Beaumont USD Board Meeting - October 24, 2023

001at 609 please stand for our Pledge of Allegiance and presentation of [Applause] colors detail right ace change post Arch ready begin I pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all ORD colors post post present colors order colors return right pace forward Arch thank you please be [Applause] seated I missed that during coid times okay agenda item 8.1 public testimony during the meeting of the Board of Trustees members of the public have an opportunity to comment on items that appear on the agenda or items that do not appear on the agenda but are within the jurisdiction and subject matter of the board individual speakers shall be allotted three minutes to address the board on

002each agenda or non- agendized item the board shall limit the total amount of time and input on an item to 20 minutes speakers may not yield or donate any of their speaking time to another speaker with board consent the president may increase or decrease the time allowed for Public Presentation depending on the topic and the number of persons wishing to be hurt with that we will start off I'm going to do something a little different this time I'm going to call out a couple of names so if you could be ready behind the lecture we're going to start with Megan Garcia and then the next speaker after Megan Garcia will be Molina Williamson and after Molina Williamson Arthur Amar yeah and starting time is at 6 13 okay Megan hi good evening superintendent and board

003members I'm here to talk against enacting a parent notification policy it is brought up a lot about children feeling unsafe in their homes for queer and trans kids it's not always unsafe as in fear of abuse or fear of physical violence it is fears of the words they hear coming from their family day in day out breaking down their self-esteem and their selfworth fear that based off the words they are saying that this unconditional love they talk about will stop once they show who they truly are and not who their parents want them to be words I have heard in this very board wi calling people within my community groomers sick even insinuating that the children just trying to use the rest room could be Predators all said under the thoughts of it will never

004be my child my child will never be the one to come out but as a parent you never truly know until you are told children hear everything and if they aren't coming out to you their parents that is a failure on the parents part not the teachers or the districts you will also hear that involve parents lessen the chance of self harm substance abuse and suicide but that also means that the parents themselves need to be in as I've said before the children hear everything and if the parents aren't affirming all of those feelings that are diminishing their self forth will keep coming up all of our teachers are already mandated reporters anything on Aries is automatically available to parents the district already has policies covering every aspect of the policy that is being proposed

005except for one thing the outing of trans students as an an aspect of the policy that the Jud J just ruled as a discrimination add its space do you want to give that to be the board that gives that discrimination thank [Music] you next speaker Molina hello everybody um Malia Williamson I am president of Riverside County now which is a feminist organization uh we fight for women's rights abortion rights um also lgbtqia Community as well as any underrepresented groups um my advice to you today don't be like Tula a district that has spent over a million dollars on legal fees they have fired an award winning superintendent a district traumatizing their future Generations uh inflicting them with fear and PTSD a district where we are collecting signatures to recall three of the Schoolboard members right

006now responsible for carrying uh out all this chaos a district that is bleeding as teachers and principles are quitting and the main reason being most people come into this profession of teaching in our schools want what's best for the kids and when their hands are tied and they're forced to carry out outlandish policies like outing the very kids who confide in them they want they don't want any part of it we have record number of teachers leaving the profession because they are making we're making their jobs impossible so be the better example of what school boards should stand for stand with the kids so they're able to express themselves freely and be proud of who they are stand with the teachers so they can continue to provide kids of well-rounded education preparing them for the

007real world and stand with those parents who understand that book bands and force gender outings are an attack on not just those specific books or those specific students but it's an attack on all of us and it has no place in our schools thank you thank you Arthur armor uh good evening thank you for allowing me to speak long before he became known as the king of rock and roll he was labeled a threat to common decency and morality his gyrating swiveling hips were the devil's work and they were stirring the loins of your virginal daughters and he had to be stopped that was then today who doesn't love and Revere Elvis Presley he's an American classic and arguably the greatest entertainer our nation has ever produced universally loved today but vilified back in the

008day and largely by religious zealots intolerant judgmental people who couldn't understand what they were seeing and hearing history is now repeating itself our youth today are once again under attack and only for The Unique way they have of communicating and identifying themselves you don't understand it and you refuse to accept it you view them as a threat just as you did Elvis but that will change it'll surely change change it'll just take some [Applause] time next three speakers to the Das Preston Miller Sophia teller and Cleo lell you may begin my name is the harbinger of Schoolboard destruction also known as pre Miller but I assume some of you have some other choice words to call me multiple children in Taca where I'm from have already been kicked out of their homes for being queer

009are you going to pay for their housing when that happens here if you pass an outing policy are you going to pay for their therapy bills when they're abused by a household that is supposed to love and care for them no matter who or what they are no I didn't think so and if you were you wouldn't be putting this policy into place in the first place because you would already care for them I know that if outing policies such as this had been put in place when I was in school many of my friends would not even be alive today so don't give us a bunch of BS and honeyed words and use your position for what it's meant for education for giving kids a safe place to learn not contributing to the violence

010queer people face across the country for some of you this may just be another silly fun teeh battle against the woke but for those of us who are queer we're in a constant and unfortunate fight that we have to continue to fight to protect ourselves and People Like Us protect ourselves and people like us have some godamn empathy end your discriminatory policies do your job which is education or I'll have to do my damnest to make sure that you stay out of a position to hurt queer people and I'll have to keep coming back here and keep having to come to these ridiculous school board meetings all over God knows where and have to keep opposing [Music] you Sophia [Applause] teller hello I'm reading this on behalf of a parent who has a child here

011at the school district to the B USD board members I am writing to you both as a concerned parent in the district and Community member in opposition to the forc outing policy that has been discussed in the recent months I would love to say that all parents love their kids unconditionally support their kids if they want to use a different name or pronouns and respect their kids enough to celebrate who they are not who they want them to be but the sad truth is not every every parent does and while I understand that many parents hope that their children would will come to them first with questions about gender and sexuality not every child has that option you only need to take a look at history to know that these types of policies invoke the

012much familiar rhetoric of parental rights to rationalize lgbtq plus discrimination in schools this is evident by the simple fact that many who have stood here and claimed that no one loves their kids more than they do come back the next meeting and say they don't want transgender kids using bathrooms which to me is baffling because all I hear is I love my kids but not if they're queer transgender that alone should tell you everything you need to know about the real goal of so-called parental notification policies to create and harbor animosity discrimination and Prejudice towards lgbtq plus students I strongly urge you not to endorse policies that could endanger the physical mental and emotional well-being of of our lgbtq plus students and instead prioritize the values of safety privacy and inclusivity within our school district

013ensuring a brighter more inclusive future for all thank you thank you Chloe L hi good evening superintendent and members of the board my name is Khloe Lowel and I am here as part of a coalition concerned for the safety and well-being of lgbtq plus students our group includes parents teachers and students who have navigated unaccepting environments themselves and I'm speaking against parental notification because we Face alarming data a national survey on Mental Health conducted just last year found that nearly one in five transgender and non-binary youth have attempted suicide and almost half of all lgbtq youth have seriously considered an attempt fewer than one in three transgender and non-binary youth felt that their home affirmed their identity and the these are distressing statistics about the status of mental health however a few factors can improve

014these outcomes namely a supportive and affirming School environment was shown to significantly reduce attempts lower rates were also seen in communities that were accepting of lgbtq plus people make no mistake youth are listening and school boards across our region are sending a loud message that harms the mental health of the students we care about forced outing is an unacceptable practice that harms already vulnerable students it can lead to harassment bullying poor health and it is not the way to create welcoming learning environments that respect and support youth we ask that you please consider these Grim survey results when navigating any conversation about rights and consider who is ultimately most affected by the rhetoric and policy that is made in this very space we know what keeps our youth safe in schools and for goinging consent

