001David, are we ready? Good evening, everyone! We're going to start on time today, so we can get everybody in. Uh, I'm calling to order our. uh, study session. Um, at 4pm. I need a, uh… A motion to adopt and approve the agenda. I move to adopt and approve the agenda. I second. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion passes. Okay, we begin with this special study session topic, which is the 2627 budget reductions. So, before, um… Before we have Amanda, our Chief Business Official, come up and present. I just wanted to take a moment just to kind of put us into our place and time and frame the conversation just a little bit, so… These are really difficult and challenging conversations that we're about to have, which, um. I'm grateful for everyone for
002being here. Um, these are, as I shared, out with the community just recently, these are. Um, need… we're in a position right now where we need to reduce, um, what we're… what we're spending, just like in your own personal budget. If you're spending too much, you need to reduce. Um, this is not because we want to reduce, we have incredible programs, teachers, staff. And it's heartbreaking to even consider what we're trying to do right now. Um… I think that… I just want to frame, you know, we… Sort of in July, we, or in August, we threw a Hail Mary pass. trying to think, could we pass measure I and stave off some of these reductions? We tried, I think probably a lot of people here tonight were out canvassing. out knocking on doors. Um, we
003got close to 63% of Petaloons to say, yes, we want to support public education. Um, and at the end of the day, we fell short by a few percentage points. And so here we are, it's our reality, it's our stark reality, and we have to face it, and we have to figure out what we are going to do. Um, to make sure that. We sustain the fiscal solvency of the district. I mean, that's in everyone's interest. Um, particularly our students and our staff. Um, and so just… I just want to frame it when these are difficult, challenging conversations. Nobody wants to be in this position. It's terrible. We're talking about… it's like, you know, who's your favorite child? This is a really. uh, terrible spot to be in. Um, I want to talk a little
004about process. So… from… right now, from 4 to 5.30, we have a board study session. board study sessions, just for everybody to know, this is not a typical board meeting. Um, we… we typically… Sometimes, sometimes we have chart paper up and we're talking as a group. This time what we're going to do is we're going to hold public comment until after the presentation. Then we're going to welcome people up to come in and share their thoughts. And then we are going to try to end right at 5.30. Um, this part of the process, so in years past, we haven't always done a board study session beforehand. So it's a little bit, um, it's a little different, and the reason is. What I'm hoping to get from tonight, and I've shared this with board members, and
005I'll share it with everybody, my… what I would love to have happen tonight is just to hear from board members. get some direction, because what I don't want to have happen is come with a… we have a… we've got a board… a budget study committee, um, that is formed, had their first. had their first voters, members-only, uh, meeting just, uh, last week. before we go down this rabbit hole and start gathering all these things and come up with a recommendation, I really want to hear from board members if there is something… so what we've done so far is this generative… we call it generative list, so everything that anyone has said, we're putting on the list. This is not predetermined, like, what we're gonna do. there's a list of things, and it just keeps growing,
006and if board members or public have other things that they want to add in here, add them on there. Great. We'll discuss them in budget advisory Committee. The goal for me tonight is. Are there things on here. that 3 or more board members are gonna say. over my dead body, or this is a non-starter, or… do not… we will… there's no way we will… we will support that, and if that's the case, then I'd… we'd rather know now. So that when we go into budget advisory. committee, the voting members. for everyone to go in with eyes wide open to say, okay, this is not something that the board's going to support. So it's not… I'm not going to waste our time spinning on this topic. Um, so anyway, that's… that's the thing. I have a
007question. There's… Several things on here that were. vague. It wasn't… Okay. It wasn't clear what they… do they mean all librarians? Do they mean… you know, so… But I made a lot of notes, but I need a little bit more specifics. So, great, thank you for… doing that up, it's like a softball pitch. Okay, now we're gonna start our presentation, and we'll kind of go through all the different things that have been brought up. So again, this is not… a predetermined list. This is not… us saying, this is exactly what we want to reduce right now, this is everything that anyone has said in the LCAP or Budget Advisory meetings. thus far? to share with you all, and if there's something on here that one of you says. I can't support this, we're gonna ask,
008okay, are there two other board members? Because we've got to have a majority of the board saying, no, this is… that gives us the information to go back to Budget Advisory and have a. Much… much more effective process in this. Does that make sense? Okay, thank you. I have one question just about process. So… Do you want our, uh, reactions after the presentation and before… the, uh, comment… the public comment. So I was going to, um, see if you would prefer for, um… Each slide will have one or two different possibilities on it. I can go through the whole presentation, and then you can discuss at the very end, or. we can stop at, um… after each item that I introduce and discuss it then, um, whatever you would prefer as the board. We can…
009I think at the end makes sense, as long as everyone can actually hold their questions till then. Alright. I think it will help the timing, so we can get everybody in. Alright, um, I wanted to start with the quick overview. This year, once again, we've assembled a budget advisory committee. Who will bring, uh, make a recommendation. January 8th to the superintendent and cabinet of $5 million in eliminations. Which will then come to the board in February. So the purpose of the Budget Advisory Committee is to provide recommendations on financial resource allocation. It comprises diverse educational partners, including board trustees. Union representatives, parents, and district staff who analyze budget proposals. and suggest priorities, recommendations are then passed. To the superintendent who refines them based on professional insight. The final proposal is presented to the Board of
010Trustees for approval, ensuring student needs are met. effectively. I do want to point out that board members are, though there are two board members. who come to the committee meetings, they are not voting members. This year, the goals and objectives for the Budget Advisory Committee are developing guiding principles to inform and frame our budget. Budget reduction recommendations to support the committee's final recommendation to the superintendent. Create a prioritized list equally $5 million. The committee will make recommendations regarding budget priorities which align with the district's. at discretion of the board whether or not to implement. This year's, um, this is the voting committee members. We have 3 PFT representatives, 3 CSCA representatives. Three site administrators. Three community members and one classified administrator. Um, this slide highlights the… these were the recommendations of the Budget Advisory Committee
011for last year, eliminations, um. Highlighted is what we eliminated from last year's budget, and some of the other positions are current, and some have been eliminated in this year's budget. It was about $1.5 million of savings. This is just a brief list of positions that were either eliminated by the. Budget Advisory Committee over the last two years. and a couple of positions that were eliminated in the beginning of this year when we made. had this special study session and made some budget cuts. When we determine the cost of something, we do need to use calculations. We have salaries that are wide-ranging, so we don't actually. know the true cost. We, um, if we eliminate a position, we don't always know. who is in that. So, for a certificated administrator, the average cost is $205,000. A
012classified administrator is $175,000. A certificated teacher, um, the number we use is the highest they can come in is on step 11. So we use that, um. Per section is $25,000. Our classified employees. have a very broad… we have many classified. Over many ranges, so, um, what we're using to calculate is a 6-hour instructional aid and an 8-hour custodian. This… these costs is our salary, health and welfare, and statutory benefits, so it's the total cost of the. position. Um, as Superintendent Harris said, the goals and objectives for this evening is for us to review the list of possible reductions. Gather feedback and guidance on the considerations presented. Identify any items the board wishes to remove from the Budget Advisory Committee's review. Removal of any item from consideration will require agreement of at least 3 board
013members. Okay. So that's kind of the process of where we have started to come up. with the list that has been, um. We've been adding 2 since the first budgeted advisory LCAP meeting earlier this year. And these are not… They're in any particular order either. Um… This, um, so the first option is to eliminate the remaining one-time funded positions. Which will equal 2… sorry. For the heading, it was going to be its own slide, and it didn't need to be. Um, roughly $2.3 million. The one-time funding that previously supported several positions in instructional sections has ended. Positions affected include student advisors, a nurse. Elementary assistant principals. Two of them. An LMFT, a school psychologist, and 38 additional high school and junior high sections, and a district office receptionist. Another… oh, go ahead, just jump in.
