001I'd like to call this meeting to order. Um before we start and we jump into the pledge and everything, I'd like to take a moment to make a statement on behalf of the board and on behalf of obviously the Senate Mitch's community with 911 being so close. So good evening. Before we begin tonight's meeting, we pause to honor and remember the events of September 11th, 2001. Today we reflect on the lives lost, the bravery of the first responders, and the resiliency that has carried over the nation. Here in CM, we also recognize the importance of teaching our students about unity, service, and the strength of community. At this time, can we please stand for the pledge? Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the stands one nation under God
002indivisible. We can stay standing for a moment of silence. >> Thank you. So, we're going to move on to the superintendent report. Thank you. Good evening, everyone. Actually, I I forgot my mic. Good evening, everyone. Um, this was a very um exciting last week and a half of school. I think everyone knows that the students joined us back on the 3, which was a great day for us. We had just like every year, we had a couple hiccups in terms of transportation, things like that, but other than that, I think it was nice to greet the families and the students at the beginning of school as they entered the buildings. I always say as an administrator, you never get used to having an empty building without the sound of kids. That's what really makes the
003building alive. That's why we became educators to work with students and to hear the laughter and the voices and the conversations that they have. So everything is working really really well. Uh we had our first open house yesterday for our primary grades K's one to two at the elementary school. Um had some great uh feedback from parents from community members regarding the great work that is being done at the elementary. Our brand new principal Dr. Fernandez led the charge. Um and um walking around the building at that time, it was nice to see the parents engaging with our teachers. Having once again kids running around the building is always a pleasure. Uh we have our open house on Thursday for our intermediate groups. Um grades three to five at the elementary and then next week
004the middle school and the following week the high school. So we encourage all families to please come out, meet your child's teachers, have a conversation, have uh your questions ready at that night because those are that's the time that your questions should be answered. Uh in terms of the agenda itself, there's a couple things that I'll wait till we vote on, but uh the board votes on, but there's one thing that I do want to mention. We have a math teacher, a woman by the name of Lauren Harris at the MA at the in the math department of the high school. She is going to be competing at the World Athletic Championship in speed walking in to in Tokyo, Japan. Her meet actually is on September 20th. So, I want to reach out to the
005entire Senate Riches community and please wish her luck. Her last day for about a week will be tomorrow. We will be at the high school uh as a team as a district office with lot. Well, I'm not going to say but >> is she? >> Yes, she does. >> She does. It's It's incredible. >> It's really She broke the record. >> She broke her own record that she set I believe two years ago back in 2022. >> Yes. So, we expect great things and if she does well in the world championship, she might actually compete in the Olympics in 2028 in Los Angeles. So, it's it's a great moment for her. We are very proud of her and we wish her all the best of luck. So, board committee reports um we are kind of
006just still button sorry board committee reports we're just getting going again. Um, as school started, uh, we usually take the first couple weeks to get the board committee going. So, to give community connections, that upcoming meeting is on the 22nd at 6:00. The curriculum and technology is on September 30th. Is that a 4:30 or a 4:00 one? 4:00 one. Facilities, health, safety, and is September 17th. You have health and wellness on October 21st. And the policy again will be the next board meeting or 108 just before the next board meeting. So again, we've been working through policy. Um does anybody have anything they want to add about any of the committees before I move forward? All right. So we're up to questions and comments regarding tonight's agenda. Only guidelines for public comment. This is an
007opportunity for persons who wish to speak or who have written letters to the board regarding topics that are included on this agenda. Speakers are asked to sign in with the district clerk. There's a book in the back of the room. Prior to approaching the board, indicate your topic of comment. Keep comments brief and speak for no longer than 3 minutes. Refrain from discussing matters involving specific district personnel or individual students. Please stand and speak into the microphone so that everyone here and those joining us on the live stream can hear you clearly. As you can tell, we're getting used to the mic system. So now if you do have something that you bring forward, they would be able to hear it as well. Um, Mr. Noi, is it automatically on over there? >> Okay. So
008you don't have to press a button like we do. Does anybody have anything on tonight's agenda? Board, anybody on tonight's agenda? Any items? All right. So we have the consent agenda for approval. Consent agenda items are approved via a single vote unless they removed from being a consent item prior to the vote. Our adopted rules of parliamentary procedure. Robert's rules provide a consent agenda listing several items for approval of the board by a single motion. Most of the items listed under the consent agenda have gone through the board review and recommendation document recommendation documentation concerning these items has been provided to all board members and the public in advance to assure an extensive and thorough review. Items may be removed from the consent agenda at the request of any board members. Does anybody have anything
009that they would like to be removed or discussed? Okay. At this time, I'm going to take a motion for the consent agenda. >> Motion. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> Yes. >> I'd like to take a moment to Sorry. Once again, I'd like to take a moment to thank um one of the donations that we have. Actually, the only donation that we have, uh, it's a community member that donated his labor material to paint the press box as well as the concession stand at the football field, which is great. I believe he finished it uh he started working on it yesterday, finished it today. I think it looks great. His name is Gino Monticello. He owns his own painting company. He's a great gentleman. So Gino, thank you from the Santa Merch School District.
