ROWUSD School Board's Meeting Nov. 16, 2023 5:30 Session

001the Board of Trustees of R of the world by School District are hereby reconvening Open session at 5:42 p.m. truste to identify themselves by first and last name to establish a quorum Dr William melinger trustee area one Dan R truste area 2 Cindy Gardner truste area three Scott Craft trusty area four truste area five rning Springs AR Bear Lake green Val I'm going to invite Dr what is your name you know what let's go with rord that one too okay I'm gonna invite Dr Rutherford interim superintendent to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance please stand and join me to FL flag ready begin I pledge Ali to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for stand one nation under God indivisible with li jce for thank you Dr close

002session report um we'll now announce reportable actions that were taken during post session the first is regarding student services stipulated expulsion case number 01- 2324 4 just em mailing or move to approve stipulated expulsion case number 02324 agenda item 3.6 as presented in the closed session truste Dan Ridin seconded the motion the vote was called for and it was a unanimous vote 5 all the board to action tonight to reinstate Dr Kimberly Bricker from Paid administrative lead to her position as superintendent effective immediately the vote was unanimous 5 there will also be a special meeting of the board board on Jan on November 27th at 7:00 a.m. there will be a special meeting of the board on November 27 at 7:00 a.m. here we already did that we already that before close session thanks thank

003Dr you're welcome appreciate it and you are welcome to help me at any time thank you Dr Rutherford was asking if we needed to do some approval of our agenda which we did at four o'clock public testimony public comment period for items listed on this agenda and non-agenda items for in the subject matter jurisdiction of the governing board and we have I believe it's five public comments so I'll just call them in order that they were presented to me if you would please come to the table there is a button there that you'll need to push and when you see the red light come on that means that we can hear you so we'll begin with Cassandra zanis representing the teachers and teacher salaries cand thank you thank you very much ladies and gentlemen of

004the Schoolboard thank you so much for this opportunity to address you today regarding salary increases my name is Cassandra zamanis and I am proud to say that I teach at rim of the world high school and I teach English there I sit before you today not just as an educator but as a passionate advocate for myself and my esteemed colleagues to be fairly compensated every single teacher in this district is a highly skilled professional continuously adapting and evolving to reshape the landscape of Education we hold Advanced degrees attend professional development tirelessly and embrace Innovative teaching methods to engage and Inspire our students our dedication to Excellence is unwavering we are constantly working to improve adapt and grow for the betterment of our students in addition to our commitment and our skills it's essential to recognize

005the educational investment we've made in ourselves we are Highly Educated as a Workforce constantly evaluating our knowledge to stay a breast of the latest pedagogical advancements recognizing our dedication to professional growth is an investment in the future of our students moreover I think I speak for every teacher when I say that we are always extending ourselves well beyond our stipulated contract hours the late nights grading papers the weekends spent refining lessons plans these are not just anecdotes they are a testament to our commitment to the success of our students we know it is not possible to get our work done within the contracted hours and we go that extra mile for our students as we discuss compensation let's not forget the economic reality we Face inflation is an Ever growing concern impacting the purchasing power

006of our salaries we don't seek extravagant rewards but fair compensation that reflects the value we bring to this community if this school SCH board genuinely values the education of its students and you must adequately compensate those who are doing the hard and necessary work of teaching future jury members taxpayers and voters in closing I implore this board to consider not just the numbers on a budget sheet but the faces of the students that we mold the Futures that we shape and the sacrifices that we make to ensure their success recognizing the dedication skill and educational commitment of our teaching staff through Fair compensation is an investment in the continued success of our students and the prosperity of our community as a whole thank you very much for your time thank you Cassandra next will be

007Elaine haran I'm by the way I'm gonna apologize now if I mess up anyone's name please correct me oh that was perfect thank you so I need to hold this button down and ela's going to be talking about books that have ela's going to be talking about books that have been placed in school libraries okay I'm elain bran and Elaine if you don't mind that like right by your mouth okay thank you so I've lived up here in this community for almost 50 years so I'm here today because some of us parents and grandparents have some concern about the recent books that have been found in our school libraries Lae and MPH concerning gender identity I feel this kind of material can create unnecessary anxiety and confusion for our children which can interfere with the

008child's normal development the fact is we need to concentrate on teaching our children the basics of Education reading writing now in the true history of our country sex education which includes gender ideology and transgender material introduced by books put into our school libraries should be kept out of Public School curriculum and put back into the responsibility of our parents our schools are failing our children according to the 2324 elcap less than 50% of R of the world Unified School District students can read write and do MTH at grade level as a consequence of the failure we have lost control of our Education Agency to unelected State bureaucrats we can find fight this radical sexual agents agent excuse me Indo indoctrination of vulnerable Minds as other school districts have such as tula and Chino Hills California

009has the most radical sex education curriculum in the nation this is a dark movement at work in our Public Schools today proponents of this poisonous ideology are aware that our education system provides opportunities for indoctrination looking at this from a moral and God-fearing aspect we realize we have a Creator who created us in his own image male and female our son should be taught to appreciate and celebrate being a boy and our daughters should be taught to appreciate and celebrate being a girl our god-given gift parents not government or schools have the right to decide how and when to teach their children about topics such as gender and sexuality and teach them in accordance with their own moral and religious values we have trusted you with our children and we have been disappointed with the

010fa of some of you to protect our children let us be clear they are our children in a small community such as ours we would hope you would choose to protect them or not be here also I would like to set am it's three minutes yes okay well thank you for your time thanks Elaine by the way Elaine can have you ID identify the books you're actually talking about uh yes I know uh one of them one of them is called Jack not Jackie and I heard that one was a Ru Paul book also but these are actually books that you've seen I haven't seen them I was told they were taken out of the Lae library and given to the principal who is actually working on vetting she's new principal this year Jackie um

011okay that I just wanted to know if thank you okay thank you Mook please teacher retention and salary and Freddy that wasn't his head right he's made a tough step hello my name is Sydney MC and I work at V as a transitional kindergarten teacher um uh let see do you know the date my bank account hit zero this month was November 9th I can't believe I have the audacity to have a car payment a roof over my head food for my children and gas and electric bills I had to start a before school intervention just so I could afford Christmas presents for my children this year I am a highly educated adult with 10 years of experience in education and a master's degree I am a fully certificated teach TK teacher but the dates

012keep changing you are going to need to retain myself in a attract others in a highly specialized and limited field I could easily find another District to teach in I stay because I love Rim but I might have to leave before this turns into an abusive relationship the rising cost of living needs to match paychecks it seems to be getting worse for my family every year not better I did some research I looked up every single salary schedule in san berino county out of 30 two districts we are the 31st so 31st lowest for a new teacher pay so step one um K one only Central District in Rancho Kong is lower than us even needles has us beat I'm am seriously considering my options I already asked for letters of recommendation I do not

013want to live leave Rim I love my colleagues and being near my family and I really love snow days but things are coming to a head I urge you to make Rim competitive help us hire and retain good quality teachers and staff why can't we be the leaders instead of the bottom of the barrel thank you for your time thanks San by the way I think you might be the first tk1 teacher to speak to us makes you very very special thanks for reading your son sorry the next person has some crowns to deal Jennifer Nichols pay scale and 10year cap on years of experience for teachers new to the district I'm new Rim High School teacher with 28 years of experience please Jenifer you just turned it off no no you just push the

014button it'll come on you're on now I'm a new teacher at Rim High School um I was offered the job three different times once in February of 2022 when there was um there was a teacher who was leaving and um there was a spot open and so I applied based on what it said the S skill was but I didn't realize there was a 10year cap on years of experience and so if I uh took the job I would have been taking a $30,000 pay cut per year so then in August I was called the same year and said we might be changing that and not have that that 10e pay or restriction anymore and so I applied again and they asked me to teach here again and then the the 10e P uh the

01510year experience uh was was still there so I said okay well I'll have to stay at my old District um because I I can't again I can't afford the pay P so then another year later and I thought well maybe I can afford it maybe there's a way and so I decided to come up to rim anyway and hope the experiences here were a little bit less but I live I live up here and so I was um and I love teaching at Rim I'm so happy but it's right now it's it's $26,000 per year of pay cut because of the salary scale room so that I was teaching down the Hillin then um I've met amazing teachers in the community who live on the mountain who tell me that they teach down the hill

016and they don't teach up here at Rim specifically because of both the salary schedule and also because they can't change schools even though they live up here because they'd be giving up their 20 years of experience or 15 years of experience and so um I think we need to stay competitive to recruit and aain experienced teachers um starting the school year with job vacancies are a unique problem to reunify at the other districts where I've been we never had job vacancies um having no teacher for a month or two months or for a semester is not something that occurs at districts with competitive pce things um I love teaching at Rim because the mountain students are they're amazing they're enthusiastic um they are like kids like all kids who would rather be on their cell

