Mt. Diablo USD Special Board Meeting 08/4/25

001Good evening everyone. I'd like to welcome you to the special meeting of the Mount Diablo Unified School District Board of Education. Today is August 4th, 2025. Uh would you please let's do roll call. Um Mr. McDougall >> here. >> Mrs. Mason >> here. Linda Mayo is here. Have we heard from Trustee Enzi yet? >> I believe she will be here, but she's not currently here yet. >> Okay. Thank you. Uh we'll announce when she arrives. Next item is the land acknowledgement item 2.1. We recognize the Mount Diablo Unified School District sits on the territory of the Confederated villages of the Lassan, the ancestral and unseated land of the Bay Miwok and Northern Yokot, the successors of the sovereign Verona Ban of Contraost County. As members of the Mount Diablo Unified School District community, it is

002vitally important that we not only recognize the history of the land on which we learn, but also we recognize the land we inhabit and learn on is the ancestral land of these people who are alive and flourishing members of the Mount Diablo Unified School District and broader Bay Area communities today. Would you please stand for the pledge of allegiance? To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> So, the next item of business on tonight's special agenda is public comment. Um, the public may address the board on any item listed on the agenda. And you have >> um 2.3 the review and potential approval of the agenda. That's all. >> I'm skipping over because I'm

003anxious to get to the business. >> I will make a motion that we approve the agenda as presented. >> Thank you, Mrs. Mason. >> I'll second it. >> Trusty Mason has moved to approve the agenda as presented. Trusty McDougall has made the second. So the motion is adopted with uh three voting in favor, no one voting against, no abstension, and one person being absent, and there's a board vacancy. Now, we will move on to public comment. Uh for special meetings, the public may only address the board regarding any item listed on the agenda, and you have three minutes to speak. The first speaker is Christy Palutian. Welcome, Christie. >> Good evening, Madame President, members of the board, Dr. Clark, members of our community. Welcome back. My name is Christy Palutian and I'm here tonight in

004strong support of asking you to appoint for area 4, Brian Lawrence as the interim trustee. I live in area 4 and I've lived in area 4 for over 25 years. I have three students that have graduated now or children that have graduated now from MDUSD, uh, two of which recently. And I first met Brian in 2016 um when he was serving on the board. And I was just impressed with his leadership and his um genuine concern for the well-being of our students and our schools. And I feel like he understands the issues that our school district is facing both past and present. Um I feel like he also understands the budget um MUSD budget and the budgetary process. And so like he said on his application, there would be very little ramp up time for

005him to step in and fill the role to assist this board in what they need to do for the interim. I also feel that as an added bonus, he has two um of his own children that are attending and a school within the area and I think that would give him maybe some insight as to what's going on in the school and in our area and also maybe some accessibility um for our community to reach him. Um, as an added story, not related to the board, but I saw that he put it on his application. Um, and it kind of relates to what type of a person I see Brian is and a community member, but um, in 20121, I'll never forget, um, one of our area high schools did not have a head coach

006for their softball team. And, um, they were advertising everywhere. I mean, next door, Flyers, you name it, Facebook. And I even reached out to one of my neighbors and I know nothing about softball but I reached out to one of my neighbors whose um daughter played for Cal and nothing seemed to be uh mic coming for this team this group of students until Brian stepped up. Brian was their head coach and he had no personal ties to this team, but I feel like he saw a group of students that he did not want to let down in our community and he filled that role and I think that speaks volumes to what type of a community member he is and also what type of a person he is and maybe a little bit to his

007bravery. Um, so as soon as I saw Sharice K announced that she was stepping down as our area trustee and um that she would be gone within a week, I immediately reached out to Brian and I asked him to assume this role. I was not the first person that day to reach out to him, nor do I think I was the last. Our area really just gets Brian. We trust him. We like what he brings to the board. So I'm asking again the board to appoint him tonight as our area 4 trustee for the interim. And I want to thank Brian for applying and to his family for continuing to support him because they understand what this job involves and for all that he's done in the past for our schools and especially for our

008students. >> Thank you. Let the records show that trustee and Zwe joined us at 5:05 p.m. Uh the next speaker speaker is Gretchen Krueger. Welcome, Miss Krueger. >> Thank you for having me. I'm Gretchen Krueger. I have a recent grad of Northgate and I also have a daughter who's currently attending. Um, I want to throw my support behind Brian as well. I've known him for many, many years, 13 years in fact. And, you know, he's been a champion for students and teachers. He helped lead us through the pandemic. He helped bring wonderful Dr. Clark back um on the board as a superintendent. He's been an active member. I think he's already heard of the community. He's coached so many sports teams because they needed coaches. He loved doing it. He loves the kids. He loves

009providing that support to our community. Um he's been a constant cheerleader for students, for schools, for teachers, for the admin, and we really would love to have him back. He needs we need his knowledge, his passion, and um his positive demeanor. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Next speaker is Julia Jameson. Good evening, trustees. My name is Julia Jameson and I am a teacher at Mount Diablo High School and am also a voter in Mount Diablo Unified School District, although not in trustee area 4. However, I am here to encourage you to appoint Brian Lawrence to the MDUSD school board. Uh, Mr. Lawrence has a track record of representing the interests of all students in Mount Diablo Unified School District. And he also has a history of work that reflects um his understanding of the

010importance and value of the educators in Mount Diablo Unified School District. And in pursuit of labor peace um and a conclusion to our negotiations, I believe that Mr. Lawrence would bring the experience um and the skill to enable us to make that happen. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> The next speaker is Jackie Krueger. Hi, I'm Jackie Kger. I'm going to be a senior at Northgate High School this year. And I also came out here put support behind Brian Lawrence as area for vacancy because I've known him for the majority of my life, 13 years like my mom said. And um he's been my coach for sports, I think soccer, and I know that he did a lot for the softball team at my school, and I just think he'd do a great job in

011helping out the community. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next speaker is Linda Ortega. Good evening. Where did the summer go? Right. So, good evening, Prince uh President Mayo, trustees, Dr. Clark, members of the audience. My name is Lindo Ortega. I'm the Mount Aliabel Education Association um president and I would like to voice my support for Brian Lawrence as he has proven he has a proven record of knowing the MDUSD community as it was mentioned having been an MDUSD school board member in the past and who has his own children in MDUSD schools. As the president of media, I know he has experience in settling contracts with labor and has the necessary qualifications like prioritizing the needs of our all of our employees. I feel confident that he is someone who is ready to step in

012as this position in as this position we know is very vital at this time and who is very supportive of MDUSD and public education. as a parent of um students who've been in this district um your job is to support all students. It's our public schools and I just want to thank you for your consideration for his appointment. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> The fighter final speaker is Mr. Yen. My name is Craig Yen. It's a luxury to have three minutes to speak today. Um, first off, thank you so much for this opportunity to speak to you board members as well as superintendent and also big thanks to all of our four candidates who have put in their application for this role. I am speaking of course to this area 4 trustee appointment that

013we are looking to do today. Did have a chance to review the candidate applications and so I do appreciate that transparency with the board and through this process so that we were able to see who it is based upon these applications for the position. Coming back to it though, this position is not easy and I'm sure Mr. McDougall just stepping into this role right now. You've there's a big ramp up curve in terms of understanding what goes to being a board member. So I do appreciate all of our experience on the board. That's why I am also speaking towards Brian Lawrence and the experience that he would bring back on over to the board. There's so many different qualities overall for a board member and these are difficult decisions in difficult times. Yes, things are

