Mendocino County Office of Education Governing Board Meeting

001Dancing. [Music] Hey, hey, hey. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] in the meant [Music] Oh, yeah. [Music] By the way, [Music] Heat. Heat. N. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Hey, Heat. [Music] Okay, take a breath. I'm still trying to trying to work through this. >> Okay. >> Do you need help or are you good? >> I think I'm okay. It's just >> taking a minute. All right. All right, it's 10 o'clock. I'd like to call the meeting to order. This is the Menescino County Office of Education regular board meeting for August 11th, 2025. We'll start with item 1.1. Call to order and flag salute. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank

002you. Item 1.2, approval and adoption of our agenda. Do I have a motion? >> I move to approve. >> Thank you. >> I'll second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Motion passes. Item 1.3, approval, adoption of the minutes from our 61625 meeting. Do I have a motion? or still still reading the >> Do we have a motion to pass the minutes from our 616? >> I'll make a motion to approve the minutes as written for June 16th. I'll second. >> Thank you. All in favor? >> I. Motion passes. Item 1.4, approval adoption of the minutes of our 62325 meeting. Do I have a motion? >> I'll move we adopt those minutes. >> Thank you. A second, please. A second. All in favor? I. Motion passes. Item 1.5. Do we have any public participation? >>

003We do not have any public participation. >> Okay. Item 1.6. We like to leave this on here. Remote attendance of the board member. >> I don't think we need to apply today, but we like to have it on there. Uh we'll skip item two, consent agenda because it's all on discussion action. So, moving right to item 3.1. take action to approve resolution 25.8.1 nominating our senator Mike McGuire for the California School Boards Association Outstanding Legislator Award. Um I approve I really um enjoyed reading about this. >> Yes. And let me a little background on that is CSBA sent out or open the nominations July 30th. So it's a pretty quick turnaround. Um, and in order to um in order to approve or or to nominate it has to come from the board and there has

004to be a board resolution. So, um, normally I'd like to give you a little bit more background on this or a heads up, but given the quick turnaround, I thought I would just bring this to you and the nomination process. I will I can do the nomination. There's a letter that um, you can sign that is very much um, if approved that's very much aligned with what the resolution is. So he uh Senator uh Mike McGuire does a ton for our schools and for our region and we are really happy to nominate him and we're hoping that some of our other districts will do the same. I've sent information on to them for them to do the same and some of them are are considering it. >> It's wonderful. I think I was really impressed

005with he first held office at age 19. I didn't know that. I mean at 19, you know, what was I doing? I love my position on the board, but I think 19 I wouldn't have even considered that. So, >> I think we're lucky to have him. >> Yeah. >> Uh, Senator Mike Magcguire wanted to note that he's been a long-standing um supporter of cannabis tax for that have enabled community programs that serve youth across the state, especially our county, including a lot of tribal programs locally. That's good to know, too. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Well, that's wonderful. So, what we need to do if we don't have any more discussion on it is motion to approve. Have a motion. >> I motion to approve. >> Thank you so much. Do we have a second? >> I'll

006second. >> All in favor say I. >> I. >> 3.1. Wonderful. I'm moving on to 3.2. Take action to approve the consolidated application reporting system. Con. >> Yeah. So the this is what we call the spring release and it's the the California Department of Education. Um this is the application system that they use for us to for LEA any LEA who's participating in these federal programs um to receive funding. Um and it also is our um us assuring that we're going to meet the legal requirements of using these funds and through that we receive title one, title two, title three and title four funding. So those federal funds are still coming. >> Yep. >> What was that done? The lowest >> those federal funds are still coming. >> Yeah. >> Um any questions, concerns? Any

007motions? I'll make a motion to approve the con report. >> I'll second. >> All in favor say I. >> I. >> 3.2 to passes item 3.3 review and approve our MCOE representative and an alternative alternate for menesino lake adult and career education consortium emiss. So this is an annual um approval of a representative to the Meno Lake Adult and Career Education Consortium which we are part of. Um this year, as of last year, we want uh Eric Crawford to represent us as our director of career and college readiness. He also oversees our adult programming. This um consortium also provides us with some of our funding for our adult programming. We do need to also approve an alternate. Um we've listed myself as an alternate in this um area. So if he's unable to attend the

008meeting, then I can attend. So this is an annual notification thing. >> Thank you, Dr. call. >> Motion to approve. >> Thank you. >> I'll second. >> Second. All in favor say I. >> I. >> 3.3 passes. Item 3.4, county board of education health and welfare cap. >> Um, Becky Jeff, our director of um, human resources, is going to address this. Um, a little background as to why this is coming to you. Um, because we have a vacancy. um we need to recruit um or not that we need to recruit, but um I did reach out to the person who ran um for the seat that is vacant to um to let him know that um the board would be taking action and I would let him know the date of if the board decides

009today um to interview rather than to uh post an election. And in talking to him um as I spoke with um the last time we had a vacancy sharing um you know about the stipen and about insurance um a a very important question came up regarding insurance for somebody who has who already receives insurance. Do they have to accept the insurance? And currently they do and as you know there's currently a contribution to be made. And so literally as a board as somebody considers whether or not to be on the board, if they already have insurance, what they are considering is if they want to pay every month to be on the board. Now they do get insurance, but if they're not going to use it, is it really that much of a benefit? So

010Becky has something to present to you guys for your consideration. Hi. >> Good morning, board of trustees. Um, I am presenting to you. So, in talking with our legal counsel and looking through our stay well bylaws, as you all know, we are member of a JPA called Staywell. And um the requirements as they stand do require that all board members as well as employees of Staywell um participating districts and LEAs um participate in the health insurance that's offered. Um, and so in reviewing the bylaws, there is a section that states if the district provides the same paid health coverage as full-time employees for active trustee board members, all such members shall be enrolled. And so in talking with legal counsel, we can um present to you a recommendation that if you would like health insurance

011to not be something you have to opt in so that you can opt out. Um there would be an option to do so if we if the board members had a different health and welfare cap and it is required that it be um a higher cap or excuse me a lower cap. So you would have to pay more, but if you were to approve this recommendation, you would have the ability to opt out. >> The individuals, correct? The individual entire board, not the entire individual. >> Correct. Um, and so I don't know if one of you would mind opening up the memo so that we can uh present the chart that's on the second page, please. Thank you. >> I do know you have it in your packet. Yeah. >> Um and so there's a

012current what you currently are paying as of July 1st. And um if you were to maintain the same health and welfare that all of our employees have, which is the um $1,291.15 per month, um if you maintained that amount, then your current insurance pre premium monthly would be $442.78. Um, as you see, your monthly board stipen is listed up there. And if you were to deduct that off of the monthly insurance premium, there is still $1261 owed monthly by the board members. Um, our proposal would be that you approve an H&W cap that is $10 more per month than what employees receive. So that would be $120 annually that you would be paying more um or that we would be paying less I should say. So you would be paying more annually um if you

013chose to move forward with keeping the insurance individually. And that amount would propose that your H&W cap be $1,281.15 per month that MCOE would pay, which ups your monthly premium to $452.78. This would then show that your board member monthly amount for those who opt in to stay with health insurance would be $1361, excuse me, after you deduct your board stipened out of it. Um so again, we're proposing this because we do believe that um health insurance can be something that individuals need and want and participating members may want to have that. But we also realize there are members who do not need this health insurance. And by doing this, this allows them the ability to opt out and not require all board members of ours to um take the insurance. I'm here to answer

014questions that you may have at this time. >> Thank you, Becky. >> Yeah, I >> go ahead, Don. I've got questions, too. >> Yeah. Sorry. >> No, you go. >> I have one question, and that is for those of us that are old enough to be on Medicare. >> It would just be kind of nice if somehow they offered a supplement, which of course would be at a cheaper rate. That is something I can note and we can bring back to stay well so that we can u make that as a recommendation. That would be something our committee would have to vote on. >> Yeah. >> And that was my question too and I wished that Charlene was here too. I've never really spoken to either one of you about that and asked about that

015benefit um because customarily we do have retired um board members and I figured Charlene always talked about how great the insurance was. So I assumed she was using it as a supplemental. So apparently you can't use it as a supplemental. You have to just opt into >> Well, I assume you can >> but if you're using it as a supplemental when you're on Medicare, you shouldn't pay full value for it, >> right? supplemental insurance is much cheaper than full insurance, >> right? >> Yeah. Currently, it's a full plan that you're purchasing. Um, yes, it might be supplemental. It might be build after um the Medicare is build, but currently it is the full plan. >> Okay. >> And then generally that's much less expensive. >> Correct. >> Yeah. >> What is the process after we

016would approve this? any type of changes to the stale stable policy for benefits of border staff. Does it go to the stable board before or after we take action? How does that work? So once you approve it for our agency, then this is the process for our agency and any individuals who would like to not opt into insurance at that time if you were to approve moving forward with the proposal. um would work with HR so that we can go through and tell you how that would look like when you would be able to come off of it and all of that. So, >> I think it's a good thing to be able to opt in out because sometimes somebody gives insurance through their spouse >> and you don't need to. >> And that's why