017phones than learning the math that I'm teaching them but experienced teachers are able to manage the content and also manage the um manage the classroom Behavior see um the way that it is right now at my old school I used to stay every day after school to help students for free but now I can't so now I try to stay two days a week but I have to go home to supplement my income and zoom tutor students from other districts so I'm affected both by the years of experience cap and by the overall lower salaries and I hope that the the board will change both of those things the salary schedule and the other wow pretty good timing there Jennifer well there was the countdown and thank you very much thanks I don't think I

018missed anyone did I Rachel Rim Teachers Association good evening everybody hello hello ready tonight Rim Teachers Association would like mic the microphones turned off now now it's on thank thank you thought I could project but tonight room Teachers Association would like to bring attention to the salary schedule in looking at teacher pay for surrounding districts rim of the world is at the bottom during a national teacher shorts being placed at 31 out of 32 nearby districts will not attract new teachers and may not retain current teachers living in California and in particular on this mountain is expensive Rim teachers struggle more than teachers in neighboring districts to pay bills and afford housing last year the district received a 13.26 cost of living adjustment this was much higher than the estimated Cola for the 2223 school

019year teachers did not receive that 13.26 cost of living adjustment only a portion of it that money is here now in our reserve and it is intended to be used not only to help staff keep up with inflation but also to attract highly qualified teachers we've lost many talented teachers to higher paying neighboring districts RTA stays in contact with several of those teachers and when positions here open up they are contacted to see if they would be interested in coming back the answer is always that they cannot afford to return to rim these mountains are beautiful and this district is a wonderful place to work but when teachers cannot afford to live or work here they are forced to find districts with competitive pay I have a few statements um from members that have read

020dear board members I understand that that a salary proposal will be presented at the board meeting tonight it is my hope that you will think about us teachers when considering this proposal in my 22 years of teaching with the rim District this has been a difficult year this profession has changed greatly since my first year and it gets harder each year I enjoy my job so much but there are many more expectations placed on us now we are not only educating children we are parenting them I do both daily as I work to give my students all that they deserve as students in the rim District our world outside education has changed as well inflation and the rising cost of living put a strain on all pocketbooks please consider a race for the teachers who

021work tirelessly over our contracted hours and often at the expense of our families thank you for showing that you value us as educators of the Next Generation dear board members during board meeting this evening a salary proposal will be presented to you I would like to respectfully ask that you consider the teachers as you make your decision we are in need of a raise due to the current cost of living and inflation a raise would greatly ease money worries in my household during this economy and feel and I would feel more valued as a professional please consider how hard we work for our students we have always done so but this profession has changed and shifted over the years teachers have stressed feeling unwell from stress exhausted and overworked sometimes it is difficult to feel

022valued as an educator more and more demands are made of us and in doing so we work very long hours over our contracted hours to make our classrooms run smoothly so that our students can have the best learning environment we do so at the expense of our families I've been working 10hour days I losing precious time with my child and my husband teachers work hard and I thank you for valuing us please keep how hard we work in mind as you vote on this race proposal dear board members I'm reaching out because we were informed about a salary proposal that would be presented to the board at the today's board meeting I would like to share with you how I feel now that I am in the classroom as an educator I went into teaching

023because I love being in the classroom and working with children over the years I have seen how education has shifted the amount of expectations placed on the shoulders of teachers are significant educating students is not the only job I have I am looking out for students and their well-being because of the challenges they face outside of the classroom I do not want to be another adult who turns their back on these kids however the demands and challenges that I faced in the classroom have taken a toll on myself and my family I see myself taking work home every day I want to say that the job hunt ended when I entered the classroom as an educator but I don't know if that is true anymore I had to also think about myself and my family

024at first I thought that being a new teacher putting in extra time until I got myself situated I kept telling myself that once I have my routine and goals set things would feel better however the expectations are wearing on new and tenure teachers looking at how much teachers put in and how they are compensated it is no wonder why more and more people are walking away from education I'm surrounded by teachers who are constantly working outside their contracted times paying for items out of their pocket and feeling overwhelmed and exhausted I commend them greatly I believe that if anyone deserves raises it is teachers I want to stay in the classroom I want to be also be able to have a job that provides me and my family with what we need sorry us uh

025when you were discussing and considering RTA all proposal please consider these dat thatting heard tonight thank you I think it would be good to clarify there is no salary proposal on the table for tonight as you know there's nothing on the agenda for that and I think as you probably know also RTA has just started negotiations with the with the team so that's there are things yet to come on that but thank you and I think somehow we need to express to people that there's a struggle that people are having that um probably no Mount money is going to take care of that stress so somehow communicate we do care and do appreciate your all the people and I'll make another comment about that later and CA is there a representative don't don't see Susan

026we'll move on to announcements superintendent new exhibit 3517 new board policy 3523 and new administrative regulation 3523 first reading anything to say on that yes okay the board has those so that is um out for your reading so we'll then be voting on that in the future number two superintendent rev vision of the attached board policies administrative regulations and Exhibits first reading anything to add just that in the tradition of the board these are opportunities for you to look over the new and revised policies I did sta feedback so we can make those rions bring back action thank you thank you three Personnel Services initial proposals by R of world Unified School District for the 2023 2024 contract negotiations with the California School Employees Association thisal impact none Personnel Services and then moving on to

027reports and presentations presentation REM of the world Education Foundation presentation of checks prisilla who oh there Jo Bonita now y'all need to share that microphone started you said push the button yes okay red all right I just want to share with you a few things one is that we were a part of the remed foundation when it was started it was started in 1983 but we reflect that people who did started they were Educators some from Rim as well as Community leaders and you see the same amongst us as well our dedication reflects the dedication they had and um that group particularly felt it was important to have a 501 SE 3 certification which was awarded to Rim in 1987 again none of us were here at that time however we are here we're excited

028about being here we're perpetuating the mission that every effort that we put forth is to promote generating funds so that our students get the best education possible and therefore the funds that we provide comes from fundraising which all of you are invited to participate in those behind me as well as those who are here and anyone else that may hear our voices we are having a giving Tuesday and that's going to take place on November 22nd it'll be at The Tap Room the lake The Tap Room in Lake uh in the village and um they offer us the opportunity to use their location and they donate 20 D how much 20% 25% of everything sold after 4M they donate that so we use every possibility to find ways to bring money to our schools we

029also have grantors who have found that we are legitimate we do a good job and we do our due diligence to ensure every penny that that we award through the grant process is overseen by our commit our foundation so it's not providing money and here it is it is a way by which the schools through the programs are enriching the learning of our students which reflects our mission so I will put these out on the table while we have other speakers I want you to know I want you to know that it's not a oneperson show everybody on our board puts forth hours of volunteer time to make sure that we're able to award these checks and now we'll have Dana to give you a financial hisory I'm taller so I'll go ahead and Jo

030can just stand right isn't it hi I'm Dana Chap and I'm the treasurer for the group um as J mentioned we're a completely uh volunteer organization so some of the numbers I'm going to share with you now uh are numbers that have um uh those monies have been uh raised by complete volunteers over the years since 19 83 uh following me we'll actually have the presentations of the checks to the principles that are here and we have some additional members here so hold up for any principles that are not here uh of the partnership program and the AVID program we are proud happy sponsors of uh the programs here we love our district and we love these kiddos so we're very very happy to do this um what I want to do two other real

031quick things this you always take the opportunity to thank the donors and we have many individual donors we have many Community donors but I am going to take just a minute to let you know about our community and corporate donors that have given us in the past year more than $1,000 I'll read fast but they need their due because they are contributing to ultimately the um School District so it's good for you to know where these funds are coming from and again besides lots of individual donors uh and large individual donors that prefer to remain anonimous they would rather their names not be said so this last year since fiscal year the beginning of uh fiscal year uh 2223 and into the year now we have Remax real estate audio Quest Incorporated the blue jaff

032blue jay jazz festival vertech Waste Industries was our largest our second largest donor this year they really came through for you uh Capri real estate uh the hold on a second the Rotary Club of Lake Arrowhead and then our largest donor is the San Manuel Mission Indians uh that that contribute specifically to the AVID program every year they're really we're a conduit they're the primary sponsor of that field trip sending those kiddos all the way up the state to visit colleges that we just feel is so uh impactful for those children Capri real estate of Lake Arrowhead Uncle M's uh premium whiskies if you're familiar with them they also contribute to us uh wild flowers of Lake Arrowhead and the Women's Club of Lake Arrowhead and then we had just a recent donation of the