015only endangers and isolates students it is your duty as educational leaders to protect these students students by trusting the data in front of you and to Foster an environment that prioritizes student support and well-being thank you for your time thank you next three speakers Joe Silva Clarissa husen Hussein and Stephanie Edom [Music] hello and good afternoon board my name is Joe Silva and I'm here as a part of the lgbtq Plus student safety Coalition I am here asking for support to keep Riverside County schools safe for all students and young people regardless of their sexual orientation and gender identity or gender expression I firmly believe that all schools and school districts across Riverside County should be safe havens where young people can feel free to learn and grow and be themselves without fear of their

016own safety or being outed without their consent I calling on you to take action and support the rights of lgbtq plus students in Bowmont there have been many recent attacks on lgbtq young people across the nation locally in our communities there have been actions taken by school boards to censor school materials ban Pride flags and force teachers to out student to their parents without any regard for their safety or wellbeing this is discriminatory dangerous and sends a strong message that these schools are not safe spaces for lgbtq students as a queer person I know what would have happen if I was added to my family before I was ready to come out I would have been subject to treatment to treatments against my will or sent to boarding school to be kept away from friends

017and community that loved and supported me most importantly I would have faced threats of violence that would have put my safety at risk this is the harsh reality students are facing when they are outed against their will they lose their autonomy and potentially their safety I'm deeply grateful that my parents love me and their love for me is far greater than their Prejudice but that is not always the case for all young people and we must do what we can to protect them I implore for you to stand for students that are un that are in unsafe situations and provide them with the respect and support thank you thank you this who singing thank you good evening thank you members of the board I just want to say thank you you probably hear so many

018crazy comments and and negative things but thank you so much you care for children and and that's why you're here and we pray for you our church calary chapel sweet Hills we're constantly praying for you guys I'm praying that God just gives you the wisdom and discernment in these matters that are dealing with the most vulnerable of our society the first thing I would like to say is the parental notification policy that's why I'm here um it does not um out children that's the narrative that's being um rehearsed and they say like the more you say something the more people start to believe it it's not outing um it's not an out for anyone the policy doesn't change how a child identifies it doesn't forbid them from changing the policy simply states that parents have

019a right to know what's happening with their own child um in our legal system today in dependency Court when children are taken away from their parents because their parents um are abusive even they are given the courtesy and they're required by law to contact the parent if something's going on with the child who's in foster care these are law-abiding citizens that are trusting the school with their children and that's such a huge factor in our society that we can we can trust those people in our Public Schools um the teachers the board um I think this is also creating a very stressful situation for teachers um teachers at the end should never have to lie to their parents about their child's gender transitioning in order to keep their jobs um the notification that currently I

020I've been told I'm not I don't have a child in the school district but that parents can find out this information we have to go a step ahead of not just the parent calling the school to find out what's going on with their child if something this serious is going on with their children um I think parents should be um it should be proactive where the parents should be called thank you so much for your time appreciate it thank you for the chance to speak tonight and support a parental right I would like to stop by referencing a verse from the Apostle Paul's first letter to the church at Corinth Paul writes and though I have the gift of Prophecy and understand all mystery and all knowledge and though I have faith so that I

021could remove mountains but have not love I am nothing Paul was speaking about spiritual gifts and the need for our love and using those gifts in the service of God but even in a secular setting such as the public school system can it be said that expertise trumps love and the instruction of children and child wearing a teacher may be better equipped than parents to teach math or science but the legislation being advanced in Sacramento of late has nothing to do with ma science where is the love and stripping parents of their right to be notified of changes in their child's Behavior while at school or enforcing children into the uncomfortable position of having to use the same restroom as a child of the opposite sex and assume the risk to safety that entails the

022Bible recognizes three specific types of Love romantic love brotherly love and the highest form of all God's sacrificial love a willingness to lie down one's life for another certainly this is the type of love a parent has for their child and there are teachers who have put themselves in the line of fire for students too too many times by contrast Governor Nome and our politicians in Sacramento don't even adhere to the same standards they impose on the rest of us during Co mask mandates applied to children but not the governor knew some himself and the children's education was interrupted by school closures but the bars stayed open you school board members though can play a part in ensuring love is exercised in the instruction of these children you can speak against unjust and perverse legislation

023being Advanced by our state legislature and you can refuse to implement these rules in bont even if it means sticking your neck out a bit I am sure parents here tonight would be willing to sacrifice any more for their child much much more for their child so please do not take the stance the state knows best uh thank you for your time we have three more minutes left so we're going to start with Ryan and might be able to get Natalie Morel in there good evening guys thank you for having me um it says in Deuteronomy chapter 4 for what great nation is there that has God so near to it as the Lord our God is to us for whatever reason we may call upon him what great nation is there that has such

024statutes and righteous judgments as are in all the law which I set before you this day this is the Lord speaking through Moses to the Israelites he says only take heed to yourself and diligently keep yourself lest you forget the things your eyes have seen and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life and teach them to your children and to your grandchildren I love that because it tells of how wonderful the Israelites were because they had God as their God to tell them what is right and what is wrong our country was based on judeo Christian uh morals John Adams said our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people it is wholly inadequate to uh government of any other he also said this about the Declaration of

025Independence he said it laid the Cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of chrisan Christianity and so whether people like it or not we are founded as a Christian Nation and the forefathers of our country said we must fight to keep it free we must fight to keep our liberties and they're based from the laws of God Jesus said that if you cause one of these little ones who believes in me to stumble it is better for you to tie a millstone around your neck and to drown yourself into the ocean God's very serious about children we don't hate anybody we love people but as a society we have to stick to moral truths and we get that from God we don't just make up our own mind what is right and what is

026wrong the Bible is clear he who follows his own heart is is foolish we don't follow what we think is right but what God says is right so I'm praying for you guys to make the right decision parents need to be notified amen thank you guys excuse me can one of our sro's check the lobby please thank you Natalie please begin good evening my name is Natalie moriel I pull my children out of the Bowmont Unified School District and I mean this with no disrespect when I say this but I did this after I lost confidence that they could protect my children from dangerous ideologies I believe that a growing number of parents now feel the same way thus the growing number of students being withdrawn from public school system however there are still many

027more who want to pull their children out but are able to do so due to lack of child care financial difficulties work or other conflicts I'm here to speak on behalf of those parents and to help preserve whatever rights and protections are still afforded to them under the 14th Amendment parents have the right to oversee the care custody and control of a child we as parents have the right to be notified of any major life-changing events in our children's lives how else can we know how to best guide and support them the parental notification policy seeks to preserve that right no person in the right mind would object to keep this important information from a parent please do not negate the rights of the majority of parents who genuinely have their child's best interest at

028heart and only desire to be involved in protecting and guiding their children I urge you to implement the parental notification policy to protect our children and our god-given right as as parents thank [Applause] you that concludes time limits for 13.1 now we'll move on to different topics and again I'll call up the next three speakers Lawrence Hardy for dpack meeting invite Cole Ry for school safety 5.0 and Lauren Thompson uh the agenda item 7.0 Bowmont baseball Mr hardy good evening everyone my name is uh Lawrence Hardy um I am our Daypack chair here out here in the city of bont um we have an event tomorrow it's our first day pack meeting which we will be honoring and recognizing a lot of our African-American students across the district that's made roll for second semester of

