PCS Board of Education Meeting: November 19, 2024

001Lucky, you know. Thank you. All right. Are we ready to record? Cool. I'm reconvening this meeting at 6.05. Thank you all for your patience. We are just coming out of closed session. And now Trustee Cloud is going to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. All right. We're going to start with our students of the month and we have one Colt from Kenilworth to recognize if Kenilworth can come on up. Duty of the month, November 2024. Kennerorth Junior High School is proud to introduce our November student of the Month. Emily Chavola Martinez. Emily has been chosen Student of the Month because she is hardworking, motivated, polite. friendly and respectful. Emily has maintained excellent grades at Kenworth and has impressed her teachers by being a positive leader By example, on campus in her classes. Mr. Radke,

002Emily's science teacher, enthusiastically shared. Emily is a standout student in class. She is engaged, has strong worth. ethic and is a helpful group partner. Emily is unafraid to speak her mind, ask questions, and advocate for herself and others. Emily goes above and beyond using her bilingual skills to assist students learning English. Emily is a genuine pleasure to have in class. Emily's leadership skills have extended beyond the Kenilworth classrooms. Impressively, as a seventh grader, Emily participated in the Petaluma City Schools Safety and Culture Forum held at Petaloma High School. Outside of school, Emily enjoys helping her dad at his job Working and caring for horses at a local stable. Emily is also an active participant and volunteer at her church. After completing Casa Grande High School, Emily would like to attend UC Davis. where she hopes

003to earn a degree in veterinary medicine that focuses on equine care. We at Kennel Worth are confident that Emily has a bright future ahead of her. Congratulations, Emily. I was scanning the audience, but I just want to confirm that Emily's not here. Is that correct? Oh, Emily, come. I looked at you and then I was like, I don't know, come on. We want to celebrate you. Let's see McNair. What do you say for Emily? Emily's friends and family, if you could also stand up. So we want to recognize you. Congratulations. And moving on to Petaluma Junior High, can we have the readers and the students come on up? Petaluma Junior High is proud to announce our Oh, sorry. Never mind. Predaluma Junior High School is proud to introduce our November Student of the Month, Tristan

004Melcon. Tristan's teachers chose him as Student of the Month because he is an exemplary student in many ways. Tristan demonstrates integrity, drive, and dedication. His teachers share that Tristan is hardworking and helpful. He can often be seen explaining concepts to his teammates in math and engaging in lively group discussions. In addition to being an outstanding scholar, Tristan also plays the oboe in the school band and participates on the PJHS cross team and attends the chess club weekly. Tristan says that he enjoys many things about PGHS, especially activities like playing chess and running cross country with his peers. Tristan likes to push himself and he's looking forward to being able to take more challenging math classes in high school. After high school, Tristan plans to attend college and pursue a career in math or coding. In

005his spare time, Tristan likes to read and play soccer. Tristan's family describes him as an analytical trailblazer who does not back down from a challenge. Tristan is the oldest of four siblings and imparts his wisdom to his younger siblings. Importantly, Tristan is modest about his accomplishments and he is He is kind at heart. We are lucky to have Tristan representing PJHS as our November Student of the Month. Congratulations, Tristan. Again, Tristan's friends and family, please stand up so we can celebrate you all too. Petaluma Junior High is proud to introduce our November Student of the Month, Billy Goldstein. Billy was chosen as PGHS Student of the Month by her teachers who describe her as an intelligent leader who inspires others. Billy has an excellent work ethic and distinguishes herself with her intellectual career. curiosity and

006confidence. Billy's favorite thing about PGHS is the friendly and supported stuff, especially Mr. McClintock. She also enjoyed playing sports such as basketball and volleyball. is also very social and enjoys spending her time with her friends. Billy's excited about the expanded elective offerings in high school. Billy plans to attend college, but she is not sure where or what she would like to study. Billy's family is also incredibly proud of her accomplishments. Brett, Billy's dad. shared that she is a vibrant young person who is dedicated to her academics and her extracurriculars. He also noted that Billy has the support of an amazing supportive friend group. Billy is passionate about volleyball and sees and enjoys the coaching and leadership of the PJHS volleyball team. Billy's family cannot wait to see what the future holds for her, and neither

007can we. We are lucky to have Billy representing PJHS as our November Student of the Month. Congratulations, Billy. Congratulations, Billy. And can we have Billy's friends and family please stand and be celebrated. Congratulations again, Tristan and Billy, and thank you to all of our readers. And moving on to Casa Grande, let's hear about some gauchos. First, we have mariana Sorry, I cannot pronounce her last name. Mariana is currently a senior at Casa Grane High School who has taken many rigorous honors AP and dual enrollment courses. The challenges posed by the courses as well as the success she has arrived through hard work has inspired her to attend a four-year university and major in economics, with the ultimate goal of becoming a corporate lawyer, Mariana has always loved teaching others about subject and topics she finds

008interesting, which is why she has been working at Kumont, a learning center as a math tutor since she was 12 years old. Mariana has also works as a game master at Paloma Escape Room and has a And as a bookkeeper and secretary for a construction company, Mariana's passion is to share her interests with others Others also led her to become the co-founder of Costa Grandes Film Club, which focuses on The viewing and discussion of movies. but also allowed Mariana to participate in a country in county film festival and the summer, Mariana volunteers at Russian scouts organization teaching children about the language, culture, religion, and history of the country she immigrated from at 10 years old, Russia. Mariana also loves volunteering at Tax Aid, a program helping low-income individuals plead their taxes for free in the

009Bay Area. Outside of school, Mariana can be found learning about history and rural cultures. Reading, writing short stories of her own, or working for a trip to Europe this summer. I do not believe either of our students of the months will be here tonight. Let's give it up for Mariana. Next is Alyssa Lopez. Alyssa is currently a senior attending Casa Grane High School who has made it a point to challenge yourself throughout her schoolwork and lead herself and her academics with ambition and creativity. Since elementary school, Alyssa has been eager to learn about all subjects and blend her problem-solving skills with her imagination. At Casa Grande, she has taken 18 honors slash AP courses Been a member of the Honor Society for four years and shown her kindness and charisma by earning the Betty Pruvis

010Humanitarian Award in 2022. While taking the most advanced classes the school offers, she also loves to immerse herself And competitive dancing, traveling, reading, writing, and baking. At his studio in Petaluma, she frequently volunteers to help share her passion For a dance with other children and wishes to continue this in her future, Alyssa hopes to attend a four-year university to continue her academic growth and gain new experiences. Thank you for reading for CASA. And next up, Petaluma High. Any readers and any students of the month that are in the audience? Okay, first up, we have Michelleen. Michelleen has come a long way and definitely feels empowered. With the culture shock she's experienced coming from one of the Caribbean island countries to the United States. She has had to learn new perspectives on life and get used

011to them. Michelin has certainly grown since her first day at Petaluma High School. She learned to be confident in herself through the courses she has taken. Aside from the difficulty of the classes, Michelin has had to deal with the struggle of understanding English. With the help of her teachers, she can say that her English has improved a lot. With her fluency in Spanish, French, Haitian, Creole, and now English. Michelin is going to use these blessings to help others in the future as a psychologist. Michelin's teachers all say she is one of their hardworking students in their classes. Ms. Whedon is a very resilient and forward-thinking student. She sets goals for herself and works steadily to achieve them. Though she has encountered plenty of obstacles along her journey immigrating to the United States, she is friendly,

012positive, and pushes forward. She is committed to learning English in addition to simultaneously nurturing her skills In Spanish and French by taking both AP Spanish and AP French. In her interactions and discussions with other students, she is thoughtful. thinks deeply about subjects and shares her thoughts and opinions readily. Her teachers appreciate her desire to participate in both small and large group discussions. Her participatory nature, dedication, and her culturally diverse experiences living in different countries make her an asset to the class. Her teachers feel very lucky to have had the privilege of teaching her. Michelleen plans to attend Santa Rosa Junior College next year. Congratulations. Congratulations, Michelin. And do we have Micheline's friends and family in the audience? Can you all please stand? Okay, up next, we have Sandy Maldonana Lemis. She's a senior who has

013attended Petaluma High School for all four years. She demonstrates passion for her school community by participating in many school programs and activities. She is an AP and Honor student, president of the Bilingual Student Ambassadors, and a linker. She has enjoyed being a part of the school community, especially with hosting Noche Espana, where families got to enjoy Hispanic culture with a live band and authentic Hispanic food. BSA has helped her stay engaged and involved on campus. She believes this small club where she is allowed to express her cultural identity has helped her feel confident and proud of her heritage and also inspire others to feel the same. Petaluma High School has not only enhanced our leadership skills with others, but has also taught her to be the leader in her own life as well. Next year,

014she hopes to attend a four-year college where she will study political science in hopes to one day become an attorney to continue to help her community. She would like to First, thank God over all things in her mother, spiritual parents, best friends, and school faculty. She is eternally grateful for Petaluma High School and the many opportunities and memories it has created. She is beyond excited to soon start this new journey in her life. She hopes to leave a small legacy at Petaluma High School, but also take a piece of PHS with her wherever she goes. Congratulations, Sandy. And do we have Sandy's friends and family in the audience? Can you please stand? Yes. Thank you all. So many amazing students of the month. And now we're going to move on to students of the semester.

015If I can have the readers and students of the semester from Mary Collins at Cherry Valley, come on up. Hello, my name is Belen Quinto. And today I'm speaking for an amazing student, also my best friend, who Cherry Valley, Mary Collins School, is proud to announce Poppy Norway. Poppy is in the eighth grade and was nominated as student of semester this year because of her contribution and cheerful presence around the school. Poppy is a wonderful and hardworking student. She has passion for music, specifically guitar. And she deeply cares about her rowing team, North Bay Rowing Club. And she dreams one day of going to regionals. She enjoys learning about Greek mythology and reading. Post-COVID, she worked at her parents restaurant establishment, Wishbone. Poppy's favorite class is history, and she hopes to attend college and be

016an archaeologist when she grows up. Congratulations, Poppy. Do we have Poppy as friends and family in the audience? Can you all stand? Okay. Hi, my name is Asher Dobson and I'm speaking for my friend and our student of the semester, Towns. Towns came to our school in second grade, and since then he has changed so much. Now is a hilarious and passionate straight A student. He loves math, spends hours birding and penning through his extensive life list and playing music. He has been described by friends as intelligent and unique, and they're right. there's no one quite like Towns. And definitely no one who can make us laugh as hard. Recently, he has been practicing fencing, karate, and music. He loves listening to jazz and classical music as well as playing it on his saxophone. It

017takes someone truly special to a truly special to accomplish all of this in stride, as Towns does. But it's not hard to see how he does it. He is steadfast and determined, even stubbornly so. But intelligent enough to know when he needs to make a change. And he is known by teacher and student alike for his loyalty and compassion. Towns is someone I can confidently say is worthy of being student of the semester. He has worked hard and endured many challenges, but through all of them, he has remained singularly, wonderfully himself. Congratulations, town. Do we have towns as friends and family in the audience? If you all could please stand. Congratulations to all of our students of the month and students of the semester. We are so inspired by all of you do and all

018of your families and teachers support for everything. And moving on to our PCS Rockstars Employee Recognition Program. All right. We are excited to take time this evening to recognize the outstanding contributions of our adult education team. They're freaking clouds. Their dedication, passion, and commitment to empowering learners have made an incredible impact on our community and today we celebrate their hard work and achievements. The adult education team plays a pivotal role in helping individuals reach their full potential, providing essential skills, supports, and resources. to make a difference in the lives of our adult learners, whether it's through literacy programs. Career development or personal enrichment courses, their work is shaping futures and opening doors to new opportunities. We proudly recognize and celebrate the tireless efforts of our teachers to create inclusive and supporting learning environments, whether it's

019teaching citizenship. English is a second language, high school equivalency, and diploma or career technical education and community interest courses. The adult education team goes above and beyond to ensure every student feels valued, motivated. and empowered to succeed. Our childcare and parent education staff are often unacknowledged yet essential to support the range of services we can offer to adult learners. Childcare makes that possible. The Family Resource Center keeps our community intact and positively impacts our adult community. by addressing the underlying needs and supports required to ensure community access in adult learning And finally, we can't forget our classified staff in the main office who keep everything afloat with grace and efficiency. Please join us in congratulating and thanking the members of the adult education team for their exceptional service. Passion and commitment to education. You are

020truly making a difference. We can share again, sure. Lots of cheers for them. I did pause. Lots of cheers. So we have many of the members from our adult education team here. We'd invite you to come forward and be recognized for this well-deserved accomplishment. However, many of our adult education staff are actually teaching right now, so they may not be here and we'll still read their name and clap for them very loudly. Come forward and receive your certificate from Superintendent Mondragon. And after the break, all of our adult education team joined us right outside the room. We have an appreciation table and we have a little gift we'd love to select you to select. So here we go first Carla Cotto. Alexis Bloom. Camille Alpert. So I'm going to adjust them a little bit. We

021have like 56 names. So I'm going to read all the names kind of slowly, but we'll clap at the end. And that way we can, because McNeer is waiting here patiently um So we just did Camille, right? Camille? Okay, perfect. Kara Virapay. Scott Granger. Catherine Crotty. Chrissy Zotalis. Danielle Mikola. Danielle Stewart. Danny Beaver. Deanne Jean. Janine Bender. Jen Valerius. Julie Petrich. Carla Lunabis. Lane Jen. Linda Thompson. Lisa Broderick. Oscar Guajardo. Rita Martinez. Share a server. Tracy Dorrance. Vicki Maester. Gregory Carroll. Adriana Perez de Lopez. Anna Cordova, Balik. Arlene Burney. Barbara Golden. Bhavana Modi? Selen Crow. Dana Davis. Erica Schaefer. Here we go erica Fatima, Amanaser. Gregorio, Altamurano de Orango. Juana, Bambria, Silva. Kendall, Daisy, Pratt. Leticia Rojas. Lisa, hug. Lorena, Ojeda Liera. Cindy Leupold. Cindy's here. Maria del Carmen Valencia. Maria Elena Gonzalez. Martha Ramos

022Santos. Mary Bazan Mirren. Michaela Wallen. Maria Lopez Carranza. Remedios Velasco de Mendez. Maria Rosario Estrella. Sahara Sandoval. Sheila. Saragosa. Sylvia Chauverin. And our two new administrators, Danny Camber and Michelle Devereaux. As we said, many of the staff are working tonight, but we so appreciate those of you that could join us tonight and all the work that you do for the adults in our community. And McNeil, thank you for that very appropriate cheering. Well done. Congratulations and thank you again to all of our adult ed staff. Y'all are amazing for our adults and the littlest learners at Petaluma City Schools. And thank you, McNeer. I wish we had you all here every night, but I don't think your parents want to do that for every board meeting. But with that, you all have been very patient.