033um cwo Banker Skyridge gave us a very large donation as well so thank you for bearing with me to have an opportunity to share you know where some of these funds come from the second thing I'd like to tell you is that could you gra the back check please on out of that since since the year 2010 which is how long we've been using our QuickBooks here that one yes if you can hold that up we have donated 685,000 46 to the district and then if you consider that our our organization has been uh a nonprofit LLC since uh 1983 there's another 17 years of donations prior to that that are pre QuickBooks that we have to really go back and dig out the donations so uh REM the REM Educational Foundation has been supporting

034this the kidos the school district for many many years and that's my presentation we're now going to turn it over to Priscilla who manages is our coordinator for our Partnerships with schools program and she's going to present the partnership with schools checks and then we also have uh the aid checks for the high school and for the middle school tonight thanks is gonna say something about in her present my name is uh Priscilla Williams and I'm the chair of partnership with schools Brent and we we have a committee of people and we uh meet well first of all what we do is we put out a letter to to the school principles and to the superintendent too so he knows or she knows what we're doing and then the schools have a due date and

035then they uh fill out what they would like to have let us know and we meet the committee meets and then we decide which ones or what we will be funding so with that decision when that's made we take a vote and then um if it's all if they agree to everything that the schools asked for then we I send a letter saying congratulations uh you have been awarded for this fiscal year and the Year we're working with is 2324 then uh what we also asked for is a uh evaluation letter on the things that were purchased in 2223 in several School schools already have sent that to me so I really appreciate that uh so what I would like to do oh and what we're going to do tonight is to the memorandum of

036understanding we will have that sign and um and with that we will you know the checks will be or will be distributed so for let's see Mountain High School we gave them 500 and RVA we gave them 500 also and what they wanted was a iPad so 500 covers the cost of the iPad so there she is also we want to see you carry those to the bank by the way well we're GNA take a picture with you up here so if we can just have you stand up here we're gonna put all the P all the checks up and take a picture and I I want to introduce Mary Justine she's a Committee Member for Mountain High RBA n CTE as well hope hopefully I got that correct so Mary Justine needs to come

037up there right yes she going to take her own picture and then we have a new member Brand New Me we're always so grateful to have new members for our for our partnership with schools is it Carol kinel it's a lot of work it's a lot of work and Carol kinel is her name and I was a member years ago and she came back home yeah and we appreciate that we really do we have other members other members as well but they they couldn't be here with us one lady sent me an email and she's on her on a plane with her puppy to go back and have Thanksgiving with the family so I told her have a safe and wonderful prep I really appreciate hearing that um Lae had um $2,083 that we awarded

038to them for uh social emotional learning and assisting kick bands for chairs thank you for coming rocker balls with chairs and and rocker balls with chairs I had to ask what was the kick what were kick dance because I'm not a teacher I'm just an administrator from years gone by then CH they were awarded money for tricycles because Unfortunately they had several tricycles and they used them for you know the kids to develop their motor skills and um but they were stolen so we were glad they helped them with with that purchase then the high school we gave them 4,000 400 for uh what they teacher training Source books and student um students things to look up for students on the computers research to do thank you research thee we gave them money for 2844

039for art education for meet the Masters to meet the Masters and MPA 2,23 for everything that they music education physical education and robots and programming a 3D printer and then if I can just add to that uh Rim high school tonight is receiving 20,000 for the AVID program and MPH is receiving 5,000 for the Abid program people Priscilla come on hurry hurry hurry Priscilla hurry come on in here then look over here after you look at that story okay thank you Jenny has real ones thank youate very we have an article from um that was written in the Alim Mountaineer thank you very much for this article who who might have written that article for I'm sorry who might have written that article in Mountaineer Mary Justine oh okay and it's a very good article

040I got had a chance to go and see this last year and it was so foggy it was so foggy but now Stephanie has done a great job getting all of these um grants so that she can get you know up upgrade the simulators for the trucks the welding equipment and they have u a medical core uh room that has all the medical equipment in it so if you need if someone needs emergency yes has a heart attack they can they can have a car car repair the students are learning that I just think that is just wonderful I think it's wonderful I really I'm really so happy with that and what we do is we try to give the enhanced student education that's most important to us the grants that are written we try

041to do things where we can enhance the uh learning of the students because that's that's what's most important to the to the to the entire program that we have so thank you very much thank you Priscilla we're going to go on to reports from U governing board members first I'd like to say we do have one I'm gonna ask Cindy to go first you don't mind Cindy um speak to the the member of our community that we lost recently okay so um I actually know her or knew of her um one of our retired teachers Donna Mami has passed Don work for the district for 26 years she spent many years at mph and finished her year her years at Grand View Elementary that's where I knew her and you were forever as a gve

042teacher I didn't even know she worked at mph so out is kind of interesting to find out her memorial service is scheduled for 2:15 p.m. at the Riverside National Cemetery on Friday November 10th and um I just want to tell you a little bit of something about Donna she was she was very kind but it was interesting she was a very matter OFA person even with her little kiddo kiddos very matter of fact she dress them as little mini adults she had a really dry sense of humor with them as well and I very much appreciated her I thought she was a lovely lovely person and she she really loved teaching and teaching the little kids she had the patience of a saint but I loved how she addressed those kids like little adults and

043she had a sense of humor that went over their heads and I appreciated it when I Cofe make copies for her so just saying so I like that and a couple of things for me Happy Thanksgiving to everybody I hope you have a safe holiday thankful for my family especially um just a lot to be thankful for this year um just grateful my husband's even here since he had open heart surgery for the thir time this year um so just hug the ones that that are close to you even harder this year and as we finish out it's it's every moment's precious um a couple of things um in regards to uh sand apps I don't have a legislative report but a couple things that came out of sand apps um one thing that we're

044going to be reworking based on some self-reflection is we're going to be discussing uh emerging issues so we're allowed to to bring up issues that we're all struggling with as districts one thing um that did come out and come up uh DSA all of our projects being held up many many many months if not Forever by DSA um it's it's becoming problematic it's costly they say DSA tells the school districts they have no backlog but yet it goes on and on and on so we are looking at possibly talking to a legislator about how do we accelerate the process a little bit to make it more timely for us to get our projects done um so that was that was a good thing one thing that was brought up by Central unified Amy when hernandes

045or my faves um is the recess so the um Bill SB 291 is of concern because it's mandatory if you're full day and you are offering recess you have to offer 30 minutes if you're uh early release it's 15 minutes but with the biggest concern is is the whole idea of chunking it with lunch this is basically where it's impacting so if you have 45 minutes designated for lunch and you're like 20 minutes for lunch 25 minutes for recess you have to have the 30 minutes um and the thing is you have you you can impact meals meal time there's no definition or time for a meal it is meals in a timely manner giving them them enough time to eat their meals but there's no definition of that time so it's kind of a

046guess for meal time and then you add the 30 minutes so that is going to impact schedules um some some districts are really struggling with this in terms of making it work for their timeline um you do have to separate it out from nutrition from any other uh meal kind of situation um the other thing is uh the the state is planning on on creating a master plan for Career Education I thought that was interesting prop 28 which is the Arts um the what is an interesting thing that's being grappled with is during an audit do you count the onetime donations like what you're given by RIM Ed Foundation or or the Arts Network do you count their donations that they give one time maybe they give it every year but that one time do

047that you does that count in what you're doing on a regular basis because this is supplement not supplant so the whole idea is do you count those those onetime donations as part of your regular program that you've been doing forever and ever um so that's right now Capital Advisors is working on um with legisl to get triller Bill language to clarify that because we know that it's going to become problematic in auditing especially um the other thing that I want to say was oh in the in terms of federal budget again what is being proposed by the house is a 80% cut in title one because they felt like a lot of money was given during Co and we have a lot of money are are you having a heart attack over there Mrs wh

048side 80% cut um so that's in the current appropriation Bill uh special education is being held flat and but there's cuts to pretty much every single other aspect of the the proposed budget um one possible way to go around lack of increase in special education Shannon and this is um something that is that sand is looking into at the federal level advocacy is maybe we push for a bill that increases ADR funding to try to take it out of special ed and push for that separate funding which it so I just thought that was interesting and had to made make a note for you um but I'm excited over the fact that we get an opportunity within the SBS meeting which is the education advocacy committee uh for sanino that we get to bring up

049emerging issues whether it's legislation that we would like to start working with someone on or modifying current uh Bill language or just what are we all grappling with and what can we do about it DSA is working our last nerve how do you work around that and is there something we can do so I just wanted to give that so as we go I know that Transportation the the clean energy buses is I I I already brought that up how do we keep an eye on that as we go forward making sure that technology does work for us when we go to implement it um apparently that can't be done right now because the governor is very very much into climate and so it's something that will be on everybody's radar because it may become

