10.14.25 Board Meeting

001Welcome. Thank you so much for being patient with us. Good evening, this is the October 14th meeting of the Board of Education of the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District. Our meetings are broadcast over zoom to provide the opportunity for 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 605pm. 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. I also just want to make a point of reference that we will be reconvening into closed session after this meeting is over. All actions approved in our closed session must be reported out in open session and I'd ask Trustee Druin if he

002could please report out. During closed session, the Board of Education took action regarding the recommendation to issue charges for dismissal against Certificated Employee 14593 and place them on immediate unpaid leave. The board voted 5-0 in favor of the superintendent's recommendation to approve the recommendation to issue charges for dismissal against Certificated Employee 14593 and place them on immediate unpaid leave. Next. During the closed session, the Board of Education took action regarding a stipulated expulsion for Student 25-26B. The board voted 5-0 in favor of the superintendent's recommendation to approve the stipulated expulsion recommendation of Student 25-26B. By a vote of 4-1 with Trustee Bueno voting no to approve the settlement agreement with the exception that this contract will be a direct pay from the district to the vendor and not a reimbursement account. And lastly, the board

003voted 5-0 in favor of the superintendent's recommendation to reject claim number 661346 and I believe that is it. Thank you. We're going to begin now with our Pledge of Allegiance and invite Mr. Meunier, the principal of Maryland Academy, Maryland STEAM Academy, Maryland Avenue STEAM Academy. There you go. So please come up for the Pledge of Allegiance. Good evening. Ready? Pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. I'd like to ask Dr. Gibson if there are any changes to the agenda. No, there are not. Okay, we're going to begin with our recognitions and invite Brian Sharman, Christensen Middle School principal forward for his recognitions. Welcome. Good evening, Board President Prusso,

004members of the board, Superintendent Gibson and cabinet. I am Brian Sharman and I am the proud principal of Christensen Middle School. I'm privileged to be here tonight to acknowledge the outstanding achievements of several members of the CMS community. This evening, I would like to recognize four of our exceptional staff members, Ms. Jennifer Bernstein, Ms. Nola Reckton, Ms. Arch Man Ganon and Nurse Cassidy Sherman. If they're not here with me, they can join me. Jen Bernstein, one of our dedicated paraeducators, reflects the LVJOSD core value of collaboration. She works closely with teachers and staff to ensure that students receive the support they need and goes even further by helping with our ASB and student activities. Her teamwork and willingness to support in so many ways helps strengthen both learning and student life across our campus. Nola

005Reckton, our school health technician, exemplifies integrity. She consistently models professionalism, reliability and honesty in her work, ensuring families, staff and students know that they can depend on her to uphold the highest standards of care. More than that, she is a trusted team member whose steady presence highlights the strength of the CMS family and our shared commitment to keeping students safe and supported. And trustee Bueno would appreciate knowing that Ms. Nola has a special affinity for firefighters, which we thoroughly enjoy teasing her about. If I don't make it back, you'll know why. Arch Man Ganon demonstrates innovation through her role as a STEM and science teacher. She is always integrating new practices into her classroom, often attending professional development opportunities on her own time to strengthen her craft. Just as importantly, she shares her learning with

006colleagues, supporting them and lifting our entire instructional team. Her creativity and leadership continues to spark curiosity in students and enrich teaching across the school. And last but not least, nurse Cassidy Sherman. She embodies inclusion by ensuring that every student feels cared for and supported. She's also deeply creative and a strong problem solver, finding effective solutions to complex situations while always keeping students well-being at the center. Her compassion, adaptability and resourcefulness allow every child to fully participate in school life. Together, Jen, Nola, Arch and Cassidy reflect our core values of collaboration, integrity, innovation and inclusion, and it is my honor to present them to you tonight for recognition. Thank you so much. Now we'd like to invite Joe Meunier, the Maryland Avenue STEAM Academy principal, who will be recognizing some great people here tonight. It's every

007time, without fail. Good evening. Good evening, Board President, Pruso, Trustees, Superintendent Gibson, Cabinet. My name is Joe Meunier and tonight I have the great honor of recognizing four exceptional educators from Maryland Avenue STEAM Academy that are making a profound impact within our school every day. Please join me in celebrating Miss Mona Moorcoff, Mr. Isaiah Campbell, Miss Maria Gomez, and Miss Alex Chung. Miss Chung had a family emergency, so we will be celebrating her on campus very shortly. This is our brand new team of extensive support teachers at Maryland, and they have been absolutely incredible. We have four new leaders within this program that began this school year, and they're remarkable. And when I was asked to present today, I couldn't think of any, but they were the first ones that came to mind. So I'm

008very excited to be here. Together with their pair of teams, these educators support more than 50 of our most impaired learners within LVJOSD. These students face significant challenges, and yet because of the commitment and passion of this team, they are learning in an environment that is not only safe and supportive, but also rich with opportunity. In just a few months, these four educators have made remarkable progress in developing and strengthening the ESN programming on our campus, and they have built strong classroom communities, implemented individualized supports, and created systems that allow students to thrive academically, socially, and emotionally. Their work goes beyond lesson plans and curriculum. They are fostering trust, building relationships, and helping students discover what's possible. And in doing so, they've also inspired our whole school community. The energy they bring is contagious, staff

009collaboration is stronger, families feel more connected, and most importantly, our students feel seen, valued, and capable. The growth we've witnessed just this year in our program, in our classrooms, and in our students, is a direct reflection of the dedication, care, and vision of our ESN team. As a school, we are grateful. As a district, we are proud. And as a community, we are excited for what lies ahead, because we know these educators leading the way, the future is incredibly bright for our students. Thank you again, and on behalf of the Maryland Avenue STEAM Academy and the families we serve for the opportunity to recognize these outstanding teachers tonight. Thank you teachers for all you do every day. Thank you. We're now going to move on to our student board member reports. We have two student

010board members from our comprehensive high schools, Livermore High and Granada High School, and we will go, we will invite Isla to go first. She is our representative from Granada High School. And Robin, who is our representative from Livermore High School, will go second. Granada has had an exciting and eventful month of October, filled with school spirit and academic achievement. We just wrapped up our homecoming week, one of our biggest traditions of the year. This year's skit theme was animation studios, and students from every class put in an incredible amount of effort to bring their skits to life. Skit week was from Monday to Thursday and segued into our homecoming rally on Friday, where we announced our freshman, sophomore, and junior year homecoming court. Later that night we had our homecoming game, which was also our

011annual pink out game in order in honor of breast cancer awareness month, coupled with our alumni barbecue that had about 300 alumni in attendance. During halftime our homecoming royalty was crowned to our seniors Eliza Schultz and Kaylee Gandolfo. We ended off our busy week with the homecoming dance on Saturday, and had an amazing turnout of close to 1200 students. Besides our homecoming activities, our Granada athletics teams continue to shine. Our varsity girls flag football team won the Wild West shootout tournament, which was co-hosted by Granada and Livermore. Boys football also brought home an exciting victory against Berkeley High, while water polo continues to dominate in league play with impressive wins. The girls varsity tennis team just had just won against Livermore and Crandallet these past few weeks as well. On campus we've had several important

012events this month. Our club rush event took place showcasing Granada's incredible clubs and giving students the opportunity to get involved. We also conducted both our lockdown and evacuation fire drills to ensure that all students and staff are properly prepared for any emergency. Academically, students have been hard at work. Granada hosted both the PSAT and SAT this month, with over 700 students taking the PSAT and 117 students setting in for the SAT. We're also proud to celebrate our eight National Merit Scholars and 23 National Merit Commended Scholars this year, which is an incredible achievement that highlights our students' dedication. Outside the classroom, the car show and stampede events, organized by our Safe and Sober grad night team, also brought together families for nights of fun, all while gaining money for their event. Also, senior favorite nominees

013for the yearbook were just voted on, with winners set to be announced soon. Overall, October has been a fun month, full of accomplishments and school spirit, and we're proud of everything our students and staff have achieved. Thank you. September was an exciting and packed month for Livermore High School Cowboys. Fall sports were in the midst of a great and historic season, with all the sports performing exceptionally well. The Livermore varsity football team currently has a winning record of 6-1, beating Dublin on Livermore Senior and Pinkout Night with a game-winning field goal. In addition to the football team's success, September was jam-packed with events like the Homecoming Week and the Homecoming Dance, which was held on September 19th. Homecoming Week was also filled with all sorts of homecoming festivities, like the homecoming skits at lunch for

