SCSD Regular Board Meeting 12-17-2020

001Okay, we're good. All right, I'm gonna call the order the regular San Carlos school board meeting of December 17th of 2020 our last Meeting of 2020. I know I speak for everyone when I you know it's sad to see such a year ago be in the rearview mirror or but I'm sure we are all looking forward to 2021 and starting afresh. So at that time just to speed us along here. Do I have a Approval of the Move that we approve the agenda Thank you Thank you, Irene. Thank you Carol all in favor of the agenda as is please say yes. Yay Yay, I Any any opposed? All right, the agenda will carry as is and our first start will be a spotlight on excellence Michelle All right. Thank you, Neil and President Leighton and

002thank you for taking on the leadership role as president of the board as our as our new year starts We want to make sure to allow Jen Rudy and Kathy Palmer Lohan into our zoom meeting if you can take a look for them But tonight we have a special spotlight on excellence to recognize and thank the San Carlos Education Foundation Skeff has really stepped up we ran into a Dual challenge in the spring as everyone knows not only a pandemic but a potential budget challenge That was looming over us all through the summer until things stabilized for us a little bit more in September and Skeff has done an amazing job last year of fundraising at the highest rate ever and Providing the district the largest grant it ever has to support this unique extraordinary

003school year and They're supporting the things that mean the most to us that we've been supporting in the past our counseling and health programs and school Electives and music and many things and they're going to highlight some of the things that they are supporting this year But we also want to say thank you for all the efforts to help us function at a high level this year So that our students can have a well-rounded Really whole child educational experience even though we're in these mixed models of distance learning and soon-to-be hybrid And also thank you for the efforts that you're launching right now because all the fundraising right now that they're going to be advocating Will support next year so that we can have a very strong start to next year So thank you to

004Skeff formally and I want to introduce Jennifer Rudy president of Skeff who will Share a little bit about our the efforts this year and last year Hi, everyone. Thank you. Dr. Harmeyer and thank you trustees We're so happy to be here talking about the important work that Skeff is doing to make sure that every child in every classroom In San Carlos Public Schools, that's what they need for a well-rounded education I just want to say that we Moved to this community about 12 years ago from another peninsula city and we always found ourselves in San Carlos When we didn't live here and part of that was this palpable sense of community that you feel when you're down on Laurel and you feel This interconnectedness between the schools and the community and when we did move

005here. It was very Obvious quickly that schools were a part of the strength of the fabric of this community and when my own kids started That became even more apparent and as I learned about school funding and the important role that Skeff fills in Making up for that gap between what the bare-bones education funding the state provides and what we need to provide a high quality education here I really wanted to get involved and I have to say that during this very challenging time And as the teachers pivoted in a heroic way to distance learning last spring so quickly Our community stepped up in a way that is both humbling and is exactly why my husband and I chose to move here I see Marcy nodding, you know, that's why we live here because this

006community is the right size where you can feel like you know each other and you can feel the impact of Your giving and the strength of our schools and our small businesses Immediately, and so I just want to thank each and every one of you on this zoom call whether you are an administrator a trustee a Teacher doing Amazing work. You probably feel like you're made of elastic at this point Whether you're a parent and all of the various hats that you're all wearing the way that you came together last spring You know in a moment in a moment's notice is Humbling and also gives me so much joy for the reason that we live here in this community So because of you and I thought you had a slide about About what what our

007skep dollars are contributing and if you don't that's that's fine, but because of your generosity in in the wake of this incredible difficult moment our community rallied to the challenge and we had record fundraising and giving and Because of you we were able to grant 3.3 million dollars to our public schools this year and not only that but you as As residents here as parents leverage your workplace giving opportunities and last year eight of the $830,000 of our three point three million dollar grant was directly from workplace giving matching opportunities And we can't thank you enough for that and we really thank the businesses that you work for speaking of businesses We have amazing business sponsors in our as part of our giving and in the way that they've chosen to honor our schools as

008Part of the way they invest in this community I want to put a call out there during this difficult time to go to our website and and look at our sponsors and Think about choosing them as you're in your holiday giving and as you're choosing where To invest some time and energy in the next few weeks They need you more than ever and I do want to give back to the very businesses that have supported our schools all these years So you can see up on on the screen, you know I'm really happy to report that because of your generosity Our school district was positioned to meet this moment in a unique way this year Your dollars are going towards important things like counseling and mental health supports needed more than ever kindergarten through fifth

009grade middle school band and orchestra and middle school electives K through five PE specialists those really important smaller class sizes in kindergarten through third grade If there was ever a year for technology devices, it's 2020 technology devices technology support and educational applications and programs a significant Amount and dr. Harmeier. You probably have it or Kathy does in your head went to the purchase of refurbishing not refurbishing but replenishing much needed Chromebooks And as we all know that's critical to share distance learning support for identified students classroom air purifiers teacher professional development not only in distance learning but the important topic of social justice and Also parent education focused on the challenges of 2020. So I just really want to thank our community I also want to say a deep. Thank you on behalf of our

010board of directors to our amazing executive director Kathy Palmer Lohan and our staff Christopher and Scott, you know, I've had the privilege of working with many amazing nonprofit leaders Professionally and I can tell you that we are very blessed to have these people at the helm working on behalf of every child in every class every day because Not only are they efficient making sure that as much of our fundraising as possible goes directly to our kids but their heart is in this and Perhaps that's the most important guide. So I want to say to each of you This is a challenging moment and how we meet this moment. Well, we'll think about forever it's not what's happening right now, but how we How we meet this moment as a community and I know that in

011the way that we did last year I I have faith in our community that will be able to rally again and Know that donations that we receive now are are setting our children up for success in the 2021 2022 school this the school district or school year rather and so every dollar we raised today will impact our students next year and I just want to give a heartfelt Thank you for the way that you have rallied in support of our kids and I really appreciate the partnership. Thank you All right. Thank you. Thank you Jennifer and I think that the device The the device topic is important you know all of our kids need devices right now and we've purchased over 900 Chromebooks this year as a result of six Guess fun to need efforts

012last spring and in addition combining that with some COVID relief funds But the fact that that that was such a high priority for staff and really through the gala which was virtually held, you know Making parents aware and then parents fulfilling that need we're gonna be distributing as soon as they come in They're due anytime now almost 900 Chromebooks to our sites based on the needs of each site We've also purchased over 50 iPads that are going to be distributed for our youngest learners And so those devices in those meeting the need times Make a big difference for us and so we're looking forward to the spring and and looking at those efforts again and we'll come together as a community to identify that fun to need again to decide what that what that will

013be and rally around that and really Get ready for next year so that we can really position ourselves To to really make the most out of next year after recovering from such a Challenging year this year. Thank you for all of your support You want to point out two specific ways in the next few months that our community can make an impact with scuff One just like everybody in every business and every classroom Scuff is having to pivot what we typically do and we can't gather for events And so we're really excited to have our inaugural read-a-thon across the district coming up as all the teachers are nodding In in January and we hope to have broad engagement across grade levels and really just You know make sure that kids are loving reading and why

014not do it on behalf of our schools So look for that additionally our virtual gala will happen April 25th right Kathy April 25th in the spring. Those are two specific ways that you can get involved and Thank you again Now I'm just gonna add on that December 31st dispatch a fast approaching and under the cares act one of the things that the federal government did was if you itemize you can deduct a hundred percent of your Donation as there's no cap this year. And if you don't itemize you can donate I think three hundred dollars For a charitable gift so great time to give we've had a lot of people give this month been really excited about the support and You'll get a lot of messaging from us in the next two weeks. So so

015thank you everybody Thanks, Jen. Thanks Kathy I think what most people also forget a lot of the time is that you go out and you raise 3.3 million and then it starts Over and you're back from square one and all that hard work you did you go back to the board and it's just tireless work We know it we appreciate it You know, it's never lost on us. So we especially as board members who reap the benefits I like to say if you make us look good So we truly appreciate the two of you And everyone on your board and everyone that helps out throughout the district on it. So we couldn't do without you. We greatly appreciate you Will be forever in your debt So thank you from the bottom of our hearts for

016everything that you do as well. All right We will move on to the consent agenda For those at home, the consent agenda is items we feel are routine procedural or Informational and kind of non-controversial items That are we find routine in nature. So do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda? Consent agenda items for a through 4c. Thank you Irene. Is there a second? Thank you, Wendy all in favor, please state by saying aye aye Hi, hi, hi and any opposition and the consent the general carry five zero Going to item five a Michelle just where For our diversity equity and inclusion if you could update us on where we're at Great. Thank you. You know, I just have a brief update today This is just an informational item just to keep the

017board in the community up-to-date with where we are on our Diversity equity and inclusion efforts as you as you recall we Hired inclusion counts as our group to facilitate the work that we want to accomplish over the next couple of years And the the checkies have been Facilitating some work and we just want to give you a quick update There's no action. I don't have in-depth information to share with you But really want to focus on process and progress that we're making and make it clear about where we are and where we're going So the first step in our process so that we knew we would take during the November December and January time is to really assess where we were as a district and the assessment includes listening sessions then policy review and Then

018putting together a group to strategize set some goals and then work on implementing those goals That first step has already started our listening sessions for parents took place on November 17th we had over a hundred participants very good turnout from parents when the The groups were broken out by self-identified Ethnic ethnic groups. So we had a BIPOC black indigenous people of color group people who identified With that group joined that session those who identified as Asian Latino white they each had their own session so that people felt comfortable Where they could share in an environment where they felt they could really? be honest and Kind of vulnerable in their sharing of their experiences of what it's like to be in our school district in our community Through their their lens of experience We also Extended

019an invitation if somebody would like to have a one-on-one follow-up interview Those are called empathy interviews because maybe someone wants to go into more depth or maybe they didn't feel comfortable sharing in a full group But they do want to share something so those one-on-one interviews have already begun and they will continue through January So if there are still parents who really want to have that opportunity That there's still a chance and they can always reach out to me or their principal To get a link and we can connect them with our facilitators These are some of the themes that are starting to emerge again. We're in the very beginning stages So this just is an example of what the checkies will be doing with the information that they gather Again, they've only started this

020process They met with parents not all parents because there's still some more empathy interviews coming up But they kind of looked at themes things that come up over and over Amongst the groups or in one-on-one and what they will begin to do is take these themes Start to you know gather this data and then start to integrate it into More of an equity report and do a full report and they'll go into depth about what these mean and they will put them into Context but you can see some of the things that are starting to emerge at this time From the parents who shared staff diversity Increasing that staff diversity is a really important wish from our community Understanding the difference between celebrations and appropriations as our staff try to grapple and navigate how to

021have discussions around different races and cultures and ethnicities and how to integrate them into their teaching and curriculum And and how to navigate that Observed microaggressions, you know that maybe people are not aware of that people are experiencing and how do we then educate people around that and Then also the feeling from parents who are of color Feeling like the kind of the weight or the responsibility of educating about culture and race is falling on to those Families in those groups versus having it may be integrated into the curriculum So that where the the responsibility of teaching maybe should shift over to staff versus just parents Those are the kinds of items that are kind of emerging right now the next step was that we had some student listening sessions our principals organized a fourth

022and fifth grade a listening session between the two schools and also six through eight Six through eighth grade listening session Students were invited based on you know principal recommendation with parent permission and there was a lot of organization to get these meetings set up So again the checkies facilitated these meetings and were able to really listen and hear about experiences from a student's perspectives Some of the themes that are starting to emerge or are here that you can see and there's a very different experience From our white students and our Black indigenous and people of color our BIPOC group and there's some overlapping experiences that they both shared very valuable conversations to start to have with students and again those We won't have follow-up one-on-one conversations with the students those empathy interviews that I believe

