Mt. Diablo USD Board Meeting 5/14/2025 Part 2

001Close session. Close. Yeah. Good evening everyone. I'd like to reconvene the meeting of May 14th, 2025. This is the board of education for the Mount Diablo Unified School District. Um we have got my papers mixed up here. We are moving to the preliminary business which is 5.1 the land acknowledgement. We recognize that the Mount Viable Unified School District sits on the territory of the Confederated villages of the Lassan, the ancestral and unseated land of the Bay Miwok and the Northern Yokott, the successors of the sovereign Verona Band of Contraosta County. As members of the Mount Diablo Unified School District community, it is vitally important that we not only recognize the history of the land on which we learn, but also we recognize that the land we inhabit and learn on is the ancestral land of

002these people who are alive and flourishing members of the Mount Diablo Unified School District and broader Bay Area communities today. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. [Music] Okay. So 6.3 is approval of the minutes for April 16th and April 23rd. Um you've had an opportunity to review the minutes. Do you want to consider them separately or together? I suggest together and I move to approve the minutes for the regular board meetings that were held on April 16th, 2025 and April 23rd, 2025 as they were presented. Second. So, we have a motion by uh Trustee Mason with a second by Trustee McDougall regarding the approval of the minutes for April 16th and

00323rd, 2025. Is there further discussion? Hearing none, Trusty Ooaha, what is your vote? Yes. Thank you. So, item 6.3, approval of minutes, is adopted as presented. Uh, approval of the agenda. Superintendent, do we have any changes in the agenda? Yeah, have a couple changes. Madame President, I would like to pull item 10.4 and then I would like to move item 10.2 followed by 10.1 in front of 8.1. Okay. All the changes. So, is there a motion? Madam Chair, I make a motion that we accept the agenda with the changes suggested. Second. So, the motion before you on the approval of the agenda is to pull item 10.4 and move items 10.2, 10.1 before 8.1. There's the motion was made by Miss Mason and a second by Trustee Count. Uh trustee OOA, how do you vote?

004Yes. Thank you. The changes to the agenda have been approved as presented. Okay. Item uh 7.0 is the report out of action taken in close session. For item 7.1, uh the board received information. For item 7.2, which is discipline, dismissal, release or reassignment of public employees. uh in close session by a vote of 5 to zero, the board took action to approve the issuance of a certificated dismissal charges against employee ID 437. There is a second uh case in close session by a vote of 50 to 0. The board of education took action to approve the nonreelection of the of certificated employee 48674. And then the final item under this agenda item in closed session. The board considered reassignment of one vice principal under education code 44951 and voted by a vote of 5 to

005zero in favor uh and zero against to direct the district to send the notice that this person would be reassigned to a position for which they are a credentialed for at the end of the 2425 school year. I apologize, my microphone was turned on there. Uh, under item 7.4, conference with legal counsel, anticipated litigation in close session under item 7.4A1 AI I excuse me. The board by a vote of five to zeros decided to initiate or intervene in a legal action power school databach litigation. The action, the defendants, and other particulars shall once formally commence be disclosed disclosed to any person upon inquiry unless to do so would jeopardize the district's ability to effectuate service of process on one or more under unserved parties or that to do so would jeopardize the district's ability to

006conclude existing settlement negotiations to its advantage. In close session under item 74A double I the board voted by a vote of 50 uh and directed the superintendent to initiate two legal actions once formally commenced. more specific information shall be disclosed to any person upon inquiry unless it is determined by the district that such disclosure would jeopardize the district's ability to conclude settlement negotiations to its advantage. And then item 7.6 liability claims under government code 54956.95. The board met in close session and by a vote of five to zero voted to reject a liability claim for damages pursuant to government code 54956.95 by AC against the Mount Diablo Unified School District. And that concludes the report out on uh close session. We're ready for public Oh, we're going to move the items forward. Yes. Yeah. two

007items to do before public comments. So, first of all, if we have any of our um classified employees of the year, hopefully that they have uh hopefully we can let them know if they're out there, Leania or Ryan, to see if they would be willing to come in before I do our resolution recognizing our classified. little things. All right. Thank you. So I I have before you first of all what we're going to do is we're going to present our our resolution recognizing in recognition of classified employee week before Thank you. So Madame President I I bring before you resolution 24/25-69 in recognition of classified school employee week which is May 18th through the 24th. Whereas classified school employees provide valuable services to schools, students, teachers, administrators, and other staff of the Mount Diablo Unified

008School District, as well as to the general public. And whereas classified school employee week recognizes members from nine occupational specialties including clerical and administrative, custodial and maintenance, food and nutrition, health and student services, paraprofessional, security, skilled trades, technical and transportation services. And now therefore, the governing board of the Mount Alba Unified School District hereby recognizes and wishes to honor the contribution of classified school employees to quality education in the state of California and in the Mount Diablo Unified School District and declares the week of May 18th through through May 24th as classified school employee week in the Mount Diablo Unified School District. Madame President, I leave this resolution in the hands of the board. Madame President, I move to adopt resolution 24/2569 um classified school employees week as a proud person that was part of

009CSEA for 22 years. I'll second that. So the motion um before you was uh presented by Trustee Mason with a second by Trustee K. uh on the adoption of resolution 24/25. Is there further discussion? Trustee OOA. Yes. Thank you. The vote is 500 0 on the adoption of and recognition of classified school employees week. Would you recognize our candidates? So, so now I would like to um congratulate and we're going to recognize we're going to do a short presentation for each of our eight classified employees of the year. um they were highlighted in our Friday newsletter where we highlight um those who take care of our students and also highlight our students achievements throughout the Mount Diablo Unified School District. So the first person that we want to recognize, can I please have Jose come

010forward, please? Yeah, you stand right there. I'm not going to make you speak just yet, but I Jose I I have some words that was written about you and about your work and so please uh bear with me. Um Jose, who is now the elementary head custodian at Shaund's Preschool, Sunrise Elementary, was nominated for the award by Braftoft Elementary teachers Anna Davis and Jennifer Winberry earlier this year when he was custodian at their school. He has worked in custodial and maintenance services for 26 years. His efficiency and problem solving abilities have positively impacted the overall workflow of the school, ensuring that operations run smoothly and effectively. According to his nomination, Jose has made remarkable contributions both within the school and in the wider community. The teachers said that Jose participates in school events, volunteer programs,

011and outreach events, ensuring that the school remains a well integrated and supportive institution for both students and parents. He also leads by example and is a cornerstone of the school community. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Jose Canio. Oh, Jose, do you have any any family that you'd like to recognize who are here this evening? Yay. all day. Okay, that's okay. Yes, absolutely. Thank you. The next classified and uh and then they'll stay here for a group picture at the end. Right. So, and Jose. Just got it. Seven more to go through. So, our next classified employee that we'd like to recognize is Tara. Tara O'Keefe. Where's Tara? There she is. There she is. Tara O'Keefe is a network systems administrator who has worked in this field for 16 years. Tara's proactive approach to

012her role ensures not only the resolution of immediate issues, but also the implementation of long-term improvements, creating a seamless and supportive environment for students and staff, said director of technology and innovation Robert Sidford in his nomination. Her positivity and focus ensure that problems are met with solutions, not blame, and her efforts have become a cornerstone of her school's success. Sidford also praised O O'Keefe's people skills, saying her dedication to creating a stable, secure, and supportive environment enables students, staff, and teachers to focus on their goals and thrive. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Tara O'Keefe. You have someone you'd like to recognize? You have someone you'd like to recognize here? Next we would like to bring up Kitty Pang. Eddie Pang has worked as a licensed vocational nurse for five years. She has demonstrated

013exceptional clinical expertise and handles every situation with competence and care, said director of strategic supports and interventions, Linda Pete and credentialed school nurses Diana Nashekski and Maryanne Johnson in their nomination. Many students have directly benefited from her swift actions in urgent situations such as administrating first aid or coordinating emergency care which has had a lasting positive impact on their health and well-being. In addition, Ping has developed a trusted a a deep connection with students in her care, parents and staff, making her a trusted figure who demonstrates compassion, professionalism, dedication, a strong work e ethic, and an unwavering commitment to the health and well-being of our school community. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Kitty Pang. Next, I would like to recognize Anita Fontana. All right. Anita Fontana is a campus supervisor, too, at Pine

014Hollow Middle School. She was nominated by principal Andrew Strawbridge as a dedicated campus supervisor with 31 years of experience. 31 years, might I add, of exceptional ex service, as it says in here, Anita exemplifies the highest standards of professionalism, care, and commitment to our school community. Anita's firm yet fair approach to campus supervision sets her apart as a leader and role model. Um, Fontana builds positive and respectful relationships with students and staff and mentors other campus supervisors. Her dedication, leadership, and kindness make her an indispensable part of the Pine Hollow family. Ladies and gentlemen, Anita Fontana. Okay, next we have Gayonji Araetta. Did I get that somewhat right? Okay, pretty good. All right. All right. She has worked as a She is who who is a lead food service worker one at Woodside Elementary and

015she was nominated by the food service area supervisor Tom Egan for her 15 years of service. Woodside Elementary Kitchen successfully serves approximately 96 to 98% of the enrolled students at Woodside both breakfast and lunch daily. Egan said in his nomination, "This is absolutely unheard of in our business. She does this by interacting with students, attending afterchool functions with parents, and letting them know about our food service program while promoting our department and the food she proudly serves. Um, she comes up with new ideas for recipes and operations, mentors new hires, is highly motivated, and is a strong communicator and collaborator who fosters positive relationships with colleagues, staff, parents, and of course the students. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Kayanji Ira. I know I messed We're getting there, folks. Thank you. This is well

016worth it. All right. Next, we have Jenny M. Mongji. Mangi, just as it's spelled, right? Jenny Mongji. Yes. Jenny Mongji has been a special education assistant sea in an autism class at Silverwood Elementary for more than five years. Okay, so I'm just reading it. Tell me, correct me if I'm wrong. She they she has advocated for her students like no other aid I have ever seen, says teacher Liz Tang, who was one of Silverwood's staff members who nominated Mi. She stays late, comes early, and even skips lunch to make sure there are enough appropriate things for her students to be doing. She added that Mangi has provided lesson plans and curriculum for substitutes. She just knows what needs to be done and is doing everything she can to keep her to to help her class

017succeed. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you over 10 over 10 15 years of experience, Jenny Mangi. Can we give it up for her? All right. Now, so I I just want to I want to thank Don't leave yet, but I want to thank the our our classified employees so far, but we have two county finalists for for classified employee of the year. So, we have two finalists. So, the first one we have is Nicole Nakasado. Nicole, who is the district's student enrollment coordinator, was nominated by student services directors Margie Calre and Felicia Stucky Smith. Nicole has worked in the district for eight years. Is a visionary leader and systems thinker with the skill set to be highly effective in multiple capacities. She is passionate about education, has strong organizational and and interpersonal skills, and

018was the brain trust behind the creation of our current centralized enrollment center. She she created the centralized TK and kindergarten enrollment process and the virtual process for transfer and choice lotteryies. She provides professional development to other district staff members, works closely with the IT department, human resources, and fiscal departments, and provides a welcoming environment to all of our families as the enrollment center is the first point of contact for so many families coming to MDUSD. Ladies and gentlemen, county finalist for classified employee of the year, Nicole Nakasado. All right. So, um, county finalist for classified employee of the year, Teresa Cross. Teresa Cross, a school bus driver, was nominated by transportation director Chris Leppe, who praised her dedication, skill, and unwavering commitment to our school community. During her two decades of service, she she drives

019a 40foot bus and serves the Baypoint community, driving school routes, and also drives for field trips. Her ability to foresee and prevent potential issues, particularly with field trip scheduling, has been proven invaluable. Teresa's sharp eye for for logistics and her understanding of our operational needs helped uh prevent potential problems, allowing the field trips for the transportation department to run smoothly. Cross brings consistency, skill, and quiet strength to our department as a model of professionalism with a strong work ethic and most importantly a deep care for her students and colleagues. Ladies and gentlemen, Teresa Cross. I acknowledge our whole group. school Yeah. I'll stand here. Oh, not safety. Safety is not your department. Okay. Yeah. So, congratulations again to one and all. So then drop it to one minute. No, a minute and a half is

02027 minutes. 18 27 minutes at a minute and a half. So 22 goes way make it a minute 10. Reduce it to 103 minutes. We got enough. I want to I want to thank everyone who who's put in a speaker card for that delay but felt it was necessary to recognize our classified employees. So we will now open up public comments. The public may address the board of education regarding any item not on the agenda. Public comment will also be allowed on each specific agenda item prior to board action thereon. Um, speakers must submit a speaker card to the board secretary. The president will call each speaker to the podium as appropriate. These presentations are limited to uh 1 minute and 10 seconds each or a total of 30 minutes for all speakers. that um

021there if there are multiple speakers on any one subject the public comment period may be moved to the end of the meeting. Speakers are not allowed to yield their time. The first speaker is Alex Economi. Thank you. There. Ah, there it is. All right. Ready. Awesome. So, um, my name is Alex Economy and I have been a teacher at Mount Diablo Unified School District now for three years. Uh, I've traveled all over California teaching and as somebody who is part of the LGBTQ to LGBTQ community and one of the few transgender teachers in our district, it's really important to me to have appropriate medical coverage. To give you an idea of where I've been previously, I've worked in Amodore County where my medical expenses for transgender care were very underfunded. Um, I would be paying

022hundreds of dollars a month for medications that to me are life-saving because they literally change how my brain works. They improve how I think. And even when I was working in other districts across California, I had the same issue occurring where I would just be struggling to make ends meet while also meeting my medical needs. It wasn't until I started here at Mount Diablo Unified when I got into this incredible medical coverage that we currently have that I was able to afford the medical care that I need to live my regular life. So, I implore you to please recognize the union's demands in regard to our medical coverage. Thank you very much for your time. The next speaker is Michelle Macau. Michelle. Michelle. Thank you. Thank you. Um I was planning on uh three minutes

023since that's what the website said. So I'm going to have to truncate what I say. Um so thank you for hearing me out this evening. Um, our district's LCAP goal number three states that families and communities will be informed and empowered as partners with Mount Ila Unified to support student learning and improve student outcomes. Recently, Woodside Elementary School has made aware of the dismissal of our principal, Christopher Chanel. As you know, Mr. Chanel joined our staff in February February 2022 after the resignation of Joe Alvarez. During his time at Woodside, Mr. Chanel has brought an optimistic, hopeful, and confident spirit to our school. This attitude continually and consistently resonates with students, parents, and staff alike. At no point were any members of our school community consulted or spoken to about his performance. And this stands

024in stark contrast to LCAP goal number three. I have a student letter here that I'd like to read to you. This is uh a student named Jacob Dailyaly Alvarez who's a third grade student at Woodside. My name is Jacob Daly Hernandez. Sorry, Jacob Dailyy Hernandez. And I'm in third grade at Woodside Elementary. I'm writing to you this letter because I want to tell you how much I love our principal, Mr. C. He's the best principal ever. I'm going to kind of truncate this letter. We are all upset with the news of him not being our principal next year. I don't Thank you very much. The next The next speaker is Amanda. There is no na last name with this card. I think Amanda was trying to make it easy on me. Uh so welcome Amanda.