014each class, as well as hundreds of Cowboys dressing up for the various spirit days throughout the week. The winner for the week of Homecoming 2025 was a senior class at 2026. The winning class received a trophy as well as a championship t-shirt for every single member of the class. In addition to this, the newly implemented access period has shown to be a positive implementation as students are able to catch up on missing work and not overwhelm themselves with the struggles of high school. The Tri-Valley School District invites you to a head start on your future at the 2025 Tri-Valley College and Career Expo, as Livermore is presenting them for this year. We will have representatives from close to 100 post-secondary institutions to help you find your dream path. The participants include UC's, CSU's, community colleges,

015private and out-of-state colleges, vocational apprenticeships, institutions, and the military. This event will be hosted in the Livermore High School gyms on October 20th from 630 to 830 p.m. Remember to also register for AP exams if you have not already, as registration ended October 13th. I'm also happy to announce that Livermore High School has been recognized as an Erica's Lighthouse model school. Erica's Lighthouse is a national organization that focuses on raising awareness about teen depression, reducing stigma, and encouraging students to reach out for help when they need it. Being named a model school means that we are being recognized for creating a culture that prioritizes student mental health and well-being, which is something we are very proud of. This month's PBIS team is anti-bullying, and students will be participating in lessons during Wednesday's access that reinforces

016the importance of kindness, respect, and looking out for one another. On Wednesday, October 22nd, all LHS students will take part in the Fall Core SEL survey during CAP. This survey provides us with valuable information on how students perceive their social and emotional skills, and helps us guide our efforts to better support their needs. It's a great day to be a cowboy. Thank you. Thank you. We're going to move on now to our Employee Association reports. I'm going to invite Ms. Amy Thompson, the president of LEA, to come forward. I'd also like to recognize Vice President Tara Lutz, who's in the audience with us. Good evening, Board President Prusso, members of the board, Superintendent Gibson, and cabinet. I'm Amy Thompson, president of the Livermore Education Association, representing teachers, nurses, counselors, psychologists, speech pathologists, social workers, and

017teachers on special assignment. And as I said last time, some of the best people in the world. The letter from the Alameda County Office of Education, dated September 12 2025, is attached as board correspondence on tonight's agenda. County Superintendent Elise Castro, congratulates our district on making needed cuts, and warns that continued cuts are required to remain fiscally solvent. However, the two budget committees are not discussing additional cuts. I believe this is because the originally adopted budget from June, that is the topic of the communication, did not include the additional TK add on funding, about $2.5 million, or the block grant that's about $4 million, or the state investments for literacy, or the additional carryover from the 2425 unaudited actuals of an additional 12.6 million. This represents a variance between the adopted budget and now, of

018more than $1.9 million in additional available funds. LEA leadership appreciates the 30 minutes that we were provided to speak with the FICMAT representatives. We were disappointed to learn that the FICMAT review is not designed to answer the question. Why does LVJUSD have greater revenue per ADA than our neighboring districts, with teachers who have fewer preps, and by extension teach more, and yet the district cannot afford to compensate us competitively. They will not be looking for ways to increase revenue or decrease spending. They stated that their task is to confirm and validate the district's budget and multi-year projection. The LEA members at the September 9th board meeting and the members here tonight spent their day in a classroom delivering the best that they can for students, while suppressing their own feelings of being disregarded and disrespected

019by our district administration. During the September 9th board meeting, I shared a list of things that have caused our members to feel this way. Decisions made by district administration have been noticed by our members and created low morale. Additionally, these actions have damaged the district's reputation within the community. It is important for our board to be aware of the impact of district management decisions on those who work here and the community that supports us. With that in mind, you may be interested to know that our members were given the opportunity to add open-ended comments to our recent compensation survey. To obtain a clear understanding of the messages that we received, we asked AI to summarize the comments for us. Here is that summary. It sounds like there are incredibly high levels of frustration, fear, and

020low morale among the teachers. Many of the comments directly and explicitly express feelings of being undervalued, financially strained, and intimidated by the district's current leadership and actions. Members have low morale because they've seen and experienced many small actions that add up to eroding their trust in the district's leadership's decisions. Changing the board meetings to be during the work days and then proposing that personal necessity leave cannot be used for concerted activities. Changing all of the board policies at once and presenting it in a fashion that doesn't allow for actual review. Cutting close to the classrooms after stating that the cuts would be as far away from the classrooms as possible. Hiring leadership associates to consult on the superintendent's performance evaluation and the strategic plan, giving the appearance of a conflict of interest. Making a compensation

021offer that is contingent on not providing updated student textbooks. Over and over, we have been told the district wants to compensate us, but want is not a goal. The LEA bargaining team comes to the table after spending hours in preparation with serious proposals and supporting data and reasoning. A true reflection of the district's priorities is found in the budget line items and the failure of our budget and projections to reflect fair compensation is proof that we are not in fact a priority. We need our board to direct district management to actually look at their budget and make a plan instead of excuses. If the district seeks to retain qualified staff, the solution is clear. Invest in compensation. LEA members want to work together with the district as partners to provide what is best for our

022students, which includes retaining qualified teachers in the classrooms. This administration does not treat us as partners. They don't recognize that we're on the same team and trying to achieve the same goal. The district office exists to provide support to the school sites and people within the classrooms. These people, our members, are not feeling supported. A culture of fear and retribution is permeating the workforce. Teachers are not adversarial by nature. What is happening may appear to be anger, but it is really a cry for help to our board. Our members fear the inability to make ends meet. They fear retribution for speaking up for themselves and their colleagues. They fear that a lifetime dedicated to this work for this district is now being unappreciated and discounted. This is an all time low in morale in the

023district, and we want to feel like our district is a unified team working together. We don't want to feel fear or anger. It is unfortunate that so many of us are here again tonight. Here again to urge the board to direct the superintendent to address these issues with actual solutions. An investment in fair and competitive compensation will immediately boost morale, enhance job satisfaction, and increase positive school culture that promotes student success in every possible way. Anything less is not a plan. It is only a wish. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I'd like, I'm sorry, I'd like to invite our next speaker. Could I, I'd like to invite our next speaker please, CSEA president, Amy Christovich, to come forward. And I'd also like to recognize her VP, Victoria Storti. Thank you. Good evening, President Prusso,

024members of the board, Superintendent Gibson, and cabinet. I am Amy Christovich, president of the Livermore chapter of CSEA, the California School Employees Association. On September 3rd, our school board sent a letter to all employees regarding the FICMAT audit to address questions about the district's finances, including concerns that funds may be hidden or not accurately reported. While the board's intent was to build trust, it ultimately raised more questions and concerns. During the September 9th board meeting, I shared that it is CSEA's belief that an audit of our district's finances should be completely impartial. I said we hope that it will truly be directed by the board, include genuine involvement of our bargaining units as stakeholders, and be unedited and transparent to all employees allowing for input and questions. CSEA's interview with FICMAT took place on Thursday,

025October 2nd. During this interview that lasted a mere 30 minutes or so, we learned two important details. First, the FICMAT audit is really not an audit at all. It is simply a review of the data that is provided by the district, which would really not achieve what the board set out to do. Second, the FICMAT audit that is not an audit is not truly being directed by the board. Imagine our dismay upon this discovery, not to mention that the superintendent was on the FICMAT board just prior to joining our district, which fosters the perception that there exists a conflict of interest. Did the board consider going out to bid to ensure greater impartiality? Given these important details that were revealed, that leaves many wondering what the point was of this non-audit after the district spent

026thousands and thousands of dollars on this effort. What is to be gained if trust is not there? You may recall that I have not stated that money is hidden, and in fact, I said I would characterize it as subjective and questionable prioritization and allocation of funds. Much has been reviewed recently about luxury beach retreats, office renovations, large increases in management compensation, and much more than that. Concerns about those types of expenses and more about how funds are prioritized and allocated. And now we know that the FICMAT audit, or review rather, will not identify extravagant spending, the questionable use of gift accounts and public funds, or the miscalculation of estimates of things like books and supplies. We left the interview with FICMAT feeling like this was simply an exercise and diversion from the important issues and

027concerns that have been raised. During the September 25th board meeting, Megan Sanborn, a longtime library media specialist at Rancho Elementary, spoke about the lack of funding for school libraries. I understand the board is asking questions, so I hope we will receive answers soon. Our school libraries have not, to my knowledge, been funded by the district. It is not to say that they do not receive funding from book fairs and parent donations, but there is not a dedicated or consistent funding source for libraries like there is for custodial, for example. Library media specialists are left with doing what they can with limited resources that they cannot rely on from year to year. Aside from that, I hope you would agree that the things we have been hearing about are very disturbing. In addition to my role

028as CSEA president, I am a devoted 20-year employee of the district, a community member, and a voter, and I was an active volunteer when my children attended Livermore schools. I am not saying that things were always perfect, but employees were not blatantly disregarded or made to feel unsafe either. How did we fall so far and so quickly, and why is it so hard for the district and the board to listen and act on our concerns? Board meeting after board meeting, the tireless and determined LEA president Amy Thompson and I have tried. Both classified and certificated employees have been speaking courageously, despite the risk of retaliation. I am waiting for your aha moment, that maybe today will be the day that we ignite the spark that makes positive change happen for employees. What will it take?