014changing and I am over at Valley Verde. This is my 23rd year within education. This is my community. No, I don't live in the community. However, I know the parents and the families within the community. I know the students within the community and in knowing them I know that the experience that Brian Lawrence has shown within the past he's very open to suggestions and listening to what it is that we have to say and he's very straightforward in that approach and he looks to get things done. We meaning media the teachers are the largest bargaining unit and we are currently at impass and in mediation and that's not something that as a teacher I like talking about at all to all of our new teachers that are coming into the district. This is not something

015that I came into teaching for. I did not come to speak at board meetings. I did not come to be able to help in the organizing process for our union. And yet, it's a position that we are in. And this is something as a candidate with the trustee. It's going to be important for them to be within this role to make those tough decisions. We're sitting on $213 million. Thank you for your comments. >> Thank you. >> Okay. And thank you to everyone who joined us this evening to provide public input. We're ready to move on to uh 4.0 which was business and action items. Uh first we will review the process uh for the board procedure on the provisional appointment. Dr. Clark Thank you, Madame President. Um, first of all, I want to thank

016the four candidates who've uh shown up here this evening, submitted their applications. We're very forthright and transparent on those on those applications, and we have and we appreciate that. We we have structured a um a a process tonight that um is followed by uh is recommended by CSBA and is followed by other districts who um have unfortunately been uh faced with this same with this um same challenge of adding somebody midterm. And so what we are um what we are planning this evening is we have four candidates. We have four names in a um in a bowl that um again we can mix up and and whatnot and and maybe the student can come and and draw if the student's still here. So the student is trusted. So, so we'll have the student come up

017and uh draw a name and that first name that is pulled out will be the first to um to uh sit at the table here in in front of the um in front of the dis and um and we'll do that for all four candidates. So, we'll get a transparent and random order of of who goes first, who goes second. All candidates will remain in the room while we while we do this process. Again, that's a way to keep it transparent. I know it can be uncomfortable, but again, that way it's transparent. And um and [snorts] then we have we have 10 questions approximately 3 minutes per question. We have a timer there. So, every candidate will have will have three minutes. We have a reader who will read the questions. So that way board

018members can focus solely on the responses and on the um on the answers and eye contact and posture and all those important things of our um of our candidates. And then at the end of that um at the end of that then the board will deliberate and we'll discuss in open session. we will not be doing a close session this evening and then um hopefully by the end of that they will be ready to uh make a motion and go through our normal process of um of voting on and electing a a board member to represent area 4. And at the conclusion of that, if we if we get a a uh decision of the majority, then I will then read an oath to that person and um and then tomorrow you will start receiving

019updates from myself and from the Mount Dava Unified School District. Do I have any questions of the of the trustees of the process or of of um of the procedures or not? myself or um um in-house attorney Suzanne Struy Kim can can answer those as well. >> All right. Where's my student? >> Oh, go ahead. >> Sorry. We have to do item 4.2 first because origin only interview three candidates. So, you have to do a vote on item 4.2. So, um, item 4.2. >> Yes. And just I'll introduce item 4.2. Um, we we were not sure how many candidates we were going to get for this, whether it was going to be 20 or whether it was going to be one or two or or three. So, we had um in the interest of time,

020if we had 10 people, we were going to bring it down to three. When we saw that four candidates um only four and four candidates apply, we decided in full transparency, even though we had a committee ready to whittle it down to three, we wanted to give all four a chance, but we'll have the board take official action on that if they um as they need to do. >> I need a motion, please. >> Okay. I will move that the board interview four candidates who admitted applications for the board vacancy. I'll second that. >> So, we have a motion by Trustee Mason with a second by Trustee McDougall for the um motion for the item on uh interviewing four candidates. Please consider voting. So, the motion is adopted. 4 0 0 uh with one trustee

021vacancy. Okay. Now we will have the drawing of the names. >> You should >> [laughter] >> Got to do three more. So according to the order of the draw, uh Mr. Videlis, am I pronouncing it correctly? Uh will be first. Mr. Lawrence will be second, Mr. Anderson, you've joined us, will be third, and um Miss Whit Marsh will be fourth. All right. So uh we are ready to begin uh the interviews. So uh Mr. Vidalis, would you please assume your spot? >> The timer. >> Beautiful. >> Miss Mason will be timing you. So uh you have three minutes. The yellow light will come on uh after two minutes have expired and then there'll be a sl buzzer uh when three minutes are up. You'll have three minutes for each of the 10 questions. Uh you

022don't need to take the entire amount of time, but uh you're welcome to use it. We're here to learn more about you and um we appreciate you being here today. >> Press There you go. Okay, we're ready for the first question. Question number one, opening statement. Please tell us about yourself and why you want to become a board member. What strengths do you believe that you will bring to the board? >> Thank you. My name is Eloy Vidales. Um I was raised in a lowinccome family neighborhood in Los Angeles. Uh I serve proudly in the United States military and currently work in a regulatory capacity um for Pacific Gas and Electric. I hold a graduate degree in uh organizational leadership and I'm pursuing a doctor of law and policy um to help deepen my understanding

023in US law as well as uh policy and advocacy. Um I want to serve on this board because I believe in the power of public education to break the cycles of poverty and inequity. My strengths include strategic planning, fiscal accountability, regulatory experience, and deeprooted commitment to service. I bring an outsers's uh perspective grounded in community voice and systems level thinking. >> Would you move your microphone more to the center of the table? There you go. Thank you. >> And I'm a little nervous. Number two, what is your experience with public education and what is your experience with public service and policy as it relates to school districts? Well, I'm a pro a product of public schools and I understand firsthand systemic barriers uh many students may face. My public service includes military leadership, regulatory compliance,

024and stakeholder engagement with uh utilities and municipalities. In my my current role, I've I've worked on high impact policy development and collaborated across sectors to align operations with equity and safety standards. These experience, although I realize is very different than educational industry, support how I evaluate educational systems. Uh make evidence-based decisions and center on marginalized voices, voices, excuse me. Number three, what experiences, knowledge, and strengths do you bring to support the district's local control accountability plan goals? >> Thank you. I'm I was actually excited to uh get into this question and the the alcap is quite a beast. So, it was a lot of reading over the weekend. Um what what I bring is regulatory strategy, data analysis, root cause analysis, program management skills to support all five LCAP goals. Uh goals one focuses on

025academic rigor and safe uh learning environments aligns with my belief in measurable uh support uh excuse me, measurable uh results and student centered um outcomes. For goal two, I support culture and responsive teaching and inclusive hiring. An approach that I've I've advocated for in my own workforce. Um, and goal three, as I understand the importance of family and stakeholder voice is driving equitable outcomes. Um, I am deeply committed to goals for four's focus on on the um focal um, sorry, I lost my place here. vocal scholars including uh African-American students, uh foster youth, homeless uh students, multilingual learners, and students with special uh you know the IEPs. Uh these are the these are the students our system must serve better. Uh lastly, goal five focuses on improving attendance and graduation rates. Um I support sight

026specific strategies um and continuous data cycles to uh uh disagregate data and accountability. >> Number four, as a board member, you approved a significant expenditure for a project beloved by the community. A year later, before the project has commenced, the financial situation in the district has changed and you are now faced with whether to or not reallocate those funds you committed to this project to other priorities. Tell us how you would go about making a decision. What types of information would help you make your decision? >> This is a tough question. Um, I think my my my decision- making would start with transparency. I would assess the original project scope, cost, and community value. Then I'd uh review updated financials uh and stakeholder input. If reallocating is necessary, I'd seek to preserve the original project's