025Ma Madame President, just so that they can utilize all their time, can you maybe call the next two speakers too so they know? Yes sir. Alisa Steckel is the next one and Alisa Wararez. Go ahead, please. Okay. Um, to start, I'd like to talk about cola. I ask the district realistically look at the funds available if we can spend money on an imaginary food truck, upgrading libraries with no librarians, changing mascots, giving promotions and raises to workers at dent on upgrading furniture at Dent, and purchasing yonder pouches. I ask that teachers get paid cola. Class sizes. Our media shirts say our students deserve the best, which is absolutely true. Our students deserve the best education. Our students deserve to come to school in a safe and nurturing environment. Our students deserve to be in a

026class that's not overcrowded, a place where they don't get lost in the shuffle. I teach third grade, have 31 students. I think it's reasonable to ask for lower class sizes. I have to truncate this, too. I have so much. Um, I'd like to ask that the bargaining team come to the table and actually bargain. It's my understanding when bargaining happens, one side brings up an ask, a want, and the other side makes a counter offer. I don't think that's happening. Um, counseling, for me, it's really important. and I ask that you please increase the number of counselors on elementary school campuses. Having a counselor for one and a half days a week is not enough. At our school, we have students aloping, throwing rocks at cars, saying hurtful and unkind things to students. Um, throwing

027chairs through windows. We need counselors. Will I do my best to help the children in my class? There's things I'm not equipped for. Finally, please fix the heating and air conditioning. Thank you. Thank you. The next speaker is Alyssa Rarez, followed by Cindy Aguilar, followed by Kevin Taylor. Alyssa. Thank you. Okay. Um, I'm here this evening on behalf of Mount Diablo Adult Ed teachers. Uh, there's no time to talk, so please read this important handout about the urgent situation at our school. Thank you very much. The next speaker is Cindy Aguilar, followed by Kevin Taylor and followed by Angel Tcado. Go ahead. I'm experiencing deja vu. The district is crying, the sky is falling, and they don't have extra money to spare. All the while sitting on an unending fund balance 2,000 times greater than

028the required 3%. Our board should be concerned with ensuring our students receive the best education. So again, I remind the board the money this district receives each year is to be and should be spent on the educational needs of the current students. How do we know what the how do we know the students need? By talking to the people who directly educate them each day, not an administrator who hasn't taught in a classroom in the last 10 plus years. How do we guarantee our students get the best? be hire and retain the best by showing that MDUSD respects educators by paying them a living wage that at least keeps pace with COLA each year. By lowering class sizes so that our educators can spend more individual time with their students. by paying them for the

029hours of work they were required to do beyond their sight time and not forcing them to do things that aren't in the best interest of our students like teaching multiple levels of classes within one period especially EL at our title one sites or forcing them to miss their prep time which is when they work on creating engaging lessons or grading student work because they have to ask as a super substitute teacher or noon supervisor. Thank you very much. Kevin Taylor is the next speaker, followed by Angel, followed by Lauren Marcado. Kevin Taylor is the next speaker. Did I miss you? I'm Cindy Aguular. Oh, thank you. Please go ahead. Okay. Do Am I supposed to hit a button? You're good. Okay. Okay. Good evening. Um, I'm Cindy Aguilar. This is my 24th year teaching in

030our district and I am a nationally board certified teacher. I recently had the pleasure of attending the Willie Mims Awards and I really enjoyed Dr. Clark's speech in it. He said students should have every opportunity and every resource to be successful and I think this is a really great philosophy. But I wonder how that ties into our class size because if you really feel this way, having a class maxed out is not really giving every student the best resource to be successful. I can't say for sure, but I believe it's been mentioned along the way that there have been studies that don't prove that class sizes affect learning. I'm not sure about that, but are there studies that show that large classes help learning? Um, I can tell you that from my 24 years of

031teaching, teaching 34 students and teaching 18, for sure it matters. For sure, I can do more with smaller classes. I can affect more students. This year, I had two students tell me second grade they wanted to kill themselves. Two students. I have 31 kids. I cannot be giving them as much attention as I would like. I am not enough resource for them with 31. Please fix our class. Thank you. Kevin. Thank you, Kevin. Good evening, members of the board, Dr. Clark, audience, members, thank you so much for our time. Um, I would like to say as a teacher in this district for 17 years that I'm shocked by what's happening, but unfortunately, I'm not. This district has shown time and time again through its actions what it really thinks about teachers. You were told tonight

032that we were coming. You were told tonight that we wanted to speak. We wanted to be heard. We wanted to be part of the conversation. And that we asked you to please move it next door where it would be safer, where more people could be involved. And we were told no. You are denying teachers the right to be heard and seen and to tell you what they feel. How is that fair bargaining? How is that treating us with respect if you won't even hear our voices? I really implore you, please tell Dr. Clark and his team to bargain in good faith. Striking out every word of a proposal is not bargaining in good faith. Our teachers deserve better. We at least deserve to be respected enough to be able to have seats at the meeting

033and not sitting on the floor. Thank you. Angel is the next speaker. Good evening. My name is Angel Trinkado and I am proud to serve the students of Hullbrook Language Academy as a first grade English uh partner. Um as we come to another end of the year, I was reflecting on how we could better serve our students and researching researchbased strategies that would improve student performance. As between my partner and I, we serve 62 first grade students. In my research, I came across several reports and studies and they all say the same. Reduced class sizes promote better learning outcomes for the students not only in their current grade but continued success throughout their educational careers. These benefits include higher test scores, more participation in school, improved behavior. Reduced classroom sizes would also merit the board's

034policy on equity, especially a commitment to equity in the opportunities provided to students and the resulting outcomes. In a national education policy center report, it was found that smaller class sizes are particularly effective at raising achievement levels of lowincome and minority children. Thank you. Next is Lauren Marcato, followed by followed by Corey Lynch Grant. Go ahead, Lauren. Good evening. I'm Lauren Marcato, a school counselor, not academic counselor, at Northgate High School. I'm wrapping up my second year in the district, and in that short time, I've already witnessed counselors get transferred to different sites at different levels with no reason given, and then they leave our district because of that. Uh beyond the obvious loss of talented personnel, I want to speak about why that hurts students. Counselors placed in communities get to know students, their

035families, their needs, their challenges. That sibling coming up from 8th grade next year who has an IEP that I need to look out for. We learn things like why they aren't coming to school, a health issue they're battling, why they're showing up late, hungry, and sleepdeprived. When counselors are moved around, it hurts students, hurts their performance. They lose a trusted adult and don't know who to talk to. It's hard for a teenager to develop a relationship with a new adult time and time again to reexlain past health issues, histories of trauma, their suicidal ideiation, so they don't they slip through the cracks. Having a trusted adult to help them with issues that impact attendance, behavior, and academics is what's best for our students and therefore student achievement. Imagine you had to get a new therapist

036every year and start from craps, from scratch. It's hard enough for an adult. Now imagine that you're 13. Thank you. Cy Lynch Grant. Welcome. Good evening, Dr. Clark and members of the board. My name is Corey Lynch Grant and I serve as an MLL support teacher at Riverview Middle School. I also stand here as a proud member of a family with strong union roots. roots that stretch back to the unions and the minds of Tucson, Arizona, and actually not really Tucson, outside of Tucson, who also stood with Caesar Chavez with United Farm Workers. Those values of dignity, solidarity, and justice run through my veins. And I believe with all of my heart that Cesar would be standing with us today in full support of Media and our call for a fair contract. You have a

037moment in front of you, a moment to show that you truly respect the teaching profession. Not just with words of appreciation during teacher appreciation week, but with actions that back it up. Teachers are not asking for a luxury. We are asking for what is right. We are asking for a contract that reflects the value of our work and our worth in this community. Please do not put me and my union brothers and sisters in the position where we are forced to say the word I never want to have to say well but know this if it comes to that we will not stand alone. Thank you. Next speaker is Julia Jensenson followed by Brett. Next speaker is Julia Jameson followed by Brett Halped. Julia, thank you. Thank you, President Mayo, trustees Dr. Clark. In discussing

038negotiations between MDUSD and media, the district has repeatedly pointed out the large number of proposals that media has brought to the table. That's what happens when you open a contract every 3 years and postpone. So, it's actually every four. What the district hasn't mentioned is the number of proposals media has made that bear absolutely no cost. The counselor who just spoke alluded to one of them. One of our asks is that school counselors be assigned to a specific school site instead of being assigned by program. This would provide our school counselors with the protections of involuntary transfer rather than assignment. It would allow the district to move school counselors if the size of a school had fluctuated in a way that made them need more or less counseling service, but it would protect counselors from

039being moved because of perceptions by administrators that they might be less pliable than someone else. Thank you. Brett H followed by Debbie Hickey. Brett H followed by Debbie Hickeyi. Hello. Welcome. Good evening board members. Dr. Clark. All right. I'm going to ask a couple of questions and I hope the people behind me will help me answer them. Will the teachers, families, and students of our district continue to accept overflowing classrooms? Will teachers and staff go back to the days of paying for health care out of their own pockets in these times of rising housing costs and groceries? Will teachers, when given for inflation, accept a pay cut this next year? Will we ever stop fighting for the working conditions of our teachers and learning conditions of our students? No. Because our students deserve the best.

040Please give it to them. Debbie Hickey followed by Laura Pinko. Welcome Debbie. Sorry. Thank you so much for having me here. I'm um little upset. I can't go after that. But my thing was to come and say thank you so much to Deborah Mason who has come to two of my baseball games. Want to say congratulations because she is the only administrator or board member, sorry, Dr. Clark that has even tried to come to Mount Diablo to support our students. So once again, thank you Deborah for always supporting the students at Mount. Thank you Laura followed by Ariela uh Sputa. First is Laura Fino followed by Ariela Sputa. Good evening everyone. My name is Laura Finco. I come from I come to bring greetings from the San Ramon Valley where we stand in solidarity with

041our brothers and sisters at Mount because the district has refused to make meaningful movement on salary on fully funded medical benefits and on class size fair compensation to work beyond sight time and on safety provisions that protect educators and students alike. Students deserve better. They deserve smaller class sizes that allow real attention and meaningful learning to happen. They deserve the best educators and that requires competitive pay and benefits and attract to retain the top talent. And they deserve safe classrooms because when stu when educators are protected, students thrive. Media members are advocating because they care deeply about this community. It's time for this district to meet with them with respect and invest in our students what our students truly deserve. Thank you. The next speaker is Ariela followed by Craig Yang. Thank you Ariela. Ariel.

042Thanks. Hi. Uh hello board, staff, teachers, Dr. Clark. It is with deep sadness I come before you today. I am here to advocate for my students. They deserve more than 31 to one. Could the first three rows please stand up? This is what 31 looks like. It's a lot to put your hands around. They have tears. They have cries. They have boooos. They need us. They need us. They need us. I don't know how I'm supposed to build these relationships with 31 kids in my class. They're stashed away millions of dollars. And you ask us to respond to a mer of new initiatives and PE, SEAL, SJ, math, math, reasoning, decoding, comprehension, science, make it hands-on, social studies, characters. Please organize a field trip. Sorry, there's no money. You send us to trainings, but there's

043no curriculum. You got it off the internet and you told us that we were not doing great. Just a moment because like the I have just one thing to say. I am resigning. I am a very good teacher and I am leaving. Thank you. because my students are not getting what I need to give them and I need not to get a pay cut. So, thank you. All of these people need you and they need you. You are losing good teachers right now. Thank you again followed by Lisa Dro. Gen followed by Lisa Dispro. Craig Yin. All right. Lisa Dro followed by Claire North. Oh, there's Craig. Craig. Craig is first then Miss Dispro. Thank you. I have some numbers for you. This is my 22nd year within the district. Maybe 23. Impass every single

044year except last year where it is that we settled for a one-year contract and then got the 9% increase thrown back in our face. 34. That's the number at fourth and fifth grade that we are working with each year. Our students deserve better than that. Nine negotiation updates. Multiple negotiation sessions. Every time I open one of those, it's still saying the same things. District's saying no. It's saying 1% 1% and a reopener. That's just not enough. Cost of living within the Bay Area. I can't imagine for our newer teachers. We have to attract and retain them. Treat teachers with respect, please. Thank you, Miss Dpro. followed by Claire North Park. You have a minute and 10 seconds like everyone else. Thank you. Hi, I'm Lisa Disbro and I represent the families of Moms for Liberty,

045Informed Parents of Contraosta and Patriots of Contraosta. And I am grieved because I have been coming to schoolboard meetings here for so long. I'm a teacher. I support you. I am grieved. Laura Frinko, thank you for being here. This is horrific. I came to speak on another issue and I just want to say that you guys have not been doing well for so many decades. It's just beyond. I stand here and I'm just 31 33 uh no AC. What? What? and your scores. What? So, I'm here to talk about uh a federal court order uh that notifi that mandates that parents be notified and provided opt outs from gender ideology lessons. This just came out and this is come this comes from the US district. Please be respectful. This comes from the US uh district

046court for the southern district. Do you mind if I have one second? No, thank you. We need to move on. You need to look at that because it's about what's happening to the kids in the school north followed by Nathaniel Burrell Claire. Hi, good evening. Um, I'm a teacher of EL at Mount Diablo High School. I'm in finishing my first year. Um, I have really appreciated being in this district because it offers full health care, which has made a huge impact with various medical issues that I've had this year. Um, I have I pay about 50% in rent for which doesn't really leave me a lot of leave and had I had to pay fully out of pocket for some of those medical expenses, I don't know how I would be making ends meet. So,

