Regular Meeting - Martinez Unified School Board - 5/5/2025

001Hi, I'd like to go ahead and call the regular meeting of the board of education for Martinez Unified School District to order. It is May 5th, 5:29. Happy Cinco de Mayo. Do we have any public comments related to close session? We do not. Okay, we will go ahead and adjourn to close session. test one. two. beinging uh to the regular meeting of the board of education. Uh we have one item uh to report out in close session. The board considered the recommendation for a stipulated suspended expulsion for student number 2024-25-10. Is there a motion to approve the stipulated suspended expulsion? I move to approve. Second. Board member Msala O'Brien. I. Board member Horak Martin. I. Board member Campbell. I. I also vote I. Motion passes. Lizzie, can you start us in the pledge of allegiance,

002please? I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Do we have any changes to the agenda? There are no changes. Do I have a motion to approve the agenda? I'll move to approve the agenda. Second. Student rep. I. All those in favor? I. So moved. Next we have the superintendent search McFersonson and Jacobson joining us via Zoom. I think I've met many of you. My name is Ben Johnson. I'm with McFersonson Jacobson. And can you hear me? Okay. Yes, we can hear you. Thank you, Lizzie. Um, would it be better if you could put me on the screen to do it from there or should I pull up my power own PowerPoint, Mr. Johnson?

003We'll go ahead and put your slideshow up here just shortly. Perfect. Thank you. That's have it there. Perfect. Just just say yes. Go ahead and just alert me with next slide and I'll advance. So what I thought I'd do today is give you an update on the process and where we are with this. Um it won't take a lot of time. I do think it's important to know um we're moving forward. So next slide please. So we'll briefly talk about process. I'll give a high level overview as it relates to um the uh we met with stakeholders educational partners in the district last week addition to an online survey and um and I'll give before we move next to take some questions. Next slide please. So as you can see um We're moving right along.

004We've completed phase one. As many of you know, the board has determined the criteria for candidate um for your next superintendent. And really go through the process and I'll walk through that a little bit but the objective is not just to talk about um people that are qualified because there will be a lot that are technically qualified for the position but the board was very making sure that they thought about longterm characteristics experience that that next continue the great work that the church has been doing. So, um as we talked about our mission, there's so much spent really developer that's unique and specific things in our so we've that has gone out. We actually set to um rough roughly about 4,000 potential across the country. All the folks are not going to apply but but

005you know you never never know who who knows what those also are our um consultants across country and we have posted um on all major superintendent search um resources and I think it's on the district website page as well. Um the position closes and so that means even though it's closed we've already based some candidates likely will meet that criterate but that letterally in addition I think I mentioned before there are candidates I know that our government Yeah. Yeah. Um and without giving specific numbers because numbers really don't mean a whole lot by themselves there are candidates that recognize the value of a great environment district just just outstanding reputation. We have really for that position. Um we will present to board and then we try to keep that as you can see there closes

006and the presentation we have enough time to do their reference checks and background checks make sure any candidate would even if they don't make getting an interview for all candidates that did an interview there would be nothing on their past there would be potentially concerns around or um that takes place on the 19th. Um we will interview board interview candidates on July to June 7th and June 8th and the based on the timelines we expect the new superintendent to be hired by June 25th which will enable reps to start by one. Uh and then the other piece that um we we know this is important is that um sometime between July and maybe mid August, early September that that board and new superintendent will um have a goal setting session to really look at all

007the things they want to do and prioritize those top two to three things. um so that superintendent and the complete governance team and your new board member are all on the same page relative to what are the things that um the leader will focus on. Um next slide please. So what I thought I'd briefly is give you a high level overview of um what we did last week. So I shouldn't say we it was me. We have one more group that we're waiting to get feedback on. But la last uh week I was in town and was able to meet with business leaders, cabinet um both of the bargain units, foundation, site leaders, students, PTA, and we also um have completed the online survey as well. And what I'm going to give you now is

008just a highlevel um executive summary of where we saw common themes across all of these groups. Um so next slide please. So the first question we asked all groups and there were things different but these responses are what we heard across the majority of of every single group that we spoke to and and was what are the characteristics, qualities, traits, attributes that you want to be considered um think are important um for the selection of the new superintendent. And the first one that was mentioned in every group was an instructional leader. Um someone that's able to effectively communicate um in all ways um and with all groups at all levels. A leader that's visionary um collaborative, someone that's innovative, someone that's willing to take um the appropriate risk to do things. So we're not using

009that verbiage that I think most people hate to hear. We've always done it that way. That came out a lot that there's some great things happening in the district, but um to maybe push leader in some areas that haven't been pushed. What are some things that can be done that are that are unique and innovative? Um someone that's approachable um and visible and experienced. Um, I won't try to embarrass your superintendent now, but a lot of people commented on the the approachability and accessibility of the current superintendent and someone else is going to have to look to that example. Um, and then someone that respects the historical um, and the diversity as the community continues to change and someone that's not only comfortable with that, but thrives in that environment and is willing to be

010um, inclusive and collaborative with all that group while not negating um, historical importance of Martinez community. Next slide, please. And so best strengths of the district, size of the district, um that it's the appropriate size. I think every group at some point made a comment that the district is it's a small district and and as I reminded them that um it it's the perspective of being small is based on who you are and who you compare yourself to. So although it's not 70,000 students, it it's not 300 students. And so the average district in California is roughly 5,000 students. So, um, Martinez is a very desirable because it's a good size. There's, you know, the central high school that everyone rallies around. And so, the ability to kind of build and and further develop the

011culture within the district. Um, the size of the district is really enticing for a lot of leaders because they can focus on on making things happen in a tight geography. uh a couple comments where you can get to almost every school site from another school site within 10 minutes is really attractive. Um exceptional staff, caring and dedicated staff. Um the piece about being generational, the fact there are many teachers and staff members um that went to school and Martinez left and came back to teach or serve in other roles in the district. um shows that commitment to Martinez. Um there's so many opportunities for students. I I think your students are probably your biggest advocates. The the the conversations we had with them about the opportunities and and the balance between how do you um

012acknowledge all things that students do well. Um you can see that happening in the district. Um I mentioned this a little bit before, but this one of the other strengths is it's a very diverse community, right? It's interconnected. Everybody knows everybody. That was a strength challenge, too. Everybody knows everything. So, um be careful what you say when you go to the grocery store. Um and because of the commitment to the community, um the facilities are beautiful and um that that came up a lot as well. Next slide, please. So the greatest challenges um the one of the things that that you see a lot especially when you have new people coming together as a leadership team um that the new superintendent is going to be challenged with is a new board and how does that

013new leader as a new superintendent um balance a relatively new board and and help develop governance. A lot of people say the board and the superintendent, but what's important to note, it should be the governance team with the board and the superintendent working collaborative together. the board focused on their roles of setting vision and hearing the community and setting priorities and then standing back and letting the CEO or or the superintendent um be responsible for the implementation of that and balancing all those needs and all those communities and realizing that as a board you you don't stop each individual from being an individual but you have to count to three and so no one board member has the ability to direct the superintendent or make things happen or be a fixer without the entire board

014or at least three members of the board saying this is the direction they want to go to. And that's a challenge for any new leader, but especially when you're talking about someone that's coming new into a district and a new superintendent. Um the the budgetary and financial piece is one that everybody's facing. Um and so the fact that the district is aware of that um I is an important piece. the accountability piece and the last piece of retention. Helen, you think I'm picking on you, but everybody said you're going to be a hard act to follow that um that your ability to motivate, inspire, and be the CEO of the organization, but still having a teacher's heart um resonated and came out in a lot of in really almost every group. And so someone being

015able to come back and and do those same kind of things probably isn't possible because no one else is going to have 31 years I think I'm correct in the district and that kind of commitment. um but to be able to to use you as a resource whenever they can, but also recognizing it's it's their time to run the ship. And then also being able to um ensure that everyone is holding themselves accountable and um delivering what they can to make the district continue to grow. And then the other challenge is transparency. And and I always ask when people say transparency, what does that mean? because different people think different things should be transparent and some things can be and some things can't be but um again this kind of falls into processes I think

016there were comments relative to making sure things are consistent even at a student level do do the student A get the same direction as student B to find um how they can apply for different programs and ensuring that everyone has um similar information as possible because processes should be consistent across the organization. And next slide, please. And that's all I have. So, the board has a tight time schedule, but I do have um time for a couple of questions. Um if there's any out there, and if not, and there's something that somebody wants to ask offline, um I'd be happy to do that. Um 101. No questions. Ber anyone? And I know that um and I will say good night. Thank everybody for your time. Look forward to seeing you in a couple weeks. Right.