029At the September 9th board meeting, the boardroom was packed with employees and members of the community. The attendees flowed into the lobby. Perhaps you could not see from where you sit, but I am sure you heard the resounding applause for all the speeches delivered that night. The audience got it. Did you? In fact, those watching virtually got it, even though the applause was edited and muted for the viewers at home. Even without hearing the applause, they felt the energy in the room and the frustration of those they feel they need to speak again and again. So you would listen. The truth is that no one likes to write or deliver speeches, yet they felt they had no choice. So this is what they have to do to be heard. One of the primary roles of

030the school board is oversight. You've heard many times and through various sources about the inappropriate use of public and gift funds, the superintendent's questionable evaluation process, the extravagant spending by the district when schools are in need of serious repair and employees are losing their jobs and so on. As the people who are in the role of oversight, I would like to believe that you didn't just smile with acceptance and encourage more beach retreats and additional furnishings. While budgets were being slashed, CSCA classified employees were being laid off. The cost of benefits were rising drastically. And while the district denied competitive salaries for employees on the front lines who are struggling to make ends meet, working multiple jobs is unfortunately common for CSCA members. And now we are hearing for LEA members as well. At the

031significantly higher cost of benefits and there is just no way that they can make it without unreasonable sacrifices. Where is the parity? When a district talks about employee retention in the strategic plan, was that only intended for upper management? Look around at the people here tonight. We are here not because we don't have anything else to do. Please open your hearts and minds and listen more closely. I am not one to promote social media, but I urge you to pay attention. It's everywhere. But if you have not seen or heard any mention of discontent and frustration from the majority of employees in our district, then you are not listening. There are detailed articles written in a Livermore Vine if you prefer a news outlet. The word is out and the board must respond. I am

032proud to represent hardworking CSCA classified employees. And I also support LEA members because they speak the truth and possess the courage and conviction to stand up for what they believe is right. I look forward to that aha moment from each of you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. It's hard for me. It's hard for me to see in the audience. Just asking if our president from SEIU, Kirsty Governor, is here. Okay. I'd like to recognize her as the president of SEIU. Our representative from CMC is Sarah DeGroote. And our Livermore Management Association representative, Jeremy Wilkins. And we're going to move on now to public comments on non-agenda items. So if you would like to address the topic that is not on this evening's agenda, now is the time to do so. If you have not

033already submitted your TAN card, please do so now. Per protocol, no additional speaker cards will be accepted once public comment begins. We ask that you limit your comments to three minutes, though the subject is subject to change based on the number of speakers and that each speaker may speak once. 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 everyone has had 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 raise is appreciated. Every time you clap, it shortens their time. So that's the best way for us to have equity. Public comments are limited to three minutes

034per person. And I will give a reminder at the 22nd mark that's not to be rude, but just to ensure fairness and equity and giving everyone their full opportunity to speak. As a reminder, we as board members may not engage in discussion, take action or give an opinion on items not on the agenda. However, the board may briefly respond, ask clarifying questions of staff and or refer matters to staff for follow up. So with that, we are going to begin. We're going to begin with Lance Voorhees. And then he'll be followed by Denise Kerr. And if I say your name wrong, go ahead and just restate it as you come up. Is Vance here? Oh, Lance, I'm sorry, Lance Voorhees. I'm sorry. Is Lance here? Come on in, Lance. Sorry about that. And then he

035will be followed by Denise Kerr. Can you? The people at home can't hear if you don't speak into the microphone. Okay. Yeah, let's start. We're going to start the clock over. Hang on just a second, Lance. Okay. Okay. Now we're good. We want to make sure you get your full three minutes. Okay. So my name is Lance Voorhees. I taught special ed at Livermore High in 1999 on a three month contract. And I wanted to show you what the students used to help them learn math a little better. So we're going to have a little bit of fun. I'll speak really loud. I guess I'll move this back further. So you all have scratch paper. 35 times 12. If you could just figure that out real quick. Real simple. I pulled this off the Common

036Core website off of Google. And this is they gave two examples. So 35 times 12. Now I'll show you how the kids figured that out. This is a system called Digidot. 35 times 12. These dots stand for the problem. So this dot is a 2 and this dot is a 5 and this is the 3 and this is the 1. So 2 times 5 is 10. Carry the 1. We come across from here to here. 2 times 3 is 6 plus the 1 we carried is 7. Cross multiply and add to 5. That's 12. Carry the 1. And 3 times 1 is 3 plus the 1 is 4. And that's how you solve it using Digidot. Kids, let's see how they did. Each kid had a fake name that they could come up with. So

037you can see here. And red is the very first day I worked with the kids where they were in the times tables. Only 2 out of 22 students knew the times tables. And this was freshman through senior. Of course, right now, I believe it's 52%. Just over north of 52% of all kids failed or didn't meet the common core standards for mathematics. But these kids who all but only 20 of them did not know the times tables. And that's because they were allowed to use calculators so they didn't have to learn them. But except for on testing, I didn't let them use calculators. I let them use calculators on their tests. So you can see here that this Magneto here, they had a fake name so they could compete and see how they're doing. Magneto

038went from... 20 seconds. I'm sorry? 20 seconds. Left? Uh-huh. Oh, my gosh. I'm sorry. Well, anyway, Magneto learned to do his times tables and his head to a million. All the kids could learn to do their times tables and their head to a thousand, except the worst student could only get to a hundred. Thank you. That's your time. Oh. Sorry. Thank you. Oh, that flew. Anyway, I'll make the curriculum free for a year. I'm sorry. I have to keep it equitable with everyone else. You could send us an email with what you wanted to say. It would be helpful. Let's ask Denise to come forward. And then following Denise will be Lainey Pascal. There you go. Good evening, President Purcell, members of the board, Superintendent Gibson and the cabinet. I am here to update you

039from my little two minute speech last time. We didn't know what the increased costs for benefits for medical were going to cost. We knew it was anywhere between 11 percent and 14 percent. So an additional one hundred and seventy five dollars came out of my check this month. I know that for some teachers it was considerably more. And as a single person, I think I stated the last time that my take home has been reduced in the last two years by now by almost four hundred and fifty dollars a month. So I don't know how I'm going to account for that. I don't I don't want to get a second job, but I may have to. So I wanted to update you also on something that's very dear to my heart. And that's how teachers

040feel about teaching. We all love teaching. Otherwise, we wouldn't be here. And I would not have been in this school district for 26 years. So what I have heard from my colleagues is just like disenfranchisement. We don't feel that the board is listening to what we're going through. And we don't feel that you're looking at things in a way that is going to be advantageous to your teachers and to the future of Livermore, because we will start to lose those young teachers. They will go someplace else. They will. I've thought about it. It's just that I don't know where I'd go. So please look into your hearts and take a look at the budget. We're not asking for the moon, but we are asking to have a living wage. There's a sign behind me that

041says five hundred dollars a month less. I know exactly what that feels like. And I don't know. I don't know what to do with that. So please search your heart. Thank you very much for your time. Lainey, come forward. And after Lainey will be Alicia Thorpe. Good evening, everyone. My name is Lainey Paschal. I'm a queer parent of an eighth grader in our district, and I'm a rep on the district's LGBTQIA plus Roundtable Committee. I'm here to speak on a different topic than most of the people in the room, but I'm here in solidarity with them. I'm here to I'm here today to ask why there is no resolution on the board agenda today. Recognizing October is LGBTQIA plus history month. In May 2025, a group of students from every single pride and GSA club

042in our district wrote a joint letter and sent it to all of you, explaining why they were asking for a resolution. I hear over and over again that this board takes student voices very seriously. And yet, when students made a specific and thoughtful request and a request, by the way, that is fully under this board's purview. No agenda item exists as a result. You all have read the letter, but I want to highlight one part in particular, which says we appreciate the yearly June resolution for Pride Month, but there are now zero school days in June. Campuses are closed. LGBTQIA plus history month, however, falls during the school year and aligns with Livermore's annual community pride celebration in October. This is a meaningful opportunity to both educate and affirm queer students, staff and families. So

