001Okay, I'm going to call to order the Mount Dav Unified School District board meeting for January 14th. We're coming back from our close session. Um I will start with uh first off, everybody is here and we've been joined by our um student board member um trustee Burella Ariana and we are going to start with our land acknowledgement. We recognize that the Mount Dable Unified School District sits on the territory of the Confederated villages of Lashon, the ancestral and unseated land of the Bay Miwok, Northern Yoka, the successors of the southern Verona Band of Contracasta County. As members of the Mount Devil Unified School District community, it is vitally important that we are not only recognized the history of the land on which we learn, but also we recognize the land we inhabit and learn on
002is the ancestral land of these people who are alive and flourishing members of the Mount Dable Unified School District and broader Bay Area communities today. Will you please join me in the pledge of allegiance >> to the flag of the United States of America and to the which stands one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Right. So on at close session, the board had um voted in a matter of anticip litigation. Oh, I'm looking at my agenda. Okay. Review and potential approval of the minutes for the regular board meeting held December 10th, 2025. >> Madame President, I move the board approve the minutes for the regular meeting held on December 10th, 2025. >> Second. >> Okay, >> we have a motion and a second. I'm not sure which one weighed
003in f with Lawrence first. All right. Trustee. >> Okay. Well, I'll talk slowly, but trustee Oriana, how would you vote? >> Yes. >> Okay. The rest of us are getting signed in and it's very good. passes unanimously. All righty. Next order business is review of potential approval of the agenda. Dr. Clark. >> Yes, Madam President. I would like to pull item 14.10. >> All righty. Thank you. >> Question. There was also one of the board policies that we are going not going to consider. Will we >> during the policies? I'll pull it at that point. >> Okay. Thank you. >> The entire >> correct. >> Okay. I'll entertain a motion. >> I move that the board approve the agenda with um item 14.10 being pulled. >> Second. >> We have motion by trusty Mayo. Second
004by trustee McDougall >> trustee Oriana. How are you? >> Yes. And that passes 500. All right. Now we'll have a report out of close session. 7.0 report out of close session. Anticipated anticipated litigation in the matter of one case. Anticipated litigation. The board by a vote of 50. Give direction to outside counsel. Consideration to hear appeal of a decision in a complaint against an employee per board policy 1312.1. In that matter, the board voted 50-0 to decide not to hear an appeal of the complaint against the district employee pursuant to the code administrative regulation 1312.1. And and um the board voted to approve the readmission of student 09-23 to the regular schools in the Mounty Unified School District. And that's concludes our report from close session. and takes us to public comment. Are we voting
005public? You want to vote now on that? We voted in close session. We can vote again. We're good. Okay. Public comment. Do we have any public comment cards? cards. Okay, we have six public speakers at this time. Um, public comment is 30 minutes, so we will be done at 6:36 in case other folks decide to turn in cards later. Amanda Sakar Sakaratus Good evening, trustees and superintendent. My name is Amanda Sakatch and I teach family literacy ESL classes for Mount Diablo Adult Education. Although I'm a member of the Pleasant Hill City Council, I'm speaking tonight in a private capacity as a teacher for Mount Diablo since 2012. I wanted to share a little bit about our student successes. Our free family literacy ESL program helps parents learn English through life skills and school readiness lessons.
006And the children also learn important pre-iteracy and social skills. Many of my adult students have gone on to pass their citizenship tests, work to support their families, or have gone on to other programs at Mount Diablo Adult Education, such as our EMT or high school program and Project Access, which is a program we have with DVC, whereby students learn to become preschool teachers. Unfortunately, it's been difficult to keep and attract teachers to our program because every other adult school in the area pays much more. Two of our teachers departed last year to teach at Akalani's adult school where the starting pay is about $20 more an hour. Additionally, it's difficult to promote from within. Our senior instructional assistants get paid vacation time, but teachers don't. Many SAS prefer to stay at the assistant level for
007this reason. Additionally, our family literacy early childhood attendants make more than the preschool teachers when factoring in such things as vacation pay and overtime. We've had an opening for a preschool teacher at Cambridge Family Literacy since the fall. I want to close by thanking the district for supporting our programs which fuel our local economy and ensure student success at the K through2 levels. We all know parent participation is key to student success and our program engages and empowers students to be partners in their children's education. Thank you. you. Our next speaker would be Shanahan Hammed Shah Shahana. Good evening. My name is Shabana Hamidi. I'm from Afghanistan. I coming to USS in 2019 and I'm uh my country I went to uh school in 8th grade but uh at Lama Vista right now in two
008years uh of uh English well my children attend uh the family letters and preschool they knew uh their uh lemon tree uh B area and they're uh happy and uh Gman and N um also attendant uh citizen to um test and I am now citizen but uh thank you for uh supporting uh LMA Vista our school. >> Thank you. Next, it's Brandon Engelbert. All right. Um, good evening, Superintendent Clark and trustees. Uh, my name is Brandon Angleberg. Um, I was here last meeting and I signed up for public comment and I think by virtue of not putting the number, whatever it was, I wound up sitting and hearing what everybody else talk and I didn't have a chance. It was really cool to hear about the Afghan refugees and such last meeting. I did enjoy
009that experience. But I'm here tonight as a Monty Gardens parent, a former parents club president, and a classroom volunteer. And just about two weeks ago, I also decided to take the leap of managing my daughter's little league baseball team. So, your thoughts and prayers are very much appreciated. With my oldest now in fourth grade and a kindergartener to join next fall, I'll be repeating many of the same activities all over again. I like to stay engaged and that engagement puts me in position to see firsthand what's happening in our school community. Which brings me to tonight. Tonight I want to acknowledge someone who represents the very best what I'm gonna start crying. Um very best uh what we hope for in our schools. So, Principal Alexander Bennett. Um, on December 2nd, my daughter was recognized
010at the City of Conquered City Council meeting for artwork she submitted to the mayor's art contest. It was already a moment she'll remember for years. But what made it unforgettable was seeing Principal Bennett outside the city council meeting before the doors even opened up. There's no fanfare, no announcement. He simply showed up entirely on his own time to support a student. And it's important to acknowledge that Monty Gardens in this district is full of people who go above and beyond. For example, our noon supervisors Marie and Tony came out in the evening of November 14th to support a small group of Monty Garden students performing at a choir event at Conquered High. Their presence mattered and recognizing Principal Bennett tonight doesn't take away from others. Instead, I believe it highlights something bigger. Our children thrive
011because so many caring adults consistently choose to show up for them in ways that aren't required but deeply felt. These gestures are not small. My daughter walked out of that chapter with a smile that said everything. Taller, prouder, and more confident because someone she admires chose to be there for her. As a parent, that meant more than I could express in three minutes. Here's where I knew it was going to happen. And if I make it to the end of this without tearing up, that will be a minor miracle. Um, so tonight I want to offer Principal Bennett some pure sincere appreciation not just for attending that event, but for understanding the power of presence and for modeling a kind of leadership that strengthens the school community one child one moment at a time. And
012I want to thank the board as well because a culture where leaders, new supervisors and staff feel empowered to go above and beyond doesn't happen by accident. It happens because of the values and expectations you set at the top. Thank you for giving me the space to share this. And thank you to every educator and staff member who continues to lift up our children in ways big and small. They may not always make the agenda, but they absolutely make the difference. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> I'm sorry you had to wait, >> but it was well worth the wait. Okay, thank you. Okay, next would be Dave Bilman. >> All right. Um, good evening trustees and superintendent Clark. Uh, my name is Dave Bellman. I'm a former Mount Diablo Unified School District student and
013an educator in Contraosta County for nearly 20 years. But tonight, I'm here as a parent of two children. Um, one who currently attends Bankraftoft Elementary School and another who will in a few years. and I'm here to add my voice to the nearly 90 written comments that you received that I'm sure you will read about the urgent need to expand the Diana Child Care Center at Bankrooft and to ask that the district prioritize and actively support this process. Over the past decade alone, Braftoft has added more than 160 students, roughly a 30% increase. That's like adding an additional small elementary school onto the campus. Yet um during that period the size and capacity of Diana center has remained unchanged. The wait list is enormous. Families remain on it for years and most never receive care.
014Increasingly families don't even join the weight list because they know if they don't get in during TK or kindergarten they never will. And this year for the first time even younger siblings of children already enrolled in the center cannot be guaranteed care. It was heartbreaking to tell our child who attends Diana that his brother might not get to go to daycare with him. Not to mention the stress that it put on us as parents. To say that the current capacity of the center cannot meet the needs of the sto school community is an understatement which has real consequences forcing families into really difficult choices. Some parents have had to reduce work hours. Others leave jobs entirely because they can't secure care. And I want to recognize a really clear equity issue here as well. As
015is often the case, this burden falls disproportionately on women. And it's not theoretical. It's happening now. It's happening in our district, in our school community. Dianadair is an exceptional program. Children are well- cared for, supported, engaged. The relationships build there, strengthen the students sense of belonging and their learning at school. All families who need it deserve access to this care. The good news, as you know, I'm sure from the written comments, is there's a real and immediate solution under the leadership of Mrs. Stephanie Lee. Um Diana Dair has identified an unused modular building that's ready to be relocated to Bankrooft to expand capacity. Now, I appreciate the district has um completed a facilities review and the request is now moving forward to educational services who I hope will recognize the strong programmatic benefits of expansion
016and determine any impact on instructional programs would be minimal. So what I want to emphasize is simple. The need for child care is real. It's documented. It's already affecting families. And the need to prioritize and expedite this expansion is immediate. So my ask is simple and straightforward. Prioritize this request. Move it forward with the urgency it needs and deserves. Actively support aligning the child care capacity with the needs of bankrooft families and children. When schools grow, the systems that support families must grow with them, and I hope the district will act accordingly. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Next, we have Suzanne Yhiro Liowitz. Hello. Good evening. I'm Suzanne Liboitz and I'm here to speak for the expansion of Diana Dare Daycare at Braftoft Elementary School. I've been a Braftoft and Diana Dare mom for
017over a decade between my three children. This is my 12th and final year um at Diana Dare. And I've through the years seen tremendous growth of not only Braftoft um but of Diana Dare. Accommodating students in the afterare program was always an issue but never like we're seeing now. As a working parent, I would never have been able to keep my work schedule had it not been for Diana Dare. As a medical professional, I've always admired the safety and care provided at the facility, especially during COVID when all three of my children were there full-time and nobody got sick. As a mother, there's nothing better than knowing when I drop them off in the morning, they're well cared for. They interact with the staff, with their peers, they get assistance with homework, and stay physically
018active after school. Diana has been more than just a daycare for my children and family. They've helped raise my three children and they've seen them through different stages of their development. They know when they need extra help or support. They recognize when they are stressed or having a hard day. They greet them by name and give high fives. Their summer programming is more like a camp than a daycare. During the year, they play games and sports, and through the years, like every Diana Dare parent can attest, we've gotten yelled at numerous times for picking them up too early. As our school continues to grow, um the there is a tremendous need for a Diana Dare to be able to accommodate more students. This is a school and a community need. Since Diana is on the
019school campus, the children can easily get from school to aftercare. They can even participate in after school enrichment programs and walk to Diana after. It gives the children a sense of independence and stability that they need. It is unfortunate that not every family has the same opportunity we had to be a part of this amazing community. We have the staffing and resources willing to accommodate more students and we now need the support of the district to help facilitate. Diana Dare has given my children the safety, support, and stability they've needed through their adolescence. We've now come full circle when my oldest child, now 16 and in high school, can drive to pick up his younger brother at Diana Dare. and he still gets greeted with the same warmth and affection that he did when he
020was a preschooler there. I will forever be grateful to Miss Stephanie Lee and to the staff who's played such an important part of our family's lives. And I dread the day in June when I do my last pickup. >> Thank you, >> Stephanie Lee. Hello. >> And support system. I see. >> Uh good evening, Dr. Clark, members of the board. My name is Mrs. Lee Stephanie. I am the executive director of Dinadair Share and the site director uh located on the campus of Braftoft Elementary School. I recently celebrated my 19th year site director at Braftoft and 24 years serving families within the Mount Tab Unified School District. I am also a former district parent. Four of my children graduate graduated from MDUSD schools and in a couple years my granddaughter will be an incoming TK.