023those are really Reserved for the adults so parents will have those and then our next step is to have these listening sessions with our teachers, so the next step is our Teachers will have listening sessions built into the January 4th professional development day There will be time set aside for k5 teachers to have a session and then another session for six eight teachers so again Listening gathering data starting to see themes and then the checkies will gather All of that data and put all those themes together and start to integrate that into the report at the same time Our district office staff led by Hans and Jennifer in our district office are gathering all of our policies procedures handbooks Anything in writing that is student facing or parent facing that we are putting into a

024shared folder so that we will start doing an analysis of all of our policies and how those those written documents are Supporting inclusion, maybe if there are any barriers that we might identify Are we missing some policies or procedures or statements that we might want to integrate though? That's the kind of policy analysis work that we will begin in January. So we're prepping for that right now Around that time. We're also going to be recruiting a stakeholder group to be part of our steering committee we're going to be looking at 15 to 20 people to be part of this steering committee and the Checkies are working with our leadership team on how to Invite and then select and form that group so that that work will happen in January And then in February that group

025will form we'll we'll meet probably about four times for the remainder of the year and with some very specific kinds of Objectives and goals during those meetings to look at this information that was gathered the themes from our listening sessions The analysis of our policies and procedures and that steering committee then will assist with those next steps be it be it training Goal setting those kinds of things So that's just a brief summary of where we are just to keep the board up-to-date with our efforts So are there any questions Michelle if I could one piece one clarifying piece Many of our classified staff don't work on January 4th. So we've set up a separate session on January 13th And we will be letting classified staff know that that is their time to come and

026share and be heard Want to make sure that everybody has an equal opportunity to participate So they can they can attend on the fourth if they're working. They also have the option of going on the 13th Thank you. Thank you Hans for adding that in we just added that in based on a meeting last week. All right. Thank you, Michelle Thank you Hans Trustees this is on for information So it's just we can ask kind of clarifying questions around as dr. Harmar said process progress As kind of where we go from here kind of just where we're limited to at this point in time So, I don't know if anyone from the committee Sarah Wendy Have any questions to start us off or want to kind of shape a little bit of the conversation at

027the beginning I do have a question And Michelle I don't necessarily you know expect an answer to this tonight but something maybe to pass on to Amber and Heather or just for us to think about is How do we move on to the next phases of this feeling relatively confident that we've heard from a representative cross-section of our community You know in their process how do they how do we make sure that we're hearing from people who Maybe feel hesitant to speak up or already feel marginalized in our community or maybe don't even know that this process is happening and Then you know as a piece of that I found myself wondering, you know Are they able to provide their materials and languages other than English? For you know, especially for parents and guardians who

028may not be native English speakers So those are some thoughts that were coming up for me as I was looking at this information And you know would like to hear more from the inclusion counts team on those things going forward Okay. Thank you Thanks, Sarah, I just wanted to add to that because my question was around You know What confidence we have that this is a representative sample exactly as Tara said is wondering especially for the student population Will there be a written survey or anything that maybe extra eighth graders could complete in writing because you know doing the Virtual kind of in-person is going to be much more limited as far as the number of people that we're going to attend So I would like to know I just don't recall from the process

029if they if they do Because we might be able to then get Station because my concern is yeah. Anyways, I'll leave it at that Okay, I have a question in terms of sequencing. I am curious in terms of Is the plan to wait to do any kind of? Anti-racism training or you know interrupting microaggressions and you know that Are we waiting until after this whole? Process and the work of the steering committee is completed or is that something that we feel is? Something that can be started in parallel and first our staff our students our community to start providing that type of training and education To support this process or is that something that Is sequenced later and and what's the sense of urgency around the need to do that in the timeline? That's a

030good question Carol and I think as we all remember we talked a little bit about how do we pace this out and what? What capacity do we have to accomplish how much this year when we first started this? So I think first of all, I believe there's urgency around beginning some work as soon as possible Training and remember one of the things that they suggested was, you know Maybe start with some board training and then some staff training and then you start working with student training There was kind of that start with the adults and move forward. So I remember that as a suggestion so we we can definitely pose that question to our steering committee and see where we are and then I think the other part is what is our capacity as far

031as professional development time and Ability to you know, carve out time for this work if we're going to provide some training to to staff and to students as well So I think those are good questions that we will bring to the group and bring to the steering committee But I believe there is urgency. I could add a couple things to The checkies I want to say it was Late maybe late last week mid last week. It all kind of goes together at this point And we talked about we also have the ability to Sequoia healthcare is Supporting work with circle up as well so we organized a call with circle up and inclusion counts to kind of Figure out how we might mold those two programs together in the past You might recall that circle

032ups done some work with our middle school staff. They haven't done much with you Haven't done anything with k5. So All of them we have the ability to offer Quite a bit of training and we want to make sure that it's spaced out appropriately and that it's not repetitive in a lot of ways so So know that we're working on that it's definitely in our minds and something that we talked about Going deeper within the steering committee. So Mr. Parker, sorry, but you got to send it through the public comment email and then we can read it No, you're on mute you can put it in the chat There it is. Got it. Just so everyone knows it's I know always zoom can happen Is that we can't talk about with the public directly unless

033it's sent from public comment On items just for a variety of reasons legally Well, if you do have a comment, please send it to the link should be on the board agenda with the address and then we'll read It once we get through this process So Irene anything to add? Yeah for the Inclusion count staff as they are going through their analysis and summarizing what they've heard I think it sometimes is very helpful to hear the verbatims and stories as long as you can provide the privacy to the people but the storytelling is Sometimes what really moves people and and you understand so Yeah, do that. I would also say that if there's an emerging theme of Students with disabilities being Bullied more often certainly you would consider oversampling that population I think we've got

034our parent groups that would allow you to kind of get More visit right we should tap them. Let them know that we're interested in their stories Okay, thank you. All right. Thanks trustees. I just have one question for you Michelle is can you give kind of especially to as well as the committee members just kind of a timeline on a when this may Come back to the board just for further updates for people to weigh in on as well at home, but just maybe when the Committee may engage more as well Maybe I would say maybe Hans you can help me out with this, but I think it'll be February before we have a steering committee formed So I would say probably the first or second meeting in February before we bring something back to

035update the board Yeah, I think that's pretty accurate. We have a timeline of obviously we're working with staff on the 4th and then on the 13th And also will be simultaneously kind of at that time the 13th to the end of the month trying to develop What that what that will look like? What's? We talked about a variety of things. We haven't landed on anything necessarily yet But you know, we don't necessarily want people to have to fill out an application, but we want to know What brings people to this work, right? And so when you express your interest why why in this particular group? And so we'd have to figure out the best method by which to collect that information Neil man my one last comment is that Maybe the Nancy McGee and the

036superintendents other districts are also doing this work and we can learn from one another And share how we're doing things and learn from them So that would be a good topic of conversation to tee up it to the county office Thank you, Irene. I think that's really important to do and this has been a discussion ongoing amongst us as superintendents and The county office is really making this a priority They have hired a new staff member to lead the equity work around the county this is a new position that was created in the county and they have hired a person and That person's really going to take the lead and be that resource for districts like us who are just starting this work And for those wherever they are in that pathway, we know this

037is a long-term commitment and we are in it for the long term So I'm really looking forward to seeing how the county can partner with us and support us as we go through So that's a great great point that you bring up. We also when talking with the principals earlier Today they suggested that we spotlight the principals on some of the things they're doing on their sites already We've got great work already happening. We've got Principals and teachers that are like taking some steps forward There's a great names project going on right now those kinds of things So I've been I'm planning on spotlighting those principals and those sites January 21st Just to kind of highlight some of the work that is happening and spark sharing ideas and inspiration So we can all learn from

038each other as we're moving forward All right Well, I have one other question I'm curious. How do we track incidents of racism and how that are happening on campuses and is that data that That we can see over time and We make that more transparent to the public So that is one of the things that we're going to be looking at through our analysis is looking at that kind of data And see how are we tracking it? Are we tracking it? What are our methods? So that is something that we will focus on in January As part of our study and we have work to do in that area I couldn't tell you right now that we have a particular kind of a report to pull out things at a district level There are principals

039might be able to answer that question more fluently, but not at a district level right now So I think that's gonna be an important piece of our policy work and our analysis any last question It is a question We can read it and then we can go from there if we want to It's part of all we can ask at this point time is just informational questions And we can't comment on them necessarily and respond to them just because of where it's at in the board agenda But it can be taken in by the superintendent as well as the committee And kind of help steer us maybe at the next once we get more information at the next Session, so please read great. So from Kenyatta Parker What is being done now while the processes

040and changes are being put in place to keep BIPOC groups safe? That's a great question and you know, we are we are actually working in consultation with the checkies We are consulting with them as incidents occur we're getting support from them We are working more closely with the sites right now to help them respond to things Because I I think we have created an atmosphere as a school district where people are feeling more comfortable to report They're feeling more comfortable to share we want to encourage that because we need to confront these things and we need to really teach our Our staff both teachers administrators all of us. How do we how do we address it? How do we listen? How do we then address the issue and then respond appropriately with with the with

041the right actions? So I I think right now we are immediately responding and working toward supporting all students and part of that is Making it a safe culture to report and encouraging that To happen and then we are holding ourselves accountable for responding and And looking at new ways that we haven't responded in the past All right. Thank you, Michelle Anyone at windy was that the only public comment? Okay, anyone else before we move on to 6a? Just one just one comment that I would have in terms of opportunities for training, you know, I don't I don't I don't think we need to only focus on what the staff and the board training I think there's a tremendous wealth to be had in terms of Providing our students and our community with the skills of

042disrupting microaggressions Those are real concrete skills that I know that inclusion counts is really fantastic at providing and that's a really powerful tool So I don't want I don't want staff to feel that this is 100% on them I I know they want to grow in this too and I 100% support that and I want to Give our students the opportunities to have that skill set to to disrupt aggression microaggressions and racism when they see it happening Thank you Okay Thank you, Michelle again. Thank you Hans for doing that and continue to update the board You know, we look forward to the next kind of messaging for it Also to if there is times where we do think it's coming up Where we have more if we can flag for community and either your messages

043Or we can put in board briefs as well so people can feel engaged Moving on to 6a, which is our smarty presentation amber I see you if you want it I don't know if you're starting or Michelle starting or how we want to do it, but I will give you the floor I'll let amber go ahead and get her presentation ready to go and she can share that then This is an ongoing update to the board about how our enterprise programs are functioning We know we are challenged this year with running programs At a very narrow margin of breakeven. We want to protect the district from running programs at a loss, but we also are Prioritizing providing these important services of daycare and preschool to our community So this is a just an update today

044about where we are With both programs and really the fiscal health of where we are with these programs So I'll go ahead and have amber take this over. Hi everyone. Good evening. This is amber Can you see the green smarty program update screen? Okay, great Okay So I am here tonight to just give you a brief update on what is going on with our smarty child care programs Let me do my screen oops, hold on it's not rotating I always do there we go. Sorry. Okay Um, so currently smarty is running, um full programs that last from 8 15 to 4 30 pm We offer families a five-day program or a three-day program or a two-day program The program's offered at three three of our elementary schools currently in december. We Collapsed our white oaks

