Regular Meeting - Martinez Unified School Board - 4/14/2025

001Okay, I'd like to go I'd like to go ahead and call uh the regular meeting of the board of education for Martinez Unified School District to order. And it is April 14th, 2025. Do we have any comments for close session? Seeing none, we will um adjourn to close session. So, we're ready to reconvene our regular meeting of the board of education. We have nothing to report out for close session. Lizzie, will you please start us in the pledge of allegiance? Okay, we don't need the superintendent search today. So, um, comments from our student rep. We forgot to do approval of agenda. Apologies. Do we have any changes to the agenda? I do. Okay. Let's see. On item 16.3, the governance handbook, the um the actual attachment dropped off, so I put a copy in front

002of each of you. It's for information only tonight, and there are extra copies in the back should anyone like to look at one. And item number eight, the superintendent search from McFerson and Jacobson. Number eight is not needed. Okay. Do I have a motion? I'll move to approve the agenda as amended. Second. Student rep. I. All those in favor? I. So moved. So now we have comments from Lizzie. Thank you. Um, welcome back from spring break for all of our teachers and our families. Lois Elementary had a wonderful open house that featured a student art gallery put together by Mrs. Reyes. Thank you to all of the families who were able to make it and the Los Huntus Elementary staff. Loses Elementary hosted their first movie night on March 21st with popcorn and snacks. Thank

003you PTA and families for making this such a fun evening. The third graders had their musical performance and their field trip to the Oakland Zoo. Please join Lo Hunus Elementary this Thursday, April 21st at Mikasita for the Los Hunas Elementary Dine and Donate. Gracias. Lasutes Elementary students will begin ESPback testing on Monday, April 21st. Lois Elementary will be hosting a family math night sponsored by CSUB on April 29th at 6 p.m. Breaking news from John Mir Elementary. Leprechaun footprints were cited in Mrs. Mulan's first grade classroom on St. Patrick's Day. Students immediately took it upon themselves to find the leprechaun. And while the leprechaun was never found, students were delighted and surprised to find treats left on their desks throughout the day. Students enjoyed learning about Irish Irish culture, music, and dance. A fun and

004memorable day was had by all. TK took their classes to the Leer Center to see a play called Once Upon a Time, and it was wonderful. Their students have been studying familiar fa fair fairy tales and they loved experiencing live theater. It was a perfect field trip. Students in Mrs. Paris's SDC 3 through 5 were buzzing with excitement last week as students got to meet the bugs they've been researching. They held a tarantula, gently petted a giant millipede, and marveled at stunning African beetles, panda king isopods, and even a tailless whipped scorpion. Mrs. Herby's SDC TK through2 class joined in on the fun and loved learning about all the different types of insects. It was an unforgettable hands-on adventure. CASP testing starts on April 21st and the fifth graders are taking a field trip to

005the Martinez Marina on April 18th. The John Mir Elementary PTA meeting is on April 21st. At John Sweat Elementary, fifth graders visited historic Angel Island and enjoyed the day learning about local history. Fifth graders also had their culminating state report sharing facts and foods from their state. Students in all grade levels have been creating various projects around women's history month. Earth Day is on April 22nd and CASP testing starts April 28th. At Melo Park Elementary, the gardens at Heather Farm came and presented to the second grade classrooms. Open house was a great success. Attendance was excellent, and there were several food trucks to feed families and hungry kids. The third graders performed in their annual concert beforehand, showing off their voices and recorder skills as they performed several beloved classic songs. At Coffee with the

006Principal, they looked at recent survey data from the C California Healthy Kids Survey and discussed areas of focus for next year. On Tuesday, April 15th is the Mela Park Elementary PTA meeting. Friday, April 18th, is the Mela Park Elementary talent show and CASP testing starts April 23rd. Thank you to all MJHS staff and Bullpup families for a wonderful open house. Campus was bustling with bull pups showing their families each of their classrooms and highlights of their learning so far this year. Additionally, the jazz band club played a show in the auditorium. Performing arts students performed in A101, and all bullpups were invited to post how they were planning to jump in and jump up their upcoming CASP assessment and earn a golden ticket. The MJHS Equity Club had their final slam training of the year

007where they worked with Dr. Watson to set up committees for outreach on campus, joined with the AHS club members for some cross collaboration, and discussed the upcoming field trip to collaborate with other middle schools. Congratulations to the MJHS golf team on their first big win in the three team match. On April 14th at 700 p.m., there's a PTSA meeting in the MJHS staff lounge. April 17th from 5:30 to 7 is Noodles and Notes Bullpup music booster fundraiser at MJHS. CASP testing begins April 22nd. From Elhamber High School, if you were not at the Athletic Boosters Crab Feed, then you missed out on a great time and a wonderful opportunity to support the athletic community. Thank you to the small but mighty athletic booster executive team for their hercuan efforts organizing the event. Student athletes for

008serving and the general donors for their auction items. On April 1st, we hosted Alhamra's first open house. It was a great time of food and fun. Each department and some individual teachers and staff demonstrated what the day in the life of an Alhamra student is like. The PTSA meeting will be held virtually on April 16th at 7:15. All are welcome. The student led equity advisor and student full day session with Dr. Watson will be on April 22nd. April 24th from the 400 p.m. from 400 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. will be the virtual school site council meeting. All are welcome. Tickets are on sale via GOAN for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Co. The show will run April 30th through May 3rd in the PAB. This year's open house at Vicente was a success. Many

009of the students attended with their parents or guardians. Psychologyy's club's March mental health initiative brought the school community together with engaging activities every Friday. These included a self-love letter writing event, a newly disdesigned mental health board in the commons, and a mental wellness themed game showed during lunch. The students at Vicente created and ran each of these events. In computer science discovery, students continue to program their robots to detect a line and an object to respond to the programmed input. In financial algebra, students just finished their unit on taxes, exploring exploring a paycheck stub and completing a 1040 form. The site council meeting will be on Thursday, April 17th. Tuesday, April 8th, California Council on Adult Education Legislative Day. Martinez Adult Education staff went to Sacramento to meet Senator Grayson, an Assembly Member of Villa

010Ferris. The meetings were successful as staff and former students provided information on how adult education has transformed their lives for the better. They asked for the senator and assembly members support on two bills. AB49 that creates safer spaces for our immigrant students and asked that adult education be included in the task force for AB988 which deals with dual enrollment and college and career access. On April 1st, a student from the pharmacy technician training program completed her extership and passed her pharmacy technician certification exam. She will now be applying for her license. Two other students are starting their externships today at CVS. On April 14th, the pharmacy technician training boot camps is six week session starts. This is the first of two sessions. Thank you very much. Anything else to add? No, that's it. Okay, thank

011you. Next. Do we have any employee organizational reports, MEA or the California School Employees Association? No. Okay. Um, comments from the PTA. Perfect. Well, good evening everyone. My name is Janet Stevenrock and I'm um a member of the Martinez Council of PTAs and this year I'm the parliamentarian and I'm also serving as the council reflection arts chair and that's the reason for my presentation this evening. The National PTA Reflections art theme, as you all might be familiar with, this year was accepting imperfection. It drew in 16 participants from our school district, 14 from John Sweat, and two from Martinez Junior High School. I'd like to recognize that um Katie Jones. She was so passionate and dedicated to this program and she served as the parent reflections chair for both schools and was instrumental to this

012program this year as well as many years in the past. We had three impartial judges from the Martinez Arts Association for our reflections art showcase who chose our school districts winners this year. I'd like to congratulate publicly the six winners from the Martinez School District who advanced and were recognized at the 32nd district PTA reflections showcase. The 32nd district encompasses Contraosta County. So congratulations to McKenna Roducker John Sweat Elementary in the primary visual arts category. She received the award of merit for her art entitled I am anf. Congratulations to Daniel Roodacher, John Sweat Elementary intermediate visual arts participation ribbon for his piece he calls imperfection is growth. Carmelia Emolia John Sweat Elementary intermediate literary category honorable mention for her work entitled The Imperfect Act. Congratulations to Mackenzie Johnson from John Sweat Elementary Intermediate Music Competition.

