001[Music] Heat. Heat. N. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Hey, hey, hey. Heat. Heat. [Music] Hey, hey, hey. [Music] Heat. Hey, Heat. [Music] I love everybody. [Music] Heat. Heat. N. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] by the [Music] Lack of [Music] And I'm like freezing all all day. It's not me. It's not cold. I'm looking at her. She's like, I'm cold. and I'm like zipping up and going to like 3:30. Okay, there we go. That is true. I'd like to call the Mesina County Office of Education May 2025 regular board meeting to order. Um item 1.1 call to order and flag salute. [Music] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Item 1.2. We
002can adopt our agenda. Do I have a motion? I to adopt the agenda. I'll second. All in favor? I. So move uh item 1.3 public participations. Do we have any? [Music] Okay. No publication. Thank you. Moving on to our consent agenda. Um we going to adopt that all as one. Yes. Um do we have a motion to adopt our consent agenda? I'll make a motion that we moved or we approved the consent agenda. Do I have a second? I'll second it. All in favor? I. So moved. Item 313233 approved. Moving on to item 4.1, consideration of board member renumeration for this meeting. Uh we've got all had a chance to read the bylaw and then our um resolution. Um Nicole, did you want to explain this? Sure. Um so as you will recall last month
003we were in uh we held our meeting at South Valley in Mukaya and um so the evening prior to our board meeting um Trustee Hutcherson sent a text to me um saying that she was still at a state science fair. She was hired as a judge so she had to stay longer than expected. Um there were two bullet students who won awards of note. Um she sent an email uh with her board report that was read at the meeting. I read it at the meeting. um and she was willing to participate by Zoom but as you know we are offsite we have not put on Zoom and so that wasn't an option for her so that's the information that I have for you okay so what we need to do is discuss whether our applicable
004boxes have been checked performance of designated duty for the county board during the time of the meeting. Illness or jury duty, hardship deemed acceptable by the board. That is our job before us board. Do we have any um discussion on this? I know everybody's tired. I feel like I was operating under the duties of the board. I mean, I was um I was a parent of a student that was going down there. I'm not going to lie, my child was one of the 10 that attended. Um, as I was there, I was planning on interviewing the 10 students that had attended the um, state fair from Mendescino County um, as part of my radio show and general communication to the public. Um, when I was getting my press pass, they were obviously low on judges.
005They asked if I would judge. I agreed to. Um, it did require that I stay longer because I had to be part of the um the um ceremony which I hadn't planned on staying for and so that is why I didn't make it back to be part of the meeting the next day. Right. I I understand that. That's um So, but you didn't go on board or official board business. If it was official board business, then we'd be renumerating for that trip, too. That's my thing about if we Right. I thought it should, you know, to done, Michelle. If we approve that it was board business, then we're approving a trip, too. That's my thing with it. We say if we agree it's a board, that's my own that's my only caveat. If we say
006it was board business, then then all of the board would have been invited to the science fair and getting the trip. I'm not asking for money. I know. I know. So, well, then maybe it's hardship. It was a hardship as a parent. I had to support my child. Um, and I think that's acceptable. So, it's what you all choose to do with it. I'm one vote. I would support any of you in that situation. I have a couple of questions um for you, Michelle. Was it a paid um position that you filled as being a judge? 100% volunteer. And then a question for Nicole. I was looking at our our board policy and it referred to, let me see if I can pull it up, ed code 1090 1096 for stipens and expenses. And it
007mentioned working uh for or representing the board of education, but it doesn't really give examples. Is there some sort of a checklist of like how do we really prove that we are representing our board? So that would be something where the um the board um selects like hey we'd like to send a board member to go attend this or to be part of this meeting or something like that. It would be something that the board board discusses and then either takes action on or gives kind of like a general discussion about or um but you usually would be by taking action to appoint someone to represent you on a on a board or committee or something like that. Okay. Or going on seminars or seminars is different. They're not necessarily representing but it is still
008board business that so that's certainly true. So if if there was a say a CSB conference that conflicted with a board meeting I think arguably That would be business. I I kind of feel like there's there's sort of a general good that comes out of board members being out there and participating in student activities. It should be encouraged. That's my opinion. I have a clarifying question. Thank you for your question, Nancy. Um when that's done, is it usually done ahead of time? And that's something that the um board agrees that that's and that we'll do in the board and then the invitation to all board members. Um I think um a board appointment to a committee would certainly be done ahead of time. I think a board member attending a training that is also done
009ahead of time. You don't the um the decision to attend something. You might not have learned about it with much advanced notice. Um, but the notification of attending something like that is usually I mean we have always known when a board member is going to a training they they tell us I'm going to attend a training. Um, and there's nothing written down that says that they have to. Um, usually if there if there's um a registration fee, we're obviously involved because they're not expected to pay for that and then um our staff will sign them up. Um, so it's never really I can't think of an occasion where it comes up that we're after the fact dealing with an absence per se for something like that. It has it I can't think of time that's
010come up. So if it's not within the performance designated duty of the board, it still I think falls under hardship in the fact that I was operating as a parent bringing my child to the state. um science fair. Um I have a question about that, Michelle. Um was there you you knew you were going to attend the the event ahead of time. First of all, I agree with people that um these things are beneficial to represent. Um, but if we were going to designate hardship, was that what was the what was the hardship? I'm making very complicated question. The um travel to be able to to return in time to make the meeting. The fair was on Sunday. Our county board meeting was at 10:00 on Monday. So, it's I didn't have the ability to