045program For low enrollments and we moved those families over to the britain acres location So currently we have three program sites that are operating Um in doing the white oaks closure closure, we also reduce staff by two. So we are now Down from from 13 to 11 staff members currently So you can see this chart right here is our smarty enrollment. Um in august we started with 62 students Um, and in november we had a net gain of one student So you can see how it's kind of bumped up a little bit and then in december we lost students from white oaks But we also gained students at our other school site. So we actually ended up with a net zero for that month Um, and I wrote those down in the bullets just in

046case you wanted to know where those kiddos were coming and going from And then in january, we're actually adding 10 students, which is big news for us. I mean that's it's been a really big push and I believe that you know with um schools going back into tier three And with students coming on campus parents are looking for a part-time option and actually some parents are looking for full-time options So we have gained 10 more students in the last few weeks Um with that anticipation of moving to tier three And even if we're not in tier three students are going to start january 5th is their first day back So, um, we're happy to welcome some more students Um again, you know the program was slated to have 120 students when we first started That

047was the anticipation back in august and we had about half of that start. So I know we've talked about this Um, just that it's been a challenge to really run programs during a pandemic And families just are strapped and not everyone Can send their kids to school and some parents are staying home with their children and deciding to keep them home And not on campus and so it's just been really a challenging environment to run a child care program for sparty and also for our preschools as you know Okay, so this next slide shows our monthly and cumulative losses and gains um You can see the one on the slide on the left is what it looked like in october And the slide on the right is what it now looks like in december. And

048so I have invited susan raymond who is on The zoom tonight. Hi susan. She's been working with christine gong and myself to set up our enterprise program books She's a parent in our district And she's brought a wealth of knowledge of finance to our program making us more efficient and really giving us a clearer picture of our finances So she's going to go over this information and help explain the fluctuations Um, and then on the next slide, we're also going to review the forecast going forward Susan can you oh Can you uh unmute susan? Veronica Susan we're not quite able to hear you clearly. So let's try to get your volume adjusted here Okay I can I can see you but i'm not hearing you yet. Is susan unmuted, please Okay, you're unmuted. Let's do

049another test susan Okay there Okay, can you hear me now? Yeah, that sounds great. We're ready Okay, great. Thank you. Sorry about that Well, thank you for having me here this evening. I started working with amber and the smarty team back in october And we prepared we prepared our first forecast that you can see in october And we've been updating it monthly ever since and In this chart, i'd like to really focus on where we are november year to date So in october we have predicted that we would be showing a loss of november of 52 000 and really we are seeing a downward Loss and then a recovery throughout the year Um, the november actuals have actually come in at six thousand dollars profit Um year to date and you can see that december

050Actuals are showing that it is bumpy And that's how school accounting was explained to me So when I originally worked on the budgeting I straight lined everything because that's what I thought we did But as i've gotten more involved and followed the actuals I have learned that it is bumpy in the beginning of the year as we start recording payroll and income But what we have right now is are we're hitting kind of our stride and we'll see for the rest of the year Um a very similar plan on both sides. So year to date We are showing an improvement of Almost sixty thousand dollars a large portion of that more than fifty percent of that is due to The timing of the salaries and the fact that we have reduced salaries faster than we

051had anticipated in our initial plan So some of that is real savings and some of that is a timing difference additionally in october Um, we recorded a hundred percent of a coveted relief grant in the actual That is what you're seeing as the profit in october That was originally in in october in the december actual originally we had planned And budgeted that to be spread throughout the month So year to date we are seeing some some timing differences as well as some savings resulting from decreased salaries If we forecast now through the end of the year, you will see that we're projecting from For the first six months of next year Approximately six thousand dollars a month or less in profit and that difference is driven by the coveted relief fund timing So at the

052end of the year, we are projecting a slightly bigger profit than what we had but ultimately some savings and salaries coupled with Um revenue to match that and basically showing that we have right sized the program and are projecting That we do come out with breaking even um, I know there's a lot of data here and you know, it's been Uh an interesting experience to really dig in and understand what drives the differences And how dramatically impacted the profitability is by small enrollment changes. Oops amber. I think you're muted Let's unmute amber so we could hear her again veronica. There we go. You got me. Thanks veronica I was like i'm going to wave my hands and see if someone can see my My hands, which you can't actually see my hands, which is kind

053of funny Okay, so I wanted to just kind of this is our next smartie forecast So this is something we've brought to the board with our first quarter report Um, but basically what it looks like now is that our goal is to continue offering the programs um during the school year And at a break even level is where we are looking right now as you can see So the revenue she has shown volatility given the enrollment fluctuations during the first four months of our operation Um, but as of december, we are starting to see the enrollment increase again while the expense reductions have taken effect so we did um We did a good thing in collapsing our program and reducing staff. It's really Helping us make sure that we can get to that break even

054point come june So staffing reductions were completed and resulted in that program profitability in december And then without reducing any costs which we would have been at a loss of seventy six thousand dollars for the year But we're now projecting a small profit of about ten thousand dollars driven by a combination of reduced costs and increased enrollments So you can see here the board approved plan if you um Can you see my arrow if I circle like that right there? This board approved plan was back in august when we thought we were going to have 120 students like we originally planned and then in october we came and said, okay, we only have 68 students and this is what it looks like we had a little bit of a profit of about 48 000 And

055then in november, we started looking we were like, oh my gosh, what's going on? We have this big deficit what's happening. And so that's when susan and I were really Diving into what's causing that and that would be You know the volatility in in enrollment and then just how the payroll runs out. So then we look at the december board Projection right here and we are back up to about ten thousand dollars so The the um, you can see here Excuse me amber. This is carol. I just want to ask a quick clarifying question the december 11th board projection does that Where the the the grant that sue mentioned the relief grant would has that? Did that show up at the november meeting not in here yet? So well, so there's two So there is

056the covid relief funds the 50,000 or the 50,000 that um, The district is giving to us for the cares act that is in here But the 7500 that we got from the community grant is not in here yet because we've not received it So I believe christine that's coming in in december or is it coming in in january christine got there But it is not recorded in here yet. So there will be an additional 7500 in here as well okay, um Amber can I ask one one question using two just want to make sure i'm understanding the your bottom line numbers are cumulative Profit or loss, right? Not necessarily month to month, but what your forecast what that was always what you were forecasting Right here in june. So if you go back to this

057slide, you can see the blue are the monthly nets and gains But the orange line is the cumulative Net or gain so if you look we were projecting back in october to make about seven thousand dollars here And now we're up to about ten thousand dollars And this is you know, of course that that could change if we have students drop that's going to go down If we have students add that number is going to go up right now Our staff is is very stable. We could actually use one more staff member quite honestly But i'm trying to keep it in a very thin line and just manage the program and the budget So we are doing our best To just keep the staff we have and really keep it very tight tight and staff.

058So Um, it is it's volatile and it's going to be that way this year It's just a you know, a bad year to be running programs that are trying to turn a profit and You know our partners with st. Carlos belmont are also having issues. They vary about 50 capacity as well as ace Which is our four and five? um fourth and fifth grade program And everyone is just feeling the pain of this This year and so We are really trying to keep everything or keep our heads above water and keep everything very tight spending is you know, very bare minimum Staffing again is very bare minimum as well. And so this is kind of where we are at this point I tend to like these um slides a little bit better. I like the

059graphics Just personally visually. I like to be able to see Where we are monthly and then where we think we're going to go and so Um, let me go back to the the forecast slide real quick So right now if you look at this and um, susan feel free to chime in if you want to but our income to date Is about two hundred sixty five thousand dollars including the fifty thousand and covered relief funds Um, and our expenses to date are about two hundred and fifty nine thousand Um, and then the profit through november would be about six thousand and that's coming from our monthly actuals as well Does anyone have any questions about this slide? Oh, go ahead. Hi susan and amber Just big picture. Um We have um this coveted relief fund

060of fifty seven thousand And even with that we're projecting a profit of ten so does that mean that without that we'd really have a loss of like forty seven thousand dollars Exactly. Yes. Okay. Got it. Yeah, and then If you go back to the previous slide I Feel like my knowledge when has gone from like zero to sixty percent in understanding this with this meeting But i'm not quite locked in susan you I want because it was such a dramatic difference between even The first two to three months of the year between the left-hand side and the right-hand side and I really want to understand it and I thought you said that there was maybe we There was an item and I don't know if it was a revenue or an expense that we kind

061of decided Was it recategorized in terms of how we spread it out? So a couple of things happened. Yeah, first of all when I originally prepared the October plan I had spread the coveted relief funds over each month Not realizing that we would be recognizing them from an accounting purposes in october So that is it's a timing difference of how because what we're incorporating now is the november year-to-date Actual and then we're Reprojecting the year So I understand timing difference So can you just tell me like what the assumption was on the left-hand side and then now what we're doing it on the right-hand side Just on the left-hand side the coveted relief funds were spread out evenly among Six thousand two hundred fifty in each month the other timing difference is that I had

062assumed when I first budgeted That the payroll would be spread evenly and the reality is that the payroll didn't start recording until september So the way that employees are paid Through smarty is that the year it's not aligned Exactly with the month and christine can address this for me. This was Something that was a learning for me on how the accounting works in a school district Correct the smarty employees came back to work end of august So, um, they won't get their first paycheck until september. So part of august and september was paid in september Yeah, so it's not explain why on the right hand side the blue bar is low and very negative in september The other thing that happened in september was that when we originally started billing A hundred percent of the

063tuition was billed in august And then in september a refund was given for that because smarty started later than had planned So that's why I say looking year-to-date at the six thousand explains a lot of focuses on Removing some of the volatility in the early months as they were getting the program up and going and the timing of the accounting For what happened? Thank you Okay, so i'll just take you to the the last slide, which is just our enterprise fund balance. So as you know the enterprise fund Is smarty as well as preschool, so this is a combination We did not do a preschool update for you tonight. We will bring that back when we do our q2 report Which is slated to be I believe it's jan the second january meeting We are

064looking at possibly bringing that back in february So we have a little bit more time to see what happens in january january with you know Just being in the purple tier and things kind of up in flux. We really are hoping that um, we'll be able to maintain Our projection but I I would like a little bit more time to just make sure that this is accurate for you But we did want to kind of just go over what this would look like then based on What we believe the projection is now. So the ending fund balance from last year was eight hundred ninety four thousand dollars if we have a Net gain this year of about a hundred and seven thousand dollars, then our projected balance would be about a million dollars at the

065end of the year Between smarty and preschool now preschool certainly has more students And so they bring in a little bit more not a little a lot more money than smarty But again, it you know if we need to look and see what the enrollment is going to look like as of next month But as of now, this is what it's projected to look like for the end of the year So if we hold two months of reserve for compensation like we've talked about doing Um, that's about a three hundred and ninety thousand dollar hold so we could have an available balance by the end of the school year Of about six hundred thousand dollars So we just like to give you this information so that you know that there is a reserve Which I

066know you're all well aware of and just give you an idea of how much would cost for us to have two months of compensation If we needed that to pay for staff um staff currently did receive their layoff notices For both preschool and smarty and so if we needed to do a layoff the next layoff date would be february so that's That's kind of where we are Thanks. Thank you um Is there anything? Trustees will first sue. I don't want to cut you off There's anything else you wanted to add? Um at this point in time before we ask you some questions or discuss I don't have anything at this time. Thank you So trustees, let's break this up maybe a little bit are there any questions, um, we have for susan or amber christine