027intent uh through phase implementation or alternative funding. Um the key factors would include alignment with the LCAP goals, long-term student impact, and public trust. I believe in balancing stewardship with vision. Number five, the board is subject to the Brown Act, which means all of our decisions are to be made in public without the majority of the board's prior discussion. Please tell us your thoughts on decisionmaking and some of your ideas about how to make good decisions in a public space under potentially contentious circumstances. This question really it also aligns with the previous question but uh the Brown Act fosters accountability and I support its intent. Uh transparent governance ensures the community's voice is not sidelined in contentious situations which does happen right. I believe in grounding decisions in board policy and student data. Uh actively

028listening without holding bias or personalizing disagreement. uh articulating a clear rationale in open session. Even when opinions differ, respectful and open deliberation builds institutional credibility. >> Number six, how does an effective school board ensure opportunities for parents and community members to express their diverse range of views to inform board deliberations on important policy issues? An effective board uh cultivates multiple pathways for community to voice. Um we have advisory committees. I know there's some like the the DAC and the AA aac uh focus groups, town halls, multilingual digital tools. Um engagement really isn't a checkbox, right? It's it should be a culture value. We should disagregate feedback by student group um geographic area and access uh to ensure we're not only hearing from the most vocal stakeholders uh but from everyone. Surveys, feedback loops, um sitebased

029listening sessions can help also ensure that policies uh reflect the whole community. Number seven, identify a recent board decision that you felt strongly about and describe how you would balance community concerns, student needs, state and federal law, staff considerations, and your personal values and beliefs to determine how to vote on the issue. >> I'm sorry. Can you repeat the question? >> Yes. Number seven, identify a recent board decision that you felt strongly about and describe how you would balance community concerns, student needs, state and federal law, staff considerations, and your personal values and beliefs to determine how to vote on the issue. >> Yeah, thank you. Um, a recent board decision, I'm going to make sure I follow the timer because this is a lengthy one. Um I supported was the uh board to not

030renew uh the board to not renew the American tower for uh KVH90.5 FM and transfer the FCC license to Contracasta County's office for uh $1. Uh the vote did pass 4 to1. I'm sure you all aware of that. uh the rational form I support um see fiscally prudent um over the past uh two decades the district had spent uh it was close to half a billion dollars on the tower lease with another 5-year renewal uh which was projected to cost aroundund I think it was 172 million or upward of 170 million uh yet the station lacked um studentled educational component since broadcasting uh occurred or ended excuse me in 2012 um the good thing here is I felt like the legacy was preserved here. Um, selling a license means that you could still have a

031community broadcaster with volunt volunteer staff uh potentially return to educational mission under the new public oversight. Um, it was a transparent um transition. Uh the board set clear terms uh no lease renewal, limited sale term, um which sunset option to surrender to the FCC in mid 2026 uh if no new operator emerges. While while I acknowledge the symbolic value of the KBHS to the many community members, I believe the decision modeled responsible stewardship, prioritized student and fiscal equity, and create a pathway um for the KVHS to be revived in a sustainable uh and public serving format. Number eight. What would you do if you believed you did not have accurate and complete information for making a decision? >> Unfortunately, that kind of happens often in my experience. Um, if I didn't have reliable information, I

032would press pause and ask for more information. I believe it's better to delay a vote uh than to rush into a bad one. I'd request staff analysis um historical context and stakeholder stakeholder consultation. I also believe in triangulating uh data uh if one metric is unclear look to others uh to that align. Uh my goal would be to ensure that all students benefit not to simply just move the agenda forward. Number nine, what is your understanding of the funding structure of MDUSD and the board members role related to the budget and fiscal health of the district? If selected, how will you contribute to make sure that the district continues its good fiscal standing? >> Thank you. Um the uh Montiable Unified School Juristic receives its funding through the local control uh funding formula with targeted

033supplemental funding for English learners uh foster youth and low-inccome students. As a board member, I would oversee alignment between expenditures and the LCAP goals, ensure fiscal solveny, and ask probing questions about efficiency and equity. My work in regulatory budget oversight equips me to evaluate uh whether investments yield outcomes. I believe in maximizing uh the impact of every public dollar to serve most students most effectively. >> Number 10 is closing statement. Please provide a closing statement if you would like. >> Thank you. I believe in the potential of every every student um and the duty of leadership to remove barriers. My military service taught me uh resilience and discipline. My regulatory work taught me accountability and my life experience has grounded me in equity, transparency, and courage. I'm not here to sit quietly. I'm here to

034ask questions, uh listen deeply, and serve with a purpose. Thank you for considering me for this role. Mr. Lawrence, welcome. Hello. It's nice to see all of you. I think the last time I was here, we were uh debating whether we're going to shut down the school district for two weeks or three weeks for COVID. Turned out to be a bit longer. >> Well, we're in session now. >> Yes. Nice to see all of you. >> I think we're ready for the first question. >> Hello. Number one, opening statement. Please tell us about yourself and why you want to become a board member. What strengths do you believe that you will bring to the board? >> Um, I would start with I have eight years of service here on the Mount Diablo School Board. Um,

035I reminded, you know, I have a long-standing commitment to this district. Um, the first time I I ran for the board, I actually missed my oldest son's first day of kindergarten, the drop off, which uh then led to a family tradition of dad picks up the the new kindergarter and takes them to lunch, but um he is now about to enter his junior year in college at UC Santa Cruz. So, I've been at this for a little bit. Um, and so I've had a a long-standing commitment to this district, to public education, served in a variety of ways, and uh was not expecting to be back here, but a rather unique opportunity. And I had outreach from numerous members of the community who asked me would I be willing to serve. And for a year

036and a half, I think I I recognize how daunting it can be to get up to speed and to tackle the the challenging issues facing this district. and I believe I'm uniquely positioned to do that. >> Number two, what is your own experience with public education and what is your experience with public service and policy as it relates to school districts? >> Um, I touched on that some already. I'm a product of public a education, uh, California public education. So is my wife. Uh, four kids, uh, two of whom attended and, uh, now graduated. Uh, and then I have a a senior and a freshman daughter uh attending our local schools. I think that gives me a unique perspective. I've served um as a uh booster rep for girls lacrosse. Uh I I knew less

037about girls lacrosse even than I knew about softball. But uh you know step forward and I think that does give me a unique perspective because I sit in those meetings and I hear from parents about the challenges where there's a request for equipment and the answer is well we can't do it because of the district and I think there continues to be a disconnect and I think those are opportunities to address as a district how we can better serve our our parents our students our community. Number three, what experiences, knowledge, and strengths do you bring to support the district's local control accountability plan goals? >> And so, I've been out in the community. I've had the opportunity to to weigh in um prior to that last uh meeting, the the special meeting that we had.