050problematic as we get closer to 2020 2035 or 2045 depending on how far you're pushing it out so thought that was awesome and I think that's it I'm going to the csba delegate assembly after Thanksgiving I'm really excited about that um and I do H have an announcement I already told Gary Dr r i mean yeah your highness is fine your highness I told His Highness his majesty that um I received a email yesterday from Patrick odonnell who was an assembly member but who's now taking over this csba legislative department and I was appointed to the legislative the csda legislative committee I've been trying for five years so I'm so excited and get consider a big voice table and be able to like have every single Bill introduced that affects education or families or children

051or whatever every single bill goes through that committee and is read by that committee and and last year there was over 3,000 bills that were reviewed by the committee and csba to positions on so I'm really I'm so excited right now I just had to tell somebody anyways so I'm excited I'm excited to bring the rm's perspective and that the unique World Mountain Community perspective to that those discussions on how hopefully we have less cookie cutter bills that come through and hit districts are s particularly hard um one being the late start bill which is being Revisited by many districts because it's become problematic so just saying so thanks well congratulations Cindy do they really know what they just did I well the interesting part is that I worked with um Patrick odonnell he's the

052one that BR me into the late star advocacy and so he does know because he and I have had many discussions so he does know me well hopefully he remembers me I probably might have used some naughty words when I talked to him about lar but that's okay now he remembers it congratulations let's see is there is it Green Valley Lake or Grass Valley Lake Running Springs Arrow bear what what what is that area excellent question Mr President that is the Running Springs area which includes Running Springs arobar Lake and Green Valley Lake wonderful unincorporated communities Within you're on Sir oh well uh thank you very much uh I will start by just U I want to thank all of the r members that came out and spoke during uh public comments tonight I appreciate

053you all coming out and making your voices heard I know that uh all uh all board members are always receptive to listening to your perspective and understanding where you're coming from uh so if you want to you're always welcome to come and talk to me again though I will say that um a big part of this as an individual board member is listening and understanding and of course we won't be engaging in negotiating away from the table that would be improper but we are always always happy to listen and understand and um talk about maybe some of our advocacy efforts that that have been brought up um and then just yeah talk through those things in general en hear any concerns uh so I do really appreciate that I also want to uh move on

054to a a bit of a shout out uh last month uh a bus stop was added to rim of the world High School by Mountain Transit and I really want to thank the coordination and effort that went on between uh the transportation department the high school district office folks and the folks over at Mountain Transit this is a great example of Community Partnerships through advocacy this is something that I think has been wanted for a long time and uh I happened to uh run into the general manager at n Transit and she expressed that she was really excited that this bus stop was in place and that ridership is very high at the moment uh which is not usual i' I've I've done I've talked a lot with mountain Transit over the years and writers

055ship's always a hard thing in a very rural community how do you have a public transit system that serves such a diverse wide ranging uh uh population and uh it's always it's just very pleasing that uh a new stop was added and it is being utilized by students Mountain Transit is free so you can ride it for free for at least the next two years to have funding for this uh and if writers ship continues at this rate I I hope they'll be able to continue it but I just really want to thank uh everyone involved in making that happen it was again a good example of advocacy and Community Partnerships to better the lives of our students um I'll also say that I hope everyone has a lovely H break and again I'll reiterate

056that you are always welcome to reach out to to myself I know you can reach out to any of us school board members uh to have a conversation I received a couple emails today before board meeting those are pretty busy days um but I was able to talk to a couple of folks that did uh that did email me and um if if you haven't heard back from me yet I will respond to your emails um after uh after our board meetings but again just want to thank you all and uh have a good bre thanks Jordan Dan good evening everybody and I do want to just express my appreciation for having so many people show up tonight um is education is important our students are important and so I know that some folks have

057left but we still have quite a few folks sitting in the audience and that um that's important so um wanted to continue on with some shoutouts that I was very happy to participate not participate but to um get the I guess end result maybe participate in was for um Mountain High and it was highly gratifying to hear back wonderful results and that's um Testament to our staff to our students to our to just everybody who's involved with mountain high that we um received excellent excellent um um um response from the committee so I just wanted to make sure that that was celebrated H shout outs there what became apparent with the talk with the L reviewers is just how caring a School site we have at Mountain High and through various activities that I've had

058over the past couple weeks weeks and over the past many years with my kids being involved in the school district is that really does Define our school district so um the various staff members who took the time out of their busy days to come and talk to us um this evening what the underlying message is is one that they truly care about our students and that's reflected time and time again um we can't in this form respond to what's being communicated but at the same time I do want to assure you that all of us hear what's being said and um I can speak for myself and I think it's fair to say for for all of us that we do appreciate the effort the continual efforts of our staff and we hear you um

059continuing on with um some notes I had in terms of caring is there are a couple of other things besides wasque um I loved going to see Nightfall at the high school our um drama Department tremendous performance heavy heavy stuff when you're doing Po in a way I appreciate going to the last performance because there was a little bit of levity that was added that was not there with prior performances but was in addition to just a really really Stellar performance was the students who were there cheering on their classmates and time and time again I go to various performances and the level of care that our student Community has for each other is just breathtaking to me having not grown up in that kind of environment and I never seize to appreciate it and

060um prior to that during the past couple weeks I went to V and volunteered in a fourth grade classroom and to teach her had to leave for an IEP and the sub who came in was very softspoken and and the kids possibly were having a hard time hearing her that teacher in particular has a microphone in her classroom so one of the little fourth graders went grabbed the microphone and brought it over to the substitute so that the students can hear her and it was very sweetly done it was adorable but it was also indicative of the caring that we show to our students who would then show it to each other and it's something to treasure so in terms of what I'm thankful for is being a part of this community that truly cares

061and we instill that caring in our students from elementary all the way through high school and then beyond remed Foundation volunteers they are exhibiting their level of care for our students and it just has a whole pay forward aspect to it so um I'm I appreciate and I do care what our community is doing for us what our students are doing for us and I think that there is a lot to appreciate and I just wanted to express that so thank you Scott is there a reason I'm going live you're not last sorry you're always talking sorry thanks Scott I uh I first want to rename the table is now going to be called the big girl table size here he is it duly noted Scott I also want to wish everybody Happy Thanksgiving um

062you know I I've often talked about how I uh grew up in this community for the most part and um I went to school here H here I love this community and it's it is it's a difficult thing when um funds funds just aren't there and it's really sad and it's it is every year though and especially lately our seems like our Union is just outstanding they do a great job and I understand what they want what their needs are but they also understand that we're not the same as as the other districts and so I appreciate that on both sides I am committed to making sure that the teachers the staff and especially the stud students get every bit that they can get and I think it's I think everybody on this board is

063committed in the same fashion as well so I look forward to hearing how the negotiations go and and what's worked out it's just it's always a tough process and I I hope it can be done sooner than later there's all kinds of stuff at work from inflation funding uh I talked before about supplemental money and sometimes people don't understand how schools are funded and you can have two kids I know of a family that has two kids and one lives with one parent one of them lives with the other parent they're divorced but one has to raise funds for any extracurricular activity they want and the other one doesn't just because of the school they're going to because the money is not distributed the way it should be and unions our California state union has

064the ability to get those changes is done so that teachers are paid accordingly across the board not according to the school district that they work in and this needs to happen it needs to happen for the union union has a lot more power they can go to and and change the laws they can get those things done it's just sad to see that we have to go through this year after year this back and forth and teachers need to be paid what they deserve to be paid and it needs be across the board not just one District to another needs to be across the board um those things are also difficult when you have schools like us working to get them on just so we can keep our school safe for kids there's other school

065districts that don't have to do that and it's really sad um I too am committed to anybody that wants to talk whether it's on email or they can call me I'd be happy to talk to anybody unfortunately there's many times there's legal issues involved and you might not like the way decisions are made or things are said but you have to be trusting that we're working behind the scenes and we're doing everything we can to meet and we have we're restricted by the ground act so we can only do it we have to have these special work meetings all the time to make sure we get things done and it's it's hard but I'm committed to being there as many times that we need to be there for that and with regards to all the

066other things we're working on I know when I was a teacher we worked I worked 10 years one time that longer than 10 years and we did not receive a raise until us as a union changed some of our stuff a little bit and from then on every year there's been at least some kind of race and so I just appreciate the back and forth that everybody can work that out and um be mindful of that respectful which I I think everybody is and I appreciate that it's it's a good thing to see um and I'm hoping that sand ABS can give me my Social Security as well so please write that down I will that's I my first Tas I'm so exciting because as a teacher if you work and you work all the

