001one. We are reconvening to open session at 5:39 p.m. No reportable action was taken in close session. Um, do I have a motion for action on student discipline cases? Number numbers one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, and eight. >> So moved. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Call for the vote, Mr. Roback, please. I'm in I2, Mr. Rob. Just count me as an I also I don't know to log back in. The motion passes unanimously. Um, let's let's stand for the pledge of allegiance. Mrs. Trusty Pickle, would you like to lead the pledge? >> Absolutely. >> Ready? Begin. I pledge algiance to the flag of United States of America and to the republic for it stands nationy and justice for all. >> Is there a motion for the approval of the agenda?
002[Music] >> So moved. >> Is there a second? >> Second. Call for the vote. I'm an I2. Motion passes unanimously. Thank you. Moving on to um item number eight, showcase principal parley. Good evening board members, superintendent Peterson, cabinet and guest. I'm Alexi Parley, principal of Atwater High School. On behalf of our students and staff, I am honored to welcome you to our campus. Tonight, I am proud to showcase our outstanding CTE programs housed at the MUHSD Castle facility, diesel mechanics and construction trades. Although both programs are part of Atwater High School and taught by our instructors, they also serve students from Merced and Back Colony, giving students access to district access to hands-on industry-based learning experiences. At this time, I'd like to turn it over to Mr. Art Castro. >> Good evening, everyone. I am
003Mr. Castro and I teach diesel mechanics out of Castle. Uh in our diesel course, students gain valuable transferable transferable skills. They have an opportunity to explore the transportation sector in a work-based learning environment. Uh we have a great partnership with our industry board members who provide our program with feedback equipment such as engines and training equipment, uh site presentations, and access to facility tours, uh as well as current repair and diagnostic literature. Our our students obtain technical skills and factory certifications provided by some of our industry partners such as Freightlininer. Uh our next step in improvement to our programs would be an industry approved facility. Uh I would like to present a third-year student to our program. We'll share with his experience uh in the program. [Music] Uh good afternoon district board members. Um I
004hope that you guys have had a good day so far. My name is Sebastian and my experience with diesel mechanics has been like no other. Um at diesel mechanics I've been able to learn everything uh that relate learn everything sorry from what a ratchet bolt and pistons are to performing complex uh electrical systems uh diagnosis troubleshooting and full real world applicable California California Department of Transportation inspections at diesel mechanics were also offered OEM certifications from top diesel manufacturers such as Detroit But the biggest life-changing experience and opportunity for me has been able to compete at Universal Technical Institute against other schools that have allowed me to win a full $10,000 scholarship to their school. Um, and this year in December, I hope to go again and win another scholarship. I thank you so much for
005your time. I really appreciate it and I hope that you guys have a continue to have a wonderful day. Thank you. and Mr. Mr. Fzen. >> Hello everyone. My name is Dennis Fzen. I'm the construction trades teacher at Atwater High School. We have uh right now approximately 70 students over uh over all overall classes. Um we started out with a hundred but we don't have the room for all those students. So some of them had to be turned away this year. uh we are about 90% male students and about 10% female students and the average GPA of my students is 3.0. Uh we are career ready CTE program. We focus on preparing the students for uh work after high school. And here's some of the things that we do. Uh, blueprint reading, construction fundamentals, project
006planning, framing, finishing techniques. Community service is a big part of our program. We like giving back to the community. Here's a couple of projects that we've done over the past years. And we're getting ready to start a project at Buhat Colony High School actually this Saturday. So another big part of our program is the competitions. Uh last year for two years we've we've uh competed in the CIEF competitions in Sacramento. And last year we took a third place at the Kurthers uh competition for the first time. And we also started the MUHSD construction skills competition that we do in May of each year. We've made two industry partnerships that have been important to our program. Core contractors out of Paris, California, and Bulk Construction from San Francisco. They uh have provided some employment opportunities for
007our students, uh guest speakers and presentations, building materials for our design build competitions. But the big thing they do is provide us with all the safety equipment, PPE, gloves, hard hats, boots, different things throughout the last couple of years. They're they're very vital to our program. Just want to thank you all for your support and if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask or come out for a visit. Okay. Thank you, Dallas. >> And Dallas is >> hi. Good evening, members of the board. My name is Dallas Trillo. I'm a sophomore at Buhack Colony High School. This is my second year in Atwater High School's construction trades program. Um, I started last year, my freshman year. I signed up because my father was a contractor. I've been around the trades my whole life.
008You know, I have uncles who are electricians, plumbers, you know, pipers, anything you can name. I've always been around the trades. I really love it. So, um, yeah, I joined last year and very first day in class, first thing we did is we took a 10-hour safety course. It took me about a took me a couple weeks to finish. So, you know, real exciting. But after I was able to get that done, then we started go out going out into the shop and um we started with the basics. You know, learning safety. Safety is our number one priority and, you know, maybe a little more than than I would like to than I like to go over. You know, I'm very eager to, you know, get in there and start working. But, uh, once we
009started working, I knew right away that, you know, this is what I wanted to do. I really love the trades. I feel very lucky to be part of a district that has a program like this. Um, we have a lot of competitions. Last year I I was invited by my teacher, Mr. Fzen, to go to a couple shed building competitions. As far as Sacramento, I went to a couple in Fresno and Kathers. Um, really great experiences. And I had no idea that, you know, we even had these things as part of our as part of our program before I was invited by Mr. Fzen. And I was very very surprised and, you know, satisfied with um with how that went. It was a really great experience for me and everybody in my classes um all
010really loved the program. I have friends with me that you know if you see these pictures I'm in some of these pictures with my friends that are in my classes that you know I see every day. We went out and we worked and it was really fun time. You know I have a lot of friends you know I'm 15 years old. I have a lot of friends that are trying to get into working now. A lot of them like blueco collar things such as construction and so you know like Mr. Freezen said, "We have a we have a lot of kids in our classroom. Last year, you know, I had a lot of classmates. This year, I have a whole lot of classmates. Our classrooms are always packed up. So, um it would be great
011to have room to accommodate a lot of these students that want to come into the program, but unfortunately weren't able to come in this year. But, um I'm very appreciative to have this program. Thank, you know, thank you guys. I I think it's awesome that I'm able to do this and um thank you guys for your time. [Applause] Yes. Could we have I think we have some questions. >> Yes. Yeah. >> Do you want me to get the students back up? Um >> yes. >> Yeah. >> Students. Yes. Just everyone. >> First of all, thank you for coming to speak. Uh congratulations on your scholarship. It sounds like it's been a positive experience for you so far, which is fantastic. and you guys are are running a great program. Um, aside from the space, you
012mentioned that space is a little bit tight. From a student perspective, um, what would you like to see that you don't currently see or how would you like to see it the program grow from your lens? >> As a student, I think that we have good facilities. You know, going out in the shop every day, we have the tools that we need and we have materials to build the things that we want. But also, I feel like maybe we could have I'm sorry. I'm kind of I'm trying to figure out how I can put this. Last year when we were doing our shed competitions, we were competing against a lot of schools from different areas all over, you know, the Bay Area, from further down uh SoCal. And all these all these schools that come
013to the competitions, they're have their own designs for their own sheds. That's what we're doing. We're building sheds. And a lot of them have brought their own materials to build their own build their own sheds. And in the judging when we would uh finish our sheds and be judged for them. A lot of them a lot of the schools who had a more, you know, expansive budget, they were able to get a lot more done with nicer materials. Like last year I was in K others for a shed competition and we had framed our shed out of wood and we made a nice big gable roof shed and the people that were directly next to us had built theirs entirely out of steel steel siding and steel. It was like crazy. I had never seen
014anything like it before. But um obviously they took first place. you know, all the other teams, we all had uh all wood materials and um regarding our facilities and everything, I think we're we're pretty well off, but for our materials, I would like to, you know, try and do something different for our competition this year. That's the only thing I could really say that I would like to see. >> Um I'm sorry. Can uh you please repeat the question, please? >> Of course. I'm just wondering if there's anything that you would like to see now since you've been in the program for three years now. Is there anything that um that you would like to see in this program that you know maybe currently doesn't exist or how would you like to see the program
015grow for for students that come in after you? >> Okay, thank you so much. Um so yeah, like you said, I've been here for three years. It's my three-year capstone. It's my final year this year and um honestly, I would really really like to see u a bigger space. Uh I feel like our industry is a major growing uh trade, right? Especially with new electric vehicles coming out, which is important. We need transportation at all times. And I feel like a bigger facility would allow us to expand our uh curriculum, right, by a lot. Um I would also maybe like to see more um how would I say this? a little more of uh new technology uh tools that could help us for example uh diagnosis uh computer or machine that could uh really help
016us elevate our game plan to the next level. And um I would also like to uh see that our trade could be expanded by allowing us to take certifications now, right? that could once we get out of high school, we can um use in as soon as uh we could try to get a job. Uh I don't know if I'm making myself clear or not, but I would really like to see that. And uh it's yeah, like I said, it's my last year. Uh unfortunately, I still I'm a junior, right? So, I still have one more year, but I would really like to see this uh industry thrive and especially this trade that we have going on here uh at high school thrive and just know that it's I'm not going to be the last
017one and Mr. Castro is not going to be the la last teacher teaching it. So, yeah. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. >> I have a question. Um so, how many students do we have coming from other schools into this program? Is it just one or do we have is it do we advertise that students from other schools from other high schools could participate? Yeah. In fact, in fact, this year all of our classes were so impacted coming from the other sites that we had to ask them to scale down because we didn't have enough room. Like Merrced alone wanted to send 40 students and usually they share with BHack and so the next thing they were sending 20 and 20, but it sounded like Merced was ready to send 40 and we had
018to ask them to scale it back. And I know here at our site, like Dennis and Arpel said, we had more students this year interested. And one thing that we did that was new last year is we took some of our students um they had the opportunity to sign up to go on a field trip to see the facility. So I think seeing it opens up the eyes of our students tremendously. So >> thank you. And I do have one comment for Dallas. Um I work in manufacturing and I've seen everything from lacerations to finger amputations. So safety is always number one. You can never talk enough about safety. >> Yeah, it's most definitely very important. It's definitely something that we don't ignore, especially in the trades. You know, accidents happen every day. Like I
019said, my family is, you know, I come from a long line of, you know, union workers and it's I see it a lot. It's definitely something you need to watch out for. So definitely very careful. >> Dallas, >> Sylvester. There you go. So, Dallas and Sylvester, uh, great job. You guys are well spoken as well. Very smart. Um, like you can probably have a side job as a radio disc jockey as well. >> Not the first time. >> I don't know that they that's still going to be a trade that's out there, but probably BI now. But, uh, great job to both of you. One question I have probably for the for the teachers or staff is how do you determine what students to select to go into these programs if it's uh so tight?
