Mendocino County Office of Education Governing Board Meeting

001[Music] Everybody [Music] feels [Music] Yeah. [Music] Heat. [Music] Hey, [Music] hey, hey. [Music] Heat. Heat. N. [Music] That's a [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] This is being live streamed and recorded. We will begin with item 1.1. Call to order and flag salute. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Okay. Moving on to item 1.2, approval and adoption of the agenda. Do I hear a motion? >> I'll move we approve and adopt the agenda. >> I'll second. Thank you, Marilyn. Second by Don. Moving on to item 1.3, approval and adoption of the minutes from 128 of 2025, which were printed and handed out. Has everyone had a chance to review the supplied

002minutes? Yes. I move we adopt or approve 1.3. Thank you, Merrill. >> Second. Thank you much. All in favor? >> I. >> Okay. Moving on to item 1.4, public participation. >> Okay. Moving on to item two, correspondence. And I believe we have none. >> Moving on to item three, consent agenda. We have none. Um item four, discussion and action items. Item 4.1 is take action to approve the school accountability uh report. the S the SARC. >> Yes. And uh this is something that uh Chris Francis, our principal, is here to talk to us about if um if you or if you have if you have questions. Dr. Nicole Odell is at jury duty. We were hoping that she'd get out of it. That did not happen. Um so, however you would like to go over

003this, if if uh you've you've had a chance to look at them. Chris, is there anything from them in particular that you want to highlight or describe? >> Um well, just that it's old data. >> Can you go to the microphone? I guess they can. >> Yeah. >> The um the data and the that there's a template might be helpful for them to hear about. >> Do I have to press it? >> Would you like me to No, it's No, would you like me to pull up any of these documents while you speak? >> Um I just roll with it. Um uh so the uh school accountability report card is a a document that's written to EDC code and there's a template for it. Um and it used to have a lot more relevance. um

004pro uh uh pre um LCFF and the the the revamping of the um uh school plan for student achievement. Um but the SARKC uh delivers a bunch of um demographic data um information about um how many staff we have, what the credentiing is, um what our enrollment um was like for last year, um different areas um that we provide professional development for. And we have three separate SRCs um for each one of our schools. Um, so most, you know, so we have three of them. Um, most of the data is self-populated. Um, and just goes over some of that basic information. Um, uh, a deeper dive for a lot of the information really does come from our LCAP, >> right? >> Okay. >> And there will be an LCAP review next month. >> I was

005looking at West Hills. >> Um, looks like page two, >> uh, Yukaya zip code is incorrect. >> Oh, really? >> Yeah. It's a I think it has 95490 which is is that Willlets? >> Willlets. Yeah. Yeah. >> Okay. >> Um and then I had a question. I was looking at let's see so like on page four >> of the same one >> of the same of the same document where it talks about school number, school percent, district number, district percent. So all of those. Can you kind of explain those a little bit? >> Sure. Which part of it do you want explained? like I've never seen this before and what that means, what does it represent? >> Okay. All right. So, um so the first one that's pulled up right there, um when it goes

006over the uh full-time teachers, uh those goes uh through the assignments and whether or not the teachers that are uh teaching there are uh fully and appropriately credentialed to be there. So, we're 100% uh for the school because we have one teacher that's that's that's um that is fully credited to be there. Um and then um district number is 1.8. We have an RST teacher that's partially there. Um they're also partially assigned to um our community school and that's a resource specialist, a special ed teacher who's an intern. Um so that person's finishing up their credential right now. Um and then if you go down a little bit further, um there's let's see teacher preparation placement. It's about the same data. Um we have a few we have two oh this is for last year's

007data. So we had um uh one intern no we had two interns last year um districtwide district meaning the LEA um so that would include all of our schools. So we had an intern um over at the community school last year uh two interns uh one in the general ed classroom and one in the special ed position which is shared between West Hills and here. So that's the district data district data for us. Um and then um uh we're 100% staffed uh and and appropriately crowned for there. >> Can you explain the district number and district percent? >> Uh sure. District number um would be the the number of teachers. Um and then it's credential teachers assigned out of field. Um there's 2.1 for the district because of like I had talked about with the

008um the the teachers that are um uh interns. Um those are the ones that are out of compliance because they're interns. Um out of field, I mean, sorry. Um so that's them outside that because they're working on their credential. And then the percent that would be the percent of teachers um that that are out um that are misaligned or whatever. Um that's um >> and and you can see that we have a total of 13 teachers which is not a lot. So it doesn't so the percentage >> well they're not all mine either. >> Right. Correct. >> Correct. >> So when it talks about the test the district it's talking about >> it's talking about >> All of MCed teachers. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Which kind of misleading because there's teachers that work out

009of the special ed department, right? Um so >> or early learning um >> okay and then the state number how do how do we >> what is >> um that just gives the number of positions at that's populated by the state. >> Okay. I don't really have that's you know >> they pre-populate these. >> They do. Okay. Okay. I was okay. >> Thank you. >> So that 100% means that all the teachers are correctly aligned or >> in West Hills. Yeah. The the the teacher is 100%. >> Okay. >> Yep. She's fully credentialed. Um, and with alternative education credentiing, um, uh, because you teach multiple, um, multiple classes, uh, multiple grade levels, multiple subjects, um, that, uh, if you have a valid California teaching credential, you in in an alternative education setting, you can teach

010all the, um, subjects. It's not like they have to have a single subject for every sing, you know, for English, math, social studies, art, PE. >> On page 14 of the same one, >> same document. Okay, Veronica, could you vote 14? That's okay. >> 14 >> engagement below dropout rate where it says 202425 graduation rate by student group. >> Yeah, >> it says this table displays the 2023 24 >> correct >> graduation rate. >> Correct. >> But above that it says 2425. That's very confusing to me. So can you Sure. I got to start out that my name is Chris and I work for the government. That's the first one. So, so with some of the graduation uh stuff, even though this is the 2425 graduation rate, a lot of the statewide rules around graduation

011rate are generated through a cohort, right? Which is a three year three-year cohort that they report out on. The last year that they did that was 2324. Now, that however also presents a significant challenge for us in the alternative education um and especially uh juvenile court community schools um because what would benefit us much more and um the county superintendent association is is advocating for this um from their legislative lobbyists um to have a one-year graduation cohort um because we don't really have kids for three years. Um and then uh our graduation rate um fluctuates dramatically um depending on on the year and the student and and the situation. So >> it's not terribly relevant for us. >> I had to read that three or four times and I'm going what am I missing? What

012I don't Okay, thank you. I appreciate that. >> Yeah, I would just suspend rational thought for some of these sometimes. Okay, >> this is one of the this is a compliance document and as such we rely on a company to provide the document that meets all the criteria and they prepopulate much of the data from the state um state state database to make sure that we're meeting the compliance is um issues. Um but that being said, so if you go uh throughout the state, most people's sarks rely on the same document um tracking system. Um but it is not always really um clear. Um but it does meet the requirements. >> Okay. >> Thank you, Chris. That was my question. Is this report did it come from a template from the state? And if so,

013um, if we have a consultant company that works with us to produce that template, was it modified at any point given our vision and the things that you're working on within the LEA? >> Well, so I think part of that um is that DTS does a document tracking system. Uh, they create a template and then they also have um on the back end um of the the programming. um they have it all set up to where they um have algorithms set up to where it automatically populates the data that we have to put in right here. Currently, this is kind of a stock form that doesn't really um allow much flexibility um for for communicating your story. That's more what the LCAP is for. Um and that they are working through an alternative schools um

014uh dashboard um to better communicate that story. Um but that's that's something that's in process right now. for the state of California. It was actually kind of a big topic last week at a conference I was at. Um, and there are a couple of issues that were coming up. Um, uh, the the the, uh, graduation cohort, um, the college career, uh, indicator, um, uh, how that affects us because the way it's measured through pathways, um, the growth metric that they use, uh, for here, it really is designed, uh, for comprehensive schools that, um, will have students uh, for a prolonged period of time. Um, we're really 6 months to a year. um and hopefully we'll get you moved on there. But they are um um making good steps to move forward uh to to to