021This district is not only where I work, it's my community. There's been a great deal of public comment today and this evening regarding to the need of expanded child care at Braftoft and I appreciate uh their voices, but I'd like to use my time to clarify a few points and provide important context. The dual immersion program at Braftoft began roughly in 2014 with two kindergarten classrooms and has continued to grow steadily since then as the campus expanded. Enrollment nearly doubled. However, childcare did not expand uh alongside the schools. Over the years, I've repeatedly requested an expansion of Diana. Around 2019, I met with district and maintenance operations staff architects along with our principal and PFC president to review the site plans. At that time it was confirmed there were no fire lane restrictions preventing expansion.
022That was one reason for denial at that time and then CO hit. Now nearly over 5 years later we're serving even more students in addition to the uh two TK classes and an influx of children from the COVID a baby boom. I know you guys all feel that with your TK classes along the district. This year alone I have 40 incoming TK and kindergarten siblings which receive um priority. Okay. Um, there are also a hundred school age students who have been on my wait list for years, not including the additional 55 incoming TK and kinders that are not siblings. I'd like to thank the district facilities review team for meeting on site with us. That collaboration is very appreciated. However, since November, communication has been limited. I was informed on January 8th that the proposal
023has now been forwarded to educational services and I'm seeking clarity on what that means, who's responsible for approval, and the expected timeline. The lack of clear communication has real consequences as I'm currently turning families away just due to lack of space despite documented need and strong community support. All I'm asking is for transparency, clear communication, and guidance on how we move forward. Whether this request is approved or denied, our families deserve clarity, our children deserve access to quality care. I am 100% open at any time for conversation. I'm happy to join any team, etc. to make this happen. I also welcome any of you to come to my program, see me, meet me, come to my site and answer I can answer any questions for you. To be clear, this expansion will be fully funded
024by Diana. There is zero cost to the district. Uh we also have an empty portable ready to be moved. Thank you so much and I appreciate your time. >> Thank you. That concludes our public comment. We'll be moving on to communications. District organizations at regular board meetings. A single spo spokesperson of each recognized district organization may make a pre board presentation. Items are limited to those which areformational. And we have Linda Ortiz. Good evening, President Mason, trustees, Dr. Clark, members of the audience. My name is Linda Ortega. I'm the president of the Mount Diablo Education Association. I want to start off by saying happy new year, Felis Novo, to all of you. I'm looking forward to a time of collaboration between the district and media in 2026. With so much unrest in our country right
025now, I hope we can come together to support our students, educators, and community. One area that I would like for us to collaborate is when the district is looking to recruit new site administrators that they include the site educators in the decision-making process. In previous years, an interview panel consisted of all the stakeholders who would work directly with the new principal. I would like to know why this process has stopped. I believe when those who work in a school are involved in the discussions that there is more buyin when deciding who will be the next school principal. Many of my members have been asking why they cannot be part of the decision to hire their new school principal as it has been a past practice. So I'm here this evening asking for this consideration moving
026forward. On another topic, as the days get colder, I would like to remind my friends in M the importance of maintaining functioning HVAC heating systems and a cooling and cooling systems. The temperature in a classroom greatly affects the learning environment of our students. I also would like to acknowledge that the director of MO and I have scheduled days to visit three the three elementary school sites that have gone under renovations. After almost two years and a lot of patience on our students, our educators, and the community, it's nice to see that these projects are coming to an end. Finally, later in the agenda, you will be presented again with an item I had request that you pulled last month. I want to acknowledge that I had the opportunity to sit down with your general counsel
027to discuss me uh media's concerns. I appreciate the conversation and her willingness to listen and make some changes. Thank you. >> Thank you. Okay, that takes us to recognitions and resolutions. Dr. Clark having dinner there. So, So, our first resolution of the end of the evening is resolution 25 uh- uh slash26-42 provisional internship permits. We're going to do three of these tonight, but they're all similar. So, I'll just read the the first paragraph. Whereas the California Commission on Teacher Credentiing authorizes the issuance of a provisional internship permit, other known as a PIP, to employees who meet the minimum requirements and who require additional time to meet subject matter competence needed to enter an insure internship program. Madame President, I leave this resolution in the hands of the board. >> Okay, board members. Motion to approve
028uh board resolution 25-26-42 for personal personnel with provisional internship permits. >> Second. Okay, we have a motion by our student trustee, a second by trustee Mayo, trustee Oriana. How do you vote? >> Yes. Waiting. Session. Mine says session error. Oh, so it's just going to take Oh, there it went. Okay, maybe we'll just talk slower. >> Okay, now 10.2. Was that for all of those or >> one? Okay, >> do each one. >> Ready for the next? >> Yep. >> All right. I didn't see the screen change. So, uh, uh, Madame President, I bring before the board of education this evening resolution 25/26-43, and this is for variable term waiverss, and we have one individual seeking that. I leave this resolution now in the hands of the board. >> Okay. Motion. Second. Second. Sorry about
029that. We have motion by trusty mayust. My screen jumped to 10.3. We're on 10.2. two bridge. We have like a gremlin in the building tonight or something. It's do. Okay. Let me see. Let me see. Let me see if I can do it this way. Okay. My goodness gracious. Enjoying meeting the same things pictures, huh? Ours is just going for you right now. Oh, there we go. Let's see what happens now. We're still on 10.3. >> We're on 10.3 on here, too. And you're still scrolling. I'm getting ready to >> Should we do voice vote? Trying to work it out. >> Yes. We're going to go back to the oldfashioned way. Okay. All right. I'm so system I'm tell just like agenda online. >> Trusty Ver Oriana. >> Yes. >> Trusty Mayo. >> Yes. >>
030Trusty Lawrence. >> Yes. >> McDo. >> Yes. >> Trustee Zei. >> Yes. >> Trusty Mason is a yes. We're good. >> Great. Madam President, I bring before you item 10.3 um which is um uh resolution 25-26 uh 26-44 to authorize local assignment options education code 44263 and we have one individual. I'll leave this resolution in the hands of the board. >> Get a motion. Madam President, I move that we approve resolution 25/26-44, local assignment option EC 44263. Second motion by Nick. Got a second by Trusty Lawrence. It's up here again. We can see if it works. We'll give it a couple minutes and then we'll do a voice. Literally a couple minutes. roll through the resolutions. Those aren't >> probably not too >> trusty Oriana. >> Yes. >> Trusty Mayo. >> Yes. >> Trusty Lawrence.
031>> Yes. >> Trusty Ze. >> Yes. >> Trusty McDougall. >> Yes. >> Trusty Mason is a yes. All right. >> 10.4. >> All right. into uh review and potential approval of resolution 2526-45 in recognition of National School Counseling Week. Very excited about this one. in recognition of National School Counseling Week. Whereas school counselors in their service to students in school communities bring a unique combination of skills, knowledge, and expertise in the interrelated areas of educational development, social emotional well-being, college and career readiness, aptitude analysis, relationship building, trauma response, community partnerships, and much, much more. Whereas school counselors play a role in ensuring that students are prepared for the future, including awarenesses of college and career pathways, scholarship opportunities, and financial aid strategies. Now therefore, be it resolved with due appreciation, the governing board of the
032Mount Alaba Unified School District hereby proclaims and recognizes February 2nd through 6, 2026 as National School Counseling Week, highlighting the theme counselors amplify student success. So, please everyone thank your counselors um all the time, but especially during February 2nd through 6. Madame President, this resolution is in the hand of the board. Thank you, >> Madame President. I move that the board approve resolution 2526-45 in recognition of National School Council Week. >> Second. Okay. So, we have a motion by Trustee Mayo, a second by Trustee McDougall. Are we gonna try this? >> No, we're just gonna keep rolling. It's got it up here. Let's see if the little box comes up. While we think about how appreciative we are of our counselors, right, Dr. Clark? Okay. Don't Okay. Trusty Barrerero Oriana. >> Yes. Oh, it came
033up. Not for me. For one person. >> Okay. Trusty Mayo. >> Yes. >> Trusty Lawrence. >> Yes. >> Trusty Z. >> Yes. >> Trusty McDougall. >> Yes. >> Did you get to vote both ways? >> Yeah, it looks like it. >> Trusty Mason is >> early and often. >> Okay. So, that passed. >> Yes. So, Madame President, I now bring before you um uh review and potential approval of board resolution 2526-46 authorizing the replacement of the lease counterparty in connection with the execution, delivery, and sale of certificates of participation. And we have our um we have our CBO Adrien Vargas to present this item. Uh Mr. Vargas. >> Thank you, Dr. Clark. So, I will just summarize the resolution. So during the due diligence process because we are about to uh go out to market
034to issue out the coops um it was discovered that the financing corporation was not in good standing with the franchise tax board. So our bond council council is working on that. However it will take time to do that and there is no timetable. It could be a day, it could be a week when franchise tax board gets back to us. Uh so we can figure out what needs to be filed. Um so in so we don't um delay the issuance because if you remember when we presented the market to go out is in the in this month. Um, this resolution would replace the MDUSD Financing Corporation with the Public Property Financing Corporation of California and the impact would be up to about $5,000 to replace them. Um, and I just received their resolution yesterday. So,
035their board has approved it. So that's what the resolution basically will do for Mount Diablo and uh their certificate of participation uh issuance. So I'm here to answer any questions um regarding this. >> Thank you. Are there any questions for >> I do have one. >> I understand um what you explained. If you are able to clear it with the fr the tax board before uh we have to sell the bonds, will we incur the fees? If we do it the >> if we do not use the public financing corp, then we would not incur the fees um because we would be using the MDUSD. >> Okay. >> So, this is an alternate in the event we should have to. >> Correct. And I will say just to put a timeline on it, I mean
036we we are looking at the I believe the first or the last week of January, first week of February >> for the issuance. >> Right. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Any other questions? If not, we'll entertain a motion. Yes. >> Okay. So I move to amend uh resolution u this resolution um by adding inserting section two effective date saying this resolution shall take effect from and after the date of its passage and adoption and be effective for a period of one year from the date hereof. And I move the board adopt uh resolution 25/26-46 as amended. >> I'll second that. >> Motion and a second. Motion by trustee now. Second by trustee. >> We're going to see if this comes up in the meantime or >> Yes. So lucky you mess with this. Okay, we'll
037give it a second. >> Trusty. >> Yes. >> Trusty Lawrence. >> Yes. Yes. >> Trusty McDougall. >> Yes. >> Mason is >> All right. >> Thank you. >> All right. Madam President, I bring for you uh item 10.6 and this is resolution 2526-47 in recognition of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day which is January 19th, 2026. Whereas in 1964, Dr. King received the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway for his dynamic leadership of the civil rights movement and steadfast commitment to achieving racial justice through nonviolent action. He pledged the prize money to the movement continued he pledged the prize money to the movement's continued development. At the age of 35, Dr. King became the youngest man and and only the second African-American to receive this prestigious award. Um whereas we proudly follow Dr.