029last school year um I'm all about building Community um and I I really want to see our board members uh be a part of our meetings I think last year I haven't seen any of you at the meetings besides our superintendent shout out to our superintendent um so I definitely think it's important that um we come support one another and this my I haven't been here in a while but just listen to some of the comments that people have been making is like okay we want our city we want this place to be a place where everybody feels loved and valued in a safe space for everybody so you know whether we got to do more construction add another safe space on campus so all of our students feel you know loved and valued and

030same respect as everybody else we got to do that it's a sacrifice might hurt the budget a little bit but we all are here for the right and ch another thing I want to like to say thanks to uh the school district for allowing me to go out to as a parent to go to the Riverside County Office education Equity conference put on by a friend of mine Charles Brown um was was a lot of great information I was presented at this conference uh one thing about me is though when I go to conferences I don't just go to conferences just to listen I'm a lifelong learner so it's important for us to take that information and come back and Implement some of those strategies and different things that are being presented for our students

031uh so I'm definitely an advocate um for just getting outside your comfort zone all right if everybody in your circle has the same beliefs and thoughts as you do then you need to adjust your circle right so I I'm a real strong believer of that so look forward to see some of you guys Hopey you know um more so me no more emails for me I like to come I'm a direct person so I come out and give you guys an actual official imitation on record so look forward to see you some of you guys tomorrow all right that's it oh I still have 40 seconds left thank you thank you next speaker Cole reallyy good evening my name is Cole and I'm talking about school safety kids should be safe at school school is

032a PST for Bing not getting shot I'll just say it up front School drills are bad let's pretend there's a fire hey Cole walk slow and don't scream well there's a kid on the ground Bing I don't know should I scream I'm a 9-year-old kid and I want to go to school in lawn instead I'm hearing there's a shoter so hide in the corner where everyone can see you I bet that in 20 years schools are going to have the same drills I want to see I want to feel safe at school but instead I'm waking up I'm waking up and thinking am I going to die or am I going to make it through a day just change your drills please thank you thank you Cole Miss Thompson you had two items put in

033here but I need you address uh balmont baseball please yeah 8.0 sorry I think I put 7.0 good evening Board of Trustees um my husband Travis Thompson is the new baseball head coach he couldn't be here tonight but I just wanted to thank our community and the baseball parents for their amazing support during the car wash that they had a couple weeks ago um they had some good funds and then they just had this last weekend uh they hosted the engine 57 Memorial Tournament um it's it's been a great start to the new season so come check out one of their games um their preseason games their next game is November 4th against IND at 9:30 a.m. thank you thank you next speaker Heather reallyy and again I need you to address uh item 5.0

034school safety yeah good evening my name is Heather Ry and you guys know who I am I have three children I have two enrolled in the district and I was going to fill up with what my son brought up because they recently had a fire drill and a shooter safety drill and I understand that those are really important and those help prepare the students for what happens in the moment but my concern as a parent is every single one of our offices are completely unlocked at all times and anyone could just walk in and walk right past the staff and force their way through and the school shooter drills are not going to save anyone so we need to find a way I don't know whether that means buzzing people in through the front doors

035at every School site but we need to find a way to make those shooter drills make sense to the students because otherwise it makes no sense anyone can just walk into our campuses at any time of day so as far as school safety I would like to see that improved thank you very much thank you m Ry that concludes the comments that are listed I also want to thank the community for conducting themselves very professionally this evening especially in front of our children pupil Personnel approve the recommended actions for student discipline case 2023 2406 do we have a motion so mooved move by Miss laara I'll second second by Mr Mitchell discussion hearing none call for the vote item carries agenda item 9.2 approve the recommended action for student discipline case cases listed 2023 2404

0362023 2405 20 23247 and 2023 2408 do we have a motion I move moved by Miss Williamson I'll second second by Miss Laura discussion hearing none call for the vote recommended actions are approved oral reports no nothing to report out of closed session no action was taken receive a report from our student representative Haley okay good evening Board of Trustees superintendent kakish and community members I'm excited to share about the great events activities and accomplishments happening oure Elementary School sites so first for anaha this month's student liter literacy skills were assessed during the acadians learning online platform students grades 3 through 5 completed the Casp interim assessment blocks to gain familiar familiarity with the Casp in addition to completing Hispanic Heritage Month students St staff celebrated English Learners who were reclassified as fluent in English

037the anaha PTA held its annual Fall Festival raising funds for Student Activities while reinforcing their bond with the community at Brookside they want to first thank the counselors for the successful start with hello week and for many exciting activities that happened at recess and lunch they also want to thank the Brookside PTA for organizing a Brookside family movie night on October 19th they held a mindset mission to provide students with tools to help overcome various challenges and on the 20th they held another family engagement night with the PTA Fall Fall Harvest carnival at Palm school counselors held a mini college fair during lunchtime and students had the opportunity to learn about colleges in the area they also held their first attendance VIP lounge for special recognition of students who only had one mark on their

038attendance for the month those students received pizza popcorn and were allowed to eat in a special spot on campus at Starlite staff and students participated in house activities focusing on team building and Leadership the school had the best attendance in the entire district for the month of September and won a best attendance trophy their PTA organized a bubble run not only to raise funds for this year school activities but to also encourage a healthy lifestyle amongst student students and then also promote student leadership they will have their annual trunk Retreat on Friday October 27th at Sundance grade levels with the best monthly attendance were announced and given traveling trophies to display for the month students and families were invited to participate in a walk to school day on October 4th at Sundance as well as

039over 75 people participated Mrs Griffin's sunbucks Cafe themed classroom was featured in the local news you can read about her amazing classroom on the district and School web page as well as social media she has truly instilled a love for Learning and in Creative environment to keep kids engaged in loving school so you should definitely check that out if you get the chance at three rings thanks to all the success and hard work of the PTA the Fall fundraiser all students get to got to experience obstacle courses interactive games challenges and even a DJ dance party the students of three rings celebrated attendance awareness month with pizza and an ice cream party tournament Hills they had a rock out your school day and they celebrated where teachers created out of the- box learning activities for

040their students they continue to build community and a sense of belonging with with their house activities and they have a weekly attendance celebrations for their students and staff they also had a very successful Harvest carnival at Summerwind on the 13th the PTA hosted their second annual Harvest Festival and it was a great success they had food trucks a DJ and lots of games for the kids to earn prizes on the 16th they started their first big fundraiser of the year they had an exciting assembly to promote the fundraiser and all the students were given a golden ticket to compete for prizes the goal is to raise for teachers at their campus their ASB is also selling Boog GRS all week that will be sent out to the students that they will receive on Halloween uh

041they finally got a band teacher for their school and the parent information night is on the 25th of October so that they can finally start up their band for the school and on the 35th the 35th I'm sorry the 31st they'll have a dress up day and outside announcements to a minute to win it house game and since a lot of the schools have a lot of the same stuff going on something that's happening at all of them is that on the 4th they had a walk to school day and they met at very places in the community and they walked to school with family friends and staff members and bont PD was accompanying them in that um all the schools wanted to give a thank you to bat PD for helping organize the event

042as well as keeping the students safe something else that's going on at all the schools is that this week is Red Ribbon Week and it continues into next week and they all participating with spirit days and celebratory activities and stuff and then they're also going to have Halloween dress up days on Halloween excuse me I appreciate all the Elementary School principles putting together a slideshow to show off the various activities at their school and I'm glad the year has continued to be a success for the youngest in our district and with that being said this concludes the presentation on events and activities taking place at elementary schools thank you Haley excellent very good okay receive a report from our superintendent review The District calendars for the month District calendar for the month of O November