015capture the correct data for us. So um for us, I think you know using some local metrics um uh and things that we can communicate. Uh the other challenge for us is like we're not LA or you know even Santa Clara um and our numbers are so low um it doesn't report out on the state websites because of confidentiality issues. No. So >> um is there a place in this report um or any part where you get to fill in a narrative to tell that story or that place does not exist and >> not really it just tells what we do um and that um uh and kind of our professional development plan and stuff like that but it's really it's um this form um is is um I mean a lot of people wonder

016why it's still around too right um because it really has it hasn't been written out of code yet. Um but it has been supplanted um by the LCAP um and um and the updates for the SPSA which are much better ways to communicate um uh because they have better metrics. They include more local data and stuff like that. >> Is there a place in this report or the LCAP where we're tracking um teacher demographics? um a large part of the data that has come out in the past decade or even more now shows that if our teachers represent the demographics of our students that there's more success in our student rates. Is there anywhere that I can look at that data and see where we're at with that? >> Yeah, we can. Um and that's

017um uh so that data is also reported in CalPADS. Um, so when the information is uploaded into ARIES, um, all that information is is taken into account. Um, whether or not it's reported directly, um, in our, um, on the LCAP, I don't know off hand. Um, I know it's an HR thing that we take a look at, um, and and to be able to to report on. So, >> would our HR team have more information on that? Nicole, >> on the demographics of our staff of our teachers, >> of our teachers, if they represent the the population, I don't know. I can check. >> Is it part of the civil rights report that we do? >> I I think so. That's what I was I'm like there's different reports. So I I'll check and see.

018I feel like it's in been one of them, but I don't >> recall. And I also don't recall because there are so few if it's populated or not. >> In your observation, Chris, um what what have you noticed? >> You know your teachers and you know your students. >> I do. Um, so I think um I I agree that a lot of times it's really good um to have uh school staff uh that represent um the student body as much as possible. Um whether that has to do with racial identity um uh you know even gender identity um or or socioeconomic um life experience identity those things all help um uh and are things that we take a look at as we begin to hire. So, um the hard part is that we actually get

019very few applicants um for our our certificated uh positions. Um that's why we have interns. Um and um it would be nice to have more uh people apply. Um that being said, I think we've done a really good job in our classified um hiring uh where we've more than quadrupled uh the number of uh bilingual Spanish um classified employees that we have employed in our programs. Um so that's been really great. Um uh I've been reaching out to some people in Humble County. Um there's a person there uh Maggie Peters who does a lot of work with Humble County Office of Ed and also getting our teachers signed up uh for instance to do um the Native American studies model curriculum program that starts in uh January 20th. Um but also to find a pathway

020um for some of those folks to come in and and try and access um even some teachers um that that are more native. And then other challenge is our school districts, right? Um they hire lots of people. they have intern programs for like um bilingual Spanish teachers and um so it's it's challenging um but we do do a lot of work to try and attract as many people as we can. Um and um it that does it plays an important part of of how we move forward with things. >> The the the information on data um teacher and staff demographic data is on data. I knew it was out there. >> Thank you Chris. Anyone else have any questions for Chris Marlin? Thank you, Chris, for explaining all that. I know it's a lot of

021data to gather. Um, I would like to make a motion to approve item 4.1. >> Thank you, Marilyn. >> I'll second. >> Thank you, Don. All in favor? >> I >> Okay, motion passes. 4.1 is adopted. Moving on to item 4.2, resolution 26.1.1, National Counseling Week. >> Yes. National uh we try to bring resolutions to you the month prior to the um the recognition and February 2nd through the 8th is National School Counseling Week and um we definitely hire school counselors through Minnesota County Office of Education and we also want to recognize those that are employed by our school districts. So we bring to you this resolution >> and they are a blessing. >> Do I hear a motion to approve resolution 26.1? >> Move to approve. >> Thank you Priscilla. Second. >> Thank you.

022>> All in favor? >> I. >> Moving on to item 4.3, resolution 26.1.2, the JPA Staywell plan. >> And um we've made a mistake with this. Um this does act does not actually require the board's approval because it's approving something for the staff. It we need a superintendent resolution. So it will look just like this. So for your information, here's what it will look like, but this does not actually require your approval. >> Okay. Great. Any questions? Okay, moving on to item 4.4. Take action to approve board policy 41, I'm sorry, 5141.5, mental health. So, we normally like to bring uh policies to you for first and second reading. Um, this we're bringing to you for approval this month in in the first reading. And the reason is because this came to us in uh

023early December, I believe it was. And the the requirement, this is a new board policy. The requirement for this is that districts and eleas have this um adopted by January 28th 23rd. Um so we wanted to bring this to you in subsequent um on the agenda. We have some first readings. This policy does make reference to board policies some of which we have some we don't. Um so we will be looking at and re potentially re revising some. and we will and we have in in further on the agenda some new board policies that this references but we we don't see a rush to approve those. We want to give you the amp time to do a first and second reading but for this one we are asking that you approve it. Um it describes

024things that are already happening. So um as an agency we're not concerned about anything here. It's putting into our policy what um statute has already required us to do and that is that makes sense to us. We have reviewed it. I've reviewed it. Um Chris has reviewed it. Some other staff that will be in charge of making sure that these things happen have reviewed it and we're all comfortable with it. But we're happy to take any questions you may have. Okay. >> Can we do a public reading? >> Public reading of it. >> Yes, please. >> Okay. >> What you want them to read it word by word? >> Is you want me to read the entire policy? >> Yes. >> It's quite lengthy. Madam President, um that's um really up to your call. We

025could also >> Yes. >> Well, we have had the policy posted uh with the agenda and because of the length. Um do you have any questions in regards to or any concerns? >> I ask for a public reading because it's asked of us to approve on the first reading and is a standard practice for the public. as for a public reading and to be courteous of the public. >> It has not been a standard practice that we read. Our board policy is allowed. Um it has been standard practice that we post them and so it has been posted with a 72-hour notice. Um that is required. >> Right. >> I apologize. I'm not talking about our standard practice. I'm talking about a standard practice that's referenced when something that's um out of practice, which is

026we have a second and and third time to review it or at least a second time to review it to be courteous of the public to read it in that fashion. >> And it's up to you a motion to approve the reading. I do we need >> Would you like to you can make a motion to >> um I'm only asking for it to be read not to be approved for the public since it's out of practice to approve on the first >> we we have we have had a practice of approving things when it was something like this with a time bound thing we bring it for a first reading um so um I understand Priscilla wanted to be transparent with the public I think that we have met that that criteria, >> right?

027By posting >> by posting it. Um and and we we this is not the first time it is it is not our standard. We prefer to bring it for a first and second reading, but there we we have brought it in with for just a first and final approval in the same meeting when we've had this time constraint sort of thing. >> Okay. I feel confident that we have met the obligation to be transparent and post the policy. Um I don't see a need to go ahead and read um the policy and we have not had any public comment >> and the policy that we took we brought from CSBA. >> Marilyn, I'd like to make a motion to approve item 4.4. >> Thank you, Marilyn. >> Do I have a second? >> I'll second.

