gibson, and cabinet. Livermore Advocates for Public Education works closely with teachers, administrators, and the board in advocating for policies that strengthen our schools. Because of that, as an organization, we cannot take a position in these salary negotiations. Still, as a community member, I care deeply about what's happening and want to share my personal perspective. It's painful to see the tension
087and frustration surrounding these negotiations. Our district, like many others, faces serious financial challenges. We had to make substantial budget cuts last year and there are continued threats of reduced federal funding. At the same time, our teachers are struggling with rising costs of living and health care, and many are taking on extra work just to get by. Fiscal responsibility is vital, but so is valuing our teachers, the heart of our schools. I remember when COVID emptied classrooms, they learned new technologies overnight and kept our students engaged through the chaos. When my own granddaughter was being bullied, it was her teachers who stood by her, walking her through the halls to keep her safe. That kind of caring cannot be measured in a budget spreadsheet. Teachers deserve better. With the bond measure on the horizon and school
088board elections next year, the community is watching. It will be hard to ask voters to invest in our schools if they perceive internal discord or distrust. As mediation begins, I beseech everyone to approach it with open minds and positive spirit. Our community must come together for our students, for our schools, and for the future of Livermore. Thank you. We're going to move on to our formal written correspondence. The 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. Formal written correspondence received after the cutoff time will generally be acknowledged at the following meeting. Please note our board electronic communications received via the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District website by accessing the formal written correspondence to
089the Board of Education link with all fields completed and verified shall be treated as formal written correspondence. I'd ask the clerk if he could please summarize. Indumathi Ramasamy Kasavin requested the board introduce badminton as an official team sport at Granada High School stating primary expenses would be minimal. Then more than 20 parents, teachers, and community members urged the Board of Education to prioritize teacher compensation, emphasizing the importance of competitive and equitable salaries and benefits that reflect both the cost of living and the dedication of educators. Many express concerns about teacher retention, recruitment, and transparency in negotiations, calling for meaningful salary increases and budget adjustments to better support staff. Their input reflects strong advocacy for higher pay and desire for the district to clearly communicate its financial priorities and decision making processes. Okay, we're going to
090move on to our discussion action items. We will begin first with 13.1, which is public hearing for the LVJUSD Service Employees, the SEIU Initial Sunshine Proposals. This is for discussion only. I'll turn the time over to Dr. Jessica Bunder. Thank you. All right, so thank you. So this is the public hearing for the reopening articles, Article 14 and Article 16, Pay and Allowance and Health and Welfare between the SEIU and Local 1021 and LVJUSD. Members of the board have any questions for staff? Okay, as president, I will now open this to public hearing and ask for public comment on this item. If you wish to address the board on this item now is the time to do so. I have no blue cards, so I will now close the public hearing. We're going to move
091on to 13.2, which is our contract reopeners, turn again to Dr. Jessica Banderas. Great, thank you. So in accordance with Article 31 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement between SEIU Local 1021 and LVJUSD, SEIU has submitted its proposal to sunshine the following articles, as I stated earlier, Article 14, Pay and Allowance and Article 16, Health and Welfare. LVJUSD agrees to open the same articles for our 2025-2026 re-opener negotiations, and it's the recommendation of the superintendent to approve the re-opener articles for negotiations. Okay, I have no blue cards, so I will close public comment. Any questions or comments from the board on this item? If not, I would entertain a motion, and do our student board reps, they get to vote on this one, yes? Or no, is it? No, personal. Sorry guys, hang in there. Hang
092in there. President Prusso, I move to support the superintendent's recommendation to approve the service employees International Union Local 1021's proposal for LVJUSD for 2025-2026 re-opener negotiations. Second. We have a motion by Trustee Druane, seconded by Trustee Bueno. No, we have no second. Sorry, I thought I heard someone. Anyone want to second that motion? I did. Oh, you did. Sorry. Okay, sorry guys, it's not paying attention. Okay, we have a motion by Trustee Druane, seconded by Trustee Ben and Huvel. Is there any discussion on the motion? I'd ask the clerk to take roll. Trustee Kaplanis, should we pass? That was an aye. I would just suggest that we recount, whatever our votes are, that we just verbally state it with the microphone. Sure, so that was an aye for Trustee Kaplanis, Trustee Bueno, aye from Trustee
093Bueno, Trustee Ben and Huvel, aye from Trustee Ben and Huvel, and aye from me, President Prusso, that's an aye. Right, that motion. Okay, so that motion passes unanimously, which he did repeat. Okay, each one, five, zero. Okay. We'll move on to 13.3, the approval of the revised Classified Manager's Salary Schedule, again to Dr. Jessica Bondaris. Great, thank you. So in accordance with Me Too, the Classified Manager's Confidentials, known as CMC Employment Group, received an offer equivalent to the cost of the new column G applied to the CSEA Salary Schedule, which was effective July 1, 2025. CMC members voted to apply the increase to the creation of the new column on the CMC Salary Schedule, column H. Column H represents a 5% increase over column G, and it's effective retroactive to July 1, 2025. The fiscal