013Honorable mention for her original song, accepting imperfections. Congratulations to Pierro Cambero Mermod Martinez Junior High School Middle School visual arts award of merit for his drawing rising from perfection. And I'm excited to announce advancing to the state of California PTA judging level is Jackson Jeffers from John Sweat Elementary. In the accessible artist division for those who identify as having a disability, Jackson received the visual arts award of excellence for his work entitled All Feelings Are Okay. So stay tuned for art from next year's theme I belong. Thank you. [Applause] Thank you. That's wonderful. Great news. And thank you everyone for putting that together. Next, we have classified employee of the year, Janelle Wyatt. Okay. Thank you. Um tonight it's my privilege to honor um and recognize our classified employees of the year nominees. This is

014a process we go through every year where our sites um nominate uh a classified employee at their school site and one district nominee is put forward to the Contraosta County Office of Education um for their uh countywide classified employee of the year. So, we are going to recognize um our employees at each of our sites. And first is um Stephanie Navaro from Mel [Applause] Park and I'm going to read Wait, wait, wait, wait. I'm going to read what your principal had to say um about you. And unfortunately, Mr. was not able to join us this evening, but um he shared that Stephanie serves as an invaluable PAR educator in our resource room learning center where her dedication and positive spirit makes a significant impact every day. Stephanie consistently demonstrates a willingness to go above and

015beyond, always stepping up to assist her students and staff alike. Her flexibility in adapting to the unpredictable needs of a school day is truly exceptional and has been instrumental in ensuring smooth operations on countless occasions. Stephanie's dependability and joyful approach to her work make her not only a cherished colleague, but also an extremely valuable asset to our entire school community. We are incredibly fortunate to have Stephanie on our team. Congratulations. Okay, the next school was not able to pick just one nominee and [Laughter] they uh our special school Lasas and first we're going to recognize Miss Cindy Lamb. [Applause] Okay, Miss Lamb. Uh, Miss Lamb works as our caf cafeteria lead at Lasas Elementary. She is a dedicated staff member who cares so much about the well-being of all of our students. She's also the

016consistent face that our students see for breakfast, second chance breakfast, and lunch. And she always welcomes our students with kindness, warmth, and a big smile no matter what she may be what may be going on during the day. Teachers and students sing her praises because of her kindness and caring nature. students in classes have written her and her team thank you posters and she proudly displays that she proudly displays in the cafeteria. She's always accommodating when we need lunch for field trips or need to schedule a later lunch for a group of students. Uh she prepares wonderful meals for our students, including all of the new menu items that have been added this year, which are which have helped our students try and be introduced to new foods. Every new meal requires extra planning and

017time to ensure that it turns out great for our students. Thank you, Miss Cindy. Congratulations. And next, um, Loretta Marino also from Lasas. Congratulations. Miss Yes, please stand here for your picture. Miss Loretta Mareno is a highly knowled knowledgeable and dedicated PAR educator in our SDC25 class. Staff nominated Loretta because of her great attitude and patience with our students and our staff. Miss Loretta does an excellent job supporting some of our neediest students because she sincerely cares about the skills that our students need to learn not just to survive but to thrive. She is committed to the learning that occurs in the classroom as she pushes into all classes. This means that she needs to stay on top of the content that's being taught in the class as well as ensure that our SDC students

018are easily transitioning while pushing into classes. staff has stated that they love the way she speaks to our kids because she's firm in a fair and loving manner. She's respectful and gentle and her students respond so well to her cander and demeanor because she speaks to them from a place of caring and love. Um, Miss Loretta is more than deserving of this acknowledgement. Congratulations. Next is Kelly Shelton from Martinez Junior High School. Congratulations. Okay. MJHS is honored to celebrate Kelly Shelton as our classified employee of the year. Miss Shelton is a dedicated, proactive, and beloved noon duty supervisor at MJHS. She not only provides students with support and structure during each lunch period, but she has also taken on a proactive role in building and implementing activities connected to our PBIS goals as a school.

019Miss Kelly formally joined our PBIS team where she helps to share our new perspective, plan for how to best engage our Bullpups, and helps to plan and execute activities. Additionally, Miss Kelly is always going above and beyond and adding to the positive school culture with her sparkle and spirit. Congratulations. [Applause] Okay, next is Karen Armino from Alhhamra High School. Okay, so Karen's team wrote a very long nomination. So we're going to I'm going to summarize and then I'm going to share it with you so that you have it because it is very special and how much you can tell how much your team values you. So Karen's impact um extends far beyond the typical registar duties. She's not just a behind-the-scenes powerhouse. She's the welcoming face of the counseling office. No matter how busy she

020is, she always makes time for teachers who call or stop by with questions about grades, new students or transfers. More than just a resource, Karen is a true supporter of the students she serves. She takes the time to ask about their lives beyond grades and transcripts, remembers their stories, and follows up when she sees them again. Her support doesn't stop at the office. She's often spotted at sporting events, cheering on Alhhamra athletes, showing her school spirit, and making sure students know she's in their corner. Karen is simply put an integral part of Alhhamra. She does it all, always with a smile, always with kindness, and always going above and beyond. She embodies the spirit of our school. Even though her own children graduated many years ago, she remains one of Alhhamra's biggest cheerleaders. We are

021so lucky to have her, and we're thrilled to recognize her as Alhhamra High School's classified staff of the year. Next from Martinez early intervention preschool program is Megan [Applause] Seio. Congratulations. Megan is truly an OT extraordinaire who has made an immediate impact at Martinez Unified and MEIP. Megan has seamlessly connected with both staff and students, quickly becoming a valued member of the team. Her creativity and resourcefulness are evident in her innovative solutions that support both students and staff. Megan's collaborative spirit shines through as she works with staff, parents, and other professionals to ensure each student gets the support they need. Her positive attitude, infectious energy, and genuine care create an environment of trust and support. Whether working one-on-one with students or sharing insights with colleagues, Megan is always upbeat, encouraging, and approachable. As the recipient

022of the cal of the classified employee of the year award, Megan is recognized not only for her skills as an occupational therapist, but also for the warmth, positivity, and dedication she brings to her role every day. We're fortunate to have Megan on our team and grateful for the positive impact she's made in our school community. Congratulations. [Applause] Next from Martinez Adult Education is Alicia Swafford. [Applause] Congratulations. Alicia Swaford has been an invaluable member of the Martinez adult education for the past six years. She joined our team when her position at another school was being eliminated and we were incred in incredibly fortunate to have an opening for her to transfer into. From the moment students walk through our doors, Alicia is often the first person they meet and there couldn't be a better representative of

023our caring, supportive, and professional school community. She is someone we rely on daily, our go-to person for countless tasks, a true office wizard. Ex Alicia excels at everything from creating stunning flyers in Canva and expertly laminating materials to updating our electronic sign and ensuring every stu every student is properly registered and informed of class changes. Beyond her skills and efficiency, Alicia brings an infectious joy and positivity to our office, making it a better place for everyone. Congratulations. And from our district office is Susan Congratulations, Sue. Sue joined our district nearly three years ago as an accountant where she has excelled at managing accounts receivable and accounts payable. In the short time, she has distinguished herself as an invaluable member of our business department. Sue's processoriented mindset, critical thinking skills, and unwavering focus on improving efficiencies

024has have significantly benefited our school staff. Sue's character is truly exceptional. She is personable with a great sense of humor and collaborates effectively with all staff members. Sue provides invaluable guidance, helping her colleagues become more efficient. She is always ready to assist with projects, offer technical support in creating forms, research payment and vendor history, and analyze spending patterns to recommend potential savings. Her pro proactive approach and willingness to support her colleagues have fostered a collaborative and productive work environment. She has become a trusted adviser and a go-to person for many, consistently helping others to achieve their best. Considering her outstanding work ethic, positive attitude, and technical expertise, Suz was the obvious choice for this year's District Office classified employee of the year. Finally, we have our nominee from um Vicente Martinez High School, uh Angelica

025Moten, and she is also our district nominee for the county Contracasta County. Okay. Um, it is great. With enthusiasm, we nominate Angelica for the classified employee of the year. Angelica is an exceptional employee whose dedication, work ethic, and positive attitude make her an invaluable member of our community. Every day, Angelica arrives with a smile on her face and a readiness to take on the day. She opens Jelly's Cafe, ensuring a warm and welcoming environment for our students. She takes the time to greet each student by name, making them feel seen and valued. Her commitment to her job is evident not only in her strong work ethic but also her unwavering presence. Angelica rarely rarely takes a day off simply because she loves her job and the students she serves. Angelica has enhanced the food services