014So, when we say remaining one-time funded positions, these are… These are positions that. Prior to the COVID pandemic. We did not have in Panama City Schools. Once we got… we call it, quote, lots of different titles for ESSER I, ESSER II, ESSER III, we call it COVID funding. Um, from the federal government, and then some from the state as well. These are positions that were one… they were… we used one-time money to fund them. And the money is all gone. All that one-time money is gone. Okay, um, later on towards the end of the presentation, we will be pres… I will be presenting, um. the three parcel taxes, what is being charged there, um, the revenue that. is… brings in, and the contribution. that the district is making towards what's being charged to the parcel
015taxes. So on that list is to end the district's additional contribution to the parcel tax fund. reducing ongoing support provided beyond voter-approved revenues. This would generate savings in unrestricted budget while maintaining the parcel tax at its voter-authorized level. Another suggestion was to freeze cabinet salaries. This option would remove step-in column movement from cabinet contracts and the associated salary schedules. Resulting in an estimated cost savings of $35,000. Restructuring alternative education. There are no planned reductions at this time. This figure reflects an estimated savings range. Based on potential restructuring of the current program. A task force would evaluate options and make a recommendation to the board regarding the appropriate reconfiguration. Which may include adjustments to staffing and or consolidation of services. to better align the program with the current enrollment and student needs. And we do have
016an alternative education task force already. Um, another thing that has come up is, um, field trips and athletics. We make allocations. We give to, as part of the site discretionary each year. The committee recommended separating this item into elementary and secondary impacts for a clearer analysis, so. We will be bringing that back to Budget Advisory. Potential savings would come from reducing district-funded field trips and athletic program costs. By limiting travel participation or district subsidies, and by shifting more expenses to site budgets or booster organizations. It is important to note that some athletic expenses. such as helmet reconditioning are required and must continue to be funded by the district. Another recommendation that came up at the LCAP Budget Advisory. is to furlough days, which would be for all staff, um, a cost savings of about. $900,000,
017implementing two unpaid furlough days for all employees would. would create salary savings and reduce workdays across the district. This option would require negotiation and agreement with both. Um, employee unions before it could be implemented. So this. Just wanted to note that. Increase max class sizes by 2 students, increasing max. excuse me, class size maximums by 2 students would reduce the number of required sections in corresponding teaching positions. Because class size limits are outlined in the PFT contract. Any change to these caps would need to be negotiated with the union. The seven-period bell schedule. This started in one of the first. meetings as, um… as eliminating the new bell schedule, and as we met at the last. Budget Advisory Committee, there were a lot of more discussions about really changing the structure. of the bell schedule,
018one of the options was to, um, only… Require 7 periods for. freshmen and sophomores and allowing junior and seniors to take less classes. Or, um, offering it to. Checking with students, offering it to all students, but not requiring it if credit. is, um, if they don't need the credit to graduate. So, really, a modified so that potential cost savings for that. could be $700,000 to $1.4 million. Um, the next 3 came up at the last Budget Advisory meeting and would take. Um, some work to figure out what the cost savings would be. So, the first one is for our subscriptions to review district-wide subscriptions to determine which programs and license. The district supports and assess whether they are being used. with fidelity, any recommendations or eliminations would be based on usage data and program effectiveness
019with potential cost savings to be identified. reduce custodial time so we could explore shifting classroom cleaning. To every other day and adjusting custodial assignments accordingly while maintaining essential health and safety standards. potential cost savings would. Result from reduced custodial hours or positions. One-to-one technology. Review the district's one-to-one technology model to determine whether adjustments to device allocation. Replacement cycles or grade level distribution could generate cost savings while still supporting instructional needs. So these are three, um, the subscriptions and the one-to-one technology, we would really need to work. with the technology department and educational services. to make sure we can gather the correct information. The reduction in custodial time, we would need to work with, um. the Director of Maintenance and Operations and the Site Principals to really see what that could look like. Excuse me, re-budgeting
020district restricted resources. So we could review restricted grants and categorical funding to determine whether certain allowable expenses. can be shifted from unrestricted to restricted resources, creating relief in the unrestricted budget. Any re-budgeting would need to follow the requirements of each funding source and revisions to grant budgets may be required to ensure compliance. staffing considerations, explore converting certain positions to lower-class. Cost classifications where appropriate and allowable. Examples include shifting librarians to library clerks, nurses to health technicians. LMFTs to associate-level counselors. These changes would maintain core services while. Potentially reducing personnel costs. I'm just gonna grab my water bottle. Um, there are a few options or suggestions that came up that are not considered viable, but I did want to address them since they were brought forward. Selling the property next to Casa Grande High School, disposing
021of surplus property can take many months or even years due to the required 7-11 committee process. Multiple rounds of priority offerings to public agencies. and non-profits, complex legal requirements under the Surplus Land Act and the Naylor Act. and potentially lengthy public bidding. procedures. Even if the property were eventually sold, strict state rules limit how pro… Seats can be used. Funds may only be used to support one-time capital or maintenance expenses. not ongoing operating costs such as salaries, programs, or services. Reconfiguring our food service program, it was brought up about the potential. to go back to vended meals, um, in… It's okay, because it's not allowed. They do… people do like the food. Um, cafeteria funds are restricted. This means all revenue generated by food service, state and federal reimbursement, meal sales and related funds must
022be used exclusively. to operate and support the nutrition program. These dollars cannot be redirected to cover general fund expenses or help offset the budget reductions we need to make. Um, the third thing that came up at Budget Advisory was moving the district office staff to sites and freeing up this building. Um, we are having a lot of issues making at most of our sites, making sure that. Um, we have adequate office and privacy space for the staff that are already there and, um, as you've seen through bond implementation, um, we're looking at actually building out some of our sites, so we did not think that that was a viable option. So, we will stop right here and start the discussion. Right? Okay. On, um, any questions? on… and I can go back to any slide
023you guys would like. If we go back to the… First slide of considerations, I believe it was, um… Time. More time-funded sessions. Um, it was… let's see here… Yep. It was the extra allocations to the partial… Sorry, I apologize. I have two. Yes, eliminate contributions to parcel tax. Do you have a… there's not a number there, which means you do not have an exact amount. Do you have a rough idea? So, I… I do, um, have the amount, so at budget, it was about $640,000. The contribution from the general fund? Um, what was increased for first interim is about. 333… thousand more, um, our new. parcel tax measure. E… Measure E, which was anticipated to bring in $1.4 million. Um, once the year ended, we did, in July, receive confirmation that that tax is only