011attend the full fair and be able to be back here on time without driving all night long and not sleeping. Was there the opportunity to to plan ahead for that in terms of notifying our board that you wouldn't be present? I Well, yes. And yes, I did notify our board when I as soon as I realized I couldn't be present, I notified the superintendent. Is that because you're asked to do the the extra judging? Is that what changed? Otherwise, you would have Yes. Although had my child placed, I wouldn't have been able to make the board meeting either. So we were playing it by ear um because I really was trying to make the meeting. So there would have been a hardship too had he placed. I would have had to stay for the award
012ceremony for that too. He didn't place but I had the obligation to stay because I had agreed to judge for the judge purpose. So how how do we proceed? either we someone um someone will present us a motion for um for approving the hardship deemed acceptable by the county board or not a motion and if we don't have a motion then it doesn't I think the motion would be to um pass resolution um 25.5.1 identifying whichever one of the um reasons that the the person making the motion wants to Am I allowed to make a motion? Yes. I We learned if I make the motion, then I have to hand the gavl over to Don. So, I'm not making a motion. I'll let someone else do that for you. Well, I'll make a motion that
013we at least take a vote on approving commemoration and um can you identify the reason because we'll have to identify that in the in the resolution. Uh my reason would be that it's legitimate representation of our board and business of our board to go to the student activities. But it's not on here. You have to pick one of the three. The hard the hardship one is what she's I think. So, performance of designation. I think the first one is probably the one that you're identifying. Yeah. Yeah. Performance of designated duties during the time of meeting. Yeah. Okay. So, we have a motion to approve um the resolution 25.5.1 for the first reason performance of designated duties for the category during the time of the meeting. I'll second it. We have a second. All in favor
014say I. I. And I. Three eyes. Um Yolanda. Were you were able to get the eyes on that? Yes. Okay. Okay. Motion passes. But you you also have to um I would recommend that you ask for the Naz as well. So because it would be those that do Sure. Sure. It's either by May or or no Michelle. Yes. Don. Yes. Yes. All righty. Moving on to item 4.2 or to consider becoming members of the Association of California County Board of Education, ACCE. I'm sure we've all had time to read about this. And the president is very dynamic. Met her in Anaheim. Vina Luckitz. Does anyone have any strong opinions on this? I move that we join. Second. Can I ask a question? Absolutely. I assume there's more dues to pay on. How much? $1,375 annually
015for the entire board. It's not per board member. It's for the board as a as a body. Then I sort of wonder what do they offer other than the organization we're already going to pay that money. We should get something extra for it. we sent some resources, but um what I beyond reviewing the resources that were sent, I believe that it's really important for our board to diversify our resources in terms of um what's available to us to develop one our individual leadership as board members and then two resources as a board constituency. Um, what I got from the materials that I've reviewed on is that this body is interested in developing specifically county boards of education or or or providing resources I shouldn't say developing but providing resources for county boards of education. Um,
016CSBA I apologize I always get back wrong. I'll get it right eventually. know what you mean is that they you know they provide resources which is great a host of different types of boards county boards being one um I also believe that the perspectives that um ACCBE brings is really unique only dealing with county boards of education um I started to inquire about what that looks like I'll share more in my in my board report but I believe that they can um help diversify those resources for our board and also um they had um some advocacy opportunities as well. Yeah. Okay, that sounds good. Yeah, I remember Larry dug deep into this too. Don't they offer a little legal representation? No, that is for advice. Not yet. I They may at some point, but that's
017one thing that in particular we asked about. They they do not do that. I think that they would like to at some point. Yeah. Yeah. If I can add um the you know I look at CSBA is support of our school districts. I see that sort of as like the House of Representatives problem and some of the issues with CSBA from a rural schools perspective is that if you bring a a perspective up that might make the um non rural part of the state a little upset. You got you got to dance that delicately because you need their votes to get anything forward. Whereas when you look at county board representative across the state, it's really equivalent to a senate because every single county has five to seven board members that are represented. And so
018it's not just the popular parts or the population area of the state that gets majority of the people. It's equitable is equal across our state. And so it really I think it's a really important um advocacy effort for rural schools to have a county board um um association that's specific for us because we hold a different level of power across the state if given it. When we're part of CSBA, we're like another region and we're down here at the bottom of the regions and kind of like this pain for get us off like you know it's not really part of the organization whereas so I think it's pretty important that we support it personally. Another good reason. Thank you. And we can always back out and not be not joining. It's not something we're committing
019to if we find we don't benefit from. I think anything where we can network and have advocacy for board members is is good. I'm not sure about their events. Um I should know more, but it was about a year ago when I sat with her. She came and sat and had a breakfast with me at the Anaheim convention, introduced herself, and she's in my phone. She said she's very, very pushy. She'll be really happy that we're talking about it today. So, do we have any more questions or comments? And we have a first and a second. Um, so all in favor? I any opposed? Nope. We are joining. Thank you everybody. That was a a tough a tough one when we've had so much thought all day, so much deep thought. Item 4.3, our school
020plan for student achievement. Nicole, can you describe a little bit of why this is coming back? Yes. So, this is you've seen before. Um, last year we were under federal program monitoring and with that there's pieces that they look over for our school plan for student achievement as well as the composition of the school site council and they had some findings that we had to go back and um fix. So in Or Creek in our community schools with the population students we have there families come in and out a lot. So, it's very hard to maintain a school site council that has the proper ratio of parents and community members to staff. And so, we had to go through a process of getting that aligned and then have them vote on their school site plan.
