PCS Board of Education Meeting: July 23, 2025

001Closed session items only. All right, seeing none. Good evening! I'm calling this meeting to order at… 602. Um, and so will you please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance? Pledge allegiance to the flag. With the injustice for all. Thank you. Thank you. There was no action taken during closed session. Uh, now we have special recognitions, reports, and presentations, and we start with a Blue Zones project presentation. Opportunity to come back and check in. We're at halfway through our community transformation, so I'm… Really excited with the work that we've been able to conduct in the community. And the progress that we've made in building relationships and support with the schools, our educators, and our students. So, let's see… Right. Also want to welcome everyone. It's nice to see so many bodies in… In this space. All

002right. You good? All right, thank you so much. My name is Nicole Warwick. I have the great pleasure of being the Executive Director of the Blue Zones Project, Petaluma. My colleague, Jennifer Remers-Wright. Who is our organizational lead and oversees all of our work with the schools. Um, sends her regards, but she's not feeling well and decided to keep her germs to herself. So we celebrate that. Um… Yeah, of course I will. She has nothing but profound respect for our educational community. Um, this is a great opportunity for us to just kind of give a pulse check where we're at. We're halfway through our community transformation. And we have now engaged 5,000 community members. In some form of education, health, well-being initiative. And that looks unique for our schools, because each school is unique, and then

003we have multiple districts here within, so I'm going to speak to just the work that we're doing within. Petaluma City Schools. Excuse me. Thank you. I think I can catch my breath. Um… One of the remarkable things that we get to do in this work is we're working across 12 sectors in the community, which gives us a unique vantage point. And an opportunity to see where things have an opportunity for connection, for collaboration. And to be that conduit that helps stimulate and revitalize. Essential connections within the community. This is best exemplified by what we were able to do at Casa Grande High School this last year. We went in, and our team taught our purpose workshop criteria to all of the freshmen. And Inman, um, students are invited to reflect upon what are their gifts,

004their strengths. Um, things that light them up, and then to have conversations with their. Counterparts, their peers to figure out, what might that look like in application? In school or in community. And we learned in that space that a lot of our high school students were really unaware of some of the volunteer opportunities available to them in Petaluma. And how they might connect. Now, simultaneously, we're hosting similar purpose workshops with our nonprofit leaders, and with a focus on volunteerism. We learned that they have a great desire to engage youth in the community. But also, we're unsure what those pathways were like post-COVID. And they name some constraints in that. Now, looking in policy work, we saw that there's a gap, there's an absence of youth leadership. Across almost all spectrums here in Petaluma. The Youth

005Advisory Committee is no more. We don't typically see youth on any boards or commissions, and so we saw this opportunity to convene. Our nonprofit leaders, our high school students. And our local leadership, city leadership. To have a summit, a volunteer summit. We engaged over 800 students at Casa Grande High School. They were received by over 20 different nonprofit organizations. Where they had the opportunity to directly sign up. For volunteer opportunities. And we've gotten feedback continually since then about the meaningful application. Of their service back into the community. Excuse me. Thank you. I'm just observing, I'm having an allergy reaction to something. So, forgive me for the sniffles and the sneezes. I'm filthy. Um, so you can see in the photos here, like, we even have the mayor, who came out and encouraged youth to figure

006out how they wanted to participate in civic design and processes and the creation of third places. We know our students are lacking a sense of belonging. So part of our work is how do we weave and connect that? On school campuses, but also back into the community. So that was a beautiful example of that work. We then took that same curricular content around purpose workshops and went to Petaluma High School. We did not yet have the opportunity to do the volunteer summit, but plans are underway for that to happen in the early fall. As students are starting to decide their capstone projects. So we could then align them with opportunities in the community to be able to have that meaningful service, engagement, and learning. Um, actually, the first day of school at San Antonio will

007be there, engaging their students. At the junior high level, we noticed that there are gaps in nutrition education. And so we're trying to stimulate more opportunities for nutrition education, cooking skills. We partnered with Chef K. Who is a local treasurer who works in partnership doing, um. Train-the-trainer models for cooking across the country, but has not yet had, um, meaningful application here in her own backyard. Where she lives. So we're plugging her back into community, we had this amazing pilot. Where 7 students participated in a series of cooking skills classes. Then we partnered with Redwood Empire Food Bank. So that we could have some recipe shares that were connected to the food being distributed. And we've put together packages and resources. And then the students helped us distribute those in the community. So it was a

008nice way to tie that learning back into community. Yeah. Absolutely. She asked if there's more opportunities for students to participate, and yes, this is a pilot. And we hosted, um… an educator school summit for Administrators. In May. And at that time, we had the opportunity to share that we are in contract with Chef K to provide Train the Trainer services here. And we'd like to invite Petaluma City Schools to either. Provide that opportunity to their… Teachers, to their support staff. To their family volunteers. Anyone who wants to learn how to cook with kids. We're willing to train them for free, equip them with the resources and the tools that they need. And some stimulus funds to be able to provide some money for. You know, the food and things that they need, the consumables to

009get it going, and we'd love to pilot this across the districts. Yeah. You're welcome. Great question. Um, at the elementary level, a lot of our work looks like supporting. The school garden work. And where we're seeing outdoor education happening, walk and roll to schools programs, so we've been stimulating. Some of that Safe Routes work. Working on those, um, the different task force. Whew! Okay, now the projects that are in the works. We've been working at the district level with HR. Around employee well-being. To ensure that, you know. There are best practices readily available and the resources to support that implementation across the district. We've been aligning with SCO to provide additional partnership and support of McDowell Elements… that was my timer for myself. Sorry. I'm not good with time constraints, so forgive me. So you

010can see here, there's just a lot of different things that we've been doing in. And building in collaboration with the different school sites. Um, the nice thing about the menu pledge is there's a certain amount of those pledge. Numbers that get allocated simply by the fantastic work that's happening on the health and well-being policy. Shout out to, uh, Superintendent Esmeralda Sanchez-Mosley for the work that's been happening there. We've been able to provide some technical support. Um, and policy recommendations with regards to alcohol and substance use. And support structures around, um. More positive discipline, actions with that. We've also been able to provide direct support with, um. With Brian DeFore and the recommendations that are coming down around food policies. It's just been wonderful to be able to support on the back end. As the district's

011going through this process of. Developing their well-being, your well-being policies, including the cell phone initiatives, and where we see in the community there might be opportunities for us to support the school district. By providing community education. Parent education, youth support, and some of that, uh, collaboration amongst non-profit organizations to support you in fulfilling the goals that you have for the district. Um, so I won't go through the whole list. These are some of the things that are… On the table here that we can continue to support. We know that, you know, we're looking at some significant budget cuts. And so, as we do that, and we're weighing out what are the community resources that we might leverage. To ensure that. While we're responding. To the changing landscape and what we have to respond to. We're

012keeping the health and well-being of our staff. Our schools, our students, and our families at the forefront, and knowing that. We have a whole body of community resources available who just love. And adore our educators, our students. And this community. So, if there's any way we can facilitate and be a conduit in that, we'd love to just continue helping. And, um… One thing I might leave. For your consideration. Is how would you like the schools. To be recognized, once we reach Blue Zone's approval status. Does that look like various media rollout? Does it look like big celebrations? Does it look like well-being for staff or families? There's lots of possibilities. So we'd like to co-create that with you. And I'll leave it right there and answer any questions if you have any. Thank you. Oh,

013you're welcome. Any questions? What's the, um, excuse me, the upcoming Educators Summit and Mixer at the Petaluma Library? That's definitely worthy of a shout-out. Thank you for that. Um, September 24th, as you know, our Petaluma Library has been under construction. And it is set to reopen, and it is gorgeous. And we're gonna partner with them to host an educator summit and mixer. So that our teachers and our educators can re-familiarize themselves with the library resources that are available here. Have a mixer opportunity with some mocktails and some fun, nutritious, healthy bites. Have inter… interactive opportunities to connect. But then also, it'll be a summit, and we're gonna bring together some of those community partners. That have learning opportunities that we can partner with. So, the River Park. Friends of the Petaluma River. Are two great

014examples that have youth-centric programming. Where they like to do the field trips and things, and so we're just… want to resource our educators and re-familiarize them. With the community organizations and the ways in which they love to support the schools. And do so in a really fun and inviting way. You're welcome. Okay, thank you very much. Thanks so much, you guys. Take care. Okay, next up, we have the cell phone policy. Esmeralda? Okay. Okay, um, thank you, um, trustees, for the opportunity to bring back some more information regarding our mobile communications device board policy. That we, um, will bring later on for an action item, so I wanted to clarify some, um, some points. Related specifically to our implementation at the high school. So, as I shared in June, um, for the 25-26 school year,

015our. High schools, um. Students will not be using or allowed to use their, uh, cell phones during instructional time. Um, and during non-instructional time for the 25-26 school year, they still are able to utilize it during passing periods, break and lunch. And when it comes to this particular board policy, um, that we're bringing to you tonight. Um, the… there's a timeline in this, in that our high schools, while they were going to sort of. Really streamline and make sure we have current, uh, that we have, um, systematic procedures for both high schools next year. It also puts into place a timeline for making our high schools phone-free environments for the entirety of the school day. Starting in the 26-27 school year. For next year, um, we are going to have our high schools utilize the

016same procedures. Many of our high school teachers already are utilizing a pocket chart or a cell phone caddy where students turn in their device. At the start of the period, and so we will be making that a uniform practice across both high schools. Um, we will update our student handbook language to reflect this particular board policy, but also those common procedures. So that students and families know what to expect, and that our educators also understand. What is expected. At the same time, we'll also, uh, be looking at our, um, enforcement. Response. Ms. Mirilda, I have a… Just a question about, um. Clarification. Yes. So that is for this school year? For this school year. So you're going to be developing those things? In order and get that… to our schools and instructors? Yeah, so… Correct.

017So, so our practices at the high schools have been that students. Are not supposed to use their mobile devices during instructional time, and we recognize that there is variance in terms of. Implementation of that, and so this year, that, that is what we're really working on, is. Honing that instructional time such that students are all following the same procedures in every class. Tightening that up, and then that will prepare us for phone-free all day in the 26-27 school year. So the implementation of that will… will not necessarily happen. You're developing. All of the implementation plan during this coming year? Yes, when we… for… we're developing everything. For the 26-27 school year, when we go completely phone-free. We are basically implementing what we say that we already do in the 25-26 school year. Okay, so we

018are going to be implementing that portion of it, okay? Correct. Great, correct. Thank you. I, um, I also wanted to say that I appreciate part of this is not being able to bring their cell phones when they go to the bathroom. Because that was always an argument. So, good. Yes. So, in here you see, um, language around cell phones being silenced, stored in the classroom caddy or pocket chart that they can't be taken to the bathroom, as you see there, Ellen, and reiterated. Um, and what we expect students to do. Also, knowing that for staff members, when they're working within the scope of their duties, this is written into the board policy. They are not responsible for replacement. If a student chooses to bring that device to school, they are basically saying they're assuming responsibility

019for it. Even if a teacher is requiring them to place it in that caddy. So we really want to be clear with our educators, too, so they understand. Um, that element. So, our high school principals will review expectations with our teachers, with staff, and with students in preparation for the first day of. Of school. When we're looking at progressive steps in terms of policy enforcement, so this practice, um, these are already progressive steps that we utilize. Um, the use… if a student is in violation of this policy, we need to make it very clear that these are not suspendable offenses. These are, um… we can't suspend a student for disruption, defiance, right? So if they pull out their phone. What we can do is make sure that we are leading with teaching of the expectations,

020that we have systems and consistency across every classroom. And these are some examples of those progressive steps around verbal reminders, referrals to counselors if there's a student that's. Feeling some anxiety about parting with their device during class time. Conversations with parents. It can lead to phone confiscation, um, confiscate… yes, confiscation. Um, and… also more restrictions for ongoing violations. So, these are practices that we already have in place, but it's, again, revisiting those and communicating those out to our. To our students and families as well. So what will we be doing next year as we ready for the 26-27 school year in this phone-free, all-day environment? We'll want to gather, um, representatives of our teaching staff, um, students, administrators. So we can begin to fine-tune those procedures for off-campus lunch, right? Next year, students, of course,

021they can still have their phone at lunch. But the year after, how are we going to manage the 11th and 12th graders who will go off lunch. Off campus and would need access to their phone. Um, we're gonna want to review our responses to any violations of the cell phone policy again, and discuss tools. What kind of tools might we want to implement or use to implement phone-free all-day environments? And then again, readying a communication plan, um… And the good thing with this is all California districts are needing to make a plan, and so there's lots of examples across the state, from our largest school districts is Los Angeles Unified to San Diego Unified. Um, who have some really great models of ways that we can communicate this and work with our partners. On getting

022ready for phone-free all day. Um, are we going to be buying the Yoder things? Lock the phone in, and if we are. How are we going to pay for it? So, very good question, Ellen. Um, so that will be part of our discussion next year. Um, is looking at, uh, we have partners in our community, we have a lot of families that are wanting to partner with us in terms of grant writing. Partnering with local organizations who are very supportive of this initiative, and so I feel, um, very hopeful and optimistic that we have. Um, community that will rise up and support us, whether it's. Partnering us with funding, or. Giving us connections to potential funders. So we'll want to look at that and visit other schools, such as San Mateo Union High School, uh,

023who has implemented the yonder pouches since 2019, so we'll need to do some of that research, we'll need to be looking at. You know, what does… what is the cost, the dollar amount for these tools? Um, and how we go about doing that. So that it's not a definitive that we would use them. That's the short answer. This is great. This is great. Any other questions? I just, um… And looking at the, um… on the draft policy. These are not in there, so is that… going to come as an AR, or is this… somehow different and not gonna be… part of the board policy. So, the… currently, the board policy is the large, sort of the umbrella, right, with the timeline. And so, um, typically the… so this information and the procedures and the specifics.