020eventually. Okay, got it. Go ahead. Got it. My question was it wasn't about who how do you select the kids for competition. It was how do you select students to go into the program? Who how does that how's that determined? Look at our sheet. That's what we get. and and ultimately too, it's going to fall on the counselor's a lot. Both of their classes are double blocked and we have to get transportation there. So many times it's going to come down to um If we have the double block, it might be offered at the same time we have other classes being offered. So, the counselors are going to look at the best fit based on who signs up and then the best fit for um their schedule. >> Thank you. >> I really liked um
021Tiffany, Mrs. Pickle's questions. Um, so for this for both of you students, if there was a fourth year offered and you could get additional certifications or training, would you be interested in taking those courses? >> Most definitely. I would be interested in that. Uh, I was able to receive my OSHA 10 my freshman year. Last year, like I said, 10-hour course I had to take before I could do anything. There's also the OSHA 30 which is another certification of the safety and health administration that you know just looks even better on resumes and you know applications to colleges and things like that. So that's something that I would you know definitely want to do and I would like to get as many certifications as I can. >> Thank you both very much. Really appreciate it.
022Everybody's >> Yeah, please. >> Sorry. Um I just also want to uh comment out that this relating to your your question um I've also would like to see another fourth year uh since this is my last year right uh just for the fact that I've really really had have had many fun times at uh castle right with the diesel department and it's been so fun that I've actually been able to expand the class. Um this year Mr. Castra was kind enough to make uh promote me to becoming the social media manager for our uh class, right? And I'm happy to say that we've had uh an increment in numbers from uh our Instagram profile that have gone up I think uh last time I checked they went up a 10% right compared to us last
023year. So I am really trying to see this like I said before see this class go uh higher and a fourth year would really uh impact uh the class a lot. So, thank you. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you. And thank you to our teachers, too. >> I'll be talking about some additional funding that we have for RCT programs and grants. And it sounds like we might need some new grants for our uh diesel and construction trades. Miss Ballinger. All right. Um, thank you, Mr. Castro, Mr. Fzen and your students for being here tonight and for the incredible work you do every day. I want to take this moment to highlight the success of our other CTE programs that continue to thrive at Outwater High School. Our turf management program, which the board
024had the pleasure of seeing in a previous showcase, had the incredible opportunity last month to travel to USC. Our students worked sidebyside with the USC grounds crew, helping paint and prepare the field for the Trojan football game. It was an absolute honor for our students to gain that kind of real world division one level experience. Fight on, Miss Pickle. Um, fight on. This year also marks the first time we've been able to offer a complete public service pathway. Our students in this pathway are getting hands-on experience and gaining valuable insight into law enforcement and public safety careers. Another exciting area of growth has been within our education pathways. Our capet capstone course now in its second year has doubled in enrollment with students being placed throughout Atwaters elementary schools assisting PE PE teachers. In addition,
025our infants and toddlers capstone moved onsite from Euseite High School last year allowing students to gain hands-on experience at the preschool located directly across the street from Atwater High School. Um, last week we celebrated a major achievement when our a mechanics teacher, Shelby Fishman, received the prestigious Harbor Freight Tools for Schools $50,000 award for teaching excellence. A tremendous recognition of her skill, her students, and department's accomplishments. Over the past few years, Atwater High has been fortunate to receive feed several funding sources that have significantly strengthened many of our CTE programs. In addition to the ongoing federal and state CT funding, we received over 600,000 from the Golden State Pathways Grant to support our information and communication technology programming and robotics and an additional 300,000 for our A mechanics. We've also received substantial funding from the
026WEIL grant to benefit our education and health pathways. Our a art and band programs have been tremendously lucky to receive nearly $300,000 through Proposition 28 and match funding over the last two years, allowing us to better support our art, digital art, theater, film, photo, floral, yearbook, infoch, and music programs with necessary supplies, field trips, competitions, performances, and staff industry conference PDs. We've also restructured our assets afterchool program allowing for more AHS staff to participate which has allowed us to better coordinate fund and expand our afterchool programs and opportunity for our students. All of this contributes to one of the most meaningful indicators of success attendance. This year, Outwater High School's average daily attendance stands at 95.5% a reflection of the connectedness and clear evidence that our students want to be here and our staff, our
027programs and our opportunities are why. Last year, I shared with you the work that we were doing to strengthen our multi-tered system of supports. And I'm proud to report that we've continued to expand and refine those efforts across all levels. This year, Atwater High School successfully launched schoolwide tier one supports by taking character strong campuswide. On 15 flex Fridays throughout the year, every class pauses to engage in character strong lessons focused on social emotional learning and character development. These shared experiences have been powerful in building a common language, connection, and empathy across our campus. Our counselors have continued to expand their tier 2 small groupoup counseling sessions, targeting students who benefit from more indiv individualized social emotional support, and we've already seen noticeable growth among the students who participated in these groups last year. Our
028amazing counseling team continues to grow in their knowledge, offerings, and meaningful interactions with students. This year they launched minute meetings, a pro-active initiative where counselors met one-on-one with every freshman during freshman seminar, sitting outside and un under umbrellas. They created a welcoming space to introduce themselves, explain the role, and build early connections of trust and support for each student's four years at Outwater High School. Our intervention coordinator continues to provide critical um individualized interventions using researchbased check-in checkout systems and other targeted strategies. We've also rolled out a new positive behavior recognition system using MIGA which allows students to earn reward points for positive classroom behaviors and school involvement. Last year, Atwater High committed to deepening learning and increasing DOK levels across all classrooms. an emphasis on highquality instruction and engagement that's already showing measurable impact.