024$1 million. the new parcel tax, the newest partial tax. That's for the elementary. For the elementary, yes, so that… because we budgeted almost $1.4 million there, um, it did increase. the contribution. So that's what the 640,000. includes that. No, so it was the… 600, so just… $900,000. So, um, along those same lines, um, on that. That next slide, are you going to go over? Um, the percentages of the contributions of the different items that are required by the… Oh, by the parcel tax, the 2004? Do you think… would it be helpful to move just into parcel tax, and then we'll come back up for discussion? I mean, because there are several things that I'm… Yeah, struggling with, and they were covered by the 2004. And so I'm just wondering, there's one thing that never comes
025up as it's just kind of like a sacred cow. So I just want to see what the percentages were. If other people want, I mean… I mean, I… okay, yeah. This was kind of part two of this presentation. So, parcel tax allocation, because it's… could be a considerable… it's a consideration for us. It's also… it would be really helpful for us to have an idea from board members. the parts that we have, there are 3 parcel taxes that we're going to go through right here, right now. it would be really helpful to know, sort of, these are the things that we really want to protect for the parcel tax. And these… anything that's not… within that funding amount. is just… it's a general… the reality is, it's a general fund contribution. Or it's up for
026elimination. So, why don't we go through the 3 parcel taxes, and then you can see… Yeah? That's great. Yeah. I know we went back and forth on. best way to do it. All right, so, um, these… Okay, so we will start with Measure E, which is our newest elementary. Parcel tax, um, which was approved on March 5th. 2024 to attract, retain excellent teachers. expand art and music programs. enhance math, science. Engineering, technology, reading, and writing programs. Maintain smaller class sizes. and increase educational. opportunities in world languages. This is what is currently being budgeted to the Measure E. Um, as part of negotiations in last fiscal year, we… earmarked $1 million for. PFT and CSEA. Salary increases, there are no management being charged to the parcel tax. We added a nurse. And 7 floating TK assistants.
027So, for a total of 1 million. $333,000,582. So, since the parcel tax is actually only bringing in a million dollars. It is, um, a contribution of. $330,000. Yeah, I was gonna say I was gonna… can share it, too. Measure D is our 2007 elementary parcel tax. Which, um, was voted in to keep school libraries open. Continue music and art programs. Maintain smaller class sizes and grow… Grades 4 through 6, provide up-to-date computer and technology programs. provide necessary educational programs and materials, attract and retain qualified and experienced teachers. Provide reading specialists. What has been charged to Measure D is 3.8 music… Excuse me, elementary music teachers, one reading specialist. 2.4 library assistants. Um, for a total of $813. thousand dollars, so there's a contribution of $43,000. Um, there, over the years. Um, at some point years
028ago, more reading specialists were charged there. They have been removed. And, um, additional arts supplies to the elementary and the secondary, so this is the portion for the elementary. Amanda? Yes. How much… Looking at art supplies, how much of that can be Prop 29? 28? Sorry. Um, so really. part of it, it could be… some of the, um… Sorry, let me back up. What… it depends on the class, so I would say at the elementary level, because this is the elementary parcel tax. Probably most of it, but at the secondary level, not all of the. programs that are receiving the allocation. Does it fit into the… what's allowable for Prop 28? So I'd say. For this one, probably close to all for how it's being used, um, and then the second… for the secondary, I
029would say at least half. 20, um, this is 2007, Measure C, parcel Tax. Before it was Measure C, um, it was Measure K, and then it was voted by the voters in perpetuity, so now it's Measure C. Um, it was voted in to keep school libraries open. maintain music and fine arts programs. Maintain reduced class sizes, provide up-to-date computer and technology instruction. Attract and retain qualified and experienced teachers. Um, here we have 4.5. Uh… teachers… For librarians? Two librarian assistants. to technology support specialist. For a total of just over $1.8 million. This parcel tax. Um, is for $1.2 million, so we make a contribution of $627,000. The supplies that are the arts. supplies, um… For our secondaries is roughly 1. Excuse me, not 1.75 million. $175,000 that at some point. years ago was charged to
030this parcel tax. So that… Those are the three parcel taxes. So our total contribution is about a million dollars from the general fund for all of them. Yes. Okay, thank you. Yeah, that is what is actually about the contribution now. That doesn't. if you added in the supplies and the other reading specialists, because at some point they were. charged there, and they're in the language, it would be higher. So, um, uh… I had a librarian, actually. find information about Measure C, and part of what they also fund. Or was supposed to fund. was hardware, software, and materials. for computers, and because it was, you know, trying to do tech labs, it's. 2007. So, I guess my question was… is how much of that. That isn't on there. Um, it's probably the provide a… What is
031the contribution for those things and for wireless, for all that kind of thing where we have. bonds and parcel taxes to provide that. And so I'm trying to see if there's some… you know, kind of, like, where is the draw? Where is the contribution coming from, and is some of that coming from. Um, hardware and tech labs and things like that. So, the history that I found from this tab, um, is that. for that I… for that piece of it, the technology piece specifically, is that it has always. The two… technology support specialists are tech. People that, um, are deployed at the school sites, so not part of the… Am I not answer? No. Okay, I didn't think so. So, I guess what I'm trying to get at is that originally it was supposed to
032also fund equipment. Mm-hmm. And so, if it did… fund equipment, that's not on there. Mm-hmm. So that's great. And so, what I'm trying to figure out is what is that contribution for equipment? And that that equipment might be obsolete, has it been… and then we had the bond. Which then covered one-to-one devices. What's a contribution… is that also taking. contributions from our general fund. I'm just trying to figure out how maybe to not have to… Yep. much of the parcel tax. So, um… I don't know how to parse that out. I don't know, I'll have to do some research to see if, um. any equipment was previously charged there. I don't have the answer to that. For, um, anything that is, like you said, for technology equipment built into. the bond, those… it's within… allowable
033within the bond, so those are restricted funds that. we could use for technology or build… So, there's not a contribution for the general fund for that. When, as part of our one-to-one, I believe over the pandemic, when we went to one-to-one devices. Um, the original ESSER funds were used for that. So, one-time funding was used for that. So, is there going to be, um… I guess I'm putting the cart before the horse, but, um, is there going to be then, um… what's gonna happen to one-to-one devices since we… is that going to be part of the discussion for the budget? So that is… it did come up, um, it was one of the things I. presented. Um, we did go one-to-one as. part of the pandemic. And it… the committee did question, um. Is that
034something… do we need to remain one-to-one? That came up. And we were one-to-one before, prior to the pandemic, as well. I don't… or okay. Yeah. It was 2014. Yeah, 24… yeah, about 2014. Okay. Okay. But I think what changed was we were talking about bring your own devices, but we haven't really been monitoring who's bringing their device. And who doesn't need a device? because I know that there's a lot of kids, including my own, who does not use the district device for 2 years, so then do we need to keep. Right. Funding these devices for kids who aren't even using them. And then, are we even tracking who's bringing them and who's not? And bring your own device also causes a lot of other… a lot of other issues as well. That's it. Particularly when