017Thank you, Ben. Um Ben did say that if you do have a question about the process, feel free to reach out to him. Um we're trying to kind of they're the expert on the process, you know. um that we're going through and we want to make sure that we maintain confidentiality for candidates. So um he's the resource if you want to have any specific questions that we haven't answered tonight. Thank you. Thank you. Um next we have um comments from our student representative. Hello. Happy May. Loses elementary third and fourth graders have finished their ESPback testing. Fifth graders will finish this week after they take their science test. Los Angeles Elementary hosted a wonderful and well-attended math night in conjunction with CSU East Bay. Thank you to all families and students who attended this fun

018educational event. Miss Cresbow enjoyed a beautiful principal day filled with cards of gratitude from students and families. From the bottom of Miss Cresbow's heart heart, meal gracias. On Thursday, third graders will continue their environmental work with Kids for the Bay on a field trip to the marina. On Friday, first graders will enjoy their field trip to the Academy of Sciences. Lassunes Elementary wants to honor and celebrate all of the mothers on May 10th and May 11th. John Mir Elementary's TKERS will celebrate their mothers and guardians on Friday, May 9th during their Mother's Day tea. Mr. Pizzulo's ukulele club will be performing at Alhhamra High for the ELAC reclassification ceremony. John Mir Elementary is celebrating all of the character traits: kindness, trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship for the month of May. The school site

019council meeting is on Thursday, May 8th. The ethnotech assembly is Friday, May 9th, and the self-care night is Wednesday, May 21st. John Sweat Elementary had a rockin yacht auction on Saturday that was fun for everyone on board. Kindergarteners dressed up and presented what they wanted to be in the future for their career day. PTA had a successful hero dance with lots of fun activities along with some dancing mixed in. All grades musical performance on Friday, May 9th, and the John Sweat Elementary talent show is on May 30th. At Melo Park Elementary, fourth and fifth grade continued to practice their lines and rehearse for their upcoming class plays. Melo Park Elementary staff hosted Dr. Brian Ponyy, an expert on mathematics interventions, who shared research-based practices to help students who need more math support. Fourth and fifth

020grade book club met on Thursday to read and discuss the book's swim meet. Marilla Parks PTA sponsored Eagles for Excellence Gala happened this weekend. The theme is under the sea. Thank you to the PTA for putting together this great event. The school will be wrapping up one school, one book this week. They are reading the world according to Humphrey together. They celebrate. To celebrate, they are having a Humphrey scavenger hunt after school on Wednesday. On Monday, May 12th, Mela Park will host Gamalin Sakar Jaya to pro to provide students with an assembly on traditional Indonesian dance and music. The Martinez Junior High School Bullpups boys volleyball season wrapped up last week with the league tournament hosted by MJHS. Congrats on a great season. Thank you to all who supported the collective efforts of MJHS, CGSF,

021New Leaf, AHS Green Team, and the City of Martinez in reaching the goal of collecting 1,000 lbs of soft plastics. These efforts not only keep these plastic items out of the landfill, but will be recycled and made into the next Trex product and even a bench in our garden. MJHS is excited to get the Girls Who Code Club started this week. For any students who are interested, make sure to join after school Tuesday in Miss Angel's room D104. On Tuesday, May 6th, and Thursday, May 8th, CASP is CASP math testing. On Tuesday, May 6th is the multilingual celebration at 5:30 in the AHS PAB. On Thursday, May 8th, is staff and versus 8th grade basketball game. On Friday, May 16th is the spring dance. What a great start to the spring playoff season at Alhamra

022High School. Congratulations to three teams who made it to NCS. All games for the first round will be played on Tuesday, April 6th at 7 p.m. Boys volleyball is at home. Boys lacrosse play away at Amodore High School and girls lacrosse play away at Bishop Odow High School. AP exams began today with AP Biology, which is one of 17 exams being administered over the next two weeks. This spring, 314 students are enrolled in 640 AP courses with 519 exams scheduled. Good luck to all AP exam students. Congratulations to the amazing drama produ Congratulations to the amazing drama production directors and students for an amazing spring musical. Joseph and the amazing technicolor dream coat was a phenomenal success. And happy staff appreciation week to all of the amazing staff and faculty for their hard work and

023dedication. Thank you AHSPTSA for showering them with so much love this week and always. Students and families, you can get in on staff appreciation week. On Wednesday, make a card listing five things you love most about your teacher. On Thursday, lift your teacher up with a kind note. May 14th is the PTSA meeting and May 15th is the school site council meeting from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. Mr. Alhhamra at 6 p.m. and the senior sunset at 7:15. At Vicente Martinez and Brioni's independent study last week, senior Elizabeth Apario received the 5,000 Ozil Mendoza scholarship. Sorry, $5,000 Ozil Mendoza scholarship. Elizabeth plans to use this money to further her education after she graduates. The Psychology Club podcast's latest episode interviewed two guests from the Cannabis Prevention Coalition. The focus of the interview was on the prevention

024and intervention of cannabis use, and many resources were discussed and provided. Students continued to do their makeups of the CASP testing to have 100% of Brion and Vicente students done by next week. On May 14th, there's a school site council meeting. Last week, three Martinez Adult Education students submitted applications for WoA funding to cover tuition and book expenses. Two applied for funding for medical billing and coding and one for bookkeeping. This funding is available through a grant that the school is a subreient of through the Contraosta County Workforce Development Board. Highet testing will take place this evening. There are 14 students who will be testing. Thank you, Lizzy. Anything else you want to add? No, that's it. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Do we have any employee organizational reports? MEA? No. CSEA? Nope. Okay. Comments from

025the PTA. Nope. Okay. Staff reports. Student superintendent report. Sorry, I had to add something. Okay, so Saturday night, um Nikki right here, Mrs. Green, my date, and I attended the John Sweat auction again. I think it was our third year in a row. Um which was held at the Masonic Lodge in beautiful downtown Martinez. This year the theme was yacht rock and a great time was had by all. There were lots of gift gift baskets and that were raffled off and a heads or tails elimination game was played for a $25 donation in a live auction. A former Martinez Junior High VP Katie Sanchez was one of the organ organizers of the event and she wore a sailor's lottery hat made out of scratcher tickets which you could enter to win by donating $20. You

026would then choose a card from a a deck and if your card was chosen at the end of the evening, you won that hat which essentially gave you $100 worth of scratchers. I didn't win. Neither did Mrs. Green. So, but we did manage to um have a wonderful dinner. We were served up some awesome barbecue by the kickoff event catering um out of Vallejo. And unfortunately, neither and I did not neither Nikki nor I won anything, but we did have a good time and we got to visit with a lot of staff and families that we get to chat with on the phone, but we don't often get to see. Um, and today I'd like to thank Brandon from MRC and Nicole from Contraosta Health for their immediate responses to me during this morning's um,

027Benicia Valero refinery fire. we know what to to do and what to expect when it's MRC, but not when it's across the the river here or across the the um bay. And uh I had no idea who to call. I have no connections over in Benicia. And so I did what I normally do and I called MRC and they had responded immediately and gave me connections and I we were able to get out messages immediately even before they put out a message to the community. So I I thank them for their immediate response and it was a comfort to know that they would help me even though um they were not immediate directly involved. Um and last but not least or no not before that what I forgot to put in my newsletter today is

028that I did attend the um the annual cornhole um tournament for the OL Mendoza um scholarship awards. my my I played in the first year with my son and then I was fired and my husband plays with my son in the tournament now and um they raised money for scholarships for students uh for Martinez in uh for OCL and OCL I want to say he graduated he was between my two sons so between 2012 and 2015 and when he was 22 he was diagnosed with um uh Larri's disease and um so he They put together this fundraiser every year to raise money for scholarships and he gives two scholarships. They're $5,000 a piece. So, it was nice to see the community come out and raise this money for our students and everybody had a good

029time. I just stopped in, of course, for lunch and um just, you know, got to mingle a little bit with some former students and staff and uh just community members and it was it was a nice event and I I got to meet the the two winners. um Avalon, Dwight and Elizabeth Aparicio and um they got their you know awards and it was just a nice event. So I wanted to mention that. And last but not least, I just wanted to welcome everybody to the 90 days of May. Um they are intense and they may seem to never end, but don't fear, don't fret. They will end and uh the first five days of June will fly by. In the meantime, hang on tight and we will survive. So, thank you and uh have a