021So, we have now met all the requirements for federal program monitoring and all those pieces. And the final piece is just to bring the SIPA back for your approval. So, um, it's just aligning all the pieces and making sure that we're ready to go forward. Thank you. Do we have any questions for Dr. Nicole before we entertain a motion? What were the key pieces that we were in compliance with that we have met now? Sure. Um, one of the pieces was really that we had the right ratio of parents um to uh and community members to staff. Um, one of the problems usually with school site councils is you have more staff and um, teachers w willing than you have parents. And with our staffing that's coming in and out um, staffing our parents coming
022in and out, we have they have to be willing to come to the meetings as well as to maintain. And we had a couple hurdles this year. Um, unfortunately we had a parent pass away that was on the board that changed it. Then we had to redo it again. we had to have all the paperwork in place and that was one of the major hurdles. Um Chris Francis can talk about maybe some of the others as well. I can. Um so we worked pretty hard getting the plan back together. Um we actually did a really good job of getting um uh uh council members uh and um we we we have so uh part of the findings that we had for the uh the SPSA uh were that um the uh school site council representation
023that was one um the ballots from which they needed to be used uh that to get participation three um the budgeting um numbers uh into the plan um four um the um uh communication and discussion of the uh metrics and the data that we're using to measure whether or not our actions are um are being effective or not. Um and then having that input from the board in order to be able to do it. So, you know, um we went through a couple different iterations with it. We worked pretty closely with um the the California Department of Ed. Um the composition of our of our board, our our schoolside council uh shifted several times throughout the year, but we're able to field a president, a vice president, and a secretary. Um which we're very happy
024about. Um and just, you know, we have about 17 students in total. So, three guardian or community members is a big percentage of the total population. Um but we we were able to to to make our practice better. Um so we generated some uh really good um agendas. Um we put some protocols and procedures in place uh to reach out and communicate with people. Um and um it was a hard process u but overall I feel really good about it and and um and those are some of the areas that we had to address specifically. Thank you. Any more questions? All right. So, we need to reapprove this since we made changes. Do we have a motion? A motion to approve. A second. All in favor? I. 5.2 carries. Moving on to item 6.1 with
025our school student representative. Hi. Hi. [Music] Um, well, I was I was going to say good morning, but not good morning. Um, I don't know. I guess we our general updates, we just had like CPR training. So, most I think most the good majority of the kids got um CPR certified. and we went up to the college the other day to get plants and we're making a garden or we're growing a garden to to enter in this salsa contest. Um what else? Um um about like groups and activities that we have at school. I mean, we have like CCR groups with Kenan and with Amanda and substance group with Amanda and on Fridays we have like a arts and crafts like um a free period at the end of the day. We just get to
026relax. Um some kids we we got we have dojo which is a keto kids go and doing a keido or they can do yoga or mindfulness on Wednesdays. Um and we have art also on Wednesdays with Lonnie who also goes into other schools and um teaches art which kids really enjoy that. Hold on. That's what I want to say. I have a question for you. Yeah. Can you bring some of your salsa after it's grown? Yeah. There's nothing better than fresh salsa. Yeah, we will. Did you guys get um the onions and garlic as well or just tomatoes and peppers? Right now it's not the time to grow onions, which has already passed, but um I think Miss K got some onions, but um we have cilantro, um srano peppers. I think we got like
027two two tomato plants. Um, we got some flowers in there. [Music] Strawberries. What else? But yeah, nice. So, the cilantro, mine's already starting to try and go to seed, so keep clipping it back. Yeah, because by the time the tomatoes are ready, the cilantro's peeled over. Yeah. I end up having to buy cilantro and it's so frustrating. Well, good for you guys. That's great. Okay. Any other questions? Okay, we'll move on to item 6.2. 5.2, I think. I'm sorry. Am I on? Oh. Oh, I jumped to six. Yeah, but you But it's the right report. Just the wrong number, too. Okay. Well, I did I didn't do 5.1. She skipped. I skipped five alto together. All right. That's why I my 5.1 says student representative report. Oh yeah. Oh interesting. Mine doesn't. My 5.1 is
028the news release MCE launches free CNA program to expand local medical which is really okay. Yours is never happened to us before. So, did anyone have any comments about our CNA program? Besides, it's very exciting. If you know instructors, we're still looking for an instructor. All right. If there's no comments, I'm going to move on to item 5.2, two presentation of the annual state preschool program self evaluation the PSSE with Christine Hilled agenda I I don't know you got a different agenda um yeah the po the publicly posted agenda is different than what's printed very strange thing okay well hello and I came to see you guys about this time last year for the same reason but I have some different things to tell you this year my name is Kristen Hills I'm the director
029of the early education and care department here at MCOE. And um one of the biggest pieces of our department is that we have a consortium of 17 state preschools all throughout the county. Uh every year we need to complete the annual self-evaluation and we uh like to present our findings to the board and also to staff. um it doesn't need to be approved but it's just part of the uh cycle of continuous improvement that we always um try to uh continue with in in ed services. So and here you will see a visual representation of that process. It's just like we follow with teaching and everything else. We we uh gather data, we analyze it, we uh model and plan and then we take action to address any shortcomings. Um the the program self-evaluation is
030due in June every year. Uh it has 24 areas that are measured and um it's quite extensive. It's actually the same tool that they would use if they come out to do a review from CDE and they ask us to perform that annually um on our own contract and so we do. And next slide. Thank you. These are the different areas. So, um they're sort of grouped together. We have one uh section on family files, another section on family engagement and strengthening, um one on uh program quality, one on administrative, and one on fiscal and audit. So, I'll go into each of those in a little more detail here for you and talk about what changes are coming for um next year. So, uh, this was our first year of centralized enrollment, which was wonderful.