043these students, they did their part beautifully. They organized, they collaborated across schools, and they wrote an incredibly persuasive letter expressing what they wanted. And the silence that has followed sends a message to. So if this board believes in centering student voices, then that commitment has to extend beyond words. It has to show up in action and on an agenda. You notice that students are not here tonight. And that's because rhetoric used by certain community members in this room during public comment at these board meetings have created an incredibly hostile environment for queer people. If we're talking about creating safe environments for literal children, then these meetings fail to meet that criteria. So I'm here to elevate their voices and remind you to live up to your own stated values. Thank you. Thank you. We're going

044to invite Alicia. And then following Alicia will be no. Sorry, no matter. President President Bueno, President in the trustees, and I acknowledge the superintendent and the staff. My name is Alicia Thor. Our children are the future leaders. They must have a vision and direction for their future. This means they must be able to perform academically in their subjects and separately in gender sports. The goal of no Webster Schoolmaster of the Republic was to establish children with a well defined moral character. His intent was to enable them to discern the issues of life from an established set of principles, not the function fluctuating opinion of society. Just as no Webster accepted the responsibility for preparing our students, Christians are required to pray for educational leaders. This is my prayer. Father God, I pray you will guide

045the trustees and superintendent and making the right decisions for our children, enabling them to become well adjusted and productive citizens. I pray protection over the trustees and superintendents and family and their staff. I asked you this in the name of Jesus, and I pray for everyone in this room as well. Thank you, Lord. Thanks. No, no matter to come forward there is. Did I say that wrong. The turn. Sorry, no, I just know you as no. I like it. Coach. I just wanted to let Tara let's know that she will be next. Okay, sorry, go ahead. No. Good evening Board President Pruso and trustees, Superintendent Gibson and cabinet and colleagues and community members. No matter and as the lead negotiator for our dedicated teachers I must inform you that we have declared an impasse and

046contract negotiations in regards to compensation. This impasse is not due to a failure of will on our part, but a failure of leadership and budgetary prioritization. The final offer presented to us equated to a 1.8% salary increase utilizing precarious one time funds, a non sustainable solution for recurring costs. Worse, this low offer was contingent upon us agreeing to forgo purchasing essential social studies textbooks for our students. Let's be absolutely clear, asking teachers to cover the rising healthcare costs by sacrificing foundational educational materials for our children is a morally and academically bankrupt proposal. This is a false choice that harms our students and places an impossible burden on our educators. The core problem, however, lies in this room for the second year running the district's negotiation team claimed they were not authorized to offer a sustainable

047competitive contract board members that authorization rest solely with you. You hold the power of the budget, and by repeatedly limiting your negotiation team to insufficient short sighted offers. You are choosing to align with the status quo, rather than with the students and the teachers who serve them every day. We're asking for a 4.75% salary increase and a $3,500 increase to healthcare benefits. These are not arbitrary figures, they are the baseline needed to achieve parity with our surrounding districts. It's time to stop hiding behind stall tactics confirmation bias and claims of non authority. We need you, the school board to look critically at the budget and explicitly authorize your team to reprioritize recurring funds to support a sustainable settlement. Our teachers are unified resolved and prepared to stand up for the future of this district. We

048urge you to make the decision now to stand with us on the side of educational excellence and financial stability for our students and educators before the growing frustration of our membership forces a more profound crisis. Thank you. Okay, we're going to invite Tara Tara lots to come forward and Tara will be followed by Emily Woffler. Hi, Tara let's le a VP. I'm here today not as a budget expert or an accountant, I would never claim those titles, but as a person who possesses simple critical thinking, and that critical thinking makes me ask an unavoidable question. How is it possible that in a $200 million budget, a budget specifically intended to provide a quality public education to our students. There are zero options for fair pay for the professionals who deliver that education. We've been told

049time and again that the budget is fixed and rigid due to the restricted funding sources. Yet history tells a different story. We saw a budget requiring a $6 million cut magically adjust to requiring only 4.9 million. Last year we were told the district cannot afford a single dime towards compensation. Yet in the 11th hour things did change, although very minimally. Management salary schedules have changed funding sources have shifted state funding even with federal concerns has increased. Things can change. So when the possibility for changes clear why is it that the only singular option offered to teachers for compensation is less than half the rising cost of living increase. And the mechanism for this meager increase is not just insulting, it is strategically cruel. We are being told that the only way to hardly make a

050dent in the rising cost for teachers and their families is to take from one time funds that were earmarked for essential student resources like social studies textbooks. This proposal is a false dichotomy between a teacher's ability to feed their family and their students access to basic learning materials. This sounds like a choice intended to demonize teachers driven to desperation willing to take anything to pay their bills while simultaneously stripping them of the appropriate resources needed to do their jobs well. If the narrative we are being given that no other options exists is in fact true, then our membership needs to hear what other options have been actively considered. We demand to know what the concrete plan is to prioritize our value as professionals. We are tired of being met with passive statements like we don't

051know yet, or we are looking into it. These wishful statements do not help our morale. They shatter our trust in the board and district management. We are here to amplify the voices of our membership who are watching closely and have yet to see any demonstrated effort in actively finding solutions that will allow us to be at minimum average and compensation. We are asking the board for accountability and action now. What can you do now to prioritize those you serve the professional educators who make this district function. Sorry, Emily Waffler. There she is. And following. Following this father will be Joanne Morrison. Good evening President Bueno trustees, Superintendent Pruso. Sorry. Thank you. No, I appreciate it. President Pruso. Too many years of. You got it. The other name. My name is Emily Waffler I am a

052proud teacher here in Livermore and I absolutely love what I do. I love teaching my students but I love it. It's not just teaching my students I'm teaching our communities children. The cost of housing and Livermore has skyrocketed while teacher salaries have struggled to keep up. Many of us, including single teachers and those who are the sole providers of their families simply cannot afford to live where we teach teachers should be able to build roots here. We should be able to buy homes raise families and see our students grow up. Commute long distances because we can't afford to live in the very neighborhoods that we help nurture. When teachers live in the community they serve everyone benefits, we become part of the fabric of our town, investing our hearts not just our hours. The rising

053cost of healthcare has made things even more difficult. This year my health insurance has increased so much that it's like I took a $200 pay cut per month. That's for the one of the most basic health care plans. My husband and I have had to make painful choices about which medical concerns to address in which to put off when he was in the back of an ambulance this year, we actually hesitated, not because we weren't scared but because we're afraid of the bill. This is a reality for many teachers. Teachers are postponing care, ignoring pain and putting their mental health last because they can't afford otherwise. That affects how we show up for our students. We often hear the phrase teacher burnout. The burnout is not about no longer loving our jobs. It's about being

054stretched beyond what is sustainable. Our classes are at maximum enrollment. We've even created combo classes forcing teachers to teach two years of curriculum to one set of students. The ones feeling the cuts and making the sacrifices are our teachers and our students. Teachers are professionals, we pour our hearts and energy into helping our students thrive, but we need a system that cares for us to. Asking what I'm asking you to stand with your teachers and to advocate for fair livable wages and affordable health care that allows us to remain part of this community. When educators can live healthy stable lives we bring our very best to the classroom, and we build stronger schools, stronger relationships and a stronger Livermore. Thank you for listening, and thank you for valuing your teachers that give so much to

055this district. Thank you. I'd like to invite Joanne Morrison to come forward. Good evening President Purcell members of the board. Superintendent Dr Gibson and cabinet. Many of us are deeply disappointed that there is no resolution on tonight's agenda to recognize October as LGBTQIA plus history month, or to fly the progress pride flag in our district. This recognition is not symbolic it's a statement of inclusion respect and safety for every LGBTQIA plus student and staff member in our schools. I understand that the district is currently under threat from the US Department of Education. Failing to uphold the rights and dignity of our LGBTQIA plus students will not make that threat go away, complying with unjust or illegal orders only emboldens those who seek to silence any race. It strengthens the other authoritarian forces that have taken

056hold of federal education policy and invites even greater attacks on public education on democracy and on our students. We've seen that when colleges law firms, entertainment companies and even individuals stand up for what's right. They win. Those who stay quiet to try to play it safe always lose. The time is now for you to stand up for our most vulnerable students, I ask you, if not you then who. If not now, then when. Our LGBTQIA plus students have come to you with a simple heartfelt request to be recognized seen and valued that request has been before this board for a long time now. They have shown courage, patience and faith in this district's commitment to equity and belonging. Now it's time for this board to show the same courage to stand with them to affirm

057their place in our community and to lead by example. By recognizing October as LGBTQIA plus History Month and flying the progress flag. You send a message that Livermore schools are places where every student is safe, supported and celebrated. That message matters now more than ever. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. We're going to move on to our formal written correspondence. Formal written correspondence to the Board of Education shall be acknowledged if received by the board or in the superintendent's office by 2pm the day of the meeting. Formal written correspondence received after the cutoff time will be generally acknowledged at the following meeting. Note our board electronic communications received via the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District website by accessing the formal written correspondence to the Board of Education link will be