029Over the past five years, our AP pass rates were steady at 47, 50, 51, and 52%. Then last year, 68%. That's an incredible jump in achievement. This dramatic increase reflects the dedication not only by our AP teachers, but all of our teachers implementing highquality, rigorous instruction across the campus. This year, the district emphasized data-driven instruction. Atwater High's goal is to reduce the percentage of students in the bottom two quentiles on the NWA reading and math by 3% from the fall to spring benchmarks. We've completed our initial assessments and we'll use ongoing data to track the progress. Each department has also set measurable goals to guide instruction and ensure every student continues to grow academically. I'm incredibly proud to serve as the principal of Atwater High School and I want to thank you for allowing me
030this time to share all the wonderful things happening on our campus. Our students and staff continue to do remarkable work and our ongoing support and your ongoing support makes this possible. Thank you. And this concludes my report. >> I love that you have measurable metrics, tangible, reportable. That's fantastic. >> Thank you, Principal Parley. Moving on to item 10, the general public comment period. I have three speaker cards. Um, the meeting is recorded. Individuals addressing the board are asked to fill out a speaker card located in the back of the room. Complete a blue card to speak to an item not on the agenda and a yellow card to speak to an item on the agenda. Please return the card to the administrative secretary of the governing board. Individuals addressing the board shall be limited to
031three minutes each with no more than 20 minutes per topic. During this portion of the agenda, the public is invited to comment on items which are not on the agenda but are within the subject matter jurisdiction of the board of trustees. The board will take no action at this time but may refer the issue for further consideration. Individuals who wish to comment on agenda items shall be provided an opportunity to comment after the staff report and before the board's consideration of that item. Individuals who cannot wait to address the board when the agenda item is listed may make their comments at this time. So the first speaker card is from uh Lesie um I cannot read the last name Nash. Yes. There we go. Perfect. Sorry about that. Okay. Um, good evening, superintendent, board members,
032and district staff. My name is Lesley Nesh, and I'm here as a concerned parent and adv advocate for the student athletes at Golden Valley High School. Over the past four years, I have witnessed ongoing and serious issues within the football program. Issues of favoritism, bias, poor leadership, and lack of accountability that have had lasting impacts on students both emotionally and mentally. My concern is not about playing time. It's about fair fairness, integrity, and leadership. Coaches are meant to mentor, teach, and build confidence, not tear down the character or selfworth of the very students they are supposed to guide. My son's experience reflects the deeper problems within this program. Throughout his time at Golden Valley, he was respectful, disciplined, and did everything that was asked of him. He showed up, worked hard, and demonstrated leadership. Yet,
033he was repeatedly told he wasn't a leader or wasn't ready. He was overlooked, and dismissed while less qualified players were favored. Despite that, after graduating, my son went on to become the starting quarterback at Merced College. That speaks volumes about his talent, dedication, and leadership. Qualities at Golden Valley coaching staff refused to acknowledge his success beyond Golden Valley proves that the problem wasn't his ability, but rather the biased environment he was placed in. The emotional toll that took to took on him was significant. Over time, he began to doubt himself and even lose his love for the sport he once lived for. When students ath student student athletes start experiencing mental health struggles because of how they are treated by coaches, something is fundamentally wrong. Last season, my son was one of the five student
034athletes who made the difficult decision to quit the team because of the toxic culture of favoritism. Yet, he was the only one removed from the team roster. Something we have documented in screenshot and dates. That wasn't a mistake. It was a retaliation and a personal decision by the coaching staff as a team captain. My son was also asked along with other leaders and other captains as well to make a decision along about whether a disruptive player should remain on the team. The captains all agreed respectfully and unanimously that the player should not. The head coach told them he respected their decision. two days later, that same player was back on the team um on the field. That kind of inconsistency just um sorry, destroys trust and shows that the coach's promises um mean nothing. What
035favoritism is involved? Um we brought this issue, sorry I have a long paragraph. We brought these issues through the proper channels. First the coaches, first to the coaches, then the athlete director, and then finally the administration administration administrators. Each time we were told the same thing. We give discretion to the coaches. They're doing what's best for them. That phrase has become shielded to avoid addressing serious problems. I have a lot more to say, but um sorry, I do have another paragraph, but um I'll stop there. Thank you. All right. Um I next call upon um Angelo Pangelina. Is it on? Okay. Hi. Um, hello everybody. My name is Angela. I am um joining Leslie. Aiden is my son. Um, so she kind of just addressed everything to a point. Um, the biggest thing is is
036this great area that these coaches are allowed to have because just to give you some more background on my son, our son Aiden, he was born with acute epilepsy. He couldn't play any contact sports until he was out of the meds and over um the overnight sleep observations, so he waited his whole life to get to high school to play football. Um, beyond that, he had a private coach um that graduated from Golden Valley. that coach went to go play um at South Dakota Arena Football and he trained to go to the NFL but started having his kids so he didn't. Um that was his first private coach. Um by the end of Aiden's sophomore year he got a soft offer from Fresno State. So there's a lot of these in between the gray areas
037that get ignored. Um there's another parent here that the same situation happened again this year to his son. Um, so it's not just us being, you know, upset parents. It's something that's continuously been going on for more than four years under the coaching of Rick and Raul, uh, the head coach at OC. Um, right now, if you can calculate or verify, it's been back-to-back years for the smallest group of varsity football team that Golden Valley has produced. And this year, there's only four students that are seniors that's on the team. So that just goes to show you the cultures changed. The culture is not even there. Um and there are only two active uh football players that have been coached by Ro and Rick um from Gulma Valley the entirety of the seven years they've
038been there and one of them is our son. So that just shows you the nature of the program and how the impact that they have and the power that they're given. Um I did again like she said go through all the proper channels talked to the coaches first individually two years back to back uh we talked to the athletic director uh vice principles principles both years I I wrote a 14-page complaint to the district that got shot down u which I still have and can forward at any time. Uh they also had private practices to develop these other quarterbacks that my son had to lead um to not get played. And then his junior year they had to have him win two two games to get to playoffs. So he didn't play the entire year,
039got to go play um halfway through the third last game, the last two games and playoffs starting. So he didn't play the entire year, threw for 200 yards and ran for 50 and half of a game, which marked to the same almost stats as the kid playing the entire year. So the impact he could have had to help the entire team and all the other kids that he played with the whole year was just ignored and neglected and these coaches were just given that power to do it then to my son and now here forward. So thank you Okay, I have a third speaker card from Mario Perez. >> Good evening. I never been on a timer before, but I guess we'll try it. Um, so my name is Mario Perez. Uh, my son's a
040senior. Um, I'm just here just to advocate for the parents. Um, it's not so much about favoritism, who plays, who doesn't, because at the end of the day, I feel that the coaches have that responsibility and, you know, there's nothing to argue about that. Um, I'm here because there was a video circulating online um that uh that Martinez had accused my son of putting up. So, I confronted Martinez, Coach Martinez, head coach. I confronted him. I told him, "If you ever to discuss anything of that nature to my son, come and speak to me because you don't play around with that stuff." you know, because my son didn't post anything. Uh, there was other students there that have heard him say that. So, we'll fast forward. I only got three minutes. So, then we fast
041forward. He apologized to him. I go through the through the channels uh the ad the vice principal uh to meet up with them to see to tell him what had happened. And uh he said that Martinez had said he had he had effed up that his motions had gone in the way. and um and he didn't write that in the email, but he did when we were talking with my son and and uh the assistant principal, uh he said that he had messed up. So then my son, he was all just riled up about the emotions of everything was going on because he was accused of a video and his friends knew that that had happened. Um he decides just not to show up to the game. He said, "You know what? I'm going to
042sit this one out, Dad, because I don't feel right. You know, my emotions are everywhere. I don't know what I want to do with football. I don't know if I want to continue playing." and uh I'm just gonna sit this one out. So then um he sits out the Friday game and then um come Monday um well he gets kicked off the football team um he shows up to to class you know on second period and uh he was about you know coming to practice you know because they play second period uh and Martinez told him turn your crap but the other word you know so then um he's doesn't look like you want to have a conversation so we're not going to talk and my son's all like yeah I want to have a
043I want to have a conversation and he's all like, "No, you're not going to dictate what you do with my team and you don't want to have a conversation, so you could just leave." So, that happened. But I have pictures that he kicked my son off the huddle on Sunday. So, it was already premeditated that he was going to kick him off on Monday. Why would you kick him off a huddle when when you're already if you know he's still on the team when we when we come Sunday, he wasn't there no more. He was he was kicked off. I just come to say here that it's just people need coaches need to be accountable to what they say and it's just the the unfairness that there is because there was another incident where there
044was an actual actual stu actual athlete cussed out the whole team cussed out the coaches and he was still able to come and play the next day at practice. Where's it you know you weigh if you weigh what my son did and what the other kid did. It's like why would why wouldn't this guy get kicked off? He could stop the whole coach's staff. I was there. I practiced and the students and like nothing happened. The next day he was still practicing. But you know, I'm just here my son. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> So moving on to item um 11 reports and discussion. 11:01 district bond and assessed value update. Dr. Wymer, >> good evening. When we deal with uh bonds, um either going out for bonds or once we have bonds and
045we have to do all of our disclosure information, we have three basic groups that we deal with. Uh the one that sells the bonds, the underwriter, the council who writes all the stuff that we're supposed to read and we say we read, and then we have the bond adviser who is actually the one who represents us. all of the conversations and discussions and gives us the good input on what's going on. We have our bond adviser with us tonight. Uh one of the things we're supposed to do regularly is look at our assessed valuation and our bond indebtedness and to see where we're at and what's available and he's going to be able to present us with that information tonight. So Mr. John is with Advisors will be presenting information on valuation for us. >>