030good night. Thank you, Helen. It sounds like you had a very busy week from last board meeting. So, um thank you for all for doing that and getting involved with the community. Uh next we have board reports. I unfortunately missed the play, but I heard so many wonderful things. My son actually went um and I heard from a number of of his friends, too, that it was just a wonderful event. So, I'm sorry I missed it. I will definitely be able to make it next year. Um, but I know all the other board members attended. So, who would like to report? Maybe all of you. Sure. Yeah, I went on Friday night and it was wonderful. Um, so I had a busy school weekend. Also, I also attended the John Sweat auction. Um, so I

031kind of made the auction circuit this year. We went with two good friends. Our our we don't have kids at John Sweat, but I'm an alumni of John Sweat and we have good friends who um invited us to go. their daughter attends and it was really nice to see a lot of familiar faces and um yeah, lots of like Helen said, lots of people that we don't get to see all the time. So, was really fun. Um we also did not win anything but that also meant that we did not empty our wallets. So, you know, it was overall a good night and um yeah, it was really nice to have those fun events and we will have lots more in May. Uh I also intended to play and this is my first Alhamra uh

032production and I'm blown away from the set production to the props to the students and so many people during intermission that I spoke to that were out there for Mr. Weiner that were students over the years. I mean amazing. So if you haven't seen any of their plays yet, sign up, get on the wait list. I don't know. I think it was sold out. So, luckily I got a ticket. But yeah, just top to bottom amazing the students and it's just something I would uh see at like the SF Symphony or something. So, congratulations to all those that uh were part of it. Yeah, I echo that. Um it's actually one of my I I I grew up um being taken to musicals as a kid and um and also the high school that my

033mom taught at. I always went to the musical as a kid and I was also that is one of my favorite musicals, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat and I was very impressed with how well Alhamra did it. Um I was not disappointed at all. It was so good. And I also wanted to mention um the the other cool thing that happens during these productions is there's a room for the art students to showcase their work which was also extremely impressive. And I just think both things are a testament to the community, the staff, the students, and the people in this district office and my fellow board members. Everyone is very supportive of the arts in this district, and we are very lucky to have that. So, thank you to everybody that made all

034of those things happen. Okay. Thank you very much. And again, yeah, I'm sorry I missed it, but next year for sure. I've seen him in the past. Next, we have public comments. Under government code 54954.3, members of the public have the right to address the board on any matter within the board's jurisdiction. However, the board may not take action on any non-aggenda item. Individual speakers will be allowed three minutes to address the board. 20 minutes have been allocated for this portion of the agenda. Additional time is allowed at the end of the meeting if there was not enough time to speak during public comments. We have Tatum Casasses. How do you pronounce it? Kasus. Thank you. Well, it's our first time here. So, you tell us how it works. Can you Can you speak in?

035Yeah. Do I just start? You start when they tell. When does she start? You can. Yeah. Hi, my name is Tatum. My bully continues to bully me directly and indirectly. She has pulled my hair in line twice, hit me in the head with her hand, kicked me under a table, pushed me in the bathroom twice, and tried to slam my head on a hooded surface and my fingers between classroom desks, and so much more. My bully recently began sitting in the exact same seat where I've sat every day at lunchtime with my friends. She does this to intimidate and isolate me. She gives me dirty and threatening looks daily. My bully burped in my hair on a field trip and then laughed. She bullies me in places that people won't see and lies to adults

036about everything she has done to me. She has bullied me so much that I become sick physically and mentally. I have begun going to therapy because of all the stress my hair comes out filling my hand with each stroke. My doctor and a UCSF specialist told me that tilogen aluvian is a stress induced way that people lose hair. The stress from the bullying gives me stomach aches, migraines, breathing issues, a weird heartbeat, and I am tired all the time. I have trouble sleeping, nightmares, and I have gone into the school's nurse office multiple times. Because of everything, I've missed class seven different times. I've had many blood tests and doctor's appointments to find out when my body is acting sick. All of the tests have come out normal. The doctors and psychologists say that my

037symptoms are because of the bullying. And all three have written letters to the principal asking him to help me. I feel so many bad emotions. Sad because my bully intentionally bullies me without consequence. Worried about having to interact with her. Annoyed and angry because I am toiled to told to use the office bathroom and go to counseling with the bully when I have not done anything wrong. Distressful of the principal. scared and unprotected. I don't want to go to school anymore. When I come home, I want to lay down to sweet sleep. I swim for the Matina's artist and I've been looking forward to getting even better this year. However, the stress from bullying has caused me to drop out preseason training and I have missed most of my April practices. My school says there's

038little they can do because there are no witnesses. However, my friends have experienced similar things for the same bully, but are too afraid to speak up. My therapist says it's common for bullies to intimidate their victims. I would feel safer if my bully was in another fifth grader class. Miss Ali said that I could be placed in a different class, but why should I leave my friends while the bully has free access? I don't like how the bullying affects all aspects of my life and it hurts me so much that the adults want me to change my habits, but do not make the bully just stop bullying me. What do I do now? What do I do now? Okay. Next we have Casey Cassus. Is he able to go first or no? My husband. Sure.

039Thank you. All right. Good evening. I am Sterling Tatum's dad. Uh, a daughter has been bullied since January. She attempted to deal with this on her own, but in early March, she recognized that the situation was beyond her control. We encouraged her to continue standing up for herself and to inform teachers when the bully acts aggressively towards her. Tatum initially verbally informed her teacher on March 6th, 2025. When this proved to be ineffective in stopping the bullying, we sent emails to numerous Mela Park staff members, including the principal on March 13, 14, 25 through 28. The bullying actions persisted through all of this communication. Staff's decisions made the the situation worse. Tatum's teacher placed our daughter and her bully in the same car and group on a March 26 field trip. Additionally, she chose to

040supervise a different group. The teacher excused her choices as a lastminute decision and not wanting to draw attention to the situation, but we have parents square and uh where is it? Uh a text timeline to prove that the teacher made these choices during her planning stages. On that trip, Tatum was exposed to further bullying. After our March 26th email, the school finally decided to do an investigation report. The report was closed on April 2nd. This left only four observation days, one of which our daughter stayed home because she was too upset to get out of the car during a drop off and another in which the bully was absent. In truth, there were only two observation days, yet the principal concluded that bullying could not be established because of a lack of witnesses and corroborating

041verifiable information. We went with Mr. Stewart and Miss Ali to discuss the report, its inaccuracies, and his claims that witnesses were lacking. During the investigation, we had the principal's letters or offered the principal's letters from Tatum's hairdresser, doctors, and psychologists. The professionals had witnessed Tat's physical and psychological symptoms, and each concluded that they were likely stress induced from constant bullying. Mr. Stewart refused to consider these witnesses statements and his findings. When asked what would satisfy his definition of severe and pervasive bullying, we received the example of a student being shoved to the ground and suffering a scraped knee. I asked Mr. Stewart, quote, "So bullying only occurs if there is blood?" End quote. Mr. Mali stated no and stumbled around defining terms. They have represented the district's position as bullying being in the absence of

042witnesses, a student suffering serious injury. Their limited scope of bullying behaviors does not align with MUSD's AR-5131.2. In truth, there are even more witnesses. Tatum has friends that are victims of the bully's aggressive behaviors, but they do not want to speak up. I surmise that they see Tatum has spoken up and received no meaningful help. Tatum's friends, who are not targets of the bully, have begun to share with the staff the bully's teasing and gossiping directed towards Tatum. California Ed Code 48900R supports that Tatum is a victim of bullying. The principal and the physical and mental agony that Tatum endures are evidence that Mr. Stewart is wrong. Her symptoms are so severe they have affected every aspect of her life. Her free time at home is diminished due to her fatigue. She has difficulty falling

043asleep and often has nightmares of a bully. She has a difficult time participating in swim now. All aspects of her life have been harmed because of the school failed to protect her within the district's custody. And we want MSU to do the right thing, discipline the bully and offer meaningful support. That's all. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Sorry, I'm so loud. Anyways, I feel like I shouldn't stand in front of this. Um, hi, I'm Casey Tatum's mom. I am also a public school teacher completing my 24th year. I know firsthand ways that the school can keep their school safer. The school can do better in the following ways. One, educate the staff. Within the site safety plan, it reads under school safety practices, policies, and procedures. The board recognizes the harmful effects of bullying on student learning