017we're proposing this because we do have a vacant position as well. And in looking at this, we thought it might um help out not just the individuals currently on the board, but any openings we have. Any question? >> Thank you for all the information. It was really clear and I I appreciate all the information that was in here. Once we approve or not approve this, will we have to Well, if we approve it, will we have to um uh amend our bylaws? Um you uh >> are you talking about the stay well bylaws or the the >> uh it's um the staywell bylaw. >> So the stay well bylaw doesn't need to be amended based on this because you wouldn't have the same paid health coverage and so our bylaws are clear saying if it's

018not the same paid basically the interpretation by us in legal is >> um you wouldn't have to opt in. >> So ED code doesn't allow the board to receive more. Correct. So the so to not be the same, it then has to become less. Okay? And in some districts, the entire board can opt out, but if if if the board opts in, it's not by individuals. If they're receiving the same benefits cap as any employee group, and we have multiple employee groups, but all of our employee groups receive the same cap. >> Okay? >> And so, uh, this was, uh, this was an idea that we kind of workshopped together. And I think Heather was like, "What if we tried this?" this and so we ran it by legal and they thought that this would

019work. >> Okay. Okay. Thank you. >> So my question is so I I've always been appreciative of the health insurance. I had health insurance when it came on board but of course like um Charlene used to say this was a really a superior um plan. Um I did notice when we switched this last year now we're getting less coverage for more premium which is sad but everything everything's gone up across the board. everything, groceries and just cost of living's gone up. So, I understand. Um, my fear is that if we start messing with our cap and changing our benefit to fit just it sounds like just one person coming in, but it might benefit more people down the road. >> So, this would be moving forward. Yeah. >> Yeah. Um, can we go back if

020we decide if there's something negative that comes out of it? if we want to go back, can we >> vote to go back to how it was because it's always been like that. >> So, the board can always opt to bring back, you know, some a different proposal. I mean, that's the the choice of the board. Okay. >> Um, so you would be able to bring that back and choose to do it differently, but we just were able to figure out a way because I do believe there could be individuals currently on the board that this would also benefit. Um, and it's not even benefit, but if there's not a need for it, allowing them the ability to opt out, >> right? >> Um, the recommended action, um, as it says, staff recommends the board

021reduce the health and welfare benefits cap for board members by $10 per month, 120 annually, and maintain the board member health and welfare cap at $10 less per month than employee than the employee cap moving forward. So that every time the cap changes for employees, we don't have to like come back every time. It just consistently remains $10 less. Yes. A month than employees so that we can so that the board can maintain this ability for individual board members to make a decision as to whether or not to m to get the benefits. >> Correct. >> Yeah. There's if there's no fiscal impact um to the agency, I think this can be really beneficial moving forward. It seems like it was designed in a way to be equitable um based on those caps that you

022mentioned, Marilyn. Um, and I'm all for healthcare choice and autonomy. So, I think this serves everyone well, including employees. Um, it just represents a policy that that um keeps people >> and um my only concern is that I brought this to um to HR and um also Nicole and I I came on board and it wasn't an option that was discussed. I was told that um it needed it was brought to the table of board and it was shot down and that was me already being appointed to the board. So, I'm a little concerned about adjusting things based on recruiting someone. I would hope that this wouldn't deter someone from this type of service. Um I hear you. Um but I I I think that this would have been an option when we had that

023conversation as well. If I can um that is a really good point because as we discussed this again >> we we made we they did take it back to the board because we and we um in going back to that conversation that we had with you we're like here we are again >> and as far as equity is concerned if we want a diverse board >> with people from diverse backgrounds and work people who are working with children like this is prohibitive to people who are working it's prohibitive to people who might um have healthcare through another agency and really can't affordund or an extra you know $120 $130 a month. So we tried it with yours and what what they said was no this is the policy >> and so we said okay so

024and we we kind of accepted it and then when it came up again we're like this is just not okay and um what else can we do and so we there were a couple of other in talking to legal counsel they said well this is what you have to do unless a board unless an employee group moves up and we're like well we can't afford to move all our our employees up, >> right? >> And so we were kind of uh feeling a little bit at a loss and that's where the conversation is, well, what if we tried this? >> So I it is regrettable that we couldn't do it right when you came on board, but partly because of the conversation that we had with you and then hear because when you hear it

025once it's like, yeah, this is a problem. When you hear it twice, it's like this is a problem that's prohibitive to multiple people. And so I want to make it clear um the um reaching out to the person who ran was as a courtesy to somebody who I knew would be interested. >> Um the board has it's it's only at the board's discretion who is selected and I don't I think that this person may apply and I don't even know if this would have been prohibitive. When I said the cost to you per month would be about $120 $130. You said, "What? I have to pay to be on the board." >> It doesn't feel quite right, does it? >> No. But you get such a You get such a benefit. It's not I didn't

026look at it when I came on as having to pay to be on the board. I was honored to be on the board and I thought, "Wow, what a great benefit." So, it's Are you looking at the glass half empty? You're half full. >> Yeah, I I I can I can very much see that. But I I think that every every every person coming to the board, we really want to make it open to everyone who's interested without having a financial consideration. I think is really where I >> and it could be it could be looked as wasteful too for for our agency, right? We're paying for something that's not used. I'm not using I haven't insurance and it's important for this board to reflect the population that they're serving. >> Exactly. >> That's fundamental.

027>> One other question I had was I think we just switched carriers, right? >> We did. >> So this is this is a consequence of that switch. Is that what >> it's still through stay well? It is still through Staywell. I think what you're referencing is we're not Blue Cross. We're now Blue Shield, right? >> But um but it's all a part of the Staywell JPA. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> Thank you for sharing more insight, Nicole. I appreciate it. >> Thank you, Priscilla. I didn't realize that was an issue for you. It's good to that's why I wanted to hear from everybody and because I was sort of on the fence and you know is this going to be a good thing or come back if we change our cap and we move it

028back if we want to someday. Um any more comments or questions? I think all mine got me. Thank you for putting that formula together. Very thoughtful. >> Yeah. Thank you. I'm glad that we can make these um positive changes. Um, do we have a motion for item 3.4? Motion to approve. Thank you. So, do we have a second? >> I'll second. >> Thank you. All in favor? >> I I 3.4 passes. Thank you for getting that together. >> Cool. And everybody else who did the hard work. Moving on to item 3.5, area 3 board vacancy. We are all familiar with this procedure to determine whether to order a special special election, excuse me, or make a provisional board appointment. I do have one correction on the memo that was sent to you that's attached um

029dated August 11th. Um as you may recall, we we at one point were trying to like get a special board meeting and get on this sooner. It's fine that we didn't. I think we're still in a good timeline. However, um we we didn't change a couple dates or um in the memo that's the August 11th memo. And so under the current consideration, I just want to make it clear and you don't have to make you don't have to approve this part, but that we have not started accepting applications. And that memo said that we would post starting the 7th. Um assuming that the board approves today to take applications, we would start that today and we would also end it one day sooner in order to make sure that we really have everything in time

030for the board agenda. So, it would be posted August 11th through September 4th. >> Okay. Closes September 4th. >> I think the only thing I seen was there's typo. Um, it said trustee 2, but I believe it's for trustee area three. That was the only thing that probably needed to change. >> Oh, thank you. in some of the documents >> it was um >> that's a very important >> yes it's um make a provisional appointment to fill board vacancy for trusty area it's a second document listed >> okay >> I believe it's the first or second or maybe it's three >> hopefully it's not >> well the one that it requires approval >> super important >> oh it might have been the interview questions >> not the questions No, not >> let's see >> the

031um so the resolution is what where we should really focus and make sure that it's on there. >> I believe it's the resolution. That's >> it is it's I on um 4 D a registered voter in trustee area two area two. Yeah. On C and D actually both say area two. >> Thank you. >> Oh, I see. Okay. >> I used to be the proof reader. like back >> the grammar please. Whoever calls me >> teacher teacher eyes. >> And so in summary, the the um the interview process um does not really cost anything more than time. The special election would cost between 80 and and $100,000. And so we're recommending to the board um to adopt this resolution um to fill the provisional uh um appointment to fill the vacancy in trustee area three.