023So I would love a school report from the very patient Falcons. Yeah. Hi, everybody. We are the McNeer falcons. And we are very excited to be here tonight. We have brought part of our leadership team with us I think there's about 35 kids on leadership and these guys came and i am In awe of them, just how you guys all just acted waiting, amazing. So they have a little presentation for you and we appreciate your time tonight. Hi, my name is Penelope. Well, my name is Ethan. And my name is Forrest. Good evening, Petaluma City Schools. School board members are a guest. We are excited to share why McNeer rocks. Our student leadership represents McNeer every event. And we love it. To be a leadership represent McNear at At every event, we love it. To

024be the leadership team fourth through sixth grade students interview for the position over 575 students applied. We have two groups, one in the fall and one in the spring. We plan school activities, learn how to implement events make weekly school announcements and create school spirit with crazy hats, tutu days, mustache days, a dragon parade, Ruby Bridges Day, flannel day, and more. We have a friendly weekly competition to see how many people we can get to show school spirit. We have fun working together alongside Miss Becker, Miss Nancy, and PTA, and we love having a voice in our school community. We're sure student leadership will help us in junior high and high school. Thank you for listening and have a great night. McDer has two librarians, Ms. Donnie and School Pack Go-Go. Turtle. Go answers notes

025to students on her own stationery. It's very soothing to watch her swim. If you like books, then our library is for you. If you love all things Hogwarts. Then our Harry Potter room is the place to be. Our library has almost 200,000 $20,000 of new books and students can hang out in there during recess. It is packed. In the spring, we will have a Read Across America Day with milk. Cookies, guest readers, and a book exchange. We instill a love of reading by helping By helping everyone have books they love to read each week and a cool place to hang out and read them. Everyone loves our maker's Lab. The Maker's Lab is open. inspiring and creative possibilities for all kids. It is creative, artistic, and full of infinite possibilities. Makers is focused on authentic

026learning through play. We build and explore in our beautifully equipped mask and makers rooms. We all have a voice and we don't give up. When we return from winter. with an inventor who has the world's largest toothpick structure on display at the Exploratorium. This Go Fridays are one way we celebrate our hard work. Sixth grade students are DJs and they spin tunes while students play and dance through bubbles. Hot to go and buy, buy, buy are two of our songs. Two of our favorite songs right now. Students can request songs and party through a recess. That's Disco Friday. cargo and this Lucia. We love Nick Near Performing Arts, Music, Band, and Art. We just finished our school production of James and Giant Peach. I was James. I had three parts. I had six parts. And

027our lower grade students will perform Finding Nemo this spring. Our costumes, set designs, and direction are top notch. We have diversified casts And we make sure everyone is included. allows us to be ourselves and taste risks with lots of support. It's a great way to learn, meet new friends and gain confidence. Hello, my name is Walter. I'm William. Okay. I screw up… Our group partners with outside communities. group uh to Why do Oscar partners with outside community Community groups should strengthen our environment I went into science and make a post friends. We just had our Monster Mass Dance a mood And Amuna fong. And many local businesses and families supported us. Our PTA raised money to hire an environmental literacy specialist. who teaches us to be stewards of our school and world. We enjoy working

028in our natural habitat and watershed. To discover the plant life And dear on our campus, did we mention that night we have five different species of bats at McNair, and we even have bat boxes? Hi, I'm Linnea. I'm Ivy. And I'm Marley. In our garden, we discover where our food comes from. We mix salads, plant seeds, weed, eat popcorn. And salads we grow. And we learn about beautiful life cycles. We also explore our wonderful Bird habitat and interact And actively interact with our surroundings. We spend time outside sketching and observing nature. It's my favorite class. I'm Lily. I'm Mina. I'm Dalton. McNear makes learning meaningful and fun. We know it's okay It is okay to make mistakes in a safe place. It's a place that natures us to grow into our best selves the best

029part of our schools that we are kind to everyone. Go Falcons! Amazing. It looks like we have a video now. It's all right. Amazing job. We're going to take a quick recess. But McNeer students, I want you to stay up here for a picture. Adult ed folks, go outside for a picture with Bree. And students of the month and students of the semester stay back for a photo too. All right. She technically has one more minute. Trustee Cloud, if you can hear me, come back. Yeah, founder. No, you have a minute. You have a minute. You have a minute. Oh, yeah. I know. Did I hear my name? resort. All right, I'm going to reconvene this meeting at 650 oh just turned to 652. Nailed it. Y'all actually did it in 10 minutes. Good job.

030So first. So moving on, we're going to talk about the Petaluma Promise on our eighth grade tours. Thank you for the opportunity to present. Tonight? My name is Dr. Dan Osterman, College and Career Pathways Coordinator for the district, and I'm joined by Amy Fideji, our communications coordinator. And who is, by the way, an awesome partner in staging and running these incredible tours we're going to share with you this evening. And we're also joined by Mr. Paul Edwards from Sonoma State University, who will have the opportunity to share more specifics about the Paluma Promise. with you a little bit later. So to begin, I believe our promise truly exemplifies our district motto of start here, go anywhere. As well as alongside our fantastic commitment to equity and access. If nothing else, you can clearly see On

031this picture here, the joy. on our students faces. These are a number of our eighth graders, only a small portion, actually, of our eighth graders with the Lobo, the mascot there, and one of the tour guides right next to them from Sonoma State. So tonight, we will provide a full overview of what the Pedal More Promise is, just to refresh your memories, and where we are at with promoting the program And also look at how our PCS students reacted to the experience of being on a college campus. So it's important to note that Before we did these tours, another snapshot of the students here on campus in front of the library. We were pretty excited about doing the tours before we did the tours. And then we did the tours. And the data that we

032collected and the experience that we had, I think it's safe to say was transformative. So again, we're very excited to be here. to tonight. But before we get started on the Sonoma State part of the of the presentation here, I want to turn it over to Amy, who's going to talk to you about where we started the day with each group, which was At the high schools. Yeah. Okay, great. So we had, if you're following us on social media, we spent four Epic big days touring over 700 students around both our high schools first, and then we went on to Sonoma State. And I just want to thank, it is a huge undertaking for our high schools. As you can imagine what it's like to show up with 200 more students than are already at

033CASA and Petaluma High. The transportation details that Lori and team helped us with, the bus drivers, the snacks that Brian Dufour and team provided to everyone on site. not just provided, but we're there with the team serving to everyone. It was just a really amazing experience. So many teachers who open their doors to our students as they came through both Petaluma High and Casa. So we took TACASA 509 students, 332 went to Petaluma High. And then 737 to Sonoma State. So Cherry Valley and PAX eighth graders go to both high schools because our data shows us that they're really deciding where to go. And so we show them both opportunities. So the field trips to our high schools are not new. I just want to make sure everybody knows we've been doing these for about

034seven years, but they change and get better with time. And Dr. O and I are both educators who we do not like to do things over and over just for the sake of doing them. We're constantly asking ourselves, is this worth our time? what's the impact? We know this is a big lift. Is it worth it? And so we ask our students, is it worth it? And so the data from Kenworth. 97% of students recommend that we would offer this next year. This is interesting data. As you all know, here on the board, I'm always really interested in getting as many students to stay in our system as we can. And we do tend to lose eighth graders. who are interested in different high schools, smaller opportunities from time to time. So we also surveyed

035the students on where they were planning on going. And so you can see 86% of our Kenilworth Colts are going to head straight to CASA. And then we have another little group there. You can see where they're going. When we look at Petaluma Junior High School. 98% of them thought we should do this again next year. And then slightly less, about 10% or so, are actually not sure where they're going to go. We have some students here that we're going to reach out to, which is exciting. Like, ooh, who are these people and what's going on and what can we do to share them? Share with them what's going on at Petaluma High. So really great data that we got here. And then our PAC students, of course, they also were in favor of this

036as well. And this is where it's really interesting to see. So this looks very similar for Cherry Valley, but Our PAC students, you can see that they are really going all over the place and looking for specific learning opportunities. And so what Dr. O and I have done, again, you see Mary Collins, yay, yay, and then Mary Collins, like, we're still thinking, we don't know. We want to go do a shadow day. We want to go check out some other places. Some of us are going to go to CASA and some are going to go to Petaluma High. So one thing that we'll be doing is we've scheduled some coffee and conversation for these eighth grade families. Here in this room, we have a couple times in December where we're inviting our eighth grade families

037and students who are still deciding to have the opportunity to talk to some high school students, our high school administrators and just get some more questions answered that they didn't get on the field trip. So highlights and takeaways. Students loved going inside the learning spaces. They thought it was so fun to see their friends. They really love learning about the electives. They want more, like, tell me more about athletics and different clubs and student activities. And we're going to just leave a couple quotes up there. for you to look over. Just a reminder to everyone that's listening, tuning in that might not know, but having the Wildlife Museum at Petaluma High School And having the fish hatchery at Casa Grande are just amazing. opportunities for our students and the kids were like seeing the garages

038at both schools were like, oh my gosh, there was one student, she was in Mr. Dunn's ag shop, but she was looking across at Mr. Benson's shop and she's like. I just need to do all these things. I need all of them. And you could just see she was like so excited. So that was really great. So next steps, we're going to have some student focus groups with particularly our students at PACs in Cherry Valley. Answering questions will be going into classrooms and holding some focus groups to just see what they're thinking and if we can help answer any questions or provide them other opportunities to help them make their decisions. And then as I shared, we have the coffee connection scheduled. Y'all are welcome. December 3rd and 5th. And the parent survey that we

039send out, which is also an RSVP for the Coffee and Conversation, gives the parents a chance to ask any questions that they haven't been able to find yet. And with that, I think we get to move on to the Petaluma Promise. So we want to invite our good friend, Mr. Paul Edwards, up to join us. Alrighty. Come on in. Yes. Right. Hi, everybody. Thank you for having Sonoma State tonight. I'm standing in for the very big shoes of Dr. Ed Mills. If you haven't met Dr. Mills. Go out of your way to do it. Amazing higher education leader. I've had the pleasure of working with Ed for about 16 or 17 years and he is As I was telling my colleagues when Ed gets sick, he got a head cold this week. And when he

040gets sick. He gets his money's worth. And unfortunately, he is very disappointed that he couldn't be here. So that's him with the sunglasses right there. He's doing a lot of things at Sonoma State. And this is one of his most favorite things that he's done in the first year and a half that he's been here. the partnership is amazing. I've had the pleasure of working in the CSU system for 32 years. just started at Sonoma State, but I've been doing partner student partnerships with high schools and community colleges the last couple of years in the CSU. So I was fortunate to get here the first week that pedal in the schools were touring. So it was great to see the enthusiasm and the craziness over passing out our little foamy logos and all that kind

041of stuff. So it was a great opportunity to come in at the right time. I'm not sure. Oh, good. Right there. That's what I wanted to talk about. So you all have brochures and some other stuff from Sonoma State. What I wanted to talk about was some just the overview of what the the promise entails for the students In the Petaluma City School District. First and foremost, guaranteed admissions. where we encourage them on their visits a couple of weeks ago, get with your high school counselors when you get there, get that A through G going. But we've got guaranteed admissions in place. If there's a student that's struggling through that or has questions, Ed and I want somebody to reach out if it's not the students, the parents, somebody to reach out. We want to