028>> Thank you, Don. All in favor? I >> I >> Okay. Any opposed? Okay. Motion passes. 4.4 is adopted. Okay. Moving on to item five. 5.1 MCE school student report. >> Our student has been out. It continues to be um unavailable to come to the meeting. So, um we don't have student report this month. >> Okay. Moving it. Moving on to item 5.2 statewide data report. >> Yes. So, um Dr. Dr. Odell presented this or I'm sorry, prepared this report. Um, since she's at jury duty today, um, she's not here to present it. This is not all the data. This is some data. It's a very broad overview. We wanted to look at, we want to share with you just um, uh, some data, some countywide data that um, pertains to some of the work

029that we're doing at ME. So, if you could scroll down. So, we have first um just countywide enrollment um let me open this. I can't I can't see that up there very well. Our countywide enrollment um has um gone down a bit over the years. Um that is on par with the state trend um of data I'm sorry of enrollment decreasing. Um so and we have it broken down by uh private school, charter school, um charter public and non-charter public. This is only charters that are in um in our county. Um so if we have students within our county that are attending other charters, that's not reflected here. And so um the enrollment is is important to look at um for lots of of reasons. It's it helps us with our staffing and projections on

030how we will support and where we will support. Um as you look at this data that you you may note that um while the overall student um enrollment has dropped about 52 students since 2122 um within our districts it's dropped 87 students. So that drop has been in our districts. Um our charter schools and our private schools are slightly up. Um so that is data that is important and our and our districts certainly pay close attention to that as well. Um and then this next slide shows the enrollment in public schools over time. Um and it shows the >> and it's kind of showing just kind of the same data but it takes out private schools. Uh the next slide. Um so there are certain subgroups that um we um that the state looks at

031um in they look at all all sorts of subgroups. Some primary sub subgroups are socioeconomically disadvantaged, special education, English learners, foster students, and homeless students. And so on this slide you can see um that our socioeconomically disadvantaged student numbers in our county has gone up um to um over 70 it's over 75%. >> Um well it's not quite 75%. 60 70 Oh it is over 75%. Yes. >> Special ed students um on IEPs um has gone up over the years. We have a slight drop in English learners. our foster student enrollment has gone up. Um we'll have and then our homeless students, you can see that proportionally the jump in homeless students is um significant. And the next slide looks at that a little bit more. Um on this slide you'll see the top numbers

032of um our homeless students. And you can see for this u I'm sorry for the 2425 year we had 899 homeless students or students classified as homeless in our county. Um, I want to make sure it's understood. Um, the definition of homeless for this is not necessarily un unhoused. It could be unhoused. It could also be a doubled up. It could be living in temporary housing like a hotel with a voucher. Um, so this this encompasses all those um living situations are encompassed here. So in in looking at our countywide enrollment, the bottom bars, the really long bars are the total enrollment for our for our overall students in public schools in Menescino County. But you can see proportionally speaking, the number of of students who are homeless has gone up a lot, which is

033alarming data. It is. >> Yeah. >> Um and this is really this is we have a foster homeless um youth department and um we work with the districts on foster homeless issues. Um, but I wanted to share that with you. Chronic absenteeism is the next slide. That is defined by students who miss 10% or more of a school day for any reason, excused, unexcused, or suspension. And so that's about 18 plus days a year. And so in looking at this slide, you can see our chronic absent countywide chronic absenteeism rates over time. Um overall from 2122 to 242 25 we had a drop. >> Unfortunately from 23 24 to 2425 we had a slight increase um in all of our schools in the mento county um non-charters. You can see those numbers again a drop

034from 2122 but a slight increase less than a percent but still a slight increase from 23 24. And then you can see the statewide public schools um and statewide charter schools only. >> Can I ask a question about that? >> Yeah. >> So 20 2122 that was schools were still closed because of COVID. Is that >> No. No, they were open at that time. There I think there remains restrictions. >> Yeah, they were there remained restrictions. Were some on hybrid at that time? >> I say some. >> I think some were >> some were still on hybrid. >> Okay. Yeah. I'm just just trying to figure out some reason why those numbers are so much higher than >> Right. Yeah, co C co um impacted chronic absenteeism like nothing ever seen in our state. >>

035It's remarkable and the recovery from that has been really difficult. I think there's been a paradigm shift when it comes to school attendance um for families um and for schools. Um so we're still trying to overcome that. Yeah, I guess that would be like the first year back after CO, so >> folks were still used to not showing up. >> Yeah, and there were definitely still um health concerns, but there's like a whole mental health >> Yeah. >> um >> component to it as well. Yes. Thank you. >> Um so that is just a a broad stroke of data. Um next month you'll get you well this month you have a little bit of data on our schools. Next month we build a little bit more data on our schools and the LCAP um update

036but wanted to just share with you broad some broad strokes of some of our county by data. >> Okay. Any further questions? >> I have another question. >> Yeah. >> The socioeconomically disadvantaged what what criteria uh is used to determine that? >> I don't have all that. Do you know that Heather? Um Jennifer >> Jennifer >> No, Jennifer is kind of >> Yes. Would you mind going up there so that anyone listening can hear anyone watching can figure? >> I was just curious because it's so much higher than I would have thought that >> 75% of students are >> well it's um it's based on the free and reduced price lunch, right? So it's income level with the parents. I don't know the exact percentage but um that's what it's based on is the free

037and reduced price lunch forms the kids. I would think it's the federal guidelines for poverty. That's what I would think it would be. >> It's not It's not necessarily. We can get you more information on that. Um Chris, you do you know more about that >> uh about the the guidelines? >> Yeah. >> Do you stand? >> Yes, please. >> All right. Uh so there are the federal guidelines um because um all of our school districts do um apply for and receive uh federal funds for their food service programs. Um there are also some districts in our county that are 100% pre- reduced because um of every 3 years I think it is they go through and they go and they get a benefit form completed and if they meet a certain threshold I think

038it's like 80 something >> right >> um percent then they can qualify as a district-wide um free and reduced. Now, for the socioeconomic disadvantage number, um there's a form that um there's different tiers of income and different schools or different districts in our county um uh tabulate that a little bit different. Like there's a benefit form, but there are the tiers um that the family fills out um uh and they are pretty close to what the the the poverty line is. So, we actually have, just to give it some perspective, um we have employees um that work for us um just about full-time that also qualify as being um socioeconomically disadvantaged uh because it does play into uh affect um the cost of living um in the geographic area. Um so, our numbers tend to

039be a little bit higher. Uh but to give you example too is that um there are several of our schools um that are over 95% um socioeconomically disadvantaged right I I was principled a school for years that was um 94 95 um% um and there are actually two schools that qualified for literacy coach reading support grant um because there were so many over so many years for socioeconomically disadvantaged so when you see the 75 um I think there's also concentration areas where it's a little bit higher in other ones. Um, but it really is there's been a push to really try and and make sure we capture enough families um so that they can get that support. So, with that socioeconomically disadvantaged number, uh, school districts are a lot more focused on on making sure

040that they get the accurate data and the ad benefit forms turned in because each one of those students uh counts towards um increased funding uh in their supplemental concentration funds with the LCAP um and various other um um opportunities for other programs. So people have been a lot more focused on it and it's not that hard of a threshold to meet. >> Okay. >> It's just it's important to recognize that success in school for students correlates with income level of the family. >> Yeah. And it's it's one of the biggest indicators. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Any further questions, comments? >> Yes. I have one question. Um, are we engaged in securing state or federal grants or resources to support homeless students and families beyond funding from CCJJ? >> Oh, yes. Yeah, >> that is that

041is a correct statement, right? Yes. >> Yeah. Anything that we can find that comes available and obviously um that we can, you know, acquire, we do go after >> um primarily because um we do put so many supports into those programs too. So, we really need those grant funds and other funding sources to help support it. >> Are there any um new resources that we've been looking into? >> Um I can't remember the name. We just had like some of the one time sometimes there will be some that are like onetime funded. We always try to go after those. Um I know Ble who um is running that program, she attends statewide meetings and some other groups beyond the work specifically with like the county of Minnesota. Um, and so whenever there are things available,

042she's all over it. Um, and I know that there's like some that we don't necessarily qualify for as a, you know, LEA, like a school. Um, but we do look at those for partnership purposes. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Moving on to item 5.3, the LCSSP 202425 annual progress report. and we have um director Jenna McCully here to talk on that. Thank you for being here. >> Yeah, thank you. >> This is just anformational report that we um present. When you hear LCSSP, it's a learning communities um excuse me for school success program. It's an attendance grant basically that we were um approved for and we our local participants we have about 30 school sites charters in some of the districts and it is um the goal for this grant for us um based on what

043they want is bringing back the joy of teaching and learning. So, we have a senior naturalist um that we've hired who is working with um classrooms to get kids outside more. In fact, this weekend, I don't know if there's there's some pictures towards the end and I sent you guys the flyer um that so we have a naturalist that goes and works in classrooms and helps teachers and students get outside and learn and also go on field trips. Um the most interesting one I would say is they went to um Donner Pass and stayed in the snow students and the and they did hikes and they learned lots of different things and came back. They do art activities, they do gardening, they um it's really student driven what the students are interested in and tied