032>> Yeah, we've been through this before and and not only does it save us money, but I kind of like the process. We get to pick someone we're going to work with. It's it's more comprehensive than just an election. The >> interviews are >> so I think I'm all for the interview process. >> Would you like to make a motion? Motion to approve. >> Did you make a motion? >> Go ahead. >> I'll make a motion. A motion to approve. I say motion is approved. Okay. >> Speaker. >> I apologize. >> Uh and a second. >> All in favor? >> I I item 3.5 passes. Item 3.6 review board bylaw 9150, student board members. Okay. And where are we adding this? So, um, as we're as you know, last year we, um, the board adopted

033a resolution to have a student board representative. Um, we had a student board representative for most of the year because it was new. They, they got somebody that was selected early on in the school year. Their term ends in, you know, July 1. So, the position is currently vacant. Um and so the consideration was um just speaking really broadly because we want to maintain confidentiality. There was a situation that um prompted some discussion between Priscilla um Marilyn and I along with and including Chris or communications um about whether or not the board wants to consider whether the board has criteria for the board represent representatives. Currently the board representatives are chosen at the school site. Um so students get to um choose. And um as a reminder this the this representative um or this seat

034is um representing Menescino County Office of Education schools but cannot be selected from Juvenile Hall. The students can't come out of Juveninal Hall to come to our meetings. Um and so it's really um high school age students from either or creek or um or alternative education high school. So the position is currently vacant. So we're not talking about a particular person right now. So if if the board wants to consider um creating criteria or or having a different process of getting a board representative, now is a perfect time to do that because school has not yet begun. Um no selection has been made. Um, and Chris was not able to attend today, but um, so if the board wants to make changes, now is a good time or explore um, so that we if there

035are questions that we want to have answered before considering changes, there's certainly time to do that as it's as the position's vacant. So, little spiel to get you warmed up for that. Thank you. Well, I like the idea of maybe interviewing students the way we interview a prospective board member. I mean, it makes sense to me in my humble opinion. >> I hesitate on that a little bit because it makes it a little more difficult for the young students and then I sort of, you know, trust the teachers to recruit >> and find someone who's really interested in doing that. You know, I like the process. It's a real educational uh endeavor for a young person to come here and watch us in action and participate. But again, I don't I don't think we need

036an interview. >> Okay. >> I agree. >> It might intimidate him, too. >> I'm afraid that would intimidate or, you know, keep keep some from applying. >> Yeah. >> Um >> and then there's what's his name? The young guy who's got all the energy. Oh, what's his name? >> The student or staff. Uh no. Uh he's already a politician and he's a teenager. What's his name? Brody. >> Oh, Bodie. >> Bodie. But then you've got bodies like who are just really great public speakers. So um yeah, I mean I I like the idea of So if but also on the other side of that is if you've got um kids who feel like they might not get a chance if the teacher doesn't favor them. Maybe they, you know, there maybe there's a lot of

037children that want to apply for this and if their only avenue is through that teacher. >> Well, I think right now it's and I I I know we do have public comment on this as well. Um, right now I think it's the students. >> Oh, and the student. Yes, it's right. I read 500 with a vote of they need to get a petition. 500, >> right? >> Yeah. So, >> so that's to get it going now that it's going. So there is definitely leeway if the board wanted to. Yeah. >> So So >> our school's a little different because they are by by design they're different um in a in a more in a comprehensive uh general ed setting. Um this position is often like an ASB position. So it's voted on like the board

038um pres like a like the um student body president. They're an officer. >> Um this does not have to be. It's kind of a one it's a it's a it's a loan position. So if the board wanted to consider, you know, interviews or um or eligibility require requirements. There's a school often has eligibility require requirements for um being student body president. Sometimes no, sometimes they do, but like you can be elected, but if you don't have a 2.0, you're not doing anything in that position. Um at least during the school day or you know it it so it's this is there's no like one set thing. Um Chris Francis has done some research on this this summer. Um primarily what he found though was um for boards I believe that there were boards that had

039um atlarge board member uh student reps. So it was from within the county and not not necessarily county schools. So there is some latitude if the board wanted to do something in in the meantime. And um >> I I have some questions. Um, I love the idea and the practice of this being uh student selected. >> That's important. Student leadership is really important. Um, making it a process that uh they can lead I think is probably a good next step. It might be student selected but what if they were to lead that process? For example, um any best practice in schools educational landscape adults are here to be supportive of that process. So just because the students choose and the student as the student body as the next step can lead this process doesn't doesn't

040exempt us from supporting that process. And I think one way that we can be supported is to think of ideas such as um you mentioned making requirements. What if the students were going to lead a process? What would that look like? You know would we have a town hall with our students to get ideas and then we would select them. would vote on them and then they would make the requirements of what that looks like. Considering what they would want that student to represent. One of those things being really important that Don mentioned even amongst our board is inclusiveness. Um and a part of that inclusiveness is making sure that you can represent all communities that you care about all communities. Um and what does that caring represent? Um on that note, our our students

041are on a journey. A lot of them are on a journey, right? And we need to support that journey to student leadership. some farther away from um their best self than others. And I think um our student body that is incarcerated is more than capable than representing. It's unfortunate that that um I think it's the attendance policy that will prevent them from doing that. It might push them um to make better choices and just be helpful in that. But I think um regardless of where the student is and the the attendance policies that prevent those students from participating, we have to make sure that we're prioritizing our students needs. So I know there's a bigger conversation that's part of this. Are we doing that and we're not having that conversation today, but I think to

042be to to understand and acknowledge that all of these things are interconnected and um we do need to have those conversations. But for today, this student policy that we're reviewing, um, I just have a lot of questions about how we can support that process of being student selected and student led. Um, and I'm wondering what the best way is for us to to also do our own research. Um, I know that this was put on the agenda a little bit last minute, so it didn't give us time to do that research. So, I would appreciate the time to do some research and give other board members the opportunity to do some research to see one what's out what's out there, too. Are there other models or one that we can create our own based on

043our community needs and then bring it back and discuss it um at a later date? Uh uh if the board does do some of their own homework, the board policy number here is likely going to be the same number in other county offices and I think other school districts, but I do think that it's the county office policies that you're going to I I think find more informative. Um, so I I just I want to make sure that I understand. Uh, so more research if there are questions that that we need to run by, uh, legal counsel. Not that we have to generate them now. Board members can email me at any time and I can send those on, but we we can certainly do that. Um, school starts in a couple weeks. >> I

044was just going to ask, what's our timeline, Nicole? the time the timeline well I think the the school was intending to get right on um selecting a representative and so um if I'm honest I'm a little uneasy telling the school I well having them wait but I the school does um so this board makes policy and and the student and the and the school uh puts that policy in action Mhm. >> And so I'm it's unclear to me what particular policy change would impact the actions that they would take and having students select their representative. Is the board not wanting them to select a representative for now? >> I think it's the proper way to go. I think it's fair given the um >> I think it's fair to pause it given the concern that's

045been brought to our attention as a board. >> You would like to pause it? >> Yes. >> Is having a student board member? >> Selecting a board member and I I think if we look at the timeline they may be would they would they be able to without any change select a board representative to be a part of the board for the September meeting? Is that fair to say? >> I think that was what they were shooting for. Yes. Okay. Yeah. I think delaying it a month and bringing it back next month to discuss based on research and addressing the community concern is fair. I don't think a delay in one month um in student representation is going to shake the board. Um but I do feel like we have a rep a responsibility to

046address the concern that's been brought to our >> You want to hear the public comment too? >> I do. Yeah, definitely. >> Didn't mean to catch up today. >> That's it. Okay. All righty. So, we are adding in uh public comment. >> I'm not sure who the name >> um it is Brandy Allen. Brandy R. Allen would like to speak on item 3.6 as well. Welcome Brandy. >> Hello. Thank you for coming today. >> Thank you for having me. Um okay. I'm not sure if you guys are aware of July 11th and the things that occurred. Um, all I think is that there should be more insight on the student board. I mean, from what I hear, the girl that caused the act. Oh, matter of fact, here. >> And we need to be really

047careful because this is a recording. >> I'm not saying any names or anything. I'm just showing a picture. >> Um, >> and any picture will need to be entered into um our um the minutes and will become a public document. So, >> okay. This is my daughter that I'm talking. >> Oh, okay. Thank you, Randy. And I just want to stop you for one sec. At the beginning of the meeting, I needed to state that this meeting was being broadcast live and recorded. And so, we are at Okay. Okay. >> Letting making sure everyone does know that. Okay. Thank you. Go ahead. And >> this here is my daughter. >> Um, the girl in question was on the board. [Music] My daughter was sliced open with a corambit knife. >> With a what? A corambit

048knife. With a hook. Oh, >> and from what I hear, this is not the first time that this girl has had to display in public. Um, there's a six month recovery and I think there needs to be more screening. If we knew that she was already acting like this, then why didn't we do something to have her removed maybe or replaced? Um, but yeah, this is an issue for me. Um, I'm actually having a lot of problems in court right now with this issue. Um, my daughter, she had something like this before and she was reprimanded for 190 days. This child they let out after 4 weeks. She's on house supervision. I've heard that she has a drug problem, that she also has an alcohol problem and I think there needs to be more maybe