067just About kind of the presentation first and then we can kind of discuss Our next steps in there. There are any questions All right Um carol you brought this back to kind of have an update on it Um, so maybe you want to lead us off in the discussion. Um, if you have any uh on kind of what your thoughts are where you like to go yeah, um so I think so some of the questions that I have and they aren't related to the I guess they're not related to the material that was presented It actually is more related to material that probably wasn't presented. Um, one of my concerns that um, you know having You know reflecting back on what's been presented in, you know in august and then in october and november is

068that we haven't had a really um We haven't had our hands around what our risk is and I feel that the number enrollment numbers that are being presented are um to me they seem probably pretty optimistic, um to assume that we're going to maintain a 79 Level enrollment, you know over the next six months and and by having that level enrollment, which is higher than what we've experienced ever Um and maintaining that for six months and that still only get us to a net 10 000, you know In the black at the end of the year To me seems feels really really really risky and so i'm just curious What does staff feel? Our worst case analysis is and what would that translate to you? Because that's really the decision. I feel like i'm making

069which I feel like I need to know What what level of risk is staff willing to take with this? In terms of how much money is lost Right michelle, I don't know if you want to hop in here too, but I would say that as enrollment fluctuates Um, and if it dips we that's why we have those layoff notices We can collapse classes we can collapse programs and we can continue to right size the program if we need to um, we really It just depends on the need our families We did a survey of families of our current families and most of them said yes We are planning to continue we had some families that moved from the part-time program to the five-day program even and some families that Some that said, you know, we

070don't think we're going to need it, but the intention is to be able to provide During tier three a program that supports them as best they need so if they need Their students on campus on the days that they get the two days of 90 minutes of instruction They'll be able to come to smarty in the morning at eight fifteen Go to their um do distance learning with smarty staff and then go to see their teachers for the 90 minutes and then roll back Over to smarty and parents can get them up to 4 30 So I really think that that for parents has been huge which is why we saw that big increase of students Um, and as I just had another I think three or four emails come in this week in the

071last couple of days as well I do think our part-time program which is not we're not Requesting that families join for all five days. We're giving them the option to do a part-time as well. We're looking at doing um The two days that you're on campus with your teacher and then every other Wednesday So we'll transition kids into that we call it a two plus program, which is what ace is doing at mariposa Navarro as well so, um if that works for families we're letting them do that if they Once we move into tier four, which is you know, I know we all want to get there once we do that, then we will look again at um Probably moving students to the days that they're not on campus all day long So it really

072is just going to depend on what the schools are planning to do and when that happens But for now the families that are signing up are realizing their kids will be back on campus a couple of days a week And they do need care for those days so that they can work so again, um You know if they if they don't come if they drop then we will just continue to reduce and reduce As much as we possibly can as quickly as we can So for example if we had 10 families not show up in january that would be I don't know 10 to 17 thousand dollars depending on you know, but we wouldn't be able to reduce staff until february, correct? Exactly. So that's the worst case exactly that we would not be able

073to make a change in south february in terms of um, payroll Carol and amber if I may I did a scenario where I projected What the loss would be if we continued at a flat revenue from december through the end of the school year And those numbers come out to approximately a loss of twenty six thousand dollars So if we were to say we weren't going to see the growth in january and we did not make a headcount change we know that that is You know, we can make a headcount change But for me I said If the headcount remains flat and we do not reduce our salary our loss came in at twenty six thousand dollars a year so The question then is how quickly can we? To close that gap by reducing the

074headcount, but in our scenario that is kind of the worst case that I saw at this point in time Okay, that's what I was trying to wrap my head around su which is what's our yeah What is the the risk because I don't feel that's been presented to the board You know and and each time we get a presentation it's kind of worse and worse and worse news without kind of ever Telescoping what the bottom of that is so I guess for the board my question is, you know What is our appetite in terms of subsidizing child care? Out of general fund money. So that's I mean, that's really honestly what this gets down to and that's my real concern and What are our options for partnering with other entities like the city to? Mitigate

075this risk to share this risk because I frankly I do not think it's fair that the school district is exposed in this way to enable San carlos families to have the child care that they deserve because we are the only ones in town providing it and the city has talked a lot about prioritizing child care and I would really love to see them Providing some type of backstop honestly, I I can't say that i'm willing to to just continue in this model without having that type of Having that type of assurance because I don't believe that we're in the business of subsidizing child care out of general fund dollars That's one clarifying question for susan and um amber and christine If i'm understanding the way we're budgeting it now and budgeting it going forward At

076this point in time we have what you're talking about the million dollars That's technically the reserve enterprise fund at this point in time. It's unassigned and not in the general fund. Is that right christine? right Okay, so at this point in time and going forward we aren't budgeting We're budgeting basically no transfer into our general fund Um into this account for next year for um, 2021, correct? That's correct So at this point in time, we're not really funding anything out of general fund dollars It's more this reserve is what we're looking at And it's not really affecting our bottom line going forward because a we're not forecasting any profits coming in To the general fund but b we're also not taking forecasting taking any out because of the reserve needed on that 60-day notice plan

077Is that correct? That's correct. The reserve is not going to be remarked for anything Okay, I Wait, I I think that's a little faulty logic because the funds These funds will go into the general fund. So whether we you know, so whether it's now or whether it's later It's taking money out of the general fund I get the point. I'm just trying to understand where we're at Go ahead irin I was just going to say the same thing. So if you get the point, I mean they are in different funds from an accounting perspective and in the accounting labels are different but the Entire reason of why are we even doing any of this? Is so that the money can then be spent on our students whether it's for library technology curriculum Staff pay. I

078mean that's the right. We're clear on that, right? well, can we it doesn't seem like it's clear and i'm chiming in too because um I think dr. Hohenmaier has made Points along the way about our budget that we are not relying on this for our budgeting Because we can't Because it is unreliable um, but I was understanding that It it can help with our um, you know, three percent, you know having sufficient You know funds Available as part of our three percent to get us to a higher reserve that it can be counted for that so Maybe dr. Hohenmaier and christine can help us like clarify those points that we're trying to make here Yeah, wendy and I can I just say that there are three points I hear that have happened in this conversation

079point one is Conceptually philosophically speaking. Why are we even running these enterprise programs in the first place? And it is so that it can pay for our core mission of like k8 preschool eight schooling point two is um How do we want to be um As we think about kind of our reserves and making sure that we're ahead of like the three percent What funds are we counting right? That's like a separate point currently We are making our three percent with um fund 17 When I presented it to uh to the board our first interim draft So fund 17 can be counted as part of our reserves for three percent christine. I'm sorry. Can you remind us like um what fund 17 is like my head right now is that sorry a reserve And then

080there is this enterprise fund balance and just tell me if fund 17 is like one of those things or a third thing Fund 17 is called special reserve fund and that one can be counted To be part of your general fund reserves Well, let me add to this So the fund 17 is where we put the alexandria donation And so that's our special reserve and that's kind of our holding reserve And then we have our typical reserve the one that's sitting in the general fund Those two combined are what our first interim is based on This enterprise fund we this is anticipated or possible addition to our Budgeting process for next year. So we have not counted on a contribution from this We wanted to see how this year went We want to have discussion

081about how much to hold in here as a reserve right now We have an estimate or just a suggestion of two months of salary, which is about $240,000 With a possible contribution of 600,000 toward next year, and I really think that's what carol's trying to point out This 600,000 if that's the amount that we're talking about is potential for Use for next year for other things. So we want to be careful not to eat into that general fund contribution We also are really looking at using our enterprise funds a little differently in the past We've had very consistent revenue and income and we really budgeted against it And we just built it into the budget where it was being used for ongoing costs such as personnel We are now stepping back and saying this is

082like a one time time gift to the district and we have to be careful not to budget against it in our ongoing known operational costs and use it as more of a one-time contribution over and above our operational costs and that will safeguard us from deficit spending in case of the program not producing as much as we hope and And that that's an approach or I think during budget development in january and february We're going to ask the board to take a look at this fund To create an approach and a system so we know Each year how we want to hold some funds in here for backup And how much we want to contribute to the general fund and then how do we want to use those funds when we do contribute them? We

083can go kind of go around around in this a little bit on it But I guess the question is for the other trustees that carol poses, you know, it would be good for at least I think amber um and michelle to know where everyone kind of sits in regards to The program and how we want to you know, look at going forward or what the appetite is So if someone wants to comment on that or talk about a little bit That may be where we want to focus our discussion for now just because it's just discussion item on for now. It's not action But it can help guide us as we set the agenda in the future I mean, I just wanted to to chime in that, you know from amber's presentation and we've talked

084about this earlier in the year that We knew that there was going to be volatility in this program and so we put into place some safeguards with Staffing to be able to try and address that um, so I feel that we've been You know as as prudent as we can be um following that sort of line of thinking and she they reduce staff and um tried to um you know write the ship if you will and um I I you know, there's a lot of a lot of things still out of our control. We just don't know Um, you know, there's going to continue to be volatility. So I Felt that in the beginning of the year We stressed and we have made sort of um I mean publicly said that this is a critical

085infrastructure for our families in our community and yes, um, I mean I I think it would you know, it's Important to hear from from other trustees, you know where their thinking is at and I appreciate carol saying that We would like You know more support. Um We got the cares act support But so many of these programs are having to be subsidized to make it Uh affordable for parents Because no one anticipated having to pay Uh, you know full day of care because schools are you know that their kids can't be in school anyways, what i'm trying to say is like I think that We discussed the risk and the volatility. I think we're addressing it as best as we can and my my Feeling hasn't changed that this is pretty a vital service that

086we need to be offering Wendy, can I just um add add to what you're saying? Because I think I mean and I don't I do not disagree on how vital this service is But when the board did approve this plan in august and we knew that there was going to be volatility It was showing I think a hundred and twenty six thousand dollars of net income or 180 000 Amber, do you remember what the original projections were? um I don't have it in front of me. That would have been for the entire program right now just for smarty Yeah, or so, yeah, I guess it's more I mean smarty is actually more germane to this what the what the original projection was for smarty was Um, because this is where it's really, you know, again,

087I don't I don't disagree with the the how important this is. Um, but I just Feel that it's um, i'm not sure if i'm willing as a district to um to risk my general fund dollars for this I think I think I think there are other I think the city needs to step up and I would like to see the city step up to provide some support because they have expressed what a priority Child care is we are the largest child care provider and we are Really putting ourselves at fiscal risk. We have a real we have the risk of real loss um, and I would like to Find ways to mitigate that if i'm going to if i'm going to vote for um to continue it I think clarifying question. May I ask a

088clarifying question? the um The fifty seven thousand dollars that we got from from covid relief Was it specifically required to? For to be a child care subsidy or did we do we have discretion what it could pay for? ppe Staff training or any other things related to covid Irene we had the flexibility to use those funds in many different ways and we chose to dedicate a portion Remember, it was about a million dollars Of covid relief funds and we set aside fifty thousand dollars And anticipation of needing to support some scholarships Essentially kind of those urgent learners or those scholarships for students who were really in need and also to provide some staff Discounts to support our staff. So that was voluntary for us to shift those dollars And I think to add to what

089carol's just said is we've also provided Reduction in rent for our other child care providers where it is again impacting our general fund overall Again, we are subsidizing in another form By reducing the rents for ace and san carlos belmont after school Just so that they can also survive and try to break even so carol has a point that It would be nice if we had some support and partnership with the city in making up some of this risk and also maybe Backfilling a little bit to provide a little more cushion for us. So we're not Shouldering all of the risk ourselves Another just a quick question for amber, which is What is the impact on the nursing staff for cases that are and contacts that are related to smarty in preschool And is that