094impact is $166,000, and it's the superintendent's recommendation to approve the revised Classified Manager's Confidentials Salary Schedule. Sorry about that. I have no blue cards. I will close public comment. Any discussion or questions from the board? If not, I would entertain a motion. I'll move to approve the superintendent's recommendation to approve the revised Classified Manager's Confidentials Salary Schedule for 2025-2026. I'll second. We have a motion by Trustee Vanden Heuvel, seconded by Trustee Kaplanis. Any discussion on the motion? Trustee Vanden Heuvel, that's an aye from Trustee Vanden Heuvel, myself aye, Trustee Bueno, aye from Trustee Bueno, Trustee Kaplanis, aye, President Prusso, so that carries 5-0. Okay, we'll move now to 13.4. This is the appointment of the Citizens Bond Oversight Committee, and this we will turn over to Ms. Kayla Wasley. Yes, good evening. We received one
095new application from a parent or PTA community member that would like to join our Citizens Bond Oversight Committee for Measure J. We have a full committee right now, but we always accept new committee members as we want to keep a full, robust committee going. So it is the superintendent's recommendation to approve the appointment of the Citizens Bond Oversight Committee member. I have no blue cards on this, so I'll close public comment. We have a question by Trustee Bueno. Is the addition in excess, or is it just like in reserve, or is it actually filling an empty spot? It's filling a spot that's currently existing. We do have parent PTA members currently sitting on the committee, but we are not over. Typically, you want to be a minimum of five to seven, so we're still within
096our five to seven range. So it's an empty seat. It's an empty seat. Yep. Okay. On the overall, but not vacant. So with CBOCs, you have certain roles that you should fill. Correct. We have our roles filled. This is just an additional one. We've met the minimum number. Yes, we've met the minimum requirement. Yes, exactly. Understood. Thank you. Ms. Swansea, can you just remind the public what's the purpose of the Oversight Board regarding Measure J? Yes. Just briefly. So any time that a community passes a GO bond or general obligation bond, part of that requirement to meet the legal requirements, it's at a Citizens Bond Oversight Committee to ensure that funds are spent in accordance with the measure language that was approved by the voters. And so the role of the committee is to review
097expenditures and projects and ensure that, one, the funds are being spent on projects as approved in the measure. And that includes site visits out to see construction projects as well as review our annual expenditures and create an annual report that comes to the board for approval and review. If there are no other questions, entertain a motion. Yes. President Percival, I move to support the superintendent's recommendation and approve the appointment of the Citizens Bond Oversight Committee member. Trustee Capuanes seconds. Any discussion on the motion? Wonderful. Can they vote on this? Yes. All right. We'll go with what we work this way around. Trustee Capuanes? Aye. There's an aye from Trustee Capuanes. Trustee Bueno? Aye. Aye from Trustee Bueno. Myself? Aye. Trustee Vanden Heuvel? Aye from Trustee Vanden Heuvel. Trustee Gress? Aye from Trustee Gress. Trustee Deepak?
098Aye from Trustee Deepak. President Percival? Aye. That carries unanimously, including our student board members. That was exciting. Great job. Okay. We're going to move on to 13.5, which is the Granada High School badminton. This is discussion only. We'll turn that over to Dr. Tori Gibson. Good evening. First, I see Mrs. Greenlee in here. I saw her walk in. I was like, oh, good. Just in case. But I think I have all the information. But a huge thank you to Eileen for providing us this budget sheet and then taking time to speak with me and work through all of the pieces. And students, please chime in on these topics if you have any input as well. So it has been requested that we add a badminton team to Granada High School. Livermore and Granada are the
099only two schools in our league that do not have badminton. After speaking with Ms. Greenlee, I discovered that we have an excessive number of students, especially at GHS, who want to be part of badminton. I think she said today approximately 60 students. To the point they would maybe even have to make cuts. I was like, oh, okay. All right. Let's have this conversation then. So here we are after speaking and learning a little bit more. It's really the startup costs that are the most expensive. I also had the opportunity to talk to Mr. Petersdorf over at LHS to find out if there would be an equivalent to that. He believed that their team would be much smaller, which is why their costs would be less. And I'll walk you through this. So if you look
100at the attachment online and you look at scenario five for GHS, it would be approximately $24,000 for startup with an ongoing cost for the district of $6,000 for the coaching fee. For LHS, it would be scenario four. And the main difference for the change is they would need the $8,300 coverage for nets and poles for four courts because they would have a smaller team. Both teams would have just one team if approved. And let me look on here. There's no additional transportation costs. They replace uniforms every three years. I would recommend that the board give direction that if we do move forward with this, that we would provide the first round of of all of the things that they need, whether it be the equipment and the uniforms right out of the gate. And then
101from there, then they'll they'll pick up those costs. Mrs. Greenlee did explain that they would replace the uniforms about every three years. And Mr. Petersdorf felt like that was a pretty high cost for them just because their team would be much smaller. So these are slightly higher than what probably the cost would be. But we always want to go up instead of down. There are no additional league dues. There are, but they're $84 a year. So basically no dues. I think that covers most of it. Currently in that particular section is Foothill High School, Amador, Dublin, Monte Vista, and San Ramon. In the last couple of years, we have added new sports. We added beach volleyball in twenty four, twenty five, and we added flag football in twenty three, twenty four. So this is good.