049insight on the people that we have on the board. >> So >> maybe a little bit more looking into >> Did this happen in one of our schools in >> No, you said July 11th. July 11th at the lake >> at the lake lakeino. >> Yeah, Lake Mesino. >> So it wasn't in school, but it was our representative. >> It was a representative. >> So that would be 11 days after her term ended. >> Nicole, >> yeah, that was after her term ended. >> I I'm so sorry. I'm uncomfortable um with this link for a specific student that is uh not difficult for the public to make. Um so I um >> Okay. >> I'm not sure how to have have the conversation in any other fashion. >> Okay. Um do we have any questions

050for Brandy? I'm very sorry this happened to your daughter by the way. >> Yeah, me too. Actually heartbroken. All right. Thank you so much. >> And we are under three minutes. >> Okay. So, this is pertinent to our conversation. And I think this speaks to um I think it's fair to delay the appointment of a student representative to really review our practice for at least one month um because it's a larger conversation than just a student policy. It's a it's a conversation about ending violence against tribal communities and that's a big part of our community. Um it's I have some a couple questions um because I want to make sure I know what between this meeting and the next meeting what um I should how I should be spending my time. So I would um

051is the board wanting the staff to see if there's um to explore like criteria or screening or what what would the board like specifically to learn between now and the next board meeting? >> That was my question is how's the how does this look? Are we looking at something like where you're checking fires? disability for prior violence or and but then again it's also voted on by the children. So >> yeah, I think the question is can an individual youth adult um represent community that um um I think it's fair to say that uh there's a lack of care for. So if we want a representative to be inclusive of all youth in the community that um there needs to be a care for all youth in the community. And so I have questions I

052would love to to share with you Nicole to kind of run by Chris and about the process. How how can like I said you know our us as an adult adult leaders support this process because I think it should be maintained that it is there is an element of student leadership. I also believe the next step to that is it's studentled and not um principalled or administrative. Um that happens a lot and it's called student leadership but it's not. It's almost like a puppet show. We have to be careful of that. So um my question is what do those p practices look like? I very curious at this point. No suggestions uh concerns definitely but just curious what does that process look like? What does that show us? And how can we contribute towards making

053that process better to ensure that um our board is representative of individuals that can um be inclusive of all the youth they represent? I hear what you're saying. Yeah. Go ahead, Nancy. Um, just speaking for myself, I really like the way the policy is written as far as it's student driven. You know, that that those that are interested have to get a petition of at least 500 stu 500 students or or 10% of the student body. But maybe how would everyone feel if we added something to the fact that it's once it reaches that stage that then it goes to admin maybe for approval. I'm going to add one thing because I think that original that those signature I think that is to establish the position. >> Okay. >> Not for not each year to

054put somebody. Okay. Thank you for the clarification. >> If I if I can get so I um to be clear this is a vacant position um and and the board I think is considering as we fill it. Is this a time which to be fair and anytime there is a vacancy in a in a position if you're gonna make changes that's the time to make it. So this is a really good time to look at it. >> Yeah. >> So I'm wondering because this feels a little bit um abstract and I want to get something more concrete. Um so I'm wondering if what should happen as I'm hearing Priscilla heard from um the parent um if what we should work on is um something to describe to the board. um a process that is studentled

055and also a criteria for like eligibility >> or or remaining on it because to be eligible and get on it and is not is there's to be become to get in the position is one thing but to remain in the position another question >> and so I I think that is um a concrete enough task >> that I think we can come back with because I do think that this is a sight driven a sight driven position and and and it's intended to be so so that it represents students represents those schools and the the more criteria we put up the more likely it is that we're going to get who represents us rather than who represents them. Um, but I definitely hear this concern about like studentled, but then there has to be something

056the your positions have the same thing like there are certain laws that you could break and actually as an elected official they it's a pretty high bar, but any elected official can be taken out of office. Um, so this is this is so viewing in that light, I think we can come back next month with something um to present to you. >> I agree. May I suggest three phases? So one the students to establish eligibility and so they'll have a really important community conversations about what do we care about? What do we want this person to bring to the table for us representing our voices? Two, then there's a selection process, voting, um, town hall, whatever that looks like, whatever they think is most appropriate, they choose. And then the third is once you're in

057that position, what do your what are your responsibilities in that position? I think if we could get really clear on those three three things, we can set them up for success. >> Okay. Also, um so we also have in here the county board may provide opportunities for student board members through training. I think we should provide not just may because they may not know what they're getting into or they may get here and go, "Oh, we don't think we like this." Um again, I wanted to make sure it remains equitable whatever we come up with. um as we know throughout time like Einstein some of the the smartest people ever did not have high GPA they didn't do well in school settings so I mean making if if there is going to be a GPA

058requirement I would like to see it >> I I I would that we yeah below and so that's not the bar the bar should in my mind be more on um integrity >> um and however that looks I don't know I'm just throwing that out >> I think the schoolies I I mean how How does that look? I don't know. This is all new, >> you know. >> Well, we'll come back with some suggestions. Okay. >> It seems like in a normal school, this would be pretty easy because you would do it through student government, >> right? Yeah. >> But we don't have student government. That's some But that's something to >> But that gives us it even though we don't have student government. I I say that I don't think we have student government,

059but the framework of student government is a good it's a good framework to refer to. >> That was what I was going to say. Maybe we need something in the form of student government. You said eligibility, responsibilities, and what was the third one? >> Uh, eligibility. Then there's the selection process. >> Selection. Okay. When you might have 10 eligible students that are interested, how do you go about selecting them? That's a whole different process. And then once they're in the position, what responsibilities are they expected to maintain to stay? >> We'll work on something. And I this is not if I'm hear hearing this this is so we're not the board's not necessarily making policy change but is um wanting more information on these things which even if we come to you and you're like

060great I don't I don't think it will require a vote. >> Um but it's it's definitely something that the board should feel comfortable with. So we will >> we'll get you something for next month. >> Exactly. >> Can these things be implemented into the policy? Um I um we'll we'll check on it. So So there's an a policy and then administrative regulation. This I believe is an administrative regulation. >> Um the administrative regulation doesn't um generally require the board uh the board's approval in our in the county board um because it's usually describing what the staff will do and I direct the staff in this case. So in in our case, the board policy administrative regulation may be coupled together, but you it may not be necessary for the board to take action, but we'll

061find out. It will depend on what's there. >> I I want to find out more. >> Okay. So our action is to not take action 3.6. >> Do we need to vote on not table? >> No. >> Okay. >> By not voting, nothing happens with that. >> Okay. Dies on the Senate floor. >> All right. Got it. Any more questions or comments? Okay. Um, moving on to item 5.1, presentation by our CSBA Chief Legal Council. Bob Turk, uh, County Committee on School District Organization. >> Yes, >> he's Well, he's he's on he's online. He's joining us remotely. Some of you may remember >> uh Mr. Torque. is uh uh an attorney with school and college legal services. Um as some of you may know, but some of you probably don't know, um you hold another

062role on another committee. This committee is the def is also the um another committee that Bob's that I always forget the name of. Um and we haven't had a meeting for a long time and we should be having regular meetings. Um but before we um agenda or before we schedule those thought we should do a little information on that other committee that that Bob if you could tell us more about. >> Absolutely. Happy to happy to be here and thank you guys for having me. Um so as superintendent said I'm with California School Boards Association. You all can hear me. Okay, right? >> Yes. Yes. >> Um I'm our chief legal counsel. We are one of the uh attorney groups that represent you guys. I've met many of you, not all of you. Um hopefully

063I will get a chance to be up there in person again soon and and meet you all because actually love coming from your area. Um I'm going to talk to you a little bit about these county committees on school district organizations. First, I'm going to give you just a quick history of what what these are and why they exist and talk about some of the roles and responsibilities that you all have and talk a little bit about the meeting structure and requirements and then open up to questions for you guys. Shouldn't take too long. Um, but let me go ahead and hopefully share my screen if that's okay. Okay. Are you all seeing my screen now? >> Yes. >> Okay. I can no longer see you. So, if you have questions or anything, please speak

064up cuz you disappeared off my screen. So, all right. The county committee on school district organization. Uh, just a quick history. The concept of this dates back to when California first came into being, right? dates back to our origins. Basically, um the rapid growth in the state population saw us expanding from local school houses to having more than 3500 school districts by 1935. So, in just a few short years, right, we move up to over 3,500 school districts across the state. just sheerely from a resource management perspective and consistency of educational quality perspective, this this wasn't really manageable. Um, if any of you are familiar with the Fresno region, you can actually see some of this still play out down there. Fresno Unified um or Fresno Union High School District, one of the largest high

065school districts in the state. And yet we have a plethora of very very small elementary school districts sometimes just one or two miles down the road from each other. And when you look at the history and the boundaries of those that really go back to sort of agricultural roots and like this rancher had this land and this rancher had that land. And so from there they sort of created their own little districts um for the workers and people within their range. not a superefficient system, not the best way to allocate resources. So along comes what we call the optional reorganizational act um back in 1945. It was a short-lived attempt by the state to create what they then called commissions on school districts with the goal of unifying some of these districts and collaborating um