042get every single student that wants to be Seawolf, we want him there. But there are some other things, primary consideration for the presidential scholarships, what that would entail is A student from Petaluma one of the Petaluma high schools, if they're in the system, they apply we would put them as a priority for scholarships that would award them $1,000 a semester for the first two semesters while they were at Sonoma State. lots of priority consideration for housing. We have lots of space right now with housing, but should that become an issue, that would be a good problem. But the great news is that the students from Petaluma would be on the priority group. We've got lots of other opportunities they can come take tours. So we had the eighth graders, but we're looking forward to having

043juniors and seniors and anybody that wants to come on board and take a tour. Shadow an SSU student if they want. We want to get them accessed into housing. There's learning communities that we would that we would set them up with. We have a lot of first year students that are on campus. And we cluster them in two or three classes so that they're taking classes together all in the same major. So these are just a few of the things. The last bullet they're taking classes on SSU campus. That's the thing we're working on right now. We just started. Most people call it dual enrollment. That's something that has not been been part of the SSU experience and we're hoping to start that. So we've worked on the early stages so that students not only

044can go to their community colleges while they're in high school. but also they could go to SSU. And begin taking classes. You have the brochures. I'm happy to take any questions. Amy and I had a great phone call today and we started talking about all the possibilities. The one thing I would like to throw out there is If you know anything about the CSU system, there's always this quote priority filing period of October 1st through November 30th. that doesn't apply to the mass majority of the CSU system schools. They're going to be open far beyond that. And so one of the things Amy and I talked about today is finding a way to market that to our students, parents, and the community that Just because November 30th or this year it happens to be December

0452nd. because of that priority period passes. keep applying. So send the message to any and all that will listen. We want to get as many students to apply as possible within the CSU and specifically, of course, for us, SSU. But we probably will be open well into the spring. I'm happy to report we have received 27 applications from your two high school so far. But typically, the biggest application weekend of the year is the one that's coming up, Thanksgiving. Everybody comes home and instead of enjoying their, the seniors enjoying their break. They're filling out applications furiously so So that will be some of your lives if you have college or high school seniors, I should say. Please, please get the word out we are going to be open. I will put a little shout out.

046I wish I had his name. I was trying to track him down today, but there's an eighth grader in your system that father is a philosophy. professor at Sonoma. And he went out of his way to come by the Welcome Center last week and said, my daughter had a wonderful time and it was great. You guys did an awesome job. And all we did was tour them and then give them some food in the kitchens. But you know what? It doesn't take a lot to impress the eighth graders, I guess. It was an awesome experience. We get to have some fun with them. So we're really excited about where this partnership might go. Lots of ideas, lots of yield events we would love to do with them. In the spring, I should say. So Amy

047and Dan and I will be working and continuing with Dr. Mills to figure out how we can strengthen this partnership and get more information out to everybody. So thank you. Thank you, Paul. Now, you say it doesn't take much to impress the eighth graders, but Sonoma State is essentially like a national park. It's so beautiful there and their new cafeteria called The Kitchens. If you haven't been there is truly a treat. You can imagine You're 13 years old and it's all you can eat buffet including soft serve and a slushy machine and hamburgers for days. I mean, it was There were eyes popping out of skulls in every direction. And of course, Amy and I are walking chaperoning. Super. Yeah, right. Yeah. We were just really um grateful that everybody came home and no problem

048so It was a wonderful, a wonderful set of tours. We did it, like we said, over the course of four days and You know, we can't thank Sonoma State enough for the partnership. It's, I think, just the very beginning. of a long and very fruitful Win-win relationship with Sonoma State. So we're super excited. And this whole thing has just brought us closer together. So let's see what the students actually thought. Okay, so we asked them before the field trip, did you imagine yourself at a four your university like Sonoma State, 74%. Now, when I look at that number, I remember that the study we did with Arenda over two years ago, and I believe it was 75% of our students saw themselves attending a college or university. So that's right in line with that. Then,

049now that you visited Now do you see yourself going to College, 95%. So they got a taste of college. Maybe it was the cafeteria. that helped. But I think truly they could see their next step as an option going to Sonoma State, which is so much of why we are here. So that was truly amazing. And then how about Sonoma State specifically? How many of you see yourself going to Sonoma State specifically? 74%. Which is pretty impressive. Yeah, and I hope that we see enrollment numbers spike and And application numbers spike, and we can get some more swag and all that kind of stuff. So again, just a truly amazing set of adventures that I think will be the beginning of greater things. So additional highlights and takeaways, just some quotes from the students. Excellent

050spelling on the word scrumptious too, don't you think? Fantastic. Yeah. All right. So next steps for us, absolutely spread the word. We need to keep… keep doing that in every way that we can. We have a video project that we're working on with Dave Fishera. Which will be bilingual as well. We're working on a direct admission through CaliforniaColleges.edu, which is part of the California College and Career Guidance Initiative. throughout the state. So what we're working on is when a student applies from Petaluma City Schools. through the Cal Colleges platform, they'll get an automatic acceptance. letter in their email, which will be pretty cool. And some other perks and swag and And things of that sort, maybe a meal ticket to the kitchen's cafeteria. We're hoping for, well, we're planning for additional tours this coming winter

051and then We're working on a signing day for our first cohort of Petaluma Promise, which we want all of you there, of course. to be part of that picture and event will be super fun. That'll be in the spring. And then… continue to strengthen the promise and we're looking forward to next year. So we're just going to go bigger and better. We're considering earlier tours in September. I think we tested the tour system at Sonoma State and then some. But we made it. And just more enhancing of the tour experience. We heard a lot from folks that they definitely want to go inside the labs and the classrooms as much as possible, same as the high school. They love to see that. And there's some incredible buildings there. Stevenson Hall. just was reimagined, which is

052quite a treat if you haven't seen it. Thank you. Thank you for your time. And thank you, Paul. And thank you, Amy. We'll be back with more news. Thank you Any questions or comments, go for it. Yeah, could you just walk us through the mechanics of the promise for today's seniors that Petaluma City Schools. So they have to apply. This is what I heard. I presume they have to be A through G eligible. But just walk us through the mechanics. So parents of seniors today understand how this is going to play out. Yeah, absolutely. I think the easiest way and what I think would be the preferred way is for the student to apply through what is called the californiacolleges.edu system. And if when you apply through that website. the transcript data that students have

053is automatically populates the application. And so you literally launch the Cal State Apply application through CaliforniaColleges.edu. And so all of our students here in this district have And thank you. Ava's already done it, hopefully. Okay, good. So all of our students in the district grades seven through 12 have accounts already in the system. And so if they haven't registered or basically turned the account on, it takes about 30 seconds. And there's great tutorial videos. It's really easy. Yes. And then through there, again, like I said, all the classes that a student has taken in high school will be automatically imported into the application. And you fill the rest of it out and submit from there. And, you know, as you mentioned, students need to have completed the 15 A3G courses. And other pieces for the

054application. I think I feel like it was in a call that you had with Dr. Mills, but maybe it was somewhere else. You can correct me that they're watching for Petaluma City Schools students And like today we talked already about some of the specific the numbers and we're like, okay, if we do find a student who doesn't meet the criteria. who's contacting them? Because, you know, like we heard tonight, they want to work with our students to make sure that everyone can come. So we already are like, okay, we're Zooming as soon as Thanksgiving's done. We're bringing on some more people. We're going to include our lead guidance counselors. our career and college coordinators, Dr. O and myself, our principals to make sure that we all can help get this message out about it's not

055too late. And if you get a no, here's what we're going to do to help you make sure we can turn that no into a yes. We are flagging every student. So any MOU or promise that we're creating and peddling those are our first large effort. We're going to monitor those. And Amy and I were talking about that today, if we start to monitor the number of applications and then compared to admins. One of the things we want to do is start finding the mechanism to find out what's going on with somebody maybe who hasn't been admitted. So if it's something as easy as a student didn't check an email that, hey, we need one more piece of information. We want to get that. fed up through the process. So the process that Dan was

056talking about that's where where things are headed but if a student or student and parent go through the traditional Cal State Apply and they select Sonoma State. Either way, we're going to track them And monitor those throughout the spring term. Because our goal would be to get as close to, if not 100% of those that apply are admitted. Right now, most of our students from your district were admitting at an 80 to 85 to 90% rate anyway. the goal is to get that as close to, if not 100%. So if we have to case manage a few of the situations with students. We will. And then over time I think the promise efforts that are going on will turn into connections at SSU with the district and so students And administrators and counselors will have

057direct contact so that if there's an issue, they can immediately reach out to somebody and we can deal with it right on the spot. That help? I would say additionally too that um probably as early as tomorrow, we'll be sending out communication to all of our parents in the districts, grades seven through 12 Because parents, too, can have an account on californiacolleges.edu, which, by the way. may need a whole presentation on its own because it's quite a powerful tool. It's free across the state of California. It was developed by the Cradle to Career Initiative from the governor's office. And it's been in development for close to a decade now. At any rate, parents can also have an account and log in to track their students. And families track their students progress towards A through G

058completion. Application completion in addition to a whole bunch of career exploration and development And as well as FAFSA, the UC application and the community college application as well. So it's a one-stop shop. through all these things. Clarify, because you said California colleges study, you said Cal StateApplying.edu. Yeah, so californiacolleges.edu is the umbrella. And once a student logs in there they can apply to any Cal State. through Cal State Apply. Through Cal State Apply. Yeah. That's embedded in the system. Okay. Yeah. Cal State Apply is just the general application for csu What Dan's speaking of is sort of a new initiative through CCGI. to try to umbrella it so that it's it's Anybody who's been through it with their seniors knows what it's like, and this is an effort to try to make those applications UC,

059CSU, community colleges, financial aid, et cetera, a lot easier for the student and their families. Cool. Any other questions? Go for it. I do want to say that California colleges As someone who has submitted all of their college applications for this year. it was like such a helpful tool to make the application process so much easier and quicker. And I did have a quick question about housing. I was just curious because you were saying that like housing priority would go to like students from the Petaluma Promise But since those students are also like local, are there any incentives that you guys are using to like have them choose to live on campus? I don't know, but I will find out. Right now, we have several beds available, but that's a great, that is a great

060question. And I will take that back to student affairs And our housing director and find out. They are looking at incentives. I know this doesn't answer your question, but there have been incentives, for example with trying to get staff and faculty to live on campus. the next step would be that'd be a great idea to work with our local community who might be more apt to stay at home. But if we can get you on campus and help further build that community. So I will make sure I ask that question tomorrow on campus and get back to you. through Dan and Amy. A very good question. Thank you. I have a question that kind of ties into our presentation later, the resolution for Homeless Youth Awareness Month. I know that there's the EOP office that

061directly works with homeless and fosters students. Can you speak more to the outreach specifically to juniors and seniors who might be unhoused. or foster to like further let them know about their opportunities Once they go to college. That is such a great question. I think our homeless and foster all of our students, we need to be very purposeful in our reach outs and we would be working with our school counselor teams at both of the comprehensives, our alternative sites to make sure that Once again, I think we need to frequently and consistently spread this message. And do lots of follow-up because it is is quite an environmental of cultural change for us to have this kind of opportunity where we're having basically a concierge-esque service for our students to go from here to their next

062step so I appreciate the question very much and I look forward to working with our teams to make sure we're We're getting the word out to everybody. Thoroughly, I think is the operative term there. Thank you. All right. Well, thank you all so much for presenting on that. And yep. Perfect. Let's move on to our cell phones in school committee update. So tonight I'd like to provide a brief update about the cell phone committee and what we've been up to. So this committee convened this year, and the purpose is to review our current practices and board policy surrounding the use of cell phones and mobile communication devices on our campuses. We want to partner with our staff, students, and family representatives. We want to gather more information as well as have this committee provide feedback

063and input. to our district cabinet administration as well as the board in terms of the future of these devices on our campus. So as you all may well know. The legislature passed an update revision to Ed Code 48901.7. Which basically is a directive to all California school districts to limit or prohibit the use of cell phone devices on our school campuses. This particular policy must be updated by July 1, 2026, and it should describe what the district's policy is, whether we're restricting or prohibiting. And so there are particular instances where a cell phone device obviously will still be able to be utilized. That's in moments of obviously emergency when a licensed physician, for example, a diabetic student who needs to be monitored via a cell phone. As well as if it's indicated as a part

064of the student's IEP. So there are some Protections and considerations for the use of these devices, but it really is up to the individual district In conjunction with educational partner feedback and input to create that policy that works best for the context. of our schools. So as I said, this committee, we had about 25 people, which was a mix of secondary, elementary, both parents and staff. that were interested in being on this committee. Our first meeting was on in September. We have since formed a subcommittee to develop a survey to survey both our parents and caregivers, staff and teachers, as well as students. So getting a sense, you know, a little bit of a pulse check on where we are. with these three groups. And we've most recently met on November 4th to look at