090part of the expenses that the fte staff line item? And I guess janitorial as well Right. So those have not been factored into the budget for this year Um, and when we asked the nurses and hans you could probably speak to this a little bit more But when we asked them previously um You know how we could show that their contribution they felt like because Smarty and preschool are on campus and they are creating the documents. They're setting up fever free They're starting to really get the programs ramped up that they felt like they would have to do that Anyway, and that we were helping them Manage that get them to the point where they'd be ready for all students to be on campus However, now that students, you know, it's fall and people are

091getting sick and staff are getting sick We do have we do reach out to them if there is a staff member typically That is ill we haven't had and i'm going to knock on some wood here any active cases in our student populations So that has been amazing And our staff may be symptomatic And so basically what they would do is they fill out a screener And the nurses would follow up with them if they've got some type of symptom as to whether or not they need to get tested or quarantine So hon, I don't know if you can speak Uh, this one's on here. I think you have to uh, it's a little bit of the amount of time I know that it's changed recently with the uptick in illness Between flu and and

092COVID really so Um, I think it's hard to quantify. That's what you're trying to say That's what we talked about. It's difficult to quantify Um, and in a lot of ways it's actually offered us the opportunity to learn by using some of these processes with Smarty and preschool Um Kind of gives opportunity to learn before we have a larger student population on Um, so in that way it's kind of a pilot almost it offers us the ability to pilot So I think that Sure, they're spending time dealing with enterprise um And it's also something that is an opportunity. So in that way, it's not necessarily a direct cost um I just I think it's very difficult to quantify and the nurses said the same like well, we're doing it kind of for everybody And so

093I can't really quantify how much time for this or that And then of course, I mean time with It's not just smarty. I mean recently we've spent time assisting uh ace and assisting san carlos belmont Um with covet issues that they might be having as well um Training them through this process. So this is a little bit one of my concerns Which is that all of our after-school programs are eating up the capacity of our nursing staff at a time when we're going to be focusing on bringing kids back to campus and um You know, I'd want our nursing staff to really be prioritized for our tk To eight kiddos and well and carol I think that the main reason that they've assisted with those other programs ace and this san carlos belmont Was to

094lead them through this first time. So this is kind of how the process works Here are the processes that we've you know, really kind of a teaching moment There you go. Now next time it's all you okay So they don't have their own nursing staff for next time they have a case They do not but they will be expected to do things like contract tracing on their own we're just sharing documents and things with them and training them how to do it and That was kind of the spirit of it was let's let us help you through this first time And then you'll be on your own for the next time Thank you. I believe their contact is now this the county right monson believe terry Turned out to be county nurses and gave them

095the right person to contact But really we with the templates they've made our kind of our exposure templates our close contact templates So we have the communication tools that we need um And it's it's been good, but I am on the code of response team So I do have a little more of an insight about what's going on and it's it's not just the um Enterprise programs that are using The nurses for that purpose so it is really hard to say It is hard to say but they've been amazing. I would just like to say that they've actually been so helpful and they you know, they really put everyone at ease in terms of Feeling like they can come back to work or feeling like a student is ill and should they come back and

096speaking with families? And just really um making sure that we're following the right protocols. So it's been really helpful Carol carol. I think you also make a good point You know, we have two about two full-time nurses and we have a couple of part-time so there's three people but two full-time We were very concerned a couple months back if we had enough nursing capacity to really support our return to school plan And I think something that has changed between now and a couple months ago Is the county has asked us to create point people on each campus to help out with that? primary communication We are just kind of distributing some responsibilities amongst our principals and our secretaries to do some of those things we thought The nurses would have to do all of Including

097contact tracings our our principals got to hear this morning that by the way You're going to be helping with contact tracing when you come back. Here's your presentation We're going to do some training with you because what we're all finding as superintendents It's too much for our nurse our nursing staff nobody has the capacity So we're kind of delegating all of us as superintendents delegating some of this responsibility That was going to be just on the nurses to our principals and our site secretaries so You are right on where we're concerned about our nurses capacity and we need to monitor very closely to make sure that we have enough capacity to focus on our at school students during our programs and make sure that the enterprise programs are not taking an undue amount of resources

098So kind of want to focus this back a little bit on it just in terms of you know, the presentation was discussion kind of around just the enterprise on it and I guess the thing that i'd like to say or just point out is that So whatever since i've got on the board one of the things i've always said is that this program's never really had objective It was always a way Presented to me and at least that was a way for revenue builder to kind of get a little bit reliance off of the state Um, we also got to remember that we've gone through some very rocky rocky times with this program um before in Attempts to get to where we are to learn to right size it to learn to have the processes

099in place Um, and we never even have you know, really done a lot of review on that, right? Like the prime example is when we had too many kids And we couldn't find enough staff form when uh on top of having too many kids We were hiring substitutes that was hemorrhaging us money left and right on it But at the end of the day what we ended up doing is we always look at kind of the bottom line of this And say well, what is it doing to us? You know when it's our profit puppy and it's giving us a million dollars. We think it's fantastic Um, and then we don't look at kind of the structure of it so I guess where i'm trying to say is that we discuss it is I don't

100it's incredibly difficult to figure out the massive Amounts of you know, if we're just looking at revenue on it in a pandemic It's very hard to understand and quantify this program, right? I mean, there's other things that don't have money on top of it that I think we really need to do To look at if we want to look at it as a whole to think about what is the objective, right? We've never had a business plan for this. Um, it's a very difficult business to be in with To begin with in good times and bad. It's just strictly as a numbers game and a facilities game that that's always how it's been presented to me And even when I was You know at our preschools elsewhere, um so, you know, I guess where i'd

101like to say is just going forward on it is Let's we understand where we're going where that I agree with everyone that it shouldn't be up to the district To take on the full burden of this And I think that's a different topic for maybe a different time Now that we're kind of seeing how much of the burden we're taking on with it But I also think we need to look at some times of you know, when it comes to these quarterly reports Um going forward when you think about the program going forward look at some of the you know, look at our community It's clear. This is a need Right now for our community. We also receive, you know Some of our smartie preschool Staff or after school kids become teachers. They recruit to

102be teachers. It can be a pipeline for us If we ever kind of think big picture on it. So those are a lot of things, you know, I would advise us to Think about it a little bit of kind of where we want to go for that january update And what we want to know but think about it in the big picture between there's other also tangible things to this program That we should really find out and really hone in on that business plan what the objective of this program is And it's just going to be easier to weigh it I think than trying to look at pandemic numbers and forecasting going forward and that would just be my suggestion And Neil if I can add into I mean I kind of a quiet role

103that smartie plays that most people don't acknowledge is They provide lunchtime supervision and support for the principals and the students during a typical year Which is a vital need most districts, you know Have to hire campus supervisors that are standalone employees for an hour or two per day And it's very very difficult to fill those roles in the peninsula with a very very small labor force That's willing to do that. So that was one of the reasons they created this position by having These people play dual role. So that's another Potential big cost to the district if we didn't have a smartie program We have to then really budget in the campus supervisor aspect To supervision because teachers are entitled to a duty-free lunch We cannot ask teachers to supervise students during lunch and principals

104can't do it by themselves I mean, there's usually hundreds of students out at one time and there needs to be some safe ratios So that's another quiet role that we need to consider when we look at that smartie program And like you said neil in years in other years when we're making Enough money to cover the cost of that lunchtime supervision supervision and the care and make a contribution to the district It's great But I think we're running in a a crisis here with a program that's able to survive right now And I think It's it's definitely worth taking a look at and have some clear objectives on but really acknowledging the importance of the many different roles Those staff members are playing We budgeted originally 35 minutes for it. We're running a little long

105about an hour So trustees kind of any final thoughts we have on this topic or more importantly as well Just some guidance for amber as we come back to that january quarterly report Yeah, neil, this is sarah. Um I do think and maybe this is something that I can just do one-on-one with you or with michelle But I think there's a lot of context that I still need. Um Some of which you have spoken to but you know What is the history of this program? How stable has it been? because obviously looking at pandemic numbers is a totally different thing than I'm looking at the the overall big picture of the program So, um, I would like that context whether that's for the full board or just for me. Um as a new board member

106My suggestions are That you we write down and put on paper. What are the benefits of the program? You might say purpose I have heard Significant contributions to the general fund maybe in the format of like one-time gifts The the quiet role it plays in filling for like lunchtime staffing in a pandemic year Vital child care that enables some of our teachers to to teach I would like greater transparency on the costs and I actually don't think That that 50 my that fifty seven thousand dollars should have been put there I think it kind of masks the costs And we're simply driving for clarity. It might not change my ultimate support for this program, but I believe that we need to Support the program having a very clear sense of what the costs are in

107my head it is Ten minus that fifty seven. So we're at negative forty seven and it'd be easier not to do the mental math um I'm I don't know. I'm just going to say in the last point irene that We got money from the community foundation to help its revenue To help subsidize so that teachers or those who are in need don't have to pay as much so We've got that for that specific reason. It's not masking anything It is allowing people to enroll that typically couldn't afford it So i'm just seeing that as revenue and we're just getting it from another place instead of from parents so I think to be smart like we're saying, I mean maybe Um, we need to ask for additional funding from the community foundation Maybe we need to

108ask for additional funding from the city that is going to allow our parents to have affordable child care Which is a necessary inherent thing for Our workforce and this is what we have been discussing from the beginning and and i'm just saying I think I think what you said irene is great like that have a further discussion of this sort of longer term bigger picture um Because I liked what neil said too about this can be a way to recruit people into our teaching force and Very much like I myself have identified a few people i've met along the way that I think would be amazing teachers for our school district And have you even had conversations with them because i've had my you know Anyways, my child has been in various after school programs

109in in the district But um, but anyways, I would just say I I don't think that we're doing ourselves a disservice by getting these funds That are helping parents You know, it's it's It's just another revenue source rather than having it come from the parents. Do you see what i'm saying on that point irene? That's just my last Thing to kind of help clarify The health of the program is comes from people who are in the program um charity Is helpful, but that's not Like the health that doesn't indicate to me the health of a program Yeah, I think we just have to be realistic about what you know right now what is the true cost of providing child care given the licensing restrictions and um, you know that All of the demands that the

110pandemic is creating so, um, I would also really like to see um at the next at the next time this is presented What the opportunities are either with the foundation or from the city in terms of Their willingness to ensure that the district will not be running in the negative at the end of the year on our smartie after-school program if they if they have a Desire to see it continue through june. What are they willing to step up and provide to make sure that we're not putting our funds at risk? And then carol if you would like we can add this to our two plus two agenda As we bring this to maybe that collaborative meeting Yeah, we did discuss it at the past the last two plus two I I think if this

111is probably a staff discussion at this point, um, you know Because I think it's going to be too late by the time we meet at the next two plus two Okay, i'll follow up. Okay All right. Hopefully amber. Um Thank you for everything su. Thank you for everything of being here as well and christine. Um, and also, um Hopefully I give you enough guidance kind of to come back on the court report for some of the things you're looking for so Next go ahead. You know, I too. I just want to really Acknowledge and recognize susan raymond who did volunteer to come in and help us really take this kind of Accounting eye and set up systems and structures for our our business office so that we can be more Um specific more efficient and

112really monitor and she's really helped us put structures in place So I know she's done a a great job of supporting christine and amber I just want to thank you again so much susan for your contribution because you're a valuable asset And you've given us a lot of your personal time. So thank you so much. Thank you I've enjoyed it. I'm happy to try to help out. It's a really tough year out there and It's even though it's it's my way of giving back a little bit. So thank you for letting me help you all out Thank you All right. We'll move on to seven eight our um discussion action items. Uh, first michelle, uh for update or return to schools All right. Let me uh Just get my screen ready here All right. I