035we talk about cell phone-free policies. When you can connect your phone to your computer and text, yeah. And actually, bring your own device was also a method to save money. For refurbishing. Uh, computers that we already had. So at this time, I think, again, to go back to the original intent and purpose of this meeting, and I do want to give public. comment a chance as well. really looking for, are there things. So the parcel tax conversation as well would be very helpful, is to get in. what are the things that we want? So if it's one point… this one, for example, $1.2 million. What are the things that… Um… we really want to protect that are parcel tax funded, and what… because everything… anything over and above $1.2 million. is gonna… is essentially general
036fund… is gonna be general funded. For all 3 of the parcel taxes, and then anything from that list that was generated from. LCAP budget advisory, and then also budget advisory, and anyone who has another idea, this is not a. exhaustive list. is there anything that's on there that 3 or more board members are going to say, this is just… we're not… we don't want you to… even explore this any further. So… Unfortunately, I do have. A couple of things. Sure. Um, the 7-period bell schedule. I'd like to see how to revise the present schedule. But I don't… I am not in favor of… Eliminating it at all. We did it for very specific reasons. I stand by those reasons. And, um, but I do see that there's some ways, I mean, it was… you know,
037it's been three and a half months, so… You know, of course, there's going to be changes, but… For me, that's a no-go. Big for me. Is that anybody else? I'm open to the exploring, um, seniors and juniors not being required to, but I'm not okay with getting rid of it entirely. Yeah, I mean, I was… Um, I think when we discussed it originally, it was between having… it was this option, so I'm… totally fine with this option of having juniors and seniors having the option, but if there is a student. with disabilities or a multilingual learner who does want a seventh class, I think they should still have the option so that they can have. an elective or a CTE pathway, but it doesn't need to be across the board. Okay, so what I'm hearing
038is… The 7-period day is off the table for complete elimination, but the board is… the majority of the board is open to. revising it so that we can have. particularly juniors and seniors. Um, not taking all 7 classes, which would… which would actually… which would be a cost savings. Um, don't we have juniors and seniors that don't have full schedules already? So, how does that… fit into this. Well, part of it is, it's the staffing, it's how we staff. And so we do… I just sent you guys some information about that. Um, it would probably expand the number of juniors and seniors who don't take all 7 classes. Opening it up like that, and we would staff… we would staff at lower levels. And, um, we currently are budgeted and staffed for all students. to
039take all 7 periods. Anything… So if students aren't enrolled. then that's… we're losing money there, correct? Because we're staffing for students that aren't enrolled in classes. Do I have that right? It's creating smaller class sizes. Yes. Yes, okay, thank you. anything else? On that point, could we study or look at how. sports interact with that seventh period, because we've had several varsity teams, I think in particular varsity teams, but. miss significant time in that last period on one or two days a week. Um, and I think there is some efficiency, I would say, and potentially making that, like, a sports period or, like, a club period for. Um, again, on those particular sports days, in particular Tuesday and Thursdays. So, um, I think that's something where we can. Probably maximize class time participation. Um, and
040then also, you know, not missing time at sports. So I'm hearing that the interest for the Bell Schedule Committee. Um, which Jason's not here, but I see Sandra there. to talk through what would that… what could that look like if one period, either on an A-day or a B day, depending on what the sport schedule looks like. Um… whether we could make that, particularly the athletes who are juniors and seniors, who may not need all 7 classes. trying to focus in on that. that period, so that they're not missing. AP calc, or whatever it is, to go multiple… But I thought we addressed that because… they were being let out more often than they needed to be. Because if there's not that many away games. So there really shouldn't be that many early releases. Uh-huh.
041So I think as long as we're… making sure we take a look at the release schedules, then that shouldn't be an issue. I'm just thinking of, like, the scheduling nightmare of… Then looking at, like, the hundreds of kids. On the rosters, we're really… it shouldn't be impacting them the way that it did. this past semester, so, yeah. Thank you. Any other… any… yes? Okay, I have… oh, go ahead. Are we just going through, like, this list that I ran off? Are we just going through that and saying, like, no way? Yeah, just if there are items on there that 3 or more board members are just, just… just like, so the 7-period day, that's really helpful information. When you go back to Budget Advisory voting members. We can… it'll be… instead of us going down
042a rabbit hole and chasing after that, we… it's… now we know that. the board won't support it, so… So, Ellen, did you… Well, I have a problem with furlough days. Okay. Um… People have budgets. They figure it out, and then to tell them, oh, by the way, you get to cut however much that is. I just… I think there's better ways to make cuts than furlough days. other board members? have that same concern? I share Ellen's concern on that front. Anybody else? Yeah. I agree. Um, oh, sorry. I also, um… I went to the alternative. Education Task Force and asked 12 million questions, and they were very patient in answering them. And… My first inclination was to close both schools, and after attending this meeting. Um, I think I can see Valley Oaks closing, but
043I can't see San Antonio closing. Anybody else have that? Same concern? Yeah, I didn't know that closing… Anything was on the table. Um, I definitely support reconfiguration and figuring out a more efficient. system and way of… But I… I don't… I have no idea what that looks like, and I would want a lot more. participation from the AltEd community before the AltEd task force that would be, yeah, that would be looking at that. Um, at this point, nothing's off the table, nothing's on the table, nothing's off the table, but reconfiguration to me could mean. Could mean that we have 4 alt-Ed. um, schools, right, programs. Um… two of them that share our campus, but… Um, so what I'm hearing from you, Ellen, is that you're… you're against closing. any of the four all-ed schools, or…
044No. Um, since there's, like, 30 students at Valley Oaks. I think that could be a huge cost savings, and I think there's less expensive ways to do independent study. Okay. Um, yeah, not… I would agree that restructuring, but, um, you know, it's such an important asset to the district, and… to those students, um, that need it. Um, and I think that there's ways we can re… Restructure what, you know, the… Uh… the way that we have it now to make it cost-effective, so I would… I would agree, but it says restructuring. Restructure, yeah. Not… not specifically. Yeah. If we were to restructure, what would the timeline be? Like, when would we have the information about what the restructure would look like, so that we can make a final decision? Because I don't want to say…
045that this is up for consideration for a million… for possibly a million dollars, if then, in, like, March or April, we're like, actually, no, we don't like. what's proposed, and then we haven't cut the $5 million, we've only got $4 million, so… For budgetary purposes, it would have to be, I mean. You always hear March 15th, the March 15th date. If we're going to make any staffing reductions. Um, so it would have to be… a very quick turnaround from the AltEd Task Force. if it's going to be for next year, if it's going to be for the following year and a year out, then it has a less significant impact on the budget. And gives more time. So what month is that? He didn't give me, you didn't give me a date. If we were…
046if we were to do… if we were to do it for next year, we'd have to be… it would have to be before March 15th. Okay. March to… I believe we have a March 10th board meeting. Yep. But I would like it done before then, to have that. Reconfiguration, and how much it costs on the table. So the… probably the 2nd February meeting, and then bring it back for a final. Uh, on March 10th. Yep. I have, um, two other comments, um… The librarians, as we can see here, um… I think we need more research to see what the contribution is of other things on there, what the 4.5 teachers are for. Um, we already have eliminated. all of the library assistants except one. There's only one full-time library assistant. At each of the schools.