010The value of it is roughly about $8,500. So that is how we as a community become stronger as well when community members are able to give back to us and dedicate their time and energy and even their own resources. So Gino and the entire Montichello family, thank you from the Senate School District. >> We'd like to thank him as well. It was pretty impressive. Um, I took a quick rundown there. We had our Red Devil Pride Booster Club uh loading up for the upcoming events, obviously getting ready in the concession stand and then you saw Gino there carrying the ladders and getting ready to leave. Um, so, you know, there's a lot going on and there's a lot of community support that keeps going on around us, which is is really good to see and
011it's helpful for all of us. Any Let's see. All right. General public comment. Members of the public who desire to address or question the board on any related topic to the board work are welcome to do so at this time. Did I miss something? All right. No. >> Speakers are asked to sign in with the district clerk. Indicate your topic of comment. Keep comments brief and speak for no longer than 3 minutes. Refrain from discussing matters involving specific district personnel or individual students. Please stand and speak into the microphone so that everyone here and those joining us on the live stream can hear you clearly. Does anybody have anything that they would like to stand at the podium and >> Robin Rurn? I just have a quick question. Several years ago, I have a daughter
012graduated two years ago and I have a son who's a senior this year. And over the summer prior to my daughter's senior year, there was a um like a college boot camp where the kids um were able to work on the common app. Our guidance counselor was there. From what I heard, I remember and kind of be able to gather it was by a grant funded by a grant. This year, our seniors haven't had that opportunity and I'm hoping that maybe it's something that we can look at for the as soon as possible for this year's seniors and for the juniors next year. um maybe even before they leave. Having had now a daughter who has goes to school in the south, it's very different. Um her school if a kid um the sooner they
013they submit their common app, the sooner they get to choose their housing. So dates do matter and you know if our kids maybe even at juniors can go home, their parents can work on it over the summer. It's overwhelming. I mean, I have I've done this is my second year and I'm still, you know, kind of like very overwhelmed by it. And I just feel like if that's something that we could bring back, it really is important for our kids and for the families of the community because we really, you know, it's just something that it was valuable to those kids and I I hope that maybe we can look at it for this year and then again for the future kids. Thank you. >> Yeah. Okay. And Robin, I do recall the program. You
014are correct. It was very helpful. It did prepare kids for what they uh ought to expect in college, especially with the college app. I know it can be somewhat overwhelming, especially for parents that haven't gone to it. I know that guidance, the guidance department itself are preparing um college nights and they are calling their juniors and their seniors to try to prepare that. We will have a conversation u doc Dr. Botra and I with the guidance department to see what we can do internally because you are correct that that was funded through a grant. So, what can we do internally to try to maybe replicate a similar experience? We will work on that. >> You're welcome. >> Anybody else from the public? >> Oh, we got one, two. So, >> I'm just going to hold
015this remember everything. Uh, my name is Melanie Accardi. My son Matson is in 11th grade. He's been in the district since he's in kindergarten. I've always been very active in the community, very active in the school volunteering. I hate that I'm standing here because I don't like that it's come to this. I'm a very reasonable person and communication in this district. It's just not um it's not upheld. It's not uh I communicate with people and clients every day of my life and not about their children's health or their children's school about pretty mundane things. So when I'm reaching out to the school about my son who has a 504 because he has Tourett and I don't get responses, it's frustrating. He has an accommodation that he gets notified about drills and this is the another
016year that he hasn't he didn't get notified with the first drill. It's documented that he has anxiety. He went to Boseies this year. I called Boseies to make sure that they had a copy of his 504 in their in his file and they did >> but guess what? First fire drill was yesterday. He wasn't notified. So I kind of need to know who is the liaison between cenerges and Boseies. Who's supposed to communicate that with that with them to make sure that everybody's aware of what's going on. I'd like to know about communication in general about Boseies. Uh we got notified in the middle of the summer that he was accepted. Everybody was excited. We were expecting followup. And the reason he decided to go to Boseies is because last year for the first time