044to all the state standards for science and is helping teachers and students get outside also connect with community partners. We have a lot of things going on at state parks. Um the Hopland Research Center. One person that was presenting um this weekend, she teaches people how to create dive from sea urchins, which I think is super interesting. I would love to take her class, but she's over on the coast. So just connecting schools and teachers um and then students to ideally improve the learning right in and the classroom culture so that kids want to come to school. That's the ultimate goal. >> This was a really fun report to read. >> Yeah, it is. It It is um so out of the box and unusual. >> This we just got approved for this grant. And

045only 21% of the people who applied for it actually got the grant we did, which is highly unusual. And CDE, the CDE person that we work with visits for bragging. I have a friend who has a house and she wants to come by, right, and just see some of the things that we have going on. She's there. Everyone's interested in um what we're doing because it's unusual and out of the box. >> It's such a great experience for the kids and such a big impact on so many that don't get >> Yeah. >> And students who may not normally they're often absent, right? That's what's ultimately the goal is to improve absenteeism, but also who may not necessarily shine in the classroom, >> doing math problems, but you know, they're all about getting outside and

046looking at the water or, you know, counting the fish or whatever. So, there's lots of different opportunities and just showing what what's here and available. Okay, Marilyn, >> I just wanted to say I think it's wonderful that we have this grant and hopefully we'll be able to continue to um to keep these grants going. Um it's so important to get out and do that. I remember way back when um I was in college forever with a couple of courses I took at Menescino College um we went whale watching >> and that was funded through it might have been in a grant like this um I was looking at the huge amount the 261,000 thinking travel that's so much money for travel but that's what they do they go places and they and we we went

047whale watching we went um >> I think it was with the Mesa program maybe we went and stayed and I think I want to say Clover Sternett. It was some property >> um coastal property where we did um um the exploration of all the the sea urchins, all the little creatures, and we got to stay and uh it's just wonderful that we still have these programs. >> Yeah, it's great. >> It wasn't really a question. At Menesino High School, we had what we called alternative education week. And for many years, I took students to Yuseite Institute where we did all kinds of outdoor hiking and looked at the environment over there. And you know, I I saw it just transform students in getting right back into the classroom in terms of adjustment and behavior. And

048some of my richest experiences as a teacher was right over there in Yoseite, >> right? >> There's nothing quite like it. And I also used to take my math classes out to do a lot of outdoor math, too. >> Well, that's the beauty of this is that it if you're a person who's okay, I'm not taking my kids to Dawn or Summit. I that would be a hard no for me, right? But I can take my kids outside, right? Or we can go to the coast, you know, go to the ocean and look as you and then tie that to reading and math and all those things. Absolutely. So, it's a nice um broad spectrum, I would say, >> of access. >> One of the best educational systems in the world is in Finland, Finland,

049and they really emphasize getting kids outdoors to learn things. >> Well, especially postco. So, >> that was Thank you so much. >> original education system here. Yeah, I do have a question. Uh, page nine, section six. Oh, sorry. Second document, the LCSSP participating schools, section six. A, it says we have uh 18 schools that are supported by this. Um, but down below where it lists the schools, I think I'm only seeing 17. Are we missing a school? So this is a report from um this is the end of the report from cohort 6. And so it could be with this this the new cohort that we just got to cohort 9 which added for bragg. And also depending on what the report's talking about it could be school site or a district. >> So it

050could be that. It should match up. Ideal it would match up but it could be that too. >> Okay. Gotcha. Thank you for the clarification. I appreciate that. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Any other questions or comments? Seeing none, we'll move on to item 5.4. Excuse me, Brownfield the Brownfield grant application. >> Yeah. So, um I've talked about this a little bit in the board updates. Um but we wanted to create a separate agenda item just for information discussion with you. Um and also just to provide the public with an opportunity to make a public comment if there was interest. Um, so we are applying for the EPA Brownfields multi-purpose grant for the fiscal year 2026 um in an amount up to $1 million. That's the the maximum allowed. Um, and what this will do

051specifically for our site is um assessments to see if there is any contaminant like things like asbestous, maybe lead paint or something lead in the water, anything like that. um primarily due to having suspected asbestos and and lead paint over on the facility that the CCC was um leasing. Um and those buildings are in need of a little bit of a renovation which we don't want to just kind we can't just dig into it. Um the benefit of this um this grant closes on January 28th and the benefit of this is if we do apply for that full amount and are awarded that full amount, we are also able to help with assessments at any of the school sites that we're supporting. Um with our permission, of course. Um and so we have had some

052of the school districts say, "Hey, um yeah, we'd be interested in being able to utilize the funds that MCOE receives to also do assessments there." And if there is anything that comes up then they would be able to apply for the next round to do the mitigation. So for us it would be both assessment and mitigation for the school districts who might be able to participate. It will just be for the assessment uh but then there would be future opportunity for also the mitigation. >> That's awesome. >> Yeah. Any questions? So, if we apply for if you're applying for the assessment and mitigation and they don't find anything to mitigate, what I mean is that >> it means you have to give money back or >> No, you wouldn't have to give any money back.

053Um, we were pretty sure. So, there's Okay. >> You know, I don't think that will be the case for us, but if that were the case, it would potentially cost us less, which would mean that there was more money available to support the districts. Got it. >> Any other questions? Okay, seeing none, we'll move on to item 5.5 where we discuss the March study session meeting. >> Yes. So, in March, we have our annual um study session where we come together and um look at um look at goals that the board has had, make revisions or but that's what we have done. We've we've also done data reports um last that's I think two or three years ago where we did um a broader view of data and um and LCAPS um and then last

054year um everybody here except for David was part of the board at that point where we um looked at um kind of some leadership styles and we looked at the goals the board had set in the past and made some revisions to it after um quite a lot of conversation. Um, so as we plan for that meeting, as as staff plans for that and and as um the board president and I come together, I want to make sure that we have that the board has amp ample time to think about that and that we um prepare a board agenda that meets your needs. Um, so the the annual review of goals um is is definitely something we can do. Um, we we had somebody from CSBA come um and do the um uh good beginnings

055um training which we could do. I don't know if we could get a trainer that day. We could um that's another thing that we had talked about doing a follow-up with that. Um that could either be then or another time. Um but wanted to see what it's a good time for the data. I'm sorry, excuse me. It's a good time for the board to have time where we sit down. It's still meeting open as public. Um it's not it's not on YouTube, but it's a good time if we want to really study something or review something more in depth, it's a really good time to do that. So, I wanted to see what considerations the board has as we prepare for that meeting. >> Any comments? Marilyn, >> I like the idea of having the

056good beginnings, maybe an abbreviated because they're usually what two to four hours. Yeah. I mean, an abbreviated um version of that. >> Um >> because we do have new members. Um >> and um >> yeah, but the little team building that we did was fun as well. Um, I think we learned a little bit about ourselves. I don't think Priscilla was here. I think Larry was here, right? >> No. Uh, oh, I think you're right. You weren't. >> Yeah, Larry was with us then. Um, so the um we got to learn everybody's um uh critical thinking, you know, that um that one uh >> activity we did outside was nice. I love that. The what was the name of the facility we went to? >> Oh, no. Harbor. >> Yeah, that was beautiful. I hadn't

057been there since it had been renovated. >> Yeah, it is a great >> This year we will be having our meeting at the is it Chamber of Commerce? >> Chamber of Commerce in Fort Bragg has a new space that they um rent out. So, it's good for presentations for not very large groups like us. And then we'll have lunch around the corner at one of the restaurants. So, we'll be right in downtown Fort Bra this year. It's >> nothing new. I've uh sort of wondered about the status of RO. I know one of the great things we had at at Menesino High School is somehow they just really developed the ROP programs really well. I used to go down and hang out in the electronics lab myself and uh a lot of a lot of