047Each of the high schools. Just one, right? That's what I said. Oh, okay. It says 2 up there. That's the audience. They're all librarians. So, the other thing about the librarians, when I, uh, did our, our… Our board office hours last week at Petaluma High. over 20 teachers showed up, and it was from each department. On campus, including CTE and Visual and Performing Arts, each core. foreign language, world languages, um… And it was… impressive. And, um, and they each talked about. And they'll probably provide some tonight. Um… how the librarian supports their curriculum, supports their students. supports, uh, uh, you know, literacy, democracy, um, you know, just about everything, and it's open to all students. It's a safe harbor for a lot of students. And it's a place that all of the librarians really foster.
048a real feeling of. camaraderie, they can find their people there. And I think it's just such an essential resource. I think the library technicians are fabulous. But they don't have dual credentials. They don't… they don't have that knowledge of how to really help students. With their assignments, with their technology. I just, I can't tell you, and I know that I'm… No one's surprised by any of this. But I… I just… I… and when I'm seeing this. I just feel so strongly, and to think that the junior high librarians are any less important than the high school librarians. Which is something that they pointed out the other day, was that that junior high piece, it's 2 years. And they're coming from elementary, they need to be prepared. For high school research, from the minute they get
049in there. Literacy, media literacy. They're trained in these things. And so I just think if you eliminate it. We'll never get them back. Because that money's never going to find a… place again. So, um, I, I have… a whole… List. Of reasons, which I will not go over, but I just think, um, I just… Feel very strongly about this. I think the money saved. by, uh, just having two of the librarians. And by eliminating, but also… replacing them with text is not enough money. It's, what, $84,000 or something. $74,000. So I just… putting my… Two cents out there. So what I'm hearing is… A lot. President Cloud is in favor of protecting the four. librarians as part of the, uh, Measure C parcel tax. two… the two high school librarians and two. comprehensive junior high
050schools, because we do have. the 4K 8s as well, but you're talking about Pettlement Jr, Kenneth. Anybody else, so is there any other board members? I know, it's either too hot… It's either so hot in here, or it's so cold. Well, I'm… Okay, so I'm hearing, um, President Cloud. I'm very… Anybody else who has that same, um… just so… just so when we, again, when we go back to budget… I'm very much in favor of… I think it's what makes Petaluma City Schools unique. We're one of the only ones with any teacher librarians in the whole freaking county. Yes. I mean, I can go into all the reasons, but I think. the librarians have also shown that they're willing to be flexible and take on. New tasks, and maybe that means the comprehensive middle schools
051where there's a smaller population, they help out at the K-8 for. Like, um, at McDowell Dual Immersion, like. Teaching them research. Mm-hmm. Skills, um, I think. There's room to be flexible and creative, but I don't think… changing them to library text is the way. I agree. Okay. So we have 3 or 3 more, okay. Anything… anything else? Um, I… I have a problem with the student advisors. I know they were… part of the COVID dollars, but they're classified, and they're also trusted adults. Can you go back to that? Amanda. There we go. I… I just don't think it's worth the savings. I think, um. Our kids still need something. We talk about wanting more adults on campus, we talk about kids wanting trusted adults. And I know that a lot of those, um… a lot
052of those student advisors are the trusted adult, and they, you know, they help out on the playground, and they help out with. everything, so I just don't think it's worth. the little bit of amount… To… to get rid of them. It's about 4… $400,000? It was… We can estimate 400,000 to $500,000. It was, no, it was 3 something. 9? Yeah, mid-3s. So… It was under $400,000. Anybody else, any other board member? Who feels that way, that that's off the table? Well, we all want everything off the table, yeah. Okay. Anything else? Um, just when it comes to subscriptions, and I know most of our subscriptions are very, like, classroom-based and, like, program and, like. Part of the curriculum. But, um, you know, Sonoma County Libraries passed Measure W this past selection cycle. They have an
053extremely robust, um. subscription service to research, and I'm sure we've tapped into a little bit, but can we do just a sit-down meeting with them and do a. You know, a comparable list on, and again, maybe some newspaper subscriptions. it's probably not that much money, but I think it's worth having a meeting with, um, Sono County Libraries to ensure that we're not duplicating, or. You know, students can plug in and use their systems. I bet our wonderful librarians could help with that. And I'm also wondering about the subscriptions is… is there a free version versus the one we're paying for? Are those subscriptions being used, or did somebody want something. time, and so he got a subscription, and now nobody uses it, so I think we need a lot more information. I mean, I agree
054with Ryan that the Sonoma County Library can be very helpful. But, um, I think we need more information about what the subscriptions are. And are they actually being used? Okay? Anything else? Just one other thing. Sure. Um, about, um, to, uh, I don't see, uh, any kind of re-evaluation of independent contractors. and contracts, and the use of those. I know sometimes it's… tricky legally, but I'd really like to see something so that… because I know that other districts have gotten into a lot of financial. trouble by having a lot of independent contractors, and also we have a lot of contracts. Other than facilities. So, I'd like to see if we can do a thorough analysis of the cost. cost savings and reevaluate our use of them and maybe. be able to prioritize them somehow. And,
055um, that is something we have been doing since the study session in. July, um, looking at every single contract, um, quite a few we've gone without. I do want to point out that in order to reach our 3% in this year. outside of the staffing we did, we already reduced, um. our contracts are operating. our, um, contracts and things like that, and supplies. by quite a bit, um, even when I present first interim later this evening, you'll see that. some of those services have actually gone up. Um, we will continue to look at them. I… we have cut… Quite a bit, but moving forward, I just want it to be on the list, yeah. And what about. contractors that we hire to do PD, where we fly them in, we pay for their… You know,
056um, we have brilliant teachers who could probably do PD. Um, and we wouldn't have to pay for their hotel, their flight. their meals. Well, I just want to look at… I just want to look at them, and so… So, yeah, we use the remaining of one-time, um. Funded one-time funding, educator effectiveness to pay for this year. So, just like the other… their contracts and stuff like that, those have already been removed out of our multi-year projections, because we used one-time funds. I just want to be clear with that because we can't remove it twice, so a lot of those things outside of salaries have already been reduced, but we will continue to look at all of it. Yep. Anything else? Yeah, I mean, I wasn't gonna come in with a sacred cow, but since somebody
057else did, then I will bring mine. Then I'll bring my secret cow to the table. I want to keep the LMFT. Instead of moving to associate-level counselor, I just think with the. Priest mental health needs with the increase, and yes, I'm gonna get my high horse for a second, um, with the increase of foster and homeless youth. Um, socioeconomically disadvantaged students, we have an increase in our district. Um, and just everything going on in our country with people in fear of coming to school, a lot of school avoidance. It's just a lot of the things around mental health. I want… I don't want, um… that position to be eliminated, any of those positions? to the LMFT specifically, the 1.0 LMFT. anybody else feel that same way? Yeah, and associate versus a licensed person is so