058considered. Sorry, will be shall be treated and considered as formal written correspondence. I'd ask trustee drew in if he could please read the correspondence. Yes, Elise Castro Alameda County Superintendent of Schools documented that both the district's local control and accountability plan and the district budget were approved. And if I mispronounce your name, I apologize. In Dumas the Rama Sami cassava requested a badminton team to be established at both Granada and Livermore high schools. Kara Blair thank the board for the revised board policy manual. Express concern about the rising costs of health care and ask that our leadership consider ways to ease the burden. Deborah, Deborah Gibson requested the board schedule a meet a special meeting to discuss the federal education civil rights law. Karen user requested the board schedule a special meeting to discuss the

059federal education civil rights law. Terracita Daybell requested the allocated budget be made public. Jared Jameson urged the board to ensure district leadership works collaboratively with union leaders to reach consensus. Lisa Griffin asked the board to listen to the teachers. Jamie Morton urged the board to ensure fair teacher compensation, criticizing what she believed to be irresponsible spending lack of transparency and declining morale. Courtney Langford urged the board to ensure fair teacher compensation, criticizing what she believed to be irresponsible spending lack of transparency and declining morale. Sanson Lee urged the board to prioritize consistent communication and transparency. Marcus Chow urged asked why agreed upon salary raises were being denied to teachers. Kirsten Zorhoff asked the board to go back to having all meetings in the evening. Don W urged the board to ensure fair teacher compensation, criticizing

060what she believed to be irresponsible spending lack of transparency and declining morale. Tara Boyce criticized the district's leadership for poor fiscal management, lack of accountability and inadequate teacher compensation and urge the board to demonstrate transparency responsibility and stronger oversight. Gail Sayers expressed concern about conflict of interest, spending priorities and lack of transparency. Amy Thompson questioned why the district is paying the full cost of the superintendents and possibly the assistant superintendents health benefits. B.J. Reynolds-Kuntz expressed disappointment that the board agenda does not include a resolution recognizing LGBTQIA plus history month. Jill Bayer urged the board to make fair pay for teachers a real priority. William Waggoner expressed support for the LVJUSD to support Title IX. Cindy Cushman stated that LVJUSD needs to uphold Title IX to protect our magnet schools. Joanne Morrison emphasized that while the

061Livermore teachers are underpaid and deserve better compensation. Many criticisms of Superintendent Gibson regarding retreats, furniture, FICMAT, oversight, leadership associates and her salary are misleading and or unfounded and broader and broader systematic funding reforms are needed to support teachers. And that's it. Thank you. Thank you. One question superintendent on one of the letters we got it was on badminton and I've gotten a couple of calls. Is there I understand the fiscal crunch. Yes, but if someone if a school was to say self funded. Could we as a board take whatever action is necessary to open a badminton it just feels as though we have some kids that are at a national level. We did this with swimming and it was the basis of expanding our aquatic centers. Maybe we could. I'm what I'm asking for maybe

062if we have to do an agenda item if we have to do something to take action. I'd like to see that because this, it's an emergency, not the badminton is new. But in our district, I believe that our two comprehensive high schools are the only two in the district that do not have competitive badminton we have club, but we don't, we're not league sports. Correct. So the cost we looked last year into the cost of badminton. Okay, you weren't there. Okay, I want to, how about if I get back to you on that. But yeah, I'm gonna ask. We can agendize it. Yeah, just like, I'd like to see us take at some point, especially if the campuses were to be able to self fund it would require no additional funding they could take it

063out of their discretionary money that they have at the campus. I will have to say that that would not be possible because of the cost. I want to if I remember correctly last year was approximately $25,000 for that additional cost that comes out of the general fund. But we can definitely have a conversation about it and look into it and bring that back to the board. Yeah, we can have that way the kids have an opportunity to talk about it. Sure. Thank you. We're going to move on to our discussion action items and turn the time over to Dr. Jessica bond or is for the approval of provisional internship permit. Thank you. The CTC created the PIP or the provisional internship program. In order to allow employee agencies to fill an immediate staffing need by

064hiring individual or individuals who have not yet met the subject matter competence requirement needed to enter an intern program. In order to qualify for a PIP candidates must possess a bachelor at a BA or higher from the regionally accredited University or college satisfy the basic skills requirement and successfully complete coursework for the type of permit. I have no blue cards on this agenda item so I will close public comment. Any questions from the board members or comments before. I do have a few questions. I just have a question. How long does the PIP how long does this last. The PIP is for one year. One year from today or one year. It's for academic year. Okay, that was one of that was my question. And then also, then there are requirements for the PIP candidates

065in order to continue as a teacher in our district and they are aware of those and what what those yes they sign off on the requirements. No other questions or comments I'd entertain a motion. I'd like to move to accept the recommendation on the superintendent to approve the provisional internship permit. I second. So we have a motion. We have a motion by trustee Bannon who will seconded by trustee Kaplanis. Any discussion on the motion I guess the only thing I would say is for our students, board members I believe this is also personnel issues so unfortunately you don't get to vote on this one we're going to get you one of these days. Next meeting we promise. I'd ask the clerk to take role. Trustee Kaplanis. Aye. Trustee Vanden Heuvel. Aye. Trustee Bueno. Aye. Myself

066I present Prusa. Aye. So that motion carries unanimously. And let's see, we're going to move on to our consent items. So what I'm going to say for this is if you have any comments or questions on any of the consent items, we have no blue cards on these so I will close public comment. But if you have any questions on them go ahead, feel free to ask the questions that you have. And then unless you would like to vote separately, we'll just ask questions and answer until until we want to make a motion so I'll just kind of leave it. If anyone wants to ask a question on any. I think it's item 14 to a purchase requisitions. So, looking at the purchase requisitions. There was approximately $52,000 in requests for travel for conferences. But

067looking at the funding sources for these they vary from labeled as effective which I think is the educational effectiveness block grants, other federal T to teacher quality, ELOP and unrestricted. So I'm just kind of curious about funding sources for different travel conferences and how those decisions are determined. And then I have another question so maybe start there. So some of the conferences have directly have direct correlation with the funding source so if we receive a grant let's say there may be requirements that staff teachers administrators it just depends sometimes classified stuff, attend those particular conferences. I would say the unrestricted is probably the biggest question, those are usually site funds that come out of whatever the site allocation may be. I'll let Miss Wesley add to that if you have anything else to add or

068miss Bichette. If either of you have anything to add but that's kind of the overarching piece of that. Every single travel expense goes through a process. The P, these are just purchase orders so this is just what we anticipate the cost will be, of course, it's always higher so then on the warrants the next month, then you'll actually see the actual spending if that makes sense so you're going to see an even dollar amount usually on there. It's because it's an estimated dollar amount. And how is that determined, because you know that it ranges and I know perhaps different, you know, different conferences have different costs but there seems to be a broad array. It depends on how far they're traveling if it includes a flight, how far the flight may be every area is

069a little different usually conference rates for hotels are usually between two to $400 depending on the location, but really location does matter. And then lastly, to what extent or what's our process for oversight of those, you know, I, as a as a state employee at CSU Stanislaus like there's certain restrictions regarding travel, and if the hotel is above a certain threshold they have to give special approval so I'm just kind of curious about if we have systems and structures relating to that or if it's up to the site or the individual, or if it's more complex and deserving of further future conversation. I'd say let me check in with our purchasing department and figure out exactly what their processes are I don't want to make assumptions about. Sure. Thank you. Follow up on that. I

070also wrote to some some questions here and I was wondering as I looked at the warrants I'm like what are the checks and balances. What's the process for teachers for staff turning reimbursements like who looks over there are so many of them. And how do you know for sure are they all tied to a purchase order are they. Yeah, who signs off for that is that just the site, or. So for purchase reimbursements, it goes through a process of approval so typically most of our reimbursements are site fund reimbursements and so teachers are given a site allocation for their supply budget and so frequently they go and spend out of their own pocket and get reimbursed and so what happens is that the EA first reviews the reimbursement request make sure it's within the allocation

071for that teacher, and then it goes to the site admin for approval. Once the site admin approves that it goes to our purchasing department to review it to ensure it. It's the first time this reimbursement has been received, it's an allowable expense, the account code is correct. And everything is in alignment before it gets submitted to accounts payable for processing. That's a really, that's really helpful. That's a lot of a lot of hoops to jump through. Like, in the process for you for you all is there like a way to link like you look at the, the reimbursement is there a link that takes you right to the purchase order or to the. How do you quickly check that that is the difficult thing with purchase reimbursement, which is why we really encourage employees to