038I believe uh Miss Mayo, Miss Mason and I were here uh next door till about 3:00 am in the morning as we went through some very difficult choices regarding the budget. And one of our commitments was we wanted to make sure every voice was heard to give people an opportunity to weigh in what priorities mattered most to them. And I saw that influence our decision- making and that um being responsive to the needs of the community as we looked at programs that we had worked very hard to bring back things like school counselors and elementary music um and hadn't had to make hard decisions but by giving the community a chance to be represented to be heard I think we arrived at better decisions because of that. Number four, as a board member, you approved

039a significant expenditure for a project beloved by the community. A year later, before the project has commenced, the financial situation in the district has changed and you are now faced with whether or not to reallocate those funds you committed to this project to other priorities. Tell us how you would go about making a decision. What types of information would help you make your decision? And I think this relates to my prior answer. I think that being transparent and and straightforward with people and saying here here's why I voted the way I did, but here's some new information. So, we need to make these decisions and giving uh people an opportunity to weigh in on those. And at the same time, opening it up to are there opportunities for different funding sources? Is there a different

040way? Is there a public partnership that we can uh private partnership that we can utilize here? And I think that I I've just found that during my time representing the community um having that open dialogue and I think people respected even I'll use as a very specific example. I'm from the Northgate area and we had a group that was looking to form their own school district from that north area and those were many of my friends and neighbors and it got heated at times but I think people respected the fact that I was always there. I told them where I stood. I'm willing to talk to any group, any constituency, hear their concerns, and have a respectful dialogue, and I think that leads to better decision-making. >> Number five, the board is subject to the

041Brown Act, which means all of our decisions are to be made in public without the majority of the board's prior discussion. Please tell us your thoughts on decisionmaking and some of your ideas about how to make good decisions in a public space under potentially contentious circumstances. Brown Act is challenging. Uh it's challenging for board members and I think that being mindful of that and and weighing that against how do we effectively communicate with constituents and so during COVID I did things like doing Zoom meetings so that people had an opportunity. We shifted uh our board meetings to allow for public comment to have people call in to find ways to continue to solicit uh that community feedback even under very trying circumstances. And so I think being adaptable and finding out ways to do that.

042And I I think that you know just being representative of of the community. I think back to uh you know Jackie Kger was kind enough to mention my uh very non-ele softball career but um you know that gave me insight into one of the things that I was faced with. I had to get fingerprinted to uh become a coach and I had to go and get a a money order uh in order to pay for the fingerprinting here. And that was the first time in my life I've ever gotten a money order. I had to look up how to get a money order. And it it ties me back to I think back uh for my first year or two on the board when we had uh hope which is now evolved into Soore but

043in support of our homeless foster and and housing challenged uh youth and how we could support them. And one of the things that came up was there was a prohibition on they were very constricted in how they could take money. And one of the things I helped advocate for was modern technology of using PayPal. And I think I was the very first person to make a donation using PayPal. um to uh what was then hope to help that. And so I think that's an opportunity for me to be able to share some of the perspectives of what I'm hearing out in the community and how we can better represent people. >> Number six, how does an effective school board ensure opportunities for parents and community members to express their diverse range of views to inform

044board deliberations on important policy issues? I think it takes courage to hear things that you might not want to hear, to be open to different points of view, to be respectful. One of the things um I enjoyed during my time on the board was when we had debates. There were times that um when I heard from the community, when I heard from other board members, I changed my vote uh in recognition of those things. And I think some of the best work we did as a board was where the vote was 4 to one or 3 to2 and not necessarily those 50 votes, but where we had a chance to to share things. And even there there were votes that we ended up changing uh as we gathered more information and made a new decision

045based on new information. And I don't think that's a sign of weakness. I think that's a sign of of strength. Number seven, identify a recent board decision that you felt strongly about and describe how you would balance community concerns, student needs, state and federal law, staff considerations, and your personal values and beliefs to determine how to vote on the issue. >> So, I I will start with the issue of pride, uh, the flag, the celebration. I've heard from numerous members of the community on this um as I've gone through this process and I respect everyone's personal and religious beliefs, but I think that when you look at a school district like Mount Diablo that this is something that's fundamental that we are a 29,000 plus uh student district. Roughly 10% of students identify as LB

046LGBTQ. So that's almost 3,000 students. What we know on national and and state data around those students that the majority of them have felt bullied within the past year. They drop out at a higher rate. They are three times more likely to commit suicide or inflict harm on themselves. And those are very significant impacts. At the same time, the data shows that having even one adult at their school that they view as an ally significantly decreases those numbers. And so when we talk about how do we improve our graduation rate, how do we improve um grades, how do we deter truency, a simple act of saying to our students that you are seen, you are supported, and you are loved has a very profound impact. And I think that's the sort of thing that we

047need to look at as a district and that even if that uh I respect again that people may have different religious or personal beliefs, but I believe that we as a school district that's the type of thing we should stand for. Number eight, what would you do if you believed you did not have accurate or complete information for making a decision? Try to ask Miss Mason to file a Freedom of Information Act. Um, I I sat there when she did that. I think that we as a board there were there were numerous times uh and and frankly it led to the departure of a previous superintendent where we could not get the information we needed to make accurate decisions and we pushed back and pushed back and it reached a point where we are no

048longer comfortable. And so I think that the board is ultimately responsible for making sure they have adequate information. It's not perfect information. And it's rare that you get 100% of the information, but having the necessary information and being dogged about it in the pursuit of it and using all means necessary to make sure that we have the information to make multi-million dollar decisions as well as uh ones of of other uh policy impact. Number nine, what is your understanding of the funding structure of MDUSD and the board members role related to the budget and fiscal health of the district? If selected, how will you contribute to make sure that the district continues its good fiscal standing? I I think it is probably the single most important responsibility of the school board uh is making sure

049that the district stays on a solid financial footing because without that there's no ability to do anything else and you know there are some very challenging things coming before us when uh we are in California almost uniquely tied to uh personal income tax as a funding mechanism and that has some wild fluctuations and there are years where we figure that uh the state budget has hundreds of billions of dollars in surplus and then 12 months later that has drastically changed and uh the local school districts are at the mercy of that especially uh in a district that does not have a parcel tax or another means of funding. And so I think that balancing um investing in the most important things that we can which is our students in the classrooms and making sure that

050we're able to uh maintain our fiscal solveny look at every single dollar make sure that we spend it well uh spend it wisely. Uh we also have to uh understand that the contributions from retirement uh that that is a growing tax upon school districts that we are being required to funnel more and more of those dollars to uh support the retirement funds which is you know earned and needed but at the same time that has a direct impact on our ability to spend on our students. >> Number 10, closing statement. Please provide a closing statement if you would like. >> Well, first I would I would thank the board members. I would thank uh my fellow applicants as well as the community for being here. Uh I do believe I'm uniquely suited to step in.

051Um I believe the fact that I won twice districtwide and my strongest area of support is uh in in district 4. uh the fact that folks um like Joanne Derky who I served with this board on uh Mayor Prom of Walnut Creek, Kevin Wilk, um Rebecca Barrett from the Contracasta Community Board, U Holly Tilman from Clayton City Council who've all endorsed me and supported me. Uh the fact that uh the largest online group in uh this district of parents representing 4,200 plus uh students, they did a poll asking their members who they would support. I believe I was over 80% support. And so I think that's a reflection of my service to this community, the fact that people know um I I will be transparent. I will be responsive and I will do what I

052always believe is in the best interest of the students of this district. And so I thank you for the opportunity. >> Thank you. Our next applicant is Mr. Albert Anderson. Welcome, Mr. Anderson. >> I I I feel like supporting Brian, but I just met him, so he's so tempting, but I'll be a fly in the ointment and do my [clears throat] own thing here. Al Anderson, [laughter] >> we're ready for the first question. >> Okay. >> Hello. Number one. >> Yes. >> Opening statement. Please tell us about yourself and why you want to become a board member. What strengths do you believe that you bring to the board? >> Well, I think I would bring a different perspective to the board because uh I've I've never been to one of these meetings before actually is

053one thing. I didn't uh it was not my lifetime goal to be on this board. Uh I only learned about it a month ago from my son who heard about it and he recommended that I apply because he thought I would do a great job. So, I have one supporter and maybe I'll convince some of Brian's fans back there. But uh despite the fact that I've never been to a board meeting, I'm very well connected and very knowledgeable about all the schools, the area of uh of the district. I'm a lifelong resident of Contraosta County. My uh family has actually lived in Contraosta County for over 150 years. My uh my great uncle was a county supervisor. My first cousin once removed was the county clerk for many years. And my grandfather was the county