102OK, is that good? Is that right? OK, we're we're going back and forth around those dates. Typically, the two schools don't always align on sporting teams. But I think on this one, they probably would just one team would be smaller than the other. Do you have anything you want to add? You don't have to. But if you have something to add, please do. So just being a student, actually surprising amount of people have come up to me asking about badminton. So this is exciting. So you said there's one team per school. So does that mean they would just be like a varsity team or they would be a JV team as well? Just a varsity team. OK, correct. OK. And it's coed. It's mixed. They do some some of their competitions are girls only some
103are boys and some are mixed. So it's a combination of all the above, but it's one team. Do we have coaches lined up already that are at LA? Yes. Granada. Yes. Yes. And this is a spring sport, by the way. I forgot to mention that it's spring. So we would get going on this quickly. We do not need board approval for this. It's really just direction. And if the board gives direction to move forward, then we'll work with our athletic directors. How would you pay for it? What a general fund. Students come first. Right. We'll figure it out. Good. Thank you. I think my questions were how interests and then second was, was it coed? And then third was, which season is it? And I'm assuming if you went forward with this, would this this
104would I'm assuming this would be next academic year and not this one. But this particular year. Yes. This spring. And then I just thought that it's like at the university. If you if you're introducing your program, you like, check with other have we checked with other sports to let them know that this is a possibility? Because there may be people that, you know, might want to do bad men that are doing track or something like that. Just to I don't know, just thinking about all of the ins and outs and who might whose toes might be stepped on if something like this went through. I believe not that I needed an answer, but just like trying to project out if this does go forward to make sure that people can align. So if the track
105team needs to, you know, put in the, you know, no, you really want to do pole vaulting that they can. Yeah, there are a ton of other sports in the spring, especially. I think this particular group of students, if you're a badminton player, that's what you play. And so right now it's happening because all of the other teams have CIF. They're engaged with CIF. They can't play in club. And so it's really diminished. So they really just play each other more frequently than anything else. And so it's really become a challenge as other districts have added badminton to their CIF list. Space will be a challenge, but both athletic directors have assured me that they will work it out. Thank you. I was going to question about the space. So space isn't really an issue
106at either school site during the spring season. It definitely probably will be, but they both have assured me that they will they will figure out that scheduling component and it's designated space for the courts. Yes. Okay. I know this isn't something we need to vote on, but I appreciate the fact that, you know, we brought this was driven by this by the campuses. You know, they brought it to us and the fact that we're responsive. And this is largely due to addressing demographic changes and, you know, addressing the needs. And we've seen this in girls sports and we're seeing almost immediate accomplishments, which go towards, you know, esteem and a lot of other things. And, you know, going on to the next level. So, I mean, just look at the participation we had with flag
107football and already where we're at. When this community supported our development of the workout rooms as part of the athletic complexes, immediately, our teams got better. I mean, our basketball team played for the state championship division one. You know, I mean, you look at the success of more football this year, which is struggled. And you look at it's a remarkable thing when we support our students, they succeed. And I said, it's just it's just it's a small thing. It doesn't need our approval. And I strongly support that we do move to support our student athletes. I think, I mean, with extracurricular programs, there's a huge culture with parents. So I just if this is new and I mean, it's not new. Right. A lot of these kids are probably doing club. But I'm just thinking
108about ways of supporting getting, you know, the parents and I don't know, just something along those lines. That's awesome. Trustee Bueno said that he's told we have nationally ranked people, which is exciting. Let's go badminton. Yeah. Thank you for bringing this to us. I think it feels like we're all in support and I'm excited about it. So thank you for putting the numbers together. It's significantly less than I thought it was going to be. And so I feel like it's we're in a good spot for that. Any other we have no thank you for their comments. It's just a discussion. I'll be in touch with both athletic directors tomorrow. Okay, actually, probably right now via email. So we're going to move on to 13.6. This is the CSBA delegate assembly nomination. So each year, CSBA
109invites member districts to nominate board members to serve on its delegate assembly. The delegate assembly helps guide the association's policy direction and represents local board interests at the state level. This year, delegates with terms ending in 2026 are up for election and newly elected delegates will serve from April 1st, 2026 through March 31st, 2028. Ballots will be distributed by February 1st and districts may vote either electronically or by mail. The nominations and biographical sketch forms are due by Wednesday, January 7th, which is why we're bringing it to this meeting. If any board members here wish to be nominated, I'd be happy to nominate anyone. And we could also, again, discuss it at the next meeting. We would still have time if you're not sure. So anyone wish to or I just just being new to
110the board and I've been involved with the CSBA over the past year doing their Masters in governance class. I just don't know much about it. Like what the commitment is like. Does anybody know? Do you know, Craig? I think they they meet it. I think they meet a day before the main conference. And then I think it's great. I didn't participate in, but we had a long standing member when Anne White was here, she was the region like seven delegate for a number of years. And if I recall correctly, I believe it was like there was a quarterly meeting. And then they show up early and they serve on some of the subcommittees for the CSBA, part of the organizing committee. So it wasn't an overwhelming thing, but it was an involvement thing. And it
111kind of gives a little bit of I don't call it swagger, but it kind of gives you a little bit of influence from our district. I think it's good. I mean, I'm really enjoying learning on CSBA and meeting other people. But maybe we could discuss it more later as I learn more about it. I would just suggest if you're not sure and you want to do a little bit of research and maybe reach out to some of the ones who are doing it now to ask them a little bit more details. We can put it on the next board meeting agenda will still give us plenty of time before the January 7th deadline. And then if not, we can just let this sit how it is. Does that sound reasonable to everyone? OK, so we're
112going to move on to thirteen point seven, which is the board meeting calendar. This is discussion only. So just as a reminder, in the spring, we adjusted our meeting calendar to include one evening meeting and one morning meeting each month with the intent to revisit revisit this schedule after a few months. So tonight we are reviewing how the schedule has worked in practice and we can provide direction for a new calendar or for next year's calendar. Just as a reminder, what's happening right now, we currently hold two regular meetings per month, one evening and one morning. And the morning meetings have generally been our site reports with minimal action items, primarily personnel approvals for hiring purposes. And then this structure has allowed staff time savings and flexibility while maintaining regular public meetings and giving us
113more time during the site presentations to go into more depth. Also, as just as a point of reference, these meetings are recorded and updated to our website. However, it is a little bit of a departure from our traditional schedule that we had in the past. And I just wanted to I reached out to our attorney just to get a definition on what board meeting and workshop. The differences between board meeting and workshop, because I think that's how we used to we used to call them the workshop. And so there is actually any time there is a meeting of a quorum of the board, it is technically a board meeting, whether it's called a workshop or a study session or a town hall. And the Brown Act only distinguishes between regular and special meetings. So regular