113don't I don't have a presentation tonight. I will just share my screen so people can read along with what I am Looking at on the board Agenda So first of all, you know as we have shifted, um, disappointingly back into the purple Region and now as of yesterday, we're at a stay stay at home order That as you know, it's just postponed our efforts to move forward into our our phase three process um with that We are still preparing and planning to have students back on campus as soon as possible The there's this uh burning question that I I feel like i'm being asked to answer but I truly don't have an answer But i'm I keep trying to do my best guessing for people But what it comes down to is as soon as

114we can move back into the red tier We're going to be moving back into phase three implementation And there's two reasons for this. It's important to remember That during the purple tier a district can apply for a waiver and they can have some elementary kids on campus In that model But we have an agreement with our teachers association that when we are in the purple tier We will remain in distance learning and then transition to in-person learning once we move into the red So I think we have to acknowledge that that partnership and that collaboration and agreement that we have with our teachers association So when we look at the next step as soon as we can transition into red We do know after talking to the county office yesterday, even though our plan was

115approved We do need to move into red wait a couple of weeks and make sure that the red status stays in place And then we can start bringing our kids back on campus And as we've said the first week on campus will be an orientation session for all kids So they have a chance to learn all of the health protocols The parents understand how to do the screening the drop off the pickup Students know how to move throughout the campus safely which restrooms to use That will be session one. That's our orientation week. Once that's over then we will Spend the next few weeks looking at the phase three program, which is a couple of sessions in the afternoon on campus For elementary k-5 and our middle schools one session per week You know, we

116were looking at how do you how do we recommend? You know, what if it turns red during the break we weren't quite sure when we posted this agenda This was a week ago And I think those answers are questions are answered now Really what it comes down to is we need to just wait Until the county shifts to red and then we start moving forward So we need to be prepared as a staff and as a community to maybe make that pivot as soon as It is possible for us to do that We know it'll be several weeks, you know as we go through this next phase But we need to be ready to go and we will communicate with families and staff As we learn information, we will keep them up to date to

117prepare them for that next stage we're also Really moving forward with hybrid planning full the full hybrid Phase four our principals are going to facilitate a session with our teachers in january To finalize those plans to work out the details We have a framework for our full hybrid, but we know that it takes a little more time We wanted to implement phase three learn from that see what was going to work to kind of inform our phase four But we are just moving forward making plans Really using the knowledge from the other districts who have been in session already borrowing ideas structures and systems To develop our details for our phase four so that we are ready to go as soon as the conditions allow So we're not slowing down on that work and we're

118going to really capitalize on having that time in january to get those plans ready to go I think that I think covers Where we are right now with our update. So what questions do you have or hans if I forgot anything? Is there anything else you want to add? I don't think so. No Trustees any questions? Um first for michelle or hans I have a clarifying question Regarding the michelle regarding the two weeks of qualifying data for red You said we would be in red for two weeks Are we saying that we will know red is coming because the the state will be publishing or the county will be Publishing that data will know that To you know the those one or two weeks prior that we will be going into red And then we

119would go right to phase three or we would be in red actually be in red for two weeks You know sarah Sarah we are really struggling with this We were under the understanding because we had an approved plan that we could just move right away into red But we we reach out the county and the county is telling us No, you haven't had students on campus yet So therefore you need to get into red wait for those two weeks and then Start your orientation. So we're still in discussion with them So we will clarify that and make sure that we know exactly where we are We're one of those districts that was right on the bubble because we got our plan approved But we didn't quite have the students on campus So we'll get that

120clarified and and we'll keep our staff informed And again, we will continue to follow the data and update our staff and our community with where we are So we can be ready for that next step Okay. Thanks michelle my understanding from Nancy mcgee was that The county office of ed was going to basically be treating any of the the applications that had been put in like ours That were approved but then We went into purple actually treat those the same as a waiver application and move those forward to county health for approval as a waiver So is that are you saying that that's not what's happening now? Are they doing something different? That yeah, that's my understanding is that if we wanted to move forward and move our into the purple with our plan Then

121we would have to submit some more documents and to do an official waiver Um, I thought like you thought our approved plan would allow us to start in red So I do have some follow-up questions I need to work with the county on to make sure we're clear about what's needed for us because i'm I'm still a little bit Unsure about exactly what it is that we have to do to move forward Okay, and then just so we're clear in terms of the direction that the board is providing you On this in terms of our will of when you know what we would like to see happen um, are you asking us whether or not we would want to submit a waiver application if that's what would allow us to start Back with phase three

122as soon as red starts versus waiting until we're Two weeks into the red, which is actually two weeks past when the data starts Yeah, I I think you know why by phrasing it that way if that's what would if it would take to do some submission in Order to to clarify if I have your okay on that and direction to apply For that then I would definitely go forward with that. I think that's a great suggestion carol I'm in favor of moving in that direction because it sounds like it's mostly a bureaucratic process Um, because dr I mean nancy mcgee has said basically that the application is the exact same as the waiver. We've already submitted it If there are extra pieces of information that they require in addition in order for it to be

123Considered to have met the waiver standards. I am in favor of giving you direction that that would require the rest a majority of the board Can I make one suggestion on that just because I know um, can we just wait carol? I i'm with you on the sense of just I'd like to know exactly what it is. The county's telling us. Um, and just how it relates Um, i'd like to follow up with them personally just because I think we're getting misinformation I mean just in the terms of like what you and I get from the county calls to then turn them around To now it seems like it's just night and day from you know A thursday afternoon meeting to a thursday meeting so i'd like to follow up just so we can get

124kind of better information for the board And everyone listening. Um, just so we know guidance on it all For um, and then we can probably make a better decision on just like you said those kind of that What it is that they are defining? Um on that period My only concern with that neil and I and I understand and I think there's a lot of wisdom to that My only concern is that the board doesn't meet again until January the um When do we meet january? January the 7th So by the time the board did provide guidance back at that point You know, and then the documents are prepared. Have we lost that opportunity? You know what? I think the the um The will of the board has has expressed so far has been when

125we are in red. We want to go back um, and so If there's kind of a technicality about well, whether you're You approved a week too late too early, you know all of that to me Dealing with this bureaucratic things are the right thing to do right now in this kind of down time when that can get processed And then we have the option we we as kathleen would say we preserve our optionality When we go back into red, so I I don't know if I would say I would want to wait until the 7th to give direction on that I think I think carol. It's it's really a simple of reapp just submitting again They have told us every time you make an improvement to your plan you make an adjustment to submit it

126again You know as an addendum process so I can really see this as just submitting it again with those extra Extra forms just to to be able to prepare for that And I don't see that as a big step I think it's just kind of part of our ongoing communication And support from the county because they are really saying we will help you you tell us what you need and So I can I can follow through and prepare for that and submit the plan again with that waiver application And do we know How the timing of the stay at home order and the transition from purple to red? Impact each other because I have the stay at home order goes through now january 7th, right? So then if somehow, you know numbers turned around and

127everyone did what they were supposed to do and you know, we've really got this thing under control which I don't you know who knows but um could Could we could the county go to red as soon as the stay at home order is? Lifted or is there then a two week? Do you understand what i'm asking? Do you have any the stay at home order is unrelated to schools? So the stay at home order is is irrelevant for this conversation It's irrelevant to whether we are in purple or red or okay if you're looking at tears sarah the the best way of putting it is Um, you have to have and this is where I think dr Harmar and I would like to just want the clarification you have to have two weeks of red

128numbers to technically qualified in red right, so I mean, I understand the tier system, but with the new Icu percentages in the stay at home orders. I wasn't sure if that would have You know They had edited how the tier movement Worked based on that. It's unclear Um overall the one thing they is clear is that no matter what you're going to be in this deep purple for three weeks So, you know the reality that would be is like if all of a sudden next week it just The numbers went down drastically. Yeah, you could technically start being in the red numbers Very unclear how they're counting it very unclear how they're counteracting that with like the averages of testing um, because obviously like one of the things carolyn had one of the county calls

129like Now that more people testing positive the people actually taking advantage of the tests are almost at our thousand a day maximum So, you know you get credit for that. Um Somewhere along the line so it's hard to tell the numbers Yeah, okay And I would say statistically number one it's impossible for us to go back into to even be in the red by the beginning of january because it looks at you have to look at the Seven day old data so data from and so we aren't even seeing the numbers right now for this current week Which if you've looked at the numbers are just mind-blowingly awful Um, you know, we're looking at three to four hundred new cases a day And just as a point of reference for us to be in the

130red tier We need to be averaging 55 or fewer average 55 or fewer So by the time we dig out of the hole we are in now Have seven days of that which waits then seven days and then you have two weeks I mean you're essentially looking at least a month out So I think just in terms of you know being you know Telescoping to community as much as we can like this is this is we're really bad in really bad shape And it's it's social gatherings and transmission within households which is driving this and there was a bump after they after Halloween There was another bump bigger bump after thanksgiving and they're really worried that there's going to be an even bigger bump after christmas So if you want so the reality is you

131want your kids back in school people have to really start changing some behaviors So the reality is the next time we meet I mean nothing will have changed by that date your status. No The averages may change right that's always a possibility but like tier status. No, uh, windy irene I mean i'm supportive of if we need to do additional paperwork to get the waiver to do that just so that we have The flexibility of figuring out what to do when we're able to do it So this is discussion action if you want to take the action someone's got to make the motion. Um, and we can go from there Do we need a motion to give direction to you know resubmit paperwork that's already been submitted or to To have is it does it

132require an action versus just direction? I i'm comfortable with direction because it doesn't change. Um any of our agreements or any other Parts of how we're moving forward because we already have an agreement to come back in the red with our teachers So I think it's really just direction to complete the paperwork so that can we we can fulfill the plan that we've already submitted Because our plan was submitted to the the county to return in red in this phase three So I think it just solidifies that with us and make sure that we have the right paperwork on file I'm okay with that. Um in terms of the bureaucracy and checking with this, uh, you can also probably put You know if there are clarifications, I would like to know what the county is

133saying Um, so we can bring it back also and kind of update us in the board memo because we won't be back till the 7th so we can kind of understand exactly what it is that how they're interpreting our plan, um as well because it You know, like I said for everyone listening at home The hardest part about this entire thing is you get told one thing on monday you get told another thing on tuesday Wednesday things change and then thursday everyone acts like it's final and then friday. We're back to something different So it's very very difficult to understand How you do this with so much oversight? I wouldn't call it oversight with so many so many people weighing in If I can just um add in you know, I mean I would appreciate

134that Dr. Hermeyer on our january 7th meeting that maybe we would have had some feedback from the county by then to clarify this point because um, I think our assumption was that There wasn't a two week waiting period once we were in red that we could move immediately into that So I think for me that is you know, the clarity that we're kind of seeking here and if submitting that paperwork is what it's going to take to You know Get that clarity and ensure that we are Green lighted to do that Please, you know appreciate you doing that and then just letting us know on the 7th so that we can sort of have a timeline in mind And maybe by the 7th we will have some obviously there will be new data on the

135covid cases. So thank you Will do Any other questions? Uh, wendy can you actually check do we have any public comment? Um on this topic or even if it was the last one as well I'm just refreshing. I mean i've been refreshing Along the way and nothing had come in so no nothing else right um I will move us on then to item 7b. Uh christine the first interim budget Um, we did bring it back to see if there was any other we didn't give any guidance Last time or any had any other questions, but now would be the time if we have any other questions To ask christine or michelle About the first interim. Yeah, so my understand christine. We made no no changes and Our reports are ready to for submission to the