024Um, as they are going to be changing a little bit, between 25, 26, and 26, 27, really, they'll live within those handbooks, but I wanted you all to know. What that language was gonna be, um, but the board policy, it sets that umbrella, that overarching sort of commitment. Um, decision by our board, and then we will, within our handbooks, that gives us a little bit more flexibility. But we… but we will adhere to the timeline and the crux of what's in that board policy. And so there'll be training for teachers and students about what's in the handbook. Correct. Right. Thank you! Excellent. This is great. This is very clear, it really… Focus on what we talked about the last time, so thank you. Great, thanks. Um, okay, our next step is, uh, budget study session

025summary presentation. Amanda… There will be public comment after this point. So, this is to give you the background of how we came to this. It's a summary of what we did on Friday. All right, thank you. Um, on Friday, the board held a study session on an update on our fiscal year 26 budget. And we're just going to give a brief overview of what took place on Friday. This is not… It's… Oh, there it is, sorry about that. We were forward. All right, so, um, as part of that, there were questions that came up about the high school bell schedule. So, Jason and Sandra, we're going to give a quick update on that. All right, so, um, thanks for the questions about this. We are going to give a full, a more full report. We

026were asked to just give a short report and update on the bell schedule and where we're at, but we're going to give a more full. Comprehensive report on the August 26th board meeting. Um, so we'll share where we're at. I'll just add we're doing that because school would have started, the schedule would have started, and we'll have more information. Um, I'll just do a little bit of history. I checked my emails this afternoon, and going back 3 years, I had over 400, and where I could have found just about Bell Committee. So it has been a process. I remember the first time meeting, it was… Matthew and Jason, and we went to CASA after the governor presenta… budget presentation. I think that was probably January, February of 22, maybe, or 23, so it's been a

027long process. Um. We… have we talking about the phone now? The vote. I did look up the vote. We had 94% of eligible teachers, um, vote. Which was great, 91% of the CASA teachers voted yes, and 81% of the Petaluma High School. Teachers voted yes, so we had high approval. To move forward. And then after… after we had the approval, our next step was to work together, um, in negotiations to develop an MOU, which we did on May 1st. Uh, the MOU, we had a lot of things to sort out, like, that was getting into the details. For example, we're adding this whole new advisory structure. Where we're restructuring kids, what will that look like? What are the constraints, and how do we manage that? How do we bring, um, configure special ed students within

028that advisory to… in a way that's… that's. Correct for students. Uh, we had to make agreements about class size and contact load when you're adding this idea of advisory. How does that factor in? Um, because it's a whole other kind of a pseudo-period. Um, itinerant teaching and preps, because. We're adding more classes, so now we may not have a room… everyone having their own room, so how do we manage that? So we had to sort that out in negotiations. English learner support, how do we do that? How do we do that in a way that's flexible at each site? And then the big picture was discussing how would we… we know that. We knew that we didn't know what we didn't know. We knew that whatever we decided, we were going to get parts of

029it wrong, so how do we build a process? To work together to solve those problems. How do we engage in shared decision-making? When something comes up, so we address it quickly and we're not letting it just. Not work for a long time. And I would just add there, um. It was a lot of conversation around seeing kids for advisory and having them be non-instructional time. So that… that took a lot of shared decision making. I think this is an example of how shared decision-making can be used. And it also is an example of how slow the ball moves when you're doing it. For over 3 years. But in the end, you get a better product that people can live with, and I think it will… definitely be the advantage for the students, for sure. Um,

030secondary schedules have been made. Um, rooms and teachers will know their rooms and advisory… and their advisory. And we've asked schools to schedule all students with regular periods 1 through 7 in the day. There should be no zero period, there should be no after-school periods. We have a 7-period day now. Um, having said that, there's still many things we need to work through. We know. Little details and exceptions, and so we're… we did the big picture, and now we're zeroing in on some of these exceptions. Um, what's next? So, I talked with you all a while ago about the hiring challenge that this was gonna pose, and, like, this was gonna be a big task. I am glad to… to report that our hiring is almost complete. We have almost all of our… we're finalizing

031our last positions in secondary, and on top of that, we didn't anticipate this when I reported to you, but we… I actually also had to staff a whole. Public Waldorf School that we didn't anticipate, and that was 21 additional positions that we are finalizing, so… Um, personnel-wise, we're in really good shape. I'm really happy with where we've… where we are, and that we feel very, like, poised to be ready for the first day at all of our sites. Um. We have scheduled an HR and union representative meeting at day 6 to look at where we are staffing now. Um, and we are also realizing that there's going to be many things that come up pretty quickly, and we have to be able to meet and to address those. It's like, you don't know what you

032don't know until it starts happening. I anticipate there'll be questions with advisory especially, like, how is that used? How do we train. Is it something that students need to do their homework and that work, and we shouldn't pull out for school-wide activities? All that stuff has to be settled once we get. Things going. Yeah. So, and we will give a more comprehensive report in August, where we will have seen how it started to unroll, and we will see some of the challenges that we're already facing, and some of the successes. Don't mean to get questions right now? So, a big reason why we did this was so our ELs and special ed students. Can have access to more electives. And you've said things have been scheduled, so did that happen? I believe so. Yeah, yeah,

033they do have access. I think the questions that we were having, like, in the MOU. It was issues of, um. Like, our students that have special ed classes also have general ed classes, and if… and so, how do we integrate them into advisory? Because if they're in… if they're only in a special ed class now, that's an additional special ed class. So we had to figure out, how do we navigate that where they're… they're in where they should be, which is general ed with everyone during advisory. So those were the pieces that we were talking about and discussing. And then with English learners, we really worked on the fact that each school has developed systems that work for them, so how do they work as a site using shared decision making to. Figure out how

034to support English learners. For example, some sites, for some groups of students might want to leverage advisory for extra support, so we're… We've had mechanisms for schools to be creative and to develop solutions together that serve their students and their needs without us from a committee saying, this is how you'll do it. Hemen? I have a question of… oh, go ahead, Ryan. No, you turn your mic first. Um, so, you know, I… we're gonna get our… the full update on how it's being implemented. Uh, my concern, uh, continues to be, you know, ensuring that, uh, we fully communicate, like, the. The change of schedule for their parents and students, you know, who are used to the prior schedule. And then, how do we ensure that, in particular, the advisory period is being utilized properly versus.

035Um, as, like, a skip period, because I… I was just checking out, uh, Casa Grande's, like. Sets… or schedule and advisory is, like, the last period on Friday, so, like, how do you… How do we get our 18-year-olds, 17, 18-year-olds to take full advantage of this versus. Um, you know, heading out for an early weekend. We in the committee, we had the same exact discussions, like, does it go at the end? Does it go… and will it… So we will be able to, um, report back both on the communication, among other things, we'll make sure to hit the communication and updates on how… on advisory and how that's working, and how we will know more on how they've scheduled. Because there's a whole schedule about how often, like, are they doing… we have language about

036when they're doing school-wide things within that advisory, so we'll have more information about. How that's starting to roll out by August. And I'll just add, that schedule was chosen by the teachers through many committees. I mean, that was the one voted. 4. Um… the fright. I mean, it's harder for our upperclassmen who don't have the same credit demands, so we're… as that works through. So, it'll be interesting to see how that works its way out, but hopefully students will see advisory as a time where. They can get a lot done, and… I think the power of it is if I'm struggling in a class, I can say, can I please go see that teacher, and I can get permission to get the help I need? In the school day, so I hope students see that

037and utilize it. What was the process for choosing which students were in which advisory? Like, how intentional were you about… Well… We need the tech department. Yeah, we'll be able to share that information. Fully in August. We worked with technology because there was a whole process that was very involved around. Aries isn't designed to do what we wanted it to do, so Dave was… working with the schools to… they develop the regular schedule, then using AI to drop students in and giving it parameters, so… they had a very involved process on how they sorted that out, and we'll make sure to include that as well. So we'll know on the 26th. Yes. So, we talked about the principle of how they would do it. But they still were in process of… of… making that happen.

038And also, I don't think we're really clear. We know it's going to be a smaller. Number of students, but we really don't know how that's gonna… end up when it's all scheduled. We're looking at, like, 20 to… we're up in 20 to 22 per advisory. Right. What about the… Junior highs. Are they kind of on… because I know they share features. So, how's that working? They did both vote to change their schedule to a fixed. 6 period day. Clearly, there's not money for seven for… You know, but they're gonna do a six-period day, fixed. Yeah, and they have different schedule than the high school. It's a little different, but it also models after that, so as an example, if we needed to share staff between. Junior high and high school, there's a pathway we could

039figure that out. Because it's very similar, the minutes are a little different, because they're a different number of periods, but… It's similar. I'm sure you've covered this, because you guys are awesome. But I was wondering… Um, about, um, you know, the students in advisory and their teacher. Is that teacher their usu… their normal… their… One of their features, they're one of the seven features that they have, so everybody in an advisory would have a teacher that they have. Now, if you teach multiple grades, I understand you could have multiple grades in your advisory, but they're all your students. But they're still your student. They're on your roles, yeah. Thank you, thank you, that's great. And we also, um. We've been talking about working with technology to have, and I think Dave's been working on putting

040this in place, a system that allows. Students to request. That whole thing about requesting a teacher, it's not going up and asking them, but making it more automated so that we can also know where students are going. Um, so trying to be really intentional about that. If a… if I'm… if I'm in math with my math teacher, but I need to go visit my science teacher for… like, there's a digital process that simplifies, yes. And the teacher will be able to okay that so you don't have 27 kids come in on one day. You can… Yeah, that's… I remember there was some talk about that years ago with advisory, and that there was, like, how do we do that? But, you know, we didn't have Dave. So then, it isn't the same… So then it

041would change every year in terms of the assignment of the teacher? But it's their advisory? I would think so. They don't have them for, like, 4 years? No, because it's… our agreement… It's the current teacher, and so you… it would be somebody from that year. Okay. Thank you, I really appreciate it. It's great work, really. You're on, Amanda. All right, thank you. We'll now move on to Fridays, um, the remainder of the study session. So we started with talking about the financials that were adopted at the June meeting. Um, where in the current year, in our multi-year projections, we did meet our 3% minimum reserve. With, um, large anticipated. Cuts in our multi-year projections. This was due to the impacts of the state budget. There was a lot of unknown at the time. Our budget

042was approved before the state's budget, so there was one-time funding not included in the adopted budget, and um… things like budget deferrals, which I will speak to a little bit more on another page. A big portion of the conversations, um, centered around where the federal government is at budget adoption. We anticipated to be fully funded in fiscal year 25, which was last year. And knowing that, um. Though the federal government would be reallocating funds, we were anticipating an. The guidance from state and school services was to budget your federal funds, as we had in previous years. In early July, it… became apparent that the 25 fiscal year funds, so the. The year that we had already passed, that all of the Title II, Title III, and Title IV. Funds were impounded by the government. And

043at this time, um. Though they are still impound… impounded, it… We are not sure, though we anticipate the funds when we will be receiving them. So that brought up even more concerns for cash. These are funds that we've already spent. And in every other year, we had received them. Federal funding update for fiscal year 26, which is the current year we are in. As of today, the federal. Title II, 3, 4, and 4 funds. Have been appropriated, but are now being withheld due to a nationwide federal program review. This pause in distribution is affecting school districts across the country, with an estimated $6 to $7 billion in federal fund delays. Recent legal action has resulted in court-ordered partial releases. And some states are starting to see funds trickle in, but the rollout is uneven and

044unproductive. So, for both years, and last year and this year, is about $300,000, so for a total. Of $600,000. The other thing that we do know is that our. Title I funds and our federal special education funds. Though they are being appropriated at the federal level, they are being reallocated. So we do not know, um, what those funds will look like, so they can. We may maintain those funds, or we could lose portions of that. Um, so federal title funds alone would be over a million dollar cut. To this budget, and for special ed, we receive over $2 million of federal funding, so we're not sure what that's going to look like. So we were already sitting in a position with the expiration of our one-time. Pandemic-related funds, um, we were looking at deferrals at

045the state level, and the governor's budget, um. Had a $1.3 billion withholding of Prop 98 funds, meaning. That due to the tax receipts from prior years. Uh, the way the st… uh… Excuse me, Assembly Bill 50 is, is that there's a minimum guarantee that should be spent on funding. Because the… of the wildfires and. Pandemic, there's been a lot of delays in tax receipts, especially from LA County. Which makes up two-thirds of our tax receipts for the state. They've been delayed for years, so what is happening is that the state. Is what should be accounted for from last year. They're accounting it in current year because of delays, so this is currently. At the courts, there are many lawsuits going on at the state level. Csba, AXA, a lot of our educational partners are involved

046in that. So, as we get into. Later on in the year, depending on what that looks like, we could see changes at the state level. What we do know after budget adoption is that the additional add-on for the TK, for the LCFF calculator, was approved. So, in fiscal year 25 budget, the governor mandated the 1 to 10 ratio. Regardless if… if we would receive the additional funding. So, it looks like. We will be receiving that, um. We should be receiving updated LCFF calculators by the end of the week. Which will allow us to, um. Re-figure out what our LCFF funding is now for this year. The student support block grant, which we anticipate to be roughly $2.2 million. It is in the governor's budget. We do not have a timing on what that… like, what