114meetings are part of our adopted calendar to have 72 hour notice and special meetings can be 24 hour notice. So that's the difference. I think I got that right. But with that, I know we've had some people reach out with some concerns and we actually do have a public comment on this. So before we have a discussion, I will invite our public commenter, Joanne, to come forward. And then also, as this is a discussion, depending on what the discussion is, we can bring a vote to the next meeting. Typically, our meetings right now for December for November, December and January have traditionally been the way that they are right now. So I felt like it gave us a little bit of time. So we'll turn the time over to our speaker. Hello again. I don't
115have a lot to say, but I just have to say that this new schedule we've been on has seemed weird. I understand why we needed to convert the workshops to meetings because of the definition. But the reduction in evening meetings meant an overall reduction in opportunities for public engagement. And whether we like it or not, there is such a thing as optics and whether people from or whether the public actually attends the meetings or not, they need to perceive that the opportunity exists. So my request is to keep the daytime meetings. I think that's important for people who work nights and can only be available in the day. But add back the evening meetings to the total number we had before the change in schedule. Thank you. Thank you. I will close public comment and
116now turn the time over to the board for discussion. I think just my observation from having the new schedule of one time a month evening meetings that we have more people coming, just because it's once a month, as opposed to you're feeling overwhelmed with schedules and rushing from work. I'm okay if we need to go back to renaming the Thursday meetings to the workshop. I've never experienced the workshop so I don't really know what the difference is. But by definition, as long as we're getting the work done that we need to I'm okay with that. But the way we've structured the morning meetings just to hear from the school site specifically I've really appreciated that. And I think it's beneficial to have that, as opposed to on an evening meeting, and then they just extend
117way too long, you know, just to hear from everybody. That's my input. Leading into the conversation about adjusting the board calendar, I had done some background work to look at other districts to see what what existed and I would say that most districts that I looked at and looked at about 10, and I tried to find the data and I must because I was like, we're done with this but most districts tend to have one or two meetings in the evening that's kind of a standard practice so I would say that the calendar that we had previously was the standard. There are examples of districts that just have one. Okay, I think I could be wrong again I don't have a deleted the information but I think so Noel is one that they just have
118one a month and that's the extent. I think for me, the difference between us and other school districts is the school site presentations. I could be wrong. I don't think I am, but school site presentations are something that are unique to live more, it's an opportunity for us the board to hear about specific school sites to ask them questions and kind of, you know, get a finger on the pulse of what's happening. And I think that at least for me part of that is, you know, Mr. Neil was here for that, you know, to do the, you know, to, you know, honor the people from East, but then to stay and also give a presentation after being here. That's a big load. And I know that there's lots of work but I think part of
119the shift to the morning was to allow an opportunity for them to present during the day during the work schedule. So, I think that, and if you can reiterate so the options about, you know, is it possible to do school site presentations that we can all do during the day, and like, is that possible or not. So the regular board meeting is business focused and action oriented, which is like tonight, where we vote on policies contracts resolutions personnel and other official matters. And then the board workshop or study session, I think they get those words can be interchangeable is more discussion or learning focused, which is kind of what we do in our Thursday morning board meetings so I think calling it a workshop is fine. It's still a board meeting, so we can call
120it a board workshop but technically it's still a board meeting because there's a quorum of us. That one is typically used for deep dives into complex issues like it could be budget planning LCAP review. We use it for mainly for data and for our site presentations. And the board usually does not take action during those meetings, though it can, if the agenda list an action item and proper notice is given, which all of ours are it would be the 72 hour or calendar, and that public comment is still required. So that that's the information that I got on. So relative to this topic. I was. It's not a mystery I was against it, we changed it probably because I've been on the board long enough. I think anytime you curtail public comment. I know this
121is our time to do our business, it's not a public means of our meeting held in public. But when you curtail public comment. It builds up, especially when there's issues, whether it's finance issues or when we had a charter school issued whenever there's issues in the community, and you don't listen to the community. The community is who elects us, the community is who funds us. And if we curtail that public input. It's going to build up. And so you end up with these bursts that are in it's up to me coming out of government my whole life. And running smooth. You get that by listening to the public and I'm not saying that we aren't. I'm saying that this current format that we're using. I don't like that we start the meetings early. I know
122that's convenient. But when you started early I think a lot of people are trying to commute and get back here. Because the meeting started an hour early, and I think it's harder for people to make that meeting, not having the two a month. Maybe it's a floating thing maybe we don't have to do to every month. But I believe having that morning meeting, we had basically two meetings a month on Tuesday nights at seven o'clock for open session six o'clock for, and sometimes we don't we start the agenda, but it was seven o'clock 7pm start, usually twice per month. And that was the way it was here for years, not to say that that's the perfect way but that's how it was the workshops. I'm glad to hear that it's simply it sounds like it's
123semantics, whatever you call it. It's a meeting so yeah it's just about noticing, and the workshops had been used historically as a less formal setting. They weren't recorded they were in the smaller room, usually, and it gave us the opportunity with some community input. It was a more informal setting. If it was configured properly or not, I don't know I've always operated under the premise that it was. We had a 12 year superintendent so who did her doctoral thesis on school boards at Cal Berkeley so I'm going to guess that we were doing it properly but things may have changed. The Thursdays were more of an informal thing we did it for the budget we did it for board priorities, and we also ran the single plans which are the school things, and some of
124the board members really liked that. And that's why it became part of our evening meetings under the last superintendent, he brought the schools in to do their presentation, because there was, it was really liked by some of the board members they like seeing them. What they used to do is they'd run up through like a Thursday morning, and the high schools would come in and do all theirs together in the middle schools and the elementary schools, and we would rotate from room to room, and we would see them. That's how it used to be done. So, I thought it was, it worked. I'm always for looking at an adjustment and I think I was against the change, but I've worked with the change because sometimes you get you know we get new staff and we
125have new people, and we want to see how things work. I think this has curtailed public comment, and it's less than the opportunity for input. So, I would not that I'm a great person I like going a lot of meetings, I would support going back to the format that we had, whether we call it workshops or not I don't care about that. Oh, there was, there's really nothing on the, on the agenda that I could feel more indifferent about, because that could go all either way. How many meetings. What's the difference in number of meetings per. It's no I'm sorry for the for the year. We have five fewer meetings with this new schedule is that right. I didn't want to go over over that you know I mean to go. So, maybe a happy