031Um, the they used to enroll at each school site, and now we do all of this of the enrollment here out of our office. Um, we have found that teachers have more time for um, planning activities and and meeting with families and and doing the work that teachers should be doing instead of uh, chasing after state paperwork. So, we have some room for that. We also um have better access to data now because all of the family files are with us and they're all in one system which is great and all digital digitalized as well. Uh we also added a a multilingual family liaison which improved access for Spanish speaking families. So in the in the beginning of the year we had uh when Spanish speaking families reached out we needed to find a translator
032and now we have someone in house and uh they can just call and talk to somebody like anybody else which is how it should be. So, um really happy to add Jose to our team and uh he's also providing in-house translation of our forms in Spanish, which again we could do before and send it out and pay for a service, but now we have somebody who you could ask him and it's back to you the same day. It's lovely. Next year, we're very excited to be adding full day services at Townidge. And when I say full day, I mean full day. We're going to be offering 7:30 to 5:30 for um preschool here at Townidge. Uh there is another uh component. Families have to demonstrate need in addition to being eligible. So they have to
033either be working, looking for a job in school or attending training or being capacitated in some way. Um there are fees possible for the very highest income families, but they're very small. And the maximum a family would pay is $80 a month. And that only applies to families that would be at the state union income or at um median 100% of that or higher. So really very few families wind up paying fees and our billing system is also included in the um enrollment uh database that we have called hub. So everything is good there family files family engagement um again adding our multilingual family leaison was a was a great move. Um, we've had more cross collaboration in the last year I feel like within MCOE. Part of that is due to the P3 initiative
034that is asking us to collaborate more with ED services. Um, and also uh we have the arts family engagement grants that we did. we uh prop uh 28 provided uh money to schools for visual performing arts and we built a family engagement component into that and so our sites could apply for those funds and get up to $3,500 to do like a family engagement event around um visual performing arts. So that was been great. And then um next year again, we really think we're responding to families with the full day services to accommodate working families and it hoping that it will be a model for all of our subcontracting sites if they're interested in offering full day services at their sites as well. The way our consortium works for our new board members, we are
035the lead educational agency for all of the 17 sites, but we subcontract with school districts, with the charter school, and with the community based organization of Fort Bragg. They um provide the facilities and they employ the staff, but all of the program requirements fall under MCOE. So, we provide the training, all the site leads come to us once a month. Um, anyway, just to give you a little background. Um, we're also collaborating a lot more with First Five, which is exciting as they become also in addition to being a family resource center, they're now a family empowerment center. Um, which supports families who have children with IFSPs and IEPs. Um, and we're going to be doing some um, Spark training with our department staff, which is a DEI company who has been doing some work
036with MCE. Very excited to dive deeper into that in our department. Next one, please. So, program quality. This is the the the real meat of the um review here. This has all of our um assessments that we do for children, assessments on the program, a lot of the supports that we provide for professional development. Uh some changes this year we moved away and this was the state not us from eers which you may have heard of is early childhood eers early childhood uh environmental rating scale and they changed it to class. So class is a is a rating system by Vanderbilt and it's really focused more on teacher child interactions instead of materials in your classroom. So it's really in those little teaching moments that you have somebody there for three hours and they are
037assessing that rather than a checklist of things. Do you have this in your classroom? Do you have that in your classroom? Um and so part of part of responding to that is adoption of teaching pyramid which is a social emotional framework that addresses uh behaviors that challenge adults. We have uh adopted that as sort of a formal framework. Most of our sites have been through it. We're doing a coast cohort next year for our sites out there. And we also are co contracting with an early childhood mental health consultant. So we have a whole um suite of procedures and policies for students who need additional support. But that was another sort of last resort um option for us to use somebody um outside of our support system in our department, outside of asking Sela, outside
038of asking district staff. She comes in from outside. She's willing to meet with families and um has been really helpful for some of those kids with with who've been having a really hard time. Next year we are um making some changes to uh improve quality. Now that we're serving mostly three-year-olds with the advent of TK, we are changing our class sizes. So right now we have a max of 24. We're going to reduce that to 16. Our ratio is uh required still to be 1 to8. But because we're serving more three-year-olds, we are going to adopt internally a 1:6 adult child ratio to have more uh adults in the room with children. So we'll instead of we'll have three staff with 16 instead of three staff with 24. Um, I mentioned teaching pyramid already. Exciting
039that Yukai Unified, we're going to be offering that to all of their T TK classrooms as well to uh work towards alignment for P3. And um we're going to offer a new event in October that will be countywide and we'll focus on staff wellness because they could use some we could all use some more of that. Uh this was the only area where we had a finding last year was an inventory. We needed to tighten up our um processes with uh keeping track of inventory for our subcontractors mostly because the requirements for state preschool are different than for county offices and school districts. Of course, we have to track every item in the classroom that is over $100 and will be staying in the classroom. So each chair, for instance, each table. So, we came