054animal control officer, which was so long ago that his main job was uh killing squirrels to save the walnut crop. So uh I don't know if that endear me to you to being a descendant of a squirrel killer, but also my uh my mom was a teacher in this very district in the 1950s uh at Oak Grove School. I believe she taught fourth grade, which must have been elementary then. So, I say this by and I've also been a resident of area 4 for 25 years. So, I say this to to tell you that I I'm very familiar with all the school. I've I've been at events at every high school, most schools. I've coached youth sports teams um and so on. I know I've known teachers, students, and many parents uh connect with the

055school. My own children did a combination of public and private school and public school in this district. So I know uh a lot about the schools. I know that there are many good teachers, but I know that there are parents that have a lot of concerns about the quality of education in the district. I know that uh if you just merely look at the uh statistics that 45% of the students are reading at grade level and 36% at math level, you can see why people would be concerned. So, I don't know who, you know, I wouldn't ascribe blame for that because I think that's an ongoing thing, but I I think most parents would hope that there's a way that this can improve, that this can be better. And uh so I perceive myself to

056be uh on the board. I'd be more of an advocate of concerned parents and uh uh in hopes of student achievement because if students work read and and math and who whoever they are at history, science, if they do it at such a low level when they graduate, they are in line for failure in in many respects, many of these students. So it shouldn't be that way. It shouldn't be that you should have to homeschool your student or go to private spend the money for private school. The public school should be able to provide a quality education and however I could help to do that is why I'm volunteering today. I'm very verbose to sorry no [laughter] >> number two. What is your own experience with public education and what is your experience with public

057service and policy as it relates to school districts? >> I was educated in the public school in this county uh but actually in the San Ramon Valley Unified School District. I was I'm a graduate of Monavista High School. Uh as a trivia note, one of my Monav Vista High School varsity soccer teammates was Adam Schiff, who is our current US senator. and I haven't talked to him since high school, but uh uh we got along well then. I I I know we never talked about politics, but but I got along well with him. Another interesting trivia note is he was not in student government at Monav Vista High School, which I would think is a prerequisite for office. But in any event, I graduated from Monavista High School. I went to Cal Berkeley and UCLA.

058I have a BA in English from UCLA. I have a master's degree in English from Cal State Hayward/ Eastbay and I have a clear single subject teaching credential in English from Cal State East Bay. Um, which is expired, but I was told years ago that I just had to pay a fee and then I would have it again. Um, and uh, when I let's see what Oh, I'm on question two. So, when I graduated, when I got my credential, I did try for some teach I interviewed for teaching jobs. I wanted a job at Calh High. I didn't get it. Got offered a job in Valo, but then I got offered a private sector job. So, I took that. So, it was many years before I actually used my credential. I did one year of

059teaching at a private high school, which uh I had three preps. It was like 55 to 60 hours a week. So, it was and I was well underpaid, too. I was probably paid uh half the average. I think inflation adjusted. I was play paid half the salary of uh the current Mount Diablo school district. Not saying anything about salaries. I know I was well well underpaid, but it was a lot of work. So, I'm familiar with the task of a teacher. And a couple years after that, I uh I got a job. I was a substitute in the year 2000 in this in this district and I substituted at conquered high uh a long-term thing for a couple of months. So that was interesting to me too because it taught it showed me a great

060contrast between how the private school handled discipline and how conquered high school not speaking to conquered high school now but uh it was it was a little eye opening and also as eye opening was the low expectations. I did have seniors in the class that I was doing and uh there was great concern about them not graduating but there was not a lot concern on their part of of doing a lot of the work. So it was low expectations and um discipline issues and when I went leaving from there and just knowing my own kids experience there's many good experiences but there's also poor experiences of school. I think discipline is one of the issues because if kids are disrupted in class they cannot learn. I mean it it ruins it for everyone. So I've

061run out of time on that issue but I anyway I have experience in public education. Number three, what experiences, knowledge, and strengths do you bring to support the district's local control accountability plan goals? >> Well, this is one of those things where most parents have no clue what this is about. So, of course, I learned about this a few days ago, so I had to look it up. And unfortunately, I saw that the the description was uh the each LEA must to get its LCFF must get its LCAP. So when there's three acronyms in the opening description, you know you're in you know you're in trouble on these things and also lots of jargon. So generally uh I you know other people are knowledgeable of it but I can say it looks like a a

062very timeconsuming bureaucratic exercise and uh uh which I don't know how successful it is but I am experienced at those sort of things. If if if the question is asking can I help with that? My current position, I'm a uh which I'm trying to retire from slowly, but I'm I'm not succeeding very well, but I am going to be cutting back my hours, is I'm a proposal manager and a communications director at a worldwide construction firm, and we do projects for Department of Defense, Department of Energy, namely the the National Laboratories, uh Department of Homeland Security is Coast Guard. And I'm very used to uh receiving government forms. We've also tried uh Washington state and California state and I'm very used to government forms that are convoluted and uh repetitive and difficult to fill out.

063So I have have experience at this kind of thing. I haven't had a chance in four or five days to to really assess what this is all about. I kind of wonder what the uh success rate of it is ultimately if I see that the test scores of the district I noted had not moved up or down in the time period that this this uh LCAP has been going on. So how is it successful? I don't know. But I'm probably ignorant of that. But I am familiar with government bureaucratic documents. Number four, as a board member, you've approved a significant expenditure for a product beloved by the community. A year later, before the project has commenced, the financial situation in the district has changed, and you are now faced with whether or not to reallocate

064those funds you committed to this project to other priorities. Tell us how you would go about making a decision. What types of information would help you make your decision? I think the first thing is when I think about this question is um you really shouldn't allocate funds that are qu that you have uh uh a big chance of not being able to get like you have this big project in one year but you're uncertain of the uh of getting the money the second year. I would say you shouldn't even do the project. I certainly wouldn't as a as a person. If I, you know, maybe if there was a uh 98% certainty that the money would come in the second year, I might do that. Uh but even but in a situation where you're the

065uh uh fiduciary of of government public funds that uh even even if there's like a 10 20% chance that the funds won't come in I would hesitate to uh make that commitment until you knew knew the funds were available. But let's say they let's say that happened and you you made the expenditure and it was popular. The question is it's popular. I still think it doesn't matter ultimately you're responsible for a great deal of public money and uh it doesn't matter how popular it is. You yes if you vote not to do the project you yourself could be very unpopular but yet it's really your responsibility to be uh be fiscally prudent with all the money you receive cuz it's it's not yours. I would I would not uh I would not risk my money.