043good evening everyone I wanted to say that we're excited to host our annual College and Career Expo to our balmont community attendees are able to speak with local colleges and universities Community businesses branches of military and learn about our Career Technical education Pathways this event is instrumental for our goal to have our kids graduating with uh being ready for college or career as an organization we want to provide as many opportunities for students and their families um to keep them successful in our community so this will be um tomorrow at Bulman high school gym from 5: to 7:00 we also will be hosting a second master plan meeting for our new school I'm sorry for the whole District but at our new school summer wi Trails on November 7th last year we heard from our

044parents and community members regarding facilities priorities this meeting is to provide an update and next steps and we hope that you will join us we want to congratulate Bulman high school students who were chosen as the city um of bulman's Youth Council for 2324 school year the council members represent the voices of all of our youth in our community and serve as an Advisory Board to the city council last week was our uh School admin week and I wanted to take a moment and thank the school administrators for Bulma IFI School District the care the dedication the leadership you all provide to our schools and the district has had a tremendous impact on our students and families we serve we are grateful to you for all that you do for our bul USD family and

045lastly I just want to highlight the um opportunity that the board have afforded our leadership team for a workshop that um concentrates on Getty's B um battle Leadership Lessons and so um just to highlight a few the um trip has confirmed to our group that we are on the right track prioritizing the right things knowing the district's vision and Mission and also have it that clarified for the whole team the importance of relationships between the district and our community we also talked about um at the Battle how they it was really important to secure the high grounds uh in order for them to win the battle and what we translate that for us in bont unified our high grounds is our people and our students and so we will always prioritize that to make sure

046that our district is successful for the future at the end I do want to thank um all of our Board of Trustees for investing in our leadership team um to have this amazing opportunity and look forward for the next group to um have that leadership lesson thank you thank you miss the calendar the calendar just quickly um I want to highlight that this month is National bullying prevention month and college kickoff um month October 23rd to the 27th is ridan week October 25th is be ready Bowmont College and Career Expo November the 1st to the 12th is a Little Mermaid Productions I'm looking forward for our newest production ction November 7th bont Banning student of the month breakfast and also on the 7th is the master plan meeting that I mentioned earlier November 10th Veterans

047Day um is observed and all of our schools will be closed November 13th through the 17th our parent teacher conferences for elementary and our next board meeting will be on November 14th and thank you thank you again consent agenda 11.1 consent agenda is considered consistent with adopted policies of the board and will be voted on in one motion unless a board member would like an item pulled is there a board member that would like any item pulled hearing none do we have a motion for 11.2 through 11.5 so moved moved by Miss Laura second second by Miss Williamson call for the vote consent has been approved Human Resources conduct a public hearing and adop Sanchez you skipped something I skipped something 13.1 the mean one oh you know what it's not on my no it's

048not on my hand out oh it's even highlighted maybe that's why oh my goodness that's funny okay now on to a more serious note agenda item 13.1 the bont will receive a information and instruction of some from Support Services on District policies regarding parent rights notifications hilarious thank you and good evening president Sanchez esteemed board members superintendent kakish cabinet um colleagues and our um community so thank you very much for um having me up here to discuss parent rights responsibilities and notifications and so um we're going to start with uh really kind of a big a couple questions some big questions and the first is the what what are we addressing tonight and so um I do want to preface this by there is no action in this item there is only a presentation there's

049information um information in terms of what we currently do and what our current practices are um so uh what we're addressing is really looking at what we have as a district in terms of parent rights responsibilities and notifications and when we um do that we're going to we're going to discuss some of the uh board policies or I'll refer to them as BPS and administrative regulations or ARS um Ed code state law federal law these are all the Glamorous things in the world to talk about right on a Tuesday night so um so that's what we're going to be looking at tonight and then the why why are we discussing this tonight um the reason why is because over the past few months we've received a lot of public comment um regarding parent notifications um

050we've also received uh several emails regarding parent notifications and so um we really wanted to spend some time discussing this matter with the public and also offering um what we currently have in place to see if some of those things suffice um and and uh and just kind of clarify some of the practices that we have based on the policies that were adopted and um and move in that direction so um the overarching question that we we've been um uh we've been getting in those public comments in public session and or an open session and also in emails um are is essentially does a staff member um currently have an obligation to notify a parent or Guardian whether or not a student would like to to change their um either their gender pronoun or their

051um their name or refer to themselves uh with a different gender than than is what it currently uh is displayed in their student record and so in order to really address this question um we would have we would have to discuss ab1266 which was passed in 2013 uh plac into law and so there has been some there have been some references to ab1266 over the over the past couple months with some of our our um um public and their comments and so I just wanted to and what what I'm going to do um essentially just so we're all on the same page in the in the room is that I'm I'm not going to go through each individual law or or BP or ar but I'm going to highlight some of the really key components

052to those things so that we can um uh so that we can kind of understand uh what we currently have in place if if I were to go through every board policy and administrative regulation based on parent rights and notifications or the laws we'd be here um for a long time so um ab1266 basically what what was um passed in law was that uh it prohibits schools from discrimination based on gender um gender identity gender expression and really what the law stated was that um it surrounded itself about facilities um allowing students to use facilities based on their gender identity um the ability for students to be able to participate in sex segregated Sports based on their gender identity the ability for students to participate in different courses that may be gender specific um all

053based on their gender identity and so that's what ab1266 encompassed so um when an Lea or a local Education Agency which is a school district when we get a law like this we look for how do we interpret it how do we enforce it how do we adhere to the law because we are a public agency and so the agency that we do refer to um in order to implement these laws and these um these different Ed codes and and and whatnot is the California Department of of education so upon the release um or upon the passage of ab1266 the California Department of Education released a series of frequently asked questions and what these um what these were was um basically the interpreted uh ab1266 and uh was offered as a guide for l on

054how to implement and to adhere to ab1266 so the reason why this is really complicated is because this particular law really um straddles SE several different um key uh laws and and whatnot so that that includes the California Constitution um Education Code which is U state law local policies and also Federal um law to name a few so in the cdes the California Department of education's um FAQs um they released uh one of the the items was uh one of their FAQs was number six uh in in the uh in the in all of the explanations of how to interpret ab1266 and number six basically says that revealing a student's gender identity um or expression to Others May compromise the student's safety um and then on top of that disclosing a student uh disclosing that

055a student is transgender without the student's permission may may violate California's anti-discrimination law increasing the students's vulnerability to harassment May VI violate the students right to privacy um this particular FAQ then went on to discuss public the public records act um Family educational rights and Privacy Act which is furpa and then also the California Constitution so um so how do we um ensure that we are affording our parents um rights responsibilities notifications all those things while also adhering to ab1266 and that's what we're going to get into right now by looking at some of our ARs and our BPS um hopefully that will help clarify some of our existing practices and uh and then we can go on from there so what I've Linked In in the presentation are basically all of our board policies

056and administrative regulations that deal with parent rights and responsibilities um student records and student family privacy rights uh and then also uh finally the parental notifications on the the last one there those are full documents so that anybody can research all the items that are in there I'm not going to go through all those full documents some of those are very lengthy and um and tedious to to go through what I am going to do is highlight a few pieces from each one of those just to so that we can clarify some of our current practices that we have in place um in terms of parent rights so the first one that um that we discussed is BP 5020 and what that states is that the board believes that um that that the ability of