040up with systems and those have been working. Um, we also purchased playground equipment for three subcontractors. Um, that's in process right now. Leightonville, Potter Valley, and Chanel Valley. And, um, now we have written policies for behavioral concerns and also for suspension and expulsion. Next year, um, we may be adding a preschool coordinator position. Depends on funding. We may not. Um, that changes day to day at this point. You'll see Wednesday when the budget re May reise comes out. That'll just be the start of it. And we're also going to have some written policies for toilet learning support because um that's been a hot topic as you may have heard other sources. So as more young children go to TK, right, we hear more about about these policies. And lastly, um the biggest changes coming next
041year is that we've had a hold harmless since CO went into effect. Um that means that we are given a contract and usually we have to earn it based on attendance and enrollment. Uh we have enjoyed the hold harmless which basically says you if you spend your contract you get your contract and so we've had not have to worry so much about attendance or enrollment. First it was COVID and then it was the roll out of TK. We'll we'll be at full roll out of TK transitional kindergarten uh in the fall. And so um we're looking at the end of that policy. We're very fortunate and in that um we actually have a lot we're not going to have any trouble earning our contract, but a lot of places around the state may struggle with
042that. The reason we won't is because of a changing to funding formula that happened during CO, but hasn't been implemented yet. So, the state is going to provide more money for children who are three, which is most of our children who have an IFP, IFSP or an IEP, um dual language learners here at Talmage. And so we are actually able to increase the rate to all of our subcontractors from 3319 uh per child per day to $43 per child per day. So that will help offset the smaller class sizes and and the tighter ratio so everybody keeps their jobs and kids get better care. So that worked out really well for us. And even with fewer children because more are going to TK, I think we're going to be just where we should be next
043year. Um we are required to serve 5% of our children with IFSPs and IEPS. We have 25% no problem there. We we have a lot of children um we serve at children with disabilities at all of our centers and um there is rate reform under ways but it multi-year pro process. The last two years have been the latest iteration of that process. We're not expecting to see that rate reform actually happen until 26 27 would be my guess. So, but that's um that'll give you an idea about the funding changes and next slide please. That's it. So, that's an overview. Um any questions about say preschool or early education. Could you define the um IFSP and IEP? Just of course. Individualized family service plan. So, that's for um children 0 to 36 months. And IEP,
044individualized education plan. Thank you. um love we love to throw around those things. The IEP typically follows a child throughout their their school career. Correct. Sometimes I mean early intervention I think sometimes like a child might come to us with a speech delay for instance and then they get services and they sort of catch up in development and so they might be exited from their IEP. Okay. Um it just depends on the child and so probably same for the other IFSP is is really different. So, um it's we actually are partners in our early start program with the regional center and it's run through our special education um department here and the regional center and that's a family services plan because it's not related to school. It's really more to support parents who have really
045young children with developmental delays or other another reason they might have an IFSP. Um, and then they exit that at 36 months because that's the end of the period you can have an IFSP and then it it gets turned over to the school of residence and um then it becomes an IEP if it if if the disability because sometimes a child could have a disability that isn't going to affect their ability to access education, right? So they wouldn't have an IEP and so it just depends. It's really different. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. Any other questions, Kristen? Well, thank you very much. Yes. Thank you. I know you guys have a long day, so it we will skip over and we'll make Ra do her presentation again. We'll go to item 6.2 of our Williams quarterly
046complaint report for 24 and 25. And there are zero Williams complaints received. Okay. Any questions or comments on that? Moving on to item 6.3, MCE school programs and student enrollment reports. You don't have a chance to read that. Any questions on that? Okay, we'll move on to item 6.4, MCU HR personnel report. That was short and sweet. And moving on to item 6.5, ed services report with Dr. Nicole Liddell. Um, I just want to point out that student promotion graduation awards will take place on Monday, June 2nd at our MCOE school programs and we'll send out a follow-up email because th those are our graduations and and we would um invite you to attend to be part of that. And that's Monday. What was the date again? June 2nd in the evening. Uh Chris, do
047you know what time what time that is? Yeah. Evening. 3 to 5. I think we're in ballparking that one. And then that'll either be um we're checking to see the availability for this room. I believe it may be here. So we'll get you the details. Yeah. Or it'll be at at 518 low. Okay. Keep us posted. Okay. Moving on to item 6.6. business and administrative services report with Heather and we really don't have a whole lot to highlight this month. Um we're really just kind of gearing up for year end close closing up the books assisting districts and charters with theirs. We're developing next year's budget and also helping districts and charters with theirs. And then um for our technology team and our maintenance and operations team, it's when we get really really busy because