038King's legacy by exhibiting cultural competency, reflexivity, and humility and celebrating our diversity with events within the Mount Diablo Unified School District. So now therefore, be it resolved that the governing board of the Mount Diablo Unified School District hereby calls upon everyone to observe this day by actively participating in civic community and service projects in honor of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. which would have been his 97th birthday and his contribution to civil rights, equity, and peace. Madame President, I leave this resolution in the hands of the board. >> Thank you. I was miss any comments. There you go. >> I move to approve resolution 20 526-47 in recognition of Reverend M Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. >> I'll second >> um when we I haven't like shared this in a few years,
039but when I first moved here, when my child was in the fifth grade, there was no mention of Martin Luther King at school. you know, we're not any not at any time of the year. Um, and but I'm confident that things have changed as as this board is has changed the culture of our district. But I wanted to share um an excerpt from one of his favorite speeches of mine. Um, I encourage you to go online and find a YouTube video of it. It's uh titled, "If you do MLK, where do we go from here?" But he said even semantics have conspired to make that which is black seem ugly and degrading. In Roier's thesaurus there are some 120 set 120 synonyms for blackness. And at least 60 of them are offensive such as words
040as blot, soot, grim, devil, foul. And there are some 134 synonyms for whiteness. And all are favorable expressed in such words as purity, cleanliness, chastity, and innocence. A white lie is better than a black lie. The most degenerate member of a family is the black sheep. Azie Davis has suggested that maybe the English language should be reconstructed so that teachers will not be forced to teach the negro child 60 ways to despise himself and thereby pro perpetuate his false sense of inferiority and the white child 134 ways to adore himself and thereby perpetuate his false sense of superiority. The tendency to ignore the Negro's contribution to American life and strip him of his personhood is as old as the earliest history books in his contemporary as the Morning's newspaper. To offset this cultural homicide, the
041Negro must rise up with an affirmation of his own Olympian manhood. Any movement for the Negro's freedom that overlooks this necessity is only waiting to be buried. As long as the mind is enslaved, the body can never be free. Psychological freedom, a firm sense of self-esteem is the most powerful weapon against the long night of physical slavery. No link link Lincolnian emancipation proclamation, no Johnstonian civil rights bill can totally bring this kind of freedom. The negro will only be free when he reaches down to the inner depths of his own being and signs with the pen and ink of assertive manhood his own emancipation proclamation. And with a spirit straining toward true self-esteem, the negro must boldly throw off the manacles of self-obnigation and say to himself and to the world, "I am somebody. I
042am a person. I am a man with dignity and honor. I have a rich and noble history, however painful and exploited that history has been. Yes, I was a slave through my fore. And now I'm not ashamed of that. I'm ashamed of the people who were so sinful to make me a slave. Yes, we must stand up and say, "I'm black, but I'm black and beautiful." This self-affirmation is the black man's need, made compelling by the white man's crimes against him. And why I was compelled to share this is I feel like I know many of us feel like we have survived a year, like we we made it to today. And in a year where um the teachings and the the um the oh gosh I can't think of the word the movement and
043power of Dr. Martin Luther King. um some people try to use uh his his words um against black people and against the the progress that had been made in this country until a year ago and use it to try and move back with these linkian emancipation and Johnsonian civil rights bill. And our children hear that and they hear the eraser of history if if they have to be an NPR backseat listener when they're young. Um and so I just I the importance of affirmation and this affirmation, but it doesn't even matter. I'm black and I'm beautiful. I just want to make sure that our community um understands that and that in our school district we affirm that to our black students, staff, and families. Thank you. And you would be glad to know in 1972
044at Pacifica High School, we walked off the campus on his birthday in protest that it was not a national holiday. So some some of the districts the district was paying attention So, um, we'll And the second was, um, I noticed you didn't have it here was by our student trustee. So, we're going to go ahead and do a voice vote so we can get and then when we have our presentation. Oh, maybe not. Wait, wait, wait, wait. It came up. >> I think Are we good? Oh, it worked. Thank you for your comment. let that system catch up with us and it was very heartfelt. Thank you. Okay, that takes us to reports and information. Looking forward to this one. >> This will be exciting. So, I also I just want to let the board
045know that I um I eat, sleep, and and drink Mount Diablo. But when we have to do the voice votes, that means that Laura has to replay the tapes. And so, I'm in my office and I'm hearing the meeting and replaying it and I think I'm dreaming. I'm like, "Oh my goodness, what is going on? I've already lived this." And so, um, so Laura, we're going we're going to invest in Laura having some headphones when she has to replay the when she has to replay the meetings. Um, so so so um we're very excited to to have uh first of all just to have two of our our high school principles um here in the in in the audience. um a high, you know, all all educational positions are um are are um you know,
046difficult, are challenging, but um the high school principal position is one that I have a great deal of respect for. Um and so I really honor these two folks who who are both parents. And so as already they work six nights a week um you know with sports and plays and uh elective nights and sat you know when teams make the playoffs they have Saturday games and things like that. So um I don't I don't bring them out to board meetings just for anything. And so I'm very appreciative that these two are coming out. But uh California law um we're going to have to come up with a cell phone policy by July. And a few years ago, a um uh one of our schools, Olympic High School, really took on their own to to
047um find ways that they can engage their students more. And in doing that, they found that a huge barrier to that engagement was the use of cell phones on campus. So this is not a commercial or an endorsement for Yonder in any way, but this is one method to um to get students to engage in what is taking place on on school campuses. And it's not students are not just learning in the classroom. Students are learning on the way to school. They're learning between classes. They're learning during brunch and lunch and during activities and things like that. And so what this um what this does is allow students to be engaged the entire time that they're in high school. And we're going to find out how it went over at College Park and at Northgate
048High School because it's already successfully gone over at Olympic, at Prospects, at Mount Diablo High School, and at Ignatio Valley High School. But this year, we rolled it out at College Park, Northgate, and Conquered High. So, without any further ado, I have uh Kelly Cooper and Dr. Ronnie Richardson. >> All right. Hello, trustees, presidents. I am Kelly Cooper. I'm the principal at Northgate High School. >> Good evening, Dr. Clarks, our amazing superintendent, our amazing board, board of trustees. I'm Dr. Richardson, principal at College Park. >> All right. So, we are really proud uh and honored to present to you tonight our experience with Yonder this year, both of us in our pilot years. So, if we can go to the next slide, I'll just tell you briefly about Northgate's I do I do something. Here
049I go. Hey. All right. Thank you. Um I I'll tell you briefly about Northgate's uh journey with cell phones. So, in 23 and 24, we recognized a need to manage cell phones even more greatly after coming back from COVID and realizing that our students were unfortunately really profuse users of their cell phones. So we started with optional cell phone spas in the classroom. I bought uh spas for every teacher that wanted to pilot that. Um and the the word at staff meetings when they discussed their experience was that it was just a game changer that it really did change what they experienced in the classroom for both the students and um and for themselves. So the next year I bought spas for every single classroom and we tried to make that a schoolwide policy. However,
050teachers had a varied level of implementation. And some of them didn't want to get into the power struggle. A lot of them had issues with um where the the spa would exist and whether or not a phone might get stolen and having that fear of of risk, etc. Um and there were just a you know, it w it wasn't the perfect solution, but it was one that they could feel the the tangible difference. So, we were able to go visit Mount Diablo. We visited Olympic High School and take a look at how their yonder policies rolled out. And then we did a steady roll out of information to our community. We sought feedback from our teachers, our um our parents. We let them know what the Yonder program was like and we let them know
051that this was coming. And so that way um we piloted Yonder at summer school. We weren't able to host summer school this year. We had a a beautiful makeover at Northgate. Um and so we weren't able to host, but we did host at Conquered High and we were able to pilot the Yonder program and then we fully implemented from the first day of school. And so you'll see very soon how that's been. And then after implementation, I went back and I surveyed our students and went back and surveyed our staff to find out how that's been going. And then I'll >> Thank you, Kelly. >> Um, first of all, uh, Giddy, good evening everyone. Uh, one of the things I want to uh, acknowledge around yonder. It's about human human connection. It wasn't about taking
052cell phones away from our scholars. Is how are scholars connecting uh, human to human? Uh I was able was I was uh fortunate to and um honored to as I was appointed principal of College Park on on June 12th. I start it was on it was on the 13th but on the so the 11th or the 12th I started in summer school and I was able to observe yonder on campus and in summer school and we piloted. So that's where I came in to and I was able to uh it was amazing to see how the students were engaging. However, there was some hesitance. So, I was able to talk to scholars and say, "Hey, what's your thoughts? What's the pros and cons?" So, I was able to hear the scholars on how they're feeling
053about yonder. As I navigated, as we got to the new to the school year, the the number one the number one challenge is getting students to understand that it wasn't taking their cell phones away. And I the presentations in August I think were so powerful where we had our full yonder policy implementation where again we engaged all stakeholders with parents and I got a lot of student voice. I know in in the summer I want to give um I want to give my um uh absolute um shout out to Marco um Miss Marco who did a great job as summer school principal who was a principal who was monitoring that and it was it was amazing. I was able to see that. Now going back to August, it was so important that our we engaged
054with our students to help them understand the reasons why uh yonder is going to be implemented. And I thought that was so important that students were able to share their voice, but also us sharing the rationale on why. Um September 25th and and December 5th, we've seen some amazing and you'll see in our next slides, you'll see some amazing um just some just amazing evidence around how our school our students are um um navigating our campus. So we'll go to the next slide and we'll go in the impact. >> Oh yes. >> All right. So in talking with our students uh we you know I separated them out by grade level and of course I received very different answers when I talked to my freshman versus my seniors and how this imple this rolled out
055for them. So, I tried to, you know, select just a few of the quotes and keep it very real so that I represent my students accurately because this isn't it's not necessarily their 100% favorite policy. I had a lot of reluctant adopters, meaning that they acknowledge that they are more engaged and more focused in class, but they don't really like not having their phone around when they want it, right? And so, um, my favorite quote on here is the top right, um, where this student acknowledged that they feel more focused and have a stronger connection to people. And this is my favorite part. I feel more comfortable making conversations with people because they aren't so connected to their phones. Even in real life outside of school, I'm more comfortable to talk to strangers because I'm
056not so connected on the phone. And that's one of those intangibles that we've noticed all around campus is that our students are in conversation. I can't wait to show you some photos of what lunch looks like, but it it is a definitely a different feel all around whether it's in class or outside of class. And then the third point, the one on the bottom right, um, kind of was an interesting point because it was a theme throughout, especially with my older kids, which was they felt a rebound effect. They didn't have their phone all day, so they found that they were spending more time on their phone when they got home. Um, so they were angry about that. I had to catch up on TikTok and it took an hour >> and our Falcons are