066collapsing our resources and being more consistent form of education process. Like I said, it was shortlived. They only lasted about four years and they managed to get us down to about 2,000, a little over 2,000 or so school districts, which wasn't quite enough. So then in 1951, the state introduced something we're all familiar with and sometimes frustrated with, ADA based funding, right? Average daily attendance funding. The idea here was an incentive to get more kids in seats and more kids in a single district seat, right? So, it was sort of intending to incentivize schools to come together because you got more money, you got more resources, right? Um, since then, we've seen a number of changes in law dealing specifically with this issue. ADA sort of become its own thing and the funding thing has

067become its own. as we're all aware of, but we've seen a lot of changes around the issue of district organization. So, in the 80s, um, fast forward through all the different laws have changed. In the 80s, they came up with these county committees on school district organization and those um are screen frozen. Here we go. Um, so basically what the county committee is in every single county except for one and that county being San Francisco, every county that is not a city school district combination, San Francisco, right, is required by law to have a committee on school district organization. It's governed under the education code section 4000 to 424 442, sorry, if you're really interested in it. Um, and the education code specifically says in there that the responsibility for this county committee and it

068it's a county committee, right? It's county government that's supposed to establish can be transferred to the county office of education to be handled by county board of education by order of the state board of education. So basically law requires everybody to have one of these committees and it authorizes the state board to create or vest that authority in the county board of education for 35 counties across the state that has happened including in Menescino County. So what that means is you have the lucky privilege of serving as the county committee on school district organization within Menesino County. Now, this is done by order of the state board. It's not necessarily permanent. I've never heard of it really being reversed, but theoretically the state board could on its own motion. Or you could actually or even

069majority of the districts within the county could petition uh the state board to have a county committee reestablished as a county entity instead of a county board governed body. Um in which case that would go before the state board for a series of hearings. You could theoretically take this responsibility back off you, but it's not likely to happen. Um, it's honestly probably not something that I would suggest you guys put the energy in, even thinking about because like I said, it's not likely to happen. And the the active responsibility is pretty low um for the county board of education. But when there is a need for the county committee to step in and do their job, then it's important that you have that sort of golden piece of it. and I'll get into that a

070little later. Um, I also wanted to highlight real quick, I'll give you a copy of this PowerPoint at the end on the lower um, part of the blue screen there where it says California Department of Education School District Organization Handbook. That is a link to a very helpful resource that CDE has created on this. It does give a lot of the history and it gives goes into more detail than you probably need on a daily basis but it is a very very helpful resource on this because most counties don't deal with this um topic all that frequently. Okay. So what is the role of the county committee on school district organization? Basically you have a couple of main functions. you review and approve proposals to change school district organization, right? So that could be um

071boundaries, that could be trustee area voting. Um you serve as the either the initiator or the coordinator for some of these reorganizational efforts. um you consider petitions that come in for the transfer of territory or to establish or change the district boundaries to create unified districts or even to change potentially trustee areas. So it really comes down to what's in the name. You're in charge of the organization of districts by their geographical area and their governance structure through the trustee voting or the trustee allocation process for all the districts within your county borders. So what does that really mean? So two functions really reorganization and trustee um allocation or trustee changes in trustee um makeup within a district. Reorganization um happens less frequently but it is definitely something that happens and there's essentially they say

072four but it's really three different categories of reorganization. There's territory transfers and this would be basically um when all are part of an existing district is taken and added to a different school district within the county. So for for example um in my district that I reside in San Juan Unified School District it's a rather large district right and so I'm going to use sort of a school site version of this rather than a district site version because they have so many schools within the system and they're constantly adjusting the boundaries and borders of those schools. The transfer of district territory is very similar to the idea of adjusting school district or school boundaries, right? My son's school boundary changes. Seems like every couple years they're shifting like, oh, it's going to be, you know,

073four blocks this way or five blocks this way. And it changes where your district of residency is. Territory transfer on the district side is very similar. Rather than adjusting for a single school though, you're adjusting all of the territory within a district. Um the other thing that is kind of the the combination here is the formation of new districts or unification of districts. Formation could involve a couple of different things. It could be dissolving two or more school districts of the same kind and then reforming them as a single district. So this would be basically like if you were to um combine two elementary school districts, you basically collapse them down and then create a single district that comprises the entirety of the territory of those two prior existing districts. So you take two, you

074can collapse them into one. Uh you can also form districts by taking partial territories. So if you were to say two high school districts and you wanted to create a third high school district because your population was grown, you could take territory from one district and the other and then kind of combine them. So rather than creating a single high school district, you're going, right? So your options are collapsing or expanding by doing the territory transfer and formation of districts. The other thing that happens um which personally I wish would happen in present unifying school districts and this is where you're taking um all or part of a high school district and then all or part of um theater districts and combining them into unified school district. So all your elementaryaries feed into that high

075school. You can also reverse that process um by deunifying the high school and then breaking it out into just a high school union district. And then finally, we have laxations of school districts. This is very similar to if you're going to close a school and we don't have to go through the exact same process, but you do have to go through a pretty strict process of how are we going to dissolve that school district. This typically happens um if you have real low student enrollment or possibly low numbers of voters residing within a district. And if that ends up being the case, then sometimes it's more economical or feasible to dissolve the district and annex that territory into one of the adjacent districts. So that's really what we're talking about in terms ter terms of

076reorganization of the district boundaries themselves. Um it's just changing combining altering where where the boundaries are for your different districts within the county. I'm not going to go into the specific details of how you do this because like I said isn't all that common. If you do find yourself faced with the need to do this, I'm happy to come back and and walk you through that process and assist you with it. But essentially, you have four main components of of any sort of boundary change. There's going to be some form of petition, whether that's initiated by uh voters or could be initiated by the county committee itself. It's going to go through a public hearing process. Specifically, the number of hearings and when they occur and the dates is going to vary on whether or

077not um that petition is initiated by the county committee or by voters. Um it also is going to depend on what kind of transfer or what kind of reorganization you're doing. If it's a territory transfer, for example, you have a hearing and a preliminary hearing. So that that part gets a little bit um specific to what the specific action is and how it was initiated. Then once you have the public hearing process, you've gone through that, you've got all your public input, you as the county committee, the county board, you are going to make a decision on this. Your decision is going to be binding and it's going to be final unless and until it gets appealed. And if it's appealed, that appeal goes to the state board of education. So that is the general

078flow of how your process works for any of those um district reorganization steps. >> Bob, can I ask a quick question about that process? >> Absolutely. Um it's it's been my observation that the petition and the public hearings those are generally done at a district level and then um as a as a consideration of redistricting for um their board members uh trustee areas or something like that and then the decision comes after after they do the the petition in the public hearing and it comes to this body. Is that correct? >> For trustee areas. Yes. So these are more for um >> okay >> this would be for district boundaries. So now like if if you're looking at like a school district is going to change the boundaries of their um where a particular like

079the San Juan Unified example, right? The Rio Americano High School boundaries are going to expand a little bit and the neighboring physical design are going to shrink a little bit, right? Because the population shifts or bus patterns, whatever they need to do. They do that kind of thing at the district level. If you're talking about taking or changing territory of the actual district itself, not the trustee areas, but the district boundaries um and the geographical area that they encompass or the structure of those districts that's done by the county committee. Um but you do have another role which I'm glad you brought that up because that's actually my next slide which is dealing with school district trustee areas. Generally speaking, um districts are have authority to define their trustee areas and their voting methods, right?

080They can select to be an atlarge district um voting by trustee area or some kind of hybrid. That's a district decision. They're required every 10 years to go and look at that after the census and reassess whether or not um their voting patterns are um equitable and legal under the California Voting Rights Act, which you probably all have heard about some of the litigation around that. Often times people get sued or districts will get sued because they um are alleged to have voting districts that are inequitable or somehow discriminatory and that would fall under California Voting Rights Act. Generally that is a district level process. >> They have authority to make those changes in there or bylaws actually will say in there exactly what their voting method is. But sometimes those can be challenged um

081not just under litigation but by a petition. Um and that petition could come directly from the county committee. Right? You could either receive a request or you could initiate a request um to take action to create or to abolish existing trustee areas that does come out of the education code. Voters can also petition to make that change, right? They need at least 10% of the signatures within the district to sort of force the issue to try and change by creating or abolishing specific trustee areas within the district. If either of those happen, that's going to come before the county board or the county commission, excuse me, and then it does end up going to the voters as well. So that's the the role which you play in terms of trusty boundaries within the district. But

082Otherwise what you're saying is is correct. It does happen at the district level and that's where we see it typically. Um, with respect to this process, adjusting the number of trustees really is going to be a matter of population change and and how much a district is growing or shrinking based on attendance and not just attendance but also territory, right? So, if there's been some change to your territory based on your re organization that could also prompt the need to change the number of trustees. Typically, you have three options, right? You're going to three, five, or seven trustees based on the size of the district. Most districts throughout California are actually five member boards. Three member boards are usually for pretty small districts and the only way actually to go down to a three member