048we're out, you know, with school being out, that's it's our opportunity to go out and do a lot of that work. So just kind of gear it up. Thank you. Any questions or comments for Heather? Move on to item 6.7, our superintendent's report. Um yes. So there um May is super busy in schools and there's certainly a lot of events to attend. Um so I I've been out and about. It's been a pleasure to see um a lot of the good work going on in our school district school districts. Um, so some of the events that have gone on, I'm not going to hit them all because there's a lot, but just to highlight some of the great work happening in our schools. We've had, I think, at least three of our school districts, if
049not more, that did that did Helia del Nino or Day of the Child events. Um there was a Native Roots um um event at Pomita Middle School that was the first I've seen anything like that and I think Priscilla um had um was was contributed to that happening um where there were various um tables um demonstrating um traditional um works of native people in our area. There were um there were people from San Diego um UC San Diego I think that came up um to demonstrate different um native games and it was just a really cool cool event. Um also um the there was a um community transition program that USD and and Willlets um students participated in. The community transition program is for adults um in in a special it's a special ed program
050for young adults um and it's the there was a third annual day of the provider and they honor and recognize various providers in the community and it was started um really to help make sure that students were introduced to law enforcement and emergency services and other services in a positive light prior to having a negative experience. and also for those providers to meet um those adults and recognize that there are cognitive differences that really need to be considered in interactions. Um and so it was it was really great, very well attended. Um I had an opportunity to present to some um the students uh the inland students participating in the construction core. That was last week and then this week I'll be presenting to the the coastal cohort. Um those students are all seniors um
051with an interest in pursuing a career in um building trades and they have one night one night a week where they come together in a classroom setting and hear a presentation. Um so I was one of the presenters talking about um how to apply for a job, interviewing, building resumes, um things like that. And then they come they come on Saturdays and um do a hands-on it's an all day event. So anyway, that that was um fantastic and I look forward to the next presentation on that. Um also the healthcare education and workforce um summit that was held at Coyote Valley um put on by the workforce alliance of the North Bay. Um healthc care providers and educators um educators um who provide some sort of support and education in the field of ed of
052healthcare were there. um a really good um collection of people coming together and talking about um different challenges and ways to address those challenges when it comes to um building a a workforce, a healthcare workforce. Um that was uh very well done. And then um Friday we had our kickoff um our launch for the school's rule um initiative which is um there's information in the back if anybody wants it but it we had our first major donor um Sonoma Cleower um contributed $20,000 and so we wanted to recognize that and do do a do a a celebration and a launch hoping to get more contributors. Um and that fundraising um the recipients of that are all the students in public schools in Menescino County. Um the the way that would work is that um annually
053um out of uh money would be distributed based on enrollment um in our various public schools and the fundraising is um not intended to compete with any of the local level fundraising but rather to reach people like clean power who are not necessarily tied to a particular school but want to contribute to all schools. So, we were excited to see where that will go and really proud of the work that many of the MCE staff to get that up and running. Um, contributions can be made online and it's it's pretty great. And so, what is the funding used for? Is it anything? Pretty much anything as long as it is in compliance with all laws and codes regarding to school spending. Yeah. So, that is the end of my report. School's rule. Schools rule. Thank
054you very much. Moving on to item 6.8 8 with board member reports. We'll start with Nancy and just go on down the line. Okay. Um I was able to run over and enjoy the kickoff uh schools rule. It was really interesting. Um great seeing Cinema Clean Power give the $20,000 check. Very generous. And then listening to the superintendent who gave reports on like, you know, what are their barriers for fundraising and and what are they fundraising for? So that was really interesting to hear. Um, what are some takeaways? Some takeaways. Well, and I think a lot of it, you know, I I as being part of parent clubs in my past, a lot of it are, you know, um, enrichment things, um, uh, travel is very expensive. So to try to get these kids out,
055you know, whether they're on a sporting event or some sort of, um, school event, a lot of these kids really don't get outside of their community. Um, so for them, it's, you know, it's a great opportunity to get the kids out. how many kids had not passed, you know, the the Golden Gate Bridge. Um, so that was that was a a big one for I think every single uh district had mentioned transportation cost was an issue. So that'll be wonderful. And then I look forward to seeing I don't know um if there's going to be a lot of social media that that will go out that we can help share to try to get a lot more visibility to the the uh the fun. Yeah. Um, yesterday I went to the Headlands uh coffee house
056and uh middle school 8th grade uh art program has all of their artwork up on display and for sale. So I treated myself to a piece of artwork for Mother's Day. Um and they did a great job. There are some really really cool creative pieces. So if you're near um Headland's Coffee House in Fort Bragg, please stop by and and check it out. Sounds good. You can see Michelle. Well, uh, last week I was able to attend the Fort Bragg walk and roll to school day that the district held for the two elementary schools. Um, it's always fun to be able to visit Fort Bragg Unified. It is just a great I know it's in your area, not mine, but um it uh it's just such a great district and uh to see the littles