065a draft survey that we'll then put into SurveyMonkey and distribute out. So our next steps right now are to administer the cell phone survey. We have Youth Truth, which is all of January, so we don't want to kind of mix two surveys at the same time. So we'll take this survey after the youth truth goes out in January. And then we'll want to review that data. We'll want more input and feedback from committees. from our administrators who are really already setting forth rules and regulations around cell phone use. But really getting their sense of what do they see in our future in terms of being able to restrict or prohibit and what do they need. When it comes to restricting and prohibiting, there is no addition to 48,900 education code around discipline. that would require

066us to enact any kind of disciplinary consequences. There's no additional ed code that says if you bring a cell phone, you get suspended. That is not a part of this. And so it really is the onus on our school sites, our administrative teams to develop what would be the response if a student was not to follow the policy. We hope to have that input and feedback to our superintendent and cabinet by the spring of 2025. And hope to have our updated policy and recommendation to the board with a timeline for implementation. We can imagine that there'll be a need to be a lot of communication And a lot of plans in place. to support this, but we're hopeful that with really working with our educational partners and understanding our district and our needs and our

067context, we can bring forth a policy recommendation that is very informed by all of these different educational partners and our current context and situation. Any questions? how is the makeup of the committee, how are they leaning towards a ban or versus limitations? I mean, I know it'll be informed by the larger community, but I would imagine there's some selection bias in who chooses to be on a committee about Limiting cell phone usage yeah so that is part that's we've done some work on the survey in particular because we don't want to send out a survey that is biased in one direction. It really is to obtain information. And so what I have advised the committee and explained to them is that this isn't a we aren't voting as a committee. But really, it's to see

068what are the trends? What are we seeing? What are we hearing from the respective different educational partner groups, really hearing from our administrators to then say, what is actually feasible and possible? There's another piece around completely prohibiting, which is there's a budgetary piece to that. We have many surrounding districts that are purchasing the yonder bags or the Velcro bags that limit wifi access. And so that all comes at a cost. And so that's a piece that we have to consider. As we, if we were to prohibit how could we actually prohibit, right? We already have practices in place across elementary and junior highs where they're not allowed to bring the cell phone out or mobile device during school hours at all. We know our high schools are a little bit different in that we've got

069some procedures already in place where students Check that device in. They are able to access at break and lunch. More than anything, we want to make sure that whatever policy that we recommend and bring forward, it's one that we can actually do and that all of our educators feel supported. And backed by that policy and that we have a game plan to make it happen. And so The leanings are, we've got folks that have you know, a feeling and an opinion. There's a lot of research that's coming out. I don't know if you're familiar with the book, The Anxious Generation. So there's a lot of movement around the usage of social media and the impact, as we all know. And so there are some strong feelings, but I'm really trying to convey that you know,

070we need to look at our district and what is possible, what we believe is good for our students and what we know that we can support and enforce and we have the means and mechanisms to be able to do that. Any other questions or comments? All right. Thank you for that. We look forward to seeing the survey results. And now we'll move on to comments from the public on special recognition reports, presentations, and non-agendized items. So I'm going to read the fun government code bit, and then we will start with public comments. Under government code section 54954, members of the public have the right to address the governing board on any items of interest providing it relates to subject matter jurisdiction of the school district. Well, government code allows speakers to criticize the district's policies,

071procedures, programs, services, and or employees. The district does have a policy specific to complaints against employees. Should comments from the public pertain to a specific district employee. The board requests that the complaint first be submitted in writing to the employee's immediate supervisor for investigation. If the comment is about something not on the agenda, it will be heard only during public comment on non-agendized items, period. Once that part of the meeting is over, comments will only be taken on agenda items during discussion of those items. The board values public comments, and although we cannot take action or discuss items not on the agenda. We listen carefully and appreciate input from the public. Public comments are subject to a three minute per person limit or a 20 minute limit per subject matter. Commenters may not cede their

072time to others. And can we get the timer up on the screen. Yeah, thank you. And so we'll start with Molly. Hi, thank you all. My name is Molly Lunabas. I teach art at Casa Grande High School. Last month, I brought a mistake to the attention of the Board of Education that secondary visual and performing arts programs, VAPA, have been mistakenly removed from the protective funding of the perpetual parcel tax measure c from 2006. This decision broke with over 20 years of precedent for VAPA funding in the district. And this also ignored the intention of the voters of Petaluma who had enshrined their support for the arts into this parcel tax measure. We were blindsided by the sudden disappearance of our allocated funds since nobody had notified us of this change. We had simply been

073confronted with zero budgets in August and no explanation. The impact of this mistake led to project delays, insufficient materials, curriculum downgrades, and ultimately many frustrated and disappointed students. Our programs were in jeopardy. This change to the parcel tax funding was unethical This change was also illegal. I am pleased to inform the board that PCS has acknowledged this consequential mistake and has made a commitment to fix the problem. PCS will be returning the arts back into the protective parcel tax measure C funding. And we'll also be restructuring the current parcel tax allocations to prioritize materials funding overfunding for salaries so that our students have the tools they need to access the arts Library and tech, as the voters had intended. PCS will also be returning all of the parcel tax rollover money that was taken away

074from our programs And we'll be ensuring that this is protected in the future. This path forward will restore the security of our programs with fidelity to the original intent of the parcel tax. And by doing so, it will also restore the fidelity to the voices of the Petaluma voters who believe in the importance of these programs for the youth of Petaluma. We are encouraged by this progress, and we will be meeting this week in an important first step towards resolution. We greatly appreciate the board's partnership in solving this problem. that has affected so many of our students in the district. We will all stay active and vigilant until this funding is completely restored and we have a clear resolution in writing. Thank you again to the board for your support, and thank you to the

075people of Petaluma who trust us with your tax dollars to provide meaningful educational experiences for our children as reflected in your vote. Together, we are building a brighter future. We will keep you posted on the progress of this resolution at each board meeting. Thank you and good night. Thank you. All right, next up, we have krista. Hello. I am Krista O'Connor, teacher at Petaluma High. Grandparent of two Valley Vista students and the Petaluma Federation teachers Union High School Vice President. I sent each of you a letter this past Friday outlining some of my concerns about this seemingly imminent move of the live oak waldorf program to the Valley Vista campus. I hope you have the time to read my letter and consider those concerns. First and foremost, as a parent and grandparent, I have to

076convey to you the ongoing emotional stress that this is placed on my own family as we consider where my two grandsons will best be served next year in grades five and kindergarten. These questions are not easily answered. But we do know that the breaking up of our fourth graders class and the shrinking transitional kindergarten class of 10 students is causing concern and sadness for us all. Several students have already left and are still leaving mid-year. We would prefer to have them finish the year at Valley Vista regardless of what next year brings. But circumstances are lining up. that make that seem both risky and challenging. Secondly, and equally important on my concerns as an employee of this district. As the PFT High School Vice President, I sit on many of our planning and accountability committees.

077And the few extracts of the live oak charter that were shared at the Valley Vista meeting on October 28th. I see some big questions about how to fund and sustain the program with its needs and expectations at a time when we can already see the upcoming budget constraints We are experiencing as a district. Lastly, through my lens as the English Learner Resource Teacher at Petaluma High and a longstanding member of our district multilingual learner committee. I have ongoing concerns about equity, diversity, and inclusion that reach beyond Valley Vista. to encompass the entire district. It has been my hope that we could move forward carefully, taking all needs into account But I have to say that I feel so much damage has already been done to the Valley Vista community that it will truly cease to

078exist after this its 70th year as a school in our district. And I find that to be heartbreaking and unacceptable. Thank you for listening. Thank you, Krista. And next up, we have Shireen. My name is Shireen Jackson, and I'm speaking as the parent of a fourth grader who had planned to stay at Valley Vista through sixth grade promotion. But since Valley Vista is on its way to becoming a Waldorf charter with Live Oak and in our family's eyes will no longer be the same school, we will be transferring our child to another school for fifth and sixth grades. We stayed at Valley Vista this year in part so that our eldest child could promote from this school and in part with the hope that Valley Vista would remain a traditional school after this year. Even

079as many families left when they saw the writing on the wall. After the letter of intent was discussed at the September 24th board meeting after parent engagement nights, one with Valley Vista families and one with families at both schools. and after other events where part of the goal was to begin to merge the two school communities, we are seeing more families leave our school mid-year. Part of this is due to how these have unfolded, but much of it is because families are worried that if they wait, they will not be able to attend their second choice school. I'm extremely frustrated that families who are leaving Valley Vista have not been able to enroll for next year yet. Having the ability to enroll for next year before the January enrollment opens would alleviate some of the

080stress that these families are feeling. Today, Ms. Bedaji emailed me board policy 5166.1, which states in part that intradistrict transfer applications submitted between the first Monday in December and the last Friday in February will be considered. And the parent slash guardian will be notified of the district's decision. Priority for attendance outside a student's attendance area shall be given as follows. Number one, if a district receiving Title I funds is identified for corrective action or restructuring in the school year immediately preceding the requested year of attendance, all students enrolled in that school shall be provided an option to transfer to another district school or charter school. Even if this policy didn't exist, I would hope that the school board and district would do right by the families who are leaving Valley Vista to open priority registration

081for them before it opens for everyone else. Thank you for listening. Thank you, Shereen. And then Anna Maria. Hello, good evening. I'm Anna Maria Martinez. I work with Home First. norepropy that focusing ending homelessness. And this special population for Petaluma Homeless Families. I went out. expose here the situation of the Lack of education about the McKinley Vento law. among parents and families. that are my clients. They don't know they have the right to get supplies or transportation or they're even homeless considered homeless when they're double up like three families living in a two bedrooms apartment in Petaluma. And when you ask them, they say, no, we're not homeless. Do you know about the McKinney-Invento law? No, they don't know. They don't know their rights. These students don't know the rights and they don't want to

082come out as being homeless because there's a lot of stigma about family separation. And they don't know also they don't know may be eligible for some help. I come here to speak on behalf of these families and the work that I do in Petaluma. It will be amazing if we can know who is McKinley Vento homeless. just through adding a question in the areas registration for the next year. that says if you do you share a house with other families. Yes or no. And if yes, you may be eligible for some help. my job will be like to create a reference system and a mapping system for resources for families in Petaluma. And with the Office of Education. to help these families to help to apply for affordable housing. and to get resources and help.

083The other part that is also concerning is about equity. And it's about the fees that these families are asked to pay for. for outings, for prompts a prompt ticket is like 140 dollars So some people won't be attending especially these populations that are facing financial circumstances. And they won't even come and bring it to the departments because they will say they don't want to go. As well as going to outing is $5. that makes me makes a lot of difference for like someone who has three children. But maybe not to this school. So I propose that question to be added in areas so we can work in tandem helping these families. Maybe the elimination of this kind of fees for recreation. Thank you. Thank you so much for coming. Yes. All right. And then Heather,

084I think she left. Oh, she's coming. Okay, cool. Wow, that was really fast. Turn my ringer off real quick. Good evening. My name is Heather Gallagher. I'm here today because T-Mobile recently filed an application to permit their tower that has been operating illegally for over 17 years. I'm concerned this is going to be pushed through. So I came here tonight. to make a statement that will persuade the Petaluma City School Board to take responsibility and do the right thing. I'm on vacation right now, but I feel this matter. is so critical that I came back to Petaluma to be here tonight to speak. I know the tower is hazardous. I know the tower has been operating illegally. I want the school board to do what it has promised us for months now. start the lawsuit

085or force T-Mobile to remove the cell tower as soon as possible. Tell the city planning department immediately that T-Mobile does not have permission to keep its cell tower at the Casa Grande High School site. and demand that the city enforce It's code enforce T-Mobile to remove its illegal cell tower from the site. Because the illegal cell tower is a public nuisance. under the city code. Okay. I have been in contact with you for many months regarding the CASA cell tower. And my attorney has written both. to the Petaluma City School Board and Superintendent As well as the school district's attorneys. The school district terminated its lease agreement. With T-Mobile. April of this year. After learning that T-Mobile had never obtained The government permits to construct and operate the cell tower at Casa Grande High School.