046Great. Good evening, uh, members of the board, district administration, and members of the the community. John is here with Advisors. We're the district's financial adviser. Uh, the last time we we dealt with the district was actually early summer when we sold about $20 million in bonds um from a 2008 authorization where voters approved the bond in 2008. And we also sold another $9 million in bonds that were refunding bonds that save property taxpayers about $800,000. Um, but I'm here to to talk about, as Scott mentioned, kind of an update as to the district's bonding pro potential program and history. And uh, also just to give a little bit of context here, uh, let's see, I might be pushing Well, this is looks like there's a little bit of a formatting issue, but this I I
047can explain this to you if you don't have it in in front of you. Um, but just by way of history, so school districts in the state of California when they want to improve their school facilities essentially have three or four pots of money that they can go to. uh the state of California says, "Hey, we'll provide some funds, but you need to come up with a local match." So, that's this partnership that we have with the state of California. It's it's formula driven. It's based on how many students you have, and it's based on how many schools that you have. So, that's one pot of money. Uh the other pots of money that exist are sometimes districts that have a lot of growth, use CFDs or community facility districts. Um, and that's when you
048know you're going to have thousands of homes come online and and you'll get dollars for those. Um, and then the most common tool is that of a general obligation bond, which this district is familiar with, having done them and recently selling them uh as recently as again June. Um, but for context, in 2024, almost one out of three school districts went to their voters for an approval for general obligation bond assistance. So, when you think about that, 900 school districts in the state of California, and almost one out of three said, "Hey voters, we need to fix up our facilities. We know we can get some state matching dollars, but we need local matching dollars." And the tool they use is that of a general obligation bond. specifically your here. Um, and this is I
049don't know if there's a way to Okay, someone's got this and they're massaging it for me here. Okay, so by way of history, so again, I said the district's no stranger to bond programs. 1999, uh, 70% of voters in the district approve approved a bond program for $25 million. All of those bonds have been sold. All of those dollars have been spent. Then in 2008, uh 63% of voters approved $149 million. So when voters approve a bond authorization, they say you can sell up to this amount. And when you sell it oftentimes is driven by uh needs of construction among the district, your ability to stay within the parameters of the tax rate that was estimated to voters and and ultimately those are the things that kind of drive these things. So, you've got about
050$5 million left. So, really the 2008 bond program is is nearly exhausted. Uh, and the current tax rate as of 2425 is about $12.90, okay? Per 100,000 of assessed value. Now, assessed value is a term that you may be familiar with. It's one that when you talk about assessed value, what that means, it's the taxable property within the district boundaries. So when you think of taxable property, what does that mean? Anybody that pays a tax to the county as taxable property. So that would include your your farms, your homes, your gas stations, your dirt, your anything that's not a school or the post office or a church, right? Those are all tax exempt. Everything else is taxable. So we call that assessed value. It's established each year by the county assessor. They look at every
051single property and they say this is what it's assessed at. Now, assessed value doesn't mean market value. Doesn't mean what I could sell it for. It means at some point when that property was purchased, there was a baseline dollar amount and then at most you could have an increase of up to 2% a year. So, someone like my mom is a great example of someone who's benefited from never moving. They bought a house in 1974 at the time for $64,000. Market value probably 2 million. Assessed value about $230,000 because they can only increase it, they being the county can only increase it 2% a year. Uh if that time comes when she sells that house and someone pays $2 million for it, then that assessed value gets reestablished at that higher level. So when you
052look at this this table here, there's been major growth in the district and you you can see uh that the average over time has been about 6.6%. And that as of 2526, so the most recent data we have available uh it's at 21.9 billion. So all properties within the district boundaries are worth $21.9 billion. Uh you like to have a big bond program because when you apply a tax rate to a bigger tax base, it generates more in proceeds than if you have a little tax base. Okay. Um the other thing I would draw your attention to is the very last bullet point where we're talking about the bonding capacity. Now, in the state of California, state requires uh public agencies and municipalities to have what's called a debt limit. And to be honest, it's
053somewhat arbitrary, but it is what it is. And for school districts that are in the elementary or high school category, you get one and a quarter% of your total assessed value. If you're unified, you'd get two and a half%. Right? So Merced City, Mercer Merrced High each at one and a quarter combined 2 and a half% uh Gustinine Unified 2 and a half% of their total tax base. Um, I say it's arbitrary because a recreation and park district that doesn't have near the financial needs of you has a debt limit of 10% of their assessed value. So, when we talk about your district's bonding capacity, you can follow the math there. The 21.9 billion times 1 and a4% assessed value means you have a debt limit of $274 million. When you look at all of
054the outstanding general obligation bond debt, meaning from the 1999, whatever's left on that from the 2000, what's left on that? It's about $130.9 million. And that leaves you with a net capacity of $143 million. Now, this table and uh gives you an idea of what kind of bond proceeds you might get. And apologies on on the formatting. Mine looks pretty. I think it Oh, so does yours. >> Here. I'm just sweating bullets going. They must think I'm horrible at formatting. Apologize for those in the audience there. It it actually is formatted a little better. Um, so in this case, this is what I kind of call a budget slide. So when you look at your your total tax base of 21.9 billion, and you say, "Okay, it's been a long time since Merced High School
055District's done a bond program. what might we be able to generate in proceeds to pay for things? In the back of my mind, I thought, hey, CTE certainly has some needs and they could use additional dollars and I'm sure there is a lot of need at each of the different respective school sites. So, when you look at this left to right, uh you have three different tax rates, a $19 per 100,000 of assessed value, a $25, and a $30. And if you look to the far right hand side, you see a range of about $136 million up to about $216 million. So that's what I call the budget, right? Doesn't mean you get 216 million and $30. It means you could if the voters said yes, I'm giving you the authority as we did in
0562008, as we did in 1999, I'm giving you the authority to sell up to maybe on the high end of thing about $216 million. So, not an insignificant amount of funds uh that are available to the district uh should it look to go back to voters. So, one of the things that's unique to to school districts here um and that is the different approaches that one can take. So when you talk about what are my options as a district today, uh there is the option that the district has done previously in 1999 and in 2008 which is you go to all the voters right your all your communities your Livingston your Atwater your Merrced everywhere in between and you ask a singular question to say do you want to give us the authority of pick
057a number 200 million 216 million and if 55% of the voters said yes then the bond program passes is bonds are sold off of all property within those the entire district boundaries and then the dollars are allocated on a per school basis. Okay. An alternative approach that we've used um in different communities is that of what we call an SFID or a school facilities improvement district. Now, an SFID was was put into law because there's an acknowledgement that, hey, sometimes we have different communities with different needs, different wants. And so, why ask, you know, one community to perhaps subsidize another or why have uh one community pay the same price even though maybe their high school doesn't need as much. So you have the ability to make these maps and carve up your community and
058say, "All right, let's have three SFIDs, three school facility improvement districts. One for Livingston, one for Atwater, one for Merced." In those scenarios, each community votes on their own. Each community pays on their own. So you could have a different tax rate and each community has the dollar spent within their respective SFID boundaries. Uh we used this to great effect with the uh West Hills Community College District. Uh a number of years ago they couldn't pass a district-wide bond because you had folks at Lore thinking they were paying for Coalinga and Coalinga thinking the Lore guys were taking too much and Firebond to the north was saying well we're kind of being left out in all of this. So what did we do? We said, "Hey, let's create three SFIDs. North District Center, Firebomb, and
059the surrounding communities, Lore, and Coalinga." And wouldn't you know it, all three of those communities passed a bond that they couldn't do uniquely together. So, not saying that this is a decision that one would make now and say, "Well, this is what we should do here." There are steps that we take in helping districts evaluate, is this something that you want to do? Um, just to kind of close up, these things do go to the voters. So, we are mindful of the voters. When you look at your demographics and your voting population in the districtwide, I'm just going to speak to districtwide. You got almost 89,000 registered voters. These are the people that would determine whether or not a program would be approved. Uh, plurality of the voters are Democrats. So 40% are Democrat, 30%
060are Republican, and 30% are are other. And uh and you've got a fairly uh I would say well distributed group based on age demographics, you know? So uh what this tells us is that you can't just say, well, as long as the parents vote for it, we'll win, right? You've got to appeal to the senior citizens. Um you've got to appeal to the younger parents that don't have kids in high school, right? you have to have something that that appeals to everybody. Um, but you do have favorable demographics when you're talking about programs that uh would be accepted. And then the last slide here is is voter turnout. And why why is this even relevant? Why is this important? Um because the next time a district can go is in the gubinatorial, general, or primary
061elections. So that means June of 2026, November of 2026. Those are the next two opportunities. And so as you look at the turnout, you would compare yourself to June of 2022 here. Um, and for those that can't see that, June of 2022, the last gubanatorial primary, you had 22% turnout. So of those near 90,000 people, only about one out of five voted in the gubanatorial primary. Why? There's usually not a lot of state propositions. It's kind of a boring election in many respects. It's to vote for who might be the representative from the Democratic or Republican party, but still not deciding the fate of who's going to be governor in California. So, it's always a very low turnout. Compare that to November of 22 where you had about 38% or almost 40% for the gubanatorial
062general. Why is that get better turn? More propositions, more races. You have your school board races typically you have other races. And above all else, you're getting to decide governor who's going to be in the governor's seat there. So again, why is this relevant to a bond program? If you're evaluating June versus November, turnout matters. And some communities can get a bond program passed in a low turnout, right? Let's face it. We all know that voter that never misses an election, right? There's a certain personality to them. It's like my 80-year-old mom, you know, it's like my civic duty. I'm voting because that's what I'm supposed to do. And then we all know the other folks like couple of my older kids that I just vote for president. That's all I care about, even though