057uh walking and biking and scootering and being super excited to just um you know move before school and with their parents. It was just a really fun day. So it's super exciting to to see that happen. Um, I also, um, attended the Willlets under 20 art show that's open at the art center. I'm not sure if it's still open. It might still actually be up. Um, excellent art show. Highly recommend that one. And then I will be attending um, Blosser Lane's open house tomorrow night. Um, and then I wanted to just talk a little bit about my experience at the state science fair. Um, you know, being a a judge there was really eye opening because I got to meet the board that supports state science fair. And what I learned is that um, state
058science fair sends t can send up to 10 students to the international science and engineering fair that happens happening in Ohio this year. but they only could afford to send two this year. So out of our entire state coming out of state science fair were two students that got to go to ISAP. What I also learned is that large county offices of education like Riverside and San Bernardino, they get to send their students directly to ISF completely skipping the state board process altogether. Our smaller county offices don't have that opportunity. We have to go through the state process to get to ISAF. So for those brilliant children that grow up in rural smaller county office of ed, there is a super barrier there because they have to go through that state process. And if the
059state can only send two, I'm going to tell you they're sending kids from Riverside to San Marino because those kids have endowments with um universities and their type projects. We we can't even come close to comparing. So, um, I just really want to pass the baton or I guess work as a as a collaborative team to really work with the state science fair board to one try to move the state state science fair out of only being in LA to moving around to other major cities in the state so it's more accessible to our students. Um, and two, make sure they have the funding to send their 10 and then um to work collaboratively to send our 10 because each one of our 10 students didn't know each other. They didn't know who else was
060going. Whereas Humbled County, those kids went as a group. They had they sent eight. They each students family got $1,400 to help them offset the costs to send one adult and the student. Um they had uh one of the county offices members was there. They brought all the boards down so no one had to worry about how to get the boards to LA. There was just a lot of and what I saw was that group of Humbult students were all moving together and they were um yet they didn't know each other prior to the fair. So it was an opportunity for those science interested students to know and meet one another and to have an exper common experience that they'll get to remember whereas our students didn't even though they were all there together they
061had no common experience and it would have just been a better so I guess I'm passing the baton to say you know if we could um please try to make something like that happen for our community and to try to work with small school districts association how whatever advocacy we can to make sure that the state at that level is at least sending 10. Yeah. So anyway, it was very moving to see that rural education we still have we have we have barriers in front of our students. It's real. I'd like to second that. Uh I've mentioned it before. I have a former student who took first place at the state in the science fair and I think it helped him get into Stanford where he picked up an engineering degree and he now leads
062a research team in battery development for Tesla. So, you know, the long-term effects of that can be enormous. Uh I'd also like to call people's attention. I meant to bring it in, I forgot, but you know, we get that sort of that slick magazine from the schoolboard association. And I have to confess I don't always read the whole thing, but I did pick up the fact that they had a very interesting article in there where they they uh did a a good overview of what county school boards do. And so I would encourage you to read that. It was it was really well done. And that's something that has come up at various times. What does the county board do? So it's nice to have that all written out in detail. You can you can
063be aware of the word and give you a copy to someone. Bring up the workforce housing one from two months ago. Yeah. Michelle, I wonder what that would entail like skipping back and forth like um I know sometimes we go Southern California, Northern California for the other organizations. Do they does their whole board live down there? Is that why they have it in Southern California? It's just traditionally been outside of USC. But this year, USC didn't even host it. It was the um they couldn't find a place to host it. So, Cal Lutheran picked it up. They don't know where it's going to be hosted next year. They don't have a school yet. I've already called UC Davis to see if they'd pick it up. Sonoma State's got a Sonoma State, like I'm saying, got
064a beautiful campus and it's under I think it's it's under publicized. Yeah. Yeah. But it's got to be able to give up the campus for a weekend and let state science fair move in and do what it does. And um I just think that's more accessible than like SF. SF's really hard to navigate. Soma State is more of a commuter school. So many students live on campus and that makes it easier to open it up. Yeah. Interesting. Yeah. So anyway, the board is um actively looking for where they're going to host it next year. It almost wasn't in in real life. almost was another virtual fair this year because I couldn't find a location. Um that's exciting. Yeah, it it kind of is. Even though I'm tired, that's exciting that we I didn't think we
065could move it around, but um something we could lobby for. Yeah. Yeah. Because if we only had to drive instead of take it on, Michelle, take it on. I'm sorry. Were you Were you done for? Did you have something to add? Um just my report my report to close out strong. Um I attended the same event that Nicole mentioned USD title six Indian education program. They had a family gathering which was great. It came from family feedback to provide uh something direct to students. Usually it's through counselors and other um sometimes there's field trips and stuff. Uh so that came from family feedback. Cannot take credit for that at all. Staff and nonprofit. I am not remembering right now. I apologize. Um they did a great job. I attended as a parent and you know