047I urge the board to please consider a reasonable cost living increase. as far as I've understood, it is something the board and the district can afford. So, thank you. Thank you, Nathaniel Burrell, followed by Sharon Steel. Hi. Uh, my name is Nate Burrell. Um, I'm here. I'm a parent of two students in Mount Unified School District. Um, I just wanted to say something about my son's situation at Elorado Middle School. Um, it's the same school my my wife went to. Um, it just like when she went there, it has a library, it has um a shop class, but there's no librarian and there's no shop teacher, so they're not open. Um, and some for some reason, I think a 1% raise is not the best solution to deal with that problem. Um, so I'm I'm

048here and uh everyone I've talked to about this completely agrees with me. Um, and I I just want to say next time you should have it in a bigger room because we're going to bring as many people as we can out next time. Okay. Sharon Steel followed by Kelly Kick. Sharon Steel followed by Kelly Kick. Welcome Sharon. Board members Dr. Clark. I've been in this district for close to 50 years as a student, a parent, a community member, a pareducator, and a teacher. I have seen the eb and flow of our district in terms of the quality of education it provides. I have never felt so dismayed as I do at this time. The lack of support for education coming directly from the district's messaging is heartbreaking. The vilification of teachers is infuriating. Teachers do

049not teach for the money. We do it because we love kids and we love our community. All we are asking for is fairness and support for our mission of educating our future citizens. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker is Kelly Kick, followed by Victor Ward. Good evening. Good evening, board members. My name is Kelly Kick and I stand here on behalf of the United Food and Commercial Workers, the grocery worker, retail workers in this county. I also am the newly elected president of the Contraosta Labor Council that represents 90 affiliated unions, including this union. And you're dead. I stand here in solidarity with this union. I am a proud student of this district. I am a parent in this district. Your wage proposal is absolutely disgusting. How do you propose worker retention when they're walking

050out tonight? How many more walk out tomorrow? What will you do then? What will you do then? Why don't you take a 1% wage increase next year? with president and this entire union and you're damn right we'll bring more back next time. Thank you. Kelly from Victor Ward, Victor Ward. Thank you. Good evening, madam madam president, trustees, uh, Dr. Clark. Um, it strikes me that, uh, in a school district, you only have a couple of knobs that you can turn in terms of getting money. Uh, one is ADA attendance. And, uh, my company has developed a couple of products. One is something that attacks chronic absenteeism, which of course directly affects the bottom line. And the other one is uh something that you can use as a fundraiser. It's a video yearbook and it allows

051students and teachers to upload their own videos. Uh working from the concept that if a picture is worth a thousand words, a one minute video is worth about 2,000 pictures. And it properly captures really special times like graduation and promotion, all of your athletic events and all of your arts and me events as well as capturing some probably pretty fantastic lessons that some of your fantastic teachers produce on a pretty much daily basis. So I just wanted to introduce that to you. Uh thank you very much for your time. Have a good evening. Thank you. That concludes the public comment and all of the cards that we have received for public comment. If you wish to make additional comments, you're welcome to stay till the end of the meeting and I will be glad to

052sit here and listen to your public comments. We'll move on to the next agenda item and that is uh district organizations. Linda Ortega Welcome, Linda. Good evening, President Mayo, trustees, Dr. Clark, members of the audience. I also want to have a shout out to my union siblings who have come out from San Ramon, Antioch, Labor Council, John Sweat, and I'm sure there's others in the audience. Thank you for your support. My name is Linda Ortega, and I am the proud president of the Mount Diablo Education Association. I represent over 1,500 certificated educators. Media members range from preschool to 12th grade and beyond. Teachers that teach all subjects, counselors, librarians, music teachers, coaches, resource specialists, speech pathologists, and more. My members educate and support all students at every site across the district. I want to acknowledge

053the work my members do each day and as president I appreciate the work they do to educate and advocate for our students. Thank you. In the spirit of last week's teacher appreciation week, I would like to share a quote by him ganut and he says, "We expect teachers to teach unattainable goals with in with inadequate resources. The miracle is they do. Our educators are the one constant person in our students lives. They show up each day to teach our students what they need to achieve in order to graduate and to become a flourishing to become flourishing adults we all hope for. I also want to apologize to the members in the audience for the lack of space in the boardroom. I anticipated a large crowd. I had requested to have the schoolboard meeting moved next

054door to a much larger space. However, my request was denied due to an IT department not being able to set up or support live stream from the MU at Morning Gardens. I found this answer confusing because when we were under COVID restrictions, the meetings were held there without this issue. So, what changed? From my understanding, there have been several upgrades to the IT system. So, this didn't make any sense to me. Again, I did try to have this meeting moved. I also would like to inform the public that media and the district are at an impass in our negotiations and have recently calendared dates for late June. I hope a resolution can be reached soon. Also, I it's been four weeks since I presented the school board with a request on behalf of the MDUSD

055adult educators to join MDUS media, excuse me, media, our bargaining unit. When I reached out to the district for an answer, all I received was some hollow response. uh they are still looking into it. The adult educators deserve an answer and should not be denied the right to join a union. Finally, I would like to invite the trustees. I want to show this. I would like to invite the trustees to join me, my colleagues, and CTA leaders to a statewide call to action this Saturday, May 17th, at noon at the Embaradera Center in San Francisco. Many of my members will be there. Um this is this is um this rally will be at five different locations. Um educators throughout the state will be meeting to unite educators, parents, and all allies across California to demand

056better funding, resources, and policies for public schools. This call to action has been posted throughout social media, and I know that labor leader Dolores Huerta will be joining our movement in Los Angeles. Please consider joining um us at noon at and at the Embaradero Center in San Francisco. I do have some invitations. I do have enough Dr. Clark for the audience or for the table. So I just want to thank you. Thank you. So the next the next agenda item is 10.3 review and potential approval of resolution 24/25 recognizing June as LGBTQ plus pride Okay, we have uh two cards. The first is Lisa Dispro. Miss Dispro. What about the time? Sure. Sure. Happy to. Please begin. Good evening. I'm Lisa Disbro and I'm just going to repeat that I represent the Mamas for Liberty

057informed parents of Contraosta, Patriots of Contraosta and their families in your district and the and the county at large. And I want to um I want to make a a point about the LGBT flag being flown on public property. I'm a Christian. I'm a practicing Christian and I would also like my flag to be flown on public property. And you are, if you deny me, you are going to be looking at a specific um Supreme Court decision shirtlift versus the city of Boston where it considered the consequences of allowing the pride flag to be displayed and not other flags. So, Christians, Jews, Palestinians, please. Thank you. Those that support Ukraine, we we have our opinions, too. And we would like our public representatives to honor and recognize our point of view as well. And so

058I'm asking you to agree to not only fly the LGBT flag, but also our Christian my Christian flag to represent the Christians of of Mount Diablo Unified School District and to avoid litigation. So that's that's the point of view and you are not to discriminate or to play favorites with points of view. And this is a public entity. All of us are equal. The only two flags that you're required to fly are the national and the state. So with that, Lisa Disbro, I make this request in good faith that all points of view would be represented and honored and maybe the solution is just flying the national and the state flag. Thank you. So the next speaker is will be respectful please so that everyone has their time. Uh the next speaker is Mrs. Ortega.

059Good evening again. I would like to remind the school board the importance of accepting all students and employees as someone who has and I'm wearing my pride today. As someone who has LGBTQ plus family members and I even had a cousin who had committed suicide because of his um his identification, I want to I want to to let the the audience know this action is important to show that the MDUSD community from the school board that all our students, all our LGBTQ plus students and employees are recognized and supported. Thank you. Thank you. The next the next speaker is Mr. Reynolds. Dan Reynolds. Good evening, members of the board. I would like to echo many of the things I just heard Linda Ortega say. I am thankful that you as a board for years have

060passed a resolution very similar to this one. You as a board for years have shown that our district hopes to be a place where all of our students are accepted, where they are safe, where they have curriculum that reflects their contributions to history, to our country in its past, its present, and its future. I'm very appreciative that you as a board have continued to show support for the LGBTQIA plus community. I'm thankful that you have this resolution on the docket tonight. I am hopeful to see all five of you vote in favor of it. Thank you. So, Dr. Clark, would you present the resolution, please? Madame President, I present before you this evening resolution 24/25-70 recognizing June as LGBTQ plus pride month. Whereas June is a time to celebrate our dynamic LGBTQ plus community, raise

061awareness of quality service, and foster a dialogue to promote healthy, safe, and prosperous school climates and communities for all. Whereas all children and youth should be able to attend school in a safe and inclusive environment free from discrimination and civil rights laws contribute to such environments. Whereas LGBTQ plus children and youth who experience discrimination, harassment, and bullying have a higher risk for diagnosis of depression, anxiety, suicide, and other mental illness than their heterosexual gender peers. So whereas flying the pride progress flag throughout the month of June further symbolizes the district's celebration of diversity and support for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and gender nonconforming community. Now therefore, be it resolved that the Mount Diablo Unified School District recognizes the month of June 2025 as LGBTQ plus Pride Month to inspire equity, create alliances, celebrate diversity,

062and establish a safe environment in our schools and community. Be it further resolved that this resolution be distributed to every school in the district. Madame President, I leave this resolution in the hands of the board. Madame President, I proudly move to adopt resolution 242570 recognizing June as LGBTQ plus Pride Month. I'll second that. So, there's been a motion made by Trustee Count with a second by Trustee OOA. Thank you. Um, in the process, the board uh the maker of the motion has the first opportunity to speak. Miss Count. Thank you. Uh, I just want to thank everyone who has supported us all of these years from the first time that we authored this resolution um through today um to be able to support all of our students but also all of our staff, our teachers,

063uh our families that may identify as part of this community. Um, everyone is welcome in our schools and this is really important for us to share. And I just wanna I just want to point out that sometimes people look at our resolutions and say, "Well, those are just words, right? Or the flag is just a flag, right? Is that really anything?" But when we wrote this resolution, we included specific education code from the state law as well as our specific board policies to be able to clarify to everybody what our policies are and that we do expect all of our teachers and staff to be able to do things like make sure that you're using the preferred pronouns that that students ask you to use, make sure that everyone has access to a bathroom. All

064of those things are in our board policies and this is just a way for us to recognize that. So, thank you everyone for your support. Trusty Ooa, do you want to say anything? I just want to say thank you for recognizing everybody and just not leaving people out. Thank you. Uh, members of the board, Trusty McDougall, yes, I have a comment. I know this has become quite common observance, but I question why there's a need for months observance of this. I have here a list of LGBTQ events throughout the year and there are 38 days or weeks that are observed in honor of LGBTQ honoring. Why do we need 30 more days? days. There's certainly there's health awareness days, there are visibility days, and so on. So, I question why we need to add 30

065more days of recognition. We don't honor our military or our first responders nearly as much and they put their lives on the line regularly. Thank you. I have a further comment on the T part of the LGBTQ plus group based on a surprising observation made over two years ago at a Lafayette school district sponsored meeting. The observation was made by a lady who described herself as a lifelong Democrat, a mother of five boys, and a lesbian. She identified herself as a graduate of Washington University with a master's degree in clinical research. She had worked five years at a pediatric gender center with 1500 kids aged 3 years to 26 years. Her quote was, "I was once a" unquote, but learned that their interventions were based on were evidence and poor outcomes. You mentioned reports from

066Canada and Australia that these countries had blocked use of puberty blockers as dangerous. Since that time, the UK and Finland have closed their transitioning clinics based on the clinic's use of poor evidence and results. Without going into further damning observations, I conclude by asking why we are observing a pride month for a group that promotes these questionable practices. Now, I believe we need to protect all our kids from any sort of bullying. I think I'm hearing bullying right now. But to give Thank you. But to give honor with a month of observance is not necessary. I oppose this proclamation. trusty and there are people in the military who identify as LGBTQ IQIA and there are people who are um first responders like there's intersectionality um so my grandmother died a week and a half ago

067her name this is relevant it's okay she lived long she tried I'm 50 I had a grandmother Right. Her name is um Bishop Car Bishop Carolyn Tyler Gidri. And I'm going to read to you a bit of the um remembrance that comes from the Christian recorder. Um Bishop Carolyn Tyler Gidri headed African Methodist Episcopal Churches in Southern California and became the first woman to serve as presiding elder in the denomination's fifth Episcopal district. Um, in 1977, Bishop Gidri followed her call to ministry and enrolled in the Los Angeles Bible School. That same year, she was ordained as an itinerant elder. She went on to serve as pastor of First African Methodist Episcopal Church in India, California, where she oversaw significant renovations to both the church and the personage and established a daycare center. um a

068point that's not here is that she was the first woman um pastor of her first three churches that she served in. Um and she also established child care centers at each of those churches which and if you know my professional life is in childcare advocacy. Um, in 1989 she made history becoming the first woman appointed to lead a major metropolitan church, Walker Temple AM Church in Los Angeles, a congregation of 600 members. In 1994, she again broke barriers, becoming the first woman appointed presiding elder in the fifth Episcopal district, overseeing 19 churches in the Los Angeles area. Although her bids for election to the Bishop brick in 1996 and 2000 were not successful, her leadership and visibility helped pave the way for women in the denomination in she was not the first she was the

069first woman who ran for bishop of the AM church, but she was the second woman elected in July 2004. Um, and that same year she earned her master of theology degree from Fuller Theological Seminary. Um, that's just a piece of her life. And I would say that she's a good Christian. Um, that she lived her Christian values and the way she showed them is continuing to show love as my own transgendered sibling um became transgendered. And there was not that did not make sense, but I think you know what I mean. You know what I mean? um that at that time when my sibling came out as transgendered um some among us would believe that that's a point of shame or um I don't know what the word right the word I'm looking for is

070but like there's something wrong with my sibling um when there's nothing wrong with my sibling and I learned from my grandmother and other people that I consider good Christians is that as we're all made in in God's image and we're all deserving of God's love and God makes no mistakes. Um that that is why we get 30 more days of Pride Month, especially with especially when there's a lot of there's a lot of ways that I uh struggle through these United States as a black woman. Um, and there's more ways that black women, LGBTQIA struggle. And but everyone who's a part of that community struggle. And what makes me so proud to be a part of this board is that this isn't new. This is I this is my 20 21 22 204. So this

071is the fifth time I get to vote yes on this resolution. Um, and I'm so proud to be in a community and to be on a board that isn't afraid to fly a flag that recognizes, although I just spent three or four or five minutes talking about religion, recogni recognizes the um, separation between church and state because that's the law, the constitution that I know is kind of wobbly right now in our country, but I'll still stand by it. um as I swore to back in December. Um and I'm I'm I'm really proud of what we do and I'm really proud that those that are against such a thing are maybe in loud opposition. We hear from them the most, but they're loudly wrong. Um and so I cannot wait to press the yes button.