126middle, I do think that you know there's a sense that that a board could sneak something in on a Thursday or something that we don't know about or we can't comment on because I'm not there and it's just. So for optics purposes I think it is, I would, I would want to go back to something that we had prior. But I also think that the six o'clock time slot starting at five allowed for kids to be here students to be here. Seven is late for those for those students so I like that change a lot. Yeah, I would hope that we can put this on the on the agenda next time so we can go back to. I mean we can work on that between now and then to have a not a maybe completely
127go back to what we were but something that works on both ends I don't know, hybrid is the word I was looking for a hybrid way. I kind of just whatever the majority of the board feels I do with you I do like the 6pm. I understand what you're saying but I also know like, like tonight for our teachers who've been working all day, who wanted to be here and now they can go home. Well, the third if we kept the Thursdays as a workshop. And then, yeah. Yeah. And then also just as a point I think, I think, trustee Vanden Heuvel did mention that as we don't have to meeting two evening meetings a month, we didn't. We didn't for November, December, January, a lot of that has to do with all the weeks
128of vacation for the holidays, again, also April because of spring break. And I'm not sure about August I think I don't know if it was one or two. Yeah, but I, but I, so I think I would keep it at that, at least what we historically had done during those months when there's holidays. Yeah, okay. I just wanted to clarify that. I don't know, I mean, I could be. I'm a pragmatist. And so, we decided to go to the new schedule, we said we'd come back and revisit it so if we go back. I say at the end of the year, we go back and we, you know, project out and hear from the community Do you feel like you had enough opportunity to come and speak. We can look at what our meetings look
129like. And I think that the thing I want to recognize is that we have cabinet members here that have also been working, and they get a lot of money to be here. They've also been working. It's back. So, yeah, but I just, I just want to recognize that all the meetings that we have have a cost associated with it as far as time and resources. So I think that we need to be purposeful and what the needs are for the district, and if we need those meetings then we should have those meetings. And if we don't need to have those meetings then again I would push us to revisit and really assess, is this something that we need, or is this something that we don't need. And I would strongly agree with that there's no
130sense in having a meeting that you don't need. One of the ways that it was managed as someone who helped put the agenda together for eight years is we would calendar we put the board calendar together in advance for a year so you could see it. So you had placeholders because it's really hard to schedule people. When the superintendent would weigh public input, cabinet people who are out there, they would weigh and say, do we need to have that workshop, whether we call that a Thursday meeting or not. Do we need to have it. No, it's been resolved. We don't need that. So it was quite customary that we would cancel those workshops, and they were only the ones that would usually hold was board priorities, and the, the budget one. Those were usually the
131ones that almost every year we had, and then the school plans, the single plans that those were held during workshops. Yeah. So I'll be naive. So I sit on the university institutional review board which is when people are doing research on humans, they have to submit to get approval at Stan State. And we only meet when we have work to do. So, if that is the case, and I, you know, I have been to department meetings and you fill it with something, but I just wonder if there's not work to do, can you, you know, we could cancel a workshop, if there's not work to be done for a board meeting, is it possible to cancel a board meeting. No. Yeah. You can add but you can't subtract. Yeah, that's a great question. I think
132that's the hardest part is we can add but when you have a formal board meeting and it's a time and we set, whatever the case may be unless the board formally approves the Brown Act to delete the meeting, then we'd have to have a meeting to delete the meeting, essentially. So, that's why having the once a month we can add though a special meeting. In addition to that, if we move the Thursdays to a workshop which is totally fine. If there is something that comes up there is some emergency situation that we do need to discuss, whether it be to vote on it or whether it be to have a closed session or whatever the case may be we can just add a special meeting and tack it on to the end of that meeting
133so we would post two separate meetings one would be the workshop. The workshop 72 hours in advance just, just because we've had public comment and you know this school year and last school year around people watching Brown Act and I think it's just the microscope that all school boards are under. We used to not be under this type of scrutiny, and people watching and I think everything now is recorded and posted which is great it allows people who can't be here, an opportunity to to view the meetings that allows even us to go back and look at what happened at meetings who voted which way what was a discussion, because obviously our minutes can't reflect everything being stated so you know as we transition into kind of a new way of time. That was part
134of the reason that we made this transition to begin with. But it's not a problem we can always add a meeting. I would anticipate when you know when times are easy meetings will be fairly quick, even with one meeting when times are tough like we're in right now they're just not. And we understand that which means, as we go into the spring if we are if we're ever in a situation where we need to do layoffs or those types of things will be adding additional meetings on to our nighttime meeting plans and we'll make that public knowledge far in advance so it's not just I mean, it's a 72 hour notice for the agenda by law, but I would definitely not want to spring that 24 hours in advance to our community, if that makes
135sense. Yeah, and then just on start time. I think I prefer the start time, the earlier start time and I think it allows our student trustees to participate and then, you know, get through as much as they can. But then I also think of a couple instances where we've had teachers that are going the distance, like Mr and right was here till the wee hours of the night waiting for to, you know, for a consent item so. But I think that that's something that you know we could grapple with but at least for me, and we can revisit, you know, but I appreciate the earlier start time. Just food for thought. And one of the things that was given consideration, whenever we had kids who would come and we used to have the kids would
136come they do like the musical you know that six. They would come and they would perform for sometimes choir sometimes some of our singers would come and sing. But if there was kids on the agenda, we would move them up there was always is there any changes to the agenda. Yes, we've, if we had a topic that was agendized way down low, and it had teachers or kids, we would just simply ask for a head nod, and we would So you can mitigate it. It wasn't that hard. It was simply just moving the item up. And sometimes if they were on consent, we would vote on it separately, you know to move them up so it was it was doable. When we did it back then, and people usually make that request to us in
137advance. You can move consent. Yeah, you pull it. Yeah, we anything that's agendize we can move around on the agenda as long as it's agendized, you just can't change the agenda once it's 72 hours before, but as long as it's agendize how we go about it is fine. But usually people will ask us if we can put them first or where they'll be on the agenda. So we know usually if there's a community member or staff member that's going to be presenting, we try to always front load all of those if we know that they're going to be coming. So I hear a consensus on the Thursday meetings, turn to workshops that do you guys have any comments. Okay. And I think that the 6pm is what I'm unsure of is if we're going to