066So, I'm not going to risk somebody else's. But I understand people get emotional. People get upset. They thought this was going to happen. It's not going to happen. But at the same time, people the average person might not it doesn't have the information that you would have. It doesn't have the uh and the average person does not have the average person I think the 50 percentile has poor credit, you know. So the average person is is is okay to throw things on a credit card, but it can't be that way with a board that's responsible for tens tens of millions, hundreds of millions of dollars. So um I think I hopefully I answered that question. Number five, the board is subject to the Brown Act, which means all of our decisions are to be made

067in public without the majority of the board's prior discussion. Please tell us your thoughts on decisionmaking and some of your ideas about how to make good decisions in a public space under potentially contentious circumstances. Well, I do think the Brown Act is a good thing because if it was secretive meetings, I think there would be a lot of resentment and misunderstandings and I think it's very important that we have have these public meetings. At the same time, I mentioned I'd never not been to a school board meeting here before, but I've seen a great many on the news on TV, and I've seen a lot of school school board members sitting there stonefaced [clears throat] while people yell at them and excuse me, yell at them and, you know, chant and so on. and and

068it's I feel great sympathy for the board members because I think when we're having contentious issues, it's very important to be uh reasonable and respectful of others and to not take all all these things personally. And unfortunately I imagine that you do experience negative comments, negative feedback. But um you know from this from my end as a as a public or from my end as a board member I think you got to be very respectful of others to a mature person is respectful and can listen to others and that they disagree with and maybe they'll learn something. I don't really learn anything myself if people yell and shout at me. In fact, I'm tempted to to go against what they want. But if people are reasonable and they have a respectful argument, then I'm I'm

069happy to listen to it. I might that might make me change my mind. But I understand it's a difficult position. It seems to be from what I've seen and understood that there are a lot of unreasonable people that could come. But unfortunately, that's the way uh our society is. But you have to take it with uh not personally and uh you know you're you're you're putting in a lot of time and uh they're they're not. So anyway, I I feel for uh the board, but I do I do appreciate the the the concept of the Brown Act. I think it's very important actually. Number six, how does an effective school board ensure opportunities for parents and community members to express their diverse range of views to inform board deliberations on important policy issues? >> Well,

070I think it's important to go out I mean, I would think if I was a board member, I'd need to go out to the schools in my district. I'd need to go talk to the principles, talk to the parent teacher association. I mean, I think it's a very I'll respect everybody behind me, but I think it's probably a small very small subset of the public that comes to these meetings um for various reasons. It's, you know, it's at 5:00 or what what have you. I mean, uh so in order to really know what the pulse of the parents are is, you really need to go out and talk to them or the pulse of the teachers or the pulse of the this the school at large. So, um, it's it's important to know what what

071people are thinking. I I've been in the position where you're working at a job and somebody from on high declares something must happen, but they don't know they they they affect your job, but they don't even know what your job is. They don't even know the the problems you have. They don't even know the, you know, how you do your job, but yet they feel that they can make these decisions without knowing that. So, it is vitally important to know what the the specific problems are or the specific things people would like to see. And uh that's something that I would I would want to find out. I mean, I'm not going to pretend that I I don't even know. I don't even know what would help. But what would help? That's what I would

072want to find out. So, I'd need to go directly to the source and uh as the source says as much as possible and try to uh try to figure out what the real needs are. So, um anyway, I think that's that'll cover it. Number seven, identify a recent board decision that you felt strongly about and describe how you would balance community concerns, student needs, state and federal law, staff considerations, and your personal values and beliefs to determine how to vote on the issue. >> Okay. Well, uh, this is, yeah, this is a contentious issue. First, let me let me lead. I'm going to disagree with Brian on this one, unfortunately for me. But uh first off, let me say that what's one of the main complaints that people make that I hear about schools? Well,

073schools do not concentrate on reading, writing, arithmetic. They don't concentrate on the basics. They're interested in all kinds of other side social issues. This is this is what people who talk to me might say. They go, "The students don't know. They don't know enough." but yet they're they're taught all these other side elements. So the the thing that I uh would choose was I just happened to look on the website was the same issue that Brian brought up was the uh pride proclamation. So why why why would I think that's a problem? Well, there's various reasons why it's a problem. I mean a school is basically over in June. We don't really have that much school in June. B, it doesn't it's very tangential to any kind of education, any kind of focus to what

074we're we're doing here. It's a social issue. But the big one is it's a divisive social issue. Yes. 30 to 40, even in this county, 30 to 40% of the people will find those proclamations irritating. They'll find it annoying. They'll pe kids who uh young parents who have kids going into kindergarten, they see those announcements and they say, "Oh my goodness, you know, so can we homeschool? Can we afford private school? We don't want I don't want my kindergartener there with a bunch of pride flags and so on." I mean, that's a common reaction. That's why you get homeschoolers. So, I don't understand why a board would want to alienate large section of the population. I mean, because as Brian pointed out, a lot of people feel strongly about it. Well, if people feel strongly

075about it, why does it even happen? I think the board should be as inoffensive as possible and try to try to appeal to the broadest broadest demographic that you possibly can. I remember, you know, I remember too when like my daughter, I this could have been a Clayton Valley charter, but her uh it they she didn't have Christmas vacation. Maybe you don't have Christmas vacation, you have winter break. And I was thinking, why do we have winter break? I guess because some people somewhere are going to be offended by the word Christmas or by Chris the concept. So we don't want to offend them. But yet here we have a whole month. So Christmas is potentially offensive, but apparently pride month we're all great with, you know, and I know that's not true. And I

076think everybody even if you disagree with people who disagree with that it's it's it you know that you're alienating a vast number of people and I think you want more students want more students to come more parents to feel feel comfortable rather than feeling uncomfortable and either have to go to private school homeschool or grit their teeth and come here. So anyway thank you >> number eight. What would you do if you believed you did not have accurate and complete information for making a decision? >> Well, I think sometimes that does come up because you might see numbers or uh you know, I it happens to me quite a bit where something doesn't ring true and I I have to do uh I have to do my own research in that respect. You know, you

077have to to follow up and find out if you're really getting the true story. Uh I'm not sure if the question could relate to some issue where someone presents a problem, an issue, something they're uh bothered by or that some it's some event happened and then you listen to that. What's very important to listen to the other side of the other part is involved because sometimes you can hear something and uh and it sounds it sounds good or it sounds uh you know you think you understand it but when you understand the whole picture it's different because people come at you with agendas. They have different things they want to say. So you have to you have to really uh in any kind of thing where there's a dispute you have to you have to

078consult both sides of the issue. you have to or two, three, four sides of the issue. So, um I think it's important not to just I mean hopefully in most cases you get good information, but you can't you have to have your your antenna up to know when you're getting something that might be suspiciously uh false or slanted. Number nine, what is your understanding of the funding structure of MDUSD and the board members role related to the budget and fiscal health of the district? If selected, how will you contribute to make sure that the district continues its good fiscal standing? >> Well, the I understand the district is funded. I mean, the state has a funding formula comp complicated. There's ad, you know, uh your daily attendance. So, you get money from the state, I

079think, primarily, and then there's local funding, and then there's federal funding. Um, I think it's important to recognize though as as a board member that the state doesn't make money. The state or the feds or the local none of these people make the state doesn't make money. It takes money. It takes money from the taxpayers and it redistributes it. redistributes it to tax, some to taxpayers, others to non- taxpayers or those who pay taxes but get it all back. So, no, every dollar that the that you receive is taxpayer money. It's not a gift from the state or anything like it's it's something from the taxpayers. And because of that, uh you're dealing with other people's money. And you have to you have to be as as fiscally responsible or more fiscally responsible than you

080are with your own money. I could take a risk with my money, but when I have uh when I have uh t tax all taxpayer dollars, I have to be very prudent with how I I use that money. And hopefully you are. But um that's my understanding of this. I I'm I'm thinking that just as to answer the question. I think this the state ADA formula. I know it has to do with um you know how many English learners you have or whatever. It's maybe it's a complicated formula, but that's my understanding. But I think the the point to emphasize is it's it's ultimately the taxpayers money and they're they're the ones who want uh to see the results from it. >> Number 10 is closing statement. Please provide a closing statement if you would

081like. >> Okay. Well, thank you very much for listening to me. I appreciate appreciate you having me here. Um, there's a lot of issues with uh this district is a huge district when I when I look at the numbers and when I've even think about, you know, there's five high schools and so on and so forth. So, I know there's a ton of issues that it's very difficult for five people to wrap your minds around. I mean, how many different subjects can you think of? I mean, I think of I think of uh I'm concerned about things like phones in the school or uh the discipline process or are we having technical training for you know there's so yes some kids will not get up to grade level but are we able to do we