026program at Vicente by providing a visual menu with daily options for the students. She has also streamlined the scanning of student IDs to make the line go quicker which she does so the students have time to eat their meal due the short break and lunch period of Asente. Angelica um excellent is her pride in making the offerings visually appearing appealing which results in many students complimenting the food at Vicente and Bronis. Congratulations. Angelica, don't sit down. Can we have all of our um awardees stand up here for a picture please around the table? And can I have the board stand up with them? And then I just need somebody to use my phone and take a picture. Thank you all very much. Feel free. Huh? As everyone's leaving, I did want to say congratulations again

027to all the winners. We appreciate everything you do each and every day. So, thank you again. They all were rocking out, but that's okay. Next we have staff reports. Superintendent report first. I should have made them stay for this. That's okay. I'd like to welcome everyone back from spring break. I hope you had a chance to re-energize before the final push into the last days of the school year. I believe there are only 36 of them left, but who's counting? I bet you are. The week before break, I had the pleasure of attending several, but not all, of the openhouse events. I usually try to make all of them, but it was not in the cards this year. The ones I did manage to attend were very well attended with classrooms overflowing with both parents

028and students. Congratulations to all for an excellent display of student learning and another job well done. This Thursday at 5:00 pm, I will be attending a celebration honoring Kesha Emendorfer, the principal of Alhhamra High School as the association of cal of California school administrators region 6 high school principal of the year. From her first day, Kesha has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to the success and well-being of the students, faculty, and the broader community. Her leadership style is both compassionate and strategic, ensuring that every decision is made with the best interests of students in mind. Whether overseeing curriculum development, fostering a positive school culture, or responding to the challenges of a rapidly changing educational landscape, Kesha has consistently shown an extraordinarily extraordinary ability to balance innovation with tradition, always striving for excellence. Above all, what sets

029her apart is her genuine passion for education and her commitment to creating a positive learning environment. Congratulations, [Applause] Kesha. Thank you. That's exciting. Congratulations, Kesha. I think she already left. Um yeah. Okay. Board reports. Next, I'd like to start. I also attended um three open houses and um they were all very well attended. I have to say John Sweat Elementary. I always go there and um they have people lined up like 20 minutes before the actual opening of the doors and every classroom is uh so full and the kids are so proud. They have butterflies in some of the classrooms um based on their grade and they have the meal worms and it's just really exciting to um see them there. I had an opportunity to attend most of the classrooms um but I didn't

030want to interrupt if there were kids talking to um teachers but it was really exciting and then um also um you know very welcoming the principal is very welcoming. I almost said Adam welcome but that's not it. It is. Oh my gosh. Mike Cannon, I should know that he when Sammy was there, he was the principal. Um, very welcoming and knows everybody by name and it was exciting. He said, "Don't forget to go by the PE office uh classroom and the music." And when I was there also, um, Logan was there and we did go by those classrooms. And, um, the music teacher said, "We really need to teach choir also." And I thought that's a wonderful idea. Um, I don't know if they could do it in that same class or not, but I

031just thought it was nice. I said, I'll pass that along. Um, and then also, like I said, the uh high school, I attended that one as well as the junior high. And each and every one of them was great. And it was really nice to have music at both the junior high and the high school. So, that was wonderful. It was really um fun to be there and a privilege. One of the nice things about our jobs up here. And then um also just a quick uh shout out to the track and field coach um Manny. He's a new coach and he I've heard lots of praises from the students and the parents and he's really doing a great job. So, I just wanted to shout out that um you know the track track and

032field team is also great. Any other board reports? Uh I also attended two back to school nights. I went to the John Mir um not back to school, oh my goodness, open house. And sorry everyone, we're at the end of the year, not the beginning, not to alarm anyone. Um and it was of course well done and wonderful to see all the kids showing off their um their work to their families. And then I also attended the MJHS open house and I have been to that open house many many times because I taught there. But this year was special because I was a um my son is going to the junior high next year and so I saw it from a different perspective and I just wanted to give a shout out to the staff

033for really making it very welcoming for him. I think he's had a lot of anxiety. He felt great by the end of the night. He knows exactly where he's going to be eating lunch. So he's set. That's all he needs to know apparently. and um and also my uh his dad's stress level came down a little bit. So, it was really nice to see it from that perspective and it was very welcoming and really really well attended and so thank you to that staff. And then this hasn't happened. I'm excited to report back but uh Alhamra has a musical coming up. I always love going. So, um the dates I think in Lizz's report end of April. Yeah. Okay, perfect. We'll have more on that. But I'm very excited to um see uh it's Joseph,

034right? Joseph in the amazing technicolor dream coat. Very exciting. So, I was just going to say this was my first one. So, um I loved uh the tableabling at the high school and I think I got to everybody except for the middle school uh and um one elementary it's come I can't remember but yeah, John Sweat was very exciting. Las and I actually got to run in to a teacher that I taught my nephews a long time ago. So, it was exciting to see most of the teachers I talked to had been there for at least 10 plus years. Um, so it's exciting to see they're still with the district and hopefully they stay for a very long time. But I want to thank all the parents and teachers that put that together. Uh it

035was it was exciting to see uh the kids in the classroom talk to the teachers, the parents, and just really light up, especially for the ones coming into the high school next year. So, thank everyone for putting that on. I think this was my 13th open house because my daughter started kindergarten in 2012. Um and I guess it won't be my last one because um I'll go as a board member next year. But I went to um Vicente Martinez High School which is always a delight and um they uh they had their work up and it was really great to see what all the classes are doing. They have a new um elective I guess about um film and television which was kind of fun to hear about. Um and Miss um Angelica baked cookies

036which were really good. So that was fun too. So, it's all the nice thing about that open house is um I got to talk to teachers, parents, and students. And the parents and the students are just really happy to be there and really like going to that school. So, it's always really nice to hear about that. Great. Thank you. You know what? I forgot to mention at John Sweat, they have an arts room now and e the teachers um had they had tables from different teachers and it was really fun to see that um arts table, too. So, um, great job everyone. Uh, let's see. Next, we have measure RNK, Citizens Oversight Committee report by Andy Cannon. Uh, good evening board. Um, we twice a year meet with our Citizens Oversight Committee um to review

037expenditures and what's going on with U Measure K and Measure R. Measure K has been uh concluded, so now we're just with measure R and eventually we'll get to Measure O. Um, we did meet a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, we only had three members attend. So, we did not have quorum. So, we just had anformational meeting. The contents of that meeting are listed here. So, you see the agenda and then the next page, Joe, if you go to it will show um the budget report, which is a very simplified budget report that we give this committee and go through. Uh the two main things that we talked about um was the notice of completion for Mela Park which the board approved um before spring break and also the deductive change order where we were

038about $50,000 under budget for that project. Um so this is what they saw. Um we could not get an approval because we didn't have quorum. Um but we did meet um and we'll work to make sure that everybody shows up the next time which will be in the fall. Great. Thank you very much. Um, any questions? Yeah. So, I'm I noticed that we have some vacancies on the committee. I'm just looking around this room and I'm like, maybe there are some people here in this room who could f fill some of these vacancies. Can you um just like give a little brief overview of what's vacant and what your what it's not a huge time commitment. So, what might someone on this committee have to do? Um, well, um, the requirements are that you fit

039into one of the vacant categories. So, we are looking for a parent and someone who is active in the PTA. I did have someone ask for an application, so we're hopeful that that'll get completed and turned in. Um, we're also looking for someone from the taxpayer association. Um, and that's because the person uh recently resigned. Um, Helen before turning over the reigns to me did an amazing job about getting all these position filled. Um, so we're very lucky. A lot of groups don't have citizens oversight committees filled like this. They struggle mightily with that. Um, so those are our two vacant positions right now. And for anybody in the community that wants to be a part of this, um, you can go on to our website, fill out the application. That application would go to