063that's the least impactful probably in their lives. Um, so the question that we help districts assess is, can I pass something with only that 22% turnout or do I need the additional 16 17% because that person who shows up in November only is a mid-propensity voter and has a different kind of you know mix or political ideology. So those are some of the things that we look at uh on a go forward basis. But uh that concludes my presentation. I'm happy to take any questions. Uh but hopefully this has been uh enlightening about the district's uh tax base and potential for a bond program. Um, on one of the slides you showed the tax rate per 100,000 and $19, $25, $30. How did you come up with those numbers? And if you were, if we
064were to entertain the idea of proceeding, what would you recommend? And also, which election? >> Yes, good question. Um, so th those those are just arbitrary numbers, right? $19. That's kind of 1999. We see those on the commercials all the time, even today. I mean, I grew up well, primarily in the 80s and that's all you got. 1999, you get this three record set. Um, and things are still 1999. So, there's something magical about 19. So, arbitrary, we pick 19. It's below 20. Um, the $25 is basically $2 a month. And then the $30 is the maximum that you could ask for under Prop 39. Right? So kind of the the high water mark and then two other easier to understand. What to choose really depends on your voters. When to go also depends on
065your voters. So of the 300 and some school districts that pursued measures in 2024, we worked with 107. So we worked with, you know, almost a third or actually over a third of all the school bonds in the state of California. And on each one, our philosophy is the same, which is I don't know the answer to what's the right time or the right dollar amount or the right projects, but I know a process that's tried and true, that's worked with your neighbors, that's worked throughout the state of California, um, that will help us determine that. So that process is really twofold. One is quantitative analysis and the other's qualitative. The quantitative analys is is a survey, a phone survey that gives us data. We did one back for the district in 2019, I think
066before the pandemic kind of shut things down. Statistically, that will tell us what voters appetite is. So, you ask the question, would you be more likely or less likely to support a measure if you knew the tax rate was $30? What if you knew it was 25? What if you knew it was 19? What if you knew it was 12? And you ask those questions and people say, "Oh, yeah, I'd supported at 25, but not 30." 19. Yes. And and the statistics that come back give us direction to the district to say, "Hey, good news. This is what the voters are willing to support." the qualitative. And I I'm not picking on on Mandy's husband's district, but it's a very good representation of of how the qualitative works. Um, is people that you talk to
067to say, "Hey, you guys are key stakeholders in the community." In the case of Gustinine, the voters said, "$60 survey. Yep, $60 is good." Had a meeting and you had the dairy farmers, Pacheco family, I think, might ring a bell. Um, and they said, "Hey, I think the tax rate should be lower." Why? Well, the price of water is expensive and the price of milk is low. And, "Well, what do you think the tax rate should be?" 52. And so, I said, "And 52 it is." Because we knew we wanted their support uh to get a program pass. And 52 is a lot better than zero. Um, you don't always have that qualitative feedback where it's very clear to make adjustments. So, oftentimes you just rely on the survey. So, I'm a huge believer in
068give to the community what they want, what they're willing to support. And if they're willing to give us a penny, great. If they're willing to give us the full amount, great. And if they're not willing to support us, that's okay, too. It's right. Like, let's be transparent. The timing is also driven more so by the quantitative assessment. And the survey tells us what the high propensity voters, the 22%, how they feel about the measure. It also tells us what the mid-propensity, right, the additional 20% that would show up in November but not June, how they think of the measure. And sometimes you have to extend into the low propensity, right? My 21-year-old twins uh that only show up in the presidential. We want to know maybe what they think. So when you evaluate the data
069on each of those, you could say, can I pass in June with just the high propensity 22%. Yes. In fact, you will do better with that group than if you add the mid-propensity voters in November. Or maybe it's the opposite. I don't have enough support in June, but if I bring another 20% of mid-propensity, I can get over the top by having that blend of voters show up in November. So that's how you determine tax rate and timing is through those two efforts. >> Thank you. Got it. So basically we need to have a discussion and determine if we want to even pursue this further and if we do then we would engage your services to do that survey. Correct. >> Correct. Yeah. All it all starts with should we explore? Right. Should we explore?
070Do we have enough needs that that the only ticket? Right. You don't have CFD. you don't have a grant, you don't have general fund monies that you could use as a local match. Um the only option for school districts as evidenced by the one out of three that went in 2024 is a local bond. And you're no stranger. You've been quite successful in doing it. But it starts with, hey, should we explore? And then you engage in a survey and you talk to the farmers and you talk to the chamber of commerce and other folks in that exploration process. And when done right, you give to the community and the voters a program that that they want that they're willing to support. >> Um I've seen I'm sure we've all seen different not just schools
071but other programs go out for bonds and sometimes there's a great deal of marketing advertising awareness going around behind it and then other times there's just none at all. Um, so I think you showed it has to pass by 55%. Is that correct? >> And in your expert opinion, would we need to put a campaign behind it or no? >> I don't want to kick the can down the road, but it depends on the survey. If you have a survey and it's like, wow, 75% of the voters are saying, why didn't you ask me five years ago? Like, I want to help on CTE or plumbing or handicap accessibility or fencing, whatever it is. 75% then the advice is guys yeah we don't we don't need to do anything. Everyone loves the idea. If it's
072you know 55 or 60 then I would say hey let's just make sure that we take the time to educate and help people understand the great benefits that will come of it but also the modest cost that's typically associated with the bond program. So depends on the survey results before I would make that advice. >> Okay. And so what roughly is the cost to employer services to do the survey? >> Yeah, the survey I mean candidly we just do it at at cost. Um so we we have an entity that that does all the phone calls. We don't do the phone calls, right? But we help create the instrument, we make it um and then we contract out with the call center that does it. They give us all the data and then we prepare
073the presentation. So, I would put it in the, you know, it depends on the length because the longer you're on the telephone, the more expensive it is. So, I'll give you a range of 175 to 25,000 and that would be for for the survey. >> Okay. Thank you. >> You're welcome. And then I think just one other thing that crosses my mind that I think as a board we would need to discuss is the idea between the whole district and the individual communities Livingston Atwater Merrced. And I understand the rationale behind that. But I also feel like as a district it would feel really bad to be pumping money into the Merced schools and leaving out Atwater or Livingston or any which way around, you know? I don't know. I I just don't know. >>
074This bond would only be for the artist, not city school, right? >> No, but one of the propos one of the options that was presented was that instead of putting this out districtwide that there would be >> district for schools, >> LCAP Merced High and Golden Valley and then one for Atwater and Buhack schools and one for >> Oh, got it. Okay. I I just wanted to make sure. But it's still just our district. Yes. >> Got it. >> Yes. Just our district >> cuz you said Merrced City Schools. >> Oh, I apologize. I meant Mercer City, Mercer Merrced area schools. >> Got it. That's how I meant that. >> Yeah, I I understood that. >> But you know, like if if Livingston didn't approve it, >> but Merrced did and then we were giving
075Merced I don't know a new soccer field and not Livingston, I think Livingston might be pretty >> Yeah, they would not be happy. But but that was one of the questions is the the SFIDs. Um there's no way that that money was is going to be used from one to the other. >> Correct. It has to stay within the respective silos of the SFID boundaries. >> Okay. And and then um the uh how how often can we do bonds? >> You could do it every every single election. I mean, there's nothing that legally prohibits you from going out. Uh, from a timing perspective, there's nothing that prohibits you from picking. You could pick a billion dollars. I mean, there was a district in Sacramento area that expected tens of thousands of homes and they thought,
076"Hey, let's let's go talk to the mobile home community and get a $600 million bond program passed." even though their little debt limit, remember that one and a quarter percent was less than 10 million. And the voters said, "Yeah, 600 million, we approve, but they're constrained by the debt limit and the tax rate." So, I think they've only sold like 18 million because those tens of thousands of homes never showed up. But I share that with you just to give you an idea that you have great flexibility on what you can ask and how often you can ask but the taxpayers are protected by these constraints of tax rate and debt limit. And then the other the other my other question, you may have answered it already, but is is it better to do in
077a in a June election or November since June seems to be like the more let's say mature crowd versus November you have our my kids let's say just like you said you know 25 30 year olds. Um, so what preferably we we want the ones that always vote. Is that what you would suggest? >> I I say you go when you're ready. You go when you can pass. If you look back to slide three, and apologies for the the formatting issue, uh, PowerPoint not talking very well to, uh, to the overhead. Um, but if you look on your slide three of the 89 successful bond programs that we worked on, if you look on the left hand side that said March successes, you're looking at about, let's call it 15 successful districts that did the
078low turnout primary and then the math, the 74 or so that went in November. What does that tell us? That tells us that most districts do better with a high turnout, but certainly a number of districts can pass measures in a low turnout. So again, that's, you know, our job if the district wants to go down that let's explore path is to come back and show you the data and say, you know what, in your district, in this unique set of circumstances, June works. Let's go in June. or you know, you're going to need some of those other voters and so let's go in November. But that's part of that that exercise. So we see success in in in in both options. Um but historically many districts do need uh the mid- propensity or the
079low propensity voters to help. >> Yeah. Yeah, if you looked at those counties and if you're familiar enough with the districts, they tend to have a a little bit more of a liberal um leaning, but you know, if we went and showed you 2022 or 2020, you you you would see a lot of districts all over the state that that were successful in June. My my advice is prepare for June, shoot for June, think that June might be the right time so that you're ready. And then if the data quantitative and qualitative says don't go in June, well then you're going to be that much more prepared in November as opposed to hey let's go in November, let's wait on the survey and then you do the survey and the survey tells you you know