082have the facilities to train them in the mechanical some you know I can read and write well but some people maybe I'm not so skilled at mechanical devices but some kids are so we have to find the niche for each kid to uh to succeed. Some will succeed in other ways, but do we are we giving them that opportunity? I don't really know exactly myself. I know back in my day, you know, there were kids who just came to school just so they could go to auto shop. And there's also kids that go to school just so they can be in sports. So, uh there's got to be ways to find success for those who are just not academically inclined. I think that's important. But I also think that we can't let the students fall

083behind uh in the grade levels as it appears we do. I mean they will the more you fall behind the more you're going to suffer in life. All our community suffers when we have poorly educated students driving on our roads. uh they're they're our co they might become our co-workers or our our employees and it they're not served well if they don't have a great education. I I know that that's what the goal of everyone here is, but I think there's a lot of room to improve this. And I'm not I don't I can't even say what that is, but I think that we should aspire to uh to higher goals than what where we are right now in in my humble opinion. So, I think that's it, but thank you. I appreciate you uh

084your time. >> Thank you very much. >> All right, Miss Whit Marsh, welcome. Thank you. I think we're ready for the first question. Number one, opening statement. Please tell us about yourself and why you want to become a board member. What strengths do you believe that you bring to the board? >> Um, I have been involved in my children's education since they were in preschool and they had parent advisory committees then. I continued to be involved all the way through um the Mount Devil School District where they attended Bankraftoft, Oakrove Middle School and Ignatio Valley High School. I was involved as a parent in multiple organizations on the schools and I was also involved uh from 2008 to 2012 as a member of Mount Davau Unified School District board. I am very interested in ensuring

085that Mount Diablo has the best that we can be to serve all of our students. We have a variety of different demographics in the school district and it's important that all of them have their needs met so they can be successful. It's also important for the school district that we understand and can meet the needs of our employees because if we do not have good employees, happy employees, it's hard for them to come to school every day and interact and make a difference in our children's lives. So part of the reason that I would like to be on this board is to ensure that we have a great balance between educating our students and having productive employees here. Strengths I believe I bring to the board are I am a very straight shooter. I am

086very obvious about my way of thinking. I am transparent. I communicate and will uh do not have issues with confrontation, but I am respectful to listen to all manners of opinions and to work together because we all want to do what's best for our children and our employees. And it's important to me to be able to listen so that we can bring those together and have a harmonious school district. Number two, what is your own experience with public education and what is your experience with public service and policy as it relates to school districts? >> Um, I have been, as I mentioned uh earlier, on the 2008 to 2012 Mount Chapel School Board. So, I'm very familiar with the roles and responsibilities of the school board. Um, I have also been very involved in a

087variety of different public service areas. I have been on PTA, PFC boards in schools. I have been on um, uh, music boosters. I have been on athletic boosters. I have been on site councils. I've also been involved in uh, science fairs. I have involved in the contrast of foster youth programs. All of these are things that different ways that I hear about what people need and what they uh need to bring together in order to relate to policies that can best govern our school district and make education um be at the level our children need. Number three, what experiences, knowledge, and strengths do you bring to support the district's local control accountability plan goals? So, I believe that uh open and honest communication with our staff, with our parents, and with our communities, it's important

088to get them to understand what is happening with our local control accountability or LCAP plans. It's important that the district sets the strategies and that it's very important that the local schools because of each of our schools are unique in who their population are and the staff that's there that they are being given the ability to work with what they need in order to meet the students at their area. We are very diverse as far as um demographics. So, I think it's really important that we allow those who are at the sites to come up with plans that will work for the sites that they're at, which may be very different than someone at another site. And the district should set the overall goal uh that is the strategy of where we want to go

089and allow that tactically to be dictated or that's a wrong word to use, but uh to be uh developed by those at the local schools. Number four, as a board member, you've approved a significant expenditure for a project beloved by the community. A year later, before the project has commenced, the financial situation in the district has changed and you are now faced with whether or not to reallocate those funds you committed to this project to other priorities. Tell us how you would go about making a decision. What types of information would help you make your decision? I think that this is where it's important to understand is it a cancellation or is it a delay and to understand are the funds going to be coming later? Are they not going to be coming? I also

090think it's important to have an open and honest conversation with the parents and the community members who are staff members who were really committed to this project and to see if that there were any ways in which we could come together to come up with a solution that may that will make all of us happy. It may not be what we want at the moment, but because of some fiscal differences, uh it may be allow us to re to uh allocate those funds at a future date. I also think it's important to look at to see are there other ways that we can look at allocating those funds. Are there grants that we could apply for? Are there public companies that we could go after who might be willing to donate to help us do

091that? or there are matching gifts that we could be using that would allow us to ensure that this project that people are wanting could go forward and it can't go forward to be open and honest about why not what happened to it and what we commit to doing going forward. Number five, the board is subject to the Brown Act, which means all of our decisions are to be made in public without the majority of the board's prior discussion. Please tell us your thoughts on decisionmaking and some of your ideas about how to make good decisions in a public space under potentially contentious circumstances. I think it's important to make sure that before coming to a board meeting, I understand what all the agenda items are and to let staff know if I have any questions

092so that they can be prepared to get the answers so that those questions can be asked in the public forum during the uh during the meeting and that staff is given ample time to reply to those questions. I think it's important that if there is uh I think it's very important that every board member has an opportunity to give their opinion about a board agenda item and to speak about how they feel about it. It's important to respect each other's opinion and the diversity that the board brings to it. We should listen and not be uh criticizing, but we should listen to what everybody's opinion is. And then when it comes time to make the decision, make sure we understand where the board members were coming from and then make the best decisions we can

093uh with what we've heard from the board as well as the information we've heard during public comment from our constituents during the time of public comment for that board item. Number six, how does an effective school board ensure opportunities for parents and community members to express their diverse range of views to inform board deliberations on important policy issues. One of the things that I have learned in my various roles of leadership um within the school districts and schools and even in uh my former work opportunity is that uh people don't come to you and say I really like what you're doing. You hear from them when they're concerned about a problem that's coming up. And I think it's very important that as a board if we know that there is going to be some contention

094or an item that is going to be detrimental to our staff or to our students or which they may perceive as being detrimental or contentious that we open up and ensure we have a majority many stakeholder engagement sessions which they can come and talk to us and give us our opportunities. uh it may be having multiple meetings at different locations other than here at debt center so that those parents who are in uh Bayoint or in areas of conquered where it may be hard to get here that they are able to come to us and talk to us about what their thoughts are and to ensure that we are able to listen to them in their native languages so that they can speak to us and hear from us what they think is important for

095their children. I think that we want to make sure that uh we allow them the opportunity to speak to us and uh that we respond to email we receive from them and that we listen to their thoughts and their opinions. Number seven, identify a recent board decision that you felt strongly about and describe how you would balance community concerns, student needs, state and federal law, staff considerations, and your personal values and beliefs to determine how to vote on the issue. The unfortunate part of being fourth in this is that you have heard many different several different ones which one of them I had put in my application. So I will approach the one that I had mapped out for this. So the one in my application was about um the radio transmitter tower. So you

096have what my answer to that was. So I will go on to another one and unfortunately two others have spoken to me before that but that is in the area of um I think it's important for our LGBTQ students to be understood and heard and I think it's not just our LGBTQ but I really respect the board when it's coming to all of the uh proclamations it it meets that we do for instance, Black History Month, Women's History Month, Native American History. I think it's important to realize that we are a very mixed community and that as a board member, we need to ensure that none of our students or our staff or our community members feel like they are being overlooked or ignored or made to feel marginalized. We need to ensure that we