058our students took what they learned there and went on and did things with it. And I remember one of the things I observed is I had you know once in a while you get a kid who's just really brilliant. they found challenges down there in that electronics lab, you know, and so I'm just wonder what's the status of RO at this stage? >> Um, within the districts or with what Menace County Office of Ed is offering? >> Well, both maybe. >> Okay. >> Because even if we don't do that then that certainly we could come back and do a report. There's lots to talk about. There's so much CTE stuff going on out there. At the time we had our last uh study session, I was a new board member. So for me, I felt

059like it was a really great opportunity to get to know people >> because that's, you know, how you kind of establish start to establish trust and >> building those relationships where you feel a little more confident and comfortable with >> discussion. And I think discussion is really important. Um so I I'm really looking forward to it. the the goal setting discussion last year I felt like was really um it was good discussion very robust and and you were new and so um it um all of you have been on the board um I mean David's the newest but you you have a a better understanding of what the um the agency does and what what the role of the board is in that. So we could um in in in preparation of uh the goal

060setting, we can set the send the goals out to you now so you can review those and kind of think about what you might want to see differently. >> That would be great. And um that that's a great point that you brought up about, you know, reviewing those goals because I was so new to what the county did. You know, it was exciting and new, but um to to be reminded of what our responsibilities were and where we wanted to go as a team was just really wonderful. >> Yeah. >> Um David, I hate to put you on the spot, but um do you feel like something like that would be really helpful or >> Absolutely. Yeah. >> Yeah. I think it would uh just the team building aspect um you know, is something that

061I think would be very useful. >> Um, I know we got some know some of you a little bit when we went to the conference in December. Yes. You know, that was nice. But yeah, I think you know the goal setting and team building would be very very helpful. >> Very helpful. >> Great. >> Anyone else? >> First thing you learn as a teacher is how to write objectives and it's is important. you go in every day and you have something in mind you want to teach and >> so having specific goals is just really valuable. That's what I think. >> I agree. Kind of keeps us on track, right? >> Great. Then we will get working on that and I'll send you the goals from last year um prior to our next meeting so

062that you can review those um further. >> Okay, great. Oh. Oh. Along with that, we have a self-evaluation tool that um I'm not sure when it was developed, but we've kind of sent that out every year. Um we can send that out again and and also if the board wants to do um any self-evaluation of in some other capacity. Um perhaps we can discuss that in the goal setting because we might want to send something out after that. >> Sounds great. Okay, there's no other discussion. We'll move on to item 5.6. >> Yes. >> Board bylaw 9320, meetings and notices. >> The board does not need to do anything with this, but the board certainly can if you would like. So, October, November, and December in view of our in or in uh with consideration

063of the the board setting the calendar, we I attached board bylaw >> and it was not the correct um board bylaw. um it was an old it it was the correct word bylaw it was not the most updated version and so um for transparency sake since that has come to the board multiple times and the public um who might be reading board um agendas I wanted to bring to you um that bylaw again um and the old one and the new one and just uh and I apologize for the mistake um it doesn't change any of the decisions that the board has made. Um, but I I did feel like we should bring it to you for your consideration. Um, most notably in the old bylaw, there was mention of days and times that board

064meetings would take place and in the revi and that's part of what the board discussed. In the revised bylaw, which was revised last March, um there the the dates and times were not in that revised bylaw. So again, it doesn't change anything that the board has done, but I wanted to bring it to you for your review. Did anyone have any questions? >> Yeah. So, we had talked about I think at the last board meeting potentially changing it so that it didn't have the dates and times and then come to be that it already >> it already doesn't have it. >> So, my apologies for not bringing over the the most updated version. Okay, moving on to item 5.7, William sufficiency, adequacies of school facilities and teacher vacancies or mis assignments. >> So um this

065is just coming back to you. The report was brought to you in November, I believe, but we were missing some components of the bit inspections because the data just wasn't collected by then um or with it compiled. And then the teacher vacancy um information um was also one of those things we were waiting for. They they didn't bring it out until after the November meeting. So these two documents um just share the the final report on the 18 um or excuse me 32 18 last year the 32 schools that we visited for billions >> and the board doesn't need to take action. >> They don't need to take action. It's just um you guys report. >> Great. Thank you. Any questions? >> Okay. Same. >> Uh just real quick on legit. So the the second

066yes means that the that that issue was addressed. Correct. >> Correct. >> Yeah. Okay. >> Okay. Any further questions, comments? >> Moving on to item 5.8, first read of board policy 5141.52, use suicide prevention. >> And so this is um a a bylaw, I'm sorry, board policy that is u mentioned in the board um policy that was approved earlier in this meeting. Um, and we want to um we want to update this um and to be um to reflect the most current um policy. Veronica, is there anything else of note in this? >> This is just the first. >> Yeah, this is the first and we do um the reason why we didn't do the crossouts from their current is they're just so different that this would not be possible. >> We'd like to do

067a strike through version so you can see exactly what the changes are, but this is so marketkedly different that didn't make sense. I think the current one was approved in 2017. >> Okay, any questions? >> Could could someone summarize what key or most significantly was changed? >> Um, so I think that there is something in here regarding um let me look at this. Uh I believe it's regarding the staff training and notification. Um uh before the policy was more localized I should say it there were fewer compliance issues. Um so uh let me make sure I'm reading the right one. Yes. Okay. So there this one include the revised one will include um let's see I think that this is new the measures and strategies for suicide um prevention and then it mentioned staff development

068on suicide awareness and prevention offered by MCE for teachers interns school counselors and others who interact with students including appropriate substitute teachers expanded date so again the training part um there's also um I think requirements requirements of um of notification for crisis and suicide intervention. >> The posters >> Yeah, the posters that are now required. >> So, that wasn't previously required. >> I think those are the main things that come to mind. I'm looking at this to see if anything else pops up. And then I think I had noticed like it had mentioned different resources and a lot of those resources I think the information had sunset >> or was no longer available. >> Yeah. And the resources specifically were not part of the new are not part of the >> here's a new a

069new part of it as well. Student identification cards for students in grades 7 through 12 when issued by MCA schools shall include a 988 suicide and crisis lifeline and national suicide prevention lifeline. That wasn't something that even exists at that time. That's new, right? >> Yeah. Yeah. 908 because it was updated. And then Yes. Well, we also have um an ID card maker um and we have a template to have that information on the back of our our IDs. So, we're we're up on that. So, >> thank you. >> Yeah. I always thought that there should be some sort of a curriculum developed to help young people deal with stress in life. >> Yes. >> And I don't know whether anything's been done. >> Could you address that? >> I can over there, >> please.

070Thank you. >> All right. >> There is. Yeah. So um so so uh you know there uh the state did a lot of really good work on uh developing um the you know this social emotional learning standards. Um so it's a breakdown um and a discussion about um how uh students interact um and and their social emotional needs. They're they're broken down into a couple of different domain areas. Um and it goes from pre, you know, uh preschool all the way to early adulthood. And they follow the same strand all the way through. um and and to and has learning targets and and um uh built into it so we can focus more about kids social emotional well-being uh well-being and also build that into our curriculum. A lot of our school districts do use

071second step um some folks use um zones of regulation. Um we actually at our schools um we use zones of regulation and we use uh some elements of second step. Um but for instance um our our counselor does a social emotional learning lesson um uh two times per week in each one of our our our schools and our programs that's focused on a particular social emotional strand or learning part of it is personal management you know um you know stuff like that you know social responsibility um and they go through um a whole process uh to to figure that out. And we're also um a part of a a school climate survey right now that's going out um that talks a lot about um students mental health um and how they're feeling. So um and

072a lot of our districts already implementing a lot of these. So we're getting a lot of information now about student mental health and well-being that we're able to do things that are actionable. And fortunately, a lot of our schools in our in our county and in our school too um they have um particular supports that are in place to support that data. So if they find out that a student has a mental health concern, um then there's a whole process that we follow in order to make sure that they get the appropriate uh response and support um to help get them past that place. So there is actually, you know, right now it's I think it's a pretty rich uh selection um and a really great time um and I think schools are doing a