072Estie Mason. Okay. So, um I know that all of you uh recognize that I'm the ancient board member on this board, but in my 27 years of serving on this board, I have honored and respected everyone, including domestic partners and all members called out in this resolution. I believe every student and employee and member of our diverse communities should feel welcome, safe, and respected. And through this resolution and the flag, we are promoting our efforts to foster inclusive environments in all schools and workplaces throughout the district. So, Trustee OA, how do you vote? Yes. There we go. Uh so for this resolution uh 10.1 the motion is adopted on a 4 to one to 0 to zero vote with support from trustee ooa. Thank you. We will move on to item 10.4, which is the

073approval and appointment of Oh, we got one more. Oh, I'm sorry. Thank you. We're moving to 10.5. Review and resolution of 2425-71 declaration of need for fully qualified educators. Dr. Clark. Yes. And I'll just I'll just read one sentence from this. The number of teachers hired or rehired under emergency permits include substitutes, current employees required to reapply for a permit, and summer school teachers. So, we're asking for approval for this so that we can um hire those teachers who haven't quite um finished all of their credentiing. Is there a motion? I move to approve resolution 2425-71, declaration of need for fully qualified teachers. Oh, second. Sorry. So we have a motion by trustee and zeri with a second by trustee mason on the um declaration of need for full qualified educators. Is there further discussion?

074Hearing none. Trusty ooa how do you vote? Yes. Thank you. and resolution um 24/25-71 is adopted on a 5000 vote. Thank you. Um we've done our next public employee appointments. Yep. And I have uh Leanny from um human resources is going to present on this item. Good evening madame president, superintendent Dr. Clark and trustees. The human resources department is bringing for the board's review and potential approval the appointment of Melissa Brennan as the director of student services. Melissa is an experienced administrator and educator with a background in middle and high school leadership specializing in managing key school functions such as student support services. Throughout her career, she's focused on creating positive connections with students, family, and staff, ensuring that each student finds the educational pathway best suited to their needs. Melissa earned her bachelor of

075science in psychology and minor in Spanish from St. Mary's College. She obtained both her mers of science in marriage family therapy and mers of science in school counseling from California State University, Sacramento. In addition, Melissa holds a pupil personnel services credential and administrative services credential focusing on equity and social justice. On the weekends, you'll find Melissa at baseball, soccer, and football fields cheering on her son and making the most of every moment with the friends and family she's so grateful to have in her life. And with that, I leave this appointment in the hands of the board. Madame President, I move to approve Melissa Brennan as director of student services. Second. We have a motion by Trustee Count with a um second by Trustee McDougall on the appointment of Melissa Brennan to serve as director

076of student services. Further comments? Trustee Ooa, how do you vote? Yes. And the appointment is adopted on a 500 vote. Welcome, Melissa. Thank you for this opportunity. I'm honored and excited to serve Mount Diablo in a broader capacity as director of student services. My commitment to students, families, teachers, and staff remains steady. I look forward to deepening support across the district. Together, we will continue building systems that ensure every student thrives. I also want to express my heartfelt gratitude to my husband, my son, my family, my peers, fellow principles. Their love, patience, and support and encouragement makes it possible for me to pursue this work with passion and purpose. Thank you. Thank you. appointed. Madam President, for um for item 112, we have uh Leani Medina Estrada from HR. She's going to present our next

077candidate. Thank you. Good evening again. The human resources department is bringing for the board's review and potential approval the appointment of Aurelia Boschi as the director of enrollment services. Aurelia has served the MD MDUSD community for over two decades in roles ranging from teacher to instructional coach to schoolside administrator. She has always maintained a focus on fostering inclusive, equitable, student centered school environments and looks forward to continuing her support of families through the enrollment process. Aurelia earned her bachelor's of science in business information systems and her masters of arts in teaching leadership. Aurelia enjoys hiking out on our beautiful Bay Area trails and spending quiet time with our family and close friends. And with that, I leave this appointment in the hands of the board. I begrudgingly make this motion. Um I move a I

078move to approve the appointment of director of enrollment services. Madame principal, I'll second that. So, we have a motion by uh trustee Enzi and a second by trustee Mason for the appointment of Aurelia Brushi to the as director of enrollment services. Trustee OOA, how do you vote? Yes. Thank you. All right. And the motion is adopted on a 500 vote. Congratulations, Aurelia. Good evening. Thank you for that begrudging nomination or appointment. Um but good evening everybody. Thank you very much Dr. Clark. Um board members, trustees. Um I really appreciate this opportunity. Um I feel that it is such an honor to be entrusted with an opportunity to serve our district as the director of enrollment services. As was already stated, I have worked with for our district for 20 years over 20 years. Um and

079I really look at our district as a powerful community. I love the way that our meeting has kind of morphed to really focusing on community and our unity and togetherness. Um, and even as I walked into our board meeting tonight, I saw so many familiar faces, so many members that I really feel are part of my family. So, some of the communities that I have served and had the honor of serving started with the Cambridge Coyotes and the Bair Bears, um, and then the PHE Dinos and I'm currently at the Valley View Jaguars. Um, and so my heart is going to be with all of those communities as I also open myself and welcome. Um, I really am excited for the role to be able to be one of the first faces to help welcome

080our families with the enrollment center. So together with the enrollment center staff, um, I really am excited for this opportunity. So thank you, Madam President. We have uh Leani Medina Estrada again to present our next uh candidate. Thank you and good evening again. The human resources department is bringing for the board's review and potential approval the appointment of Veronica Mcclennen as principal of Riverview Middle School. Veronica began her career teaching English in Pittsburgh Unified School District where she developed a deep commitment to student learning and equity. She later became an instructional coach supporting teachers in effective instruction and curriculum implementation. Her passion for leadership and education led her into school administration. Most recently, she served as principal at Deer Valley High School in the Antioch Unified School District. Veronica holds a BA in literature and

081women's studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and an MA in educational leadership. She lives in Pittsburgh with her husband and two youngest children. A proud Disney adult, she enjoys trips to the beach, reading, and spending time with her family. Veronica is excited to be joining the Mount Diablo Unified School District and becoming a part of the Riverview community. And with that, I leave this final appointment in the hands of the board. Madam Chair, I move to approve the appointment of Veronica McClennon as the principal of Riverview Middle School and to welcome her to my community. And I am also a Disney adult. So we're glad to have you on board. Second. So we have a motion by trustee Mason with a second by trustee count in the appointment of Veronica Mlennon for the

082principal of Riverview Middle School. Presio Choa. Yes. Thank you. Don't you love the way she says yes. It just rolls right there. And the motion is adopted on a 500 vote. Congratulations, Veronica. And welcome. Yeah, we want to welcome you. Thank you. Um, I warn you, I I love to talk. So, I'm really going to try and keep it brief because you know, right? 20 seconds. Well, we'll get there. So, I definitely want to thank you members of the board for entrusting me with the um Riverview School. I'm super excited to serve in the Mount Davl Unified School District and I'm even more excited to lead the Riverview Middle School and um I look forward to getting to know you all. Thank you so much. Do you have anyone here with you tonight? I Well,

083you know, my husband is running the kids. you know, I have a cheerleader and a football player and they're doing all the things. So, yes. So, he has the the kid duty tonight, but I do have one of my dearest friends with me. Um, Dana Gaspart. Where's Dana? All right. Great. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Congratulations. So, now we're ready for reports. next week. So, you finally make it up to the January. [Music] Right. have with me today Giana Thompson from Bridge who's going to help present on our topic. All right. So, what we wanted to talk about is um share some good news. Every time special ed um you know, we talk about last time the grant that was taken away with the federal budget cuts, but we did want to let everybody

084know about some of the really good work that's happening in the district regarding um transition. With me, I have GA Thompson from Bridge who brought a new program to our district that I'm excited to share. um her idea, her brainchild, her leg work, and it's changed things tremendously. So, follow up on that grant. The grant did go away, but we do still have the materials available that we really are trying to work with our students on self-determination, making their own decisions, making their own plans, short-term, long-term goals. Part of the federal law is that we really are required to do transition planning. We all know that people with disabilities are unemployed and undermployed at much greater rates than would be expected in the general population. So we are required to do um comprehensive transition plans

085in the areas of employment and education and independent living. And in the state of California, there's three agencies involved in those um transition um services for um young adults with disabilities. So it's really essential that we work with them. The education part obviously and that's our workability known as department of rehabilitation but for obvious reasons that was a bit confusing. Um and then the department of developmental services and they really work on that independent living part. So again it's important that we have all three. The district has and has had for a very long time a um a very robust workability um program through the department of education. Um each year we're required to serve about 850 kids but right now we're serving at about 1,200. The good news about that is is of those

0861,200 we're required to get 140 of those kids jobs and we've exceeded it. We actually did that earlier in February. The good news is though, 72 of those are doing paid employment and about half of those are actually working in our um partner after school programs. So, not only are we um getting kids jobs and internships through that grant, we're actually um increasing our staff, our employees. So, that's a nice thing. Um, some of the other people are working at um, a whole variety of places including restaurants, Ultimate Fieldhouse, Walgreens, whatever the thing is, whatever their interests are, however that that is aligned. We've also recently partnered with the American um, job corps for field trips. But all of this is old stuff. We've been doing it for a while. What I really wanted to

087talk about today was our um, department um, week and work grant. And that's why I'm turning it over to Gian. Hi. Um, so we are wrapping up our second year um with the We Can Work Grant and we have served 35 students between last year and this year. Our cap is 30 a year. And so students graduated out last year and then we um put some new students on board this year. So we're currently serving 28 out of our max 30 um which is wonderful. So currently we're working at two of the grocery outlets and um the weekend work grant also funds wages for our onampus friends cafe. So this between workability and the friends cafe and working at grocery outlet. It gives the students at bridge kind of three different levels to work up

088to, which increases the hours, the responsibilities as you um move up to more responsibility in um our work program. So, we work two days a week, three and a half hours a day at Grocery Outlet. And um the the benefits are amazing. So, I could speak for an hour, but I've shortened my enthusiasm to just a couple minutes. Um, one of my favorite benefits that I've, um, been able to witness is the community engagement and involvement among the staff, the um, the company staff and the community themselves. The community loves seeing our students. And if you ever been to Grocery Outlet, it's they have regulars and um, they they come to see our students, I promise you. Um, and so the employers are able to see the our students in action and their capabilities and

089see them grow and see that they can make small accommodations to help our students be successful um on the work sites. One of our students has recently been training for a cashier which is a huge responsibility and I think that it is definitely because we are there often. This is her second year and she has a job when she graduates in December if she wants it. they love her there. Um, so students get a chance to try several different jobs on the site. They train under different co-workers and they get to find out what works best for them. So, some have realized they like working outside. Some like working um in front of customers and talking with them a lot while others like to just organize and kind of keep to themselves. They also get

090to write that they have experience when they leave Bridge and write a resume. We know how difficult it can be to try to get your first job if you have no experience to put on your resume. So now they have some valid skills and some work experience that they get to leave Bridgew. Um there's of course the money. So students are receiving a nice paycheck and this gives them the opportunity to really understand budgeting and the value of money because they are now making it on their own. So, with their paychecks, some students have started pitching in for their phone bills, saving for family vacations, buying groceries for their home, helping their pets uh get care, and of course, buying video games, DVDs, and all the other things that young adults enjoy um purchasing. Um

091either way, it gives me the opportunity to teach them budgeting in a really meaningful way. Um they are also now enrolled in do So when they leave Bridge, they have a meeting with the counselor and the counselor works with them to decide if they would like to continue services once they age out of bridge. And that's a huge thing as well because what I've heard previously from parents is uh getting them into the department of rehab was a little bit of a lengthy process or a lot of continuous calling. And so now it's already set up for them if they want to continue um working and seeking services for our future. Um, I hope to get more work sites that offer different environments so we can offer a variety of experience. This is not due

092to a lack of effort, but rather a lack of company willing to give us the initial chance. But we great greatly appreciate Grocery Outlet for being so inclusive, kind, and open to work with us. And overall, it's been the success that I've hoped for. Thank you. We might need you too because this is the other part that's quite exciting. Last year we brought to you um a series of courses for the alternative diploma for our kids with disabilities and we are very pleased to say that we did adopt those courses and of our 23 kids who are aging out of the high schools, 11 of them are eligible for the alternative diploma, although they're all still planning to go to Bridge, which is what we want. The whole idea was to revitalize Bridge to make

093it more of a meaningful transition program while continuing to work on academics. In addition, 48 students at Bridge out of the current 86 are also receiving their alternative diploma this year. So, they can not only walk in with a resume with job experience. They can also walk in with yes, I have a diploma. So, still have to interview, you still have to do all the things that everybody else has to do, but now you got two tickets in your pocket. So, it's quite exciting. And um again the metriculating seniors will also at the comprehensive ones. So overall it was bad news um with the grants but our transition programs are going great and it's having an absolute positive impact on our students. So thank you for the opportunity. We appreciate it. Any questions comments? I

094have a question after the board members re John has tried twice to leave if anyone wants to notice that what was their question. Um I guess it's not so much a question as a as just a comment. this is I'm just so impressed and um with what you've done here and um then congratulations to you both because I think um Mr. Agiley with your leadership and and encouraging people who work for you to be able to be innovative and come up with these ideas and take them and run with them is amazing. And um Giana, just the way that you've put this together, all of the different elements, right? You needed you needed all of them. you needed the funding, you also needed the employer, the grocery outlet as a starting point. And I think

095what we often see um kind of throughout this country is people just will say, you know, just have low expectations for people for all kinds of various reasons, right? Um and this is the type of program that shows that no, these these students can be independent. They can make their own money. They can learn to budget. They they can be successful. Um, and so I'm just so excited about what you're doing. Um, and so excited for how it can grow in our district. So, thank you. So, so my comment wasn't a question is I you used to send me um very direct emails some time ago. So, yes. Yes. So, I'm just asking like is is did this does this meet what we were discussing several years back as as we were as we were

096having these conversations? Yes, definitely. And I I was thinking I was here several years ago talking about how I wanted to do this and asking for the support and I received the support and we took it and ran with it and um we are happy. Students are happy. I I really from the bottom of my heart thank you for what you do. You know I love visiting the school. I love visiting Friends Cafe and um just glad that you were able to bring this to fruition because I know you were very frustrated some years back about the lack of opportunities for your students. So, thank you for sticking with it. If anyone wants to visit Grocery Outlet, you know, reach out to me and we'll set up a time. Are they at a particular because

097I know there are many grocery outlets. Are they at a particular one or the pass one and the plate one? Okay. Well, one's going through some management changes, so things are interesting there. The other one's um set up and ready. So, wonderful. And it the disability works California or is this is this is a state funded grant? Yes. Okay. Um so, I would recommend inviting your state assembly member or state senator out to visit as well for them to see how this strong investment um of the state funds has been successful. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. I'd also like to just give a quick shout out. You can also see our students at BJ's, Rockos, Bambinos, Walgreens, and Carlton Senior Living. They partnered with us, too. We need to give them recognition.