057a student to succeed in school either intellectually physically emotionally or socially um is a shared commitment and um that also includes superintendent and design which is our staff um we all believe that that is a shared commitment and that we shall work with our parent and Guardians um regarding Student Success in every at every single School site in the AR of that same uh board policy the administrative regulation um it really uh the the AR that we have as a as a district really boiled down to practices that are in place and so in this particular administrative regulation um highlighted in the yellow there is the rights of parents guardians of District students include but are not limited to the following and um number 12 of that administrative regulation is to have access to the

058school records of their child now that is grounded in Ed code you see the Ed code citation there 51101 um the other part of that is number 19 of the policy um parents have have the right to question anything in their child's record that the parent Guardian feels is inaccurate or misleading or is an invasion of privacy and to receive a response from the school again grounded in Ed code 51101 um a student record so the the question might be well what is a student record and what does that consist of well a student record is any item in handwriting print tape film computer or other medium and it can be gathered within the district or without the um from outside the district and then that includes um our student information system uh which is

059Aries um the reason why we point that out um in terms of part of being a student record is that um all of our parents have access to parent portal which is part of our our student information system and I'll show that in just uh just a second so um under uh furpa the family education rights and Privacy Act um records some some people have made this um misnomer that that um counseling or counseling records are not part of the Student Records they are counseling records are part of the student record anything that is entered within our student information system is part of a student record um and that could be counseling services that are offered within the school district or sometimes we have outside counseling services that come in and um and offer services

060so who's granted rights to these Student Records well um absolute access is granted to um any parent or Guardian um of a student who is younger than 18 years old so under the age of 18 that's number one number two is um and these are persons who are granted absolute access number two is an adult student so over the age of 18 or a student who's under the age of 18 who's attending a postsecondary uh college and needs their records for college admittance and then uh number three is a parental guardian of an adult student who is 18 years old uh but has a disability and has been declared incompetent under state law so those are the three um persons that are granted absolute access to Student Records um what I've thrown in here and

061this is not a real student this is a um you'll see the high school up there is screaming eagle high school that is a um this is what the um student information system calls a Sandbox so it's all made up stuff so there's no privacy issues here um this is from the company so this is an example of a student records uh screen demographic screen that all parents have access to this is just one um one area the demographics area there are grades there are um um discipline screens there are counseling screens or all kinds of different um different items on there that that parents can monitor with a click of a button and a click of an app they can get on it at any time 24 hours 7 days a week um there's

062access to parents to be able to monitor any record that their student has um so in board policy 5022 and this this is uh dealing more with the Privacy acts of and and the insurance of of privacy with parents um parents have the ability and the right to inspect all the following survey instruments instructional materials um and instruments that are used in the collection of all personal information so those are all rights um that are that are fored right now in our board policy 5022 now in terms of uh notifications when do we notify parents of of these particular rights and um board policy and and ARS that I've um gone over tonight um those are all done in the beginning of the academic school year legally we're legally bound to send to um to

063inform parents of all their rights and um and so those are done either electronic form or um or by mail we actually do it as part of our registration process so every parent when they register their student for um for school they are afforded those rights and sent those rights in the U registration process just an example of some of the rights that are that we do send out um every every uh school year so you can see uh we'll just start with on the left side annually um you can see when we notify um what the education code is what the board policy is and then what the subject is so you can see the first one um is beginning of the school year it's Ed code 22.5 it's board policy 5146 um and

064the subject and so this is just an example of one page of the the noic ations that are um that are part of the registration process every year this is one of 15 pages so um you can you can guess it's it's pretty um uh it's a pretty he heavy lift to to read all these but they are sent out at the beginning of this school year so um I have just highlighted some of the the um uh rights and responsibilities and notifications of parents and so what we really want to do is is um highlight some of the some of the things and and answer some of the of those questions from that broad question that we talked about earlier so does a does a Bowmont USD staff member have an obligation to report

065a student who's attempting to change your gender and or student record to a parent or Guardian in terms of the law the legal answer is no um but it is being litigated as we all know and we've heard it's being litigated in California courts right now and um and so um while the law says that there's no obligation the law also doesn't prohibit it so there's no there's no um there's nothing set in precedence by the court system as of yet and so uh there are some cases that are setting um that are setting Court precedence throughout the country uh but the case the case locally here in California we're still waiting as it's being litigated by the court system um as it's being litigated we'll monitor that we are monitoring it and whatever is

066um whatever comes out from that uh court case we will obviously be adhering to uh to that policy um and that judgment so I do want to highlight though um even though in current law there there is no obligation um there is and this is supported by Ed code and the board policies and the admin or the administrative regulations that we discussed tonight that parents can request at any time a review of all Student Records they can request a review a review of all curriculum being taught in their in their child's classroom they can uh request a review of any survey instruments and they can also request in an observation in the child's school um in that child's classroom where that child is and that that is at any time it has to be um

067we have to be given a reasonable amount of time to set up that observation but parents can request all of those things at any time and that's again grounded in Education Code 4909 uh 9110 the um the the other question that that um I wanted to make sure we we answer tonight was if a balmont staff member bont UC staff member feels that a student is reporting anything no matter it be gender um uh gender identity pronoun or um General neglect for that matter um if a if a Bowmont Unified School distri staff member feels that whatever that child is reporting to that staff member if that is going to put that child in any sort of harm or another person In Harm's Way that staff member does have an obligation to report all of

068that as part of as mandated by law um every bont USC staff member is a as a mandated uh reporter and in any instance where where a student is reporting something that may cause them harm or someone else harm and again even General neglect there is a mandate to report um finally the third um kind of big question is that I've I've gone over and I've really just highlighted a few of the of the um parent rights and responsibilities and notifications that are in our board policies and administrative regulations there's a lot more um but I kind of Hit the big ones so the the thought would be um from the audience or people may Wonder well do I have those rights right now or do we need to draft additional policy so that I

069can have access to those rights that we discussed tonight there is no need to um those policies are in place they're they are active education codes um and they are active board policies and administrative regulations that we adhere to so um with that I know this is a um a very sensitive topic and um but I I do want to Center us back to um our school district and uh and I do want to say you know the the um ab1266 has been in place for 10 years and so um we really believe that that in the last 10 years we haven't had many issues because we we believe this we believe that um it is our mission to to work with our parents and our Guardians um to ensure that school is a safe

070and secure learning environment we do believe that we have a shared commitment with homeschool and Community um we normally start with our mission statement but I kind of felt it was fitting to end with our mission statement to remind us all what what we're here for and then um and to really make sure that people understand that our staff our teachers our support staff we all continue and we will continue to partner with our community partner with our parents um for the greater welfare of all of our students so with that I open it up for any questions that the board may have excellent presentation Dr Brown board members go ahead Mr Mitchell are staff members required to call a student by pronoun other than their birth gender than their preferred gender are they a

071staff members required to refer to them by their preferred oh um so I there is a board policy that we do have it's anti-discrimination where um and I can't remember the exact number of it but I can get that for you I I want to say it's I want to say maybe 4158 and Bobby do you have that by any chance that's later 51 14.1 okay 511 14.1 where um the actual the part of the ab1266 and part of the anti-discrimination um policy that uh that the state has adopted does require the the um the staff member to um refer to that student from their with their preferred gender and and preferred pronoun um and as long as the and I want to say I don't have the exact um policy memorized or quite lengthy