047the rollout will be. Um, it is meant for student support, professional development. It's a lot of language. That is… was a… comes from the federal language, but it does also… it's another one of those, and discretionary. So, um, the… the… The thought is, is that the state is using these one-time funds to bridge the gap from. The remaining… the Prop 98 minimum guarantee that we didn't receive. The expiration of the pandemic funds. But the way that these are being, um, supported at the state level, it also looks like we're getting support on the off chance that the federal funding falls through. So then the message could be, well, you received this block grant, this one-time money, to offset that, so… Um, this is another thing that we're seeing a lot of pushback from our educational

048partners at the state level. Is we have one block of funding that is kind of being earmarked for a lot of different reasons, and it doesn't offset the costs. That we would have received. Um, we also have received word that the… the Learning Recovery Emergency Block Grant, which was partially eliminated 2 years ago. We will be receiving the allocation. Um, there is contingencies and compliances that have to be met. So, though we believe we will. Received the first allocation of just under $300,000. In this year, we will not be prepared to spend that until fiscal year, or the school year 26-27, to make sure we meet all the legal requirements for that. So this is a block of funding that is a little over, um… $3 million that is not in our current budget. Um,

049and we will likely not see full implementation of these funds in our budget. Until our, um, though we're going to do. A 45-day budget revision, we will not see all of this until first interim in December. As we ensure that the government will actually be allocating these funds. Before you move on, I mean, I just… I just want to clarify the… the transitional kindergarten add-on grant, so you talk about, um. The one… the 10 to 1. So… the idea there being, right here in Pendleton City Schools, we have. Used to be 24 to 1, now it's 20 to 1, so 20 students. In the classroom with one teacher, one instructional assistant. So, essentially. That add-on grant is to support. An instructional assistant in every transitional kindergarten classroom. Yes. All right, the other thing that we

050started to discuss, um. In quite a bit of detail at the study session is, um… The increase that this district, we have seen to our staffing over the last, um. From the 1920s school year to current year, though our enrollment has only increased by 2%, so I do want to point out that 2%. Does include, um, Valley Vista Public Waldorf School. So, our enrollment is… we're just over where we were pre-pandemic. But our staffing has increased, um, by 15%. And there's been a great having conversations. That is not the dollar amount, because that you could… you could just… or you could explain. You know, salaries go up, that's the actual number of FTE, so I did want to clarify that. So, as part of the budget, um, original adoption, where. We had the needing to

051eliminate, um. $5 million in next fiscal year, and through the study session, one of the things that. We need to do is work on a resolution committing to that and the way we are going to commit to that. So we had a draft resolution that did really not meet the needs. Of our district, so after the meeting, um, Trustee Pahn and Trustee Williams met with. Superintendent Harris and I, and we worked on updated language that showed really where the. Intention was, and. Though, um, really the… that it does equal 6% of our annual operating budget, which. We need to cut over the next two years. Um, every dollar that we cut in current year. Really counts as $3 in years out, because, um, if we cut it. A million dollars this year, that counts for

052$2 million next year, and $3 million the year before. And I think that that was part of the, um, or the year after, not before. Sorry about that. Part of the urgency to having the study session, that if there were. Direct changes and impacts that we could make. In this year's budget, we will not see. Um, having to make $5 million in cuts next year, so… This talks a little bit about the process we will do that, and this is just a… the very first, there's a whole document, but it's a… it's a couple pages, and part of that is about. Convening, um, the budget advisory committee. We will meet for… at least 4 times before December, and it really helps set up a timeline of where we need to be. For any staffing decisions

053that we need to make. By March for the following school year. And, um, the other thing, too, is that it gives us the point of, um. Really getting to the $5 million funding gap, but not only looking at. Eliminations, so we're… we'll continue to make budgetary. Decisions throughout this year, um, to have a bigger impact on cost savings. We are looking at, you know, how do we… implement the use of the one-time funds that are not currently in our budget. How do we use those against the $5 million? And… Really, when you're facing a deficit, you have two choices. You can decrease your expenditures or increase your revenue. So, it's been a topic of conversation, too. Um, yes, our staffing, the slide before shows that we are staffed at a much higher level than we

054were pre-pandemic. But what else can we do as an organization. To, um, support. Everything that we do, um, that is so amazing at PCS, and what can we look… how can we. Continue to, um, also increase revenue. So I think that we'll be spending a lot of time this year looking at all of those. Options to get to where we need to maintain our budget, um, in order to have full. Budgetary control as a district. So, um, with that being said, um, we did put forward originally. Um, an idea, a plan, and it has since been updated, and Superintendent. Harris is going to speak to that. So, I just wanted to, um… I just want to share a little bit about, sort of, recap the board study session. I know you guys were all… you

055were all here, but not everyone was there. And kind of talk about how… how we got here, because I… I don't think, you know. Me coming back into this is, um, much, much fa… we're moving much faster than I anticipated, thinking that, okay, we're. Definitely gonna need to make some reductions in… Uh, the 26-27 school year, and then realizing, wow, we need to do something right now. And having, um, Amanda present that budget with Ryland Partners was… Um, just… it was very important, I think, for everyone to see, and eye-opening. So I shared a little bit about, sort of, how we got here. Um, I remember back to 2000… 20… 2021, um, when I had… when I first started as superintendent in this district, if you remember, we were just sort of. We were still

056in the midst of a pandemic. Uh, we had an all-staff meeting at Petaloma High School in the bleachers. Everyone was… well, a lot of people were wearing masks, we were 6 feet apart, and I remember getting up there and just sharing, hey, we've got some great news. The great news is we have… we're getting all of this money, millions and millions and millions of dollars from the federal government. They are supporting us with. Um, sort of coming back into in-person instruction, post-pandemic, and we did all sorts of… we got very… it's as very creative as we possibly could, um, with those funds. So, this is part of the first message that I sent out to our community on Saturday. Um, following the Friday board study session, um, we were, um, adding… so it was about

057approximately 15% more staffing. We were doing things such as, um, we added. Reading specialists, which were per… I shouldn't, um… Prior to that, we were splitting reading specials between schools. We added a full-time reading specialist at every single school site. We added nurses, we added mental health counselors, we added student advisors. To every single elementary campus, additional class sections at the secondary, after-school support, custodial support, family engagement. Student family engagement. We had on and on and academic coordinators, all sorts of things that we were adding to just try to. Do the best we could bringing our students back into in-person learning and post-pandemic, with all the mental health crisis and challenges that we are facing. Um, on Friday, we discussed. Uh, this… this need… immediate need to reduce a million dollars from the budget. Which

058weighed very heavily, I think, on all of us. And one of the ideas was, um… well, not one of the ideas, we had a list of different things, I think there were 4 or 5 different proposals that. Um, that Amanda came up with. And we, um… had a rich discussion. And came up with a plan to reduce. So, since that time, I have heard from. I think all of us have heard from a lot of community members, which is great. I appreciated the feedback, the ideas, and so the reason that I'm… I'm… up here, kind of talking, is we have some revision, or some ideas on how we can. Do everything we can to keep students at the center of the decisions and protect classrooms and direct services to students wherever possible. Um. Cutting a

059million dollars immediately this year is not an easy task. I think if you think about. Um, people who are in positions here in the public system have a lot of protections, and so we can't just say, oh, we're laying these people off. People have rights to a job, and so as we're doing that, we had to be mindful of this. And knowing that our permanent employees. Would continue to have a job in this district. Um, so, as I just shared, and many people may not have seen this, but just… as I'm working through this, some very creative problem solving. The revised recommendation for tonight's board meeting is still going to reduce our budget by the target. Which is a million dollars. So we got up to a million dollars. Um, but lessen the overall impact

060to our school sites. So the new proposal is. To maintain half-time reading specialists at every single school site. As opposed to the full-time reading specialists, right? Oh, thank you. Um, this is similar to how we staffed prior to the pandemic. Mcdowell used to have a full-time reading. It was the only school that had a full-time reading specialist. But they were using federal funds… I think Title I funds to pay for the second half. A hiring freeze on non-essential vacancies. What's non-essential, right? Everything's essential in what we do, but we're… we have gone through some non-essential positions, and we're going to freeze those. And reallocate staff as best we can. Knowing that every… if every dollar counts, and the last thing we want to be doing is. Taking services away from students. Um, reduction of 5

061federally funded class sections across 4 secondary schools. A lot of people say, what does that… what does that mean? Essentially, it means that the secondary sites are going to get one less section each. Or one school's gonna get two less sections, and they're gonna have to reorganize and figure out how we're going to best serve students in that reality. Uh, reduction in contribution to transportation and athletics. I think the board, it was, uh… $260,000 originally to increase, and we're reducing that by about 50%. It's… For field transportation? For field just in athletics, yeah, thank you. Um, reduction of the… so that was something that we never really… we didn't have before. This is now giving the school some… at least we're giving them some additional funds to pay for field trips and athletics. And… but

062we're not… we're giving them half as much as we originally said to, again. To show that we're doing everything we can to protect the classrooms. Um, now, we have an interesting, um, situation right now, where. Our assistant. Our Deputy Superintendent, Tony Hua, um, just, just recently announced that he's going to be. Leaving us, and he's gonna be leaving at the end of this month. And so, um, one of the things that was going, again, weighing heavily was. How do we… how do we backfill this, knowing that this is an essential position, knowing that we need the services. That we need someone to craft all the plans, to do… I mean, the millions and millions of things that. That assistant superintendent, Hua does. And how could we use this as an opportunity to save some money

063in this. Current year. So we had lots of conversations amongst Cabinet, and one of the… one of the ideas was to. Essentially have our communications coordinator. Amy… Amy Fadeji. Come into Ed Services and support the work that was going on. Leave that role behind. Come into Ed Services and support Ed Services, so essentially, Gloria and Amy Fidadeji would work together in Ed Services. To get us through this year. We would look at the cost savings between a director and an assistant superintendent, and bring someone. In on a contract, like a retired individual, to support the work, to support the plans, and to make sure that we're… we're. We're doing all the work that was done this for the past. Four years under… under assistant superintendent Hua. Um, that is a saving… that is a big

064savings for the year. Um, I don't know the… I don't know the exact amount, because we're already starting into the year, but it… Yeah. At roughly $180,000. Um, and then we also have our big… I'll call them our big four sites. And 3 RK8s, one is a K6. And when we originally talked about this, we kind of made a… drew a line in the sand and said, okay. Uh, if you're a school site… if you're a K-8 school site with over 475 students. You need some extra support. And we were seeing that with our principals. Our principals, you see, we have four new elementary principals this year. It's been a very stressful time, very stressful work. And so, if a school site is 475 or more, the K-8 schools received a TOSA slash AP. Our

065K-6 schools were going to receive a TOSA. So, the idea here is that was 4 individuals supporting the school sites. Um, part Tosa, part assistant principal. And the idea with this reduction is to take those four individuals and turn them into two individuals, and have. Two people, basically, you're 50% at one school, 50% at another. What's a natural fit, right, would be Pengrove and Cherry Valley would share someone. And McKinley, and uh… McKinley Pax, and Valley Vista would share someone. Um, just because of the calendars, but those two… those two schools could share. An assistant principal, basically. Um, so that… that is the recommendation. So the rec… that recommendation… my original recommendation that was on there. I'm changing it to this recommendation. I think that it's, um… it better spreads… it better spreads the reductions

066across the district, from the district office to. School sites and administration to our reading specialists. It preserves a half-time reading specialist at every single school site. Which is what we had at our school sites prior to the pandemic, before we were receiving those. One-time funds. Just to go back to those one-time funds, right, that was… it was really a three-year thing, so 21… to 24. In 2024, we thought, okay, we were gonna run out of the funds. They ended up extending it to 2025. The state came in with some more money and said, here, here's some additional funding, so we kept that going. And now, um… coming back into this, we're looking at a drastically different landscape. Not only are we receiving, you know, here's a few million more dollars, keep the mental health support

067going. Keep this going, keep these extra things going. Not only are we not receiving that money. Where they're actually saying, we're not going to give you the money that you already spent last year, and the money that you're supposed to get this year that you already have budgeted. Um, so there's all of that going on. We also have, um, a secondary parcel tax… sorry, this, uh, we went out for a secondary parcel tax that did not pass. And we went and we did a… we have a second… a new bell schedule. That is adding, um, a little over 17, close to… close to 18. New teachers, because it's… it's what's best for students. We know it's what's best for students. It's what's… Um, our students are… it's gonna… it's gonna increase our A through G

068rates, it's gonna increase our graduation rates, just on the natural. Our students now have access to more courses, so over the course of their four years, they're going to get four additional. Courses, if they're a semester course, could be even more. Um, it's… it's fantastic for our students. Um, that bell schedule, I appreciate the bell schedule update. Um, and it is connected to the budget because it is going to be… it is an extra cost, and so… When we went out for the secondary parcel tax, thinking that it was gonna help to fund this. These additional 18 people. Um, the way that parcel tax work… taxes work. Is that parcel taxes are fantastic. But they need a supermajority of voters to vote for them. 66.66%, right? Two-thirds, we need a two-thirds majority. We received, in

069my mind, a very strong majority, almost 64%. Vote of our taxpayer said, we want to tax ourselves to help fund the secondary to do the secondary parcel tax. But it wasn't enough. We were a couple percentages short. And so that has also impacted, right, the overall, the general, um. The budget as that… as we look forward in the next few years. So, um, all those together, and then I also want to speak to this, because I think this is all… this often gets… misunderstood or misrepresented. We did pass a bond, right? We passed a very large bond. It's important to note that you'll see… you'll continue to see, uh, structures being built across town, right? We're going to see some great new buildings and facilities. Um, right now, I think we have stuff happening at