098Awesome. Thank you. Thank you. Vargas. Yeah. Now we have Mr. Vargas with the the May Reise. You bringing us some good news from Sacramento? See, you got jokes. I'm I'm bringing I'm bringing news. So I I was just thinking about I'm following that. That's a great program to follow. Um because I've had personal experience with that with my oldest daughter. So just to see that is just she did the same program and yeah, good things. So yes, I'm here tonight to talk about the May revise which was just released this morning at about 10:30. So I'm just going to go through some big highlights. Um so the Prop 98 guarantee is what basically funds school districts. And so with the May revise, um they're budgeting it at 117.6 million this year, uh which you'll start

099to read is 1.3 billion less than what they are supposed to pay us. Um and that's a strategy to reduce the risk of overappropriating uh funds to uh the districts without finalizing final revenues. So that's one big uh thing that happened with the May revise. uh the cola for next year got lowered from 2.43 um that was the January number two to 2.3% uh for next year. Um if we were to use the same enrollment figures, it's roughly about a little under 500,000 per year uh in our multi-year. Um so that is another big change. And then uh they the governor still has in his uh proposal for next year the uh student to adult ratio reduction in TK. So they are allocating 1.2 billion to support that. Uh it's 300 million less than the

100January proposal. Um and then the other big piece to the May revise is if you remember I was talking about a one-time discretionary block grant. So, that is still in his proposal. Um, it's not at 1.8 billion. That one dropped a little bit at 1.7 billion. Um, and then again, these are one-time funds. Um, if if this goes through with the enacted budget, um, that's roughly about 300 $300 per ADA. So, that could mean about $8 million for Mount Diablo and one-time funds. Um there's 90 almost $91 million in ongoing funds to uh continue the full support of universal meals for 2526. Um and then just some of our own uh things to think about when because this is the last meeting before we bring the proposed budget June 11th. Um, our P2 was filed

101at the end of April and so we were roughly about a little bit we were at 93.01% uh when you do the ADA toc bids enrollment. So that holds the assumption that I talked about at second interim. So that's good news for us that we're going to continue with that assumption. Um and then um we continue to monitor our enrollment trends with the pre-registration numbers. And so we might see a change in that when we bring the proposed budget back June 11th. Um but what will be more interesting is when we go to the school services workshop next week. Um we call it all the ABCs will start doing their um May revise updates. I think CSBA has one Monday which I'll be doing uh school services is on Wednesday but the most important piece

102about school services is they'll release the dart board which has the outyear colas and so we'll see what those changes are because those will affect the multi-year because again when we are turning in our adopted budget to the county they're looking at your three-year multi-year. Um, so like I said, we have those workshops coming up and uh we'll be do doing the proposed budget at the June 11th meeting. So I'll take any questions, but like I said, it came out at 10:30 this morning and all the articles are starting to come out. I saw them rolling in on our emails. Thank you very much for the report. I think I um be before you start um the next one uh 12.3 is a presentation from Schneider Electric and I just I want to thank Schneider

103for coming out today and uh submitting your presentation earlier earlier and let the community or or staff or whoever view the slides um on the on the presentation. Uh just want to really thank you guys for coming out and um we're going to give you time to do your presentation and then we're going to open up to questions from the board and I'm sure there'll probably be some public comments. So thank you. Go ahead. So go ahead. There is a public comment. So okay go ahead. I'll introduce the three people that are here with Schneider. So we have Elliot Feldman, Jordan Learner and Brandon Bedford from Schneider and they will be doing the presentation. Okay, Mrs. Ortega. Okay, I'm back. This is probably a record for me, but I, you know, I'm I'm doing my

104due diligence as president reading the agenda. So, I would like to remind the school board and Schneider Electric of the over 100 adverse working conditions forms my media members submitted because of the botch upgrades, Schneider Electric and the district impose on our educators and students. I hope their presentation I hope in their presentation they will address moving forward how they will resolve all these issues immediately so that we do not have a repeat of the same when temperatures start to peak again. Please keep in mind that you cannot put a cost on the learning conditions of our students and the working conditions of my members. Everyone in in Mount Diablo deserves a safe space to learn and work. Thank you. Okay. Good evening everyone. Evening. Nice to see you again, Dr. Clark. Thank you very

105much for the introduction. Um, thank you all for the invite and the opportunity to be here. Um again, Elliot Feldman, senior program manager with Schneider Electric. Joining me, Jordan Lerner, our uh vice regional vice president, as well as Brandon Bedford, our director of operations. So, uh you know, we're excited to be here as we're getting pretty close to wrapping up the project, but we also appreciate the opportunity to speak directly with you all. Uh as you probably well know, we've been engaged with the the CBOC as well as your staff quite a bit. um feeling in addressing questions and comments and and really working through to ensure that we're giving our best effort for this project. But we wanted to make sure we had an opportunity to speak directly with you and and answer any

106questions that you might have. So that's primarily the the goal of tonight's presentation. Um I will do a little bit of um kind of background work just to explain the process. I believe there's maybe one new board member that was not here involved uh when we started this process. So we'll travel back in time just a little bit. Uh, and then Brandon's really going to lead the effort here on a lot of the project updates as well as, um, you know, hopefully address some of the comments and concerns that you might have. Um, please feel free to jump in with questions at any point. We're we're happy to discuss anything that you might want to bring up. Um, again, yeah, just, you know, kind of covered most of this, but we're we're trying to pick

107out some of the, uh, key things that we think, uh, you have maybe have questions about or had, uh, been brought up in some of the CBOC meetings. So, starting back in 2021, believe it or not, uh the district issued a request for qualifications for a project focused around building automation upgrades, LED lighting, and uh HVAC upgrades. We along with some other firms responded and Schneider Electric was selected as the best value provider. Um, a couple key parts of this request for qualifications was that it did stress the opportunity to have multiple agreements with the selected vendor and it would be implemented under California government code 421710-18. And for anyone that's not familiar with that, that's essentially the energy savings procurement route. Uh from there in April of 22, we uh had our design or

108investment grade audit contract approved allowing us to start the design work for the the building automation systems, the lighting, and everything that was requested in the qualifications. Uh we're going to talk in the next slide a little bit about the the pathways of our project, but essentially in May of 22 and then March of 23, we had two separate construction amendments that tied back to the original requests of work uh again for starting with lighting and then HVAC and controls. And so just to remind the group and and for anyone that wasn't involved in the process, we had always looked at the project comprehensively, but because of different timelines for both implementation as well as potential to save energy, we recommended that the district could follow three separate tracks. And really track one was LED

109lighting. This is your lowest hanging fruits, getting energy savings in the door. uh we could go out and and implement this work uh fairly quickly. So it was prioritized as the first track. Um project scope on that was roughly around 24 million similar to the track two as you'll see. Um and details around the project are are highlighted in the right. I won't go into too much detail because it's clearly all there. But again, this was districtwide upgrades. From there, we moved forward with our track two and this was for districtwide building automation system upgrades as well as working with the existing system interconnecting those two and then non DSA approved or you know needing improvement uh HVAC again districtwide roughly again about $25 million all tying back to the original intent of the RFQ.

110our response and essentially allowing for some work to be fast-tracked while other work which had longer procurement and design timelines to come in the back. There was a third scope of work that was always discussed that was uh track three uh related to HVAC installs that would require to go through DSA. However, it was always our understanding that the district reserved the right to pursue that path if they wanted if funding was available. So, we were really focused on track one and two. I um I'm going to turn it over to Brandon uh to talk a little bit about the updates from the project, but if there's any questions about, you know, what transpired prior to getting under contract, happy to answer them. So, starting with scope updates, um the scope for project scope one

111remain focused on energy efficient lighting at uh comprehensively at 52 district sites. Um, it also included two years of energy management services to advise the district and to uh monitor utility usage and give the district advice. Um, and along the way last summer, we did negotiate a nocost change order with the district. Um, that was initiated because this project scope one also included a small portion of replacing uh lenses on existing light fixtures as well as um discolored or damaged uh ceiling tiles. Um and then as we proceeded with the project, what we discovered was that there was a greater need at the district to um replace some existing outdoor lighting control panels that were not originally in our scope because they were already being controlled, but they're on a wireless system that the district

112was having problems with. So, we worked with the district to rep prioritize the scope away from ceiling tower replacements into replacing a portion of those wireless um lighting control panels so that uh the district didn't have problems with lights not coming on at night and things of that nature. Again, we worked with the district amicably to stay within the district's budget and not increase project price. Um, so I'm sorry, were you saying that that was done instead of then? So we have some ceiling tiles and light fixtures that were then not replaced because we prioritized just ceiling tiles. Uh we didn't remove any light fixture retrofits. Um the ceiling tile replacements weren't were never designed to be comprehensive. It was uh it was basically a small portion of ceiling tiles that were available so that

113as we were doing our work the district could say well these ceiling tiles over here don't look good. Let's replace those. Um I think in execution as we started doing that realized that replacing a few ceiling tiles here and there weren't going to have as much of an impact for the district as it would if we would um resolve the exterior lighting controls where you know a school site that's dark at night has you know a big dramatic impact as opposed to a few uh ceiling tiles here and there scattered throughout the district. So on project scope two um it's HVAC upgrades. The HVAC upgrades are not comprehensive at all district sites. It's only at 21 district sites. Again, uh it was focused on replacing equipment that was at the end of useful life that

114also uh did not trigger DSA permitting requirements. Therefore, it could uh go through design and construction more quickly. And then also building control system upgrades at uh 52 sites. So, a comprehensive building control upgrade. Uh district already had um a decent amount of controls infrastructure. So we we upgraded existing controls where we could um installed new controls where needed um to bring everything up to a comprehensive standardized system throughout the district. Um on this project there's also a no cost change order be change order two. Uh it's currently pending. Um so this is similar story as as the first scope. So in project scope 2, there are three sites uh where the controls upgrades ended up being uh duplicate with your modernization projects. So um the district asked us to remove that scope from our

115project and instead uh we're mostly picking up more of those exterior lighting control panels. Uh then we're also picking up other odds and ends and uh other HVAC replacements and things of that nature. again working with the district to stay within the budget and rep prioritize the scope on where it would have the most impact for the district. So schedule update project scope one for lighting is uh complete and achieved an official substantial completion on uh January of 2024. Um for project scope 2 uh we have requested HVAC substantial completion as of uh March of this year. uh that that would have been a little bit sooner, but some of the um the change order no cost change order work that where we added in a couple extra units uh caused us to have to

116do some of that work earlier this year. Um and so we've now requested that substantial completion and it's pending the district's review. And then uh we're still working on the building automation system, the controls. Um we are on what we're calling a recovery schedule. We had intended to be done with that work um closer to December, January. Um, so we propo we worked with our subcontractors to develop a recovery schedule and proposed that to the district and coordinated with the M office and happy to report that we're currently on schedule with the recovery schedule and on track to close the project out this summer. So we also wanted to address um issues um and wanted to start first and for foremost with comfort issues. Um, it's always our goal to not have a ne negative

117impact on building occupants when we're doing our projects. Um, we acknowledge we're in a construction field. Uh, our form of construction is retrofits of occupied buildings. On on top of that, they're they're classrooms. So, we recognize they're sensitive spaces and it's our goal to not have have a negative impact. to that extent as communicated earlier um we didn't achieve that goal here and for what it's worth I I do want to sincerely apologize for any inconveniences we've caused along the way um do want to explain for you all to to understand um the I think the bulk of the comfort complaints really came to a head last fall um especially revolving around late October 2024 when the weather dramatically shifted into winter uh you know big winter storm hit overnight Um that was shortly after

118we had implemented some new software integration at uh 25 of the sites that have a VRF type of system. Uh it's called it stands for a variable refrigerant flow. Uh the VRF systems have their own uh manufacturer controls on them that have to manage the VRF system themselves. So we integrate our software on top of that to send it commands for things like set points and time of day scheduling and things of that nature. Um, we did attempt to beta test that software integration before the weather change. Uh, we did the beta testing at at a couple sites for a couple months and the beta testing went well. Um, unfortunately our beta testing didn't uncover the exact situation and circumstances that arose when the weather changed. And what we discovered uh when the weather changed

119was that all those sites it was very erratic controls uh and unpredictable things were happening with the HVAC. It would it should be in the occupied mode and it was in the unoccupied mode. So the teachers were cold, things of that nature. Uh since it was happening at all the sites that we just implemented that software at, our immediate assumption was that okay, there's something wrong with the software. Um and it's it's unfortunate because we immediately went into diagnosis mode to figure out to to root out the cause. And in order to do that diagnosis, we needed to start eliminating variables. And so one of the first things we did is we locked all the thermostats at 70° uh Fahrenheit. And I realized that in the moment that definitely made the situation worse for the