044and school attendance and desires to provide safe environments that protect students from physical and emotional harm. School administration enforces this policy and will not tolerate bullying of any type. So take time during staff meetings to review district policies, administrative regulations, and the school site safety plan so that staff can define bullying behaviors and appropriately address them. Two, communicate effectively. The site safety plan states under reporting and filing of complaints within one business day of receiving a bullying report a staff member shall notify the principal of the report. This timely reporting is critical to prevent further incidents of bullying. Any staff member that receives a report of bullying needs to communicate it to all other staff members supervising the complainant and the bully. This is what I do to raise awareness in my own school to

045prevent further harm to kids. Also give your staff access to submitting online referrals and access to student discipline records through ARIES so the teachers collectively know what is happening with their students. Three, uphold the site's safety plan provisions. Under school rules and expectations, the plan states restrooms are to be used properly and safely. Unsafe use of the student restrooms may result in a child being required to use only the office restroom. So follow the input from stakeholders and choose to require unsafe children to use the office restroom. The site plan also reads, "Based on an assessment of bullying incidents at school, the design may increase supervision and security in areas where bullying most often occurs. So, hire additional supervision or establish a parent volunteer group to supervise the bowling hotspots. My school utilizes watchd dogs,

046dads of great students who assist with school supervision around campus. Four, empower victims. The site safety plan states under bullying prevention, students shall be informed through student handbooks of district and school rules related to bullying, mechanisms available for reporting incidents or threats and the consequences in for engaging in bullying. So provide the necessary information to kids. Also take time to teach kids how to report bullying. For kids utilizing Chromebooks, show them how to access say something. Walk them through filling out a report. Also, stop suggesting that victims attend restorative conversations. It is not appropriate in situations of violence, power imbalances, or um situations where the aggressor is not willing to admit the harm they've done. Impose consequences on bullies and other offenders. You can you can suspend somebody who has caused or attempted to cause

047physical injury to another person. Suspend those kids. The law supports it. The entire district needs to prioritize student safety over district optics regarding disproportionate suspension data. Um, likewise, you all need to prioritize student safety over losing ADA money due to student suspensions. Do better for our [Applause] kids. Next, we have Megan Catver. Hi guys. Whoa. Just break break the mic, I guess. It's in case I need to do a mic drop. Just kidding. Just kidding. Thank you for that. That was amazing and super passionate and really heartfelt and I really felt what your family's going through. So, thank you for sharing that. Hi guys. Um, I'm here just to share an experience. um about I'm here on behalf of a friend who um her family is being impacted by the fourth grade overload process at

048John Mir Elementary. Um I know these decisions are not easy by any means and um I don't pretend to know like all the details of of everything so I really am not as informed as I normally am but I just want to share an experience. Um my friend's son whose name is Marshall, it's just he's been um told he may not return to John Elementary next year because of space constraints in the fourth grade. So while that totally makes sense, I'm sure logistically um I just want to share a little bit about my experience with Marshall and his family. Um, and later I'll be speaking about a garden project that we've started and how Marshall's impact at the garden has just been totally amazing. He's the most dedicated kid that we've been working with. Um,

049he calls himself the leader of the Earth Protectors. Um, so without going into all their details, um, they have illness at home and caregiving happening every single day. uh mom has to do is being maybe asked to do multiple drop offs. There's real hardship in the family. Um and um it's moving him would be really really hard. And today he said to me in an like he was kind of passing by me at the garden and he said, you know, oh so and so um hit me today. And I was like, what'd you say, Marshall? and he just he wants to kind of talk about stuff at the garden. They said, "Okay." And we kind of talked about it and he said, "Yeah, the garden's really great." He said, "Um, especially for kids who like

050really want to stay at the school that they're at and kids who like don't want to go to another school because they really like their school cuz they want to come here and, you know, be in the garden." And just feel like he's found a place there. And I'm just asking that you please don't move this child. That's all. Thanks. [Applause] Okay. Next, we have the um consent calendar. Do we have any changes? There are no changes to the consent calendar. Did want to thank um CAF America for their donation to John Mir Elementary. Do we have a motion to approve the consent calendar? I'll make a motion to approve the consent calendar. Second student rep I. All those in favor? I I so moved. Next we have the California Healthy Kids Survey. Patty Omelli.

051Hi. Good evening. Um tonight I'm just here to go uh do a very brief overview of the California Healthy Kids Survey that was um given to students in November this year. Um the California Healthy Kids Survey is given every year. It's through the Department of Education for all schools in California. And it's given to fifth, 7th, 9th, 11th grade students and then all alternative students um turn of ed students fifth grade and up. Um what this data gives us is just kind of a snapshot of how things are going in school climate, student well-being, safety, engagement and support systems. And different people can use this for such as um informing the LCAP, improve student support services, um and just strengthening school safety and connectedness. So tonight I'm just going to give you a very small

052snapshot of the key indicators from the 2425 um we call it the chick survey but the reports are very long and lengthy and so those are linked at the end of this um PowerPoint. So if you want to look into that more tonight I'm going over the district some of the district key points but each site has their own set of reports and those were all sent out to administration to go over their staff with their staff. So, the response rate for this year, um, as you can see on the left is the 2024 and 2025 is the darker color on the right. And we like to compare those year-by-year. Um, fifth grade student parents are allowed to opt out for their students. So, you can see maybe some of those response rates aren't as

053high, but there's a lot of information that goes out about the California Healthy Kids Survey before it's given to families. Um, you can see 7th, 9th, and 11th grade. that's they have a pretty good um response rate and they always have little dipped in the 11th this time and with all ed we had about 50% of the students um respond. So each of the um areas that we're going to look at like school connected connectedness there's many questions but I just wanted to give you an a an example of a couple of them and then you can dig deeper in the real reports the the bigger beefier reports. Um so example of school connectedness might be I feel close to people at school. I'm happy to be at this school. Uh I like being part

054of this school. And this was the response from this year. Now the green line on the far left is the California state indicators. Um in the middle is the 24 and um on the right is the 2425 and the middle I'm sorry is 23 24. The state indicators uh we only have from 2021 to 23. They have not come out for 24 and 25. So you can see um in fifth grade they're really high that we've pretty much stayed within the state indicators if not um a little bit higher um on each one. Another one is a caring adult at school and just a couple little you know examples of the questions. A teacher school staff um really cares about me. A teacher school staff really notice me when I'm not here and um they

055listen to what I have to say. So when you look at this indicator again, it has a 21 20 to 23 state indicator and fifth grade, you know, those those numbers are very high. They look great. Um 7th grade, 9th grade, 11th grade, and alt ed, they all stayed within pretty much the same range as last year and very close to the state in California state indicators. Another one that we picked out was the parent involvement and this kind of talks about the teachers at school. They'll communicate with parents about um what student expectations are. School ta staff take parent concerns seriously and parents feel welcome to participate in school. And that's just a few of the questions that are in this area. And you can see um in fifth grade that's uh the highest

056out of all of those indicators. And that's really pretty normal because in elementary school um the parent involvement is more and as the kids go higher in grade it tends to get a little bit less. And that's probably because most likely that the kids are more mature and they're handling um things with their teacher in terms of assignments and grades and things like that. At the all ed site, you'll see that it's a little bit higher, which is great this year. And I believe that's because um we have a very small student body, which allows the students to have a lot of one-on-one connection. cyber bullying. Um we don't have the state indicator, but um this is an important thing to look at um just to see how it's going, whether it's going up or

057down in fifth grade. You can see it was about 30% of the students said that it was a problem. And then almost 10% less for this year, which is great. So one of the things I would look at is what did they do? How did they get that number down? Did they put some programs and some things in place to bring that down? Um and again otherwise it's pretty much except for seventh grade is a little bit higher but they pretty much are very equal almost equal to last year. This one is the feel safe at school and um the indicators again are very similar um either above or on par a little bit less in a couple areas with students feeling safe at school and uh fifth grade looks really great and high and