070McKinley, Cherry Valley, I mean, we could go on and on and on, all the facilities. We're going to have… this facilities master's plan. Master plan. But… Bond funds cannot be used. For… people. We cannot hire staff. We can't say, oh, we're gonna save this with… that doesn't work. So bond is really just for the structural piece. Um, so… I wish, like I said in my note out, I wish I could say this is the last of the cuts, but the reality is. If we cut a million dollars now. That's, like, $2 million for next year. So we make this… we make these initial cuts. Instead of $5 million, which is gonna look. Like, draconian cuts. We can reduce that to about $3 million for the next year, which… still seems… I'm still trying to wrap

071my mind around what that would actually look like. Unless, as Amanda pointed out, we increase our revenues. So. The budget… the budget, um, will be working through a budget advisory process. We're going to be working on getting staff. Teachers, staff, families, community members involved, and try to figure out how we move forward together. Um, given this… this new budget reality. So, any questions? Oh, I'm just gonna say, I have some things to say, but we'll save it for the actual discussion. Right. Yeah, thank you so much. Okay. Okay, I do thank you for coming up with. A revision that takes into account a lot of people here. And your comments, um, trying to do the best we can. Um, under some pretty awful… Uh, situation. Um, so… Uh, the next part is comments from the

072public. And we have a lot, so we have 20 minutes that are allotted. For one topic. So, um, let me count. So, just a minute. And then, uh, so it probably… all of you will get about 2 minutes, or maybe less. Oh, I know. But we want to hear from you. Okay, so I guess the question is, are you gonna… are you gonna take, uh, comments from the public? The general comments from the public, are you going to put them under, um… It's a budget concern… if it's a budget question under. Action. I was thinking about just doing it now, since they've been… since you've been here. We use… this is usually for non-agendized. Comments for something that… for comments about an item that's not on the agenda. This is obviously on the agenda. So,

073we're just gonna kind of switch it a little bit so that you can do your comments now. We will not have other comments after this. So just know, we don't take… people don't come up to the podium. Um, we don't take questions from the audience. This is your opportunity. And so, if you want to speak, we'll try to make time. But, um, after this, uh, we're not gonna have another opportunity for public comment. Even during that action portion. Does that make sense? Okay, all right. Oh, goodness sakes. 1, 2, 3… Oh, not all of these are a budget. Okay. I forgot my… my public comment. My little speech… oh, it's done here, that's right. Okay. I'll just read it. One and a half, right? 90 seconds, if you were. 90 seconds. I think 90 seconds.

074Thank you. And then we have 2 more… We have two more on other things. All right, okay, thank you very much for waiting. I was an English teacher, so my… My assistant president is a great math person. Okay, so we have, um… you'll each get 90 seconds. We do time it, I know, but there's a lot of you, so… Um, everybody will have an opportunity if we do it that way. Um, I'm going to read our, um, public comment, uh, board policy. Just so that you all are aware of how we do this. And then, um, I'll start calling on people. Under Government Code Section 54954.3A, members of the public have the right to address the governing board on any items of interest, providing it relates to the subject matter jurisdiction of the school district.

075While government code allows speakers to criticize. The district's policies, procedures, programs, services, and or employees. The district does have a policy, BP1312.1, specific to complaints against employees. Um, the topic of interest within the jurisdiction of the board. Should comments from the public pertain to a specific district employee, the board requests that the complaint first be submitted in writing? To the employees' immediate supervisor for investigation. If the comment is about something that is not on the agenda, it will be heard only during the public comment on non-agendized item, period. Once that part of the meeting is over, comments will only be taken on agenda items during the discussion of these… those items. We're kind of changing that tonight. The board values public comments. And although we cannot take action or discuss items not on the agenda,

076we listen carefully and appreciate input from the public. Public comments are subject to a 3-minute per person limit. Or a 20-minute limit per subject matter. Uh, commenters cannot see time… their time to others. Okay. We will begin. Claire, sitzer. And you said you'd be quick. Well, that's a, you know, last in, first out. Another job. Okay. Am I going? Okay, hi, my name's Claire Zitzer, and I'm currently a reading specialist at Penn Grove Elementary. Prior to that, I was a special education teacher in this district. And in another district. I have a lot to say, and I really don't envy you for this challenging decision you have to make, but I want to urge you to consider one thing. Last year, a special education study was held, or was done, and it urged for a

077multi-tier system of support. Right now, the reading specialists are the only tier in Tier 2. Um, I think it's important. To consider that. Um, the reduction, I appreciate the adjustment, because we have had a lot of students, because we are in. Session right now, parents approaching us and asking questions. Um, one way that I would recommend we look at that is working with Sarah Fountain and the special education teachers. Um, in partnership with the, um, reading specialists to work towards a… Learning Center model, um, for our district that used to be, um, present, and. My knowledge is no longer is, because it's important that all of our students are receiving that Tier 2 support, so it might be a good transition as we. See the budget cuts. Um, I thank you for your time and

078consideration. Thank you, Slaird. That was excellent! Okay, uh, Markita, you have, like, several. Why don't you just go over all of them now? Hello again, I'm Marquita Lee, I'm a parent of three grant students. So yeah, gonna talk about 3 things, but they all kind of have similar themes, but the first, again, yeah, reiterating, thank you for reimplementing this reading specialist. It's really important at the elementary school level. Obviously, um. I know a lot of parents that, um, really appreciate that, so thank you. The angle I wanted to bring was just in terms of PTAs. And how, um, PTAs are used as a source of funding for different positions, PE. Garden, and I'm anticipating being asked also from a PTA standpoint, of can you provide more funds to make up for some of the cuts?

079I want to put that equity lens on all of you. Do you… are you comfortable with PTAs pitching in? And some schools being allowed to have some additional resources, and obviously. From a bigger picture, that's concerning, because not every school has PTAs that are as active and have as much budget. So I just wanted to bring that to your attention. Obviously, PTAs are separate, you know, nonprofits, they do what they want with their money, but. Collaboration would be much appreciated, if any. Um, and then moving on, maybe, I don't know, at 30 seconds and whatnot, I think moving on back to the mobile communication devices. The only thing that I kept thinking about was how would this be implemented? Will it be tracked? Will parents know, hey, your student got 3, you know, referrals? So

080I think I just didn't hear, how is the data tracked? How are we applying this equitably and not discriminatorily? So if that's something that I would like to see tracked over time. You can go on, because there's a separate, yeah, sorry, I didn't make that clear. Sorry. Okay, um, and my children are elementary, so I don't mean to kind of step over into the high school, but, um, I am passionate about high school math, so… I'm always going to talk about the high school. Um, and then I think there maybe was some confusion about what would be included in the policy, so it does look like the specifics that were in the presentation. I know it's… they're not gonna be in the policy, but the policy is referred to being updated in the handbook. So

081it would be great if those policies were actually in the handbook, or actually added to the policy, because. The handbooks referred to being updated based off the policy. Um, and then I think… Just the other thing that, again, transportation would be great to know from an elementary. Standpoint what the impact is. Obviously, you know, a lot of students were excited to go on their first bus ride, so if that's something that you anticipate. Not being supported, just the earlier we know, the better, or teachers, because they're the ones doing the hard work, we're the ones driving, so… doesn't compare, because we drive a lot. Um, and then I think the last thing is just going, sorry, going back to the funding, I think making… or two things. Going back to the funding to make sure

082that, um, I appreciate the equitiness of, like, taking through elementary. Like, you know, junior high, middle, like, high school, like, realizing let's spread it, and not make sure that one is taking the brunt of it. So, appreciate that that's on your minds, and. Looking forward to, um, how that turns out. 15 seconds. Last thing is, Grant. Appreciate any support, like we said in our June 10th meeting, so we'd love to see you all at the school. Welcome back. Um, we want to see you, all of you, and… Here's the new school year. We were on June 10th, a lot of students… a lot of Grant people were here again. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Sandra! Larson, PFT President. But he's made the time limit so far, so… So if you'd told me a week

083ago that I would be speaking to the board tonight about immediate and urgent cuts, I would not have believed you. But here we are. I'll first say I appreciate the new, um, cuts that Matthew brought in. Agree… agree with them. Making drastic cuts now will only help us save vital programs for the future. It may sound strange coming from the union. The president of the teachers' union, but I'm merging the board to make significant cuts tonight to save programs for the future. These cuts, though difficult now, will pave a way for more sustainable and efficient future for our school district. Reading specialists are not just another position in our school system, they are essential for our youngest elementary students, playing a crucial role in early education. It is even more critical this year, given that

084the dyslexia screener for young students is starting. In addition, reading specialists, or someone, a classroom teacher can turn to. When they need strategies for their struggling readers. Their work is invaluable, and we must do everything in our power to ensure their continued presence in our schools. I'm urging the board to return to the pre-COVID staffing, which was .5, so thank you for that. And 25 seconds? 0.5. Oh, shoot. Okay. In addition. Although it's hard, I'm… I would support eliminating the two TOSA positions and giving each school a .5. I don't see these. Positions continuing. After the 3 million budgets, and this will be a bridge. I understand these are difficult decisions, I appreciate your willingness to serve as a trustee and make these hard choices that are necessary. Your dedication and commitment to this case

085is very commendable. So, thank you for that. Thank you very much for PFT's. You know, for… Support. Partnership. Dana Gottlieb. Okay, so I am a reading specialist at, uh. Cherry Valley, as well as at Grant. Love my job, but I'm just gonna talk about money right now. I don't envy you for having to cut positions. Everyone's are valuable, but I think if you cut the reading specialist, it will cost you. More in the long run, for three reasons. One, we help with kids not be over-identified for special education. You all know that special education costs a whole lot more than what a reading specialist is paid as a. General education teacher, plus we don't come with the lawsuits, we don't come with the legal requirements. That is money saved. Secondly, dyslexia Screener, which Sandra brought

086up, that is being rolled out. I'm not sure if everybody in this room knows that. Um, legally required by the state that. Um, every K-2 student not only be screened, which will take about 20 minutes per student, while that teacher is supposed to be teaching. So, picture your 5-year-old in a class without any support, then those same parents who have kids who are scoring. Um, at potentially risk, we'll get letters in the mail. 20 seconds. Okay, so go on to the next one. I actively campaigned in 2007 for the parcel tax, which said specifically it was supporting reading specialists. Many of my friends and colleagues have expressed in the past few days, and parents, that they would not vote for that again because the trust has been violated. By Petaluma City Schools. Thank you. Liz

087Carrasco. Hello, I'm Liz Carrasco, I'm a parent to two students at Mary Collins School at Cherry Valley. Last Thursday, we began our 9th year at the school. Um, I'm also an alumni of… Battling with City Schools. I emailed my comments earlier today regarding my plea to reconsider budget cuts for the. 2025-2026 school year. Specifically advocating for Dana Gottlieb at Cherry Valley. And appreciating the direct influence she's had on my children and our school community at large. Around 5.15 this afternoon, we received an updated recommendation from Superintendent Harris. That offered what seemed to be compromises to the budget recommendations. However, this message has added more questions for those impacted. I implore you to spend more time discussing all possible options before taking action on any of these recommendations. With the late update, there has not been

088enough time for staff, students, and parents to read, respond, and offer input on these revisions. Additionally, I'd like to remind you that our year-round schools are already in session, and eliminating or scaling back these positions will result in immediate disruptions to our school sites. With the revised recommendations. Not only is our beloved reading specialist positioned in limbo. But district positions for two other members of our school community are now up in the air. Our own Chosa, um. Slash assistant principal, who I have watched connecting with and supporting students across our TK-8 campus. Throughout the past year, along with another parent and educator at our school who left her years-long position at Cherry Valley to accept a position as a TOSA at another school in the district for the new school year. If the… oh, is

089that it? Sorry. Please reconsider. I'm sorry, go ahead. Have a… finish up your, your statement. Um, if the new recommendations are implemented, how will you select which TOSAs will keep their positions? When reducing the reading specialist role, will this reduce all the district roles to part-time, three positions, splitting time? More information needs to be shared, and more time needs to be. Put to this decision. Thank you. Laura, Barron. Are there two of you? That's mine. There's a lot of people who want to talk. Yes. Um, first of all, I want to thank you. I know this is very hard, and, um, I just wanted to address. That we appreciate that you're working to save some of the reading specialists. I want to put a lens on this. We have 7 schools, um, with very different

090needs. And I want to make sure that it isn't… The idea of just .5 at each school, I want that to be a conversation. We spent last year really looking at equity, and we realized. We know we have very different needs at a different school. One site had 23 students. That were in… in our urgent, urgent, urgent need of intervention. Another school at our district had. 110. So, that discrepancy is enormous, so we need to look at that when we are allocating our resources. I don't think we can point-blank put it that way. I hope we can still have those conversations. And that is when you're looking at cutting specialists, even down to 3.5. There are some schools that… that we will not serve students, and um… a lot of concerns about that. Um, I

091want, uh, 30 seconds. Um, that… just a reminder, reading is not an educational skill, it is a profound social justice issue. And with far-reaching consequences for our entire society. At this point in time, reading is one of the most critical gifts we can give our children, and I truly, truly, truly hope we think about that when we are considering the cuts that we are considering. Thank you. Thank you. Uh, Krista? O'connor. Tried to make it shorter. Um, I'm Krista O'Connor, PFT High School Vice President. I know these are challenging times. I want to address the Bell Committee in terms of. Um, the work that we've done. To starting in November of 22, because I went back through my emails, too. Uh, putting together that committee. There were 30 teachers and administrators from both high schools.