097are meeting our community where they're at and that they all feel welcome and accepted and our students feel like no matter who they are and what they are when they walk into a classroom that they will be treated just like everyone else and that they are re they are supported from the superintendent and the board all the way down through the Mount Diablo um infrastructure. Students learn early on to be accepting. And I think that we we are taught hate. We are born with love. And I think that it is important that when we make decisions like the LGBTQ, we should understand that we are making decisions and that we need to ensure that our students don't feel like they are being shunned and pushed to the side for whatever decision that is that we

098are making. Number eight, what would you do if you believed you did not have accurate and complete information for making a decision? >> One of the first things I would do is ask the superintendent to give me more information or to give me the background of how that information was was uh determined. Who where did the information come from? Who gave it? Uh what's there? And also I would do some re research on my own to see if I can find out some information and ask questions about that if there was something that was in conflict. I would also ensure that at a board meeting I made my thinking visible so that everyone know knew why I was maybe questioning something and what I had found or asking for additional ways to get more information

099from different sources if I still was not happy with the information I had received. Number nine, what is your understanding of the funding structure of MDUSD and the board members role related to the budget and fiscal health of the district? If selected, how will you contribute to make sure that the district continues its good fiscal standing? >> Well, as you've heard from the other candidates, our funding is from the state. And many times our state uh what our state tells us at one point in time does not mean being what we get at another point in time because when we come back with the revise things are different. I think it's important that this district continue to be a solvent disc a solvent district and that we make our funding choices that uh when we

100have to make cuts it's the least impact cuts that we can do. Um I also was here on the time of the board when making cuts was a huge amount and there was no way to make little cuts. You had to make big cuts. And in at that time, I think it's really important that we would listen to what our constituents and staff are saying so that we understand where their priorities are and things that they are willing to do without and so that we can come together as joint decision makers and um as joint people who have input in it to understand what they need in order to feel comfortable going forward. Um, and then also talking about if money comes back, how we would add things back if we had to make significant

101cuts. But I do think that we want to make sure that when we're talking about the budget, and the budget is a complex and very detailed uh document that we can explain it so that everyone can understand where our money is being spent and that they feel comfortable with where it's being spent. or we're having to make cuts where the cuts are going to be made and how it will affect our employees, our community, and our students. >> Number 10, closing statement. Please provide a closing statement if you would like. >> Thank you for your time. I've know you've listened to three candidates before me and I trust that all of you will make the right decision. I appreciate the time. Um I am here because um in the Ignatio Valley I had several people

102send me emails asking me if I would please put my application in and so I did. Uh I am retired. I voluntarily take care a couple of days a week of um two littles uh one of them uh both are teachers one in the um Akalani Union School District and one here in Mount Diablo. I work in the classroom at the at the uh for one of those kids as a volunteer. I do stay involved with PTA and understanding what goes on. And at PTA meetings, especially the Mount Avil Council PTAs, get to hear what's happening at many of our different schools and see what is going well and the issues that uh parents feel like they are having. Uh so I do feel that with my experience and my continued engagement and my retired

103status I have uh a lot of time to put into this as needed by our community. Thank you for your time. Good luck. I want to thank all of the applicants for your cander and your responses today. It was um um what very valid to feel to hear your input and uh we appreciate the time that you have spent in completing the application. We all know how um uh anxious the interviews are um and uh just know that we've been through those sorts of circumstances ourselves. All right. Um we are ready to move on to the um item uh 4 point 4 4.3 which is the inner uh the deliberations. So um trustees who would like to go first? >> I will. >> Um thank you. >> I want to thank all of the people

104who applied. One thing that they all got right. This is not an easy thing to do and you're either loved or hated and you have to be able to live with that. Um, having said that, um, we're in a position where it's a short time span and I think it's very important that we have someone that can pick it up running and I would hope folks that are trying for the first time consider running in the future if it's really something you think you want to do. I would also recommend that before jumping in you come to some meetings so you can see the abuse you're going to be exposed to or the gratitude whatever way you tend to look at it. So um with that in mind and having then sat many times out

105there as just a parent and an employee of the district uh there are two of the candidates that I did get a chance to see sit here and perform and provide for the community. And I don't know, I'll just say at this time from my experience um my vote would be for um Brian Lawrence to serve because I felt like he was part of uh the team that brought the amazing superintendent here and then didn't get to work with him for very long and I just that would be where my desire lies. >> Trusty and Sewi. Um, I just want to echo gratitude, Dr. Clark. That was funny that you'd like, oh, if we get 10 applications like that's funny. Um, like yeah, no one ran against [clears throat] no one stepped forward to run

106with me in the 2020 four election. So, we know that this is a hard job. We know that it's hard to find people to step up and do. So, um I'm really appreciative that we had candidates and that we had candidates, many of whom clearly um put the effort to learn about the job and learn um about our issues and and take clearly a lot of time to be able to prepare their answers and and show how dedicated they would be to this. So, yeah. >> Mr. McDougall, >> I want to thank all the qualified applicants and that's all four of you. Thank you. I think we got some uh tough decisions to make here because you all represent um concerns for the community, concerns for the district, and uh I think we need that

107on the board here. I see um two former board members out there, so we know we've got some experience. I heard that there was one former teacher, and so we're looking at u well-reasoned applicants here. I believe the the one person that was the most realistic brought up the problems that we have and I feel that um to me that's the one that really needs to be voted on because he did bring up the problems we've got and how we have to be striving to solve these problems. So I put my support behind L Anderson. Thank you. >> So now it falls to me. Uh I want to thank all of you. Uh I mentioned it my appreciation earlier and um I've had the um great experience in working with two of you. Um it's

108and I want to applaud both our uh newbies in this effort uh for taking you know taking this giant step and um submitting your applications. Um it I'm um based on my experience in working with uh Miss Whit Marsh, my first priority would be to vote for Miss Whit Marsh. So we are ready for a motion and um perhaps one of you would like to make the motion. I would make a motion that we approve Brian Lawrence to be our next interim board member. >> I'll second you. Yes, we have a motion to support uh to approve Brian Lawrence as the uh trustee. Deborah Mason made the motion. Trustee and Zwi made the second. Are we voting electronically? That's what we're waiting for. >> Yes. So the uh motion is in favor of appointing Trustee

109Lawrence uh to the vacant position uh from Shereice Count uh three in favor and one against and one board vacancy. So congratulations Mr. Lawrence. So we are ready to move on to item 4.4. Dr. Clark will administer the oath of office. And we all neglected to say provisional trustee in district 4. Testing. Oath of office, state of California, conquer county for the office of Mount Diablo uh governing board. I >> I >> state your name, please. Brian Thomas Lawrence >> do solemnly swear >> that I will support and defend >> the Constitution of the United States >> and the Constitution of the State of California >> and the Constitution of the State of California >> against all enemies >> foreign and domestic. that I will bear true faith >> that I will bear true faith

110>> and allegiance >> to the Constitution of the United States >> and the Constitution of the State of California >> and the Constitution of the State of California >> that I take this obligation freely >> without any mental reservation >> or purpose of evasion >> and that I will well >> that I will well >> and faithfully discharge >> well and faithfully discharge >> the duties upon which I'm about to enter. >> the duties upon which I am about to enter. >> Congratulations. >> Thank you. >> Nuclear res. >> I'll just uh one thank you to uh the board for uh their their uh deliberate decision- making. Again, I uh thank you to the fellow uh applicants and thank you to the community and I look forward to doing great things here at Mount Diablo.

111Thank you. >> There being no further business for the board of education at this special meeting, I do hear by declare it adjourned. Very efficiently