058different, and also. The associate would still need clinical supervision, so that'll still end up costing us. I would agree. Okay. Anything else? Okay. Okay. Do you guys have what you… what you want? Yep, that's helpful. Okay. But you need, so… Before we start, if you… if, um, we're going to have about a half an hour. Yes. Um, for public comment, so if you want to do public comment, fill out. That lovely pink slip, like this. And, uh, just remember, um, that. We'll try to get everybody up here. Um, also, just real quick, that we didn't get to the… so that was really helpful for the, um… Super, super helpful for the budget advisory Committee. The parcel tax, I know, is the first time you guys really get to see that. Maybe we bring it back
059in January, bring it, like. Option 1, option 2, option 3 for each of them. So, I just want to get some direction from the board about. here's really what we want to see. funded from the parcel tax, so that. the conversations around what is funded, what's not. I also want the community to know that this, you know. what we said we were finding with the parcel tax is being fund… these are the things that we're actually funding, and. anything, that also means that anything else is… we have to find another funding source for it. Um, and before, yeah, I need a lot more information before I can talk about parcel tax. I'm just not… Prepared. Sure. Can I briefly go over my list to make sure that I didn't miss anything? Okay, so I have,
060um, eliminating the 7-period bell schedule is off the table, but the board is open to revisions. Um, furlough days? Are off the table. We, um… I think we landed on… Being willing to get more information on… from the Alt Ed Task Force on possible restructuring. Okay, um, librarians are off the table. We'll continue to look at contracts and subscriptions and LMFTs are off the table. What the one LMFT is? One LMFT. One-time fun. 1.0. Well, but… Do I… can I make the assumption… so… This was… it's really two separate, so I just want to make sure that we're… Yep. Super clear. So, there was the remaining one-time funded positions that has an LMFT. And then there was also the possible restructuring, which could have been more, so… My understanding is LMFTs are off the table.
061you know, that's a… it's replacing with something. But I'm not for that. No, you're not for that, neither am I. But also not eliminating, or… Right, okay. And librarians. Oh, you did, I'm sorry. Thank you. Yeah, and restructuring Alt-Ed for the dollar amount… for the dollar amount that's up there. Yeah. We're okay with that. Okay. Okay, agreement. So we are looking at 3 minutes? Two minutes, sorry. Okay, all right, so we're going to start our, um… Logic. Yeah, yeah, sure. All right, it looks like we have about 12 speakers. We'll have 2 minutes, so let me read this very quickly. Um, I'm not going to do the whole thing. Because this is a study session, so it's very specific. Um, the public… the board. Values public comment, and although we cannot take action or discuss
062items not on the agenda, we listen carefully and appreciate input. Uh, public comments are subject to a 3-minute per person or a 20-minute limit per subject matter. commenters cannot see their time to others. Um, because we have so many tonight. Is there another one? we're gonna have 2 minutes. her, and it doesn't look like we have more than. Um… Uh, sorry. Counting and thinking at the same time. Um, so I think that we're okay in terms of just one topic isn't… we don't need to take the 20-minute limit. Okay, so 2 minutes, and we begin with. Vicki… Barone? Is it Perone? Barone, okay. Hi, I'm here to talk about Valley Oaks. Um, first of all, we only. Have 30 students right now because our enrollment was frozen at the beginning of October in order to
063ship all of us out for an extra .2. at other sites in order to start saving money now. Um, because it's independent study and kids roll in as the year goes. would start slow, and usually by now we're ramped up to a 40. By spring, we're up to 40, 48, 45. Just depending, that's number one. Um, number two, it can be done more efficiently. There's no doubting that, that's for sure. Um, but what that looks like would be important. Number 3, Valley Oaks population differences completely from the San Antonio population. So, to think that, like, well, one would be fine to keep, and then one should be. eliminated completely is, you know. There's apples and oranges. The difference… is that ours are not credit deficient. They come with severe anxieties. They come with a lot
064of mental health issues. Many students on the spectrum. And kids who, um, have physical disabilities, what makes it almost impossible to be on normal campuses. So, it's a completely different population that really needs to be addressed, and we are there. trusted adults, they're independent study teachers. And… I think that's it. You have… Um, well, I mean, it's just… it's so sad, because the alternative ed, I realize, you know. it needs to be done more efficiently and so forth, but there really isn't a universe in which any school district can function without alternative options for their students. So it needs to be really done in a very thoughtful manner. Because I know a lot of kids… I'm dreading the day that. we might have to tell them this, because I don't, you know. They really are
065very connected to the education they're getting and the system that they have. So, I think that, you know, rethinking the structure… 10 seconds. For sure. Um, lots of good ways that we can go about doing that, but to just talk about just closing it down, kind of. Kind of. It would be heartbreaking. Thank you. Okay, Dana Gottlieb. Opting for free… Dick Slaasia… screening to save my money. This is just a quick question that I'd like to have researched. I'm a reading specialist. Gloria knows we have. worked a lot on the state-mandated dyslexia screener this year. And it's been challenging, and we're really working to improve it. There is a free option. I cannot say that the free option is better. It could be worse. But I'm curious how much we're spending to pay for the
066Dibbles platform, if it means we could save some positions. That's it. Thank you. Thank you. Andrew, aha. Good evening. Uh, I just wanted to bring up the point about furlough days. I think that it's something that the board should consider. I know from one of the. budget committee meetings that I attended. We looked at this as something that is. Not as direct of an impact on students. Because we're looking at professional development days. And if we don't make… or if we're not open. to the possibility of a cut like this. It could mean more cuts within the classrooms that have more direct impact on students. And also, a furlough day is something that has. and equal impact on all employees. So if we think of an equitable standpoint. It's something that we all share the
067burden for. Thank you. Thank you. Uh, Sandra Larson. Hi, first of all, I want to thank you for the work you're doing. I'm glad I'm not in your shoes. I don't even like being in my shoes right now. I get a pit in my stomach all the time. I just want us all to remember, I think, I'm thrilled with what you saved. But that's a cost that means something else has to go, and we all have to stay realistic. If we don't make the budget cuts. We can only look to Santa Rosa to see what's going… gonna happen. So I just want to make sure we're realistic and. Very thoughtful about what we save and know if we save $100,000 in positions, we gotta find another $100,000 that has to go. Thank you. All right,
068Katie Gill. Great, hello. I would like to encourage you guys to, um, save the student advisor positions. Pulling people who are boots on the ground at our sites is very detrimental. People who help our students, our office, our families, and our administrators. Need to stay at our sites. Elementary sites can't lose. these people who are willing to take issues head-on day after day. Our site, LMFTs, have wait lists. And they're only seeing students for a certain amount of time, and then having to excuse them to make. room for more students. Our student advisors are there to step into that role over and over again when students need that safe person. Um, I work at McKinley, so we have Ms. Casso, my kids go to Valley Vista, so they have Miss Angie. Both people who are
069amazing. Uh, bases of our campus, welcoming students every single day at the front. They help students get to class. Um, and I can only assume that all the other… all the other elementary sites have that as well. And I also think that we proved last spring that keeping a nurse was very important. Um, so I would just encourage you guys to think about all the stories that were told last spring. Um, about why we needed. That nurse position and. Um, those stories haven't gone away, so cutting it now would just bring those back up. Thank you. Thank you. Uh, Val Cartwright? Answering a text struggle, I have so many keys. Very important. I just also wanted to echo, I thought I'd be the only one to say something about furloughs, but I know that it's