092Representing all departments. We worked for two and a half years to meet the board deadline of October 24, and then continued. Ongoing planning right through this past month, talking about advisory, what it was going to look like. We've spent most of this past year fine-tuning schedules and courses, planning the new advisory period. Working out room sharing space arrangements, um, much as. Jason and Sandra and Matthew. Mentioned. In just a few weeks, we're going to open our classrooms to the first group of students who will be able to expand their high school course options. Significant and huge. Um, we're concerned about the ongoing sustainability of this proposal. We told the district administration on board… 30 seconds? All along that we didn't want to invest a lot of. Time and effort to create something we couldn't afford.

093We've spoken to the 18 teachers, the 1 million plus. Um, price tag on this. And we were assured time and time again that we would find the funding. Um, that the secondary parcel tax would cover it. That didn't pass, so here we are, and in the interest of being realistic, we have to acknowledge the questions attached to the ongoing costs of the plan as we make. Decisions in the coming year. Thank you. Snuck that in there. Uh, John… Malachi? Melant? Melant? Melanch, sorry. Thank you, everybody. I come here as a parent of two Cherry Valley students. Two sons. One in, uh, first grade and one in third. And I want to first just pause and thank Ms. Dina, our very own reading specialist, for teaching my son. How to read. She did it. She was

094the one. She… she… She made it happen with all of the support of the rest of us. But she was the connecting tissue that made that happen. So, thank you. I want to thank the VP TOSA we have as well, for teaching our kids math. Very important. Um, you know, I'm a founder, CEO of a business. I have fiscal responsibility as well, I have 50 employees. Nationally. And this is a very. Difficult challenge you have. But what I want to say is that. My responsibility as a leader and a governor of my business is to my employees that are servicing my customer. The customers here are the children. They need to learn. This is your primary responsibility. And I caution you for even considering. Removing those services that most… greatly affect them. 30 seconds. Thank

095you. Thank you. Peace. Thank you. Uh, Linda, Judah. All right, thank you so much, um, and I also want to echo the gratitude a lot of people have shared for the way that. Um, this has been a collaborative process between the admin and with the union to try and come up with solutions. I know that our. Um, awesome. Union has been working really hard over many years to try and make that be the way things go, to be more collaborative. Um, and in this, uh, moment, you know, they sometimes say that all politics is local, and yet. Federal politics are encroaching on our lives here, and so when I hear us talking about how we're gonna deal with this current budget. I… I… if we're not acknowledging that the current administration has a stated goal

096of. Dismantling public education. Then whatever response we are making is completely inadequate. So, if… We just keep cutting and cutting and getting… taking whatever crumbs we're given. And just trying to do the best, that's not gonna serve our community, that's not gonna serve our students. So, I would suggest. We take that collaborative spirit with our unions and with our admin, and start working with all of the unions up and down the state, and take this to the state. And federally, to say that we need to stand up in this moment. And fight for public funding of education. And if that means we have to strike in every single school in the whole state of California. And just shut them down to get the attention of the folks who are pulling the strings. Then maybe that's

097something we should consider. Thank you, Linda. Uh, Eliza, who… Hoosier? Thank you. Hi, everyone. Um… Thank you for the amendments. That you made. I wish we had started in that spot, but thanks for responding to our… Um, feedback. I wish it was enough. Um, I do feel that. We are cutting, you know, cutting TOSA. Our TOSA VP is, like, helping kids crawl out from under their desk when they've been there. Because the teach… and the teachers don't know what to do, and he's helping with math, and he's very student-forward position. It is not administrative, he's not sitting in the back office with contracts, so… Allow, you know, putting… adding in one student-facing position, and then pulling another is… is not the solution, and I am really tired of hearing that. Staffing is higher than it

098was pre-pandemic, because nothing is the same as it was pre-pandemic. Our students have more emotional needs. They're behind academically. We need more staff, we need more than we currently have. We don't need less. I know that. This is affecting everything, not just education, but we have to be creative and work together right now. And I will say, you have… 30 seconds? Two kids at Cherry Valley, but our… John is my husband, our oldest child is 23. He did not go to the school district, but he also did not graduate high school, and the reason why is because he could not read. And we got him when he was 15. His parents had been aborted. He's the real story of what's happening to kids right now. And if I had gotten to them sooner, he'd be

099able to re… he can read now, but he didn't… but I didn't get him soon enough. I wish I'd gotten him sooner. Please don't do this to your most vulnerable kids in your school. They are gonna slip right through the cracks. I don't need more Maxes. Thank you. Okay, uh, Jenny Watson. I have to re-bind, so I'm not good at this stuff, but… Okay, my name is Jenny Watson, I'm the PTA President at Cherry Valley, and I'm here to express our community concern. About the proposed budget cuts, including the revised ones. We really do appreciate the revision for the reading specialist position. As you've heard. Dana has been immensely influential in so many. Students' lives, so thank you for that. One thing to note, I've heard from over two dozen people in the last two

100hours about this notice coming in right before the meeting, and it being up for approval right now feels to lack the appropriate time. Consideration and due diligence. We'd really appreciate for this decision to be postponed, especially. Being that it has the potential to have very long-lasting and severe impacts on our kids. Next, as you know, Cherry Valley, now with the expansion of Universal TK, has 3-year-olds and 13-year-olds on the same campus. And while it's something that we all absolutely love and cherish about our school and community, it creates an environment. Where there is an insurmountable need for having these incredibly impactful student-facing positions staffed. Present and prioritized. Keeping Josh, our full-time TOSA AP, and a reading specialist… 30 seconds? Funded falls under that same sentiment. Our children need these resources, and they deserve this access

101to help them thrive. To help them continue to fall in love with learning and to feel safe in their school. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, Amy Ryder. Hi there, Amy Ryder. Parent, um, although older than the rest of y'all's kids. Um, I have kids at the middle and high school. One general ed, one special ed. And I will start by saying that, yes, all of these budget conversations are really difficult. I echo a lot of what I've heard today. Um, and I'm… frankly, dismayed. That we moved forward with the schedule. Um, it sounds like that ship has sailed. But it seems completely irresponsible if the math works, that we… basically blew our chance to save $3 million of this $5 million shortfall. By not acting on something. That, from our perspective. I wasn't involved, but

102I heard. That this vote happened in May to finalize that. And that just feels very… hard to swallow in light of this entire conversation. I would much rather have my special ed kid. Not having a lot of seconds. I hear you, thank you, but please don't interrupt me. My special ed kid not take an elective. And instead have someone else's kid have a reading specialist. That trade-off is just… not okay for me. The other piece, I noticed, the transportation costs. One thing you implemented last year is the transportation requirement for buses. For student, um. Certain kinds of activities over a certain distance. I don't know if that still stands. But please rescind that. Because that's an added cost that we shouldn't be burying in these. Thank you. Thank you. Hey, uh, Katie Gill. Hello, my

103name is Katie Gill, I teach at PACS, and I have two kids at McKinley. A group of us sent an email with various questions and areas of concerns. Yesterday, um, and we hope the board will be our voice in those concerns. I reviewed the, uh, proposed budget update. I have worked at a TK8 school for 10 years now. Removing or reducing TOSAs from a site is removing support. This last school year. Our site worked off of one admin. And it was exhausting and noticeable by everyone involved. Please rethink about creating these TK8 schools or over-enrolling schools if you can't give them the support they need. Again, please refrain from eliminating or reducing the reading specialist position. The, um, position is something that helps our students. If this position is. Cut or reduced, please allow elementary

104teachers all of the August 11th PD Day to plan and figure out. How they'll continue with their classrooms without the support, and any PD… for the rest of the year to help work on data and reports that the reading specialists take care of. I encourage the board to re-evaluate the transportation policy if funds are going to be removed. Charging a, uh, classroom or a classroom payer $800 for a bus for a field trip. Is unacceptable. Uh, please look at the budget line by line. Please question everything our district pays for, from consulting to attorney fees to restaurants. Thank you. All right. Thank you very much. All right, lots to think about here. I appreciate that all of you took the time to come. And also email, but also came. So, um… This isn't easy. Okay,

105uh, we need to go on. To the adoption and approval of the agenda. I move to approve the agenda. You get a second? So, we want to… Need a second? Did you second? Does he need to amend first? I think we second in any event. A second. Okay. Okay. We just… we want to pull, um… 25-26-13. It's a, uh… contract… it's a… you want to explain it? Is an MOU as well? Yes, it's an MOU, um, with the Sonoma County Office of Education. Uh, we're going to pull that to obtain more information, and we'll bring that back to the board at a later time. Thank you. Um, so I need a motion… With the amendment. Oh, no, yes, with the amendment. Right. I'm just not… it's one of the contracts, or…? Oh, yeah, so you,

106uh, it's the MOU down at the MOU. Vendor contracts, 20… Okay. 526… It's 2526-13. It's under MOUs towards the bottom. Do you see this? Sonoma County. Here we go. I don't know if this leaks… oh. I move to approve the agenda as amended. I move to amend the… adoption of the agenda. Yeah, I second. Interesting. I second. Thank you. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay, we have an agenda. No, we have an amended agenda. We have an amended agenda. Yeah. Do we have to… now we have to vote to approve the agenda, now that it's amended. That was, um… I thought that's what that was. Okay, all right. Please do. I move to adopt the amended agenda. Second. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Okay, now we have an agenda. Uh,

107report on activities and correspondence of school board members. It's been summer. Um, but we did have people go to, uh. Rivertown Revival, and the Para Los Todas. Fundraiser. And more fire todos. Sorry, okay. No, it's okay. Um, and then we all, uh, attended the board study session. Uh, governance workshop on Friday, in addition to the, um. Budget, um, reduction study session. Uh, so now we go on to comment… uh, let's see, approval, we've already… we… did our public comment, so we're going on to 12. Approval of Consent Agenda by Consolidated Motion. I move to approve the consent agenda. Second. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Okay, our consent agenda. Is passed. Um, and then we have our action items, administration, uh, 14.1.1, appointment of superintendent. As secretary to the Board. I move to approve.

108I'll second. All those in favor? Aye. Can you post? All right. Matthew, you are now the board secretary. The official title, great. Okay, 14… The official title of the superintendent is Secretary of the Board. Important. Yes. 14.2.1… 14.2.1. 14.2.1? Uh, approval of the 24-25 Classified Management Salary Schedule Certificated Management. Salary schedule, contract amendments for the superintendent. At Chief Business Official. Assistant superintendent, student services. And assistant superintendent of. Human resources. Somebody needs to talk. Business Services? Please? Explain. So, these are, um… Well, let me… let me mess up. So, um… Last year, so this is for… this is for the 24-25 school year, so this is for last year. This should have come. 2 or 3 months ago, probably, after the, um, after every other bargaining unit was brought forward. Um, our CSEA, our Classified Employees.

109Um, last year, 24… 2425, received a total compensation. About 3.75. Our Federation of Teachers received about 3.55% total compensation. Um, our classified management. We're, um, going in with a. Basically a COLA increase to classified management of 1.07. With a work year reduction of 3 days. An increase to their health benefit cap. Equal to that of the other classified employees. Certificated management. Is a, um, the same COLA 1.07% increase. Reduction in 3 days, and an increase of $50 per month to the district's health and benefit cap. Equal to that of the certificated, um. Certificated bargaining unit. Uh, cabinet is foregoing any… COLA increase in receiving their contractual step. With a work year reduction of, um… 3 days, and a contract extension of 1 year. And superintendent… coming in with no-step movement. And no cola, uh, basically

110freezing… freezing at, uh, last year's… last year's rate of pay. Uh, with a one-year contract extension, so… I'm not asking for any increase at all, including step and call. So that's the plan. Um, this… obviously a very… it's very tone-deaf sort of time to bring this. And this should have come a few months ago, after we settled with CSEA and PFD. It didn't, so it's coming now. This is for last year. Is that… yep. Yeah, thank you. Any questions about this? Can I add, uh, two things. Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you. No, it's okay. Um, one thing is, the reason this is coming so late is we actually didn't settle until June, with… we always make sure to settle with our certificate and our classified employees before we. Before we try and settle

111with our unrepresented, which is management, and… Uh, so that's the other reason why. It would have been great to bring earlier, but we just finished settling with our. Other bargaining units, and then the, um… we walked on… the salary schedule that you were just handed, there was an error on the one for certificated management. It didn't include the 3 days. So the one I gave you is just the same scholarly schedule with the reduced days on the left-hand side that was left off. Of the one that was uploaded, uh, on Friday. And just to be clear, so our certificate management is our principals, our assistant principals, our. All of our certificated administration who work with students. Okay, thank you for the clarification. Did you want to say something, Amanda? No, that's okay, Jason spoke to

112it. Okay. All right, uh, we need a motion. I move to approve. I second. Okay, any discussion? Right? All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Yes. Can we have a break? My background. What? Yes, all right, we're gonna take about a… let's… Take a 5-minute break, we will come back at 7.50. To, um… We are going on with our agenda to the next action item, which is, um… 14 point… 2 point… Two, which is approval of the resolution 252601. The Board of Education. Petaluma City Schools to identify the amount of budget adjustments needed to fiscal year 26-27. Amanda, take it away. Thank you. So, um, during the presentation, I spoke a little bit to the. One of the items that the board study session was to, um, at the next board meeting, prove… approve a