057soaring with yonder. And one of the things uh, this is our wellness center and I want to highlight our wellness center. That's one of the spaces where our kids get to gather um to talk around and have conversations. And one of my favorite quotes um is one of our English language learners. Uh and it's was amazing just to hear uh her experience uh with Yandere. At first, she didn't like it, but she said, "I really appreciate having Yonder. As an English language learner coming from South America, I used to use my cell phone for translation. Now I can't do that at school. Uh so I'm forced to communicate with my uh my peers." um now that she's has that opportunity and navigating and communicating she feels that her English has uh improved and we can
058look at some of the data data to show that how Amanda has improved. So that was amazing and I think it's so important again that we're so intentional around and asking our scholars how they're feeling about Yonder. But as you can see, and we'll go to the next slide on how it's impacted uh our whole campus um and some of the pros and cons because I'll say our our ninth grade scholars, our 10th grade scholars, our 11th grade scholars, our 12th grade scholars have a different experience. Our seniors don't like it so much. They can't wait to graduate to get those cell phones back. However, they however I always say, welcome to the 90s. Um, and I just want to um, if you look at these quotes, it's just amazing just to hear student voice,
059but I also want to acknowledge that um, our kids are connected to their cell phones and it was hard for the transition. So, we're very intentional around um, helping them understand the rationale. But scholars are are they're loving it for the most part. Even our seniors for the most part. Oh, pros and cons. Um, I do walkroughs. We're focusing in CL the focus in class is amazing. We really could focus now on really on our instructional goals and really having more academic discourse in the classroom. That's the number one um thing that I see when I'm doing walkthroughs. Um no disruptions in in class, right? So those are the pros, right? And and teachers get to teachers get to engage with our scholars more. Now the cons again, I can't communicate. I can't text during
060lunch to say meet me by the quad or meet me meet me by the baseball field when you're not supposed to be. Um, so as you see, harder to communicate with friends, but what I do love, um, going back to the pros, when you walk on our campus and you see our scholars in the quad, they're they're conversating. Are they playing dominoes in the wellness center? Are they playing games? So, again, I think the pros overweigh the cons, but I think it's also important that we um talk to our scholars about the cons and you and the and the pros really outweigh the cons. Um, Kelly, >> oh, teacher voice. >> My turn. I really want to um I really want to Oh, yeah. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Clark. I really want to uh
061emphasize on um this is allowing us as instructional leaders to really focus on um making sure our or our our students are meeting their academic goals and and really being able to um teach. And my favorite one, it's from it's easier to build relationships with students when technology isn't consistently competing for their attention. Yandre has helped reinforce consistent expectations across campus which benefits both students and staff. So teachers are are are amazed about that and just acknowledging what's going on in the world. We really have a opportunity not to just focus on our academics but also seal and addressing you know homophobia, xenophobia, racial epits being used on campus and also thank you for the reminder and also that that how students navigate on their cell phones when they're in class. So, no interruptions. I
062wouldn't say no, but least not not that many interruptions. >> All right. So, my teacher voice at Northgate was uh very very positive. And so, one of my favorite quotes from that um is that the bottom left, this is somebody that tried the phone spas and didn't I mean loved it but didn't fully love it because of the way that students would try to sneak around it. So she me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me mentions or he students are present and engaged in my class in a totally different way from years past. I absolutely love how we connect with each other and the content and not having to monitor the students who would sneak their
063phone from their daycare pockets makes my life so much easier is how that quote ends. Um so that my my teachers really really do notice the difference in their classrooms and that's really important. So they um the student learning, the engagement and the conversation that occurs is is priceless. So some of our teacher pros um you know and cons the teacher pros the student engagement obviously not having those power struggles with students over their phones um the student discussion and conversation has been richer and um the quicker to engage in them and so um their collaborative seating really works. Having the admin able to be um really supportive and involved the students in general are less riled up over what's going on on social media. they don't see it, so they don't get upset at
064lunch, etc., and have the the the, you know, conflicts that once were there. Um, and then what was interesting as a a side effect was that they're getting better at checking their emails and especially senior year, that's what they need to be doing. They need to be checking their emails and things like that. So, they've noticed that they're um better about engaging in in a more adult way um and being responsible in that way. Some of the cons of course um you know we we ask for yonder checks at the beginning of the day so that we can have full implementation and sometimes that can take time from class depending on the teachers style of yonder checking. Um student anxiety if a student doesn't feel comfortable in a situation sometimes that phone is a buffer.
065That's that's true for adults too and and removing that buffer can increase their their feelings of anxiety. Oh no I actually have to try to talk to somebody or not at all. Um and then of course students working around the system. We're we're working on that all the time. How do we um you know talk to our students about the why? How do we work with parents etc. And then you know the past practice was students would take photos of their assignments to submit on Google Classroom and so that's a little bit of a barrier but the Chromebooks have cameras. So there are ways around it but it was noted in the conversation. >> Uh discipline data I think this is so important to highlight. Um there's less incidences happening on campus that are you
066know acts of willful force or 48900K. Um and as you can see in 2024 2025 school year we had 54 suspension under that um eco code violation. Um this year it's um it's been a nine. Um and it hasn't when you see when you see those ed codes you know when you when you when you intervene it's not what it seems but you do you do have to code it. but a zero suspension for engaging in bullying, cyber bullying is very minimal. But not to say it doesn't happen before school or after school, but we're we're able to intervene uh more effectively and it doesn't take away from the day when students are in class um and they're engaging in their um social media platform. So I want to say that this is a huge
067data point for me and and the lived experience walking on our campus that it's peaceful. Um >> quick clarifying question. Is this the same period of time or is this a full year versus a half year? >> Oh, this is the full year. >> Okay. >> Yes. Um, and now this is up to this date on 20ou for this date for 2024 to 2025 school year. There's a typo on that. >> 25 I presumed it was 25 to 26, but I'm wondering is it >> the for the one above? Is that the entire school year or was that the first half of the school year to be comparable with the one below? >> Oh, that was that was the entire school year last year. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. So, but this year
068this is up to up to the state now on our infractions. >> All right. Um, and I and I do want to note we completely understand that correlation is not causation. We know that there are multiple things. We we approach all of these things in in a lot of ways. It's not just yonder pouches, but of course our campus culture and the things that we're working on, our wellness centers, etc. But these are >> Dr. Richardson should take credit for that. I mean, you're the new principal there and you cut suspensions. Like, look what you've done. It's not the yarn, isn't this your leadership? >> Right. >> 100%. >> Yeah. >> And that that's a big deal. Absolutely. Um so, but on that note, we do need to look at these things and and look
069at um all the contributing factors. So um for us I looked at specifically electronic means engaging in bullying by electronic means and we reduced from I did mine from this time period and last year and this time period this year the same number of months and it's been reduced by 50% and then the harass threat and intimidate peoples and employees that also has dropped 33%. So that was big but I was actually really excited about our academic data. So from time period to time period. So this um this past semester that just occurred, I looked at the class of 2027, the same students, and saw that their average GPA rose from 3.557 to 3.79. And then the class of 2028, that's my current sophomores, they also had a big lift. And then today, I looked
070at uh GPA improvement from spring to fall. And 17% of our students raised their GPA by 0.5 or better from spring to fall. And so that's a big data point that I want to highlight. School culture-wise, if you walk, I invite you to please come on campus. We would love to have you, but if you walk around campus, um, what you'll see is students talking. You'll see students laughing. The first thing I noticed, if you've been in Northgate, you know that we're an indoor school. It was so loud. The kids were so loud in the hallways. And so, at first, I was wondering what was happening. And then I go out there and they're just laughing and talking and having real conversations. And that was a lot of fun. The top middle photo is our
071wellness center. Kids are um reading together. They're doing mindful coloring. They're talking. The left photo is one I'm proud of because I was invited into a game of Uno. Um I never won those rounds ever once. And so I'm not sure I'll be invited back or if I will because I clearly am not great at UNO. But it was a lot of fun uh to play with my seniors and that's what they're doing. They're talking, they're playing, they're laughing um and finding ways to engage at school. >> Thank you. Go. school social uh school culture shifts at College Park. It's been amazing. Um as you can see in the photos, we have our our our music program. It's been it's it's amazing. Uh we have our school rallies. You know, students aren't on their phones
072or rather they're focused and they're participating. Uh we had our our dog therapy. Um a day was great that students were engaging with their and this is led by our wellness center social worker, Miss Marcella. It was it was an amazing day. um at on the on the left side to the bottom that was the Yonder presentations that I was giving to our scholars to explain the rationale behind why we're um um implementing Yandere and then we have our wellness center and I want to I want to add what Dr. Clark was saying around there's been a huge push around restorative practices on our campuses on how we resolve and it's not waiting for something negative to happen. It's it's part of the culture around that we want to make sure that this is this
073is a part of our culture that we're not waiting for harm to cause the community that we're actually engaging in conversation and those restorative practices before something happens. So bringing awareness, so school culture and watching the students in whether they be in class, at lunch or in a presentation or at a rally or in the wellness center, these are places when you walk on our campus, you will see um just the happiness and and scholars are loving the conversations. Now, if you if you navigate our campus, there's a a a hot spot over there by the garden, and kids are sitting down there conversating, picking oranges off the lemon tree, um or the orange tree. So it's it's it's a orange street. Um but it's it's it's amazing. So again, I do invite you all
074to uh to many of you have been on on our campus, but I I invite you to come and engage with our scholars and ask them on how it's going and it's been going amazing. So um that's some of the live experience as the principal and I I definitely want to reiterate um it's not just about the yonder. um it's around building positive relationships but also the restorative practices that we um um bring but also inclusivity right I think it's so important that um we do emphasize it's the adults engaging with our students um with the effect of yonder so it's not just the yonder pouches so um we have resources on the next one so we both have resources that you can connect to on just the things we send out to our families
075and to our students um and then of course with policy and That concludes our presentation. >> We've been hearing about this >> very positive report. Um, you know, if you listen to some people, they thought it was going to be Armageddon or some sort of a terrible thing happening, but this is a positive report. This is working. This is going back to when I went to high school. We used to talk to people and uh I don't want to say when that was, but you know, it's something where I think the kids have to get used to getting away from the electronics because the electronics are actually isolating them more than it should be and and we're getting mental health problems, I think, because of this. And so, this is a good thing to see.