017he had a lot of trouble in school academically because of his Tourett. He finally admitted to us at 16 it's very difficult for him to communicate. And he finally admitted to us that for the first time he probably only paid attention at about 50% of his class because the other 50% was focused on not ticking. >> So none of us know what that's like. He knows what that's like. So he decided that he thought Boseies would be better for him and so that he could get out of the school, do something with his hands. So we were all for it. The week a week and a half before school, I emailed the school to say, "Hi, we we're kind of waiting on information about Boseies. We don't really know much." I didn't hear anything. The
018first day of Boseies was on Thursday and that Thursday is the first day that we found out that there was no transportation home. Now, maybe we didn't get maybe we missed some kind of communication. Maybe we missed those emails. But now we are stuck with a child who's very excited about this program and we are stuck. It's only the two of us. We don't have family local. So now 5 days a week we have to worry about how he's getting home from school because it's my understanding there's no transportation. We did not know that. uh you put your kid in an elective program like a sport or an after-school program then maybe you would expect to make an accommodation but in our mind Boseies is part of his academic school day so why wouldn't we
019think he would have transportation home his Boseies is in the afternoon well we found out that there was an morning opportunity maybe if that was communicated we would have said yeah you know what put him in the morning session because we can get him in the morning every day not a problem so now I have to literally worry every single day throughout the school year about how he's getting home every day. He's willing to drive his bike. I'm not willing for him to drive his bike when it's 12 degrees out and there's snow on the ground. So, that's an issue. Um, I have to send emails repeatedly when I finally do get a response. It's a very standard uh flapping mouth answer. Honestly, it's not really a specialized answer for what I feel I need
020for my son. could be addressed to any parent really. I have other issues to address in a 504 meeting that I have to uh apparently I have to have a 504 meeting to talk about his accommodations. Um so I sent an email this morning to Lisa Scott with some people copied. Hopefully that will get scheduled. Um yeah, I I don't know. Communication is really the biggest piece that I think needs to be addressed at this meeting. The particulars about my son can be addressed separately, but I would just plea that every single person on this board, every person on faculty, I'm not expecting answers immediately, but how would any of these people feel if it was their child? My son gets anxiety. He gets panic attacks when he's not notified about certain drills. He's been
021okay with it lately, but tomorrow he might not be. Um, and so when I don't get responses, it it's upsetting as a parent. So publicly, I think that's all that really has to get said. I just hope that behind the scenes, maybe you can focus on a little bit of empathy when it comes to parents and their children. I know the world doesn't revolve around us and my son. But um, something to think about, I think, moving forward. Communication, just communication. >> Absolutely. I I thank you for bringing that to our attention. and the world does evolve around you and your son. It does. He's your child and you're lobbying for him and we appreciate that. So, you are his advocate. So, in terms of communication, I'm sorry that the individuals that you emailed or
022called didn't get back to you. I will look into that first thing in the morning as to why um the other specifics as to what you address. You are correct that those specific items should be addressed within a 504 team. When I when I Google Boseies on the on the community on the emergency community website, zero results get zero. >> How do I find out information about Boseies? How would I have known that there's no transportation? Did I miss a communication? >> It should. So, communication should have gone out to you. There's no question about it. Um, the guidance counselor that sat with you to introduce the program should have mentioned it to you. >> Within the high school website, there should be information. We will look at all of this tomorrow. proceeds. I don't
023know what else to search. I just put in the search and it literally yields zero results. >> Understood. Okay. That's something we need to work on. I apologize for that. We will address all the items that you mentioned >> and there is no transportation home, right? Like we literally >> that is that is >> transportation from >> there's transportation from center to the Bose center >> from from school. And if it's 12 degrees out and raining or or snow is on the ground, would you want your driving home in in on their bike. >> My husband and I are out and about. We can't get to the school by 3:00. Can >> I have to worry about that every single day? I said to my husband and my son today, I can grab him tomorrow.