067time you do not get your Social Security you only get a percentage but I know that's kind of something on there so I'm I'm working now after I retire teaching because I have to really because I like to play as well but if she can give my Social Security I can maybe relax a little bit more and I can help Jordan with his deck so but again I want to just wish everybody Happy Thanksgiving and uh and wor suppor of the teachers and the staff here at the district thank you thank you Scot since we're at the big girls table I think it's important to recognize that Jordan dber scored 28 points in the game game the other night basketball game I believe that might be a rim record so somebody check that out to

068make sure at least her dad told me it's a rim record thank you Rick also um over last month U I've had the privilege to participate in some fun things one of those was the Western Association of schools and colleges review at mountains high school and U it was fun to see Cindy almost in tears When U when the reporters were standing there telling us that they had no recommendations to be made and that's just incredible so um what a moment uh what a time time of Celebration uh we are all just very thankful for the good news and they couldn't believe the transitions that have taken place at Mountain so um again Marina congratulations to you and the entire St and for the students too we were also very excited um I do want

069to say say that we are moving forward towards a bond we desperately need what could be done with a bond and so we're going to need people from the community that become a part of that committee our staff is going to have to have to believe and be helpful in communicating the needs uh we cannot have students in classrooms in 94 degree classrooms we cannot open up classroom doors to try to allow air into those rooms and yet and still provide a safe education environment we have very serious issues we cannot have a river inside of Rim high school after it rains we have got to do some things that are going to take millions of dollars and the only way we can do that is by uniting together as a community sharing the cost

070of doing that by by doing a bond and and unless somebody wants to come up with 7 to100 million donation which we would gladly accept and then we would give up all hopes for a bond because we'd have the funds we need so um we desperately need people that would say yes we're we believe in that and we'll be a part of that uh in working towards a bond and we will as we get closer that committee will be formed and it'll take it take it away from us the responsibility will move into the community to promote that um and I I'm going to have to say something some people won't like I apologize ahead of time but the fact is is that we as a school board have to look at total compensation when

071we look at how we are going to um increase funds and for for our staff and can I add this um I am so grateful for all of the people that work in the rim Unified School District from the bus driver who goes out there in the middle of the rain who stands in the street when when cars are racing by and put their life on the line from the Transportation people who keep those buses running from the maintenance people who have have to work with these facilities that are old and needing constant repair to the to the people that are working in the offices doing attendance doing all of our recordkeeping doing all of the administrative skills that are so necessary for for this school district to the administrators that serve both as principles

072or administrators in the district and across the board to the counselors and and to the teachers and to the substitutes and to the coaches and and I know that and to security and to the maintenance workers and the custodians and there's somebody I'm sure be forgetting whether it's the cafeteria worker the people that are out there on the on the playground that are guiding the children and whoever I have forgotten I apologize but thank you thank you every one of you matters can I just encourage you as a family encourage one another even if we wrote out a million dooll check to every employee in this District that would not take care of the emotional needs that every employee has we need to help care for one another we need to we need to be

073able to tell the classmate next door it's time for you to go home or the administrator it's time for you to take a break to to that to that person that's just worked too many hours you know we appreciate apprciate you and and it's time for you to take some moments off we as a family need to care for the family and I ask you to do that I understand we've got to do what we can financially but there are other things that we have to do that money will not meet and I encourage you to do that do your part and thank you for those who are here tonight please the word thank you I don't know how to say it any other way than thank you and God bless you and with that

074he is the interim superintendent Dr Gary thank you wow preaching buddy that was a good that was a stirring message you're going to get me in trouble for preaching to the board thank you for your energy and your pass around all the different are you so much to um I got some news Thanksgiving is one week today right how many of you are totally ready for that great event no well it's coming and so in a spirit of gratitude I've appreciated getting know the board I have this fantastic cabinet who are not only really capable of their jobs but they are uh kind of fun when the do is closing we get to talk about what's real um I'm learning a lot about the district a lot of great things appreciate Rachel in the back

075so I'm speaking for Spirit of gratitude for Thanksgiving she's doing an amazing job I would have thought she'd been in the job 10 years for all that she's known and all the guidance she's given me I'm grateful for Grace because um I'm still learning board protocols rights and rituals sacred cows hidden mines all that stuff as all superintendents do and this is a great place I'm thoroughly enjoying myself I did not enjoy the drive to my cabin in the pouring rain I say my cabin the the lender cabin I'm crashing in uh you guys are amazing on these mountain roads but forgive the poor guy in the 10 an hour trying to see what's coming around the next Corner in the pouring rain and they tell me that was nothing last night but that's right

076it it was a experience for me appreciation to the Bryant I had a nice opportunity to visit a high school I will tell you this board is right on track what I learned there was we have got to do something about facilities those are amazing people do amazing work and in subart materials that aren't in this facilities that really need some work and energy and I Comm commend you for engaging your community in a conversation around how that can happen because it's completely doable and it's time also got a chance to glimpse into uh Scott's Lodge to see the good work that goes on for members of our community that when they need it that's a pretty impressive operation um and with that I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving and look forward to getting

077to know you all better as the weeks go on thank you thank you g Gary we appreciate you already and with that um Diane is not able to be with us tonight so Mr wmy I think you're going to give us the school report what they tell me student represent I'm good here guess our our amazing student G is not here tonight she's actually on a plane to China her family for Thanksgiving so I gave her a pass and told her that far less articulate person would come in and take the take the student report from her she was very grateful so let's see if I can not screw this up here um Elementary School CH had a successful Fall Festival so many participants CH students and families and alumni participated the red ridden week

078and our First Responders assembly brought smiles to our whole school and we appreciate everyone who participated Boe is gearing up for winter and getting the town plows and Equipment ready for the season hopefully not too rate uh our students took part in paint the plows and beautification of equipment uh rotary HRA helped Boe with additional no cost preventive dental care for many of our students providing Dental sealants for those in need in grades TK through 5 Lae was fortunate enough to have fun in to our Red Ribbon Week with our Twin Peak sheriff's department and our students have a had a great time we were privileged to host the Lake Arrow Head School advances performance of The Nutcracker we got to see many former and current students perform we focused on the seven habits habit

079three put first things first work then play we attempt to model these behaviors for our students every day sounds like PA it's the fireworks we miss fireworks Mary C pink Intermediate School someone told me it was the best midle school on the mountain I'm not sure I've heard the Halloween dance was a total success mph received many compliments from parents school and District staff NPH Administration team attended the stop the bleed and first to the scene training at fire station 91 mph hosted our second elac meeting on November 2nd sent out needs assessment survey n ph's assertive discipline data shows that we have 19 less Ed code 48900 violations at this time last year that means kids are hating better School site Council approved the updated school safety plan on November 15th inph is hosting

080the co its College and Career week from November 13th through November 17th this week is full of fun dress up activities and culminating with the door decorating contest PLC and ph's professional Learning Community is making great strides in selecting priority standards updating scope and sequence and aligning common assessments our Tois Have Been instrumental and guiding and guiding us and supporting this process Mountain High School the L visit went well during the findings report out the L visiting committee said they could not find any other areas for growth other than the five Mountain High School self-identified they also stated our areas for growth are six years goal sixe goals which implies the visiting committee will recommend the commission grant us a six-year accreditation which is the highest recommendation possible it's what I that's what the she

081emphasized it multiple times multiple times saying these your six year goals and made s me the last time she said it and three more students have graduated since the last board meeting Mar I was impressed when I thought it was three years I believe she's recomending a be dayit and that'll align RV M together in the same pressure on Brian right next wait Rim Virtual Academy rba's monthly Library day continues to attract our youngest elementary students and they love it all RBA students are invited and welcome rotary funded a pumpkin painting event for RBA and MHS students which which was a big hit PTSA provided both MHS and RDA with a surprise dessert table for our PLC Thanksgiving pop luuck yesterday all right Rim High School I figured out I figured out a good one

082since we can't say the best high school on the mountain the best Comprehensive High School on the mountain rhs uh PTSA surprised the rhs staff with a special staff appreciation dessert bar on Tuesday 11:14 a special thank you to rptsa for caring for our staff in such a thoughtful way both our boys and girls cross country teams are running in the southern section CIF finals this Saturday both teams are buying in our very close first spot in the state championship race on November 25th in Fresno wow congrats congratulations that's great RS launched launched an ntss team to look at both the academic and behavioral interventions across campus these teams will work to help all students find success at room High School rhs is entering its BS of L selfstudy this year our L visit is

083confirmed for March 17th through 19th of 2025 thank you for Marina for not setting the bar too high our El students are thriving we have already reclassified 10 El students as well as passing our 10% Target set for the entire year thanks to our El team for your incredibly hard work that's great on October 25th rhs held its National Honor Society induction ceremony this year we inducted 17 students into this prestigious organization that is your school reports and with that with that we turn to Educational Services presentation on the ethnic study information plan and contract the services beginning with the 2023 2024 school year Jennifer Whiteside and Brian ly good evening and thank you for this opportunity to share with you um The Journey that we are on with our ethnic studies course um much