076I'm glad to hear this good report. Uh yeah, I mean this is my first year with the Yonder, first year piloting in my school, but when I first saw it, I was a bit resistant as well as some of my friends strong resistance, you know, as we're seniors. We're like, well, it's time for us to move on with our phones and stuff. But I think seeing this GPA boost is really impressive to see how this program is actually working, impacting our students in positive way. I people don't know. So, Dr. Richardson, you you you say the word scholars a lot and I don't know how much how much you know your students make fun of you for that. They love it at the same time. >> Do what do you say in the morning? Hello
077scholar like over when you do announcements. Good morning and scholars. And whenever your your newsletter comes each week, yogurt packs, I hear my child's like, "Oh, what is he saying now?" scholars, but you've created you have created a culture and and c and um the putting away of the phones has contributed to the culture um of relationship building and and these students being able to make fun of you, but in a way of like they like you and appreciate you. Um and it's a huge shift that's happened. I think a data point that you could both do that could be kind of fun because a complaint that my child has of it um besides the people one of the cons or one of the challenges was how people try and get around it and stuff
078and she sees people getting around it and she's like that's why we don't have cell phones now cuz you you did this. But um a data point that she had at the end of the year was how many fewer minutes she listened to Spotify this year, which to her was a very bad music is her is life for my child. But um but she was able to analyze and attribute it to not being able to listen to it at school. But I think that would be a fun like for your students. They would love to report that to you either in frustration or just fun. Um, a question for Principal Cooper since you have the the comparison year-over-year is just the with the the spas where I think they were often used by teachers like
079for check-in for attendance and things like that, but then students had the flexibility of at break and at lunch using the phones and just what you saw as pros and cons kind of between that and the yonder pouches where it's for the day. Yeah, what I saw with this phone spa was really I mean it was I don't want to say minimal implementation, but it was definitely a stark difference between the classes that did and the classes that didn't. And so while some students got used to putting their phones in the spa and and would mostly comply, it wasn't 100%. And for those teachers who um really kept getting in power struggles, it was a really a draining part of their day. And what I noticed, if you notice, one of the student comments was
080teachers don't have to battle the cell phones anymore. That came from a student. So when, you know, a teacher had to address cell phone use, you know, stop class and address cell phone use in class, that that doesn't happen anymore. So even if you know, our students are trying to get around the the pouches in their sneaky ways. And, you know, nine times out of 10, we'll we'll figure that one out. Um, their phones aren't out because it's like it's it sticks out like a store thumb now. So um so that's the that's the whole goal is to not have phones out whereas uh having the spas didn't do that for us at all. Um the difference at breaks and um I you know I failed to mention our club participation this year has exponentially
081increased the number of there was a picture in my my student culture slides of a um our Swedish club. Uh the room was packed. Everybody had their hand raised but we have 105 clubs this year. That was an increase of 12. Um, and so just having students engage in school life while they're at school, that part, uh, didn't happen with the phone spas. Um, and then there were, you know, the little inconvenience of the phone spas, like I've mentioned, you know, the risk of of theft or the risk of them coming down. We don't have real walls in every classroom at Northgate. There some of them are temporary walls like kind of that one. And so that they wouldn't stay up on the walls. So a couple of classrooms, the whole thing would come tumbling
082back down. So this way we keep those very expensive devices safe and in a in a nice little cushion pouch. >> And then um could you speak because I see it within my own household the divide of perhaps younger students and older stu like just different perspectives from freshmen versus seniors or any other things that you're seeing for for both of you? Uh just differences by class. Yeah, I I think our our ninth grade scholars are more receptive and our our 10th and 11th and our seniors are like, "Wow, I can't can't wait to go to college or I can't wait to graduate." Um because I I can I can see our juniors and our seniors are not as receptive to it. Uh cuz they they're most of their years they were on their cell
083phones and they were allowed. Um but now but I think um going back to what uh Kelly was saying around it that Yandre is doing what it's it's doing uh it's working exactly where the way we want it because students are pulling their phones out. Um but however I do want to um um before I pass it on to you Kelly so you can respond. I I think it's so important that we highlight that and seeing why are why are our seniors so hesitant about it because there there are people there are scholars trying to um they'll put they'll put a burner phone in their uh pouch or they'll hide it and we do yonder we do uh random yonder checks and we want to do it to where it's not humiliating but we bring
084them to the office because we really want to touch them about integrity and also following the policy. However, but I would say that our juniors and seniors are are not as receptive as our ninth graders and tth graders. Um, but I also think our ninth and tth graders, too, are still trying to get used to it as well. Um, but I'll I'll pass it over to you for get your input. >> Um, what I know about new systems is that it's going to take several years before this is just what we do, right? So, for our juniors and seniors, it it's not what they've done in the past. It's not what they're used to. And our seniors especially are like, I can last for 180 days. I'm out. Um and so but the freshman their
085comments in the survey were you know we already couldn't have our phones in middle school so this wasn't a big change for me and then um you know the sophomores were really the ones that were you know indicating how focused and how um receptive they felt in the classrooms like what a big difference it was for them. I will say that I have a junior who is subject to the yonder policy who also has noted um even at home when she's trying to do her work, she will hand me her phone and say I need to lock in and so so they recognize what might be their distractors and um so even though they're reluctant and and want them on breaks and things like that. So, uh, I think that it'll take us a few
086years before it's really just this is what we do and it's accepted and and, um, everybody kind of sees all the benefits without the rage behind it. Michael, >> I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you to to both of you to Dr. Clark's point of uh the demands on both of you already and for you to come in. And uh Miss Cooper, I think uh you know, one of the last things I did in my previous term on the board would have you appointed as a principal, which was a very personal thing, and I'm I'm just so grateful. Um Dr. Richardson, there's a certain board member who spends a lot of time bragging about you, mentioning that there were food trucks and a DJ at back to school night and things
087like that. Um but and and I actually had the pleasure of um running into someone this weekend who her her granddaughter is at uh College Park and she just raved about the change in atmosphere this year. Uh I happened to be on the campus last night for a quite exciting battle between College Park and Northgate JV basketball which a certain player hit a shot with 5 seconds left for the go-ahehead basket. Uh but it was a a great experience and and so thank you. Just uh personally wanted to say thank you to both of you uh for all your work and and efforts. >> Thank you both for all your leadership and all your commitment. Thank you. Yeah. >> All right. >> Okay. That takes us to board reports. Who would like to start us
088off tonight with the board? How about our student? >> Right. Uh happy new year. Uh some reports from the weeks of foreign today. Uh later this week I'm going to meet with the student advisory committee and work on a presentation for the board meeting next week about the strengths and weaknesses of our high schools from a student perspective. Then I am setting up a meeting with Miss McKinnon to talk about student recognition at Conquer High School. But in light of recent news, I wanted to send a message to families in fear, but also to the entire community that you're not alone. That even with a drum of tyranny and orchestra of hope can overcome it. That when we are when that when we are united as a community, we are stronger. >> Thank you for
089that. Anybody else? excited. >> I'll just No. >> Oh, wait. We got a couple. We got them. I scored them. >> Okay. Go ahead. Trusting me. >> Well, I'd like to wish everyone a happy and productive 2026. I hold out hope for our nation and our world during this chaotic time. America is a nation of immigrants and unless you are an indigenous person um you are an immigrant. I applaud the accomplishments of immigrants and welcome them to my community. On January 8th, I attended the 8th grade career and technical education fair held at Riverview Middle School. I watched with profound pride as our high school students explained their programs with uh to the eighth graders. Their teachers have trained them well and their passion about their learning was uh evident. The trades and business partners
090were present. Also, Riverview Middle School, the counselors, the CTE staff, middle school teachers, and the transportation department are to be commended for this successful event. Last night, I attended the Special Education Community Advisory Committee meeting chaired by co-chair Nikki Moira. The presentation, let your child be heard, communication strategies to try at home, will be posted on the CAC section of the special education web page soon. Staffing, enrollment, dyslexia, bridge graduates, and mental health practices were shared by staff. It was recommended that members of our community read the recent PACE December 2025 report around uh education overhaul uh to better understand some of government governor Nuomoe's proposals for the future of California public education. The CAC uh committee is planning to add another uh event to their calendar this year. So, please march mark um May
09119th at 6 PM for their spring fling idea celebration event. Uh on the district learner advisory committee meeting is tomorrow at 5:30 at Willow Creek Center and also an observance in honor of Reverend Martin Luther King will be held at Conquered High School at 6 PM on Thursday. So, I hope to see you at these events. Thank you. Thank you. >> Yeah. Um happy new year. Uh I I will uh thank um my board members for their comments. Um couple quick items. Um one, some people may have missed the news, but in December the Trump administration announced the um reinstitution of uh repayment of student loans. And I, you know, personally, I believe that if you borrow money, there's an expectation that you should repay it. Um, and I think it's just something that, um,
092for for students, for our families who are looking at college, which as we know is college is incredibly expensive. Um, and that I I've seen families rack up huge amounts of debt uh when they go to to college and sometimes that they don't graduate or that they have a degree that is not very marketable um in in the workplace. And so I think that um just our programs here in MDUSD, our college now program, the AP classes, as well as the the close ties with community college as well as our our public schools. Um, so I I would just encourage our families as they're making college decisions to to keep that in mind and recognize the the lifetime impact of some of those f financial commitments. Um, secondly, on on the college front, um, I
093wanted to make note of the fact, um, you know, one of the superintendent's goals is around our test scores. Um, in particular, I wanted to mention math scores because this is not simply a MDUSD thing, but um, UCSD, you may have seen some of the information around UCSD with the need for very remedial math um, some of which is even at an elementary level uh, to help bring students up to speed and they've seen a huge increase over the last five or six years in those numbers. And so it it is not a MDUSD phenomenon, but it is something I think we have to look at very closely to help better prepare students. And and there often instances at UCSD and other schools where these are students with incredibly high GPA who are graduating at
094the top of their class and they're finding that they are not prepared for even some very basic math concepts. Um and then third is just the fact that um much like our our student rep mentioned, I continue to hear from people in our community around fear of what is happening with federal immigration services, um federal actions in our local communities. and and and I will just first state that I think it it has been a bipartisan failure for many many years around our immigration to have a secure humane and efficient immigration policy. I think that is a multi-year multi-generational failure. But the fact that there is fear because we are seeing masked people in unmarked cars, grabbing American citizens without due process, throwing them into these cars. It is creating fear. It is creating doubt.