066um also that was one of those um spaces where I could kind of attended both kids were were there but also um was top as a as a board trustee. Um I also attended the CTPD of providers. It was a beautiful event. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make it till the last hour so it's kind of dwindling down but I encourage others to to attend. next year. I'll be there right at the start um with a little bit more uh advanced notice. Uh let's see what else. Um I have been researching ACCBE their trainings, engaging in those. Also found out that they do provide a one-on-one mentorship opportunity as well for new board members, which is great. Um I'll give more updates later about that. Um I'm signed up for one of the CSB uh
067conferences. cuz I don't remember the name here, but working with um our wonderful superintendent to coordinate that and our staff to help with that. Um also training um I believe it's for the Brown Act. And then after um let's see, uh some notifications. Let's see. The Native American graduation ceremony for UK school district is on the 21st. I had the privilege of creating the flyer as part of the parent committee. the parents that that sit on that committee. Um, beautiful event. Um, we'll work with Nicole to hopefully add it to the list of events. Believe it starts at 6 PM and I found out actually that our students are invited to that ceremony. So, Chris, you should have got an email to make sure that we have all those graduates and so maybe that's something
068we can reconsider, you know, contributing to um whether it's funds or um, you know, those certificates. So, that would be nice. Let's see what else. Um, so Yukai Unifi School recently uh shared with parents. I think it's really important to share here as well that um I can find it. There we go. That um on Tuesday a few weeks ago, the district was notified that the US Department of Education had cancelled the schoolbased mental health grant effective December 31st, 2025. And in short, the district notify parents that they will do everything in their power to protect those services and are refilling the decision. Um, I have another update. Recently the Department of Education send sent a response to NIEA, the National Indian Education Association. I'm going to read it here for our board to be
069aware of um and that it's also on record. I'll provide a copy to Maryland so we get as part of the minutes as well. Uh, so dear, this is from the Department of Education to the NIA. Dear Mr. Dropic, thank you for your letter to former acting secretary Denise Carter on January 31st, 2025 advocating for local control of American Indian, Alaskan Native, and Native Hawaiian Education Programs. Your letter was referred to the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, and I am pleased to respond. The US Department of Education does not develop curriculum and is committed to ensuring curriculum remains a local decision. In fact, the department is committed to all education decision-making being local by returning education to states and tribes. Further, it is the position of the department that American Indian, Alaskan Native, and
070Native Hawaiian history is not classified as diversity, equity, and inclusion or DEI or critical race theory, CRT. and the department will not treat native history, native education as DEI or CRT. The United States is a unique political and legal relationship with federally recognized Indian tribes as set forth in the Constitution of the United States, treaties, executive orders and court decisions. We continue to deliver on all statutory grant programs that support American Indian, Alaskan Native, and Native Hawaiian students and are identifying ways to deliver support while reducing bureaucratic red tape and ensuring paranal rights remain a national priority. Education will always be a local responsibility and we look forward to visiting and consulting with Indian tribes, Alaskan native v villages and native Hawaiian organizations and their leadership to empower highquality education for all students. And again,
071that's from the office of elementary and secondary education within the US Department of Education. That is all I have for my report. That's wonderful. Thank you. I was thinking you wrote that for a minute. I helped just not this time not this should be proud of I'm very excited that we are one reason we'll apply that in a lot of ways I believe in our work moving forward but one thing I I did want to mention that I think is important to highlight that I noted on our last um notes is um oftent times and I think Nicole this was part of one of your reports or one of the agenda items um I believe it was for ethnic studies um you know native studies is often clumped under that and it's and it's not
072it's something completely separate that folks sometimes don't understand. Um and that's why you'll often hear me refer to tribal students and and students of color because they're they're different um communities and tribal students there there's a federal trust responsibility as as sovereign citizens of tribal nations. So, and hopefully some of these reports and updates on a federal level from, you know, that federal guidance will help us understand that and be more effective in our work. Thank you. Okay. Um, what was I saying? Oh, I was just excited that we're joining ACCE as well. Um, and I would like to move on to item 8.1, announcing our next board meeting will be on Monday, June 16th. And I would like to ask for a motion for Before you do, I want to point out it's June
07316th and it's in Point Arena. That one's going to be at Point Arena. No, you didn't. I just wanted to like June to remind us at Point Arena. Okay. And then we have another one after that. We have two board meetings in June. The second one will be here. Make sure I have that one. But the June 16th one is scheduled for choir, right? I've got high school. Yeah. Hi. Um, do we have a motion for adjournment? I spent the night at your house. Yeah. Motion to second. I said all in favor. Thanks everybody for It is.