072use our purchase order system because it is a better trackable and it's a pre approved expense. Purchase reimbursements are typically don't aren't associated with appeal because there's not a way to do reimbursements through appeal process. And so there are not purchase orders, but that's really why this we rely on the sites and EAs to track the teacher allocations per teacher and make sure that it's within their budget as a whole site. And we do also have budget blocking turned on for our site so if the account line is overspent it won't allow a purchase reimbursement or a purchase order to be put into the system just holds that back. That's helpful. I had a bunch of questions about just little you know there's some purchase orders that I just got I don't even know what

073that means what do we do with that money how did where does it go. But some of them, there are several of them that had to do with contracts with like a zoom or with. And it doesn't specify if it's for a site for one of the schools is it for the entire district, is it for the month, is it for the year. It's just hard to know and it's not really specified on any of these purchase orders or or that the warrants to know exactly, you know, because if it's for the year it could be actually a great deal but if it's for the month or for the week you know, and we did try to make a slight change in the purchase order summary this month because there was a request to see

074the funding source on there as well but there's really not unfortunately a great report that shows additional detail as well as the funding source without dropping off some of that information. Typically if it's a site subscription a site purchase it's going to in that site location department location it'll say which site it is. Typically if it's a district wide it'll come through if it's a subscription for a technology component for our sites it would come through educational services or curriculum and instruction. And typically if it's a PO that is for a subscription it's always going to be for the full cost that we anticipate for the year, not a monthly cost the monthly cost you'll see on the warrant summary. I see. Okay, that makes sense. Yeah, that's super helpful. Let's see I also wanted

075to know about the change order for the locks. It's for security. Is it the change order for that or is it. It's number. Let's see it's 17 to F. And it's, it's, I mean I did the math it's three and a half percent up is that I don't know if that's a lot for a change order, or if that's kind of normal but since it's such a big expense it ends up being $100,000 that we, you know, hadn't counted for. Yeah, so it's $9,994. That is increasing this contract by. It was 9000. Yes. My apologies. It's not that much. Thank you. There's also somebody going on a trip and it doesn't mention the staff members that's something that you just out of, you know, privacy and you don't want people to know that this person

076is going to be gone out of their house and. For specific reason. So that has been past practice of the district sometimes if someone gets sick or something happens, that person may change, and that has happened prior, so we don't want to put that in there because it's maybe tied to that person. Great, and then on 17 for D, talking about the student teachers. How many of these student teachers end up staying here wanting to work here. And do we have, you know, do we take them in because we actually have room for them or we hope that they're going to stick around. That's part of the pipeline. We hope to retain our student teachers we spent a lot of time with them and they've developed you know a lot of relationships. So currently for

077the mo us that are being on the consent agenda today we have one student teacher from CSU EBSLPA fieldwork, and then one from National University but right now we have 11 student teachers in the district. And that number varies. I like that it's part of that of a pipeline, and not just something that with the schools come after us and no we have. The last one, the last question that is on 17 to G. It's the fire deficiency contracts. And I was just wondering are we out of compliance are we do we need to get on this right away because we're, we're exposed and something happens we. Yes, we definitely need to address this sooner rather than later. Our final inspection completion is contingent upon these repairs being completed and so it's not that it's

078just your typical typically when you have your fire inspection there are some repairs and replacements you need to do a sprinkler heads different things that they see just to make sure that we are fully safe. If something were to happen. And so these were just some of the small, I mean, some of the things they noticed through that inspection so we do this every single year. And so when we pass inspection in June, July of 2024. These were not seen so it was really just over the course of the last school year because I'm not sure if how it works like you have an inspection, things are pointed out. Is that the starting date of you being liable for whatever happens in the building or do you get a 30 day. What is the, you

079know what that that I trusty bueno you probably know better than, no, you don't know. Okay. We're always liable. Sure, sure, sure. But, you know, if there's negligence in included in the in a complaint. So, thank you so much. Yeah. And back to consent item 14 to be warrants. I'm not sure the page number of. And we talked a little bit about this today I was asking about, we had some numerous charges but they're not. These seem to drop on warrants kind of maybe as they're paid or as they come in, but they're not like categorized so you have to kind of go through all 22 pages single line to find, like I found a scattering, but it was kind of their high dollar amounts to the city of Livermore, it appears this though that's

080water, water sewer sewer, those type of charges. I'd like to see those kind of broke out because it seems like an extraordinary and this is these are monthly charges. It just seems like an extraordinary amount of charges per month for water sewer, and if there's something because you guys have to explain that sometimes if we had a leak, and then there's a proportional there's some kind of a formula on the back end that if the water flows then it proportionately increases sewer rates. Sorry there's trustee van and who vols consent items are listed as 1717 consent items dash motions and minor listed as 14 consent items dash motions. Okay. But I have the right agenda then. All right, good. We don't give you the real agenda. Trust you. So what happened is, there was an

081error on the numbering of the packet that got caught earlier today with two closed session items that ended up making it anyways it got fixed so we fixed all of those in the board questions that you send us. We fixed all of that so they're, they're 14s. They were just probably in your notes as 17 but they are 14. Sorry, you're totally fine. That's a good point of clarifying and tracking when we look when people look at the minutes next time it would be confusing so thanks for the clarification. So anyway, there's a few of these things I'd mentioned one when, when we came in and when the staffing changed at the administrative level I'd asked about credit cards because we were going to issue a lot. And while it didn't happen in the 11

082years I've been on the board. Prior to that, there was some type of fiasco with credit cards and spending. So I asked if there was an expansion those on expansion it simply replacing cards that existing people have. And I asked at that time if I could see unredacted monthly statements. And so I've looked for it but under here it just shows like roll up so I see a lot of charges to us bank visa us bank city, capital one. I don't know if those are all visas, if they're loan service I don't I'm not sure. But there's no way to look for us to look from an oversight role. There's no back end information so what I would request is, unless someone's objecting to it that we see the back end information for those type

083of expenditures unredacted so that we can see, you know, just, you know, whether it's a clip and you hit it and it opens up so that it's part of it. That would be very helpful. Otherwise it just looks like a scattered, you know, look, I'll pull exactly what all those are because I think some are store credit cards that come in through that name and then like us bank would be our actual cow cards. And then American Express our other credit card company. Okay. And I saw one and I'll give you a number. You might know off top of your head. There's a charge of like $59,000 that goes to LBJ USD, simply, there's another one to LBJ USD trust for a quarter of a million dollars roughly, but this one here is for 59,941

084and has a number and stuff. Well, there's two numbers. One is 670 dash 5845. If that's not helpful. The first number on the far left is 51946541. So, like an encumbrance or something that payment is so with Kenan, or North Cal relief which is our property liability insurance company we keep a $25,000 account with them for reoccur occurring claims charges so if they are paying legal if they have claim expenses, investigators things like that, but then they submit for reimbursement for us to then we reimburse our revolving account for our escrow account with Kenan for that and so it's that's a revolving reimbursement of our property and liability expenses. Is that the trust one or the one that's just simply says LBJ USD one one there was a transfer or payment of 266,797. That's the

085trust one LBJ USD trust. And then the other one, the sequential number in one is in 41, one is in 42. The other one is 59941. That's the smaller. And with no backend information it's really hard to call it possible to know what it's for. Find my search is not working very well tonight. You can get it to us. Yeah. As long as I just like to see the back end on these because you try to read it, and this is a real small agenda, but these warrants there's warrants purchase requests all this type of thing. It's extensive you guys do a lot of work. I just like to see the back end of these things so that we can actually tell exactly what it's for. That is, if there are no other comments or

086questions, I would entertain a motion to move the consent items in their entirety. There are 21 consent items. President person I move to approve the consent items, all consent items as listed in their entire in their entirety. Thank you. I will second that. So we have a motion by a trustee drew and seconded by a trustee Vanden Heuvel. Any discussion on the motion. I'd ask the clerk to take role. Myself, I trustee Bueno. Hi, trustee Vanden Heuvel. Hi, President Pruso. Hi, that motion carries unanimously. I believe we're moving on to our reports. Correct. We'll begin with trustee Bueno. I was mentioned tonight that we had these, the FICMAT interview so I was allowed an opportunity to go in and talk and ask some questions. I am disappointed in what it sounds like. I'll see what

087the results are. But I asked the direct question I thought it was an audit. That's how I interpreted it, that it was an audit of our stuff so that we could understand better what our fiscal situation was. It sounds like it's more of a review. I was concerned when you bring in FICMAT, the title FICMAT, the company FICMAT, as I've been told in my years on the board, could be perceived in a negative way by those around you because it is the firm that sometimes is brought in to see if you're fiscally solvent or to bring you out of receivership. So I was concerned with that, but those concerns were set aside, knowing that it was going to be or believing it was going to be a fiscal type audit, a forensic type audit, maybe