073lot of great work on really addressing um mental health and and and well-being as you go through it. So >> thank you. I have a question while you're there, Chris. Um specifically, um I've read a lot of work that's been done with meditation and breathing exercises with the kids. Do we know if we're implementing even a 60-second a two-minute meditations >> for the kids for regulation and breathing and >> for our schools? >> Yeah. Do we we teach meditation? >> Yeah. Yeah. We're we're part of the mindful warrior project. So, and we do um um mindfulness and meditation. Um we take mindful minutes. Uh we talk about that um and reset that and getting the teachers used to doing that um at different points during the day. >> What ages do they start? Do you

074know? >> Oh, you can start as early as you want. >> I mean, it's helpful in kindergarten because that's when kids are lying and fighting over toys and whatnot. And >> yeah, but so like when I was >> instead of a timeout, you know. >> Yep. No, absolutely. Yeah. Um but when I was at elementary uh uh school um we instituted a mindful minute um every morning um that we did together and we would do different strategies. Um the teachers had different strategies to use. Um but also uh the mindfulness work isn't just um for students. Um it's important um for us to begin to teach um adults and staff members um to take a mindful moment um when you start to feel overwhelmed or whatever else. And teaching kids how to take deep breaths,

075right? Um, and because a lot of kids experience trauma or whatever at a physiological level, right? So, teaching kids how to take deep breaths and how to reset and go three different time and then let it go. Um, those are all strategies that people are really folding in uh to their instruction. Um, but are good for them too. So, like for our programs, I'm exploring right now um having somebody come in um and do mindfulness uh work uh with our with our staff um you know to get that balance. >> Yeah. So, it's it's it's a great thing. Um, people really find the value in it and it it's very helpful. >> Wonderful. >> And I happen to be a strong believer in it. >> Yeah. >> That's a good thing. >> All right. Thank

076you. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions? >> Um, so remind me how this works. This is our first read. It will come back to us next month for approval. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. Okay. There's no other questions. We'll move on to item six. Moving on to item six, reports 6.1 MCOE school program and student enrollment report. >> There's the report. I'm happy to take any questions. I probably don't know if that'll get Yeah, it's pretty self-explanatory. >> Okay. >> Any questions, comments? Okay, moving on to item 6.2, MCOE, human resources personnel report. >> That is a very sparse report. It's not our prime hiring season, but you can see that we have hired um a couple people and um we had a midyear retirement as well. >> Any questions? >> Moving on to

077item 6.3, Williams quarterly complaint report for quarter 2 2526. >> We have no um quarter 2 Williams complaints >> or I'm sorry, uniform um uniform complaints >> for quarter two. Okay. >> All right. Moving on to item 6.4 for business and administrative services report with Heather Rel. >> Good morning everyone. Um I'll highlight a few things. Um in the internal fiscal world we're you know we just wrapped up first interim so we dive right back into second interim. Um and what that looks for like for us is we meet with each individual department to kind of go over any budget changes and so that we can implement it in time for second interim. Um we also received our audit report I think actually this morning. Um so that will come to you all um next

078month. Um and I believe the auditor is going to come and present that. Um in the external fiscal world, we're um kneedeep in budget reviews. We have um I think a majority of the budget reviews done. Letters need to go out by the 15th. So we're trying to wrap those up. Um, also on a point of success for a couple of the members, um, two of our staff, um, recently went through the the fiscal crisis management and assistance team or what we refer to as FICMAP and it's a CBO leadership program. So, we're, you know, continuing to develop our own staff. Um, and it's a they've been doing this course for about 12 months. Um, and then they're also developing in the external fiscal world, they're um, developing an AP workshop that's really focusing on

079accounts payable. And part of that reason is because there is across the state and probably nationally, but really kind of focusing on what's happening in our state is there is an uptick in um, attempts of fraud through various means. So, we're really trying to just, you know, help them with understanding the checks and balances and things to look for and things like that. um in maintenance and operations. Um the CNA um program that they recently completed the remodel on is in need of a a roof repair. Um that work is starting I believe today. It's definitely this week. So that's really exciting because we there's patchwork so it's not going to be leaking. We want to finish that project before we could you know secure that. Um but that will start today. Um this building

080is also leaking. Um and we've been trying to get the scheduled weather permitting um as well as the Birch building. So that is it was slated to start this week and I don't know that we're going to be able to make it this week but um possibly just depending on whether and also the when we were going to receive some of the sanctions for the solar project. Um we also submitted the the application for the PG& micro grid incentive grant. Um and based on our needs and the very specific of where it located and the cost for us um it we applied for um 9.12 million um and that's for the river campus as well as our two schools. So, and it's really just for resilience. Um, in information technology, um, as you saw in

081the human resources report, we have, um, two, well, Pat Howard retired, um, and Alexia Sky, um, is filling that position. And we have one additional position, um, filling Lexis, who and she started, gosh, I think just before the one of the breaks. Um, and then in risk management, we've been um working with uh Mr. Francis over at the schools in in technology as well as the maintenance and operations program. Um they what we've realized is like the radios for the two schools. Um he Mr. Francis has to kind of run back and forth between the two schools and the radio systems that we have or didn't have at one of the schools um doesn't talk. So, we're working with the county of Menescino to try to get some rent some rack space and looking for

082options so that we can have a repeater so that he can use one radio um and to be able to work with those schools. So, that's what's happening in our world. Thank you. Any questions? Seeing none, we'll move on to item five or sorry, 6.5, education services report. >> So, we there's a written report there from Dr. Odell's um and her staff. And um if you have questions about it, I can attempt to answer them or take them back to her to get a response to you later. But her report is attached. >> Any questions or comments? Seeing none, we'll move on to item 6.6, superintendent report. >> Yes. So, um, two weeks of a break, but other than that, it um it's not it didn't seem like, um, less was done in December between

083last board meeting and this one. We just crammed it into less time. Um, we had our all staff winter party December 9th. Um, we have an all staff meeting and then we follow it immediately by a winter party and we do that at the convention center. Um, families are invited. Um this year we did a little something a little different and we invited um staff um or departments to create like carnival games. So kids had a great time and um we had winners and um for creative carnival booth activities. Um we also had our medical program graduation on December 16th. Um it was um there was some last minute changes because it was supposed to take place at the college in the auditorium and then the college lost power that day. So, we ended up

084up having it at Yukai High School. Um, everybody seemed to get the message and it was very well attended. Um, outstanding um outstanding um graduation. We also had the grand opening for the Career Pathways Training Center um the building over um um in the area that CC um CC >> CCC used to um um lease from us um at a future date. We'd love to do a tour of it. It was um people were very impressed. It is a very impressive building. Um and we had representatives um from our assembly members office as well as our state senators. So it was nice for them to have um sent representatives to that meeting. Um and I think I I I tried to do a headcount at one point and there were like 90 people there. Um,

085so I don't know if if that's I don't know if that sounds right with what you guys all had, but they were looking at the um at the buildings or at the building and also at the um AI um medical simulation um dummies that that are there was very cool. >> It is very neat. >> Um the staff really worked hard. Um and our our maintenance staff do such good work. Um so it was very very impressive. Um the um oh I think you probably saw an email the Association of California County Boards of Education um are doing a knowledge and action regional conferences. They're doing a Southern California, Central California, and Northern California. MCOE is hosting the ACC. >> ACCBE. >> Yes. And we are hosting that May 16th and 17th. So we still

086have to register if we're going to attend. So, if you um would like to attend, I'm sure you can register later, but if you let Yolanda know, um we'll get our registration in for our um for our um board on that day. It's a Saturday and Sunday. Um I think they um they were looking at different dates and and thought that that would be the most most accessible dates to people. Um and the only other thing I want to do is uh uh so this is board member um appreciation month. Um we were able to hit a board meeting. Uh David and I um last week we went to Willlets. I'll be going to Round Valley tonight. Um so if you I I look forward to attending some of those board meetings. I know some

087of you are going to be able to attend with me. And you are also a school board. So we do have >> a recognition. >> A little care package. >> A little Yes. >> Care package. >> So I I want to give this to you and thank you for the work that you do. >> Thank you. Um there being being a board member is um takes a lot more time than a lot of people recognize to really dive in and to understand what's going on in schools. It takes a lot of um diligence and I appreciate the work that you do. So happy board member appreciation month. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> And that concludes my report. >> I had a question for you Nicole. >> Yeah. Um, circling back to um, our conference

088in May, >> the ACCB, >> I I was a little confused when I read the invitation or the um, so is it there was a mixer Friday or is that just for the other ones? >> I'll get clarification. >> It didn't really It's the way they wrote it. It says mixer Friday night. Does that mean here we're having one Friday night? >> I think I I really don't know. No, I will get clarification. The planning is all on them. >> Um, so I um I will get clarification and let you know. >> Okay. We don't want to surprise. >> Right. Right. >> There was a mixer, but no one came too. >> We have a little time. I think ours >> it's May. >> Yeah, we're doing May. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Any other questions?