040the board and then the board would review those applications and make a determination on whether they wanted um to approve the nominations and make them active in in the COC. Um, and for everybody to know, the COC is part of our our bond measure process. It requires that we have community oversight to ensure that we are spending the dollars as they were intended on the ballot measure when it was approved. Okay, great. Thanks. Any other questions? All right. Uh, 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

041of the agenda. Additional time is allowed at the end of the meeting if there was not enough time to speak during public comments. First one up is Paula McCauley. Are you dropping anything? In the past few weeks, I have had the opportunity to talk to some parents and students and they have asked me to share my secrets to success in navigating schools and raising children who have received amazing opportunities. So tonight I present part seven in a series the secrets to success. When our children enter age at school at age four, five and six, we light a light in our children. We are encouraged to try everything. We ask them to do exploratory toys. They we give them tools to develop their imagination. We encourage brainstorming activities and we ask them to dream about their

042future. And we add this phrase, anything is possible. My children were all taught this similarly with the phrase nothing is impossible with God. Luke 1:37. And we meant nothing. We encouraged them to dream. As children, we as children grow, we teach them skills and limits. And by the end of their eighth grade school year, we add a new word to their vocabulary. No. No room, no option. Not now. No, you can't take PE in seventh period. No, you cannot skip biology. No, you cannot take multiple AP classes as a freshman. Now, the light we have has been fenced in. And we have stopped. We if we had stopped at all the nos, Elizabeth would not be here. Jessica would not have graduated class salatoran. Ryan would not be graduating as an officer from the US

043Air Force Academy this year. Caleb would not be building spaceflight hardware as a college student. And Robert wouldn't have graduated. All opportunities that came as a result of MUSD staff saying yes to them. When we arrived in the district, we faced a pile of nos and we asked what to do. We were told no, but asked someone else. Eventually, we were sent to Helen Rossy's office at the district. She had just started in the district as our stu student services director and she was to deal with us. We provided she provided yes for our kids. Our children who were average in some subjects but when given the opportunity excelled in others. Ultimately they did take multiple AP classes as freshmen. They did spend four years in AP science classes meaning they took AP bio instead

044of freshman bio and they did reach into AP calc. This is not everyone's desired path nor should it be. But the day we met now, Superintendent Rossi was the day we were able to navigate out of the no culture and into the yes culture. Thank you, Superintendent Rossi. Without you, I really don't know what we would have done with our kids. You gave them the opportunity to try and encouraged others to follow your lead. The light is now out. And for those who get a no instead to follow their dreams, this is what happens. I encourage you to look for the yes long before you say no. Look for options. Negotiate opportunities. Let our kids try. We taught them to dream. Now we need to help them achieve. Thank you. Next up is Linda Olivera.

045Good evening. You all know me, Linda Olivera. I am a resident of Martinez and I've been often here to uh speak my mind about whatever procedures that are going on. And um since I'm working very closely with the immigrant communities here in Contraosta College um a lot of times what I have to say has to do with with equity among the students including not only just immigrants but minorities as well. And the reason I'm here tonight well forgive me if you've been addressing the super the selection of the superintendent in past meetings. I have uh been away for almost a month and I'm just coming back and I saw on the agenda that you're well into the uh it sounds like you're well into the selection procedure of the superintendent. As you remember, um I

046was here last time there was selection of superintendent and that was for when um um I pushed for a selection procedure and I was turned down and um in that process Helen was appointed which you know I'm sure you all feel that she's done a good job. She's al always communicated with me when I have um written to her about issues that I'm concerned with. Um so the message I have tonight then for the selection process of the superintendent is that it be represented the selection procedures and panel would be representative of the community um and you get input from the community and the last goround before Helen the sup the superintendent that was selected before I felt was an excellent procedure. um the community was interviewed uh by that. Is that the same uh

047company that's doing the inter the uh selection process? This goat it's different this time. Okay. But anyway, I think that that's a really good idea. That's something that I pushed for in the last time, you know, that u there was the selection for the um for the superintendent. So I just wanted to say that I hope that the whole community has an input in this selection procedure and um I hope that I can become a part of that as well. So thank you very much. Thank you. I will just say quickly that we do have a procedure in place. There's also an online survey. Um you can get more information um looking at our website I think or talk to Helen. Yes, we do have that. Uh, next up we have Sarah Stafford. I'm here

048to invite everyone to the Alhhamra Drama Club's showing of Joseph in the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat. uh April 30th, May 1st, and May 2nd, that's Wednesday, Thursday, Friday at 700 p.m. And then Saturday, May 3rd at 2 p.m. We have 35 actors, 14 student musicians, 10 techies, five tired adults, but um a whole crew of people who can't wait to share this delightful story of a young man, his 11 brothers, and his journey to Egypt with some dreams explained along the way. Um, I want to do a big shout out and thank you to Joe Gangler. Uh, today he actually came and spent quite a quite a few hours in our PAB setting up 12 wireless microphone packs, five instrumental microphones, and two monitors so we can make sure our show dazzles. And I also

049want to point out behind me, not I know the audience can't see it, but we do have our board up for the month of April for Alhambor High School's CTE program. Included in that is a visual representation of our classes. um digital media arts, wood shop, autoshop, sports medicine, and stage craft classes. Uh you'll notice there's one corner I kind of took over and we showed um 12 angry jurors and the total polar opposite now with Joseph in the amazing technicolor dream coat with the black and white and gray of 12 angry jurors to the amazing rainbow colors of our musical. And I'm so glad that so many of you were there at open house. You got to see a little preview for two of our numbers. And this is actually a really special show

050this year. Um, Mr. Weiner, Mr. Jerry Weiner is retiring this year after 38 years of teaching and 32 of those years at Alhambor High School. And so I know some people in this room were in his pres his shows back in high school. Uh, and as I jokingly say, but lovingly say, my my work husband is divorcing me and after 20 22 years. So, we're really excited to put on this show and highlight these amazing talented kids. So, hope to see you there. Tickets on GoFan available for everyone. Thank you very much. Can Can I say something? Sarah, I I watch at open house. I I was uh I watched both uh um songs and Jerry got to uh stand in for someone and I I thought they were amazing. So, good job. So, I'm

051excited to to see the show. Okay. Do we have any changes to the consent calendar? Yes, there are. I am going to pull number four, the extended overnight field trip request for Alhhamra High School yearbook graphic publications um for some last minute changes and it will come back at another time. Thank you. Do I have a motion? Before we do that, I just wanted to say that I'm really glad to see we're renewing the Sandy Hook Promise contract because I think that's really important and um one of the one of our goals is to make our schools safe and students feel safe and I think that really contributes to it. I would like to request that item 5A, race work, be moved from the consent calendar to be voted on separately or at least discussed

052prior to Okay. So, we'll move that to next time. Then, do we have a motion to approve the exent calendar as amended? I'll move to approve it as amended. I'll second. Student rep. I. All those in favor? I. So, moved that now. Okay. Sorry, we are looking at that now. Okay. Um, race work is next. Then Helen, would you like to um I just have a couple different questions about this program. I've been a student at Alhhamra High School while it's been running the last two years. I've had a lot of different friends who have been in the program. I've heard different things about it. Um, and going into the third year, I would like the board to evaluate the effectiveness that this program has had in our district. I know proportionally there have been

053by the end of the program only about 20 students to 50 students in the program. Um and while I've heard firsthand from these students the great um benefits of the program. I've also heard from them that it has been less effective at actually moving this um work to provide equity and diversity into our whole school community. It has been a lot more contained to these few students. Um and so I would like more data if possible about this program. I understand that it comes from a grant and so because of how late it is in the grant process, it is not possible for us to find a different program for this specific money. However, I would like to ask that the board, especially in the future for all of our board members here, take a

054retrospective look at this program, especially next year at its conclusion, and look very deeply to see not just what it has done for the students within the program, but for the entire district. Actually really delving into that data. Um, I've gotten feedback from a lot of students in the district that students within the club that even though they feel that this the premise of the program and the studentled equity team as a club is very valuable, that the cost of these seminars could be better spent on different programs for our school. Whether that be through allowing whole school assemblies or multi- more multicultural rallies that help encourage that diversity and unity across all different backgrounds throughout our whole student body rather than simply in a small group. As usual, you always have very good questions