120occupants because not only were things unpredictable, but now they effectively lost control of their own thermostat. Um, we only did that as a temporary measure as we were trying to eliminate variables and debug the software and figure out what was going on. That did help us figure out the issue. Um, by the end of or by mid November, so within a few weeks, we had figured out that there was there were two things going on here. there was a uh bug in how the software was being received by the local control system that we had to debug from a technical software standpoint. But then also with the existing local manufacturer controls, there were some physical switches that were not set up initially um as to be expected to to be based on thermostat controls as

121opposed to return air temperature sensor. um that issue basically was not something you would have seen until we started trying to send software commands to it and then the software commands conflicted with the way that physical setup was. So that that unique mix of software not communicating correctly combined with uh an unexpected way for the existing controls to be physically set up uh caused us some consternation to figure it out. But within a few weeks we we did figure it out. Um, we're very thankful to your M department that once we figured it out, uh, they, uh, were great partners to us to mobilize. Um, we brought in multiple people of our staff, but the M staff also went out in the field and helped us quickly reconfigure the physical controls and we implemented new

122software and we were able to release the thermostats back to the teacher by December. Um and then uh fast forward a few months uh earlier this year uh the district also gave us new clarifications on what um heating and cooling set point ranges were desired for the teachers. So we reconfigured the software to implement that change as well. And we're happy to report that since we've made these efforts and since we've made these changes um that the comfort complaints that we're receiving have significantly reduced. Um and we are now actively working with the district to finish the controls installation. Uh the district's M staff has been doing punch walks with us uh for the last few weeks to go physically review the installation of the controls that we've put in and the punch last punchwalks

123have progressed well. And uh as of today, we started setting up schedules to work with the district staff on training uh on how to use the graphical user interfaces and uh how to utilize the software through the chair. Um who when you say you took back control, so are these controlled by the temperature outside or by the temperature a teacher sets in their classroom or by the district? Because I know Contra Costa County had so much trouble with their air conditionings because this office wanted it at 60 degrees and this one wanted at 80 that they set a limit. It was going to be 72 throughout. If you were not comfortable at 72, wear a sweater or wear a t-shirt, whatever. So, how is this set up? Because if you go individually by classroom, every

124classroom is going to be different. they're going to have the air conditioner blowing and the door open and I think that creates a lot of the problems. So I'm just curious. Right. So that's where in March 2025 we implemented the district's new set point policies. I think is what you're because the the air conditioning does control to the set point in the room measured at the local thermostat. Um and the teachers do have the ability to adjust the set point up and down. Um what we implemented in March was that um staff are given the ability to warm their spaces to 73 degrees and then cool down to 68 degrees. So there's a limit there. There is a limit. Yes. So what is the purpose of the limit? Do we think that a human being

125in a classroom is going to like do some kind of really crazy temperature that's going to use a lot of energy and we want to prevent them from doing that. set point limits. Uh from our perspective as an energy services company, it is from an energy savings strategy stem standpoint and to try to keep set points within some re reasonable threshold so that um we're not overheating or or undercooling spaces to an excess you could say and uh utilizing too much energy. Um there's also the reality that at some point there's all only so much the HBAC systems can do. So even if we kept lowering the cooling set point lower, the mechanical systems themselves might not be designed to achieve that low of a set point when it's, you know, 98 degrees outside. Okay.

126So can I just go back to where you were describing [Music] um the process in the first place? You said, "Okay, so we did the control upgrade at 52 sites and we installed new controls where needed." So when you say you installed new controls where needed, my understanding was that part of the problem that you ran into was that there were at least three different types of controllers and that you needed to figure out how to reprogram different types of controllers. Why would you not just replace the controllers if it's really that difficult? Why not replace with the controls that you know how to work? That's a good question. So the the issue we are describing was specific to the sites that have uh variable refrigerant flow systems. Uh and and I'll say this is

127a unique type of air conditioning system. It's not the type of system you would find in most houses or apartments. Um is it is it something you'd find in many schools? It it's it's used in schools. Uh yes. and and that would be a common application. Um, but this type of system isn't as simple as being able to put individual thermostats on individual rooms because it's it's more similar to taking five or six standard split systems in five or six classrooms and and taking those split systems and combining them together in one common refrigerant system. And when you do that with refrigeration, you need specialized controls to make sure that your refrigerant and the oil in the refrigerant doesn't get migrated to the point to where you might burn a compressor up. So that's where

128it gets into the point that the manufacturers of the VRF system have to put manufactured controls on them and they're controlling that specialty part of it and then they allow communication via software integration for a you know a building automation system to have like mastery control over things like what set point do you want, what time of day do you want to be occupied, what time of day do you want to be unoccupied? So when you first bid on our system, were you aware that we had VRF? We were. Yes. And have you worked with VRF in other districts successfully? We have with the same controls that we have on there. Yes. Yes. The Mit Mitsubishi system. Okay. So when you say that you ran into you you did attempt to beta test before the

129weather changed. Um, but that didn't uncover the exact issue until the weather changed. So, and there were two issues. You described needing to debug your software, but also that the existing manufacturer control switches were not set properly and that you wouldn't see that until you tried to send a control. Did you not try to send a control during the beta testing? And that's where I think our beta testing came up short in that we didn't send a wide enough example of signals and create simulate enough scenarios to have then uncovered like uh oh there there's a bug here. And so in past school districts where you have done this s first of all let me ask in other school districts where you have installed um lighting and also HVAC um have you done this type

130of systemwide controls system before in other school districts successfully? Yes. Have those been with situations like this where you have VRF and two other types of control systems? Yes. And in those situations, did you bet a test in one school and then from there decide to suddenly go to 52 school sites all at once? I I believe so. Yes. We when we beta test, we usually beta test a sample of typical schools and then make decisions on how to mobilize from there. And so what was different if in fact you were successful at those other school sites? What was so different about our site? Because this was unforeseen to you. It was unforeseen to us and our students and teachers suffered for months as a result of your inadequate beta test. Yeah. And we're deeply

131sorry for the inconveniences that that caused. You're highlighting a really important point. So I think Brandon alluded to. We didn't beta test it correctly in as many variables as we should have and when the exterior conditions hit that's what tripped it up. But we also probably it's for us it's been a learning lesson about the roll out of that then you know locking of the system because it impacted so many. So we've kind of discussed internally about uh smaller um testing or more wide testing in the sense of making sure we're getting it correct before we roll out something at that scale. Um so you know we are definely deeply sorry for that inconvenience. We've taken that as a lessons learned and definitely something we will be very mindful of moving forward is you know

132the scale to which we're trying to debug something like do something right but obviously didn't think about the negative unintended consequences that it caused. So how many other school districts had you done this scenario successfully in before ours? Because it feels like we are your beta test. You're not our beta test. I'm sorry. I don't have an exact count of schools that we've done with this scenario. Okay. Um to your point about lessons learned, um since we implemented the the changes in March, we only did it on the 25 sites that were already affected and we've been letting that run and giving it time to see if any other issues uncover um before we uh push the same software changes out to the remaining sites that have VRF. Um we are now getting to the

133point where we've seen it running successfully for going on a couple months now. Um and we've continued to work with the district staff on uh doing punchless walks of the physical installation itself and we're now preparing to start rolling out the remaining uh software here as we move towards project closeout. So when you roll it out to the remaining sites, you feel that it will be successful and that we won't run into the same issue. But it sounds to me from our teachers union that there are issues still happening today with the existing changes that you've made. Um so the the comfort complaints that have been extended to Schneider have dropped off dramatically if if not kind of gone to zero. Um, I' I've checked in with the M office and they've confirmed there there

134still are other issues that come in and other complaints, but they haven't been deter they haven't been determined to be related to our project. As much as there's there's other HBAC systems out there that we didn't replace, there's there's other mechanical failures that happen as as a part of kind of the normal course of of doing business. That that's not to diminish the fact that there's there's other complaints, but they haven't been correlated with with our work. Okay. I I appreciate your apologies. Um but I also feel that there is there's an unmeasurable cost to the comfort of our classrooms, but there is also a measurable cost. I think in many of these cases, we did purchase and and run a lot a lot of extra energy by giving teachers um you know, heaters or

135uh fans and things like that during this time period. um that we could actually cost out. Is that if we give you, you know, um what what the cost of what this is that you caused, um is that something that you would be willing to discuss uh reimbursing us for? I think we'd be willing to consider any uh proposals that district want to offer on that front. Thank you. Okay, there's okay to move forward. Um, so there was there's also uh an update related to uh the Department of Industrial Relations. So, uh, in August of 2024, we received two notices of investigation from DIR. Uh, they're related to two of our subtier subcontractors. Um and there because uh the DDI received uh complaints of um violations potentially related to um apprenticeship programs and apprenticeship compliance.

136Um since we've received those notices, um both Schneider and our subs have provided all unredacted requested information to DIR. Um, and Schneider continues to periodically check in with DI uh to request status and also to see if there's anything else we can do to facilitate the investigation and and help bring it to an appropriate conclusion. Um, at this time that the DI hasn't actually provided us any updates on that front. They're still working through their process. Um, so, um, the the ball's in their court, but we will continue to reach out and offer our support to, uh, to help get the investigation to its appropriate conclusion. Um, I can confirm that throughout the construction and contracting process, we did follow the DI regulations for things like electronic certified payroll. Um, and we will work with

137DI to support their efforts to to have a an investigation Yeah, just thank you and thank you for giving us the time. And I guess I'm the uh um end of our formal presentation, but um we we did want to, you know, describe some other benefits by the district contracting at the time they did. there were a lot of cost savings from the standpoint of we've seen cost of mechanical equipment and basically everything related to construction go up precipitously. So, by taking the actions the district did, and we do want to recognize that that you guys were very um intentional and it's benefited the district greatly because had we, you know, had you gone out today to go do this work, it would be precipitatively more expensive because just the cost of of materials and

138labor to some degree, but largely materials has gone up significantly over the last three years. Um, and then we we have continued to work in partnership with the district to secure funds. Uh, we did secure about $10 million in grant funds for work that we will not be doing for the district. I think you're taking action on one of those uh uh later tonight uh potentially. And so we've got a lot of experience with uh with uh the California Air Resources Board and their local groups and helped you guys find some funding for some electric vehicle infrastructure. And we continue to work regularly with your M staff as they identify things to bring to our attention if there's funding needs. We've tried to be a good partner to the district and help find funds whether

139they directly impact us or really for you and your community and your students. uh we continue to to work in good partnership to try and find funds and we heard earlier tonight how challenging it is on funding throughout the state and throughout the federal government. So we we hope to continue to be that resource and help you know help fill gaps where we where we can. I have a question. You bet. Um I'm the new guy here so I'm trying to catch up on all this. uh but this current work outside the current scope. Can you describe some of those things that you did for us that uh got the $10 million for? Yeah, Elliot actually secured a lot of these grants directly. Yeah, thanks for that question. So, uh the first portion of it

140is through the Calshape or Assembly Bill 841 grant. It's it's focused on indoor air quality. Um so essentially um uh improvements to uh air ducts, cleaning of HVAC systems, um audits to tell indoor air quality. We helped the the district submit a grant application for that. They were received a significant sum of money to do that work. And then the second piece, and you know, we've recently become kind of um a real leader in the electric school bus infrastructure space, having worked with a lot of school districts all throughout California to help uh really integrate their school bus projects and and make sure they have the infrastructure to do that. So, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District had a grant of open uh for infrastructure as well as buses. So, we helped kind of

141the district navigate that grant process. We leveraged some of our relationships with the air quality district as well as submitted a preliminary proposal that we we fully knew that we we were not, you know, guaranteed any of this work and it was we were offering this as a benefit. But um yeah, in total about $10 million and and we as Jordan mentioned, we really feel strongly about our partnership. We do this with almost every one of our clients. if we can help find more funding for the district as part of our value ad and and we understand that might not be work coming our way but that's why we've had done so much work in California and have so many repeat business um clients and then an overall question because I understand the project originally

142was to save energy has there been any measurement of energy savings that you can point to with these projects defer technical I'll happy to answer some of the other pieces too but in terms of yes that we looked at um oh sure so um as as a point of clarification um yes this is a government code 427 procured project so it's an energy project um the government code 427 does not require guarantee of energy savings nor does it require measurement and verification of savings um this there were there were some ideas is about us getting energy savings, right? Right. So, we should be able to measure that some way. Uh, right. Um, so if if we were to fully measure the impact of savings, it typically involve a very thorough measurement verification plan that's spelled

143out in the contract and requires a level of engineering due diligence. Um, and so we're not currently providing that service for this project. We have looked at just utility trends. Uh, and that's so that's just looking at utility usage at your utility meters. We've looked at trends. It's hard for us to definitively say there's any conclusions there because what's also in the utility meters we're looking at is all the existing solar PV systems. And over time as the solar PV systems degrade and in this case we were seeing solar PV systems starting to fall offline before the solar PB provider uh went out of business and access to that data disappeared. So it was somewhat inconclusive to say what was the impact of our project because there was also the impact of the solar PV

144going offline and you're seeing those things offset to some degree and and so while when we've pre presented these trends before we've we've shown that we can't really definitively tell you what the exact impact of our project has been while just looking at the utility meters. Darn. Yeah. One thing that you could reference in the contract I think that's pretty alluded upon in this contract. There are a lot Okay, thank you. I just have a comment for Trusty K. Thank you for articulating in such a clear way questions that I had and in my head were way like I was going to say, why was this so messy? So, I appreciate your engineering mind even though it comes from Stanford. Thank you. Oh, well, thank you very much, Miss Calbear. Um, yeah, I just want

145to say I mean our I think yes, energy savings, but I think our our overall goal, the reason why we really wanted to move forward quickly with this was because it was during COVID, we were recognizing that the quality of our air makes a huge difference for the health of our students, our teachers, our staff. Um and you know that was something we were trying to solve and it's something we've we've always wanted to do um in our school sites but it became even more important um and urgent you know after co and so yes my background is in control systems electrical engineering and I'm just sorely disappointed in your ability to do a basic plan to be successful to beta test properly on something that we thought you were the experts in. So, what

146I would like to see is if you could give me a few names of people that I can talk to at districts where you have implemented this successfully because I would like to see what it was supposed to look like and what hopefully ours will look like by June by the time that you actually are signed off and done. Thank you. Yeah, that's that's a more than fair request. We're happy to follow up just to clarify. So, I think a lot of the issues stemmed on the BRF systems. would it be appropriate if we've given some um references for that but then also just controls comprehensively because I think you know what shouldn't be lost in this is Brandon and his team did a good job on some of the other um components of it