080you guys are kind of unique. You should go in June and then it's a a rush job, right? So plan for June, roll to November is what I tell folks. >> Any other questions? Okay, thank you very much. >> Thank you. Good to see you all. Thank you. >> All right, moving on to 11.02 Superintendent Goals. Mrs. Bellinger and Ms. Berman. >> Good evening. Kim Burman, our program administrator, and Rebecca Jackson, the instructional coach at Livingston High School are going to share an update on the work we have been doing with the DOK deeper learning superintendent goal. I want to point out again that our instructional support team made up of instructional coaches, new teacher support mentors, lead librarians, teaching and learning APS, and led by Kim has done great work with bringing a consistent
081message about deeper learning and common strategies to teachers across the district. So, I'd like to thank them. And now I'll turn it over to Kim. Good evening board members, cabinet, Mrs. Robeck. Uh we are here to update you about our district-wide deeper learning um instructional initiative. We'd like to share with you where we've been um where we are and where we are going. This timeline um really encompasses the work that was done last year um beautifully put together by our instructional coaches. So two things to highlight here in where we've been would be number one how this goal has evolved. Um so as you can see the different pieces from last fall through last spring. It started as an introduction um a slow ease into what deeper learning means um and how uh knowledge of
082DK or depth of knowledge can um help aid us in achieving that goal. It then evolved into um supporting teachers in planning at a DK2 or higher level and it ended with supporting teachers in planning at a DK3 or higher level. Um and so I think it was um a good ease into this goal. And the second thing to highlight here with this timeline is that there's still work that we're doing now and that we hope to continue doing as well. Our work has been heavily influenced um by educational researcher Karen Hess and the book um that you see here called rigor by design not chance. Um in fact uh principal Rose from um YHS uh worked with Karen Hes to bring her out to MUHSD and she had the opportunity to work with um
083the teachers at Euseite High School. Um, Miss Rose also allowed our district instructional support to come in and have a piece of time with the author as well. We were able to get guidance from her, run some of our ideas past her as well. And she was um definitely instrumental in helping us to develop uh the plan and ensure that we were interpreting all of the great things she wrote in her book properly. The visual on the right um actually created by Rebecca Jackson uh shows the strategies that we extracted from that book um because there were many more than this but I would say these strategies are are all high yield strategies. So they are all strategies that help aid teachers in intentional planning which is what this whole goal is about. Um they
084they cross multiple content areas. They can work anywhere. Um, and they also help teachers to ensure students are thinking critically, they are engaging in rigorous work, which is again sort of the crux of this entire goal. Um, so I'm going to turn it over to Rebecca who can tell you where we are and where we're going. Okay, thank you Kim. Hi everyone. I'm Rebecca Jackson, instructional coach from Livingston High School. So during the 2025 2026 school year, our work with Deeper Learning continues to focus on making sure every student is doing meaningful, rigorous work, not just recalling information, but explaining, defending, and applying their thinking. One of the biggest shifts we've made in this coming year or this current year is an introduction of T-Bear, which is a structure for analytical writing that's helping students
085organize their thoughts and communicate their reasoning more deeply. And so introducing T-Bear. So, as I mentioned, T-Bear is an analytical paragraph structure where the initials stand for topic, bridge, evidence, analysis, relate, and and or reflect. It's simple, but it's powerful. It helps students to move from surface level responses to true analysis. And it gives teachers a shared language for writing and thinking across all subjects. So, you might be asking yourself, why T-Bear? Well, folks, uh, we added T-Bear because, uh, we wanted to have a consistent researchbased scaffold to help all students in every content area reach that DK3 level of thinking that's central to our deeper learning goals. When students write a T bear paragraph using that structure, they're automatically hitting a DK of the level three. So, that is one reason that on the
086suggestion of Karen Hess in particular that we decided to adopt it this year. Um, as I mentioned though, the structure does come from her work depth of knowledge, which emphasizes that deeper learning comes when students explain, justify, and reflect. And the T-Bear structure builds that in very naturally. It gives students a framework for making connections and defending their ideas. And it builds on strategies some teachers and students already know like the CER paragraphs in science classes or ABC paragraphs in ELA. But it adds the reflection piece that really strengthens understanding. And because it's consistent across the district to help students transfer their writing and thinking skills from one class to another. So we began this work with TBR in August before school started. Um, at the couple days we had before we had students come,
087we had a one-hour introduction to T bear at every site, a PD that was designed by instructional coaches and presented to all teachers. We told them what it is, how it connects to DK, and how to model it for students. Um, those days are like drinking out of fire hose, and so we understood that teachers were probably not going to rush out and implement it the first couple weeks of school. So, we revisited it with the in the first quarter with another one-hour PD. All schools are on slightly different schedule. Some have already completed them, and all of them should be doing it soon if they haven't already. first quarter T-Bear refresh uh for deeper learning. Um and this time this quarter we worked on ways to connect TBR to speaking, listening and reading so
088that literacy feels integrated and not separate. Instructional coaches and ILTs are working to support teachers through co-planning, teaching and feedback cycles which helps make sure the learning happens in PD then transfers into practice. The goal for students is to regularly experience deeper learning strategies and literacy across all classes regardless of subject. In the second quarter, then we will hold another 1-hour professional development learning session highlighting three of the nine previously introduced deeper learning strategies. Those ones are not going away. We introduced nine the first year on that cute chart. And then we added in T-Bear um to connect to those nine strategies. So in this next one, the session will also explore how three of those strategies can naturally strengthen literacy instruction through T- bear writing. Quarters three and four will do the same with
089the remaining deeper learning strategies. So, T bear three three three um and those those um following three quarter sessions will involve TBR as well. TBR as um seen through the lens of those strategies as well to increase literacy. Let's talk about some challenges we've had. So, like any shift, it comes with challenges. In the area of consistency, one issue we've had is that implementation is growing but at different paces. Our goal is to keep supporting teachers so that deeper learning becomes the norm across the board. We're going to keep repeating it about a million times until everybody knows it and loves it. Um, in the area of student readiness, we have some issues with students pushing back at first. They're used to short answers and multiple choice. And so, sustained writing and analysis take adjustment.
090They're just not used to being able to. They're not used to being asked to do that in some cases. And then in the area of writing instruction in particular, even for experienced English teachers, teaching writing well is complex. And for non-ELLA teachers, this can be difficult because many haven't traditionally taught writing as part of their subject. And these are good challenges, though, because they're going to lead us to some real professional growth. That's our that's our vision. Let's talk about the impact briefly. So, we're already seeing a growth in student work. We are seeing um the first tentative uses of TBR in the classroom, which is great. And we see when students use TBR that their responses are more organized and thoughtful. They show clearer reasoning and stronger connections to evidence. Classrooms using TBRA and
091other deep deeper learning strategies have noticeably higher rigor. Um as I said, it hits a a DK3 right off the bat. Students are explaining their thinking, defending their positions, and reflecting on what they've learned. We're also seeing T-Bear appear in many different subjects such as science, history, and even CTE classes in math, which tells us that literacy and thinking are becoming shared priorities rather than siloed ones. And finally, teachers are reporting stronger engagement, too. Students are more active and confident when they have a structure to support their learning and their thinking. So, our next steps with deeper learning and TBR. Looking ahead, our focus is on integration and sustainability. We're going to stack the strategies. As I mentioned before, we'll continue layering T-Bear with the nine deeper learning strategies so students see how creativity, pardon
092me, how writing and thinking connect to collaboration, questioning, and creativity. We'll work to build teacher capacity. Um, we're going to offer more support for non ELA teachers, and we're curating crosscontent exemplars so teachers can see what strong writing looks like in their own disciplines. And then we'll also monitor progress and celebrate growth. beyond walkthroughs. We'll look at student work and survey da and survey data to see where strategies are taking root and we'll celebrate those wins as a district. So in short, TBR is giving is helping us give students structure and freedom structure to organize their ideas and freedom to think deeply and express them confidently. It's one piece of our broader deeper learning work, but it's already making a visible difference in classrooms. Thank you for your support as we continue to build consistency,
093capacity, and confidence across MUHSD so that every student in every class experiences truly deeper learning. >> Thank you. Questions? >> Say thank you for the presentation. >> Actually, I have a quick question for Nicole, Miss Rose. No, I just as a principal you get that opportunity every once in a while and you find something. So I just curious, how did you run across the author and make that connection? That was all. That's that's that's excellent. I mean, that's great. Thank you so much for sharing. >> Thank you. Well thought out. I'm sorry. Well thought out and strategic. Thank you. >> I apologize. I'm just curious what kind of teacher feedback you're getting and um this is very impressive and also as someone who does not teach a little overwhelming like wow okay this is a
094this is new this is you know so I'm just curious how long are the training sessions and you know what if a teacher does come to you and say help I'm you know how do you support that >> um All of our PDs this year are going to be one hour. The ones that are everyone across the district is going to do it. All the instructional coaches, their ILTs are delivering. And so it's or it's during collaboration. So, um it's designed to fit within the regular day. It's not too overwhelming in terms of time. Um we're always um available and love it when teachers come to us and ask us if they need help. Um we've definitely had some teachers, math is one of the tricky areas to get writing done. Um we've also had
095some concerns um in the past with the teachers uh we were just at a social studies training. the teachers were saying, "God, the kids don't write critically. That's one of the things we're looking at the literacy standards." And I was like, "We've been eat." So, um, I think the teachers are like, they see a need for it. And so, I think there's definitely a way that, um, again, sustained sort of implementation of the strategy is going to is going to pay dividends. When we kind of did this unofficially with ABC paragraphs over the years, that took root really well and that helped the students have a structure to write, but this is just a little bit more rigorous, a little bit more appropriate for analytical writing. Um, and it does work across the content area.