084like what we have heard tonight um we value the people all the wonderful people who do the great work in our in our district and so we want to make sure that the process that we go through four ethnic studies includes all of our stakeholders includes that voice and is a methodical process um so Mr Willams and I will be sharing with you how we have started this process kind of where we're going and we're going to tag team it we've done this before but in other capacities so you ready okay all right um so I guess we have a quicker too doesn't the noise that's fun um Al righty so we're going to go ahead and get started wanted to go ahead and um begin with the timeline of events which was shared with

085you I believe in February of last year um Mrs Dominguez had shared kind of a process and background um what is ethnic studies where did this come from what was the legislation behind it um and so in brief you see September 2016 is where we started the journey um when it's signed into law in terms of the direct directed the uh instructional commission that you'll see references to that um throughout the model curriculum um 2018 you have the State Board of Education which approved the model curriculum that model curriculum you can find on cde's website as well as resources um provided by sbcss or County uh Partners um and we'll be referencing the model curriculum and the toolkit quite frequently as that's a huge piece of our plan um so October 2019 you see ab114

086extended project deadline one year March 2021 um essentially I'm kind of going quickly through this because again I know you've seen this before but again just the background for anyone who's not familiar um with the process uh 2019 into 2021 model curriculum goes through a second draft and is posted for public feedback 2021 ethnic studies model curriculum um to provide guidance for developing the course um and then okay thanks all right and then um October a 2021 AB 101 is signed into law um and establishes ethnic studies as a graduation requirement and that graduation requirement is by the 2930 school year and we'll be starting with that implementation in the 2526 school year and so as we backwards map that and our methodical with our process and building our plan in in um alignment with

087the toolkit and how it recommends we go about that process again we want to make sure that we're thoughtful in each step of the way um so again you can kind trying to see below there the 25 26 year um in terms of getting that ethnic studies course and then the 293 year um that that would have the um ethnic studies course as part of that incl you requirements so just as far as timeline goes we're required to offer the course in the 256 school year we are required to have every graduating senior have it in the 2930 school year so if we were to choose to select it as a freshman class for example they could cyle through but that we have to have the course adopted and implemented by the 2526 school year

088and along that line as we're talking about uh the process and the stakeholders and looking at um you know what we're doing we also receive uh recommendations from our partners and other districts within our County um and so we have received a recommendation um from be Valley one of our um uh partner districts in our County and so we are taking a similar view um in terms of how we're going to build bu the course um but also this is something that's talked about every single month at the county I'm sure that you're hearing that with sand dabs as well again congratulations I'm excited about your legislative component um so sorry I digressed um anyhow so as we click when you see the ethnic studies model curriculum and you dive through those chapters we're going

089to give you a short version of what that looks like um but just wanted you to have that reference in terms of what's involved the introduction and how we build so our ethnic studies course we are looking at um what is required which is the eight outcomes and the four foundational disciplines um again without like reading all of those to you um again because I know those have been referenced prior um this is the focus of your ethnic studies course and the four foundational disciplines you see on the right are the components that are required in the course there's an expanded appendix that are optional um but again you'll find that in the model curriculum we'll go in a little bit more detail want add on that get um this next piece again is we're

090looking at resources across the state other counties as well not just our own um some of the questions that we want to consider as we dive into this are listed here but some of those things that we look at is is you know what do you hope that the ethnic studies curriculum will include um what are some of the topics that will be included how are we going to approach this what might we include what might be our cultural practices um and again we go through that toolkit you'll see that we will be looking at what is um um our district lens is in step two uh Step One is let let me back up is establishing our committee going into step two looking at our district lens um going into step three looking at

091our course options and how we might build our course you know is that going to be a freshman option is that going to be a senior option and those are conversations that are being had at the county um and those conversations are different depending on on what district you talk with is it a freshman class you get them right away or do you look at a senior class um course um where you know if you have students moving in and out of your District you make sure that that you're covered by the end so it's interesting how these conversations are continuing and the collaboration across the board um and some of these questions that we consider will be things we look at when we talk with our committee when we go through our road map

092and when we follow the tool kit um anything you wanted to highlight from questions yeah I think what we really want to point out is this is something that we are building so the state require you know says these are the things that need to go in the curriculum and so then it is incumbent upon us as a district to then build it with what works um within our community and within our student body and I think that's a very very important compon component uh Mr Whiteside referenced the committee which we be Waring very shortly you know maybe with some people in the room looking at you Mr um but that this committee then is you know full of community stakeholders that then provide that insight and we're building this collaboratively this is not a

093can we're taking off the shelf and opening it up giving it to Ren right this is something that we're building based off of our community ideals as long as we're in line with what the state's requiring with the practices and that's exactly the process that fa Valley's been going through so as we're looking at the Timeline which is something that we um if you're looking at that timeline that's another breakdown of the process that you can go through and again we wanted to be methodical with that process um and are going down a road to work with um the California foundation for history we are working through two Consultants um Barbara Lane and and Frank and I don't want to my pronounce his name I don't think he's pronounced it for me of all the

094times we've met with him um but um we have been working with them we have met with them on a on a couple of occasions to go through what does this road map look like um where in what other districts they've used the road map there's multiple other districts in our County that have used a similar road map and again it aligns to the overview of the toolkit steps um and so again as being part of this methodical process we started with let's have a meeting let's talk about what that looks like what's going to be included in the road map um and in fact the road map um is in your independent uh Services contract it's the last page of that document um you can see the road map mapped out but it's also

095here in the presentation um and you'll see that it almost directly lines up with what the toolkit indicates um as the component so the preparation before Services begin um that's where you see we uh have already met with Barbara and Frank we were looking at um the different options how you build the road map um what does that look like throughout this second semester so what you'll see is is we're looking at through second semester in terms of building that committee um uh developing our district lens investigating our course options um is going to include uh student voice it's going to include our teacher voice it's going to include our community members um and it's going to include an education on our history social science framework it's going to take a dive into our um

096uh the requirements so that our committee is is well Adept to understand all aspects of the model curriculum so that then they can dive into what is our district lens and so once they know what is expected what is required now we can go and we can personalize it to rim and it's been great to hear the stories from be Valley and how they're personalizing to their specific District um and and that's a great piece because the purpose of your ethnic studies is to Value the voice of our people and so being able to pull that District lens in there and valuing the voice of your specific Community is a really key component to that think I missed on that part yeah so just walking through the kind of the timeline of what we would

097be looking at is effectively we want to get everything in place prior to Christmas so that we can start right after the winter break um it starts out with focus groups for the students um as well as the data collection piece and that's all done in in January um after that we go on to the committee and all that data that was collected through the students to the teachers to the community Through everyone goes back to the committee and at that point that ethnic studies committee comes and looks at those dis those state requirements and the principles and the outcomes and then that's where the revision that's where the committee starts making recommendations based off of what are data says and what they know is important in the community they shape they they shape the

098directions so basically this is how we're going to start building this course right and then that goes through February into March we refine a little further and we get this a through G approved because that's a a crucial component of this and only after all of that ethnic studies committee work is done are the teachers ready with this new set of guidelines to actually write the curriculum right and so as you're looking at also um we we want to look at um you know the funding component as well um you know we have about 25,000 set aside for ethnic studies specifically and then our educator affectedness Grant has another about $30,000 per year for us to build this methodically and so we wanted to to make sure we stayed within that budget but also gave

099us an opportunity for a little bit of wiggle room there also sub budget looking at you know a release time and making sure that this is a thoughtful process um and then still obviously having a budget remaining for the following years um so that we can continue to support the resources needed for the course um so wanted to share that component with you as well um and then just also like in in conclusion there you can kind of see um some resource some quotes um we looked back also to Mrs dz's previous presentation and I love how she has incorporated the the cultural component and so I wanted to stay true to that um and that you know to understand your students you must see and feel the world from their perspective and that was

100um coming from Tony Thurman State superintendent and so that was something that um you know was quoted previously but also is a component to the voice of uh of our students and our community that we will be incorporating into this process question any questions thank you thank you very much anything just um it's laid out in terms of all the different days that the Consultants would be involved what how what are they providing in terms of the services with these uh you know what will their participation what will their deliver deliverables be great great question and in fact on our very first meeting um they came with Education Code the model curriculum a breakdown of the principles um as well as the foundational disciplines um and that was on meeting one right and so their