086As required under the lease agreement between the school district and T-Mobile. And the school district demand that T-Mobile remove its illegal tower. from the Casa Grande site. T-Mobile has refused to do so, and several months ago the school board promised the community that it would file a lawsuit against T-Mobile to compel T-Mobile to remove the illegal cell tower. That lawsuit was supposed to be filed by now. The school district has not filed it. Moreover. And instead of removing T-Mobile has applied for a permit with the city of Petaluma an effort to legalize its existing cell tower. In its permit application, T-Mobile has missed represented to the city that the school district has agreed to allow the cell tower. at its existing site on Casa Grande High School property. T-Mobile has attached The very lease agreement

087and extension which the school district terminated in April. Thank you, Heather. And then if anyone else has any public comment cards they want to submit, if you can bring them up to Bree. And next we have Lonnie. Hi, I'm Lonnie Ward. I had children that used to attend Valley Vista that no longer do, but I'm speaking on behalf of Siobhan Hoslam today. These are her words. I have been an active parent at Valley Vista for almost 11 years. I have seen many different iterations of our beautiful little schoolhouse. Six of my eight children have attended Valley Vista. For many years, it has been one of the best schools in Petaluma. It had art, music, and a thriving community of parents and teachers we were proud to call Valley Vesta their school. I try to keep

088an open mind when the news of the possible merger of our school with the Waldorf was announced. We were assured that nothing would change in the 2024-2025 school year by Mr. Harris. He was not truthful. So much has changed that the children at our school are feeling the stress. Along with that, we have had a lot of behavioral issues in the classroom. In many cases, children are expressing their emotions through those unwanted behaviors. I know of eight families who have pulled their children out of Valley Vista But those numbers will increase as the months go on. Many Valley Vista parents have had to make the heartbreaking choice to pull their children out of school In order to place them into other neighborhood schools this year. They cannot trust that the district We'll be able to

089have a spot saved for their children in the 2025-2026 school year. There is so much anxiety and upset about a merger. Not every parent would choose Waldorf Education for their child. The fact that parents are willing to jump to the unknown to give their child a chance at a much more traditional stable and reliable education should speak louder than words. Valley Vista is not a stable school right now. The community is fractured. The teachers are distressed about what the future holds. I come here tonight to speak for those who cannot be here and for those that feel powerless to stand against this unwanted conversion. I would ask that you put the families and children of our small school first. First, to be able to choose a place where their children can learn in an environment

090that aligns with their values. The Waldorf model does not align with many of the families at our school. I personally did not choose a Waldorf school. I chose a sweet little school that would give my children A traditional balanced education. I think that since the district is willing to save spots at the new iteration of the combined schools for families willing to stay. than the same offering of a guaranteed spot at a school of the parent's choice needs to be offered to the families that want to leave. Allowing those families to continue at a school that more closely fits with their child's educational needs. I ask you to change the offer of a school In the Petaluma City School District so that families of Valley Vista will get priority registration for the 2025-2026 school year.

091or a guaranteed spot at the school of their choosing. We have lost so many children since the announcement was made. And families really put their trust in the system. The system that Matthew Harris Thank you. Thank you. All right. Let's move on to a adoption and approval of the agenda. Sorry, I got lost on the paper. Yes, at some point, but yeah, yeah. I'm going to do the report on activities and all that good stuff first. I move to adopt and approve the agenda. I second. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? All right. gender is adopted and approved I'm going to report on the activities and correspondent of school board members, but of course my computer fell asleep. So one moment while I pull it up. It's been a month since

092our last meeting so It's been busy. And… All right. Since our last October meeting, trustees attended tennis matches at CASA, the CASA basketball game, the budget advisory committee meeting. the Cal State University Graduation Symposium. The California Association of Student Councils, Student Advocacy Conference. I'm meeting with the City of Petaluma's climate action manager, the Egg Bowl, the Little Women Play at CASA, a Blue Zones meeting. The LCAP committee meetings with the superintendent, the visual and performing arts committee, the Professional Development Subcommittee. The all staff day-long professional development day where She also taught or led one of the sessions. a meeting with the Girl Scout troop about women in leadership positions. And then we also held office hours at Penn Grove, Valley Vista, McDowell, McNeer, McKinley Packs, Mary Collins, Cherry Valley. Grant, Carpe diem, Kenilworth, Petaluma Junior

093High. Pasa, Petaluma High, and then today at San Antonio and Valley Oaks. And that was just the adults Student board members attended a haunted hallways fundraiser, freshman movie night. a PTSA meeting and the Egg Bowl Spirit Week and Game. Gaucho football had an exciting win at the Egg Bowl and had an eventful game against Windsor on Saturday. Club leaders on campus are preparing for their favorite time of year as we celebrate the holiday season with our annual holiday fair. Which there's a chance for clubs to raise money for their programs. And this is not exactly an activity, but both of the bonds passed. Since our last meeting. So we can keep having buildings. That's good, good news. Thank you, Petaluma voters and property owners and taxpayers. Any comments or anything you all want to add

094on any of your Very, very many activities. Cool. With that, we're going to take a seven minute break. Please come back at 7.55. Okay. All right. Absolutely. Yeah, that's it. Yes. I'm reconvening the meeting at 7.55 with or without you people. All right. Comments from the public on consent agenda items. All the public comment cards I had were up for items not on the agenda. So dear public, if you would like to bring up a card for anything on the consent agenda, please do so now. My glasses are fogging up. This is great. Everything's going great. Same. I don't know. Masks just work sometimes and sometimes they don't. And that's what we deal with, I guess. All right. Seeing no public comments and no public charging the stand, I'm going to move on to Approval

095of the consent agenda by consolidated motion. Do I hear a motion? I move to approve the consent agenda. I second. All right. Any questions or comments on anything? on the consent agenda. I'm concerned about the price of some of these field trips. Okay. Speak more, please. Let me pull them up yeah yeah like it's… One of them is $850. And it says that they're going to cover Two of more. Yeah. And another one's 225. It says PTA and donations. I see that the Wildlife Museum there it looks like with the narrative that he submit it that they're going to cover for any student I can't cover the cost. And then just hearing what Anna Maria Martinez was saying about families like opting out of field trips because they can't afford the $5. It's just a

096concern. about these increasing costs. like if families can't afford $5, how do we expect them to afford 225. No, though. And I don't know who brings these forward, but that's It's just a concern. I don't know who wants to speak to it. I mean, I can because these, yeah, these come from education services and school sites submit the field trips and we We send them to the board for approval. Many of them are stuff that they do every year or so or like you know and they're all come from the same funding source, either donations or or PTA or something like that. I think It could be something we continue to explore of how we can support these things, what it might look like, maybe look at look into finding a way to fund things

097that they go to every year that they maybe is a part of it and connected to part of the educational experience so that we can find appropriate funding to support those things. And then maybe things that are off off of that could be part of donations, but I can lead that exploration and see what solutions we could come up with to support A lot of these things that may exclude some students or put them in a situation where they they You know, I feel a little embarrassed to come forward about it. Can we update the form to make it kind of clearer of like how much it costs versus how much families are being asked to put in because, I mean, if families are all being asked to only put in $50, that's still a

098barrier for a lot of families. I'm not saying that, but at least I would feel better about like a family might be more likely to at least tell the teacher, hey, I can't do that and reminding teachers and staff and principals to really through that education of it really is a suggested donation. Like we do need the money to make it happen, but if you can't cover it for whatever reason, or you don't want to cover it for whatever reason like your kid can still go. to Monterey or go to LA or Whatever. So just continuing the outreach from admin and teachers and If the ASBs can help with that of making it clear like It really is suggested, but I worry that we too often are asking for the highest price point, trying to

099get those few families that can do 850. I think you added up how much you spent just on kids stuff. last year and it was a lot of $4,000, $4,000 for what I paid out of pocket. Right. For the free and public education. Yeah. In fact, when we did office hours at McKinley, there was a complaint about fourth grade camp. Because it was very expensive and you know some schools or PTAs can help cover it other schools They can't you know so it's it becomes an equity issue So what is the process like, let's say the school brought forth Grant brought forth this field trip. You know, and they're going for 225 and then let's say McNeer, just because it's the next closest school um wanted to go on this as well, but they did

100not have the 225 per student from their PTA. Has that ever been brought to our district? And then if so, how has it been handled or how would it be handled? If they're like, well, we want that same type of field trip, but we can't afford it. I don't recall any of the school sites coming to the district with requests for support that they couldn't find enough funding. And I think the different sites may have different processes. But maybe that's something we can bring up to the principals and discuss like what is the process and you know do i mean do they understand, do they have a a understanding of when a student can afford it, how are they reaching out to those students? Do they think they can come to the district at all

101for any kind of support? And maybe we can create some kind of standard process. But I think the other thing is really looking at you know, if these field trips are a central part of their educational experience. a part of experiential learning that connects them to school like you know, how we can justify that as a as an educational right for students and find ways to support it, whether that's through the LCAP process. or some other grants that we have that could support those things. As I think as i think maybe preventing school sites or having to figure out how to support students who can't fund those things. If we can just do that as a district. I think that might be a good place to start. especially our foster youth and homeless students especially

102our are students who, you know, often are migrant ed students, English learners or don't know how to navigate in the educational system Don't know where to even begin to start to even ask. I think if we could just eliminate some of those barriers for them, I think that would be worthwhile. All right. Any other questions or comments? Oh, I'm going to regret this. So there is a tremendous inequity in the fundraising. At the various sites that we've discussed before. And so if those funds are being used for these to cover these field trips, then there's just a As Alan said, an inequity in each you know um site And so some sites raise $150,000 a year. Other ones, five. So, you know, I just think at some point down the line. there needs to be,

103we need to examine with the PTAs, just talk to them about how to make this inequitable. system and then maybe we can implement something That will, because these experiences are Hugely educational and important. And to say that it's 800 dollars for a field trip, it's a lot of money i mean it would be a lot for me as a grandparent, you know, and so And It's not the choice of the programs. It's just like, how can we make this easier on everybody. Anyway, I know that that's just something that's been brought up. a few times and it existed when my kids were little so It's not a new thing. And I know that the Wildlife museum is like semi outside of our school, but also like Amy and Dan noted earlier, it is a huge

104draw for our students as well, that and the hatchery. So I would love to see a world in which we could contribute toward that, especially for these for these types of experiences for the students. Because asking them to pay $850 is a lot of money. And then further, if you are also in the wildlife Museum and on the cheerleading team, you're being asked to pay another $875 And I'm not really sure what's going on with this field trip request. it feels um Not 100% complete. A cheerleading one. Airbnb, not yet booked. I understand that. district vans, unsure requests for vans was approved via easy activity trip, so I assume that means they are aware So how are they getting there? Are they driving the van? Are they driving the car? What are they doing? Because

105I can't tell. who's driving them. And if it would be cheaper… They weren't taking the van. But I also, I don't understand what's happening. So would it help maybe we can revise these things to give more clarity around what is actually being approved and who's responsible and what the responsibilities look like. I just want to know for this one what's happening. This one. This one, the champion field trip. I'm sure. So were the vans approved or not? Who's driving the van? Yeah. I mean, I think this form predates easy activity. So I think that the person filling out the form is like it's, yeah, if the four, if I submitted the form, I assume that the director of transportation is been notified. That's how I read it. like she hasn't gone and told the director

106of transportation, but the form theoretically goes to the director of transportation Yeah, I definitely think we need to update these forms to look at the systems that we have in place. But yeah, we'll… Can you make sure that the cheerleaders have a way to get to LA? Who is driving them? William. So that kind of goes along. I did have a question about the um I don't want to pick on Grant, but on the grant one only because it says private car And so our transportation policy that is up for a vote tonight. specifically says no private cars. Unless it's approved by the superintendent for those various reasons, it's just overnight, but it's certainly multi-day. So I guess that's But I think that those things Oh, Lima is 21.6 miles away, so it is fine.

107It's 21. Okay. So they can do it. If 22 is our arbitrary cutoff, they're fine. But then it also says it has not been approved by the Director of Transportation. Or they haven't been notified. But yeah, like if you're doing private car, why would you tell the director of transportation? Because it's within the 22 miles. Right, right? Yeah. So I think the form needs a lot more Clarity. Yeah, I was just thinking this. But it seems like the olima field trip is compliant with our policy. Okay, I wasn't sure. Because I just Google maps that y'all. Goodness. I don't know. Okay. 21.6 on the roads and probably less as the crow flies. But that's another. Yeah, our policy is the roads, not as the growth. Yeah. But yeah, I think making sure that that to

108your trip is safe and that director of transportation knows, especially if we are using our vans. Well, and I think also if it is a private car then maybe just say yes or no, because yeah they haven't notified the director of transportation but maybe a question in there has whoever made sure that It has the principal clear. It took me five days to get that form. Like the clearance form to drive. So I just, and I think that's why we did this policy in the first place, because people were not filling out forms. Right. So I guess I would just want… They know that at least they have filled out the Yeah. And I think it's on us to provide a clearer form that gets the information that we need. This one's from 2015. Yeah,

109last updated. 2016. Okay. All right. Thank you. Any other comments or questions on consent agenda items? And then I call the question all in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstention? All right, the consent agenda passes. Moving on, are there any comments from the public on action items? So anything under… 14. I will note there are three things on the action items or four things missing attachments, even though we've tried to attach the attachments many times. So Jason has graciously printed out. those attachments. So we will have enough to review here. And if anyone in the audience wants a copy to review, they are welcome to come get a copy. And so that is 14.1.1, 16.1.1, 16.2. And 16.1.3. But I think the only one anyone would actually want to see is the calendars, which is

11014.1.1, not necessarily the sexual harassment policy, as fun as it is. And especially because it's the first reading anyway. So with that, we will move on to action items starting with approval of the student attendance calendars. And so let Jason pass those out and then we will Discuss. Two grounds, one for each of the seven boards. morale. year round. Thank you. You probably get a coupon. All right, so everyone should have a draft A and a draft one. So draft a… is our traditional calendar and draft one is our A year-round calendar. Again, I apologize that we has trouble attaching these, but they are here. What? So as you saw in the situation, our calendar committee meets meets regularly we um have moved to a process where instead of planning two years at a time