083board. Again, there's a whole process and a lot of technical stats involved, but the district itself has to have an average daily attendance in the prior year that fell below 300. So once they've dropped below that 300 threshold, then they could initiate the process or you could initiate the process or the voters could initiate the process to reduce from five trustees down to three trustees. Um that's more we see that sometimes happen but there aren't a huge number of changes in trustee boards like the number of members on a board. With some of the challenges we are seeing across the state in terms of getting people to just run for office. You might see some more pushes to have that happen going forward. But again in order to shrink from five to three you have

084to be you have to hit that 300 student threshold in the preceding year. The other thing that we see happen is the rearranging of trustee areas. This um unlike the other bullets that are listed on here the rearranging of a trustee area only requires 5% of your voters within a district to petition that everything has a 10% threshold, but for rearranging trusty areas, this um again often has to do with the CV, California Voting Rights Act. Every 10 years, you go through that census, you look at where your um your sub populations are living and what the voting trends and patterns are. If it could be established that the voting method um and the voting patterns within a trustee area are somehow discriminatory, then you can face a lawsuit under that. You under the CB,

085the district has an obligation to have uh boundaries, trusty area boundaries and voting boundaries that are not discriminatory. So the public themselves can push for that change on a if they meet that 5% threshold. But most of the time we see this in reaction to either the census data coming out or somebody's gotten sued by a very effective law firm. They've won just about every single one of those suits. So if you do have a district facing that, I would I would counsel them to speak to their attorneys and probably they're going to have to make an adjustment to their voting patterns or trusty areas and voting methods. Okay, so those are sort of all the things that you are responsible for doing. Like I said, they are not things that come up on a

086routine basis, right? It's not like you have a budget to review or an LCAP to do or a regular governance cycle you have to stick to. So, um that changes a little bit of the requirements for what the meetings are. You still have to follow the ground. That's an absolute requirement. And in egg code, it specifically says the county superintendent has to call the initial meeting within 30 days of formation of the county committee. So, the formation of the county committee happened like back in the 90s, right? That has generally happened unless you've, you know, you're one of the non35 counties that the state suddenly decides, hey, you're going to county board now be responsible for this, they would have to hold that initial meeting within 30 days. Absent that 30-day um initial meeting requirement,

087there's nothing in the ED code that specifically says how frequently you have to meet or um what the schedule of those meetings look like. So, it's largely left up to each of the 35 counties or county boards um how they want to go about doing these. For example, Sacramento County um their committee only meets on as needed basis. So they don't have standing meetings at all as opposed to Shasta County where they hold their meetings or it's up to you how you want to go about doing that. Um some of that is going to be driven by your your needs. If you're seeing um large declines in student population or ADA, then that might be something you want to start having meetings and at least quarterly or that kind of thing. Just be aware of

088what's going on and maybe get reports on where where we're at with the different districts. Typically, the larger counties um where they're seeing a lot more fluctuation in population shifts or growth or more dramatic changes, those are the ones that are going to have the meetings more frequently. But as you can see with Sacramento County, right, we don't we don't have regular meetings here within our county. That's only on an as needed basis. So, a lot of flexibility for you guys as a board to decide how you want to go about doing this. Um, I think really with statewide trends in our demographics, our our ADA is shrinking. Most districts are experiencing declining enrollment. Um, and we are seeing and likely will see with some federal changes some shifts from people going students going from

089sort of traditional school district into maybe charter schools or private schools. I don't know how big of a trend that's going to be and how much that's going to impact um district needs and district demographics to the extent that it would require a change. So those are some of the factors to consider looking forward and that's it in a nutshell. It's not a particularly ownorous responsibility until it is and then it gets pretty pretty technical. So definitely um if you guys are facing one of those issues, I would recommend that you either talk to us here at CSBA or in front of our school college legal services. Any questions? [Music] >> Thank you so much for joining us, Bob. >> Of course. Always happy to do it. >> So to be clear, we have no

090issues Um this was not brought up be to get a in front of anything other than we haven't met because we haven't needed to meet but we think it would be a good idea to um schedule two a year just moving forward in October and February or January January January we had talked about October and January and um so that if anybody asks or wonders they it's open to the public can see that and then we would post it with um the board agenda as and it would be a meeting that would immediately follow this regular board meeting. And if there's nothing to discuss, it's going to be a very short meeting. And if there's something that somebody in the public would like to discuss, they at least know when we regularly meet. And if

091there's something that requires that we meet on a month that we're not scheduled to meet, a special board meeting is off is or a special committee meeting is always an option. But we thought it would be good to um remind you since we have new board members that this is also a responsibility that this board holds or a role that board holds holds and give information when we're not under pressure with any impending decision to make. So >> So I went to school in San Juan Unified and it's quite a different environment than what we have here. you know, we have >> we have the maybe the largest county in the state of California with the smallest population and we don't have districts that border one another hardly. And I I don't you know that

092possibly that the the thing I could see happening in this county would be as a consequence of declining enrollment that districts might want to combine in some way or another. Would that fall under this? >> This that would fall under this. Yeah. >> And that that is something that could happen. I have not heard any rumblings of that at all, but um it would um if that were to come up, we'd at least want you to know what role you would play in that. >> Yeah. >> So, we are the county committee. >> We are the county committee. >> Okay. That is it doesn't matter who's on this board. It's this board is that committee. Okay. And so that's why we thought we should get it on the agenda in October and January or get

093sorry get it on our board calendar um so that if anyone were to look or ask and they went to our website they with a couple of searches they could find um meeting times. >> Um I don't think that that's going to lead to anything but it doesn't feel um very um transparent to have this committee. If anyone were to wonder they wouldn't find anything since I've been in office. have not met because we haven't needed to. And while that is lovely to not need to meet, it's not transparent to the public that this committee even exists. So, we thought um it wouldn't necessarily take any time at all um and we could just schedule those meetings um to run immediately after we conclude the board meeting because then you would reconvene as the as

094this committee. >> Okay. >> I found it fascinating. Um Bob you mentioned the some of the district needs across the state sometimes shifting uh perhaps due to enrollment in charter and alternative school uh parent choice choices that are now available. Um do you have any examples that that um that encouraged reorganization of local districts due to that? I I uh think that there has been an increase in alternative choices and I'm curious to pull if you've seen anything that has impacted the districts uh enough to look at that. Um I don't know that there's though there's no state collection of who's of how many students are enrolled in charter schools. Um so I don't know that number. >> Yeah, the data is not is not great on that front. I think more and I'm not

095personally aware of one. I think more what you could see happening is if if you saw a shift in student populations where maybe you have a district in uh neighboring district opens a charter school and suddenly you have a bunch of students who are wanting to transfer out to go to that charter school. That could impact district operations and that and district needs, right? and that could also then influence their boundaries or the need to be unified or not unified or collapse, that kind of thing. So that's kind of where that the charter impact could be. Um, I think given the federal push to have vouchers and more discretion to get students into private institutions could have a similar effect to that. But because a charter school is generally approved within a district, right, there's

096you don't see a huge shift in those uh patterns. Although you definitely can have students going from a district to a neighboring district or even a couple districts away based on charter enrollment. So normally those numbers aren't significant enough to trigger this. But those are the the types of things at this point we're pretty settled right in terms of where our boundaries are, what our districts are unless and until we see some sort of major population shifts. And those are the the big driving factors to climing enrollment and change in enrollment opportunities. >> Thank you, Bob. Any other questions for Bob? >> No, but I have a question for Nicole. Um, do we have anything on our website that >> No, but we will we wanted to get the meetings um so that that will

097we can direct people to to that. >> Perfect. So, I don't know what we'll put up besides the dates. I don't know if we'll put up the link to the handbook. >> There we go. Okay, perfect. >> And there's one particular chapter that specifically chapter 3 that talks a lot about the reorganization and um and I'm only familiar with it because as long as I've been dealing with the board, we have had to meet um as that committee. Um I think it was when um the supervisors changed their map and we their family maps. So, um, it would be I I could put that chapter in the agenda for next month and the October meeting and then that way you guys can take a look at it. >> Right. >> Perfect. >> Thank you. Yeah.