095We are seeing um just a the amount of trauma that is being created and uh I want to just thank our superintendent and administration for the thoughtfulness with which they have advised our students, our community for our partnerships with our local law enforcement like conquered PD to keep our students and our families safe to make sure that they know their rights. Uh but this is an issue that I believe that we all need to speak out about because we have to decide what type of America we want to live in and what we are willing to tolerate. So with that, thank you, President Mason. >> I just like to wish everyone a happy new year. Um and I'd like to honor Claudette Kulvin who died yesterday at the age of 86. And I think of
096her, why I want to say that is I feel like um we we have to unfortunately depend on our youth to show us the way and that she um at the age of 15 got arrested for not getting up off the bus and of that. So 15 so all of us if we can remember 15 and what we were doing at that time. Um but she said of that my mindset was on freedom. So I was not going to move that day. I told them that history had me glued to that seat and all of us not young people can take a lesson from her and the young people of our district to standing up for what's right always. >> Okay. Uh excuse me. Uh going back to uh December um I met with a
097Jamie Mather who was part of the construction trades workplace initiative CTWI whom I had met at the November parents uh trade night. Um and we discussed how we might take further advantage of uh his group in getting CTE internships for Mount Diablo. um preliminary discussions uh want to see how we can enhance our CTE programs through something like uh their uh offerings. On the 16th, I attended a budget advisory committee meeting and there's a lot of good information that comes out in these meetings, but unfortunately don't have enough participation from the uh members at the committee. Uh and so they don't have a quorum and they can't vote. um possibly it's due to being close to Christmas on the 16th. So we'll uh hope uh for better attendance in the future. And then on the
0988th of January, like several of our other board members, I attended the eighth grade fair at Riverview High School. Uh great number of exhibitors for middle school kids to visit with. Uh it's not as big as the high school trade show of the similar kind, but uh something just as important. And I'd like to see us do this at more middle schools. I know budgeting is a a problem there, but u we we uh also had a local elementary school participate in the one at Riverview that was Shore Acres because they could uh easily get to Riverview. So getting the fifth and sixth graders involved I think is very important as well. not just the middle schoolers, but as early as possible, expose them to what is possible after they graduate from high school. Uh,
099and not making decisions about this in 11th or 12th grade, but knowing about it from, say, sixth grade on. Um, so I' I'd like to see more of this happening around the district and then also inviting the local ele elementary schools to uh participate in this. Um, and finally on February 2nd, I will be holding uh my next town hall and uh it will be at Conquered Library uh 6:45 for an hour. Uh I'm inviting the parents of the students in area 5 schools to attend. uh we're we're trying to get uh participation from the parents uh more so than we have in other town halls, but that'll be on February 2nd at 6:45 at the conquered Library. Thank you. >> I'll just be brief and say that I think we're all aware of we're
100kind of living in a different world than we expected to be in. And so right or wrong, the way I deal with that is to surround myself with the things that bring me joy and that I can affect. So I went to every holiday celebration that there was at the schools and saw our me elementary kids. Amazing crowd that showed up at Riverview Middle School to see all of our kids play instruments and sing and have a good time. I promised you guys last year that my white husband was going to enter the pizzazzolei contest at Shore Acres and bravely he did. Was a little sad he didn't place, but it was an amazing soup. It was he did a good job and he's going to go back and try again next year. Um had
101the pleasure of going to DVC with Dr. Clark and Trusty and Zwee and listening to some of our young scholars that are going to be our world leaders tomorrow which give me hope and they presented some policies suggestions to us and took in in um feedback from us which was very um uplifting for me. Um, and then went to the career day at Riverview Middle School and it was so good to see this year they had our high school kids in front of the tables drawing in the younger kids which you could just feel it was so positive. The kids were engaged. Um, I promised to try to find them funding to get be able to bust all the elementary kids from our area over there next year. So, um it just looked like it
102was and not school board funding by the way. I'll get county funding for that um to it. It was a very wellaccepted event that the even the presenters were impressed with our kids as I was and always proud of them. And then um attended a parent meeting last night where it was freezing cold, dark, but there were still a handful of parents that showed up at Riverview Middle School to support our kids. So again, I tend to pull in in closer to home where I can make a bigger difference and where I can bring joy and get joy for my community. And that is my report for tonight. Dr. Clark, >> thank you so much, President Mason. Um I have um a few slides just to kind of keep me on track here because um
103just a lot going on definitely. Um we are extremely excited to be back um to be back at school. Um the winter break was nice, but uh the place that um I think is best for our students to be is is when they're at our schools. And so um really really appreciate the opportunity. Um, you know, I I share these goals uh before every meeting and and our our principles and our staff, our um our district staff, they they share these goals and and it's it's not just words on paper because what Trusty and Zewi said about her daughter's experience is really the experience that many students who aren't of the um you know, the dominant culture, whatever that may be, um they that they feel in in in schools and our and our district
104and our schools are not immune to that. So, I really think that these words here um they mean something if you really read them, but I don't want us to be a district where we just slap some words on the wall. I want us to actually live it through and through and that and that they really mean something. And so that all students that means everything to me. All students. We are here for all students regardless of whatever. If they walk into our doors, they are ours. And and and that is what I most appreciate each and every day. So we have our goal around our students. We have our goal around our staff. We have our goal around our communities. And then we get specific with our um with our students who need extra
105support and who historically have not um met the standards that we have set within our within our district. And then lastly, we have our goals where we're targeting a few of our schools and programs. So very very proud of those goals and we're going to continue to do the work with the with the state. we are under um um uh direct assistance from our from our county and from the state because of many of our um underperforming groups that have historically been there. And so we are working extremely hard to um to flip that narrative. So, I often share flyers and things like that, but like there is um there is just a lot going on in our country now and there's just a lot of hate and hate has almost become something that is
106accepted and we have leaders who are using hate and fear and things like that. And so, again, when we say all means all, to see something like this is just everyone is welcome. This may not seem like much to some people, but for some people it's like, "Oh my goodness, our flag is there. We're welcome. Our language is there. Mom, dad, look at this." I mean, like like it means something. And so just hats off out to our uh site leaders who embrace this, to our employees who embrace this, and if you go to these events, you will see the happiness and pride that the that families have. So, I just want to this is this is uh Katie Coun doing this over at over at Gregory Gardens over in Pleasant Hill and she's doing
107a wonderful job there making everyone feel welcome. And again, just some some pictures of that. you know, we have our district English learner advisory committee, DAC, and just seeing the diversity there where we embrace people using other languages and and and we we advise our our families, our parents, and our elders to make sure that that they encourage their students not to lose their home and and and their their their language of origin. We don't want them to lose that, but also we need them to learn English so that they can access the curriculum. And then the other the other picture here is a um is a is a parent event over at over at Amani Gardens. And and it it it is um these are these are Afghan uh uh parents. And to see
108this in in Mount Diablo, if you if you go to any of our high schools and look through the yearbooks over the years, um you you'll see why like this is this is a picture and this is what it means. They are our parents. They need access. I don't care what religion they follow. I don't understand their religion, but it doesn't matter. I'm not afraid of it. I want to embrace them because they're part of our community and we are a community of people who come together and support one another. And so I just this this this picture just caught my eye as I was scrolling through um some of our materials out there. So this really brings those words to life which we put on our on our LCAP some of it. But but
109let's continue on um our SOAR program again creating that safe and welcoming environment. We have we have families because economics they need help and we are a place where if you don't have your basic needs met it's really hard to come to school and to be able to engage and to be able to give your very best and we have a lot of staff we have a lot of resources there and if our students if our students and families aren't in the right place and they can't receive those resource so I'm really proud about our soar something else that our soar program runs is is and I mentioned this at the last meeting is that um um although it's National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, we have been doing human trafficking uh lessons um coming out
110of our uh the administrators had to do it. We we wanted others to do it but just a minute I won't go into that but administrators had to pick up the ball and do that but we are teaching our students about human trafficking all age appropriate of things so that they can advocate for themselves and and I just think that it's a shame that um the trafficking of children is in our national narrative now I think that is a shame and we are are just appalled by that as someone who's dedicate dedicated his life uh professional life to serving kids. Um so there is curriculum here if if the live link of this flyer actually has curriculum age appropriate curriculum that we are making available to our community so that folks can protect themselves and
111make sure that our students are safe. Um you know again um Dr. Martin Luther King, you know, this isn't a black white thing, but um you know, that was on top of what he was fighting for and that was what he was killed. But as we celebrate Dr. King nowadays, um we're not asking people to go out and protest. We're not asking people to take the take out to the streets even though I think it is a national tragedy that the national parks now are not free on Dr. Martin Luther King's Day. And that was something intentionally done. It's a tragedy. However, on Martin Luther King's birthday, we go out and do service. So, go and beautify a a neighbor's garden or a yard or a school or something. But it's it's a day of
112service. And I think if we could do more things like that, that ought to be what we're talking about to bring our communities and cultures together is how can we serve one another, not how can we separate and divide. Um, again, when we talk about Mount Diablo, um, and and and I want to be very clear when I talk about people in their basement, um, just emailing and going on social media, I'm talking about nationally, like if you go to social media and you just read comments, everyone has something negative to say about public education. And and Mount Diablo is not immune to that. People speak negatively about Mount the Alba, but I really don't think that they understand um all of the things that we do in this district that don't take place around
113us. These things do not happen at other places. The level of support that we provide our students to know that we have programs where we're showing our eighth graders how to weld. That just does not happen. So, um we're showing our eighth graders how to weld. We have high school students there talking to younger students about the uh uh uh uh medical patient care pathways and and I just think it's a it's a great way. I'm I'm so thankful for Dr. Fontella and her team for all the work that they do to expose our students to what else is out there and um and and to get them excited about learning. We also, as highlighted in our in our Friday letter this week, um we we we have students when when we say like like
114this older generation that that that I'm a part of, like we're cooked. All right? We need the youngsters to come and take this take this stuff over. Okay? And when you see what these youngsters are doing, so here you have this this young lady here who, you know, created, you know, holiday care packages to our um, you know, to our first responders, to law enforcement. Um, like like that's what young people are doing. When you when you when you have faith in young people and just let them do what they need to do and not put, you know, some um, ideology on them or things on them, you just let them produce. This is this is what we get. So again, we have this young lady from Valley View Middle School. We have this college