138wait until the end of this year, or the board calendar to possibly add evening meetings back, or if we're going to do that sooner. Correct. We can bring it I mean we can bring an updated calendar anytime. So it's whatever the direction of the board is. When you do your weekly or monthly newsletter, just to ask the community, like, because this is the meeting that we present our information to them. Is there a way that we could just include something to get a little bit of feedback, like from the community as to what works best for them. We have a PIO that does this. Maybe if we just put something out and said, the boards in consideration of altering the current meeting schedule. Not to say that we're going to go back to the old
139one but simply to ask what, what seems to work. They might say, we really love the way it is, or they might say, I would be nicer to have you know the go back to the two from the same. We as board members don't have that avenue to be able to address the whole public, but the school district does I mean you have people that do it. I think most of the feedback that I have heard loud and clear is moving the Thursdays to a workshop. I've also heard that people like the 6pm start time. And I, I don't, I haven't heard anything about it just being one at night I think it's really that that daytime is a board meeting. And so if we change that to a workshop I my perception is that
140that's that's been the biggest component to that. I think the optics and transparency about the, you know, the morning meeting. Yeah. And then we can always add, like I said we can always add special meetings as we need to. You were saying that we can't like take out meetings but we can add them but if we switch the Thursday, like morning meetings to workshops, like, technically that would like, how many board meeting, how many months is this like nine months. 1111 months so like what those 11 morning meetings that you're now switching to workshops, what those need to be filled with, like, actual board meetings in the afternoon but you were also saying that we're not having board meetings like November, December, January because of the holidays. No, so we would keep the current meeting
141schedule of the second Tuesday and the evenings like we have now. And then on Thursdays when we have the Thursday morning meetings those would get changed to the, the old version of just the workshops. And then. Oh, so then there would be two meetings a month to still to me is a month but one is a workshop. Yeah, one's a workshop one's a formal board meeting and then if we need to add another board meeting then we would add a special meeting as needed. I can show you the schedule would make more sense to you point to I think that we still have two evening board meetings in a couple of months, I was just going to say that June were required to have two board meetings because of LCAP so that one those that
142stays. But that's the only one that we're required to have to, but we go, the only meeting, the only month we don't have a board meeting is July, and everyone's dark in July. Okay, so I think if I say this and you guys tell me if that's correct so we want to change Thursday morning to workshops. We want to keep the 6pm start and keep the schedule for the current year for the evening meetings, adding meetings, if necessary. And then we can revisit this calendar in May, May, May when the calendar comes out. Does everyone feel comfortable with that, or also the possibility of reaching out to the community I forgot that you mentioned that as well. Well maybe we should do that in advance of. Yeah, okay. Yeah. I think we're good. All right.
143Okay. So we're going to move on to our consent items. And just find that on here we have 24 consent items on the agenda this evening, would anyone like to discuss any of those have no blue cards on 13. Oh no that's wrong one. To be the approval. I think that's right. Yes, warrants yes yes yes warrants. Some have expensed amounts while others do not. Can you tell us about that. If you have a microphone. That's a very good question. So when you see the expense amounts. That is because that particular payment or reimbursement had two account lines associated with it so for example the first one. Expensed amount of $5.29 and then the next line is $4.88 for a total check amount of $10.17 versus if it does not show an expensed amount it
144means that it's one account line for the entire payment. So, it just shows us the check amount is the total expense amount. And then, 14, five, a special. So, this is more of a comment. And I know that you heard at Tri Valley Selma that I believe correct me if I wrong but I think Dublin school word had had revised their speech and language, language positions to entice more people to apply for those positions. One of the people spoke earlier about the contracts paying for contracts contracts are so expensive. And I think on on that one regarding the speech and language pathologist, I believe, is this, I think I had a question of is this like a gray flex area where we have to have a contract or is this like long term. Thank you.
145So, this particular contract is, we have 3.9 contractors SLPs, and those positions are posted and open. If people apply for them. So these contractors are filling this those positions. We recently had a contractor with a company and resigned from that company. And so, and we picked up a contract with another agency that we work for so we're just transferring that contract to the other agency under the same PCN number so it's being deducted from a PCN number that already exists so this is an additional funding on top of that. So, the old contract will be canceled in this contract is picked up so it's the same but we have to get your approval on it. Does that make sense. I think finding good speech speech teachers is really hard. There's a huge demand, and at
146Stan State University they're trying to create a new program because there's a huge need within the Central Valley as well as here for qualified speech and language pathologists. That's it. Thank you. I would like to remove 14 to, if we can, someone tell me if this is possible. 14 to K and L to be approved separately, so that our students can approve those, because it directly relates with their schools is approval of the contracts for Senior Ball, and also the approval of the contract with the varsity yearbook for Livermore High School. If you guys are amenable to that, maybe we could do that who is really smart and wants to do that messy consent. It's just piano you want to pull. Yeah. I wanted to ask Miss Manky about the, about 14 5a. My question
147around that that I that I threw out there is why can we do this in house there seems to be, you know, there's questions about contractors coming in and why can't we just pay our teachers, that kind of thing. Can you talk a little bit about that particular item. Well we actually we have state law that tells us the cap on caseload for speech and language pathologists so if you right now for not preschool preschool has a cap of 40 everybody else has a cap of 55 so when we look at the number of students who receiving speech services you divide that by 55 it would technically give you your FTE. So we try really hard not to go over that number. So, with all of our FTE it gives us about about 20.4 FTE
148is what we're allowed so with that we've hired everything up to 3.9. So again those positions are posted. And so we, we have no fluff, everybody is really close to their capacity in terms of the state law and what they can have as a caseload as an SLP. Okay, entertain a motion. To preface the motion I would request at the request of Board President Prusso that we remove 14 point consent items 14.2 K and 14.2 L to be voted on separately and subsequently move that the balance of the consent items be moved in their entirety. We have a motion by trustee. Why no, and seconded by trustee drew in any discussion on the motion, the clerk will take role. So this is for the balance. Yes, trustee Kaplanis. I trustee Bueno. Myself I that was
149I from trustee Bueno trustee Vanden Heuvel. I President Prusso that motion carries five on. I would move in support of superintendents recommendation on item 14.2 K, which is specifically the approval of contract with events to the T for Granada High School senior ball. I'll second. So I have a motion by trustee Bueno seconded by myself. Any discussion on the motion. Myself I trustee Kaplanis. I trustee Bueno. I from trustee Bueno trustee Vanden Heuvel. I from trustee Vanden Heuvel trustee grass. I from trustee grass trustee Deepak. I from trustee Deepak President Prusso. That motion carries seven. And finally, I move in support of superintendents recommendation on item 14.2 L, which is the approval of the contract with varsity yearbook for Livermore High School. I'll second. So we have a motion by trustee Bueno seconded by myself.