072but it does say something to the effective as long as the staff member knows that the that it's not for um um malicious intent so to speak so um uh for example a student joking around and using it to gain access where they shouldn't have access or gain something that they shouldn't have access to and how would that be communicated to a teacher so um it's a it's a really good question they do a lot of uh training in the beginning of the school year with staff members um we've done uh actual training with all of our administrators we um just went through that training in the beginning of the school year beforehand it's also communicated in our um in our uh Keenan man mandated um trainings some of that is all um communicated in

073that that's done every two years and would that that information be in a student record that information would be in a student record yes can you flip back to the area screen oh sorry that my next [Music] question there we go so where would that be reflected that would be reflected in actually uh either in the Alias or in their actual name so let's say a student um well let's use this student Allen who um would want to be referred to as um Alana um that name would appear in the student record now it wouldn't be changed legally the legal name would not be changed we do not change any legal names unless it is unless we're produced with court documents that have um that legal name changed officially um but it but the preferred

074name or preferred gender would appear in the student records and the parent has access to this at any time yes so they would see that yes okay oh when a student um I know you're you're a doctor of not a lawyer lawyer I understand that uh when a student does or says something in a school or a classroom is there an expectation of privacy um so legal opinion that we've received is that there is no expect expectation of privacy and um I can expand on that and and again I'm not a lawyer but I will I will I can parot one well um our our legal um advice or um suggestions were that um a student who would like to be called something different than what is reflected in their permanent student record um amongst

075a classroom full of peers which could then translate into school full of peers of hundreds thousands of students then there is no expectation or um expectation of privacy and last question do we encourage our staff to be honest when asked a question absolutely um actually it's part of the it's in standard six I believe it is for the California standards of of the teaching profession which is um Integrity honesty and and conducting themselves professionally thank you Dr Brown 5143 5 514 5.3 thank you and going I'm going to jump straight to the point so if I'm an Engaged parent I will know what's going on at my school site with my child if you're an Engaged parent and you want um yes absolutely and if you and if you feel like um you're not then

076you can request any of those things that that um that again is grounded in California Ed code so if you feel like you're not getting the response you need or you feel like you're not not getting the full story you can certainly you can request a review of the curriculum you can request an observation of the teacher's classroom you can request um uh the ability to inspect any of those things that we talked about and I'm going to take it to another level at the moment just because majority have been focused on on on sexuality I want to go to the point where a child becomes uh a a possible danger to themselves and others especially if there if it's Gang Related um I've seen students use different aliases uh Charlie Brown if you want

077or or ghost was one last one I was familiar with and the child wanted to be called ghost um that was in in a notation on an Aries file and it was the parent who saw that and came what is this AKA ghost and again divulged information directly didn't lie to the parent this is what your child wants to be be called and the parent came in we discussed it in front of the other child it was all because he was idolizing someone in his family who just who who was serving a life sentence and so he wanted to continue that the parent went through the roof but again the parent caught it on an Aries record this parent was involved involved but again at at that moment a week went by that the child

078wanted to be called ghost and a few adults called the child ghost at that point we had a discussion at our site that the parent should have been notified sooner just because this was more gang oriented and that child's credibility or safety within the community could have been jeopardized yeah jeopardized that thank you would that have been an appropriate where where the mandates come in for a for a staff member to reach out instead of just putting on an Aries record yeah I mean I would certainly say that if if at any time that staff member felt like that was a safety issue or a security issue then that would be that would fall under um Mand man being mandated to report that um to even go a step further um and I don't know

079in that particular case how that was changed we don't um we don't change things in in our student information system very lightly um we have several uh several sessions we have a support plan we put in place we have documents that we go through we we have counseling sessions there's there's a lot that goes on before anything has changed in in our um system so yeah student coming and saying Hey I want to be called ghost we would not change that in the in the Aries system yeah okay unless we went through several steps of you know um interviews questioning why what is the purpose what is you know that sort of thing so that sounds good thank you because it could be taken to that level right right comments from the board sort of

080formulating I'm not quite sure what how I want to word all this um I kind of alluded to our last board meeting and um as a board I I understand what the issue is I understand both sides of the issue and um I think we all do and being on a school board these days is very complicated because we're trying to make everybody happy and we can't that is literally impossible so um we may agree with half of you disagree with half of you or disagree with one half and not the other half um it doesn't it is a no- win situation for board members staff members teachers anybody in the school district to be put in the middle of this discussion and I have my own personal beliefs that I feel strongly about and

081I know everybody else does too I have kids have gone through the district I have grandkids in the district now and I you know there's things I'm concerned about what we need to do best just focus on our kids and the education of our kids and the well-being of our kids and I think that if we stay focused on what our main job is in the school district we'll do okay we need to keep some of this outside noise out and um just looking at the reports that Haley tells us every week or um the superintendent brings up every week about all the things that we're doing in our school district and how inclusive we actually are for everybody in our school district um that that's I guess what kind of um is very difficult

082because I feel like the people that have been coming I understand their concerns um but we are definitely in the middle we have to educate every single child regardless of their beliefs no matter who they are what they believe and how they identify we have to educate each and every single one of them so um help us do our job and as parents is to be involved with your kids' education stay on top of things glad you're here advocating for your kids because that's what you should be doing as a parent I have always said that and I firmly believe that and I think you should need keep doing that just remember there is a middle and a compromise and we have to make sure that we are here for each and every kid regardless

083a race gender color whatever it doesn't matter we're here for each and every single one of them thank you Miss Laura any other comments from the board yes oh thank you um good evening everyone I just want to thank um thank you Mr uh Dr sorry of the day Dr Brown for the presentation um it was a request of the board to have this this item presented and I think it was very informative um how how exactly do parents go about requesting the information is it just through the school office um what is there a formal way to do that or um yeah so the the easiest way to to to monitor to look at Student Records is to go on a parent portal um and you can you can view all kinds of different

084things and monitor your student and what they're doing um you can even monitor um real time if a student is missing an assignment um all of that is is available on a phone on a laptop on a on any device um and that's for 100% of our parents if if you're not getting if a parent is not getting or doesn't find that sufficient and wants to dig a little deeper then yeah it would be through the front office schedule of time to meet with either the principal the assistant principal um schedule a meeting with the teacher uh those kinds of things so uh definitely through the front office you can call um yeah thank you very much and and I appreciate the words that you said Susie I think it's hard to articulate and um

085sitting up here we we um I know that we all have a heart for all of our students and greatly appreciate parents coming so I I just really appreciate this um presentation um hope it helps to clarify and helps us to all focus on on our our educational efforts for the school district thank you thank you appreciate it so Dr Brown you're not on I'm not on can you hear me now that closer to you there you go so Dr Brown I just want to ask clarifying questions these are things we've talked talk about during your presentation um but just to bring it home for me and for the audience members um the you would my biggest concern and I think as a parent I think it's and as a board member and Community member

086these these are our our largest concerns our student safety if there was any chance that a student was going to injure themselves or had injured themselves or had been injured by someone else then that would automatically trigger something you wouldn't have to look into Aries to find out that your kid got hurt you wouldn't have to look into Aries to find out that your kid was going to hurt themselves you wouldn't have to you wouldn't have to be you wouldn't have to hunt down data to figure out a dangerous situation I I just again I want to I want just a little bit of clarity from you on that Dr Brown that's 100% correct yes okay yeah I I just want to make a comment about that because at one of our meetings one of