024I got to worry about that every single day through all and now we're going to be pressed to make sure he has a he can't get his license until August, right before school starts to make sure he has his license so we don't have to do this next year. So he's car. But it's going to be a problem for us all year. It's going to be a problem. that I have to stress over how is he going to get home every day. >> So, just to put in perspective, you know, we are aware, we hear um you know, as as Dr. U. So has stated, it is our hope that there will be a follow-up meeting so that you can have this meeting in a in a room and go through and allow for yourself
025and your son to be taken care of to the best of the ability of what can be done. You know, again, as we hear, we'll learn more. Um but definitely we hope that within the next 48 hours or so, well I guess the >> next 24 >> 24 hours there will be some conversation moving forward so that you can have some resolve or at least some better understanding and maybe there might be some conversation about movement changes or etc. So you know please um know that we're here. We do hear you >> get your email and I appreciate it >> and it is have to copy the board like you know now I have to copy the board because I'm not getting a response. I want to see our children. >> Well, you know, this
026is, you know, we're community members. We're here to support it. We're here to do what we have to do. Um, we hear all of it, you know, at the end of the day. So, you know, when we respond, you know, typically you might get one response in something like that just to keep it more streamlined so that, you know, we received it so that this way now administration would do their part and go from there. But we appreciate you coming out. you know, do know that, you know, we all have, you know, kids and we definitely feel obviously what you're discussing. So, does anybody else in the public setting have >> Oh, do you want Sorry. >> Um, yeah, I just wanted to make a comment on the website. I know that um we have
027recently redesigned it and so we were discussing about we'd love to hear from the users of our website of how we can potentially improve it because I believe that it has um areas of improvement. So please do give us that feedback if you could email the board um that's how we'll learn um from the end users. So, if you're having any trouble searching for things, any broken links, things like that, and we're also going to review as well. So, we want to improve it so that um it's a better experience. >> Just to clarify, it was the Boseies website you were struggling with or the school. >> No, school district. >> So, we have to find that >> link. When I go into the our school district and I type into search, it doesn't yield
028any results. And then, so then I started clicking on all the individual links to see if maybe I was missing I didn't see anything. >> Okay, perfect. So, that'll be adjusted. >> We could definitely link something. >> Any other board members? >> All right. Anybody else in the public? >> Uh Rich Wagner, community member. Um I have two quick things. One comment may have been addressed earlier uh about I just want to give a big uh thank you to the security team and the way they handled the uh incident Monday morning. Um, I was in the middle about to turn to the school with a hundred or dozens or so other cars and the way they reacted to keep that area open where the individual was and get everybody away from it and allow the
029emergency ve get in is not an easy thing to do right in the midst of drop off chaos. So, I just want to be from a parent side. A big thank you to them for their support with that. Uh, my second question is in the So, my son plays on the JV team this year, football. Um, in the parent group chat, a comment was brought up about guardian caps recently. Uh, I wanted to see if that if there is an availability in the budget to make those available to our football players um if they so choose to utilize them if they can be provided by the school. So, we are looking at at it right now actually. Um, Jeremy is um Jeremy Thor, our athletic director is researching it. I know that um uh assistant