096So in CTE for example, if we're looking at like um our transportation sector, you know, I tell that teacher like we're not looking for students to like start writing analytical essays about texts, right? They have this they might have to at some point come to a customer and say, "Hey, your air filter needs to be replaced. Here's the evidence. Here's the analysis of why that's important. And here's my my concluding sentence." And so the structure really does work with almost everything as long as it's students providing evidence to support their reasoning. And so um teachers at Livingston, that's my experience. They have been one more strategy, but they they're not complaining because it is kind of like the writing strategy that they already had in ABC paragraph and they want to see students write better.
097So, it is it is not it's not having a big struggles at Livingston implementation. So, that's all I can speak to Livingston. >> Yeah, Miss Really helpful and also your example with the tech is I appreciate that. Thank you. Yeah, Miss Parley was just sharing with me she had a some a summary of the survey she did with her staff after the original training and it was similar to that and that they are they see the value of T bear but they're used to this other way that wasn't so deep and but they're willing to take that challenge to to learn the deeper one. >> It's not brand new brand new and we would call it T- Wolf if we could but I mean it just be that's not an endorsement of Merced High School.
098And I just wanted to add to I think part of the um strength of this uh you know Rebecca spoke well to um being at at the site and knowing exactly what how the teachers are feeling, but I think there's power in the fact that it's the district-wide instructional initiative and um Rebecca and her peer coaches have been, you know, instrumental in this because they are creating. They know what teachers need. They know what works. They have experience. Um but there's a lot of power in that crowd sourcing that they're able to do because they're constantly sharing resources with each other. And by nature of that, those resources then get out to teachers. So teachers know that their peers at other sites are working on the same things, even though it might be facilitated slightly
099different, you know, from sight to sight. Um, some staff meetings, some prep period PDs, some minimum days, things like that. But I just wanted to add that there's a lot of power in that in addition to thanking Rebecca and her peers for all their work. >> Yeah, I really agree that like, you know, it's not just like someone creates something cool at the site and we share at the site. is like yesterday we got something that someone created at I think it was Golden Valley to help students who are in special ed scaffold the the teaching of T bear. Um and that's just one example of the kind of things that are able to flow back and forth between us when we're all on the same page. And in the last few years um under
100Kim's guidance, under Mandy's guidance, um I think we've really tightened up the instructional coaching side of things at the site. So I've been really happy to be a part of it. Really proud of it. >> Thank you very much. All right. Next we go on to 11.03 Northwest Evaluation. Mrs. Ballinger. This is cool. >> Good evening again. Program administrator Stacy Koul is going to share the work we are doing with NWA map assessment. Stacy and Kim have done a great job leading this initiative and identifying all the ways the data can be useful. and Stacy continues to work with Parseek to find ways to make the data student and parent friendly. So, I'll hand it over to Stacy to share. >> Good evening, members of the board, Superintendent Peterson, cabinet. Tonight, I'll be presenting an
101overview of NWA and which is one of our key assessments now with MUHSD. Um, NWA MAP growth stands for Northwest Evaluation Association Measure of Academic Progress. That is a mouthful. This is a computer adaptive assessment that's used by schools nationwide covering grades K through 12. Here at Merced Union, we use MAP growth to assess student performance in both reading and mathematics. We administer this assessment three times per year. in August to establish baselines, December to monitor mid-year progress, and May to measure endofear growth. What makes this assessment particularly valuable is that it's not just a snapshot of where the students are. It's designed specifically to track how much they're growing over time. So, what's unique about MAP growth is the adaptive nature. As the students take the assessment, the computer adjusts the difficulty in real
102time. If the student answers correctly, they receive a harder question. If they answer incorrectly, they receive an easier question. This continues until the test finds each students just right challenge level with students answering about 50% of the questions correctly by the end of the assessment. The result that we get from that is what we call a RIT score, which stands for rash unit. It's an equal interval scale, much like inches on a ruler. RIT scores typically range from 140 to 300 with the same scale being used across all grade levels. This means we can track a student's growth from year to year on a consistent measure regardless of what grade they're in. At its core, MAP growth is focused on individual student achievement. The data shows us particular skill strengths and areas where the student
103needs improvement within reading and math. This allows us to set personalized learning goals for every student. And these aren't arbitrary goals. They're datadriven targets based on each student's current performances and growth potential. In the images that I've included, you can see real results tracking the students growth over time and giving suggested areas of focus. So there you can see there's um this student, this particular student has taken the assessment four times. You see the chart going up that we like to see. But then you see there's also narrative points or um numerical analysis of with suggestions for focus. We use map growth data at multiple levels throughout our district. School staff can use it for identification and placement in our intervention programs including math intensive, reading intensive, and informing special education services. Teachers can then
104monitor the progress of those learning goals and adjust instruction. We share this information with students and families so that they can visualize their progress and set personal goals. And finally, administrators at both the site and district level can use the data to track larger trends and overall growth across our schools. And then you heard um principal parley mentioned earlier in her report, this is one of their goals is increasing student growth in learning as demonstrated on this test. So, this chart's a teacher tool, uh, one of our teacher tools that shows actual growth data from a math intensive class during the 24-25 school year. The horizontal line across the middle represents typical growth expectations based on national norms, while the individual dots show where each student performed. So, when you see students above the horizontal
105line, that means they met or exceeded their growth target. So for this particular class, every student made some gains and almost all the students met or exceeded their growth goals. And this gave us evidence that our targeted interventions were working in this class. This here is an example of a student report that's sent to families three times a year. It's created by one of our partners, Parseek Education. On the report, it has information about the students attendance, state test scores, if they're available, if they are a 12th grader, have taken them, and then all of their NWA MAP growth scores. Particularly on the second page, it's shown on the right, a family can track how their student score has changed over time. So, we track three types of growth. Typical growth is expected progress based
106on national norms. Projected growth is the personalized growth targets for each student based on their starting point. And then actual growth is what students really achieved. So these projections help us set realistic but ambitious goals, identify students who need additional support early and then recognize students who are exceeding expectations. Math growth gives us several benefits, several critical benefits for MUHSD. It aids in that early intervention and identifying students who may need more academic resources. The data drives our curriculum choices and helps us allocate resources where they're needed most. MAP growth also helps us attend to equity and track whether all student groups, including our English learners, are making adequate gains. And finally, it tracks progress towards grade level standards that align with college and career readiness. Of course, we're not done learning how to use
107this tool effectively. These are some of our driving questions towards continuous improvement. From how we communicate with families to ensuring our staff has the training and time they need to making sure we're celebrating growth just as much as achievement. And critically, we're asking whether our support systems are actually reaching students who need them the most. So, to wrap up, map growth helps us answer what really matters. Are our students making progress? Not just how they compare to others, but whether or not they're actually moving forward. What I hope you're seeing tonight is that this assessment gives us a clear picture of student growth over time, not just a snapshot of a single test day. And it helps us make informed decisions about instruction and intervention. And it provides actionable data for everyone involved, teachers, students,
108families, and administrators. Every student deserves to see progress. and map growth gives us that tool to make the progress visible and measurable regardless of where students start. Thank you. >> Thank you. Any questions? >> How how much does this cost the district? Do you know? Is that not a fair question? >> Well, I would have known better last year. We are midyear through a three-way a three-year adoption. So, I'm trying to remember. I would have to uh get back to you on that one. Okay, I really appreciate the questions you're asking. That seems like a really um I don't know just appropriate way to evaluate the program and I think I don't know I I certainly feel it in in my business is do we even have the capacity to use the data we're getting
109right like are teachers really using it are counselors able to use this and you know so I I really appreciated that in particular. >> Thank you. Yeah, that's that's part of my job is like helping to build the capacity with the the data and using it. And you know, like I I said, I really appreciate that it's not just a snapshot. You know, students doing the state testing or an AP test or anything along those lines. They only take them once and it's just a single snapshot on a day, but they're taking this two to three times a year and measured against the same bar. And like that one graph, we're hoping to see it go up for every student all the time. >> Thank you. >> Um and it's nice too that there's um