115now 11th grader, you know, who, you know, give them a chance, right? Show this student, give this student a chance. Don't have your classrooms so locked step that there's no opportunities for innovations and and for students to create. You let students create, give them some parameters. This student just won the the the the business pitch, you know, pitch competition. And um so so just I'm always so proud and so passionate about our students and um and I take it personally when people degrade and and and talk poorly about our schools and about our students. Um another student from Sequoia Middle School has their art. Not only is it just art, but it's recycled materials, right? like like I recycle every single thing in my house and I feel sometimes when I go and visit relatives
116in Texas or something and they're throwing soda cans and in the garbage can. I like I'm I'm having a heart attack like what are you doing? So like to see that our students are embodying that and then taking those recycled things and and making art is just just another beautiful thing. Again within our LTAP LCAP goals we talk about academic achievement and I want to point out excellence, right? We have excellence taking place over at over at Northgate High School um with their advanced placement, with the amount of students who who took advanced placement, the pass rates, things like that. You know, we you know, we're going to support Northgate just as we support Mount Diablo High School or just as we support any of our other high schools. They're all our students. They're all
117doing great things when given the opportunity and resources. College Now, that's Miss Shaw. She's a College Now teacher and she is just truly amazing. When when when we go out and visit College Now, we see what I'm talking about when it comes to real teachers who develop relationships with their kids, who uh encourage them, who support them like so many so many of our, you know, educators do and so many of our staff do. But the College Now program is just such a a gem that we have right in our district and to be so close to DVC is wonderful. So they're recruiting kids from Mount Diablo High and hopefully you know they can recruit you know every year you know I've been here that program has continued to grow and grow and grow and
118I want to see it continue to flourish and grow. So just another great thing that that we offer. This is in our schools. This is in our schools. So when people say oh look at your test scores you don't think we're working on that. You think I can just snap my finger and all of a sudden we got 100% pass rates and proficiency rates across the board? No. It takes time. It takes work. It takes it takes um commitment. It takes just being stubborn and saying, "No, our kids are going to learn to read. They're going to learn math. They're going to do those things." And so I love seeing these young people. This is not stage. This is not like these kids are working. And I love the little girl with the flashlight. That's
119a reading technique. Use that flashlight to highlight the words. Um, here goes more kids, you know, and and I know we got our students over on the computers, but you know what? Like, like, yeah, we we have to have some screen time in our class. We, you know, we have programs, we have assessments, we have things that take place online. Our kids are working. They they are working. They are being taught. Um, there's lots of other factors that go into bringing up test scores and bringing achievements. And yeah, I would like our test scores to mirror Lafayette and Arinda and all that stuff. That would be great, but I'll put the activities that we provide in our district up against any district in the county anytime. So, just always happy to see this. So, um,
120one of the things is I I've talked about our cash test. Our cash test is the end of the year assessment. And when we get the data, it's kind of like an autopsy. The kids have moved on. They got a new teacher. They got a new grade. They may not even be taking the test again if they're going into ninth, tth grade or something like that. But something that we can do during the year and and I and I want to be clear with this and I and I got to spell it out so people understand what we're doing. Um so we we use Renaissance Renaissance Star Assessments and we collect data at the beginning of the year BOY and so um acts as a screener to see where students are and then to group
121them for instruction. So with our young students, like you shouldn't have just all kids all the time just sitting in rows in all groups. We ought to break our kids up into different groups for targeted instruction. Then in the middle of the year, MOI, it acts as a checkpoint to see if current instructional strategies are working or if a student needs extra help, which we would call an intervention, right? And then at the end of the year, we'll give another summitive measure to see how much total growth was achieved. It didn't say to see if students reached grade level or reached beyond grade level to let's measure the growth. Let's see how our students are growing. Regardless, when a student walks in our door, they should leave better than when they came in. That's what
122we want to focus on. So, we've just pulled some data. So over in Bair um we have a tremendous tremendous admin team over there who are who are doing great things great staff over there is committed um right now in third through fifth grade their middle of the year reading has increased 9% on star uh middle of the year math has increased 6%. Chronic absenteeism which is one of our goals which is the superintendent's goal. I had some questions about this superintendent's goals um or about the superintendent bringing up test scores. There's no kids coming to 1936 Carlaua. I don't teach kids. I used to, but I have to set up the system so that the professionals who do teach kids and do manage kids, and that's everybody, custodians, cafeteria, secretaries, uh office managers, teachers,
123aids, everyone. Everyone has something to do with this. But if you're not at school, then you can't learn. So one of the superintendent's goals is to decrease chronic absenteeism. And at this particular school where chronic absenteeism is high and it's a focus of the group there, they've decreased 4.4%. And then another area of growth that we that we have is the um is the progress of our of our multilingual learners. And so here we have um 100% of our K5 teachers have completed their first observation protocol for teachers of of English learners. So which is optel. So again in order for students to be reclassified there's several steps that need to take. Yes, it's their academics but also teachers need to do an observation of them and that wasn't happening. So now we have made
124that a goal. We're giving them support and training. And so it's happening. And this is a school that has many um multilingual learners. And if you wonder who those learners are, thanks to um our secondary um um director Ruth Steel. She she uh recommended that we use this program called Educ Climber. That is that is Bair School. So when we look at numbers, this is what I see. and and this is this is our um data program. So now instead of just seeing bar graphs, the bar graphs are actually pictures of kids. And I can tell you every last one of these kids has someone who loves them and who wants them treated with respect and wants them welcomed and wants the very very best for them. That's what I do to make sure that
125that happens. So that's Bair. We got Heirs Elementary where um their middle of the year has increased 4% first through first through four uh first through fifth grade. Math increased uh 3% chronic absenteeism uh dropped. And if you want to know who the heirs kids are, there they go. There they are. Grandkids, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, all those things like like that's why we're in this work. We're not in this work for anything else except them. That's That's why we're all all here. So, I just want to highlight some of these. Um I I'm not going to show pictures of all the kids. Monty Gardens, they got a uh a logo. I put their logo on here. But look at these. Look at this growth in first grade. What is going on in first grade?
126They grew 24%. What's going on in third grade? 11%. Fourth grade uh 3%. Fifth grade, 2%. So, like these are these are those little wins. Let's go see what's going on there. Let's let's let's talk to those teachers. Let's see what's happening. Um, ELA proficiency gains 3% in third grade, 6.7% 6.7% and they're decreasing their chronic absenteeism. Silverwood I can I can again 16% 8% 9% chronic absenteeism decreased from 14% to 8 8.9% at this particular time. Now again this this is a lot better than just a shot in the dark. I think our kids are doing well. And so like I I hear comments, people come and do comments, oh, we're assessing our kids too much sometimes. Yeah. But you got to do some sort of assessment. You got to do an assessment. So
127like the job of the superintendent is to make sure our principles because I've shared with this board before when we looked at at uh local assessments, we had some schools that were at a 60% completion rate, 70% completion rate, right? So, I'm going to hold that principal responsible to make sure it's 100%. And if you have in classrooms that aren't doing these assessments, then it's the principal's job to make sure that those assessments take place, but it's also the principal's job to create the environment so that the teacher can can levy those assessments. So again, very we are looking at our participation rates and it is mandatory that it's 100% at all schools. And I can't hold the teachers responsible, but I can hold the principles responsible for that happening. Woodside, same types of things
128here. And and and again, I'm not going to do every school, but I have I have data on on every school. Um so that's what I wanted to share. Um, we do the warm, fuzzy, beautiful stuff, but um, at the heart of it is those pictures of those kids. That's why we're here. And they're here to feel welcome. We have to make sure that their needs are met, but then once they're here, we have to educate them. And unfortunately, a lot of our kids are under a lot of stress because of just things that are going on in our communities. And it's playing out in our schools. And I don't see that as a deficit. I see it as our job to embrace that and to do the best we can to help those students
129with whatever they're going through. And I bring that up because we have students every day who are threatening harm on themselves. And that is something that I don't see as a deficit. I see it as an opportunity. What can we do as school systems to support those students? And so I um am appreciative of this board for setting those goals. I appreciate this board for holding me accountable. And I just appreciate this board for your compassion and your empathy, but most important for your high standards of what you want from this district and from our students. And it's my job to do the best. Now, there's 3,800 employees. I'm going to do the best I can to make sure everyone's doing what they're supposed to do. But um we have a very cohesive admin team
130and we work extremely hard. All of our admin are on the same page when it comes to what our mission is and um and that is something that I'm extremely proud of and extremely proud to lead them as we lead this organization and serving all of our students. So again, thank you. I know if I didn't have slides, I would have gone on longer. So um so anyway, that's why I put the slides up there. >> Thank you, Mario. Thank you guys. Thank you for starting us out on a good note there, Dr. Park. Okay, consent agenda. Anybody have any comments, things to pull? If not, I'll entertain. Oh, we got a card. Somebody's got some. Okay. Uh, Linda Ortega, 14.9, she wants to comment on. We'll hear from her and then we'll see if
131anybody wants a poll meeting. Good evening again. I I do want to bring this item forward as the district considers traveling outside of our area to recruit educators. We have heard from our international educators after they have arrived that they did not realize how large our area is and how expensive it is to live here. So when speaking with these educators, I would hope that the person who is going out to recruit them that they give them the the understanding of what is expected when they move here. Um in the past, Armadilla members had to pull together gift cards, furniture, anything they need, give them a bus route to show them where their school site will be helping them. We just want to make sure that when they come here and they accept this teaching
132position that they understand. So let's all make sure once they arrive they are welcome and supported as they educate our students. That's all I wanted to say. >> Thank you. >> Okay. I move to approve items listed items. Um I was hoping to pull 14.14 and 14.22. 14. >> Yes. >> Okay. Now you can make >> I move to approve items listed under the consent agenda except for the ones that have been pulled. Seconded by our student very soft. Hey. All right. that passed. So now we have 144 was the first one right >> which now becomes 151. >> Okay. Offer I just uh promoted you but go ahead Trusty Lawrence. I pulled the wrong one. So, I pulled the wrong one. So, I'll just uh go ahead and uh >> make make a motion
133to approve 15.1. >> Okay. >> It's 15.2. Uh Trusty Lawrence. >> Great. Thank you. That makes more sense. So 15 uh so sorry we need to deal with 15.1 first. >> Okay. >> Which I did not. >> Okay. So that was >> that was pulled at the very beginning of the the meeting. >> It's gone. Yeah. >> Right. >> Yeah. >> So that one we don't have to deal with because that's on the next agenda. Correct, Dr. Clark? >> Yeah. >> Okay. So now >> 152. I did mean to thank you. That just threw me for a moment. Um and so I just wanted to note here um that it it is listed that one of the reasons why we are seeing an increase here is because of the the tariffs. And so I just