150Any discussion on the motion. Clerk trustee Vanden Heuvel. I from Vanden Heuvel. Myself I trustee Bueno. I from trustee Bueno trustee Kaplanis. I from trustee Kaplanis trustee Deepak. I from trustee Deepak trustee grass. I from trustee grass President Prusso. That carries seven on. Thank you. Is that it. Just double checking here. Okay. We're moving on to our board reports. And we will begin with, you know what, we're going to go straight down the line so we can just hand the microphone over. Okay, since our last board meeting, I was able to represent our board at the fabulous following for fall fourth grade assembly at crochet. And it was absolutely fabulous. So good job told the fourth graders and the staff that worked hard to prepare such a great assembly. I went to the Dia De
151Los Muertos fifth grade science camp fundraiser. Deliver more leadership. I guess class with the Chamber of Commerce, the Halloween parade at Junction TK through eighth. The LHS green engineering our project presentations with some of my colleagues. It was so fun to hear from the students. I love that completed the CSBA masters and governance course on human resources and collective bargaining and a really exciting rivalry game last Friday night to see the two football teams from our, our school district. Both teams did really well. So I'm really proud of all the athletes, but I'm also really proud of our cheer team, our stunt team, our dance team, the band. It's been a while since I've been to a high school football game and everyone just did so good. And it was such fun energy. I think
152half the town was there. So it was nice to be a part of that. And then lastly, I just want to take a moment to thank all of our veterans and our future veterans for their service to our country. Happy Thanksgiving. I hope everyone has a good break. I just want to congratulate both schools on some of the accomplishments that have been going on. And we're looking at notes. There's nothing better than Friday night lights. And when you're a small town, you have two schools. It's over 100,000 people in town now, but it still feels like, you know, there's 8500 people living here because, you know, there it's packed. I had the privilege of coaching at one of those schools for 20 years. And I just recently stopped and I could tell you that there's
153nothing better than that smell, even if it's the artificial grass, but the tape and everything else. And it's just it really, I mean, it's kind of a divisive political time right now. And that's one of the great things that I love about student athletics is that people really don't care about that. It just comes down to a common goal. And you find commonality amongst people and it draws people together in its spirit. And, you know, they awarded the, you know, the homecoming award. I mean, it's just it's just really good. So it's glad to see that the board is, you know, attending and supporting because it just it bring and it's not just the sport. It's the cheer and everyone else. So I really appreciate that. I am very concerned and I will remain concerned
154and I will offer any support I can to the ongoing process with our folks, our teachers being an impasse. I am the senior person on this board. I've been on this board and elected three times by the public. And I served a long time in the capacity as president eight years and we have never been at impasse. You know, whether it's a misunderstanding is something that we can clarify. But one thing I know, I came out of a profession that is considered one of the most trusted in public service. And I can tell you that I can't imagine being more trusted than teachers. People literally take their most prized possession, their little kids and drop them off at a school and say, I'll see in six hours or eight, you know, whatever it is. And
155with those people we trust and I think that, you know, they're they're here for a reason. And I think that whatever that message is, however, it resonates with each of us individually. We need to get that resolved and we need to make sure that our teachers are happy and that they can serve our community as best they can. And I know that economic times are very, very challenging and we are not going to fix the fiscal crisis of housing and everything else. We that's beyond our capacity. But there are some things that I hope are within our capacity. So I strongly support our teachers with more than just words. I'm going to support them with my vote. Thanks. So to begin with, at our last evening board meeting, I discussed the need for collaboration between
156bargaining units, community members and the school district seeking the funding we desperately need from the state. I crafted a letter to State Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan and State Senator Jerry McNerney. The letter briefly outlines the dire state in which we find ourselves, skyrocketing health care costs, insufficient cost of living adjustments and inequitable funded disbursements like the economic recovery target, which is more than five million dollars of funds that Dublin and Pleasanton receive, which we do not. I encourage anyone within the Livermore community to sign the letter and asking for representatives to meet and fight for us, our teachers and our students to gain the financial resources we deserve to serve our students fairly, compensate our teachers and thrive. I also attended the state of schools in Alameda County with LEA President Amy Thompson and VP Tara
157Lutz. This event was hosted by County Superintendent Elise Castro and was geared towards helping school districts understand the resources and direction for the County Office of Education. We were able to network regarding medical billing, billing, which we're pleased to hear that our district is on track, or at least I'm pleased to hear that we are on track on that front. I also attended Livermore Link leadership team. The goal of this group is to help bring the strategic plan to life. In this session, we worked to collectively prioritize the needs. The aim I believe is to share those priorities with the budget advisory committee. I also attended PCIC and heard presentations from Livermore Valley Arts and received an update on enrollments. As always, I came away with a deep appreciation for all of the parents and
158community volunteers, whose efforts help our district thrive. One representative discussed the need for both players and volunteers for Granada High bingo. So if you were looking for something to do Saturday and go play bingo or volunteer for bingo. I, as well as some other trustees, attended the LHS Green Engineering Academy, their senior projects, which both as a board trustee and a former teacher, I was excited about them making their learning experiences meaningful. They were designing owl boxes for the East Bay regional parks, so they were trying to solve a real problem that was facing our community. I also attended the Halloween parade at Jackson Elementary, where we heard the East Avenue band play my favorite Halloween song, which is the theme for Ghostbusters. I would also like to close wishing everyone a happy Native American
159History Month November. In our local community we have the Tri-Valley Native American Center, which works collaboratively with the Livermore Pleasant and Dublin and Castro Valley school districts to help inform our students and make our community awesome. Thank you. Well, let me just say, you guys have been so busy. I took the right few weeks to take care of some personal matters so thank you for holding on the fort while I was gone. Just about a few weeks I visited school sites, attended that rival game, and two amazing high schools, only one won though. I was also greatly impressed by the combined performances by our cheer and dance teams that worked across those rival boundaries. It looked like a ton of work, but it showed and it paid off, so kudos to the coaches. I also