110you know a way to measure your interventions. >> Yes. >> So you know what to adopt or what to abandon. So that that's nice to see that that's that's being benchmarked. And >> this actually the history of it uh it came to Kim Burman and I through HMH. They had reading inventory and math growth measures and that's what helped launch our read 180 program. It's an integral piece of it. They ultimately purchased NWA. So we switched over and um it's the foundation to the read 180 and the math 180 programs. That way we do get the targeted interventions. And then since we really don't have a measurement for all of our students, this is why we've instituted it districtwide essentially. >> Yeah. Okay, thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> All right, moving on
111to item number 12, the employee association's comment period. Do we have any uh representatives from the DTA who would like to address the board? Do we have any representatives from the CSCA who would like to address the board? All right. In that case, u moving on to item number 13, the consent agenda. Um, is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> So moved. >> Thank you. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Trustee Pickle, would you like to acknowledge the donations? [Music] >> Of course. The board would like to thank the following for their donations. California Women for Agriculture, Rowan Orthodontics, Johnny Williams Jr., Laura Pledo, Hill March, Livingston True Value Hardware, California Lions Camp Foundation, Sueno Coffee, Janet and Howard Gentry, A Thomas Produce, and Cindy Ramirez. Thank you. Are there any
112questions? All right. Um, that case called for the vote. Miss Roback. >> I do have one question, but it doesn't affect how I vote. On the annual approval of the career CTE advisory committee, does that change regularly or is it the same people? How how do people come to be in that on that board or committee? >> Okay. Um it does change regularly. That's the comprehensive list of what we have right now, but throughout the year we'll meet new people and convince them to be on our um committee. So then they'll get added next year. And then the people who aren't able to make it this year, we'll take them off for next year. If you know somebody, we're happy to invite them. Any other question? Any other? >> Okay. >> No. >> I'm an
113I. I I >> I >> Okay, motion passes unanimously. Thank you. Moving on to item number 14, action agenda. Um Dr. Wymer, 1401. >> On April 13, 2022, the board approved the purchase of the option to buy land at APN 003160026 or what we more commonly call the railroad property. Um that railroad property is now available. The permits that were needed to be done have been done and we now have the ex option to exercise that option and actually to purchase the entire 5.7 acres. Uh the superintendent recommends the board approve the purchase of APN 00316026 in the city of Atwater for 5.52 million with a contingency of up to 7.5% and delegate authority to the superintendent or a designate to take any action necessary to effectuate the purchase. >> Is there a motion to
114approve? >> So moved. >> Is there a second? second. >> Are there any questions? >> I I guess I just have a couple comments. I mean, it's a lot of money. >> Um, and I think >> Mr. Peterson was very smart in having some students and staff talk tonight about the needs for expanding our CTE program. And I believe we currently lease the space out at Castle from MCE. It's kind of a weird pass through and we certainly don't own that space. And per both students and teachers, if we're turning kids away, that's not a good thing. And if we don't have the cap, you know, the capacity and space for large vehicles and things like that, we obviously need um to expand. And I think that this this gives us a fantastic opportunity to
115do that and serve the needs of our students while having the opportunity to get some matching grant funding. So I just I think that that's important to note for the community who might look at this and go, "What?" >> Well said. >> Thank you, Trusty Ham. >> Any other questions or comments? >> Mr. Wymer or um the 7.5%. What would that take it up to? >> 700 >> 400,000. >> It would be about 3,800. So it would take it up to or 380 would take it up just under six, but we already paid 1.2. So it would go from 4.5 to 4.8. But I don't there are no expected expenses to use that. That's only if there's any. >> We've just done this enough that we know things come up >> just a contingency. >>
116Yeah. >> And just to clarify like you said there one >> we we already paid 1.2 back in 2022. So that counts towards the purchase price. So the 5.5 is the total and we get credit for the 1.2. Right, Miss Roll call for the vote. This is Rebecca. I'm not sure why it's still not coming up. Motion passes unanimously. Thank you all. Moving on to item number 15, superintendent report. P Superintendent Pier P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P Pearson. >> Thank you, uh, President Jingga. It has been a very busy September and early October for everyone. Two events that stood out was the celebration of Rob Shit's 30 years as the Merced High School football coach. Okay. as the Merced High School
117football coach, there are very few left like him. We we heard some comments tonight. Um like when I think about uh long tenured coaches in the district, I think about Ken Roads here um in track and field and cross country. Um and when I say long like 25ish plus. And then Matt Winton, baseball coach at Livingston. Um, anyone else? Oh, Chopper Melo. Yes. Wrestling Golden Valley. Good one. So, you know, out of all of our coaches, we have four that have spent that kind of time. So, um, just congratulate him and all of our coaches that uh have dedicated themselves to our athletes. Um, also the Atwater High School pool dedication was very well done. Um, thank you uh, Principal Parlay did an excellent job of introducing the pool and honoring Rody Spencson. We have
118our first annual state of education in Merced lunchon on October 21st. This is a collaboration between Merced Union High School District, Merced, uh, Merced College and UC Merced. And we will share the fruits of our partnership that a lot of folks are unaware of and our hopes and dreams for the future. And you're all invited to that. Thank you. Thank you. Um, superintendent. Moving on to item 16, communications and future agenda items. Um, Trusty Coleman, would you like to go first? >> First of all, just want to say thank you to our presenters tonight. Great job. And I really appreciated uh, Mrs. Parlay from hearing from your CTE students. That was outstanding. Um, I did attend the pool opening the other week. That was very good turnout for the community. Uh, and I will be
119traveling on Friday and Saturday to the Mercy County School Board Association conference and represent us there as well. Thank you. >> Thank you, Trusty Pickle. >> I also um appreciated the uh the reports and also hearing from um the students. They um like you said, Mr. Valdez, they were very well spoken. I mean, they just they had composure and poise and they did a fantastic job. So, I really excited to see where they end up after high school and if they take the, you know, the trades route and um and what they do. I just think they have they have bright futures, whatever they decide they want to do. Um, and I also wanted to take a moment um just to remember um Ron Hawford also. Um I know he spent time here um at
120this campus and um just uh truly to the core a good person and the type that I think we all aspire to be. So just want to remember him and his family. >> Trusty Valades. >> Well, like always want to thank everybody. I mean, a ditto to what you both said already, all three of you said already, but um I I I do always appreciate when the students talks like like especially like the two that talked today. Um and also I I mean I always do thank parents and and any community members that come out and speak on behalf of whoever they're they're representing. We we we always got to listen to them and and look, you know, really look into what what is happening. um and make sure that that everything that that we
121as the the leaders uh want is happening from everyone. I mean, if we're talking about these coaches that have been here forever and also these kids that are very well spoken. I'm sure some of it is from home, but also I think that who they're with, who their teachers and so on, they're they're mentoring them. And we do have to make sure that all all our coaches are doing the same thing or everyone all staff. But thank you all for what you do also as always. And um you know I I know that all of us individually uh are trying to do what is best for for our students and for for everyone. >> Thank you Trustee um Ham. >> Um thank you. appreciate everybody's remarks as well and um excellent meeting tonight. I thought
122the the pres presentations were incredibly well thought out and presented and like everybody said, just hearing from the students goes goes a long ways. Um I too hope that we'll follow up with the families expressing concerns around Golden Valley football. Um Mr. Coleman, thank you for going to MCOE this weekend and representing our district. appreciate that. Um, I'm curious to learn a little bit more, I guess, about a bond. And I'd be interested in learning maybe also at a lower rate what that would mean and if that might be maybe something more um interesting to the community or maybe maybe 19 or $30 is just fine, too. Um, I I think, you know, we voted to purchase this land for a new CTE facility and I'm just thrilled with the direction that that takes the
123high school and the opportunities that it gives students in particular in trades and we know not everybody goes on to college. So I think this just gives some great opportunity um and for employment and really appreciate the depth of knowledge as well that students are getting those skills no matter where it is and that they can take their CTE and go into a work environment and be able to analyze and defend and um explain. So I just really really appreciated that. I would love to ask again about as we're considering bonds and facilities, theaters improvements for AHS and MHS in particular. I think their theater facilities are pretty sad. Um, and most of our other schools have really great theaters. And then the gym at Merced High just is so prominent when you're driving down
124G Street and it is so bare and it just feels like there's a big opportunity to either put a bear or a mural or something all the way around it because it I mean it's just such a focal point on campus on the street wherever you are and I feel like we could really utilize that. So that is something I would love to talk further about. I think people feel the same driving down went way so we can have a joint discussion sometime >> and both principles have it on their wish list. So it is something that is being discussed. >> Okay. Um principal parlay thank you so much for hosting us tonight. Great presentations from your um teachers and students. Love the passion um that they have for what they're learning. Uh great presentations
125from everyone all around. So appreciate the hard work that goes into putting all that information together so beautifully for us um so that we could um get a download on what's going on in the district. Um as always u thank you for everything that each of you um does for our students and our community. And with that um it is it is 7:29 and I hereby adjourn this meeting and uh with that right after that we will um reconvene into a special board meeting. So um do I just go straight into that? Yes.