136county and the good news is we are Asking for approval tonight to um pass the first interim with a positive certification Which is a very nice to hear given where we thought we were All of last year and maybe just a couple months ago So, uh, would anyone like to make that exciting motion, uh to pass the first interim with a positive certification I'm taking good news wherever I can so I will make a motion to approve The first interim budget item 7b. Thank you carol. Is there a second? second Thank you irene all in favor of Approval the first interim with a positive certification, please state by saying aye Aye Aye all opposed Hearing none the first interim will pass with a positive certification five Um moving on to neil. Can I just make

137a comment? This is our first positive certification in a year We didn't have a positive certification last year at our first interim So that just really shows how dire this our budget situation has been and The how the alexandria gift has stabilized it because we would not have a positive certification without the alexandria gifts I just want to once again really recognize that and you also forget we had a Well a fourth interim, right one that we had the the county required us to throw in. Um, just given our situation So, you know, here's another record number of negative certifications You know it is it is kind of a three strikes rule and that is the the case and you know, we had two negative Certifications then we had a conditionally improved budget in june

138And then that that third interim like you said neil was not certified but it was required So the key that third strike would have happened at this interim which would have triggered more County and state action. So we are in a stable place. We're still in a fragile place But at the same time i'm very very pleased and relieved That we can take our breath from this and focus on our students and our return to school plan All right. Now we're going to do 7c approval of k8 science adoption. Uh, just a reminder where we were last time We brought it back mainly just to see windy if there's any public comment Regarding this if people have dived in or if anyone during the break had had different more thoughts Or concerns they wanted to

139raise or bring up. Um, so windy i'll start to see if there any public comment regarding this item Seeing none. Um Thanks for checking uh trustees any further comments or questions for hans, uh before I ask for motion I have followed up Yeah, a couple things first of all, I uh, there has not been any public comment expressed to sarah. I I'm sure there are a lot of folks that looked at the material Um, none of them then turned around and contacted sarah with comments. So we don't have any of that to report secondly You know carol at the last meeting Expressed, you know the the need and and the real desire to look at this with the dei lens um And with that in mind, you know, we we did we dived into a

140little deeper. We actually talked to The checkies about it as well What we learned from them was a couple of things. First of all, They've not been asked to look at an ngss program before this was the first time they've looked at one obviously, they've looked at a lot of Language arts and particularly social studies programs So they were using the same lens to do that, you know the dive that they would do in a social studies program Um, you know, they had some really good things to say they had some some concerns they expressed Um, you know overall, you know, it's obvious that it's an engaging program That was something they noticed right away just like our teachers did It's very engaging. It seems like it would interest a wide variety of students um

141Uh, they uh, they cited some Places on the stem scopes website where they had some blogs about dei topics and things like that and that they've got this diversity statement That they're committed to they kind of seem to be at the beginning stages um A couple of the you know The things that stood out that really what I plan to do is talk to the company and forward the advice as I said last time They've been really open to input and when they get the input they've been making changes. So Um, that's the beauty of working with the you know, a relatively small program Um, and they've been very dynamic Um carol mentioned the same thing that that amber actually was one who did the the overlook amber cheque And she noticed the same thing

142is that the student facing videos didn't have a lot of diversity in them uh, there were a lot of you know white children and a lot of white instructors and That was really her primary concern was that okay? Um, and that's that was otherwise, you know, she said it's it seems very well rounded um, she did mention one that got really high marks for um ngs alignment and for uh, dei and that was um, Amplify which we did pilot it was a top choice by teachers right out of the gate What we found out about amplify is that it's not rigorous enough. The material wasn't rigging rigorous enough for our students Um, and you know in talking to some of the authors, um that that may have been the intent it was more of an

143entry-level program um so Otherwise, she said it really didn't find a program that stood out On a dei lens other than that one um so those are the pieces that she was able to offer i'm happy to answer any other questions or Um, you know any other concerns or questions that the board has at this time? Honda, I want to thank you for following up on that. I really I really appreciate that and appreciate you sharing the feedback from um, inclusion counts amber and heather, um Yeah, I think particularly in light of what was shared with um The slides that were shared in terms of the students wanting to see themselves represented in their teachers I would imagine that they would also really value seeing themselves represented in the in the curriculum and that would

144be a real priority to make sure that STEM scopes is responsive in that area. So Trustees any other questions comments? All right, seeing none. Uh, do I have a motion for approval of the k8 science adoption? I move approval of the k8 science adoption Okay Thank you. Irene. Thank you, sarah, uh all in favor of the k8 science adoption. Uh, please vote by saying aye Aye Any opposed? Uh, that motion will carry five to zero Uh, thank you hans, uh, and really all thank you to the entire staff again on putting in You know six years worth of work into these things Um that go into it to pilot, you know It's one of those things I don't think anyone ever gives credit for how much work goes into it before you get it But

145they love the lob grenades at you at the end where they don't like one thing Um, you know, nothing's perfect, but it does take a lot of work and we do appreciate you Putting the time in yeah. Thank you for recognizing that especially the work of the teachers on the pilot team It's a huge undertaking without a doubt and when you're doing three or four programs like we did each time you're restarting. So Thanks a lot. Neil. Appreciate that Neil if I could also just just a quick update We plan on actually putting the order in tomorrow for the curriculum materials because we will get a significant Discount by getting our order in before january 1st So thank you hans for really being on top of that and understanding the benefits of when to place

146the order And then can you just give us just a little brief? Update about when does this roll out? When do people start using this? Is this next year? You know, when do we get it just just a couple of key points right now just to give them a little bit of context Yeah, I think for middle school, they're going to start using it right away. They are using it right now And they are excited to have the program be official And they'll continue to use it throughout the year. They don't need near the rollout per se that the elementary teachers might need I think our pilot team of elementary teachers they're going to use this again They're going to start using it right away and kind of dig deeper um, but you know, that's

147We have about I think it's 18 teachers on that team, right and we have About you know, 120 130 elementary school teachers. So there's going to be significant training We'll really roll this out over the course of we may have a session Um, you know this spring to kind of get people ready for it Well, certainly this will be a focus for elementary for next year. It'll be a really big focus Science and NGSS will be a primary focus as we move in through next year so, you know that first day back with training we'll have Certainly some significant training there and then as we go through our professional development plan for the year on our wednesdays We'll definitely be building in some other sessions and we'll rely heavily on the on the pilot team,

148you know The company offers sessions obviously and it's included in some of the pricing that we have And we know that our own teachers have really great bandwidth in this area And can kind of take the ball and run with it. So that's a quick snapshot of where we need to go Would it be possible For the board to get an update either in the board memo or maybe in a future DEI Agenda item on their response around their request to have a more inclusive student-facing media Certainly for sure Well, maybe this is something we bring up at the end, but i'm wondering if this can be I mean, it's not necessarily an ongoing board agenda, but it's something like periodic Or you know as you're setting the agenda for the new year I would

149just like to say that I think you know, whenever you're trying something new I mean we do You know celebrate successes at board meetings, but I think it would be great to think about how to um You know share some early lessons learned share some, you know successes at the middle school you know those teachers and none of the k-5 teachers I think that'd be great because I think this is something that gets us all excited right is you know New curriculum 21st century learning And I know that you know parents and the community are kind of I just think would like to to learn and hear right like how this is working So, I don't know. I just thought hans if there's anything creative we can think about um You know in a school

150year, I know there's a stem fair and there's other things that we already do around science, but i'm just you know, maybe maybe one of the you know themes for Next year and next year can be around science How do we really um shine a light on it? Let's talk about it when we get to the agenda item. We can hone it in a little bit more, too Uh 7d, um, this is going to be the issue in sale of a 2020-21 tax and revenue anticipation note and participation in the california education note program I'll let christine just jump in and explain it, uh what it is and I believe you have someone here as well christine I'll let you introduce Um to help us kind of guide our discussion if need be The district

151is currently projecting a cash flow shortfall for the 2021 year Um due to regular monthly expenditures and inconsistent revenue such as the deferrals and property tax timing Therefore the district is um Going for a tran tax revenue anticipation note and i've asked jenny booner keegent to join us In case the board has any questions One thing christine or maybe jenny if you can because I don't think anyone Outside of this these zoom boxes may have any idea what a tran is and why a school district may need it especially in today's times, uh Just passing interim budget that has Soundful, um, so if you can explain a little bit for just everyone at home, uh, just exactly what it is why it's used Sure. Um, can everyone hear me? Okay Great Okay. So what a

152tran is is a Maximum of a 13 month short term financing on a tax exempt basis And it allows districts to cover any cash flow inconsistencies that they have so as christine mentioned You are in a state where the state is deferring your revenues and also you receive your property taxes in You know large lump sums which doesn't coincide with your monthly payments for salaries and benefits And so what a tran does is it provides you? um a maximum of Amount of money to kind of cover those deficits and san carlos is not unique right now with the deferrals Um that are expected although we are watching to see if those change We we have no plans to issue until we have more guidance in january The resolution tonight would just authorize The opportunity for

153the district to issue a tran should they need it in the new year? I think I think what we should add also as a reminder is in In Up through june the state was threatening to reduce our budget by 10 our lcff state revenue Because of the uncertainty of covet and the impact on the economy Instead when they built when they passed the budget bill at the end of june they said, okay We're not going to give you the 10 cut, but we are going to defer your revenue To help cushion any of the impacts of the uncertain Economic situation So our deferrals are often away. The state will kind of kick the can down the line Instead of giving us some money. We have to get a loan and it's a short-term loan We

154have financing costs that we have to pay on these loans So instead of a cut we got a delay. That's how I like to look out of it And so we will have to pay some financing cost on this But at least we didn't have the full 10 cut that's I think the most optimistic way to look at it Jenny, would you agree? Yes, and um, you know the deferrals luckily they've improved We're hoping they continue to improve and that the state decides to you know fund those Um, but in worst case scenario, we just want the district to be prepared to be able to borrow should they need it trustees any questions Just one question, um, i'm curious how large of a if it wasn't for the deferrals, um, you know, how large of

155a Fund balance or a reserve would we need to be able to weather the property tax? Um, you know cash flow timing issues Christine you might be able to answer that better than I can but it's not uncommon for bay area districts like yourself to issue regular trans San Mateo high your neighbor issues every year. So does sequoia your high school district um, so it kind of depends How large your a your fund balance is but also how much you receive in property taxes? um christine you might have a better sense of what that actual number for you might be Because they're both they're both the basic Districts But it's also the timing of when property tax comes in Because our property major property tax comes in in december and april so you we need

156the cash to cover the other months for payroll and our ongoing expenditures You so i'm just curious. So how much of a reserve would we need to have in order to not i'm just curious. Um, You know not that everything is trans but just um I don't have that answer for you, but I can Sure Uh in our limit just as a reminder, isn't this about a 10 million dollar limit approximately that we can borrow up to that amount? That's what we've asked you to authorize based on the current cash flow Your deficit is actually a little bit smaller. Um, let me just pull up the cash flow right now Yes, we are looking at about 8.6 Which um, then there are some other calculations that we work into your trans size Such as a