134wanted to take a moment to make people aware that what is happening at a federal level has a day-to-day impact on how we operate the school district, our costs and the the price of goods and the price of serving our students. And so I just wanted to call that out. And then with that, I would move for the approval of item 15.2. >> Second. >> We have a motion by Trusty Nor, a second by Trustee Mayo. We will now vote on it. Okay. And that one passes 50 with consent from our student. And so that takes us to 153 which was would be it there. There we go. Potential approval of the 202526 contract amendment. >> And so this is a very substantial increase um into a a cost for budget for nonpublic schools. And
135so I I see Dr. Gily walking up, but I had asked Dr. Clark if we could just uh there there were a slew of them. This was the largest dollar one. And so I was just hoping uh that Dr. Agiley could share some more information around what what drove this and how we should be thinking about this. >> Yeah. again. Um, on our on our consent agenda, I believe that we had um we may have had three um no, we had four uh pretty large contracts that have to do with non-public services or or hiring outside contractors to do the work. And so, Dr. Aguili is going to just share how and why some of these prices are skyrocketing. So, Dr. Aguili, >> good evening. Thank you for asking the question. Um the way that
136the contracts initially work is we start out um contracting with a variety of different providers and then based on their availability of staff we um secure actual services from them. So we sort of enter a master contract. Each of the services that we receive from them is documented on something called um a service agreement that's tied to the IEP. And so what ends up happening is so for example we might contract with one company but then they're unable to produce the people so then we move it to another one. So typically the total budget for the year remains constant based on our budgeted amount. However it does shift between providers. What we do is we bring the increases to the board, not necessarily the decreases, but it is reflected that it is um no additional
137cost to the overall district budget, more of a shift in alignment with student IEPs and availability of preparators from the agency. Yes. Um non-public placements um non-public schools. We did an analysis recently. Um the non-public schools over the past 5 years have increased by about 26% on average with some of our non-public placements um going up. The lowest was 15% and the highest in addition was um 46% increase. So over that same period of time, we've reduced the numbers of our students in non-public schools by increasing the numbers of programs that were offering in the district. So we've opened up more special classes in the district. But even though we're doing our very best to keep the um children in our district and not othering them to other placements, um we are still um battling
138consistent increases in those costs just simply due to what the um providers are charging us. Um it's not limited to any one public school. As I said, it's across multiple of them. Um, I remember when, you know, when I first came here, non-public schools average about $172 a day. Now, some of them are up in about 350 range. And I and I do want because oftent times special ed is one of those topics that we get a lot of negative comments about and publicity about. But I want to um first of all at the root of it are those pictures that's someone's child who has unique needs that require special services. And the work of Dr. Gily and her team to do the best that we can to try to keep those folks close to
139us and maybe have a student who has severe autism be able to actually attend their neighborhood school would be a great thing, but that student learns differently than some of the other students there in the class. And so again, when we talk about empathy and acceptance and understanding, that's an important thing. And because if that student is not with us at that school, we got to send them to Fairfield, to Richmond, to, you know, in some cases, you know, they have to travel long distance to go to a non-public school and we're paying um hundreds of thousands of dollars sometimes for that placement. If it's a residential placement, they may need need to go to Utah or something like that and we pay for that. So, um, so anyway, I want to just really honor
140the work that you all do. And I know that, um, you know, not a lot of people show up with flowers and hugs and and praise and stuff, but you're you're getting your flowers and praise now. >> Thank you. I appreciate that. And to be really clear, we take it really seriously that our kids belong with us. We can serve them better than anybody else can. And um, and that matters, right? It matters a lot. we can give them a good education. They're our kids. They belong here. And this has never been I mean, we're stewards of fiscal resources, of community resources, public resources, but our obligations to that kid and that family. And that's what really what we're trying to do. And to Nor um Dorothy's here, she often is says lovely things, but
141I'm happy to answer questions about our programs at any time. trust me more. >> Thank Thank you for that. I would also just add that there are, you know, schools in in our area that aren't part of MDUSD that are not as able or willing to serve uh these students. And I think we take it as just a a responsibility and a privilege for us to be able to serve them and and just thank you so much for the the work that you do and and Dr. Clark, thank you for your words. So, with that, I would move uh the approval of item 15.2. Thank you. We have a second. >> Second >> motion by trustee Lawrence, second by trustee Ming. >> Uh Trusty Barri or how you vote? >> Yes. >> Okay. And that
142passes unanimously with your consent. All right. Thank you. Getting to business and action items. 17.1 review and potential approval of tenative agreement between the Mount Daval School Psychologist Association and Mount Dave Unified School District. Ryan, >> a little bit of good news and some collaboration and we have uh Mr. Shehy to share that. >> Absolutely. The human resources department is excited to bring this tentative agreement forward tonight that we did reach with the Mount Diablo School Psychologist Association back on November 10th. And just due to timing, we're able we weren't able to submit the AB1200 right away and we have since and so we this tenative agreement here is for the 25 26 school year. We will be opening up negotiations again soon with them, but this does wrap up this contract year. And with
143that, I leave this approval in the hands of the board. >> Thank you. motion. >> I move to approve the tenative agreement between the Mount Diablo. >> Sorry. Yeah. No, I was reading the wrong line. The M Mount Diablo School Psychologist Association and Mount Diablo Unified School Districts. >> Second. >> Have a motion by Trustee Ze. Second by Trustee McDougall. Trusty Ber Orianna. How do you vote? >> Yes. passes zero with approval from our student trustee. Next, we have uh established board education committee assignments for 2026. I sent an email out to all the board members. I heard from a couple of them. The only changes we made is where trustee count has served before. I put trustee Lawrence there and the audit is usually always done by the president and the vice president of
144the board. So I made that change. So if there's any changes you want to suggest, we could do it next meeting or we can approve it. That's up to you guys. I move that is it established or Yeah, I move that we establish the 2026 board committee assignments as you assign them. >> Second. We have a uh motion by trustee and second by trustee trusty or you're it gets at the end of the night your name gets longer and longer. Oriana, how do you vote? >> Yes. >> Thank you. Okay. And that passed. That takes us to 173. review and potential approval of proposed changes to administrative regulation 1312.1 complaints concerning district employees. So, we we did pull this item last time. Um we we want to bring it back. We did we did meet
145and um and and come to an agreement with our labor partners and um and so we are recommending that we accept the changes um as we check accept the changes as noted. >> Okay. Thank you. I move the board adopt um the amendments to administrative regulations 1312.1 and the exhibit 1312.1 as presented. >> Second. >> Thank you. Motion by trustee nail second by trustee Lawrence. >> Trusty Vera Oriana. How do you vote? >> Yes. And that passes 500 Z with approval from our student trustee. Next 17.3 review. No, we did that one. 17.4. Review and potential approval of revision to board policy BP5030 student wellness to add the USDA non-discrimination statement. >> It was added >> and that's was added. So I'll entertain a motion. >> Madame President, I move that the board approve item
14617.4, for the revision to the board policy 5030 student wellness uh to add uh with the addition of the uh USDA non-discrimination statement. >> I'll second. >> Thank you. We have a motion from Trusty Lawrence, a second trusty girl. And that pass. >> Okay. >> You never know. >> Yeah. It did. Okay. Next is going to be review potential change to the board policies administrative regulations per California schoolboard association recommendations September 2024 quarterly update says back for approval. >> Yeah. So we're bringing we're bringing um you've already reviewed these and so we're bringing four of these back for approval. >> Okay. I move to approve changes the revisions to board policies 6152.1 and 6163.4 and ad administrative regulation 6152.1 and OE for exhibit 6163.4 for as presented. >> Second by trustee, second by >> Okay,
147are you? >> Yes. >> That passes 500 consent from our student And next will be review and potential approval of changes to the board policies administrative relations per California school board recommendation. >> Yes. All >> yes. And and and the great thing about quarterly updates, I know we're a bit behind, but we can count four months at a time. So you can see we've gone from September to December, and we're going to keep on moving here. But on this one, we're bringing uh four for a first read. We're being bringing one back for an approval and two to postpone um approval pending additional review. So we are asking for a motion to postpone uh BP AR 5148.2 pending additional review and move to approve only BP 6170.1 as presented. And I have language if someone
148wasn't taking notes. So only 1548.2 is the one we're approving. Okay. >> 617 last >> the last one. 1540. >> Want to read the >> Yes. >> 177. >> Move we approve board policy 6170.1 >> with the others being held for further presentation for a future presentation. >> I'll second that. >> Just showing off. >> Okay. Okay, we have motion by Trusty Mason, second by Trusty McDougall. >> Not showing off. I just want it done right. >> Yes. Okay. And that passes 500 with consent from our student representative. And so now we are on 17.7. Reviewing potential approval of changes to board policies and administrative regulations per California School Board Association recommendations March 2025. >> Two of them are coming back, right? >> Coming back. Yeah, >> just the two listed here. We don't need
149any more information. Okay, we got it. >> I will entertain a motion. Madame President, I move that we approve draft BP 6142.94, history, social science instruction, and draft BP 6142.93, science instruction. >> I'll second. >> Okay. So, we have motion by trustee McDougall, second by trustee Oriana, Barrerero Oriana, and Trusty Barrero Orianna, how do you vote? >> Yes. And that passes 500. I >> think this is it, right? 17.8 review of changes to board policies and amendment regulations for California school board recommendations. June 2025 quarterly update five for review. >> First one we have to go ahead. No, and it's for a first read, but I I really I I want to um thank you all for going through these. I know these are not like bedside uh bedside reading and things like that. Um
150they are difficult and then with all the lineouts and colors, I I understand that, but staff, you know, we're trying to catch up as best as possible. Um Laura really um really um hounds us to to make sure that these get done. um be and because Suzanne will then um everything is what does the policy say? So um so they they have to be updated. So I really appreciate you all uh going through that and and and Trusty Mayo, I know I was joking with you, but your your eye really helps us a lot in this. So >> Well, I think what's really important is when we aren't current, we risk greater chances of a lawsuit. And that's why this is so critical. So, thank you. Thank you to everyone that's involved. >> I was
151going to say we appreciate you guys back for making sure we stay updated on because it's a neverending job we are seeing. Okay. If there's nothing else >> just >> I think we are due for the evening. >> Future meeting >> a request for a future meeting. I don't >> No, I don't want to hear >> what would you love. >> It's a different kind of presidency. Um I was hoping that uh I was hoping that we could at a future meeting have um a discussion around the afterare programs as we've heard um you know we've heard from uh Bankro with Diana Dare I know uh Walnut Acres and I I I think this is one of the things as we talk about how we can continue to attract and retain students that is really
152critical to that. there are balances around school property, how it can be used and things like that. And so I was hoping that we could um if the president and uh superintendent were were willing that we could have a presentation and and discussion around that. >> With that, happy new year and we are jured. We're meeting next