098Said yes, that'd be great. >> It was interesting because >> for what it's worth, um, the Department of Education has given express permission for people to to reproduce and use that handbook. Um, as long as you're giving CD credit for the work they've done. So that's something if you wanted to have a link to that or whatever on your website for the public information that that might be helpful to them as well. >> All right. Okay. All right. Well, thank you, Bob. Thank you, Bob. Bye. Appreciate you joining us. >> You're welcome. >> Thank you. >> Take care. >> Bye. What they were referring to, Nancy, was when they cut part of it was Charlines at the time. I had Pine Mountain and then they redistricted uh that became your or Charlene's at the time

099uh district and then I got a little extra on hotline because both our districts got changed when the soups did that. That's what they were referring to. So it does happen once a month. All righty. Moving on to item 5.2 or MCE human resources July personnel report. Everybody had a chance to look at that. pretty straightforward. Any questions or comments? Well, we have some great new hires. >> And moving on to item 5.3, our Williams quarter quarterly complaint report for 2024 and 2025. We have no complaints of zero. Yay. >> Yay. >> Any comments there? >> No. Okay. >> On that Actually, I do. on that form under where it says quarter reporting period. There's a couple of things that you could check. It says check which which applies. Do we need to check any

100of those? >> Hold on. I want to let me look at what you're looking at. Um >> they should be the um checking no complaints file, but then it's the data at the bottom is showing that there's no complaints. >> Gotcha. Okay. Um, and for the public that this is not that no one in our agency has received a complaint about anything, but rather we have not received Williams complaints and that's what we're required to report to this board and report publicly. >> Okay. >> And we don't receive a ton of complaints in general anyway, but certainly not Williams um regarding facilities and materials and teacher teacher assignment. >> It's a good thing. >> Yes. Very important. Any more questions? Moving on to item 5.4, our services report with Dr. Nicole Liddell, assistant superintendent. So,

101there's a few things I'd like to just highlight. Um, we are in receipt of two grants um since we last met. The first is for the She didn't spell it out. LCSSP. It's a learning um it's a chronic absenteeism grant. We were awarded previously and we're at the end of that and they open a new cohort and we have been awarded $851,100 um in consortium with several of our districts and charters and that's how we fund part of our naturalist and doing outdoor ed and to getting kids outside of the school and with science and all the things so that they're excited to be coming to school. We also applied for and Rebecca Bailey, Dr. Rebecca Bailey received a $50,000 award um from AIEDU to do a rural and indigenous community catalyst. We were one

102of the few um that received the grant, one of 18 agencies and the only one in California. So, we're super proud of that fact and I wanted to point that out. And then uh Simri Thomasu and I applied to go to English learner advoc advocacy institute that's being held in November by California's Together and we were selected to attend and it'll be a 4-day institute on doing English learner advocacy and it's partnered across California. So we're very excited about going except that it's on Veterans Day weekend. So we're giving up our holiday weekend. Um, and then one of our big things that we did this summer, which we had several, was also breakthrough coaching. Um, and I'd like to thank Veronica Baser for um, helping us with that. And we brought in a lot of

103our team as well as our district teams. And basically that brings in the administrator and their admin support. and they learn how to work together and how to streamline processes so that administrators can be out doing the work they need to do in classrooms or um for us it looks a little different but out watching our trainings coaching our staff and I think it was very successful we've seen lots of changes and things going on here as well in our our districts again um with admin cleaning out their offices and figuring out how can they be in classrooms for at least two days a week where they're fully committed. So those are some of some of the exciting things that are happening but you can see that there's many more including that our MCOE schools

104all our staff are back today for their per first day of professional learning. >> Thank you very much. Any comments or questions? >> Right. Moving on to item 5.5 business and admin services report with Heather Rantula superintendent. Um I'm just going to highlight a few things. Um our fiscal teams both internal and external are you know gearing up for closing the books. We're reviewing the adopted budgets um for the districts and also their um their hubs and those um our letters have to be out you know approving those by September 15th. So we'll work in conjunction with Ed services on those. um in it. They've been really busy the last um well pretty much all summer and still going. Um they've been working on - projects which includes like phones and cameras and some different

105um equipment um at Potter Valley through Rivers Charter Manchester and I know they're going to be starting in Leonville I believe this week. Um we are you know gearing up all the student um records in our student information system for the new school year. Um actually they are pretty much already set up and um doing the CalPAD's end of year report which includes our own schools but also the oversight and kind of helping facilitate that for the districts and charter schools. I'm happy to report that all of them were able to um certify their end of year reporting by Friday, which is really good because if they did not, it would automatically throw them into um differentiated assistance. Um and then on in the maintenance world, um there's always lots of projects going on there.

106Um trying to wrap everything up before kids get back. Um, and one thing I wanted to note is we are working with the California Department of Education on um, kind of building capacity within the districts and our own staff to um, learn more about how to um, do facility needs assessments and various things that would um, generally a small school especially would have to go out and hire a really expensive contractor or a consultant to put together like facilities master plans and some various things. So, we're going to be the CDE team is going to be working with us and we're going to be doing site visits at our schools that are eligible for this criteria. Um, and then we are going to take that same criteria and we're going to apply that to the

107schools who would like for us to help them but don't necessarily meet the criteria. Um, and then we've also invited a couple of our neighboring districts, I mean counties to come in and um observe what we're doing in case they want to also look at doing this within their counties. um really just kind of an initiative to help support the small schools. So, and I think um the only other thing is um as we look for grants, we're looking for grants for our own facilities and things, but we're also looking for um ones that might be um might be of interest to some of our districts and charter schools. Um and one thing that we're going to be bringing back to you next month just for information um is around solar. Um, and that's because

108the with the big beautiful bill, the IRA tax credits goes away. Um, and while we've been applying for different grants to help offset costs, um, it's a really small chance of of getting those grants. So, we're kind of looking at two options of do we just keep going after grants and hope that we're going to get something um, at least partially funded or do we look at, you know, utilizing those IRA tax credits and knowing we're going to get 30 to 50% of a discount. Um, so we will be bringing more information to you next month. That's it. Any questions for you? That was a lot. Um, moving on to item 5.6, superintendent's report, the district updates with our superintendent. >> Yes, it's been a long time since we've met. Um, and a lot of

109activity this summer. Just to highlight a few things. um uh our risk manager uh Kylie Heath back she and I back in June um participated in the menino county emergency operation exercise um and I I can't remember if I shared that but I want to share that because it's um wonderful that county included us just to observe what they do so that in the event of an emergency we have an idea of what's going on and and um can better understand what the county will be doing and what our role is. So that's was very helpful. Um we um a Potter Valley Community Unified School District is um their superintendent is um taking a job outside the county. Um and I think his last day in his position is this Friday. Um so given the

110the that is terrible timing to lose a superintendent. So we've been helping Potter Valley. Um so we have hired an interim superintendent for them, a part-time interim superintendent. The intention is that that person uh will be in that position um through the end of the school year and and then that that district will pay us back. Once they approve the agreement, which will go before their board um Wednesday night, I'll be there to present that. Once they approve that, then they will reimburse MCOE for the cost of that superintendent. Um the reason why we did that is because um it is very it's relatively easy for me because I I have the hiring authority in this agency. The process to hire super interimm superintendent for me can be relatively quick um compared to what it

111requires for a district. Um and then of course in an agreement like that we we did a similar thing for Leot, you may have may recall a couple of years ago. um the district can e exit that agreement at any time that they feel like it's not working out and we're under no commitment with that employee um to continue working with or for them to be um remain in paid status. They are it's a kind of easy in easy out agreement. Um well for government work it's pretty easy in relatively speaking easy in and easy out. and Brian Barrett, who's a retired um principal and um um assistant superintendent from um UKIA Unified, has agreed to and take that on. Um besides Brian Barrett as a part-time interim superintendent um there are two other superintendents

112uh new new in our county, Willlets, John Baker um for Willlets Unified and then Hillary Magel for Leot Valley Unified. So, three new superintendents in our county this year. Um, this summer, the Menino County Family and Children's Services and the Juvenile Probation um did a held a partner convening um to share ideas on how to improve outcomes for children and families um that they serve and and we MCOE was invited as a representative for education, but in particular because we also um serve some of the same students in our allad school in Juno Hall. Um and that was part of their uh the California child and family review system require um requires I'm sorry in response to the child welfare system improvement act improvement and accountability act which is an old act. This is something

113that they do periodically. Um it was really well done um and full the the the providers in the room um had a lot of I think insight. Um there are some people who have um come through the system um who shared their experiences and areas where they felt like they were um supported and areas where they felt that they were failed by the system. And so it was really um a pretty raw and very um helpful um um convening. Um during the summer there is a lot of professional development that goes on and when I say a lot I mean a lot a lot a lot. Um I'm going to highlight two conferences that we do, but there is a lot. Um, uh, and I think some of the others were listed, I think, in

114the written report from Dr. Adele, but, um, annually we put on what's called the PAC 6 conference. That's a conference, um, for county office educators from our region, um, which is Delort, uh, Humbult, Sonoma, Lake, and Menesino. And then Napa County also joins us. And we, this has been going on for a really long time. Um, and some of these names may not mean a bunch to you, but in the education world, they're kind of a big deal. Um, we had Teryn Fenders, um, who's the chief client service for, um, a a law firm called F3. We had Patty Herrera from School Services of California. She's kind of a big deal. Um, our keynote speaker was Ken Shelton, who's the author of Promises and Perils of AI and Education: Ethics and Equity have entered the