087the parents indicated that they should be the very first person to know if their child's injured um and I agree with that to a point but we need to remember that um we have to attend to the child first and their their immediate medical needs if that's the case and then we will call the parent as soon as possible so we get these notifications all the time about kids that need medical treatment um we're notified every time an ambulance goes to a school and so um we are aware and we do let parents know and parents been notified that's the email that we get you know parent has been notified they're on their way to the hospital with their child or they what whatever it is so um I I want everybody to know that

088we do take that very seriously and parents are notified right away and to elaborate even more I mean that the law is silent in certain things and it's not in other things and so um and again um things that are being litigated uh we're we're monitoring we're looking at and so if that any of those change we will we will adhere to that um to the outcomes of those so any further input okay I I'm not ignoring the hands in the audience I need you to fill out a comment card and at the end of the meeting you can be called up and if the board wishes to reopen 13.1 for for a few minutes that's that's uh their prerogative thank you very much Dr Brown thank you thank you thank you 14.1 conduct a

089public hearing and adopt the Bulman Teachers Association initial negotiations proposal for the Bowmont Unified School District for 2324 school year public session is opened at 728 or yeah 729 good evening president Sanchez board members I'm Chase Moore president of the bont Teachers Association uh I thank you for of course uh hearing our reopener proposal tonight and we have many important issues on there including keeping our salaries and benefits competitive um but tonight I wanted to briefly highlight uh one of our key uh propos proposals that we haven't talked a lot about uh because it's newer and that's uh kindergarten AIDS um kindergarten classes are either full day uh with a cap of 24 students or early and late or later half day sessions with a cap of 31 divided between the two sessions and during

090the hour of overlap um or on early release days that means up to 31 uh little kindergarteners in a classroom with one adult potentially um the kindergarten teacher is likely the only adult in the room during much of the day while some do have incidental Aid Assistance or special ed Aid assistance sometimes um or admin help upon requests our admin are great and getting down there especially at the beginning of the year as um our Littles are figuring it all out um and sometimes we have help from our wonderful parents to come in and volunteer largely the kindergarten teacher during much of the Year and much of that time is on their own transitional kindergarden on the other hand uh is a program that legally requires us to have a 12 to1 adult ratio that's

091so that's a teacher and an aid for a class of 24 while those classes still have challenges of course it is proven to be much more manageable than even a Kinder class even though the kids are a little older of the same size with no Aid assistance Additionally the addition of TK uh to our schools has resulted in the unintended consequence of overcrowding in those small kindergarten playgrounds that we have on much of our Footprints it's very very full I encourage you to go take a look when you're walking around the sites I'm sure you've seen some of it it can get quite iotic supervision during outdoor play and lunch is more important than ever and longterm we need to look at also expanding or adding additional areas on our campus for our youngest children

092uh many other districts have guaranteed time with AIDS for kindergarten this is a foundational grade level that we feel that we need to support more and being able to work with smaller groups being able to help to assist with behavior management or students that need other assistance so that instruction keeps moving I think is Paramount and really important to our foundational grade levels I would like to urge the board to give aggressive direction to their negotiations team um to work with us and CS EA if needed to reach an agreement um regarding kindergarten AIDS in uh those classrooms I think this is a concrete step where we can spend our public dollars for direct student support instructional gains and making our classes safer thanks very much for our considerating our reopener proposal tonight thank you

093Mr Moore any other comments from the public on the bta's opener hearing none public discussion is closed at 7:31 now moving on to action for that item do we have a motion to approve so moved the proposal we have a move by Miss Lara this second second second by Mr Brown discussion hearing none call for the vote item has been moved 14 point two thank you conduct a public hearing and adopt bont Unified School District's initial negotiations proposal to The Bowman Teachers Association for 2324 school year public session is open comments at 732 do we have anyone from the public that wish to address the proposal hearing none public session public comments are closed at 7:33 is this an action as well do we have a motion to approve 14.2 I move moved by Miss

094Williams I'll second second by Miss Laura discussion hearing none call for the [Music] vote proposal has been approved for negotiations 14.3 approve a new job description for the position of Technology support coordinator we have a motion I'll move approval move by Mr Mitchell second second by Mr Brown discussion hearing none call for the vote item carries agenda item 14.4 approve a revised job description to change the Medical Arts coordinator to a director of nursing and designate this position as a classified service do we have a motion I move move by Miss Williamson I'll second second by Mr Mitchell discussion hearing none call for the vote item carries agenda 14.5 approve the certificated Personnel assignments orders listed on the report dated October 24th 2023 do we have a motion I'll move approval move by Miss Laura

095second second by Mr Brown discussion hearing none call for the vote item carries agenda item 14.6 approved the classified Personnel assignments ordered listed on the report dated October 24th 2023 do we have a motion move moved by Miss Williamson second by Mr Mitchell discussion hearing none call for the vote item carries 14.7 approve the administrative Personnel assignments order listed on the report dated October 24th 2023 we have a motion so moved moved by Miss Williamson no that was Susie oh sorry moved by Miss L do we have a second by Williamson thank you discussion hearing then call for the vote item carries Business Services approve a contractual agreement ment list dated October 24th 2023 do we have a motion I'll move approval move by Mr Mitchell I'll second second by Miss laara discussion hearing none

096call for the vote item carries these are the last actions item and it is appropriate for the board to reopen an item if there's continued public comment on an item during that time this would normally be would be agendized but we we did have a time limit we met that time limit so it's up to the board if they wish to reopen 13.1 for um three speakers I'm good I I'm okay with that okay I'm going to limit each speaker to two minutes for a total of six we have Natalie Morel Megan Garcia and Alexander Pendleton Natalie Morel would you please step to the Das thank you thank you for allowing me to speak um I would just like to clarify some comments made by Dr Brown though this particular District decided to interpret keyword

097interpret uh protecting students from possible negative repercussions of notifying parents ab1266 is an anti-discrimination law that says nothing about concealing a student's gender identity from parents it doesn't address school records or any requirement to conceal information from parents including a student's use of school facilities that do not align with the student's biological sex as was stated by Dr Brown there is currently no law that requires staff to notify parents we want this policy passed to set a precedent should anyone try to pass an opposing policy in the future to ensure that our rights are not only protected now but in the future um public schools have been operating under the incorrect understanding that state and federal laws gives children a right to privacy from their own parents they have incorrectly cited furpa or ab1266 or

098cite Article 1 Section 1 of the California Constitution to justify implementing secret transition policies but these are being distorted and being used for methods outside of their intended purpose for example furpa actually protects parental rights as Dr Brown mentioned um let me see I'm sorry in okay so if a if a school decides to prevent parents if they make it their policy to prevent parents from accessing such records in any way should they should any policies pass in the future to prevent us from doing so fra um uh oh the school would expose by FRA the school would expose itself to litigation and also lose its Federal funding so I just wanted to mention those things that um particularly the ab1266 doesn't mention anything about the okay thank you Megan Garcia hi um thank you

099for letting me speak again I just had some clarifying questions based off of the presentation that was just going on in the way that comments and I could have missed heard and I completely understand that but when Dr Brown was going over things that need to be reported such as abuse he did gender identity into that realm he said with abuse harm and then he said gender identity so it gives the impression that the school is considering gender identity as part of that abuse that needs to be reported which is a concern to me and I'd like to have that clarified and the other one I was concerned about and again could be a complete misconception but it's just with the nature of what is being talked about um president Sanchez how you were speaking