088not that quite deep, but that it would give us some clarity as board members. I'm awaiting the results so we can see what it is. But by the feedback that I've heard tonight and through my own 30 minutes with them, I'm very suspect. I don't think it's going to be what I thought it was. And that's it for that. Thank you, Trustee Caplanes. Okay, quickly I just wanted to share that since our last board meeting I was able to attend the Maryland STEAM Academy urban cutting, along with my colleagues and many people from our community. And I think from our county as well. I also went to the junction movie night briefly. I attended a Lozano law educational webinar with a few of my colleagues who were at the Alameda County Office of Education Teacher

089of the Year awards. I attended the math PLC essential standards training for elementary thing is specifically for fourth grade. I attended the junction book fair and then something really fun I attended the senior homecoming skits last Friday at Granada. It was excellent. I saw Isla there. And I really look forward to attending more in the future. And then this morning I was able to chaperone a field trip to the bank head to watch the wonderful ballet full clerical performance honoring the history of Dia de los Muertos. Lastly, I just want to make a few quick remarks. In light of so much going on and some of the things that were mentioned in this room. It is a fact that, unfortunately, our teachers here in Livermore have been historically underpaid for what they do on a

090daily basis of not only educating but pouring their hearts energy and time into our children. So as a parent, I am truly grateful for all that our educators do. The flyers and the video that targeted our superintendent were misleading and don't necessarily reflect the entirety of the teachers and our community. As for the decision for the superintendent and cabinet to go away for professional development. This is strongly encouraged from CSBA to allow this to happen to strengthen our district. It was paid out of the superintendent's discretionary funds and the transportation and mills were paid by the individuals themselves. Our superintendents have taken time for professional developments, and I spent far more to do so. The purchase for office furniture was actually planned and started before Dr. Gibson's hire the funds for this was set aside

091as office improvements by the previous superintendent before he left office. As far as Dr. Gibson's compensation is pretty accurate in comparison to other districts of the same size, but when compared to our previous and recent superintendents here in Livermore. She is on the lower end. And that's all I want to share for tonight. Thank you, trustee Ben and who will trustee compliance thanks for for for helping to clarify that too, because I have. Well, I'll get I'll get to that at the end I really appreciate you. I was also able to attend the the Alameda County teacher of the year award where john there got teacher of the year from Granada, which is great right. But if you hold him up in light of the other people that were nominated. There was video after video

092after video of teachers that are just knocking the ball out of the park and then our guy gets chosen or gets it gets gets the award and it was really really cool because it's so indicative of the level of teachers and staff members that we have here in the district so I know we haven't won it before but I'm super excited that we did and let's go again. Let's do it. I was able to attend the community budget advisory committee where we we learned we asked questions about restricted funds about unfunded mandates, and both really helped. I think the entire group of community members from all places here in living more to learn how incredibly difficult it is to do all the things we want to do, and still stay fiscally solvent responsible, not spend

093more than what we have not borrow from the future. It is. I'm learning quickly. Also thank you to my employer because man I've been cheating so much hours and hours, spending time with community members, drinking so much coffee you guys so I've been awake for days now. I've been down to having drinking beverages, and, and, and hearing stories and listening to concerns and having really helpful conversations and as a, I want you to know that this board member is listening. And he hears you. And man as you know as we sit around the table and dispel some of the information that's out there and say okay what what's, what is the truth out there what is what's going to be helpful to move us forward as a district. This district. Our future is really bright,

094mainly because of the incredible teachers. And let's move forward to educate as many kids, as well as we can so I'm really excited to do that with the four of you. So there's several matters that I'd like to touch on in my board report first, I've met with several community members over the past few weeks. One of the main elements is frustration confusion and fear. None of these belong in our community to sources for these feelings stem from concern over transparency and funding. So first transparency. I've grown to understand that the community does not want me to just do my job, they want to see me doing that job, and I plan on increasing transparency by asking more of my questions, especially critical questions in this space. Speaking on transparency community members raised questions about

095Dr. Gibson serving on the board of FIC Matt FIC Matt's website states quotes the board is compromised of one county superintendent on one district superintendent from each of the state's 11 service regions, the Chancellor of the Community College, one member of a community college districts member, a member from the California Department of Education, etc. So, and if you don't want to address it now but I would like to know the extent to which this prior service may pose a conflict of interest was serving on their board perfunctorily connected to your role as to Dr. Gibson's role as superintendent of schools. And was there pay associated with that work. I can answer this questions now. Okay. There was no pay for that work and yes it was directly attached to my role in that school district.

096Last thing on transparency, I'd like to say that, moving forward, if I cast a dissenting vote I plan on clearly articulating my reasoning. This is for the community to understand why and how I am deviating, but also to allow my colleagues to know as well. And I think that we're all stronger for knowing this. And I'd like the community to know that I clearly see inequity in our system and recognize the difficult chain charge placed upon me and us to address this. All of us in LVJ USD are in this together. And I think we need to progress. My word is like, I need, I think we need to progress like we are in this together. In the short term, I think that this is in the short term this is maximizing the compensation to

097our teachers and other bargaining units. In the long term, I think that we all need to wake up and recognize that we are on the same team. In 2013 the state of California changed the way that schools are funded wealthy districts pointed out that under the new system, they would receive less funding to appease them state offered something called the economic recovery target. It's basically money to get wealthy districts to shut up and go along with the new funding scheme. Dublin receives approximately $5,037,541 pleasant and receives approximately $5,579,000 and $44 5 million and change. $1.6 million for 1% raise for our bargaining units. You can do the math. Just kidding. I'll do the math for you. That's about 30%. Over the course. That's a lot of money in 10 years that's $50 million that we

098didn't get in Dublin and pleasant and God. Everyone in this community is deserving of a wage that allows them to live and thrive in our community. Every student is deserving of high quality curriculum, counseling support and safe schools. We should not have to prioritize one against the other. I would like to collaborate to pressure the state to pay us what our students deserve. I look forward to any support from my peers union leadership cabinet and community on a radically different notes. I know that I was saying here I was disappointed about the district data regarding algebra pass rates that we all talked about in our last meeting and wanted answers. I met with Chris Connor director of elementary education to better understand the work that he and his team are leading with elementary education and

099math. So they're building on the PLC professional learning center model where teachers collaborate typically in grade level groups. This is yielded significant benefits in English language arts which I think we've all seen. We've seen the growth in ELA over the past years. And so they're trying to translate that into math. They noticed that year to year our students see a decline in the number of students who pass a grade level so each year there's less students at proficient. Working with Mr. Heart they identified grades four and five as leverage points. They then identified specific units of study. Tosa's have helped elementary teachers apply that their PLC knowledge to math. They started last year and have and have expanded their efforts this year for the first time in 10 years. 10 years we have seen no

100drop off in students who are at grade level proficiency implementation of such programming as this is complicated and nuanced. I applaud Mr. Connor's efforts his team and Mr. Heart in setting our students on a path towards systematically addressing our math gap. Second to lastly Tri-Valley Sulpa. The percentage of students receiving special education in Dublin is approximately nine percent. That one's easier. In Dublin it's nine percent and in Pleasanton it's nine percent. In Livermore it is 16 percent. Every student deserves an IEP. Every student that deserves an IEP should have an IEP. However such disparity seems to imply that we have systematic level issues in identifying and perhaps exiting students from special education. For this reason I applaud Dr. Gibson in the entirety of the SPED work group for thinking critically about our practices surrounding special

101education in our district. Lastly LGBTQ plus history month is celebrated in October to recognize and honor lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer achievement by historical figures. It is a time to learn more about the history of the LGBTQ plus rights and related civil rights movements. Dr. Dawn Romansburg professor of women's and gender studies at Sonoma State University noted that students for students to understand that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are quote part of our collective community past and present is a way for everyone to understand they belong. If you're looking for free credible resources, Dr. Shirley Weber, the California Secretary of State released quotes California's LGBTQ plus rights movements pioneering towards progress and equality, which provides activities for ninth through 12th grade students, such as learning how to write your representatives like me in

102government. Thank you. Thank you, Stephen. I had the opportunity this month to attend the math task force, and the teachers and administrators in that group are remarkable they're working on a common calendar, common assessments and math talks and activities that will help students progress through algebra, and hopefully all the way through And they're, they, the work that they're doing is with the support of the Silicon Valley math initiative and it's pretty amazing every time I attend the professional development I'm inspired by the hard work. And the care of our teachers and they're just taking what's happening at the elementary level and they're pushing it all the way through, all the way through algebra to probably all the way through calculus. I also was able to attend the professional development for the fourth grade teachers and