113resolution. That shows the amount of, um. Funding that we need to either reduce our budget or increase our revenue over the next year. To make sure that we remain fiscally solvent in the district. And this plan includes, um, the setup of making sure that the budget advisory committee. Meets at least 4 times by December. We also, um… speak to where, like. How we got here, where we came from in the resolution, to try to give it a little bit more information than. Some of the… sometimes you see them with just, like, some basic information that really doesn't. Help explain the situation. So we added that as a committee, or… I guess we were not a committee, but… the small group, as we wrote this, and then, um… that we will… continue… we will actively collaborate

114with community partners, our educational partners, our staff, to evaluate district priorities. And identify areas for cost reduction, including through the work of the Budget Advisory Committee. So. Um, Superintendent Harris will be sending out, if approved by the board. Um, information on what that… what the budget advisory committee makeup is going to look like when the meetings will be held, and how to get involved. Thank you. Would you like to read it? Sure, let's read it into the record. Whereas the state of California and the federal government play a critical role in funding public education. Yet, in recent years have increasingly withheld or delayed essential funds. Placing undue strain on school districts, even as they continue to provide strong educational programs and services for all students. Whereas Petaluma City Schools has increased staffing by 15% over

115the past 5 years. To meet student needs and support programmatic growth. Reflecting the district's deep commitment to student learning and well-being. Whereas, with a decrease in federal funding, the elimination of one-time funding, and funding deferrals. Petaluma City Schools is projected to face a $5 million funding gap. In the 2026-27 fiscal year. Representing approximately 6% of the district's total budget. Illustrating the substantial local impact. Of continued underfunding from state and federal sources. Whereas the district's current and projected financials indicate that it will only meet the state-required reserve level. By implementing a comprehensive deficit reduction and reserve restoration plan. Whereas the Board of Trustees has determined that maintaining a reserve above the minimum requirement is fiscally prudent. And consistent with best practices for school district stability. Whereas school districts across California continue to face rising operational costs,

116underfunded mandates. And economic uncertainty, particularly in key areas such as special ed. Student mental health, transportation, and staff compensation. Whereas federal support for K-12 education remains well below recommended levels. With programs such as Title I and the Individuals with Disability Education Act, or IDEA. Persistently underfunded relative to their statutory goals. Whereas long-term physical stability is essential to support safe and inclusive learning environments. Retain highly qualified staff and ensure that all students, regardless of background. Have access to the resources they need to succeed. Whereas the Board of Education has a fiduciary responsibility pursuant to Education Code Section 42127. To ensure that the district can meet its financial obligations in the current and two subsequent. Fiscal years, whereas for fiscal year 2026-27. The district must implement budget reductions of at least $5 million to reduce deficit spending

117and maintain physical solvency. Whereas the superintendent has established a budget. Budget Advisory Committee, which will meet at least 4 times prior to December 31st. 2025 to develop recommendations for possible budget solutions, including expenditure reductions. Whereas the district is actively collaborating with community partners and stakeholders to evaluate district… district priorities, and identify areas for cost reduction, including through the work of the Budget Advisory Committee. Now, therefore, be it resolved, the district will implement necessary budget reductions beginning in the current year, where feasible. With full implementation plan for 2026-27. That will achieve full or substantial alleviation of the district's deficit spending. And be it further resolved, while these actions must be taken to maintain the fiscal stability of the. The Board of Trustees will make every effort. To sustain a high-quality education program for students in the

118Petaluma City Schools. And be it further resolved that the district will submit a plan of budget reduction for fiscal year 20. 26, 27, and a timeline for implementation at the board meeting in February 2026. To be included in the second interim financial report. Thank you. Thank you for reading that in. I think that was really important. Okay, uh… I move to approve, okay? You second? Any discussion? Do you have any comments? And this resolution looks a lot. Better than the draft that CSBA had. I think it paints a… picture of the state of the world, um… And reminds us all. A lot of what, um… Linda said, I don't know if she's still in the audience, that there's a lot of work we all have to do at the federal and state. Level, and I'm

119all, as a worker. Not necessarily as a school board member, very down for a big general strike. We would need people to support the teachers and the other… unions, um, in that. Thank you. Rylan? Yes, uh, I want to thank, uh, the superintendent, um, and, uh, you know, Amanda, um. And, uh, Jennifer helping, uh, talk through this. Um, I think what… is important to understand, and as someone who's the newest person on the board, who wasn't. Here, during the pandemic. Is seeing the commitment, um. From the kitchen cabinet, um, the superintendent, and the board members to. Have those positions. We see a 15% increase, um, in student support. To support our students. Um, coming out of the pandemic. And to extend those positions as long as possible. Under, you know, budgetary, you know. Constraints. This…

120these are… truly, you know, awful cuts. That we have to start doing and thinking through. Um, you see, I am reading all the comments, and thank you for. We're making them how impactful, um, these positions have been. And we would like to continue. As long as possible, so many of them. Um, unfortunately, this is the first round. We will do everything, I can promise I will do everything I can to figure out. Cost savings, um… And, uh, ways that we can move forward to, you know. Preserve as many of these positions as possible. Um, so with that, you know, I think, uh. You know, approve this resolution and move forward to that next discussion. Thank you. Thank you. Um, you said it well. Thank you. Um, I would only reiterate that the Budget Advisory Committee.

121Is open, and I encourage all of you to… You know, if you can, well, that… maybe all of you. As many as possible. You know, um, to really get a, uh, you know, be your ideas will matter at the advisory committee. So, um… Uh, going forward, we have a motion. Uh, all those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? The motion passes. We have a resolution. Uh, we're going on to 14 point… 2.3, budget reductions for 25-26. Um, we need… Yeah, we don't have a… the actual thing now. Yeah, I was gonna ask Dave if he could pull it back up on the screen. I didn't see the… reduction of the TOSA MEP in your… um, new… Um… budget reduction. Want me to speak to that? Yeah, why don't you speak to that? Yeah, I think

122the original TOSA was, um. In the vacancies piece, and then. The… the… other TOSA AP position was not in the original budget, so as part of the recommendation, we were going to add it in. Okay, okay, that makes sense. Thank you. So, do you want to, um… Make a motion. Uh, could I get a… Motion? Well, could you present this first? I mean, you've kind of gone through it, but… Also, that $10,000, I don't think you… Sure, sure, sure. So, I appreciate… I appreciate all of the public comp… the emails, the public comments. Like I said, it was trying to… On very, very short notice from… and I do hear that concern as well. What can we do now? To avoid massive cuts. Next year. By… when… if we make a million… I mean, from

123the… from that budget study session. We make a million dollars in cuts right now. That's the equivalent of cutting $2 million next year, $3 million on the third year out. So, what can we do right now to avoid. I mean, I just can't… I can't wrap my mind around. Cutting $5 million. Next year from the budget. If we don't do something… if we don't act right… I mean. Right, the expert that was in here, right from Rhode Island Associates, said. Matthew, if you don't do something right now, you're… you're… you guys are gonna have a major, major problem next year. So, it's not like we don't take this lightly, but if we don't… the mandate sort of was, we need to cut a million dollars. So, looking through these positions. Uh, yeah, thank you, Dave.

124So, I just want to kind of go through the proposed. Productions. I know this is a revised list, so it's not on the actual board agenda. This is the revised proposed reductions, and I want to talk through… I'll kind of talk through each one. I talked through the reduction of the communications coordinator. This… this was a last-minute change as well, because it really… Um, when you… when you have a certificated management, just like you have a permanent. Um, classified employee. Permanent certificated employee, um, cert… Certificated Management. The person is owed a job for that year, unless you do what we call March 15 layoffs, you can't… you're not laying anybody off. And so the idea was, how can we make a savings here in the district office? Knowing that we have an assistant superintendent Hua.

125Leaving at the end of this month. So, had several conversations about that, and we thought, you know what, if we were to move. Amy Fideggi out of this communications coordinator position. Into educational services and run with two. Directors of educational services for the year as an interim director of educational services. With the understanding that. What she would have to apply next year. This is… this is, um… sort of a stopgap, it would save us to the tune of approximately $192,000. And when we're looking at cutting. Essential reading specialist positions. This made a lot of sense, as far as savings from our district, and real savings in this year. Next year, when we run through Budget Advisory Committee, we can look at doing March 15th layoffs, and we can move pieces around much more easily. But

126this year, this is one of the… one of the moves that we can make. Here at the district office to… save… save money here in administration. Have a… to lessen the impact on the school sites. That's… so that's the first one there. Second one. Reduction of 2.5 reading specialist positions. Essentially, reassigning our permanent employees to teaching positions. Again, as I said before. People are not… our permanent employees are not losing their jobs. This is one move that we can make right now. Right? Ideally, we could have had this conversation back in February, January, February. To make true, you know, true cost savings if we want, if we were planning to do layoffs. This would keep our permanent employees. In a job, in a… their current classification. So that there's no harm to our permanent employees.

127Um, it also essentially brings our reading specialist positions back to the pre-pandemic levels. Which is where the district was contributing. Uh, was giving our school sites. Halftime reading specialist. When I was principal here, we had a half… it was a half-time reading specialist. Um, from the district. The next one here is elimination of current vacancies. Um, Amanda, do you want to talk through… just give some of the examples, I mean, because… and it should say non-essential current vacancies, and what that means is we may have to sh… we may have to shift some… employees around to make sure that we're covering all of our school sites. But they're positions that we feel like we have the bandwidth to do. Do you want to just kind of talk through a few of them? That was, um,

128the TOSA vacancy at Penn Grove. There is a… an account clerk position that is open within the district. It includes… it includes a… library, media. Assistant? The title? Assistant position. Um, there was an additional kindergarten aid. And, um… a couple part-time student advisor positions. And so, these aren't… these aren't positions that, you know, when we say. Um, we may… we're gonna have to shift our staffing around to cover the school sites. It's not like, oh, you're… sorry, your school site has a vacancy. You get… you… you're… we're just not gonna provide you with any services. It was, we were gonna have to shift some people around. And that's okay, because we're… our permanent employees are going to maintain their. Their jobs, their pay for the year. Um. And I think the idea is we're going

129to continue to keep our eyes on things as vacancies come up, we're gonna, you know, if we have a… 5th grade teacher open… vacancy, we're not gonna say, oh, we're not gonna fill that one yet. We have to… there are certain positions that we have to fill. There are some positions where you can say, uh, TK8 is another perfect example. We have to fill that. That's a requirement. There are some positions where we can say, you know, we're gonna float by and do our best to get through this together. Um, the other one is the reduction of… five, uh, five federally funded sections. So, at the comprehensive sites. We have… every single comp… every single comprehensive site, correct, Amanda, has. At least one. Some have 4 or 5. Federally funded sections, and the idea is,

130and this is what we do with master scheduling all the time, it's pulling one section and saying, hey. We're gonna have to make do. Instead of, um… X number of sections, you're going to have one less. And we're gonna make it work, and we're gonna make it work there. Um, adjustments to feel… to… This should say, yeah, to field trips. I was just going to add to that that, um, it is not part of the… the traditional allocation for the bell schedule. These are additional sections that have been given to sites. Yes. And they're federally funded, and we know that federal funding is… Some of it's going away, some of it's being impacted, so we're trying to just brace for… what this is gonna look like next year. The whole idea is to… how can

131we prepare ourselves. So that it's not such a huge hit next year. Um, the next one is adjustments to field trip and athletics, so the board just recently, I don't… Was it 2 years? Right before… last year. I think right before I left, there… the board, um, gave an additional. 206… I believe it was about $260,000 to the school sites to use for field trips and athletics. Prior to that, we didn't… there wasn't… that money… that money did not exist. And so what we're saying is, instead of giving all $260,000, we're gonna give 50% of that. $130,000. And that's not just… there's a… transportation is over a million dollar… over a million… well over a million dollar budget. This is just the supplement that we were giving to sites. To support… to support with a

132field trip in athletics. So we're giving half of what we originally planned. Now, that amounts to, um… one point… a little over $1.1 million in reductions. The proposed addition here, we had talked about allocating. $10,000 per elementary site for us to do some after-school reading and, uh, reading intervention. For teachers who are interested, so I would kind of put myself in the position of an elementary principal role. And one of the things that I would be screaming for is. I would love to work with a team. Under… under educational services. A team of teachers who, at the school site, who have the bandwidth, who want to volunteer… not volunteer, who want to volunteer to do this kind of. Uh, after-school intervention. If each school site, uh. The amounts have changed. If we did… Let me

133just go… uh… $10,000 per school site. Divided by $55 an hour, which is the hourly rate for teachers, would be about $180. Almost 182 hours of intervention. That we could work with a small group of teachers at the school site. Target, uh, first, second, third graders, maybe 4th graders. And… oh, thank you. And, um… do some after-school, some targeted after-school intervention. High impact, low prep. Intervention that we know, research-based, would… with a certificated teacher. Um, that we know would make a big impact. Is that through ELOT funding, or…? Do you want to talk about the… because we could, I mean, we could use supplemental restricted cell. So, um, though a lot of people heard in the governor's budget that there was an increase to. Elop funding that was only for districts that are over 5.