055and and a thought process. Um, just to let you know, this was um a grant that the DEI committee applied for and it was up to them to give us a suggestion and they wanted this program and so the board looked at it. We said we would evaluate it. Um, so it was really their their thing and it's not coming out of a general fund. And we had asked them and mentioned I think um that how do you s see it sustaining because you're not going to have more funds. So they were looking at possibly doing a club or doing some other stuff because we have it in the junior high as well as in the high school and we were hoping they would come up with a plan so that it would still be

056ongoing without the budget. um whether it's a club or something else. So um you know we can certainly ask for a survey. I have um oh I looked at my phone which is out from taking pictures and Yadira is um texting me because she is not here she's listening but um she is saying that years one and two that would be last year and this year um the work with uh Dr. Watson builds capacity, learning and knowledge and next year which is year I'm sorry next year year three um student sorry uh students um so I I just got to open it. Sorry she's she's texting faster than I could read. Um year three is the working year. There's more focus on action and impact and students and admin find those opportunities and make them

057happen. We have reserve funds to make those things Lizzie mentioned possible, but they are only possible in year three of the program. Okay? So, they have to learn about how to do it first and then year three is how they get it out into the general public. Okay? That's what I'm hearing or reading. So, okay. And I was just going to add, I do really appreciate this because of course when we spend money on anything, we want to know, you know, the effectiveness and the usefulness of the program. We did um last year before you were our student board rep, we did have um representatives from the junior high and the high school come in and speak to the board about sort of what they saw was working and what wasn't working. They excuse me,

058I know at the junior high they also were invited to participate in a I think it was it like at Stanley Middle School. Does that sound right? It's like a slam festival. Yeah. So they they had multiple schools come together and sort of talk about ways to implement programs and do advocacy. So I think it's a really valid point to have that ongoing and maybe at some point as a student group we can have them come in and talk about what they're thinking especially as the funds do wind down. what is the plan going forward and how are we going to you know make this sustainable and actually to your point reach more than just the students who are in the group right now. So thanks and this is Yadira again like we discussed earlier

059she is the plan is to do the survey again at the end we're just earlier than we normally are. All right so thank you and we'll report out on that survey when we get it. Okay. And they can do a highlight at a future board meeting. I'll tell her to stop texting. Okay. Okay. I'm sure she can hear me. Yeah. Yeah. So, we have we have done that in the past years, but yeah, you missed it. So, um but great questions and I love the thoughtfulness and all your answer in your thought process. So, thank you. All right. Any more questions? Do we have any public comment? So, next up we we have to vote on it. Oh, sorry. I apologize. I forgot because we took it off. I'll I'll move to approve the um

060MUSD contract for SLAM year three. I will second that motion. Student rep I. All those in favor? I I so moved. Okay. Now, we're going on to uh review of CSBA updates March 2025. Helen Rossy. So, I bring before you finally the March 2025. I've finally caught up with the December um the 2025 of March CSBA updates for board policies and bylaws and they are here tonight for information and we'll come back at the meeting on the 28th for um possible board action. So, if you have any questions, uh the guide sheet is here and which gives an explanation as to whether or not they're revised due to law. Most of them are simple revisions. Um they went rather quickly and um they'll be back again like I said on the 28th. So, please give

061me a call if you have any questions. Thank you. Did any board questions? Okay. Any public comment? No. Okay. Um, next number two, use of Nollesfield on Sundays. Andy Cannon. Nope. I got this. I put a lot of color in there for you. Um, yeah, this is definitely not my design, but I'm going to run with this. Uh, so, uh, go to the next slide. Uh a couple of years ago, couple of years ago, the board decided to amend uh AR 13:30, which talked about um field usage um overall school facility usage with the the the idea of extending or actually adding hours to Nollesfield because originally when the field was put into place, the new turf field and the lights, there was no activities to be allowed on Sunday. Um at that point the

062board reviewed um a suggestion by our community that we would add um time in and make sure that we have the opportunity for kids to use the facilities. Um so what was done at that time um through public comments and other um discussion. and the board approved the hours of 10 to 4:00 p.m. with provisions that there was no sound system, no music, the lighting wouldn't be done, and if people violated this um there would be um sanctions. Uh so now we come two years after that point in time, a little over two years, and the program is growing. Um the program that we're talking about is Next Level Football, which uses the fields for Sundays. um they have quite a few um young people that are coming out and using that space and they

063are requesting of the board to look at amending AR 1330 that would change the time that's allowable for usage from 10:00 a.m. to 400 p.m. to 9 to5. So it's adding an extra 2 hours to this. Um what we've done to seek um community output or or input on what's going to go on um I did canvas. So I walked up and down the hill back there and around the neighborhoods. put in flyers um in people's doors, not their mailboxes. That would be illegal, but on the doors, on the porches. Um and it said if you'd like to have input, if you'd like to be able to discuss with the board about this approach, please come in this evening. Um so I haven't I don't see any public comments, but if there are um we

064can go through those and talk about that. So on the board um documentation here, you see this presentation, you also see AR 13:30. So tonight, this is a discussion information item. We're looking for direction from the board. Based on board direction, we could bring back potentially an action um for you guys to make a decision next time or if you choose no action, then we would move forward and continue with the status quo. Thank you, Andy. Uh so, a couple questions. Um the same rules apply as far as no sound system, no music, no field lighting. Uh and are we getting income from this? We're they're renting this out? Yes, we do get facility use fees for this. Okay. To how much extra would we get for the two hours? Um well, it depends on

065the rate. Um I believe we have it off the top of my head 60 an hour for um for nonprofits and 120 an hour for um commercial use. And I don't remember for sure what next level flag football is, but it'd be one of those rates for an extra two hours on Sundays for the season, not for the whole year. I do like that it's flag football, so it's not um you know, it's good for the kids. Um and so we got no other than public comment here. We got no other comments related when you surveyed. Um no, uh one gentleman who was in his garage at the time and I had a conversation and what he stated and the only one I got was that uh he supported it at the time and thought

066it was a great thing. The noise that's generated from it isn't too bad is the summary of what he said. But that's only one that I received. Right. Okay. And then we did get a public comment emailed to us as well in support. Um any board questions? I was just going to say I can't believe this was three years ago that we I mean four was it? Time flies. Yeah. Annie and I were on the board then. Um and we got Yeah. I mean it it I'm glad I'm glad to hear the program's growing. It seems like it's a really popular um thing. I know quite a few few families that are participating and um like Tanya said, I think that it's I mean obviously activities are good for the students. Um I like that

067it's flag football so it's a little you know it's less dangerous than if it were tackle football or something like that so that the little ones can participate. So yeah, I was just I was surprised that yeah that was one of the first big I would say controversial at that time. It was a little controversial that we did when we were on this board. Well, I didn't see you over in my house. I'm pretty close to the field, but you know, it's okay. Uh, no, I think this is great. Um, I think it allows a lot of people that are concerned about having their kids play contact sports and it's got a lot of people like more physical and out there and involved rather than in front of their phones. So, I'm very supportive of

068this and I think it's a it's a great idea and I'm glad the board a few years ago uh supported this and it's grown so well. Okay. So, um Oh, sorry. I was going to say one thing which is um in the I guess it's been four years. I have we did have a lot of neighbors come initially and that's how we came up with these policies which I think is great to keep in place um just to keep it a little bit quieter on you know a day when there's not a lot of high school activities and the one thing I've heard here and there is parking and I know that um the next level staff and our people I know that everyone is trying to work hard and direct parents where to park

069and sometimes that's a little bit challenging um but that's the only thing I've heard heard, but I haven't even heard that one in a while. So, I guess just with an an influx of people, it would just be something to keep in mind, making sure that we're trying to direct people to park in the right places, not on our grass, not, you know, in the spaces that where they shouldn't. But that's the that's really the only one I've heard. And I mean I mean I'm not seeing any issues from the neighbors at this point. So, yeah, I'm I feel like it's positive that this has been such a successful program. The only planes we have ever gotten from the field were either parking or the drum core and and the what? The drums. Yeah, blue

070devils because they shake the windows in the house. That's it. We do have a public comment on this. Uh Paula McCullen, for factual reference, I did sign the petition that was originally put out to bring them into place. So I have not an objection to next level sports or actually to the change to the board policy. However, when you change from 10 o'clock in the morning on Sunday to 9:00 in the morning, it makes a very huge difference. I Andy, I'm absolutely certain you did not come to my house, but I will invite you, send you the address, and you can tell me why. Because we are at the top of the hill and everybody can see our house from the street and we get all the sound. And so from our house down, the