070challenging anytime you're dealing with, um. union contracts, but I would just say, as a classified administrator, I think. I'll take a week of furloughs over losing my job. So I wanted to say that. Thank you. That's fun. Um, and… I'm not a public speaker. If you've seen my mom talk, I don't know how she does it. Um, that's… We're also gonna… the MF… hi, I'm an LMFT. Um, and we're gonna be generating more funding than even the ERMS positions, which Bill, the LEA, BOP. So, we're going to be generating, through the multi-payer system, we don't have data for how much that's going to cover, but I just wanted to. Put that plug in for future meetings. Thank you. Thank you. Uh… Laura Barone? There you are. Right. Random list here. Um, hi, my name is
071Laura Barron, I'm a second… grade, uh, teacher at McDowell in a Spanish dual immersion. And I just wanted to mention that I feel like a lot of the cuts in the last year really affected the elementary schools. Um, and I think it's a little short-sighted that. we… we need to look long-term, because we know that if we don't address reading challenges now. We are going to pay for this across the board in the long run. We're going to have more students over-identified. We're going to have a reading challenge. We know that for our multilingual learners to pass. and be reclassified on the ELPAC. The reading and writing is what's hold most of them back. If we do not work with them when they are younger, we create a much larger problem in our middle school
072and upper grades. Um, I also think that we need to look at how resources are being distributed differently across different schools, depending on need. We know that schools with lower socioeconomic levels and more multilingual students have more support needs. We're at a time where government is attacking communities of color and second language learners and immigrants, and we in Petaluma need to prioritize the needs of our most marginalized communities. I believe this means that the cuts should not be blanket universal cuts. Some schools may need to lose resources that others do not lose. on equality and not looking at equity. It does not mean the same thing, regardless, so I would like us to think that some of these positions, it might mean that we have to cut a handful of positions, but not at every
073single site, and this is going to be district work. But I think that we cannot just say it's the same across the board. We have to do better. I have an example of this. For years, literacy support's been distributed basically across the district equally. Last year, we looked at data, at grant. There were 30 students from K-5 who needed desperate intervention. At McDowell, there was 170. That is not okay. We need to do better, we need to distribute our resources equitably. across the board. Um… And, you know, I can tell you now on my second grade class, I have 26 kids. 15 are at a kindergarten, first grade level. We have to look at our district, find the needs, put the resources where they need. Time is up. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, Sarah Sharp.
074Hi. Um, good afternoon, buenaserides. I'm Sarah Sharp, bilingual resource teacher at McDowell, and a parent of 7th grader and a 10th grader. Um, thanks for your service. It's really challenging to be a board member in times like these. I've heard your commitment to equity, um, but one time I didn't hear it was, um, in July, when we were deciding to reduce literacy specialists, and that last-minute decision. Um, means that an elementary student with reading difficulties on the west side is more likely to get intervention from a literacy specialist than a student at McDowell. Um, it means that students in Spanish dual immersion with reading difficulties do not have access. to a Spanish-speaking literacy specialist. Um, at the McDowell campus, we have 188 English learners. are receiving intervention from a literacy specialist, in spite of the
075fact that their weakest area on their testing is in reading. Um, so how can we claim that reclassification of English learners is an LCAP priority when we're not providing systematic reading intervention to those who struggle? So I have a request. Please, in the coming weeks, ask deeper questions. So that you can apply cuts precisely. and make decisions that avoid disproportionate impacts. to our most vulnerable students. You have an opportunity to create more focus and efficiency. Um, so, for example, if you choose to increase class sizes. Consider how that disproportionately impacts schools that have more vulnerable students. 30 seconds. Um, teachers, and also consider that. increasing class size often leads to combo classes. Teachers cannot equitably teach. two grade levels at one time to struggling students. Especially not with a very specific material this district has
076adopted. So, maybe we do protect some sites with higher numbers of vulnerable students from approach such as these. Um, we are counting on you to dig beneath the surface. And dismantle those disproportionate barriers and apply that equity lens in making these tough decisions. Thank you. Thank you. Monica… Carvalho. Hi, um, I was not expecting to speak tonight. I am a nurse of the district, and I'm also a parent. Um, at the district, and I… echoing the other two about furloughs would much rather take furlough days for my children to keep. the resources they need at their school. Um, I also just wanted to touch on the nurses and the health assistance, um… the job that the nurses do in this district. cannot be done by a health assistant. we don't staff a nurse in every
077health office. Um, if you wanted somebody in there taking care of bumps, bruises. giving ice packs, yes, you put a health assistant in every office. Um, this entire calendar year. the health assistant at McKinley has been out on leave. We have not had consistent help there. The district has had to. pay for agency nurses to step in and help when I've had multiple sites that needed me to do the specialized care there. Um… there is expected, you guys are expecting, um… two more elementary sites next year with young, young TK students. Who will need specialized care. That has to be done by a licensed person, so if you reduce a nurse, you're definitely going to be looking at registry nurses at a. far higher, uh… interval than you are now. And I would encourage you
078all to come talk to the nurses, talk to Esmeralda, ask us, like, find out what's happening, why. why we're asking to not have. 25% of our department cut. Thank you. Thank you. Uh, Sarah S. S. Overall comment. Ah, that's what the SS is. That's SS. Three times S. Sarah's… They check Sebastian. Hi, everyone. Good evening. Thank you for doing this. Thank you for taking the time. I appreciate all of you. I appreciate. All of you for being here and standing up and speaking truth. Um, this is an overall comment just on how we view the budget cuts, how we view our budget in general. I've been going to LCAP meetings for 6 years now, and we create our strategic plan based on our values. Based on what we believe as a school district. I think
079it is really important, and this year we put the budget advisory together with the LCAP, which is the first time that's ever happened. We had two meetings together. I haven't seen our LCAP goals in here. I also haven't seen our 2022 Equity Needs Assessment. in here either, so… I'm curious as to where our values are today. Not 6 years ago, before the one-time funds. not 10 years ago when we had to do furloughs. Like, where are we right now with our needs assessment? Where are we right now? with our LCAP goals, and how do we address those needs of where we are. Today, I'd invite all of us. To kind of go up a level. out of, you know, I could come here with the email that I sent you guys about our AP at
080Cherry Valley. That's a very specific Cherry Valley request. Read the email. I definitely advocate for IAP. But I think that on this level, we need to be looking higher, like, how can we cause the least amount of harm. across the board, because each person is going to be advocating for their specific need, and if we… if I talk to three of you, and I get you on my board, then the 3 of you are over here and saying, okay, we're not talking about. the seventh-day period. But there may be a reason to look at these seven-day period. So I just hope that we can kind of go up a level and look to see where we can. cause the least amount of harm across. the board. Thank you so much, I appreciate you. Thank you.