111and then waiting two years that we meet every year and we plan the next year out so that we're bringing to you in the fall next year's calendar so that we're trying to stay just a bit ahead and we're also able to make some changes. This calendar is the work of the committee, which is represented by PFT, by CSEA, by administration, and by This year we had the representative, one of the superintendents from Old Adobe joined us for this. And this calendar is very similar in design and structure to the calendar that we're using this year. We went with a very similar format. to what we did this year, the one outstanding difference is that this year we started having a professional development day or a day off in October. And this year we moved

112it to November 1st because We don't want school the day after Halloween. This next year, we moved it back into October because November 1st is a Saturday or Sunday. Yeah, a Saturday. One other thing that you'll notice is that last year we took that October day out of school a week before on an Indigenous Peoples Day. This year, it's showing up on the 20th because the year-round schools also need to be part of PD and they're on break during that. So we had to move it into a day when both schools were in session. So you can see that's one of the changes as well. But I'll give you a minute to look at this over. It's very much similar to what we've approved and had this year and in past years. But if you

113have any questions, I can answer them. You may have also noticed that we recently as a committee survey, sent out a calendar survey to parents and staff to get feedback For not this calendar, but for our 2020 627 calendar. Because we're always asking things about like, do you like two separate, like a midwinter and a spring break, or would you rather have two, you know, those kind of questions. If you want a long. Thanksgiving break, but get out a little later. So we're we pull those we every couple of years we do a poll. So we felt this was a good year to do that again. So we're gathering that data now. Any questions or comments coming up for any of the board members? All right. Do I hear a motion? I move to approve

114the calendars. I second. All those in favor say aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? All right, we have two calendars for 25-26. How are we already thinking about that? Moving on to resolution 2425-15, recognizing the month of November as national homeless youth awareness month. I went out of order again. Can someone make a motion? I move to approve Resolution 2425-50. All right. So now that the resolution is on the table, would anyone like to volunteer to read it into the record? I can read it. It is… Okay, let me, even though I have my glasses on, I'm going to zoom in. Okay. Whereas November is National Homeless Youth Awareness Month. Every year, hundreds of thousands of American families become homeless, including more than 1.3 million children. And whereas, as defined by the McKinney-Vento Homelessness Assistance Act,

115homeless children and youth are individuals who lack a fixed Regular and adequate nighttime residents, including those sharing the housing. of other persons due to the loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason. are living in motels, hotels, mobile home parks, or camping grounds due to lack of alternative adequate accommodations. are living in emergency or transitional shelters. are abandoned in hospitals, and whereas the McKinney-Vento Homelessness Assistance Act further defines homeless children and youth As those who have a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings. Children and youths who are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing. Buser train stations are similar settings. And whereas The homeless youth population also includes unaccompanied youth who have left home

116For one or more nights. See, I'm going to cry again, you guys. Without permission, youth have been kicked out of their homes or abandoned. Yeah. I can't read anything without crying lightly. Our abandoned, deserted, or prevented from returning home and systems use who have either aged out of foster care or have been released from juvenile justice or other public systems. with nowhere to go. And whereas although largely considered an undercount, nationwide estimates from 2022 suggest that there are at least 30,090 unaccompanied children and transition age youth on the streets and in public shelters. a decrease of 12% over 2020. Young people experiencing homelessness have a harder time accessing services, including shelter, medical care, and employment. Some reasons include the stigma of their housing situation, lack of knowledge of available resources, and a deaf in a

117dearth of services targeted to young people. And whereas in the 2024 point in time homeless census and survey Sonoma County reported 2,522 homeless individuals. Within that count were 57 families with children with a total of 198 family members experiencing homelessness in Sonoma County. Representing nearly 8% of the total persons experiencing homelessness. 147 individuals were unaccompanied youth under the age of 25 and 78% were unsheltered. And whereas schools within Sonoma County reported having 1,024 McKinney-Vento students as of December 2023, And whereas students of color are overrepresented in the Sonoma County student homeless population. Black, African American, American Indian, or Alaska Native, Hispanic, Latino, Asian, Filipino, and mixed race. make up 80% of the students, 20% identify as white. The largest subgroup of students experiencing homelessness by race and ethnicity is Hispanic, Latino at 68%. And whereas

118due to the varying definitions of homelessness and the difficulty in capturing accurate data. The county statistics do not necessarily reflect the numbers captured in the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. And whereas Petaluma City Schools is committed to improving student equity and access to high quality education. to providing quality support to districts, schools, students, and communities. Now, therefore, be it resolved that Petaluma City Elementary and Petaluma Joint Union High School District's Board of Education does hereby recognize the month of November as Homeless Youth Awareness Month. Thank you for finishing that. Does anyone have any comments or questions about this resolution? I do. Yes, of course. I thought you might. I just think that the work that, again, Anna Maria is doing is so important for the city of Petaluma. And she chose to focus on homeless families

119like that was her choice. And I know Esmeralda has worked with her and met with her as well and just She has a lot of good information to share. And then, I mean, just the disparity 80% of them were flipped and they were not BIPOC. I'm sure that there will be a lot more resources targeted towards them. And also we're in I don't know if we're still in differentiated assistance for homeless students but it's just something for us to consider as we continue making our decision so Absolutely. Thank you. Any other questions or comments? If not, I call the question all in favor of this resolution. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? All right, the resolution passes. Moving on to business services, we have the second reading. So board policy 3551 and administrative resolution 3551 about

120food service operations and the cafeteria fund. Can you tell us about this, Amanda? Yes, this board policy and resolution was brought for discussion last month that included changes to the law for the universal meal requirements and our district. operates our food service program in a separate fund, Fund 13, which is outside of the general fund. There have been no changes since discussion last month. Can I hear a motion? Move to approved BP3551 and AR3551. Any questions or comments on these policies. All right, hearing Nanda called a question. All in favor? Hi. Any opposed? Any abstention? Hearing none, those pass. Moving on to board policy 3541.1 about transportation for school related trips and some updates. there. Amanda, can you Talk to us about those updates. Yes. So Tonight we bring forward policy 3541.1 This is the

121policy that was already adopted by the board to clarify the language in the first one. So the first paragraph has now been stricken from transportation by private vehicles. And the first sentence starts with. Private vehicles may only be used for field trips or events within 22 miles of the school. And then it goes down to say the superintendent or designee designee, excuse me, may authorize. So there was some confusion on where it was before. This is not to be confused with the AR that is coming up in a little bit for discussion. Which further gives me more clarification. around the home to school transfer. Nope. Not home to school. Not home to school. Everything but home to school. Everything else. All right. Do I hear a motion? I move to approve board policy three five,

122four, one. 0.1. Did I hear a second? Second. All right. Any questions or comments? Amanda, so I'm unclear So are we giving especially the secondary schools, a chunk of money for sports teams. And then it's up to admin to an admin. and the athletic directors to understand that. And I'm just confused a little bit. Yeah, great question um after are, and I was going to bring this up further down the road, but now's a perfect time after our last board meeting, we met with the comprehensive high school site administrators and the athletic directors to see how we can best support the bringing out this transportation along with that looked at historically what had what athletics specifically had charged, paid for in the past versus all of those things. And what we determined is we would

123move forward. as originally budgeted with the there was clear communication through the athletic directors to the coaches that we will help support them. So right now they're using, there were funds that were added to all of the sites, the elementaries were also given a per classroom, $1,000 per classroom to help with transportation too. But specifically the secondary that there are specific athletic funds, there are site discretionary, there are grants and donations around athletics. And if you need help and different things come up. like let's have the conversation and a great um This kind of happened this evening. I don't know why Gio is hiding his head. No, but… Our Petaluma High School football team made it to second round playoff the first time in 10 years. Super exciting. It's in Eureka. Yeah. Which, yeah. Yeah,

124four hour drive away. So we've been looking on, we have buses chartered looking at not only what works best for the team, that is a long trip, you know, so they've been working on that and looking at different costs associated to that. But that is um something that hasn't happened in previous years, so not necessarily they're the school site didn't really have a budget for that. So, you know, we met about like different teams have different fundraising and things that they've done. And then we talked about let's figure out what the cost is going to be and then we'll work together to make sure that it is not really uh taken away from other things in order to support getting them to the playoff games. So this is kind of the same question that Joanna

125brought up about the field trips. our families being asked to pay for transportation for sporting events. So they they Well, Gio, it can correct me if I'm wrong, but it's my understanding that sorry he's hiding again. Thank you for coming to the meeting. Good night. I appreciate it. is that we ask for a general athletic donation per sport, which is 150 or $160. $150 that can include um Transportation, uniforms. referees, all of the different things. Actually, this is something that I planned on bringing forward in December because through these conversations. with the athletic directors and site administrators, we're noticing not specifically at Petaluma High, but at CASA, that some teams are requesting the $150 And they're holding it either in boosters or they're holding it. And some teams are taking or it's going into the

126athletic funding for the school. It's coming to the district. And really, I think it's important to determine If it is on behalf of the district, a donation, those funds should really come and be held in district accounts. not um in other accounts so that But we're still asking the kids to pay to play. What about, I mean, we just had this discussion about homeless youth and yeah and so it I was already going to bring that up at the next board meeting because it's continues to come up in all kinds of different conversations that we're having about so many different things and What really what is what what is pay to play? What is the expectation? Is it a true donation? Are families feeling like it's not a donation, that it's mandatory, but really about

127getting guidelines about when we're asking, where should those funds go? So to answer your question about our parents being asked to pay for transportation Yes, because it's all encompassed in that 150 per dollar sport. For the field trips Oh, sorry. He's very much. We're still asking families to contribute 150 bucks when we just talked about some families can't even afford five. And then they've got to buy cleats and all that other stuff and and so how can yes and we also don't have all the money either. So I understand that. But, you know, we're looking at equity and some kids are just, oh, sorry, you can't play football because your family doesn't have 150 bucks. And it really is. I will say it's like a it is a suggested donation. I feel like the athletic

128form at least. Like filling it out, you know, you do like your clearance and it really is clear, like this is a suggested donation. I think where the issue comes in is in like And correct me if I'm wrong. It's like, but the further asking of donations. And like not making the fundraising truly optional. Sheldon sent us a great article a couple weeks ago And it was talking about centralizing the cost of athletics. like at the district level. But then I also said, I'm cheating, I have it right here in front of me. It was so good. I saved it. And it was talking about like, but several things need to happen first, like a budget equity audit and then training. for our administrators district wide about budgeting and equity around that. So while that

129would be great to centralize it, and I do think that needs to happen, there are like other steps as well, but we also can't fully like take away them. Successed donations Yeah. And it really is clear. Yeah. So I did have two parents recently reach out to me in a conversation and they felt that it was not clear that it was suggested. And that was why I planned on bringing it in. what should the suggested donation be? How should we be requesting it? Currently through some sports, it funnels like through a parent volunteer or a coach. So that's come up. as a concern, who should know who does and doesn't donate? Do we need to have a different way for parents to give the donation a different format other than what we have a lot

130we have like blue bear, we have all of these different applications, but really about centralizing even that, the ask and things like that and just making it a little easier for those that want to donate. to donate and then not put the pressure on the And I coached for years. So Tony, have you asked your mom about Did you bring your donation like not purposely doing that, you know, because you see the student, you don't see the parents and things like that. So just making sure coming up with a plan to start removing that piece of needing to that the coach having to do the asking and things like that, but also not putting the onus on now every student athlete is having to bring $150 to the school site office where they already have

131full-time jobs that they're doing, you know, and this having to do that. So really trying to come up with a plan, start the discussion now and hope to have new parameters in place on donations and how those are received by the district by July 1. So, sorry. Wouldn't. Yeah. So when a parent does submit through RevTrack. Is the coach knowing? Because I'm donating, just assuming like. you know or you don't know. I like you or not, so I'm going to give you my money. So RevTrack, it is that piece is done at the site, like the sites account clerk level and then they do put it into the individual account. So I guess it's not, I haven't used the website. I guess it's not great to use. But those funds do go directly to but

132to that. To the team or is like, is there a name attached? It goes… the only the team, the team see that it's deposited into their individual account. I don't believe that they see the name okay Right. They don't see the name and then um Yeah. But a very, and I wish I had that paper in front of me but It's a very small percentage of families that use RepTrack. So I'm wondering if that, you know, is a piece of it so Yes, to the train. Let's circle back to the transportation policy. Yes, parents are being requested. sports teams are still fundraising. The district has given a contribution. the site is also using their discretionary funding, but with an understanding if there's something that is over the cost. That is at the secondary level that

133we will have the conversation. At the elementary level. I don't believe they take as many field trips outside of the 22 miles. So what we did was we did an initial allocation of it was roughly $1,000 that That was her class, like you could likely take two close buses Throughout the year, some… not all grade levels are taking field trips where they need busing. And so the site is also determining because that is a transportation allocation specific for field trips that we're not saying you can It's $1,000 per teacher what we gave as an allocation if you have 20 teachers, we gave $20,000. So we're not like, so that way the site can make it work for them at the elementary level. And we haven't really received feedback one way or the other. I haven't