147and we did absolutely run into an issue on the VRF and and should have done the control and and debugging in a different manner lessons learned um but I'd like to give you you know a couple different data points and folks to talk to if that's all right yeah because I mean with any project, right? You have your limitations. You have certain things that you're not supposed to go beyond, right? And in this case, it was kids and teachers in that classroom, right? That we needed to not affect even during the time that you were working on this. And so those are the variables that really made the most um difference, right? And so even though you did a good job on some parts, that's not what it looks like in the end, right? Um,

148and so I would like to hear what it looked like to the teachers and the students at the school districts where this was successful and what it looks like when it's complete so that we know what it is that we are going to see in the end hopefully. Thank you. Well, thank you again for the opportunity. Really appreciate it. Thank you guys for coming out. Thank you for answering all the questions and and doing the presentation. We appreciate it. And if you want to email that to Melanie or Adrian or something like that, that'd be great. And we'll get that to the board. Thank you. All right. Uh we're ready for board member reports. Um let's start with trustee count. Have I not talked enough yet tonight? Oh my gosh. Okay. Um all right. Um

149some fun things. I attended the Mount Seattle Education Foundation Botchi Ball fundraiser. It was wonderful. Thank you to support from some of our local unions and engineering firms who sponsored um and everyone who came out to play. Um also just want to give props to Dr. Clark um and everyone who organized the Lily Mims award night. It was just incredible and so uplifting and so many engaged families. And when we talk about that as something that we want to increase, I mean, wow, the energy in the room, right? Um and seeing people coming from all the different schools was just incredible. um spent some time listening to teachers and adult ed, KVHS radio volunteers, people with cell phone concerns. Um but I also took three days off work to fly to DC to lobby for

150our public schools with 300 plus California schoolboard members and superintendents from every county in our state. Um so thank you for letting me be your rep for CSBA uh coast to coast. Um, so our top asks there were for Congress to fulfill its promise from the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1975. That promise was that the federal government was going to pay 40% of our special education costs. Um, every year since then, um, we've been hovering around 10%. So, we really want the ask to the federal government was not just to keep special education and please don't cut it. It was really to increase it to the promised 40% that was promised back in 1975. Um, if that were to have happened, um, it would give MDUSD an additional $34 million per year. Uh, our

151second ask was to fund universal school meals. We know that universal school meals proved to be effective. Um, we proved it during COVID when the national federal government did uh provide that. Um, it reduces stigma, creates a healthy learning environment for all, and also reduces unnecessary bureaucratic paperwork. Don't we all love that? Of people from all stripes. um should love that. Um so the current proposed federal funding cut is predicted to remove in Mount Diablo 15 schools, which is 9,524 students um from eligibility for uh for federally funded school meals. Um so we had our sort of typical asks that one has when we're lobbying. Um but this year was different, right? This was not like any time that I've ever lobbied on the hill before. Um, and any individual bill actually seems very small

152compared to what's happening right now um with Congress. So, President Trump is asking Congress to make massive cuts all in one fell swoop. Um, originally it was supposed to be done a couple weeks ago, then the deadline got pushed out to maybe Memorial Day, and last I heard they're hoping to do it before July 4th. But it includes it's it's the it's the big beautiful bill, right? So it's everything. It's one big decision all at once. Um that's going to affect us all tremendously and individual bills will will not be the same, right? So it includes at least $880 billion in reductions, which mathematically cannot be done without slashing Medicaid. And you guys know I love math. All right? So I know it can't be done without slashing Medicaid. In California, Medicaid is called medical.

153So, if you're familiar with medical, that's what it is. It covers three in seven children. And schools like ours in California receive over1 billion dollars for health services that are provided by our schools. So, in our district, that includes valued mental health services like our wellness centers that we all people of all, you know, political persuasions say is important. Um, as well as crucial complex medical care um during school that our special needs students need. Um, so that's big. Pay attention. Um, do what you can to advocate. Um, also while I was there, um, there was a Georgetown edomic lab webinar which I can share the link to or I think I did on my website, but um, it's called making sense of federal and other financial risks for K12. Um and my bi biggest

154takeaways from that were that there are some high risks that we need to consider for our budget. Um one big one is um the high possibility of a recession and a recession would trigger a reduction in our state funds, right? Because well that would happen to all states but in particular in California when the stock market dives our state funds dive because they're highly dependent on our highest income individuals. Um and then the other risk is um that the uh fears that our immigration that our immigrant families have um and the very real deportations that are happening um can cause attendance and enrollment drops. And so what does that mean? You if you if you're thinking about the particular immigrant students and families and you care about them, that's that's that's wonderful. But even if

155you don't, if you're just thinking about our funding to our school district, our funding will drop because guess what? Our attendance drops and our enrollment drops. So that hits all of us. Okay? So with both of those things happening potentially at the same time um and the overall federal cuts um the overall message from this uh webinar and beyond is that we really need to be careful in Mount Diablo to maintain our reserves to avoid recurring financial commitments to maintain flexibility for different scenarios and to track attendance carefully. So that's my good news. But it was but it was a but it was a really good botchi tournament. Well, the purpose of going with with 300 other people from the state of California from every county in the state um and from all different political

156persuasions to talk to members of Congress from all different political persuasions as one voice. That was the goal. We tried. Thank you, Trusty and Sewi. Thank you to um Dr. Francis and the entire team, everybody for the Willie Mims Awards. They were beautiful um as usual, but um it was amazing to get to be in a beautiful space. Um and just to see I love seeing proud parents because I'm a proud parent and I I love to get to experience that. Um given I think we were in Washington DC the same week. Um I did was not at the capital. was not, but my my work colleague was meeting with members um on education including early education issues. And um it like you just said, these are strange times and the meetings are different and

157the members that she had the displeasure of meeting with um didn't care and weren't engaged in the meeting whatsoever. Um, and that meant they really don't care about any child in our district. Um, any family in our district. Um, and I think we're underestimating our power at the local level. Um, because we can't we're not changing their minds or hearts. Like like I said earlier, they love to be loudly wrong. Um, they're everything about their values and their priorities. All the cuts you mentioned, I remind people those aren't cuts. Those are tax breaks for the uber duber rich who have like so much money. Um, so these aren't cuts. These are tax breaks for people who have more money than any of us can ever imagine. Um, and we have to remind ourselves that. And

158the last line of defense is our local decision makers, our local governments, our school boards, our city councils, our boards of supervisors, our state legislatures, all the commissions, all the different bodies um in our communities. We're our last line of defense. Um and we cannot back down in this madness. We can't we have no choice. We can't be overwhelmed um by their tactics. Um and we have to stay the course and stay focused on our north star which in this body is the children of our community. That's it. Trusty OA. On April 30th and May 7th, I had the chance to host two Zoom info sessions for students who may think about applying to be the next student board member. The goal was to give everybody a better idea of what the role involves and

159to also answer any questions they had. It was really exciting to see how many students showed up and were interested in making a difference. Students asked great questions, some that even made me think about the role in new ways. It was clear that everyone who joined cared a lot about student voices and wanted to learn how they could change how they could help make positive changes in our schools. Overall, I was really inspired by the energy in both sessions. I'm confident that the future student board member will continue to do amazing work representing all of us. Thank you, Trustee Mason. Not a lot. I'll go fast. Um, the day after our last meeting, I had got an invitation to go, I think we all did, to DVC to an English articulation conference. And sometimes I

160wonder what my role really is, but I figure if someone takes the time to invite me somewhere, if I'm available, I should go. So, I went and I actually had a very wonderful time and got very informed. There are many teachers from our district there. One of the sessions was about teaching non-fiction to kids. And so the book that they were talking about was in Cold Blood, which I read in high school. So I was all in because I took away from that book, Never Drop Your Friend Off and and Drive off without waiting to make sure their whole family hasn't been murdered inside the house and they're coming out for hell. That's what I've learned from that book. And then um they had another one that was really good. It was um students talking

161about they have learning communities at DVC. So they have the Emoia, the Poente, the Community of Pride, the Academy for Student Athletes. So, it's kind of like when I was in high school, a home room. It's a group that get to meet together that have common interest, but then when they're taking their class, there's someone in their class they know that they can connect with and they do activities on campus and kind of build a little um family support, if you will. Then, um later that day, I um was that the day I did three things? Oh, did Oh, I go that that was only the one thing I had that day that No, I had with DACA that night which was a very small group because most of our people were going over to

162which I'm sure Dr. Clark will talk a lot about our celebration of success which was a success and always a joy. But at DAC, we talked about LCAP and how we could um get parent input and work that into next year's plan. And then I went to Shereacres the next morning at 8:00 for their ELAC. They have like over 30 parents that attend those and it's um really I don't know what's going on in Bayoint but I keep telling Dr. uh Clark that our parents are coming out all the time. Uh on the 26th I went to Mount Devil High School for the immigration forum that was there. Um I cannot say enough about how it was so well done. I went there ready to work, but they didn't need me because they had all

163these teens working. The atmosphere was just very calm. You could come in, you just sat, you waited for your number to be called. This lovely student would come up and escort you to the room. There were booths. There were people there. It was amazing. We did a very good job, Robert. Good job. And um then on the 30th I went to Bair where they had a presentation called Kane's Arcade which one of our teachers there had watched a video about this young man named Kane who made his own little arcade in his dad's auto shop. So they had all the Bair students out of boxes and whatever they had at home making arcade games. Then they spread them all over the playground and had the kids and they had ski ball and poke what's where

164the ball comes down and they had um one kid even made like operation where there was you had to have the thing go through and not touch the side. If it did a light went off and so the kids were out there with their teachers having a great time and I thank all the teachers at Baylor for that. Um, I went to the campus to commerce event at John Mure that was there um to talk about all of our our um uh students about the fun things they were doing. Dr. Clark gave a great talk there. Uh then I went to the next day Capacito at Share Acres with our CA um bilingual counselors and they had uh about 15 parents there and they did a fun activity with the parents and the kids and

165then they let the parents know about all the many summer activities there are that their kids can do for free. And then I went to the Mims Award which was a great event and I'm sure Dr. Clark will talk more about that. And then I went to Bair the next day for their open house. Again, they were packed. Lots of parents there. Rooms were open. The um student work was amazing. That was all over the rooms. They had caterpillars. They had plants growing. And then the next day, I got up at 7:45 and went to Hullbrook for the walk and roll to school. And I told the conquered police I would give them a shout out because they actually because they were doing construction and some of the sidewalks were they like closed the streets

166and led the kids on the um motorcycles and the kids were all excited to be junior police officers and get their badges. So shout out to them. And then I went to the art and digital media showcase at Sun Valley Mall where our high schools had their arts on display and they actually gave awards to them for the amazing work they do and they got to have a whole tour of the mall to see the jobs that are available for the things that they're taking. And then I went to um Santeras to visit and they were having their outside picnic day with families and families were coming at lunch to to um share lunch with their kids. And I I dropped in at Mount Dava High School just to say hi and see how they

167were doing. And then I got over the Riverview for the track meet that they had on the new field in the hottest day of the week. But the kids loved it. They were doing well. And then on Monday, Supervisor Scales Preston had a community goal setting meeting at Riverview Middle School. And thank you to district for having it all set up for them. We had a lot of parents show up which was exciting. And then yesterday I went to the Mount Eva High School baseball game about against Conquered High School. And I'm telling you that is the longest walk ever all the way to their back field, but our guys are getting better. That was the second game I saw. And then on the way home, I stopped by because Rio Vista was having their

168open house. And again, it was packed. The parents were all there. Classrooms looked great. I'll probably get my head locked off for this, but I'm sorry. Those new classrooms with the new furniture look lovely. That's my report. Great report, Mr. McDougall. Well, it was a busy time because we had a lot of time since the last uh board meeting. April 24th, I went to the Rocket Ship Futuro Academy, one of our charter schools, and attended their neuro diversity carnival. And despite the cold windy weather, this outdoor event was well attended and fun. I was pleasantly surprised to see the very high degree of parental involvement at the school. And it would be nice to see that kind of parental involvement at all the district schools. On the 28th of April, I visited two district high

169schools with Chris Clawson. And I had asked to tour a school that had the yonder pouches and a school that did not have them. And I noticed a high level of sociability at Mount Diablo High School uh with the yonder pouches. Um much like my school days when we didn't have any social media, we were quite social then. Uh, but I I would have to say that even at conquered high school that doesn't have yonder bags, there was a good concentration level in the many classes that we dropped into. And maybe it was because they were close to taking AP tests and other exams coming up. Uh, no matter, but even the half measure of putting a wall pouch and putting your phone in there as you came into the classroom seemed to be working

170well. So I'll have to say that conquered was doing well even without the under pouches. Uh I went to the May 1st campus to commerce uh CTE event and really enjoyed that seeing all the work that these students have been doing throughout the year and uh since all of us went I'm not going to say much more about that but that was great. On the 5th of May, I uh toured the Loma Vista Adult Education Center with Victoria and um I thought funding for the district's budget was complicated. Uh but I learned about the many funding sources that they have at the MD MBA. Okay. And uh it's interesting because I'm going to go back to the where they've started entrepreneurial uh enterprises there. the pop shop that sells popcorn and you mentioned earlier the

171the cafe. So, I'll have to go try those things because I think this is a great idea to get these people working in entrepreneurial positions. And finally, on May 6, I had a town hall that uh was a Zoom meeting actually um and it worked well. Uh we had about 20 people in attendance and we addressed lots of topics which I'm going to have to further give to uh Dr. Clark for some followup. And then on May 9th, I toured the KBHS transmitter tower in North Conquered. Very impressed with their successes and and want to suggest that we form an exploratory committee. U I know that this was considered in past, but I I think it might not have been implemented as effectively as it should be. So that's what I'm hoping we might be

172able to do tonight. Thank you. Thank you very much. Um, so I wasn't as busy as all of you, but I did attend the April 24th You Make a Difference Awards, uh, which are co-hosted by the Community Advisory Committee for Special Education and the Special Education Department. Um, Dr. Clark um is the star of the show, I think. Uh if you've attended the event, the littles and the the large ones students respond to Dr. Clark's smile and um reading like magnets. Uh it it's amazing to observe how a small child who is timid about climbing the stairs and walking across the stage will light up when they see Dr. Clark's smile and almost run directly to him. Um and um there were a couple of students that were taller than Dr. Clark, which is remarkable.