081Uh, Mary Beth Leland. Hi. Thanks for having me. Also would not want to be in your shoes this year. Um, I'm a teacher at Valiant Independent Study. The one school that was mentioned as, well, we could close that school, but none of the others. Valley Oaks Independence Day does not have a teacher representative on the All Ed Task Force. And to mention almost… and I didn't even see who said it, because I was back there, so… Just mentioning it so off the cuff like that was so jarring, and I feel even borderline irresponsible to. We haven't had a chance. to give our input. No one from the school board or the district office had come to us and said. So, what's working at your school? What are the stories at your school? Whose lives are
082you saving your school? I can guarantee you, okay, we only have 30 people there, I can guarantee you some of those students will drop out of school. Because they weren't coming to school before they enrolled at Valley Oaks Independent Study, and they won't come back to school if they're forced onto a comprehensive campus. There's something else, and I've got time to look it up. I would like the… thank you, Maddie. I'd like the opportunity to share the stories of what we're doing right. I agree with my colleague Vicki that we could do it more efficiently, we could save money, we might be able to serve as many students with. fewer teachers, but to talk about eliminating an entire program without hearing from those students and those families and those teachers about. the lives that that
083program is saving. I think is, um, jarring and unjust. I'm also a teacher that has 2 jobs. I work an average of 15 hours a week outside of school, and I'm in favor of keeping… 25 seconds. I'm in favor of keeping furlough days. On the table, I would give up a week or two of my job easily if it meant saving a program. Please put it back on the table. Okay, Connie Williams. I need my glasses on. Thank you very much. I had something planned, because I thought I was going to be saying something different than I am, other than thank you for supporting your librarians. Um, I just wanted to bring up a couple things, just in case you need to. If you do decide to get rid of. Um, subscriptions, you'll need your
084librarians even more, because once we send those kids out on the great vast internet. We have a lot, a lot to teach. The other thing is professional development. You have. Four incredible professional developers on staff right now who can provide that. A lot of different kinds of things going on. Um, I just want to reiterate that. When you look at your list, look at those. That impact student instruction? And remember that as you look at your librarians at secondary level, that they are providing instruction. Along with everything else that they provide at the libraries. I am also the Sonoma County Office of Education Librarian of Record, and I can say. I see what's happening in the other parts of the county. And indeed, we are so. fortunate to have the people that we have here
085in our libraries. Thank you for supporting. Thank you. Susan. Okay, um, so is anybody else… we have, um… Well, we have 5 minutes. Does anybody else want to come forward to speak? And you can fill this out after the meeting? Okay, come forward. And then I also love just kind of final reflections from board members. I mean, being in a study session, this isn't a typical board where we can't engage either, so you guys could. Yeah. Okay, go ahead. Hi, I'm Jenny Ramaswamy, I'm a parent of a child at Petaluma High and at. And I volunteered to be part of the budget process as a citizen representative. Mainly motivated when I saw the last round of budget cuts, and it was a list of literacy specialists. I can't underscore how important I think it is
086to invest in literacy. It's been said very eloquently already. But what I would love to see from the budget process. And this was mentioned also earlier, but. having very specific objectives, what is the goal of the district? What are we trying to accomplish? So, for example. being part of the LCAP committee, I understand we have reading challenges in this school. So when we're looking at cuts. How do those cuts ladder up to the goals? Right now, we have a list of possible jobs to eliminate. But they're not laddered into bigger initiatives, and so. I'd like to see, as part of the budget committee, and for you as well, to have a bigger picture view of how we're making these decisions and how they ladder into the goals and objectives of the district. And hopefully, ultimately,
087how they serve students first and foremost. Thank you. Thank you, everybody. Okay, so, um, comments from the board, please. Brian. Um, regarding the reading specialists, I know we, um, as part of the cuts, we did, uh, allocate funding for. additional hours after school, and I know there is literature out there. supporting that type of reading intervention, either before or after school, because you keep kids in the classroom, you don't pull them out. But I was just wanting for the next meeting, could we, um, see how that implementation and. has gone, how students and parents are utilizing the after-hours or before-hours. And then, um, any kind of, I guess, um, feedback from. Uh, both staff and parents and. on how that is going. Sure. As well as the, kind of, how reading specialists were deployed, distributed
088between the school sites. Based on… as best we could based on needs. It's… there's not a lot… I mean, you're with 3.5… FTE, but sure, we can do that. Um… Actually, this was a note I wrote to myself when I got the list of possible cuts. And I just was reminded by listening to the equity talks that. We look at, um… Elementary APs, and I think. we should look at school size when we're deciding if to cut one or not. or to divide one person between two schools, because. Some of our elementary schools are bigger than our. middle schools, so, um, I think that needs to be taken into account. And that is why the two remaining are at those… our four biggest elementary sites. Yeah. I'm fine with putting furlough days back on the
089table. Assuming union negotiations and bargaining and good faith and all that. Good stuff, I think. How does everybody else feel about that? I see 3. 3 yes, Joanna. Caitlin. Did we take it off the table? Yes. Oh. Oh, I didn't. Did! Sorry, no, I want it back on, yeah. Okay, great. Joanna? Any other thoughts, reflections? I have lots of thoughts. Um, but I, um, just want to thank you all for coming. It was… Um… it's a very emotional, difficult time for everybody. You know, I can't even imagine what you all are going through also at your job. And so, um, and your profession. Um, and uh… you know, I think we're all in this together, and um… I… I just want to reiterate that I really thank you for coming out. Um, we need this
090information. I think it certainly gave me a lot of insight. Um, going forward, I'm not on the committee. Um, I don't envy the committee. But, uh, we do have to make that final decision. And so, um, you've really helped me. In making. an informed decision, even if I hate it. So, um, anyway, uh, thank you. Um… for… And keep it up. Okay, I think we are adjourning to, um… Uh, the next meeting. Stick