089>> Moving on to item 6.7, board member reports. Marilyn, would you like to start? I would love to. I've just had the most relaxing meeting sitting here and uh I wanted to thank you. >> Um I've had the opportunity to research a little bit on um teachers and think a little bit about teachers in the workforce housing. And I I wanted to circle back on to what Priscilla said. I didn't want to interrupt you because you had a good point going on with your um questioning about whether we had um teaching staff to represent and um what I found in research was that um we we're just under such a housing I mean um not just teacher housing but a teaching staff crisis right now. We're lucky to get warm bodies, you know. Um, and

090if you look, um, let's see, what was this one I highlighted? No one really discussed this much. Um, in September, the Trump administration began requiring American employers to pay a $100,000 sponsorship fee for the new H1B visas on top of our already required visa application fees that amount to 9,500 to 18,800 depending on various factors for the visas. And that brought when I this was in one of our our um emails um under Cal Matters um I think it was was it January or December? Anyway um to make a long story longer I was I wanted to um not put anyone on the spot but I wanted to follow up on the 17 teachers that we hired. Was it from Vietnam? >> Philippines >> that Yukaya you find? >> Yeah. What did Yeah. Philippines. >>

091Philippines. Philippines. Um, thank you. >> Um, I about that. >> Yeah, I wrote it down. I remember 17 stuck in my mind. Um, because we were desperately needing teachers. I wanted to follow up and find out how many of them stayed. And apparently we didn't have to pay that at that point. They came. I think it was spring. We were discussing them. I'd have to go back to my notes, but um, so did we pay the 9,500? I don't I don't know that that they they're not employed by us. >> Okay. So, we would really know we should cut it. >> I'm just curious about um the visa costs and so now that it's going to be 100,000 on top of the already some it's an imposing fee to be from 9 to 18,000 um

092to bring in a teacher from another country. Um I'm wondering if we could do a hiring bonus. >> I mean, so I'm I'm going back to incentivizing teachers to, you know, how Don and I have always what what can we do to get teachers here? And since it costs so much money to bring in teachers from other areas, maybe we >> could in MCE does have some hire MCE for our employees does have some um bonuses um for people going back to get a credential. >> Okay. >> Or do we currently have any hiring bonus? no hiring bonus because that I know that is >> well so that's something that has to be negotiated. >> Um I will say um uh Yukaya and Round Valley are both doing teacher residency programs and MCE has partnered

093with Humble County Office of Education for a residency program teacher residency program for those seeking um special ed credentials. So they're recruiting for that now. Um, and then we're also pursuing another grant to MCO is pursuing another grant for teacher residency. And what that what a teacher residency is is they pay most of these residency programs are paying between 25 and $35,000 to a teacher or to somebody who has a bachelor's degree and is um and enters into the program, enters into a credential program. They're in the classroom with a credential teacher um half the week. Um, and so they may they may also be a teachers aid or work in the afterchool program or not work in schools at all. They do have to have a bachelor's degree and but they will get that

094whatever the agreement is for that particular residency program. Again, it's about 25 35 I think is about what most are paying. At the end of it, they come out with a credential and their the staying rate or their their success rate is higher than even the traditional um route of getting a credential. And the benefit of that when it comes to housing is those are people that already live here. >> Yeah. >> And so we're very excited about the potential of that program. And so we have um just a few weeks to get our grant application in. Um but even if we don't get that grant, we already have three residency programs within our county, but only one that's countywide, that's for special ed, and the one in Round Valley and Ukaya are obviously just

095for um within their own district. So, but that's um been um a way that the state is kind of addressing this program or I'm sorry, this issue of I don't think it was intended to especially hit the housing issues, but um it is that the teacher shortage which exists for a variety of reasons. It is it's it's a successful way of of addressing that. And um it those residency programs have been harder to implement in rural places that don't have a university in you know right right nearby. Um but we're finding ways to make that happen and so it's very exciting to see some of the work that's happening with that. So, we're exciting and hope to bring some good news about that grant to you um when we find out because when we apply

096the turnaround time for them to notify us is pretty quick because the idea is that residency would start for the following year for for next school year. >> That's wonderful because um if you look at getting um getting housing and your first and last and clean deposit is immense. And to get a teacher fresh out of school to want to live here, they're going to have to have 5 to 10 grand just to get get that apartment or whatever. The low-inccome apartments, I think, start at 2500 or whatever. I mean, they're it's crazy all those new apartments they're putting up in. But to answer that your question because I've got that same article highlighted um that for the different reasons why there was this um great study done December 18th by the center for American

097progress. They pulled 309 K through2 teachers from 38 states in Washington DC with with fewer than 5 years of experience in February February about educator retention. So the reason um nearly 70% of respondents said that they've considered quitting or having already left their teaching job when asked why 77% said working conditions including student behavior. 73% chose lack of support such as professional development and 69% said insufficient compensation. So I mean 69 to 70 that's all pretty. So I think >> a financial incentive is really number one. I know a lot of people stay in jobs that they're not thrilled with just because they're getting paid well, >> right? >> Or a lot of people leave jobs because, you know, >> teacher compensation is um >> but >> if if teachers were paid better, they could

098better afford the houses that are here. You know, it's um >> the the teacher shortage and the workforce housing is >> Yeah. >> It's all it meshed. >> And we're really lucky to have you, David. Oh, >> because you're excited about working on that, too. And my question to you was um I didn't get to attend the Sacramento >> um workshop. No, you went, right? >> I did. Yes. >> And did you attend the workforce housing classes? uh that I did attend one session um that's not I don't think it was specifically was that but it did it did talk about um oh something called um do dual use occupancy in which some uh districts in Southern California were using excess properties that they owned to partner with um uh developers and uh the school

099district would um I believe make money off the rents and split it with the developers. Um, which I I don't know if that's something that, you know, could be looked at here in the future. I I don't know how much excess property our school districts have, but um I did think that was an interesting um and I did ask the question that was I think of all the uh the um classes I attended, that was the one that I asked the most questions because, you know, I worked for the planning department. go. Um, and I asked the question, well, you know, how much do you does this bring in a lot of money? And they said, oh, yes, significant. But of course, this was a Southern California, so you know, the economics of that could

100be very different. >> Um, but yeah, it's, you know, definitely uh I think it's a big issue, you know. I mean, I think, you know, we we want teachers, we have to make it an affordable, sustainable job for them in this county. I had some experience with this. There was a young social science teacher who came into high school and really did a good job for us. He was there for two years when I heard he was leaving and I went and asked him, you know, how come you're leaving? He said, well, I'll never be able to afford a home here. >> Yeah. >> That's that was specifically why he left. And then on the coast there, you know, so many of our teachers are kids who went ahead as students. They they had family

101property and that's why they managed to live there. You know, I the research is a little bit Minnesota Unified has extra land. A lot of the districts have extra land. And if you take the cost of land out of the the picture, it makes it a lot more affordable to to build. The trouble with the workforce housing thing is they focus on building rentals. >> Yeah. And I don't think people paying rent rents buy into your community. And when you own a home in a community, that's when you really buy into the community. And that's what you want for teachers. I don't know whether they've structured any workforce housing to where the the teachers in the district could buy it. That's one >> nothing I've seen. >> Yeah. And just real quick, um I'm done.