071sound trickles back there. I love hearing the band. I loved when Blue Devils were here. Waking up on Sunday morning at 9:00 though is different. And we do hear all of the shouts and joys of each one of those plays out on the field. The arguments that the board members were presenting as to why this is a positive thing do not actually apply to the AR 1330 because this is not specifically to one organization. This is a policy that we're making that will allow anybody including not flag football teams to go out there and use the field during those times or lacrosse or any other or soccer which are all much louder than um other activities. Baseball seems to be one of the quieter ones surprisingly. But we know exactly when the game starts. We

072know exactly when the game ends. I can hear every activity that's on the football field during an Alhamra football field game. I know every play that's being given because we can hear them all. I ask that you reconsider starting at nine o'clock in the morning. I'm okay with five, but having to wake up to that on my Sunday when usually my family is even gone. But still, it's still tough to have that be a nine o'clock in the morning activity on one day of a week because we do get it at 8 o'lock and sometimes earlier every other day of the week. So, please consider if you're going to add an hour, I'd actually encourage you to go to six o'clock because it's much easier in the day for those who live there than 9

073on Sunday. And Logan, I do understand you're close, but you're not nearly as close. You get the preschool activity. I know, but not the high school. So, thank you very much for your consideration. And I do actually do appreciate that you did add this in because it's a community resource. Um, I just ask that you let us sleep on Sundays. Okay. Thank you. So, um, I know we're just discussion now, but I would be open to, and I don't know if they would be willing to do that, but I kind of agree that maybe a 10 to 6 would be a better option. Um, I was surprised we didn't get more people coming because, um, if you have an opportunity to sleep in, um, you know, nine o'clock, it's not that early, but it is

074if it's your, you know, one day to sleep in with noise. So, um I think if everyone's okay with that, I think we should change it maybe to 10 to six. The um my only thought on that is depending on what the season is, we did make a no light policy and there is not light all year round at 6 p.m. So, I like that. I don't know how I mean certainly during the summer months or you know other organizations that would want to rent the facility. I think that could still be really beneficial, but I do think there would be some times of the year that it still probably would be a stop at 5 because of the light and I don't know that we are I'm certainly not interested in changing that policy

075to have lights at all on Sundays. So, for me, it would be a if you need lights like too bad. Um that would be the only thought that I have. Yeah. And I would just say that um you know the people that want to rent it, they know what time of year it is and when the lights go down. So maybe in summer they go till six and in winter they go till 5 and actually at five it's dark anyways um in winter time. So um I still think that 10 to 6 would be more agreeable because I do think the neighbors we should take into consideration their thoughts and the no lights. So just my thoughts. Everyone agree with that? I like the 10 to six. I know we're not voting on it but

076giving direction to Andy too. I would change it. Yeah, the 10 to six sounds better. Okay. So, I would let's do that for the next time. Okay. So, have it be 10 to six. We could extend it. So, just make sure I clarify um the board would like us to bring back uh recommendation for 10 to six, maintaining the same um other steps of no lights, no sounds, and then sanctions if if those things are violated. Is that Yep. I think so. Yeah. So, we can we can bring back that proposal. Have you had to sanction anybody? Um, no. But we you have Alan, in that f very first year, we had we had a lot of people that wouldn't listen about parking. That's for darn sure. Right. Right. that helped because we had people

077coming back into the board meeting who were a little upset because of the parking but then it died down and I think I think when talking to ca to Katherine occasionally you get somebody who's not listening but other than that there hasn't been anyone who who has come back in here and complained does he need to go to the mic to speak and then I have a question I forgot about that so I haven't sanctioned anyone um truly I didn't know about this rule until we started looking into it Helen But the sanctioning is they don't rent anymore. We don't rent to them anymore. I was going to ask the sanctioning. In in my world, sanction means the fine. The court finds you because you did something bad. So, I'm just was just curious if

078that was happening. They just go off the rental list. If they don't follow the rules, they go off the rental list. All right. Okay. Do we have to open public comic back up? Well, he was he I guess put the request in, correct? So, that's why I asked him to come up here. Um, but I did have a question. So, the 10 to six is still okay with you. It's still be I don't know what time flag football is. I'm not a sports person. Um particularly we have a nineweek season that starts in January. So it starts this year started on January 12th ended May March 9thish something like that. So it's nine consecutive Sundays starting in January going through March and it's only one time a year right currently. I know I think they're

079they're looking at possibility since we end off flag football for girls of high school having a second league that follows us that is only like a girls only flag football league. Right now our league is co-ed continues to be co-ed for anybody that wants but there are some that want to girls only just like following feeding into the high school flag football programs. So they would be later on in the year. Okay. Right. So we like I said it's grown really tremendously over the four years. We just finished our fourth season. So when we got approved there we literally started the next week or so after that. So that was season one 22 23 24 25 and it's grown so much that we were looking for more capacity because we actually had to turn some

080kids away last year. We go K1 through 67 and a lot of parents and athletes want to continue on through seventh and eighth grade kind of until they get to high school. So, we just ran out of time. So, you can just play later, though. You can just go till June. Even though it's not football season, you can still do something like that possibly. Maybe, but yeah. Okay. So, and to Helen's point, the first year we we so it was back to back to back. So, at 10 there was another game at 12, then at 2. And so, we stagger. 125, 1:30, 2:45. So that 15 minute stagger lessened the amount of cars that were there in the parking lot at the same time. So that as we gave time for one group of parents

081to leave and then parents to come in. So that that kept us from overflowing in our parking lot. Thank you. Any other questions for him? The daylight hours um sunrise is around 7:30 and sunset is around 5:30 at that in January. Okay. So, you know, Okay. So, 5:30 still. Okay. It'll be the older kids, too, because we're we're probably looking at doing like seventh, eighth plane at the back end of the day. So, probably Thank you very much. Thank you. So, I think we could still go with the 10 to six. Um, and that way it's available all all year long. Okay. We'll bring that back for the next board meeting for you to review. Perfect. Thank you very much. Next we have review of the governance handbook Helen Rossy. So, in February, um I

082think February 1st, uh the board met with uh Deborah Sims from CSBA and took a look, um at different areas of governance, board governance, and the board made some agreements on that day and we um I took them the agreements that we did make and I put them into our old governance handbook that we had from my first here and revised it and put it in a new format and it's here today um well it's here today now on the desks in front of you and in the back of the room um for you to take a look at and make sure I have them correct and um it'll come back next week for adoption. I did give you a copy of this right after somewhere around January, I think. Um, I emailed it to

083you to kind of um take a look at and um if you see something wrong, please let me know and I will go ahead and fix it and we will um bring it back for adoption at the next board meeting. So, any questions? Any uh public comments? Okay. Well, we'll see it in two weeks then. Perfect. Thank you. Next up, we have expanded learning opportunity program RFP from Yadira. And thank you, Yadira, for um texting all that information. You're welcome. Uh yeah, I was uh actually upstairs working on us a few other things and listening in and I said, "Wait, let's make sure that we're very clear about what that is." Um okay, so good evening everyone. Thank you for having me tonight. I'm here to speak about um a request for proposals process for

084our expanded learning opportunities program or we call it ELOP for short um tonight. Um so even though this is not a required process for an ELOP program um we felt that it was a um prudent or a uh the due diligence on our part to do a full um RFP process. Um, as you know, this allows um for us for full transparency and accountability as it's a public process. It helps ensure that we're using those ELOP funds uh provided by the um Department of Education wisely. It allows us to clearly define the needs and requirements and then evaluate proposals to see which organization will best meet those needs. It helps ensure that we get the best possible quality of services by comparing vendors experience, expertise and track record. And also as it is um a

085little bit of a competition um it encourages those organizations to put their best foot forward potentially lowering costs and um providing better services to us. Um so um our process and timeline um so the RFP was published on February 11th. Uh it was posted both on our district website um on the RFP page as well as sent via email to any and all vendors for uh ELOP programs that had contacted Amy or myself throughout the last year and a half. So, we kept a running list notifying vendors that we would be doing an RFP process this year um and kept that list and um emailed that information out to them directly as well as posted on our website for any other vendor who had not contacted us but was looking for information um on our