157working capital reserve which is equal to five percent of your prior year expenditures Because your cash flow is not going to be perfect. It provides a little bit of buffer Um, so we've asked for 10 million. You do not have to issue 10 million. You don't have to issue at all Um, but as we get closer To the time of potential issuance i'll work with christine to narrow in on what do you actually think that you would need to borrow? and also just Superintendent meetings, um, like jenny said most of us are in this position right now in the county And christine's been working very closely with denise porterfield and the county office So that we're all coordinating and that we're all supporting to make sure that we're making good decisions Really collectively as a

158group as we're moving forward because we're all in the same boat whether we're basic aid or state funded We're, um all juggling some uncertainty right now Wendy go ahead I'm gonna clarify. Um Where if we approve this then we're just giving then christine this option Um, and dr harmeyer to then issue it, you know her advice, you know from jenny and others So we don't necessarily have to then make another decision about this Like we're giving them the go-ahead Correct, okay Irene sarah anything all right is there a motion for uh issuance of the tran in item 7d I move 7d Thank you carol Thank you wendy, uh all in favor of issuance and sale of 2020-21 tax and revenue anticipation note and participation in the california education notes program. Uh, please state by saying

159aye Aye. Aye Any opposed? No one opposed that motion will carry five zero christine. Thank you, uh on this it's You know necessary but never exciting and jenny. Thank you for being here Thank you All right, that brings us to uh future agenda items Wendy, I know you had mentioned what you wanted to talk about Did you want to add anything to it to kind of narrow it down a little bit or did? I mean, I think I got it. I took it as just a more consistent update on the implementation of the curriculum um Going forward through presentations and board memo. That's how I took it but clarified if I think i'm wrong You know, that's great Any other future agenda items for the great year of 2021? All right, seeing none wendy any

160public comment No public comment dan, uh employee group comments to you Need me to unmute you date. Can you unmute yourself? You got it. Okay. Good. I think i'm unmuted correct Uh, good evening. I'm dan lanier president of the san carlos teachers association Thank you to uh scav for the 3.3 million dollar donation to our schools We appreciate the money you've given to support us during distance learning and the money that you give us every year Thank you to all the families and businesses that contribute to scav Our teachers and classified scav are happy to support scav through auction items such as bowling with your teacher Just four weeks ago. This board and superintendent were determined for teachers And students to return for in-person learning in the first three weeks of december teachers And staff

161emailed you and spoke at board meetings expressing their serious fears about covet exposure During your desired desired december return for all staff and all students You plowed forward with this plan until our county went into the purple tier on november 30th At that point all staff and students with the exception of smarty after school and preschool All of those kids with the exception we remained in full distance learning So in the past 17 days, we've had very few teachers On sites and small numbers of kids in smarty after school and preschool While the district will not share the exact numbers of covet cases It appears that we've had at least six cases of covet involving six school sites The district will not disclose this to me as the president of the scta The number of

162student cases and the number of employee cases This does not inspire confidence in our district leadership This is an alarming amount of covet cases We have many employees in quarantine as a result of those exposures We've heard again and again that we will return to in-person teaching with all of our students within days of returning to the red tier With all employees and students at our schools in tier three We will have many more cases of covet among students and employees This means a large number of teachers in quarantine How will we staff our schools? How will you keep our students their families teachers and all employees safe? Thank you, and I wish you and your families good health in the new year And angela not in our negotiations chair would like to speak for

163a moment Can you unmute angela? Thank you. Good evening everyone as dan said, my name is angela notton. I'm the scta negotiations chair And we've been working on negotiating the multiple mo us that have come out of all of this So I wanted to follow dan's comments. Um, just related to the recent cases in our community As our team works with the district to come up with a plan Um, we're really negotiating the impacts of teachers and staff members returning to school in a safe manner And it's important to consider that those plans don't Don't really look at specific scenarios and staffing ratios, but it's rather a more of an umbrella Term that we're looking at Um, the county and this board is focused on the state's tier system as that was part of scta's

164proposal Um, and while it is really important to consider this we also need to look at the impact that these plans have at each site Um, even if the events over the past week as dan talked about Have shown that when there's positive cases at a school the district is unable to sustain the staff needed to maintain our facilities And in fact teachers and staff members were asked to work from home unless it was essential to be on campus this week Because that we are unable it was stated that the district is unable to maintain The clint cleaning standards needed To support the staff sites and those staff that wanted to work on site and so um With teachers and um, we had our custodial staff our support staff all moving into quarantine It may

165actually be necessary for us to return to the table and negotiate the impacts of that planned phases And how staff can continue to provide appropriate services? Um outside of the distance learning model and with the proposed in-person learning model And tonight you have talked a lot about the plan that the district has submitted to the county in order to get a waiver But the plan that I have read and it's very detailed doesn't actually account for the ongoing Quarantines of staff members that will cause vacancies and a need to fill positions by either substitutes Subcustodians, etc. So while we can Talk about this plan and say that it's been submitted and we received a waiver It doesn't actually talk about the personnel that are needed to fulfill these standards that are needed that are necessary

166for a waiver And it also fails to address the disruptive nature of moving students and staff Back and forth between the models of in-person learning and distance learning I myself was choosing to work from my classroom because it is disruptive for me to work from home And then when I moved to work from home this week the kids were starting to question like wait a second What well, why is your dog barking in the background? What's that noise? and so the students do notice these impacts of where we are teaching and how we are teaching and so I urge this board and To stop and reflect on how our immediate community and our resources available at school sites are addressed within this return to school plan Rather than just addressing how it works within the

167county and state requirements for a waiver Um, you know, we are looking towards welcoming staff and students back But we don't want it to be of a nature that oh you're here for a day Well now we don't have enough staff you're going back to distance learning because that in and of itself is more destructive To the entire community than just the individuals that are quarantining Thank you, dan. Thank you. Angela. Um, you know just as we end this year Thank you both for you know, you're doing your jobs plus a commitment to advocating for teachers. It's not easy You know, it's not easy in today's world, but we appreciate you and appreciate what you're doing And I hope your staff appreciates your advocacy as well as we continue in the new year to work

168together So now we move on to board comments Anyone want to start us off? I'll be happy to start. Um, you know, I think a lot of it is kind of going through has been a Difficult year, uh to say the least all around. Um, I think the biggest thing Uh, I want to say a lot is thank you to my colleagues on the board Uh for putting up with a myself But um just where we're at, uh in terms of still always being professional still always listening to each other and more importantly just You know doing our best to be there for the community. Um The thing I always like to say is you know what i've learned from all these county calls, um from listening to You know the different positions that everyone

169is in throughout this county, right? Whether it's your business that you spent your entire life trying to build is now on the brink of disaster Because you know of these health rules whether it is you're facing eviction Because your job Was stopped or whether it is your job has taken off because you just happen to hit the timing correctly Of covid and if your business happened to fit into that category, you know, everyone is at very different points No one I would say is thriving everyone is surviving But the thing I like to say is we can think about all the issues That could be you know lying in the weeds for us going forward. But the best thing I think i've always heard was What I hear a lot at work is, you know,

170look we're trying to rebuild an infrastructure At 30 000 feet And the plane's not built And we're trying to figure it out as we get there to make sure we can land it to make sure it can fly To make sure we can thrive So, you know, I look forward and this goes to dan and angela and all the staff and the districts michelle And all my fellow colleagues have grabbing a hammer with you and trying to put this thing together at 30 000 feet because there are going To be issues as we go forward. Um, they're going to be issues that none of us have forecast But we're going to figure them out together Uh, just like we have so far and we're going to do it with you know Looking at all the

171best information we can and all the information we have And you know, the hard part is is trying to do it in a landscape that's ever-changing. So I appreciate everyone Uh for their hard work. I hope you do have a great break. I know I plan on enjoying it And we'll see you back in 2021 anyone else Just a plus one to what you said. You said it so well. Thank you everybody and have a really really lovely holiday michelle superintendent comments Oh, sorry, neil. Sorry. I just I mean, I guess I I would just say that um In what has been truly just a year of challenge after challenge after challenge um this team of people, you know have just like risen to the occasion and I just want to just it's like a

172And and besides just being professionals and educators and teachers and nurses and custodians and leaders You have personal lives too And I want you to know that we remember you have these personal lives and um and um, I know it's been a tricky time at home for me and the times I Get myself out of this um The the stress or the tension or the anxiety is to remind myself of like all the things I can still yet be grateful for and So I just want to express my incredible gratitude for the teachers The custodians the nurses the librarians the counselors our payroll clerks the secretaries I know i'm not listing everybody and managing it too, but um please do rest rejuvenate a drink a drink a cove your favorite beverage and and cozy up

173to your to your furry ones and um just know that um Uh holidays are time to to rejuvenate. So thank you all Thanks neil. I just wanted to um maybe add to the sentiment that jen rudy shared earlier in our meeting which um, I just really truly value the sense of community that we have in san carlos and The fact that we value education so highly and we appreciate our educators and our educational leaders greatly and just to say that You know, I look forward in the new year to Trying to help cultivate that sense of community, however, we can in our school communities. Um you know, I cherish the the the Need to like drop by and pick up something at my daughter's school or today. I got to pop by central most school

174and um say hi to tom and megan and um And I know that dr harmeyer tries to do that, you know and hans, you know get out into the schools But um I I just miss that connection with you all it's great to see your faces. Um You know familiar faces of marcy and angela and people I i've known and um so Take care of each other during the break. Um the community wear your masks and stay safe and um Yeah, I hope I just look forward to coming back in the new year and Being able to connect again with everyone. Thanks I will quickly add a plus one to all of that and in addition Just thank you to everyone who has helped me in this new role over the past two months. It's

175been like drinking from a fire hydrant and my fellow trustees and staff and parents and Pta staff volunteers and skef staff and volunteers have all um Jumped in to help me figure out what i'm doing. So I I appreciate your support and your help and hope that All of you have a restful holiday season and um same for our teachers and staff. Thank you for all your hard work and um Go get some sleep All right, thank you trustees now michelle the last word All right, can you hear me? Okay, neil Sorry, I had to transition to my phone Uh, but this has been an extraordinary year and i'm incredibly proud of our teachers and staff And I just want to again thank them for all their hard work and it's the flexibility and being

176agile learning new things and still connecting so Deeply with their children is so important these emotional and relationships right now are so important and I see And hear these bright spots every week about how our teachers are really connecting and supporting students So teachers, thank you for all of your hard work. I also want to recognize our our district office team We call the we have a team called covid response team It includes our nurses our hr department. Um hans barber You know amber and it's a team that meets every week and this team, you know We really lean on the leadership of nurse terry but also with cali and page I just want to acknowledge all their hard work and support and really helping us through a really challenging time And learning new protocols

177and getting our systems in place But it has been very challenging and you know, the the community widespread has hit us and it's It's really made us really hone our communications and learn from other districts But I just want to thank our covid response team, especially our nurses for all they've been doing for us They are truly going to take a break over the next two weeks. Just like our teachers And our covid response team will just be us at the district office and then hopefully a little calmer a little quieter during this time But thank you to them And board of trustees. Thank you for all of your time and efforts and your leadership during a very challenging 10 months And I look forward to that your continued leadership and direction and guidance as

178we move forward. So thank you all Thank you michelle, uh, we will adjourn to closed session. But first windy do we have any Public comment on closed session All right, no public comment on closed session. I will adjourn us to closed session And I usually no one's here at the end. So everyone have a good break and we'll see you in the new year Okay, go ahead All right, we're back from closed session. There's nothing to report out from closed session So we want to thank everyone for staying with us and have a great break Veronica alejandro, you're the best you'll never behind the scenes we we all know it Thank you. Happy holidays Have a good