102I just >> we just segueed. No, I I I just wanted to add a >> real good topic. the at the annual education conference, one of the the uh sessions I attended where it talked about, you know, funding, school funding, and they talked about a little bit about workforce housing and and um the cost of living. And one of the things that factors in is when a developer goes in and they start developing projects. Some of the key factors are the the cost of red tape and the time that it takes. And that that all factors in. And then someone brought up the point that in California oftentimes there's things that go on our on our ballot um and when they pass it affects the land owner and so some of a lot of those

103are rentals. So that then trickles down to the renter. >> So there's a lot of different factors you know that that play into that. U Marilyn anything else time before we move on? No. That was my Thank you. That was my research for the month. Love it. Thanks. >> Teaching >> David. >> Well, since we were talking about housing, I'll just throw in on a personal level. I'm currently in escrow for a house in Willlets. >> Congratulations. >> We entered escrow on the I think December 16th. So, I've been kind of stressing over that over the last month. Um, >> you know, I wasn't able to attend as many events in December as I would like, but I I think we have a a new babysitter situation. So, Um, I was able to attend uh

104the Christmas program at Beck Brookside School in Willlets. My wife uh volunteered to be the pianist for that. Um, so to take Henry to to that just before winter break and um like Nicole said, we did uh go to Willlet Schoolboard uh last week to uh for a schoolboard appreciation um month >> month. Um yeah. Um so that's all I got. Um hopefully I'll have a house by the next time. >> So exciting. That's awesome. >> Good. >> Hey, Darn. >> I'm a little concerned about things that are happening at the politically at the national level. I think they're they're talking about eliminating the federal department of education. >> I'm just I'm just sort of wondering is how is that how is that going to trickle down to this level? >> That is yet to

105be determined and the if the the fund um if if funding is transferred to another department um that's one thing if funding is taken away which I don't think is what is being proposed. I don't think that a proposal is to take away funding. Um, I don't see um I it um I I um everybody seems to think that they have a level of expertise when it comes to education because everybody went to school. Um and I don't think that education should be a subset of another department. That being said, if that becomes the case, I don't I'm not I'm not I'm I have other things to be that are more concerning to me than that. Um and uh our we don't have much direct interaction with the department of education. It's really with the

106California Department of Education certainly that's a very different deal. And in our state in particular, I think our infrastructure is more um will take that a little better than some other states if that were to happen. >> Somehow I thought some of the funding for special education came from the federal level. >> Oh, it does. It does. So if that funding goes away, yeah, that's about um it varies, but for most schools about 10% of their funding comes from the federal government. >> Yeah, >> it's in some cases it's going to be more, in some cases less, but about 10% overall, whether it's special ed or something else. So no school can see 10% of their budget go away, >> but I'm not seeing that as a proposal of the funding going away. Um the

107the the rhetoric is that it should go back the decisions should go back to the state and hypothetically if that also means the funding goes back to the state California I think will fair that change just fine. Um it it's still I'm still not in favor of it personally. Um but I'm not like I said there are other things that are I think require immediate attention and energy and that's not one currently. Yeah. Okay. >> Anything else? Priscilla, >> thank you. Um before I begin, I want to encourage our board to um maybe submit these topics for discussion. I feel in all fairness the public should be given the opportunity to engage in best practices um are on that level with board reports board colleagues and most importantly students families and our educator in the

108room and beyond. Leadership is not measured by attendance title or tenure. It is measured by standards stewardship and the discipline to deploy leadership where it produces real impact in a relatively short tenure. I am proud of what changed because I served. I did not come to preserve comfort. I came to raise expectations. Progress often feels disruptive to those invested in the status quo. That tension is not incidental. It is diagnostic. I do not come to this seat to maintain equilibri equilibrium. I came to move it. Meaningful movement challenges comfort and disrupts complacency. That is not a flaw of leadership. It is evidence of it. Serious leadership requires discernment. It is not about accumulation or symbolism. It is about deployment, placing time, energy, and authority where they are most effective and refusing to continue patterns of

109practices that fuel educational inequity. During my service, transparency, accountability, and vision of educational excellence have been elevated. Inherited assumptions were challenged. practices that had gone unquestioned for years and generations were disrupted. That work matters and I stand by it. After deliberate reflection, I have decided to resign from the county board of education effective immediately. This decision is not rooted in conflict, fatigue, or retreat. It is alignment. The scope of leadership required in this season of my life outpaces what this structure was built to support. I believe you cannot credibly lead a community without leading your own household. The family is the first institution of governance and the outcomes we see in our children are the most honest measure of leadership. Not intentions, explanations, visions or rhetoric, but plain pure results. Our children are setting a

110standard of youth leadership that excels local achievements and opportunities. This is not about simply sending children to college to play sports. It's about raising the standard of sports performance and human excellence. Achieving this requires deliberate parental leadership, discernment, and unwavering commitment to growth. My husband and I often remind each other, sometimes jokingly, but always serious, that we either raise all of our children effectively now, or we will spend our later years raising our grandchildren while blaming our children for outcomes shaped by our own leadership failures. The irony is instructive. My family is in a season of exponential growth. My children are excelling at a highly competitive level in athletics, traveling nationally. This did not happen by accident. It is the product of structure, consistency, sacrifice, and deliberate parental leadership. Excellence is never convenient, and it

111never coexists with half measures. I am proud of my children and I am proud that my public service reflects the same unwillingness to leave with comfort. I also want the record to reflect now this role was how this role was carried. Excuse me. I showed up consistently and fully including through multiple periods of profound personal loss within my family. I did not lower my standards, reduce effort, or ask for accommodation. I prepared. I engaged. I contributed beyond the minimum because leadership does not pause for hardship and neither did I. Effective leaders do not cling to seats. They move with purpose. They recognize when st standards have been raised, when the status quo has been challenged, and when leadership must be redeployed for a greater impact. Leadership is re revealed by what we organize our lives

112around when no one is voting, watching, or applauding. Leadership that does not transfer into lived experience is not leadership. It is symbolism. I am energized by our family's leadership horizon. Proud of the standards we continue setting and committed to deploying our focus where we will have the greatest impact. This decision is not an ending. It is alignment. I leave this seat having raised the bar knowing history does not measure leaders by how long they stayed. It measures what changed because they served. This concludes my board report. >> Wow. Thank you. That was beautiful. I'll make mine very short and sweet. Like Nicole, it was a it's a crazy time. December went went by in a flash. Um let's see. On the 11th, I uh attended an ACCBE, which is the Association California County Board of

113Education, uh Court and Community Schools data report, an independent evaluation of the court and community schools. I thought that had a lot of valuable information. And by the way, ACCBE has a lot of their stuff recorded. So, if you ever want to go back and take a look and and a listen, I highly recommend it because the data was really interesting. Um on the 15th they did an uh charter renewals and appeals that I attended. I know a lot of it doesn't really apply to us but it was still kind of nice to understand the process and um how things work. Uh let's see on the 17th I attended the grand opening for the medical pathway >> and I just have to say I can't remember everyone's name at the at the moment but there

114was so much thought and consideration that went into the layout the supplies >> and and everyone that was in attendance. It was just a really wonderful event. So I did that and I'm really glad that I did attend. Um today at 11:00 I think CSBA is doing a budget proposal breakdown. um which should be interesting and because I've registered that we I think we'll be able to go back and go ahead and watch that. So it'll be really interesting to see what is proposed and and how they break that down. And then the last thing is I've registered to participate in a new president's workshop through ACCBE which is January 22nd at 7 p.m. Did you get the invite for that as well? Because it's also extended to uh vice presidents. >> I saw that.

115Okay. Good. Good. So, I plan to participate in that. And other than that, that is that concludes my report. >> And we >> I was just wanted to say to Priscilla, it's been a pleasure serving with you and I just wanted to wish you the best in whatever you you pursue after this. >> I'm sorry to see you go. >> Yeah. >> Wish you all the best. That was beautifully written about leadership. >> Yes. >> Congratulations. That concludes the board member reports. Excuse me. Moving on to item seven, close session. There is none. Moving on to item eight. Uh closing items. Our next board meeting is February 9th, Monday. And 8.2 is adjournment. Do I have a motion? We adjourn. Thank you, Marilyn. Second. Thank you, David. Okay. All in favor? Yes. All right.