100regarding GES and gangs it made gave the impression of you speaking regarding the LGBT community trans as gangs some trans people do not have very um like on the bar names like Megan Melissa Jeff Susie they don't have very standard names they sometimes go choose something a little more creative something to express themselves so would that be considered under that and it's just the way you worded it complete could be a complete misunderstanding on my part I would just like some clarification cuz as a member of the LBT Community someone who is nonbinary myself that is very concerning to hear you here in what is being spoken about to hear you mentioned gangs and the names so is that under the same realm because you're leaving a lot of to interpretation so if a teacher

101is has certain beliefs where they believe this is gender identity and sexuality is something that should be fixed it is a problem and could be considered abusive and same thing with name that it's up to their interpretation thank you and then Alexander Pendleton thank you thank you board for the time uh I like to address this question to the board and to uh Dr Dr Brown is it I'm sorry Dr Brown uh you mentioned uh AB I think it's 1266 was that did I see that right on the on the presentation uh something about um if a student wants to identify as another sex other than his or his original god-given sex so let's say for example how do you protect the children I know that safety is a concern I think we all is

102concerned about the safety of all the students all right so if a boy wants to identify as a girl and he can he use the girl's restroom that's a question we're gonna have to allow Mr Brown to answer that Dr Brown Can you also clarify all of the questions I think you'll be able to shed some light on it um so the the short answer is yes um as long as it's been verified that that student is not identifying by another gender for um ill intent essentially all right so so there's still a danger there if he's going into the girl's bathroom he could sexually expose himself to the girls or he could be and turn a rapist so how is that allowing him to go into the girl's bathroom how is that protecting the

103girls how is that protecting my great granddaughter from a possible rapist molester or what's the other word uh I don't want to say pedophile but that could be it too but exhibitionist that's what I'm trying to say so how is that protecting the children yeah I I I can just speak to what the law has told us that we have to do in this in the state of California that's what I can speak to um yeah all right then that law should be changed and parents should take and parents should take a stand against that even if they have to take their children out of the schools thank you for your time thank you and and I I can clarify the the discussion was um the mandated reporter was for General neglect not um gender

104so General neglect is what I had said thank you okay and again thank you board for allowing a few more speakers at the end of our meeting comments 16 16.1 receive a report from the California Schools Employees Association it's chapter 351 do we have a representative no representative present 16.2 receive a report from the Bowmont Teachers Association I I have my chance on this than no no thank you sir 16.3 receive a report from the Bowmont administrators confidential management employees group do we have no report okay 16 receive a report from Board member Miss Laura again I just want to say uh thank you for everybody who comes out and um talks to us about um education of their children it is important that we advocate for our kids and um so as I said

105earlier it's a it's a tough spot to be in but I appreciate people coming out and showing their concern because it means that our parents care and um it's refreshing to know that there are so many parents that are involved with their kids and I I just really appreciate that and I do appreciate all the wonderful things that we do in our district and for our staff um our staff are amazing and um I just appreciate each and every single one of them and the hard work that they do every single day for our kids and you know it shows in in school sites and things that come home with kids and and just all kinds of different ways and all the activities that happen and there's so much time effort that goes into um

106making sure that our kids are well-rounded and I just really do truly appreciate that and it takes all of us to make sure that happens and I just thank you so much thank you Miss laara next representative from the board to speak Mr Brown thank you Mr Sanchez um so I want to take a minute to thank all of the parents who have come out over the past five or six meetings to take the time and prepare your two minutes and to stand up and to say what you believe um I I think that that's one of the most important things that happens here and uh is that it we get your emails and we read your emails and I one of the the comments in one of the when someone came up was they

107never get a response from us um the uh we read them all all of us we all read them all um and your concerns are our concerns um all of us are concerned about every student every day um we get the notifications of when a kid gets hurt and uh when uh when there's something that happens at a school site or something like that and I've only been on the board for about a year and when I first started that was actually kind of a little overwhelming for me um it was information overload and it was um but one of the things that that became important to me from the very beginning was I didn't want to become jaded I didn't want this information that was coming at me to be softballs right I I

108wanted it to hit me hard every time and it still does and it's it's uh these kids the kids of bont they're pretty lucky um and I'm not saying that cuz we're there Bor this school district really really really does invest in the students and in the kids every day um I wanted to thank Dr Brown um it was a very well put together very thoughtful president presentation and it was clarifying A lot of really important information I think for all of us um uh again I want to thank all the parents who came up and talked and I want to let you guys know that we do hear you um and I want to take a minute to thank all the staff um every day this is a big issue for the district and

109I'm sure it's a big issue for the staff um and but they see this every day this is nothing new for them they've been seeing this the the you know the law that protects these these students and and and all students these laws have been around for a decade they're they're not new they're we're just talking about it now but you know I'm married to a teacher and she's like this is why are you talking about this now this isn't new this has been around forever um so but important what's important to the community is important to the board and it's important to the school district um so yeah that was that was what I wanted to say thank you thank you Mr Brown Miss Williamson good evening and thank you again for coming tonight

110know a lot of our public has already left but um as I say pretty much every time we do appreciate it we appreciate the parent voice it's very very important um it's an honor to serve on the school board I do not ever take that lightly um when we when I said my my oath um I hope to always remember that and appreciate the opportunities to work with all of you um I also see throughout the day-to-day operations and the communications that go out to the community and the interactions with administrators and teachers and clerical staff just from top to bottom in this District um is professionalism um an empathy for families and students a genuine interest in the best um ways that we can educate our students and if that wasn't what I saw

111there would I think I would have a we we would all have a problem with that all of us here and that's definitely what I see dayto day here and I would um just Echo the the comments of Jeff and and Susie and um just thank you for for allowing me to be here and and serving you and hearing what you have to say it it means a lot it's not taken lightly thank you for trustee Mr Mitchell uh thank you Mr s Martin and the staff in the facilities and business department for your study session today it's really important for the future of our district uh where we're headed for the next year so thank you for that uh Echo again what others have said uh Dr Brown um very difficult but important conversation

112and you did bring a lot of clarity so we appreciate that um I was wondering if we'll be having a staff report on cast results that were released last week that's on the horizon okay and um the echo uh Mr Sanchez earlier comments that we appreciate how the public conducted themselves during the public comment section of of the agenda tonight so thank you thank you my final words tonight will be um as a board member when we're looking at policies it's not just in simple terms our minds are not so narrow a public policy for parent notification would also include the other extremes that are out there that affect us as public Educators because we do not want to create something that creates a a chilling effect for other things that c could cause a

113student to have self harm and self harm could be any event that I have personally witnessed from students killing themselves over a holiday weekend young girl hanging herself out Thanksgiving who I remember very well and is still reflects with me another three young girls driving to Palm Springs and flipping their car after drinking during a spring break and they were were all seniors at that time another group of boys racing up towards Running Springs again alcohol was involved and flipped their car ran off to the side two died the driver walked away ran away so a parent notification policy has to deal with letting the parent know if that child's going to have any has any talk in the classroom that they're going to hurt themselves as a parent I know I'd want to know

114if my son or my two daughters had a conversation that that that looked like there could be an issue I brought up the gang thing because I'm tired of hearing just about sexuality there's more about what parents need to know than just their own child's sexuality I want to know how my kids are doing with grades as well who their friends are sometimes who they're hanging out with there's a lot that we need to know as parents not just sexuality not what their expected pronoun is I want a whole child graduating in one piece and alive and if we create a policy that creates a chilling effect shame on us shame on anyone out there that wants to try to influence us that way as well so that was my clarification with that the meeting

115of the board is concluded at 7:54 thank you s