134from the elementary. Yeah. All right. Any other questions or comments on that board policy? All in favor, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstention? All right, moving on to our community workforce agreement approval part two Amanda, can you tell us about this one? Yes, this is very exciting. We have been actively working on this agreement since it was first brought to the board on August 27th and Right before the election, we came to an agreement and just really wanted to bring it back though. We did have the authority. There was really no substantial changes, but I think it's important to highlight the work that was done and what changes were made. So those specifically, there was language changes to work stoppages and non-payment issues. It was to clarify the handling of nonpayment of wages and

135benefits. and the conditions for withholding labor with penalties for nonpayment. There are some exclusions were refined in the legal references to align with the California public contract code and other relevant laws. One of the other great pieces that we had we were able to build into this. is we can continue doing things under our CUPCA, which is just over $200,000 bidding, which makes it just a little bit more ease when working on smaller projects. And then we did some clarifying language on the anti-discrimination policies and compliance, and that was specifically around veterans. For that piece of it. And one of the things that took so long is we spent a lot of time talking about the difference between temporary and modular buildings. We look at the temporary buildings for like Penn Grove Head. We brought

136in the modulars so the work could be done and our students were housed. We need to get those in and we need to get them out as quickly as possible. And so one of the hangups was the language around either allowing the modular company or our own staff. We do have qualified staff. who can hook up and things like that I know it's wonderful. Not aligning it specifically to the workforce agreement. Only because they don't work with all modular companies and they can be hard to get on short notice. So there was that piece. And then we did clarify the new buildings at Penn Grove are a modular building and it's important that through this agreement that we work with companies that do work with our labor partners. So it was really distinguishing the two

137pieces. And I think everybody walked away from this agreement feeling like. we got exactly what we needed to support both sides. So it was a great Yeah. Yeah. The lawyers had a lot of fun going back and forth. But it was, yeah, really nice to see it come together. Our labor partners are Super stoked. And that reminds me of an activity I forgot. I went to the North Bay Labor Council's COPE banquet And three of our awesome students at San Antonio and CASA and our teacher, Eric Smith, were given awards for their work with the employer, Subway, the franchisee that was holding their wages and not paying them. So they were awarded at that labor dinner so it was great to to see that Yeah, so is there a motion? I move to approve the

138community workforce agreement. A second. All right. Any other questions or comments on the community workforce agreement? Mm-hmm. Yes, all in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? All right, we got our community workforce agreement. Now moving on to ed services, we'll do a second reading of our new ethnic studies course proposal. course proposals, really. Yeah. Yeah. So we're bringing back the three courses for, I think, studies that was shared at the last board meeting The next steps for us is really securing training for our staff that are interested in teaching it and making sure we can schedule those at a time that's convenient and And allows for them to start teaching the course. Ideally. We'd want them to have the training before they teach a course, but it is allowed to have them teach a course

139while they're doing the training. But we're working with SCO and also with Ethnic studies providers to do the training as soon as possible as well. I have a question. So like the ela the ninth grade ELA class with ethnic studies. Is that going to be all ninth grade ELA classes or do the students select one or the other. No, I don't believe it will be all ninth grade classes. I think I think it would be depending on the teachers who receive the training and how many kids may sign up for with that course. Correct. Yeah, correct. Okay, thank you. I need a motion first. Sorry. We need to Yeah, someone needs to move. Yeah, but it's okay. I move to approve the new course proposal for ethnic studies. All right, Sheldon, go for it. Ton,

140can you just remind me, you know, all the course proposals are year long, sorry, which are This is fantastic. The law requires, is it a semester only? The law only requires, yeah, a semester. And when we get into the next graduation requirement, I was going to bring up Oh, actually, we could probably just wait till then. I'll bring up. Yeah, the law just requires a semester. All right. Any other questions or Comments? I know I want to go back to high school this Yeah, I commend the Tech Studies Committee. They really poured their heart into this and really went beyond the mandate to really create courses that truly hopefully embody what we expect out of an ethnic studies course. All right. All in favor of approving these course proposals? Hi. Any opposed? Any abstentions? All

141right. Hearing none, they are approved and we'll move on to Our second reading of the board policy 6146.1 graduation requirements. Can I hear a motion first? I move to approve the Board Policy 6146.1 graduation requirements. All right, Tony, tell us about Yeah, so I know… my team had presented this graduation Requirement recommendation and getting feedback from the board. They made some slight adjustments around credit Total credits required. And one piece in there that I wanted to bring up with the ethnic studies, at least, it's CS5 credits required, but all of our courses are year-long courses. You know, our ethics studies committee made the suggestion and recommendation that maybe we should offer ethnic studies as a 10 credits because our courses are year long and we don't want students to decide to drop out half semester

142and we want them to experience the full year and ensure that they have that experience. So, you know, unless there's other recommendations that would adjust the ethnic studies to reflect 10 credits as opposed to five. But all of these, you know, third year sciences We've been out of compliance with NGSS, and that's something that we need to move towards and make sure that we can be in compliance with the third year of science And the separation of the vision and performing arts as a requirement as opposed to a choice. in that foreign language being two years as opposed to one and a third year of math. And all of these aligned to help support students that, as we saw in the SSU College Promise. allow students to not have to figure out if they're on

143the right path. This just automatically puts them on that path. Of course, they still need to get a C or better if they want to actually be eligible for CSU, but they'll still graduate if they don't. If they get a D. But at least they don't have to wonder if they took the right classes or not. They'll all be on that path. That was my thought when I saw the presentation. you know immediately was that that really supports Well, they both support each other but to have at A through G. It just takes that that element away from the students having to worry about it or the counselors it's just Yeah, and it would be nice to combine those two things in any kind of pr communication that we're doing with parents and students about

144First of all, you know, the promise, but also the grad requirements. Then if you do this. I just had a comment or question about the sequencing when I was at office hours at CASA. Lisa Cain brought up… Because I believe that anytime we talk about the financial literacy, it's like ninth 10th grade, but her and Maggie Steiner were saying it's more suited for 11th, 12th grade. So I just wanted to just Note that. I don't know if we've done the sequencing yet. No, but I believe the understanding is that it would be 11th, 12th grade um Of course. Yes. I'm sorry, I just wanted along with that, could that be embedded the way that ethnic studies is in a regular like econ class. So I think the law, so the thing is in 2026, they're

145supposed to come out with a clear framework that we would follow in that in the event that they don't, then we're responsible for creating that. So it's still a little, but yes, economics, it's being considered as a you know as a as fulfilling the financial literacy however I think with a lot of our teachers, we recognize that financial literacy is, I think, goes a little bit above beyond what they might be learning economics. And making it a separate course might be beneficial for our students. Okay, I understand that this is for incoming freshmen. But is there any concern that this year's freshmen who will be sophomores next year will fulfill their requirements before their senior year. Because they now have seven periods instead of six right so their requirements won't change. No, and I understand

146that that i I understand that. I'm just wondering how that will affect those kids who have 220 credits. You know, and take some classes at the jc before their senior year, halfway through their senior year. Yeah. So, you know, um. And that's where, you know, looking at master scheduling and compulsory education, and it might help with some of the staffing issues that we may As we're trying to navigate that with a seven period day, it gives us a little bit of a buffer. You know, assuming students you know meet 200 credits by their junior year and they still need to take like English and government and econ and they still have these other periods Hopefully, you know, there they are pursuing more rigorous courses, AP courses or SRGC courses. But I think generally speaking, compulsory

147education requires them to be in school from 8.30 to 3.30 or whenever the board says the school starts and ends. Even if they've met the requirements, they're still expected to be in classes and we'd want them to be in classes and we have a lot of, I think, interesting classes that kids would want to take And build that intrinsic motivation to learn and the skills that they would learn in these courses hopefully will also benefit them as they enter the workforce. But at least it gives us a lot of flexibility for students who may need to work or students who want to do internships or students that want to take SRJC or explore other options. I think those students have that option with this new summer period schedule as well. Just want to say thank

148you for raising the credits required to 250. Great. This is exciting stuff. I'm excited to see three years of science. Yeah, I'm a little extra scared about staffing, but we'll make it work, right, Jason? They're going to do it. All right. All right. All in favor. Aye. Any opposed? Any extensions? All right, we got new graduation requirements. Starting for the class of 2029. Not starting tomorrow. Okay. Moving on to ELOP plan update. So the ALOP is just an update and they were very minor updates, mostly grammatical, changing multilingual or changing English learners to multilingual learners and eliminating the YMCA out of there. We have to post it and put it on our website and make it public. So we need to just make these slight changes to it. So they're just minor changes around that.

149First, can I hear a motion? I move to approve the ELOP plans. I second. I move to change the logo to our current logo. Okay. Just kidding. Yeah, if we could change the logo when we upload it, I don't think it actually needs to be a motion. I'm just being silly. Yeah, it doesn't. It didn't look like any big substantive. changes it's great to see how wonderful the new logo looks in comparison. All right. All in favor? Hi. Any opposed? Any abstention? All right, we have approved the updated plan with the updated logo. Moving on to comments from the public. on discussion and information items. I have no cards in front of me. I see no public charging. So we'll move on to those items. So first up is 16.1.1. board policy 4119.24, maintaining appropriate

150adult student interactions If anyone here really wants to read that board policy, you can come get it from one of us, we'll gladly share with you. And we will review it real quick before we approve it. We don't have to approve it. It's only the first reading, so it'll be attached. I think there'll be one of those. We should each have three. Okay. All right. If anyone wants a copy, we have extras here. I sent all three. to you right now. So they are identical policies, as I put in the um In this situation, these are optional policies that we don't have, but as you, I'm sorry that you're looking at for the first time now, but they are You'll see that there are good policies to have in place. It talks about appropriate interactions

151between of adults, our employees with students It does talk a little bit about mandated reporting when an employee notices an inappropriate interactions or inappropriate relationships. It also gives concrete examples about inappropriate conduct, which identifies some of those kind of murky gray areas that you'll see. They list some very concrete examples. So 41… 1924 is for certificated staff. 42-19-24 is for classified staff And 43, 19, 24 are for administrative staff. The language in these are all identical. The placement in the policy, like in the 4100s, 4200s, 4300 delineates which staff it's which staff member category it's addressing. This looks great and sad that we have to spell it out, but better safe than sorry. I think it is i think it's It's great from an HR position. It's nice to be clear, clear is kind. And

152this is This is pending because we don't currently have this policy in place. So we're adding it in. So these will be up for action on December 10th? Yeah, they'll be coming back. Yeah. Are they shared with our athletic directors and coaches? Just because I feel I'm talking about social media Communications through social media. And I don't know if all of our social media accounts are run by the district or by the sites. They're set up by a coach or a parent and then the students are following and communicating Well, if this isn't shared yet because this is the first time, but this could be once we've approved it, we absolutely can share this out with With our staff, especially, I mean, I think you're thinking athletic programs and stuff. would be key. Yeah, absolutely.

153Jason, say one more time, which is for certificated, which is for class. So if you put them in order, the first one is certificated, the 41, the 42 is classified and the 43 is administrative. Got it. Yeah. Thanks. Okay. All right. Any comments or questions on any of those first three about maintaining appropriate adult student interaction. All right, moving on to equally fun first reading of policies about discrimination and sex-based harassment. This time it is attached, so we don't need to pass out. the papers. Jason, tell us about sex discrimination and sex-based harassment. So this is an existing policy and we're bringing this forward because there are recent updates to the Title IX regulations and we wanted to make sure our policy was in line with that and updated to it. So you can see

154in the policy the additions are in red. And just start keeping us current with all the new laws. the updates on Title IX, you're talking about in the Biden administration, right? Yeah, it was 2024. Esmeralda and I just went to a training okay a couple of months ago and we said, oh, it looks like we need to update our policies. And this was the result of it. It may happen again. That's you know yes title nine took a hit in the prior Trump administration. Yes, I was hearing on the news some comments about that same fact. And I was thinking about this policy and we yeah let's get it as modern as possible. It looks like the most modern ones I've seen because it contains things like even termination of pregnancy being a protected class.