173And uh it's just a wonderful evening because we are celebrating not only the students, but the families and their children who come to that event. So it it's a very emotional event and I would encourage anyone to attend that hasn't had that opportunity. On April 30th, I joined the CAC members in the SULPA advocacy day in Sacramento. Uh we were had uh some presentations in the morning at a hotel and then we spend the afternoon in different legislator offices and um make pitches about special education legislation that's coming forward. If you want that information, I can provide it. On May 1st, I too went to the um campus to commerce presentation. I want to shout and give a shout out to the conquered chamber of commerce and the John Mir help and the city of

174conquered for supporting that particular program. And many individuals turn out to um recognize the students and uh observe in action how fantastic our students are and how well they can speak about the learning that they have um accomplished. And um uh I also want to thank uh Heather's department for the work that takes it takes to get that uh program ready for the showcase. Um on May 3rd, I went to the Mount Diablo Education Botchi uh foundation botchi tournament and um it was a great success that it wasn't 110 degrees like last year. Hallelujah. And um everyone seemed to have fun. It was just a different cordial atmosphere this year. And um the um foundation believes that they have made over $13,000 based on donations and the um uh fee team fees. So that's a

175that helps with programs that the foundation would like to support for our district students. And if anyone wants to make a donation to the foundation, it's www.mdeedf.org. And um I too enjoyed the Willie Mims Excellence Awards on May 5th. Uh I had attended along with Miss Mason the um evening presentation, the late evening presentation for middle school and high school students. And um there were some students who couldn't smile at all, but you could see that smile creeping up in the corners of their mouths um as they received the ward or as they stood on the stage and had the audience applaud them. And uh like you said, it's always amazing to be in a theater when you've never had that experience before. And um I hope that it inspires students to continue their academic

176work so they could be recognized in the future. Dr. Clark, we'd love to hear from you. You got you guys already shared so much. I mean I know a long time. That's all right. That's good because there you know I mean you know I'm the biggest um the biggest fan of this district. the biggest fan of the work that we are doing. Um, we are a top district. We are one of the top districts in this area and I would argue with the state and um, and I'm extremely proud and extremely humbled. But before I begin my report, I have a very special certificate and gift that I would like to give to a very, very special person. And it's people like this why I get up each and every day. And it's people like

177this why I do the work that I do. And it's people like this that I'm unapologetic. The best leader to ever come through Mount Diablo. So, just a couple things. down to prepare a PowerPoint because I knew this was going to be a loud night and I know that um the staff, you know, they they they have to sit here and listen to me talk and stuff and and they're going to hear me talk tomorrow during our during our meeting. But I just want to I just want to touch on it on on a few events. I I'm I'm dead serious what I what I say about this district. You know, I have 30 years of of public education experience and um I've had many different roles and I bring all of those roles and

178all those tools to how I lead this district and we do things by the book. Um we we since you know since my time here when I came in we had a qualified budget. We now have a positive budget. Our ratings through Moody has has grown um to to high levels. We have the highest rating of Moody uh that that we've had in some time. Um last week we refinanced we refinanced past bonds saved our taxpayers millions of dollars. Um that's just surface level stuff that's always going to happen under my leadership. I'm going to make sure that we are doing the right things that we're crossing crossing our tees and and dotting our eyes. Student achievement is at the base of everything that I do. I want our students to be successful. Yes, I

179said student achievement is at the base of every single thing that we do. And so in order to in in order to have high student achievement, you have to have relationships with our community, with our staff, and most importantly with our students. Our students recognize people who care about them. They they can read us like a book. And so I have no problem walking onto any campus and engaging with any student in this district because they can look me in the eye and know that I care about them. So when we do events like the celebration of success where we take students who have been and families who have had negative um expectations placed on them who are looked at with a deficit mindset by many um and they come to that event that that

180we as a district run and host those families there is not um a family that walks out of there complaining about our district or saying what our district doesn't do. and I do take responsibility for our shortcomings when it comes to serving this population and I take the responsibility for that. So the celebration of success is one of my favorite events um because again it we're celebrating we're celebrating our students um you know who learn differently than others and where that's often looked at as as as not an asset but it's looked at as a deficit. So, for one night, we're going to bring them all together and we're going to celebrate them and really um you know, give their families something to cheer about. And so, yes, I I very much look forward to

181that night. I also look forward to our black excellence um evening which was renamed as the Willie Mims award because again this is a population I didn't have anything to do with it but our data has has demonstrated over the years that this population has been underserved underresourced and not performing to the levels of any of our expectations. So when we can highlight and celebrate those students who are doing exceptionally in our schools, then of course, guess who's going to be there? Guess who's going to be their champion. I'm going to be there greeting all the kids. You know, I I was backstage with the students. I went up to every single student. They all looked me in the eye, shook my hand, um told me their names, told me their grade levels, and and

182it's just it's just a mutual respect. I respect them. I get that I get that respect back. our staff that puts those things together. That's that's what they do. And I and I really truly appreciate the the the staff because we have a set of LCAP goals that really guide our work. And when we say all students will will be welcomed on our campuses, that's what we work towards. When we when we say that our, you know, when we call out our students, our focal scholars, or we call out Crossroads or Olympic, like we're not calling them out with a deficit lens. We're saying these students are exceptional. They need our attention and support. So, when we can when we can celebrate those students, I'm all for it. This Saturday, we're going to be celebrating

183our our Latino students um our Latino graduates um at Willow Creek. I will be there Saturday, and I'm going to have the same bright look on my face, the same love, same respect. Um and and that's just that's just what we do in in this district. And so I'm very proud of the accomplishments that we've achieved this year. Um this has been an absolutely outstanding year. So first of all um we had labor peace this year. Everyone every single person associated with Mount Diablo received a 9% raise. 9% and full benefits which equates to about 2%. Um so that's what we're working on under right now. So, you know, when people say we need to be paid, we need to do this. So, okay, everyone's paid. So, I'm looking to see the benefits of our

184students. Suspensions are down. Academics is up. We are um coherent in the in the work that in in our academic programs. We I I expect we expect that all in every single classroom that um board adopted grade level curriculum um is being presented to each and every student and that every student has the opportunity to flourish and to shine in every single classroom regardless of where they are. And over the last five years, we have worked tirelessly to make sure that there is no different difference between school A and school B regardless of what the zip code is. And I'm extremely proud of the work that the team has been doing to ensure that that is happening. Um, you know, things like the the event that we had over at John Mure Health with our

185with our students. I mean, like that doesn't surprise me. I walk around and and talk to these kids and hear about the great projects that they have and, you know, watching uh Mr. Alvarico's robots, you know, robots go at it and and the things that they're doing. Um the the young student from Northgate who I really connected with over over our love for photography and things like that and and and talking to her about that. And you know what the funny thing about it is? I ran into um I ran into that young lady's father on the streets of Conquered somewhere. I don't know where I was, but he he mentioned that and he mentioned what the impact that that had on on his student. So, I say that because we as educators have an

186opportunity to interact with students every single day. And so, every single second that we get to interact with them, we ought to be at our best and we ought to see them for their best. And I truly believe that this year that is really coming together. It's coming together in our work. And I truly believe that our data is going to reflect that. And um and again, our suspension rates have have dropped almost 50% throughout the district. And we're not, you know, we're holding kids accountable. We've still suspended plenty of kids. We've still expelled kids. We've still there's been kids arrested on our campuses, unfortunately. We're still holding them accountable. But there's also a way to do it with empathy and to do it with with with passion and and and that is having an

187impact. The yonder pouches have had a huge impact on our on our district on our on our students because the mental health of our students is in is in a crisis state right now. And it's not just Mount Diablo students, it's students everywhere. And our young people are being exposed to images and to um you know peer pressure things and just things on social media that destroys their self-confidence that makes them feel um you know that makes them feel less than and doesn't really allow them to be children. And so if we can if if we can curb that for you know for a day or so while they're at school so that then as they leave school then they can go and and deal with all those things then then I I think it's

188a it's a um you know it's a good idea. But I'm so excited about the um about the graduations coming up. I want to congratulate all of our seniors um who are walking across that stage. Um, and also, you know, to all of our students who are promoting, whether it's, you know, promoting out of eighth grade into high school or promoting from fifth grade into middle school or, you know, our our lovely cute kindergarten promotions and all those things. It it's it's going to be a joyous time and and I value each and every day that I come to work and each and every day that I get to shape the educational experiences of these young people. And I don't I mean, I don't do that alone. I have a a fabulous team with this

189board. Um, you know, we we are a governance team and we, you know, you all set the vision and then I implement your vision and I work each and every day to make sure that I'm implementing the vision of the board. And some people don't like that and some people have issue with that and some people would like us to remain the status quo and to have certain kids perform how they do and and and not change things. But I don't accept that. I don't accept that. And so I hold the people who I can hold accountable for those actions and and I have extremely extremely high expectations not only for myself but everyone around me. And so um so again as as trustee uh AOA gets ready to graduate and and we think about

190and we think about Olympic right we we we think about a continuation school and um the stigma that goes along there. But no, when I go to Olympic, I um you know, they have a wellness center, they have a career center. The kids from Olympic go and um you know, work in our elementary classrooms. Um in my pocket, I have these two wonderful um dogs that come and visit Olympic. And the the ladies from Lafayette who come to Olympic with these dogs, they tell me, I see them often because I'm at Olympic often, but they tell me that going to Olympic is their favorite school to go to because the kids and the students there just really appreciate them and and really see something special in these in these dogs. And um I forget their

191names, but what are the Yes. Yes. So, so, so again, um, don't tell me that as a district we are not performing at the highest level. I just listen to all your reports and all the places that you all are attending and the things that you are doing and the community engagement and all those things and the classrooms that we visit. One more thing I'll share. I know I'm talking about Olympics, but now I'll go over to prospects. I went to prospects I believe I don't know I think it was last week and we had a was visit and here we are sitting in a classroom at a continuation school and um it's the days of packets are done we're not doing that but the teachers class that we were in um there was a

192library in the class there were goals on the board of the curriculum that was being taught and the and the standards and the expectations for the day there were student work plastered all over for the wall and as I'm sitting there with the with the committee who's visiting and this happens every time I go to a was they say look what you guys are doing with this program like this is unheard of that you have a program like this and these folks who came from other districts and who are in the business who are teachers and administrators and other districts they could not believe what they were seeing at at Prospects I got the same thing when we were over at Crossroads got the same thing when we were at when we were at Olympic.

193And so again, I know as superintendent, half the stuff I say people are going to say, "Oh my goodness, that guy's a genius." And the other half when I say things, they're going to say, "Oh my god, what's this guy thinking of?" Um, and that's just the nature of the beast. And I don't let it bother me because I know when I get to go to events like the Willie Mims Award, the celebration of its success, or the eight different graduations that we will all attend as this year ends, I know the work we're doing here is having an impact, and I'm extremely proud and thankful to be able to lead this district. So, that concludes my report. I'm going to keep Lulu and and Blue in my pocket as a as a sign of

194of what we have in our in our schools at at Rough Tough Olympic. Those kids just Google and goggle over these little dogs here when they show up. And um and I'm extremely proud that that we have campuses like that. And I could go on. I could talk about every single school in this district, but I know we don't have time for that. And I know staff would be um upset if I went on for another half hour. I probably already talked long enough. But that concludes my report. I can't wait to see you wear that uh sash stall, whatever it is, the little cape, scarf, whatever. But you're going to wear it with pride, right? Of course. Always. Thank you. It means a lot. I appreciate it. Good. Thank Sorry. Items listed under the

195consent agenda are considered routine and will be approved or adopted by a single motion. There will be no separate discussion of these items. However, any item may be removed from the consent agenda upon the request of any member of the board and acted upon separately. So, trustees, are there any agenda items that you'd like to have pulled and considered separately? If not, I'll make a motion to approve the consent agenda as proposed. Second. So, we have a motion by Trustee Mason with a second by Trustee Enzi on the approval of the consent agenda. Um, any further discussion? One, two, three. Uh, Trusty OA. Yes. Thank you. And the items on the consent agenda are approved as presented on a 5 Z00 vote. Uh, thank you very much. Let's move on to the business. Not that

196that wasn't business, but Dr. Clark, we're ready for item 18.1. Right. So, um I I guess we could go ahead and listen to the public comments before we present this item. All right. What's uh the board's preference? Okay. Um let's hear the presentation. Um does everybody agree? Presentation first. All right. Um may we have the presentation? So, um, so I got to be honest with you is that this this really doesn't we can't find a department that this falls under because it doesn't serve our students and um, so I'm going to have Samantha Allen, she's the closest person to it and basically she's just going to kind of present it because we can't find this in our LCAP. We can't find it in any any connection to student learning. So Samantha Allen. Okay. Madame President,

197uh, Superintendent Dr. clerk and board of trustees. Um, as I am the person who is responsible for our LCAP and responsible for our curriculum instruction, I'm here tonight to recommend, excuse me, I put my glasses on, recommend to the board to nonrenew the lease agreement with American Tower. This agreement expires June 30th of this year. Our schools have not operated this radio station, KBHS, since 2013. Since that time, the agreement has cost the district 300 approximately $300,000. Since 2013, this resource has not been used by students. It is not included in our LCAP. If we continue with the lease, it will cost us more than $170,000 for the next five years. And so, I am going to read the recommendation because there are two parts to the recommendation or a couple parts. that the board

198approve one the non-renewal of American Tower lease two setting the sale price of KBHS the FCC license for a dollar to governmental entity three in the alternative option number two surrendering the FCC license to the federal government and four requesting the county superintendent's approval of the sale of KBHS to a government entity for a dollar or and the alternative approval of surrender of the FCC license. I'll now leave this in your hands. Thank you. Ready for public. All right. Um the first speaker is Dade Hughes. Not even sure I get the three minutes in there. So if you don't mind we need to use three. Good evening trustees and staff. Dave Hughes K. like so for this Speakers New creator research is She's about This year is the third I am Fore this year and

199a Now we have contact again. You don't get that reason. So what happened? automation character. I think we head number two. proceed. We We have to show our room. over time Sunday. So the move and everybody