134Unduplicated count. Meaning that… or… so we actually just received our allocation for this year, and we are receiving $140,000 less. Than last year. So that's another area where we will have limited. Resources outside of the… days that we offer for the… those students. We haven't gotten… we haven't gotten any good news yet, but… For the… on the budget front. But $10,000 for elementary school site will go… will… start the conversa… we'll start the conversation at the school sites, come up with a plan, working with Ed Services. And support our most struggling readers, so… It's a… it's a nod to that. So the total cost savings would be. Just about $1,050,000, so just over our target of a million dollars. Which would equate to $2 million cost savings next year. So instead of $5 million, we'd

135be looking at. Uh, right around 3 million, which… still… still sounds… Terrible. This is all terrible. All the comments from the public. Yes, no one wants to… no one wants to reduce our reading specialists. In fact. When we received one-time funds, the reason that we had 7. We went from 4 to 7 is because we saw the need and the… students who… the reason that we added more mental health, the reason that we added all of these positions. Um, is because we saw the need in our students. The reason that we added, we never had TOSA APs at school sites. Prior… and we're talking specifically about elementary… I'm talking about elementary school sites. That didn't exist before in this district. We added those because we saw the need. And so this is really looking at

136what was added with one-time funding from the federal government. That we are not receiving anymore. And… the board, the governing team's obligation to this district to remain fiscally solvent. Without looking at this financial cliff. That's going to come the following year. So, that's the revised… recommendation. Any discussion before we move it? I don't know if I should save this for future business, but, um, I mean, I was one of the biggest proponents of the field trips and athletic extra funds, just because as we look at the changing landscape of our. Demographics of our students, we see that. Close to 50% of our high school students. Our, uh, socioeconomically disadvantaged, and we were trying to. Provide more resources for them to participate in athletics, and one of the biggest theories was transportation, as well as a

137safety issue. I'll speak for myself, I've been a parent in this district. In this district since 2017, and I had never been asked to fill out. The parent emergency contact info… insurance. So, I'm okay with us, um, making this reduction and amending the transportation policy, as long as we are still keeping student safety at the forefront and making sure that. Parent drivers are actually being cleared, because that was not happening until last year across the district. Um, so I'll just speak to that. It does concern me, though, because it had been an issue forever. Um, yeah, just echo what everyone else says, these are not easy… decisions. Um, I'm furious at our government and our state. We're supposedly a state that cares about kids, and we withhold money for years. And then… what do we

138expect to happen? So… Yeah, just appreciate everyone's work and time on this. Okay, anybody else? Ryan? Um, so we've had… we've had a couple mentions on the transportation policy, um. Can we dive into that just a little bit more? Um… Are we going to be amending it? On what time scales, or what kind of proper notice? Are we gonna delay it, like, 2 months, or something like that? So again. Uh, parents have full engagement and updates, and we have. Time for folks to fill out the background and go through the background checks for the, you know, any kind of change in policy, so… just wondering what is the thought on moving forward on. On transportation policy. Changes. Um, yeah, so I think probably it would be best to bring it back to the next board

139meeting, at least as a discussion. Um, a year ago, the district, or the board implemented a. If it is with… 22 miles or under, we allowed for parent drivers, or 21 miles and under. Over 22 miles, um. We require the use of either district vehicles, public transportation. Or, um, charter buses. So, with that, we did increase the funding because, uh, somebody mentioned, the, um. The chartering the buses is… probably between 800 and 1,200, um, per trip. We are in the process of still growing our transportation department. We do only have, um, two diesel bus… two large diesel buses. And outside of that, um. There are a lot… districts are just now implementing, um. The electric buses, so we're starting to build a pipeline of being able to charge our buses. At other sites. So that

140is another thing that we had hoped to have more. Places to charge, so we're not able to use our electric buses on very many trips, so I think. All of that has played into needing to continue to charter buses. And a football game on a Friday for both schools, numerous buses, so there's just… the costs have been extremely high, and. The board was trying to implement a plan… a plan to help, um. With the cost for athletic teams. The other thing that we did was. We redid all of our field trip forms, our paperwork, and. Came up with a process to ensure that parent drivers have gone through the background. The insurance check. And license, and are on our DMV pool. So we… we do… have a better process in place for checking those requirements

141than we did a year ago. That if the board chooses to change the. Mileage for parent drivers that I think that we can work on communication. With our school sites, but, um. We did reduce this. Right now, it looks like we're reducing the transportation by about. 50%, so that will give each site. Allocation for field trips to start the year as we make changes to make sure anything. Field trips that are pre-scheduled, or if we have a determined if it's still over… 100 miles, there are some state best practices for when to. Allow or not allow parent drivers overnight trips. Ski excursions and things like that. So, I think bringing it to the next board meeting for discussion is probably the next best step. I agree, and uh, just to provide guidance to staff. You

142know, I would want, um, a transition period if the board… if the policy does change. So, for example, if we do revisit this at the end of August. Uh, I do think, like, a one-month period, so again. Uh, throughout August, teams, field trips can continue to plan for, like, September, and so there's still, like, a several-week advance. I do not want to see, um… something where we pass something in August that's implemented, or, like, confusion on whether it's going to be implemented, like, September 1st. So, um, that's my one ask, and we start. Uh, being clear to, uh, uh, staff and. Folks that this can be revisited, but it will have at least a one-month kind of, like, transition period. So this will be amending and or adopting the board policy, so when we go

143through that process. We will want to be specific if we approve a new. Policy in September, that it will not go into effect. Until… pick the date. If not, it goes into effect immediately. I think just some more background, we were seeing some disparities in, like, teams raising money, like, some teams were raising enough that they could charter buses for the whole season, and some weren't, and so just to make sure that. All students and teams had access. Um, to transportation as well, was part of the reason that we did this, but… things have changed, so… Oh, no, I mean, I hear you on the policy, and everything makes sense. It's just as we are changing things that, you know, impact. You know, students and parents, uh, I just think… We have to be as

144clear and direct and… ensure there's, you know, no confusion. Um, and so folks can also continue to plan, you know, field trips as under the current policy. Um, throughout, you know, at least September. Okay, I think we need to get a, uh, get going on the… this budget reduction. So, um, I need a motion. I move to approve. I second. Can we be clear on what we're moving to approve? Are we… Moving to approve the one on the agenda, or the new recommendation? I move to approve the new recommendations. I second. Okay? All those in favor? Um, sorry, I'm doing time to talk about this a little bit more. So, I have a few additional concerns. On some of the consulting contracts, and whether, you know, whether or not they were looked at, it wasn't

145just, like, staff, but… We have talked about, you know, potentially, uh, North Bay security as cost neutral because of the. What they do, um, in helping with absenteeism, and talking with, um, but, like, there are, like, I don't know if that's… Um, you know, the impact there, but I would like to hear from, like, staff or… to consider, like, moving forward throughout the fall. Um, whether, you know, we're gonna continue with some of this, uh, of the contracted work, that is. You know, equivalent to… one or two staff positions. So with that… would that be a future business, or I don't know, since we don't have the numbers for… I think that would be future business. We can… I'm putting it down here to discuss it for discussion going forward. Okay. To have updates on…

146you know, possibly changing our contracts? Um, looking at our contracts, seeing what we can adjust. And then you said maybe some staff. And I mean, we can still make cuts, is that right? Yes. Okay. Uh, Jason… But we can't just throw… contract. Yeah. We can still contract the contract. Not to any staff members that are contracted. Right? Yeah. Well, and we still are under the same restrictions as now. Yes, I was… I mean, if it's okay, just, I know that there was some concern, and we've also… well, I think we all feel the concern about, like, the urgency around this. I… It is yes to the contracts. Also. The whole point about saving… having positions for our current staff is that we're in a window right now where we can do that, where we have.

147Some contracts for… For our staff members that aren't… that aren't finalized, where we can move our existing staff members in, so… That's different than the contract. But isn't that a separate topic? And it's not on the agenda, so we can't really… we can do it for future business, but we can't do it right now. Yeah, I think Jason's point, what I think maybe there was confusion, if this was going… If this could go to a future meeting, any reductions that we make to current vacancies. Need to happen this evening so Jason can finish. The contract piece of it, so I'm… Sorry if I misspoke, I was talking specifically to, um. Consulting contracts. Right, so I, um… I understand. Like, we are, like, weeks away from the start of the school year, and we have a

148small opportunity to adjust some of the. Like, hired staff, and I would like to… Um, as we have to make some major cuts, but again, every cut that we make earlier in this year. Um, saves money, uh, like, again, 2 to 1. Going into next year, so I would like to… Um, you know, as we did a quick and deep dive on actual staff, but, like. On the contracting out, I still want… that should be a quicker conversation for… In the next, you know, month or so. Um, to, again, see if we can get ahead of some of the additional, like, deeper cuts. You know, um, that we would have to make in February next year. Thank you. Okay, I'll… we'll, um, right, we'll do that for future business, for sure. Alright, uh, we have

149a motion, um, on the floor. Uh, for the revised… budget reduction, um, for 25-26. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Any opposed? All right. The motion passes. Moving on with our action items, uh, 14… Point… 2.4. Appointment of senior citizen representative to the Citizens Oversight Committee. That is not me. I was trying to not giggle when the mic was on. So, um, we have a few vacancies for our Citizens Oversight Committee. Um, unfortunately. Michael Webb, who was a long-standing member, was moving out of the area, so he… resigned, but we were lucky enough to receive an application from. Linda Scheel. Shaylee, sorry, I apologize. Um, who is… you cannot be a district employee, and she had worked, I believe, as a substitute also, but… She is no longer going to be doing that… working in

150that capacity, so now she is eligible. To be on the committee. Great. Any… anybody? I moved to a point Linda Shaley as the Senior Citizen Representative to the Citizens Oversight Committee. Second. Discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? No. The motion passes. Now we have, uh, 14.2.5 approval of expanded. Pre-qualified architectural pool for measured. Aa and measure Z projects. So those are our most recent bonds, right? Thank you. So, tonight we bring forward, um, an additional pool of architects. We had. Five architects that we had in January added to our pool, and. Now, with the implementation of the first bond series. We are in need of expanding our pool, as we anticipate a lot of work going on at the same time. Um, what it… it's really… it's a… it's a fine line. You

151want to have enough architects that you. Can go out and you can get fair pricing, and what you're looking for, but we don't want to have a pool so large that we have architects that we are not giving. Work, too, because when they. Submit an RFP to be a part of a pool, they… they are holding staff for that, so… We determined, um, with the program our size and a district our size, that 10. Is a fair number, and will give us. Options and give architects that are in the pool work. So. Um, we opened our RFP, and we actually received 23 responses. Which was far more than we were… and we had… grandfathered in the 5 that we already had, so they didn't need to resubmit. So on top of that. Um, so we

152held interviews, we did have to postpone our interviews because it took us so long to get through. The RFPs, but, um, it is a great group of, um. Architects, and one of the firms, Verde Design. Is… They are all local within the Bay Area, but is a, um… landscape architect, so this will be the first landscape architect, specifically, that we have in our pool. All of the other firms. Have landscape services within their architectural pool. Thank you. I'm just looking over the list. So you have 10 altogether, so you had to choose… 5 from that 23. So we had 23. We interviewed 8. And then, um, of that… of the 8 we interviewed, 4 were selected. We… through, um, we did not need to interview Verde, because they were the only ones within. Their qualifications,

153so it was a pretty, um… So, the word's not coming, but it was… it was kind of a good process. It was an honor for. The fact that this many, um, firms want to work with our district. Yeah. Who was on the interview committee? That's a great question. Um, we had a representative from Educational Services. Maintenance and operations, our capital facilities manager. Myself and, um, Van Pelt as part of their. The new agreement, they actually ran the whole interview process, which. Was amazing, though. I'm a lot of money. And they sat on it. Excellent, excellent, I'm glad. Okay, any other comments about this? Brian? Okay, uh, I need a motion. I move to approve the expanded pre-qualified architectural pool. I'll second. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Any opposed? All right, the motion passes. All

154right, you're off the hook now. Uh, 14 point… 3.1 Educational Services. Uh, Tracy Benson, Leadership Development. Yeah, thank you. One of our priority areas is really focusing around our school administrators. We know that effective and transformational leaders impact schools positively. Um, this contract really begins, um, a focus with our school leaders, uh, and. Many of our school leaders are new, I don't think any are in their current role have been there longer than about 3 years, maybe 4 years. Um, I know it's not the great timing to bring in more contracts, but, you know, the work is really important if we were to move our schools forward. And the funds, um… are from a remaining educator effectiveness funds. A one-time funding meant to provide professional learning and promote educator equity, quality, and effectiveness. And that

155fund, and you can correct me, is winding down and will be, um, sunsetting, so it's just really utilizing the remainder of that. That's restricted? It's restricted, and it's specifically for… So it's supplemental restricted. It's not so… it's… Not so much supplemental, it's restricted. So it's not funding that we could use, for example, to save a position. Looked… already looked, you know, took a look at the deep diving this. Educator effectiveness money was going… when it sunsets, it goes away. If we don't use it, we lose it. This is to do some… training with Dr. Benson with our… Particularly with our secondary principals, we want to just talk about, is it about 10 to 12? Yeah, we can finalize the cohort, but it would… probably predominantly be with our secondary administration. And potentially some of the

156elementary principals as well, yeah. I was just going to ask that the remaining funds need to be spent by June of 2026. And this educator effectiveness, it was a block grant, a lot like the other arts and music. That is just specific, but… I think when we throw the word grant in, it gets a little… confusing, but it is, um. Only allowable use of it is for staff development. Do you have any questions? Do you have comments? I just have comments. I've worked with Dr. Benson, he's amazing. I was in one of his anti-racist leadership. Institutes, and I just think, with Tony leaving, like, his equity lens is just so vast and so sharp, and… I just feel like there's gonna be a void there, and so if we can, um, any… Money that we

157can use now, and it sounds like we have to use it now to really, um… build up folks' equity lens and really look at anti-racist practices for our district, I think is… money well spent, so I'm really happy that Tony brought this forward as his parting gift to all of us, so… I agree. Um, I have a couple of comments, um… So, given the fact that there's this leftover money, and there's two different options that are… you know, uh, provided on the contract. That I imagine we're choosing between. And so, um, but the substantial difference in cost, and I was very cost-conscious looking this over. And so I was going to… recommend just doing option one, which is one cohort. Um, but it is only for 10. Participants, and I don't know if that… would

158be enough. So… Is there money to actually do the option 2? I think originally our plan was just option one, based on what we… I think that would… that seems like, you know, my other comment was just that we've had. Two other organizations that have been doing these equity trainings, so… I, um, hesitate to give them a big contract, and let's see how this contract is working, and I know that you guys have experience with them. And I did want to say that I trust you absolutely implicitly, Tony. In bringing this forward, because you've always championed creating. An equity-focused district here. And, um, your passion. Your commitment to this is just gonna be really sorely missed, so… Um, you know, it's… I don't want to not do it. But I do… I do have reservations

159just about the scope of it. But I have no reservations about you. Although in option one. We can't, if we need to add additional participants, we can. It says that? Yeah, it's $2,200 per additional person? Yeah, okay. So, if we want to put 12 in there… Yeah, and I think, yeah, we've had two other groups. And I think the difference with this one is… you get, like, 10 sessions of anti-rece… of anti-racist leadership coaching. After the initial four, um… Leadership Institutes, so… It's really focusing on, like, a problem of practice that the administrator develops with the coach and works through to benefit, oops, all the students in the district, so… or at least on their site. Potentially the district, if it's district staff. It did seem very targeted and very, very, uh, you know, like.