086district. Um and something I should have said at the beginning is this is our third year of an ELOP program. The first year was a half year. um started in January if you remember we kicked off with the right at school program in January of 20 23 I guess that would have been but the first half of the year was it was before my time but it was um vetting an organization getting set up getting a contract in place doing all the planning all the organizing so really it has been a three-year process um with right at school so wanting again to open up an RFP process looking at all of the um organizations that are available to us and really um looking closely at that the proposals were due on March 5th uh via

087email. By 3M they were sent directly to me um as PDFs and then um after March 5th we initiated a proposal review process um as the as I was the author and the facilitator of this process. I was not one of the evaluators. So actually Amy kind of took the lead um as like lead evaluator um and helped organize our educational partners. We really thought about who needed to be kind of on this evaluation committee and we thought of the pockets of people that have the most um direct uh contact with um our ELOP program and the organization that would be bringing in to uh work with us. So those key partners are our parents, our classified staff. So those staff members that are on campus um who might you know help facilitate some of

088the communication um assigning of classrooms um providing food services providing um you know custodial services all of that and then um some of our site administrators as well who have the most contact with them. Um our proposal review had two tiers to it. Um the first was an individual review process. So we had seven partners um doing the evaluation and each um individual reviewer evaluated all proposals that we received using a rubric that we will see later. Um those evaluations were done as I said on on an individual basis and then after that initial um individual review process what we found were there were three organizations that really kind of elevated um to the top of kind of top contenders. And so what we did there is um wanting to be very diligent about this.

089This is um an important program for our district, this is um even though it is um funds that's all funds that are allocated specifically for ELOP, it is a large program that has a high cost. And so really wanting to um do a thorough process here. So what we did is we convened as a group again. Um I served as a facilitator throughout this process. And so as a group those educational partners reviewed each of the criteria area again but this time instead of assigning a points value they had a group discussion to um determine of the three organizations who would best meet the needs of that district in each category. So how would we rank them first, second and third to meet the needs of the district in each category? And so from there

090we were able to discern even further um the uh options the organizations themselves and what they were proposing um and the group was able to uh come to consensus. So it was a consensus score. So it wasn't an individual score at that point. It was as a group who's ranked first, second and third in each category. Um then um as that committee um or as that you know kind of focus group um came up with a determination of who is the key um organization that we'd like to move forward with um I took that information to cabinet and then it was determined to bring it forward to the board for this decision-making and this discussion. Um so that's the timeline. Uh we received eight proposals which was very exciting. Um, two days before the deadline,

091I did not have a single proposal and I was getting really nervous. Um, as you can imagine, I was like, "Oh my god, are we not going to what are we going to do?" Um, and then lo and behold, within 48 hours, like boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, they all just started hitting my inbox. And so, big sigh of relief. Um, and as you can see, we had uh eight different organizations, a wide range. Um, which was very exciting. And again, if you recall, I said there was an individual process. Um so it did take a lot of energy and effort and brain power on our partners who did the evaluation process. Um but again really important to look at each one thoroughly and then come in with that group consensus. Um this were these

092were the topics on our scoring rubric and so these were the scoring considerations. Um so organizational capacity and community alignment. Underneath each one you can see a few examples. This is not an exhaustive list of what was within that rubric but a few examples. uh fiscal management and development, agency infrastructure, youth development and district alignment, and then cost of proposed programs and services. There are a lot of attachments on this agenda item. Um the rubric is on the actual RFP itself. So it's like 25501 RFP um ELOP and so you can see it um in further detail in there and the point values associated. Um so again um there was an individual review of each of these um with each person um determining their um point value you know assigning a point value against the

093criteria and then a group consensus for each one ranking the organizations first second or third. So um the uh we are excited to um present an intent to award this contract to champions. This is a change for us. Um uh but champions um here are a few highlights. The proposal itself is attached in the um agenda item. It's quite lengthy. If you've opened it, it's about 60 pages. Um very detailed, lots of different things. Um and so a few of the highlights are um a high quality program con comprehensive curriculum, excuse me. There are literacy components, STEM component, social emotional learning, technology, health and fitness, student led learning, community projects. Um there was a nice section on community engagement. So clear and multi-tered systems of communication both with the district, the site personnel, so how

094do they um work with the site administrators and other key um personnel on site um and the families. So how are they engaging our families? Um and then family engagement events. If you had a chance to flip through that proposal, they talk about ways that they um uh integrate our families, um encourage family participation, have events where our families are able to participate. Um and so all of those seem really um like a very um well-rounded program. And then of course the capacity is important. Um they have over 20 years of experience. They have hiring practices to ensure high retention and quality training. They speak on um competitive um pay to encourage and incentivize um personnel to stay um and how they work on training. Um and another uh area that I think is really

095important to highlight is they deploy a dedicated implementation team. Um as you are noticing right champions would be a new organization as we work to conclude our um contract with right at school which would lead us all through summer. our summer programs would stay as is. There are no changes, no gaps in services. Um but Champions would have a dedicated implementation team to help this um transition over um having and you can see it um in their proposal very clear um process and timeline for how we would create this partnership and work towards um having family engagement and registering our families and launching a successful program in the fall. So there's those are some areas um on champions. So next steps would of course include the transition. So tonight we are asking for the board

096to approve the intent to award the contract. So allowing us to move forward with developing the contract with champions. Um and then from there of course community engagement. This is a change. We want to make sure that we're doing a lot of communication, a lot of outreach to our families um promoting this new program and then also ensuring that families understand there is no gap in services. Bright school is not gone. They're not done today. um they will continue on with us through the rest of the school year moving into registration for next year. And then um this would also allow us um a one-year contract with the option to renew for two years at the discretion of the district upon successful completion of year one. So the intent is just allowing us to move

097forward with developing a a one-year contract. And then again, the nice piece is that we would have the option to renew for the uh next two years. And that's it. And so um lots of information, lots of attachments like I said and I do want to take a moment and thank um all of our partners in this process, those who participated in the individual review um who were also the in the group review and then of course all the vendors who submitted a proposal that was energy and effort on their part um and receiving e proposals was exciting um but again acknowledging um everyone's time on that. That's what I have for you. Thank you. Okay. Any questions from the board? I um I look did look at the proposal and there were a lot

098of things that were really exciting like the curriculum and the family engagement. I thought sounded really great. I had a question on the rubric because I noticed that this um champions they scored first on all of the items except for the agency infrastructure and they were scored as second. And I was just curious um what what that looks like. What uh can you tell me a little bit more about what that rating is about? Yes. Let me recall and I might ask Amy to help me remember the discussion. Um again, right as facilitator I helped kind of like so you know as everyone was sharing. So where are we thinking we're bringing them back to those rankings? Um I printed it now. I don't Oh, right here. Okay. So, in that category, I think this

099category had to do with the the communication between the actual vendor and the district themselves. And then there were structures in each of the proposals that outlined um their uh structure. So they had a director and then they would have someone at the school site that might be like a coordinator and then depending on how large it was at each school site then they had various numbers of staff members and so I think that's what this was talking about depending on each of the proposals that looked different for each of the companies and so that might have been why it ranked second compared it could just have meant that they didn't have a curriculum person and a director that were separate. They were actually the same person. So, I would have to go back and

100look at the RFP because you can imagine we looked at eight 60page documents and I don't quite remember exactly. Yeah, thank you. And I think Amy is correct. I think that's what I'm recalling too. I think maybe the other organization just they may have had more support that and we would have said, "Oh, yeah, more support might be good." Some sometimes more support's good, sometimes it's not. Just depends, [Laughter] [Music] right? Okay. Any other questions? I did um I appreciate you went through all those because I thought it was very impressive that you had one that was in four categories. Number one, I had the same question that she did, but um that probably took an awful lot of time because it was very detailed. So, thank you for putting all that effort into it.