101ability as you kind of look through the road mapap to help us and support us with Gathering the resources giving education on um the history framework um and supporting us through um you know building our committee building our um our process and going through the road map um especially with their experience with going through this and maybe kind of seeing some pitfalls along the way what might we need more time with you know what have we seen other districts um you know wanted to give a little like I said a little bit more time with um you know to be able to support the process and I think you know what they're bringing is this perspective of what's been built in multiple other districts you know this this can look a lot of different ways

102this can be embedded in current curriculum and current courses this can be U probably not for us because we're so small but in some large schools they have four different courses instead of having a survey course they they're bringing a knowledge and understanding of models that have been implemented and are currently being implemented across the entire State and then helping us Define what works for rim and that's something that we just wouldn't have the background or knowledge to do at all the side note is I appreciate Barbara L used to teach at the high school she was an English teacher so the fact that she is familiar with our community and understands know Rim in particular it's it's nice to know that one of the you know individuals involved is bringing that expertise and also

103already knows our our community she lives in rimforest and said she would not charge us for travel time to the high schools and one one other question or I might have more but I think just one other for the four foundational disciplines that are required components so um to what that are they required or is that something that you're knowledgeable about at this point just uh Curious what's the actual where how those requirements are put on us right and that's where you want to see that there's essentially at this time a requirement that you cover all four um and like we were talking talking about is that a semester is that a a year-long course there's also the opportunity to do like an integrated um course where you might have a course that you integrate

104um uh the curriculum into um and it's interesting as we've listened to the collaboration again from other districts throughout the county who who um essentially we did an activity and they had all of us in a room and said go to this corner if you're doing integrated and go to this corner if you're going to do a designated Standalone course and then you watch people start to move even after they had put themselves because they again hadn't totally worked through all of the bugs um and all the different components of it and so um you know kind of back to what Brian was indicating um utilizing a a group of people who have already gone through this process and seen the pitfalls and have been able to say let's come back to the committee and

105here's the resources and information to support you making your own decision right they're not making our decision for us they're providing what do you need how can I get you more information on that because districts do have the ability to make their own decision again if it's integrated or it's designated but those four disciplines do have to be involved um in however you build the curriculum into you know those two options that makes sense and the way they explained it to us the the Consultants is ultimately with these four disciplines is you know you're you're trying to tell their story right and that's that's all the that's all you're attempting to do is tell the story and so you know one of the options is is embedding that in like the US History curriculum because

106you're just telling the same story just through a different lens um that obviously comes with its own components getting standards and things like that those are all considerations that take into place but ultimately the goal is with the four foundational disciplines is just to tell the story and when it's framed that way um there's there's a lot that can come out of that thank you anyone else I think it's going to be interesting to watch the process you already gave me a different thought because I've been imagining this totally as a senior's class and then just said kind of that that's what it's got to be you got to do before you graduation and and to do it as a freshman class is really an interesting perspective because you're try starting to teach culture and

107differences for people as they begin their High School career so already interesting so thank you very much and we'll be making our decision L Consulting thank you thank you thank you and I think we have a lady that's been around the district for just a couple of years who is going to make a presentation on an update on budget and enrollment report it's Jenny haberin our CBO thank you very much and flies doesn't it especially when you think I watched the Halls at Rim too I'm like holy cow it's been a it's been a while so um you know next month is um December you know um our board meeting and I present the first interim financial report so that's usually a very lengthy report and and unless there's something going on these board meetings

108in between are um you just a short um short and sweet little um the discussion on on what's going on but we are um working um on our first interim financial report and that'll be presented next month at the next month's board board meeting and with with that um we we've since closed the books um we we present that in September um you know we we work on budget any trailer bills any new um any new data we have um and so we we do just what I I've always called like kind of normal housekeeping budget adjustments so um you know that's what we're working on WE review Staffing Shannon and I work a lot together on position control um how you know we look at enrollment um all the time and like okay where's

109our teacher needs did one teacher go from third grade to fourth grade that's a different account number in my world you know the site probably doesn't care but you know we have to go through some of that tedious um Jen and I work on with categoricals on you know on budget and things that are coming up so it's kind of routine you know busy business at at this point um but I am going to just talk real quickly about um enrollment and and where we're at and then um one thing that we're hoping doesn't impact the first interum um that I kind of briefly already you know shared with you just so you know what's kind of going on but I've given you um our regular Ro um monthly um enrollment Ada um and stri

110for 95 graphs so I won't go over them um each one we've seen them before we've been using them for years but um we're technically at the end of a month three attendance that had an ending date of October 27th you know each attendance month is a point in time that um we record and we audit that four weeks worth of of school um so every four weeks of school is a one month's attendance regardless of where it falls on the um within the month we just got one to 3 four month one one two three four month two and so um in my office um you all know so some of you know um Scott White who also walked the hall as a g so and you know he audits the work from the

111attendance the principal sign off we look at instructional minutes and so that set of eyes and then when the Auditors come a few times a year you know they they come in and they look at the site level and and the monthly so by this time we we've reconciled what's in our student data system and we report where we are with enrollment and attendance just so you uh can just a refresher on our process so at the end of our attendance month 3 um we have two uh 2,861 students that's actually 19 higher than we were the prior month so you can look I did um present you an enrollment by school also that's broken up in between regular Ed and special ed um and so that was largely at thee and um Lae which

112we worked with those two principles and and looking at their and their class lives and Personnel needs um it is still 30 though less kids overall districtwide from this point of time last year so we're really at that static enrollment where you know there's not a lot of growth um but there's not a lot of decline either um our district Ada rate is 92.2 six we're right in there with the state average um you know during the covid years and and just right after postco districts were seeing 87% 89% lucky if you got to 90% so we're seeing that attendance rate um come back we still want to would love to be at 95 96 97% attendance um but you know to be in the low 90s is is kind of where California is at

113and so we're right in there um with the with our neighboring districts okay our stride for 95 because we do um you know want to push for 95% overall attendance rate and RVA um 96.1 eight so yay RVA and brick and mortar Lae is next with 9408 so so that's that's good to hear because that 94 almost 95 um and one of the things that you'll we're hoping um that as we work towards preparing the first interim report we're doing a little bit of extra work on um uh ensuring that our students are recorded properly in the student information system that impacts our unduplicated student count because you know a part of Scott exactly what you said and you said it perfectly how how districts are funded differently and districts are funded um on a

114base amount per student per Ada but we're also funded on our demographics and what part of that is the percentage of our demographics of homeless Foster English Learners and uh low socio economic you know the free reduced lunch so um right now we're seeing that um this year's numbers are um a bit lower than last year's um but then there's some some work we can do on our end going student by student in Aries um and then also um there's I'm going to use the word b harmless but it's not called that but there's some um uh um safety nets in there for us but it does it does mean kind of going through a tedious exercise of still going student by student so we've kind of assembled um a team today on who's going

115to do what as soon as we're back with Thanksgiving break um Mark uh has been extremely helpful um on you know helping guide us what needs to be done on the it side Veronica's assistant Jen's assistant Veronica has been doing a lot of research along with Lisa roads and CNS on um some of these things are new to rim um because we're new to the C World um uh for Community eligibility I'm not going to get all into the nuances of that but um everyone's really really been pulling together because we want to ensure um because the data is only as good as what gets input um we've also learned some areas that we might want to address um as the years go forward on ensuring um the data is correct in our student information

116system and some of that's at the site level some of that's at the district level um and and whatnot so that's kind of where we're at now um the financial stuff kind of you know that that's the easy part going through this is um you know what we're working on and um we have to have done before first interim and we have a deadline with cow cats anyway and it'll get done and I'll um kind of keep you a prize on if um you know we're we have a problem or we don't it looks like we probably don't now so but we've been a little bit worried about it the last couple um weeks going do I you know do I throw up or not sleep or what so but it's been a good exercise

117on um uh you you learn something new every time and kind of sometimes struggling through like what happen where do we need to go um you know there's Improvement at the end of the day by going through this um process so let's you have any questions sometimes bad news brings good news and good work sometimes it just when you're going through it yes but I want to commend a couple things um one is is that our strive for 95 now I have a short memory but in my memory this is the best we've done in a few years you're right the best I mean every almost every school is over 90% so that's that's good let's keep striving for 95 yes um and then the other thing is is that uh even our Ada comparison

118is better than really the last two years it's running right there with 2223 but even better than 2122 so um some some good news there so thank you to everyone especially our administrators that are working yep Y and especially at postco World um you know we we're at I think it's only going to get better good good thank you anyone else have anything D I have a question um we're looking at the enrollment summary um she looking at rvas which uh since the it has um has gone up from 76 number of this number of students enrolled was 76 month one and now they're at 87 is there a maximum at this point or will we continue to enroll students if we have that opportunity shanon do you want to answer that I think Shannon