160spent a significant amount of time reading the dozens of emails from our engaged community members about our district and enjoyed meeting with various community members. I love that our community's engagement level is really high, very passionate about our district, and I think there's always so much hope and possibility when we sit around the table and get together and talk. And relevant to that, I want to take a moment to thank everyone who came out tonight, especially our teachers and the many community members who stood with them. Your presence matters, your voice matters and also want you to want to say that I see the strain that many of you are carrying. I am very aware of the financial pressure on our teachers and our staff and I'm mindful of the. I don't know there's this
161slow steady tearing at the fabric of our of our city that you know seems to pit neighbor against neighbor and I love you know that it was said today we are not each other's enemy we are one community and we're all here because we care about serving and educating our children. And I want to remind you of my values of my commitments I'm fully committed to advocating for the strongest possible help that we can give to our teachers that that our district can responsibly sustain. And I'll continue urging our superintendent and their team to bring forward options that honor the work that teachers do and honor and reflect the reality of living and working in Livermore. And at the same time, since I was elected by the residents of Livermore not just the teachers and
162the parents. I also have a responsibility to ensure that our decisions support long term stability for the entire district for students or families for staff, and for the broader community. And so my commitment is that I'll do my part to get us to solution. I'm just so grateful for our teachers and for everything that they bring to our students and to this amazing city. That's it for me. Thank you. You all said such great things. Before I just wanted to say I was able to attend the college and career expo. I was at Livermore High School, just for reference, that is for all of the three districts in our Tri Valley area so they all came to Livermore High. And we have had colleges and careers, career opportunities at all of those it was very
163well attended. And it was exciting to have there. We also had middle college open house. This last month, and just like some of my other colleagues was able to attend the Green Engineering Academy with their L boxes and just seeing the creative things that they came up with this really exciting. So, this month had the TV ROP advisory dinner and that is a dinner where we put educators with. We seat educators at the table with industry, and they work together on coming up with ideas for our students and because of that we've had many opportunities for programs in the summer we've had opportunities for internships externships for our teachers for It's a really great thing that the TV ROP puts on. And then also was able to attend the Livermore High Granada High football game
164which was really fun and exciting. The best part for me was the drumline at the end. I saw you there. Yeah, it was really great. I loved all of that I loved Craig reminding us, you know what it's all about coming and going to the games and seeing the community there together. And then I wanted to thank Stephen for his letter and his advocacy advocacy at the state level and I will definitely support that was also wanted to echo what Dina said about our veterans, and just thankful for veterans and our future veterans that was beautiful. And also what Christian said about balancing the needs of today with our, with our future stability. That's something that's that stewardship that that we have that is can be challenging. I just wanted everyone to know I'm super
165grateful that people came here tonight and they, they told us how they feel, and I care about that I care deeply about that I care about our teachers, about our students in our community and I carry it home with me every, every time. I care about those things. And I also recognize that there's a responsibility for today, and there's a responsibility for the years ahead and so that's, that's the balancing act that we have to figure out and I'm just appreciative of all of you and this team we have together I think we're going to be able to figure it out. So with that I'm going to turn the time over to Dr. Gibson. Just a couple quick updates, Amy Thompson and I were able to meet in regards to our board policy update plan.
166And I think we landed on rolling them out by level meaning the 1000s than the 2000s and the 3000s and as we roll each one of those out. We're keeping a list of the current updates that are coming out while we're waiting for the new updates from us. So we'll have to merge them all together but we have a plan that will be coming shortly I would say probably not until after the first of the year though, we have a lot going on right now. But thank you to Amy for that meeting that we had to move around a couple times. We're going to get there and thank you to Joanne to since you're here in the audience for also going through all those lovely policies for us. Our budget advisory committees, both of them
167as well as our strategic plan leadership team are working on staffing ratio recommendations, as well as a list of priorities for the board. So I'm excited about that work will be bringing that to the board soon as well. But I want to acknowledge also, just by chance the Granada high school marching band. They've had two huge awards recently they actually took first place in a marching band competition I believe it was in Santa Cruz if I remember correctly. And then a group of parents invited my husband and I to a Saturday event and pleasant and on Main Street that was lovely it was so much fun it was raining, but we went with our coffee and had had such a great time and they took second place there. So congratulations to them they've really been
168building up an amazing program over the last few years that did not exist prior, and just huge kudos to staff at Granada for for making that happen I know students have place everywhere. I mean I think badminton is a great example, whether it be marching band or sports or arts or whatever the case may be. We always want students to find where they feel that they fit in and that they have kind of their own tribe so that was a great event to attend. I also was at the football game on Friday night. Congratulations LHS, but a bigger congratulations to both sites because you're both going to play off so congratulations but I know it was a really big deal for for LHS to win this one so congratulations and we look forward to seeing
169what happens and congratulations to volleyball and golf and all the sports that we always tend to talk about the big sports like football. I don't want to forget about the other teams that equally have such great success and represent our district. Okay. Our next regularly scheduled board meeting will be held Tuesday, November 18. That is today. Oh, Thursday, sorry. Oh that's right we had to change it. Yeah, do you want to. So we did have to move it from Thursday to Tuesday this year because of the dream makers risk takers event that's on Thursday that we didn't know that top of the calendar came out so the regularly scheduled meeting on Thursday will be on Tuesday for board presentations. Just a heads up that Mrs Pichette and I will only be there for a short
170period of time because we were supposed to be in person meeting with lawmakers in regards to our magnet grant and all of the craziness we're dealing with with the feds. I did get an alert that I believe the federal government is opening back up. So that will be helpful for us to be able to move our work forward. But because they weren't open and we didn't know what it was going to look like. Capital basis got us scheduled with them on Tuesday. That's when they were available for online meetings, so we will be in and then we'll be out and then we'll be back into the meeting if it's still going on so as you see, Mrs Pichette and I kind of in and out of the That's why, but our amazing directors will have
171it covered because it's just school site reports only. Okay, glad we figured that out. So the next regularly scheduled morning will be held on Tuesday, November 18 here. Open session will begin at 9am. And a very happy Thanksgiving I forgot to say that to you. This meeting is now adjourned at 848pm.