160Supportive, and in that coaching piece. There wasn't, like, a ton of Zoom and… Right. You know, Maddie, I also kind of had the same thought, too. That you had of, like, again? We need to do this, but then we have so many new… admin that we do need to do it again. Are at budget adoption, our estimated actuals for educator effectiveness was. A remaining balance of $163,000. Well, that answers that question. Okay, perfect. So, I need… did you have any comments? About it? Okay. Caitlin? Okay. So I think I need a motion… for… and choosing option one, I believe. I move to approve the contract using option 1. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion passes. Are we going to be involved in that at all, Tony? No, no. But just add me.

161Okay, moving on. Uh, student services… 14.4.1 approval of board policy 5131.8, Mobile Communication Devices. Okay, so this is our… Um, our new board policy, um… That puts in the timeline for our phone-free. Environments across TK12, starting in the 26-27 school year. Um, and continuing the practices that we have in place at the sites. For DK through 12 and 25-26. Thank you. Anybody have any comments? I just… I want to thank you. It was… I had some questions before, and this is very clear. The way you outlined the timeline, which gives us a year. To figure out the next year, so thank you. No other comments? Okay, I need a motion. I'm sorry, um, because I do have a couple… we had, um… One… We had one, uh, commenter talk about, um. I think we had

162a couple, talk about collecting data on disciplinary. Uh, to ensure, again, like, proper steps and. Parental notification. Um… So, I was wondering, you know, and then second, number two is that. Um, have we updated? And I don't think we have, but, like, the reference. This resolution references board policy. You know, additional policies that we haven't yet to pass. We've had some. Is that correct? Sorry, we've… I was so focused on budget, I lost my notes on this one, but… No, it references, um, search and seizure, and we have a search and seizure board policy. Okay. So, uh, I guess then, let's just go back to my first, my first point. How are we going to collect. Data to ensure… because this is going to be a learning experience. Um, I think for the district, you

163know, and as we are learning from other districts. Uh, but are we going to be collecting data, or asking teachers to, again, and then, uh, sharing this. You know, disciplinary actions with. With parents? Yes, so we will have, um, the information, so, uh, Envision, sort of, a lot of this language lives in the handbook, however, we'll want to do some separate Parent Square notifications to students, kind of, as a standalone, as we. Ready students and staff to come back. This'll be a part of. Um, our principals, particularly the high school level, having those conversations with staff, making sure that systems are all, um, in the same place. When it comes to discipline, so when we'll follow our same referral process at our high schools, and so. Were able to track some data around, for example,

164disruption, defiance, and if it's specific to a cell phone. Violation, so we'll be able to look at, um, you know, how widespread are violations, um, happening, but also in the… when we look at our PCS discipline matrix that will also be. Part of the conversations need to be, how are we implementing this, um, fairly, and not. Targeting any particular groups. Um, of students, and making sure that staff. Understands those procedures and, um, as we review. Every year about, you know, disciplinary referrals and procedures and making sure that we're. Applying and enforcing school rules. In a way that does not disproportionately impact any one group over another. Good, thank you. Excellent. Thank you. Okay, um, any, uh… oh, I need a motion. I move to approve. The board policy 5131.8 Mobile Communication Devices. All those in

165favor? Aye. Did you want discussion? You could have discussed before. All right, please do. Before our vote. Okay, um, sorry. I, uh, I was waiting for time, because… I try, on the first try to only have questions to the presenter and on the policy, but… I think this is an incredibly important policy to start moving forward. I want to thank the staff. The committee, the parents, who put a lot of time into this. Um, and to, uh, district staff. Um, I think, you know. We are, you know, gearing up for the long-term policy and lessons learned. Um, I do, you know. Want to, you know. Uh, you know, continuously to revisit how this is being implemented, and whether. You know, we want to start transitioning earlier, or just, like, have, like, I think more of

166a… you know, a discouragement of… using cell phones at all on campus without. You know, any kind of, like, you know, official policy, or… but just, like, starting the transition earlier and getting folks used to it, and encouraging parents. To, you know, utilize, like, email to contact their students, um, during the day, and things like that. I think this is a good step forward, um, and moves the… the district, um, closer to, um. The new state law that's going to go into effect, and I'm looking forward to seeing how this is rolled out. Thank you. All right. Now we vote. We have a motion on the table. He wanted to discuss. So, let's redo it. We have a motion on the table. Um, all those in favor? Hi. Hi. Any opposed? Wonderful. Thank you. Okay,

167we are done with action. Um… We are going on to discussion information only. Uh, that William Settlement Quarterly Uniform Complaint Report for April 1st. 2025 through June 30th, 2025. Jason. So we report on this every quarter, and this is, um… for April 1st through June 30th, and we had no complaints. Yay! Is it really only every quarter? This seems like more. Uh, okay, so our 16.1.2, this 2025 CSBA conference attendance. So this is an informational item. The CSBA Annual Conference and Trade Shows in Sacramento this year, December 3rd through December 5th. Past years, several board members have gone to the conference. Um, the… the cost per attendee is about $1,350 for the conference registration and hotel. Um, the budget has been designated $3,000 for board-related travel and conference this year. So, if… So… mindful of

168all the conversations around the budget. I just want to… I wanted to put that out there, because that's coming, be transparent about it. Um, if, you know, if. One or two board members are, um, are attending. I just wanted to let everyone know that. Kind of the budget. We've had years where everyone's gone, right, where we had. Um, and then this year, where I think it'd be prudent to just either send nobody, or maybe send one per… I just wanted to put it out there for information and discussion. I volunteered to not go. I do too. I didn't want to go, even if we had money. Me too. So that's 3 out of 5. It's incredibly valuable, and I do hope that… it is. I mean. We wouldn't have, um… Brandon Fleming, Hardy Brown, these

169are all people that we met through CSBA conference specifically. Yeah. It has been very valuable. I mean, it's been some value added. We would not have known… We would not have known that you can use parcel tax money specifically. For teacher salaries, because it was one of the first ones I went to, and Davis had just passed one. So I hear, no, no, no, Joanna? I don't need to go. No. Um, what about Ryan? You heard Ryan because… I was told that as part of my hazing initiation… Yes. I actually think that you would… I think it may be wise. I actually don't dislike it, but I feel like if we're in a year where we have to cut back… Yeah, that's nothing. Other than that, and we can figure out also ways to cut

170costs, like, you know, I can… you know, uh, it's only… it's a 90-minute drive, so I'm saying hotel. Yeah, we're looking at in Sacramento this year. There's a really excellent. Board member session. That I think you'd get a lot out of. And you can report back to… to everybody, you know, the sessions in which they're in. We'll FaceTime you during any good sessions. Just, like, call us, and, like, put the screen up. Yeah. All right, so we're… we're settled on that. Okay, and then, uh… Um, Esmeralda, the regulation… student services? Uh, Regulation 5125.3 Challenging Student Records. Yes, so we are adding this administrative regulation that we have not had a part of our… as a part of our board policy manual. From time to time, we do have parents that, um, challenge, would like to

171challenge the contents of their student records, and so. This regulation ensures that we have a process in place. Um, and in regulation that I can point our families to in the event they would like to. To use the process. So this is coming for… forward for information only. That was my main question. It was, like, this… this… we've never had a policy before. We have a policy around student records, but we don't have this administrative regulation that addresses challenges in student records. Correct. Okay, alright. I have challenged my child student record. I didn't know there was a policy, I didn't actually care. I just found… Correct. There is education code, and so I will point parents in the direction of, um. Education code. However, it's important that we codify these and have them in our

172board policy manual, so… Matty mess. I have a question. Is it part of Ed Code about, um… if they challenge a grade. It's only the teacher that can make that change, yes? Yes, but they can also appeal the process. What do you mean by that? So, in the… Oh, it isn't… yeah, I read it. You are the appealing pros… you are the appealing body, yes. You can say that if there were some other issues at play, and you feel like it was unjustified that your child had a certain grade for a certain issue. Um, at least that's what I did. But, um… So what is the parent notification process about around this? Or, like, is this just, like, in the handbook, or…? What is… I don't know, I'd have to check our data confirmation, um,

173but we would need to add this so that parents see the actual. Process, so we could maybe do that as a standalone, since our year-round schools have already started. Thank you. Is this something that counselors need to be… actively aware of, or just principles? So, who would this go… So this, this, yes, so if we have, um… a challenge to the record. Um, those are usually brought to my attention on… on the disciplinary end of things, I will say. Um, if it's a grade, it may, you know, go to Ed Services. Um, so depending on what the content of the record is and who would be that, um, it's the superintendent's designee, which is essentially assistant superintendent. From there, um, based on these procedures of 1 through 6, then we would determine… make a determination,

174and then the family would have 30 days to appeal. Um, the superintendent's designee decision to the board. Any other… Uh, questions for discussion? Okay. Thank you. I can't believe we didn't have an actual ER. Okay. We're going on to future business. I have down the revised transportation policy, um, after the budget cuts. Right? Yep. Um, and uh… and then I have one of… I think we've brought this up before, but I really think it's essential, especially since we have. Tracy Benson, um… to develop an equity statement. Um, we… you know, Caitlin, Matthew, and I went to, um, an equity workshop in Sacramento. That was… really amazing. And at that time, they said we really needed to develop. An equity statement for the district. So that it's very clear. That we're an equity-focused… district, and I

175think it will help. I see, as an overarching. You know, um, priority. Um, that's driving everything, and that if we have that statement. I just think it will really establish, this is who we are. And I think that that's certainly what I want, but I would like to have. Um, maybe during… this leadership, um, development, um. Workshops that they can help in the cohorts develop something. We were given, like, a lot of information around it. So if you needed that, but I think, you know, I think Trixie Fenson would be able to do that very. Very well. Anyway, that would be my future business. On the note of contracts and really going through a lot of the contracts, um. What I've advocated for in the past, and maybe having an official. Way of measuring the

176value of the contracts. Because I feel like sometimes we just get a contract for renewal, and it's… like, not hearsay, but it's really anecdotal evidence of whether it's worked or not, and with these bigger ones that are… $200, $300, $400,000. Um, really seeing how they're effective and… and how effective they are compared to what a full-time. Staff with salary and benefits. Would be instead of constantly outsourcing to contractors, which is… what the federal government always wants us to do, because they want to privatize everything so they can kill it. On that front, you know, also. Which contracts, like this… semester are ones that we can void or cancel, uh, versus ones that we have to, you know, and then have a review of those particular ones and see, again. Just like we did with staff,

177but have that hard conversation with the board and with the public, whether. Um, you know, we continue these con… like, these particular, you know, uh, you know, contracts. Uh, versus what Caitlin was saying, as they come up for renewal. Measuring what the contract was, and the expectations, and how they performed on their… on the contract. And some of the contracts, right, are… can be up to a certain amount to use, and so we just monitor and be… as prudent as we possibly can with those… that type of contract. And to… to, um… on your ask, is that are… We're looking at contracts that have been previously board-approved that have termination clauses in them. Or contracts moving forward. I think there's both, yes. Perfect. Great. Anything else? Are we done? I know we talked about the

178class last year, maybe the year before, but we still have not done ours. Special education… study session, so… I just… I would… before we… before we end, I just want to, um… say just a few words. This is our Assistant Superintendent, Tony Hua's last board meeting. I just want to accommodate all the work that he's done over the last four years and a month. Um, it's been… it's been an honor and a pleasure serving with… with Tony. Um, he is an equity warrior, and he's just a, um… He's an incredible human being, and a… fantastic educator. I've been a… it's been a real privilege. Um, to get to learn and work with him, so… Just thank you, thank you, Tony, for all your work these past 4 years for. For Petaluma City Schools, and um…

179And we're gonna miss you. Thank you. I have no words, um… to say everything I want to say, but I just have deep gratitude for all the love and welcome and… And support you've given me these last four years, um… You know, it's been, um, a complete honor working here, and I hope that I've added as much value and meaning as you've all added to. To my life, so… yeah. So, you know, there's a saying, uh, there are last things and things that last, and my love for… for PCS is both. So, thank you all. Thanks, Tony. Thank you, Tony, and thank you for always talking me off the edge of the… Really, your kindness was always… you know, just a great reminder. Thank you. Okay