119just gave this answer to someone else so I'm maximum RBA RBA is a public in IND school so there is we continue to enroll students that are needed that would like to go over to RBA so um we have to follow obviously with it within the Staffing of the contract but um RBA is anybody can attend rbaa because it's part of our school district and it's a public school thank you so what's the capacity then un right now for R we have four student excuse me four teachers and we're part we're right around I say about 100 top of my head 140 we don't want to give Marina a heart attack over here but we'll stay within Staffing ratios and you know having to hire staff um isn't a bad thing if the students are

120there and Marina Marina is helping with the numbers back there hey Bill do you mind if I say kudos to Jenny's team because when she when I got the phone call with the text saying you need to pull over I I need him pull over on side of the road I know you're talk to you because then she her and her team up with the upb her and her team did an amazing job Mark Kudos Veronica um Scott Jenny just did an amazing job of going through this line by line line and coming it through to ensure that we are good so that's the dedication that our team at ramp have to ensure that we are doing what we can for our district okay you want my permission to give kudos sure I rather ask

121for forgiveness and permission sometimes already called out a couple times this last six months that I'm a crier so I will I'll I'll hold it back in I can thanks Jenny thank your team please for us all because they're not all here and we're going to move on to 11.1 superintendent approval of California school boards Association delegate assembly [Music] and I believe we have somebody that we might know that is running for some office and yeah so does anyone want to make a motion I approve I motion we approve the big okay I motion to approve and is there a second the second okay and is there any further discussion do you want to tell who tell the public who is uh running there for our district well I would like to nominate myself because

122that's you know narcissistic I guess but yeah nominate myself but we can nominate other individuals as well from other districts so I'd like to take this fine to do that um I have the who um who their seats are up this year um I would like to nominate Tom Courtney from lern Valley Barb D from Victor Valley Union James oal from Redlands and Scott Wyatt from San bero City those and then myself that's the Slate that I would propos tunami all right now there's like another hundred people on there you know no no just from our region it can only from District 16 sub region B that's that's our region all right good yeah don't yeah what do why is there a year listed after each the different because it's a two-year you when you

123do it and if you get appointed you have two years and then you have to reapply and run again okay so Cindy you've just can you read off those names again that you sure so the seats short that say 2025 they will be reapplying if they wish in 2025 in 2024 they have to reply now the deadline for the applications is January 7th then the csba Vets them then they'll turn around and put out a ballot that will go to school boards in March and we will vote for the delegates at that time they get seated or they get notified in April so they can make the May delegate assembly if they're voted okay so Cindy I'd like you to restate the names and then Scott since you made the motion I need you to

124agree to to including these names so Tom Courtney from lern Valley barbue from Victor Valley me from R of the world James O'Neal Redlands and Scott Wyatt from San Bernardino City yeah Scott do you want to include that as part of your motion I do and Cindy you're including it obviously as your second yes unless somebody wishes to add anyone else is there any other names anyone wants to nominate or any other discussion about those names or do you guys want no let's I didn't hear or you guys can nominate yourselves too you can Lear against you well with you with me yeah we can I mean it it's up we all go on the same ball Ballet that's all I already put your sign in my yard so to be clear districts there are

125examples where districts have two delegates it's not typical but it does happen so mostly in larger districts you'll see San Bernardino City or Fontana but um normally the they try to spread the love so to speak but doesn't preclude anybody else from this Bo for learning I'm just saying if IID run with you I would not run against you maybe she all right all those in favor say I I par unanimously and Rachel we'll make sure you get those names um I can the board clerk can actually it's online now the online uh paperwork so the board clerk can do it and that would be that would be you yeah personnel number 112 Personnel Services approval of the Personnel page fiscal impact should be determined Source unrestricted General funds motions so Mo and was that

126Jordan yes and is there a second second Scott discussion I was uh very excited to see um the library mediate Tech position at CH built by a much beloved former branch manager of the Running Springs Branch Library Jessica Hart I think that she'll be a great addition um to C and she's a good snag for again somebody that was very wellbeloved at at the Running Springs branch and a former she's a rum and a former student of mine and she's lovely so I was very excited to see her as as well and um also is um Kate scorel as um another Ram Alum to be teaching over at La or she's already teaching at Lae but uh just very also Shannon and Morgan as far as having so many new hires consistently very much appreciate

127and quality hires appreciate your efforts you think Kate's got father would know that that happened and so I apologize Kate all those in favor say I unanimously Personnel Services approval did I just jump to no Personnel Services approval of contract for interim superintendent Dr Garrett Rutherford effective 1026 2023 physical impact not to exceed $50,605 from restricted General funds do I have a motion so moved any discussion I'm GNA vote no by the way I just want you to know she's too close to me do you wish to ask about the restricted general fund if it's possible for you to possibly explain that there's REM a small amount of remaining um Sr FS that would s funds that would be appro to um in this case so it's not coming out of our general fund correct

128lovely thank you and the same with Mike wizen an's portion even if any of it happened to be we would transfer that um out by a journal entry so it's important to know that it's not coming out of general fund either for Mr wisnan or Dr ruford all those in favor say I I carried cared unanimously congratulations sir you do have to stay now thank you thanks you're in it now Educational Services approval of the contract with California foundation for history education to provide professional development to rim of the world Unified School District staff during the 2023 2024 school year fiscal impact $40,500 budget Source ethnic studies and educator effectivness Grant Cindy is there a second second Scott any discussion just a quick question I think I might have missed it um uh how did

129we come across the California Foundation of history education please Jen thank you um that was part of the recommendation from be Valley um we were recommended to work with Barbara and Frank um and they are independent contractors with the California Foundation um for history and that is a nonprofit organization thank you just as a side note to I did a little bit of research as well um because getting this um ethnic studies course passed through the California state um C was rather controversial and I know that there were various Consultants who have been um criticized for possibly having a certain agenda that they're trying to push so looking at with this California Foundation history education and also the individuals involved it seems like they are really School District driven Community Driven and that was very

130um it was really for me to see that if I can just add that was a component that I think both Brian and I were happy to see was that um that District Lines was so important the support of the research and information um and again that looking at that district lines that have done this with other districts to make sure they're supporting the community need and Jen I'm sure and Brian I'm sure there will be people from the community that would be watching what is going on as we prepare that so so I I was thinking that we may have to have a component of how we keep the keep things uh more public I should say it for transparent transparent thank you for that word and that was part of us wanting to

131do this presentation so early um is we wanted to keep everyone involved and a priz through the entire process and I really appreciated that thank you so all those in favor say I I I carried unanimously 11.5 Business Services approval of the REM education foundation's partnership with schools 2023 2024 Grant award and memorandum of understanding fiscal impact $1,876 73 that's not there is no budget source for that all those do I have a motion it's a donation exactly that's why there's no budget Source okay Scott the motion is there a second second Jordan the second any discussion all those in favor say I I carried unanimously 11.6 Business Services approval of the 2023 2024 at the world Education Foundation Award and M randum of understanding for the rim High School advancement via individual determination which

132is our AVID program fiscal impact $220,000 Grant award motion Scott Scott second danana any discussion all those in favor say I I carried unanimously 11 117 Business Services approval of the 2023 2024 rim of the world Education Foundation Awards and memorandum of understanding for Mary putam and advancement via individual determination Abit program thisal fiscal impact $5,000 Grant award do I have a motion so mov Jordan is there a second second Scott any discussion what's exciting is that the Avent program is going to all sixth graders that is really a good news thing all those in favor say I I carried unanimously we now move to the consent calendar items pulled for separate votes and discussion are to be taken into consideration during agenda item 13.0 does anyone on the board want to pull anything from

133the consent calendar seeing none then the consent calendar will stand and we will vote it on as 1 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 12.6 12.7 12.8 12.9 12.10 12.11 12.12 12.13 12.14 12.15 12.16 12.17 12.18 12.19 12.20 12.21 12.22 and I think that's the last one if not do I have a motion thank thank you thank you Cindy is there a second second any discussion all those in favor say I I I carried unanimously good job Bill did I miss number you are awesome count and 14 governance team future agenda items time allotted for the Board of Trustees to request agenda items for future meetings are there any requests from any board members for future it items you have your light on do you have anything I'm pleased with our government calendar as we have

134it right now okay thanks Jordan then we'll move on future meeting dates we have a special board meeting scheduled for Monday November 27th at 7 a.m. is there a 7 there is a 7 a.m. and you sir are the one who gets to open the door for us and then we have a regular board meeting December 14th 2023 right here at rim of the world unit High School District district office with that uh we do not have any reason to rec to recess to close session so I'm going to entertain a motion to adjourn send Cindy second Scott all those in favor say I I I I I carried unanimously the meeting is here by adjourned