058again um the alt ed this year and I think because it's a smaller uh campus and smaller student body with um more connections There we go. Um, it also looks at some uh the drug and alcohol uh use in students. And remember the questions for the fifth graders um they one of the questions there's about two questions. So one of them for the elementary would be have you had you had one or more sips of alcohol ever? And then for secondary it's in the last 30 days have you used cannabis, marijuana or alcohol? So the thing about this slide, I think the fifth grade um definitely looks at the play more accurate and again you might look at that and say oh my gosh it's 20% in fifth grade but that is ASIP of alcohol

059in their lifetime. The other issue that we see in this is a lot of students even though the the survey is anonymous and it's confidential kids are very nervous to report any drug or alcohol use. So it's it's good to have a snapshot of it but it's not always 100% correct. Um, as you can see, last year in alt ed, we had a lot of people being honest and this year they didn't want to answer that question. So, that's something that the alternate ed area will look at um and make them feel comfortable with that, especially with our podcast. We just had frequent sadness um that's gone up especially in the seventh, 9th, 11th grade. What I would look at here is the ninth grade and um it's gone up, you know, probably about 8%

0609%. And I would look at that and think, well, what has happened with um transitioning to high school? Are there things that we need to put in place to make that transition earlier uh easier? Um and really dig more into that report to see what the students are saying so we can put some uh things in place for them to transition. This slide is talking about considered suicide. um we do not give this they do not give this in the fifth grade so that's why there's nothing there and when we say considered suicide it's actually thought about suicide it's not attempted suicide it's just at some point they may have considered it and when we look what I looked at when I saw this was you know um the seventh grade students it did come

061down and again I would want to see what have you put in place and what kind of prevention have we been looking at and um that went down in the other areas it went up so those are where we can really dig into those those programs and look at what's been done. So when I looked at the seventh grade, like I said, considered suicide um or sadness, you know, it's about u 16% said that they considered suicide in seventh grade, 16 17%. But then you look at wellness and life satisfaction for the seventh grade and about 63 64% said that they feel satisfied with life. They feel they're doing well. They feel that they um their well-being is being is good. So um that kind of indicates the two different areas. So the next steps

062and what we do with this report is that um we're going to continue with mental health supports. Every school site has a mental health counselor. Some are full-time, some are part-time. Um and we're going to continue with that and we're starting to partner with some of the universities to get some um mental health interns in that can work with some of our licensed people at the sites. Uh we're already straightening the sto restorative practice. Many of the sites have already done that training. It's a full training and that goes to sites um for staff, admin and everybody else on the site. And so we're continuing with that and in that is also where we look at um alternative to discipline. We're continuing to enhance PBIS. The junior high is in full swing with PBIS and

063the elementary schools are being trained in them um regularly and that will continue. And then from the district uh standpoint, we can look at some of the insight in insights, talk to the sites, see what's in place and see what we can add. And then of course finally our goal is always to have a safe, supportive and connected school for all students. So this is this if you'd like to dig more into these reports that's the um the links there and uh it it's got a lot of information and like I said the sites each have their own individual reports as well. So thank you. Thank you. Board questions. No. So um my first question is the alternate alternative education do they still get assessed around the 7th 9th and 11th grade or do they

064get assessed every single year for the alternative ed we do but like for for Vicente there's only mostly 11th and 12th graders so it's mostly but so well there's not enough there might only be like 10 11th graders so we do all those students at Bionis they would do the fifth Um if Bion's red we do the 5th, 11th uh 7th and 11th. Yeah. And um in that case I just wonder how this data compares to two years ago and is there investigation that gets done into almost like skipping a year and all the information to see if there are trends with specific classes of students. Whereas fifth graders six years ago, are those the same students that are having the specifically higher suicide rate or something for the 11th graders this year? And is

065that where variation in those numbers come from? Is simply from one class of students or is that actually a shift across the board? Um, I was just wondering, is there data that that does get looked at all the way across so far or is that something that could be a next step? I think that could be a next step. I think you make a really good point and I think looking at the 11th grade class comparing to when they were fifth graders, that might not give us as much information, but I could definitely see ninth through looking at 9th graders and then looking at, you know, the 11th graders. Can I can I add something? It almost it would be hard only because when they're in seventh grade, they're all together. When they're in ninth

066grade and they're all together, but when they get to 11th grade, they're broken out into two different schools. And so, you don't you can't you don't know which ones from 9th through 11th because they don't put their name on the test go to the two different schools. So, it would be hard to track. You'd have to find a way to combine all the results. And because we don't tally the results here, it goes away to to the checks people and then it comes back to us in a cute little report. We we don't have the raw data to I don't think we have the raw data to to put it together. So it it goes like through a computer system into them. So that would kind of be hard to to figure out who's who

067because it goes do you know what I mean? Yes. That make sense to you as a math person? Yes. Yes. Okay. Thank you. Um my other question was and this may also be something that is a further down the road look um but do we know why there was such a decrease in um response rates from the middle school and high school students from this year to last year compared to last year? Um do you want to pull up that first slide again for the response rates? Yes. just is that getting assessed the different I'm assuming the answer is yes. Um but getting assessed the difference from how it was administered last year to how it's getting administered this year to explain why there's that variation. Well, in uh I know at the high school

068level that in 9th grade they do it in 9th grade PE classes and in 11th grade they do it in 11th grade um English classes. So it really depends. It's given on a day. It's a snapshot. It's not something like we do with the ESBAC where we do makeups and things like that. It's really who is there that day. So, it could be based a little bit on attendance as well and who's there. Wonderful. Thank you. Okay. That's why I let her go first. Um, good good questions. And you made me think of I wonder I I know we do do some um inter you know internal surveys with students and stuff and I wonder if almost having something like it would have to be voluntary but some sort of focus group of students that

069were kind of willing to let let you follow them over the years might might be useful something like that. Um because I I you know I appreciate on some of these that our seems like our our results especially like school connectedness are very very um uniform to the rest of the state but they're still also a little bit concerning. And so um I'm happy to hear that that um you're paying attention to trends and these programs are continuing um to try to improve in some of these areas. And I can say that um I'm not sure what school is. I can't remember, but they we were talking about it with the counselors is that the health the kids survey takes place in the fall and what if there was some type of survey that went

070out to all the high school kids in those same grades. It's just more of a let's let's touch base and see how things are going. So, um that makes sense. Thank you. That it okay. So, I did have a question. Um you said it's a snapshot, so just one day. Why could we not do it for the people that missed the survey another day to take the survey? Well, it's it's it is it's I shouldn't say just one day. For for the majority, it's one day where they'll do it in their English class, but what I was able to do a couple times was last year. I did was able to do it um as well as this year is say, "Hey, I think you might have forgotten one English class because we're missing like

07160 kids." And so then they'll go back and and do that, but it's also a volunteer. It's voluntary. They don't have to take the survey. So some students choose not to. Gotcha. Okay. Thank you. Um, any public comments? Yeah. Um, can you go up to the podium? Sorry. Excuse. Uh, I took the survey this year in fall and I think that a lot of the issue with response rates, especially among, uh, juniors, which is I'm a junior. Um, I think a lot of the issue is that we have so much work in all of our classes and it's taking class time. I know that teachers set aside time. I know my teacher set aside time, but a lot of people use the time set aside to do like work from other classes, stuff they have

072due that day. And I'm thinking that maybe we could move it to a time like access where everyone has like this study time and just time where there's no work that's expected to be done and then you don't have to take time from the classes that are already like they have curriculum set up and then there's deadlines to meet like AP exams. So yeah, that's about it. Thank you. Okay. Any other public comments? No. Okay. This will Yeah, this is just Oh, yeah. Can you fill out a guard, please? For public comment. Sorry. Thank you. Okay. Yeah. Um, next we have John Mir Elementary School volunteer gardening project, Andy Cannon. We heard one comment tonight, but we did get a request um from the city to look at John Mir Park and designate a small

073plot of land there for our garden area. Um the letter in front of you is that letter from our city manager um requesting um that we uh as a board or you as a board to review that proposal and decide whether you would um entertain the idea of using the garden area. Joe, if you could scroll down, you can see the picture of the park. So it's indicated in the yellow circle there. Um so for the board, we do have a joint use agreement that goes back to 1982. Um the city actually set up the park. they did all of the improvements to the land that went along with that a long time ago. Um, and part of that uh agreement is that the board or the district would review any type of changes to