155So yeah, let's get those protections in Well, we can. Yeah, so we will bring this back for action as well at the next meeting. Any questions about any of the three that are about sex discrimination and sex-based harassment? I just have something about the Title IX coordinator. In the AR. In the AR. Sorry, I didn't print it out, which I always print everything out and I didn't. And so I don't know which one it is. The Title IX position for that will be updated for the next reading that will be human resources because this is in the personnel section. So like all the Title IX issues that are with personnel go through the human resources and the student once and that category goes through, that Esmeralda. So, yeah. So, well, I was just going to

156ask if when that is done. or add it to if there is one here anyway, that it's listed on the website and updated when necessary and it includes it's included in training who that person is on each campus. how to approach them, because I know that we've run into this before where no one knows who the Title IX coordinator is. Or the website says someone that hasn't worked here in three years. I retired 10 years ago. So it doesn't been that bad recently. No, no, but what I'm saying is that can we have it in the policy so that it's actually followed in You know, that there can be something so that there's accountability for it. And on the website too so that on our website for each one of our school sites. I think

157that's even more what I was aiming at was that the websites are updated with who the person is and maybe attach the policies And then updated. Yeah, what I probably will do then is I probably will bring back the board policy and we will bring the we'll bring the AR to you in at a future time when we can work work some of those additions in. You know, I know that we have been talking in cabinet about the idea that some districts, for example. having their principals be the title i reps and training principles like we need to have some conversations about how we actually train people at sites to be Title IX reps because we list people And don't always have training for those people. So it doesn't serve the purpose. Actually. I had

158that include trainings. Yeah. So we'll work that one and bring that back to the AR back at a future time. Yeah, thanks. Thank you. All right, any other questions on the policies and regulations about sex discrimination and harassment? All right, going on to business services first reading. of exhibit 3517. of the facilities inspection. I don't know why she, what? What is the first thing that you brought up, menstrual products? Oh, yeah. That was a long time ago. Well, I brought it up and then like six months later, the state was like, yeah, Caitlin was right. Yeah, that's required. Okay, take it away, Amanda. All right. Though we have the current board policy for 3517, We do not have the attached exhibit that says that we need to have menstrual products in great schools that have

159grades. Third through 12th grade and this just points out that it's since it is a state mandate. they will reimburse us for any costs we occur. And that there does need to be a person that is in charge of the inspecting and at our district, it is the director of maintenance and operations. And this will list the telephone and email address for anybody who has Any concerns? Cool. So the state has to pay for it? Because I mean, when all the kids flushed it back in the day and like clogged up all the pipes, the state, can we build the state back from that? That was like a couple of years ago. Well, probably not. No, we actually just… did our first, so last year was the first year of reimbursement and we just received

160um the link from the state so the link from the state I'm not saying we've gotten any money, but they've asked us what we spent. So step one. That's great. Yeah. That's exciting. They're funding a mandate? They're funding the state of California is funding a mandate It's probably going to be a payable, but yeah. Wow. I feel old now. Great. That's exciting. And then the AR for transportation for school related trips. All right, as requested by the board, I bring back I bring to you, this is not back. Man, regulation 35, 41.1, transportation for school related trips and what we put in here was it starts with just like how parents we kind of wrote how parents can request the waiver for transporting their own students. We added how each site can make the request

161for buses and vans. It's the new website, but it gives the directions and also puts in the timeline that we need to know 10 days in advance when it all, unless it is a playoff game or an emergency trip. And just that buses are on a first come first serve basis and that as always home to school transportation takes the priority. And that the director of transportation is the person responsible to ensure that when we charter a bus. the school pupil activity bus license is verified. Another thing that we do in our district that is that all charter buses are inspected by our district mechanic. to ensure that all of the safety standards are met, which is great too. What we added to this policy was a chance for the board to describe discuss exceptions

162to the district-wide transportation policy So what we did was we looked through CSBA's current policy for districts that do not allow, because that was an option. We chose the 22, but districts generally do or do not allow. transportation by private vehicle. And then I also did research on what other districts in California are doing. So these are just suggestions for the board to discuss and we'll bring it back. what we came up with is outside of the 22 miles is if there is no district vehicle available as long as the request was made within the timeline. If the trip is more than 100 miles one way. Or a multi-day trip with no daily transportation. So if they're staying at a convention and they don't need to go back and forth. will we allow private drivers?

163for the trip for the ski and snow excursion is always built into that. Not that we're taking anybody any there, but our buses are not equipped. For that. I didn't want to not put it in and then somebody takes a trip to Reno yeah So it's standard in most policies. So we went ahead and left it. And then this also gives the authorization for if the trip involves a specialized event or destination that extends justifies extended travel. the playoff game is kind of a good example that I discussed earlier because The goal is for the team to leave around eight or nine in the morning to get drive the problem It's going to be four and a half hours on the bus. If you've been on that road, they can get there. They can have

164a meal. They can take their time, even though they're not playing until the late afternoon they can do their coaching practice. And then have the game and then head back in circumstances like that. So the current plan in order to do that is bus drivers can only drive a certain amount of time that they actually have to have two drivers. So essentially one is driving up And then another charter is taking home. So you're in a way. by paying for the extended, by having the extended time you're paying for more. So this also gives authority or to make decisions on in a situation like this. Should we allow approved private drivers or not it it gives some reasons for exceptions. Those were the different ones that we came up with, which are relatively standard in

165California. Hit me. Any questions or comments, especially on the exceptions, any other exceptions you would want to see any exceptions you don't? think makes sense. I think that they all make sense. I'm sure there might be one more that would, but I can't think of it. I appreciate your work on this and the input that we got from our stakeholders at the sites. I really appreciate it. We're moving in the right direction. This is very positive. So people are going to request a waiver from the school's administrative office. And do they have the waiver? We are working on one. Okay. And then… Will this be communicated? Because the big issue, well, one of the issues was the sports driving because it feels like Again, just being a parent of kids who play multiple sports in

166our district. like it feels like It's not getting to the athletics. So it's like the elementary, they're on it with the field trips and the waivers and all But with the coaching I'm not feeling the same. And not from all of them, but from enough. Agreed. So if this comes back for board approval. at the next meeting, I think this is a great opportunity to also discuss what the actual requirements are for our private drivers along with updating our forms. We've been working on updating our field Not the overnight, we will work on that too, but just updating our forms to yes and communicating that out. I think that we likely will I'll work with site administrators to go to either have a meeting like we did before, include the athletic directors. or go to

167if there's like a a winter or a spring sport parent night Like even talking it there, but also sending out an updated to all we can send it out via parent squared to the whole to parents and teacher all employees just with the updated. And I think that would be a great reminder. who qualifies as a parent driver, who qualifies as a district employee. The first van is like of the new vans is being driven here. Like one has cleared a title because they're used so they take a while to get to us, but like what who is a district employee, a volunteer coach, a paid coach? Can a parent sign up to be a They can't, but this has been a question like a team parent and all drive and just i think being

168very clear on as we bring these all online what it is put it out via Parent Square. So if there's questions, people can direct it back right to And on our district website, we do have a transportation. board page. Building on that, on the athletics particularly I'm wondering the section that says, you know, requesting district transportation, it says district buses will be reserved on first come basis I get that for, you know. one-off types of events like field trips But, you know, my hunch is that the athletic programs know their travel schedules. you know, very early. And it seems like we could facilitate coordinating the allocation of transportation among this sports as opposed to just whichever coach is on top of it first. I know we hired some coaches this year like you know, while

169the season was happening even though or after it had started, the practices started and you know that those coaches would be left out of the first come basis type of rule. So maybe that's something to chew on to see if we can I don't know how the conference, you know, when their schedules come out for which sports, but maybe there's a centralized time when You can look at the season's sports all at once and two years, really? Dang. Okay. And the athletic directors at where transportation is being requested is going specifically, I know at Petaluma High, it went through the athletic director and like there was a whole when we met He already had a whole spreadsheet of like all of those requests. And to your point, I think it's going to become more important

170when once we receive all four vans, because the goal right now is to kind of house two at each comprehensive high school, but there will be times when one site needs more and we are really going to need to have some sort of system in place specifically for the vans. All right. Anything else on transportation for school? I mean, I know there's other things, but anything else right now tonight on that AR? All right. Do you want it for a couple weeks? And it'll be back. On the 10th. Moving on to ed services, new course proposals. We got four new course proposals. Yes. So two of them are CTE related and they're the capstones. That's the HOSA 4 and the and the exotic husbandry too. So those will complete our pathways for those. And the

171other one is… is accelerated math 2B3, the second year. I think the first year was approved already. And this is just an opportunity for kids to have an acceleration point in math if they didn't receive it in junior high. So if they missed it in seventh grade. they have this option to do an accelerated math course as well. And then the other one is current events. for upper grades, that's just an additional elective considering that we'll have more elective options and giving students an option something interesting around current events and the social components of that. Great. Any questions or comments that any of the new courses? Yes. Awesome. All right. Moving on to student services. regulation about Title IX, sex discrimination and sex harassment complaint procedures for when all those policies don't work. Yes. So

172I brought the board policy last month. This is the regulation for your information. There's also an exhibit attached, which is the complaint procedures for Title IX prior to the new updates in August 2024. So we've got If anything happened prior to August 2024 and what happens now in terms of the procedures. Great. Any questions or comments? All right, moving on to future business. Nobody? Okay. Okay, Sheldon, we'll start with you. Yeah, he's out. He's like, whatever. So they can see. You only have one more chance to, this is your penultimate chance to request future business. He's going to drop all the problems on our lap on the 17th and be like, bye. Yeah. All right, Maddie, do you have future business? Okay. So I have… Okay, I think I have like three that came up

173in um basically at office hours. There doesn't seem to be any onboarding for new teacher trainings in elementary. required curriculum. And so I think I just like to figure out an update on that. I know we've talked about it in our CIC meetings on how to have new teachers be comfortable with required curriculum. And so a teacher came in and it's really hard. She's an experienced teacher, but she's new to the district. And so she kind of had a sense of how to use some of the require curriculum. for elementary. This is This was specifically elementary. No, no, no, no. This is curriculum training. This is like real training on how to use it. you know, and how to use it with fidelity was really what she was saying. So looking into how we can

174incorporate that into professional development, but it has to be a lot more. It has to be right before they start school. The librarians and um the PCS book challenge policy. is already finished and so but it hasn't been brought forward For whatever reason, I think it just fell through the cracks. And so they were hoping especially after the election that we need to get this challenge policy. before us so that we can vote on it. No, they haven't. They have it already. Yeah, no, they've had it ready since last year, I guess. I thought they said they've not happened right now. No, I talked to somebody. I mean, then they, yeah, if they send it, we can yeah yeah we can vote on it. Yeah. Okay, so it goes on the agenda and then When

175are we going to see the Valley Vista new charter? The newspaper said we were going to see it tonight. And I've been gone so I was kind of like, my husband actually sent me the article and I'm going, oh, gosh. This is what I come home to. But I was wondering, I'd really want to see the charter Before we take a vote on it. Yeah, it will be on the December 10th agenda as a discussion item And then basically it will be an action item on the December 17th. Okay. So you… And yes, we can. We can go ahead and um But now as information, you can read the document, but we definitely can look into it. Tony, I know that you uh send it to basically legal to ensure that it complies with all

176of the legalities of it. And as soon as, have you heard as to when you may receive that back. Yeah, Amanda actually submitted to our legal and we as of now have not I don't think heard back yet, right? It is a very long document. He hopes to have a full review of it after right around Thanksgiving break. So we will let you know as soon as the first week of December, perhaps? Hey, you can take it. Enjoy reading at CSBA. Okay, that was it. Do you have any future business? I wanted to highlight um But those comments and suggestions from Home First Petaluma about McKinney-Vento families students knowing their rights. like she said, when she was meeting with families and surveying them, they didn't know about their rights. Well, and a lot of them

177don't even know that they're homeless or don't consider themselves homeless. Yeah. Heartbreaking, but it's yeah yeah And then that was, thank you, Caitlin, for that segue. And I don't know. with the word, I know I talked with Amy about this, like the wording on the housing questionnaire. And I don't know if there's a way to make it more clear or Even if someone fills out the housing, let's say it's crystal clear and they fill out the housing questionnaire, but then a staff member knows that that family is unhoused. I'm just hoping that there's um more explicit training and follow up for our staff to know that it's because it's the district's responsibility to identify the families, not the families you know responsibility I mean, we hope that they do, but in the end, it's up

178to us to make sure. And then… I think we already brought up the fees. But then just again around athletics And this has come up probably the whole time I've been on the board just I would like maybe not a district-wide survey, but a secondary wide survey of all of the families about their experience with our athletics. I know we've asked for end of season surveys about coaches and their experience, because I know A lot of times people don't want to say anything in the moment during the season because they're scared of retaliation. from coaches about playing time, et cetera, for their children. But I would like to have some sort of survey at the end. How was your experience? Did you feel like I don't know. We can talk about what the questions look

179like. Were you asked to fundraise beyond the rev track? how were you approached for that? Was the money that you that they said they were going to raise for was actually used for that purpose. And then also just looking at some of the teams that are coached by club coaches. Their teams are made up of club players. I don't see how that's equitable. your whole team is your club team. Or all the kids are club kids. I like that done soon. I mean, ideally by the end of the year, I know that their capacity is an issue, but at least by the end of the school year. Yeah. Thank you. You guys running your microphone. Because there's sports that have ended already and it would be very timely to put out a survey quickly after

180they've ended rather than waiting till the end of the year. But I think I would still want that input. Until we're able to build the capacity to survey families after every season right yeah Just because this continues to come up over and over again. Okay. Thank you. All right, moving on to reporting out from closed session. I think we have one to report out on the board voted unanimously to approve the settlement in case number SS2425-03. And with that, I adjourn our meeting at 9.22 p.m.