101Um do we have any public comment on this? No. Okay. Is anyone ready to make a motion? I will move to um move to approve the um intent to award letter. Second. Student wrote I. All those in favor? I so moved. Thank you. Okay, next we have adoption of CSB A updates for December of 2024. Helen Rossy. Hi. Tonight we're bringing back uh the bylaw 9270 conflict of interest, the one that I had pulled from the December batch and had legal um go through and revise for me in terms of conflict of interest um in specifically in campaign donations and voting on contracts. And it's back tonight for um possible board approval. Thank you. Any board discussion? Any public comment? Okay. Do I have a motion? I'd like to make a motion to uh accept

102the CSBA updates. Okay. Seconded. A student vote. I. All those in favor? I. I. I. So moved. Okay. Next up, we have approval of Martinez's adult education apprenticeship salary increase. Janelle Ayat. Good evening. This item is being brought back for action. Um, if you recall at the last meeting, I presented the proposal for the salary increase for the part-time teachers who teach the apprenticeship classes at the adult education as part of the contraosta electrical joint apprenticeship program. Um, as just a reminder, these funds are not um salaries are not paid through the general fund. Um, it is through funding with the related supplemental instruction funding that the adult education program receives. Perfect. Thank you. Any board discussion? No. Okay. Any public comment? Right. Do I have a motion? I'll make a motion to approve Martinez

103adult education apprenticeship salary increase. Second. All those in favor? Oh, sorry. Student rep I. All those in favor? I so moved. Approval of the measure R and measure K audit reports. Andy Cannon. Uh so tonight you have two different audit reports. One for measure K and one for measure R. Measure K has now concluded. Now we finished it last year but because you still have to go through the audit cycle, that's why you're seeing it tonight. There were no findings for measure K. Uh for measure R, there was one finding and this was the finding that we had discussed or had brought to the board in the fall and that was over um not moving money from our investment account through LA into our general fund. And so we had corrected that back in October,

104but because measure R was still a part of that process, there is that same audit finding that we already had before in here. So there's no new information. It's the same before and the corrective actions have already been taken. Uh but tonight um with all of those pieces in mind, I am requesting that the board approve both measure R and measure K audit reports. We didn't get fined for that or anything, did it? No, there was no find. It was a matter of u adjusting our internal control process and putting that in our checklist so that we have um closing out those accounts and making sure our cash flow is what it's supposed to be before we close the books um in unudited actuals in September. Great. Thank you. Any questions? Public comment. Do I

105have a motion? Like to make a motion to approve the measure R and measure K audit reports. A second. Student rep. I. All those in favor? I. So moved. Okay. Next. Back to Andy again. Approval of the Martinez Junior High School Theater Project. Uh generally we don't bring um quotes to the board, but because this quote exceeds $50,000, we're bringing it tonight for the board to approve. Uh Joe's going to show a couple pictures of our junior high school um of the floor that's towards the front of the theater. And it has seen I don't think I'm am I can I say a hundred years? Am I close of where? Oh, well, so it wasn't that long. Um, but there's been a lot of use. Um, I I assume that it was older because of

106the shape that it's in. But, but by the front stage um, in front of the stairs, there is a lot of damage to the wood and this is something that we need to get repaired. Unfortunately, we have to replace a lot of the wood in this front section. it's not something that we can repair and still look good. Um, so part of this project and the reason for the excess cost is to replace the front of the stage wood and then to take out all of the seats and completely stain and refinish and make that look nice. Um, you may remember last summer we um we changed out the windows on the exterior. We put up um new curtains. Um through measure O, we're going to be looking at doing a couple of other small

107projects which may include um some updates to the um the AV equipment there that will match the high school so we have the seamless integration between both facilities. Um and then eventually we may look at like stage curtains and a few other things. So we're looking um to make a few repairs and changes this summer before we start our major measure O project. So, tonight we're asking for approval of this project at $53,000. And just to clarify, um, we won't be redoing that. So, it's not like we're going to do it again or have to tear it down or it's going to get damaged when we do any upgrades to the theater. No, we're This won't cause any other undo kind of damage or harm from other projects going on. Okay. I do I do

108like the wood and I think it's really important to have that look good. So, and it does look really bad and um I go in there I mean during open houses or back to school I always go in that theater and then when my son was there I went there. So um I think that's a great idea that we kept it with wood. Okay, we are I just have to add something because that's me Andy. Okay, so just because I'm leaving and you have to remember these things even though I'm not leaving town but I'm leaving. Um, when we remodeled the junior high, it was very, very important to this community that the library and the auditorium remain in its 1932 kind of condition, but better. And so keeping that wood floor in the front

109there and not having carpet or lenolum or um tile, you know, the vinyl tiles or pergo um or pergo is very important to keep the integrity of of that that building. And we we kept the the chairs, the extra um auditorium chairs to replace those as we need as we need to. And it's important to to keep that floor in in the same kind of, you know, the same not condition, but this, you know, keep it wood, keep it wood and don't replace it with something else. So, just remember when you're replacing things over time, and both of those things, it was the community's request to keep the A building much like it is. So, I'm just throwing that out there. the the superintendent will be at any meeting in which the agenda says junior

110high school construction, modernization or revitalization. I will be watching like a hawk. I've been to put it bold on the bottom so anytime people pull it up they'll see that. I I think I will call her in advance of anything. Um any board comments discussion? I have a couple questions. Um first of all, do we know when this process will be completed? like when will the project be under under when? Um I believe it's going to take a couple of weeks and it will be done during the summertime. So after kids leave and before they come back and then we will do uh blackout periods for anybody who wants to rent the facilities. I think there's one user that is wanting to rent it and then we're going to find a way to probably move

111them to PAB instead which they'll really love the experience there and and we'll make sure we keep them at the same rate because we're the ones who are making them move. Okay. The other question is, does this do anything with the balcony area of the theater or does that not need any construction or would that be a completely different project? Uh, we we don't have anything planned for there right now. Um, because we don't have I think we don't really use that area as much. Yeah. Um, so it just right now is doing the bottom floor and so it's going to be a lot of work because we do have to take all those chairs up. Okay. Um, and the other thing on the quote, it has a line about removing glue left over from

112a carpet. Um, is that a problem at all? It's just it's very oddly in there in my mind. No, it shouldn't be a problem. But what they put that on every quote because there's that carpet runner strip that comes down the aisle way. So, someone put in a carpet. I don't know who did it, but we'll replace it. The carpet has always come down the two aisleways and then on the edges on the side. I know exactly what it is cuz I was there. The the carpet. We're going to main the integrity of the 1932 theater though at all cost. That's it. Okay. Um, any public comments? All right. Do I have a motion? Like to make the motion to approve the junior high theater project? Second. Student rep? I. All those in favor? I.

113So moved. Um, okay. And we don't need any additional comments from the public. So, we are now on to comments from the superintendent, board members, and future agenda items. Wow, this is a short meeting. Um, would you like to start, Lizzie? I don't know that it qualifies as short when it's still an hour and 37 minutes long. I short comparatively compared to usual pretty long. Um, I would just like to say Tanya caught me last time. I wanted Easter to come sooner than it did, but now it's this weekend. So, Have a happy Easter everyone. Um I I feel like it's been a while since we've met. We went we had a three-week break. So it feels like a little bit a long time ago. Um and since that in that time we have had

114um a lot more community uh alerts from the refinery and another fire. Um, and a community member mentioned to me, hey, do you guys still have that um that ad hoc committee about the refinery? And I don't think we do. And um maybe we can talk about that at a future meeting if we think that that's something we should still have because there still continues to be a lot of um issues and and community concern about it. Um this just relate to a family and human services uh meeting I attended for the county today. Um prior to uh 2025 uh there was alcohol and other drug advisory board and then the mental health commission. Both were disbanded in part of Prop One. Uh now all the nominations for all those positions have been uh recommended

115and will be brought up at the next full board meeting for the county. And hopefully by May they'll start training for the new behavioral health board. And uh you know come next year there'll be a lot of new uh movement on ways around better um serve the public for alcohol and other drugs and mental health. Nothing for me. Um yeah, I think it's a great idea to have the ad hoc committee again. So we should put that on agenda next time. Um yeah, happy Easter everyone and again congratulations to the um employees that were recognized today and it's always nice to see when we have um quite a few people in the audience that come to the meeting live as opposed to uh watching it on YouTube. So thank you all for coming and yeah

116enjoy your Easter. Have a good evening. Okay, and with that it is 8:10 and we are adjourned.