074it. Uh, so before you tonight is for information for you to review, to ask questions about um this park. Thank you. Um, I did have a question. So, um, they start this park and then three years down the road, two years down the road, they decide we don't want to do this anymore. Um, there is an agreement, I believe, in there that says they have to put it in the same condition it was. Yes. So, they would go back through and remove whatever was planted there. Okay. Like razors, you know, or whatever risers for the beds and stuff. Okay. All right. Thank you. Any other questions? Is this school property or city property? It is the school district's property. Okay. So, just cuz this seems to keep coming up. So, but since 198ome, the city's

075been maintaining the property. So, they're responsible. Yes. Okay. But it is still the district's property. So, you have decisions that you can make about its use. Okay. And then has it been used by the school for anything other than what it currently looks like, which is nothing. Are you asking about that specific area or Yeah, specific area. Uh the school is not using that specific area that I'm aware of. Okay. Well, I think it's it's a great use of space, not only the community, but for students there at the school. Obviously, they're already coming and confiding in some of the volunteers. So, I think it's a great idea and I hope everyone else supports it. The So, the only ask of of us is just to say yes, you can do this. It's not going

076to cost the district staff or money or anything like that. Correct. That's correct. So, it's cost us no dollars to have it implemented. Um, the school district is not responsible for any of the maintenance or ongoing. The city would be responsible for that. included what was asked about if it was to be removed and it would go back to its its natural state or original state. Okay. Thank you. Yeah, I think it's a sounds like a good idea. We also have a public Oh, sorry. Sorry, it just came up. So, um well, and I just want to I mean my son attends John Mir, so I will say it's a it is very lovely. I do think that the garden will really enhance the space, but kids use it all the time. There's a lot

077of kids that get dropped off or picked up there. I see dogs w you know people are using the space but it is you know relatively open there's not like a playground or anything um but I I do think it is you know people enjoy the space so this will enhance that um should my question is should the dis I think you alluded to this but I just want to clarify should the district decide that there is another use for that property we would have the right to revoke this if we decided to do something different with the property at any time that's correct so part of the land use Um, there was a point in time, I think for the first 10 years, if I remember correctly, if the district wanted that property back,

078they would have to pay a prrated basis for what the city put into the park, but that is long since expired. Um, so part of the land use agreement is the district could send notification to the city that we wanted it for another purpose and then we could, you know, take over that part. Um, but at this time, we have no plans for the use of that park other than what it's being used for currently. Perfect. Thank you. Okay, we also have a public comment. Megan Kate Stever. Cat Stever. Kate Stiver. Am I You're laughing at me. Did I say it wrong? No. No. I'm trying to It's fine. You can call me anything you want. Cat Cat Stever. Sorry, I'm losing my voice. Hi. Okay. I'm the the lady also that lady who's doing

079the garden project. So, this is our thing. This is um something we started um a couple months ago officially, but I've been talking to Mrs. Leau, the principal there, since November about starting a community garden. And I really want to just talk to you guys tonight about sort of the highlevel vision that um that I at least am bringing into this. And um you know, Brienne can speak to it too, but um Mrs. Leau uh her vision is um to have the kids have a space to be able to, you know, learn about gardening, right? So, and she does she did mention food being part of it, but she wanted it kind of in a shady spot in the in a locked area like behind a gate, you know. Um, and there just wasn't a

080lot of excitement for that because I've been talking to parents since November to kind of find out what the community wants to do because that's how you build a community, find out like what people want. And um, what was really beautiful about this space next to the school is that it's designated for school use. Um, I know one of the teachers who wants to be our liaison who's really passionate about outdoor education like I am said that she brings her class over there sometimes. it's school property, so there's no permission slip needed or anything like that. There shouldn't be based on my research. Um, and so it's a really unique like intersectional space. Um, and where the city, the school district, the parents, the kids, the community can all be. And of course, the issues

081about it being very open and everything have always come up first because people go, "Well, what if people steal?" And by the way, we're not doing food, don't worry. We've Yeah, we've started with um we actually started with one flower bed that came from a metal bucket from my yard and then we bought like three plants and we just said to some people, you know, come meet us after school on Wednesdays and we literally just put the flowers in and watered it and we all stood back and we're like, there's our garden. Like it's that simple. Like the ethos of it is very simple. It's just coming together around being outside. Um, I come from a Tinker Garden background and I'm gonna run out of time. I have so much I want to say. Um,

082I'd love to be able to give you a more detailed presentation of this, but basically it's exactly what it looks like. We're just trying to beautify the space. Um, and we're try I'm really wanting to make it accessible to teachers um during the day to bring their classes over and then after school to the community. So, um, it is open. Someone could come in and cut down our flowers if they wanted to, but they have not. And we've been meeting, we've met six times, and we've painted rocks, and we've built fairy gardens. We've, somebody donated a bed, and we planted succulents because you just stick them in the ground. Um, so that's all for now, but I would love to speak more about this really awesome project. Okay. Whoops. I believe. Yes. That's okay. Feel

083free to speak. You can fill the card out later. Hi. Uh, thank you for putting this on the agenda, Andy. I really appreciate it. I just wanted to answer Annie's question about is it being used, you probably know this, but the school uses it like once, maybe twice a year, the park next to it, the Ruby Bridges walk that we did a couple of months ago, all of the students, you know, walk through the park and then they go back to class. Um but the you know there is a pretty significant fence there. So people don't usually connect from school to the park. They normally all the parents wait at the park and then sort of lament the fact that there's this underutilized space with just some meh shrubs growing in there. Um and so

084every time we've mentioned that we're interested in building a garden, most of the parents are really excited about it. So the day that Megan and I showed up, there were several parents that just jumped right in and started helping. So I think um there's a lot of people that are there. Um but the park itself doesn't have that really uh intense uh use like we would like to see. Um and the maintenance agreement, your other question about you know what would happen if uh the school board wanted it back. I think um Mel Park is a great example of that. That's the other maintenance agreement that the city had for many many years where the school owned it, the school district owned it, but the city maintained it um for free. I think you guys

085are getting a bangup deal. Um um but so when Mela Park when you wanted that property back you just asked for it. So I think that's how it would work in this case too. Um so I just wanted to acknowledge that the city ms it and pr prunes the shrubs but it's an underutilized space. Everybody would love it to be more beautiful and that's what I'm looking to do. Make it a beautiful activated space with flowers and childhood magic. Right. Um, and so right now we're just meeting after school on Wednesdays because that's an early dismissal day and that's a nice day when everybody hangs out at that park anyways. Um, and so I would be remiss in my last 1 minute and 12 seconds to mention the chain link fence that I said at

086the beginning. I know I've reached out to Andy about this before. Um, but that chain link fence that divides the park from the school is uh very frustrating for folks because they have to walk all the way around it and can also be a health and safety issue because the sidewalk at Jamir Elementary is so very tiny. The space that children share with cars is very very narrow. So ideally we have a beautiful garden. People go there regularly. teachers have partnered with Megan on programming and they come to the park throughout the week and that we've been able to uh provide an access via the chain link fence whether it's a gate or just an open hole where the kids can come through without having to walk all the way out to the where the

087traffic is and then go all the way back to the park. So ideally that's my long-term plan for that area. But for now um we are looking at just working on the the garden and making it beautiful on Wednesdays. Thank you. Thank you. Don't forget to fill out a card. Thank you. Um so this item will come back in two weeks. Um I just on a side note, I was just um actually at a get together and someone said, I forgot the exact phrasing, but if you want to be happy for one day, it's something. If you want to be happy for a year, get married. And if you want to be happy for your lifetime, garden. So, I just thought I'd throw that out there. Um, okay. And let's see. Yeah. So, next is

088action item approval of the declaration of need for fully qualified educators for the 2526 school year. Janelle Ayat. Good evening. I'm bringing back tonight the uh declaration of need um requesting your approval. This is um an annual um process that we are required to complete with board approval um in order to um submit the document to the CTC, the California Commission on Teacher Credentiing. This document has to be in place in order um prior to us being allowed to issue any type of emergency waiver or um non-standard credential to uh someone that we employ for next school year. Thank you. I believe we talked about this two or last week. Any board questions? Any public comment? Do I have a motion? I'll move to approve the declaration of need. Second. Student rep. I. All those

089in favor? I. I. So moved. Next we have approval of the district instructional continuity plan. and Janelle Ayat. This item was brought for information last time and it's back back for action tonight. Just as a quick reminder, this is a new requiredment through legislation, Senate Bill 153, where um we are required to have district um instructional continuity plans in place and attached to our comprehensive school site safety plans by July 1st of this year. So um with um meet that meets all the specified requirements. And so this plan does that and we are seeking the board's approval so that our sites can bring this to their um school site councils for um approval um as needed. Okay. Thank you. Any questions? Public comment. Uh can I have a motion? Sorry. I'll make a motion to