115chat. um because we focused on AI and communications and um so as a keynote he um there was a lot of eye openening um in that in that keynote address. Um we also had Dr. Louise Gansler Gansler from who's the assistant superintendent from Sonoma County Office of Ed and and how they're using AI for threat assessments for student safety issues. And then Caitlyn Schwinman and Deborah Sanders from school and college legal services gave legal updates with a focus on AI. Um and then we were also joined virtually but nonetheless they took the time to come. Um state superintendent Tony Thurman um attended the conference virtually as did California Senate President Proemp U Mike Maguire. And so it was we were really honored that they would make time um to put their face in front of

116ours. We really want to make sure that they remember the needs of our um rural Northern California counties. So um that was an outstanding conference. And um additionally, we do our Menino County Superintendence Conference. Um it's been a while since it's been held in August, but the superintendent wanted it to be held earlier um than October where we've held it the last couple of years. And that was also an outstanding conference. We had Yuri Calderon, who's the executive director of Small School Districts Association, came and present, and Dr. Joel Raven, who's the founder and CEO of Informed to Inspire. And then Caitlyn Schwinman and Deborah Sanders from School of College came. Um and that the focus of that conference was also AI um with more of a specific focus on how um how the superintendent

117can use AI um not how to use it in the classroom. There's a lot of AI there's a lot of trainings on AI out there going on but um we really wanted to get something specific to school leaders on how to use AI um things to keep in mind regarding the use of AI um how to use it responsibly and with a mind with an eye for looking um for where a AI has um equity um concerns because there are many um AI is such a useful tool and really only as good as the information that it's given and um and learning how to ask the right question to get the right answer and then also learning how to really look at what what AI produces whatever the tool what it produces with a discernment

118to determine is this valid because as you may have heard um AI hallucinates sometimes and creates things that you that that it thinks you want to hear rather than >> what actually you know what is based on fact And so, um, there's a lot of things to consider with that. And so, um, there's been a lot of learning in AI this summer, which is, um, has been great, but also, um, a little bit nerve-wracking. Uh, so that concludes my report of some of the things that I've been up to this summer. >> So, I had one question. These new superintendents, when they come in, does does the county do anything to help orient them into their new jobs? >> We do. Um so uh the the conference is uh one way you having to meet

119the other superintendent that connection with the other superintendents is a um super super important um and then I I we all connect with them um in various ways and talk to them about things like um working with their board um their evaluation. All of them come in with um different levels of experience. Um but then we also have offered um we do exe or I do executive coaching and some of our cabinet level team does executive coaching with a local person called Jendi Corsy with Corsy Communications. Um when I had never done executive coaching and she's not a former administrator. She's a coach and she kind of pulls out of you what you already know. And when I after I had met with her for a couple months, I realized if I had had that

120sort of coaching when I had been a superintendent, it would have probably been a game changer for me. So, we've increased um our our um our time with Gendy so that any superintendent who wants to work with her can up to a certain number of hours. The more it's used, the fewer hours each individual can use. But we kind of want to get them hooked on it because I think then if it's something that they their district could also pay for. It's really hard for a new superintendent to say to the board, I'd like, >> you know, this however many thousands of dollars to support me in this in my success here. That's an awkward conversation to have. And so, um, that's one of the things that we've done because I really think if if

121we can help fund that, it might, um, make them more likely to use it because they won't have to there's no obligation to use it. They don't have to report how many hours they've used. Nothing's reported to me other than how many hours have been used so that we can pay the bill. >> So, and we do some other things. All of our It really depends on what knowledge they bring. If they have a strong background in ED services, they're probably going to need more support in the BIS business side and vice versa. >> And then do they have any overlap with the superintendent who's leading? >> It really depends. And that's all at the district's. It's all at the district level. Yeah. >> And and in this case, Leot had some good overlap and

122Will Oh, as did Willlets actually. And and even in Potter Valley with this untimely departure of the superintendent, there has um u while Brian's not being approved by their board until um till Wednesday. We were able to get him on board starting August 1st. So since then, I'm not sure how many hours or how many days, but since then, he's been able to work with the outgoing superintendent, which was a big reason for us to hire them so that they could so that he could do that and just get going. >> Yeah, >> that's great. Is Brian a relative of Caroline? >> Yes, Carolyn is his mom and she was a retired administrative as well, but she was also hired as an interim principal in Potter Valley. So >> she was my children's principal in

123River Valley. >> Yes. So, she's got a lot of connections as well. >> Love her. >> Yeah. Great family. >> Well, thank you so much, Nicole. That's I love the AI hallucinates that I think that GBT does that you want to hear. >> Yeah. >> Interesting. All righty. Well, we will move on to item 5.7, our board member reports. >> Um, who wants to start? Should we start with Nancy and go down the line? >> Sure. Sure. >> Uh I just have a really quick report. Um Sunday the 17th I'm attending an ACCBE um strategy summit. Um so I think this is their first that they're putting on and ACCBE stands for Association of California County Boards of Education. Um so I'm really excited to uh attend that. >> We're excited to have Thank you.

124>> what you learned. Yes. >> Well, as you might remember, I'm on the housing committee and we get all of these emails all the time about different districts. I think down there in San Jose, they've actually developed some housing and then there's different trainings and I'm sort of feeling the need for more training on that. I don't exactly I mean, you know, how do how do you bring more housing into county? It's not not an easy thing to do. But yet, uh I know in over on the coast, it's just critical because it's become, you know, real estate has become so expensive. We had young teachers leave because they said they would never own a house there. And so I just, you know, I see a real need for it, particularly on the coast. And

125so again, somewhere along the line, Nicole, if you see anything you you think is really important for us in our situation, let me know. >> I've attended um some of the meetings as well, and it does seem like much of it is um it's geared toward districts. >> Yeah. Yeah. And then, you know, the other thing, too, is they seem to be building apartments. And I don't I don't think an apartment keeps a teacher in the district. You know, one of those young teachers that was leaving our district and he was really a good teacher and I just hated to see him leave. But, you know, he had a place he had an apartment and nice one up the road for me. He he was ambitious. He would ride his school his bicycle to school

126and everything, but he left. He said, "Because I'll never be able to own a home here." So apartments don't necessarily solve the problem, I don't think. >> No, it's a it's such a crisis with the housing crisis here in California. It's so cost prohibitive. So many people >> apartments are a good foot in the door to save money. And then again, there's quite a few districts that have extra property and but again, how do you how do you legally integrate that into into housing for teachers is not a simple thing to do either. >> I'm right there with you, Don. >> Yeah. >> Ideally, we would raise all their salaries. >> Yeah. >> So they could afford the homes here. There's an interesting community right down the road from me called the woods. And it's

127kind of interesting because the the land is owned communally. They don't own the land. They just own the house in there. So that's sort of an interesting structure where you know the teacher could own a house on school district property but they wouldn't necessarily own the property I think. And then of course they would be required to sell it to another teacher. I would think you know you could set all that out in legal terms but not buying the land saves a lot of money. >> That's true. >> Thank you. Don you >> um very short and brief. Uh let's see. I joined the PCCY which is the county policy council on children and youth. Um, and that uh I went to one two meetings so far, but the committee addresses a policy and coalition

128building for the well-being of youth. Um, Nicole also serves on the committee and um there's a little little it's not super clear the direction. So, I think that's what the council is gauging right now, the direction, but what was positive to hear is that um just a lot of overlap with our work, but Lake County is doing a really good job on utilizing that council to push things forward in the county because there's a lot of um leaders from different agencies that sit on that council. So, that's a good thing. Um and I think they're bringing in a consultant to help drive that process. So, that's one update. Um what I think is relevant in terms of my service on JD PP JDPCY the juvenile justice and delinquency prevention commission for the county is um

129we approved an informal survey for one of the commissioners to give a survey to youth about why they're not going to school over the summer and this particular commissioner um volunteered to do it at some of the big times over the summer. So, we didn't hear back from them this month, but next month I look forward to seeing what that data brought in and and how um we can gain insight as well because I think there's some overlap with our schools. And besides that, I look forward to the upcoming events that I reported in previous reports about the CSBA um summits coming up in September, just around the corner now. Um, other than that, I look forward to some of the new events that you know Cole will share on the list for us to

130attend together. >> Thank you, Priscilla. Um, I'm short and sweet as well being August. Um, I took a couple ethics trainings, one on for my other job and one the one that required for us now every two years. Um, and I too am looking forward to our September conference. >> That ought to be awesome. It's coming quick, right around the corner. And um with that, I'd like to move to item 7.1, our next board meeting and public hearing, Monday, September 8th, 2025. And item 7.2 is adjournment. If anybody would like to make a motion, I move that we adjourn the meeting. >> Thank you. >> Second. All in favor? Thank you everybody. Great meeting.