103Stephen so eloquently talked about that so I'm not going to but the work that that Mr. Connors is doing with our fourth, and I think it's third, fourth and fifth is that right Michelle, fifth grade teachers this year is really quite incredible and I think Michelle also for her effort and work towards that was also able to attend the Maryland steam Academy ribbon cutting with the rest of you all and the Alameda County teacher of the year was really Thanks to Christian for talking about that john there certainly deserved it. He gave a fantastic speech, and then he proceeded to win his Alameda County teacher of the year which I believe puts him in the running for state teacher of the year, so we all have to cheer for that it's really incredible. He's such

104a sweet humble guy it was really great to see him when I also was able to attend the PCC where Matthew Hart presented the district data and the district dashboard was also rolled out and that all came as a request of PCC so it was really great for those parents to see that they were really excited about it. And then before we adjourn as some of my other board members have have taken a minute to address some of the questions and concerns that have come to me from our community I think we've all been spending a lot of time out in the community, listening, reading about this and sort of a listening campaign and. I don't know I don't drink coffee but I've been drinking a lot of Diet Coke and it means I have

105to pee a lot so it's not super helpful but I want to first thank everyone who is taking the time to engage with our schools and with this board. And coming here and speaking to us as well I think it's really important that we hear everyone's voices, and I know and I understand from the conversations that I've had both online and out in the community have created uncertainty and uncertainty and I want to acknowledge that openly transparency communication accountability are top priorities for this board and many of you have already spoken on some of these so I'm not going to go into detail but. Thank you so much for us and we would like to continue to make sure that our decisions are made publicly and agendas meetings and are open for comment and review.

106I also want to address some of the specific concerns that have been raised. All the recent administrative hires have followed our standard HR procedures with positions publicly posted and vetted through hiring committees. Many projects such as roofing dry rot repair and painting at the district office were funded through fund 40 our facilities improvement fund, not the general operating budget, and all the approvals were made in public meetings. Also, just wanted to point out that some concerns also have been raised about a potential conflict of interest involving leadership associates. I want to clarify that the firm's role does not influence performance evaluations or district decisions and that their contract was transparent publicly approved that was in April of 2024, and it contained no provisions that would create a conflict. Any suggestion is just inaccurate. Teacher conversation,

107I personally take this very seriously negotiation with our employee groups are ongoing. And I would like to commit to fair and equitable salary salary increases I recognize the challenges and we've heard some of the challenges from trustee that we face in trying to make that possible and balancing that fiscal responsibility that we have to our community with fair pay is not easy but it is definitely something that is a responsibility and a priority that we do not take lightly. And then again I just wanted to thank everyone for coming for your engagement your commitment to our schools, I think our community thrives when we ask questions we seek clarity and we work together. And I truly appreciate the partnership of the community members that we have here for the teachers for all those who have

108spoken, and, and for the community and their dedication to our schools, but that I'm going to turn the time over to Dr. Gibson for her report. So a couple internal highlights. We are committed, continuing with our community budget advisory committee. We've had a couple meetings we are now done with what we have been calling school finance one on one, and we are now going to move into prioritization, and that's going to take us a few months to go through an activity where the parents and community members put things on chart paper and they start having discussions and they are forced to prioritize recommendations. At the same time we have simultaneously we have our staff budget advisory committee. And the teachers from President Thompson, in regards to that we have not been discussing cuts and that

109is correct, we have not been discussing cuts because we are still discussing ratios. And some of the things that we need to do some of the basic work before we can even get to discussing cuts. We don't know what to cut because we don't even know what we have and where we have it, that is our biggest problem right now. Perfect example. We have school sites, we have an elementary school site currently sitting at over 600 students who actually have less office staff than a school site sitting at 350. That is a problem. It was a significant staffing ratio issue. So when it's told to the community that we aren't doing certain things there's a reason for that of which that has not come to my attention from the teachers union in the process. So

110I wanted to make that very clear and I want to make the process very clear as to we will get there, but you can't get from point A to point D without going through points B and C first, and we don't even know where our staffing sits. That's our first priority. What do we have, where do we have it. We continually get compared to other school districts so we are also evaluating what other districts look like what are their structures look like. Are they structured similarly or the same at all, but because that is a constant discussion of what they have is what we want. Well let's see what they have and let's see how that compares to us first. So that's step one. Step two will then be to set some prioritizations with this

111group. At some point in the next couple months three months, both of these priority lists from these two very large groups of committees will then be crossed over to be reviewed, and eventually both groups will have to take both lists and prioritize them so that we have some significant things that we bring to the board for formal approval when we're creating our budget long term. That is how we are going to create a plan long term to figure out what funds can we use in an ongoing basis to provide the staff, and it's a long process it doesn't just happen overnight. And, but we will get there, I promise you we will get there I know it's a long process and it's daunting, but we will get there over time. I'm really excited about those

112two groups. The work that both are doing is extraordinary and it's important work. It's the first for this district to have these types of groups we have between the two we have over 50 people engaging from all corners of our internal as well as external community. So I think that's a really important piece for everyone to see kind of the bigger picture of how the two will come together, and the prioritization that they are going to be forced to do, because everyone's fighting for the same dollar and penny. That's the struggle. And finally, again, a huge congratulations to Mr there. So exciting, we went and visited his classroom. After the night after cabinet, we did a little field trip. Mr Conover let us in the back secret gate, and we pulled up right to his

113classroom and completely intruded in the middle of him giving a test, it was fantastic. We did it and we had a little celebration with him where we took a balloons and flowers and a plant and all the fun things so congratulations to him. We are also sending out this month, a special spotlight. I thought it was important to the monthly Monday memo comes out for staff every Monday and not every Monday. Michelle would not be happy if we did it every Monday. So it did come out last week I believe it was to our staff and it was all about celebrations and we have so much happening across the district that is to be celebrated, specifically our staff and the things that they're doing. So we are going to be sending out a special celebratory

114spotlight. And the spotlight is the one that goes out to our community and goes out to our parents, so we are going to be sending that out. I believe this week. I just want to do a quick shout out to our bond team, and to Mr me for the amazing ribbon cutting the campus at Maryland just looks fantastic and I'm really looking forward to when all of our schools can have those facelifts because every student deserves that. A quick update on the Department of Education letter that went out I think it's important to put this out in the community and provide an update, since we have this platform this evening. Specifically, and his immediate staff working late on weekends and on the evenings as we're texting and calling and, you know, really trying to figure

115out all the pieces of what's happening. The really hard part for all of us right now is we received a letter and within a matter of 12 hours the government shut down, and none of our contacts are currently at work. So we're on hold, but I really want the community to know that we are we are fighting the fight, whether it's to retain the funds that we were entitled to to begin with, or whether it's through obtaining gap funding long term. One way or the other we are going to do everything we can to maintain all of these programs that are federally funded both the school based mental health grant as well as the magnet grant that specifically serve students at Junction of Maryland. We will keep you updated along the way. At this point

116in time I don't have any other updates because I have no one to contact soon as it other than Superintendent Thurman's office and lawmakers. A huge shout out as well to congressman Swalwell, he is just a gem of a human being and we are so lucky to have him in our corner I know he is equally fighting the fight for us in Washington currently. The last couple things sped work group. Thank you for bringing that up, they are making great progress I think we're finally at a stage where every group in the room is kind of at a different place some are ready to start rolling a few things out, slowly, very slowly, and some are still needing to continue to perfect the things that they want to roll roll out so now we're at

117a stage where the entire room of 47 people will will now start prioritizing okay we're going to roll this out then we're going to roll that out because you can't do everything at once. But where's the easy what is the easiest thing to roll out biggest bang for our buck so we can start that ball rolling. So we're really excited about that. And my last update is our special education parent committee kicked off. And Mrs Mickey has done such a great job with that parent group, and just a huge thank you to those parents, how many people are in that committee. 2020. Okay, I thought that's what he said. 20 parents are coming once a month to meet in the evening with Mrs Mickey, and it's really to get for us to see feedback as

118well as for us to get input, bouncing ideas off of them as the sped work group was rolling things out systematically etc. And I think it's a really important piece that they have a voice in the room with us. And so that's something that's new as well that we're really excited and proud of so thank you to those parents who are showing up. I'll do it for tonight. Okay, thank you. Our next regularly scheduled for meeting will be held Thursday October 23 here in the district. We have to go back into close. Okay, okay, sorry. I gotcha. This session will begin at 9am. This meeting will now, we will now reconvene to close session. And the time is 758pm. Okay, we're reconvening to open session. It is 952. And we have nothing to report or

119sorry. Okay, we have nothing to report from closed session. This meeting is now adjourned at 952pm.