090approve the district instructional continuity plan. Second. Student rep. I. All those in favor? I I so moved. Next we have approval of the revised expanded learning opportunities program plan. Amy Espinosa. Good evening board members and superintendent Rossi. Tonight I'm bringing back the revised expanded learning opportunities program plan that was presented last week by Yadira Zapata. Just a reminder, um the plan needs to be revised every 3 years and there were some modifications made. So, we made those modifications to meet the expectations of the template. Um so, tonight I'm asking your approval for that. Thank you. Any board questions? Public comment. I'll make a motion to approve the revised expanded learning opportunities program. Second. Student rep. I. All those in favor? I I so moved. Review and adoption of resolution number 2025-24, workforce housing legislation AB

0911021 and AB 1381. Helen Rossy. So, as you know, um Andy, Annie, um and Michael Cass from the city and I have been working, um we're part of the CSBA, um workforce housing, uh cohort this year. And part of what CSBA is doing is is working on passing different um laws and such to um help make workforce educational workforce housing um easier to um to put through to build to uh make it easier for districts to actually build. And so recently, in the last year or so, they passed AB2295. That helped out a lot with in terms of the planning and the and the um the building of these these um developments, I should say. And so right now there are two different laws um AB 1021 and AB 1381. And 1021 has to do

092it builds actually upon 2295 and it helps ensure that the small rural school districts and county offices of ed like uh we're working with now I think county office of ed in um down south somewhere in Tari maybe and uh small rural districts um in that same area that they would be able to take advantage of the same um opportunities that TK12 districts uh the SQA exemptions that are already granted and affordable housing project um incentives that that we get to experience that they would be able to get the same ones. And there 1381, the same exemptions. And 1381 is a new um bill that is put before the assembly right now that that uh helps establish a revolving loan account in the California state treasury for districts to be able to take out a

093nointerest loan to pay for the feasibility studies that have to be done before you can move forward with these and they can be quite pricey. So in order a lot of districts right now obviously are having financial issues but they need to move these projects forward and so they go through this whole process and then you come to the feasibility study and it and it costs a pretty penny and you don't have the money you're able to go to the treasury take out a loan at no interest loan and pay it back in small increments and you can move forward with these projects especially um the um what is the foundation the Zuckerberg foundation has been um funding the the CSBA um cohorts and the movement behind what we're part of. And I don't know

094if this will continue or or how how much of it they've been funding, but we know that they have been behind this funding. Um and so, you know, we'll find out more as we move along, but we're we actually have our last session Wednesday. So, um anyway, so I have been asked to do two things. one is pass a resolution in support of this and also send letters to uh Sacramento in support of this um as superintendent and then see if the board is willing to pass a resolution in support of these two pieces of legislation to help get them passed to help districts get this housing underway so that we could afford to um recruit and retain teachers um as their salaries are such that it's impossible to get them in in areas um

095to be able to live in areas where we need teachers. So, I'm presenting this tonight to the board for possible action and in time to go to our meeting on Wednesday. Perfect. Thank you very much. Um any questions? Yeah, I have a couple questions. Um, did they give you any or at least from what you've learned so far kind of the cost of this kind of uh feasibility study? It depends on how much you have them do. Some fees some some companies if you hire some companies they do the staff surveys. They do um more work. We would for us we we could do our own staff surveys. We'll do as much as possible. They can be um in the hundreds of thousands and they could be under a hundred thousand depending on how much

096of it you do yourself. Okay. And then so if we took out this interest free loan I have no idea what it would be. Oh okay. But no idea. But is there any particular fund it would come out of or No, I I have no idea yet. We haven't gotten into looking at financing yet. We're we're still looking at um the basics where we are. We haven't surveyed staff yet or anything like that in where we are in our cohort movement. I'll be doing I'll be not I our team will be doing a presentation um by the end of before I leave at the end of June and you know Tanya and I will talk about um maybe doing a a study session before the board meeting so that it doesn't go until midnight because

097we have a lot to do in June. we have our LCAP, our our our all of our forms, our budget, and all of that stuff. So, it it'll be a long one. So, it presentation won't be that long, but we thought about doing it maybe ahead of time. So, but it'll be at the end of June. And the last thing I'll mention, which you might just want to look into, is the Chan uh Chan Zuckerberg Foundation. I know in the last 48 hours they came out with an article uh about them pulling back, but I think that was more towards the unhoused and not specifically this, but No idea yet until we go to our meeting on Wednesday. All right. Cuz we don't know what ties in and what doesn't tie yet because it has

098to do with affordable housing and we're not really sure. Okay. Thank you. I just don't want to count on anything before I get the facts. I'm always very cautious when it comes to money. So, and this is just CSBA asking for this resolution. This is definitely CSBA asking for the resolution in support of these two specific things. Yeah. And it makes a lot of sense to me because it can be very expensive if it depends on the size of your project as well. So I think it's good. I you know everybody knows that there's an affordable housing shortage in California and a lot of local governments have um not done their part and dragged their feet in trying to solve that problem. and this is a little, you know, little thing we can do to

099try to do our part. So, the only thing I'll just add is, I mean, I think it's really important. Uh, like you had mentioned, there's teachers that have to commute from other counties into here. So, anything we can do to help support them, uh, I'm behind. So, thank you for this. And I think this is just another option. So, yeah. Annie. Uh, yeah. I'm I'm ready to make a motion if if Oh, did we have to ask for public comment? And Lizzy usually has something to say. Is she going to say anything? Yes, she is. Um, we love it. My one thing that I was going to clarify, but I think's been clarified enough is that this is not anything specific to what our district will take action on. This is just providing support for

100this measure at the state level. Correct. Okay, that's it. Any public comment? Okay, now does anyone have a motion? I will move to approve resolution number 2025-24. Second. Student rep. I. All those in favor? I I so moved. [Applause] Next, we have review and adoption of resolution number 2025-25 of the board of education of the Martinez Unified School District authorizing the issuance and sale of not to exceed 30 million aggregate principal amount of bonds of the district by negotiated sale. I'm going to go and just Andy Cannon. Yeah, there's a there's a lot of words there. Um for what is essentially um a bond sale. Um so what we've been working on is steadily moving forward with um what we intended and what we asked the voters to approve for measure O and that is

101the modernization of the high school, the junior high and rebuilding the adult education. A major part of that process is to sell bonds so that we have enough funds not only to do the work but also to plan out the work. It takes substantial planning and dollars to figure out things such as looking at electrical systems and how to replace HVAC and making sure that you have proper electrical loads and so forth. Um so what we're asking tonight is to approve this resolution with the first $30 million. Uh tenatively we're looking at over the next five years selling two more series for the total of $90 million. Um at the same time someone may see this and say oh well you have projects already ready to go. We have concepts of projects and that's based

102on the facility master plan. That facility master plan is still being updated. Our next uh meeting to date is going to be with our facility groups and that will be on the 15th of May. And then tenatively we would be bringing to this board in June um a draft of the master facility plan for you to review and then potentially at the end of June approve that. Um so we're hoping that we just start lining up everything so we get dollars in place. We get the facility master plan in place. we start doing a lot of work and if everything works out well and DSA wants to approve things and all of that u moves in the direction we wanted to go, we may have a potential for some projects um in 20126 and then

103depending on some smaller projects maybe even earlier. Uh but um tonight is resolution 2525 and that's to approve the first $30 million worth of bond sales. Great. Thank you. And just to clarify, um, and I know the answer, but just for the general public, we do not know what the interest rate is going to be yet. Um, we'll find out when we sell that, but this is, um, the process that we go through, um, since the taxpayers community has approved this, so this is the process we need to go through. Yeah, that's correct. We don't know what the interest rate will be. Uh, but, um, I'm happy to answer more questions, but we also have an expert in the room. Um so our partners with ISM advisors can answer some very detailed questions if you

104have those um even around what potential interest rates may be. Okay. Thank you. Um any board questions? Yeah. Why are we only doing 30 million or is that just enough to cover the first round of projects that might come up? The the general answer is about our bonding capacity and what we can sell and how much we can put out there. for more specifics. Um, I'll let Jeff answer that one because I know he's explained it to me a couple of times and we went back through a couple scenarios. Ultimately, when we met with our construction management team, we said, "Can you do the projects we want at 30, 30, and 30?" And they said that they could. Um, yeah, first I just want to say congratulations. I'm super excited that this bond passed. Um,