030superintendent for business you kind of looked at it as well. I don't know Bruce if you want to add something to that in terms of where we are with that exploring it >> initial stages of exploring the contract where we are. >> Okay. >> Guardian. It's a guardian. Sure. >> Is it something that could potentially be available for this season? because there's one team member who purchased his own um you know which is which is great and it may be something that other parents may consider to do if it's not going to be something that could be potentially be available for us this season. >> Okay. >> I I think it can be I think we are looking at it. We're potentially looking at the contract. If we could hopefully put it in play as
031soon as possible, we will. >> Gotcha. Okay. Thank you. >> So just so those that don't know, a guardian cap goes over the existing helmet to add another layer. Sorry, I should have clarified. I apologize. Yeah, >> I apologize. We apologize. >> Sometimes we use jogging. >> I saw everybody's face kind of like trying to figure out what are you talking about there for a moment. But guardian caps are something being used. Um they started in the NFL um that made their way down to college. It's just an extra concussion protocol that was made to go over the shell to to kind of take the impact away a little bit from the uh contact >> and add that extra layer of protection. >> Yeah, that's what we have. Yes. >> Any other comments from anyone
032in the anyone from the board? Don, >> um I just wanted to address um Robin's comment too because um like Robin, I have a student who graduated in the class of 2024 and a student who's graduating in the class of 2026. And I um agree with you that this year we had a lack of resources and um support um and I have been fielding questions kind of here behind the scenes and trying to think of some solutions um due to the lack of funding. Um back in the old administration I had brought forth a suggestion of a um sole proprietor, somebody who does this um for a living as an alternative to the program in the summer. So perhaps we can look at that. But um if anybody has any suggestions um it's something that
033we need and we need it right away because um this is the season that we're applying and it's really frustrating. My son needed that support. My daughter is very self-driven and she's doing everything on her own which is great but not all parents have that and we have first generation students here and so they need that support even more. >> So we really need to prioritize it. I just wanted to say that I'm listening to you and um and I agree. >> Thank you. >> Any other comments at all from the board? Anybody? Last call from the audience. >> Um I'm just going to say with Rich Security did an amazing job from what I heard and you know the team of people, custodians, I mean I think everybody jumped in from what I learned.
034So, >> you know, when when >> it feels kind of good to hear when something goes like that that we have people willing to jump in that are aware of what to do. Um, the next board meeting is going to be October 8th. That is, am I supposed to say the parenthesis of a board appreciation meeting here? Uh, policy committee is at 5:30. Executive session at 6. The action meeting is approximately 7 PM. This meeting will be over at the high school library, so it'll be a change of location. We will make sure that that is also sent out and that the community is aware um for any changes for that. Upcoming districtwide events on Thursday 911, you have Clayton Huey open house grade 3 through 5 at 6 pm. On Thursday 911, the Red
035Devil Pride Booster Club is going to meet in the high school cafeteria at 700 p.m. The on 9:22, which is Monday, community connections meeting at the DO boardroom 6 p.m. Tuesday 9:23 and Wednesday 9:24, school is closed for Russana. And then Thursday 9:25 is high school open house 6 pm. Tuesday 9 September 30th is our curriculum and technology meeting as stated earlier at 4 pm. Now Thursday October 2nd school is closed and then October 7th the Red Devil Pride Booster Club meeting will be again in the high school cafeteria. My guess is they will probably start discussing homecoming and we need the volunteers for those events. If you want to make 175 pretzels alongside people, we encourage it. Um, and as we get going, our goal is to try to help put this information out
036there for whoever does hear this stuff. Um, but also then keeps it streamlined for all of us. At this point, I am going to take a motion to adjourn. Do we need to go to a second? Exactly. No, >> just want to make sure because it said it there. Make motion to adjurnn the meeting. >> Second. All in favor? >> Yes. At this point, the meeting is ajourned. >> 7:30 on the nose. >> All right. >> Good night, everyone.