105I know we tried a couple years ago and just, um, being able to complete those projects that you started 10 years ago, almost 10 years ago, um, is pretty exciting and I'm excited to see it happen. So, to answer the question, um, yeah, there's a couple, uh, constraints we have when we sell bonds. Uh, one of them is interest rates and and and the tax rate. Um, you know, what is the cost of funds and how does that impact the tax rate? If we sold all the bonds now, the tax rate would spike really high. But we committed to voters to try to maintain about a $38 tax rate. And that was with a plan of selling 30 million now, 30 million in a couple years, and 30 million in three or four or five

106years. Um the other constraint is when you sell bonds, you have to commit per tax law to spend money within three years. So, if you sold $90 million worth of bonds and you didn't have a plan to spend it within three years, you would run up against IRS uh constraints. And I'm assuming at least for the rest, so I understand that part with the with the uh $38 per parcel, but uh or per is that per thousand? It's per 100,000 of assessment,000. That's right. Um, so one thing I just want to keep on the minds of people is I know when the city did the Alhambor Highlands, there was a point where the interest rate was going to jump significantly and it was going to be I'm not sure. I'd be guessing, but hundreds of

107thousands if not millions of dollars difference. So, I'm hoping that you guys will just kind of keep an eye on that. Uh, yeah. So, we don't end up getting less for our money. Yeah, you're going to get the 30 million no matter what. Um especially with the first sale, you know, we we can manage the whole process a lot easier than if it was the last sale and interest rates were increasing. We all see what interest rates are doing. They're kind of increasing. The thought is get the money now, lock in the interest rates before they increase any further being in this business. I just know a lot of other bonds are going to be sold and so investors are going to have a lot of other options. I'd rather just get in before, you

108know, that supply uh demand dynamics push interest rates further. Having said that, you know, we could interest rates could drop next week. I do not know. But we have a good track record of refinancing. That's what I was going to say. And saving millions. We do. And that will continue when I leave, right, Jeff? Uh 100%. I'm not going anywhere. Um that's a good point. I mean, I a lot of people when you get worried about interest rates, you don't know what they're going to be. It's better to have money in hand so you can start the projects because we know inflation is going to push construction costs. and we'll always come back and refinance bonds. It's what we do. So, I guess my question is you'll be for the whole process supervising it and

109advising us like we've done for past 10 years. Okay. Thank you. And also, do you know um we have to get a rating too, right? Yeah. Yeah. And we were talking about that a little bit earlier. So, the plan is the next step in the in the timeline um is to get a bond credit rating and we're going to schedule a call next week most likely. Do we think that's going to be the same as it's been? It'll likely be the same. Okay, perfect. It'll likely be the same. I can't guarantee that. You know, there's, you know, been talk about downward pressure because of budgets, but quite honestly, rating agencies don't change ratings that often. Perfect. Any other questions? My one question was, um, when does this actually mean that we as a district would

110start receiving the money from that $30 million? Uh so we anticipate getting this um during this fiscal year but towards the end of it. So it would be I think second or third week of June is tenatively what we have scheduled. Yeah. Yeah. And you get all of it at once. Okay. And that goes into our restricted funding. Correct. That would go into fund 21. Okay. So we've created uh the board had already passed a resolution to create a new um resource number and so that's where we'd start depositing those funds and begin tracking. Okay. Thank you. And a lot of it would go into the the treasury, right, into the savings. Yeah. We'll determine how much we need in short term. And so we'll leave that as cash and then whatever dollars that we

111don't need for, let's say, 3, six, nine months, then we put into the treasury account and we earn interest on it. So we have let that cook and make more money and and be um even better with some of our projects. Okay. Do we have any public comment? No. Okay. Is someone ready to make a motion? I'll make a motion to adopt the resolution number 2025-25. Do I have to read the whole title? No. Okay, I'll leave it there. Second. Seconded. Student rep. I. All those in favor? I I so moved. [Applause] Uh number six, a revision of the May 19, 2025 board meeting, Helen Rossy. So our last item for the evening almost is to um talk about our next board meeting on May 19th. We've already moved the date to the 19th and

112we um due to scheduling issues, we wanted to move the start time from 6:30 for the um open session to 7:15 start time and move close session to after the meeting. Um that there would be no close session before the meeting, just after the meeting and the meeting would be a short meeting, a short schedule meeting. um from 7:15 to probably hopefully somewhere around 8:30 maybe at the very latest. So due to uh board member schedules, right? And the close session has to do with um the the superintendent search. So that'll be about two hours. So that's why we did it at the end. Otherwise, if someone wanted to come, you'd be here really late. Um any questions, discussion, public comments? Yes. Oh, this isn't in regards to what you're talking about right now. I

113just had a public comment. Oh, yeah. Usually we ask for public comments in the beginning. Yeah. I I didn't understand the Okay. So, let's finish this and I will let you make a public comment afterwards. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. So, do we have a motion discussion or discussion? I mean I I tell me again what time we're starting on the 19th. 7:15. 7:15. Right. Okay. Nope. And we'll still it won't be too late because we hopefully we'll be done with that by 8 or 8:15 and then we just do the close session. Okay. So it will be later than it won't go to midnight and that way um for the student reps, the incoming and the outgoing, I told you the 20th, cancel that. If this goes through, you'll be here on the

11419th, but not until 7:15 and then you would be dismissed after the open session. You would not have to stay through the closed session. Yes, we Sorry about switching the dates. We had a little conflict. Um, okay. So, anybody have a motion? I'll make one. I uh move to approve the revision of the May 19th board meeting. Second. Student rep. I. All those in favor? I. So moved. And then we will take that your public comment. Can you give the paper to uh Janelle, please? Forgive me for interrupting the normal format. Um, superintendent, President, administrators, and uh, board members. I'm here on behalf of my son, Marshall Cochran, whom Megan spoke about earlier and uh he uh we really would like to have him stay at John Mure. Uh and there's two two reasons. one

115is uh because he has a sister who's enrolling in John Mure and she's going to be a part of the um the IEP disability program and um according to the state he should be getting special placement considerations to keep siblings ings together. And um and we're hoping uh it says families with disabled children often receive extra consideration to min minimize disruption to the family system. Also, uh Marshall was experiencing bullying in his other school and uh we're very lucky to have him at John Mure where he's doing a lot better and he's very comfortable. And the third thing was that uh marshalls are part of the overload and uh it California allows uh them to be moved and how they determine who moves. I'm sure I'm I'm sure I'm telling you what you know. Uh

116the enrollment is by the date the student officially enrolled in the school, not just the school's decision to decide. and there are 74 rising fourth graders but only 60 spots. Therefore, the last 12 students based on enrollment date, including Marshall, who was enrolled at 8 9 2023, are being bumped. So, we think that Marshall probably is under that 12. And um my wife is taking care of me. I have cancer, which really sucks, but that's not it. And she's also taking care of my parents as well as uh taking Willow and Marshall to school. And this would just make it so much easier. She has so much on her plate, and this would take one more thing off of her plate if he could be allowed to stay at John Mure. So, thank you for

117your time. Thank you very much. [Applause] Okay. comments from superintendent, board members, and future agenda items. We'll start with you, Lizzie. Well, one more to go after this. Um, and other than that, I guess I I have some things to say at our next meeting. I want to let you all know that ahead of time. Um, I won't make the meeting go till midnight, though, so have no fear. Um, but otherwise, I'll just save it all for then. Thank you. I don't have anything to add. Same. I'm two items late, but I did not say what I should have said during the bond, which is we have two people here tonight who did well, we have more than that, but in our audience, we have two people who did an enormous amount to ensure that

118Measure O passed. So, thank you to Sarah and Jeff. Um, we are enormously grateful for all of the work that you did. And I know Sarah has told me it made you like it made you feel more involved in the community and connected with people and I think it's so great and so it's really really exciting that we get to see this next phase and actually implement some of these projects. And thank you to the voters who made this possible also. I'll ditto that. And then I was going to say happy Cinco de Mayo if anyone's still going out for food afterwards. Um and that's it. I'm good. Look at that. We're adjourning at 8 to 10 M.